Chapter 81: Chapter 81

****[KINGDOM OF TEREAU]****

The elf prince is brutal and crazy. Viex badly wishes that he can morph right now. Because he would rather walk on his own than try to hitch a ride on the prince’s shoulder.

Viex saw Ace glaring at him when noticed him burying his claws into his coat. It wasn’t his fault. The guy was all over the place as he sliced, parried, and stab the rogues coming at him. There was also a time when he balances on a rail just to climb up the stairs.

It was a fighting style common to elves. They would never stay in one place for far too long. They were very agile and slick.

Ace would often use the wall as leverage to bypass the rogues, then he would attack the ones at the back, where they least expected it. Viex almost felt sorry for them.

Almost.

As soon as Viex found an opening to jump down, he grabbed that chance. But when he did, Ace grabbed him in midair just in time as the prince blocked an arrow that would have killed Viex.

“You can’t die until you lead me to where the chambers of that old psycho is!” Ace yelled at him and once again placed Viex onto his shoulder. The white fox was getting dizzy with all of his movements, but still kept his eyes open for Kaya.

In the middle of fighting, he has lost sight of the spirit and he was hoping that he would be back for them. Then, Viex saw Kaya waiting for them on another floor. Viex groaned because he already knows what to expect.

Viex poked Ace’s cheek and pointed to the direction where Kaya was waiting for them. Ace nodded as he kicks a man down the stair, which cause a domino effect that carried the other rogues down along with him.

Ace reattached his double blades together to form into a bow before he slung it to his back. And then, he jumped OFF of the rails and grabbed the chandelier. Viex saw an arrow flying towards them and he flicked one off with his tail.

“Seems like you’re not dead weight after all.” Ace commented as he climbed to the top and started swinging the chandelier from side to side. When it reached its maximum momentum, Ace jumped and grabbed the rails towards the floor of their destination.

Arrows rained down on them and Viex had a hard time deflecting all of them that were directed at the Prince’s head. One found itself at the elf’s right arm just as he managed to climb. Ace grunted and removed the arrow. Then he grabbed his own bow, aimed at the tensioned chains of the chandelier, and fired multiple arrows at it. The whole thing collapses while it was still shaking and took down a few rogues as it crashed.

“Which way?” Ace asked.

Viex saw Kaya moving to their left and pointed in that direction. Ace started to move quickly while the coast was clear. They stopped when Kaya hovered over a gargoyle head statue. Viex jumped onto it and his weight made the statue tip forward.

Another secret passage opened.

“Well, at least I don’t have to crawl this time.” Ace muttered before grabbing Viex by the neck and going inside. As soon as Viex’s weight was off of the statue, the door closed behind them.

There was only one path to this passage that Viex no longer have to guide him. Instead, Viex noticed his bleeding shoulder and reached out his tail to heal the injury.

“I appreciate that. But your master will feel that that pain. You know she’s a wimp.” Ace simply says. Viex knew that he was right, but he also knows that if the princess were here, she would still ask him to heal his injuries.

He was just doing what the princess was going to expect him to do.

The path stopped and so did Kaya. Viex let out a low growl to alert the elf prince that at the other side of the door, he could smell the foul stench of the rogue king and the rotting soul of the Chimera. His chambers, probably.

Ace nodded at him and started looking around for the lever to open the door. Viex pointed at the protruding block on the wall to assist him. Ace hovered his hand over it as he took out his weapon.

“You go and find the artifact while I keep on a lookout.” He whispered to Viex before he pressed the block. Dust and dirt floated in the air as the passage opened. It was clear that it hasn’t been used for a while.

The room was massive. It was twice as big as the room that the princess has. But it was darker and gloomier. And it also reeks of the stench traces of the Chimera’s rotting soul. All the decoration was bland and the paints on the wall were starting to chip because of all the stains and gashes on it.

Viex hopped down and started following Kaya around the room. Meanwhile Ace was slowly following him while keeping an eye out for enemies.

Kaya moved to the back of the huge closet where a red chest box lays. Viex grabbed one of the box’s golden handles and started pulling it towards Ace. It was heavy, and again, Viex wished that he could morph.

“Is that it?” Ace whispered and used the top of his boot to open the chest. Inside of it was an orb similar to the one that the queen has. If the one at Thalia was swirling with colorful and light auras, this one looked like it held a storm inside of it. “Another orb. I should have known.” Ace kneeled and grabbed the orb. He wrapped it with multiple silks and cloths all over it so it wouldn’t break before placing it inside his leather bag.

The hairs on the nape of Viex’s neck stood up and he hissed when he saw a shadow looming over the elf prince.

Ace noticed the fox’s reaction and immediately acted. He raised his twin swords to block the blow, but he was a bit late. The tip of the enemy’s sword cut the left side of his face. A cut running from his brows to his cheekbones.

Viex immediately jumped back to his shoulder and began healing the wound without a second thought.

Ace jumped back and fired multiple arrows until the curtains fell off and light finally invaded the room. Now, they can see their enemy clearly.

Viex snarled and was about to lunge when Prince Ace held him back. It was him. It’s King Ferius. His face was indistinguishable because it was scarred pretty badly with runes of the curse. Ace saw that the King’s left hand simply hang to his side uselessly. It was fully black and runes floated all around it.

Viex wanted to throw up. The arm is where the Chimera is being sealed. And it stinks pretty bad.

The King’s black hair was long and it covered his face partially as he glared at them. “And here I was wondering why the princess stayed in the castle. It wasn’t her all along. I am very disappointed.” The king straightened up as he studied the elf prince moving along with him. “I’m very impressed that you were able to come here this far. As they say, Elves are very agile. But let’s see how long can you last without your legs!” The king dashed forward.

Ace blocked his blows with his blades and tried to cut the king’s head with one of his swords. The king evaded him and kicked his knee at an angle that was hard for him to avoid. Ace winced and immediately placed as much distance between him and the king. Although he didn’t show it, his knee was painful to move.

“You’re too young to be facing me. I know every elven moves and fighting style. And they all have the same weakness. Without their ankles or knees, they are nothing!” The rogue king laughs as he insulted him.

Ace grabbed a pillow and threw it at the rogue king. Ferius used his sword to cut it in half making feathers float everywhere, then he struck his sword out, fully knowing what to expect. The king smiled when he felt his sword struck something, then he let out a scream as two arrows were shot at him. One was at his disabled arm and the other a few inches from his heart. The King grabbed the arrows and threw them aside as he glared at the young elf.

“How about that? I learned that trick from a dumb blonde. She calls it the ‘sissy move’.” Ace separated his bow into twin blades once more and viciously swung his blades at him. The king’s movements slowed down a bit, enough for him to catch on even with an injured knee.

He almost had the king’s head when someone tackled him to the ground. It was another man, and by the looks of his clothing, he seems to be the other prince that Kellar warned him about.

Prince Owen. The eldest son of Ferius.

He was a large man with shaggy black hair and eyes. He grinned as he grabbed Ace by the collar and threw him like a ragdoll across the room. He hit a closet the fell over him and crushed his legs.

Viex quickly ran towards him and tried to heal his wounds. “Get...back!” He yelled at Viex as he tried to crawl out. But he was once again caught by Prince Owen.

Ace raised his foot and kicked him in the crotch. The man dropped him and Ace raised one of his swords and was able to cut the pointer and middle finger of Owen when he tried to grab him.

He heard footsteps from the door. Soldiers were coming. It was not looking good for him. But then he saw a tiny vine at the top of the door’s wooden frame. Using his magic, we made the vines longer and thicker until they blocked the doorway.

As Ace moved back and was about to shot an arrow at Owen when Ferius attacked him.

Luckily, Ace managed to raise his bow and deflect the blow. But Ferius kicked him. He would have been able to dodge if two of his legs weren’t injured. Ace flew and hit and wall. Owen loomed over him.

“You f*cking elf.” He glowered at him as he grabbed a chair’s broken leg and stabbed it to Ace’s stomach. The elf prince almost passed out from the pain, yet all he did was a hiss. He wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hearing him scream in pain.

Owen raised a brow at him when he noticed that the elf prince simply glared at him. “Tough guy.”

“Owen! Kill him immediately. Stop playing around!” King Ferius threw his sword at Owen, who caught it in midair. “That man is dangerous!”

“Not so dangerous to me.” Owen chuckled.

“Yeah?” Ace croaked and spit blood to the side. “Tell that to your missing fingers.”

Owen pushed the chair leg deeper into Ace’s stomach. At that time, Viex jumped and bit Owen’s nose. The first prince screamed in pain before he threw Viex aside. The fox whimpered when he hit a wall.

“Pathetic, I got stabbed yet I didn’t scream. And here you are getting bit on the nose and you screamed like a girl.”

Something was happening outside. There were screams and a very loud growl.

“A beast! There’s a beast!”

“Your highnesses!”

He heard people screaming outside and followed by a feral sound.

What’s happening out there?

Owen grabbed him by the hair. “Funny. Since you cut my fingers, I’ll be sure to display your head somewhere in the palace as a reminder to everyone of what happens to foolish intruders like you.” Owen raised the sword in the air for the cut. The blade was just about to cut Ace’s neck when the door burst open and a huge dark wolf came and grabbed his arm just in time.

‘Took you...long enough.’ Viex thought weakly.

Custard still held the man’s wrist in his jaw while his eyes wandered around to see the situation. Ace was starring at him, both with surprise and relief in his eyes, while Viex limped just to get to his side to heal him.

Custard’s eyes darkened at the sight of them. His jaws bit down on the man’s arm and tore it off. Owen screamed and dropped to the ground in pain at his missing hand. Blood started to pool all around him.

‘Custard, get this thing off of him.’ Viex said and hinted that the broken chair leg at the Prince’s stomach. Custard took the chair leg off of Ace and stabbed threw it at the soldier who just entered the room. Ace then used his magic to reseal the door so no more soldiers can enter.

Custard saw the rogue king sneakily trying to approach them. He grabbed Owen by his coat and threw him back at his own father hard enough that the both of them fell.

‘We’re leaving. Hurry up and ride my back!’ Custard lowered himself on the ground for Ace. Thankfully, Ace understood what he wanted and hopped on after sheathing his weapon. Viex never left the prince’s side as he was still healing him. By now, Viex was worried that the princess will soon feel all this pain at once.

Custard stood and aimed his ran for the window. King Ferius immediately moved to the side to avoid the monstrous creature that has invaded his castle.

‘You idiot! It’s a long way down!’ Viex yelled nervously.

‘I know what I am doing. And it’s the easiest way out. It’s a shortcut’

‘You and your damn shortcuts!’

Custard maneuvered his body so that his back legs were facing the ground as they fell. Then, he extended his claws and grabbed the walls to ease up their fall. When they were closer to the ground, Custard jumped and began running at full speed.