A/n: I decided to start adding third person POVs to spice up the story a little bit. A wanna capture more angles of this universe, which is impossible when you're constantly writing through the eyes of one character only. First person POV gets boring real fast, and I wish I would've known that before I started this story. Anyway, here's never-before-seen Chapter 31. Just a side note: I don't own Bishop, Lucrezia, Karel, or Lamya. I borrowed Bishop from the cartoon, and the latter three from the comics. I try to keep OCs at a minimum because they're a hassle to create, and I prefer to have physical visuals of characters when I write them. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter (even if it is a bit rushed)! The next one is going to be epic.
Happy holidays!
I balked at the scene that sprawled below the mezzanine level, mouth agape with incredulity.
For a nanosecond, all I could do was stare in disbelief at the pillared, multi-storied amphitheatre, at the huge circular stone arena at its core and the empty tiered seating rising away from it like in a modern open-air stadium. How was this even possible? My gaze drifted past Icy and the Bloodhound, to the wide-open formidable bronze gate behind the beast. I gritted my teeth, heart pounding against my ribcage and blood coiling. Icy, that stupid bitch! Did she seriously think anything good would come out of setting the Bloodhound loose?
Behind me and Bishop, the others were running inside and joining us by the railing. Immediately, gasps and shrieks rang out among them.
"Shit," swore Sky (Brandon) upon witnessing the arena, "Shit."
Shit indeed! Planted on opposite sides of the arena with their eyes fixed on one another, Icy and the Bloodhound were in the midst of a standstill, two monsters refusing to back down.
My breath got jammed in my throat as I dreadingly beheld the beast Candace presumably revived and unleashed. It was smaller than I imagined—about ten to eleven feet off the ground—and only partially lived up to its name. While the whole thing was a bright burgundy, the color of freshly split blood, it didn't resemble a hound in the slightest. It looked more like a dragon, shingled with gray-tipped scales and equipped with fearsome talons. Trailing behind it was a lengthy tail that could dub as a weapon alone, armed with what had to be a venomous barb.
The embodiment of lethality.
What the hell was it doing down here? If the beast was truly tethered to Steass like Alvaz said, then how the hell was it freely dwelling here on another planet if Alice's information proved correct? Someone clearly lied, but I immediately shoved the fact out of my head. The details were irrelevant; all that mattered now was the fact the Bloodhound was here in the flesh and from the looks of it, ready to wreak havoc.
Icy was tough—I wouldn't discredit the witch even if I hated her guts—but she wouldn't last five damn seconds in the ring with that monstrosity. Though it might've lacked its original bulk—it had to be the size of a freaking building back in its prime if even the Champions couldn't defeat it—due to the bind that had probably weakened it over the millennia, it was still a bloodthirsty brute with centuries of killing experience on it. She was toast.
"What the hell is that thing?" cried out Lucrezia in a half shriek-half whisper, hand flying up to her mouth. Latched on to each other, Bloom and Flora had similar reactions; even Stormy and Darcy had gone snow-white.
"A dragon," breathed Bishop, who appeared more fascinated than fearful, his expression greatly contrasting ours.
Brandon (Sky) bared his teeth and leaned forward, gripping the railing so hard his knuckles turned white. "Slowly, Icy," he rigidly called down into the pit. Startled, the ice witch dared to pry her eyes off the monster and fix them on her new audience. If she was surprised to see us she didn't show it; we were the least of her concerns. "Move very slowly," advised Brandon (Sky), careful to keep his voice low to avoid riling up the dragon. "You still have time to get away—just don't fly or make any sudden movements, or you'll provoke it to attack."
Behind him, Flora's knees were knocking together.
Icy, who apparently didn't take lightly to being told what to do even in life-threatening situations, flashed her gritted teeth in our direction. "Shut your mouth. You're out of your mind if you think I'm running." Her legs spread wider as she took up a defensive stance, ice glinting above her nails. "If it's a fight it wants, it's a fight it'll get." Unbelievable.
"Gods help us," breathed Lucrezia as Stormy blurted, "She's lost her godsdamned mind!" And you knew you had a problem if even Stormy saw the error in it. Bloom just nodded mechanically with terror-stricken eyes.
"Shit," repeated Sky (Brandon), voice strained as his eyes helplessly darted around in search of an anti-dragon weapon to seize. Unfortunately for him, this was not Red Fountain's dragon aerie, where they probably kept emergency gear on-site in the event something like this happened. "She's going to get herself killed." Not to mention us. Had she not drug herself into the pit—how did she even wind up here?—and disturbed the brute in the first place, we wouldn't even be in this predicament. Now that the monster was aware of our presence—although it hadn't looked up at us once, I was certain it'd already memorized our scents—we were forever marked as its targets.
And one well-known fact about dragons: they never called off a hunt until their prey was reduced to nothing.
My mind roared like a freight train as the Bloodhound started to stalk around the perimeter of the arena, prompting Icy to follow suit, balled fists aglow with wintery light that mirrored the gleam in her startlingly focused eyes. We all took a tentative step back as the hound passed below us, but it didn't heed our existence. It was wholly set on Icy. Their movements, their clipped, predatory gaits, reminded me of each other. Though they donned different skins, in terms of their cruel spirits, Icy and the Bloodhound were one and the same. Their face-off might've even had the potential to be interesting had not the odds been so heavily stacked against Icy.
"She's really gonna try to fight that thing?" said Flora, voice wavering and body quaking as the two continued to size each other up—studying and observing one another, seeing who'd strike first.
"My money's on the dragon," murmured Bishop, eyes still glued to its muscled frame.
I managed to pry my eyes away from the brewing battle to shove his arm, not caring if I'd just met the guy. "No shit, Sherlock!" I hissed, also not caring if the literature didn't exist in these parts. "Besides, this is no time to be taking bets!"
"W-we have to do something," stammered Bloom, though her face implied otherwise. I shot her a pitting look as she inched behind Brandon (Sky). This was her first encounter with a real-life dragon—mine too, I realized—and she was scared shitless. This was a whole new side—a darker side—to the magical universe we'd just started to grow comfortable with, and neither of us were prepared.
"Yes, but what?" asked Alice, aiming the question at the Specialists, the only ones who had experience with a creature like this. I couldn't ignore the irritation that spiked into me. Like she didn't already know. Given she already knew the outcome of this situation, I just hoped she wasn't stupid enough to let any of us get injured. Or worse.
A stiff-backed Karel monitored the (scaled) monster's every motion with cold calculation, searching for an unseen weakness. "The arena will not contain it. When it attacks, we'll have to—"
The Bloodhound's deafening roar cleaved through the air and rattled both the chamber and my bones.
Showtime.
Ice lanced through me as Icy conjured shards of it, firing them all at the beast in a single snowy stream as it rushed at her. She might as well have flung Tic Tacs at it, because the monster neither slowed nor blinked at the projectiles as they dully bounced off its jagged, flexing scales. Multiple screams rang out among us as the Bloodhound galloped at the witch at full speed and as it covered half the distance between it and her, I barely had enough time to discern Karel's shifting figure before a spidery explosion of golden lightning struck the stone separating Icy and the monster, illuminating the arena with a brilliant flash of gold and shaking it with an earsplitting clap of thunder. As the beast recoiled, startled by the abrupt light and racket, half a movement had Karel over the railing and leaping into the pit.
A shrill scream ripped from Flora's lungs as Karel landed on his haunches. "Stay put," he commanded us over his shoulder as he cautiously advanced toward Icy. The Bloodhound, thankfully, kept to its side of the arena. Now that we had view of it at a different angle, I realized it only had one eye. The warrior that'd taken the right one had did way more than carve out its eyeball; the deep gashes that marred the empty socket criss-crossed down the full length of its fearsome face.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sky shouted and Icy demanded simultaneously as Karel stalked over to the latter. The Bloodhound watched, interested.
"You are insane," spat Helia's look-alike, seizing the witch's wrist.
Icy wrenched free from his grip. "Get your hands off me. I'm not like those worthless fairies you Specialists keep as pets. I can—"
"Move, fools!" I bellowed.
Karel's and Icy's heads snapped to the side just in time to see the dragon's legs tensing to spring. It was leaping at them a split second later, but the witch and Specialist had already parted and were covering ground in opposite directions. The beast's hulking bulk landed in the space they'd abandoned, the sheer impact of its weight coming down on the stone making the entire amphitheater shudder. I even felt the vibrations through the railing. The force of the shockwave made both Karel and Icy, who'd been in the midst of fleeing, fall forward and while Icy landed flat on her belly, Karel threw out his hands and caught himself, executing a perfect handspring. As he landed on his feet, he flung a hand in the hound's direction, sending a pulsing vein of lightning raging toward the monster at an undodgeable speed. My heart lifted hopefully for only a second, and then dropped to my stomach at the inexplicable thing that occurred next.
The electricity should've had the BH spasming, glitching, but instead, the bolt never met its mark. No, it somehow ricocheted off the air around it, like an invisible shield, reflecting the energy back at Karel, who went Avatar-esque and employed two fingers to redirect it ceilingward. The creature playfully cocked its head at the awestruck Specialist. Do that again, boy. I dare you.
Everyone's jaws went slack but before we had time to fully register what just happened, Icy was suddenly creeping up on the overgrown lizard from behind. "Let's see how big and bad you are when you're on ice!" she yelled, white-blue vaporous light surging from her fingertips. It should've solidified into ice and froze the BH's hind talons to the stone, rendering it immobile, but the spell unexpectedly met its target in a harmless spray of snow.
HOW—
"It's magicproof?" a doubtful Lucrezia seemed to ask herself. Her eyes swelled to the size of dinner plates. "Oh my gods! It's magicproof!" she shouted, undiluted panic slithering into the edges of her tone.
"Get out of there, Icy!" roared Brandon (Sky).
Once again, the witch completely disregarded him, even as the dragon whirled around to face her. "S-stay back," she warned, backing into the arena wall as it took a step closer. When the predator lowered its misshapen head to her level, she conjured a thick rod of ice and defiantly lashed it against the beast's skull. Unfortunately for her, the second her weapon collided with scales, it uselessly snapped in half like a twig striking stone.
My insides knotted up.
Oh no.
"We have to do something!" hollered Bloom.
Bishop was already climbing over the railing.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Bornebolt?" I snapped as the Specialist lifted a leg, and then another over the handrail. He couldn't possibly hope to stand a chance against something like that—
"I'm gonna talk to it," was Bishop's brisk reply. And then he jumped.
"Talk to it?" literally everyone repeated.
"This isn't the damn Animal Planet, dumbass!" I yelled at his backside as he sprinted toward Icy and the Bloodhound. "You're not a dragon whisperer!"
Of course, Bishop turned a deaf ear to us. Right as the Bloodhound was flashing its fangs in Icy's face, he gave a shrill whistle. "Yoohoo! Two-Ton! Over here" he chirped, clapping his hands together. The Bloodhound's ears perked and it twisted to one side, giving the Specialist a sidelong glance. Anyone with half a brain would've started running, but Bishop just drawled, "That's right. I'm talking to you."
Intrigued by the boy's audacity, the Bloodhound whirled around to face him, exposing its rear side to Icy. The ice witch saw her chance and took it, turning to make her getaway. She leapt into the air and flew up to safety, touchdowning on the other side of the mezzanine. Had my attention not been wholly fixed on Bishop and whatever bat-shit crazy strategy he had, I would've cussed her out for getting us into this mess.
Down in the ring, the dragon took a sizeable step toward Bishop, who responded with a similar movement backwards. "Easy, old boy," he said, extending a hand toward it as if coaxing it to be still. "Easy. We're your friends; we don't wanna fight you."
"He's a dead man," hissed Darcy.
No one else said a word; we were all too busy holding our breath.
"You're upset because we trespassed on your territory, I know," continued Bishop, wisely keeping his motions minimal as his host watched him intently. "And I get it, I really do. I tend to get a little grumpy myself whenever someone disturbs the peace. But that doesn't mean it has to end like this."
The Bloodhound went unnaturally still. Karel, who was on the other side of the ring, followed suit.
"We're the worlds' shittiest houseguests, yes," went on Bishop, not breaking eye contact with the dragon. "But we honestly didn't mean to be. Just let us go and we'll leave you alone. I promise. Specialist's honor."
The Bloodhound stared at him without blinking, like it was actually considering his request. Something in my chest tightened at its voluntary show of intelligence. This wasn't just another mindless animal; no, this creature understoodour tongue, our language, even if it was incapable of speech itself.
After a few brief moments of contemplating—or making a show of it—the Bloodhound finally acted, shifting on its legs. My first thing that came to my mind was: Bishop's going to die, but much to everyone's astonishment, the beast turned in the opposite direction, toward the gaping opening in the far wall. As it lumbered toward it, Flora let out a sigh of relief, but my immediate gut reaction was: something's not right. That was all it took to make it back off? A polite request? Either Bornebolt's shape-shifting abilities gave him some kind of mental connection to animals, or this dragon was playing us. According to the little knowledge I had of their kind, they all had a violent nature, a set of predatory instincts. We were intruding on its territory, which was a big no-no. It should've been trying to rip Bishop into shreds right now but instead it was just walking away, letting us go unharmed?
Brandon (Sky), who must've also realized the truth, started to call a warning toward his fellow Specialist, but he was too late. Faster than we could react, the Bloodhound wheeled around, setting its lethal eye on the purple-haired swordsman. Psych.
A scream ripped from my throat, drowned out by Flora's and Bloom's, as the monster charged at Bishop like an infuriated bull, ready to spill blood. The Specialist yelped and took off, zigzagging around the arena frantically as the dragon pursed.
"We gotta help him!" exclaimed Bloom, shifting into her fairy mode as the chamber shook from the weight of the Bloodhound's heavy stomping.
"No," snapped Brandon (Sky), voice authoritative as he and Brandon drew their phantoblades. Down below, Bishop Bornebolt was bolting for his life and Karel was chasing after the Bloodhound, trying to strike it with his ineffective lighting. "You don't have any experience with dragons—you'll only be putting yourself in danger. Stay here; we'll handle it." And with that, the blond and brunette climbed over the rail and slid down into the arena.
"Brandon!" Bloom shouted, starting after him.
"Bloom, no!" cried out Flora, pulling the redhead back before she could act recklessly. "Our magic won't work on it! There's nothing we can do!"
"Yeah, well we can't just stand up here and act like damsels," spat Bloom as the Bloodhound lost interest in Bishop and went after his classmates.
"Why not? That's what you usually do," retorted Icy, her very voice making me want to claw out her eyeballs.
My temper flared and I spun around on my heels to face the witch. "Bitch—"
"This is all your fault!" finished a fuming Bloom, eyes reflecting the rage in her voice. "If you hadn't—"
"Enough." Alice's voice was as sharp as an ice razor as she stepped between us and the Trix. "What's done is done. Instead of bickering like children, we should be coming up with a plan to save the Specialists and ourselves."
Lucrezia's depthless eyes were suddenly very clear, determined even, as she agreed, "Yes. It's time to put on our big girl panties and work together. To hell with your personal rivalries; fairy, witch, caster class doesn't matter. All that matters now is coming up with a plan to put that monster down before it's too late."
Though they didn't object, the Trix looked hostile and pissed, like they'd rather give Knut a pedicure than fight alongside us. Flora looked ready to pass out and while Bloom didn't bother mask the fear on her face, something like determination shone there. I tried to master my own trepidation; this was what I signed up for when I made it my purpose to become a part of the Winx Club. This was only the first of the dangers we were destined to encounter; if I couldn't toughen up now, couldn't deal with the consequences that accompanied my fantasy-turned-reality, I had no place here. It was either square up or ship out, and I had no intention of doing the latter.
"What's the plan?" I asked, voice unwavering. I—we could do this.
Lucrezia made to say something, but was cut off by Brandon's (Sky's) shouts down from the arena. Everyone looked down to see he and the Specialists had fallen into some kind of protocol. As Brandon (Sky) began barking orders, Sky (Brandon) and Karel broke apart from him and darted in separate directions with Bishop following their lead, acting as distractions, Brandon (Sky) charged at the Bloodhound, making to swing at the dragon's back leg while he was still in its rear.
Unfortunately, the Bloodhound caught on quick and whirled around with a speed that defied its massive bulk, slashing a talon at the blond. Brandon (Sky) reacted swiftly, ducking below the ivory-tipped claw without breaking his momentum, making a swing that missed by a small margin before careening around the monster.
The Bloodhound swiveled around to pursue, and that was when the other Specialists made their move. They were all upon it at once at different angles; Karel from the back, Bishop from the left, Sky (Brandon) from the right. The monster retaliated quickly and lashed out its tail like a whip, narrowing missing Karel, who was forced to change directions to avoid it. Having not yet seen Sky (Brandon), the dragon brought its snout in close to Bishop to snap at him, twisting its body toward the brunette. Seeing his opening, Sky (Brandon) gave a mighty swing and was able to slash his weapon across a patch of scales before darting away to avoid an oncoming talon. Possessing the longest, chunkiest phantoblade, Sky's (Brandon's) weapon should've leave behind a severe laceration but much to my horror, the only damage it had managed to inflict was a slight cut, a nick, that was just barely visible.
Panic tightened my chest, constricted my lungs as the truth dawned like morning sun: phantoblades, which could virtually cut anything, were nearly ineffective on this thing. It was like trying to cut leather with a butterknife.
This major detail didn't slip by Lucrezia either, because her face went the color of milk. "They can't win," she breathed, unable to pry her eyes off the scene below as the Bloodhound toyed with his opponents. It was treating them like play things, swiping and snapping as it pursed the boys like they were in a heated game of tag. Of course; this was some of the first action the beast was getting in over a thousand years. Naturally, it wanted to preserve this moment, drag it out as long as it possibly could. What we were witnessing, this speed and agility, wasn't even the Bloodhound at a fraction of its true power. All the Specialists were managing to accomplish was draining their energy while taking cheap shots. "They need help!"
"I'm going in!" said Bloom, leaflet wings already poised to fly. As she jumped off the viewing deck, Icy shouted, "No, you mush-hearted fool!" Just then, as if sensing Bloom approaching, the Bloodhound wheeled around in our direction, jaw unhinging.
Oh shit—
"Movemovemove!" shouted Lucrezia as power welled in the bottom of its throat, visible through its scales, surging to its mouth—
I didn't give myself a chance to look at the others as we all scattered like frightened jackrabbits, summoning my wings in an instant. Flapping furiously, I leapt off the mezzanine and hightailed away just as the Bloodhound discharged a blinding beam of light that made the world go white. There was a deafening explosion behind me, drowning out the scream that ripped out of my throat as a violent tremor pulsed through the chamber, the shockwave sending me spinning out of control. I reacted instinctively, summoning a spherical shield to envelope and protect me as chunks of stone flew everywhere, as I was hurled across the amphitheater and into the far wall.
The collision popped my shell like a bubble, dropping me onto a row of stone seats in the stands. I landed on my stomach, head whirling and heartbeat pounding in my ears. I recovered quickly, peeling myself off the stone and rising unsteadily to behold the result of the dragon's attack with a strangled gasp. The space we'd abandoned had been blown to smithereens; only a sliver of the observation deck remained while the rest had either crumbled away from lack of support, or been blasted away. The giant bronze entrance had been taken out, along with a huge portion of the wall—and the one outside. What the hell—
"Holy shit!" shouted Bishop down from the arena, and my attention was immediately drawn to the chaos in the arena to find the Bloodhound standing on its hind legs, swatting a massive claw at the airborne Trix, who were circling around it like pesky flies as they aimed unceasing energy beams at it.
"Obey me, you wretched beast!" shouted Darcy, directing a series of hypnotic rings at the dragon's head. Showing no signs of yielding to the witch, the Bloodhound swiped at her, just barely missing.
Meanwhile, on the ground, which was strewn with steaming rubble from the explosion, the Specialists were helping the other fairies and Lucrezia up. Apart from a few bruises and scratches, it didn't look like they'd suffered any serious damage from the explosion—
I was in the air a few seconds later as a blast intended for Stormy jetted out of the Bloodhound's mouth, narrowing missing me and exploding a big stretch of stone. I flitted down to join my friends, who were in a heated discussion. "Any ideas?" I asked, almost desperately.
"The mouth—we need to prevent it from ejecting anymore bombs," said Karel, watching observantly as the Trix distracted the beast, stubbornly blasting it like they couldn't grasp the fact it was immune to all their attacks.
"How do you expect us to do that?" I gritted my teeth. "It's not like we can just fly up to it and put a damn gag over its mouth—"
"A muzzle," interrupted Lucrezia, eyes widening. "I can use my iron magic to muzzle it, but I'd have to get close—we need to subdue it long enough to give me an opening."
"But magic doesn't work on it!" reminded a still-quaking Flora.
"We might not need it; we can use the infrastructure," said Brandon (Sky), zeroing in on the pillars holding up a row of upper-level seating.
The pieces were starting to come together, but there was still a problem. "How are we supposed to dislodge them? Doing it manually will take way too much time!" pointed out Bloom.
Bishop snorted. "Who needs magic when we have a two-ton bulldozer right here?"
Oh.
Oh.
That could work! It took us approximately five seconds to rough out a plan and just as we were disbanding to put it into motion, the Bloodhound grew bored of the Trix and landed on all fours once more, ready for another round with the Specialists. It looked surprised by their fleeing to the other half of the arena but before it could pursue, I gave a shrill whistle from the opposite side, on the viewing deck supported by the columns we needed razed.
"Over here, dumbass!" I shouted, drawing its attention to me while Bloom and Alice flew up to the Trix and Lucrezia to a mezzanine, beginning her work on the metal railing.
The Bloodhound slowly turned in my direction.
My instincts screamed for me to run, but I didn't. Not yet. Before its murderous gaze had time to sweep over the room and catch on to our plan, I yelled, "Come get me, you one-eyed motherfucker!"
The monster took the bait and catapulted itself at straight at me, dozens of hundreds of oncoming muscle poised to crush me.
"Run," barked Brandon (Sky), "run!"
He didn't have to tell me twice! I took off, leaping off the platform and took flight just as the Bloodhound's whole bulk crashed into it, triggering an ear-shattering explosion of dust and stone. The produced shockwave made me reel a bit, but I was able to able to touchdown on a mezzanine on the stable, intact side of the amphitheater.
Debris was raining from the ceiling, dust choking the whole space to the point it was too thick to see through.
"Make like a fan, Windy!" shouted Bishop from somewhere.
My fight or flight response must've kicked in because I had no problem envisioning the air's mana, no meditation required. The world became dotted with drifting whispery-blue particles, high concentrations of brown specks latched on to them. I grabbed at the bluest link and sloppily manipulated it like a whip, lashing at the strings of brown until they started to ebb away. As a result, the thick plumes of smoke started to dissipate, uncloaking the amphitheater and exposing the massive, gaping hole in the wall the dragon had hurtled through.
The room on the other side was dark and the only thing I was able to make out the hulking, shifting shape inside it—
"It's coming back! Get ready!" hollered Sky (Brandon) as the ground shook with the dragon's galloping.
"On my mark, witches!" said Icy and I dared a look upward at the Trix, who were having no trouble using a convergence spell to keep one of the fallen pillars suspended in midair. Meanwhile, everyone else fell into position.
Seconds later, the Bloodhound was leaping through the hole and back into the arena, releasing a roar that meant we'd successfully pissed it off. Its eyes immediately found me and right as it was pouncing, Icy shouted, "Now!"
Yelling with the grating effort, all three witches thrust their hands forward and with all their might, hurled the hefty column down at the monsters.
The beast only made it halfway to me before the projectile came slamming down into its backside with a thunderous crash, crumbling into a million different pieces upon impact.
The Bloodhound howled with pain as the unexpected force and pressure of the rock made its legs buckle, causing it to collapse onto its belly. It made to get up just as quickly, but Alice, Flora, and Bloom were there to put an end to its fast recovery. One after the other, they utilized a combination of a levitation and projectile charm to smash smaller, individual pieces of stone against its head. The bombardment may have been a tad bit extreme, but it was effective. The relentless blows to the head made the head rendered it dizzy, unable to recuperate at its usual speed. While it was busy seeing stars, the rest of us acted quickly. Immediately, the Specialists and I appeared at all angles around its head, grabbing different parts of it and pressing down with all our might, applying enough pressure to force its snout closed.
"Now Jaugstetter!" shouted Bishop as the dragon started trashing its head and beating its tail against the ground. Its rough scales dug into my skin, creating cuts, but I didn't dare let up.
The witch was already flying toward us, carrying with her an orb of black fluid—liquid metal. While everything was transpiring, Lucrezia had been using her power to convert the solid iron all around the chamber into a malleable form.
"Jaugstetter!" shouted Brandon (Sky) this time as the Bloodhound started to struggle harder, wiggling violently under our weight. We needed more, or this thing was going to break free—
Bloom, who was closer, said, "I'm coming!" She charged toward us as and she drew near, a still-squirming Bloodhound whipped its tail in her direction—
Everything happened within the span of a few seconds.
There was a sick sound of skin meeting scales and all I know was the blur of Bloom's hair as the impact of the tail striking her threw her across the chamber—
"BLOOM!" screamed Brandon (Sky) and next thing I knew, he was releasing the Bloodhound and sprinting in her direction—
Shit, shit—
Without Brandon (Sky), the Bloodhound was relived of a fifth of the weight holding it down and it managed to overpower us, shaking us off and shooting to its full height.
"Fall back, fall back!" ordered Sky (Brandon) while in the midst of running toward Brandon (Sky) and Flora who were helping an unsteady Bloom pick herself up. How the redhead wasn't concussed or unconscious, I didn't know and didn't have time to contemplate as me, Karel, and Bishop whirled away.
"Can't you people do anything right?" fumed Stormy from the air over the Bloodhound's thundering roaring, fueled with a newfound anger at the fact we'd managed to get the better of it. By the way it was scraping at the stone with its deadly talons, it obviously wasn't going to let us get another chance to.
We were so screwed.
"Well, things went to hell rather quickly!" said a half-pissed half-panicked Bishop as the dragon's head snapped back, mouth glowing with a developing bomb. "What do we do know?"
Before I could answer, there was a whoosh, and I didn't have time to fully register the metal weight soaring across the space. The Bloodhound was so busy mustering energy for a mega-bomb, it failed to heed the incoming projectile until the last second when it was already too late. The huge chunk of metal met the side of its jaw with a heavy thud, knocking it to the side and consequently disrupting the creation of its special attack. There was more; upon contact with its mouth, the hunk of iron morphed into an entire different shape, softening and expanding into a pliable form that encircled the dragon's snout. Instantly, it hardened into a ring, clamping the Bloodhound's mouth shut, making it impossible for it to retaliate with bombs.
Yes!
"Good work, Lucrezia!" I exclaimed, flashing a thumbs-up at the aloft witch as the dragon whined and clawed at its face, at the muzzle chafing it.
"On to phase two!" called Alice from the air, "let's go for the legs next! Karel, give Acadia—"
"Whoa whoa whoa, what the hell's wrong with it?" cried out Bishop in alarm, interrupting the ice fairy's instructions.
What—
I pried my eyes off my roommate and focused them on the Bloodhound, who was having some kind of convulsion. It was twitching, snarling, bracing its talons against the stone as if preparing itself for something—
"It's growing!" screeched Flora as the monster's bulk began to widen before our very eyes.
Ohnoohnoohnoohnoohno—
Horns sprouted from its hand, its claws broadened, its height extended, its tail lengthened, its snout expanded, snapping the iron that had enclosed it—
"Run!" screamed Brandon (Sky) when the nubs of wings began to develop, as the Bloodhound proceeded to take on a bigger form.
Time to bail! I made a dash toward Flora and Brandon (Sky), who held a weak Bloom between them, but the dragon was faster than me and rushed at them, fresh new horns poised to impale flesh—
"Enough, you wretched beast," ordered a sudden voice that gave me the chills, made my blood run cold. I knew that voice.
And judging by the way the Bloodhound froze in its tracks, it did too. All heads turned to behold the source of the shout.
None other than Alvaz stood in the gap where the doors used to be.
Clad in a new robe, a red-silk garment with a black dragon embroidered down the side, he looked refreshed and not at all surprised to see us all free and active. Everyone went deadly still as the warlock strolled inside, taking a good look around the partially destroyed chamber. "Well, looks like I got here just in time," he commented, noting how the Bloodhound's pointed horns were just seconds away from Sky's (Brandon's) chest—the Specialist had jumped in front of Flora and Bloom as if his body could actually shield theirs. The beast went completely still, its eye one wide with fear. "Had I not arrived when I did, we would have to go through the trouble of hunting down sacrifices all over again." Looking at the big bad Bloodhound, he simply waved away the beast. It obeyed, scrambling to the other side of the arena like a frightened cat. It'd been leashed and called off that easily.
I didn't know what that said about Alvaz, and didn't care. My first instinct was to join Brandon (Sky) in protecting Bloom and Flora from the overgrown bat, but the strangest, most unexpected thing occurred:
My legs wouldn't cooperate.
My mind screamed at them to move, to budge, but I had lost all feeling in them. I was planted to the spot, stiff as a board—
I tried to use my arms but they were unresponsive too, regardless of how much energy I channeled to them. I would've screamed, but it was stuck in my throat, refusing to tear out of it. Even my face was unyielding; I couldn't wiggle my eyebrows or bat my eyelashes. It was like my whole body had shut down!
What the fuck!?
I mentally shouted at Brandon (Sky) and Flora to help me, but they'd gone rigid too. Though I couldn't turn to look at the others, I imagined they were experiencing something similar; that would explain why no one had moved to attack Alvaz yet.
Spreading his wings, Alvaz drifted down into the pit. "As you all have probably noticed by now, you've lost control of your body," he said casually as a small creature leapt off his backside.
It was the ugliest little bastard I'd ever seen, about two feet tall with elephant-thick skin and a tatty pair of overalls. An imp of some sort, with a horribly contorted face ridden with warts.
"This is Avandth," continued Alvaz, introducing the ugly creature like this was some kind of brunch social. The little man grunted in greeting. "He's a colleague of mine. While he lacks looks and personality, he has an extremely forbidden ability: Puppet. It's extremely rare, and gives him the ability to hijack other living things by pumping his mana into them. He's taken control of your body's functions, meaning you're completely at his mercy. His commands to your vessel completely override your own, therefore you are incapable of any movements outside of what he directs. Observe."
He nodded down at his comrade, who nodded back and made some kind of weird hand gesture at us. Something within me clicked and my response was immediate. Like a robot, I mechanically put one foot in front of the other and before I knew it, I was walking toward them. I begged my own limbs to stop, but they were no longer mine to control.
I saw the others following suit in my periphery, blank expressions painting their faces as we all came together. One by one, we came to a halt in front of the pair, forming an orderly line. Even Bloom, who shouldn't have even had the strength to take more than a few steps.
Though we'd gotten the message loud and clear, unfortunately, the demonstration wasn't over because both Puppetted Sky and Brandon stepped forward.
"Have them draw their swords," Alvaz instructed Avandth.
No—
With soulless eyes, both Specialists drew their blades, aimed them at each other.
Nononononono—
"All it takes it one order and they'll cut each other down," mused Alvaz with a lazily cruel grin, taunting us with this evil magic that had no right to exist. "One order and you'll destroy each other." My heart gave a hard flare of panic and he clicked his tongue, a sensual sound. "Don't worry; as tempting as the thought is, all of you have other uses. Speaking of which, we have a schedule to keep up with. Let's go; we wouldn't want to keep our Lady waiting."
The ritual.
He turned to leave, but none of us or Avandth budged. The little goblin gave a throaty, gruff cough. Aren't you forgetting something?
Alvaz paused. "Oh, that's right," he purred, "I nearly forgot about our little bargain." He gestured toward us. "Be my guest. Choose whichever one strikes your fancy."
Wait, WHAT?
Avandth gave a little excited squeal and inspected us, greedy, beady little eyes skipping over the boys and devouring the girls. Oh god. I could practically hear his perverted thoughts as he assessed us thoroughly. His eyes didn't linger on me for long, and I was never more thankful for my plainness. After a few more moments of heavy examination, he looked indecisive between Icy, Flora, and Lucrezia. I swore, if this little shit so much as touched Flora, I was going to have his head once I figured out how to defy Puppet.
At last, the little freak crooked a finger at Lucrezia, beckoning her to come closer. I felt a stab of pity as the witch's legs involuntarily obeyed him, leading her forward.
We could only watch as she bent down to Avandth's level, pursing her lips. I inwardly spat with disgust as she pressed a kiss on his bald head. The recipient squirmed with fiendish delight, cheeks blushed.
Even Alvaz rolled his eyes at the pathetic display. "Alright, that's enough. Let's go; the time has finally come for our captives to meet their destiny." To meet their doom, he didn't have to say.
Though I was having a level-five panic attack, I could do nothing as we all fell into step behind Alvaz, following him up the stairs he'd conjured in almost a militant fashion. Lucrezia carried Avandth, who looked a little too happy to be in such close proximity to her chest.
We exited the amphitheater and navigated the bending paths of the dungeon, crossing through parts our group had already explored. Meanwhile fear was consuming my whole being. The ritual was going to commence, and we had no way of stopping it! This whole mission had been nothing but a waste, a fail! A quicker path to our impending demise. All of that work had been for nothing. The ritual was going to commence, and we had to way of stopping it. Our manas were going to be sacrificed, and a dead worshipper of Darkar would walk the worlds again.
This couldn't be happening; there was still so much left to the story! It couldn't end here! I refused to believe it would. I didn't get transported here just to become a tool for some damning resurrection! There was still too much to be discovered and uncovered, too many adventures left to embark on, too many worlds to be discovered, too many allies to meet. The road could not end here. We needed a miracle—Fate had to send us one.
Or maybe this wasn't where the story closed. Maybe Alice was right; perhaps this was a step in the right direction, and whatever was set to occur would usher in change for the good of the universe. I could only pray she was right . I found myself clinging to that hope, because it was the only prospect that could save us. Yet, it wasn't enough to dull my fear. We were about to dive into the unknown and I had no idea if we'd ever ascend to the surface. It was this reality that made me quake internally.
After what felt like hours, we finally came upon a mammoth pair of doors that marked the end of a corridor. Alvaz used magic to push them open, grinning at us devilishly as they creaked open. "Go on. Don't be shy," he drawled.
We filed into a pillared chamber against our will, where the centermost focus was a foot-high circular dais. Atop it perched a throne, and atop it perched an imperious woman.
"Let's begin," she said.
