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Post by YFWE on Dec 16, 2008 4:03:07 GMT -5
Well, next to last chapter time! Hope it's somewhat enjoyable.
The Dragon Chronicles
Part 3: The Mystic Fountain
Chapter 4: The Forest
The path to Santiago de Compostela was a winding one, but it was not necessarily that long. The city was a mere two miles from San Franco, and one could even see the beginnings of the city just a few minutes after beginning the walk up the road.
However, there was actually one other diversion before Santiago de Compostela was reached—another small town, not unlike San Franco. The town, Castillo, was made up of simply a few homes and buildings, with a central statue of what appeared to be a man with a large hat in his hand.
In the nearby valley was Santiago de Compostela, down a long hill. Castillo seemed to be, in effect, the gateway to the city—a final diversion before the true goal was reached.
However, they soon found that just to the right of Castillo’s town limits was an immense forest.
Kay had noticed this as soon as they had entered the town. She walked quickly up to the front of the group, where Shade had been speaking hurriedly to Nigel. “Shade,” she said. “Mind if I make an observation?”
“Of course,” Shade turned away from Nigel. “What is it?”
Kay motioned over to her right. “The forest,” she said. “The fountain’s in a forest, right?”
“Yeah, the forests outside Santiago de Compostela.”
“I think that’s our forest. Don’t you?”
Shade glanced at the forest, and then down into the valley. This was the only forest area outside of Santiago de Compostela; the other side of the valley was certainly not what would be considered forestry.
Shade turned to the group. “Well,” he said, “apparently, we won’t need to make a trip through Santiago de Compostela after all.”
A figure appeared from behind a building. “Americans?” the figure, a male, asked. Nigel grunted.
“Who’s there?” called Shade.
It was a boy of their age. He walked up to them quickly, without any sort of fear. “Americans?” he repeated.
“Well, not all Americans,” Nigel announced.
“Ah, but you all speak English?”
“…yes, and apparently, so do you,” Spud said with suspicion in his voice.
The boy laughed. “We are an area of Spain in which tourists visit often. We have to at least speak some sort of English.”
“So the entire area does?”
“Somewhat. There are a few that rather not speak it. The entire town of San Franco is a good example.”
“Well, that explains a lot,” nodded Shade.
The boy held out his hand. “My name is Sergio,” he said. “Welcome to Castillo!”
Shade took his hand and shook it. He could not help but look down at the boy’s hand after he had begun to withdraw it. There was a marking on his hand that looked like a wolf’s head.
“What’s that on your hand?”
“This?” Sergio held up his palm. “Ah—it is… nothing, really. Simply a marking.”
“For…?”
“The guardians of the forest,” he motioned to the forest beyond them.
“It wouldn’t have anything to do with werewolves, would it?” Nigel asked, curious. “We’ve heard that the forest has a werewolf problem.”
Sergio laughed. “It is rumored to. I am surprised that foreigners would know of such a thing, though!”
“We’ve come to go in the forest,” said Shade. “We’re… looking for something.”
“Baker’s Fountain?”
“How did you—”
“Lots of folks come through here looking for it,” said Sergio. “Usually foreigners such as yourselves. Although I must say, it is rumored that no one has found it for years.
“And furthermore,” Sergio continued, stepping closer to the group, “I for one have never seen any of them come out alive.”
“So we just need to head in there?” Shade nodded to the forest behind him, ignoring the boy’s dire statement.
“If you believe yourselves to be brave enough, yes. Do remember that the fountain is rumored to appear only at night, so you have seven hours until that time. The entire forest undergoes, I must say, a startling transformation during the evening.”
“What do you mean?” Raffi asked.
“It is quite different inside at night,” said Sergio coldly. “Familiar places in the daytime may seem far less recognizable come nightfall. Even the guardians of the forest dare not venture inside at dusk.”
“No need to worry about us,” Ash said confidently. “We have some extra power on our side.”
“I’m sure,” Sergio grinned. “Strength in numbers, at the very least.”
There was a pause, neither side knowing what to say.
Finally: “Well, I’d better get back inside and finish helping Madre with the chores. I was told to come out and greet our visitors, but it would appear as if you all are fine and already aware of where you need to go,” said Sergio. “With that, I wish you all good luck in your journey.”
Shade and Sergio once again shook hands, Shade unable to resist glancing at the wolf marking on the boy’s palm. He waved to the rest of the group and headed back around the building from which he had come.
“In we go, then?” Shade remarked to the group. “I know we have seven hours before we can actually do anything, but perhaps we can find some clues inside before then.”
“Agreed,” James said. “Maybe we could even find the Reich’s base or something!”
There was a narrow path nearby that led into the forest. The group of twenty-one went together up the path, brushing past tree limbs and a few other overgrown plants that were unfamiliar to them.
There was no actual path once inside the forest. Instead, inside was a tangle of tree trunks and limbs, but with enough room to move around cleanly in. Rays of light from the sun shone in some spots, while other areas were already almost completely darkened, even at midday.
“Let me guess,” Laura said before Shade could open his mouth. “Split up?”
Shade nodded. “But of course. Everyone see what they can find, but don’t be in any rush. We have seven hours until sundown, after all. And the forest really isn’t that big.”
Slowly, the group began to break apart, some in pairs and group while others by themselves. The sun rose higher in the sky as noon approached. The forest was calm and quiet, certainly not like what Sergio had made it out to be. But then, it was not yet the evening. The worst was yet to come.
(end)
“Where is he?” asked the red-haired woman.
“Sharp?” her newfound accomplice asked quickly.
“Of course.”
“He’s right over here, I think…”
(end)
Councilor Andam hobbled down the long, white corridor inside the building which acted as the Dragon Council’s temporary headquarters. He walked with a limp, a dark, wet spot that may have been caused by blood appearing at the bottom of his pants leg. Councilor Kim followed nearby, arm in a sling. There were no other councilors present.
“I don’t understand,” said Kim. “Councilor, where are we going?”
“I need to take care of something.”
“Council rules state that replacements for vacated Council chairs must be appointed within twenty-four hours of the vacating of the spot. We need to—”
“Damn the rules!” shouted Andam. Kim seemed taken aback.
Andam sighed. “Right now, the top priority is stopping the Reich once and for all. As we speak, seven of our own are in God-knows-where, fighting for us. I feel that it is our duty to help them as best as we can.”
“But how?”
“Here.”
They had reached a door. Andam nodded and pointed to a sign on the door, which read ‘Storage Cells.’
Kim gasped. “I understand now!” he exclaimed. “That time… at the Stevenson Academy… the orbs…”
Andam opened the door and stepped inside, Kim following. “Councilor Omina would’ve wanted this as well…” he mused as he witnessed, through the pitch darkness, a small flame burning in a corner, “…hello, my friend.”
(end)
“What do you think will happen to us?”
Will turned to Kay, whose gaze pierced his own as she awaited an answer to her question. “I think we’ll beat them,” he replied, taking her hand and leading her through the mass of trees in that neck of the forest. “The Reich is strong, but all of us together are stronger.”
“No…” Kay said. “Not that… I mean us. You and I.”
Will grinned and led her to a nearby tree, which they sat against. “I dunno,” he said. “I mean, what do you want out of this? What do you see us becoming in the future?”
“Raffi and Shade already broke up. I have a bad feeling we’re next.”
“Do you want it?”
“No!”
“Then it won’t happen.”
Kay rested her head on Will’s shoulder. “We don’t want it to. But we don’t live anywhere near each other! You live in California!”
“There is this radical thing called the internet…”
“Don’t take this personal or anything, but I’m not really one for internet relationships.”
Sighing, Will threw his arm around Kay, pulling her close. “If you want it to work, it’ll have to do. No one ever said this would be easy.”
“No one ever said it’d be difficult either!”
Will laughed. “Well, you got me there. I guess such is the nature of things like this that are just kinda made up on the spot.” He looked over at her. “Know what I mean?”
“I guess,” said Kay. “It just gets hard sometimes… you are my first serious boyfriend I’ve had. And I’m not sure I want anyone else now…”
“Kay, we haven’t even been dating a week…”
“But it seems like so much longer! Plus, we knew each other and had been hanging out for some time before.”
“But still,” Will said, “you want no one else? Ever?”
“Well, what do you want? Are you satisfied with me?”
“Kay, I don’t want to think about this right now. There are far more important things to be worrying about right now.”
“I know that! And it scares me,” she stared off into the distance. “But so does this.”
“What’s to be scared about?”
“You finding someone else.”
Will sighed once more. “Trust me when I say this: when we get out of this, if we do, I will make every attempt I can to make this work—that is, if you’re willing to. At the very least, know that I would never cheat on you. If things weren’t going well, I’d tell you; there’d be no covering up the problem by seeing someone else. Not from me.”
“That’s all I needed to hear,” grinned Kay. “Just that reassurance.”
Will kissed her lightly on the forehead and helped her to her feet. “Shade would probably be a bit irked with us if he found us just sitting around. Not sure, but we’re better safe than sorry.” He grabbed her hand and, side by side, they continued through the woods, in search of any anomalies inside the forest that might lead them closer to Baker’s Fountain, and to the Reich.
(end)
Laura was alone, or at least as alone as she could be in the forest; there was, after all, a group of students from the academy quite near to her—she could hear their vague voices. It was the three other shape shifters—Lindsey, Michael and Colin, she had heard them called previously—and they seemed to be moving away from her. This was good—she needed the utmost concentration for what she was about to do next.
She rested her hand on the nearest tree, staring closely at it. Laura was a bit apprehensive—after all, she had not done what she was about to do in a few days. And generally, it took a lot of energy to do so.
Laura’s psychic ability, she had discovered just nights prior, was legitimate. It was, really, all thanks to the Reich that the ability had been tapped into. Their awakening of her ability had been carried out so that the fake base the students had been taken to seemed more authentic, but it had become far more beneficial to Laura and the rest of the group than what the Reich had anticipated.
It was not set in stone that it would be helpful in the situation, but Laura knew that her psychic gift to see into the past as it had happened around a particular object would provide her with a better glimpse into what, if anything, had happened in the forest before.
Somewhere in that forest was Baker’s Fountain. And since the fountain appeared only at night, Laura thought, any efforts to spot it or anything like it would prove to be futile. But if one could see into the past, perhaps to the night prior, one might be able to see if the fountain stood on that spot, or at anywhere near.
The problem was that Laura could not control the timeframe into which she was looking. It was an aspect of her power that very well might have been able to be controlled later on in life, when her powers had grown in strength. But at that point, as a novice of sorts, she could do no more than to hope that her usage of her ability yielded favorable results.
She closed her eyes and concentrated hard, allowing herself to take in the sensations and memories that were flowing toward her.
Figures began to form—unrecognizable at first, but slowly gaining stature. And then, she understood.
(end)
She let the phone drop to her bed.
“I’m coming, Jake.”
(end)
It was a magnificent view, and Shade could not help but to pause at it for at least a few moments. A few moments, after all, could not hurt much…
He had come to a spot outside the reach of the forest, overlooking the valley that held Santiago de Compostela. He smiled warmly at the contents of the valley—its rustic buildings, its cobblestone paths and its bustling population. Smoke rose from the various chimneys. Sounds of labor could be heard even atop the hill. It was a very picaresque town.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“How long’ve you been standing there?”
Raffi grinned as she made her way to Shade’s side. “Long enough to see you admiring the scenery, which is what I thought we weren’t supposed to do,” she added with a wink.
“Aw, lay off, it was just for a few seconds.”
Raffi sat herself down on the grassy ground. “It’s just weird…”
“Hm?” Shade asked, forcing himself to stay standing.
“This could be the last truly beautiful thing we ever see.”
Shade turned to her quickly. “Don’t talk like that!” he shouted.
“I said might...” said Raffi defensively. “There’s always the chance.”
Groaning, Shade finally sat down beside her. “I know, and it’s scaring me.”
“You?! The fearless leader?” Raffi asked in mock-surprise.
“ But I also know that it’s our duty,” said Shade solemnly, “and I’m just going to hope for the best.”
“I think we all are…”
Shade glanced over at Raffi. “Have you really thought about it? I mean, the enormity of the situation. How on earth are we gonna destroy that fountain?”
Raffi shook her head.
“I mean, and that is, of course, granting that we get past the Reich! I just feel like this is a losing battle sometimes.”
“Have you talked to Nigel? Or maybe Will and his friends from the academy? Maybe they know something…”
“Spoke to Nigel. He didn’t know of any way to destroy a magical fountain, except to stop the source. But how do you ‘stop’ water?”
“No clue. I feel like we should’ve asked Master Shi about this.”
“That would’ve been the ideal thing to do,” Shade sighed. “Unfortunately, we don’t have that option anymore. But what I would give for him to be here with us…”
Raffi laid her hand on Shade’s shoulder lightly. “Master Shi wouldn’t’ve wanted us to quit, though. He never quit. Hoffman never quit. We have to fight. We have to try. And if we die doing so, then so be it.”
“It’d be better than waiting for them to find and kill us,” came Ash’s voice from behind them. Both Shade and Raffi turned around, momentarily startled by the sudden additional voice in the conversation.
Ash hurried over to them, “Sorry to intrude, guys. But it was kinda important…”
“What do you need? Is something wrong?” asked Shade.
“Maybe,” Ash motioned for them to follow her. “Someone’s missing.”
“It’s a big forest; you sure they didn’t go off by themselves?”
“Not sure, I’m not the one that’s delivering the message. Mark up here… he’s the one who wanted to talk to you.”
With a weary grunt, Shade stood, Raffi following suit. A group of academy students were standing at the tree line, Mark, the shape shifter, at the front. “What is it, Mark? Who’s missing?” asked Shade.
“Chris,” Mark replied, “one of the wizards. He was with us at first, but now he’s gone—and he didn’t tell anyone he was leaving!”
The five others in the group—four wizards and a witch from the academy—nodded in agreement. “He never went off without me,” added a wizard, Tracy.
“When was the last time you noticed he was with you?” Raffi asked.
“There was a part of the path we were on that got incredibly narrow,” Mark explained, “and at one point we had to squeeze between two tree branches. Chris would’ve been the last one through, but he never made it through.”
“We’ve been looking for the past half hour,” said a girl named Emily. “Nothing.”
Shade sighed. “I’m sure he’ll turn up. Have any of you found any clues in the meantime?”
Mark shook his head, gaze lowered to the ground. “None at all. Have you?”
“No. In fact, I’m beginning to think that there are no clues. I suppose that when it was said that the forest only revealed its secrets at night, it meant everything.”
Ash looked back into the forest. “Probably. But then again, maybe the others are having better luck…”
(end)
“Edge of the forest,” said Nigel, scanning the field outside the forest, “and still nothing.”
“I gotta tell ya, this blows,” Trixie lamented as she took a seat on a nearby tree stump. “Finding nothing frightens me even more about what’s to come.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well…” started Trixie, “if we were to find a clue of some sorts—anything—at least we’d know more about what to expect. But instead, we’ve got nothing.”
Spud was rummaging around in a pile of leaves nearby, as he had done with virtually every pile of leaves. “The pile of leaves could be a cover-up,” he had said. “They could be hiding something under them!”
Nigel sat down on another stump. “I know what you mean. At least the others have engaged in combat with this Reich lot. We haven’t even done that.”
“Yeah,” said Trixie. “Y’know… sometimes I wonder if it was in our best interest to come with them…”
“I didn’t think we were doing this because it was in our best interest, Trix,” called Spud as he descended on another leaf pile. “I thought we were doing this for Jake.”
“Yeah, but Jake’s in New York, not here,” Trixie stood and began to pace.
“Not necessarily,” said Nigel. “I would think that the Reich would bring them here, especially if they thought that we might be coming.”
“Did they know, though?”
“…well, you’d think… I don’t know…”
“Guess we’ll find out tonight,” Trixie said soberly.
“Guess so.”
There was silence for a few moments, save for the sound of the crunching of leaves. The sun was becoming lower and lower in the sky; it was probably an hour until sunset.
The rustling and crunching stopped. Trixie and Nigel looked over to see Spud bending over at a particular pile, as if he was picking up some object. Spud turned to face the other two and held up what appeared to be snakeskin at first.
Nigel held out a hand and Spud laid the skin in his hand. Nigel’s eyes widened. “Well, this isn’t good.”
“What is it, snakeskin?” asked Trixie.
“No…” whispered Nigel. “Something… much worse.”
“Dragon skin?” Spud chimed in.
“Wyvern skin.”
Spud’s brow furrowed. “What’s a wyvern?”
“Like a dragon…” explained Nigel, “but their wings are generally their arms and they stand on two legs. Oh, and they travel in packs.”
“Great,” sighed Trixie. “So there’s these wyvern things in the forest at night too?!”
“I’d guess so. Along with the werewolves. Looks like the Reich has this fountain pretty well-protected. You two should probably stay close to me or someone with magical powers tonight.”
“That sounds like a brilliant idea,” said Spud. “Now,” he clasped his hands together, “looks like the sun’s gonna set within the hour. I say we go look for the others and tell them what we’ve found.”
“We’ll do just that,” Nigel replied. “I just hope they were more successful than we were.”
(end)
Chris awoke and immediately panicked, for he had not known that he had even been unconscious and therefore had no idea where he was. His inability to see anything besides pitch-black nothingness did not help.
But out of it all, he could hear voices. Voices that were certainly not speaking English. He had never taken any classes in the language, but it sounded to him like they were speaking Spanish.
“Wh-who’s there?” he called in desperation. “Why can’t I see?!”
The voices stopped. Chris sensed someone walking over to him, and realized that he was laying down on some sort of bed-like object. He tried to move, but found that his ankles and wrists were shackled to the object on which he lay.
“It is awake,” said a man. “Excellente.”
“Who are you? Where are you? Why can’t I see?!” demanded Chris.
The man laughed. “Relax, American. It will go quicker if you do not fight it.”
“Fight what?!”
“Paco, viene. Come.”
Chris could hear another person walking toward him, presumably Paco.
“Are you prepared to administer the bite?” the man asked.
“Si, I am,” replied Paco.
What came next, Chris could not explain, for his eyesight was still gone. There was a sound of rustling near him, and then a low, guttural growl, followed by heavy breathing.
“WHAT’S GOING ON?!” Chris cried out one last time. He heard a snarl, and then the unbearable pain of dagger-like fangs digging into his skin.
(end)
Laura had found what she believed to be the fountain’s location.
In fact, she was standing right at the entrance.
In her vision, she could visibly see members of the Reich brushing past her on their way into a large clearing that certainly was not present during the day in the forest. As though by magic, the trees that had once occupied said clearing had been pushed to the side and then bended over the clearing so that only a small portion of the night sky was visible.
The clearing had been lowered so that it was about ten feet lower than the rest of the forest, and there was a dirt ground rather than a grass-covered one. At the center of the clearing was a small fountain, surrounded by white marble. Robed figures were crowded around the fountain, drinking its contents. There were wooden chairs fashioned out of the surrounding trees beyond the fountain, with a larger, throne-like chair at the head. Adam Sharp sat atop the throne, with many recognizable people occupying the other chairs.
Laura glanced to her right, and then to her left. In the depths of the remaining forest, she could make out multiple creatures running amongst the woods—werewolves in particular. However, other creatures—creatures she did not even know the name of—were out there as well.
Deciding that she had seen about as much as she could see, Laura concentrated and was able to end the vision. She blinked her eyes a few times as she steadied herself upon the tree. “It’s here,” she whispered. “The fountain is here… I have to find the others!”
Laura removed her shirt (she still had a tank top underneath) and laid it by the tree. Then, changing into her dragon form, she soared back in the direction she had come from. She had to find the rest of the group, and quick—the sun was about to set.
As she ran away, however, figures began to appear amidst the trees, making their way toward the tree—most notably, a red-haired woman.
(end)
The rest of the group had already congregated near the entrance of the forest, save for Laura, Chris, Nigel, Trixie and Spud. Others such as James and Kate had reported back with nothing to show for their journeys—no clues, no nothing. The search for clues as to where the fountain might be had proven futile, and they were back where they started—and with nothing to show for it.
“Sun’s almost down,” remarked James, effectively a silence-breaker.
“You all ready, then?” Shade asked. “I have a feeling that once the sun goes down, all Hell’s pretty much gonna break loose.”
“Shall we go into dragon forms now?” Kay asked.
“Yeah. Anyone who has an alternate form should probably go into that form right now. Better safe than sorry.”
They proceeded deeper into the forest, walking without a real endpoint at that time. They did not know where the fountain would spring up exactly, but they were bound to cross its path eventually.
Nearby, there was the sound of snapping tree branches, becoming louder and louder. Something was approaching them.
An orange blur sped past them, turned, and soared back toward them. It landed in front of them, and the group discovered that the orange blur was an extremely out-of-breath Laura.
“Guys!” she gasped. “Y-you have t-to foll-low me!”
“What is it?” asked Shade excitedly. “Did you find something?!”
“The fountain!” Laura shouted quickly, before turning and heading back toward the tree where she had seen her vision at. Without a moment’s hesitation, the others followed.
(end)
“You’re late,” LaGuardia growled at the approaching man.
“My dear Marisa,” said Adam Sharp, his hands clasped together, “the sun has not yet set. We are in no hurry.”
“No hurry? Do you think so?” snarled LaGuardia. “Then perhaps you were not aware that your former students are in this forest as we speak?”
Sharp’s eyes widened. “I was not… how—“
“It was just as I predicted. They’ve figured out the location of the fountain and wish to destroy it once and for all. So I took the liberty of ordering our ‘slaves’ to this location… they should be here momentarily.”
“That’s… good,” said Sharp.
“The time has come,” LaGuardia continued. “The final battle is imminent. I’m sure you know what this means…”
“I… think I know.”
“Magnificent,” LaGuardia stared off into the horizon, watching as the sun set over the mountains. She snapped her fingers, and immediately the nearby trees began to split apart, collecting together at the sides and bending over the clearing that was formed. The ground sank, and finally visible was a marble fountain. LaGuardia stepped forward. “Then you won’t mind stepping aside, I’m sure.”
“B-but Marisa… please be reasonable…”
“I believe I have been reasonable enough, Sharp.”
Other members of the Reich had congregated behind LaGuardia, and none seemed to know what was going on, judging by the confused looks on their faces.
Finally, Warburton stepped forward. “My Lord, what is going on here?” he addressed Sharp.
“It is nothing, James,” said Sharp, trembling. “Just… something between myself and Marisa.”
LaGuardia groaned. “Oh, you vile old man, the charade is over! You can tell them everything now.” Sharp’s eyes widened in fear.
“Yes, yes, you can tell them everything!” continued LaGuardia. “Tell them, my dear Adam, who really decided to experiment on the dragons. Tell them who really decided to bring the children to your damned academy.
“Yes, Sharp, tell your most loyal subjects who has really been running the show all this time. Let them know who they work for. Adam Sharp, tell them who the REAL Sovereign is!”
“It is YOU!” cried Sharp as he fell to his knees. “You, Marisa, my Lord! You are the Sovereign!”
Gasps were heard from the other Reich members. A few stifled no’s were even heard.
LaGuardia smirked. “The man speaks the truth. Yes, it is I, the Sovereign. But worry not, friends—nothing much shall change, as I have been in charge all along. Our mission is still quite simple: kill the dragons and their friends at all costs.
“Tonight, an attack will be made on our base. The dragons will be coming any minute now, if our ‘friends’ outside the base do not get to them first! Whatever must be done will be done. Be not afraid to kill, for it shall be done. But above all, defend the fountain. It is what they are after.”
“But surely the fountain cannot be destroyed?” called a woman.
“We do not know the full power of the fountain, nor do we know all its secrets!” LaGuardia shouted so all could hear. “Dare I say it, they may know something that we do not.”
There was a flapping of wings overhead. People began to point upward, eyes wide. “Do not be alarmed!” said LaGuardia. “It is merely the dragons of the world, our slaves. They are under our mind control and shall join us in the fight. With them, I do believe that we shall be unbeatable! And so, I say to you all know—let us enter our lair, and wait for them! And once we finally vanquish them, there will be a mere few others left in our way, and then the entire magical world will be GONE!”
“We need to drink first,” said Kenneth Harrelson quietly, “from the fountain. It has been a long time since our last drink. We are becoming weak…”
“There is no time, Kenneth. They will be here any moment!” LaGuardia turned and started toward the entrance. But to her surprise, it was blocked—by none other than Adam Sharp.
“Please, Marisa,” whispered Sharp. “I was not ready to…relinquish power.”
“Ha!” LaGuardia laughed. “What power?! You were a mere puppet! Now stand aside—“
“I DID have power! I was respected. I have followers,” he gazed behind LaGuardia. “Kenneth… James… Marcus…”
“I warn you again, Sharp—stand aside!”
“It is all I have left!”
“Last chance.”
“I—“
A brilliant flash of light was emitted from LaGuardia’s palms. It hit Sharp square in the chest, sending him sprawling backward. He lay motionless at the entrance.
“Let this be a lesson to all,” announced LaGuardia, “that I am your Lord, and you shall obey me. Any who dare defy me shall meet the same unfortunate end as dear old Adam Sharp here.” She turned to the entrance, whispering, “I regret it,” under her breath as she moved forward. “Mind the body!” she called as she stepped over him.
Meanwhile, the dragons and the academy students dashed through the woods, Laura leading them along. They had slowed since the sun had set, so as to avoid running into trees, which had begun to blend into the dark.
Laura tore past a final branch and stopped abruptly, causing a mild pileup behind her. She shushed them and pointed ahead. The last of the Reich members were entering the clearing in the forest, and Sharp’s body still lay nearby. “It’s just in there,” whispered Laura. “They’ll all be inside the clearing.” Since they were crouched to the ground, they could not see down into the clearing, but they could certainly tell that one was there.
“Is that Sharp?” asked Shade, eyes wide in disbelief.
“…yeah, I think so…”
“You guys stay here,” Shade pushed through the branches and, still crouching, began to tiptoe slowly toward Sharp. “I’ll be back.”
Shade dashed quickly to the side so as to avoid detection. The entrance to the clearing was narrow, so he could be unseen by anyone inside the clearing if he was far enough to the side. In moments, he was at Sharp’s side.
The old man was bleeding from both his eyes and mouth, and was trembling slightly; he seemed to be experiencing his final moments alive. Shade reverted to human form and slowly leaned over Sharp’s face.
The man’s eyes seemed to detect that he was there, although Shade could not find much life staring back at him. “S-Shade…?” sputtered Sharp. “So… s-she was r-right.”
Shade did not know what to say, and kept staring ahead at this dying man, the man whom he had once trusted, the man who was supposedly his biggest enemy. All of a sudden, however, he did not seem so imposing.
Sharp looked up into Shade’s eyes and opened his mouth, seeming to want to say something. “I…” was the only word he could manage, however, as more blood spurted from his mouth and he began to cough uncontrollably, until seconds later he moved no more.
Shade stayed by the man’s side for perhaps another minute longer, unable to take his eyes from the man. But finally, he forced himself up and reverted back into his dragon form. He motioned for the others to join him where he stood. “Sharp is dead,” he whispered. “I dunno what happened exactly, but he’s gone.”
“One more off the list, then, right?” asked Raffi.
Shade did not answer. Instead, he turned to the entrance and began to walk toward it. “It’s time, guys,” he whispered. “It’s now or never.” They followed—Raffi at first, then Ash, and then the rest, stepping blindly into the beautiful unknown.
(end)
A humongous full moon had risen over the forest—a strange occurrence to Spud. “It’s not even near the time of the month for a full moon,” he remarked. “I don’t understand this.”
He, Nigel and Trixie were walking through the forest, unable to find anyone from the group. They had taken to the forest edge near Santiago de Compostela, however, and figured that they would come to the forest’s entrance sooner or later. Perhaps then, they would find a familiar face.
A bloodcurdling howl was heard nearby. Trixie immediately grabbed Spud’s arm. “Stay close,” Nigel warned. “That’s the howl of a werewolf if I ever heard one.”
They continued walking, Nigel scanning each and every direction as they went. ”Spudinski,” whispered Trixie, her voice wavering in fear, “i-if we don’t make it out, there’s something I gotta tell ya…”
“What’s that, Trix?”
Before she could answer, a large, dark figure jumped from behind a tree on the left and lunged at the group. Trixie screamed, and Nigel threw himself in front of them as Spud pulled Trixie to the ground.
Nigel muttered an incantation as quickly as he could and sent a small ball of blue light at the lunging monster, but it was not near enough nor was it nearly in time, and the beast bowled over Nigel. “Werewolf!” cried Spud, and he attempted to kick at the wolf whilst he lay on the ground. But the werewolf only had eyes for Trixie.
Trixie began to back away as quickly as she could, still on her back. But the werewolf was obviously quicker. To her dismay, it clamped down on her leg, and began to pull her back toward him. “No!” Spud cried as he leapt to his feet. “You leave her alone!” he began to pound on the werewolf’s massive back.
A blinding flash of blue light came from behind the werewolf and sent it sprawling. Nigel had gotten to his feet and had been able to perform a much stronger spell on the wolf—strong enough for it to relinquish its grip on Trixie’s leg. Nigel continued to send blasts of magic at the werewolf, repelling it from where they stood. Whimpering, the werewolf took off and was heard tearing through tree branches deep in the woods.
Nigel wiped the sweat off of his forehead. “Wow,” he sighed. “Close one. You two alright?”
“I’m fine…” nodded Spud as he dusted himself. “Trix? Can I see your leg?”
Trixie did not answer Spud. She began to moan and slowly began to shake.
“…Trix?” Spud asked again.
Trixie began to shake more violently. Nigel’s eyes widened and he dashed at Spud. “Get away from her!” he cried as he grabbed onto Spud’s shoulders and flung him backward.
There was a ripping sound as Trixie’s body began to increase in mass. Her jeans tore, and brown hair sprouted through them. Her shoes burst open as her feet rushed out, the toenails blackening and lengthening as they dug into the dirt.
“Oh, no…” Nigel said, his voice quivering. “No, no, no…”
“Trixie!” shouted Spud. “No!”
END CHAPTER
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