The Vacant Throne

Chapter 22

Humming along, the dance had become mesmerising; or at least I hoped it did. For all I knew I could have just been flailing my arms around like a mad man. Either way, the pure act of dancing had taken me. I hoped Cathy could see it; I'd hate for her to miss out on this beautiful scene.

I twirled into a bow to end the dance number and looked up at the camp. The Evenawks were standing motionless, too shocked by the sheer awesomeness of what they had seen to react. I waited a couple of seconds to see if they would start chasing me, but they just continued to stare. Frustrated, I gathered some power and launched a Fireball at the nearest building.

The Evenawks shrieked loudly and finally started running towards me. I turned and ran back to the forest, giggling excitedly. The shrill squawks of the Evenawks were growing louder as some took to the air to launch arrows at me. I made sound effects for the arrows as they whizzed by.

I broke through the trees and Cathy was immediately beside me running. "What the Void was that?" she asked.

"A Fireball," I smiled.

"You know what I meant!" Cathy exclaimed. "You said you would dance with me!"

"Next time," I called out.

"I'm keeping score, mister," she replied.

I laughed and we ran past the area where the Huntresses were gathered. Cathy grabbed me by the shoulder and stopped me. Part of me wanted to keep running because the wind felt so amazing, but we had a job to do. Cathy dragged me to a fallen log and we hid behind it.

The spark of magic filled the air as the Naos charged their spell. As the Evenawks entered range, they were cast into the Nao's Illusion. One by one the Evenawks slowed down and stared slack jawed at something only they could see. The archers in the air came to a stop, and slowly landed next to their brothers.

The Nao moved closer and singled out individual Evenawks. Each Huntress grabbed their Evenawk and sunk their teeth into the Evenawks' necks. The Naos' black eyes swirled with white as the Evenawks twitched and started turning grey. When the soul had been fully sucked out of the Evenawk's body, each Huntress moved onto the next. The Evenawks stood and waited their turn, so enthralled by the Naos' Illusion to realise their fate.

I let out a high pitch, feminine scream and Cathy covered my mouth and pulled me close to her. "You need to calm down," she said to me. "No more berries for you...ever."

I nodded.

"We can sneak around this and head for the camp," Cathy suggested, removing her hand from my mouth.

I nodded again. "Okay."

"Follow me," she said.

She grabbed me by the arm and led me around the 'battle'. I kept my eyes looking away but could still hear the sound of the Nao feasting on the Evenawks. I needed something to distract me from the sounds.

"Lalalalala," I sung quietly, bouncing my head side to side.

Cathy mumbled something as we emerged from the forest. The camp had to have been cleared of the Evenawks, but I vaguely recalled seeing a few Humans within. Either the Evenawks had taken some prisoners or Desroche had recruited some Mage help.

I stopped my singing and pulled on Cathy's arm to get her attention. "There might be some Mages in there. I think I saw some Humans when I first started dancing."

Cathy stopped and turned around to look at me. "Are you sure?"

I shrugged.

She let go of my hand and adjusted the shield on her arm for comfort. "It would make sense. If Desroche is setting up something magical, Mages would be needed to help."