Chapter 29- trouble in Dionaea's village and another attack from some of Jadis' minions
Later, in Dionaea's village
Sunset was approaching and a funeral of a certain female Manticore was taking place in a certain village. A metal coffin containing her body was being pushed into a fire facility ready for cremation while two small crowds of the villagers, most of them Dionaea's family and friends including her older son Tityus who had foregone joining the search-and-destroy missions to grieve with his family for his mother, were present. The villagers of Dionaea's village prefer to cremate their deceased rather than bury them in the ground with headstones with their names and birth and death dates carved as one, they felt it was more respectful to cremate their dead and two, they wanted to avoid the problem of grave robbery, especially from the still-roaming minions of Jadis still on the loose, and those, especially the evil Nekomata and Bakeneko who may use and animate corpses as a form of combat, were not hesitant in desecrating cemeteries for their own nefarious uses. While the funeral was going on, the patrol groups continued as did the watchers of the young. ALL the kids and teens in the village were barricaded in their houses and strictly forbidden from going outside for their safety and though many did not like this, it was for GOOD reason. Only recently, Dionaea's village had come under threat from a group of spies, but those spies were not large, obvious creatures like a Wendigo or Hellhound or other large species, but small creatures like Mimicbirds and Fiend-Fairyflies, the vile, ugly Fairy-like beings resembling a horrific cross between a fly and a Fairy. Due to these creatures being so difficult to spot, the villagers had enlisted the help of the clan of Laventon and Cynthia the Kangaroos and some other neighbouring clans including Neutrophil's clan and the pack of Big Cats and Wolves. These clans had also faced threats of small spies as well and had brought their young to here for their safety.
A green Longma or Dragon-Pegasus stood gazing into the cremation facility while Dionaea's funeral continued; a very sad look on her face and her Bat's wings drooped. As Chloroplast then bowed her head to pay her respects to the most respected Manticore in the village, a hulking Big Cat with plan beige fur and massive incisors walked in, a sombre look on his face.
"It's so sad to hear that Dionaea had died so suddenly from the news of our High King's poisoning," said the Sabre-Toothed Cat in a sad whisper. The guilt Chloroplast had felt since delivering the news writhed within the green Longma and made her wince as she blamed herself for Dionaea's death. Daggertooth, the Sabre-Toothed Cat and chief of his pack, gazed at the Pegasus-like Dragon.
"It isn't your fault, Chloroplast," he said in an attempt to comfort her and ease her painful guilt, "It was important that you delivered that VERY important news regarding High King Peter's condition."
"How did you react when you heard that terrible news of his incurable poisoning?" Chloroplast asked in a strangled voice, tears streaming down her Reptilian face.
"We were devastated," said Daggertooth, "and UTTERLY worried. In fact, some of us had been fasting to show our sorrow and praying to the Lion of Lions for him and to also watch over the quest-goers sent out to gather the nine ingredients for the only potion capable of being an antidote to his poisoning..."
As the lead Sabre-Toothed Cat said this, a Lioness walked up to the pair. Unlike the mighty Aslan whose fur was a shining gold especially his mane, ordinary Talking Lions and Lionesses had dull sandy brown fur and the mane hair of the male Lions sometimes had black hair. Talking Lions who were loyal to Aslan always referred to Aslan as the Lion Above All Lions and the One Who Cannot be Tamed, referring to the fact that Aslan was not a tame Lion and NEVER will be. The Lioness then spoke to Daggerooth, a sombre look on her face.
"I sure hope the quest-goers will return with the ingredients soon and the antidote for our High King made, Daggertooth," said she, "we just had a report from Moon-Eyes the Owl that his poisoning is starting to get worse."
"Yes, and eventually, the poor High King will descend into absolute madness and agony to the point that he will act VERY animalistic," said Chloroplast, "And eventually, he will painfully..." she trailed off, not wanting to say the certain concluding result of High King Peter's poisoning if the Nine-Realms Potion was not made and administered in time. Daggertooth gazed at the Longma in agreement.
The activities in the village continued with parents watching over their children in the huts, burrows and houses, watch groups patrolling the surrounds for any sign of trouble, and the funeral of Dionaea concluding with the burning of her body to ashes. Her ashes will then be given to her family to either be kept or scattered at the eldest son, Tityus' decision. Then as soon as the funeral was over, those gathered left to resume their evening activities except Dionaea's children and grandchildren who waited for her ashes. While the villagers continued their activities, a certain green Longma sat alone, weeping. Chloroplast was at her lowest, the biting and gnashing jaws of her guilt over Dionaea's death by bringing the message of High King Peter's poisoning to the village biting at her like a pack of piranha. Not only that, the news of High King Peter's poisoning was also getting to her. Some of the villagers and neighbours including some Kangaroos from Laventon and Cynthia's Kangaroo clan came by and gazed at the sobbing Longma with sympathy but Chloroplast refused their comfort. Then Laventon came by with Rivier the Mokele-Mbembe.
"She-e-e's bee-e-en like that since she-e-e brought the bad news about Hi-i-igh King Pe-e-eter, Laventon," said the blue Water Dinosaur.
"We keep telling her that it is not her fault," said Laventon, "We had to know..." his gaze then turned to a certain building where Dionaea's funeral had taken place, "And to be honest, we are ALL at our low since the passing of one of our most loved Manticores. Her children and grandchildren are gonna be facing a difficult time in the coming weeks."
"Tho-o-ose Manticubs are gonna have to return to their ho-o-omes for their sa-a-afety," said Rivier sternly, "What with all these marauding minions of the Whi-i-ite Witch..."
"Our joeys and other young and those of Neutrophil and Daggertooth's clans are barricaded in the school and many of this village's homes for the same reason," said Laventon, "especially after Daggertooth's pack and neighbours came under attack from another band of Jadis' minions only recently."
"The Terror Birds are still worried abo-o-out Lymphocyte who is still missing," said Rivier, "And also his brother Monocyte and their three cousins who-o-o have gone on one of the-e-ese da-a-angerous quests for the ingre-e-edients for His Majesty's po-o-otion."
"And I'm concerned for Chloroplast there," said Laventon with a nod to the sobbing Longma. Rivier gazed at Chloroplast and felt a pang of pity, wishing he could help ease the guilt she had felt for causing Dionaea's death with the guilt by delivering the horrific news about High King Peter despite it not being her fault. Suddenly the sounds of thundering and neighing erupted followed by a mighty CRASH caused a shockwave of horror and alarm exploding within the Kangaroo, the Mokele-Mbembe and the sobbing Longma as well as the rest of the villagers and their neighbours including Dionaea's offspring. Then the heads of everyone turned in the direction of the sound and various creatures began to hurry to the site. Rivier shot Laventon a HORRIFIED look.
"THAT so-o-unded l-i-ike a CHARIOT or a CART or something," the Water Sauropod blurted out, "I HO-O-OPE it HASN'T CRASHED INTO..." Laventon did not reply to this. His back legs springing into action, the Kangaroo clan patriarch hopped off in the direction of the crash with everyone else, Chlrooplast close behind. Rivier then began to lumber after the two. Because of his size and body bulk, he could only amble for massive, hulking creatures like Talking Titan Dinosaurs such as Sauropods, the giant Turtle-like Toraton and Elephants could not run.
Within moments, a crowd had gathered and formed around a disaster zone and some of the villagers and neighbours, especially medically trained members, had immediately sought to searching through a pile of rubble for any casualties. The crash had indeed been caused by a chariot and the thundering had been the thumping of the hooves of the horses pulling it, and the panicked neighs had come from them. Both they and the chariot itself had crashed into one of the large Curupira huts and that hut had been demolished into the pile. A cloud of dust billowed from the scene and some of the Flying creatures worked to blow it away to raise the visibility for the workers as they worked through the rubble. Laventon, Chloroplast and eventually Rivier turned up and when they saw the disaster zone, horrified gasps were drawn harshly through their mouths. Then a female Curupira indicated by her bright orange hair ran to the three.
"That chariot and its horses just APPEARED outa NOWHERE," the reverse-footed and Bird-like Legged Humanoid shouted, clearly shaken from the incident, "The charioteer is over there," she nodded to the driver of the carriage, a male Red Dwarf who suffered a few scratches and an injured hip under the care of the medic Capelobo Doc Longsnout and protesting to the surrounding villagers, some of them OUTRAGED and glaring at him with accusing looks of reckless driving. Nearby, the two horses, both dumb horses and the Red Dwarf charioteer's animals were being checked over for injury. Unlike their owner, these poor dumb horses were BADLY injured and they were neighing in pain. The Curupira Woman continued. "That Red Dwarf had managed to jump clear of the impending crash just in time but his horses, however, hadn't been as fortunate..."
Laventon then gazed at the Red Dwarf and hopped over to him. Chloroplast, the Curupira Woman and Rivier followed.
"My horses just started behaving bizarrely and then my chariot began to rattle," said the Dwarf who was stood on his right leg, his left one raised off the floor for he could not put weight on it, "And before I could get my horses under control, things just spiralled into UTMOST chaos and my chariot somehow careened towards the village, heading STRAIGHT for that hut. I am EVER so sorry..."
"Just keep still," commanded Doc Longsnout as he examined the Dwarf's hip. As the Capelobo pressed his hands on the small Humanoid's left him, the Dwarf grunted in pain.
"I think it's a dislocation," said Doc Longsnout to his assistants, "We need to get him to the medical building now."
Then he commanded a medical Tiger and a Faun to take and carry the injured Dwarf to said building. Then a Terror Bird came in, a furious look on his face.
"How in NARNIA did he crash his chariot and horses into that hut!?" he demanded. Nearby, a Badger was eating an apple and had gone over to help check the smashed Curupira hut for any casualties.
"The Red Dwarf charioteer just said that his chariot began to rattle and his horses began to act oddly," said another Faun.
"But still, it seems that he had been driving that chariot of his recklessly," grumbled another Curupira, a male, as he looked over the shattered hut, "It's gonna take WEEKS to rebuild this structure."
Chloroplast then galloped over to the rubble that once was the Curupira hut and began to assist some Raccoons and an Aardvark in pulling out a stunned young Curupira male from some smashed wood. The poor young man was dazed and was uttering confused and stunned murmurs. After he was pulled from the pile of wood, a Raccoon called to the medics and the Aardvarks began to carry him over to them. Chloroplast looked on in stun and backed away somewhat. The Badger also looked on as he continued to eat his apple.
"I'm wondering if someone had been tampering with his chariot or something," said the black and white Talking Animal to another Raccoon.
"I don't know, Ruffles, but for that Dwarf and his horses to suddenly careen out of nowhere and crash into this hut is NOT normal, I can tell you," replied the Badger named Ruffles. As he spoke, Chloroplast began to feel unusual and agitated.
"How are the two horses that had been pulling the chariot?" asked Ruffles to some nearby helpers as they checked on two two animals.
"I 'm afraid these animals are severely injured in the crash," replied a Manticore not related to Dionaea. Ruffles and the Racoon looked over the two horses and saw that they were indeed in bad shape.
"They may have to be put down and the Dwarf will have to find two replacement dumb horses for his chariot," said another Curupira, "not to mention a new chariot in addition."
"Serves that Dwarf right," snarled the Raccoon spitefully. Ruffles shot the striped-tailed Talking Animal a glare.
"Hey, don't go jumping to conclusions, Spike," the Badger snapped. Nearby, Chloroplast began to weep again, the emotions from the boiling guilt of causing Dioanea's death beginning to rear their ugly head again.
"If what the Dwarf has said is true, then he should be vindicated," continued the Badger named Ruffles.
"No, he OWES the Curupira a NEW hut for one and he SHOULD be arrested and punished for RECKLESS CHARIOT DRIVING FOR ANOTHER," snapped the Raccoon named Spike angrily. Laventon and Daggertooth then came in, confused looks on their faces at the sudden argument igniting between the Raccoon and the Badger. The others also looked on and Rivier began to feel his skin crawl.
"Are you ACCUSING THAT POOR DWARF as BEING A RECKLESS DRIVER even though he would have TRIED HIS BEST TO GET BACK CONTROL OF HIS CHARIOT!?" snapped Ruffles angrily.
"I'm NOT accusing him, Ruffles, I am only STATING THE TRUTH!" retorted Spike.
"YOU HAVE NO EVIDENCE TO BACK UP THAT ACCUSATION AGAINST THAT POOR DWARF AS BEING TRUTH, SPIKE!" snarled the Badger in a more aggressive tone of voice. Then things REALLY began to get out of paw as the argument escalated alarmingly.
"Don't ya SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT, ZEBRA-SNOUTED MUD RAT!" Spike screamed and with that, he gave Ruffles a hefty shove, sending the Badger stumbling back and nearly tripping over another pile of wood. Ruffles retaliated with the same attack on the Raccoon.
"DON'T YA PUSH ME, you OVERGROWN, STRIPED-TAILED DUMB SQUIRREL!" bellowed the Badger as he did it. Then Spike's temper exploded. With a snarl, the Raccoon launched himself at the Badger and within moments, a brawl between the two Talking Animals erupted. However, it only lasted a few seconds as a long blue and white tail appeared and separated the pair. Then hands from some Curupira and Dwarves reached in and seized the Badger and the Raccoon and forced them apart. Rivier, his tail separating the two, glared angrily at them.
"STOP BRAWLING AT O-O-ONCE YO-O-OU TWO-O!" bellowed the mighty Mokele-Mbembe in rebuke, his voice sounding like thunder. Ruffles and Spike, at the sound of this rumble, immediately snapped out of their red mist and looked on in UTMOST confusion. It was not like them to suddenly argue so violently like that, much less allow it to escalate into a brawl and the two gazed at each other over River's tail remorsefully. The others gathered also looked on in confusion but then a sense of dread came over the large blue Sauropod Dinosaur who still had his tail separating the Badger and the Raccoon to prevent them from lunging at each other again. However, the two had calmed down to the relief of their restrainers and the other Raccoons and Badgers. Then one of the Kangaroos went to investigate some of the food that had been in the smashed Curupira hut including the apple that Ruffles had tossed aside before lunging at Spike. As he examined the food, some of the villagers including Chloroplast began to feel a sense of dread and fear come over them. The Kangaroo then noticed something about the scattered food and he turned to Rivier. Laventon also came in and examined the food and the behaviour of the villagers.
"Rivier," said the other Kangaroo, "The food! It's starting to rot!"
Rivier turned and gazed at the food. Indeed the food was starting to go rotten. The bread slices changed from their usual beige and white colour to a sickly green and black in a few seconds and the fruit began to shrivel up and become rancid. Ruffles' discarded apple, which was half-eaten, was among them and it began to take on a sickly, soggy, wrinkly appearance like a shrivelled up prune, its flesh going a rotten brown colour. Then Chloroplast began to behave strangely. First her legs began to shake, then her body, and then finally, her head, tail and wings and within moments, she began to walk uncontrollably as though having a walking seizure.
"R-R-R-Rivier, I-I-I feel..." cried the Longma but then the seizures became uncontrollable and she collapsed and began to convulse on the floor as though having an electrical shock.
"Chloroplast!" cried Daggertooth and with that, he and two Terror Birds rushed over to the convulsing Longma but then they began to shake uncontrollably to their alarm. The two Terror Birds collapsed and continued to convulse. Rivier shot the four convulsing Talking Beasts and immediately reacted to the alarm exploding through him.
"EVERYONE, E-E-EVACUATE THIS ARE-E-EA, NOOOW!" bellowed the blue Sauropod at the top of his voice. The booming voice exploded throughout the village and immediately, the crowd gathered around the rubble of the chariot and the Curupira's hut shifted to get away from the area. Chloroplast, Daggertooth and the two Terror Birds, their convulsions fading somewhat, struggled to their feet and hurried after the others to get away from the area while Rivier retreated himself.
However, there was worse to come. As Rivier and the others drew back from the crash site, the Mokele-Mbembe suspecting something to be hovering around there, screams exploded nearby. Immediately, all heads turned in the direction of the screams but the moment their eyes landed on the origin places of those screams, their blood plunged into ice as freezing as Jadis' Age of Winter and some of them had sprung into action to charge off in the direction of where those screams were exploding, some of the village's houses. Laventon's paw also reached for the necklace around his neck and detached it, revealing its true nature as a whip as the Kangaroo patriarch prepared it for action as he hopped towards the screams. The screams were indeed exploding from some houses and the adults were trying to protect their young from some invaders. However, those invaders had their sights set on one particular category of individuals: the young. In one house, Cynthia, the wife of Laventon who had been put in charge of watching over some of the young including some cubs, Wolf cubs and chicks from Daggertooth's pack and neighbours and the Terror Bird clan, was desperately trying to ward off some intruders. The Kangaroo matriarch was reared up on her tail and her back feet was kicking at the intruder, a Rat-like creature with a tail stinger: a Stinger-Rat. While Cynthia was occupied with the Stinger-Rat, some Lionesses and female Sabre-Toothed Cats were snarling and swiping their paws at more intruders, some Werewolves as they tried to get at the cowering children behind them, among them Cynthia's youngest joey held by her sister Jane and cousin Rudi who were the daughter and nephew of Cynthia and Laventon respectively.
"GET OUTA HERE, YOU INTRUSIVE RAT!" snarled Cynthia and with that, she jumped at the Stinger-Rat and swiped it HARD across the face with a paw to knock it down, just as it poised its tail to jab the Kangaroo Doe. Then a Werewolf launched itself into the air and landed on Cynthia's back. Once it had done this, it threw its arms around the Kangaroo's neck to throttle her. Cynthia's paws rushed to the arms and tried to pry them from her neck as she struggled to breathe but the Werewolf, who was stronger than the Doe, resisted furiously and only tightened its arm-noose around the Roo's neck. Then the creature flared its teeth and prepared to plunge them into the back of Cynthia's neck to snap her spine to kill her but before it could do that, a flagellum of bamboo and stone shards attached to a green vine slashed through the air in the Werewolf's direction. MASSIVE howls of AGONY following a THWACK exploded from above Cynthia and she felt the weight of her attempted strangler jump off her back. At the same time the noose of the hideous Dog-Humanoid creature's arms around her neck loosened. Falling onto her belly and gasping for air, the Doe looked up to see the bipedal Doglike creature howling in pain, its paws clasping its severely wounded face. The young looked away from the brutal sight; the teen Big Cats and Wolves shielding the younger Talking Beasts and Magical Creatures' faces from the bloody scene as Laventon suddenly appeared. The moment the Buck and patriarch of his clan entered the scene, he seized the Werewolf by the head hair in one paw and the flagellum of his whip directly in his other, before slaying the creature with a slash to the jugular. Nearby, Daggertooth bounded in, leaped at the Stinger-Rat as it rose to its feet and prepared its dagger-like sting to jab Laventon and plunged his dagger-like teeth his species was known for into its nape, killing it almost instantly. Once these two hideous creatures were down, the Sabre-Toothed Cat chief and the Kangaroo Buck clan leader turned their attention to the other Werewolves as they harassed the frightened young and their protectors. Laventon and Daggertooth leaped in front of the group of hideous Bipedal Wolves and drove them away, the former cracking his whip to frighten them back. As he did this, Daggertooth turned to the protectors and the young.
"GET THOSE YOUNGSTERS OUTA HERE NOW!" the Sabre-Toothed Cat barked. The protectors obeyed this without hesitation and began to hastily guide the frightened young out of the house. However, as the group of various young creatures were shepherded towards the exit, one of the Werewolves managed to break away from its pack, rushed at the group and managed to seize one of the Kiwi chicks, Harakeke in its paws. The Kiwi chick screamed in the Werewolf's paws as the evil walking Dog cackled in triumph in catching one of the chicks. The other kids stopped but their protectors ushered them out hastily. Then Laventon, seeing the Werewolf holding the screaming and petrified Kiwi chick, released a wrathful grunt, bounded over to the Werewolf and swiped it across the face with a clawed paw, knocking the Werewolf down and freeing Harakeke. Laventon then barked at the Kiwi chick o follow the others which the chick did. A female Faun then rushed in, scooped up Harakeke and bolted after the others.
Laventon and Daggertooth continued to fend off the Werewolves, some armed Fauns and Curupira and also two Lions, a Terror Bird and a Tiger arriving as backup for the pair. Laventon reared up on his tail and kicked a Werewolf in the face with his powerful hind feet, sending the Dog creature flying towards the Terror Bird and crashing at his feet. Just before the Werewolf could lift its upper body off the ground with its paws, a massive hook-tipped beak came crashing down on its head, shattering its skull and killing it instantly; the Terror Bird utilising the Axe-Beak technique on it. Back outside, more young from both the village and Laventon and Daggertooth's clans and co-inhabitants were being evacuated to safety, more villagers and members of the packs and clans teaming up to fight off more minions that worked for the White Witch including more Werewolves. Rivier used his massive size to crush some of the minions underfoot and swung his massive tail at more minions to knock them down. He then seized another minion, a Neko-Cabbit, in his mouth and crushed its body with his jaws. After this, Rivier tossed the body of the hideous ivory white and neon green creature at another pack of Werewolves and knocked them down. However, as he did that, a blast of ice shot in and hit him in the side. A thunderous grunt of surprise exploded from the massive Water Dinosaur and he shot a look at the source of the ice beam. To his horror, it was a massive bipedal creature. Its skin was ice blue and spiky hair cascaded down the sides of its head like icicles. This bipedal creature was advancing towards the Mokele-Mbembe to distract him from assisting in the evacuation of the young. Releasing a battle snarl of wrath, Rivier launched into a battle amble charge towards the giant creature, an Ice Giant who in turn, launched into a sprint towards the Mokele-Mbembe. The moment the two massive creatures collided, they began a fierce wrestling match with Rivier reared up on his hind legs to brace himself against the massive Ice Giant who was just his size. While Rivier engaged the Ice Giant in a fierce wrestling match to the death, Chloroplast flew about fending off more minions as they tried to get at the evacuating young with some Manticores, among them Tityus and his family, and Talking Birds able to fly. Some of the Birds and Manticores were armed with slingshots and stones and also bows and arrows and they began to batter the minions with a barrage of stones and arrows. Some of the minions collapsed as the stones hit them or arrows pierced them while Chloroplast struck more down with her hoof-like paws and wings. She then seized a Werewolf in her front legs, flew up to around three dozen metres above the village and released the Werewolf from that height. The Dog-like creature plummeted towards the ground and fatally crashed. However, Chloroplast, as she hovered high above the village and battlefield, noticed another large creature, another Ice Giant, walk in and attack the evacuees. Releasing a screech, the Longma beat her wings at the air and launched into a battle charge at the Ice Giant.
The villagers and company continued to fend off the minions while Rivier continued to fight the first Ice Giant. The Ice Giant managed to push the Mokele-Mbembe reared on his hind legs into a large oak tree, crushing the blue Sauropod between its body and the giant plant and causing him to release a thunderous snarl of agony. Agonised, Rivier heaved himself against his opponent and both the giant creatures stumbled in another direction, heading towards a small stream. The pair then crashed like a MASSIVE tree into the ground, shaking the earth in the process. However, the Ice Giant managed to be on top of the Mokele-Mbembe. As soon as it had his Dinosaur opponent in a vulnerable position and largely immobilised, the Ice Giant synthesized a giant icicle spear. This done, it tried to skewer Rivier through the neck with its weapon to kill him. However, Rivier moved his snaking head and neck to the left, causing his opponent to miss and hit the earth. The Ice Giant pulled its spear out of the earth and tried again but Rivier moved his head and neck to the right, sending the icicle javelin jabbing into the ground. The Ice Giant yanked the spear from the earth and prepared to skewer the Dinosaur through the neck again. However, the icicle spear stopped just short of plunging into River's neck, its tip merely two metres from his skin. The Ice Giant looked on in stun, turned its gaze to its weapon arm and saw a noose of water pinning it back. It then shot its Mokele-Mbembe opponent and saw that his eyes were encased in a blue glow. Rivier was utilising an ability largely exclusive to his species, hydrokinesis. Mokele-Mbembe, being Magical Dinosaurs strongly associated with water, had the ability to telekinetically manipulate water and use it as a weapon and in older Moleke-Mbembe, this ability was more powerful, much like the telekinesis in certain other Magical Creatures like Sphinxes, Kitsune and Nekomata and their relatives. The Undines (Naiads and Nereids and the Water Kings) also had this ability. However, this ability was only useable when the user was near a body of water, and Mokele-Mbembe CANNOT walk on water due to their massive size. Only a certain Lion had this ability to do this and his power FAR exceeded ANY Magical Creature including Nine-Tailed Kitsune.
Then a few more water nooses appeared and ensnared the Ice Giant's other arm, neck and a larger one around its torso. This done, Rivier telekinetically had the water drag his opponent into the stream. The Ice Giant struggled helplessly against the water-restraints and was eventually dragged into the stream. After it was pinned down in the water, Rivier, his eyes still glowing blue, ambled over to his restrained opponent, reared up on his hind legs and then crashed onto his opponent to put it to death. A MIGHTY splash erupted into the air, accompanied by a blast of water as the massive Magical Dinosaur landed fatally onto his opponent. Then after landing the killing blow in the form of a crushing body slam, Rivier, his eyes now their usual colour and the water free of his hydrokinetic grasp, exited the stream and prepared to return to the village. However, the Mokele-Mbembe stopped dead. Suddenly, two Swallows appeared, along with Tityus, one of the Manticores. A mix of gladness, frustration and horror plastered their faces.
"Rivier, we have managed to drive off the minions of Jadis but they have managed to kidnap some of our kids," said Tityus.
"And unfortunately, Chloroplast has been taken as well; kidnapped by the Ice Giant," said one of the Swallows. However, the three saw a look of dread and fear plastering Rivier's face. The Dinosaur's mouth was dropped open and his eyes were inflated out of their sockets. Paralleling their gaze with the Mokele-Mbembe, the two Swallows and Tityus looked ahead but the moment their eyes landed on what had caused Rivier's horrified look through the trees, horror surged through them like a shockwave.
Hovering through the trees was a figure. This figure resembled a man dressed in a black suit. In fact Tityus thought it was a human but then he noticed something WAY off about the 'man'. Its skin was white, as white as the White Witch's skin ad been but what was most disturbing was its head. Unlike a normal human's head where the eyes, nose and mouth were arranged from top to bottom in that order, these facial features were arranged in the opposite way, from the bottom to the top. What should be its chin was in fact its hair and what should be its hair on top was in fact a chin. The eyes of the creature were glaring straight at the Mokele-Mbembe, and in those eyes was a boiling pot of EXTREMELY corrosive acid and its mouth was gritted. The sight of the hideous creature sent shivers coursing through the spines of the Swallows and Tityus and they shuddered.
"I-i-i-is that... cr-cr-cr-creature... what I think it is?" the Manticore managed to get out of his Ape-like mouth in a whisper. Through the trees, Laventon bounded in with Daggertooth and some Terror Birds, higher ranked Kangaroos of the Kangaroo clan, and two more Sabre-Toothed Cats. Then one of the creature's arms moved. The arm moved and showed a hand. However, this hand was more of a five-fingered claw than a recognisable hand and like the creature's face it sported deathly white skin.
"Rivier," called Laventon's voice. However, the Mokele-Mbembe remained stock still, his gaze fixed on the creature as it flared an EXTREMELY offensive hand gesture with its claw-like apparently fleshless hand. Then the moment Laventon and company appeared, the creature fled.
"Rivier," called Laventon again. Daggertooth stood by the Kangaroo clan patriarch's side, a look of concern on his face. At first, Rivier did not respond but after a few more minutes, he turned an urgent glare to the lead Kangaroo and company. Tityus and the two Swallows touched down in front of the Water Sauropod.
"Send a messenger to o-o-our Majesties IMME-E-EDIATELY," the Mokele-Mbembe yelled, "I belie-e-eve we ma-a-ay have se-e-en yo-ou-know-what..."
Laventon, at first, stood there but then he complied with this and left for the village to do just that. Daggertooth gazed at the blue Dinosaur as he took some time to regain his composure after seeing the frightening creature. After this, he began to follow Daggerooth and the others gathered with him back to the village. The Sabre-Toothed Cat gave the Mokele-Mbembe a serious look.
"We have a LOT of things to sort out," he said warningly, "Not only have we lost some more of our children because of those kidnappers, but Chloroplast as well."
"We saw that Ice Giant seize her and shove her into some sort of sack," said one of the Swallows.
Rivier just gazed at the Sabre-Toothed Cat and the little Bird and continued to go with them back to the village.
This was INDEED very serious.