The statue opens its stone eyelids, revealing the lifeless marble orbs underneath them. It rolls it's shoulders back and lifts the hammer by its feet, raising it above its head and sinking into a fighting stance. Everyone starts yelling at once, our voices mixing in a harmony of panic and fear.

"We have to fight that thing?" Chase calls out.

"Just one of us!" Garret adds. "The voice said to choose a champion, so only one of us can fight it at a time."

"The weapons! Behind it! We have to defeat it using those!" Morgan explains. "That's the challenge. He's signaling us out, so our strongest member will be all we have!"

"Who do we choose?!" I ask, watching the statue swing the hammer around its head.

"CHASE PARKS!" Chase yells immediately. "Our champion is Chase Parks!"

The mysterious force that had him pinned suddenly lets go of him and he drops to the floor in a crouch. I see the statue immediately focus on him. Emotion surges in my chest and I yell out "no, don't!" But Chase doesn't listen to me, instead dodging around the monster to the cave of weapons. I suck in my breath and keep my eyes on him, silently praying for his continued safety.

The statue's hammer shoots towards Chase at top speed, missing his head by mere inches as he ducks quickly. I gasp out loud as he drops into a roll, coming up right next to a metal , club-like object. As the hammer's momentum is spent on the backswing, Chase readies himself and leaps at the statue with incredible speed and strength. There is a loud, destructive, crashing sound and pieces of rock go flying from its shoulder as the club hits its target. Chase lands in a crouch on the other side, all attention focused on the statue.

But rock cannot feel pain, so even as Chase orients himself the hammer is swinging right towards him. With a gasp he leaps back, the head just missing his face by inches as it slams into floor where he was standing seconds ago. He stumbles and falls, lying prone on the now cracked cave floor. The statue lifts its hammer once again to crush him.

I think about the relative mass of the great stone weapon compared to Chase's human frame, and it's all I can do not to call out in distress. One hit from that thing would break every bone in his body, smashing the life out of him. Whereas it would take many, many powerful blows to incapacitate the giant. Considering the fact that it could lose its head and still function pulls Chase's chances down even further. I feel my heart stop as the hammer swings down in an arch towards him.

Chase rolls desperately out of the way, narrowly avoiding death once again as he scrapes through the shards of debris on the floor. I hear him grunt as he gets to his feet, and see that he's bleeding profusely from a long cut on his forearm. He winces as he stands, but has no time to recover before the giant is after him again.

And so the battle continues, Chase barely getting away from every attack while landing a few scattered blows on his enemy one at a time. The whole thing transforms in front of me into this bizarre dance, the smaller performer twisting around the larger as he tries to catch him. Chase has to have some serious jumping ability to be physically able to hinder the statue at all. I can see him kick off of walls, debris, and even the giant itself to reach its head and shoulders. With every swing of the hammer I'm sure that it will finally take him down once and for all, but somehow Chase manages to avoid him every time.

Eventually his own attacks start to make themselves apparent. Both arms have suffered damage, as well as various spots on the legs and torso. But I can tell that Chase is getting tired. The swings from his club have significantly less power behind him, and most of his attacks are focused on the lower half of the statue. It's a good tactical move, but also lets Chase stay low most of the time, no energy wasted on reaching a higher target. His breathing has picked up to the point of near panting, and the empty space between him and the hammer as he dodges has decreased significantly. I'm worried for him.

Suddenly, right after another near miss, Chase screams at his opponent with a feral look in his eyes, raising his club once again. With a sudden burst of strength he kicks off of the wall and jumps at least four feet into the air. He swings the club as hard as he can, crashing into the rock with a crack and a smashing sound. With one swing he manages to take a softball size chunk out of its chest before falling to the ground with a grunt. He lands on his hands and knees before collapsing to the floor.

I see the foot before he does, rising above him directly in his blind spot. It's going to try to stomp on him. And judging by Chase's slack, unaware expression, it will succeed.

"CHASE MOOOOOVE!" I bellow, struggling pointlessly against the restraining force once again.

Somehow, through his haze of exhaustion, he hears me and tries to get out of the way, but his injuries make him too slow. Seconds later the statue's foot comes down, catching Chase's left arm as he rolls out of the way. There is a cracking sound as it connects, jerking him back as he is pinned.

I inhale sharply, a knot of concern rising in my throat. Please be okay please be okay please be okay.

Chase lets out an animalistic howl of pain, the first noise of real suffering he's made since the battle began. His back arches off of the floor and a sob escapes his clenched teeth. I bite my lip, straining towards him unconsciously.

As soon as the foot lifts he curls his arm to his chest, almost in the fetal position. The metal club is forgotten at his feet, but the giant is still in motion. As it lifts its arm up to swing, I'm certain that this will be the end for Chase.

"GARRET ANDERSON!" Our leader bellows, eyes as crazed as a wild animal's. There is a hesitant moment of fear before the force drops him to the floor and the statue turns his attention to the older man. At the same time Chase is thrown back against the wall next to me. He lets out a yelp as the impact jars his broken arm, tears shining in his eyes. I examine it from my place beside him, gasping at the sight. His wrist is bent at an odd angle, the fingers clawed and gnarled-looking. The pressure split his skin and possibly the muscle underneath, leaving a deep gash up his arm. Blood stains his whole arm up to the elbow, and it hasn't stopped yet, sliding slowly down and falling in wet drops to the floor. His shirt is absolutely ruined, the fabric shredded from numerous cuts across his chest and stained with the young mans blood. Bruises cover much of his exposed skin as well, and I'm sure that more will appear over the next few hours. If we survive that long. Chase looks bad, and it's possible he could possibly die of blood loss if we don't do something soon.

"Chase, jeez!" I cry out, trying to move along the wall towards him. "Shit! Okay, umm. . . I. . . I don't-"

"Just. . . Keep on. . . Ahhh!" He lets out a groan and presses the back of his head against the wall. "Keep on talking. Distract me."

"Chase I don't-"

"Please!" He gasps, the fingers of his right hand clutching at his upper left arm.

"You want me to talk?!" I ask incredulously. "Fine, I'll talk! How about this weather we're having? Well I don't know it's a little hard to tell since we're in a cave! I'd say cloudy with a chance of STATUE PIECES FALLING FROM THE SKY!!!"

As if to prove my point, Garret gets in a good hit using a mace-looking thing, causing a barrage of rocks to rain down on us. I should my face, glancing over at the battle for a second as the dust clears. To be honest, Garret's doing pretty well for a forty something man. He's slower than Chase was, but definitely stronger. The force behind his attacks is obvious, despite the weight of the mace.

But as I turn back to Chase, I see him let out a shaky laugh. Confusion takes over my hysterics. "What in the world could you possibly be laughing at?" I ask.

Chase winces at the pain in his arm and trails off, but keeps a surprised smirk on his face. "Oh my gosh. . . You. . . You say the strangest things. . ."

I snort, inching along the wall as fast as the force allows. It appears that I can move about half a foot away from the wall before I can't fight it and I'm shoved back. It takes me a second to reach Chase, struggling for every inch. Leaning forward I shrug off my blue cardigan, revealing the white tank top underneath.

"What are you doing?" He asks me, swallowing quickly.

"You're going to bleed to death if we don't stop that," I tell him, gathering my strength and ripping a sleeve off of the jacket. It's actually not as difficult as I expected. At least I wore this instead of the leather one.

"Here, give me your arm."

With a pained expression he shows me the injury, fist tightly closed. Blood is still seeping out quickly, coating his whole hand. Up close and personal the wound is even worse. I fight back the urge to gag and pull the ripped sleeve onto his forearm, trying to be as gentle as I can. He groans, low and deep in his throat, and I wince, trying to be careful.

"Sorry! Sorry," I exclaim, biting my lip. "I have to get the bleeding to stop! Just hang on. . ." I rip off the other sleeve and carefully slide it over the first. I'm so intent on Chase that I'm only half aware of the battle in front of us.

"Look!" Chase tells me, pointing with his good hand to Garret and the statue. I glance over to the rest of the cave, preparing for the worst. Garret could've been crushed by the giant, he could've lost a leg, he could've sustained a head injury, the worst scenario is a pretty dark one. But when I turn towards him he's uninjured, just tired. The damage to our foe has multiplied significantly, particularly to its lower half, but the place that took the most hits is the chest. The hole that Chase made shortly before his injury has tripled in size, revealing more stone underneath, as well as. . .

"What is that?" I ask Chase, squinting at the small, dime-sized portion of rock that seems to sparkle and reflect light. "Could it be. . . A weak spot?"

"I think that it's like its heart," he says. "If we can puncture that-"

"Kara Anderson!" the redhead yells, switching with her father instantly.

Morgan opens her mouth to trade places with her daughter, but Kara puts one hand up.

"No Mom!" She calls. "Let me do this!"

She slips into the weapons room, too quick to be attacked. After a glance at her options she picks up a sword, looking the sharpened blade over before ducking back out. It would be disastrous to get trapped there. The statue could block your way out just by stepping in.

As Kara starts the fight I turn back to Chase, focusing on what I can control. The whole battle thing sets my nerves on edge, but I need to keep steady if I'm going to help him. I meticulously tear what's left of the cardigan into strips, noting that the first two layers have already all but soaked through. Using five of thickest strips I add more padding to the wound site before getting ready to bind it.

"Okay Chase," I start. "This might hurt. I have to tie these around it to keep the pressure, okay?"

He nods, willing to let me help. I'm glad. He trusts me, at least to a certain degree.

I put one of the strips around the middle of his arm, pulling the ends up on either side. It would be better if I had something to make a splint with, but there's nothing I can use here on short notice. It's hard enough to get my opposite arm around to help Chase as it is. Biting my lip I tie a simple knot and pull it as tight as I can. I feel Chase tense beside me and hear him gasp.

"I'm sorry, just hang on," I beg, tying a second knot before preparing another strip. I tie this one a little higher, making it just as tight as the first. Slowly I make my way up his arm, adding another tie every inch or so. When I do reach the top I go back to the first tie and continue, thus time heading downwards. After a minute Chase gets used to the sting and all I get in response is a quick flinch.

The fight continues on in front of us, Kara holding her own against the giant. She's fast, faster than even Chase, but she can barely do any damage with that sword of her. I can tell that her target is that tiny, exposed piece of sparkling rock at its chest, but she keeps on missing. The statue seems to know what she's after, and makes it very difficult for her to get in a shot. It's harder for her to jump as high as Chase did, and most of her strength is used up dodging swings. I can see the frustration etched on her face. As the fight continues she gets more and more daring, her attacks reckless as they are fueled by her anger.

"She's going to get herself killed," I hiss under my breath. "But still, she's doing great. How are all of you so good at this?"

"We're trained in combat as kids. A lot of it is developing out Gifts, but most of us are competent in some martial arts, self defense, and a little weapons training besides the basic ability to fire a gun. Being the sworn enemy of the second greatest recorded organization of Gifted people has. . . Repercussions. We learn to take precautions. And this is a group of our strongest fighters. We weren't chosen for no reason."

I nod, watching Kara flit around the giant like a small orange butterfly. They certainly weren't chosen for no reason.

Just then the statue swings its large fist towards her with a quick burst of speed. She doesn't have time to dodge it, in the position she's in, and I'm sure that she'll get killed, but then I hear, "MATTHEW PARKS!" Screamed desperately from across the cave. Kara is jerked out of the air and back to her original spot on the wall, out of harms way. Her brow is furrowed and she gasps for breath, visibly shaking with rage and exertion. It's completely unlike her. I guess she has a fighting streak.

As soon as Matthew hits the floor I hear Chase gasp, straining forward despite his injured arm. He can't go out there like this, he'll kill himself.

"No!" I order, throwing out an arm as if to stop him. "You can't. With that arm there's no way you can do better than he can."

He stares into my face, eyes wild and desperate. I can see the beautiful gold flecks in them, swirling around slowly. I nod once, keeping pressure on his bad arm with my hands. He looks conflicted for a second before nodding back. "Okay," he says. I feel a rush of gratitude.

Matthew seems to take a different tactic than the others, choosing to spend a lot of time on the defensive. The first thing he does is pick up a spear, but he doesn't use it, instead playing tag with the monster by darting around all over the place. I wait for him to go after the heart, but he doesn't even try, he just lets the thing try to hit him unsuccessfully. After a while the floor is completely covered in craters and large broken off rocks. He's missed dozens of good opportunities anyone else would've taken. Everyone in the clan is telling him to go, to attack, to switch to offensive. Chase leans toward him subconsciously, his brother's inactiveness driving him crazy.

"Don't worry about me!" Matt calls to the yelling clan members. "I have a plan!"

"Matthew you better start on that plan or I'm going back in!" Chase growls.

Matt frowns, momentarily distracted from his exploit. "No! Whatever you do, don't come out here. You could get hurt, you could die!"

"So could you!!!" Chase yells at him.

Matthew dodges another swing, making the hammer shatter the floor and add to the growing pile of rocks on the edges of the room. Chase only seems to get angrier. "DO SOMETHING DAMMIT! YOU HAVE TO AT LEAST TRY AND FIGHT HIM OR HE'LL JUST CRUSH YOU!"

Matthew gives him a small smile. "Think smarter, not harder, little bro. The trick is in the planning. If you're too wildly desperate, you'll never be able to think properly." And with that, he leaps forward to kick off of the statue's knee, propelling himself up and backwards towards the wall. He pushes back against it as his feet make contact, and uses that force to get himself at chest level to the monster. I see the statue hoist its hammer and swing it around towards the boy. Matt takes the spear and throws it with pinpoint accuracy. Normally it would just bounce off the rock, but this time it hits the shiny piece and just goes through it, sinking about a foot in before stopping. Suddenly a beam of light shoots out from the entry site, glowing a white-gold color.

But even as the spear is sliding in, the giant's hammer hits Matt square in the chest, the full force of the crude tool ripping through his body. It sends him flying into the wall beside the weapons cave with a cracking sound, where he slides to the ground and lays still. His eyes are closed and there is a large gash on the side of his head.

"NOOOOOOO!" Chase bellows from beside me, his voice trailing off into a mournful howl. The screams of others join him as well, Kara's standing out among the rest in pitch and intensity. All I can do is stare out in open mouth horror and dread. He's. . . Not dead. . . Is he? No! Not Matthew. Matt is so caring, so worried for everyone. He's the one that's always behind you, keeping an eye out, no matter how annoying it can get when you don't want to talk to anyone. And he was Chase's only tie to reality. He said so himself. What will happen to Chase, and the rest of the clan for that matter, if he dies?

Cracks start to run up the statue's still form, rays of golden light peeking through as they widen. The hammer, now worn and weathered, falls to the ground with a crash. It takes a second for the cracks to spread all around before they widen suddenly, forcing the rock apart and showing more light. Then, with another crack and a loud bang, the whole statue bursts apart in an intense flash of light. Pieces of rock go flying in every direction, the largest chunks denying the floor as they hit. Some of them even reach us on the walls, showering down small stones and dust, as well as a few chunks that are sure to leave bruises as they make impact. I feel a larger one hit my upper thigh and I flinch away from the sting.

There is a short pause before the strange force that kept us pinned just disappears as suddenly as it came, making all fall to the ground. But Annalise and Morgan stop themselves automatically with their flight abilities. I guess that everyone has their powers back.

Chase can only use one hand to catch himself, so as soon as he hits the floor he collapses onto his left shoulder. As I stand I try to make a move to help him, but he physically shoves me away, making me brace myself against the wall to avoid falling back down. I stare at him in open mouthed shock, but his eyes are only for Matthew as he pushes himself up to run over to him, calling the other boy's name. Kara scrambles over as well, Morgan on her tail. I follow just behind them, a shadow in the corner.

As soon as Chase reaches him he falls to his knees on the floor, breath hitching brokenly as he pulls his brother's body battered into his lap. The older boy's lip is split, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth. His clothes are torn and shredded, and his chest isn't moving at all. I don't see him breathing.

"Matt?" He asks desperately, keeping the boy up with his knee as he reaches with his good hand to cradle his head. "C'mon Matt, it's not funny, get up. Please. Come on, I'm serious. Please Matt, wake up."

Kara stares on at the scene, slowly backing up until she hits the wall, where she sinks to the ground with a wail, covering her face with her hands. I watch her slowly go to pieces, sobbing and trembling quietly.

"Matt," Chase gasps. "Matthew! Please come back to me! Please Matt!"

Morgan suddenly pulls me to her side without even glancing over, clutching my hand in a death grip. I feel like I'm being crushed. Her eyes are wide, mouth taut as she looks on, unable to tear her eyes away. "No," I hear her whisper. "Not him. Please not Matt. God no, not my baby!" Her hand grips mine even tighter, if that were possible, and I want to pull away, but can't bring myself to do it.

Still with his brother, Chase continues begging him. "Please, Matt, you've got to be joking. Dammit. Please! Dammit Matthew Parks, damn you! F***! You can't do this! You can't die! You can't leave me! Shit!" He says all of this like an order to the dead boy, like he can keep him hear by sheer force of will power. But then his words turn into desperate cries, screams of pain and rage as sobs wrack his body, making him shudder as they overwhelm him. He put his hands on Matt's chest, screwing up his face and sending a shock of electricity through him. I see his body jerk, but there's no response. Chase tries again. And again. And again. But there's nothing, nothing at all. He's not coming back.

"I can't live without. . . I can't live. I can't live I can't live I can't live. Please! God, bring him back to me!"

He hunches over the corpse, shaking uncontrollably. "No. No no no no no! You can't DIE!!!" This last word is uttered with a shattered hopelessness that overrules anything else he's said so far, echoing out into the cavern larger than life in the way that only words can do. His voice is filled with unimaginable suffering, as primal as a howling wolf. This is the sound of a man who has lost everything.

Morgan collapses to the ground in a heap, like her legs could no longer support her weight. I take a small step forward, my heart breaking for Chase. All I want to do is help him, to take his pain upon myself so that it hurts him less. I edge around to a spot beside him, biting my lip as I take in his bent form. He looks so vulnerable, all pretenses gone. But when I call his name, his neck snaps up like a puppet on strings. His dark eyes bore into my own, pupils dilated. They convey a tangle of emotion that words cannot even begin to describe. But the confusion and hurt in them is swallowed up in a second, and his expression is replaced by a hard mask of rage.

I stumble back, remembering the story that he told me about his father. It is enough to make him turn back to Matthew, laying his head on the boy's chest. "No," he growls. "Stop! COME BACK TO ME!" There is something feral behind his screams this time, something dangerous, hidden just underneath the surface. He's falling apart.

I feel a hand on my arm, jerking me back. It's my father, trying to pull me towards the weapons cave. He senses the danger too. I try to fight him, struggling to go to Chase, but nothing works. Out of the corner of my eye I see Garret drag Morgan and Kara inside next to Anne's tense body against the wall. Everything seems to happen almost as if in slow motion as my dad tugs me further and further away from Chase as he cries. We're leaving him. We're leaving him alone. I can't let that happen! Matthew was his last tie to keep him on this earth, he can't be left alone! I need to stay with him! He's alone! All alone. And they're pulling me away!

I shove my elbow back, slamming it into Dad's face with strength I didn't know I possessed, causing him to lose his grip on me. Immediately I rush to Chase, reaching for him. But something grabs my wrist, stopping my fingertips just inches from his shoulder. I'm roughly pulled backwards, my arm nearly tearing out of its socket. And as I'm being pushes into the cave I see Chase go still for a second, hearing him whisper quietly, "Matthew. Don't leave me." Before he convulses once, violently.

Suddenly something shoves me to the ground, landing on top of me and covering my body. Pain floods my mind, but I can still feel the tangible shock wave that goes through air shortly before the whole place explodes in a flash of sound and light.

Thank you. For everything, my readers. It really does mean a lot. I wrote this chapter with the fury of a madwoman, all in two days. I have made changes to Chase's past in previous chapters AGAIN, and I deeply apologize for that. Lauren was written out, and so was Tyler. I am truly sorry for the trouble, but just know that Chase's unstable casting limit caused his father's death when he was ten. Thank you so much for reading, you know I love you all for putting up with my changes!

-iambibliophilic