Chapter Six
A/N: Yes, yes, we know it's Thursday. Still want to update on Friday, but PTV (the one uploading this chapter) is having major computer issues, and would like to make sure this goes up before they get much worse. Hopefully, it'll let her post...
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Stella was not built for crossing the countryside. She was a princess, for dragon's sake. It was not part of a princess's job to walk for days in rough terrain! "I was so not meant for wilderness!" she burst out without intending to.
"Chill out, Stel," Musa said through clenched teeth. "I'm pretty sure we're almost to the top."
"Is this seriously what you call a short mountain?" she whined.
"It's the shortest of the three h-here, ma'am." Xander quavered. He'd long since given up hiding his nerves. Stella couldn't see what he was worried about, though. Okay, so Brandon and Sky had been assistant teachers in one of his classes last year and thought he was a useless burden. He needed to stop proving them right or their 'navigator' might accidentally lead them off a cliff or something!
"Hold out, Stella," Brandon hung back on the steep path so he could walk beside her. "It isn't much further."
Within minutes, the entire group reached the surprisingly vegetated top of the mountain. There wasn't much of a view. Only billions of hills racing in every direction with splotches of farmland on the horizon, a forest shielding the capital, and a few other villages at least three days from here.
"Well, that's disappointing," Bloom commented.
"I guess there's nothing to see here. Shall we head back down?" Xander suggested, smiling. What was this guy's deal?!
"You mean we hiked all the way up here for nothing?!" Stella exclaimed. Everyone had already agreed the other two mountains were their next stops on the tour. She wasn't sure she could take another minute of 'roughing it'!
Helia, who had been silent for most of the trip, suddenly spoke up. "We didn't. Let's all search the area for clues; maybe our killer's been here."
That made sense. Following instructions, everyone split into teams of two. Stella was paired with Xander. He didn't help her. All he did was watch his dragging feet, murmur under his breath, and jump three meters off the ground at every sudden noise.
Meanwhile, Stella tried to scan the area, but all she could focus on were the stiches in her side and her sore feet. The Winx girl was just about to cry out again when-
"Hey everyone! I think you'd want to see this!" Sky hollered from a way's away. Stella followed the sound.
"What is it?" the fairy heard Aisha, his partner, ask as Stella turned past the gnarled tree to where the others stood. Xander followed, muttering louder than before. The sounds were nearly intelligible now.
The rest of the party was all crowded around something on the sloped ground. Stella walked over to stand with her friends when she saw what they were staring at. A large red swirl was painted into a patch of tough packed dirt.
"Why is that there?" the others shrugged.
"You see, ma'am, that symbol is an extremely common decoration in Borreania. It's probably just graffiti." The boy's explanation might've been convincing if he hadn't paused to think on it every other word. Xander rolled up his sleeve and unclasped a tacky gold bracelet. "See the pendant, ma'am?"
Stella snatched the ugly thing from him. The exact same red swirl appeared to be painted on it as well. Why? "Hmm, looks similar. Let's compare the two." She limped over to the one on the mountain peak.
"NO!" Xander whispered, and then covered his mouth. Stella and a few others shot him a questioning look before the sun fairy continued with what she intended to do.
She carelessly laid it down on top of the so called 'graffiti' and took a step back. They weren't lined up at all. Stella picked it back up, turned it a bit, and then laid the bracelet back down. Still not matching.
"I don't think it matters, Stella. Give the poor boy his thing back." Tecna interrupted, gesturing to Xander. He'd finally quit whispering to nothing, and was now staring at her with an expression of sheer terror. Stella wanted to ask what was wrong with him, but now she was worried he might run from the spot screaming if she did. And besides, after years of fashion fiascoes, it bothered Stella when things didn't match!
"Hold on, Tec! He'll get it back soon." the fairy played with it for several times more.
"Plaid and stripes!" Stella shot backwards. When she had picked up the guy's bracelet that last time, the swirl and its surrounding earth faded away: just like that!
Her initial reaction was followed by several inspections of the new hole, including a scan by Tecna's phone. It appeared to be a small tunnel right into the mountain!
"Where does it go?" Timmy asked aloud.
"I wonder how many Borreanians know about this." Flora added.
Everybody turned to the only native among them. "Xander?" Bloom questioned him.
Xander was holding his hands behind his back, glancing anywhere but at the hole and his tourists. He didn't seem to have heard Bloom, so she tried a few more times to get the boy's attention.
"REXIM!" Sky barked. It did the trick.
Xander saluted. "Y-Yes, sir?"
Sky pointed to the tunnel in case he hadn't already seen it. '"Explain to us how your girly bracelet made that hole appear out of nowhere!"
Was the younger guy really sweating? Stella wondered. In this weather?
"I-I don't k-know, sir. I h-have never witnessed such a thing h-h-happening, s-sir." Xander tried to salute again, but his arm was trembling too much.
Flora must've though his answer came too quickly. "What's wrong, Xander? Where does this secret passage lead to?"
"How about this," Riven cut in while Xander was still working up the courage to respond. "Our guide here gets to, well, guide us down there. Since he won't tell us what's inside, we'll just have to see for ourselves. Oh, and Rexim," Riven gave him his worst glare. "Whatever we find, we will all act as like it's one-hundred percent your fault." The boy was horrified.
A few members of the party gulped, including Stella. "We're going down there? What about the Shadow Dragon?"
Brandon nudged their anxious guide. "With the way his luck is going, our perpetrator will be there."
Their navigator gave off a girlish yelp as Timmy handed him a flashlight. Xander was the first to step through. Then came Tecna and the rest of the group, with Riven waiting at the rear.
"Oh wow!" Tecna exclaimed a few steps in.
"What is it?" Stella asked hesitantly from nearly right outside.
"There's a Substance Projector down here! That explains so much!"
"Whoa, there are barely any in Borreania!" Timmy joined once he'd entered. "You know-"
"You can teach us all how it works later," Riven cut him off as he entered with the bracelet. It was a good thing he went last, because the hole closed itself behind them once it was inside. Several flinched.
"Xander, you better have a way out," Bloom sounded a little put off at the loss of an escape route.
The tunnel was skinny. Only one person could fit through at a time, so theyhad to walk in a single line. The ceiling hung close, a few centimeters below Stella's head. Everyone excluding Xander had to duck in order to avoid banging skulls. The passage also appeared empty with no signs or torches. Still, Stella had no doubts about it being man made. The twists and turns were too exact, and there was very little wearing away on the walls. Not like the one she'd once found on Solaria. That one was built by cave spiders. What kind of person would go through all this trouble? The fairy wondered.
Suddenly, Stella shivered. Aside from Xander's flashlight, there wasn't any light. Nothing here had ever seen the sun. But still, there was something else…
"This is a long tunnel," Musa noticed.
"How long have we been in here?" Stella wondered, starting to shake.
"Almost twenty nine minutes now," Tecna answered. "We are moving at an extremely slow rate of roughly two point one kilometers per hour, nothing I can help there."
"Rexim, walk faster!" Sky commanded from right behind Tecna.
His order was obeyed instantly, so it was a surprise when Xander suddenly screeched to a halt. He was staring ahead, eyes squinted. Then came a loud scream, and the passageway went dark.
"What's wrong, Bloom?" Aisha asked from farther back.
"That wasn't a girl, Aisha," Bloom replied. "What's going on?"
"I-I saw something ahead turn that corner!" Xander cried.
"What?" Stella exclaimed. All this darkness, a person ahead…
But then Sky found the dropped flashlight and flipped it on. He briefly scanned their surroundings. "I see nothing. You're losing it."
"If he hasn't already," Riven muttered under his breath, just loud enough for everybody to hear.
Xander stuttered some, but quickly shut up. No one here was going to believe him.
I'm probably imagining it, Stella reasoned. She'd never really liked going underground. Dark places tended to make her edgy, that's all.
"You're alright, Stella." Flora said from behind her boyfriend, who nodded.
Reassured, Stella agreed to continue on down the tunnel with Sky somehow in the lead. A few minutes later, they came across the remains of a single torch, causing everyone to eye Xander's claim a touch more seriously. Despite the evidence, they didn't come across anyone or anything else until at least an hour later.
The twelve of them spilled into a large cavern. Right ahead, a wide moat of clear water preceded tall walls constructed out of materials from the mountain. Above the walls was, if you can believe it, the noonday sun!
Or, that's what it appeared to be. Being the great fairy of the shining sun, Stella could sense that the star down here wasn't the real deal. Besides, it didn't get rid of her strange fear. Whatever had been scaring her, it was still there. And lots of it.
She started to speak. "Who-"
Suddenly, Aisha sharply nudged her. Stella was about to ask why, but her friend placed a finger to her lips. The expression she wore was of complete urgency.
Silently, Tecna pointed to a spot a ways down the wall. Someone or something was seated there, facing in. He or she wore a long brown cloak with its hood pulled up, obscuring their form.
Then Stella saw the weapons.
In each hand, the creature held one long silver stick with a pointed tip. Spike, Stella corrected herself. Wait, a lone silver spike was the prince's death weapon. Was that that thing really the-
Shadow Dragon. Aisha mouthed.
Quickly, the other Winx and their boyfriends caught on. This was their time. The Solarian princess felt her pulse quicken.
Bloom made the first move. "Come down from the wall. You are officially under arrest for assassinating Prince Kazen!"
The figure stood slowly. Its hood was still up, but the infamous thief/murderer dropped the heavy cloak. Gasps were heard as the group took in the creature's true appearance. The Shadow Dragon… is a teenage girl?
Her clothing was simple and dirty. A large white blouse hung on her short frame with a matching white skirt. Both were cloaked in dirt and potentially worse. She also had on new looking black shoes that were noticeably too big for her.
But none of that was what made Stella notice. Her gaze was drawn to the thick rope belt with even more fatal spikes bound across the hips.
The exposed assassin turned to face the source of all the noise. Eyes like colorless flame burned with sudden anger in a bony face with light skin and blood red lips. Her jaw seemed clenched as well.
Tangled platinum hair sailed behind the villain as she leaped clean over the moat The girl landed lightly on two feet, but kept a fair distance
"Wow, the entire Bitch Club in person," she said dryly. "All I was expecting was a squadron of guards."
"Bitch Club? Really?" Tecna raised an eyebrow. "You have no right for slander like that!"
"Enough talk," Musa took a step forward. "Hands up, Shadow Killer!"
Whatever reaction they'd been expecting, none at all wasn't it. "Look, I'm flattered all six of you took the time out of your overprotected, privileged life to apprehend a petty, but existent crook like me. Still, it seems you've got the wrong idea. Killing the local prince was not my deed."
Aisha placed one foot ahead. "You're lying. Now come with us and we won't hurt you."
The criminal showed no sign of hearing the fairy's threat, "Eh, I might not be pulling a ridiculous publicity stunt to get you more fame, but at least you're trying to be real heroes, and not the conceited bitches you really are." The thief smirked.
Stella gasped, eyes seeing red. "The only bitch here is you!"
"Please don't," Xander mumbled, eyes pleading.
That caught the girl's attention. "You!" she aimed a finger at Xander. "You must think you're all that, handing me a refuge, then leading people like them right here to your beloved 'secret village'!" The Shadow Dragon placed some snappy air quotes at the end, then shook her head sadly. "Poor Nuebon. He's going to be very disappointed."
Nuebon? Secret village? Stella's head was spinning.
Xander's face fell. "Nuebon? No... it-it isn't like that! I was just trying to…"
"Trying to what, exactly?" She shot him down with an exceptionally fierce glare. "Take. Your. Stupid. Medallion. BACK!" The girl pitched him something red and gold that Xander failed to catch.
"What's going on here?" Riven demanded.
The Shadow Dragon acknowledged the other specialists' presence. "That pathetic boy is despicable! He helps me escape, swearing to secrecy-"
"HE WHAT!?" They all exclaimed, expressions almost comical.
She covered her mouth to hide a smile. "Oh, were you not supposed to be doing that?" The girl leaned in, her fiery eyes ablaze with hate, "Well, I'll let you in on something else you shouldn't have done: bringing in these overrated clowns in to arrest me."
The criminal faced the Winx. "In answer to your earlier statement, you seem to be suffering under the delusion that I'm coming quietly." She paused for dramatic effect, sething with unexplained rage. "Why no, I won't be 'coming quietly'. In fact…" she fixed them with another cold, condescending stare. "I'm not coming at all."
"If you want a fight-" Bloom rushed to begin.
"-then you've got one," Stella finished for her.
"Magic Winx! Sirenix!"
Stella felt the familiar rush of warm magic course through her. The glowing energy grew from her heart and raced to her fingers and toes. "Princess Stella, Fairy of the Shining Sun!"
She landed back on her feet, wings fluttering. Stella glanced from side to side to be sure the other Winx were ready.
Now the Shadow Dragon looked a little upset, but it didn't show in her tone.
"Oh, you wanted a magic battle." The girl noted.
"How else would fairies fight?" Stella challenged.
The younger girl shrugged, trying to back off. She muttered to herself, "Oh Dragon, you've really done it now…"
"Let's get moving!" Stella shouted, not expecting much.
"Capture her only," Tecna commanded, sending a green grid cage into Rileianna's way. The girl showed a moment of panic, before the sphere stopped in midair, and Tecna's cage dissipated to nothing.
"Huh?" The girl looked down, then composed herself, grabbed a spike, and threw. Sky dodged just in time.
"Vines!" Flora yelled. Thick corded plants shot out of the ground. The Shadow Dragon didn't even see them this time, but Flora's vines froze, withered, and died before disappearing in the same way.
"Whirlpool!" Aisha tried next. Like the last two attempts, her attack stopped midway. Helia tried to catch her with a plain rope next, but she snapped it in half with another spike a second befor it hit her body, the detached side falling to the ground.
Stella, ignoring Tecna's order, went for a full on attack. She wasn't the only one.
"Solar blast!"
"Dragon's rage!"
"Sonic boom!"
All three came at the Shadow Dragon. She couldn't stop them all at once, could she?
But she could. The yellow ball of energy, the transparent orange dragon, and the circular pink waves stopped half a meter away from their target, covered in an odd purple, spun a half turn around the assassin, and continued their flight. The redirected attacks hit everyone in their company, causing immediate unconsciousness, sparing only Stella and the offender.
The teen looked very surprised at what just happened, but then she was back to showing no reaction. Who does that witch think she is?
"Okay, you had your fun!" Stella crossed her arms. "Let's finish this!" While preparing for one more offense, the Fairy of the Shining Sun saw a flash of alarm upon the fugitive's face as she took a defensive stance.
Gotcha, Stella could only smile in preparation of a victory.
But before she could release her attack, a different colored light came off of Rileianna and struck her into unconsciousness...
…
Rilei may have done her best to pretend differently, but those fairies had really caught her off guard. Also, that sudden burst of magic that took down- Stella, was it? Did that come from herself? What about diverting the earlier assaults?Is that way she was so exhausted? What the heck just happened?
Never mind that. She had to get going.
The people at the village were already under fire because of that selfish Xander, she couldn't make matters worse. The most she could do was wish them goodwill, for helping her last night. I hope they made it out alright, she thought.
"Buh bye, Winx. It was… interesting to meet you." Rilei gathered her projectile and made off toward the entrance. But something made her stop, like she'd run into an invisible wall. What, how did that happen? A thousand sparks of that strange purple materialized all around her.
Rilei knew she was teleporting, even though she had no idea how. It seemed to take hours, and a dark pit of dread took refuge in her in her stomach. Something's horribly wrong here. It had been that way all day. That feeling...
When she finally saw her surroundings, Rilei had no idea where she was. "What the-"
A/N: PTV Speaks: Amazing news! This story officially has over 900 views! I can't believe so many people have read (or at least clicked on) this story.
Sorry about the wait, but SME and I had some major edits take place, and just wanted to make sure the chapter was great (especially the part where the Winx meet Rilei). We promise Chapter Seven will be here the 24th (Next Friday).
No one had any questions, surprisingly, but we'd like to say a special thanks to cybercorpsesnake and To die upon a kiss. Can't believe the two of you reviewed every single chapter! We're grateful for all the points you brought up and all the help you have given: this chapter wouldn't have been half as good without you!
Oh gosh, that's a long A/N. Anything you'd like to add, SME?
SME: Hello mankind. In case you were wondering where we were, my moirail and I were busy modifying our later chapters, among other things...
I would like to thank To die upon a kiss in particular all thine advice. Heh heh English class joke... Still your opinions helped us out. A lot.
