Chapter Nine: Escape

In answer to a question, yeah, I was going to make everyone go…"bye" when the darkness came, but my brother thought it'd be better if I didn't, so I had to borrow a concept from Twilight Princess. (Even though I wasn't going to let everyone be dead long anyway).

Also, Coracinus is only going to hang around for a few chapters before something happens to him, and he won't be involved when the story reaches its climax.

And yes, Ari wasn't bitten, but there's a reason behind these train of thoughts.

***

Linda stared in disbelief, looking around.

"Epros?" She whispered.

Scrambling to his paws, Coracinus glanced left and right, his eyes shining in the dark.

"Do not react; keep up your silent act." Epros whispered back quickly. "We will speak again the next night, and then I will remove you from this plight."

The strange presence she had felt behind her was suddenly gone.

"How does he do that?" Linda asked, wishing she had her microphone, it was comforting somehow. However, Melas had taken it to some sort of storage center.

Coracinus shrugged, settling down in her shadow again.

***

Linda could hardly wait for the next night, she felt like butterflies had given up fluttering in her stomach and had simply started up a jackhammer instead. Worried that Epros might have been noticed by Melas, and whatever other weird ghosts on duty, she could barely sleep.

Halfway through the next day, a question came to mind.

"Coracinus?"

The rat lifted his head. "Hmm?"

"How did you know where I was?"

He sighed, curling his tail around his paws. "I used to work here. It's a long story."

"We have time." Linda said with a smile, clutching the necklace.

"Nothing…really…I don't like to just preach my life story. Let's just say something happened that made me have to leave. That made all of us Shapeshifter demons have to leave our home."

Linda shrugged, deciding it wasn't really her business.

Nightfall finally came, tingeing the already dark sky an even blacker hue. Linda swallowed nervously, turning her head to the side, looking around.

She felt the familiar presence behind her, and suddenly Epros was there. Before she could ask or say anything, he covered her mouth and made a shushing noise.

"How did you get in?" Coracinus asked, rising to his paws and transforming into a cat in the same motion.

"As the Former Phantom Evil King, tricks and spells are always my thing."

Linda had a guess at how they would escape, since Epros could float up here, she could probably go with him, especially since Coracinus could escape himself.

"Wait, before we leave, we need to get my things!" She said. Some items could be replaced, but it was hard to say when it came to others. Epros frowned, and then nodded.

"To escape the way I'm thinking we will, we need to get to the little balcony down the hall." Coracinus added, arching his back.

"That is true, you black cat. Do you have a form more powerful than the one you're at?"

The Black Shapeshifter changed into a large black wolf, almost the size of a small bear.

"Wait; what stops you from turning into…I don't know…a dragon?" Linda asked him.

Coracinus made a face. "I'm a young Shapeshifter, I can only manage some forms, and others are out of my league."

Epros slipped his hand through the door, something he could do, being a phantom, and unlocked it. He quickly opened it, and revealed the empty corridors.

"If you are so important, why are you unguarded?" Coracinus said thoughtfully to himself.

Linda hummed, "I don't know", and then stepped out into the hallway, gripping Epros's hand. He looked down at her and smiled before silently levitating across the floor.

"Coracinus, be swift, find her bag. Take too long and behind you will lag."

The wolf nodded, transforming and shrinking into a little black bat that winged away down the hallway.

Linda silently followed Epros, who kept flattening himself to the wall and looking around every corner. Twice they came across two patrolling ghosts, but they didn't notice the duo as they carefully crept toward their goal.

She was about to ask why he didn't just teleport, but then she remembered something he had told her once. Whenever he teleported, he could be traced by someone familiar with the magic, not to mention he said someone could feel that magic rift if they're sensitive enough to it. Then, Melas could track them down directly, and they would probably lead him to their friends. No, a direct escape was necessary. As long as they didn't use too much magic they couldn't be traced.

Paw steps were heard behind them, and Epros whirled around, cards in a flurry around him, only to almost slash Coracinus in the face.

"Hey, cut it out." The Shapeshifter grumbled, earning a soft giggle from Linda for the pun. Unfortunately, three ghosts appeared at that moment, two nameless swords and some kind of ghost armor. Epros's cards whirled out and slashed into the armor, and Linda grabbed her bag from Coracinus and quickly yanked her microphone out.

Dropping the bag, Coracinus leaped forward and tackled a sword, rolling over and over, snarling quietly.

The ghosts taken care of, they prepared to sneak off again, but Coracinus's ears flicked up.

"An alarm was sounded. Run!"

They broke out into a dash, racing down the hallways, taking twists and turns. Coracinus whirled around to take the growing crowd of enemies, yelling for the other two to continue.

Epros and Linda reached the balcony, and Epros looked down at her.

"Hold on tight, then maybe everything will be all right."

Linda hugged him tightly, and he wrapped his arms around her. Then he simply jumped off the ledge, and she screamed as they plummeted toward the sea of clouds below them. Linda looked back, and saw what they had jumped off of.

A large, floating castle with tall spires and towers, all colored a dull red. Suddenly, Linda realized…

"What about Coracinus?"

Epros paused in midair, looking back at the castle just as a loud whimper was heard. Something large and black-grey, resembling some kind of lizard-bird was holding down a black dog which was yelping in fear.

Linda stared in horror as, right before Epros plummeted through the clouds again and engulfed her vision, she heard Coracinus scream,

"Keep going!"

They landed on the ground, somewhere outside of Triste. Linda dropped into the snow covered landscape, even though large patches were now stone. She realized she was trembling, and brought her legs to her chest, taking deep breaths.

"Did he…die?"

Epros sighed, sitting beside her. He looked really tired, rubbing his eyes.

"No."

"How do you know?" Linda demanded. Even though she didn't really know him well, Coracinus had kept her company. He couldn't take on Melas…He couldn't turn to anything as powerful as that demonic creature.

"Of this I am certain, it is not yet time for our friend's final curtain." He hugged her tightly, stroking her hair.

Linda hoped he was right, and she leaned against him.

"You came back." She whispered.

"Of course I came back for you. It wasn't time for us to say adieu."

"Where are the others?"

"Traveling to Triste, or so I hope, which is why we're now sitting on this slope. On another note…" He turned to look at her. "I'm sorry, again, for that earlier day. What do you have to say?"

"I accept you apology." She said with a silly grin. Linda toyed with her microphone, and was surprised when Epros lifted her head with his finger and kissed her.

She knew one thing about Epros, he wasn't into kissing much. In fact, this was their first kiss, ever. Usually he just hugged her. She was so surprised that when it was over, she blushed and stared upward.

"Wow." She giggled, and Epros laughed a little. Suddenly…

Something collapsed in a feathery heap on the ground in front of them, a ragged bundle of black feathers.

"Coracinus!" Linda leaned forward to poke their friend. She felt sick, watching the black blood spew out from around the feathery heap.

Epros gently picked up the bundle. No wonder he had collapsed, the feathers on his left wing were matted with dark blood and bent the wrong way.

"Let's get to Triste, and see what the doctors have to say."

Linda scooped up the poor Shapeshifter and headed for the city.

***

Melas smiled thinly, once again in his true form, pacing the dark hallways of his castle.

The Phantom King thought himself clever, but no, the Black Heart had beaten him first. He chuckled to himself. Yes, let them escape with their precious friend, it would make no difference. A messenger had been sent out to contact their Evil King…

Yes, Melas knew there was no chance that the Shapeshifter he sent would actually beat them. It just had to get a message across, and then all would be fine.

He frowned, scaly face pulling down at the corners.

There weren't a lot of Shapeshifters, only seven. Himself, Tawnvele, Sargarious, Infernose, Leontore, Abterqen, and…Coracinus.

He tapped his long, clawed foot on the ground, tail swishing thoughtfully.

Coracinus, the youngest of the Shapeshifters, but also the most gifted. He could beat the others even with his weaker, less complex forms, using tricks instead. Yes, that was why he had let the whelp go, because in order to use the Spiritus…one must have someone they know on the other side.

"And I know you, don't I?" Melas Kardia smiled, causing the ghost guards to shiver as he passed by.

***

In case you're wondering, "Melas Kardia" is Greek for "Black Heart", hence why the chapter he makes his appearance in is called that. Even though the Seven Shapeshifters are mentioned in this story, not all of them are under Addonexus's control, you will only see about four of the Shapeshifters mentioned, we've already seen two, and one will soon fight our Heroes.

That just leaves one more. Be sure to review!