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
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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
Chapter 44: Three Days “The journey from Les Bois all the way back to Traketen will take three days, two if we make haste,” said Hayden the moment Cory opened her eyes. She had awoken on his chest. The Alpha’s warmth had made her sweat a little and her skin was sticking to his. She peeled herself away from him and sat up, hugging her knees to her chest and pulling the blanket around her. “Good morning to you too,” she said. “I’m sorry, Corinna, good morning! I just want to finish this quest as soon as possible,” said Hayden with a heavy sigh. He stared at her with an intensity in his eyes. “It’s not to late, you know,” he said. Cory raised her eyebrows. “Too late? Too late for what? Too late for whom?” She wondered. They had already lost so many of their comrades: Venom, Lynx, Smoke, Mirrors, Fracture. She was still unsure about what had happened when. She knew the sorcer
Chapter 45: A Merciful Murderous Beast She held her breath for that millisecond of time when the arrow traveled through the air. It seemed she was not the only one. Her small but captivated audience were watching with bated breath too. Even the Prince was fixated on the arrow. She watched it draw closer and closer to the apple. She got ready to celebrate. She began to cheer, and then, the arrow lost momentum and fell about three feet below the apple, bouncing off the bark of the tree. It had not even impaled the bark. It had lost too much momentum by that point to do so. The arrow lay on the forest floor. She exhaled sharply, realising she had started cheering prematurely. “You were about three feet off and there wasn’t enough power for the arrow to push through to the end to hit the apple or at least the tree and stay there,” said Hayden bluntly. She frowned. Her audience was quiet. “You’ll get ‘em next time, C
Chapter 46: An Intangible Key Hayden marvelled at the smoothness of her skin. She was so soft, so delicate. He was terrified for her. All he could think of every time he laid his eyes on her was the jaws of the beast, their sharp pointy teeth, their massive paws and long steel-like claws. He also marvelled at how undaunted she was and how brave, almost recklessly so when one considered how frail her shell seemed. Cory marvelled at the strength of his build. He was built for battle, his body tall and toned, his muscles rock-hard under her fingertips, yet he seemed so afraid. All his power did nothing to quell his fear. She tried not to think of the Stormbringers, to block out the images of them gnashing their teeth and chomping at the air as they edged closer, hoping their jaws would soon clamp around flesh. She shut her eyes and buried her head in his bare chest. His hands were in her hair. He trailed his fingers down