Ancestors: The Other World

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Sophie eyed the shriveled top leaves and blossoming bottom leaves curiously. "The tree is a symbol of energy. It shows that energy circulates throughout one to empower one," Ovid explained, gesturing to the gorgeous bark.

"Everytime a lightning strikes the palace, the entire city will be provided with a new burst of electricity. The Queen summons the lightning, since her lightning has been blessed by the leaves of the Golden Tree, thus making it her now palace," he went on. Sophie's hand grazed a golden leaf, which shivered and glowed, pulsing with energy.

They strode all the way into a golden and dim room, where a throne was at the top of a flight of stairs. On top of it set a woman. Her aura was fierce and powerful, electricity pulsing from her arms. She had flawless dark skin, glossy silver braided hair and dark brown eyes. She was simply stunning.

"Queen Starling, we have new witnesses on the Shadow Wing situation," reported Ovid. "This explains everything," Kelvin whispered and Sophie shrugged. Queen Starling eyed them with wary eyes. "Tell me what you witnessed," she commanded in a regal voice. Silence gripped the courtroom. Speaking to royalty was something neither Sophie nor her friends had ever expected to do.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

"Uh...S-sorry. I just saw a guy with two black wings swoop out and uh...grab my bag," squeaked Sophie. She stiffened as the Queen's eyes landed on her. "Every single Impundulu has black wings," Queen Starling muttered, shifting her position on her gorgeous golden throne. Speechless, Sophie just bowed her head low. "Fret not, young one. We'll find your bag," the Queen assured, lifting a stone from Sophie's chest.

Queen Starling got off her throne, and only then Sophie noticed her magnificent gown. It had streaks of silver on its purple and black dress, making it look like flickering stars. She gestured for Ovid to lead them out of the golden tree. "If anything happens, inform Ovid and come straight back here," ordered Queen Starling and everyone trailed out of the room. With their hope dampened, the group decided to search the market.

"Oh great. Someone got their hands on my bag from our world. They'll bust their way through the portal and stumble into our world and probably turn humans and creatures against each other," spluttered Sophie, her eyes clouding. No one had words to tell her she was wrong.

"Are you talking about the Black Wing?"

The team whirled around to come face to face with a bunch of children.
"Uh...yes," replied Sumedha cautiously. "The Black Wing is said to hide in the outskirts of the city, but not at the gates. All the way there," pointed out one of the kids. "We can't just trust a bunch of kids," cut in Jarrett, his eyes dark and his lips curled. "We have literally no other evidence!" Andrew challenged. The two huffed, unable to continue their argument.

"Let's not squabble. Those who choose to go and check out the outskirts can follow Andrew, and those who do not can search for clues in the middle part of the city. We can meet back at night," Sophie butted in, not wanting them to begin fighting. "I don't want to trust random children," Sumedha stated firmly. "I agree," Hanlu muttered softly. Jarrett's eyes glittered as he smirked at the fuming Andrew.

"Yeah I think I'm gonna follow Andrew," Kelvin piped up. All eyes flitted over to Sophie. "It's your bag," pressed Andrew, practically grinding his teeth.

Sophie. Think carefully.

She hesitated, before managing to utter out, "I...pick-"

Jarrett cut in. "You're forcing her! It's her bag and thus she should come with us. We will find actual clues," he hissed, his shoulders brunched. Sophie could see Andrew's wolf like fangs protruding from his mouth as his scorn-filled eyes laced Jarrett with a hateful glare. "Guys, I'm sure we can work something out-" tried Hanlu but Jarrett and Andrew both stared her down. "I don't see a point to fighting," Sumedha warned but Andrew just raised his hand to threaten her, baring his now fully formed fangs at her.

Their fervent argument began escalating into a fight, where everyone was yelling at each other. Sophie couldn't find a voice to stop them.

Sophie, are you alright?

"I thought I built up confidence. Why can't I stop them?" she hissed, feeling her legs grow jelly. Andrew and Jarrett were grabbing each other in the collar and cursing while Kelvin and Felicia were challenging each other to a fight. Xin Ming and Hanlu were jabbing fingers while Sumedha and Paul, who were quite good friends at first, were actually screaming at each other, fingers scrunched into fists.

Then something flashed by Sophie's eyes. It was flying straight at Andrew.

Sophie!

Sophie's muscles all moved at once, one arm hooking around Andrew's, yanking him away and the other swinging outwards, hurling fire at the object. However, the fire didn't work and Sophie felt the object latch onto her neck. At first, nothing happened, just silence engulfing the group. Then, the world began shaking.
"How unlucky. I wanted to go after the werewolf because I heard werewolves were excellent at rampaging through the streets."

Sophie shifted her vision to see a masked figure and two sleek black wings.

"Black Wing-" she tried to utter, but her voice quickly changed into an agonised scream. Fire exploded from her jaws. She was breathing fire, but not on her will. The choker that latched around the neck glowed with purple energy, sending horrendous shock down her body.

She crashed onto her knees, letting another fiery breath fly upwards.

Her eyes landed on her friends.

"Help...me!"