Chapter 35: Lynx’s Tale
“Lynx!” Exclaimed Hayden, rushing forwards to grab his comrade by the shoulders, to make sure he was real.
“We thought you were dead! Where have you been?!” Demanded the Prince.
“Laying low,” Said Lynx, lowering his voice, returning to his typical volume.
“Let’s talk about this inside,” suggested Titan softly as he put a hand on the Prince’s shoulder.
The Beta tried to usher his comrades inside away from the prying eyes of the villagers.
“Wait! Before we go, where’s Leech?!” Cried Cory, her eyes scanning the crowd.
“You mean Venom,” said Titan.
“You know what I mean,” said Cory, her anxiety level rising.
“He’s probably long gone by now,” said Lynx. “Come on! Let’s go inside like Beta
I am so sorry for the long absence! Unfortunately, there was a family emergency. My maternal aunt was admitted to ICU for several days and she eventually passed away. Thus, I took a few days to myself. Thank you to everyone who shared your condolences. Your kind messages are very comforting. Thank you so much for reading! Much love to everyone. xoxo Love Joanna J (same name on face book for news on updates)
Chapter 36: Onwards Corinna looked exactly like Venom. The potion was for shapeshifting. “Say something,” said Hayden. “Something,” said Corinna uncertainly but it came out in Venom’s lilting baritone. “You sound like him too,” said Titan in amazement. “So this potion could be used to turn into other people too, not just Venom,” said Corinna in Venom’s voice as she furrowed her thick manly brows. She got up and gazed at herself in the looking glass. She was enjoying being taller and stronger. She wondered if she could shift. Venom had been a werewolf. “Would she have Venom’s lupine abilities? Strength, speed, shifting, highly sensitive sense of smell, perfect eyesight,” listed off Hayden. Corinna frowned, realising her nose was not picking up more scents than usual. Her vision also did not se
Chapter 37: Les Bois Papa Bois or Father Woods guarded a vast dense forest simply dubbed Les Bois or The Woods. The forest was teeming with life. Life bloomed, blossomed, chirped, sang, hopped, pranced, crawled, walked, ran, swam and soared in every nook and cranny of Les Bois. Cory had never seen woodlands so heavily populated by animals. The woodland creatures in Les Bois were also the bravest Cory had ever encountered. They feared no one and approached the group inquisitively, seemingly demanding to know what business they had in these woods. The group was intent on heading to Maman Dlo’s River first and requesting that she summon Papa Bois since he was as elusive and enigmatic as one would expect a creature from legend to be. The woods were only a half day’s ride away from Zurie so Hayden had insisted they set out
Chapter 38: Papa Bois Sprout was the first to speak. “Bon jour, vieux Papa!” Exclaimed Sprout, hopping off of Titan’s shoulder and landing on his feet on the ground before the hulking figure that was Papa Bois. Sprout bowed out of respect as he greeted the woodland guardian. “You lit the forest aflame,” thundered Papa Bois, making the ground tremble. The effect of his words and his might reminded Cory of Alpha Commands. Although, when Papa Bois made the forest shake, the birds did not fly away, they sat quite comfortably on their perches, observing quietly. “With all due respect, Papa Bois, we did no such thing,” stated Prince Hayden calmly. “We were awoken by the flames,” explained Cory. “We’re just as surprised as you are.” Cory nodded eagerly in agreement with her Prince. She wondered who could have caused the fire. She knew wi
Chapter 39: Red Herring “What?!” Squealed Cory, her eyes widening as she got to her feet abruptly, her chest heaving. “What kind of task is it that someone has to die?!” She demanded, her eyes on the archaic guardian. “It is a task not of my choosing but of the will of the Bow,” said Papa Bois calmly. Titan exhaled loudly as though he doubted the protector of Les Bois. A small smile tugged at the corners of Papa’s mouth. He let his quiver of arrows fall to the forest floor with a soft thud. Cory sat back down slowly as her eyes trailed over the quiver. It had the same markings as the rock on which Papa sat and the Omniscient Oak. It was eerily quiet all of a sudden as he showed the travellers another case. The case was almost exactly the same as the quiver except for one distinct difference: the markings on this case burnt much brighter. They burnt so brightly Cory wondered if there was a fire
Chapter 40: The Bottomless Ravine “Petit Tache Woods is separated from Les Bois by a long bottomless ravine even though the woods are not mountainous!” Sprout explained as they trekked towards the edge of Les Bois. “How can that be?” Asked Smoke, furrowing his brow. “Someone must have dug the ravine then? Right, Sprout? It’s manmade?” Inquired Mirrors. “No,” said Sprout simply. “It can’t truly be bottomless,” insisted Lynx. “It is,” said Sprout confidently. “No one knows how the ravine came to be but legend has it that the bottomless ravine leads straight to the centre of the earth!” “Then, Lynx is right,” said Titan. “It isn’t bottom if it ends at the earth’s centre.” “Legend has it,” enunciated Sprout carefully. “It is widely considered to be bottomless,” squeaked Sprout indignantly. Cory smiled slightly to herself. She knew Sprout hated interruptions
Chapter 41: Black Mamba Lynx did not scream or yell or shout. He simply went quietly over the edge. Everyone but Smoke instinctively rushed towards the edge but he was already gone. They peered down into the ravine, their eyes searching for him but he had vanished. Gone in an instant. Cory was shaken. “I…I would have grabbed him like I grabbed Hayden but he…he disappeared so quickly,” she mumbled, wringing her hands nervously. An unsettling feeling was growing inside of her. “Even when I reached out with my mind it seemed… as though there was nothing there,” she said, pausing as she looked from face to face. Hayden marched right up to Smoke who stood there, his expression defiant. He shoved Smoke though thankfully not in the direction of the ravine. “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” Thundered Hayden, getting in Smoke’
Chapter 42: The Amber Bow and the Quill Arrow At first, all Cory could feel was the searing pain of the slashes on her back as blood soaked her dress. It was excruciating. She thought it would last forever but very very few things, whether good or bad, last forever. In an instant, the pain in her back was gone, replaced by a slight sting to her neck. The sting gave way to pleasure. An inexorable change came over her as something new was introduced into her system. She hesitantly raised her hand and used it to try to feel the places where the creature had clawed at her. The tears in her dress remained but underneath the shredded fabric, her once torn flesh was completely healed and covered by smooth new skin. She tried to get up and found herself held down. She twisted to one side and realised Hayden was holding her against him. His eyes were pitch black as they looked down at her. His eyes were on her neck. She trailed her fingertips g
Chapter 43: Momentous Corinna only made it halfway across the distance between them before Hayden drew her into his arms and crashed his lips against hers. Shocked by his intensity, she let out a little gasp against his lips, allowing him to slide his tongue into her mouth. She lost herself in him, surrendering to his ravenous kiss. She tangled her fingers in the Alpha Prince’s silky hair while his hands roamed her body. He held her up against him by the backs of her thighs while she instinctively wrapped her legs around his torso and flung her arms around his neck. She felt the cold air nip at her delicate skin as he rose with her from the water, carrying her over to the bed. She felt the soft sheets under her as he laid her down under him. The fire he had lit within her was growing, spreading, from its source at her core out through her limbs and all the way down to the tips of her fin