Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Without hesitation, I flipped the next page.

Lights gleamed from the book as it opened so wide, stretching its pages. My fingers almost got burnt, so I immediately threw it away. It floated above us while glowing so bright. I raised my hand above my forehead to shade my eyes from its luminosity.

Something suddenly came out from it. It was a colossal creature. It has the body of the largest black horse in the Guinness Book of the world record. His upper body was a human form with the face of a man. He has two gray horns and magnificent golden wings. He flew above us in a circular motion.

Kylo fell to the floor while staring at the weird creature. Her jaw dropped and her face marked a terrifying sight.

The creature landed on the floor and walked toward us. His black fur shined like a brand new car. Its farriers were like metals. His body was masculine with six-packs abs and firm muscles. He has a pointed nose, delicate lips, thick brows, and emerald eyes. His perfection was closest to me.

He stopped a few meters away from us. Based on my calculations, the human-like horse with wings and horns measured 21.3 hands, 7ft, and 3 inches in height, and weighed 1,527 kilograms.

He opened his golden wings that sparkled through the lights and spoke.

“No one dares to enter this sacred place. Who do you think you are?”

His deep voice echoed throughout the entire room. Kylo hid behind my back.

“I am Luxferre, the bearer of light. This room is under my power. I forbid it for outsiders to read any of the books inside the library. You deserve a punishment.”

He stepped closer with anger visible in his eyes and knitted brows.

“Well, I am Vad Wagner, the bearer of truth. We didn’t mean to intrude. Kylo and I were lost and we don’t know the way back.”

He looked at me with suspicion as he crossed his arms.

“What a filthy name you have. Humans can’t fool me.”

He narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists.

“I’m not lying. What are we supposed to do here?” I said as I stepped backward.

“Steal the books, expose our secrets, and gain power!” he said as he punched me.

I avoided his strike, and the floor cracked instead.

“Run!”

Kylo and I ran in different directions. The creature was chasing after me. He smashed everything that’s hindering his way, even the books.

“You are destroying your sacred place!”

I hid behind the bookshelf as my heart throbbed in panic.

“Don’t worry about that. Worry about yourself!”

The glass behind me broke as he continued destroying everything. I rolled over and found another spot to hide from his burning fists. I crouched and looked for Kylo.

She was reading a book while crawling on the floor. It’s a perfect moment to read a book, isn’t it? Can she be smarter than this?

The statue behind me was shattered into pieces. I ran away from the raging creature until I realized that there’s nowhere to hide. Luxferre destroyed the shelves, and the books were scattered all over the floor. He came closer to me and smirked.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I rested my back against the wall. It’s over. If I’m going to die, it’s cool to die in the hands of a powerful creature.

“Say goodbye, human.”

He raised his hand and was about to give me a blow.

“Not too fast.”

We turned our heads and saw Kylo standing with a book in her hands.

“Are you seriously doing this?” I said.

Luxferre’s brows furrowed.

“That’s…”

Kylo grinned.

“Do you recognize this book?” Kylo asked.

The creature ran toward her in a hurry, but Kylo uttered an unfamiliar chant that made him stop. Rings of burning blue light appeared through the air and locked the creature’s hands and feet. He was violent as he groaned wildly but failed to take them off.

I walked toward her in amusement.

“I’m cool, right?” she said and smiled.

“Yeah. You’re almost cool, only if you didn’t let me become bait.”

“Oh, I thought you love to be chased,” she said sarcastically.

I shifted my attention to the creature who was trying to break the magic chains in his hands and feet.

“What shall we do to this poor guy?” I asked.

“Let’s leave him like that.”

Luxferre stopped moving and looked at us fiercely.

“Leave me like this, and then you’ll never go back.”

“Are you threatening us? You’re just going to kill us. We can’t stay on this island any longer. If only we can find a ritual to solve our problem,” I said.

“I was right. You’re here to steal our book of enchantment.”

“Book of what?”

“You mean the book in my hands?” Kylo said.

I grabbed the books and opened it. When I was about to read the book, Luxferre uttered words I couldn’t decipher. Instantly, the words in the book turned to something unusual.

“What did you do?” I asked.

He smirked.

“You can’t read the text. Only the Demis can transcribe that. If they’ll help you out.”

I clenched my fist in annoyance.

“I’ve been craving to kill you with my bare hands,” I said.

I grabbed a piece of shattered glass and attempted to stab him, but a secret door suddenly showed up. A part of the wall slid to the right and there, a person came out.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t do that,” the girl said.

She was a girl with black hair, a fair complexion, and emerald eyes. I guess she was Kylo’s age. She approached us with her hands on her back. She looked prim and proper. Unlike the others, they covered her body with fabrics.

“And who the hell are you to interrupt with my passion?” I asked as I raised my brows.

The secret door closed with a loud sound.

“You just disrespected the keeper of our island,” she said.

She walked toward the creature and bent down to wrap him in her arms. She glided her fingers over his face.

“Are you alright, my lord?” she asked.

He smiled at her and nodded.

“Disrespect? It’s called self-defense,” I replied.

“My lord is also protecting our secret so no one can use it. No one can ever abuse our powers again and put another terrible curse.”

“The curse? Oh, I get it now. Someone from your kind abused their power and cast a spell to eradicate your heart and fall in love with humans so you could live forever,” I said.

“One of the Animies did it. I have a heart because I’m not purely one of them. If you kill Lord Luxferre, the entire island will sink under the sea.”

She stood up and uttered a chant, and the burning blue light disappeared. The creature stood up and pointed the sharp edges of his wings at me.

“Get them out of my sight, and get rid of the book. I don’t want to see them here again,” he said in a baritone voice.

She turned to me with her alluring emerald eyes.

“You better give me the book, human.”

I looked at her with a straight face and threw the book to the floor.

“I have a cool name. I’m Vad Wagner, don’t forget. Get us out of here, will you?”

She walked past me. We followed her and entered the secret door. We were inside a living room. It was like we were back at home. Everything they have was vintage, like the sofa, table, carpet, and lamps. Someone suddenly knocked at the door.

“Vior, we need you there—“

The girl paused as she looked at us.

“Are they…”

“Humans. They’re our guests.”

“Oh. Hello, I’m Vitton. Welcome to the den of Demis.”