"Wanda what nonsense are you spouting!" William yelled as his eyes practically bulged from his head. "I can not say." She answered with a sorrowful voice. Rain brought up a hand and rubbed his forehead. "Mr. Atlar, if you write up the dismissal of the accusation, I will free Ms. Nestle from her near death experience."
William calmed down and dropped his gaze as he contemplated his options. "Mr. Atlar you better not be going back on your word. You have already passed your judgement on Miss Ariana. If you dare go back on what you just said be prepared to be punished." Rain warned.
William could feel the icy glare from Rain without even having to look up. "Fine! Save them and I will write the pardon." He said as a hidden smile spread across his face.
"I think it's best that you write it first then I'll do as you asked." Rain replied as he snapped his fingers, a fancy piece of parchment and quill pen appeared on the desk. "It's already written for you, all you have to do is sign it." Rain said as he took a few steps closer towards him. "It doesn't take much, so why don't you sign." His voice rang demonically inside William's head.
William nodded his head in agreement as a fresh layer of moisture coated his skin. "Good." Rain said as he watched William sign off on the document. Rain snapped his fingers and the parchment disappeared while the quill pen stayed in William's hands. "Now that it has been settled I should take my leave with my lovely student." He said as he started to walk down towards the floor. "What about me?" Wanda screeched with horror.
"Breeze?" Rain called out and Breeze presented the stone shell to his master as he bowed. "Ah thank you." Rain said as he retrieved his stone shell from his hands. "What the hell is this!" William shouted as he pointed towards Rain. "Nothing, I mean Ms. Nestle admitted she has no free will to answer the question.... so it became void." Rain replied. William's face twisted with anger as Rain shrugged.
"Guards! Guards!" William shouted, Breeze quickly scooped up Ariana and ran out of the room as Rain magically sealed the doors behind them. "We need to leave!" Rain shouted as he and Breeze ran from the scene. "Master, I believe the carriage has been compromised." Breeze said as Ariana tried to break free from his arms. Rain looked at Breeze then the struggling Ariana.
Rain looked down the hall and saw a hidden doorway in the shadows. Rain called out to Breeze telephonically and they both rushed towards the door. Once they were safely inside Rain turned to Ariana and grabbed her wrist.
"What are you doing?!" He shouted. Ariana gave him a murderous look and yanked herself free. Breeze finally put her down. "My grandmother was left behind!" She shouted as angry tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.
"What are you talking about?! This was her plan! She told me to run with you the moment things turned sour!" Rain protested back but Ariana was not listening. She looked around the room and noticed something was off.
"Rain?!" She said in a strained voice but Rain wouldn't let her continue. "No Ariana! You need to understand that the adults have your best interest at heart!" The bookshelves that lined the small room started to rumble. "Rain?!" Ariana called again in a more alarmed tone but Rain was absorbed in what he was saying.
"I mean I was spectacular! I never knew I had that in me and yet they still raised a hand in defiance! There was no winning this battle at all!" Breeze rolled his eyes as his master babbled on and then saw what Ariana was looking at.
"Master!" Breeze shouted as he stepped in front of Ariana and raised his hands up. "What?!" Rain shouted back and saw that Breeze called forth a barrier just as something started attacking viciously.
The bookshelf in front of Ariana came to life with the wall. The shelves melted into the wall and the books became rows of razor sharp teeth and the and formed a melted, eyeless blob monster. Rain looked around himself and spun his arms through the air like windmills then palmed the ground. A thicker barrier came up just as the rest of the walls turned into carbon copied beasts.
"What is going on?!" Ariana shouted and Breeze wrapped a protect arm around her shoulder. Making sure that she stepped back with him. "Ka pouli Shifters." Rain said as they watch the three walls gnaw at the barrier while the wall with the door way morphed into a giant tongue. It repeatedly licked it's side of the barrier and Rain couldn't stop himself from looking worried.
"What are Ka pouli Shifters?" Rain looked at Ariana and tried to give her a reassuring smile but failed in his attempt. "Rain?" She called out pitifully and Breeze pulled her in for a hug. "Listen Ka pouli Shifters are notoriously obsessive hunters. The one has already tasted my magic and the other three are eating away at my master's...." Breeze explained. Ariana tried to push Breeze off but he tightened his grip.
"What Breeze is trying to say is we're in deep trouble. Ka pouli Shifters, they can travel through the shadows to find us, shifting their bodies to form literally anything in order to catch their prey... I think this must be one of the Council's defense mechanisms and we stupidly fell into their trap." Rain explained, Ariana reached out and grabbed Rain's sleeve and gave it a tug. "There is a way to beat them right?"
Raina swallowed back some saliva and Breeze finally released her from his embrace. "There is a way for you to escape..." Rain started to say his gaze moved away from Ariana and turned towards the wall that morphed into a tongue. The Ka pouli Shifter's acidic saliva stared to burn tiny holes into Rain's barrier. "ʻO ka makani oztopoa." He shouted as he spun his hands around again. "This should hold a lot longer then my voiceless incantation." He said as he looked at Ariana.
"You will have to leave on your own." He said with remorseful eyes. "No!" She shouted. "This is not up for discussion! The Ka pouli Shifters have not tasted your magic so you can escape! We'll lead them away from you! Just run, run towards the Abela Manor and take Edlyn with you to the Academy." Rain instructed.
Ariana shook her head no. "I can't! I don't want to leave you or my grandmother behind!" She cried. Rain raised his hand and slapped Ariana across the face. "This is no time to be selfish! Do as your told! We have already deviated from our escape plan, we must make sure you and Edlyn make it safely to the Academy!" Rain shouted.
Ariana gingerly touched her already swollen cheek as she looked at Rain bitterly. She swallowed back some tears and nodded her head in agreement. "Good, now we only get one shot at this. If I mess up we are all doomed so be a good girl and stand still." He said as he touched her face.
"I'm so sorry." He whispered and dropped his hand. He then looked at Breeze and nodded his head. Rain turned and looked at the opposite wall, away from the door. He brought his right hand to his side and raised his left then moved both quickly, cutting the air on an angle, parallel to each other. "Pākī rista!" He shouted and the Ka pouli Shifter scream in pain as it parted in two.
Breeze moved his arms and hands as If he was flinging a bag of potatoes and Ariana was magical thrown between the gap. She watched as she was flung through the air, Rain and Breeze were standing in the middle of the assault. She caught sight of the Ka pouli Shifter stringing itself back together and completely mended itself when she made it across. She landed outside with a heavy thud and rolled a few feet.
A sharp pain was felt on her side but she could care less what she felt and scrambled to stand up. She looked at where she came from and saw that the Ka pouli Shifter's body started to stretch out from the gash that Rain created in the wall. Ariana froze, she didn't know what to do. She was in a heavily shrouded area where only small rays of sunshine broke through.
The Ka pouli's body stretched even further towards her then suddenly it started screaming in pain. Ariana's eyes moved to were the Ka pouli Shifter stopped moving and saw that it's weakness was light. She felt relief for a second then horror the next. Her blood was stretching outwards as if looking for something.
Ariana stepped back and tried to look for the knife she hid within the seam of her dress. She ripped it out and saw that the small knife was now coated in garnet. Panic hit her heart hard. She used the now reinforced knife to cut off the vine like blood and watched as it hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Ariana quickly moved to cut off her long dress and made it into a mini skirt, she then picked up the garnet vines off the ground and clutched it against her chest. Without hesitation she turned from the building and started to run for her dear life.
Ariana slid down a muddy hill as she started breathing heavily. She peeked up and tried to strain her eyes as she watched for any soldiers patrolling. Just her luck there were hoards of them running around, inspection every nook and cranny.
She brought her gaze to right in front of her, if she jumped into the cursed river wouldn't know what would happen. She needed to go up stream to reach Edlyn's Manor but chances of being caught were high. She then turned her gaze down stream, she hesitated. It meant a harder time finding a route to the Manor which meant a higher chance of getting caught.
"Captain, someone call the Captain! I think I found something!" Ariana heard someone yell from further behind her. She didn't have the luxury to think and just acted. She plunged into the cursed river and sank. She opened up her eyes and was greeted by a variety of coloured fluff ball, lights. The little fluff balls started gather around the garnet vines she was holding onto and Ariana let it go.
The fluff balls moved vigorously as the garnet slowly started to disappear. The group that surrounded the piece then moved to the knife then to Ariana's wound. She looked down as the balls surrounded the left side of her abdomen. The fluff balls started to glow a brighter colour and Ariana had to avert her eyes.
'Master look!' Loralei shouted and Ariana brought her sight back to the fluff balls. Though they were no longer fluff balls but tiny magical beings. Their bottom half resembled a sea horse's body while their top half was human like. They had fin like wings on their backs, a fin that stretched from ear to ear to resemble a crown. Tiny, pointed ears, long flowing hair and ruffled fins on their lower back that travelled down their tails.
The tiny creatures swam excitedly around Ariana and encased her in a giant air bubble. She floated in the center of the bubble as the tiny creatures tried to communicate with her. 'Master the newly born hippocampi pixies want to thank you for their new bodies.' Loralei said with pride.
Ariana leaned in closer and tried to hear their voices but they were still babies and had no idea how to speak the human language. "They are very welcome." Ariana said with a gentle smile.
"I didn't do much, actually I did nothing but I'm happy they were able to evolve but Loralei, how do I ask them to take me up stream?" Ariana asked awkwardly but the pixies understood her request and the escorted the bubble as far upstream as they could. They practically tired themselves out and Ariana had to beg them to drop her off where ever they were.
The pixies were pouting when Ariana was reaching the edge of the river. "Thank you for your hard work and I hope we can meet again one day!" She said happily and the tiny pixies swam backflips in delight.
Ariana popped the bubble and started to swim upwards. The pixies followed her, kissing her cheeks periodically until she broke through the surface. She pulled herself up onto the shore and looked back. The pixies waved and jumped out of the water to catch her attention.
Ariana waved back before she started to climb up the hill. To her delight she found herself in the rougher part of the Capital. People here tend to mind their own business and refused to talk to the soldiers. Ariana crawled through some shrubs until she reached a small looking shack. She dared herself to move into a squatting position and looked inside the shack through a hole in the wall. It looked empty but she still moved with caution.
Ariana slowly moved around the shack. When she saw the cost was clear, she got up and ran inside. She quickly searched the area for something to cover herself up in and thanked the heavens when she saw what looked like an old curtain. She grabbed it and tied it around herself. It was a horrible makeshift cloak but beggars could not be choosers.
As she was about to leave she heard voices approaching the shack. She quickly looked around and found a crate to hide behind. "Can you believe the hall we brought!" A raspy voice cheered as he entered the shack.
"Eugene is a genius when it comes to cons." A nasally voice said. "If only he was our leader instead of Cuerra." Another male said and soon a loud thud was followed. "Eugene is someone who can only come around every once in a while! A leader must be available at all times!" A deep baritone voice said. "Yes sir, Cuerra sir!" The group of men shouted.
"Now all of you get out! I need to get myself acquainted with Miss Loretta here." Cuerra said. Heavy footsteps were heard leaving the shack and an obnoxiously sweet laugh filled the room. "Oh Cuerra, you really know how to treat a woman." Loretta giggled.
"For the money I'm paying you I hope you know how to show your appreciation." Cuerra growled. Ariana was horrified, she didn't want to hear or witness what these people would be doing next but she was trapped. Even if she was able to knock out Cuerra and stop Loretta from screaming, she still had to deal with G*d knows how many men outside.
One thing was for sure, she needed to leave and now! She took a chance and peaked up from the crate. There was light shining into the shack, she could see a giant lump sitting on the floor with his head tossed back and a smaller body crouched over. Ariana tried her best not to gag and went back to searching, she spotted a tiny window but it was a few feet behind the lump of a man. Soon his moans started to fill the room and Ariana's need to leave started to rise.
She decided to crawl towards the window. She was already cloaked with the curtain and was willing to use it as cover. She inched her way towards the window as Cuerra moans started getting louder. "There, yes right there! Ha, ha, ha, don't stop!" He breathed heavily.
Ariana couldn't hold her tears back as she heard what was happening but she pushed herself forward. "Cuerra, I think I heard something." Loretta said as she pulled herself away while Ariana froze in place. Cuerra grabbed the back of her head and pushed her back to where she was. "My men will handle it!" He growled and Ariana could hear Loretta start to choke and gag.
Ariana inched herself forward again but Loretta persisted. "No Cuerra, I really heard something!" She shouted and Cuerra threw her across the room. "You ruined my mood!" He shouted but then froze. Outside the shack he could hear the cries of his men.
He quickly adjusted himself and walked towards the door. Suddenly the door was kicked open and Cuerra was tossed backwards. Loretta screamed and Cuerra tried to pick himself up. "Who dares trespass on my territory?!" He shouted. There was an a suffocating silence and Cuerra started to stumble over himself.
"Eugene, sir! What have I done to bring your wrath?!" He cried but Eugene said nothing. A loud thud was heard and Loretta started to scream again. Ariana could hear her trying to scramble of the ground as she cried and soon there was nothing.
Foot steps were heard coming towards her. She stayed as still a humanly possible, hoping that Eugene would think she was just a piece of furniture but just her luck a pair of arms caught her and tossed her into the air.
Eugene caught her effortlessly and carried her out of the shack. He kept her complete wrapped up in the curtain and she struggled to break free. "Where do you need to go?" He asked and Ariana stopped moving. After a while the husky voice asked her again. "Where do you need to go?" Ariana took a deep breath and gambled with Eugene. "Abela Manor!"