Chapter 21
Wolowix and Wesley were throwing all kinds of spells and sending dragons falling to their knees, but they just kept coming. Wolowix shot a few thick shards of rock into the air and took out just a few of the dragons that were blocking the red sky. He shook his head and lost focus for a few seconds and Wesley screamed his name, but it was too late. One of the armored dragons opened its jaw and let out a blast of fire. Wolowix had no time to conjure anything but a blur zipped towards him and tackled him out of the way. They both rolled into the ground hard and when they recovered, Wolowix waved his hand and a spike raised from the ground and pierced through the fire to jab into the back of the dragon's skull.
Wolowix looked at the person in on top of him, in his arms and his eyes went wide with shock and relief, "Penelope…"
Before either could share any more pleasantries, one of the dragons raised its massive foot and intended on stomping them both. Wolowix waved his arms and clapped his hands over them and a thick cocoon of earth surrounded them just in time to take in the crunching pressure of the mammoth foot. Penelope gave a slight scream as Wolowix made sure to keep full focus on the barrier. Sweat slipped down his temple as the pressure got heavier. If he made a move that would mean his focus would be off the barrier and they'd both be crushed. Suddenly, the pressure was gone and there was a cluster of action happening.
Wolowix dropped the barrier and saw nerkanines jumping over the small hole where the dragon's pressure had created against Wolowix's power. He looked over to see the dragon in the trunk of a very large elephant made of trees as the huge nerks teamed up to attack individual dragons. Penelope yelled a thank you to the beast and she looked over at the innovagygr. They shared a smile and moved to get up as Wesley got to them and offered him his hand and introducing himself as the handsome witch hunter and Penelope smiling as saying she already has one. Centaurs, Dísir, and wendigos took to the stage of battle all around the three. Before questions could be asked, she was off on a run to where the forest dwellers were trying to close the gaping hole of the castle.
There was a clash of screams and roars from up above and Onar stopped in mid run. The entire 200 something wendigos kept running forward just a few miles from the castle. Onar saw Garuda tearing through the fire that the dragons of the air spat with their talons and colliding with the airborne reptiles. There were flying centaurs, hippogriffs, Pegasus, harpies, rainbow serpents, flying whales, and all other random types of flying creatures all battling the dragons in the air… and winning. Dragons were dropping like dead flies, but more and more were coming. He growled a little and thought to himself that they needed to destroy the castle… plug the hole to stop the dragons from pumping out.
He heard the battle cry of the wendigo, far ahead of him now, and shook his head. He was about ready to sprint forward when he heard the howls of nerkanines behind him. He spun and his ears were full erect as he listened intently. He heard it again… as clear as day… his mother's howl followed by the rest of his pack. His tail wagged slowly as he panted happily. He shook out of his premature joy and spun around to catch up with the wendigos.
As Onar climbed over one of the hills and began to sprint down, he heard yelping and barking in the wind. His bad eye sight didn't seem to catch anything, but his nose caught a familiar scent. All too suddenly, he had ghost dogs all around him running in a perfect line on either side of him. He baulked a little, but only long enough for his brother, Ekim, to catch up to him. The grey nerk towered easily above Onar, but they kept the same pace. Ekim snapped his jaws and used his tongue in the Fang Language towards Onar, "Looks like they started the shindig a little early. What do you say we see if we can't find us a witch to huff and puff and bite some flesh off?"
Onar gave a snarling smile to that idea and they both rushed off, unable to shake the line of garm on either side of them. They could see the wendigo jumping and clubbing some of the armored dragons, already, and that gave the two nerks all the incentive to head towards the castle.
Althea needed no light to make her way through the labyrinth of the dungeons. She had practically lived in them. She kept her hand on the right handed side of the wall and dragged it down while moving forward. She couldn't believe how empty the dungeons were. There were no moans of pain or screams for help… just the sound of a drop of water periodically falling from ceiling.
She finally found her way out of the maze just as the path finally cleared and bright torches lit the tunnel from both sides all the way down till the tunnel wall takes a sharp turn. Althea took her hand off the wall and walked towards the tunnel only to trip over something bulky laying across the floor. She rubs her knees and looks back at the mound of dead Skaldjilk. They looked like they had been ripped open and piled up to clean up later. The Mambo swallowed before pushing herself up. The stinging of her scrapped knees wasn't easily ignored, but she managed to do it while moving forward in the tunnel. She had a very bad feeling and it wasn't because of the witches, anymore.
Rajesh and Pryna swoop down in the full roc form towards the makeshift drawbridge that led to no type of door in the castle… other than the gaping holes… there really wasn't a door to the castle. Before the two hit, they decelerate by throwing out their wingspans wide and flapping largely forward. In doing this, their bodies begin to shrink and shift until they were back to their angelic forms and on their feet looking around. Winged centaurs (who were shunned out of the non-winged centaur herds because of their 'malformations' but who still possessed endless knowledge and lethal accuracy of their non-winged counterparts), hippogriffs, and many other winged animals landed not too far from them and spread out to form an attack while the larger winged creatures stayed in the air to deal with the dragon onslaught.
Pryna played her flute and a huge rock monster appeared out of nowhere and made a charge towards the castle. Rajesh saw a white stag dart off towards the side of the castle from a distance away and squinted his eyes to get a better vision. A Garuda's eyesight could be considered a superpower from how sharp and long distanced they could see. He could see all types of creatures attacking and got the attention of his sister, whose rock monster was doing no kind of damage to the front of the castle, and they both soared low towards the turbulence and both recognized Wolowix. They landed just in time to see a blur of blonde zoom into the opening of the crumbling hole that the forest creatures were demolishing and heard Wolowix scream, "PENELOPE!"
Penelope raced through the darkness with her unbelievable speed. Even barefooted, she had no equal match as she hopped upon the wall and on top of the armored dragon's backs. She used the creatures like stepping stones and headed towards a soft, orange glow. She could feel it… she could feel the pulsing aura… the same aura that was inside of her chest… Sheldor's heart… except this pulsing was so much stronger and so much darker than the sweet fluttering it was when it belonged to her. She kept going forward… the dumb reptiles below her none the wiser of her presence.
She could see the faint glow getting larger as she approached a gaping cavern opening but she could also feel the blaring heat. It was a little too intense for her, but she was on a mission… a mission for her revenge. Her heart had 'expelled' the curses so now she was her own woman. The witches had no hold over her and so she decided to fight tooth and nail. The backs of the dragons were nearly endless, but since the hole was closed up… they had become a cancerous mass of buildup. The dragons were clustered tightly and they were beginning to lose their temper. Penelope had to dodge a few blasts of flame by shifting her body left or right with the tips of her toes.
When she finally reached the opening, she jumped to the far left to where there was a clearing that was hidden in long, teeth like rocks. Her bare feet slapped against the smooth rock below and she puts her hand against the jagged wall and moves. The light of the lava flickered in between the gaps of the toothy formation as she in a crouched position. She could see the backs of the two witches and she paused and went to a knee and stared from one of the gaps. She could only hear the echo of their voices but couldn't tell what they were saying.
A burst of air hit Penelope as the sound of flapping wings filled her ears as she turned around slowly. She was met with a dragon's clicks and snorts as a dark haired woman jumped down and flung her hair over her shoulder. Penelope recognized the woman and her breath hitched… the Dragon Child… but she… she was… dead, "Impossible!"
Leslitico scoffed as her boots crunched against the earth, "I knew I recognized your little aura. I might not be able to get that little Sheldor… but I sure as Hell can rip apart his precious little Baby Doll! Not the same, but… it'll make me feel better."
Penelope reached into her jacket pocket and clenched a Blossom in her hand. When Leslitico took a step, she didn't hesitate… she flung the Blossom hard and accurately enough that it spun in the air like a Frisbee and curved to embed itself right into the witch's right eye. She screamed a monster's scream and Penelope took off running as fast as her feet would let her. The dragon behind the squirming witch gave out a blaring roar then let out a burst of menacing flames towards the fleeing blonde. She could almost feel the fingers of the heat at her back when she ducked behind a large boulder and the flames danced all around it.
Lordornia and Lady Fowler spun at the outburst just as Leslitico finally yanked the Blossom star out of her eye. The two witches burst into green flames and they were gone from the cliff. Leslitico's eye did not regenerate. It was the powerful curse upon the Blossom that left the Dragon Child with anger and resentment as she lashed out a purple whip of energy and cut off the dragon's head beside her. Her screams of rage filling the cave with echoes of cussing and roaring. The moment the head fell to the ground, Leslitico's eye burned yellow and her body began to crack and pop and sizzle as her flesh melted and her body grew in mass. Penelope watched the witch shift and knew she was in big trouble.
Leslitico's dragon form was twice as large as the winged dragons erupting from the lava. She had a honey oak color to her scales that seemed to shine a luminous yellow at certain angles. There was a jagged row of curled horns upon her upper lip that trailed down the side where they got smaller until the pattern dissolved at the juncture of the two lips. There were two sets of horns upon the dragon's head. One pair, the thickest and in the center of the top of the head, curled back then circled forward in a menacing angle. The other pair, above the ear hole on the side of the head, just stemmed straight out like a sharp stake about 15 foot long. The back leg's muscles resembled that of frog's legs. They were bowed down low and the knee jutted out to the side, but they looked powerful. The witch's wingspan was nearly three times her body's length as she let out a roar and they folded behind her. One of her clawed hands came up and caressed her missing eye. Her five fingered hand, with sharpened talons curled from the tips, scratched down her scaled face and traced over the deepened scar running horizontally down her sunken in eye socket. She had three pairs of powerful arms and she used them to tear at the ground as she grunted and stomped and shot bolts of lightning singeing the top of the cavernous locale.
Penelope guarded her face as debris bounced against her tender flesh as the ground quaked below her feet. She barely dodged to the side as a long tail with a heavy knot on the end of it came whistling down to smash her. She screamed and yelped as the dragon lunged at her with nothing but mouth. She used her agility to bounce of the wall and soar in the air for too long. Though Leslitico smashed into the cave wall, she recovered and swatted one of her hands out and backhanded Penelope. Her body flailed towards the cliff and over it before a blur of white buzzed by. The white stag slid to a stop backwards as its head faced towards the dragon. Wyatt had his arm firmly wrapped around his daughter's waist and dropped her softly when the stag finally came to a halt.
The stag trotted forward as Wyatt unsheathed his axe from his back. Leslitico gave a chest shaking roar and the white stag head banged and snorted. Penelope held her side as it throbbed from the strike and watched as Wyatt held out his axe. The blade seemed to fluctuate between different colors that looked so familiar. She took one of her Blossom's out of her pocket and stared at it then back at the axe blade. Impossible. The energies were the same… and surged at the same time. This material, Camdeleon, was only forged by her family and the secret of creating it died with her father. The metallic plastic like substance held the ability of nullifying regeneration even when pulled out. Every place it hit, the more the magic the matter absorbed. In essence, Camdeleon took a little piece of life every time it struck. The only reminisce that this ever existed WAS her Blossoms. Melting down Camdeleon was like lighting a fuse to a bomb. There was a harsh explosion anytime someone tried to 'observe' the material's origins.
No other creature on this universe could have possibly found a way to create more… yet, there it was… on the end of that axe… and Penelope felt a tightness in her stomach. Before she could act on it, however, Leslitico let out a sharp, thick bolt straight towards the stag. The white stag's 17 point rack begins to glow and it stomps its two front hooves on the ground and the lightning refracted all around the cave as a shield of light curved before it. The bolts takes out a handful of winged dragons still rising from the lava had turned them into dust. Wyatt grips the stag's side with his knees as the beast digs into the ground with its hooves and shoots towards the dragon's head in a burst of white. Its speed turns them into a white, electric fire ball that slams into Leslitico's jaw and sends her flying backwards into the wall as the stag drops to the ground gracefully. The debris of the smashed wall collapses upon the land dragons and kills a cluster of them.
The stag bounds back to Penelope and Wyatt dismounts and goes to the blonde. Penelope is on one knee holding her side, but truth be told… she's more concerned with the Camdeleon than her broken ribs. Wyatt places a hand on her shoulder and Penelope shrugs it off, "Who… who the hell ARE YOU and how did you get Camdeleon?" She said through gritted teeth from pain.
Wyatt looked up to see the huge dragon recovering then looks back down at his daughter with his damaged, burnt up face and speaks quickly, "This is no time to explain this… we are in big trouble. SNOWBALL!" He screamed the stag's name as another bolt was sent their way. The stag's horns pulsed and it scattered the bolt into a plethora of different directions. Wyatt grabbed his axe as Penelope shook her head as she painfully stood, "Snowball?"
Wyatt smiled very sadly as tested the weight of his axe and the air within the cavern, "My youngest daughter named him a long long time ago… I thought it fit him perfectly. I would feel much better if you were to mount him. Your injuries are slowing both you and I down. Please." He looked over at his daughter with a genuine smile. She remembered telling everyone about the scared white stag of her village… her family had owned one and seeing a dead one only reminded her of… of… she stared at the intricate design of the bridal and gasped as she saw her name burned into the leather. Her O was a bloomed flower and her letters were shaky and inexperienced. She looked up as the man did a crow-hop and tossed the axe over his head. The Camdeleon-made axe blade gleamed as the entire weapon spun around and zoomed toward the dragon. As Leslitico was recovering from shooting out failed lightning, the axe's blade took out her other eye and embedded itself deeply. With a shrill of pain and frustration, Leslitico thrashed blindly… killing more armored dragons in the process.
Penelope groaned as she pulled herself upon the white stag. She took a few minutes to recover from the shooting pain. She kept staring at the design of the bridal and her eyes began to burn in confusion. Who was this man… if he were a friend of the family then why didn't she remember him? She took the reins in her right hand and tightened them just enough between her fingers. She looked up to see Leslitico charging forward. On instinct, the stag moved on his own and bounded to the side. Penelope squealed a little, more from the pain than the sudden movement. She looked down at the saddle and smiled. It was jinxed to never allow the ride to fall off unless he/she wanted to. That was the jinx her mother put on every one of HER saddles.
Penelope watched the man dodge attacks left and right as he moved to a high platform and dove onto the dragon's back. Leslitico bucked and jumped and rolled, but the man wasn't coming off. He crawled and got the dragon's eye and callously ripped it out of her flesh. As the dragon raised up high and grabbed at the source of the pain, Wyatt slid down her back and rolled when he hit the ground. It took him a while longer to regain his balance, but he charged back in and started to chop at the dragon's powerful legs. The blows were horrific and the noises the dragon made echoed painfully in the cavern.
The old man was quick. He would chop and move and the retaliations were sloppy. He chopped at her belly, her legs, her sides, and even her snout when she dared to try to bite and each was a devastating blow. They bled and wouldn't close because of the curse within the blade. Little by little, Leslitico got weaker and weaker. Penelope could see fatigue setting in on the old man, too. He looked over at her with a scarred up smile and nodded his head and she screamed at the top of her lungs to 'LOOK OUT' but it was too late. One of the dragon's hands swept behind him and pushed him a few feet before the hand seemed to realize it had something and clamped around him just as his axe clanged upon the ground.
Wyatt groaned in pain as the fingers tightened around him menacingly. He could feel and hear his bones cracking from the restriction. He noticed that Leslitico was now standing at the cliff's edge as she brought him up to the side of her muzzle. Wyatt wasn't going to be eaten by this heartless witch… not in front of his daughter. He closed his eyes tight and began to glow. Suddenly, the axe rattled on the ground, then shot up and spun in a dangerous speed. It whistled loudly and zoomed past the dragon's throat, cutting it like a saw blade, then shot up into the air right above the dragon's head… paused… then struck down with the power of magic and gravity to slam into the skull of the dragon. It penetrated the hide and rooted itself into the brain matter. He was loosened from the dragon's grip and he fell to the ground hard. He didn't want to lose his axe, but he really didn't want this dragon to live either, "Snowball… Hut!"
Penelope watched the ears of the stag fly forward and he took a few steps. She felt a power surging all around her and before she knew it… the stag was a comet shooting right at the woozy dragon. The searing white ball of energy slammed right into the side of Leslitico and the beast stutter stepped right off the edge of the cliff. The wings tried to flap, but the Blossoms that Penelope had thrown before had torn the muscles and made it impossible to regain flight. Leslitico tried to grab at the sides, but the talons just scraped the rock. Her roaring screams turned human just as she hit the lava's surface and was melted into the magma below. A burst of purple energy surged up just as the surface of the magma pool began to harden and go black leaving only her human arm rising from the concrete below. The purple energy sought out every last dragon and turned it into ash all over the land and air. Leslitico's arm turned to ash and collapsed into a breeze of dust.
Wyatt dusted himself off and went to Snowball and stroked his old companion's swirl of fur just below his horns while he grabbed the reins under his chin. He looked up at the blonde and then back to Snowball, "Your name... it's Penelope, isn't it? You were born here in Omashire and your family were burned to death by the witches… correct?"
She nodded her head in disbelief, "Who are you, really?"
"My name is Simon Wyatt Queen… I lost my wife and my two kids to a fire… and my other daughter to a witch."
Penelope shook her head, "W… what? D… Dad… DAD?"
She didn't even register the pain as she slid off the stag and slammed into her father's embrace. She recognized his scent immediately and cried into his trench-coat… she had seen enough proof… she had her father back. He pushed her off gently and cupped her face, "You are just as beautiful as your mother… guess I can't call you Slugger anymore, can I?"
Penelope sniffled and gave a chuckle, "Why not… I still pack a pretty good punch."
He kissed her forehead and pulled back again to look in her eyes, "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry I had to give you up. I wanted to fight for you, but… I didn't want anyone to die… if I would've known she was going to burn us all… I would've fought tooth and nail for you. Can… can you ever forgive your old man?"
Penelope opened her mouth to answer… blood splattered all over her face and a shiny metallic hand shimmered of light and blood had gone right through Wyatt's chest. The hand slid out and Wyatt fell dead to the ground leaving Lady Fowler standing forebodingly in his place. Lordornia manifested at the cliff and looked back at them with burning red eyes. Lady Fowler smiled, "I WAS going to thank him for getting rid of that useless reptile, but then he had to go and get MUSHY on me. Penelope… I thought you and I were Besties… why are you trying to stop us?"
Despite the pain in her side, she reached into her pocket and gripped more Blossoms. They would never run out as long as she needed them. Her father put THAT jinx on them. Her eyes watered at that thought and rage took over, "You stole my heart… you killed my family… and you took away the only person I ever loved… SCREW YOU! SNOWBALL, HUT!"
Penelope moved just in time as the blurry white ball came charging in and crashed into Lady Fowler. She was knocked backwards and slid at her mother's feet. The stag bellowed loudly as Penelope joined his side and couldn't help but stare down at her father's corpse. She brought the Blossoms out of her pocket and hurled them and Lordornia, but something was wrong… something was changing.
Lordornia's crown began to crack and grow then it finally stopped and Lordornia began to laugh hysterically, "FINALLY… Finally… The magic seal… is MINE!" She raised her hand and a red mist lashed out of her finger tips and seeped into Snowball. Penelope limped away and watched in horror as the stag thrashed about in mid air and the white color fading to brown. The mist seemed to go violent as it pulsed and began to eat the flesh off the creature's bones.
Penelope's eyes watered and she shut them tight as the stag shrilled in pain, "Stop it… STOP IT! OH GOD, STOP IT!"
The mist released the stag and his fleshed out corpse hit the ground right beside her father and Penelope broke down and cried. She cried for help… she cried that someone would come and help her…
Lordornia just laughed, "No one's going to save you… No one is STRONG enough to save you. But I'm feeling generous… I think I'll let you finally join your family."
She raised her glowing red hand at Penelope and jerked it to release the power just as Lady Fowler stood and glared at the blonde. Before the mist could discharge, a black hazy shadow crashed down from up above and stood up in between Penelope and the witches. Penelope felt a thrumming deep in her chest and she had to clutch it from the intensity. It was as if she regained another heart. The creature was smoking a black wisp that made it hard to make out who or what the creature was. There was a deep, throaty laugh that cleared through the cave. It raised its smoky arm and a searing black energy surrounded the crown on top of Lordornia's head. With that… the witch gritted her teeth and began to muffle her scream in pain and the red mist seemed to disappear. She unclenched her jaws and shrieked as she threw her hands up at the base of the crown and put a charge of red to give her momentum to remove the crown. Lady Fowler backed up and stared at the slimy black creature and tried to throw a spell at it. It simply didn't reach the creature as it faded into a weak bolt of green.
Lordornia stared in horror at the creature as she struggled to remove the crystal crown. The blackened creature's arm twisted in mid air and the headdress suddenly went a bright white light. A Chinese style dragon appeared and swooped around in a circle until it bit its own tail. The dragon soon became a ring of gold and Móshù appeared in Chinese within the center before it collected into a small sphere of gold and shattered before teleporting in a flashed spark. Lordornia's anger blinded her as she patted her head and realized her achievement was gone. All the while, Penelope's chest burned green still in her clutches. she muffled her screams as she fell to one knee... her ribs healing little by little.
Lordornia snarled and engulfed the unknown entity in a red mist. That mist agitated and pulsed but nothing seemed to be happening. The witch pointed out both of her hands and made a 'crushing' gesture with her hands and screamed out when nothing occurred, "This is completely IMPOSSIBLE!"
The blackened form's smoke began to clear and the body seemed to be taking shape. A very familiar voice filled the cave with echoes of a snarky, bass filled articulation, "Nothing is impossible... What I think you meant to say was, 'this is completely improbable'. Take for example… I am of existence therefore I cannot be impossible. Glowing, crimson red eyes burned from the black mass as sharpened white shark-tooth smile formed menacingly. As the oozing shell formed more and more as the creature spoke again, "Ouroboros has been defeated… and as such he and the seal have been moved to a different location. Out of your incapable hands. You had your chance to tap into endless power, but you wasted it on trying to revive your useless sister… who was killed by a mortal and his albino deer… now… I've finally caught up with you... I HAVE FINALLY CAUGHT UP WITH YOU, YOU MURDEROUS OLD HAG!
Bazinga Sheldor's form ripped from the oozing shell and roared as the miasma popped and cracked and molded his hooves, his snake tail, and his ram horns until he was the tall monster they had remembered. Penelope gasped as the green flames subsided. she got back to her feet just as Lady Fowler gave a scream and fell to her knees as she cupped her face in pure agony. Lordornia kept her eyes on demon Sheldor but was at her daughter's side and spoke with anger still present in her voice, "Amelia… what's happened?"
Lady Fowler's hands shook as she removed them from her face to show that the Pembe curse had returned. Lordornia's eyes widened just as the sound of animalistic squealing and shrieking filled the cave. Lordornia looked over her shoulder with wide eyes as she saw the armored dragons beginning to melt into hardened black soot. The flying dragons did the same in mid flight towards the opening of the tower above. Lordornia's rage hit her eyes as she took a few steps forward glowing red, "I might not have the seal, but that doesn't mean I am powerless…"
Bazinga Sheldor's tail wagged in a serpentine wave as he snarled towards the witch and Penelope covered her mouth in utter shock. She felt absolutely nothing human at all coming from the demon before her that would signify that this was ever Sheldor. He was nothing but a monster and knew that upon having to take the life of such a powerful creature such as Ouroboros; he had to withdraw every ounce of his humanity. Sheldor gave up everything… everything just to be at this moment… to be only inches from killing the witches… he was full demon now and she knew she couldn't do anything to bring him back. The tears that she cried at that moment were the most painful that she ever shed. All the hope of ever being with the witch hunter had just plummeted from her cheek and splattered upon the ground.
Lordornia raised her left hand and it pulsed a dangerous red as she snarled and spat out an incantation. Her focus was full of rage and pure malice as the power built and grew into a ball of red, poisonous energy that she pointed at the demon before her, but before she could release the force from her fingertips… Onar's blackened form sprang from the darkness with his ivory white teeth and fury leading the charge. He clamped his jaws upon the witch's forearm and the energy bubble fizzed out as the witch's scream filled the cave.