The Locket || The Winx Saga

Chapter 12

"This is better than a party?" I asked, looking around in slight disappointment. "You brought me out into the woods."

He laughed. "Trust me, it's nice out here."

"Oh my god, you really are plotting to kill me." I joked, gasping loudly.

"Fuck off."

I followed him for a few more minutes and then we came to a sudden stop. "You're gonna do it here, aren't you? Where no one can find my body..."

"Piss off with the murder jokes." He said, shaking his head. "Just come on."

"Come on where? There's only trees."

All of a sudden, he stepped forward and a wide sheet of bright blue light appeared. "What the hell is that?" I breathed out.

"It's the barrier." Riven chuckled, stepping through to the other side. "Coming?"

"Uh, yeah." I mumbled, cautiously following after him. "Can I just ask, why are we going past the barrier?"

He smirked. "It's fun."

***

"Riven, are you sure we should be doing this? I mean, the barrier's obviously there for a reason." We'd been walking for about twenty minutes now and I was becoming increasingly worried. He'd just gone through that barrier without a second thought, whereas I was currently listing off every possible reason for this barrier in my head. And the one possibility that stood out to me was that there could be something dangerous on the other side of that barrier, the same side that we were currently on.

"Relax." He said, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets as we walked. "Besides, I thought you were cool. This should be easy for you."

"What if that barrier was keeping something out?" I asked, earning a frustrated sigh from Riven.

He stopped, turning to face me. "Look, I've been past that barrier a million times and I'm still here, aren't I? Nothing catastrophic happened."

Before I could respond, there was a noise in the bushes. "What was that?"

"It was probably the wind."

"Riven, it's not windy."

The noise sounded again and this time, it sounded like a sinister growl. "I really think we should go." I pleaded, becoming more panicked by the noise. There was something out here. I could just feel it. And just then, the thing that owned that growl leaped out of the bushes, and began coming towards us. And it looked terrifying. It didn't even look human. It was like an alien.

"What the hell is that?!" I yelled.

"A burned one." Before Riven was able to say anything else, the creature lunged towards us. And I couldn't move. My body was frozen. I was going to die, wasn't I? I was gonna die. But then all of a sudden, I felt something push me aside, and it was soon followed by a pained groan.

"Riven!" I screamed. He was now crouched down on the ground, clutching his side. And there was blood, a lot of it. I wanted to run towards him and get him out of there, but all I could do was stand there, watching in horror. But then something happened, some sort of roots suddenly forced themselves out of the ground, piercing the Burned One in the chest. This was my chance. I could get him up and we could get away. I hurried over to him and dragged him up off the floor, and then we proceeded to stagger frantically through the woods, back towards the barrier.

My heart was racing and my legs burned as I stumbled through the bushes with Riven hanging off of my shoulder. I couldn't understand what was wrong with him. He only had a single wound, yet it was like he was dying or something.

After a few more minutes of aimlessly running through the trees, I spotted a familiar face, causing me to stop where I was. "Bloom?" I breathed out.

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

I shook my head as I attempted to catch my breath. "It doesn't matter. There's a Burned One in the forest, we need to go, now!"

Before Bloom was able to respond, the Burned One emerged from the bushes. "Look, it's alright." Bloom said. "I'll just get it with my magic."

"You don't sound too sure."

"It's fine. I've got this." She said in a firmer voice before stepping in front of us and raising her hands towards the monster. However, she wasn't able to fire a single shot as the creature sort of winced, and then collapsed onto the ground. It took a few seconds, but eventually, it stopped squirming and was now completely still on the floor. "Is it dead?" I whispered, stepping closer slightly.

"Yes, it is." A voice suddenly came. Turning around, we saw Miss Dowling now standing before us, a strong look of disapproval on her face. Great, now I was certain I'd be expelled. So much for learning to control my magic. I guess that dream was over now.

***

When we finally got back to Alfea, Dowling looked furious. And I mean, who wouldn't be furious? She'd just had to save some of her idiot students from being murdered by a deadly alien monster thing. Since I was already prepared for my imminent expulsion, I was actually surprised by what came out of her mouth. "Since this is, shall we say your first offence, I'm going to let you off with a warning. But from now on, if any of you even put one foot out of line, then you risk suspension."

We all just stood there in silence and nodded.

"Right, well I would advise that you all go back to your rooms now." She said before turning and walking away.

Bloom set off back to the suite first and I stayed behind for a moment with Riven, who was now almost completely recovered by the way. "What the hell happened out there?" I asked him.

"We got attacked by a Burned One."

"No, you got attacked by a Burned One. And you were dying, I saw you."

"Yes, maybe I was. But now that it's dead, I'm fine." He assured me.

"You sure? You're sure you're not gonna keel over on the way back to your room?"

He laughed. "I'm positive. Now why don't I walk you back to your suite."

"Alright."