Original Stories Fan Fiction / Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction ❯ Revenge of the Descent ❯ Nine - The Long Way Ahead ( Chapter 9 )

Guren sighed tiredly, slowly trudging up the hill behind the rest of the group. Upon Florian's personal request, he remained at the back of the whole group, keeping a wary eye on Lord Kyros. He didn't want to admit it, but he too was suspicious of the prince's sudden interest in Kai. If he didn't have so many emotions and feelings swirling around in his mind, he was sure he would feel a slight bit of his own jealousy.

 

Shaking his head, he shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind. So far, Kyros had only tried talking to Kai, who always looked uninterested and replied nonchalantly. Guren had to fight to keep his smirk hidden when Kyros always resigned with an annoyed frown on his face.

 

After they reached the top of the hill, they sat down near a few trees and Ilias and Kyros left to refill everyone's canteens with spring water. “There should be a stream just east of here,” said Ilias, glancing briefly at Guren. “We shouldn't be long.”

 

Guren waved his hand boredly, avoiding the elf's concerned stare. Ilias sighed, shaking his head as he and Kyros walked away.

 

Once the two were out of earshot, Kai let out a breath of relief. “Thank goodness,” she muttered as Candis took a seat next to her. “That Kyros has been nothing but annoying for the past three days!”

 

“If it makes you feel any better, I had to deal with that before, too,” said Candis, giving her friend a slightly encouraging smile. “I guess you get used to it after a while.”

 

Kai muttered something under her breath, then peeked over at Guren. He was sitting cross-legged on the grass, staring boredly at the ground. Feeling her stare, he glimpsed up at her, causing her cheeks to turn pink as she looked away. Candis giggled, nudging the girl in the ribs. “Ow!”

 

The fire elementalist laughed, standing up as she said, “Go talk to him. You know you want to.” She dodged a snowball that Kai had made and thrown at her, laughing as she walked towards Eryk. Kai rolled her eyes, standing and brushing off her bottom.

 

So it's been three days, then? thought Guren, resting his chin upon his palm thoughtfully. Then Florian probably should be meeting us here. He suddenly looked up, staring through the darkness of the trees. His eyes widened as he saw a figure forming, a ghostly white woman dressed in tattered clothing. Her hair was a milky white, her eyes a piercing red…

 

“Guren!”

 

The man gasped for air as the figure quickly disappeared back into the darkness. He held his chest tightly, feeling as if something inside of him was squeezing the air out of his lungs. After a few seconds of listening to worried and urgent voices, he saw the figure emerge once more as he blacked out.

 

 

A dark figure smirked triumphantly, pulling her blood red cloak tighter around her body as the wind picked up. Chuckling to herself, she quickly made her way back into the castle to tell her master the good news. “Lady Rika,” she called, stopping at the doorway to bow respectfully.

 

The woman in the frayed throne slowly lifted a ghostly pale hand, resting her chin upon it as she asked, “What is it… Cassiel?”

 

The girl smiled wickedly, pulling down her hood as she stood and walked closer to the now more human-looking figure. “The spell is complete, Lady Rika,” she said, her smile widening when she saw her master's look of surprise.

 

“Is it, now?” she mused, her clawed hands reaching out towards Cassiel. “My dear Cassiel, you were not a fool after all.” The woman cackled evilly, her bony, flattened body creaking with every breath. “Soon, that man will be ours.”

 

Cassiel chuckled, bowing once more before she left the room. It's only a matter of time before he attacks his precious woman, she thought, her wicked laugh echoing off of the corridor's walls.

 

 

Florian frowned at the scene he had witnessed just as he arrived at the top of the hill. He had meant to call out to his friends, but then he saw Guren go deathly still, staring into the distant forest ahead of him. He had rushed over as soon as Guren collapsed onto the ground, sensing an immense evil aura surrounding the man.

 

He cursed himself for not taking precautions in case the curse was still in effect. “Dammit,” he swore, running a hand through his hair as he paced back and forth. After he chanted reverse spell and protection charms, he attempted to sit down and calm himself. It didn't help very much, now that he knew for sure that the curse was in full effect.

 

“Calm down, Florian,” said Feng, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You're not psychic. None of us are. We couldn't have possibly seen this coming.”

 

“She's right,” Chi pitched in, staring worriedly at the older man. He sighed, rubbing his eyes.

 

“Florian, you should sleep,” Kai said, mildly concerned. She patted her friend on the shoulder, giving him a small smile. “You need it more than all of us. I'm sure it was stressful leaving Kiri alone with only her grandmother and little brother.”

 

He nodded in resignation, absentmindedly pulling a pillow and blanket out of his pack and smoothing the soft, grassy ground. He closed his eyes slowly, gratefully welcoming the abyss of sleep.

 

Kai had offered to be the first on duty for the night, though the others strongly disagreed. “If Cassiel is in fact somewhere near us, she could cast a spell on you without your knowledge,” Ilias argued. “We can't take the chance, Kai.”

 

The water elementalist rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and legs as she said, “Ilias, you really do worry too much. I'll be fine. If I sense anything, I'll be sure to wake all of you up.”

 

Ilias frowned, but saw that he couldn't talk Kai out of this. Unwillingly, he took out his own blankets and lay idly on the ground.

 

The first couple of hours went by slowly, boring Kai out of her mind. She didn't want to think of what had happened with Guren; she knew that would only make her depressed, which she didn't need to be in their current situation. She would have liked to think of the ocean and her brother, but that would make her nostalgic.

 

Guess I should just pay attention, she told herself. Stop spacing out. It'll be your fault if anything happens to anyone because of your stupidity.

 

She nearly jumped five feet in the air when she felt a hand grab onto her shoulder. Relieved to see it was only Guren, she turned around and noticed that his other hand was covering his eyes. “K-Kai…” he stuttered, barely coherent enough for Kai to realize he was calling her name.

 

“What's wrong?” she asked urgently, moving his hand away from his eyes. She gasped in shock—his eyes had turned completely red and blazed with an evil intent. There was no emotion in his face except for anger… And revenge.

 

Kai yelped in alarm when he attempted to tackle her, only to fall clumsily on the ground. Well that's what he gets for not resting when I told him to, she thought mockingly, taking note of his awkward swings and lunges. She opened her mouth to gasp when he caught her by the neck, shoving her harshly against a tree trunk.

 

I feel… like a fish… she thought, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly as she dug her fingernails into Guren's hands. Just as she started feeling light-headed, she saw the glint of Ilias's sword and winced instinctively as he whacked Guren over the head with the hilt. Taking deep breaths, she fell to the ground, barely able to keep herself on her hands and knees. “Bastard took a lot out of me,” she gasped.

 

Florian rushed over, checking Guren's pulse amongst other things. He grabbed Kai by the shoulder, asking, “Are you alright?”

 

She nodded, rubbing her neck. That probably left a mark, she thought bitterly, steadying herself as she stood up. “He just started to attack me, and his eyes were glowing red,” she offered, hoping that would help explain it a bit.

 

Ilias shook his head wearily, rubbing his temples as he sat back onto the grass. “Is there any way to reverse the curse?” he asked desperately.

 

Florian shook his head, his expression more grim than usual. “No, from the blood samples we took while he was unconscious, we were able to determine that it's only a self-breakable curse. He has to come to realize his own values and morals; only then will he be able to break his own curse.”

 

“What?” asked Candis. “That doesn't make any sense,” she added, moving closer to Kai to check up on her.

 

“It's like in fairytales,” explained Eryk, trying to hide a yawn as he joined the group. “In order for the person under the curse to be free of it, he has to accept his true self. It's hard to explain, but let's just say it's equivalent to someone realizing they have feelings for someone else, or finally cherishing the value of family and friends.”

 

Candis still looked confused, but nodded anyway. Feng and Chi were sitting on the opposite of Kai. Feng seemed quite interested in the change of Guren's physical appearance. “This is a strong curse,” she muttered darkly. “His nails have grown into claws, and his skin is deathly cold.”

 

Kai's frown deepened as she realized that when he was choking her, his hands did feel much too cold. “What can we do? He's probably going to attack all of us when he—”

 

As if to answer her prediction, Guren's glowing eyes shot open as he quickly stood up and dashed off into the forest. “That's the direction he was looking toward earlier,” commented Kyros, kneeling before the group.

 

“Where the hell have you been?!” exclaimed Eryk, taking the man by the collar. “When we all woke up to Kai shouting out, you weren't even in your bed.” He glared at the prince who simply rolled his eyes.

 

“I smelled a scent that was similar to my uncle's and followed it until I came upon a cliff that rose straight up from the Aldric Ocean, and there I saw a rather dark and tattered castle upon a small island,” he explained, smacking Eryk's hand off of his shirt. “In other words, I've found Rika's hideout.”

 

That's some slightly good news, right? Chi asked Feng. The air elementalist shrugged, running a hand through her hair. “Great, next thing we know is that where Kyros went is exactly where Guren was headed when he darted out of here,” she said, looking gloomy.

 

Florian nodded, adding, “Before Guren collapsed, he was staring off into the distance. He was staring South East from here, and…”

 

“…That's exactly the direction I went,” finished Kyros, looking proud. “What would you all do without me?”

 

“Kyros, this isn't the time for jokes,” said Ilias seriously, for the first time glaring at his nephew. “We must hurry and defeat Cassiel, wherever she is. We have to find a way to break the curse that is on Guren.”

 

 

It had been a long two days since Guren had taken off. Kyros had lost track of the scent, so the group was stuck with his memory of the path he took. “Somehow I think he's trying to get us lost,” Candis muttered under her breath.

 

“No,” disagreed Chi. “I sensed a change in the atmosphere a while ago… we must be going the right way.” She nodded to herself, shuddering at the stillness of the deep forest. “Anyway, how are we going to get to the island from here?” she asked.

 

“Simple. We—meaning Florian and myself—will make a boat and sail over there,” said Eryk, glancing at Kyros and satisfied with his look of dismay. Candis rolled her eyes, lightly smacking Eryk on the head.

 

“In any case,” said Ilias, interrupting the glaring contest. “We have to hurry. Surely Cassiel has been giving all her energy to Rika, which explains her sudden ability to send creatures out.”

 

“Tell me about it,” commented Kyros, looking disgusted. “We've had to fight bunches of them in just the past two days. It's getting a bit ridiculous if you ask me.”

 

Kai sighed, shaking her head at nothing in particular. Naturally, she was still upset about Guren, but she wouldn't let that keep her down. She forced herself to think on the bright side—once they get to the island, they can kick Rika's ass once and for all and get Guren back. Or so you hope, said Candis, shooting a worried glance toward her friend. Kai shrugged and finally took in the environment that they were currently in.

 

“Whoa,” she whispered to herself. This place wasn't that dark and creepy before, was it? she asked herself. It wasn't, answered Feng. “It seems as we get closer to the island, the more dead and infested the trees and creatures are,” muttered the air elementalist, cautiously peeking around the corners of the darkened and shadowed trees.

 

 

Rika grinned evilly at her newly posessed pawn, gently tipping his head up with her index finger. “My dear Guren,” she hissed, staring into his blank eyes. “You work for the Great Lady Rika now, don't you?”

 

Guren nodded blankly, replying dully, “Yes, Lady Rika. I serve you and only you.”

 

The evil mistress smiled, satisfied with his answer. “Good. Cassiel, my dear… It is time. Ready my five strongest warriors, and Guren will be in charge of them. Send them out to hide in the bushes around the moat.”

 

Cassiel nodded, chuckling under her breath as she stepped outside of the throne room. “My Lady Rika, we will not fail this time,” she whispered, walking down the darkened hallways.