The Moving Castle: Howl's Moving Castle

Chapter 9

Opening his wings to their full potential, Howl leapt into the sky, he didn't look back knowing well that Delacy was chasing after him. He could hear her heeled boots chasing after him, but he didn't turn back, knowing he wouldn't be able to bear the expression she was wearing.

"Howl, come back here!" She shrieked like a furious mother, and maybe in some sense, she was. Having taken care of Howl for the past five years, going along with his foolish ideas, his constant heartbreaks, and his money spending problems.

Howl smiled as he flew because for the first time he finally knew Delacy had accepted his feelings for him. And he was going to make sure he didn't disappoint her. Glancing up, he saw the king's warship. His eyes changed into slits and his teeth grew into points as his nails turned into talons. But his mind was filled with Delacy, Markl, Calcifer, Sophie, even the witch and Heen. Soaring and landing onto the belly of the ship, his talons sunk into the thick sheet metal as his powerful jaws bit into the ship.

'Delacy...' His wild mind thought, as he snapped a wizard in his jaws. The blonde witch with the dazzling blue eyes flying through his mind. 'For you. All of this for you. Only you.'

*****

Back at the entrance of the house, Delacy stood clutching her hands. 'You fool,' she thought. 'You reckless fool.' But the growing grumbles and growls alerted her to look down the courtyard. Sulaiman's creatures were crawling towards her in deformed figures, not fully formed. Delacy's face screwed up in a rage, she wanted to destroy them, but she thought against it. She only had just gained her power's back, and she couldn't go about and destroy every creature that angered her. Screwing her face, she snorted at them, as she spun on the heel of her shoe and returned inside of the house.

"He's gone," Delacy sighed as she shut the door behind her, locking it. "Stay away from the windows and doors. Goodness knows what these monsters are capable of."

"Calcifer will protect us! Master Howl said so!" Said Markl, rocking on the heels of his feet as he stood next to Sophie.

"I know," Sighed Delacy, looking at the small boy, as she tucked a blonde strang that had to manage to escape her braid, she watched as Markl jerked a bit from the newfound spark in her now bright eyes, he still wasn't use to the colour. "But you never know what can happen."

*****

Twenty minutes passed, the sound of Sauliman's beasts could be heard from outside. As they clawed at the windows, the sickening scratch of their nails on the glass and the wood of the front door. The front door, where Sophie stood, shook and creaked, as the beasts knocked on the wood. The black jelly-like parts of them crept in from the top and bottom of the door. Delacy, who moved to stand at the top of the entrance, watched as Sophie turned the knob of the door, teleporting them to the Folding Valley. Opening the door, both women rushed to the edge of the cliff that overlooked the burning town.

"Everything is on fire!" Shouted Sophie. "I can see the shop!"

"There's Howl!" Delacy yelled, pointing to Howl's transformed body hanging off a warship as Sauliman's beasts flew around him. Both women watched as the warship flew above the town, releasing more bombs as it went.

"Howl looks like he's in trouble." Murmeded Sophie, glancing at Delacy who was stuck frozen watching the scene in front of her.

But both women let out a gasp when the ship exploded before it began to fall. They spotted Howl's head popping out of the hole he had created in the ship, his mouth was open wide, it was obvious he was roaring in pain as the fire scorched his feathered body. The hands that Delacy was using to clutch the skirt of her dress shook dangerously, as she felt the beast inside of her awakening.