We all halt and stare in confusion as haze forms in the distance and all around us. A thunderous roar echoes throughout the land. I hold their hands as Alec and Magnus stand on either side of me. I look between them with a worried expression.
‘This doesn’t sound good,’ Alec says.
I run toward Maia and place a hand on her shoulder.
‘What was that?’ I ask.
‘I-I don’t know. I’ve never heard anything like it before.’
Damon holds Maia by his side and mind-links his warriors to be on the lookout. We can no longer see anything but fog.
In the far distance, I can only make out the silhouette of something humungous coming towards us.
‘What is that?’ I say, pointing toward it.
Everyone stares and begins to step back.
‘Nina,’ Alec says, ‘Stand back,’ he says with worry as he tries to pull me behind him.
Magnus stands on the other side of me and smells the air.
‘It’s not a scent of human, fae, vampire or any other species that I’ve smelt before. Whatever it is wreaks of power, an immense power I’ve never felt before.’
Suddenly a giant serpent-like creature slithers forward. He must be at least one hundred metres tall, with bat-like wings. His arms are covered in black fur with clawed fingers. He holds a large wooden staff that has a red stone on top. He is horrifying.
More creatures appear near his tail. There are thousands of them, but these appear to be a foot taller than us. I can’t yet make out what they are, though.
The giant serpent-like creature lets out another thunderous roar, but this time he swings his staff around, emitting a beam of flame, setting everything on fire.
We scream and yell for everyone to run. Fear overtakes us as we have no idea who these creatures are or why they are attacking us.
I can hear a stampede of hooves gaining on us. I turn to see a horde of minotaurs wielding axes. The ground continues to tremble, and I notice giant worms with sharp teeth emerging. They fly half a dozen metres into the air before disappearing into the ground, leaving large holes in the ground. Loud screeching sounds are coming from high up in the sky. I trip and fall over and land on my back. My mouth gapes open as I see dozens of dragons flying in the sky.
A minotaur comes toward me as I sit up and swings its axe. Magnus shifts into his wolf and lunges at him as Alec grabs my arm and lifts me from the ground.
He pulls me behind him and holds his hands out. I watch as black mist emits from his hands as he summons Grimghouls and Shadow reapers that crawl from the ground.
The little orcs fight back against the minotaur that have gained on us. Then to my horror, I hear Saskia scream. A giant worm opens its mouth. Its teeth are like that of sharks. It eats Saskia and burrows into the ground once again.
‘No!’ I scream.
Werewolves and vampires are circled by minotaurs, along with a few little sprites and orcs. Alec sends the Grimghouls and Shadow Reapers onto them. Two werewolves and a vampire are killed as the rest of the group manage to flee, running past me. I look around to see the once beautiful and lush world of Mysteria is now devastating to look upon, with fires and dead loved ones everywhere. Magnus grabs my hand and pulls me along behind him.
We follow Maia and Damon along with everyone else, running toward Moon Crest Castle.
As we arrive, we halt to find hundreds of hideous women with wings for arms flying around the castle. They open their mouths and let out the most horrid screech.
‘Harpies,’ Alec says. ‘We must go around it and go to Moonhowl woods.’
‘Alec, what are they doing here? Why is this happening?’ I ask as we all follow Alec.
‘I don’t know. All I do know is we are at war,’ he says.
Queen Maia gasps, ‘I don’t understand. I have never seen these creatures before,’ she says.
Damon pulls her into his chest, and he hugs her tight.
‘That’s because they have never been here before. I don’t understand why they have been sent here, though or how they got here,’ Damon says.
‘We can try and figure all of that out once we find somewhere safe away from these creatures,’ Magnus says.
‘Luna,’ Reaper mind-links as he flies above me.
‘The giant serpent is Thypon. He is the God of Monsters. He must have come through during the solstice while the veil between worlds was weakened.’
‘What! The God of monsters! Why is he here?’ I mind-link.
‘He is only known for one thing, and that’s to destroy worlds.’
‘How do we stop him?’ I mind-Link.
‘I don’t know,’ he replies.
We approach Moonhowl woods. Magnus, Damon, Yiselda and Alec make us wait as they check to ensure it’s safe.
‘It seems to be free of any unwanted creatures for now,’ Yiselda says, gesturing for us to enter the woods.
We come to the ocean’s shore as we reach the end of the woods. There is a cove that will shelter us for now.
We all gather up at the back end of the cove.
‘Inferno Flamo,’ Ela says, lighting a fire.
We let all the children sit in front, closer to the fire, and the adults sit behind them.
Magnus and Alec sit on either side of me, ‘Are you okay, Nina?’ Magnus asks.
I shake my head no and cry. ‘They killed Saskia,’ I say to him.
Magnus pulls me into his chest and rubs my back as I grieve for her and the others we lost. Alec rubs my shoulder.
Ryker and Astrid are consoling Josie while my parents console May. Everyone is distressed.
‘Damon, our castle, our home. What are we going to do? I’m with child now,’ Maia cries as she places her hand on her slightly swollen stomach.
‘It will be okay, my love. We will get our home back. I’ve mind-linked the warriors, who are currently fighting against the harpies,’ Damon says to her.
‘What were those worm creatures? I know the other creatures were minotaurs, and did you all see those dragons in the sky?’ I ask.
‘Dragons!’ Ela and Fern say simultaneously.
‘Death worms,’ Alec says to me. They can burrow and move through the ground very quickly. They can’t see or hear. They follow vibrations to know where you are. So, if you are ever near one, keep very still, and they won’t be able to find you. All it takes is one step for them to figure out where you are,’ he informs us.
‘Reaper said the giant serpent is Thypon, the God of Monsters,’ I say to everyone.
‘That would make sense why we’ve never seen him or the other monsters before. Because he came through the veil during the solstice,’ Damon says. ‘But why him? Why didn’t the Moon Goddess or any other deities come through? Surely Cerridwen, Ogrun and Valkrim would have stopped him?’ Damon says.
‘There has to be a reason for all of this?’ Maia says, ‘But the main problem is, how do we stop a God? How can we defeat Thypon when we can’t even defeat the monsters he brought with him?’
‘We can’t,’ Yiselda says, stepping forward. ‘Only another God or Goddess can defeat another, and even then, many deities will usually fight against the one and have them sealed away for as long as possible.’
‘Even though many of us wield great strength and power, we are not deities. So, what are we going to do?’ Maia asks.
‘Survive,’ I say loudly—my voice echoes throughout the cove. ‘We need to try and defeat as many monsters as possible when the opportunity arrives and then focus on surviving until we come up with a new plan or until the next solstice and pray that the deities will enter Mysteria and defeat Thypon,’ I say to them all.
‘A whole year!’ Maia exclaims, ‘I would have had my baby by then,’ she sobs.
‘The veil is unbreakable until the next solstice. We don’t have any other choice but to try and survive.’
‘Nina’s right,’ Alec says. We need to stay hidden. We aren’t far from the ships. Tomorrow we will cross the ocean and go to Emerald Island. For now, you should all try and get some rest. The vampires and I will keep watch while you all sleep,’ he says.
A dozen vampires follow Alec toward the entrance of the coven. Magnus sits and leans against the limestone wall of the cove and pulls me onto his lap. I rest my head against his chest and sleep.
I have the strangest dream. I can see many planets in the night sky that sparkles. My name is being called, but I’m too mesmerised by my surroundings to follow. A fluffy white cat with white wings rubs itself against my leg as it purrs. I kneel and stroke its fur. It feels surreal, but I know it’s just a dream. There are houses made from precious gems and stones. Some hover in the air on islands that have bridges connecting them to other hovering islands.
The grass beneath my feet is purple, and a rabbit with antlers hops by. The winged cat meows, gaining my attention, but as I go to follow it, I’m abruptly woken up.
‘Nina, wake up! There’s a fire. We need to go!’ Magnus says.
I take his hand, and we run out of the cove to see Moonhowl Woods ablaze.
