"Iiieeeuuwww!"
"Stella would you keep it down!" Bloom hissed.
"But it's all soooo grose here." Stella moaned.
"Yes and your childish moaning isn't going to change that." Layla snapped at her.
Stella raised her eyebrows but decided to keep her mouth shut. The four girls were walking through dark caves for almost a day now.
"Did you really have to go through these tunnels all by yourself Layla?" Bloom asked.
Layla nodded. "But at the time I was so determined to find the pixies it really didn't seem this long." She said.
"I need a break!" Stella said. "Like right now."
She fell onto the ground with a low thud.
"Oh come on Stella, we just had a break." Samara said. "We'll never get to that evil guys castle at this pace."
Stella huffed and stayed on the ground.
"Fine but we make it a short one." Bloom said as she took her water bottle from her bag.
Layla also sat down.
"So what was that creepy guy like?" Samara asked.
"He…it was like he was made out of shadows." Layla said. "Some sort of monster."
Samara walked a bit further to see what was ahead. The voices of the others were sounding more and more distant. She didn't know why but something seemed to make her move further and further away from them. The tunnel became wider and after a few meters Samara saw light. The tunnel ended and revealed a large open space. Some sort of castle was carved into the stone walls. The fairy of the Moon gasped as she saw a large shadow fly over the walls on the other side of the open space. A voice in her mind screamed that she had to warn the others, but somehow her body kept moving. Something was calling her to come closer.
"Are you ready to continue my princess?" Bloom asked sarcasticly.
"Hey, you're a princess too you know!" Stella said annoyed. "You should act more like one sometimes."
Bloom stuck her tongue out at the blonde fairy.
"Ppppfff please, there isn't much I miss about royalty." Layla said while standing up. "The balls, the dresses, don't get me started about the etiquette rules."
"Are you a princess too?" Bloom asked.
Layla nodded. "Yes, the princess of Andros."
"Well look like we are a kwartet of princesses than." Stella said. "Right Samara?"
The three of them looked around.
"Uh where did she go?" Layla asked.
Samara flew up into the air, looking around to make sure she wouldn't be seen. The shadow had disappeared, at least for now. The fairy flew through a sill and landed with a low thud. It was dark in the castle and it seemed to be empty. She shivered as a dark energy surrounded her. Whatever had been inside had left a dark aura. She wandered around through some dark corridors and even though she had no idea what direction she was going to, her mind seemed to know exactly where to lead her body to. After a while she walked into some kind of hall. The first thing she saw was a table with three symbols carved into it. Something was written on it as well but some of it was worn away.
Gather the three pieces of the Codex, a heart…. the Dragon Flame, only then you shall possess true power and can rule the world.
Samara frowned and turned around again. Then something else caught her attention.
In the middle was a purple mass pulsating inside some kind of forcefield. She walked straight towards it, holding out her hand. A dark energy came off of it. She was about to touch it when a golden light came in between. A shock of some kind of electricity coursed through her hand and Samara yelled. She fell backwards and while falling saw a shadow move in one of the corners.
Moonlight shower!
The fairy raised her other hand towards the shadow in a mere second and a bright light forced the darkness away for a moment. Her attack illuminated a figure that seemed like a man, but its glowing red eyes looked right at the girl. They kept looking at each other when a lot of noise came from the corridors.
"Where is she?!"
"I dont't know keep flying!"
Rays of sunshine!
Sunlight shined bright and Samara had to shield her eyes. In those few seconds, the figure was gone.
"There she is!"
Layla, Bloom and Stella flew into the hall.
"Are you okay?" Bloom asked as she kneeled next to Samara.
"I think so…he was standing over there!" She said pointing to the now empty corner.
"We need to go!" Stella yelled.
Samara looked towards the entrance. Multiple dark monsters came charging towards them.
"What are those?!"
"Shadow monsters." Layla said.
Stella yelled as she swung her scepter, slashing one of the monsters in half with a powerfull attack.
"I can't keep this up much longer and our only exit is blocked by those creatures."
Flame of the Dragon!
Fire errupted from Blooms hands, killing three monsters at a time. Samara stood up and looked around.
"There is no other way out." She said. "We're doomed."
Layla raised her hands and shot a range of purple spheres towards the monsters. But it was nou se, more and more monsters piled in front of the entrance and some even entered the hall. The four fairies had no choice but the step back.
"I…I'm too weak."Stella said. "So…so long without…any sunlight."
She transformed back into her normal form.
"No…we can't give up." Layla said. She kept on attacking but her spheres were getting weaker and weaker.
They were now stuck against the back wall as the monsters were charging towards them. Samara stepped forward and created a forcefield around all of them.
"We need to think of something quickly, I can't hold this for long."
"We can try to break through the wall." Layla said.
"Do you have any idea how high up we are?" Stella asked.
"JUST DO IT!" Samara screamed as she felt her defense weaken. The shadow monsters were now slamming onto the shield, giving Samara a bad deja vu.
Layla and Bloom started to attack the wall with everything they had and sure enough, Samara could hear the sound of stone breaking.
"Here we go!" Bloom said as she launched one final attack.
The wall shattered, creating just a big enough hole for the fairies to jump through. Samara was the last, breaking her forcefield at the very last second. When she jumped she could feel a cool wind envelop her entire body. Stella had been right, they were very, very high and were now falling rapidly towards what seemed to be their immenent deaths. The fairy of the Moon tried to fly, really she did but she was just too weak. The other three were having the same problem as they screamed for dear life. Samara braced herself for the impact when suddenly she stopped moving. Opening her eyes very carefully she realized that she was floating. As were Stella and Layla. But where was Bloom. Then her eyes caught something shiny flying at the very place where Bloom had just been. It seemed like an angel, and he was holding Bloom. They all slowly moved towards the ground and landed.
"Let go of her!" Stella shrieked as she grabbed a small boulder and ran towards the man holding Bloom. "Or I'll smash your head…wait professor Avalon?!"
Samara ran closer to them and gasped as it really was Avalon. "What are you doing here?"
Avalon put Bloom down gently. "Faragonda send me." He said. "After you left she got second thoughts and decided to send backup, me."
"Good thing she did or we would be squashed for sure." Layla said. "Thank you professor."
Bloom stood up and rubbed her head. "What happened?" "I blacked out as soon as we jumped…"
She gasped when she saw Avalon standing right next to her. "Professor, what are you doing here?"
"Do you know a way out?" Layla asked.
"Yes but first let me restore your energy."
The man clapped his hands together and a warm wave of energy blew over the fairies.
"Come now, let's get out of here." Avalon said.