*Throws Jaffa Cakes everywhere in excitement of the fact that it's a new chapter*

Chapter 12

(Ridgedog's POV) -Whaaa?-

I was following them, especially more interested now that I overheard them say that they were going to the Elf Kingdom, to revive the one and only Water Elf.

Infinity... Such a beautiful name. And she wouldn't be in this predicament if she had just come to be my Queen without me resorting to forcing her. See, if they asked nicely, I could bring her back. On the condition that they give her to me, of course. She was like a delicate flower, and needed to be protected from the harm that mortals will bring on her. Like that Rythian, scarring her beauty with magic and science. Once again, I could easily fix her. Make her mine once and for all... like it should be. And, most importantly, not let the prophecy come true.

The Earth Elf had frozen over, and run off, leaving the boy on his own. There was something strange about Toby, something different to other humans, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I decided to make him feel at ease and make the mobs avoid him, while I simply watched from a safe distance in the sky. He reached the ruins of the once-magnificent Kingdom, and fell asleep. Still, I bode my time (is that a thing? I don't know...) and let them think they've won the battle. In the meantime, I looked inside Martyn's memories to find the button to the chamber, and flew around the halls until I found the throne room. I broke the brick it was on, then let's say... 'tinkered with' the redstone wiring to make it so that when the door opened, splash potions of blindness would drop on them. That would be the time that I come in and take back my future Queen, hopefully killing them in the process with my Desert Eagle. I went into the shadows of the tunnel with a potion of invisibility at the ready, waiting for them to wake up and come here to try and revive Infinity. It was a perfect plan...

@Time skip to when the fabulous Martyni and the awesome Tobyna wake up@

I heard footsteps and talking as they got closer, and clutched the bottle tighter in my hand, making my knuckles go white. But then they seemed to leave again, and I scolded myself for being to intent on thinking about the plan to listen to what they were saying. I could feel Martyn's suspicion though, it was that strong. Maybe he knew... wait a second. Did I replace the button and the block it was on back? I quietly floated back out, wanting to scream at my idiocy, but holding it back as I knew they would hear me. Speaking of, where were they? Upstairs, by the sound of it. If the Elf knew I was here, he certainly didn't seem concerned about keeping the volume down to attract less attention. Then I noticed cracks in the floor, probably not visible from above, and smirked devilishly, before getting an axe and beginning to pry apart the floorboards even more, while still being quiet so they weren't aware of my presence. Soon, the floor dipped down a bit, then the sound of splintering reached my ears, and I hurriedly took a gulp of the cool, almost icy, potion in my hand as the cracks spread around in a messy circle, before the section of flooring collapsed, along with Martyn.

Good. I thought with a half-smile and a meaningful glare at the falling Elf. Now he'll be out of my way, and she'll be easier to get.

With that, I flew back down, but at the terrified cry of Toby, glanced back. Part of me felt sorry for him. After all, I'd just killed his friend. But most of me was triumphant and enjoyed his fear, but the grin was wiped off my face when I saw that he was carrying the girl back down the stairs. He placed her carefully down with a soft smile, before starting to pluck small pieces of debris from the pile and toss it to one side. This got me thinking- did Toby like her too? In which case... I got out my gun, pointing it at his head and closing one eye. My finger squeezed the trigger tighter, but then I stopped upon sensing another presence arrive. Strippin', the Rail Bro. I growled, almost silently, and hooked the gun back in my belt. It would be tricky to take them both out without the other noticing. Instead I just stayed by the ceiling, not risking doing anything and taking another sip of the potion when I felt the effects start to wear off. The muscular Bro pulled Martyn from the wreck, and much to my annoyance the blond wasn't dead. When they pointed up, showing where the now-awakened Elf fell from, my heart started to beat faster when I thought they'd spotted me, but then I relaxed and continued to wait. To my surprise Martyn got up without an injury to his name, and with the slight support of his friends on either side they ventured back up the stairs and this time safely made it across the hallway. But I wasn't interested in that. They'd left my beautiful Queen all on her own, on the ground, free for me to take back easily. I cautiously hovered in the air for a second, checking for any signs of a trap, but then when I decided it was safe, landed on the floor. The potion was losing it's touch, and I could now faintly see myself, but I didn't care now. I picked her up, grinning crazily, and was about to speed off when I heard a shout from behind me, making me freeze on the spot.

Oh crap.

(Martyn's POV)

We trekked back up the many (many, many, many, many... you get the picture. IT'S HIGH UP, 'KAY?) stairs, and this time made it safely across the floor. All the while I was getting stronger as my internal magic which was constantly flowing through my veins healed me, and when we reached my old room I was fine, and no longer needed the assistance of my friends. It was as if nothing ever happened. I hesitantly clasped my hand around the handle, debating whether or not to enter, unable to stop the memories from rocketing through my head, almost wanting me to break down and cry. Each memory sent a stab of grief to my heart, as if reopening old wounds, getting worse and worse until I let out a scream, falling to my knees and wrenching my arm away from the door. At the gentle touch of a hand being placed on my shoulder, I flinched, and only then did I realise I was shaking when I turned around to meet the concerned brown eyes of my friend.

"Martyn, what's wrong? Is it the fall?" Toby asked worriedly, crouching  next to me.

I shook my head, unable to find my voice, but managing to haul myself off the floor and stand on shaking legs. Not confident enough to look at the door, I just pointed to it, then at Strippin', who understood and opened it for me. They both stepped inside, and I tried to ignore the smell of blood that was thousands of years old which floated out as I stayed outside.

"Wait, Martyn, this is your room? But the Elf Kingdom was destroyed thousands of years ago..." Strippin' suddenly realised, turning around to look at me.

I stood up, clenching my hands into fists. "Yeah."

"You're twenty-five, Martyn." He continued as I took cautious steps closer until I was standing in the doorway.

"Nope. He's thousands of years old. Weird, I know, but he's an Elf and they have a longer lifespan." Toby explained for me, which I was thankful for.

"Right. Um... why is there what looks like blood everywhere?"

My eyes widened as I shuddered again, but no matter how much I wanted to back away and hide I stood in place. Once again, I couldn't speak, as all the memories jolted through my mind and with them unwanted emotions. I squeezed my eyes shut as I pulled my shirt off, revealing many scars that would never heal from the long ago battle.

"Oh Notch..." Toby whispered, and I opened my eyes again to be greeted with their horrified faces.

"From the battle... they tried to kill us in our sleep by sneaking in at night and taking out the guards. I woke up when I was first stabbed, and managed to take a few of them down with bare hands before getting weapons." During the speech, I returned to the practically emotionless person I was when I was a guard, staring at my balled fist as I tightened it and examined the scar that showed where my hand was sliced clean off.

"You keep saying 'they', but who does that mean exactly?" Strippin' spoke up tentatively as I marched inside, fear stowed away for the meantime.

"The Endermen... and their Queen, the Enderdragon." I spat, heading to a bookshelf and holding one hand up with the palm facing the books as it began to glow green, putting my shirt back on with the other.

"They wiped out all of Elf kind in a night? That's pretty admirable, if you wanted an effective killing army."

The shelves were tugged to the side with magic-infused sticky pistons, revealing chests full of weapons and armour. Strippin' whistled in awe, instantly rummaging through the chests and picking up and examining items unique to Elf-kind. Toby just stood in shock at the entrance, his jaw hanging open and his eyes the only things that moved as they roamed over the impressive sight. I smirked a little, heading straight to the bow and arrows on the wall. Each individual part of every arrow was enchanted, then put together in a crafting table before having a final enchant placed on it, one that made it easier to use for the owner, one specific to improve their strengths. With mine, I drained some of my magic into it so it was infused with the essence of nature, and over the whole thing small plants decorated it while thin brambles with tiny spikes twined delicately around the wooden shaft, making it more deadly. I picked up several stacks of my unique arrows, stuffing them into a green quiver that was strapped to my back, before lifting the bow from the wall and staring at it in my hands, marvelling at the beauty of such a simple thing. Ivy twisted around the string, stopping when it reached thelimb where it made a perfect transition into a line of lapis that ran all the way down to the other end where it met the string on the alternate side, the blue occasionally swirling into graceful patterns along the way. The limb itself was traditional, just simply made out of wood, but carefully crafted into it was symbols from the dead language that Elves spoke, which when translated into English read 'Inthelittlewood' which was my nickname, a play on words of my last name, mixed with the fact that when I was younger I always went into the forest section of the palace grounds. One of the symbols, which meant 'Small tree' or 'Littlewood' was a kind of swirl which I had on my armour and weapons to identify it as mine, I had used on his shirt as a reminder so I would never forget the grudge I held against the Endermen, although with the horrific events that occurred that day it was doubtful that I would ever sleep soundly, let alone forget. Toby peered over my shoulder at the bow, making a strange sound which was only described as being a mix between a squeak and a groan.

"What is that? And what do those symbols mean? Is it a bow? How did you get it to look that way? The ones we make are always plain and boring, same goes for the arrows, why is that?" He ploughed on after each question, not even stopping for an answer.

"Shut up and let me answer!" I said, and although I meant to say it jokingly, it sounded harsh. "Yes, it is a bow. The symbols mean 'Inthelittlewood' in Elven. It's infused with generic magic and my magic, adding the glow and plants, and I crafted this for years to get it to be perfect." I explained, still sounding like an emotionless robot.

He flinched back when I first started to speak, but then put on a smile. "Okay. But how come you never made special ones at Inthelittlecorp?"

I slung the bow over my shoulders, picking up a small green dagger and a slightly bigger matching sword, strapping a belt around my waist and hooking them into that for ease of access. "You didn't know about my magic then, and I was hoping it would stay that way." I tightened my headband, sighing. "I'd rather not talk about my past any more, it brings back memories that I would sooner forget."

"Don't you need armour?" Strippin' asked, diverting the subject of conversation, and I noticed he had grabbed some enchanted iron armour and a diamond sword.

"No, I'll be fine. I trained for these sort of circumstances, long ago..." I trailed off, thinking about all the years I trained to perfect my skills in battle, then evolve some new techniques as I grew older and became the Princess' personal guard. "And besides, if I get hit, I'll heal fairly quickly."

"I'll have to believe that you'll heal after witnessing you after that fall." He shook his head, looking past me a little as he zoned out and thought about whatever.

"Okay, well, is everyone ready?" I turned around to see Toby poking at some objects in a chest.

"What're these? Elven stuff again?" He asked, picking one up.

I took in a sharp breath, watching as the green-and-black sphere flashed, before rushing over and wrenching it from his hand, pushing him behind me as it exploded.

(Toby's POV)

Martyn pushed me out of the way, and I backed off, Strippin' grabbing my shoulders as a cloud of disturbed dust flew up and an explosion was heard. We stood and watched in horror, guessing it was some sort of bomb, waiting for the dust to settle so we could see what had happened to our friend. A silhouette stood up from a crouching position, a faint green glow outlining them. They shook their head to dislodge dust from their hair, the cloud clearing as they did so, and I was relieved to see Martyn alive and uninjured, turning to us with a blank face.

He pointed with his thumb to the chest, still expressionless as he spoke. "Creeper grenades. Does the same amount of damage as a creeper but doesn't hurt elves that get caught in the explosion." Then, to my surprise, he smirked, striding forwards and ruffling my hair affectionately. "Next time ask before touching, it could've been a lot worse."

I was too astounded that he'd returned to his old self to even playfully complain about his action.

(Martyn's POV)

"Dude, why happened to you? You were so... vacant..." Strippin' piped up, temporarily taking of his helmet.

"A reminder of the past changes people..." I shuddered, but feeling braver, and glad that I wasn't going to have another emotional breakdown. "But we were taught to be emotionless when in training. It helps on the battlefield when you see your friends die before you..."

They were silent, probably wondering what I had witnessed to make me have breakdowns even after thousands of years had passed. But they wouldn't want to know what I had been through, it could harm them too. Toby quietly pulled on some light chain armour that had many useful enchants placed on it, and an iron sword. Suddenly, I spun around me, my brain somehow processing the blinks of images and showing me that someone was missing. I slowly turned back to them, squinting a little as I avoided their gaze, instead focusing on the door to my room.

"Guys... where's Infinity?" I pointed out, and their eyes widened.

"Oh shoot! I left her by the rubble where you fell!" Toby exclaimed, putting a hand over his mouth as he began to sprint back to the stairs with both of us in tow.

We were concentrating so much on not falling down the stairs as we ran down several steps at once that we didn't notice the slightly transparent figure picking up Infinity until we reached the floor and looked up. I drew my bow, knocked an arrow, and aimed it at the person's back.

"Hey!" I yelled, and he froze, slowly turning around.

"Ridgedog?" Strippin' exclaimed in disbelief.

A sick smirk spread across his face, and I seemed to be the only one who noticed one of his hands heading to his belt. "Why, how nice of you to join me. But I was just leaving, so sorry!"

"Give Infinity back, Ridge." Toby said carefully, and I was surprised by how determined he seemed, as well as how confident.

In a flash, the demigod had whipped out his Desert Eagle and swiftly pulled down the trigger, sending a bullet flying towards the young brunette. My eyes widened, the whole world seeming to slow down as I took in the scene. The bullet was a perfect shot, and would go straight through his head, killing him pretty much instantly. I didn't want to see him killed before me without doing anything, no matter what I had been taught.

Then, some Elven words came to mind, and I didn't even think about it before shouting it out and imagining my magic concentrating in those words. "Ry zeat traec!" (Hehehe, making up words is fun! :3) Which, when I thought about it afterwards, roughly translated to 'Object freeze', and when I looked over to Toby, the bullet has stopped.

He had his eyes squeezed shut, his breathing rapid, and I speedwalked over to him and patted his shoulder, making him open his eyes which promptly widened as he was greeted with the not-so-welcoming sight of a bullet right before him. When I glanced to Ridge, who had stopped mid-escape and turned back to look, he had a look of confusion on his face.

"Ridge, may I repeat Toby's earlier statement and re-phrase it slightly? You will give us back Infinity. You are the one who killed her. We are trying to bring her back from her untimely death at the hands of a seemingly insane demigod. Give her back." I snarled forcefully, stepping forwards and pulling the string back on my bow, aiming it at Ridge.

He chuckled darkly. "Is it a fight you want, mortals? Then it's a fight you'll get!"