Chapter 44- drastic actions
Meanwhile, back on the Mainland
The sun had set with the night setting in. In the Narnian sky, the daylight blue fled the creeping shadow of the night's darkness. In the country of Narnia, some of the inhabitants had turned in for the night but others continued their essential tasks. Search-and-destroy missions continued up and down the country, hunting and dealing with any surviving minion of Jadis still on the run like fugitives. It appeared that the number of these fugitives was decreasing with more being dealt with and some managing to escape the Narnian country. Some of the search-and-destroy groups continued the important task of hunting down the most wanted minions, the Cartoon Shadow Cat whom they hadn't seen in a while, and the Man with the Upside Down Face. However, one of the groups was about to cross paths with one of these most wanted minions as they chased down a pack of Neko-Cabbits hiding in a cave near where one of the entrances to Gandalf and Seresute the Kitsune's underground base used to be.
That search-and-destroy group which consisted of mostly Talking Dinosaurs, among them General Biter the T-Rex (who was allowed to resume his search-and-destroy duties now that the kidnapped kids' location had been found), a Cù-Sìth (not Cilan), a pack of Talking Hyenas, several Talking Tigers, a Five-Tailed Kitsune and some Flying Birds of Prey, and they were slaying the pack of hideous platinum-white-furred Cabbit-like creatures with neon green ears and tails. General Biter ran one of the Neko-Cabbits, the leader, through with a spear and killed it instantly while some Talking Condors cut down more of the creatures. The group of Neko-Cabbits had refused to take the surrender option when confronted with General Biter's group and so were taking the alternative instead. General Biter turned to his underlings.
"That's it, my soldiers," the T-Rex general yelled, "Don't let ANY of these HIDEOUS creatures escape."
The group of Dinosaurs including a Triceratops, a Stegasaur and a number of Velociraptors obeyed and had some more Neko-Cabbits cornered against a cluster of trees before going for the kill. One Neko-Cabbit dodged the Triceratops' attempt in spearing it with hits horns and attempted to flee but a Hyena appeared, pounced onto it and mauled it. Two more Neko-Cabbits tried to flee but the Five-Tailed Fox struck them down with his foxfire and brutally injured them. Then he killed each one with his sword for his foxfire was not powerful enough to instantly kill targets. Close by, three of the Talking Tigers pursued more Neko-Cabbits as they fled into the dark clearing. This area was the exact same area where Trotterhoof and his group, disguised as Hags and Banshees, were found and taken into the base of the first Kitsune after they had managed to escape Jadis' castle decades before. The Tigers continued pursuing the Neko-Cabbits as the group continued to flee. One of the Tigers managed to catch up to one of the little Beasts and as soon as he had seized the creature by the neon green tail in his jaws, he mauled it to kill it. After this, he resumed his pursuit with his two comrades, another male and a Tigress or female Tiger. The pair gained on the other Neko-Cabbits, their demonic faces glaring defiantly at the orange striped Big Cats as they continued their pursuit.
"That's it, you two," the first Tiger called, "Don't let those hideous Rabbit things get away."
The Tigress the leaped at two more Neko-Cabbits and dispatched them by biting one in the jugular and snapping the other's neck with her forepaws. The other male Tiger continued gaining on the other Neko-Cabbits when suddenly, the white and neon green half Cat, half-Rabbit like creatures scattered in either direction, cornering sharply as the Tiger got close. The Tiger, confused, braked to a halt and began to shoot perplexed gazes at the fleeing creatures, wondering why they had changed direction so suddenly. The other two Tiger's appeared.
"They just darted away," the second male Tiger said. Suddenly, a MANIACAL, demonic cackle flooded the dark air, seizing the three Tigers' attention. This laugh sounded feline, like a rabid Cat. The three Big Cats with striped pelts, their nerves jounced by that sound, shot startled looks in all directions and examined the dark air.
"Is that noise what I think it is?" asked the Tigress. However, before one of her male comrades could reply, a large white five-fingered hand, each fingers ending in a talon like an Eagle's on the end of a black vine appeared out of the darkness and rushed for one of the Tigers, the leader. A ROAR of agony exploded from the Tiger as the hand seized him, startling his comrades VIOLENTLY. Then the two Tigers prepared to confront the owner of that hand as the Tiger began to writhe violently in its grasp, the deduction on its identity already in their heads.
Back with the rest of the search-and-destroy group, General Biter looked into the dark clearing as the rest of his underlings dealt with the other Neko-Cabbits, some of them fighting back fiercely and violently for Neko-Cabbits were extremely violent creatures.
"Tigers?" the T-Rex general called. He had heard the leader roar alongside a cat-like cackle and he had become worried for the three Striped Cats. When Biter got no answer, he took two steps towards where the tree Tigers had gone. Behind him, two Hyenas limped by, their front legs badly wounded from the savage counterattack from some of the bloodthirsty Neko-Cabbits. General Biter continued gazing out in the darkness worriedly, concern growing within him. The Triceratops came up alongside him along with another Talking Tiger.
"Something wrong, General?" the three-horned Dinosaur asked.
"Are Alpha Stripes, Amber and Paws alright?" asked the Tiger. 'Alpha' was a title and was used by some Talking Beast species as the name of the topmost rank in a battle group, similar to the highest rank in a human army. General Biter was about to reply when suddenly, one of the three Tigers that had chased some Neko-Cabbits in that direction appeared and released a demonic cackle. The Tiger, T-Rex, Triceratops and some of the other creatures nearby released cries of startle as the Tiger, its eyes black pupils surrounded by white upside-down 'U's and its mouth abnormally wide and full of evil needle-like teeth appeared and glared rabidly at the group. General Biter recovered himself somewhat and began to examine the Tiger with the abnormal face. To his horror, he saw that the Tiger was Alpha Stripes. Gripping Stripes' nape was a white gloved, talon-fingered hand and snaking from that hand was a black vine. General Biter traced the vine to its origin but the moment his T-Rex's eyes landed on the owner of the hand, which clearly had Stripes under its puppetry possessive mind-controlled power; the T-Rex flinched VIOLENTLY. One of the female Hyenas released a PIERCING scream while the others flinched. Melting out of the blackness of the dark night air, a black bipedal Cat-like figure with the same facial features as the Tiger in its grasp present glowing menacingly as it glared sadistically at the group, its toothy grin stretched from ear to ear. Fluffs of orange fur hung from one corner of its mouth and General Biter shuddered, the HORRIFIC conclusion regarding the other two Tigers, Amber and Paws, drawn. Beside the T-Rex, one of the Velociraptors instantly recognised the creature.
"It's the CARTOON SHADOW CAT!" he cried.
"Indeed I am," cackled the creature, the Cartoon Shadow Cat through Stripes attached to its extended hand in a demonically rabid voice and added a VILE insult to the little Dinosaur at the end of that sentence. The Velociraptor flinched. Immediately, one of the Talking Eagles, an expert archer capable of firing arrows on the wing, seized her bow in one talon, took an arrow from the quiver on her back, nocked the arrow to the bow and shot it at the Cartoon Shadow Cat. The arrow sliced through the dark air at the Cat creature's body but it was absorbed into the creature, that creature unfazed. The Eagle tried again with another arrow and the same thing happened. She tried another few times but same result with those arrows. General Biter turned to her as she nocked another arrow to her bow and aimed it at the Cartoon Shadow Cat.
"Hold your fire, Ida. The Cartoon Cat creature will only absorb your arrows," he barked, prompting the Eagle archer named Ida to obey and she lowered her arrow. A taunting Cat-like snicker escaped the puppet-possessed Stripes' Cartoon Shadow Cat-like mouth.
"Did you (bleeps) miss me?" the Tiger crooned as the Cartoon Shadow Cat spoke through him. As the Tiger mouthpiece spoke, the Triceratops took the time to observe the Cartoon Shadow Cat's hand holding the Tiger's nape. The Cat creature continued through Stripes. "I guess not."
General Biter and the others weren't amused, however and continued glaring at the creature as it snickered again, its mouthpiece snickering with it. Then the T-Rex general cautiously approached the creature. Then he addressed the Cartoon Shadow Cat calmly. As he did that, the Five-Tailed Fox disappeared from the group from a subtle signal from the T-Rex.
"Now that you have revealed yourself to us after a long absence," General Biter calmly said, "It is time for you to turn yourself in to our Monarchs..."
"Oh, you mean those two bone bag (bleeps) still in charge with their leader still poorly and their younger sibling still on one of those pleasant Nine-Realms Potion ingredient trips, eh?" crooned the Cartoon Shadow Cat in a Cat-like squeak, mockery and sarcasm clearly lacing its voice through Stripes, "That's sweet."
As it spoke through its Tiger mouthpiece, the Five-Tailed Fox crept under the shadows of the trees towards the Cartoon Cat creature, its attention on General Biter as the T-Rex kept it distracted. The Triceratops continued examining the Cartoon Shadow Cat's hand holding Stripes' neck and realised something off about it. However, he could not see clearly for it was quite dark. Putting off the idea, the Triceratops resumed keeping the Cartoon Shadow Cat occupied as the Five-Tailed Kitsune neared his target. As soon as he was close by, he flared his front right paw in an orange fire-lightning-like aura. Unlike Nine-Tailed Kitsune whose foxfire was orange-yellow, the foxfire of Kitsune with fewer tails was more orange and sometimes red. Kumiho foxfire, however, was electric blue in the pre-Nine-Tailed forms and silvery white in the Nine-Tailed forms. The Five-Tailed Fox then got prepared to zap the Cartoon Shadow Cat with his foxfire, knowing that his blast will not be enough to instantly kill the creature as that was not his intention. He was aiming to stun it, release Stripes from its puppet possessive hold and have it captured. However, as the Magical Fox prepared to make his move, he saw two the bodies of two orange and black Tigers nearby. He flinched but then he resumed his main objective but he was perplexed at how two such powerful Big Cats could just fall at the hands of the Cartoon Shadow Cat like that.
The Cartoon Shadow Cat continued taunting General Biter and his group.
"I believe you have finally unravelled our backup plans in the event of our Queen's fall," the creature continued through Stripes. As it spoke, some Neko-Cabbits that had managed to escape Stripes and his two comrades' paws appeared and surrounded the Cartoon Shadow Cat. Gladness was present on their wicked faces as they gazed at their ally and they turned their wicked faces to General Biter's group, wickedness and sneering creeping in. The Cartoon Shadow Cat continued. "And soon, those plans will be in full swing and we will bring back what you silly lot have destroyed," the creature topped it off with a giggle, laughing through Stripes. The Cartoon Shadow Cat was at times silly but this silliness was not at all in a light-hearted way.
"None of your sadistic silliness and snide attitude, Cartoon Cat," snapped General Biter, "It is time to turn you in."
His underlings got prepared to lunge at the Cartoon Shadow Cat creature to capture it, a large cloak grasped in the talons of the flying Birds of Prey members, and also dispatch the remaining Neko-Cabbits surrounding it. Suddenly, a jet of orange fire-lightning exploded from the trees to General Biter and company's left and caught the Cartoon Shadow Cat in a violent grasp of electricity. A rabid SNARL of agony exploded from the creature and Stripes in its grasp writhed. General Biter commanded the Birds of Prey to fly forward and capture the Cartoon Shadow Cat in the cloak and they did while Triceratops and the Hyenas lashed at the remaining Neko-Cabbits to kill them. Some of the Velociraptors rushed for Stripes as he continued to thrash to seize him from the Cartoon Shadow Cat's mind-controlling puppet-possessive grasp. However, the mind-controlled Tiger writhed and swiped away the little Dinosaurs, sending some flying. The Cartoon Shadow Cat itself became swallowed up in the cloak thrown over it by the Birds of Prey and they worked together to subdue it, the Five-Tailed Fix leaping from his cover to help. General Biter rushed to help free Stripes from the Cartoon Shadow Cat's puppet possessive hand; he clamped his powerful jaws on the wicked arm connecting the hand to the owner's body and with one violent jerk of his head, pulled the hand from Stripes' nape, freeing him. The lead Talking Tiger with the Alpha rank in the Tiger troops like a captain flopped limply into the grass, the Velociraptors setting to waking him up. General Biter also went to help revive the Tiger while the Birds of Prey and the Five-Tailed Fox continued to struggle to subdue the Cartoon Shadow Cat under the cloak, it writhing and screeching like a rabid cat. However, it began to fight back and then came the thrown curve rock. As the Birds of Prey and the Five-Tailed Fox continued to try and subdue the Cartoon Shadow Cat under the cloak, the Cat creature suddenly and violently exploded from the cloak, tearing it to shreds with its clawed hands as if it was thin cloth. Many of the Birds of Prey only had time to realise this before they were violently struck down by the Cat creature. One Eagle flew in General Biter and the Velociraptors' direction and crashed into the former's side. As the Bird flopped onto the floor, General Biter seized him in his small arms and tried to wake him while more Birds of Prey were thrown wildly from the thrashing Cartoon Shadow Cat, its rabid cries exploding into the night air and its white clawed hands swiping wildly around it at its attackers. Some of the Birds flew into some nearby trees while a few others were thrown at their allies. As General Biter tried to wake the Eagle, one of the Velociraptors delivered harrowing news.
"General," the bipedal Lizard said sadly, "Alpha Stripes isn't RESPONDING!"
"I cannot get a pulse," said another, a female. She, a trained army and battlefield medic had been feeling Stripes' neck for that vital sign but to her dismay, she had felt none. General Biter gazed at the limp body of Stripes in disbelief as more Birds of Prey were thrown violently from the screeching Cartoon Shadow Cat's violent attacks. The Five-Tailed Fox tried his luck again with his foxfire and shot a beam of it at the Cartoon Shadow Cat, hoping to subdue it. However, instead of collapsing and writhing in agony from the foxfire blast like it should have done, the Cartoon Shadow Cat instead absorbed the plasma bolt-like energy into its body. The Five-Tailed Fox looked on in HORROR. This was NOT at all normal. However, he did see something odd on the Cartoon Shadow Cat's left arm and it was screeching in agony and grasping it as if it had been wounded. Then the Cartoon Shadow Cat turned its crazed bloodlust-saturated glare in his direction, its ugly toothy mouth dripping saliva. The Five-Tailed Fox stood there, paralysed by SHEER terror as the creature then raised its hand, glared its talons and brought it down on him.
General Biter then soon realised the same harrowing fate of the Eagle as Stripes. Then one of the higher ranking Condors cried out as a Falcon was thrown back violently from one of the Cartoon Shadow Cat's hand swipe, "The Cartoon Shadow Cat is WAY too powerful for us to handle. I don't know HOW it had gained so much more power but it is KILLING ANYONE approaching it almost INSTANTLY!"
General Biter then realised the direness of the situation. Turning to his other underlings as they tried to attack the Cartoon Shadow Cat, he roared one word: "RETREAT! RETREEEEAAAAT!"
Immediately, the remaining underlings of the T-Rex general aborted their attack on the Cartoon Shadow Cat and attempted capture of it and launched into a sprint or flight from the creature. The Cartoon Shadow Cat which was indeed FAR more powerful than before; then began to pursue the group. It quickly caught up with some of the Hyenas at the back of the group and slaughtered them within seconds, using its upgraded powers to kill them instantly. Then it caught up with the Triceratops and the Cù-Sìth and struck both dead with one powerful claw swipe each. At the front of the group as they ran as fast as they could, the Velociraptors shot a look behind them. As the Cartoon Shadow Cat killed more members with more claw swipes, the lead Velociraptor drew in a HORRIFIED breath.
"HOW did that Cat Beast ACQUIRE SO MUCH POWER SO SUDDENLY!?" it blurted out. It released a horrified cry as it watched the Cartoon Shadow Cat continue its pursuit after killing more members, its white upside-down U's bordering inflated pupils saturated to the brim with bloodlust and insanity. General Biter shot the Beast a look and immediately turned to one of the Condors carrying a satchel.
"Talon, those flower pollen bombs," he called. Immediately, the Condor named Talon reached into his satchel and pulled out a few colourful balls. Flower pollen bombs were a type of bomb that used pollen extracted from certain flowers and they not only generated a type of smokescreen, but also a cloud of sweet-smelling pollen-filled gas that overpowered the noses of victims as well as irritated their eyes, mouth and breathing. It was commonly used on any species and minion of Jadis that DESPISED sweet smells, such as Xenojaws and Water Hags, but it was also useful in subduing most other species with its irritating properties.
Then as soon as Talon had a talon-ful of the pollen bombs, he immediately threw them at the Cartoon Shadow Cat for General Biter could not use them due to his short arms. The colourful spheres with bumps on their surfaces flew towards the Cat Creature and the moment they made contact, they exploded like our world's grenades and enveloped the creature in a plume of colourful smoke-like powder. General Biter and the other remaining members heard screeches and cries of revulsion and, to their surprise, agony explode from the creature, so they stopped and turned to look at the Cartoon Shadow Cat. To their UTMOST surprise and horror, they saw the black Cat-like creature resembling a fictional cat character from their Monarchs' world's black and white cartoons thrash and writhe in the cloud, screeching and convulsing violently. Then the apparent wound on its left arm flared up and glowed, causing the Cat MORE agony. Then Ida the Eagle archer broke through the stun at the Cartoon Shadow Cat's reaction to the flower pollen, seized an arrow from her quiver, nocked it into her bow and fired it at the Cartoon Shadow Cat. The arrow sliced through the dark air in the Cat's direction and Ida expected it to be absorbed by the Cat like the previous times. However, to the Eagle archer's UTMOST surprise, the arrow, instead of phasing into the Cat's body, actually LODGED into the Cat like it would any flesh-and-blood creature, hitting the Cat in the back. The Cartoon Shadow Cat continued thrashing, screeching and writhing but as the pollen cloud began to disperse with a gust of wind, its convulsing and pained screeching faded with it and soon, its normal state returned. The arrow Ida had shot it also became absorbed into its body and the moment it had managed to shake off its violent convulsing from the pollen cloud, it immediately fled into the night, moving at high speed. General Biter and the remaining members of his search-and-destroy group looked on in UTMOST stun. THAT reaction to the pollen bombs was COMPLETELY unusual.
"I do NOT recall flower pollen EVER causing THAT sort of reaction before," Talon finally spoke.
"Normally, gasping, sneezing and wiping of the eyes are the results but the Cartoon Shadow Cat's REACTIONS..." Ida said but then General Biter turned their attention to the new and more important task.
"We MUST report all this to Their Majesties, Hagrid, Alestomeria and Martian including its increased power and its unusual reactions to the flower pollen bombs PRONTO," the T-Rex general said seriously, "Now LET'S GO!"
Then without wasting another minute, the group resumed their journey back to Cair Paravel.
Back at Cair Paravel
The activities at Cair Paravel continued. Queen Susan and King Edmund continued to run the throne while the medics continued to care for High King Peter whose health continued to deteriorate. Hagrid, Alestomeria and Martian had set up some search groups to hunt down a troublemaker while a team of potion makers had set up the kitchen with the equipment prepared for making the Nine-Realms Potion and the High King's ONLY medicine and antidote for his poisoning once the quest-goers were back with all nine ingredients. However, the group at the castle and its grounds had one evil worker carrying out her plans right under their noses. Alcina, who we now know to be one of Jadis' surviving minions, continued her play-acting and facade as a loyal and faithful servant but under this cover, she was carrying out her plans. One method was distributing her 'treats' to the true servants, one of them being 'Tasty Cream' which she disguised as her 'customised milk cream (also known as yoghurt)' but in actuality, this stuff was the HIGHLY addictive Toxo-Cream which was a living, parasitic organism that eventually took control of the consumers' mind wit eventual fatal results. And Alcina had managed to successfully get some of the officials of the four Monarchs addicted to the stuff and once they had taken the first sip, they were enslaved by Alcina to do her bidding, her bribing them to do the jobs if they wanted more. Thankfully, King Edmund, Queen Susan, Hagrid and Alestomeria had not yet taken a sip of the stuff but they were unaware that they will eventually become Alcina's next victims, and they were at the top of Alcina's enslavement list. However, Alcina still had someone who was aware of her evil plans on her tail. Cilan the Cù-Sìth and his three Dryad friends, one of them being Summer, had been trying their best to foil the Nogitsune-in-disguise from giving the Tasty Cream stuff to the officials but had unfortunately failed to save everyone from becoming addicted. But their TOP priority was King Edmund, Queen Susan, Hagrid and Alestomeria and also Martian, the top five Alcina was after including the Green Man who was also aware that there was someone amidst the workers of Cair Paravel (however, he was still unaware that the 'someone' was Alcina, unlike Cilan, the three Dryads and also Betelgeuse and Rigel the Wolves who were still imprisoned). Once, Cilan and the three Dryads had managed to substitute a tub of the Tasty Cream Alcina intended for Martian for a tub of ice cream to Alcina's anger. She had managed to get Cilan and the Dryads into trouble by injuring Pteranodon, one of the communicators to the rescue group headed for the Pleasure Dome out at sea, by breaking his wing and framing the four for it. Cilan had managed to escape arrest but the three Dryads had been banished from the castle and commanded by Martian to NEVER come back in or their trees will be chopped down. Now Cilan was on his own but despite this, he continued to spy on Alcina and interfere with her plans while Pteranodon was relieved of duty to have his damaged wing treated, leaving Tarzan the Oran-Utan and the others to take up the slack of the job.
King Edmund sat in his seat on the throne room. Queen Susan had gone to bed to get some sleep so he was by himself. Sat near him was Alestomeria and she was helping him to keep things running, along with her husband Hagrid. King Edmund was under a LOT of stress. His eyes were baggy and black and he was extremely tired but he knew he had to keep the throne and monarchy running. Everything that had been happening and the worries going on, such as worries for his younger sister Queen Lucy, the health of High King Peter, the hopes that the Nine-Realms Potion quest goers would return with the exclusive ingredients for the only antidote for his older brother, and the fact that there were still minions of Jadis still present and their ties to the Pleasure Dome and the kidnapping of the young Talking Beasts and other creatures to be shipped out to the immoral place had been battering King Edmund left, right and centre and because of this, he was constantly on edge. The stress weighing him down was making him more and more vulnerable to potential threats and one of those threats was right under his nose. As he continued to sit, he gazed at Alestomeria as she handed him a cup of Narnian hot chocolate.
"Oh, thank you, Alestomeria," the King said gratefully and with that, he took the cup and began to carefully sip it to avoid spilling the scalding hot liquid and burning his mouth on it. Alestomeria acknowledged the King's manners and breathed a sigh. She too was tired but she knew she had to keep her vigil. King Edmund began to talk.
"I still can't believe that Cilan and those three Dryads with him would be SO stupid in injuring Pteranodon such that he cannot continue with his job in communicating with the rescue group for the Pleasure Dome," he grumbled, his hands clutching the hot chocolate, "We may have banished Summer and the other two Dryads but we cannot find the Cù-Sìth."
"Cilan certainly has been UTTERLY silly, I can tell you," Alestomeria replied in agreement, "But breaking Pteranodon's wing is a step WAY too far. Once we capture him, he's gonna be thrown into the lowest dungeon."
"I don't know what has gotten into him and also Betelgeuse, Rigel and those three Dryads lately but their unusual behaviour seems to revolve around Alcina," said King Edmund, "It's not like those six to just cause Alcina so much trouble like that."
Alestomeria sighed in agreement to this statement. However, under the irritation at the Cù-Sìth and the two Wolves at the apparent stupidity, the Nine-Tailed Vixen had a small hunch gnawing at her. While it was clear that Cilan, Betelgeuse, Rigel and the three Dryads' behaviour around Alcina was unusual, the Vixen had begun to wonder if there was something off about that Fox. As Alestomeria pondered over this, Hagrid hastily entered the room. The Nine-Tailed Dog-Fox wore an EXTREMELY alarmed look on his face. Alestomeria and the King gazed at the Nine-Tailed Fox as he stopped to catch his breath for he had been running to them fast.
"Hagrid," said Alestomeria with surprise.
"Something startled you?" asked King Edmund. Hagrid took a moment to get his breath back and began to speak.
"Your Majesty," he said, "I just had a report from one of our search-and-destroy groups through one of the crystalline communicators. The Cartoon Shadow Cat has returned but it is FAR more powerful than before. General Biter's group had been the latest group to encounter the most wanted Beast and according to them, it had managed to kill many of the members of that group almost instantly including Kimba the Five-Tailed Fox and Alpha Stripes the Tiger whom it managed to seize control with its mind-controlling puppet powers."
Horror swept through King Edmund and Alestomeria and the former began to feel the toll of the stress begin to take control of him. His breath accelerated and his body began to shake.
"Breathe, Your Majesty," Alestomeria said, her front paws on the King's front and back in an attempt to calm him. King Edmund did so and tried to control the urge to explode into a meltdown. As he calmed himself down, Hagrid continued his explanation of the report about the Cartoon Shadow Cat. "However, when General Biter's group used some flower pollen bombs on the Cartoon Shadow Cat, they got an extremely unusual reaction from it. Normally, flower pollen bombs cause hacking, coughing, sneezing and irritation of the eyes, lungs and nose of the targets and their overpowering sweet smells also add to the subduing, but the reaction from the Cartoon Shadow Cat was EXTREME pain, convulsions and apparent weakening of its powers and according to General Biter, a wound was present on its left arm and shoulder..."
"We've never known pollen bombs causing THOSE kinds of reactions," said Alestomeria as King Edmund continued to get a control of his urge to break down. Then deduction for the reason for the Cartoon Shadow Cat's abnormal reactions to the pollen bombs welled within the Kitsune Vixen but it was a conclusion she did NOT like. "The Cartoon Shadow Cat must have paid an intrusive visit to the Great Lion's Garden of Youth in the Western March and illegally helped itself to some of the apples, one of the crucial ingredients to the Nine-Realms Potion, to strengthen its powers."
Hagrid and Kind Edmund exchanged looks and gazed back at Alestomeria as she continued; a stern look on her face. "And we all know what happens to anyone who steals from the Great Lion's property for their own selfish uses. Think of what happened with the White Witch."
The other two nodded in agreement but then worry took over King Edmund.
"Could Queen Lucy and her group have encountered that beast while at that place?" asked he. As he spoke, a red, purple, violet and gold Three-Tailed Fox walked in. In her front paws was a large tub. Alcina had overheard the conversation between King Edmund and the Nine-Tailed Kitsune couple about the Cartoon Shadow Cat and when she heard what had become of it, she had been horrified but it was not because of its newly acquired and enhanced strengths and powers. Pushing aside the stun, she entered the throne area, her sympathetic gaze on a clearly stressed King Edmund. However, Alcina was unaware that she had someone sneaking after her. In the shadows near the armoury, a young Grassy Dog hid and peered out. Cilan gazed warily at Alcina as she stopped before the King and the Nine-Tailed Kitsune couple and current Chroniclers and successors to Gandalf and Seresute.
"It's frightening to hear that the Cartoon Shadow Cat has gained more power from eating some of the fruit that STRICTLY belongs to the Great Lion but as we all know, if we steal, we must pay," said Alcina as she placed the tub onto a nearby small table, "And I can see that it is cauasing His Majesty stress over there."
"Yes, but now that the Cartoon Shadow Cat has become more powerful," said Hagrid, "Our search-and-destroy groups will now have to be MORE careful when it is around. I have issued that command to the group that has reported to me of its return..."
"It's weaknesses will be an excellent target to exploit," said Alcina as she pulled the lid off the tub, exposing a pure white creamy substance (known to King Edmund as 'yoghurt'). She then breathed a sigh and picked up a spoon that was present on the table. "I think you three could do with something of a midnight snack to keep your minds on track. After all, you guys are under a LOT of stress..."
"What's that yoghurt?" asked King Edmund. From his hiding place, Cilan looked on, horror igniting within him. Immediately, he made his next move.
"It's one of my customised desserts," said Alcina as she handed the tub to King Edmund who was enamoured by the pure white, glistening substance, "It's milk-cream. I made it myself. Believe me, it's VERY delicious. Once you sample it, it'll be your VERY favourite dessert almost instantly."
She then handed the tub of the white stuff and the spoon to the King and immediately, he scooped some of the cream. Hagrid and Alestomeria looked on but then what happened next triggered another storm.
Before King Edmund could have the spoonful of the milk-cream cross his lips and into his mouth, a grassy mound on legs suddenly rocketed in.
"YOUR MAJESTY, DON'T EAT THAT!" it bellowed and before King Edmund could shoot the shouter a look, a grassy paw appeared and slapped the hand holding the spoon to the OUTRAGE of him, there Kitsune and Alcina. The spoon flew from the King's hand and clattered to the floor a few metres away, the white stuff splattering everywhere onto the carpet.
"Oh, no, the EXPENSIVE ROYAL CARPET some female Dwarves have KINDLY knitted for us," cried Alestomeria in both anger and upset.
"CILAN!" cried Hagrid, King Edmund and Alcina together as Cilan then seized the tub of milk-cream, gazed at it for a second and tore from the throne area for the entrance. King Edmund then glared ANGRILY at the three Magical Foxes.
"That's THE LAST TIME THAT CÙ-SÌTH shows ANY DISRESPECT TO HIS MONARCHS!" he snarled.
"He's going into the dungeon without a doubt," said Hagrid, "His deed to Pteranodon resulting in him suffering a wing fracture has been the FINAL stick."
As he said this, Alestomeria ordered some Faun and Brownie guards after Cilan and they immediately sprinted in the Cù-Sìth's direction, Alcina following. King Edmund also tore after the guards, his hand stinging from Cilan's slap and Alestomeria followed. Hagrid was also about to follow but then he felt something prick within him. Abandoning the chase, he turned his attention to the splatter of white cream on the carpet.
Cilan continued charging through the corridors of the castle, his right front paw clutching the tub of the white stuff, the Faun and Brownie guards hot on his tail. The Grass Dog shot frantic gazes in all directions, looking for a flame he could use to burn the white cream. His gaze then landed on a fire torch. Immediately, Cilan reached his left front paw for it but then a spear tip appeared and stopped near his neck; making the Cù-Sìth freeze and shoot the owner a startled look. It was a Centaur and he had the spear aimed for Cilan's neck, threatening to skewer the Cù-Sìth if he moved as much as an inch.
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE," he snarled. Cilan gazed up at the Horse-Humanoid but then what happened next sent alarm igniting within him. The moment the Centaur's eyes spotted the tub of white cream in Cilan's paws, the Horse-Humanoid who SHOULD be doing his duty immediately tossed his spear aside and tried to seize the tub, Cilan moving it out of the way. This was horrifying and UTTERLY abnormal behaviour for a Centaur, a noble creature.
"GIMME SOME OF THAT CREAM!" the Centaur yelled and with that, he plunged his hand into the tub of white stuff and seized a handful of it. Then he greedily shoved that handful into his mouth like a dumb animal. Cilan immediately seized the opportunity to snatch the torch from the wall, especially since his pursuers were seconds away. Jumping onto the Centaur's back as he shoved the handful of cream down his throat and then onto his head, the Cù-Sìth seized the torch, dropped to the floor and immediately darted off for the exit, moments before the Brownie and Faun guard group, King Edmund, Alestomeria and Alcina appeared and met the Centaur who sheepishly gazed at them with his cheeks stuffed with the white stuff and some of it dripping from his mouth. King Edmund barked at the Centaur guard to chase after Cilan, which he did after swallowing the cream. However, King Edmund, Alestomeria and the guards were completely unaware that the Centaur was one of the officials who had fallen victim to Alcina's Tasty Cream stuff and had become UTTERLY addicted to it. And THAT tub had some of that stuff which was why Cilan had taken a mad action in slapping away the spoon from King Edmund's hand. King Edmund had VERY nearly become the next victim for the Toxo-Cream which was just as addictive as Jadis' Turkish delight and Belladonna's chocolate cake.
Cilan exploded from an entrance to the castle with the tub of white stuff and the fire torch into the dark grounds and began to look for a safe spot to set the tub afire and avoid unintentionally setting any nearby tree, ESPECIALLY Dryad and Kodama (a type of Dryad that had a glow to them and somewhat resembled Will-O-the-Wisps when they were out of their trees, unlike Dryads which carried plant material like petals and leaves for their appearance) trees. As soon as he spotted a ring of rocks in a clearing where another fire had been set, the Cù-Sìth darted there, quickly set down the tub in the middle of the rock ring and put the burning torch onto it. Then he darted back the moment the tub caught fire and began to burn and moments before his pursuers arrived. However, as he did that, the Centaur appeared. Cilan jumped out of the Centaur's attempted grab, sending the Centaur stumbling forward (luckily not in the direction of the fire had had started), bolted for a nearby tree and scurried up it like a cat. Cù-Sìth were excellent tree climbers despite being Dogs since they were, after all, strongly associated with the countryside. After Cilan had reached the lowest bough of the tree, King Edmund and the others appeared and surrounded the tree's trunk, their FURIOUS glares on him for his UTTERLY disrespectful act. This was the time to blurt out to them the truth.
"ALCINA IS A DANGEROUS FOX!" he cried, making the group flinch, "SHE'S TRYING TO..."
"No, no, NO, THAT CÙ-SÌTH'S CRAZY," Alcina immediately shouted to stop her facade from being torn down by Cilan, "IT'S THE STRESS OF ALL THAT'S HAPPENING WARPING HIS MIND! WHAT HE'S SAYING IS NOT TRUE!"
King Edmund then turned to Alestomeria, "Use your telekinesis to bring that Cù-Sìth down from that tree."
Alestomeria was about to comply but Cilan immediately made the decision for her and dropped from the tree himself. He then tried to bolt for somewhere else to find a certain Green Man but then an aqua blue aura enclosed him and stopped him in his tracks. Cilan found himself running in midair and shot a frightened look at whoever was using telekinesis on him to hold him still and to his horror, he saw that it was Alcina, her eyes glowing neon blue.
"Thanks, Alcina," said King Edmund and with that, he ordered the Faun, Centaur and Brownie guards to surround the Cù-Sìth and arrest him. Then Cilan was thrown headfirst into a cell in the dungeon, landing on his front with his back end in the air. He scrambled to his feet and shot the lead Brownie a look as he took hold of the door.
"A few days in 'ere will teach ya a jolly good lesson in disrespectin' our Monarchs an' our officials, Cù-Sìth," said the House Dwarf, "Once this is over, we'll look into what jobs we could give ya for ya hard labour and punishment," and after saying this, he slammed the door shut and locked it. Cilan rushed for the door and tried to open it, only to find it locked. He shook it harder and harder to no avail. Realising that he was now out of the way and overwhelmed with distress, especially for King Edmund and the Nine-Tailed Kitsune, the Cù-Sìth broke down.