Freedom comes at a price and a young Earthal princess must live the life of somebody else, even if it means facing evil threats and impossible odds.
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As someone who craves freedom, Princess Clarabelle cannot just stand by and let her life be take...
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UNCONSCIOUSNESS SEEMED a distant friend that Clara was prepared to embrace at any moment, the deep soulless eyes of the Hollow the last thing in her mind. However, seconds ticked by until it turned a full minute and her awareness remained tethered in the present reality.
She risked a narrow peek behind one eyelid and found three blurry outlines in front of her. With eyes wide open, her jaw fell to the ground as she took in the scene before her.
Clara didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She didn't know if the sight of Willow imprisoning the Hollows, unmoving and time-frozen inside a wind shell, was a product of her imagination. A hallucination she conjured at this time of need and desperation.
"Willow," she croaked and the princess almost wept when the little Familiar responded to her call. "I'm not dreaming, am I? You're really here."
Willow sighed. She bobbed closer to Clara's face to caress her cheek with her fluffy cloud-like hand. "Princess."
A small laugh escaped Clara's lips. "Not 'Witch' this time?"
Clara swore Willow had rolled her eyes at her (if she had one), but the Familiar returned her attention to the suspended form of the two Hollows, faces frozen mid-scream. Their limbs were splayed as if they were struggling from being lifted off the ground before time froze for them. And their grayish skins turned a shade of blue, cracks appearing as if their bodies were made of fragile glass.
"What have you done, Willow?" Clara pushed herself off the tree, knees as soft and weak as jellies. "I didn't even notice you arrived. How did you find me here?"
"The freezing temperature of the wind merely froze these Hollows into ice. The tainted blood frozen in their veins will thaw once I let go of this wind shell that contains them. And for your second question, I'm afraid it will be much easier if the others would be the ones to explain it to you."
"Others? You don't mean..." Clara's breathing hitched and tears started to pool around her eyes. "Oh, Holly."
"Maxwell, too, and the other Eirinian prince..." Willow paused. Wind gathered around her feet which threatened to carry her off the ground.
"Willow?"
"With them is some strange girl that I've never seen before."
"But surely, if Prince Eadric is with her, then perhaps she's someone we can trust."
The wind calmed into a gentle breeze as Willow tilted her small featureless head to the side. "Who said something about Prince Eadric?"
"Isn't he the other Eirinian prince who came looking for us?"
"Not Prince Eadric, no." Clara jumped at the arrival of the new voice. She spun to see Flynn and Emir emerging from the thick foliage. Flynn sauntered in leisurely steps as if nothing in the world could bother him. The side of his lips was curled to the side, thumbs were tucked inside the pockets of his gray trouser. And Emir, oh poor Emir, had twigs and leaves sticking from his hair and clothes. The lines and contours of his face were twisted in a manner that no painter could paint.
