The Dragon's Bounty IV:Nightmares

Chapter 3

           Emma walked down to the market to pick up a few things. Suddenly, an ever increasing shout began to emanate from above her. She began to snicker as the familiar sound got louder and louder. Aro crashed into the ground in front of her. Emma opened her mouth to say something, but Aro held up his hand.
            "Say nothing." His voice was muffled by the ground. Emma pulled him up and dusted his shoulders off. Aro sighed. "Why am I so bad at my job?" He asked monotonously.
            Emma laughed. "You're not bad at it. You just aren't good at it."
            Aro glared at her. "Not helping." He said. Emma shrugged and continued walking. Aro slouched over and followed behind her. "So, what's on the agenda today?" Aro asked.
            Emma shrugged. "No idea. I'm headed to the market to grab a few things." Emma smiled and looked up to the hill beyond the wall. The hill was bare with a few flowers and trees.
            "Something wrong?" Aro asked.
            Emma shook her head. "I don't think so. But I feel like we should investigate that hill there."
            Aro wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Nah, we should keep in the walls. It's safer that way." Emma shrugged and kept on toward the market. She looked around the city as she passed the various shops and bakeries. She raised an eyebrow when she passed a pasty shop by the name of The Dragon's Bunt Cakes. Aro kept walking, so Emma walked faster to catch up with him.
           "Does something feel off to you?" Emma asked.
           Aro shook his head. "I feel fine. You're just weird." Emma shrugged and kept walking. But as the two passed by a blacksmith shop, everything seemed to go in slow motion. She looked the man at the shop up and down. He had unruly blond hair and cyan eyes, wearing nothing but a vest and a pair of leggings, wiping his forehead with his arm as he hammered away at the sword he was creating. Emma shook her head and kept walking. The man looked up and waved with a smile.
           "I can't help but think I know that guy." Emma said as she waved back.
           Aro shrugged. "You've probably seen him before. We come this way every day, ya know."
           Emma frowned. "Yeah, I guess we do." She said. She looked once more to the hill outside of the walls, then followed Aro to the market.

           Aro's brow hung low as he sat behind Ethan on his stormsurfer.
           "Can this thing go any faster?" He asked.
           Ethan chuckled. "It's not much further. We're almost there." Suddenly, a bright purple portal opened up behind them, two people coming out, both flying, one carrying a purple llama. Aro raised an eyebrow. One he recognized as Jack, the head of the castle guard of Raal. The other he felt a strange connection to.
            Jack smiled. "Ah, Aro. You're awake." Aro nodded. He looked to the other pixie, who carried the llama. The man smiled.
            He had long blond hair and blue eyes. "Hello. I'm Samuel. This is Jeffrey, that inter-dimensional dude's pet llama."
           "You mean Cyfrin?" Aro asked.
           Samuel nodded. "That's the one."
           Ethan turned and looked at the two pixies and the llama. "What did you find out?" He asked.
           Jack shook his head. "Not much. Just that his forces are still on patrol. Nothing from the other races or Raal either. Though, I think we caught a glimpse of one of the sins. I can't be sure, though."
Ethan nodded. "Maybe we'll hear from them soon."
           "Say, how did you come out of nowhere?" Aro asked, having completely turned around now. Samuel smiled. He looked down at Jeffrey, who remained silent.
           "This fluffy guy here can open portals, so we like to use him to get around." Aro smiled and extended his hand, patting Jeffrey on his fluffy head. Jeffrey cocked his head to one side, seeming confused.
           Aro snickered and turned back around. "Are we there yet?" He asked.
          Ethan laughed. "As a matter of fact, yes we are." Aro felt the strange sensation of lightning again before opening his eyes on the ground, outside a strange structure he'd never seen before. The pixies and Jeffrey came through a portal behind the stormsurfers and landed on the ground. "Welcome to the dungeon." Ethan said, dismounting his surfer. Aro followed. Ethan patted the creature on the neck. It rubbed his arm before thundering back up to the shroud.
           "How will he know we need to get home?" Aro asked, looking up at the dark cloud above them.
           "He'll know." Ethan said, walking toward the large door in the structure. Alexander drew his sword. Aro notched an arrow, mimicking Alexander's preparedness. Krista turned her fists to stone.
           "You're an Oread?" Aro asked. Krista smiled and nodded. Aro looked over to Quin, who didn't seem to have any weapons. He walked over to her. "So, what do you do?" He asked with a smile.
           Quin extended her hand, which glowed white. "I communicate with spirits. And some of them are permitted to help me." A translucent man appeared in front of them, but he was no ordinary man. He was a humanoid lion with glowing red eyes and armored leggings with a bandolier, a medallion in the middle with the star sign for Leo on it.
           He smiled. "How can I help you Ms Quin?" He asked.
          Quin smiled. "This is Leo. He's the leader of the zodiac spirits. He can fight for me since I don't fight very well."
          Aro smiled and extended his hand toward Leo. "I'm Aro." Leo smiled and grabbed Aro's hand with his paw. Aro marveled at seeing his own hand through Leo's. Leo began walking toward the dungeon after the others. Aro and Quin followed close behind. "So what other spirits can you summon?" Aro asked.
           "Only members of the zodiac. Like Pisces, Cancer, and Sagittarius."
           Aro nodded. "And I assume they all have different abilities."
          Quin nodded. "Each one has their own special magic power. Just like us humans."
          Aro looked forward. "What can Leo do?"
          "He can summon any weapon imaginable to help him fight."
          Aro's brow shot upward. "Could he summon a weapon that I've lost?"
          Quin shook her head. "Only generic stuff like swords, axes, and maces. Nothing specific."
          Aro sighed. "I guess I'll have to find my bow by myself, huh?" Quin shrugged. Aro looked around at the dank and dark stairway the group had entered. He looked over to Jeffery, who bleated quietly. "So, how does this work?" Aro asked.
          Uel turned to look at him. "The longer you stay down here without dying, the stronger your magic gets." He summoned two translucent green daggers. "I used to only be able to have one of these, but now, I can use two."
          Aro nodded. "So my enhance magic will just make me even stronger than it already does?"
          Uel nodded. "That would make the most sense."
          Aro grinned. "This is gonna be better than I thought." Uel turned back around and continued walking down the staircase. At the bottom of the staircase, there was an open cave, echoing with roars and growls. "So this is the dungeon." Aro said. Ethan nodded, spinning two golden pikes in his hands. Rin drew her dual swords as Grunt banged on his chest, sprouting dark hair and letting out a low growl. In a matter of moments, he'd transformed into an ape. Uel tossed his daggers up, suspending them in midair. Leo summoned a sword out of midair while Quin stood behind him. Chunks of earth began rising around Krista, who simply smirked. Steven clucked as he grew bigger and bigger, transforming himself into the cockatrice that dwelled inside of him. Hydra opened his mouth, electricity jumping around inside. Nickolas jumped to the ground, a weaponized pickaxe appearing in his hand. Jack spun his spear in his hands while Samuel's hands were covered in a black pixie light. Aro's jaw dropped. "You guys are so cool!" He shouted. Everyone smiled. Aro shuffled over to Samuel. "That's an unordinary color."
           Samuel laughed. "They call me the Black Fairy. No one else in my family has black light, nor has it been seen in quite some time."
           Aro smiled. "Wanna see my parlor trick?" He asked. Samuel nodded. Aro planted his fist into his palm. "Enhance!" He shouted. His fists glowed a blazing blue, the light stretching all the way to his elbows. He quickly did the same to his legs, notching an arrow and enhancing it as well. "Let's do this." He said. Everyone took off into the dungeon.

          Emma swished her spoon around in her bowl of stew, sitting across from Aro, who was slurping his down. He placed his bowl back on the table.
          "Something feels off." Emma said.
          Aro groaned. "Not this again. Everything is fine. I don't know why you can't get that through your thick skull."
          Emma shrugged and got up. "I'm not hungry." She said, walking away.
          Aro frowned and walked behind her. "Was it something I said?" He asked.
          Emma shook her head. "I'm going to the hill." She said.
          Aro sighed. "Fine, but I'm going with you." Emma smiled. Once they'd gotten past the gates, Emma and Aro walked up the hill. Suddenly, there was a bright, soft, pink pillar of light cascading down from the heavens onto the center of the hill. Emma and Aro held up their hands to shield their eyes from the blinding light. Once the light had subsided, there rested in the ground a light blue sword with pink trim, the blade a shining silver. Emma rushed over to it, Aro right on her heels.
           "Woah." Emma said.
          Aro held out his arm. "Don't touch it. It could be dangerous." But Emma, entranced by the majesty of the sword, reached for it, grasping its handle and yanking it out of the ground. Suddenly, a scabbard matching the design of the sword wrapped itself around the blade, locking it inside.
          Emma lowered her brow. "You've got to be kidding me."
          Aro laughed. "You still can't get the thing out of its sheath!" He stopped laughing.
          "Hold on." Emma looked over to him. "What happened to us?!" She shouted. "Are we dead?!"
          Aro felt around his body. "I don't feel dead. But didn't we die?"
          Emma nodded. "We like, faded to dust. The sword must have brought us our memories back." She clutched her head. "How long have we been here? We need to get back and help bring down the Demon King."
           Aro sighed. "You kidding? Last time we got absolutely destroyed. Literally! We can't fight him."
           Emma looked Aro straight in the eyes. "The Aro I know would never back down from a fight."
           Aro sighed. "Alright. But we'll need to find our friends first."
Emma nodded. She smiled. "And I know just where to start." Aro smiled. The two stood in front of the blacksmith shop, while Kai hammered away at a sword.
          He looked up at them. "Hey kids. See something you like?" He flashed his crooked grin.