Chapter forty-one—Slayer of the Bewitchers
I stared at her, gawking. Strands of my soaked hair stuck to my face, and I moved them back with my hand swiftly. Standing up, my black dress stuck to my skin. The wind whipped by cold hair around, and I shouted through the noise. “Angel of the Hunt?”
She nodded, and I saw a wisp of smile. “The name’s Sophia.” She glanced around her, worry creasing her face. “We need to get out of here before it attacks. Take my hand, and hurry.”
“Wait.” I gasped, still faint from the past events. “We need to heal Abby.”
Sophia scanned the scene, and she looked as though she just realized Abby was there, bleeding on the side. I saw that she had taken out the knife that pierced her stomach. Sophia rushed over, and tucked a piece of midnight hair behind her ear. When she touched Abby’s wound gently, she made a confused face. “There is gold in… Her blood. However, it’s so red…”
“She’s half Seraphina-Alleyen.” I answered, kneeling before her. “Can you heal her?”
Sophia didn’t waste any time on asking questions. “My main school is life, despite my Angel nature. Just give me a moment.”
Doing something very similar to what I did to Nikki back in Krokotopia, she performed it more gracefully and kindness. She didn’t sweat, pale, or look exhausted from the large amount of energy leaving her body. She only looked natural.
Abby opened her eyes in wonder. “Mary?”
“No, darling,” Sophia smiled, standing up. “It’s just me.”
Abby stood up, frowning. “You have her eyes.”
“Abby, meet our new sister.” I introduced her. “Her name is Sophia.”
Before Abby could say anything, Sophia cracked her fingers in a quick motion. “We don’t have time to wait; if it finds me, then it might kill you guys before I kill it again.”
“It? Another one of those clones?” I asked.
“No, the wolf. Oh, by the way, those weren’t clones. They’re called Bewitchers.” Sophia took my hand, and made me go down the ladder to the balcony first. When she attempted to go inside, I took her arm in protest.
“We need to stay outside.” I decided, “You won’t like it in there- trust me. Not with our things soaked.”
“Mary,” She looked annoyed. “If we don’t go now, the wolf will catch my scent.”
I shook my head in confusion. “B-but you’ve already killed the wolf? And what is a Bewitcher-”
Sophia interrupted me. “Many times, and I cannot explain what a Bewitcher is at the moment; we’re in great danger.”
Abby gasped. “Mary… Your spirit animal… It’s so beautiful.”
I raised my eyebrow. “Don’t you see my spirit animal when we are in danger?”
I saw Sophia pale, and all of a sudden she had her majestic bow in her hand. “Stay back.” She ordered.
I stepped forward, taking her arm. “You know I can’t do that.’
All of a sudden, it was as though I was experiencing the dream I had the other night all over again. The same, horrid and humongous roar echoed through the night, and all of a sudden I felt this large balcony rumble. I heard screams inside, and we rushed into the ballroom. Ladies and gentlemen and animals were scattering, trying to get away from the beast charging. I saw that the grand window showing off the night sky was shattered, and glass scattered the floor like ice. A wolf as big as an elephant was charging towards us. In my dream, the wolf would kill anything in its way. Right now, it only saw us in its devil eyes.
I heard a little shriek, and I saw Xena flying around the room in a dangerous way. It dove down, and scratched at the huge wolf. However, pulling out tufts of wolf hair wasn’t helping much.
Suddenly, somebody threw a dagger at the wolf’s head, near its eye. It slit the wolf’s skin, and it was enough to get the wolf’s attention. The wolf roared, and reared its body, and charged the way the object was thrown. Somebody screamed.
In order to save somebody’s life from their stupidity, I saw Sophia shoot the wolf with a bright golden flash of her bow. It landed in the wolf’s hind leg, and I had my citrine sword from my amulet. Using my sword to cut off the part of the dress that made it harder to run, my gown was now shredded and to my knees. Charging forward, I stupidly climbed up on the wolf’s back.
I held on tight to the black fur for my life, and it reared up like a horse. The wolf’s scream sounded like a dinosaur as I stuck the sword straight into its lungs, and blood began pouring out of both wounds. I jumped off the wolf with my sword, just as it fell. Its blood covered my right side, and I tumbled into the marble floor. I felt a snap in my wrist as I hit a nearby pillar, and I felt a new throb in my head. However, I felt pure satisfaction in saving a person’s life- even though I don’t know who that person was. The wolf lay dead on the floor, and it burned up like last time into ashes.
I saw a flash of red, and noticed Nikki kneeling over me, her eyes glistening in worry. “Mary, please tell me your okay..?”
“I’m alright-“I sat up a little, and my shoulder ached. “I just think I broke my wrist.”
“Need me to heal it?” Sophia asked, also rushing forward. “You handled the wolf like a true fighter. Good job.”
“Err,” I responded cleverly, healing my own wounds with my life magic. “Thanks.”
It took a moment to realize everybody was staring at me. Abby was checking to see if Caspian was alright, and he actually looked like he cared for everybody. When I was gazing at Abby and him, he seemed to sense somebody was looking at him, and he turned his head and we made contact. Quickly, I averted my eyes, and stood up carefully. Trying to ignore the chills of Caspian’s gaze, I looked Sophia straight in the eyes. “You need to tell me why the wolf came back.”
She nodded. “I will.”
I saw Abby walk over, and she put her hand on my shoulder. “I didn’t get to tell you before, Mary, but your spirit animal…”
I raised my eyebrow at her. “What is it?”
“It’s a black horse with wings.” She smiled. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You mean… A Pegasus?”
She nodded. “But it’s different. More real.”
“Alright then.” I replied thoughtfully.
I saw Sophia chuckle, and Nikki was staring at her strangely.
“Is this..?” Nikki’s eyes widened and I realized that she hadn’t been told of the news yet.
“Sophia is the Angel of the Hunt and Battle
I looked up, and realized people were clapping for us. Nikki, Sophia, Abby and I. I smiled, trying to hide my sorrow, and a few servants escorted us out of the ballroom.
They took us to my room, and we all sat down feverishly. A maid quietly told us to wait, and that Queen Cecilia will be visiting our rooms. None of us shouted in excitement or felt anything. We didn’t know if this was a good or a bad thing, considering that a random wolf had jumped through the ballroom windows, and it could be our entire fault.
When the maid left, Nikki spoke up immediately. “Now is a good time to explain what happened. Especially you, Sophia.”
“Alright.” Sophia sighed, and she shifted into a more comfortable position on the plush couch near the fireplace. “What do you need to know?”
“How you got here, where you’re from, how you figured out about the S.A…” Abby spoke up articulately.
“Well…” Sophia frowned, as if trying to remember something. “My father was an adventurer. He had always said that there were Angels out there, and that he was going to find one.”
We nodded, and she continued. “One day, he comes back from DragonSpyre claiming that he found an Angel-“
“Where is DragonSpyre?” I asked, interrupting. I felt myself blush as they glared at me.
“It’s a world where the Titans had fought. Everything is very bad there, now. Oh, and by bad, I mean all in ruins and lava and…” Nikki trailed off, thinking.
“Like where Mary and I were.” Abby frowned, glancing at Sophia. “Right?”
“Actually, the place did look like DragonSpyre, but you weren’t actually there.” Sophia explained. “Bewitcher’s are not demons; they are not part of the Enchanted race, either. They are creatures that can become anybody’s appearance they wish to, and the particular one that you guys experienced also changed the scene, so it would have been a very powerful Bewitcher.”
“Would have been?”
“I killed it.” Sophia answered, smirking. “Now, back to the story… My father had traveled to DragonSpyre, and had come back very different. Every day, he was becoming more and more insane. On his last days, he lost his voice, so he had to write everything down.” Sophia winced. I couldn’t imagine losing a parent slowly, even though I could imagine losing one very fast, like me.
“And he wrote you down something?” Nikki guessed.
“Yes,” Sophia replied, “He told me that my mother’s Angel was watching me, and that I had a big destiny. However, he told me that my dead mother told him to show me where I had to go. Then, my father told me to search for a girl named Mary Ravengem- and mind you, this is before your family’s death, Mary.”
I perked up, wondering why her father knew me so long ago. However, nobody noticed. “When my father died, I picked up my stuff and began my search. When I had seen in the newspaper about the big event with Sylvia Drake’s second death, and about Mary, I knew.” Sophia crossed her arms. “I knew there was something connected with Mary and me.”
I heard a squawk, and I noticed Xena cleaning her wings on top of my dresser. Nobody paid attention to her, however.
“And then, just when I was becoming confused, I got a dream.” Sophia smiled. “From the Fates… And I met one of them.
“You met…” I gasped. “You met one of the Fates?”
“Yes,” Sophia answered. “And they told me a lot of things we need to know.”
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