Drive (The Badlands Series) Book 4

Chapter Nine: The King Of Pride

They all entered the first castle, and inside, a king sat on a throne made of gold. Everything inside was gold. "Who are you?" He asked in a loud booming voice that echoed throughout the castle walls. 

"I'm Emlyn, Queen of the Fairytale world and Americana. I've come for an artifact that will open a portal to the underworld." Emlyn said, and the King nodded. 

"Many have come to seek those items for centuries; however, all have failed my test." He said, and Emlyn nodded. 

"Try me," Emlyn said, and king chuckled. He was so sick and full of pride that he believed no one could defeat him. 

"Come and take it; I'm sure you know it's this gold crown on my head. If you can take it, it's yours." He said, and Emlyn looked confused. 

"That's all I have to do?" She asked, and the king nodded, never once wavering.

"That is all; I've never been defeated." He said, and Emlyn nodded and wrote in her mind. 

"The King of Prides gold crown appeared in my hand."

The crown was in her hand a second later, and the king rose from his throne, the anger becoming quickly visible on his face. "How did you do that?"

"You aren't the only powerful one standing here," Emlyn said, and demon guards surrounded them. 

"Well, good luck fighting them off." The King said, and the guards neared them, and Emlyn looked in the direction of Bob. 

"A bucket of water fell on Bob's head." 

She wrote in her mind, and in a second, Bob was drenched; he was quick to react, knowing her plan immediately. Electricity shot from his body, and all the guards disintegrated. That wasn't the end of it; however, more guards spawned and came at them quickly this time. 

One of them tackled Emlyn, and the crown rolled out of her hand; she slammed her palm into the demon guard's nose and stood back up. Stella had grabbed the crown, and she was back against a wall. 

"Sarah, catch!" Stella said and threw the crown to Sarah. A demon clawed Sarah's face, and she froze it and then tossed the crown to Bob. 

Bob was immediately tackled by about five of the demons, and he tossed the crown to Mystic. Mystic was ready to aim her wand, but Ginger had enough at this point. She stepped in front of Mystic, revealing her real form that only Stella had seen. 

"Enough!" Ginger shouted, and the demons stopped and backed away from her. "As the highest demon in all the realms, I command you to slither back into the hole you crawled out of!" Ginger yelled at them; this sent them running with their tails tucked between their legs. Ginger breathed out and returned to her human form.

"Ginger, I thought I recognized you. Your mother won't be happy you are here. Now leave all of you!" The King said, and they left his castle. 

"Who's your mother?" Emlyn asked, and Ginger sighed. 

"Don't worry about it; that's my business," Ginger said, annoyed, and Emlyn nodded, deciding not to pry. 

"Mystic, why can't you just open a portal to the underworld?" Emlyn asked, and Mystic sighed. 

"Some realms have rules to prevent certain people from entering. Especially since the underworld is typically for dead people with unfinished business or evil souls needing to be kept contained. The rulers of that realm, Ginger's parents, are the only ones allowed to open a portal to that realm at free will." Mystic explained, and Emlyn sighed. 

"Well, I guess that makes since; guess I'm glad you came, Ginger, in case we run into any more demons." Emlyn chuckled, and Ginger scoffed. 

"Yeah, I bet you are." She replied sarcastically, and the three of them headed for the second castle.