Chapter 7 #4
Aurora took a breath and did as she was told.
Phaedra’s sisters often had pets, more pampered and spoiled than any that ever existed.
She smiled at the memory of a particularly ridiculous collar Fae’s eldest sister had commissioned—a pink brocade ribbon with bells and gemstones sewn in.
The thing had lasted all of a single afternoon before the poor creature had torn it to pieces.
The attendants had been forced to inspect the droppings for weeks to retrieve the gemstones.
Aurora gave her fairy mouse the infamous pink collar.
It seemed her magic was not fond of it. She gasped as her magic bucked from her control, the image in her mind growing hazy.
“Your magic is unusually rebellious,” Hyllus commented. “Don’t give up. Start from the beginning. First the animal. Then the collar.”
Aurora grunted as she started over. This time she was ready.
“Good. Now attach a leash to that collar and hold firm.”
The moment she did, she felt an awful tug. She opened her eyes and gasped.
No, not now.
“Hyllus, this isn’t a good feeling. I think—”
Aurora was running. Every shadow was a menace in the making, bubbling like a pot about to boil over. In the distance, she saw the red flag. Myrina’s tent was close at hand. All she had to do was get there, and she would be safe.
As she raced around the tent in front of her, an enormous monstrosity surged up from within it. Giant, claw-tipped hands burst forth from the fabric, grasping for purchase as the structure collapsed. Aurora fell backwards and screamed.
“Your Highness, run!”
Leukos jumped into the fray, swinging a sword at the monster. One of the hands shot out at him and tossed him aside like a rag doll.
Then the writhing mass of monstrous hands began clawing its way towards her.
“Aurora!”
She gasped, blinking. Hyllus’ hands gripped her shoulders, his jewel eyes full of concern. She was back in the tent.
“I’m back,” she assured him, catching her breath.
“What happened?” he asked, his eyes returning to normal.
“A vision. Monstrosities. In the camp.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. It appeared to be nighttime. I was racing towards Myrina’s tent and then one appeared in front of me.”
Hyllus frowned, got up, and began searching around.
“Do you remember what you were wearing in the vision?”
“I…think it was this.” She swallowed nervously, plucking at her gown.
“In that case…” he said, summoning the pale light of his divine magic. “I’m going to make that your armour. As much as a piece of fabric can be.”
The light settled on the cloth and then seeped into it before disappearing.
“Did you just…enchant my nightgown?”
Only paladins had their weapons and armour enchanted. It felt sacrilegious to allow a flimsy nightgown to be imbued with divine magic. Hyllus grinned cheekily.
“Maybe. To be safe, I think I’ll enchant the rest of your clothes,” he said, opening her chest and bathing the lot in divine magic.
“Hyllus…the vision ended just as the monstrosity was about to get me.”
What if she’d foreseen her own death? She should find her shield pendant. But unlike her calendar artefact, it didn’t call to her. Where had it gone? Hyllus frowned.
“If you didn’t see it get you, then it isn’t set in stone. Come on, show me what position you were in when it was coming for you, and I’ll teach you how to quickly get to your feet.”
Aurora gave up searching. She hadn’t had her pendant in her vision either.
Uneasy, she did as she was instructed, and Hyllus began his lesson.
He had her dodging, rolling, and springing to her feet like an acrobat within minutes.
He knocked her down over and over to show her how to recover until her backside ached.
Just as he was assessing her stance and adjusting the placement of her feet, screams erupted in the camp. The shadows inside the tent began roiling.
“Shit. Run!” Hyllus told her, releasing a massive wave of divine magic, purifying everything within the tent.
“But isn’t it safe in here now?”
“No, I’d need to keep purifying it over and over. I have to purify the centre of the eruption or they keep coming back. Now run!”
His warning was punctuated by the return of rippling shadows cast along the ground. The guard outside tore open the entrance flap.
“Monstrosities, Your Highness. We must get to Myrina’s tent!”
Aurora turned back to Hyllus, but he was already gone.
“Come!” the guard called.
Aurora raced out of the tent, the guard at her side.
The Aureans quickly abandoned their tents, all racing towards Myrina’s in the distance, its red flag snapping in the breeze.
Screams overtook the camp. Just as she began wondering what happened to her guard in her vision, a monstrosity burst from the ground, knocking Aurora on her side and separating her from the guard.
She rolled back onto her feet as Hyllus had taught her.
“Your Highness!”
“Go! I’ll find another way!” she called back.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!
It took precious moments to get her bearings.
And several more to find another route to Myrina’s tent.
By the time she’d hit her stride, monstrosities were bubbling up all around her.
As one clawed its way out of the shadows, it swiped at her, nearly sending her to the ground.
An unholy screech nearly deafened her as it dissolved on contact with her now tattered nightgown.
Aurora raced through the growing mass of monstrosities until she recognized the shape of the tent in front of her.
The same one from her vision, with Myrina’s red flag not far behind it.
The enormous monstrosity surged up and out of the tent.
Giant, claw-tipped hands burst forth, grasping for purchase.
Aurora fell backwards and screamed. Without the haziness of her vision clouding the edges, she could take in the beast’s full horror.
The hands ringed an enormous toothy maw, snapping and voracious.
“Your Highness, run!”
Leukos jumped in front of her, swinging his sword. Before she could warn him to duck, one of the hands tossed him away.
Then the hands clawed at the ground like a mass of frenetic spiders, dragging the hungry maw towards her.
She sprang back to her feet and ran, hoping to make a wide path around the giant monstrosity.
But it was clever. It cut her off from every avenue, herding her further away from Myrina’s tent with every lunge and skitter.
As she was forced to dodge emerging monstrosities, the giant one nipping at her heels closed in.
“Aurora!”
Theron. But where?
“Theron!” she screamed back.
As she scanned her surroundings in the dark, she realized she was fully surrounded now. Monstrosities were clawing their way out of the dark, solidifying, their eyes trained on her. Even the ground beneath her feet bubbled and roiled.
There was no escape.
“Fucking!”
The giant monstrosity screeched.
“Cursed!”
The fingers on the hands curled and spasmed, whipped into a frenzy.
“Hands!”
As the creature dissolved, opening a path to escape, Theron stood on the other side, his ancient shield and spear in hand. Covered in blood and the tattered remnants of his kingly attire, he was a vision of salvation.
“Hurry!” he called, opening the shelter of his arms for her.
Aurora raced through the opening he’d created and leapt into his waiting arms. He held her close for half a heartbeat before he resumed a battle stance.
“Hands around my neck and legs around my waist! I’ll get us to Myrina’s tent,” he roared, cutting a path through the monstrosities.
Aurora held on for dear life, her heart hammering in her chest. He’d come for her—again. Whatever came next, she trusted Theron to get her to safety until Hyllus could defeat the monstrosities.
Aurora gasped.
“Is Epicasta safe?”
“Fuck! Hold on tight!”
Theron raced past the camp, the monstrosities thinning out. Or so she thought.
They were launched into the air. As the world tilted and spun, Aurora braced for the impact. One that didn’t come, their fall slowing as they neared the ground. When they did hit the ground, it was with considerably less force than she’d expected.
“Pea-brained fools!” Epicasta shrieked. “You’ve lured more here!”
Theron rolled to his feet, his arm cradling Aurora as her head swam.
“Fucking ingrate!” Theron screamed back. “Should’ve let you die!”
“Your Highness!”
Leukos?
Swinging a sword through the still-forming creatures, he raced to their side. Clearly, he’d had his sword enchanted with divine magic. Bruised and bloody, he seemed relieved until he saw Epicasta.
“Princess Epicasta!”
“Focus, or we’re all dead!” Epicasta commanded.
United, Epicasta, Leukos, and Theron beat back the advancing monstrosities as best they could, but with every swing of a sword, every blast of air or lunge of a spear, the beasts died only to come back twice as fast in three times their former numbers.
Soon enough, they were surrounded. And the only useless one was Aurora.
Shaking and panicked, she tried to grab hold of her surging magic, begged it to do as she bid. But no matter what she tried, her magic slid from her control, useless in her fright.
As the monstrosities overwhelmed them, Theron gripped her close, his magic pouring into her.
“I’m sorry. I’ll keep us alive as long as possible. Close your eyes. If death comes, you won’t feel any pain.”
But she couldn’t close her eyes, even if she wanted to. The beasts rose up and leapt on them like a tide of ink. With their claws aimed straight at her eyes, she screamed, her magic blasting from her. For a heartbeat the beasts were frozen, then another heartbeat, and again.
“What in the Loom…?” Leukos said.
“They’re frozen!” Epicasta gasped.
“Stop talking and start fighting!” Theron commanded.
“You can’t move them! You can only move around them!” Aurora cried, desperately trying to control this surge in her magic. Like a nest of snakes, each one with its fangs sunk into a different monstrosity, her magic unfurled from her. She was slowly being torn apart. “Hurry! Please!”