The Prince of Light

Chapter 29

We followed Valla deep into the forest and through the underbrush. Her graceful form slid easily through seemingly impossible openings. Her steps fell silents as they hit leaves and the hard ground. The rest of us trampled through the forest like a herd of stampeding elephants. Except for Faolan, Ash, and Jason. Of course. The were-creatures and Death were silent. Oh but not the Prince. No, that wouldn't do. Off in my peripheral vision, I noticed creatures. But none of them bothered us. That probably had to do with who we were.

The sun was sinking rapidly, and Faolan glanced at the sky like it was going to eat him. He was scared. That meant it was bad. We covered distances quickly, but Valla knew it wasn't fast enough. She stopped in a clearing, turning to us.

"You all are going to have to ride on my back. Hold the person in front of you tightly, otherwise you will fall off. Lucas, up front. Make lights in your palms to scare away the bad ones. We are getting closer, so the creatures are going to be worse. Ash, keep him on please. Now lets go." She said, and quickly changed. Her hair melted into her head, turning scaly. Her face flattened, her teeth elongated, and her head rippled as scales appeared. Her body merged together, her clothes turning into scales and then her body lengthened. Soon we were looking at the Wereserpent. I quickly climbed up by her neck. Making two glowing orbs, Ash got on behind me and grabbed onto the notches that extended on the back of her head, pinning me to the snake.

"What are these?" I asked Valla as the others climbed on.

"I am a ssssserpent. Dragonssss are ssssserpents alsssso." She hissed.

"Oh." I said and she reared back, then whipped her head forward, giving us some whiplash. We sped through the trees, weaving and sliding across the ground, about 80 miles an hour. I saw eyes and claws and teeth flash by in the lights. Quickly the forest became darker as the vegetation increased. Soon I saw the sky, through a clearing in the leaves, turn gold and red. The sun had almost set. Crap.

After 10 more minutes, the sky is a dusky gray.

"Valla, how much further?" I asked quickly. We entered a clearing and she stopped.

"We are here." She said. We quickly got off as she morphed back into a human. She motioned to the far side of the clearing and walked towards the structure. A giant set of stone stairs went up in small flights, covered with moss. The faded marble pillars layer broken off to the sides of the stairs. Valla quickly sprang up them, taking three steps at a time. Faolan morphed and bolted up the stairs. Valla stayed back and helped us up all the stairs.

"What is this place?" I asked Valla.

"This is a portal temple." She answered.

"Oh like what I came here?" I asked. Kendra butted in.

"From your description, probably. But most of the temples haven't been used in forever." Valla nodded.

"They still dampen the powers, though. This means the transformation shouldn't be as violent." She said.

"He's still going to change?" I asked.

"Yes. There is no way to avoid that. Luckily only werewolves are effected." She said. I nodded, and realized we had reached the top. I looked back and became dizzy, seeing we were about 6 stories up. I turned back and gasped at the building. It was a giant Greek temple. Open, white marble, and huge, the place struck me as ancient and powerful. We walked in the front and saw at the far end, was a portal, not much unlike the one I came through. This one was a marble arch that had graceful designs on it. Faolan was on the ground in front of it, shaking violently like he was having a seizure.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked.

"He's fighting the change." Valla said quietly. We heard a scratching sound from behind us and we looked back. Standing at the entrance, The Raven stood. He was dressed in all black and had on black leather armor. He quickly unsheathed his sword and whispered. A black fire ran down its length. Standing behind him, were two men. One, short cropped brown hair with fiery eyes, was wreathed in flames. He had a long, thin, steel sword. The other man was a man who looked completely normal. He was in his mid-twenties with short redish hair. He had a small spear, tipped with a weird metal. It glinted in the firelight and I heard several gasps. Valla, Kendra, Lizzy, and Jason. Kendra spoke first, voice full of anguish.

"Aiden! How could you?!?" She yelled. The kid in flames smiled.

"Kendra. Why marry a wench like you when I could rule this entire land?" He asked.

"I thought you were a good person. I was wrong." She said.

"Brother..." Lizzy trailed off.

" I never even liked you, runt." Aiden said, sneering. Tears burst out of her eyes.

"That man, the other one," Valla said, glancing at the normal one with the spear. "He is a Werehunter." My eyes widened as I realized what the metal was. The spearhead was silver. The Raven raised his hand.

"Enough. Prepare to die, dearest brothers." He said.

"Brothers?" Ash and I echoed. He smiled.

"Yes, my dearest triplet brothers." He said. My eyes widened in shock as I realized Ash was my brother too.