I appear behind the blacksmith workshop. There has been even more destruction made to the castle. The sky is no longer clear and blue but red and dusty. The odd rock from the castle towers and walls tumbles down. I can see minotaurs patrolling the area on the ground in and outside the castle while harpies flutter up high along the castle’s battlements.
Sir Hugo appears behind me through the portal and kneels beside me, looking through the wall’s cracks to see what I’m seeing.
‘This way,’ I say and creep low, following the wall until we reach an entry point.
Two minotaur trot through the courtyard around the fountain. I frown at sir Hugo. He picks up a rock and throws it over the other side. It grabs their attention, and they wield their axes as they approach the low walls on look over to see what it is. We quickly scurry past, enter the gardens and hide behind a hedge.
We creep along until we reach the other side of the castle.
Sir Hugo covers my mouth behind me as I gasp and quietly pulls me down onto the ground. He nudges his head up. I look to see half a dozen minotaurs walk past the hedge. As soon as they pass, his hand leaves my mouth, but we remain laying on the grass.
‘Did you see them? The children asleep in all those cages hanging from around the castle,’ I say to him.
He frowns and nods.
‘If the dragons brought all the children back here, then surely Magnus, King Damon and the others must be here too,’ I say to him.
Hugo glares and points through the hedge. The minotaur poke pikes at the sleeping children, trying to wake them.
‘Sir Hugo looks to me, ‘They mustn’t realise the children have all fallen asleep because of a spell.’
I follow Sir Hugo. We crawl through the hedge, climb over the low stone wall, and squat behind a large statue of a beautiful woman.
‘There they are,’ Sir Hugo whispers and points.
Magnus is in his wolf form, in a cage. Damon is in a cage next to him but in his human form. We can see the other werewolves and vampires, as well as Vivian.
‘Magnus,’ I say under my breath.
I turn to Sir Hugo, ‘We should try and free them.’
‘How? There are too many minotaurs and harpies around,’ he says.
‘Tremendous Nebulus,’ I whisper, creating thick hazy fog.
The minotaur look around to see where the fog is coming from, but it grows thicker from all directions. I crawl through the fog into the castle, then up the stairs. I lean through an arch window ‘Magnus, King Damon,’ I whisper.
They are surprised to see me. Then Sit Hugo’s head pokes over my shoulder and nods at them.
‘What are you doing here?’ Magnus asks.
‘Saving your behinds. What else would I be here doing?’ I reply.
‘We are locked in the cages. Do you have the key?’ King Magnus says, pointing at the large padlocks.
Sir Hugo and I frown at each other before I turn my attention back to the padlocks.
‘No, but what about heat? Perhaps flame could melt the lock?’ I suggest.
‘There should be lit fire torches on the walls back there,’ King Damon says, pointing behind me.
‘I have a better idea,’ I smile, climb onto the ledge, and lean toward the cage. With one hand gripping the ledge, I hover my free hand over the padlock. ‘Inferno Flamo,’ I say, creating a flame in my hand.
It begins to heat the lock, but suddenly I hear screeching from behind me and slip but quickly grip the ledge with both hands.
‘Nina!’ Magnus shouts.
He tries to reach his arm through his cage to grab me, but I’m too far
away. Large white and blue feathers float over me and out the window. I lift myself just enough to see Sir Hugo fighting off a dozen harpies with his sword.
‘You’re going to have to hang on there for a bit, Nina,’ Sir Hugo shouts as he flourishes his sword, beheading one harpy after another.
I look down and regret it instantly. Minotaurs stare and point at me before running inside the castle.
‘Oh, wands! Sir Hugo, you have lots of minotaurs incoming, and I don’t think I can hang on any longer!’ I shout as I lose my grip and fall.
I close my eyes and brace myself for the harsh landing that will either kill me or break half the bones in my body. But instead, warm, strong arms clutch me tight. Alec presses me against his masculine chest and flings his cape around me.
‘Alec! You followed me?’
‘I couldn’t stand Yiselda talking about different herbal teas any longer.’
I laugh, letting out a snort and look over his shoulder.
Magnus is relieved to see Alec has me. Sir Hugo climbs out the stone arch window and onto the roof before running along the tiles and jumping through another window. Alec sprints up a tall, bushy tree to keep us hidden. He turns me around on his lap so I can watch Sir Hugo fight his way out of the castle. Sir Hugo exits the castle backwards, swinging his sword. He has left a trail of feathers from killing the harpies. The minotaurs surround him and swing their axes as they circle him, but Sir Hugo doesn’t seem phased.
‘For the King and Queen of Mysteria!’ he shouts and jumps onto the back of a minotaur. The minotaur spins around, trying to grab him off his back as Sir Hugo stabs and cuts into each of them and finally into the back of the minotaur he rides, falling to the ground with it.
Sir Hugo stands and wipes the sweat from his forehead and then boasts a victory laugh but suddenly becomes quiet as we hear the thunderous roar of Typhon approaching. The ground beneath us trembles.
I whistle like a bird for Sir Hugo’s attention. He uses his forearm to block out the sun as he stares toward the trees. I wave my arm, and he nods and runs toward us.
‘We need to get out of here,’ Alec says as he clutches an arm around me and jumps down from the tree.
As he puts me down, I grip his arm, ‘We need to free Magnus and the others.’
‘We are not enough to save them. The main thing is they are still alive, and we know where they are. Until we can get help, there isn’t much else we can do,’ he says.
‘But!’ I try to protest before Alec pins me gently against the tree and presses his forehead against mine. He raises his hand and tucks my hair behind my ear.
‘Nina, I will not risk your life. We will come back for them. I promise.’
I press my lips against his.
‘Ahem…’ Sir Hugo says.
We break our kiss.
‘Let’s get back to Mystic Pride,’ Alec says.
‘No, wait! My spell books, back at our castle in Emerald Island. Perhaps I can find a spell that will help weaken Thypon or at least help us in some way to defeat him?’
‘Emerald Island it is then,’ Alec replies.
‘But I need to be back by Queen Maia’s side,’ Sir Hugo says.
‘If you want to go back to Moon Crest Castle and try and get past Thypon to enter the portal, then be my guest. In the meantime, we will be making our way back to my castle,’ Alex says to him.
‘I guess I’ll be tagging along with you two then,’ he replies.
Alec clutches me again before breaking into a sprint. I grip his shirt and hide my face in his chest until he comes to a stop. He puts me down, and I see we are between mountains and the outskirts of a small forest.
‘Where’s Sir Hugo?’ I ask.
‘Way behind. He’s human. It will take him a while to catch up on foot,’ he smirks. ‘He will catch up eventually. In the meantime, let’s figure out where we are,’ he says.
I take out the map and yelp as I’m pulled back onto Alec’s lap. He rests his chin on my shoulder as he stares at the map with me.
‘We must be around here,’ he says, tapping the map. ‘Which means Thornwell is just over the other side of this mountain. Maybe there would be a good place to create a portal and go to Emerald Island from there?’
‘Okay, as soon as Sir Hugo catches up with us, we will go to Thornwell.’
Suddenly we hear a whimpering screech from the forest that makes the hairs on my neck stand.
‘W-what was that?’ I ask with worry.
Alec lifts me off his lap, stands and takes my hand. ‘We’re about to find out,’ he smiles, not the least bit worried.
