[Veinham Headquarters]
General Ames’ heart eased at the sight of his mother walking away. “One hour,” she repeated without turning her platinum head.
Master Edwards glanced at his gold watch in the empty scorched room that had once served as the Veinham headquarters. “We have one hour until she’s back. I’m impressed you convinced her.”
“A peculiar theory has been sprouting within my poor gut," General Ames whined.
Master Edwards raised his eyebrows.
"...that this whole thing is some sort of ploy at something more sinister.”
Master Edwards looked amused. “There is something larger at play than re-introducing the shapeshifters back into Mander?”
General Ames sat down and rubbed his well-defined chin in contemplation. “I need more information.” He placed his pointer finger on his right temple to initiate telepathic communication, “It’s me. I need a favor.” He paused with a playful grin. “Hahahaha.” Another pause, then once more. “Hahahahaha.”
Master Edwards furrowed his eyebrows and released a loud sigh. General Ames glanced his way and offered an apologetic smile.
“As I was saying, I need a favor. I need you to look into the Black-Hearted Witch.”
He paused. “I need you to go back further, dig in when I broke up with her. I need to know everything.” He paused and then laughed again.
“Ahem, Ahem, lives are at stake.”
General Ames sincerely tipped his head. “Yes, come see me with your findings. It’s been too long my friend. However, I’m afraid you’re too good a companion that I cannot focus on the issue at hand. I must go.” He produced a loud smooching sound and withdrew his finger from his temple.
Master Edwards glanced his way before he walked to the door. “I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll see you again in 10.”
General Ames poured a generous dollop of honey into his new steaming mug, this time filled with homegrown chamomile and lavender. He eagerly looked up at Master Edwards.
"Hold on. The thing is, I'm afraid one of the contestants might be a witch."
“WHAAT?”
“My ex is the type that demands she gets her fill. I don't see how hurting millions or my family's reputation is enough for her. One, she knows I wouldn’t sleep over a ruined reputation. Two, she doesn't care about millions, she cares about me.”
General Ames stood up and clasped his calloused hands. “The blood contract.”
He tapped his right pointer finger on his left knuckle. “The winner of the Love Contest. My heart will be bound to that woman, whoever the winner is for eternality, even if I take on another wife. Which means…”
“Which means?”
“I’m so screwed.”
“Ha! But remember, the condition is that you too, love the winner. There can be no winner if there is no true love.”
“Yes, but if a woman only desires your love, she can morph herself, her entire being, her very soul into what you desire. The Love Contest winner doesn't need to love me. I just need to love her, even for a split second.” He palmed his handsome face. “Curse my forefather.”
“Just keep your heart to yourself for now. You’re overthinking this.” Master Edwards dreamily stood under the doorway and waved at General Ames. “One thing at a time. See you in 10.” Then he strolled off like he didn't have a care in the world.
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[ Inside the Veinham Barrier
Day 1 - Cave 3 ]
The witch's octopus-like tentacles lunged at Henry and Benny, quickly wrapping around each one until the boys were enclosed from the neck down. “Am I too scary boys?” And just like that, she transformed into a stunning woman with strawberry-blonde hair and icy-blue eyes.
Unfortunately for the boys, despite her transformation, two tentacles remained, still imprisoning them with deadly vigor.
“A witch in the barrier? Since when is a witch a chosen one?” an authoritative female voice asked.
The witch’s eye flashed over to where the voice was coming from. She saw nothing there. “Show yourself or the boys get it.” She raised a new tentacle to Benny’s face, and then that tentacle rapidly transformed into a sharp blade as the witch’s eyes scanned the cave.
A slithering sound filled the cave, and a massive orange boa constrictor with two sharp horns, entered, riding on it was a woman.
“It’s Aina Le-ownn!” Benny shouted, his eyes almost popped out of his sockets.
Aina was dressed in a black leather bodysuit, she was fit with massive boobs as well. Aina is the embodiment of sexy, with droopy brown eyes and ruby pouty lips, she made everyone wonder about their sexuality.
The witch’s face tensed. She's a contestant? I need to distract her long enough to escape. Maybe I should toss one of these boys.
“So you know who I am?” Aina smirked.
“A bounty hunter, there are many but you are especially famous.”
“Oh that’s news to me,” she teased.
“I’m such a huge fan Miss Aina!” screamed fanboy Benny.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Aina laughed, “Now why don’t you let the boys go?”
“Do you take me for a fool?”
“No, just weak,” Aina said as she dropped both boys at her feet.
Blood streamed out from the witch’s cut tentacles. The witch was unfazed despite her severed arms. So what they say is true, she’s fast, the witch thought as she opened a portal.
“She’s making a run for it!” screamed Benny.
Almost there, the witch thought as she dodged a dagger. Missed! So Aina the Terror can miss! The witch cackled with evil delight, however, that evil joy faded when she observed the dagger striking the portal’s core.
The portal broke and the witch fell on the floor of the cave.
“How fortunate, you weren’t stuck in limbo,” Aina said. Aina looked down at the boys. “Now which one should I eat first?”
“What?” Benny asked. Then to his horror, his precious Bounty Hunter idol Aina transformed into a witch!
The other witch spat out blood. “Lenkar, you bitch, you scared me shitless!”
Lenkar flashed her a twisted and excited smile. “Cool, huh? I used the Shapeshifter’s shield and was able to transform using it, we just need to add a squeeze of mana and a dead shapeshifter.”
“What?! Idiot! Mother made a pact with them, you can’t kill one.”
“Oh. But you saw my agility and power. These monsters are great. I wonder how much stronger I’ll get with more monsters.”
Benny grabbed Henry’s hand and the two tried to make a run for it. A tentacle blocked their path. “No can do boys. We need ingredients and royal mage blood hits the spot,” Lenkar said.
Lenkar then watched with surprise as three daggers flew past her. Behind them, was a group of women running toward them and throwing mana daggers in their direction. The group of women was chasing someone.
“No, no, no that won’t do,” Lenkar said to Jamie, who had managed to get in between her and the boys.
Jamie had grabbed Benny and Henry; however, Lenkar used her blade tentacle to swiftly sever Jamie’s hands, which fell to the ground. Jamie bit down on her bottom lip and managed to sync her hands back before the Witch could grab them. Jamie rolled away and sprang up toward the cave ceiling.
“She got them!” the first witch screamed and pointed at Jamie, who had wrapped her mana thread around the boys and started to pull them away. They managed to get midway in the air until Lenkar used her blade tentacle to cut the mana string.
The boys started to fall toward the ground. Jamie pushed off her position on the wall and went for the boys again. “Get the bracelet ready!” Jamie yelled to Benny.
“It’s already used!”
What should I do, Jamie thought. I need to buy us time. Just a little.
Jamie looked over at Lenkar who was also heading for the boys as well. In the opposite direction, three contestants aimed mana threads at Jamie. Jamie whispered a spell as the three contestants each threw a mana thread at her, each thread wrapped around Jamie's body a few times.
Jamie released a bracelet, and a smoke screen clouded the air, but one of the contestants whispered something with her right palm raised, and then the smoke screen was blown away by her spell.
The sound of many pieces falling to the ground was heard in the cave, but the contestants ignored them. Wide-eyed from shock, they looked at Jamie across from them, she was almost through the transport portal, the kids with her. She had Henry in her arms and had Benny piggybacking. Swish. And like that, the three were gone.
Then the three contestants turned their attention to the first Witch, who too, was already mostly in her transport portal.
Lenkar lay dead, dismembered on the cave ground, cut up in whatever way the mana threads had touched her. The three contestants looked at each other annoyed. “Blinka’s going to be so pissed,” the blonde contestant said.
Outside of the cave, 200 meters away, toward the top of an 80ft Elderberry tree, there were two six-inch slashes. A swirl of green appeared from the slash marks, resulting in a materialized transport portal, and a blood-stained foot stepped out. Jamie spat out blood as she emerged with the children.
Jamie collapsed against the tree. “Jamie, that was amazing! You used the swipe spell perfectly, even I was tricked!” Benny said excitedly, as he and Henry hugged her. Henry's puffy eyes rained as he dug his head into Jamie.
“Gladmora, your hands Jamie!” Benny cried as Jamie’s hand started to bleed from where the witch had slashed her.
“Healing’s never been my strong suit.” Jamie took out a healing bracelet, but the bracelet fell with her right hand. She glanced at it and bit her bottom lip in frustration.
“Your hand just fell,” Benny said as he picked Jamie's hand up. Jamie laughed. Does he think I didn't realize? she thought with amusement.
“How did you stop the bleeding?”
“I’m wearing healing charms specifically for that. I had other wounds so I’m down to the last one.”
She looked at Benny. “Henry can help me with healing, Benny you go and activate the barrier traps. I don’t know if they had time to trace us.”
“But!”
“Hurry, we don’t have much time,” Jamie said as Henry started to help her link her hand back.
Benny pursed his lips. He turned and pressed his small hand against a small black triangle engraving on the tree bark and vanished.
At the trunk of the Elderberry tree, Benny poked his head out from within the tree’s trunk, only his head was visible. All clear, he thought. He walked out from the tree trunk and walked around the tree pressing each triangle engraving. Almost done, he said happily to himself. Four more trees and I can head back.
On his fourth tree, Benny noticed a small hole by his foot. He got on his knees, crushing some dried purple leaves, and peered into the hole. It's a flying mouse nest, Benny concluded. That berry... those are rare healing penguin berries! These berries can help Jamie, but I don't have enough mana for a tracking spell. Maybe if I look carefully, I can find out where the flying mouse went.
He heard a faint crunching of leaves nearby. A deer lazily looked at him as it chewed, its mouth had a familiar purple tint to it. Benny walked over. The bush still had some deep purple penguin-shaped berries the size of an adult fist. He picked one and checked the bottom, please have a white dot on the bottom! he thought. Yes!
Benny smiled and picked the remaining ones with the deer by him, it grazed a patch of olive-clover grass by his foot.
A few minutes had passed and Benny looked up at the darkening sky. I need to hurry back, he thought. He grabbed his makeshift bag filled with wild penguin berries and started to make his way back to the Elderberry tree when he heard the crushing of leaves and bolted for the Elderberry tree trunk.
He closed in on the Elderberry tree. Just one more step! He thought. He managed to get midway in the tree’s trunk when he was yanked back out by a mana thread that had wrapped itself around both his ankles.
Benny tumbled to the forest grounds, littered with purple acorns, crispy red leaves, and tree branches covered in lichen.
A space leather boot lightly kicked his butt.
“Turn around!” Fera commanded.
Benny flicked a leaf off his face and turned around while still on the ground.
“What’s a fairy doing here?”
“What an impolite boy,” Fera said and stared at Benny.
Navarda pulled her mana thread to drag Benny’s body closer to her. “Boy, take us to the purebred.”