Chapter 3
2149 Words
Ray, Haven, and Isabel stood at the forest’s edge and peered into the city. Isabel gasped, rearing her head back, and Ray and Haven looked at her in question.
“What is it?” asked the green fairy, and Isabel looked at Haven in disbelief.
“What happened to the power?” she asked, pointing, and Ray and Haven looked.
After a moment, they realized that Isabel was right. The windmills on the outskirts were still, and no lights glowed in the darkness.
“That’s odd. Why would the machine suddenly stop?” asked Haven, and Isabel looked at the fairy.
“You know as well as I do that the machine just doesn’t suddenly stop!” Isabel snapped.
Ray looked at them in wonderment and shook his head. He wondered if he would ever understand the female species.
“Listen. Whatever made the machine stop, fighting and arguing isn’t going to solve the problem. Together, we need to figure out what happened to it, “Ray stated.
Haven and Isabel stopped arguing and looked at the Earth Guardian. Reluctantly, Isabel sighed and looked at the Fairy Guardian, and Haven looked at Isabel and nodded. They gave Ray an apologetic look, and he only nodded.
“I guess you’re right,” breathed Isabel, and Ray gave her a clipped nod.
After a moment of silence, Isabel looked at the Guardian of Earth.
“So, what’s the plan?”
Ray looked into the city, studying the first two buildings, and then looked at Haven and Isabel.
“You see those two buildings?”
Isabel and the fairy nodded as Isabel tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
“That’s our first target,” he noted, pointing.
Ray looked at the structures again, and strangely the buildings went in and out of focus. He shook his head, blinked several times, and looked again.
“Whoa!” he whispered, and Haven looked at him with concern.
“What’s wrong?” the fairy whispered.
“Nothing. There are two Duggers hiding in the walls. I say let’s sneak up on them and take them out,” suggested Ray, and Isabel looked at him in question.
“How do you know that?” she asked, and Ray glanced back at her.
“Because I can see them.”
Isabel looked at the Earth Guardian in disbelief and shook her head.
“That’s not possible,” she said, and Haven chuckled.
“You see, Isabel, there are many things you may not know. Ray is the Guardian of Earth, and the guardians possess many abilities,” stated the fairy.
“Good to know,” stated Isabel.
The Fairy Guardian nodded and turned her attention back to Ray.
“Okay, Ray, do you have a plan?”
Ray looked at his Fairy Guardian thoughtfully and nodded.
“Isabel and I can take a building each. There are two Duggers per structure, and you can stay out of harm’s way,” he suggested, and Haven and Isabel nodded.
Ray then turned to Isabel.
“Listen, despite how you feel, if you need help, just call for me.”
Isabel looked at Ray, amused.
“I think I got this covered, Rookie!” she scoffed.
Ray looked up at Haven, and the fairy shrugged her shoulders.
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Ray and Isabel swiftly ran toward the buildings, and Haven fluttered safely above. Ray ran behind one structure and Isabel the other. They looked at each other, and Ray noticed the nervous look on the girl’s face. He watched as she grabbed her whip with a shaky hand and looked at her with care.
“Relax. They are not as vicious as they look,” Ray said quietly, and Isabel nodded with wide eyes.
The sound of rocks crumbling and groaning cut through the silent air, and Ray and Isabel peered around the buildings. Four Duggers emerged out onto the street and started walking their way. Ray looked at Isabel, raising his eyebrows and tilting his head.
“It’s now or never. You ready?” the Earth Guardian asked, and Isabel swallowed as she nodded.
Ray and Isabel ran out from behind the buildings and charged toward the ugly beasts. Ray threw his arms out aggressively, and the glowing green claws appeared. Surprisingly, a golden mask appeared over his eyes, and Ray snarled as he reached the first Dugger. The beast swung its ugly claw hand, and Ray dodged it as he spun around and stabbed the creature in the back.
The Dugger snarled, turning toward Ray, and swiped its claw again. Ray side-stepped and repeatedly stabbed the creature in the chest with his magical claws. The weapons started glowing brighter, and he stabbed both claws into the creature’s chest. The Earth Guardian roared as he pulled the beast apart, and the Dugger squealed as it disappeared.
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Isabel snapped her whip at one of the beasts. Surprisingly, the end wrapped around the Duggers neck, and she huffed an impressed sigh, staring for a moment in awe. Isabel couldn’t believe she had done that on the first try. She shook her head and pulled back on the whip as hard as possible, and watched as the creature’s head snapped off.
Isabel stared in disbelief as the Dugger disappeared, and suddenly the third beast knocked her to the ground. As the girl fell to the ground, Isabel lost her grip on the whip and hit hard with a groan. Horrified, she stared at the monster as it crawled on top of her and screamed. The Dugger wrapped its thick, clawed hand around her throat and squeezed. Isabel struggled as she tried to pull herself from its grasp.
The beast squeezed tighter and tighter, and Isabel began to fade.
‘This is the end,’ she thought as her struggles weakened.
Suddenly, Ray was in the air, above them, and landed on the beast’s back. Repeatedly, he stabbed the monster in the back, and the Dugger let go of Isabel. She turned her head to the side, coughing, and heard Ray roar. Isabel turned her head and looked. The beast was still above her but had a glowing green claw sticking through its chest.
The Dugger squealed as it disappeared, and Ray landed on the ground, breathing hard, and looked at Isabel. She stared at him in awe.
“Are you alright?” asked Ray as he stuck his hand out.
Isabel nodded, and she took it.
“You saved my life,” she breathed as Ray pulled her to her feet.
“Yeah, I guess I did,” he chuckled, and Isabel looked at him suspiciously.
“Why?” she asked, and Ray looked at her oddly.
“Excuse me?”
“Why did you save me?”
“Huh?” Ray asked with a dumbfounded look.
Isabel sighed and slumped her shoulders.
“I have been so mean to you. I wouldn’t have saved me,” she mumbled, looking at the ground, and Ray looked at her with care.
“Hey,” he said, and Isabel looked at him.
“You are one of my people that I have sworn to protect, and you are my partner in all of this However, you need to learn how to pay attention to your surroundings,” stated Ray, and she looked at him in disbelief.
“I’m sorry. I have never killed anything in my life!” Isabel snapped, and Ray gently put his hand on her shoulder.
“It’s okay. The important thing is that we have each other’s backs.”
Isabel searched his eyes and then smiled.
“Now, come on. Let’s finish clearing this side of the city so that we can bring our people home,” he stated, and Isabel nodded.
Haven sighed happily, watching Ray and Isabel from above. She was happy that Isabel was getting along with him. Haven saw Ray look up at her and flew down to him. They headed toward the next set of buildings.
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Two months had passed, and Belhazur was getting angrier at Catalina. She still hadn’t come up with a successful potion to bring down the guardian’s barrier in Halondelle, and the king of Chaos started to believe that the warlock wasn’t strong enough to make him what he wanted. Belhazur thought long and hard about the magical realm, how to get past the magical barrier, and then realized something. Maybe he could go under it if he couldn’t break through it.
“Catalina?” the demon cooed.
“Mmm?”
Her face was bruised from the day before. The king of Chaos was angry with her, threw her on the floor, and kicked her in the face.
“I don’t want you making any more potions for me,” Belhazur stated, and Catalina sighed silently.
‘Finally,’ she thought.
Catalina figured Belhazur would realize that she couldn’t make his desired potion, and the demon would let Bestol and Mertheis go.
“You see. I was telling the truth,” Catalina squeaked, and Belhazur smirked at her.
“Maybe or maybe I have just come up with a better solution. If you can’t go through something, why not try under it?” The demon sneered, and Catalina’s hopes faded away.
“Go under? You mean you’re going to try and go under the barrier? How are you going to do that?” she stuttered, and the king looked at his desired queen cleverly.
“I may not be able to move through the earth, but your demons can.”
Catalina looked at the man as every last hope and dream shattered. The monster was going after the guardians regardless, and the thought saddened her. Belhazur looked at Catalina for a moment, and then his eyebrows rose.
“You act like you don’t want me to go into that realm, and I have to wonder why that is,” he cooed, stepping closer to the woman.
Catalina swallowed hard as she looked at him with big almond eyes and clasped her hands together.
“Don’t be ridiculous. If the Magical Realm is what you want, then who am I to stop you?” Catalina asked, and the demon sneered at her.
Without warning, Belhazur’s hand was around Catalina’s throat before she could blink an eye.
“Now, you know, defiance is the one thing I will not tolerate. Not even from my chosen queen. Do I make myself clear?” he growled with burning eyes.
Catalina only nodded, and the king of Chaos let go of her. She glared at him, took a couple of breaths, and rubbed her neck.
“You do realize that the guardians will come for you the moment you get past the barrier,” sneered Catalina.
“Let them come,” Belhazur laughed, and she looked at him oddly.
Catalina believed that the demon didn’t know as much about the guardians as he said he did, but neither did she. She heard stories about the prince and princess who possessed extraordinary abilities that not even the former guardians had. However, Catalina had an upside for her if the guardians went after Belhazur. They had the power to banish Belhazur back to his realm and would be doing her the favor of getting rid of him.
Catalina decided to play along with the king of Chaos, and hope began to build in her heart.
“Well, I guess you have it all figured out then. As your queen, what can I do to help?”
Belhazur looked at the demon-blodded woman for a moment, then smiled.
“Sounds to me like you are finally accepting your destiny,” he said, and Catalina nodded.
The king put his hand to Catalina’s cheek and searched her eyes.
“You just sit back and relax. I will take things from here,” Belhazur whispered and kissed her lips.
“I will return soon. Why doesn’t my queen take this time to freshen up and get ready to reward her king when I get back?” he suggested and disappeared.
Catalina sneered after him as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and scoffed. She ran to the front door quickly, opened it, and ran outside. Catalina was going to go to another warlock to see if maybe she could find some help, but she didn’t get very far. Suddenly, Catalina was zapped back into the house, and the door closed behind her.
Frantically, she scrambled to her feet and ran to the windows. They were sealed shut, and Catalina couldn’t get any of them open. She tried the back door, got the same results, and screeched angrily.
“Damn, you Belhazur!” she snarled, slamming her fists on the door.
The king of Chaos turned her house into a prison, and Catalina couldn’t do anything about it.
- Writer
