Chapter 9
I was stunned. To see and hear that the woman in front of me was my aunt made the pit of my stomach churned with bubbling nervousness but, at the same time, a growing anger. The feeling was indescribable, almost as if it was there all this time.
“To see you here alive and well.” A smile appeared on my aunt’s lips. “I am glad.” A fake tear slid down her face, giving me a false illusion that she cared.
I didn’t know how I knew, but my guts told me that everything she was saying now was a lie.
“I heard that you have injured your head.” She replied with concern as she tilted her head, looking at me with her best warm smile she could muster. “That’s so horrible. To hear that you have lost your memory from your father….” Her tone of voice slightly changed as she glanced up towards me with a bit of glimmer in her eyes. “I hope you haven’t forgotten me.” She gave off a soft, gentle appeal that told everyone that she was a harmless woman. “I’m Julia, your aunt.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. I knew from the past discussion my aunt wanted to kill off the Dragon Maiden line, so she could become one. To know this information made me tense up as a slight snarl appeared on my lips. When I didn’t answer, she continued to chatter on.
“No matter,” She replied with her nose slightly turned upwards into the sky in a slightly arrogant manner. “I’ll take care of you.”
Her statement made me twitch, not liking the thought of a stranger bursting into my life and taking control of it. It actually made me feel mad that she would come into my life without even asking if I wanted to.
“No,” I replied with a low, threatening growl, lowering my head slightly. I watched her. She was dangerous, and I knew it. There was no way that she would be kind to me, especially if she was the one who killed my mom, but then again, I never had met my mother to feel any sentiment for it. All I knew was this feeling to survive, and my aunt probably didn’t have any slight thought of letting me live.
“No?” She was startled at my response, but she didn’t seem phased by my answer. Instead, she was more forceful. “You do know, I am your aunt.”
“So?” I replied. Not caring one bit who or what she was.
“What do you mean so?” She gasped, bringing her hand up to her lips, covering her mouth, surprised that I had shot her down. “You and I are family.” The word family was stressed to the point where I felt like she was purposely saying it to make me feel like we belonged. “ We must protect and help each other.”
I snorted. There was no way I wanted to be friends with a murder. “Lies.” I hissed angrily at her words.
“Lies?” She dropped her hand to her side and stared at me, confused. I have never lied to you as well as I have your rare blood ties. We should be helping each other, allowing us to grow and become stronger.”
“Are you sure that is really what you mean?” I replied. My tails flicked back and forth until finally, it stopped.
“Absolutely.” She replied sternly. Even still, there was something that was telling me that there was something more to this than before. “I have been searching for you for a very long time.”
“I think, Aunt.” I stressed the words “that we should part ways here.”
“Absolutely not.” She replied sternly, pouting at my decision. “This is what I have been waiting for, especially since your mother had passed away.”
I was just about to say, just because it’s you doesn't matter. But I kept my mouth shut and watched what my aunt was going to do next.
Julia walked a couple steps bravely forward, looking up at me as my gaze caught hers. Then she stopped as a group of Orcs rushed over to her side as if she needed protection.
“Darling, don’t be like this.” She replied with a sigh of my answer. “I am your aunt. We’re blood.”
The way she said blood made me shiver. It actually horrified me to be related to her. I didn’t know when she would fight back or even possibly kill me in my sleep. The thought of living with her was even worse.
“Do you not know how long I have waited for this?”
“No.” I sharply replied. “What are you really doing here with the Titan?” I asked, watching her every movement as my eyes slightly squinted.
“With him?” Julia slightly looked over her shoulder at Rei, who was frowning as he stood up. He was displeased that she was here, but when their eyes met, he flinched. “Don’t worry, darling. He’s not a problem.”
“Not a problem?” I asked, confused. “He’s the reason why my friend has been kidnapped!” I furiously yelled. I knew that he wouldn’t let Coco go so easily and that she was tortured. It’s just that right now, I just didn’t see it. Coco covers her pains and illness very well, and I usually don’t find out until a week later when the injury is almost gone.
“Your friend?” Julia tilted her head a bit confused, then she gazed across the field to see what I was talking about. “Do you mean the dirty girl on the floor? She’s just a servant? What does it matter?”
“She’s not dirty, and she’s not just a servant!” I snapped. The way she said servant irked me. I saw Coco, Tart, and Moca as more than just servants. They were friends and family, someone I couldn’t replace so easily.
“Then, what is she?” She scoffed. “Servants are meant to serve their master; anything more is preposterous.”
“She’s my friend.” I growled, “and she’s worth more to me than you.”
Julia froze, staring at me as if I was crazy. She then snorted once and rolled her eyes at me at the words that I had said. “Servants are servants. They are dispensable and can be easily replaced.” She waved her hand in front of her. “Now, let’s put this boring topic behind, and let’s go home, Berry. The family misses you.”
The way she said it grated on my nerves. So far, my father didn’t say anything about meeting the family. Honestly, he didn’t even meet or talk with me once and just left instantly with the king.
“What family?” I spoke peeved. They were no family or mine, especially my aunt. “Please don’t tell me you guys love me; you know just as well as I that it is a lie.”
Julia gasped, covering her mouth as she stared at me, appalled by what I had said. “I would never think such thoughts.”
“Then what about my mother?” Words started to flow out of my mouth like water. I couldn’t hold it back. I was just too angry. How dare she think of me as family after what she had done.
“What do you mean, sweetie?” She asked, confused, wondering where I was going with it.
My eyes became wide, unable to believe in what she had said. There was no way that she didn’t know what happened to my mother when she was its cause. I couldn’t hold it in any longer, and I blurted out my words. “You killed her!”
“I killed….her?” Julia's hands dropped to her side, confused about what I had said. Then she tilted her head to the side, searching my gaze for an answer. “Who told you that?”
“It doesn’t matter who,” I replied. “Why would you even care?”
“Because whoever told you that is a liar.” She didn’t like how she was accused of such a thing.
“Please, don’t lie to me.” I didn’t believe her for a second. “You're working with the Titan, and you think I will believe your words after that?”
“Working with?” Julia's face darkened, then suddenly her expression changed. A laugh erupted out from her beautiful lips, causing everyone to jump in surprise. “Oh please, he only did something for me. It was just a simple deal. He is nothing more than a pawn.”
The word pawn rang in my ears, and I knew a lot more about her in that one word throughout the whole interaction. She was definitely not the type of person I liked to interact with, especially how she sees people and other species as no more than pieces to a chess puzzle.
Suddenly, Rei cut in. He wasn’t happy about the accusation of what Julia had said and came stomping over.
“I am not your pawn,” Rei spoke angrily. “We had a deal, witch. You let me deal with Berry.”
“Yes, I did. You dealt with her by bringing her here.” Julia responded with an uncaring tone. She wasn’t phased by his anger.
“That wasn’t part of the deal!” Rei stomped angrily, furious that his words weren't going through to her. “I said I wanted her!”
Julia waved her hands, then she shook her head. “What for? You don’t need her.”
“Yes. I. Do.” He stated, stressing each word. “The humiliation that she had caused me. Both that and the wretched elf!” With a point of his finger, he glared towards me. “I need my revenge!”
Rei's body started to shake from pure anger. He didn’t like the idea that he was being stalled at his revenge by Julia. Instead, he wanted to make sure that I was harmed and possibly killed from how he was glaring at me.
I glared back, not liking how he was staring. There was no way I was backing down on a glaring contest, especially against him.
“I said, no.” She replied a bit stronger than before. “She is my nephew, and I have a say in this.”
“You promised!”
Julia sighed, rolled her eyes as she twirled her fingers around her fingers. Black magic swirled around her hands, giving off an ominous pressure as it blazed forth in power, causing all the orcs and even me to shudder. Something about her magic was deadly, almost toxic to the point where the air was getting even difficult to breathe.
Rei even wavered, seeing the energy wrapped around her hand like a snake as it roared with life. Eventually, the fierce blaze of black magic started to simmer down, and instead, something appeared in her hand. A small ruby red crystal that sparkled underneath the sunlight.
“The blood jewel.” Rei gaped. His eyes became round as if he was delirious. He was entirely enthralled by the jewel in her hands and completely forgotten about me, which I was glad for, but it made me wonder what was so special about that jewel.
Gazing around, I saw everyone was shocked at what Julia had suddenly summoned from her hands and seemed to be just as lured in by its brilliance.
“The jewel of life.” Julia’s voice rang clear, catching everyone’s attention. “Or should I say the stone of death?” She chuckled.
“How…?” Rei was flabbergasted at what he was seeing. He took a step forward. His hand shaking with excitement at what Julia had in her hand. “Where?”
Julia snorted as if it wasn’t a big thing. She then rolled the crystal between her fingers as the jewel sparkled in her hand stronger than before.
“What’s so great about that?” I whispered over towards Cathy, who was standing next to me with her hand that was injured. Her lower lips were bitten slightly as she held in her pain.
“The Jewel of Life,” Julia answered again as if she heard my question, “is a crystal that brings back the dead.” She gently brought the crystal in front of her for all to see a better glimpse of it. “I know that each and every one of you would like to have this item. For this does not only bring back your loved ones but also yourself.”
A chill ran down my back. Seeing the hunger in people’s eyes, I could tell that this was a valuable object that was considered almost legendary. Even reading the status of the item in her hands, I was dazed.
Jewel of Life
A jewel that could bring back the dead. If the holder dies an unexpected death, it will resurrect them once again. The crystal even extends one’s life by thousands of years. Made from the sacrifice of thousands of human lives. Another name for this stone is called the Philosopher's Stone or the Resurrection Stone. A legendary artifact that only 11 known crystals are made throughout history. Some say, once dead and brought back to life, they understand the hardship of life and death, making them stronger.
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Shuddering from reading the description, I was completely shocked at the ingredients needed to create the stone itself. It was something that I was not keen on wanting to use even if I could help it. The thought of using the lives of people to make the stone itself was something that made my stomach turn.
“This should be enough.” Julia tossed the stone towards Rei as if it wasn’t a big deal.
Rei reached outwards, fumbled, and stared at the stone in his hand. He then glanced down into his hand then back towards her, surprised.
“But-” stuttered Rei, flabbergasted to be given such a gift.
Before he could say anymore, Julia's lips curled up into a sinister smile. Her hands whipped forward, a black lightning-like energy shot out from her fingers, shooting towards him like a bullet. In an instant, the energy shot through his heart, puncturing a small hole that Rei didn’t even notice as he stared at Julia blankly in confusion.
It took a complete of seconds before Rei started to waver. His knees gave way as he collapsed onto the ground with a shocked and confused expression on his face. We all froze, unsure of what had happened. Everything happened so fast that we were dumbfounded by what had happened, uncertain if what we saw as even real in the first place.
Rei fell backward and landed with a loud thump with his eyes curled back into his skull. The orcs with him took quite a bit of steps back as if what Julia would do would be done upon them. Fear rose in each and everyone’s heart while my group was on high alert.
Julia sighed with pleasure as she gave off a sweet smile, “That should make him understand.” The black magic slowly withdrew into her body, disappearing into thin air. “I dislike it when people don't listen to me when I repeat myself three times now.” With an exaggerated sigh, she strengthened herself and stood up.
I knew death doesn’t bother me as much, but seeing Julia slaughter a Titan of legend so quickly boggled my mind. How? I just didn’t understand how that was even possible. So far, the only way I knew how a Legendary creature would die was from one of the legendary weapons….but so easily by Julia stunned me.
Julia turned her attention to me as she continued to smile as if nothing had happened. “Don’t worry, sweetheart.” She replied with an upbeat attitude. “He’ll come back.”
“He’ll come back…..?” I stared, stunned. That wasn’t the problem. It was how easily she killed him that bothered me immensely.
“Yes, though, to use a bit of my power to kill that weakling made me feel a little bit more at ease.” She replied chirpily, making me super uncomfortable.
That was only a little? Even though I have trouble still controlling my magic, she used the least amount of strength to do it so well and ruthlessly.
A fizzle and pop could be heard around him just on cue as a loud hissing sound was followed right after. Black and red smoke erupted out from the crystal that he had in his hand. The crystal melted, slithering down his hand and curling around his wrist. It twisted and wrapped its way up towards his shoulder, making its way quickly towards his heart. On his wounded area as it quickly closed up the wound that Julia had created. Followed after, a groan erupted out of Rei’s mouth. His body spasmed a bit and eventually settled down.
It was as if everyone was holding their breath, watching Rei come back to life. His unmoving chest started to move up and down with long breaths. We all couldn’t believe our eyes to see the legendary artifact actually work in front of us. To know that it was genuine and for Julia to kill Rei as if it was nothing and use it as either a random thing on Rei or it was used to make an example out of him.
I honestly put my bet on making him an example to everyone present. All the orcs automatically saw Julia as their leader and someone not to disrespect. While I knew instantly, we needed to get out of here fast.
With a loud cough, Rei opened his eyes as he groaned in pain. “What?” He pushed himself up, confused. “Happened?”
Nobody made a sudden move. They only watched him come back to life. None of them wanted to make the first step for the fear that it would break the illusion.
Rei scanned around, confused at everyone’s expression. Then not even a second later, he snapped towards his hand and searched for the crystal.
“Where is the Jewel of Life?” He asked, unsure of what had happened. Looking around, he searched for it but couldn’t find it.
One of Rei’s most loyal followers spoke up. He was a gruff orc who looked angrier than the others, making his face contort into a stern frown as his thick black eyebrows wiggled as he was in partial deep thought.
“Sir,” The Orc coughed, “have you forgotten?”
Rei stopped, looked up as he crossed his arm in front of him. “I don’t understand what you are implying here.” He spoke with an angry tone. “Have you seen it?”
“Well….that’s the thing….” The Orc replied. He was embarrassed at how strong of an aura the king was giving off compared to before. It completely boggled their minds wondering how he felt so strong when he just resurrected as they shuddered in fear.
Rei was getting annoyed at his delayed answer. His first started to clench in annoyance. “What is it? I don’t have all day!”
The Orc shuddered, bowed, and spoke with his head down. “The crystal resurrected you, sir!”
Silence followed after. Unsure what to do and where to look for fear of getting squashed by Rei’s rising energy. The others felt it as well, but when Rei heard what he said, the pressure around him disappeared instantly.
“I died?” Rei asked, baffled at what he was hearing. “Me? The great Titan?” His voice cracked, while his right hand slowly raised up unconsciously towards the area that he got hit.
Julia sighed, rolling her eyes as if it is no big deal. She waved her hand in front of her and said, “It’s barely a scratch.”
The word nothing made Rei twitch. Even I was speechless and uncomfortable with the whole thing. To see such an event play out as if it was not a big deal was unsettling.
“How. Is. This. Nothing?!” Rei asked with a strained voice, realizing in that instant what Julia had done. “You….killed...me?!”
Julia shrugged as if it wasn’t such a big deal and folded her arms. She then turned away from him, ignoring him completely, and instead turned towards me.
“Sweetheart.” Julia cooed at me with a sincere smile as if nothing was wrong. “Let’s go home. You and I.”
Home. That was something I wanted to be at this moment. There were just too many things that happened in the past hour that my mind started to feel a bit stressed. Getting out of here was becoming a priority, and my mind was already figuring out a way to escape.
“Home?!” Rei yelled angrily. He took a step towards her shaking his hand in front of him. “You killed me!”
Julia didn't even give him an ounce of attention. “Come now, Berry.” She reached out towards me with her hands upwards for me to take her hand.
“You!” Rei was furious. He didn’t like how she ignored him completely as he stormed towards her in a fit of rage. Power accumulated around his body. His muscle tensed and thickened as he was quickly starting to get bigger and bigger.
All the orcs around him scattered backward. They didn’t want to get trampled or even injured by the fit of rage that Rei was giving off.
“Berry,” Julia said again, this time a bit more forceful with a bit of impatience.
“Julia!” Shouted Rei. “Don’t ignore me!”
It was as if everything fast forward at super speed. Rei growth amplified as the stench of his body odor even worsened.
Rei turned into a towering colossal giant. I felt like a dwarf compared to him. He was ten times bigger than my height, while his face reminded me of an angry Japanese oni. There was not a single fat on Rei, he was pure muscle. The word Titan indeed fitted him. His hand turned into a fist as he reached down to slam onto Julia.
Alarmed, I yelled. “Everybody! Quickly get on!” My wings opened up, ready to take off.
Coco, Tart, Phil, Cathy, and Stryd scrambled over, grabbing onto me as I lifted off the ground in a hurry.
Rei’s large hand fell down towards Julia with vicious power. A gust of wind shot outwards as it landed on top of Julia with a sickening thud. For a moment, I thought I heard bones breaking as the ground itself cracked outwards.
My wings caught the fierce wind, causing me to stumble in midair. Cathy screamed as her hand slipped. Phil reached outwards in the nick of time, allowing him to save her from hitting the ground.
On the other hand, I had to correct myself as quickly as possible to not throw off the rest onto the ground. When I was able to reorient myself, I was able to see the destruction that Rei had personally caused.
The whole ground looked like an earthquake erupted and tore the ground apart. All the surrounding orcs were toppled over, groaning in pain as they lay scattered around the whole place. Only Rei seemed unphased with a hint of a grin on his lips, but suddenly his grin was disappearing in seconds.
“How?!” Rei was appalled at his fist, being pushed upwards. His muscles tensed, muscles bulged as beads of sweat started to come down his face. “Impossible!”
“Nothing is impossible.” Julia's voice came out from underneath Rei’s fist. In one push, she threw Rei’s hand back, causing him to stumble backward.
The whole ground shook as he fell onto his butt with a loud crash. I was glad I wasn’t on land. The orcs were tossed around even more.
“We need to get out of here.” Hissed Phil.
“I know,” I replied back, beating my wings as I scaled up higher into the sky.
“Berry, If you leave. All your servants will die.” Julia stated with her sweet voice, giving me chills down my spine. I knew instantly that she would kill them, and I wasn’t stupid enough to risk it.
Seconds later, Rei roared in anger, his hand pounded into the ground repeatedly in anger. “Not possible! I am the great Titan! A legend!” He pushed himself onto his knees, getting back up. “How could a puny creature defeat me?!”
Julia sighed at the stupidity of Rei’s outburst and shook her head at his simplicity. “Simple, really.” She yawned. “I summoned you to life, and just as easily as I can kill you as well.”
“Impossible!”
“Is that the only word you could say?” Julia chirped. Let me show you. A sinister grin appeared on her lips. Black powerful magical energy seeped out of her body, multiplying as a large puddle of energy covered the whole ground around her.
The sinister energy swallowed up an Orc who was unlucky to be in its path as screams of horror could be heard. Crunching sound could be heard as they disappeared by the dozen as if the black energy was a living breathing creature eating the living. As it continuously spread outwards, the vegetation quickly died as if the energy was being sucked out of them. The trees wilted and even diminished into dust.
Even the air felt dense and cold. I could even see my hot breath coming out from my mouth and even my nose. The clouds started to roll in, covering the sun and making it darker. Something was happening, and the power that was coming around her was frightening. It was something that I had never felt before. It was as if the evil was being summoned here and now, and I wanted to run and hide.
“Come,” Julia spoke with a strong tone of voice as it echoed outwards in demand.
The black energy shimmered with more force than before. Suddenly, a loud hair raising scream erupted out from the black pool of energy, making everyone freeze. I wanted to fly away, but the fear put me in place, hanging in the air.
Out from the pitch-black darkness, a form started to appear. A blast of fire erupted out from the darkness, creating a hellish scene. The entirety of the black energy was quickly turning into a field of fire.
Fiery wings sprouted out from the darkness, erupting outwards as it flapped once. A long elongated head of a bird that reminds me more of a peacock with raptor green eyes glared around the whole area. Heatwave continued to burst outwards, hitting us with full force. The bird was made out of pure blackish fire. Its green eyes looked at us as if we were pure insects that needed to be crushed. At that moment, when the bird screeched, only one word appeared in my head: a phoenix.
The Phoenix shot out from the ground and up into the air screaming in pure bliss.
Following the Phoenix, the fiery black energy swirled around the Phoenix as a portal like energy seemed to condense in mid-air as the black energy went upwards into the circle fire that the Phoenix had called forth.
“Come, my beauties,” Julia replied with pure bliss. “Come back to this world once you ruled with great joy.”
“No way.” Cathy hiccupped in pure horror. “The legendary phoenix is born anew.” She gasped.
“What?” Stryd asked, baffled by what he heard.”Y-y-y-you’re joking, right?”
“Do you think I’m joking?” She replied in a hurry. “We need to get out of-” Her voice was cut off
as a hissing sound could be heard from the black portal itself.
Something else emerged out from the portal. Seven identical heads appeared from the portal, each one with a different number of crowned horns. Diamond-shaped eyes zipped from one location to another, snake like lips flickered outwards, testing the air. It reminded me of a giant dinosaur with multiple heads stuck on one body. Glimmering brownish gray scales decorated its whole body as bulging muscles, lacing every inch. It was half the size of the Titan, but exuded just as much power as Rei himself.
“The Hydra?!” Cathy gasped. “Berry, we need to leave now!” She was yanking on my spine, telling me to flee.
I took her advice, pumping my wings furiously to get high up in the air to get out of there. There was no way I would stay behind and tango with danger. I knew I would have a difficult time winning, especially when there were three legendary monsters here.
“Berry! Watch out!” Phil yelled. He shot out a blast of energy from his palm, hitting the Phoenix that came swooping down towards me in the attempt to pin me down.
I cursed underneath my breath, mostly because of the sticky situation we were in now. The Phoenix squawked, yelling at me to land. It fluttered above me, using its sharp claws to push me down back onto the ground. Forcing myself to twist and turn to get out of the hot mess I had put myself in.
“What in the world is this!” Rei yelled, completely stunned and confused at the sudden appearance of the legendary monsters. He has never met the others, so he assumed they were just creatures that Julia summoned. “Why have you called this pesky beast?!”
“Pesky?” Julia slowly said a slow smile spread across her face, inching upward into a snarl. “Do you not know this is the Phoenix and the Hydra? Just like them, they are your brothers and sisters. Welcome them.” She was thrilled with their entrance and was proud of what she had done
“I do not have any sisters or brothers.” Rei was getting annoyed at Julia. “I am the great Titan! All should bow before me!” With a roar, he rushed forward, causing the ground to tremble.
He swung towards the Hydra that was half his size with his large hand, trying to break its neck. Hydra hissed and snapped. Each one of its heads spat out acidic balls of energy towards Rei. When it hit Rei’s hand, he snarled as a hissing sound was heard. The stray acid energy balls flew past him and instead hit the unlucky orcs. It didn’t take a second later for screams of pain could be heard as part of the Orc’s face melted off as he died slowly.
Rei’s skin was so tough that it didn't affect him as badly as the Orcs, but left burns. The Hydra continuously spat out more and more while Rei was getting hit by it. Rei swung his arm behind him, catching the Phoenix in the air. It was sent flying backward as the Phoenix slammed into the ground.
With a flash of burning roar of fire, the Phoenix screamed in fury. A blast of tornado fire erupted around it and headed straight towards Hydra, Julia, and Rei. It was becoming a cacophony of mess between the four beings.
“What are you doing?!” Screamed Julia, who was furious at the sudden turn of events. “You have a job to do!”
All three didn’t listen to her words and continually battled, trying to get the upper hand before the other. Fire blazed outwards, acid was shot everywhere, and the ground trembled every second Rei took a step.
“Young mistress!” Moca’s voice called out from a distance. His voice caught me off guard, causing me to not pay attention and get hit on the right by one of the Hydra’s heads. I was flung out of the air, causing a few yells from my back.
“You idiots!” Julia stomped in a fury. She raised up her hands, summoning up a heavy array of power as she created a dark chain that shot out from the shadows and aimed straight towards Rei. His right foot was wrapped around by the chain, causing him to stumble.
In anger, Rei roared, yanking the chains as he swatted the angry Phoenix that came back to pay retribution against him. Flames shot forward, enclosing Rei’s whole body. The entangled Hydra that was in a headlock with Rei was caught up in its blackish fire, causing it to snap towards the Phoenix.
It was a complete mess, and I was super close to hitting the ground. Even to the point where I thought I would be trampled by Rei’s giant foot. I had to do a funky twist and turn to get out of harm’s way before I got killed. The whole midair maneuver was tight, my wings tucked as I spiraled downwards, and at the last second, I whipped open my wings to duck out of harm's way.
“Young mistress!” Moca blitzed forward. He jumped up into the air. His hand reached up, grabbed my foot as he hung in midair. With fluid hands, he pulled himself up without any difficulties. Eventually, he made it all the way up on my back.
“Moca?” I asked, stunned. This whole time, I wondered where he disappeared off too. “What?
How?”
“Young mistress. There is no time.” Moca replied with a hurried tone of voice. “Please brace yourself. I’ll get us off here as fast as possible.” He rummaged through his pocket, eventually pulling out a small clear bead in his hand.
“Isn’t that?” Phil asked, stunned. He fired a magical ice arrow from his bow, smashing it into one of Hydra's eyes. With an angry hiss, it swayed and spat out a ball of acid towards Phil.
I had to do a sharp turn just to avoid the blasted acid spit.
Again Moca replied, “No time,” instantly he crushed the small bead in his hand. A blast of powerful wind blew outwards from the small bead, causing everyone to freeze. Suddenly, the wind drew inwards as if it was sucking into Moca’s hands as I felt a rush of power sweep me off my feet. It was an eerie feeling where it felt like my stomach was being turned upside down in one fell swoop.
In that instant, I heard Julia scream. “Noooooooo! Stop her!” Her voice echoed in an angry outburst. “Don’t let them get away!”
And just when I thought that all the attention from all three legendary creatures wasn’t bad enough, they actually stopped fighting and rushed toward me, finally aiming to do her bidding. Just when I thought they would eventually come upon us, the world around me seemed to shimmer and eventually faded away.
Everything went black as we fell into some kind of twilight zone like effect, falling endlessly or flying. I just wasn't sure anymore, but eventually, the world started to brighten up once again.
Birds chirped, soft wind blew across my face, and we appeared out of thin air, a different location in the middle of a lush forest. Beautiful exotic plants were present everywhere with plentiful vibrant colors.
I landed on the ground with a thud as the others jumped off, just as confused as me.
“Where?” Tart slides off, looking around confused.
“I don’t know….” Stryd replied as he crept closer to me a bit worriedly. “Do any of you know?”
“Yes.” Cathy's eyes furrowed as she glanced around. “We are back at the elven kingdom…”
I shifted back into my human form and stopped short. For a moment, I thought I heard wrong.
“Did you say your kingdom?”
“Yes….” Cathy slowly stated.
My mouth slightly dropped in disbelief.
“Welcome to my people’s Kingdom. The City of Golden lights.”
To Be Continued.