Offspring of Nowhere (Centaurworld Fanfic)

Chapter 19: Rotten from the Start

Horse picks up speed and with a leap of faith, she leaps to Keres as Rider held her still. Keres yells, raising her sword, then there was a flash of light and everything was still. Rider opens her eyes to see Keres now paralyzed in place, the zombie minotaurs also frozen as well. The woman looks around, and she sets down an unconscious Adron next to Hadeon who was also still. The two women look at the minotaurs, and Rider looks at the frozen griffontaur, starting to worry about Horse, but knew that her friend knew what she was doing, and she and the woman get the minotaurs away from the camp, then do the same for Adron and Hadeon.

Horse wakes up in a strange castle, and she looks around, "What is this place?... Is this... Keres's old home? So she was like a princess?" She walks around, seeing more griffontaurs around, and everything seemed fine, "What happened? It seems like Keres had a good life. What went wrong?" She watches as a griffontaur walks towards her and Horse recognizes her, "So that's what Keres looked like. Where is she-" "There you are! Where were you, my dear?" Horse turns and sees a male griffontaur greet Keres, and sees that it was her father. Younger Keres sighs, "I was just... going for a stroll." She hid something in her cloak and walks away from him and he sighs, shaking his head.

He walks  to the throne room and sits down, "I don't know what I'm going to do with her." Horse looks confused and she follows Keres to her room and sees that she had a knife. Keres twiddles with the blade, "Let's see what father will say now." Horse looks at her, "What is she-" She sees that on Keres's wall there was some type of plan that involved the Nowhere King, or the corrupted form of him. Horse shakes her head, "She was rotten from the start... what is she planning to do with that knife though?" It all fades and she sees Keres walking around the castle at night, going to a strange door. She follows and sees that it was her father's bedroom chambers, and Horse gasps, "No... she didn't..." Horse watches in fear as Keres sneaks up to the king, who was still awake in his bed and he lifts his head to see her, "Keres? What are you doing up my young one?" 

Younger Keres growls softly and she reveals the knife, "Doing things my way." She plunges the knife deep in his throat and he falls to the floor, gagging with tears in his eyes. He looks up at his daughter, shaking, managing to spit words out, "W-Why?..." She lifts his head, "I want an army that stronger than centaurs themselves, and if the Nowhere King is my best option, then so be it." She releases him, and quickly escapes as the guards burst in, shooting their arrows at her as she flies out the window, and Horse backs away, and the door out of there opens and she makes a break for it. She has seen enough, and she jumps out and lands onto the dirt, panting. Keres falls to the ground, growling and Horse gets up, "Let's get out of here!" The woman and Rider get rid of the last zombie minotaur and Horse manages to steal Keres's sword, and the three run to the woods, Keres watching them, growling, "This isn't over yet!"

They finally get to the portal and go through, Josiah following them, "Alright, let's go." Adalie pants and Emilia helps her up, "She was trying to do some magic, hoping to get some progress...." The woman looks at her, "And?" Adalie shakes her head, tears falling down her face, "But I'm not giving up until I succeed." They get out of the portal and the woman talks to Adalie privately, "You need to make sure you don't use your magic like that too much. It will weaken you, like when Keres used it to make her army." Adalie shudders at the memory, and she looks down, "I just... I can't see the kids being without their father... It just feels... incomplete..." She covers her face, crying softly and the woman pulls her close, "You just have to help them understand..." Adalie looks up, "If something happens to me, can you promise me something?.... Since you also knew my husband, and have a close relationship with my family... please... can you take care of the kids if something happens to me, as their godmother? Help my parents and teach the kids what they need to know?..." 

The woman hesitates but she sighs, nodding, "I promise. But you need to promise me that you won't weaken yourself to perform such a spell." Adalie nods and they catch up with the group, getting away from the rift and making sure Keres or anyone follows them back to the village.

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