His Majesty, Her Grace - Sequel to A Prince Caspian Love Story

Chapter 11 - Dufflepuds

Althea's POV

I'm awoken suddenly but the exact cause is unknown. An invisible force rips me from my sleeping bag, leaving massive bare footprints in the sand. Lucy is seemingly floating a few feet in front of me, both of us being carried away from camp. I try to scream or make any sort of audible noise to alert the others but it's useless. A tight hand is clamped around my mouth preventing me from even breathing properly. My arms are pinned roughly to my sides so I can't reach my daggers either. Tree branches smack me across the face as whatever the invisible force is drags us through the woods in the direction of those oddly carved hills from earlier.

We break free from the woods into a gardon of sorts with bushes shaped like anything you could think of. The creatures growl and grunt as they finally drop us onto the strangely cushiony grass. I scramble to my feet, Lucy doing the same before we draw our weapons. Lucy's is hit away from her hand so I attempt to throw my knife where the creature could be in relation. I miss and it gets lodged in the side of a bush. Something hard and pointy, maybe a stick, shoves my shoulder. I stumble backward into Lucy making us both fall to the ground. I don't bother grabbing my second weapon, keeping it hidden behind my arm. It'll be better to keep it concealed for as long as possible until we know the intentions of these monsters.

"There is no escape." A deep, menacing voice says. Hot breath spills over the air above us as the creatures continue to speak.

"We're part scary!" Another one says.

"Yeah."

"What are you?" Lucy asks, fear lacing her voice.

"We are terrifying beasts!"

More voices chime in, agreeing. I try to keep up with how many I hear but they all blend together, sounding easily like more than a dozen, more than either of us can take on while they're invisible.

"If you could see us you would be really intimidated."

"You forgot to mention that we're all very large."

"What do you want?" I ask.

"You... You'll do what we ask." The deeper voice says again. I'm not sure which one of us he's referring to.

"She will."

"Or what?" Lucy says, her voice growing steady.

"Or death."

The situation grows more terrifying as all of them start to chant 'death' in unison.

"Well we wouldn't be much use to you dead now would we?" Lucy says.

"Alright then, we'll just kill your friend." The owner of whoever said that grabs me, yanking me away from her.

"Let go of me!" I shout, twisting my arms but to no avail.

"What do you want with us?" Lucy asks.

"You will enter the house of the oppressor."

Then something shoves her towards an empty space in the garden.

"What house?"

"This one." And then a huge, invisible set of doors open, warm light cascading out from inside the house. I can just barely make out ornate designs decorating the walls and floors of the inside along with a few hallways breaking off. It seems more like a mansion than a house.

"Upstairs, you'll find the book of incantations. Recite the spell that makes the unseen seen."

Lucy shifts nervously in front of the doors, unsure of whether the house exists or if it's another trap.

"Well go on, we haven't got all day." The voice holding me shouts at her.

"Remember what'll happen to your friend." The hand around my arm tightens.

"You've been warned."

"Why don't you do it yourselves?" Lucy asks, turning around to face nothing but sound.

"We can't read."

"Can't write either as a matter of fact." I almost feel bad for these creatures, almost being the keyword. I can't imagine not being able to read or write or be seen for that matter.

"Why didn't you just say so?" Lucy asks, pity replacing any fear she still feels.

"Beware the oppressor."

"He's very oppressing!"

"What makes the unseen seen, got it?"

They all murmur various phrases all with the same 'don't forget' meaning.

Lucy hesitantly steps through the doors and they creak shut behind her. An eerie silence falls over the clearing, the only evidence that the creatures are still here being the hand holding me.

I make sure my face remains stoic, hiding all the brainstorming going on in my mind. These creatures don't appear to be very bright because once the spell that makes the unseen seen is recited, they'll be visible targets. I don't fancy waiting around to see what they look like alone and now that Lucy is somewhat safe in the mansion, I can get back to the others to warn them.

The only way to know where each creature is located is to make conversation.

"You said you were all very large, like bears I assume? Are you bears?" I ask, obviously knowing they're not bears from the humanesque hand touching me.

"We're scarier than bears."

"We are."

There are two of them but they seem to be stacked on top of each other. Do they possibly have two heads or something?

"So more like tigers?"

"We're both."

"We have long fangs and-and well..." The fourth top stack voice trails off running out of things that sound 'scary.'

I think I've counted all of them. There's one beside the shrub directly in front of me, two to the left, and the one holding me, all of them stacked on each other. There's an open space leading straight back into the forest, the way we came that's a perfect escape route. The sun is starting to rise, Caspian or someone will surely realize that Lucy and I are missing. The footprints in the sand will be a big hint.

I slowly inch my hand to my second dagger while they continue to list more and more impossible features, taking long pauses so none of them notice. My fingertips brush the hilt of my dagger. I explode into action, pulling my knife out and stabbing it through the hand that holds me. Blood leaks everywhere and the creature yelps, letting go immediately. I sprint full speed towards the shelter of the woods.

"Grab her!" One shouts and I hear loud stomping behind me, all of them giving chase.

Something wraps around my ankle and I hit the ground hard, all the air in my lungs forced out from the impact. I struggle to catch my breath but swipe my dagger at the empty air anyway, hoping I hit something. I take a deep inhale and scream as loud as I can, it almost hurts my ears.

"Silence her!"

My dagger is swatted away and I'm dragged back into the garden. Two hands pull me upright while a third is clasped over my mouth.

It was wishful thinking that I could escape but at least I did long enough to make a loud noise, something that's sure to wake the others.
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Sorry about the semi-late update. I sort of had a minor accident but it's all good :)
But because of that you guys get a double update!!
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