"You can still leave!" The beast bellowed, "Turn around, go home, and I shall let you live your peaceful lives. Was I not good at that? Did I not keep the peace? Was I not a benevolent leader to you all?"
My followers stared at Raganor, whispering and mumbling to each other.
"You enslaved us!" Henry suddenly screamed, "You lied to us! You banished my brother and my sister because they wanted to give our people the one thing you never could: a choice. We didn't choose to worship you, we didn't choose you as our chief, you FORCED us to. By using the very magic which you outlawed in the first place!"
"Don't listen to him, brothers and sisters," Mother exclaimed, "he is a liar, a murderer, a cheat! He will not let you live. He would take his chance and burn you all to the ground! Stand with us and fight! Let us win back our freedom!"
Just like that, a fierce roar of fury erupted through the crowd. My followers leapt from the rocks and sprung from the ground. With Karl, Chester and I leading them, we made our run at the beasts.
"ATTACK THEM, MY BEAUTIES!" Raganor screeched at his weevils, "KILL THEM ALL!"
The weevils bellowed and screamed, standing tall on their taloned back legs. Into the river they leapt, tidal waves creeping at their feet. For a split second, all went quiet. The chaos spun around me like a hurricane, and I was the eye. I could hear the earth trembling at the stampede ahead, the quick, drum-like beats of their hearts throbbing in my ears, followed by a faint, eerie whisper: "And now, you DIE."
Suddenly, as the trance faded, I saw in the air the hideous, red-eyed, yellow-fanged figure of Raganor coming straight toward me, his giant, clawed hands mere inches away from my face when I felt myself being snatched by a pair of large, hairy arms. Raganor had missed his target and fell face-first into the freezing water.
"Sela, you have to be more careful," boomed Chester's deep voice from behind me, "He could've killed you!"
"I know," I hissed back, "now put me down, so I can end this, once and for all."
"What's the plan?" Henry asked, suddenly appearing by my side, his harpoon and his big, beefy arms covered in thick, black blood.
I closed my eyes, concentrated as hard as I could and let one single thought enter my mind: freeze. As I opened my eyes, Raganor and his weevils were frozen. Some in the water, others in midair, and Raganor looked as if he were about to pounce on me again.
Quickly, I turned to Chester, Henry and Karl.
"You need to use your powers," I started, "use them to get rid of as many weevils as you can. Clear a path for me so I can get to his fort. He will be weakest there, as it's the source of his magic."
"I don't understand-" Henry began.
"I've seen it in my dreams." I continued, "I never understood what it meant, but I do now. There is a stone hidden somewhere in that fort. A white gem radiating pure, beautiful light. The same gem described in Karl's books. When white, the gem casts good magic, joy and peace. But Chief did something to it. He turned it dark. When dark, it radiates evil, chaos, hatred and terrible power to he who controls it. That gem is what fuels my power. If I could find it, enter it and restore its light, I could bring down Raganor and end his reign of terror."
"Enter the gem?" asked Karl, "how?"
We were interrupted by a faint growl. I whirled around to see Raganor moving his eyes, his claws flinching and a wretched sneer slowly forming on his chafed lips. "Tick tock." I could hear him whisper, "Tick. Tock."
"No time," I whispered to Karl, "He's breaking free. Just do as I said, I'll take care of the rest. Karl, try using your powers to slow him, I'll need all the time I can get."
They exchanged glances, then quickly nodded.
"I'm going to unfreeze all of them now. Find Tula and the twins, and fight with them. I'll see you all soon."
"Sela, no," my mother pleaded, "Don't do it. Please!"
"I'm sorry, Mother," I replied, "but I have to do this."
I once again closed my eyes, let all thoughts escape my mind except for one: commence.
Just like that, the chaos was back. Weevils screeching, people shouting, water thrown about.
Karl and Chester were now in front of me, chanting under their breath. Raganor flung himself at them, but together, they were just able to fight him off. Two harpoons and a knife flew past my ears and pierced the exposed hide of a weevil ahead.
"Go!" cried Matt, who sped past me to Henry's aid, Morgan and Tula at his heels, "We've got this."
The weevils' terrible roars pierced the air, my people doing a decent job at fending them off. Karl, Henry, Chester, Tula and the twins were busy fending off Raganor.
Now's my chance, I thought. I uncurled my fists and thrust my hands towards the ground. I felt myself being thrown into the air, the fight intensifying below my feet as the ground grew further and further away. I spun around to face the darkness of the Forest, a vast tangle of thick trees as far as the eye could see, except for the one thing that spiked my attention: a small opening in the midst of the trees. There, I could see a large, pointy, stone tower, its sides crawling with ivy and moss. I could feel myself being drawn to it like an ant to honey, or a fly to light. I lowered myself into the trees and leapt from branch to branch, swung from vine to vine, the distant screams and shrieks still echoing and pulsing in my brain.
Finally, I reached the opening and found myself back on the ground. The tower loomed ahead in the darkness, like a finger pointed at the sky, windowless, doorless and matted with moss. Breathless, I ran towards the citadel, only one thought in my mind: Open. I thrust my hand forwards, a gust of wind emerging from my fingertips and blowing apart the bricks ahead of me. Rocks flew in each direction, leaving a gaping hole in the wall ahead. I turned around one last time to see the forest looming behind me and the river far below, then I stormed into Raganor's keep.