“Wooowee!! I like foodoglians! Can we go again?” asks Punkin as she lands on her feet, just a mere instant after stepping into the port.

“Huh? Foodoglians?” responds Cer with curiosity as Cer scans for danger. Glad to be ho…what happened here? I can’t smell the flowers or hear the bees? I smell fire. Where is the lush smell of foliage that should be wafting from the Western Woods?

Interrupting Cer’s thoughts, Punkin responds, “FOOL DOGS and Garbage Lions is what Me-Ass said! I made that word- with my brain, because it is so big. Silly daddy!!...Where’re we? Where’s my house?”

Stepping in front of Punkin to protect her, Cer wields Fang in preparation to fight, “Pupu, draw your wand. We don’t have time to argue about guardian lions and foo dogs.”

“Huh? I need paper to draw…” responds Punkin confused as she attempts to dig through her backpack for paper and a writing instrument. “I can’t draw. Baba didn’t give me paper…”

With a bit of impatience, Cer sighs and repeats the instruction, “Pull out your wand and get ready to make bubbles. I do not recognize these auras and I don’t know where we are. This is off, We should be at the edge of the forest but I smell no trees!”

“OKAY!” shouts Punkin with an air of overconfidence as takes off her necklace to summon her wand. “HIDE AND SEEK! I’m Gonna get you wherever you are!”

Taking a deep breath and observing the moving auras around them, Cer prepares Punkin for any surprises as Cer attempts to draw in mana. “Yes…just like hide and seek. But for real this time. It’s not practice. They may want to chase us back and tag us hard.”

“I’m gonna catch them first! Madman Eve said I’M THE BEST!” yells Punkin confidently as she draws her wand back to give a full swing!

“Here they come! I will point with Fang, and you swing your wand and make bubbles just ike we practiced!” Commands Cer.

As the auras and mana concentrations of souls, spirits, and ghosts quickly approach, Cer points and prods at the air while Punkin swings to cast bubbles. As bubbles release, some of the bubbles make contact and imprison the souls with their anguished energy within them, while other bubbles float off into the air.

Seeing the bubbles trap some of the souls and spirits, the remaining free roaming spirits scatter in fear and anger to avoid being caught.

“Pupu, pop as many of the bubbles as you can with the bubble blade. I will try to reach the ones that are too high for you to reach. Go!” shouts Cer, as Cer bounds forward to pierce the bubbles with stabbing motions of Fang.

“Okay! Hai-ya! Ya! Yeh! Ahh! Bam! Pow! Pa!” yells Punkin as she swings at the bubbles with her bubble blade, popping as many as she can. “I’M WINNING! I’M GONNA GET YOU!”

“Get the ones with the ghosts in them!” shouts Cer, as Cer tries to reach some of the bubbles floating higher into the air. Can she see the souls and spirits or is she just popping random bubbles? Why is she popping empty bubbles? “Pupu, don’t waste your time popping empty bubbles. Only get the ones with ghosts in them.”

“Huh? I pop them all! I see no ghosts! Pop! Pop! Pow!” yells Punkin as she continues to pop any bubble she can reach.

“Too HIGH! Daddy!! I can’t reach ‘em!!” shouts Punkin as she jumps up and down, struggling to pop the bubbles high above her. “Get them daddy! They’re getting away!”

Feeling winded and trying to catch a breath, Cer sighs and doubles over and takes deep breaths.

Having difficulty recovering from the exertion, Cer resigns from popping any more bubbles. “It’s… Okay… Pupu. We… can… stop… now.” Wow, I am out of shape. That is almost as hard as trying to fight the black mass by The Mecca. No wonder I was defeated so easily. I can’t keep my endurance up. “Pupu, we can stop now.”

Pouting with her shoulders dropped and her bubble blade hanging down by her side, Punkin whines to Cer. “But..but..but daddy, they’re flying away!”

Standing up after regulating Cer’s breath, Cer repeats, “It’s okay. We can stop. I can see you chased them away. Those bubbles will be okay and the ghosts are trapped until those bubbles pop. They will end up on the Valkyrie as long as they pop. Eve can take care of them then. Sometimes we just need to know when to stop. We are not giving up, We are resting so we can do a better job later with more energy.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“No! I wanna catch them now!” Shouts Punkin as she stomps the ground with her foot. “I’m GOOOONNNNA CATCH YOU!”

Suddenly a vortex of air and a mysterious atmosphere of mana whirl around Punkin, drawing the bubbles and some souls, spirits, and mana in towards Punkin.

“Pupu, STOP!” Shouts Cer, as Cer focuses mana into the tip of Fang and stabs at the vortex, breaking the vacuum of energy Punkin created. “That’s dangerous. You’ll attract mo….”

Interrupting Cer, Punkin perks up and smells the air, scowling while pinching her nose. “Daddy, did you farted? It stinks bad. It tastes like fire and dead nasties!”

Tilting Cer’s head back to smell the air, Cer suddenly gags from the rancid smell of rot, burning, and decomposition. “Ugh. I smell it too!”

Sensing a great anger in the air, Cer turns to look for the source of the maleficent aura. “Pupu, grab your wand just in case. We may need to run. There is something coming our way. I can recognize some of the auras that fled before. Looks like they brought back a friend. I don’t know if you can see them like I….”

Interrupting Cer mid sentence again, Punkin wraps her arms around Cer’s thighs, shaking and whimpering in panic. “Da.. da.. DADDY! NOT A FRIEND!!! It’s a monster!!! My nose hurts. It stinks bad! It hurts! It’s hot!!”

Placing one hand on Punkin’s head to comfort her, Cer places Fang against Cer’s leg, and with Cer’s other hand, Cer takes out two vials from Cer’s pocket. Dripping a drop of the contents from each vial onto Fang, Cer mentally prepares for a resolve. So they summoned a Legion of Morrighan…OR Pupu must’ve attracted it. Just like she did 2 years ago. I have no choice but to open the box.

Picking up Fang and tapping the box on Cer’s back, the seal of the cat on the box lights up and smiles. Suddenly a beaded bracelet appears around Cer’s left wrist and a bladed tonfa appears in Cer’s left hand. I never knew Fang was a weapon, I thought this was the only weapon I had to hide. I don’t even know how to use this. Chisiki called it Talon, so I guess it must be used to claw at things. It’s such a weird shape. How do I use this if I can’t see what I am fighting? “Pupu, I’m going to need your help. How many arms does the monster have and how big is it?”

“I don’t wanna see. It’s scary! It’s so big. Bigger than my house. It has a lot of arms and eyes. It’s coming daddy! I’m scared!”

Tuning out Punkin’s voice for a moment, Cer listens to the air while smelling the breeze and scanning the aura of the Legion. Why does it look anguished and pained in the center? Is it hurt? What are these auric layers? Is it sad or angry? Is it trying to run from us or kill us? I can see its auras! HERE THEY COME….

Pushing Punkin away from the assault, Cer raises Talon just in time to stop the blow of an arm swinging from the Legion.

The Legion screams and jumps back as its arm winces in pain from Talon.

Covering her ears out of terror and fear, Punkin screams and tears start streaming down her face.

“WE WANT THAT! GIVE IT TO US. WATER OF LIFE AND FOOD!” Bellows the Legion with an orchestra of pained voices.

Stabbing at the Legion with Fang, Cer misses and jumps as the Legion counters with two arms trying to grab Cer. Cer deflects one arm with Talon, cutting the arm with Talon’s blade, while piercing the other arm with Fang.

Screaming in anguish from the searing mana flowing through Fang and Talon, the Legion swings three arms towards Punkin, who is cowered against a tree, in an attempt to grab her.

Sensing the arms direction, Cer ports in front of Punkin and tries to parry with Talon and Fang.

Failing to parry the attack, Cer is grabbed by an arm as the other two arms strike at Cer’s hands, causing Cer to drop both Talon and Fang.

Using the beaded bracelet as an armguard, Cer strikes the Legion’s arm but fails to break free.

“PUPU, RUN!” yells Cer as the Legion whips Cer through the air, smashing Cer against trees. “AGHHH! PUPU! RUN!!!” She needs to run! I need to buy her time! “Famished after our fallow. The Third Eye Calls upon you! AWAK….”

Breaking Cer’s incantation, the Legion slams Cer against the ground, right in front of Punkin.

Looking up and reaching towards Punkin while being pinned down, Cer strains to release a gasp of exasperated plea. “Ru-n… Pupu. Run. Get to the far..”

Cutting Cer off, an arm comes down and slams on the back of Cer’s head as the Legion laughs. “We know your tricks, you damned witch. We know all about you, Cer the Shriver.”

Pushing back with all of Cer’s strength, Cer struggles and manages to stand while the Legion’s arm presses Cer down. I can’t let it get to Pupu.

Raising Cer’s left arm, Cer yells out while releasing mana from the beaded bracelet. “PUPU!!! RUN!!!”

Suddenly a flash of light blinds Punkin and Cer.

The faint wailing of the Legion echo in Punkin and Cer’s ears as they land on the ground after being ported from the Legion.

A familiar voice breaks the residual echoes of the Legion. “That was close wasn’t it Cer. You really need to learn to fight better, old man. Don’t worry. You are safe now. For right now at least. It looks like we didn’t get far enough and it is headed this way. Cloaks up!”

Suddenly, a wall of hooded cloaks rises from the ground, floating in place, surrounding the remnants of The Apiary.

Slowly looking up and uncovering her ears, Punkin squints her eyes to focus on the outline of a familiar person.

Struggling to stand while propping up on one knee, Cer tilts their head to look up at the figure standing before them.

Taking in a deep breath after a sigh of relief, Cer releases a desperate chuckle. “Thanks Arwyn. Long time no see my friend. How did you get us out of there?”

Responding coyly, Arwyn pats Cer’s shoulder and raises her hand towards the Western Woods. “It wasn’t me. I just so happen to be here. No time to talk! It is headed this way. Brace yourself. This will be one hell of a survival story.”

Taking a deep breath of air, Cer stands up with some forced effort and renewed fervor. Raising Cer’s hand, Cer mutters some words and in a flash Talon and Fang break out of the edge of the forest and settle smoothly into Cer’s hands. “Let it come. I know what I have to do!”

With the sound of trees falling and the ground trembling, the Legion breaks through the trees towards the edge of the forest. "WE FOUND YOU. NO MORE RUNNING! WE'RE GONNA GET YOU!"

Catching everyone's attention, two figures emerge into view as they casually approach from the untarnished Calla-lilies.

Sensing their unveiled auras, Cer smiles and shouts out in greeting, "Thanks you two. Especially thanks to you, Cherub, wherever you are hiding."

"We always show up for our family...and family is whom we choose, not just who we are related to." Announces Kala with a sense of untainted ease.

Chuckling with impatience and irritation, Kali turns her head towards what is left of the Western Woods, and issues a bolstering warning. "Home is more than a house. I SAID STAY AWAY FROM MY HOME!"

Finally breaching the edge of the Western Woods, the Legion of Morrighan breaks the air of anticipation. "YOU ARE ALL MINE NOW!"