Chapter 43

We landed on the territory of the Clown. Most of the trees were dead. I rotated my head and pointed Cad towards a deserted spot in the forest of the devastated estate. It wasn't as big as the Eskater's but it still hadn't been managed properly.

A group of catastrophic birds flew overlapping us in the sky. I looked up to identify them. The birds looked safely armored.

Wait...army birds?!

"Cad fly left!" I screamed as arrows with a light streak came at us from above. Cad did as I instructed.

Screech!

Whew!

"Now, right!" I bellowed.

How did Count Vien even get an army of ginormous birds for protection? What the heck is he planning?

Cad and I swirled in the sky to dodge the attacks of the birds above us.

"Are they on surveillance?" Cad murmured.

"Probably. I think the plan is big. Cad, can you locate the others?"

"Underground. The energy is there underground." He answered.

Ok, a trip to the basement!

"Can we drill ourselves in?" I asked Cad since it looks like he can do almost everything.

* chuckle*

"Nope, don't go exploding the place!" I heard Erebus-the-control-freak's voice from somewhere.

"I am not a control freak!" He demanded fully understanding my not-so-subtle eye roll.

"How are we supposed to sneak in then? Those birds are still on our tails!" I thought out loud.

At that moment, I felt something shifting. The air around us cleared up. Oxygen seemed denser than normal. Cad lifted his wings like a proud peacock and the gem on his forehead appeared out with no hesitation, brightly and beautifully. It changed colour and we glided through thin wind.

I spotted two huge birds with a green collar, flying at us.

Wait, are we going to crash?!

Whoooooosh!

We flew through them like a ghost.

The birds didn't attack!

Hold up! Are we invisible?

"We sure are!" Cad giggled. I DID NOT KNOW we could do that.

"Not really..." Erebus's voice came up.

"Then?" I forwarded.

"Cad moved us to a parallel dimension along the one where we actually were. The birds and others can't see us but we can. This is your power! " Erebus explained, scientifically.

"Yay!" I squealed. Ok, I wasn't the squealing type but at this moment what else can I do?

The parallel dimension consisted of lines. Many lines in fact, that run on various mediums. After a few of these lines connect an object could be seen. The dimension had the visual of a real life blue print. I guess this is where all the magic with particles happen.

Cad accelerated and changed his wing direction towards the ground. We neared the mansion of the estate. I assumed that we were close to our destination, so I readied myself, gripping tight.

Cad flew right through the ground. It was possible as there was no ground in the dimension in which we were. I expected the surroundings to be dark and creepy like some horror movie but a huge tunnel threw all my imaginations out the window.

It was lighted through oil lamps with a green glow. Creepy but looked eco-friendly. In any case, the significant monster cries were reverberating through the air. Cad's animal instinct sparked. I nodded my head and followed my dragon swirling through the tunnel.

Caw Caw! Caw Caw! Roar!

The sounds sounded eerie and closer the more we walked.

My right hand was on my sword the whole time with a tight grip. Erebus was invisible as always but I knew he was right next to me. Maybe, this is the anonymous trust one feels towards another.

We rounded a dead corner, only to be haunted by a caged entrance to an army of monsters. No one was around, that was confirmed. Cad dropped me down. He switched to his bat form while I walked towards the caged bars.

The monsters were on the other side. I could see hundreds of silhouettes through the bars.

They were caged!

It always sounded so cool when the hero of the story saves someone trapped and caged but I never thought that it would hurt this much to see it first hand.

Cad's gem shined once more and we entered the original dimension. The Count must have planned to unleash all of them at once during the rebellion. He should have at least kept some soldiers to monitor the creatures. I'm betting that they were too scared to even look at one.

I grabbed some dark stripes around me with almost no effort and gagged them on the bars. The monsters attention all ran into me.

I repeated only to be pushed away by the cages. Of course! They must have been infused with some magic.

I scanned around the room. There was nothing but plain walls around. Come to think of it, why wasn't it dark? Even if the lamps were there, they only held a faint glow.

Oh, I see. The walls reflect the light waves. How didn't I see that before?

"Cad, why don't we have a little fun?" I said with glistening eyes. Cad immediately nodded. This is why I like my dragon!

I shot some black stripes at one lamp, near a corner of the caged bar. The light went out and my stripe bounced onto another lamp faraway from the initial one. Then, the stripe continued bouncing on and off for a few more incoming minutes.

I got this!

I fired a black stripe at the screw bounding the cage to the wall and that reflected to the screw located opposite to it. I continued with several other stripes as well. Pew! Pew! Pew!

The nuts and screws fell off.

Bang!

With a loud crash, the metal bars fell on the ground.

The cages opened up. I hoped that the monsters would run rampant after finally being set free but they knelt down after exiting the huge cages. Erebus had morphed behind me. Most of the monsters' gems slipped out in display. They were of vibrant colors.

"Erebus, let's teleport!" I gave my command with full authority. Erebus's eyes blinked and I could swore that I saw a smile forming through the black mist.

Count Vien, I wish you good luck in trying to achieve your a failed plan!

***

All at once, the dark mist covered all the monsters and the next thing I knew was that we were back at the mountainous forest of the town.

"Rose!" I heard Nidas's voice in the distance. The monsters bowed their heads and dispersed. Four of them stayed behind. Nidas switched to his manticore form in a poof and came up to me. After he joined the four left out monsters, I seemed to grab what was happening.

These were the leaders of the monster races. They all represented one section of each direction and I couldn't believe that they were actually my favorite elementalists. Wow, this just gets better and better!

In front of me stood the most recognized creatures: The Azure dragon of East, The Vermillion Bird of South, The black tortoise of North and The white tiger of West.

Should I bow or something? I mean, aren't they legendary creatures...

'Remember, they bowed to you!' A cocky part of my brain informed.

"Thank you." All of the monsters spoke at once.

"Umm...No...uhh...It's my pleasure."

'I can't believe you are being so modest now!' My conscience screamed and I told her to scram. How dare she mess with me, now of all times?!

"We represent each direction and now that the Dark Lord is here, the balance is united and stable. We will meet again." The dragon spoke. I nodded unable to come up with something witty.

Oh, who am I kidding, these are the four symbolled creatures of all fiction. How am I even standing still?!

Poof!

Yep, they left.

I guess the writers on the internet and encyclopedias didn't mention how short and sweet the real deals are.

"Like I said, they are haughty!" Nidas grumbled.

"Count Vien will have so much fun when he realizes that his monster army disappeared!" Erebus chuckled.

"We have one more thing left, huh, Rose?" Erebus continued.

"Yes! Let's return to the Eskater duchy!"

Hello readers,

How was today's chapter? Should Rose have requested an autograph of her favorite legendary animals? Leave your thoughts in the comments and feel free to vote. Happy reading!!