“Ow!”
“Camille?” I gasped as soon as I saw the fairy princess emerging from under my bed with a swollen eye from my hit. Can’t say I don’t regret it. “What are you doing here? And why are you in my room?” I demanded.
“Give me that!” Camille charged at me with her eyes fixed on the chalice.
“Hey! What are you doing?” I moved my hand back, the one that was holding the chalice as Camille continued to charge at me with a crazy look in her eyes.
“That’s what they wanted, right? Just give it to them!” She yelled at me and attempted to grab it this time with flames igniting from her hands.
“You don’t even know what this is. Back off, Camille!” I was already deciding whether or not if I should strike her back when she suddenly turned to ice. Her hands just inches away from my face just before she froze. I looked at Stella and saw her smiling in satisfaction at her handy work.
“Don’t worry. It won’t kill her. She’s a summer fairy. She can probably melt it in an hour or so.” My sister just shrugged before walking towards the door. “Come on, Amy.” She started heading for the door.
Stella and I headed out and followed Custard. Our footsteps started to echo in the empty hallway. But then I noticed that something was off. It feels like there was some sort of sound clashing with our footsteps.
No. There was another set of footsteps colliding with ours. I used my whip to pull Stella towards me just as we were reaching a turning point. “Custard!” I morphed him.
Custard morphed into a white wolf in midair and charged at a rogue who was trying to ambush us. I could tell that it was a vampire because of how fast he was able to move.
I morphed Viex just in time as he carried me and Stella away as the vampire lunged at the spot where we’ve been. In that split second, Stella froze him on the spot, just like what she did to Camille.
Then I heard Custard letting out a pained yelped and saw a huge buckled man plunging his sword to Custard’s side. Immediately, I ran and wrapped my whip around the man’s neck and pulled him away from Custard.
With the sword still at his side, Custard rose and slammed his paw furiously at the man’s chest, making him spit out some blood.
Stella came to Custard’s side and pulled the sword so he could self-heal immediately.
‘I should have taken away both of your arms when I had the chance!’ Custard growled but before he could bit his head off, Stella froze the man just in time as I withdrew my whip. ‘WHY!?’ Custard glared at Stella, making her flinch in fright.
“Hey. Calm down, Custard. It will heal.” I started to pet him carefully as I observed the wound at his side. Viex came and immediately healed his wounds.
‘Quit being a baby.’ Viex told him.
When Custard finally calmed down, he started to whimper and bowed his head to my sister. ‘I’m sorry. Malduk got angry and I could not control it anymore.’ He says.
“It’s fine. Let’s all just go and find the others.” Then I looked at the figure that Stella just froze and realized that he was missing an arm and a few fingers. “By any chance. Is that guy…?”
‘He’s one of Kellar’s brothers. He’s the crowned prince.’ Viex answered for me as Stella rode on his back while I rode on Custard.
“I see. He’s pretty...weak.” I frowned at the frozen figure and could not help but feel relieved that at least one of their family member didn’t turn out to be diabolical like them.
There was a loud crash to our left and we heard a cougar yelling loudly. Immediately, all of us headed in that direction, only to find that Ace and Kellar were riding on Javi’s back as they were being chased by a rhino, a bear, a jaguar, and a few vampires. Ace was riding backward and managed to take down a few vampires, but his arrows couldn’t pierce through the thick armor of the other beastmen.
“Run!” Kellar yelled as soon as he saw us.
He didn’t need to tell us twice as we all heeded his warning and ran in the other direction along with them. Ace jumped and transferred to Custard so he could talk to me. “We saw Ferius.” He said.
“And?”
“He’s missing an arm.” He stated.
“I don’t get it. Why are you guys running away from a guy with a lost limb?” I was beginning to question them until Kellar answered.
“Princess, the arm that he’s missing is the one where the chimera resides.” The young prince told me. And now it makes sense.
“WHAT!?”
“Turn around the next corner and pause. I think I could block their path.” Stella yelled out to us.
We did as she told us to and just as we turned, Stella created a thick block of ice that separated us from the others. She even created one in front of us.
“Stella? You do realize that you just locked us in, right?” I told her.
“We need a new plan, that is why I build us a temporary safe haven.” She says before looking at the boys. “Where is Ferius?”
“In the queen’s office, just as we suspected. He was looking for the orb.” Kellar answered her.
“Did you at least managed to take the orb with you?”
Kellar and Ace exchanged a look. “No.” Ace answered. “We tried to but Ferius hasn’t even found it yet. And we have to force ourselves through those rogues.”
“But this is weird.” It was odd. Everything wasn’t adding up. “Why would he go to Thalia without his chimera? Has he finally gone mad?”
“Perhaps he has.” Ace agreed. “The last I saw him, the arm looked like it was killing his from the inside. It looked like a parasite sucking the life out of him..”
“I hope it did kill him.” I said and leaned against the wall as I placed my hands in my pocket. “Um...no offense, Kellar.”
“None taken.”
Just as I looked to the front, I noticed something. A dark cloud was hindering my vision. When I raised a hand to swat it away, it vanished. But when I placed my hand back in my pocket, the black cloud appeared once again.
My brows furrowed in confusion, and it was only when I wiggled my fingers inside my pocket that I remembered that I still have the pendant with me.
I grabbed it and pulled it out of my pocket. The black cloud was still there. I ran to Ace and placed the pendant in his hands. He looked at me with a raised brow until his eyes darted to the spot where I saw the black cloud.
“Can you see it too?” I asked. “Please tell me I wasn’t imagining things.”
“You’re not.” He says while still looking at the air. “It looks like it leads to something. Out there.” Ace pointed towards the frozen window in front of us.
Stella was the first one to look outside. “You mean the greenhouse? Why? What’s there?”
Custard suddenly perked up and began to nudge me aggressively. ‘Master MASTER!’ He yelled. He was still morphed that he almost pushed me to the ground. ‘I remember something! I-In the greenhouse. Remember when Luke asked us not to go near one of the important stuff and I smelled something foul in there? It wasn’t chemicals. It was the scent of an evil spirit. Much more disgusting than when Viex was possessed the first time we met him.’
Viex did not appreciate the comment that he hit Custard over the head. ‘Keep your opinions to yourself!’
‘Ow! MASTER, HE IS BEING RUDE AGAIN!’ Custard yelled.
“Custard, you are a big boy. You took a sword to the stomach just now and you were fine.” I told him before looking at Ace. “Can you go look out of the window and see if the smoke leads exactly in the greenhouse? Custard suspects that the chimera is there.” I said as I relayed the rest of what Custard just told me.
Ace nodded and came to check. “It does.” He answered and looked at me with a grin. “I guess we just found where the chimera is lurking.”
“Great. But now, here is a question. How will we deal with the rogues outside? Who will fetch the chimera? And lastly, who is going to go and get the orb?”
We all looked at Ace since he was always the one with ideas. “As much as I don’t like it, Rose will have to come with me to face Ferius in order to avoid suspicion. Meanwhile, the two of you will go out and grab his arm and find us.”
“Wait. Will they be okay?” I looked at them. They’re just kids. Two kids and a giant cat to be honest.
“I trust the kid.” He says whale hinting at Kellar. “He can fight. And if you’re worried about your sister then just look at what’s around you. We’re literally surrounded by her magic. Trust me, they can handle this.”
I looked at him, I know that he was right. I mean, I have seen her in action and how she can instantly take the initiative. I hate to admit it but Stella can probably survive out there on her own compared to me.
“Be careful alright?” I told her.
“I will. I’m more worried about you though.” She grinned.
“I shall protect her, princess. Don’t worry.” Kellar assured me and Javi pitched in with a low growl.
I unmorphed Viex as Ace and I rode on Custard as Kellar and Stella both got onto Javi’s back. We all took a step back as Stella made the block of ice collapse onto the rogues who were waiting for us outside.
And then we ran to our separate ways. Some of the rogues were going after us, while a few of them went after Kellar and Stella.
I let Ace handle the rogues chasing us at the back while Custard and I focused on the front. Every time Custard takes away an enemies’ essence, I feel my magic replenishing. I would often trip our enemies with my whip and allow Custard to deal with the finishing blow.
Along the way, I allowed Viex to join in as well and let him rampage to take away the essence of the larger beast men so it would be easier for Ace to pierce through them.
Soon we were in front of my aunt’s office and I noticed how every rogue is either dead or just gave up because of their lost magical abilities.
The moment we stepped inside, I saw a man whose face was badly scared with black web-like veins and a missing left arm. As soon as our eyes met, I was horrified by how similar they were to Luke.
So they really were the same person at one point.
“Care to join me, princess?”
“We rather join your funeral instead.” Ace retorted as he got off of Custard. He was brandishing his swords in front of him. I got off of Custard as well as I readied my whip at my side.
“Two against one? Can’t we talk about this? I mean, I am basically just human at this point. I don’t have my chimera and I certainly am missing an arm.” He smiled sweetly. “I mean, don’t you think that I belong to the human realm at this point?” The moment he said it, he raised the orb that he was now holding in his hands.
My face paled in the realization that we were too late. But all hope isn’t lost just yet as I still have the chalice. Kellar and Stella were also going to get the chimera.
“That doesn’t belong to you!” I yelled and threw my whip out in an attempt to snatch it away from him. But despite having one arm, he was pretty agile as he deflected my whip with his sword.
Ace ran forward and cut the table in half. The orb came rolling down towards us. Ace tried to grab it but Ferius kicked one of the half of the table towards his direction. Ace raised both of his arms in front of him and deflected it.
Ferius and I both charged at the orb at the same time, but he flipped and managed to kick me back as he grabbed the orb.
Custard lunged and tackled Ferius. The both of them crash the window and fell outside and into the garden. Ace and I got to our feet and rode Viex as we followed them down. Custard was chasing Ferius, who now had the orb inside a bag. Furious did a backflip and was now riding on Custard’s back.
He raised his sword in the air and aimed it at Custard’s neck, but before it could connect, Ace shot an arrow at his blade giving me enough time to wrap my whip around his wrist and pull him down on the ground.
Custard came back and pinned the king to the ground while growling at him.
But instead of being fearful, Ferius just laughed.
“What’s so funny?” I demanded.
“You both are stupid and too overconfident.” He laughed even louder, which was now making me nervous.
“W-What does that mean?”
“It means that your merry little band of playing heroes is over.” I looked toward where the voice was coming from. Once I did, I was horrified at what I saw. Kellar and Stella were both on the ground. Unconscious along with Javi. When I looked at the man, I realized that it was the same person that stabbed Custard earlier, and also the same one that Stella trapped in ice.
“Do you seriously think that it would be this easy?” Ferius laughed again.
“How? You were frozen. Stella...she-” As I asked the question, an answer suddenly came when the ball of flame was shot towards me.