As we leave Moon Crest Castle, I see the Covenstead in the distance.
‘Alec, I want to go to Yiselda’s place before we leave,’ I say.
‘But we need to get to Oakpaw mountain,’ he says.
‘I know, but this is important. I need to go there.’
He stares at me for a moment before nodding.
‘If it’s that important, then let’s go,’ he replies.
Reaper flies ahead of us to meet us there.
I use my Skedaddle Dash spell until we arrive at the Covenstead. I push the door open to be greeted by the magic broom sweeping the floors. Rabbits, squirrels and the odd cat sit, sleep or run around. I enter the kitchen on the right. It’s strange to see the kitchen quiet with no potion brewing in the cauldron. I begin to look through the shelves and in the cupboards.
‘What are you looking for?’ Alec asks.
I pull my head out of the cupboard I am currently rummaging through and turn to face him, ‘I thought there might be something here I can use to seal Thypon in,’ I explain.
‘Oh, I see. I’ll check the living room then,’ Alec says.
‘I’ll search the high areas of the rooms,’ Reaper mind-links.
I nod and watch him leave the room and return to the cupboard.
Eye of newt, spider legs, dragon’s breath. Yiselda has every ingredient in here, but nothing I can use for the spell. I sigh, turn and lean against the cupboard for a moment. Maybe I’ll search the dining room. I walk past the living room, poke my head in to see Alec checking the little set of draws, and continue to the dining room. I ignore the moving portraits trying to get my attention, but I don’t have time to focus on them. I go through the wooden buffet only to find kitchenware. I walk into the hallway Hands from the portraits try to reach out to touch me.
‘Look, I need to save Mysteria. I will look upon your lovely portraits next time I’m in,’ I say to them.
I notice Reaper in another room being chased by two cats. He perches up high on a curtain rail where they cannot reach him. I walk to the next door. It’s Yiselda’s bedroom. I open the door and enter. It’s a large room with only a four-post bed and a dressing table. I slump to the floor in defeat. The arm of a woman in the portrait near the dressing table extends.
‘Fine! What is it?’ I growl as I stand up and stomp toward the maiden in the portrait, only to realise she isn’t reaching for me but rather pointing at something. My face scrunches at her in confusion, but then I look to where she points. Sitting on the dresser is a rectangular silver box. It has intricate details and swirls around it, along with the odd Ruby. I notice a keyhole at the front of it. I touch the trinket box, but it doesn’t open. It’s locked. The Maiden’s arm changes direction and points to Yiselda’s bed.
The bed is neatly made. I pull the bedding, throw it onto the floor, and then the pillows. There’s nothing there, so I kneel and look under the bed. Nothing there either, but the maiden continues to point at the bed. I stare back at the mattress and lift it to find a silver antique-style key. I quickly grab it and race over to the silver box. The key fits, and it unlocks. As I lift the lid, I find it’s lined with a red velvet fabric, but there are no contents inside. Could this box seal Thypon inside? Unsure, I pick it up and carry it out of the bedroom and into the hall. I notice all the arms in the portraits point at the box. Were they trying to lead me to this? I wonder.
Reaper flies over and perches onto my shoulder as I walk past the rest of the portraits.
I enter the living room to find Alec searching along the shelves, ‘What about this?’ I say to him.
He turns around and approaches me to inspect the trinket box.
‘It could work. It has a lid and can be closed, and then we can use the spell to seal it permanently,’ Alec says.
‘It should do the job,’ Reaper adds.
I smile, ‘let’s get back to the cove then.’
The magic broom follows and sweeps behind us as we reach the front door. The door then closes on its own behind us.
Reaper flies ahead to Moonhowl Forrest while I Skedaddle dash there, and Alec dashes with great speed. We walk the short distance between the charred forest and the cove.
Vermilion’s tail wags when he sees us, ‘You missed us,’ I smile and pat his head. Alec and I climb onto his back while Reaper perches on a curved spike on his back. I reach for my satchel that hangs over the nearest spike and places the trinket box inside.
Vermilion flaps his wings and descends into the sky. As we fly out the other side of Moonhowl Forrest, over a cliff’s edge, we are suddenly flying above the horde of minotaurs, harpies and death worms that have been searching for us. Minotaur shout at us and points in our direction.
‘Wands,’ I say as I watch them now follow our direction.
‘Vermilion, can you fly faster? We need to get to Oakpaw Mountain ahead of them,’ I say to him.
Vermilion soars through the sky, giving us a good head start in front of the horde. I can see Oakpaw mountain.
‘It was around here somewhere. Maybe land over here,’ I point out to Vermilion.
He lands with a thud. We climb down, spread out a few feet from each other and scan the ground as we search the area.
‘It’s not here,’ Alec says.
‘It has to be here somewhere. I’m sure I saw it,’ I assure Alec.
There are leaves everywhere. Maybe that’s why I can’t see it. I crawl on the ground, raking the leaves around to find the sceptre. I suddenly feel something cold and metal-like. I stand and hold it up. Reaper perches on my shoulder and mind-links, ‘Woah, it’s more exquisite than I thought it would be,’ he says.
It’s black with sigils inscribed into it. The top is a claw, a bird’s talon gripping a massive red precious gem. The size of my fist. A ruby, maybe. I’m not sure, but I hear many voices calling to me, whispering my name, waiting for me to unleash its power into me. I feel hypnotised to do so. I blink a few times and shake my head, ‘No, not yet,’ I say to it.
‘Not yet?’ Alec says, ‘Whom are you talking to?’ he asks, confused.
‘No one, it’s nothing. Just a thought in my head, that’s all.
‘Now that we have everything, we should return to Mystic Pride to prepare the next step to save Mysteria,’ Alec says.
The ground begins to rumble before we climb onto Vermilion. Three death worms lunge out from the ground into the air towards us. Their large mouths are open, showing all their shark-like teeth.
I grab Alec’s arm, ‘Skedaddle Dash!’ I shout, blinking and appearing behind them.
Vermilion releases fire as he sprints around them and surrounds them. Harpies scream as the minotaurs flail and hurl their axes at us.
‘Repeliate!’ I shout, sending an invisible wave, knocking the axes away.
Reaper flies around the minotaur, wrapping a shadow around their ankles and tripping them over. Alec’s fingernails extend. He leaps up into the air and claws across the necks of the harpies in one big swipe.
Dozens more come running toward us, ‘Quickly! Onto Vermilion,’ he shouts.
I Clutch the sceptre tight against my chest and grab the spike on Vermilion’s back to help pull me up. Reaper clings onto the spike while Alec hops on behind me. Vermilion breathes fire at the creatures close to us before he descends into the sky.
I look down behind me and watch as they become smaller until I can no longer see them. Relief washes over me.
We fly through the clouds. It’s so beautiful up here. We fly over more mountains, fields and forests before arriving at Mystic Paw Village.
Quinn runs out from a hut waving her hands in the air with excitement.
Queen Maia, Kadva and Yiselda also run over to us as we land.
Queen Maia sees the sceptre I hold. Her face lights up, and she claps her hands in delight, ‘You found it! You really found it. The dream was real,’ she says.
Quinn hugs my leg, ’Did you see my Mummy,’ she asks with watery eyes.
‘I did, Quinn. Your mother is fine for now and has Boomer and Krug with her,’ I smile.
Quinn’s glamourous wings flutter with delight, ‘Really?’ she asks excitedly.
‘Really,’ I say and pat her head softly.
I turn to Vermilion, grab my satchel from his spike, and approach the pavilion. I place the bag and sceptre down and pull out the trinket box.
Yiselda raises an eyebrow, ‘That looks just like the trinket box in my room,’ she says.
I smile at her, ‘It is from your room.’
‘You went to the Covenstead?’ she asks.
‘Yes, it’s all intact. Thypon hasn’t destroyed it. He was preoccupied with other matters,’ I reply.
‘What matters?’ she asks.
Queen Maia claps her hands for some wine. Villagers bring food and drink to the table. All the Guardians of Mysteria sit around at the table, waiting eagerly to hear my reply.
‘Alec, Reaper and I stopped by Moon Crest Castle. We wanted to make sure our loved ones were okay. Although they haven’t been fed much or given much water. They are so far unharmed. Thypon was there. He was furious as he had tried to leave Mysteria to go to the Celestial realm before coming back to finish his chaos here. He obviously couldn’t get through and knows he is trapped here for now. I think he has a fair idea that Atlanta may have tricked him or has done something to keep him here.’
‘What happens now?’ Maia asks.
I slide the trinket box to Yiselda, ‘As you all know, we need somewhere or something to seal Thypon in. I searched every place I went to and found this at the Covenstead.’
Yiselda nods at the trinket box and then at me, ‘This will do perfectly,’ she assures me.
‘Now that I have everything. We need to work together to restrain Thypon while I activate the sceptre and cast the spell to seal him into the trinket box.’
‘You never told us what the sceptre does,’ Yiselda says.
I gaze at Alec, and he nods at me reassuringly.
I turn to face the guardians once more and say, ‘We cannot defeat Thypon. Only a god has the power to conquer another god. Making one of us one of them is the only way our deities can aid us and give us a chance to save Mysteria.’
The guardians gasp and look around at each other in shock. I stand, and they stop talking and look at me.
‘Even when I become a Goddess, I may not be as strong as Thypon. I will need all of you to work together with me. As one, we can do this. We can defeat Thypon, free our people and restore Mysteria to how it once was!’
Everyone stands and cheers, throwing a fist into the air.
Kadva makes eye contact with me, ‘When do we attack?’ he asks.
‘Tonight,’ I smile.
