Portal ^

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"Dead?"

The fairy stares at Mikyla with wide eyes as she hangs her head in shame.

"I'm sorry- the fire started to too fast and I didn't-"

A slow rumble started to escalate in the fairy's direction and Mikyla braced herself for a storm warning. She shut her eyes tight and stuffened herself as the rumbling grew lounder and louder but with the crack of an eyelid, Mikyla was amazed to see the fairy giggling to herself.

"Oh, you are a funny one, aren't you?" The fairy wiped tears from her eyes. "It's been a long time since an Elf made me laugh, your kind, especially 'the nobility' as you like to call yourselves are so stuck up but I like you."

Mikyla gave the fairy a meek smile. "I'll take that as a compliment..."

"A compliment?" The fairy joked. "You really are a weird one. Say, they call me Su'aco. What do they call you?"

"Miky- Mikael." Mikyla corrected herself. "Mikael Fëanor."

"Well Mikael, if it was that easy to kill 'Chath', or Treeman as he's commonly called, I would have done it personally a long time ago."

A look of horror slowly bleached itself onto Mikyla face only causes Su'aco's grin to widen.

"What? Just because I'm a fairy doesn't mean I'm cute and all. I am the sole protector of the realm after all, we aren't all the heroes you hear about in your 'fairytales'. Mind you, we aren't as bad as mermaid at least- piece of advice- stay far far away. Rip off your ears if you have to because as soon as your ensnared by that melody- you're a sinking ship."

"I'll take a note of that then."

"I would. There aren't any in this realm and the scariest thing you may stumble upon are the wyverns but they're all hibernating at the moment so you'll be fine as long as you don't fall into one of their nests." Su'aco grimaces slightly. "So as I way saying, Treeman doesn't die, or rather can't. Some type of curse turned him into a tree but that doesn't prevent him from practising his old tricks. Phoenix fire though... that's an old one."

"Phoenix fire?"

"A fire spell." Su'aco shakes her head. "Not my field of expertise but essentially it's a cheap trick with a heavy price. It's the perfect scapegoat. You basically commit suicide- but before you get any crazy ideas, it's not really suicide. The enchantment behind it is fiddly but to put it bluntly you fake your death, turn into ash and are reborn like a phoenix, hence phoenix fire. The recovery time is about a year and whilst you're in ash state, you're at the mercy of the elements. Nonetheless, he can't de but he's been pulling the same stupid stunts ever since he was human and it gets old real quick."

"Human? What's a human?"

Suddenly Su'aco stiffens and her eyes dart to the side before a gust of wind creates a moment of turbulence.

"Nevermind that," Su'aco waves off as she starts to fidget. "It seems like another has awoken... Drat the blasted wind... Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat to such a unique specimen but I've got a riddle to tell. Speaking of... this one's a little trickier:"

"Tricki-"

"A nimble mind, one must possess, to cast spells from z to a,
A will of fire, plagued with desire, will no doubt lead astray.
To humble oneself, an imitate fast, the perks of being a raven,
Doubt not the gleam, borne from thoust dream, a path dusted with brazen."

As soon as the last syllable was uttered, the wind shifted direction and with mirage lines, the fairy shred into the wind with only a far away scream of surprise to hint as to her location.

Before long, Mikyla hears a quiet groan and for a second she anticipates another messenger of fate. A look down, however, provided the ultimate bathos as her anticipation fell with her eyes onto the Noble boy.

Sam awoke with a petty yawn and if the apprehension didn't leave her on edge, Mikyla would have shook her head at the sight of what could only be compared to a princess arising from a beauty nap. He was a Noble after all so she shouldn't have expected anymore. They were slothful, disgusting and the more you seemed to look at them, the more they seemed to put you on edge.

This time Mikyla did shake her head but as she returned her gaze to Sam, the trepidation did not fade. Instead, a shiver ran down her spine and within moments Sam's bones elongate, stabbing out of his flesh into scythes. A draconic tail erupts from his rear end, doused in fine warning colluded needles and his nails sprouted into daggers. His neck stretched to allow room for a fan of spikes and his jaw turned into a muzzle with teeth as sharp as stalactites. His skin slowly darkened into a poison violet and as he pounced for Mikyla, she could only do one thing- she slapped him.

Immediately, the illusion faded and Sam was knocked to the ground, a searing red handprint stamped into his cheek. His head wobbled dazed in a half circle and Mikyla cupped her hands over her mouth in shock of what she had done.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Sam! I didn't- I didn't think that-"

"It's alright Mr. Cuddles." Sam slurred, suddenly sitting bolt upright. "Come and eat your cake now. You know sugar is good for the bones. Eat the icing and don't forget the gummy bears..."

Sam slowly staggered to his feet, his eyes clouded as he towards Mikyla who backed away not knowing what to do.

Sam poured but continued his pursuit. "Don't be shy... Isn't there enough sprinkles for you?"

"Emmm... Sam?" Mikyla waved a hesitant hand in front of Sam's face.

For a split second Sam stopped and Mikyla let out a sigh of relief. But then a smile contorted his face and Mikyla felt her blood run cold.

"I see how it is- If you're going to be a bad gingerbread man then I'm going to have to put you away."

Mikyla felt a stab of electricity prick her skin as Sam started to accelerate towards her. His slow stumble turned into a jog until he was sprinting after Mikyla. Hindered by shock, Mikyla struggled to turn and run, making an escape from the sudden murderous intent. She felt her footing loosen underneath her yet she strove on, barely escaping the clutches of the dazed Noble.

She was quick enough though. She partied and dodged for as long as she could but with Sam's innate deft instincts she soon found herself in his taught grasp.

Mikyla gulped as she felt her arms squeezed bruised but as a turn of events, Sam pulled her into a hug, crushing her rib cage.

"Mr. Cuddles? Why aren't you cuddling Mr. Cuddles?"

Mikyla squirmed under the pressure and only a pinch under the armpits allowed her an opportunity to escape. With a swift kick in a certain area, Sam's eyes quickly cleared in a growing pool of tears as the hallucination faded.

Sam slowly regained consciousness, the sudden onset of nauseating pain lingering until his face once again express a different emotion. Sam locked eyes with Mikyla who now had her hands on her hips with a dissatisfied state.

"Yeah, you better be scared. Hallucination or not; I refuse to be hugged to death."

Sam shakes his head, his face still petrified. He tries to speak but only short squeaks come out.

"What? What is it?"

Sam struggles with his utterance, continuing to only produce incoherent squalls until a massive screech erupts and alongside finger-pointing, it didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening.

"It's behind me." Mikyla gulped as she slowly read the situation. "Right?"

Sam nods feverishly but before Mikyla can spin around, she felt claws sink into her shoulders and watched mesmerised as the ground slowly departed from her feet.

"Gryphons!" Sam barely shrieked before the another beast swooped down upon him and knocking him to the ground.

"Sam!" Mikyla outreached her hand towards the ground as she ascended into the sky but it was a waste of breath for the second gryphon didn't hesitate in plucking him from the earth as well.

Mikyla winced with each wingbeat, the powerful force against the wind traveling directly into the talons that snatched her. She could feel the blood trickle down her collarbone, soaking the cotton layer and whisking away even more heat as they grew higher and higher into the clouds.

Every clamber upwards was terrifying yet exhilarating at the same time. The fear of falling mixed in with the wonders as the ground fell away leaving behind the open plains to create a tension of awe as woodlands filled their path ahead. Every plunge and dive over the clouds took Mikyla's breaths away and it was only until the pair of gryphons sped towards a giant flock that terror started to set in. Were they food?

"Sam..." Mikyla started, her voice burdened by the rushing wind.

"Yeah?" Sam yelled back but it only came out as a whisper.

"Where do you think they're taking us?"

"I don't know... We're not going to die or anything though. It's just a test, right?"

"That's what they said." Mikyla pursed her lips hoping to hold her tongue. It would cause a controversy if any of them died but pain was a different thing. There was no time limit after all. Was that a bonus or a curse?

"Hey! What's that down there?" Mikyla shouted as a clearing in the forest below started to appear. "I think it might be time to get off!"

"You think?" Sam yelled back. "Haven't you been trying to do that this whole time?"

"Well, no. I thought I would take my chances with just the two of them rather than fall as pancake batter but now that there's a whole fleet of them-"

"And what?" Sam's voice came back amuses. "You found a solution to being squashed."

"I figured we're pretty high up by now so whilst we free-fall we can probably flick through these magic books and see if they're is anything helpful."

"That does sound better than being pigeon fodder but have you thought of how we'll escape first? I doubt that saying 'Can you please let us go?' will really-"

Suddenly the pressure in Mikyla's shoulder loosened and the squelch if fresh blood caused her to grimace. She felt her body grow heavy and the wind whipped even stronger.

"Uhhh... Sam?" Mikyla asked, hesitant to look either up or down as her body leveled flat. "We're... We're..."

"Falling." Sam said, the color of his face gone with the wind. "Yup. We're falling."

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Word Count for Chapter 18: 1813
Total Word Count: 28367

Authors Note:

Hope you liked the UNEDITED chapter 18! Don't forget to press on those magical stars to light up Mikyla's future path and leave a comment telling me what you like so far or what you don't like. Thanks for reading so far.

Happy reading 
~ Dracollavenore