Once Upon A Time Frozen Over: Shards of Secrets (Book One) [COMPLETE]

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - MANTICORE ATTACK

Present Day

East Village

"Alavander!" Evie screamed, then swore at the top of her lungs.

"Well, he was fun," Kristoff said facetiously.

Evie, still angry with Alavander, said, "One of these days, I'm going to get that imp."

"Yeah, get him a bath and a toothbrush," Anna said seriously.

"There's no reason to be angry; we have all the information we need," Elsa said calmly to Evie. "We now know who the thief is, so all we have to do is find him — that will solve the majority of our problems.  We're not going to pay off the Blood Gang, because that won't solve anything.  So, maybe we can get information from this Flynn Rider and pay him so he can help us stop them all together."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Kristoff jumped in.

"Excuse me?  I do believe I'm the one that gives out the orders," Elsa said, trying to remain in charge.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, this thief has to be dangerous since he was involved with the Blood Gang.  And besides, if he hasn't been caught by now, he has to be smart — he's probably long gone.  He could have gotten on a ship and sailed off to another land for all we know.  We should leave this alone," Kristoff said, trying to convince Elsa.

"But we don't know that...we have to try.  The Blood Gang is a threat to this kingdom and Flynn Rider is our only hope at stopping them," Elsa contested.

"Even if we do find Flynn Rider and get him to help us, we don't know what we're dealing with.  The Blood Gang is too dangerous.  There's no way just the five of us would be able to defeat them," Kristoff persuaded.

"But, these men are evil and merciless," Anna joined in. "They destroy everything good in the world.  They're monsters that live in darkness and devour the light.  So, we have something they don't — hope.  People like that don't have hope, but we do...from ice powers to sorcery and everything in between, hope is the most powerful magic there is.  And that's how we'll defeat them."

"Well said, I say we do it," Evie agreed firmly. "Let's go find Flynn Rider."

"Alright, good.  Now that the majority of us have agreed," Elsa said, turning her head to Kristoff and giving him a disapproving look, "let's be on our way, since the storm has passed us."

Kristoff sighed, "Fine...but I think we should at least make a plan before we attempt to take on a small army."

"No!" Elsa snapped.  "We're going to track down Flynn Rider now and I don't care how long it takes...I can do it."

Kristoff let out another sigh and reluctantly followed them.

Just then, they heard the melodious sound of the manticore above them.  They looked up and saw it circling in the sky.

"Forgot about that problem," Evie said, unsheathing her sword.

The manticore swooped down, flapping its enormous wings, and landed in front of them, crushing the traps under its massive, clawed, lion-like feet.  The sound of it snorting and clawing the ground sent chills down their spines.  Its beady, red eyes stared at them as if staring into the depths of their souls.  Its mouth was open, flashing its three rows of long, sharp, ravenous teeth, readying itself to devour them.  Its long, auburn mane blew in the wind which almost looked eerily beautiful as it whipped against its open wings.  Its wounds on its right eye and left side were still bleeding from the fight earlier that day.

Elsa twirled her arm around, creating multiple ice shards in her hand.  She pulled her arm back and forcefully shot it out, hurling the ice shards at its face, making the jagged wound over its right eye bleed even more.  The beast let out a wild screech as the shards gouged its face, causing more painful wounds.