Chapter 26
"How could he? How could HE?!"
Sobs and raging filled the room the Invisibles had gone to after what had happened.
The two pranksters had been so furious beyond reason they would have no doubt revealed themselves and done something truly horrible to the Horned King. (Not that he didn't deserve it, but it was strictly forbidden for them to interfere unless ordered)
The others had had to drag them from the room by force and hold them down until all they could do was cry. For two fun-loving, light-hearted creatures such as themselves, seeing them in a raging hatred that burned this hot was something the others had only seen on a couple other occasions in the millennium they had known each other.
The first now stood by the window, staring into the courtyard, taking slow, deep breaths, attempting to control its fury.
The second and third were pacing the room, ranting at the top of their voices about all the horrible things they would do to the Horned King. Their wrath lent voice to every single thing the first was silently fuming at.
And the fourth was sitting in a chair by a table. Its sobs had not stopped since the incident, and they lent quiet background noise to the fury of the other two.
"How dare he hurt her! How DARE he?"
"I'll make him wish he was never born!"
"I'm ripping his heart right out! I don't care what the Fates do to me! Nobody like that deserves to live! No ONE!"
"That monster! He should be killed a thousand times over for what he's done!"
"I'll KILL him for that! He can't just hurt someone and throw them in a cage like that! Especially not Avalina!"
"She's too sweet for that kind of treatment! That good, sweet girl!"
"I hate him and I hope he goes straight back to the Cauldron where he belongs!"
"I'll break every bone in his undead body!"
"I'll rip his horns out!"
"Throw him in the lake!"
"And shoot a nail through his foot!"
"And smash him over the head with a trolley!"
This had been going on for nearly four hours, and they showed no sign of stopping any time soon.
The first had no doubt that in the peak of their fury right now, they would carry out all those things without a single drop of remorse. In fact, they would enjoy every second of it.
Nobody but the other two knew just how completely vindictive, vengeful and malicious the two pranksters could really be. No one else ever saw that side of them. And it was exceedingly rare that they even got angry at all. There was no happy medium for them.
Nearly all the time, they were fun-loving sidekicks just dancing along and squeezing enjoyment out of nearly any situation, no matter how bad it might be. Content to let things take its course with a laugh and the positive reassurance that everything would be ok in the end.
But touch something they cared about and they would instantly turn into something Mother Nature herself, with all her elements, could never hope to rival.
Their wrath was utterly terrifying.
The first slowly made its way over to the one sobbing by the table.
"Why?"
The fourth sobbed.
"Why? Why her? She's too sweet of a girl for this! She doesn't deserve any of this! She should be home, with her family, in the sunshine and the wild country! Not locked in this wretched dark castle with a cold-hearted murderer! How could he do this to her? She's so young. . ."
The first sat there with the other, doing their best to comfort.
The fourth had always been the most sensitive of the team. When faced with a situation the first would bark at, and the other two would laugh at and come off with a few sarcastic remarks, the fourth would inevitably break down.
The prankster duo channeled their agony into fiery rage, rather than grief. The first channeled theirs into a wall of ice, and the fourth would become raw cake batter.
After another hour, the first noticed that the ranting from the other two had quietened, and now, exhausted, they were holding each other, crying their hearts out.
The fourth was doing more sniffling now than sobbing, and the first felt in control of themselves enough now to actually risk saying something.
It wouldn't even take a spark to set them all off again, so the first chose its words carefully, trying to keep themselves calm, despite the fury still bubbling inside them.
"Now that we've gotten most of that out of our system, I want everyone to listen to me."
The others all turned reluctantly towards the speaker.
"I know everyone is beyond hurt and furious right now. I am too. But talking about it won't make things better for anyone besides us. What we need to do now is do everything the master asks of us, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else, and try to make sure Avalina gets the best care possible. She's going to really need it while she's down there. We need to try and keep her spirits up, alright? We're not going to have time to do anything nasty to the master."
"Oh, I don't know," the second said dryly, "I've always got time for something sweet. Namely revenge."
"But Avalina needs us more. So, we're going to carry on as normal, but try and give her the best we can, and make sure her horse stays well taken care of, understood?"
The third was leaping about in a flash.
"Oh, gracious, the horse! Quick, come with me!"
The others followed as it tore out of the room, headed for the stable.
The sight that met them when they entered the stable made them all gasp.
The animal stood in the center of the hall, its head down.
Sensing their presence, the horse lifted its head and whinnied softly in questioning, before lacing its ears back flat and glaring in their general direction upon realizing it was not the one he wanted.
Blood was clotted all down the horse's knees and around its mouth, no doubt where it had bit and pawed the doors, attempting to get to its master.
Impact marks covered the walls all around the stable for a good eight feet up. . .nearly nine in a few places. . .bite marks, hoof marks, and the like.
The hitching rail the animal had been tied to lay in five different pieces. The remains of the reins that they knew Avalina prized so highly lay scattered over the floor.
The horse had broken the rail clean out of the ground, dragged it for a while before stomping it to pieces, and bit the reins in half like paper.
The bridle and saddle seemed unharmed, but the horse's mouth wasn't. Blood seeped out from around the bits and dripped onto the stone floor as the animal weakly glared at them.
"He's been at it ever since she was. . .you know. . ."
"Yeah. . .He wore himself out trying to get to her."
"That poor creature. We need to get his equipment off and fix him up."
"Can you imagine what Avalina might do if she found him like this?"
"It would kill her."
"Well then, come on and help me."
Being minors to the Fates themselves, the horse couldn't actually harm the Invisibles, but even exhausted, the animal put up a terrific fight at the hands that held him. Nobody touched him except his rider!
Nearly five insane, exhausting hours later of fighting a raging animal over every square inch of the stable, (Who had apparently gotten a second wind) the equipment had been removed and cleaned, and the front legs disinfected and bandaged tightly up. Pepper rubbed over the top of the bandages would keep the horse from ripping them back off.
Nothing much could be done for his mouth, except to watch his feed while he healed, making sure he ate nothing rough.
Hay was a necessity, but perhaps something not as rough as the wild hay he clearly favored. Leaf hay would do better for now. Instead of oats, bran would do nicely until his mouth healed.
The reins had been fixed to look like new (The Invisibles' special abilities really helped here) and nobody could ever tell they had ever been broken at one point.
Hanging the saddlebags on a rail inside the tackroom, something fell out of one.
Picking it up, the third Invisible puzzled for a moment, before bursting into laughter.
The others came in, sounding exhausted after their workout, and all the third was able to do was wave the blue cloth helplessly in the air.
"So THAT's why Creeper's cape looks so weird now!" It cackled.
"He's got a new fashion designer!"
The fourth laughed, a grin evident in its voice.
"I was in here last night when it happened."
Instantly all the attention was on them.
"Tell us!"
"Tell us!"
The fourth laughed.
"Well, Creeper decided to come in and see the horse, and he thought he just was so bad. . ."