Pandora's Box

Chapter sixty-six

Toni's eyes are big with a mix of fear and surprise as he watches June and Kai's blades simultaneously meet the women's skin in sync. The wail she replies is nothing less that horrifying as she bursts into a cloud of cold smoke and the room is left in silence.

"Listen to me next time Antonio." June reprimands in a stern voice before marching off into the distance with Kai at her side. Toni's eyes are still wide but this time with amusement and he stands still in bewilderment. He can't believe June sounds as if she's scolding him. Him? He is the oldest so it should be the other way around.

Then he hears a sharp creak in the distance behind him and it sets him off like a mouse. He bolts towards June having been shaken from the slightest sound. He doesn't trust reality anymore. The image of old hags face morphing into an unrecognizable monster still haunts him as his mind replays the scene of her eerie smile moving closer towards him from the darkness.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees something emerging from the shadows; a hand reaching out to grab him and enslave him.
"Juniper!" He calls out and the girl whips around, daggers in both hand ready for attack. It's as if the goddess of the hunt were Toni's leader, June's eyes scan the darkness and throw daggers at each figure emerging from the shadows.

Kai, the king of the knight stands by Toni's side. His arms flick to every corner, swiping at the dark. The two fight the battle of the shadows. A war between soldiers and the re-emerging women. The haunted spirit of the women seems chained to them as she appears from every dark corner, gripping to get their claws on one of the three.

Toni hears a clank of metal to the ground and his eyes are immediately drawn to June. The huntress holds her thigh trying to clot the blood pouring through. The boney fingers continue to poke out from the darkness and suddenly the Hunter becomes the prey. June is hurt, she's distracted, she is vulnerable.

That is the moment when Toni's will kicks in. They say every parent has a natural, almost animalistic instinct when it comes to protecting their kids. That one wrong move can turn a teddy bear into a ravenous monster. The blood running down her arms spark a fire in Toni's eyes and within a second, a powerful force of wind whips through the castle, shattering and panels and allowing the moon the illuminate the interior.

The light pushes the hag to the corners of the room, giving Kai enough time to tend to June. Toni, his flame fully lit, moves closer and closer to the witch trying to emerge from the shadows. He almost teases her by moving dangerously closer. So close that her cold fingers latch onto his arm pulling him into the depths of darkness. She fails. She meets the eyes of a vengeful man who uses the Gemini wind to toss her across the room. With a loud crash across the room, the hag should take a few minutes to recover leaving Toni enough time to latch on arm through June's while Kai latches onto the other.

Together they rush off towards the tower which seems to have an unnatural blue glow, almost pulling the, towards it like moths to a flame. They only hope that this time, they don't get burned. Eventually the stairs become too much and Toni resorts to carrying June on his back. For that faint moment, he forgets the devil chasing them and imagines himself back in France. He remembers his younger years, the days when he used to carry June around like this in a world without gods and monsters.

Breathless and aching, the heavy footsteps of a monster echoes from behind as it tries to make its way up the stairs but it may be too late. The three stand before a bright golden door and they don't hesitate when marching through. It's light, the door opens with ease and leads into a small room.

A man sits behind a messy stack of books and he smiles at the three. No one recognizes him at first but he knows them all too well. He's been waiting for this moment ever since Milo and Sonii stepped foot into his path, he knows what he has to do.