So I finally updated the winner of the contest I had and it was Dancing into the Magician's Heart! Sorry that you have been forced to wait for me to update but alot of things came up. Some was mentioned in Never Alone but others weren't. I'm starting school soon so I've been busy trying to prepare for getting up at 5:30am again! Whoopee. Anyways enjoy chapter 5 :D
I own nothing!
He knew something was wrong when he heard movement in the other side of the castle. When he looked out the window, he saw two shadow figures dashing off into the forest. The forest where monsters his masters feared and somewhat despised. Kuriboh quietly flew out of Mokuba's room, happy that Mokuba was a heavy sleeper right now. There was no candles or any source of light whatsoever to illuminate the hallways for any of them. But this didn't matter as Kuriboh knew his way to the other masters' rooms if they weren't at breakfast. Kuriboh approached the bedroom door to the master of the other masters, scraping his claws against the door.
"Kuri-kri!" Kuriboh cried, hoping to wake the master sleeping inside. He stopped his actions, listening for any movement. Kuriboh's eyes narrowed when he heard none, angry that the noises he made did nothing to wake the master up. Kuriboh darted to the other side of the hallway, directly across the master's door. Kuriboh huffed, rubbing his claws together. "Kuri…Kri…KURI!"
Kuriboh flew straight at the door with all the speed he could muster, determined that he will wake up the master. Kuriboh felt dizzy as a poof of white smoke surrounded him, his green eyes swirling. He blinked a few times to get rid of the dizziness as the smoke cleared away. Kuriboh looked around and found the master sleeping in the bed, unaffected by the noise Kuriboh made. Kuriboh's eyes lit up as he now could finally finish his goal, when he realized something. As he was trying to fly, he would not move at all. He was stuck in the door!
Kuriboh started wiggling slowly while flailing his little claws in the air. He huffed when he saw that the master didn't move at all, the master's breathing indicated that he was in a deep sleep. Kuriboh pushed himself out of the door, flying straight at the master's face. Kuriboh rubbed himself against the master's face, knowing that this method often worked with him.
"Let me sleep Kuriboh," the master muttered, turning away from the brown fur ball after attempting to swat Kuriboh away. Kuriboh's eyes narrowed again, his rage growing inside. The master shouldn't have done that.
Kuriboh grabbed two locks of the master's black hair and tugged at it HARD with all of his might.
That seemed to work as the master jolted up from his bed then grabbed Kuriboh, who was still clinging onto his hair.
"Kuriboh, not many people would live after pulling the king's hair especially when it's late at night. Why would you wake me up at this ungodly hour?" Atem asked, his voice hinting that he was clearly pissed.
Kuriboh let go of Atem's hair, wiggling to get Atem to let him go. "Kri! Kri!"
Atem looked at the door, his mouth slightly agape. A giant hole the size of Kuriboh was there along with clumps of fur. Atem let Kuriboh go, opening the door.
"You ruined my bedroom door."
Kuriboh rolled his eyes before grabbing a lock of Atem's hair again and pulled gently this time towards the wing where the humans were living. Atem's eyebrow arched, wondering why was Kuriboh trying to get him to go to that wing.
"Kuriboh what is go-," Atem asked until he felt what was making Kuriboh act like this. Atem darted towards Tea's bedroom, leaving Kuriboh to cling onto Atem's hair for dear life. Atem swung the door wide open, slamming against the wall roughly.
"No," Atem whispered, seeing the makeshift rope dangling from the window. Atem rushed to the window, knowing all full well which way they went. Atem slammed his fist against the pane of the window, cracking it. Kuriboh whined slightly, afraid of his master's anger. The master hardly ever got mad. "Kuriboh go back to bed now and do not wake anyone else up. I will be back."
Atem leapt out of the window, disappearing into the dark, menacing forest. Kuriboh knew he should obey the master of masters otherwise he would not get his treats for a long time.
"Come on man, just admit it. We're lost aren't we?" Duke muttered as they approached a tall, magnificent oak tree. Eight marks made with a sharp rock they found, were engraved into the tree. Tristan shook his head, walking into a direction that wasn't illuminated by the moon.
"We're not lost. I only lead us back here to make sure that it's still there," Tristan growled quietly, not wanting to disturb his sleeping cousin that was on his back. How she was still asleep, he didn't know. "We haven't tried this way yet. I think I hear water!"
Tristan started dashing towards where the sound was coming from. Tristan wasn't being cautious anymore as a root of a tree was sticking out the ground, tripping him easily. Tristan cursed as his body slammed into the ground, he managed to angle his body in time so that he wouldn't land on Tea by accident. Duke rushed over to them, finding Tea a few feet away from Tristan. Tea groaned quietly, turning onto her side. When her hand reached out, she grabbed a plant. Her eyes shot open, sitting up quickly. She turned her head to her left, then her right as she observed the scenery around her. Tea then looked over where Tristan and Duke were at.
"Please tell me this is a dream," Tea ordered, her arms folding across her chest.
Tea waited for them to give her an answer, but the boys stayed perfectly still and silent. Duke's finger was pointed over her shoulder, moving urgently. Tea blinked a few times before turning around to see what Duke was pointing at. There stood a few inches behind her were about ten tall, muscular human looking men. Their eyes were a bright orange color, staring at the three of them hungrily. The color of their dark green hair reminded Tea of when Tristan got food poisoning and spent most of his time throwing up the contents of his stomach.
One of them was suddenly in front of her, its fist grabbing onto locks of her hair.
"Well look at what we found boys. Dinner and dessert," The thing chuckled, pulling Tea's head back as he got a good look at her. "What do you think?"
Two of the creatures now had Tristan and Duke in their grasps, smirking as the two tried to struggle.
"Let her go you overgrown thing!" Tristan yelled, trying to get away from the creature. It didn't have a pleasant odor at all. The creature in response only tightened his hold on Tristan, its arm wrapping around his neck.
"We're ogres pal. The kind that likes the dark," The one behind the ogre holding Tea chuckled.
The ogre that had Tea smirked before lowering his head to Tea's neck. His tongue brushed past his lips, the tip making contact with Tea's neck. He slowly dragged his tongue from her neck to her cheek, savoring the taste of fear as Tea whimpered.
"Delicious," The ogre whispered before throwing his head back in laughter. The other ogres soon joined him in the maniacal laughter until they felt a huge source of energy heading their way.
A immense blue orb was charging their way, bolts of electricity were dancing around the orb. The ogres' eyes widened when they saw the path of destruction the orb left behind, jumping out of the way when it got closer to them. The ogre that had Tea knocked the wind out of her, his hand gripping tighter around her throat.
"Let them go," A voice ordered. The tone behind it was sending chills up Tea, Tristan and Duke's spines. The ogres seemed unfazed however, searching for what direction the voice was coming from.
"Show yourself!" One of the ogres cried out, angry that they could not find the person due to all the smoke rising from the destruction. The ogre froze when he went something hit the back of his neck, the last feeling he would ever feel as he slumped onto his knees. The other ogres' eyes widened in fear, except for the ones who had the three humans in their grasps.
"GAH!" An ogre cried out in agony, clawing at his arms. "Get them off!"
The ogre then fell forward into the dirt, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.
"I ordered for you to let them go," The voice hissed, snapping a few twigs as the source got closer to them. The smoke faded when a rush of air ripped through, revealing the source of the voice.
"King Atem!" Tea cried out, wincing when the ogre tightened his grip on her throat.
The ogre stood frozen, watching Atem point his staff directly at he and his men. Then he threw his head back, laughing as he pulled Tea closer to them.
"We don't listen to you King Atem. We follow our master's orders," The ogre sneered, taking a few steps back. What Atem didn't know however, was that the ogre was secretly signaling his men with the shadows. "Attack!"
Dark, disfigured masses flew quickly towards Atem as he attempted to blast away the dark masses. Tristan and Duke looked at each other, hearing a sort of booming sound coming from Atem's direction.
"Do you think he's alright man?" Tristan whispered, quiet enough so the two ogres didn't hear him.
Duke shrugged, his eyes darting back to the dark area. "It doesn't matter. We're supposed to be trying to escape remember?"
"Yeah I know but look at Tea."
Duke looked over to Tea, surprised when he noticed she looked like she was near tears, something he had only seen maybe twice since he had met her. Why did she care for these people when they weren't normal, not even human to be exact? He snapped out of his thoughts when they heard it, a groan and a loud thump.
"No, please no," Tea whispered as the darkness around Atem slowly slipped away from him and back to their respective ogres. The remaining ogres smirked at the site of Atem, kneeling before them. He was panting heavily despite his crimson eyes blazing with fierceness.
"Brone, he's a strong one," The ogre holding Tristan said as they watched Atem attempt to stand up with his staff. Brone scoffed as he shoved Tea into another ogre's arms, walking towards Atem. Brone looked down at Atem, a sinister smirk appeared on his face as he grabbed Atem by the hair and forced the king to look up at him. His dark shadow slowly inched away from the trees before launching itself onto Atem's right shoulder.
Atem hissed in pain, making Brone frown slightly. With a snap of his fingers, the shadow's form changed from a small dark mass, into a much larger one with deadlier effects. A faint sizzle rang through everyone's ears, exciting the ogres while also sending fear throughout Tea, Tristan and Duke. Atem was now hunched over, groaning from the pain as the sizzling got louder and the shadow grew larger, nearly reaching to his stomach. Brone snapped his fingers again, the shadow darting towards it's master. Tristan and Duke's eyes widened as they saw what the shadow had done. Atem's shoulder was exposed and instead of seeing his dark azure skin there, a lighter shade of blue raw skin adorned his shoulder along with a few popping blisters.
Brone smirk grew wider as he delivered a kick to Atem's injury and ribs. A sickening crack startled Tea as she watched Atem fade into unconscious from the pain.
"Leave him alone!" Tea screamed as she struggled to get free. Brone strode over to her, his face showing satisfaction.
"Hold her Keegan. Keep her perfectly still."
Keegan obliged, locking Tea into a tight grip. Brone placed one of his dirty hands on her cheek, keeping her still as he drew his other hand back. It quickly made contact with Tea's cheek as the sound of impact rang throughout the forest and the souls of Duke and Tristan as they screamed profanities at Brone. Tea's head slumped forward, her dark hair covering her sapphire eyes.
"Looks like I tamed the wild woman boys," Brone snickered, as he brushed back a few strands of Tea's hair. Tea's head snapped up, her sapphire eyes blazing. The ogres' eyes grew wide as a surge of energy began pounding in their skulls. One by one, an ogre's eyes rolled back into his head, leaving Brone to be the last one remaining as his body slumped onto the ground.
"What are you?" Brone whispered, in awe of Tea. Tristan and Duke were confused, wondering if the dude was nuts. Didn't the ogre know she was human?
Another burst of energy blasted through his skull, leaving him unconscious. Tea blinked a few times, looking at all the ogres laying on the ground. Then her eyes rested upon the king, his black hair reflecting the moonlight.
"King Atem!" Tea cried as she ran to him, gracefully running as she moved through the narrow paths the ogres' bodies made. Tristan and Duke stood there, as they watched Tea kneel next to the fallen king. The girl who normally was frantic at the site of a bruise or scratch on either of the two, was silent. They watched her gently wrap an arm around his waist, gingerly lifting him up as they noticed there was pieces of dirt clumped onto his wound.
"Please be ok," Tea whispered as she attempted to stand up with the king. She grunted quietly as she tried, her efforts providing no results. Duke turned away, ready to leave when Tristan placed his hand on his shoulder.
"We can't leave her alone here Duke."
"Dude, she's your cousin, so why don't you just grab her and then we can leave," Duke snapped, his eyes darting over to Tea as she continued to try to lift up Atem.
"I can't man. My cousin doesn't leave people behind and I won't abandon her when she needs me the most," Tristan replied as he jogged over to Tea and Atem. He pulled out a ruby with ivory lacing handkerchief he was going to give to Miho and handed it to Tea. "Get most of the dirt off first Tea. We don't want it to get too infected."
Tea smiled gratefully at her cousin before taking the handkerchief from and slowly started moving the lumps of dirt off Atem's wound. She would stop her movements when Atem would flinch, but his eyes never opened.
"I got most of the dirt off. It looks worse now."
Tristan nodded before slipping his arm around Atem. He expected to feel Tea's arms near his but when he turned to look where she was, he found Duke in her place.
"Like if I'd leave you two behind," Duke scoffed as he sent a small smirk at Tristan and Tea. "Now I have a question you guys."
"What?" Tea asked as she gently removed Atem's hat off his head so it wouldn't poke Tristan's or Duke's eyes out.
"How are we going to get back to the castle?"
For a few moments nobody said a word until Tristan and Duke's eyes bugged out,realizing Tea didn't have an answer.
"Are you kidding me?" They yelled, forgetting about the unconscious king that they were supporting up. Tea shook her head, huffing when she shifted her weight while holding Atem's hat.
"Kuri-Kri!" A voice shrilled out, causing everyone to look around them. A brown blur flew itself at Tea, nearly making the poor girl drop the hat.
"Kuriboh?"
"Kri!" The delighted monster squealed as it nuzzled itself against Tea's cheek. Tea giggled as his fur slightly tickled her.
"Kuriboh can you take us back to the castle? King Atem was wounded by the ogres that are on the ground and we'd really like to leave before they wake up," Tea said as Kuriboh floated back away from her slightly. Kuriboh nodded, heading towards the direction he came from as Tea followed behind Tristan and Duke as they lugged Atem with them.
"Set him on the bed," Tea ordered as Kuriboh had led them into a room that simply had a bed, a nightstand, table and a small fireplace that was connected to a room that had shelves of strange liquids and scattered books on desks. Tea guessed that this is where they practiced or studied spells, created potions and such. She placed Atem's hat on the table as Tristan and Duke laid Atem on the bed. Kuriboh had left the room in a quick pace when Tristan pointed out that the king had broken out into a fever. The brown, lovable fur ball returned with a bowl of cold water and a few cloths soaking. Tea gingerly took the bowl of water and set it on the nightstand as Duke and Tristan started working on the fireplace. Tea rang out the cloth and placed it on Atem's forehead as Kuriboh disappeared into the other room. Kuriboh came back with two different sized vials. The larger one had dark turquoise liquid in it while the smaller one had a shade of pink she only saw on cherry blossom trees in the spring. Tea took the two vials and examined them both.
"Which ones are these for?" Tea asked, having one vial in each hand. Kuriboh touched the vial with the turquoise liquid inside with his claw then pointed at Atem's wound. "So the vial with the pink liquid is for his fever?"
Kuriboh nodded when Duke now stood behind Tea and took the small vial from her hand.
"How do we know the fur ball isn't lying to us? For all we know he could be planning something."
Kuriboh's eyes narrowed and lifted up his claw at Duke when Tea placed her hand on Kuriboh.
"Why would he want to hurt his master? I trust him and you should too especially since he got us out of that forest you dragged me into," Tea snapped at Duke as she grabbed another wet cloth and started wiping away the dried mud. To her utter surprise, almost all the blisters were gone and about one third of Atem's wound was no longer there. Kuriboh handed her a dry cloth, which Tea quickly dosed with the turquoise liquid. Gently, she put it on Atem, a bit on the edge that any moment he would jump up and blast them with magic. Nothing happened.
"Hey Tea. Do you think the fur ball can take us back to your room then to ours?" Tristan asked cautiously. There was no way he wanted to be the next victim of Tea's snapping. Tea turned to Kuriboh, who was glaring at Duke and Tristan.
"Kuriboh, do you think you can escort those two to my ro- Wait why do you need to go to my room first?"
"We can't sleep without bed sheets," Duke answered.
"What do you mean you can't sleep without bed sheets?"
"We can't sleep without them. We used them to make the rope."
A large vein was pulsating on Tea's forehead as she went back to work on Atem's wound. "I'm sure Kuriboh wouldn't mind taking you back. Would you Kuriboh?"
"Kuri," Kuriboh replied as he left the room with Tristan and Duke in tow.
The only sounds that filled the room were the cracking of the fire and water sloshing as Tea would replace the cool cloth on Atem's forehead with another one. Before Tea could even reach over and take out the cork of the pink vial, her wrist was now covered by something black. The black mass was squeezing tightly, but not enough to cause her pain. Tea gasped when her eyes came into contact with hazy crimson eyes of the king.
"What are you doing?" Atem whispered as he flinched. The newly healed skin of his shoulder was stretching as he focused on squeezing Tea's wrist.
"You got hurt trying to protect my friend, my cousin and I King Atem," Tea explained, relaxing when his grip on her wrist loosened enough for her to push him back onto the bed. Neither spoke for a few moments, crimson and sapphire eyes locked in an eternal gaze.
"I wouldn't have been hurt if you and those two idiots had decided to leave the castle when you knew perfectly well there was no chance of you being able to leave the Domain of Beasts," Atem snapped as his eyes search the room. Of all places, she had to take him to this room? "How did you escape those ogres then managing to back to the castle?"
"First of all, how dare you accuse me! I wasn't the one who decided to leave! You are a presumptuous man for saying that to a lady especially when you are supposed to be a king!"
"I can accuse someone such as yourself for leaving when you knew how dangerous it is out there."
"Just because you're the king doesn't grant you any rights you egotistical jerk. If it wasn't for me, you'd probably be laying on the forest ground still and those ogres could have decided to eat you!"
"How did you escape?"
Tea sighed as she ran her hand through her hair before grabbing the pink vial again. "I don't know. One minute they were all awake, laughing as Brone attacked you when you were unconscious then the next they were all on the guard. I rushed over to you immediately."
Atem was silent as a sudden wave of drowsiness surged through him. 'Perhaps I shouldn't have continued using magic to heal myself after that battle.'
"Kuriboh came to us and lead us back to the castle then to this room. He brought me two vials, one for your wound and the other for your fever. Kuriboh took those two that you claim to be idiots back to their bedrooms."
Said fur ball floated into the room, nearly bumping into Tea who had the pink vial in her hands.
"Kuriboh, I had told you to go back to bed," Atem muttered as he watched Tea pour the pink liquid into a small cup.
"Kuri," Kuriboh replied as he watched Tea help Atem drink the pink liquid. Tea assumed that the king knew what the pink liquid was as he made no attempt to stop Tea or warn her that Kuriboh accidentally gave her the wrong potion.
"Kuriboh, take Tea back to her bedroom please," Atem ordered as he laid back on the bed. Kuriboh, who was slightly concerned, was about to protest when he saw the female human was fighting to keep her eyes opened.
"What? You honestly believe I'm going to leave you?" Tea screeched, her hands resting firmly against the bed. Atem extended his hand to her forehead, his fingers pushing her bangs to the side. Tea froze in her spot when she felt a dull sensation, the urge to fall asleep spreading throughout her body. Her sapphire eyes fluttered close, her body slack as she leaned too far to the left. Kuriboh quickly got there in time, holding her up effectively.
"Kuriboh, make sure she is safe and secure in her bed tonight then you must go back to bed before Mokuba wakes up and finds you missing," Atem whispered before his crimson eyes closed shut. Kuriboh and Tea then disappeared within seconds, being teleported directly into Tea's room from Atem's magic. As the king fell asleep, intricate designs of swirls of black appeared. It surrounded a dark, pulsating symbol that would send panic within his friends. It was the symbol of evil.
Slowly one by one, the ogres raised themselves off the ground, groaning or swearing underneath their breaths.
"Where they hell did they go?" Brone yelled, noticing the king nor the three humans were no longer there.
"How should I know? The last thing I remember was feeling something moving through my head," replied Keegan as he rubbed his forehead.
"You fools! What are you doing? I didn't order you all to fool around!" A voice hissed loudly as a harsh breeze rustled leaves and sent each animal that was searching for food to return home.
"Master, we had a confrontation with the King," Keegan answered, kneeling. A cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows, its eyes standing out.
"There was only one of him! How can one defeat all of you?" The cloaked figure sneered, watching all the ogres quickly kneel before them. "My lord you see he wasn't alone I-" Brone replied when a pale disfigured hand with gnarly nails dug it's way into Brone's head. Brone's eyes widened as all of the events from finding the humans until his last moment of consciousness flashed in a matter of seconds. The cloaked figure's hand pulled back, faint growls could be heard, frightening the ogres more as they watched Brone slump back onto the ground once more.
'No! This ruins my plans!' The cloaked figure thought, the image of a beautiful sapphire eyed woman reappeared in his mind. 'On the contrary, that woman could be useful.'
"My faithful loyal servants, do not fear as Brone is merely worn out from I observing his memories. Do you all remember that female human? With the blue eyes?"
Each remaining ogre nodded, knowing full well what could happen if they had said no.
"She is special to that awful king who turned you all into what you are now. If we have on her side, he would do anything without much hesitation to have her back. She is the one who will save us all."
"Should we take her now my lord?" An ogre named Damon asked, his head bowed low.
"No my servants. We will wait until the perfect moment arrives. Come we shall now leave," The cloaked figure replied, turning away from his servants as he disappeared into the shadows once more.
"That woman must be under my control. Time will tell when she will be in my arms and my key to power."
So that's chapter five! I hope you all enjoyed this as I spent a long time to work on this as you all know I treat my stories like my babies :) Anyways for those who have forgotten, after I update ARW, I will see which story got more reviews and will update the winner again before the other one. Please leave a review as I love them so very much ;)
The ogres are Ogre of the Black Shadow