Foxtails and Fairytales: Facades and Fables of the Phantom Prince

[Arc 9] Ch.8 Warlock's Defiance

[Attention, Foxtails is undergoing some editing. See the A/N at the end for more details]

Shannon

We made our way down the corridor. There was a hellish squeal as the boar slammed sideways into the doorway of the security room where we had been just a moment before. Without missing a beat, he was already digging grooves into the floor as his hooves raced for purchase and he began chasing us.

We turned a corner and barreled down another corridor. At the end was a tall window that cast an eerie moonlight into the building.

"What are you doing!" I screamed as Hyde turned the corner and right past it. That was our exit right! We were now on the outer corridor and that was lined with windows to let in the natural light of the day.

Crash!

SQQQQEEEEEEAAAAALLLL!

I didn't dare look as the boar took another turn gracelessly smashing the window as it squealed after us.

This was a dark and unused part of the estate. Because the party guests were expected to remain on another section of grounds, this part had been put to bed more or less. Now we were waking up the living and the dead as we fled for our lives. We passed several dark hallways and Hyde sent a couple fire bullets down each. The light the magic produced was only enough illumination for a few feet, but it was enough. Down each hallway rested a new herd of Conscripts that let out a warcry and began to chase after us.

He's mad, this man is legitimately mad! He just claimed he couldn't take on an army and was now getting an army to chase after us. Without thinking I looked up at him.

His face...

I don't know what I expected, but the way my heart pounded I didn't expect his face to be... serene. There was no fear, only familiarity. No anxiety, no pressure, no strain, only the sweat of someone at work. This man, more than anything, was in his element. Chased by innumerable enemies that had decimated the security forces, this man only looked forward. This man was dangerous.

But by the way my heart beat anew and the way I admired the shimmer on the bead of sweat that trailed along the contours of his neck, I knew that this was a new kind of dangerous. Strong and fearless, this man reminded me of...

...of Sebas.

*

Hyde held me tightly as ran straight for a window at the end of the corridor. We burst through the window. The Peryton spread its wings to glide on the night air.

This part of the estate was on a raised part of land to overlook the rest of the port. However tonight an unusual fog obscured the view. It was magic and the prospect of not being able to see didn't do anything to sooth the fear in my heart.

We were still being followed by a herd of death and I dared to look past Hyde as the Peryton moved to flap its wings. Someone looked like they were launched from the window. A rugged looking man in a suit of some kind.

"No, you don't!" He said as he latched onto the wing of the griffon-like Peryton we were riding. His weight on the wing mixed with his momentum pulled us into a spiral. Hyde held onto me and we disappeared into the fog for a crash landing.

*

Hyde took the brunt of the fall, but he couldn't hold onto me as he rolled away from the momentum.