Well, I'm off to New Zealand for a week but I figured I better get one more chapter up before I leave so enjoy!
Chapter Five – Rescuing the Pixies
No one slept very well that night.
Sky had created a fire for him and the girls using his flint and tinder, but it did very little to ward off the darkness of the mountains. Though all four of them were exhausted, none of them were able to fall any deeper than a light doze for various reasons. For Layla, the thought of the still trapped pixies kept her from finding any rest, while for Stella the thought of Brandon being held by the Queen of Down Land stopped her from getting any sleep. Bloom tried to stay awake in order to try and hear any approaching shadow monsters and poor Sky couldn't sleep because of all three reasons combined.
So when the first of the suns rose up over the edge of the horizon, everyone wasn't rested but they were ready to get moving none the less.
"We should go back to the tunnel we ran out of yesterday," Layla suggested. "Maybe we can get back into the Under Realm from there."
"Good idea," Sky yawned, shaking his blonde head to try and wake himself up. He had a massive headache and a large bump from when he was knocked out by the rock and his neck was rather stiff thanks to the hard ground he had tried to use for a bed, but he knew he had to focus. They needed to rescue the pixies today so they could stop Amentia from forcing Brandon to marry her all in one day because Sky really didn't want to spend another night in the Under Realm. He had been trained to be able to survive in harsh terrain, but he'd still take his bed over a patch of dirt any day.
The tunnel that they had escaped outside through the evening before had completely collapsed from the quake that had caused the caves to shutter violently. Looking at the rubble, Sky suddenly realized how lucky they were to get out alive, but that didn't answer their dilemma on how they were going to get back inside the caves to look for Shadow Haunt.
"We could use magic to move the rocks," Stella put forward, looking at the ruined tunnel.
"Except our powers haven't returned properly," Bloom pointed out. "I don't think I could conjure up enough magical energy to lift a pebble let alone a boulder."
"And we definitely can't clear it with our hands," Layla said. "It would take far too long. We need to find the pixies soon or they're going to die."
"We know Layla, but fretting about it isn't going to help," Sky told her but for thinking deeply. "The PHA could teleport up through the rock but it only last for twenty seconds."
"And what happens if we haven't found an opening and the time runs out?" Stella asked him.
"Basically we'd be stuck inside the wall for all eternity," Sky told her bluntly.
"Nah-uh," Stella instantly disagreed. "No way am I ending up as an Under Realm wall flower. Not gonna happen."
"What about if we found a spot where we know for sure there was a tunnel on the other side?" Bloom asked. She didn't seem to keen on the idea of getting trapped inside a rock wall for the rest of her life, but she could clearly see that they were running out of time and options.
Sky observed the collapsed tunnel closely. There was definitely no way they could pass through that rock, so it looked as though they were going to have to find a place to chance it.
"We'd have to be pretty certain," Sky answered Bloom's question before turning to face the girls again. "You know these mountains best, Layla. Is there like another tunnel running near by?"
"I'm not sure," Layla confessed before moving over to the ledge of a massive chasm. "But I think if we went down to the bottom of this chasm we'd be on the other side of Shadow Haunt's main chamber. I think."
Sky moved over in order to stand next to Layla to see what she was seeing. He didn't like the sound of that 'I think' but a bit of an idea was better than no idea at all. "Then let's get down there."
"And how do you purpose we do that?" Stella asked him.
"We walk Stella," Layla told her sternly.
"Oh that sounds fun and all, but I think I'll stay here and wait for the bus."
"Stella, we can't go after Brandon until we get the pixies," Bloom reminded her friend. Stella's eyes became hard with a steeling determination and her face became suddenly sever.
"Let's get going then."
Sky tried to hide a grin at Stella's sudden motivation "Okay, are you guys ready to go back down there?"
"Hopefully this will be the last time," Layla muttered.
"Personally, I can't wait," Stella said with unexpected enthusiasm. "Nothing says good times like a sunless, monster ridden cavern."
"It's a goods thing you got over your fear of heights Stella," Bloom grinned.
"Seriously now," Stella said, moving over to the edge of the chasm and looking down. The sun fairy paled a few shades and a touch of panic entered her honey coloured eyes as she observed to drop below her.
"Stella, maybe you should wait up here since your powers seem to, you know, drain faster down there," Sky suggested, trying to help Stella maintain some of her dignity. His words, however, seemed to trigger Stella's determination, overriding her fear. The princes wasted no time in being the first to start climbing over the edge of the cliff.
"Hello, we've got pixies to save and the sooner we do that the sooner I can stop that pasty cave queen from marrying my boyfriend!" Stella told them all with an animal like growl.
"Hold up," Layla stopped her, picks up a large bit of bark that must have fallen off the trunk of an unseen tree that had somehow been able to survive in the Arid Mountain Range. "I think I've found a faster way to get down there."
"Huh?" Bloom and Sky said in unison.
"Have you guys ever snowboarded before?"
Coming from a wealthy family, Sky had visited snow resorts virtually every year since he was three though it wasn't till he was five that he started to be taught how to ski. He had picked up the sport easily, often giving his parents and the people minding him panic attacks when he'd fly down the mountain with no fear of the speed he was traveling at (1). When he was thirteen, he had tried his hand at snowboarding and although he had spent the first few days falling on his ass, Sky eventually got that snow sport down pat as well.
Boarding on a piece of bark, however, proved to be a lot harder than boarding with a snowboard partly due to the fact that pieces of that bark would fall off from time to time, but mainly because they lacked proper edges and bindings to keep you strapped to the board (2). Sky's balance wavered slightly every now and then, but he was able to ride it out and continue down the hill without wiping out.
Layla, on the other hand, wasn't put off by the lack of bindings and proper edges, and was game enough to go off a kicker. She kept the board with her by pulling off an indy grab and landed it easily.
"You're pretty good at this," Sky noted to Layla as they flew down the steep slope.
"I board all the time back in my realm," she confessed to him as they both dug in an edge and slid to a graceful stop. Looking back up hill, the two teenagers suddenly realized that they were missing two of their party.
"Where are Bloom and Stella?" Sky asked, and his question was answered for him when the two fairies suddenly came into view and by the looks of it they had absolutely no control over their 'boards'. Bloom was just buttering it down the slope, traveling at a speed that was far too fast for her and Stella wasn't doing any better.
Jumping slightly and twisting her 'board' so that it was going across the hill, Bloom almost managed to pull off a kind of graceful stop but she ended up catching an edge and fell flat on her face. Stella, however, didn't even try to stop and went flying into a rock, making both Sky and Layla physically flinch at the impact. They had both had run in with various obstacles during their time boarding – trees, rocks, snow fences, poles, people, etc – so they knew how unpleasant such run ins were. And that crash looked like it hurt.
"Stella!" Bloom screamed in alarm as her friend sat up and rubbed her head. Amazingly, the Princess of Solaria looked completely unscathed.
"Being hard headed comes in handy sometimes. Check it! I cracked the rock!" Stella said in a surprisingly proud tone of voice (3). The surprises continued as Stella got to her feet and dusted herself off. Sky stared at her in awe. A crash like that should have resulted in broken bones, not broken rocks. But a close look at that rock told Sky exactly why the princess had survived such an impact.
"I hate to tell you this, but these aren't rocks down here. They're petrified monster droppings," Sky told her, picking a small bit of it up.
Stella instantly blanched. "Eww!"
But Sky saw what that must mean. All the shadow monster of the Under Realm spent all their time in the caves, only venturing out into the sun on cloudy days and when it was absolutely necessary. And even then they rarely ventured very far from the tunnels. That could only mean one thing.
"It means there's tunnels near by," he pointed out, crushing the 'rock' in his hand. He was so caught up with the prospect of getting back into the Under Realm that it didn't even register to him how gross that might be, though he would remember once he got back to Red Fountain and wash his hand meticulously. Digging around his unseen pocket, Sky pulled out his PHA. "In fact I bet there's one on the other side of this wall."
"And what if it's just solid rock?" Bloom inquired.
"We implode, but I don't think it will be," Sky answered.
Stella wasn't convinced. "Maybe I'll just wait here."
Bloom, however, wasn't going to let her stay behind. The red head had gone though a lot of grief when she thought she had lost her best friend so until they got out of the Under Realm she was not going to let the blonde princess out of her sight. The Keeper of the Dragon Fire took firm hold of Stella arm and pulled her into the circle that she, Sky and Layla were forming. "Come on Stella."
"Okay, but if I never return, Bloom, I want you to have my wardrobe," Stella said, overlooking the point that if she didn't return there was a good chance that Bloom had shared the same fate.
Activating the PHA, Sky felt the little cyber tool alter their molecular structure so that they could pass through the rock. It was hard to tell what was happening, but a white light surrounded the group and the next thing Sky knew he had teleport through the rock wall and jumped out into a tunnel. Bloom was right behind him, and then Layla flipped out. But there was still one person from their group missing.
"Hey! Where's Stella?" Bloom gasped.
"Weren't you holding her hand?" Sky asked her in a slightly panicked state. The people of Solaria would not be impressed with the Prince of Eraklyon if he was responsible for encasing their only princess in solid rock. That and Brandon would kill him a thousand time over.
"What hand?" Bloom exclaimed. "We all turned into thin air or whatever!"
Sky's panic increased as a flash of white light filled the cave, a clear indication that the PHA couldn't keep the portal open any longer. "The portal's closing!"
"Oh no!" Bloom wailed. She was not going to lose Stella again. Hitting the wall with her fist, Bloom was almost on the verge of tears when Stella got thrown out of the portal just as it closed. "There you are! I was so worried Stella!"
"I'm never doing that again," Stella informed them all from her place on the ground. Bloom moved over to help her up, but that changed when she noticed something in Stella's luscious, blonde hair.
"Oh look, you picked up a stowaway," Sky grinned, noticing the same thing Bloom did.
Bloom held up Stella's little passenger for the princess to see. "A wumble worm."
"In Eraklyon they say the early bird gets to eat the worm," Sky said, moving over to the two girls as Stella scrambled to her feet. "And that it brings you luck."
"Well, since you were the first one here go ahead," Stella offered him, causing the three of them to all burst out laughing.
"Guys," Layla said, silencing all three of them and when they saw what she was looking at, their eyes all widened. "We made it. It's Shadow Haunt."
Amentia's pre-wedding perfection ritual had started immediately after she had kissed him, officially sealing their engagement, and had continued through the night. Brandon had been forced to go through several rather embarrassing bathing sessions where several layers of skin had been taken off with all the scrubbing and his hair had been washed more times in one night than most Red Fountain boys do in a semester.
So it was an extremely exhausted Brandon that stood without a fuss as several servants went ahead with the next part of Amentia's torture plan.
"Before you can marry our queen, you must receive seven doses of pristine complex B," one of the servants informed the squire.
"What? And, er, how do you give me that? Is it some kind of pill?" Brandon asked and to answer him one of the trog servants stabbed him soundly in the butt with a needle. Brandon wasn't scared of needles, but that still didn't mean that he liked them since they always hurt like hell. "Ow! Okay look! Go tell that wacko queen of yours she's pushing my limits!" Brandon snarled, glaring at the servant that had just jabbed him, but while his back was turned, another trog stuck him again with the second dose. "Argh! Forget this!"
Brandon may not have been the most patient of people, but he always prided himself on the fact that he could endure a lot of things if the situation required. But even though he knew that Stella's life may be on the line, there was no way he was going to go through five more doses of that pristine complex B crap. Heroics class just didn't cover that topic.
'This type of shit was never mentioned in the mission debrief!' Brandon thought viciously to himself as he completely snapped and took out his annoyance by pushing the ceremonial robes that Amentia had picked out for him to the floor. "I'm not going through with this!"
His childish outburst made the squire feel a little better, and he anger quickly shifted to amusement was he watched the servants rush around like chickens with their heads cut off in an attempt to clean up mess before anyone saw it and reported it to the Queen.
"We must clean up!" one of the trogs gasped in a panicked voice. "Hurry!"
"She's got you guys on a leash," Brandon noted, watching them scurry. As pretty much a servant himself, Brandon got no pleasure out of tormenting the help like the way he had seen Diaspro do whenever he went with Sky to visit her, but he couldn't help but want to laugh at the insane way the trogs followed Amentia's obsessive compulsiveness.
It was either that or cry.
"Have you finished grooming the groom?" a voice asked from the doorway.
"Huh?" Brandon gasped, looking up to see Queen Amentia enter the room. The servants pale slightly – if that was even possible given their colourless skin – at the sight of their queen due to the fact that they had not yet finished tidying up the robes that Brandon had pushed to the ground.
"Queen Amentia," one of them stammered and all the servants quickly moved to stand in front of robes to try and block Amentia from seeing them.
"Now remember, you have to . . ." Amentia started, but she quickly trailed off as her amber eyes noticed the pile of robes that were in a heap on the ground and she let out a horrified gasp. "What are those ceremonial robes doing on the floor?! My groom will not wear robes that have touched the floor not even once! Now talk! Who is responsible for this disaster?!" Amentia demanded to know before selecting one of the servants at random and glared at them accusingly. "Was it you?!"
The servant started to sweat and actually started to look a bit green. Brandon suddenly recalled how Amentia had told Sponsus that he could live another day when he had presented her with flowers, and Brandon suddenly got the sick feeling that Amentia was willing to execute people if she felt like it. The servant let out a groan, too terrified to respond.
"It was me, your Highness," Brandon quickly jumped in. He was not going to let Amentia hurt people on account of him. "It wasn't these guys."
The servants all shot him a thankful look while Amentia's furious expression quickly changed to one of delight.
"Taking the blame," she gushed, cupping his face with her odd, three fingered hand. "Oh, what a noble thing to do! What a perfect husband you'll be."
"No, I really did do it!"
"Oh Brandon, you don't have to pretend with me," Amentia told him, giving him a slightly seductive look before turning on heel and heading for the door. "I have my own preparations to make before the wedding this afternoon. Servants! Finish this stage of the pre-wedding perfection ritual as quickly as possible! Then burn those robes and get him a new set identical to the ones I've selected! The groom needs to be dressed and perfected by this afternoon! Got it?"
"Yes your Majesty," all the servants answered in unison.
"Oh and send him to the royal beautician expert! His eyebrows are looking a tad too wild for my taste!"
"Yes your Majesty!"
"What's wrong with my eyebrows?" Brandon asked himself, running his fingers over them. They looked fine to him. He wasn't sporting a mono-brow or anything like that. They were just normal, guy eyebrows.
"Clearly Queen Amentia believes them to be less then perfect, and anything less then perfect is not acceptable in Down Land," one of the servants answered, picking up the robes that Brandon had knocked to the ground. The groom to be suddenly felt extremely guilty for getting these guys in trouble like that. They weren't to blame for his current situation.
"Oh man, I'm sorry you guys. I didn't mean to get you into trouble or anything," Brandon said, crouching down to help them pick up the robes. "Is she always like that?"
"Mostly yes," one of the trogs answered, gathering up all the robes that were to be burned as instructed. "That's why we are so pleased that Amentia has finally selected someone to be her husband."
"You are? Why?"
"Because if Amentia has someone bond closely to her, then maybe she'll put all her attention on him and lift some of the pressure off of us normal people," the trog explained.
"So what, I'm like a martyr for you people?" Brandon asked, and his stomach sank as the trog nodded. Not only was he doing this to protect Stella, but now he had to act as a shield for every trog in Down Land? "Well that sucks."
The main chamber of Shadow Haunt was like nothing Sky had ever seen before. The roof and the floor of the cavern could not be seen given the great size of it, but around the edges various tunnels and hidden ledges ran in all directions, vanishing into the shadows of the caves. Several small waterfalls trickled down the walls and its eerie music was coupled with what sounded like bats chattering away in the darkness. But in the center of the cavern, existing on a rock ledge was Lord Darkar stronghold which was built out of the very rock itself.
It was actually a rather ghastly thing to observe.
"So, that's Shadow Haunt. What do you think it's like on the inside?" Bloom asked, looking at the fortress.
"Probably drab and dreary," Stella answered.
Layla, who had been looking for a way inside, suddenly pointed to a rope bridge that stretched across from the ledge they were on to one closer to the castle. "We can take that bridge."
Sky observed the bridge and the massive drop below it and then instantly had doubts. "Er, I don't think Stella's going to want to go up there."
"Sounds to me like you're the one who's scared. Maybe you should hang tight and let the fairies take it from here," Stella suggested in a cocky tone of voice. "You're slowing us down anyway. Without you we can just fly."
"We're not flying, Stell," Bloom instantly rejected.
"Oh, right, cause why use our magic?" Stella scoffed sarcastically.
"Stell, because our winx drains big time down here. We have to save it for when we really need it."
"Come on," Layla said, getting sick of all the bickering. With the ease of a mountain goat she walked up the rock towards the bridge and the others were right behind her. "It looks rickety. If it breaks just hold on and swing to the other side."
Bloom's eyes brightened at the thought. "We used to have a ride like this at this water park on Earth."
"Water park?" Sky questioned. Why would water need to be kept in the protection of a park? Was water really that scarce on her planet? But Bloom never got a chance to explain to him as she followed Layla out onto the bridge. Sky followed suit, but Stella remain rooted to the rock she was standing on.
"You people are forcing me to admit; I'm still scared of heights!" Stella quickly confessed. "There, I feel better now."
Bloom couldn't help but grin. "We knew that already Stell."
"It's embarrassing," Stella flushed.
"It's okay Stella. Just take it one step at a time," Sky urged.
"I can't do it!"
"Stella, if we don't hurry up we're going to miss the start of Brandon and Amentia wedding," Layla pointed out. Stella's face became hard, and she stepped out onto the bridge.
"That a girl!" Bloom cheered, and the group turned and started to make their way across the bridge.
"I see the chamber up ahead," Layla said when they were about three quarters of the way across. "I'm going for it. You guys wait here. Tell Stella to stop looking down."
Bloom and Sky looked back over their shoulders to see a pale looking Stella tightly holding the rope of the bridge as if it was the link to her life force.
"I'm cool," she assured them in a voice that was very quiet and shaking. "Just taking baby steps."
Layla gave her an encouraging smile before grabbing hold of a rope that was dangling down along side the bridge and swung fearlessly across chasm. As the she neared the cliff face on the other side, she let go of the rope and flipped her body to catch hold of the rock wall.
"Whoa!" Stella gasped as Layla began her climb to reach the ledge above her.
"She's certainly got guts," Sky agreed before he started walking again. "Come on, let's at least get to the other side of this bridge so we don't have to wait over this giant gap."
"That sounds like a good plan," Bloom nodded following after the prince. "Hey Sky? Do you think Brandon's doing okay?"
"If I know Brandon, he'll be fighting tooth and nail to try and find a way out of this marriage that's being forced on him," Sky grinned. "Brandon was always a big supporter in people marrying for love not just because someone says they have to. I guess that's because his parents are so devoted to each other. When Brandon found out about my arranged engagement to Diaspro, he was horrified. He even came up with a couple of hair brained schemes to try and get out of it, but they always seemed to involve running away and joining the Zodiac Fighters (4)."
"Zodiac Fighters?" Bloom repeated.
"They were a bunch of comic book superheroes," Sky explained, and when he heard Bloom snigger he added, "We were thirteen."
"I think it's cute," Bloom grinned mockingly as the two of them made it to the other side of the bridge. Stella trailed behind them, moving at a painstakingly slow pace. "You okay Stell?"
"Yeah, just ducky," Stella answer unenthusiastically.
"I think her power's weakening," Bloom whispered in a worried voice to Sky, but before the prince had a chance to respond a purple lightning bolt hit her, throwing the fairy to one side. "Ah!"
"Bloom!" Sky cried in alarm and a second later another bolt collected him in the back, causing him to fall on his face. Sky struggled to try and sit up, but the bolt of purple electricity had sent painful shock waves ripping through his body, making him feel extremely weak. He could sense their attackers approach them from behind, and when he looked up, Sky's blue eyes widened in horror as he made out three familiar silhouettes.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Bloom exclaimed, also recognizing the trio.
"I thought they were locked away," Sky said as he observed the dreaded Trix Sisters.
The eldest and leader of the Tix, Icy, was in the center of the three as always. Her pale skin was juxtaposed by her dark blue clothes and her ice blue eyes burned with chilling hate as she glared at Bloom, the fairy that had defeated her the previous year. Her hair was an unnatural sliver white and was pulled back into the high pony tail, and she was surrounded by an ice blue halo of light that had a wicked cast to it.
To Icy's right stood the middle child of the three of them and Riven's ex-girlfriend Darcy. Clad all in tight fitting purple attire, Darcy golden brown hair reached right down her back and floated inches above the ground. Her skin was pale and flawless, and seemed to radiate some kind of wicked delight. Darcy was without a doubt a beautiful young lady, and her golden eyes burned with a terrible intelligence. Like Icy, she too seemed to be surrounded by a halo of light, only hers was her signature colour of purple.
The third and final member of the Trix Sisters was the youngest, Stormy, who stood to Icy's left. Dressed in crimson pink, the witch had a pretty face that was lost in her outrageous perm. As the Weather Witch and the master of natural disasters, Stormy had as quick a temper as some of her lighting bolts. Her pretty violet eyes burned with a boarder line insane anger, and her body was outlined by a crimson pink halo.
The Trix may have looked like the same girls that went to Cloud Tower last year, but there was definitely something different about them. They seemed stronger and more confident then they did last year, but the only thing Sky could see that was new was that each of the witches had jewelry hanging off different parts of their bodies. Darcy and Stormy both had theirs on their wrists, while Icy had hers around her neck and all of them glow with the witches signature colour.
Stormy grinned wickedly and conjured up a lightning storm which rattled the cave walls. Stella stumbled the rest of the way across the bridge which was now shaking like crazy and join Bloom and Sky on the rock ledge.
"So, losers," Darcy greeted with a snarl.
"Did you miss us?" Stormy asked mockingly.
"We missed you," Icy lied.
'This doesn't look good,' Sky thought to himself. The Trix were ready to get some revenge since it was Bloom and the Winx Club who had defeated them last year, and by the looks of it the caves did nothing to drain their powers. If anything, it amplified them. Sky turned to address Bloom. "Do you have enough power to fight them?"
"I've always got power to fight these witches," Bloom assured him, glaring at her long time enemies. Ever since Bloom had first arrived at Alfea, the Trix had paid special attention to try and destroy Bloom's life. They had targeted her friends, attacked her family and made her doubt her own power. Bloom wasn't normally a violent person, but all that when out the window when she was up against these three witches.
"You girls are sophomores now aren't you? What a joke," Icy laughed mockingly.
Stella's eyes narrowed in distaste. "So, how'd you like the looney-bin?"
"You know, not so much," Darcy answered her.
Stormy's face twisted into one of total disgust. "They tried to make us nicer."
"Yeah, and you know the funny thing is? It just made us meaner," Icy told them, conjuring up her power. The air instantly chilled, causing Sky's breath to cloud in front of him. Icicles filled the air and then twisted themselves, ready to strike. Grabbing Bloom by the wrist, Sky dragged Bloom to safety just as the icicles launched themselves at them only to be embedded into the rock that the two teens were standing in font of just a few seconds before.
"Ah!" Bloom screamed, alarmed by Icy's awesome display of power. Even when the Trix had the Dragon Fire and the Army of Decay they weren't this powerful.
"Stella!" Sky shouted as Icy prepared another wave of icicles, this time aimed at the sun princess. "Get back!"
But Stella wasn't able to dodge the attack and got hit by icicles, but it wasn't too serious so the blonde was able to rebound from it quickly, though her clothes didn't fair was well. "You ripped my favourite cardies!"
"Oh, we'll rip up more than your shorts, Blondie. We promise you that," Icy hissed before pointing to the ice blue necklace that was wrapped around her neck. "See this? It's called a Gloomix and increases our power dramatically, especially in a place with abundance of negative energy like Shadow Haunt. You guys don't have a chance in hell of beating us now."
"Gloomix?" Sky repeated, that didn't sound good.
"You got it," Darcy grinned wickedly, caressing hers fondly. "You have no idea what kind of a power boost this thing gave us."
"It was gifted to us by the Shadow Phoenix himself," Stormy told them.
"That's right, you're currently looking at Lord Darkar's main witches," Icy informed them. "But enough chat. I miss the way we all used to play together. Darcy, would you mind getting this party started?"
"My pleasure," Darcy smirked evilly. Her Gloomix flashed deep purple, and then she vanished into thin air before their eyes.
"Where'd she go?" Sky asked, looking around and crouching down into a defensive stance. This was not good. The witches now had an insane amount of power while Bloom and Stella's were still slightly drained. Sky still had she sword and shield, but there was only so much that could do against magic.
"Stella! Behind you!" Bloom suddenly exclaimed as a fully powered Darcy appeared behind the blonde fairy. Giving Stella no time to try and counter or even block the attack, the Dark Witch threw a powerful hypnotic beam at her in an attempt to crush her. But at the last second, Bloom jumped in and tackled Stella to the ground, effectively pushing her out of the way of the attack. The two Alfea fairies propped themselves up off the ground, and glared a challenge at the witches. "Let's get 'em."
"Pixies do this every time. It's getting old," Icy sighed as the two girls transformed into their winx form. But as soon as the fairies had finished their transformation, they were instantly on the attack.
"Take this!" Bloom shouted, conjuring up a fire ball and hurling it at Darcy. The witch simply responded by teleporting herself away, laughing callously.
"Psycho clone!" Stormy screamed, spelling the wind to spin and form a tornado which flew directly for Stella. The fairy blocked it, however, with the Scepter of Solaria. But the wind spiral was so powerful that it still knocked Stella to the ground, who cried out in the impact.
"Stella!" Sky shouted.
"Oh no!" Bloom gasped, making a move to help her friend, but Sky stopped her when he saw someone hovering over them.
"Up there!" Sky pointed to Icy who was in the air above them. The Ice Queen used her Gloomix to conjure a giant iceberg which she sent flying at the Keeper of the Dragon Fire. "Bloom!"
Grabbing hold of her again, Sky dragged Bloom though the caves till they were safe behind some massive rock walls. Panting, Bloom smiled graciously at him. "Thanks Sky."
But before he could respond, Darcy reappeared above them and summoned up a painful hex that she used to use on nerds at Cloud Tower while she was there. "Poser hex!"
Bloom gasped as the hex hit her, putting her into painful body lock. Her body went completely ridged in pain and her blue eyes that Sky loved so much screamed in silent agony.
"That does it!" Sky snapped, pulling out his phantom sword. No one – Gloomix or not – hurt his Bloom and got away with it. Plus, Sky had a score to settle with this bitch for the way she had messed with Riven last year. Blinded by rage, Sky took a wild swing at Darcy who easily dodged it, causing Sky to end up embedding his blade in the rock behind her. Tugging at his sword, Sky found it wouldn't budge, but when Darcy tried to throw another attack at him, Sky found another use for his sword. Using sword like a spring board, Sky was able to jump clear over her, but the bulk of her attack hit and ended up warps his blade.
'Shit,' Sky cursed in his head as he landed on a rock. It was gonna take a lot of work to get his sword straight again. But that wasn't the most pressing of his troubles when he saw that the boulder he was standing on and his feet were quickly covering with ice, fixing him to the spot.
"You Red Fountain boys, you're all so shiver-ous, aren't you?" Icy almost purred in malicious delight as she hovered over the prince, watching the ice start to travel up his legs.
"Icy!" Sky spat. His legs might be useless now, but he wasn't beat just yet. Pulling out boomerang, he throws it at bridge which snapped as the weapon cut through the rope holding it up. One broken bit swung down on a course to hit Icy, but the Ice Queen froze it in mid air. Clenching her hand into a fist, Icy cause the frozen bridge to shatter and still the ice continued to move up Sky's body until reached his neck.
"Oh man, witches?" a new voice said, and Sky looked up to see Layla in full winx form observing the fight. "I used to wipe the floor with your kind back in Tides."
Wasting no time, Layla flew headlong into the fight and cast an energy ball of her aquatic magic in Icy's direction. The attack proved to be fruitless as Icy caught the ball in her hands before it hit her and calmly squashed it out of existence. "Well, you're not in Tides anymore, sweetheart."
"Who's the new girl?" Darcy asked.
"Who care?" Stormy instantly answered. "Let's kick her booty!"
"Uh-huh," Darcy agreed, moving to a place where she could attack Layla from behind. That underhanded move was enough to knock Layla to the ground and transforms back to her normal form, something the Trix found to be hilarious.
"This was way too easy," Icy chuckled as she viewed the result of their attacks. Layla lay unconscious on the ground as was Stella, while Bloom was still trapped in Darcy's painful body lock and Sky was doing his bit as the ice sculpture. But her pleasure was short lived as a white light suddenly filled the cavern, forcing her and her sisters to shield their eyes. "What is that?"
"I can't see anything," Darcy cringed.
"So bright," Stormy flinched.
Out of the centre of the white light flew a man with massive, snow white wings. His steel blue hair was long and was pulled back into a pony tail that reached pretty much all the way down his back. He was dressed in elegant looking robes and his entire body glowed in a positive, white light. Sky watched as this stranger flew down to land along side Layla and, using powerful magic, regenerated Layla till she was strong enough to sit up. Without a word, the stranger then moved onto Sky, melting the ice and releasing the prince.
'Who is this guy?' Sky thought as he watched the man move over to Bloom to remove Darcy's hex. But his curiosity turned to outrage as Bloom fell into the stranger's arms. 'And who does he think he is, holding my girl like that?'
The man lowered Bloom to her feet and then moved over to take care of Stella. Once she too was healed, the stranger turned his attention to the Trix. Bloom, Stella and Layla all gaped openly at the man, which Sky couldn't help up get a tad jealous about.
"What a hunk!" Stella exclaimed, her eyes glazed in delight.
Not distracted by what the Princess of Solaria said, the man conjured up a ball of light and held it over his head. "Exspeara caturance stregus defupra!"
Sky had no idea what that man had said, but as he threw the ball of light at the three witches, it expanded and completely surrounded them. Imprisoned in his ball of light, the man commanded it and the witches away, which cause the four students to cheer.
"That was awesome!" Bloom told him, walking over to the man. "You saved our lives."
"I'm a paladin," the man responded, causing Sky, Stella and Layla's eyes to widen. They all knew what a paladin was, though Bloom clearly didn't. "It's what I do."
In the magical order of the universe, celestial beings ranked the highest as far as powers went and the paladin's were morals that they had gifted with their skills so they could act as knights in their stead since the celestial beings were so few in number. Gifted with long life and un-measurable positive magic, paladin's spent their lives serving other with their extensive knowledge, protecting the weak and fighting injustice in all its forms. The feats of the paladin order were legendary, and all heroes dreamed of capturing the celestial being attention in such a way to perhaps earn such a prestigious honor.
"Are you Rienhlocke?" Sky asked, dropping to one of his knees out of pure respect for such a divine creature. Rienhlocke had been a paladin that had saved the whole of Eraklyon two centuries ago so every child from Sky's realm knew his name. To actually met Rienhlocke would be an honor that Sky couldn't even being to put into words. "The Great Paladin of Ferendor Fjord?"
"No, but I know him. Nice fellow," the paladin answered in an offhanded tone of voice that Sky actually found to be rather insulting. Eraklyon had countless ballads and several monuments to Rienhlocke and this guy simply called him a nice fellow? The man was a legend in Sky's realm for crying out loud! Even though this paladin had saved their lives, Sky got the impression that he was not going to like this guy.
"So who are you?" Bloom asked him.
"All will be revealed in time," the paladin assured her, before bowing deeply and taking flight again. The group watched as he glided up to the roof of the cavern and vanished down one of the upper chambers.
"That guy is the meaning of the word handsome," Stella gashed in a dreamy sounding voice.
"Yeah and brave," Bloom added causing a sharp stab of jealousy to rip through Sky.
"Hey! I'm pretty handsome and brave too you know," he reminded them, but the girls looked far too distracted with the mystery paladin to listen to what he had said. A little insulted, Sky looked out over chasm to see several unidentifiable objects flying directly at them. "Oh no! Monsters! Quick! In here everybody!"
With a gasp, Stella and Bloom followed him into the safety of one of the caves, but Layla completely ignored him and moved towards the edge of the cliff and the monsters instead.
'What is she doing?' Sky's mind screamed. "Layla! Come on!"
"Layla!" Bloom tried when the Princess of Tides paid no attention to the hero's advice. Sky was just about to rush out and drag her to safety when Layla's pleased voice filled the air.
"It's the pixies!" she told them with undisguised delight and as the 'monster' got closer Sky could see that they were in fact pixies just like Athena, only different colours and their own little personalities that was show through their clothing. But the one thing they all had in common was that they all looked thrilled to see Layla.
"Layla!" all of them cried in delight, flying in and crashing into Layla with enough force to knock her to the ground. Layla didn't look annoyed by this in the slightest. In fact she looked quite relieved as the others joined while she received a group hug.
"These are my new friends you guys; Bloom, Stella and Sky," Layla said to the pixies, but before she could get a chance to introduce the pixies to the teenagers, one pixie that was dressed in a pink robe like gown with cherry coloured hair flew over to Stella, her large, blue eyes wide.
"You're so beautiful," the pink pixie told the golden princess in a dreamy tone of voice.
"And you're so adorable," Stella instantly replied in the same distant sounding voice.
"Stella returning a complement?" Sky said, scratching his head with confusion. Normally Stella would have replied with an 'I know' kind of comment, but not with this pixie. "What's that about?"
"Well, you see, a fairy and her destined pixie bond at first sight," Layla explained to him. "They're like soul mates."
"I'm Amore, the Pixie of Love," the pink little pixie introduced.
"And I'm Stella form Solaria," Stella replied.
While this was going on, Bloom and a purple little pixie with large green eyes were both staring at each other with the same kind of rapture that Stella and Amore were having.
"You're amazing. You've got a lot of hidden passages in your heart," the pixie said, flying into Blooms outstretched hand. "I'm Lockette, the Pixie of Portals."
As Stella, Amore, Bloom and Lockette bonded, a pixie dressed entirely in blue with wise, pale blue eyes tuned her attention to Layla. "You shouldn't have been able to break that barrier," she said in a very intelligent sounding voice.
"I know. Something is not right here," Layla agreed, taking a seat on the stone ground to try and work out what was going on. The other teenagers joined her, while the pixies either landed or hovered above them. "First the barrier, then that paladin appears out of no where . . ?"
Stella, who had snapped out of her bonding phase, suddenly remembered a rather pressing matter that she was no going to ignore. "Hey! Let's talk and walk people! This little mission isn't over yet! My beau is being forced down the aisle! We've got to save him!"
Sky, also remembering Brandon's predicament, agreed with Stella and quickly got to his feet. "Stella's right," Sky agreed and both Bloom and Layla nodded. They were not going to abandon Brandon to forced marital bliss. "Everybody, let's hurry up and get to Down Land. Brandon needs us."
(1) I've worked as a lift operator of a few seasons at the snow, and I tell you there is nothing that scares me more than little kids on skis. They just point their skis parallel down the mountain and let gravity do its thing. But I tell you this, I got pretty good at kid catching by the end of it
(2) I have a few issues with the bark boards. I honestly don't think they'd work and there is no way Layla would be able to land that jump
(3) She sounds so proud when she says that. Makes be laugh every time cause she could have killed herself
(4) The Zodiac Fighters are something like X–Men. They're guys. They need a comic book reference
Well, that's five chapters down, twenty-one more to go. I'm off on holidays for a week, but I'll try and get the sixth chapter up as soon as I get back. See ya!
TBC.