“You have to listen to what I am about to tell you, and then you must go. Paige, you are an heir to the Royal throne. You are a Fairy Princess! Your father is King Niall…” Paige keeps playing that scene of her mother telling her that over in her mind. Sitting on a rock, she takes another bit of an apple that she has plucked from the tree next to her. Her gaze placed at the sky that is layered with vibrant colors as the sun is setting. ‘All of the things mom made me do growing up make sense now. The thought of a mix-breed heir to the throne would not be accepted by all. Not to mention that mom, and dad, would have been executed, by law. And me too. I see why Kalla and Diego didn’t want to tell me. I’m glad they let me hear it from my mother.’
A horrible ROAR in the distance interrupts Paige’s sorrowful reminiscing of her mother. Paige hesitates with fear. She glances back at the dark, decrepit, abandoned mine entrance that she has just come from. There is a warning sign saying “Haunted!” dangling from one rusty nail on a wooden post. ‘Maybe going back to Yomibalba might be more appealing than where I am at this moment.’
ROAR!
“Okay, let’s calm a bit and focus,” Paige tells herself, “What did Carra say about the beasts and how to defeat them? Agh, what was the last one...Amer...Amemaa?” Paige asks herself, racking her brain trying to remember.
Paige takes too long; the first part of the Amermait that she notices is its long teeth. It has a long snout like a crocodile, that then melds into a body more like a hippo or rhino with a mane and paws like a lion, ‘Just like the snake before, I’m unable to sense anything from it.’
SNARL, SNORT, then it charges Paige! She barely has enough time to grab her sword, when it moves its head to the side and bashes her with it, causing her to fly and slam against a cliff wall. “Wow, that didn’t even hurt. Diego’s armor works! Also, I am still holding my sword!”
Paige puts on the armored hood and pulls out her dagger just as the Amermait charges her again; this time she’s able to dodge its attack, and it runs into the rock wall. Unfazed, it counters by knocking Paige over a boulder with a swipe of its crocodile tail.
Quickly Paige gets on her feet. Just as the Amermait charges her again, she runs around the boulder, using it to hide from the Amermait. As she moves around to its back, she notices, ‘Well, that’s interesting. Hm, its eyes are located more to the side of its head. So, it has to tilt its head to be able to see forward. Which it does by using one eye at a time.’ At that moment, Paige remembers what Carra had said ‘Bravery is one of the things needed to defeat this thing!’
Paige backs away from the boulder to a clearing to give herself some room. As the Amermait rounds the boulder and tilts its head to see Paige, it instantly charges at her. Paige then charges too, with an Elven battle cry, aiming herself right between its eyes. Suddenly she stops, and so does the beast. ‘It can’t see me!’ When it moves to look for Paige, she follows it. It ROARS in frustration, then it starts sniffing and snorting, ‘It can smell me, but cannot locate me.’
It then tilts its head down a little. Its eyes then begin to turn all white. The lion like mane starts to stand on its head. The eyes glow bright as its mouth opens, creating a sort of suction noise. Amermaits are also known as “Soul Devourers” they can literally suck the magic and life out of a being, before eating the bodies.
Paige’s heart starts racing. A deep pain swells within her. Paige’s fear rises inside her again, ‘It feels like that time from the first Goblin attack with Kalla.’ Unexpectedly a purple blaze forms around Paige that seems to be protecting her. The Amermait ROARS out of frustration again, ‘Its like the blaze is preventing it from feasting on my magic.’ Just like before, she feels a rush down her arm. Instinctively, she raises it and aims at the beast. A ball of purple flame shoots out, hitting the Amermait in its open mouth. It, too, burst into flames, but instead of turning to ash, it collapses into a puddle of water, and then it steams into the air. ‘Hm, how peculiar that felt. Oh, the sun will be setting soon. I better stay on course.’
Paige walks around the cove she was fighting the Amermait in, and gathers her belongings that got scattered around during the battle. She suddenly notices two dogs standing on either side of the cove entrance; they are sleek and muscular, with short, black hair. Their ears are long and point straight up, with the outer edges golden and feathered like a falcon’s wing.
“We’ve been expecting you,” a voice echoes in her head, “Come, you must enter the temple.”
One of the dogs runs around the corner. Paige follows and is taken aback, “Oh, My, Lord! It's magnificent! The Temple of the Fire Stone!”
Before her is a large pyramid carved out of a solid piece of red jasper. It used to have more to its appearance, but due to its age, all is left is a jasper step pyramid that is missing its cap stone. ‘There appears to be only one way in,’ Paige notices. The entrance has steps that go up to a platform covered by a stone awning. Blocking the entrance is a solid golden gate, with two circular stone platforms on either side. Suddenly the temple disappears entirely, and all Paige sees is open desert floor, more cliffs, and some cacti. It then reappears, flickers, and disappears again. “What is going on?” Paige asks confused, “It’s as if its magic is malfunctioning.”
When the pyramid reappears, the dogs run up onto either side of the gate and stand on the small circle platforms. They both walk in circles simultaneously, sniffing around like dogs do, and then they sit simultaneously. A blue light shoots up around them as the circle platforms rise to become pedestals, and the gold gate opens. 'It appears now that the temple is staying put for the moment.’ Paige notices.
“You have periled much, and for your efforts we present you these gifts.” The voices in her head echo.
A hidden door opens up under one of the pedestals of the dogs. Paige cautiously walks over and looks inside. Laying in the compartment, is a magnificent golden armored dress trimmed in turquoise. Its gold plating is polished to a mirrored effect. ‘Oh, cute. There is also matching mirrored arm bands!’ Paige notices there is more. She then pulls out a golden mirrored parma shield.
As she’s changing into her armor she notices, “Oh, that’s nice, there are also slots for my wings to stick out so I can use them!...Wait, this armor has been waiting here for ages, and it was known back then that I would be a woman and a fairy?” Paige asks the dogs.
They turn to look at her, but no words are spoken. After the silence becomes awkward, Paige mouths, “Okay” ‘Oh, my, is there something else in there?’ Paige then pulls out a metal bow, and five arrows made of gold and tipped with a strange black metal.
After collecting her gifts, Paige then goes to see what she can take with her that she brought. She puts on the belt with the dagger, and then grabs her sword and scabbard. She slides them on her back between where her parma shield connects to her armor, ‘As if it was designed that way.’
Feeling prepared, Paige begins to walk up the red jasper steps. She glances over at the dogs. They turn their heads and look back at her and stare with their green, glowing eyes. A warm dry breeze blows from the darkened entrance of the temple, ‘It smells of heat.’ Paige takes a deep breath to steady her nerves and walks in. The gate SLAMS shut behind her with a loud booming echo.
YOU ARE READING
Mythical Book #1
FantasíaPaige lives a secluded and simple life. However, suddenly she's thrust into a perilous journey, driven by the belief that her destiny holds the balance of the universe, for better or worse. Shockingly, she discovers that her very existence is deemed...
