Delight on Frozen Bones (Legend Of The Stars #4)

Chapter Four

Starling

Phileis accepted my hand. He was about to lead me to the dancefloor when he suddenly stiffened. His smile faded on his face and began looking around.

Kumunot ang noo ko.

"What is it Phileis?"

His eyes averted at many places before meeting mine. "Someone just broke in."

Napaigtad ako at napabitaw sa kamay niya. All of sudden, every senses on my body inflamed. "May nagbabantay ba sa labas? Have the ravensiels guarded everywhere I said they should?"

Tumango siya. "Even in the undergrounds. Imposibleng may nakapasok pa..."

"Unless..." I whispered and glanced up at Sora. She's already talking to some ravensiels as if she sensed something was wrong too in her walls. "Go to the Queen. Guard her as you always do." I said to Phileis and simply reached for my sword underneath my dress.

Phileis gripped my arm before I could walk away. "At ikaw? Anong gagawin mo?"

"I'll go after the intruder." Binawi ko ang braso ko mula sa kanya at hindi na hinintay ang magiging sagot niya. I walked passed the entire crowd and disappeared in the shadows of the nearest hallway.

It's a witch.

Hindi ako pwedeng magkamali. I have been very familiar with their presence, how they creep behind the dark and mask themselves. I'm certain this is a witch. And this is not someone I know, or has ever been inside this castle.

I stopped at the third hallway and looked to my right. Pinakiramdaman ko ng mabuti ang presensya bago tumingin sa kaliwa. The strong presence led to the west wing, the only wing headed to Sora's room.

I shoved the helm of my dress away and went there despite the change of the wind I just felt. The witch's presence served as a warning. Whatever kind of witch this is, she's surely strong enough to breakthrough the barrier guarding the Golden Queen's land.

I breathed in before walking inside the wing, there I met a hallway leading nowhere else but to Sora's room.

I slowly took up Calanthe, my sword beneath my dress and grip it hard. The darkness devoured me. It wasn't this dark when I used to walk pass here. Now it's like walking blind. The witch surely knows how to pick her spot.

I whistled.

Three, in fiery flesh hawks went flying straight at my direction. Nawala ako sa kinatatayuan at umilag. I swung my sword to the sky where they swiftly flew, almost just an inch above my head. I caught one.

Bumagsak ang ibon sa paanan ko. The other two made a loud screech above and descended to my direction again. Looks like I made them mad. Napangisi ako bago itinaas ulit ang espada. I held Calanthe in both hands and bend my knees, measuring the kind of cut I will make between their wings and preparing myself to jump.

When they're only a few inches left away from me, I made a short run then jumped to meet them mid-air. I lift Calanthe to my right and swiftly twist my body to move left, as my sword did, tearing the fiery-flesh hawks into half. The moment I fell back to the ground, their fiery feathers came dancing around me.

"Is that the best you can do, witch?" I said.

Tawa lang ang sagot na natanggap ko. Tawa na nanggagaling sa loob ng silid ng reyna. The presence became too familiar for me to sense it completely now. Olden. Whoever's inside was an olden witch.

Olden Witches are weak. But their curses are the most powerful ones. Whatever she did or created inside these palace halls... If she ever did anything inside the Queen's room...