Magic, Strength And Speed

Chapter 6- Stone

Vixen's Pov

I stared blankly at the ceiling of the room, all emotions either were on overload or, just weren't there at all, I couldn't tell. Please don't be dead I silently thought to myself. The townspeople had taken the stone figure of my friend and put them with the rest of them. As if they were just another victim. The other remaining member of WIND, was nowhere to be found. She would be devastated to find that when she came back, there were only two of us now.

That is, if she hadn't been caught as well.

I shook myself out of all the depressing thoughts and focused on one feeling. Rage. Whoever or whatever did this would pay. Quite possibly with there life.

The door opened and I shot up and off the bed only to see it was the one person I wanted to see. "Hey sorry about last night." Their face turned to a confused and concerned look as they studied my face. "Is everything alright?" They asked. Oh crap how do I tell this to them. "No." I answered simply. "You know the monster that turned people to stone?" They nodded.

I took a deep breath. Just say it.

"It.. It took Ember."

Bliss's face switched from confused to horrified in a matter of seconds. It was kinda bittersweet to be honest.  Seeing Bliss horrified or scared normally would make me laugh mainly because she had some weird and a bit irrational fears. "What? How did that happen? Where was she? Is she-" I put my hands up and got her to stop. Man she was talking faster than usual. I don't blame her though.

"I found Ember not too far from the White Knight. By that point, she was already a stone statue. The townspeople soon came to my aid when they heard yelling. Apparently, I was talking out loud." I chuckled sadly. "Wait." Bliss paused. "She was by the White Knight?" I nodded.

Bliss started to blink fast and sat down on a nearby chair. Oh no. Bliss only did that if she was avoiding tears. "I-i." She stuttered. "It's my fault. I told you guys to go there. If i hadn't. If I didn't say anything then maybe she would still be here." I bolted over to her side and put my hands on each shoulder.

"Hey. It's not your fault. It's that monster that did. THEY turned her to stone. THEY are bringing chaos to this small town. Don't you EVER take responsibility for something that isn't your fault." I yelled some of the words, my blood inside me heating up faster than normal.

There had been monsters before that killed people or kidnapped them or even infected them. But when they messed with one of us, I took it personally. VERY personally.

This thing had to be brought down.

A thought sparked in my mind as Bliss calmed herself down. "Didn't you find something? What happened to you last night?" The mage perked up upon my words. "Oh yeah! Last night... I think I found out what the monster might be!" She grinned a bit. "Well? What is it?" Swinging her bag from her side to her hands, she rummaged through her satchel before taking out a book I had seen before. "I was looking through the book and this one," She pointed to the page she flipped open to. "Fits what has been going on." I observed the picture carefully, picking out every important detail.

The monster resembled a snake, with a sharp dark gray eye that peered into your soul and teeth that could bite through stone. It's scales were a dark color that was a mix of gray, black and brown and one thin strip of a deep purple that passed down it's whole body. The last inch or two of its tail was as black as the void itself. A rigged red part that was in the shape of a M was on the top of it's head.

At the top of the page was one very large word that could one be this beast's name. Aleafare.

"So we have to find a.. Alifair?" The word puzzled me. "Actually, it's pronounced Al-a-far. Kinda weird huh?" I nodded in agreement. "How do we deal with it?" Bliss looked through the book and pointed to certain pieces of it. "It lives in caves in the mountains and often is known to live close to people. Normally closer than most realize. Killing it should be interesting. For one thing they are uh."

She scratched her head nervously. "Immune to magic" My head shot up. "What?" Bliss gave a shrug. "Apparently they are known for being able to cancel out magical abilities of any kind. On the plus side, doing this means that they can't turn the magic users to stone either so I'm good to go!" She gave a cheeky smile. "Alright. Anything else?" More searching and once again pointed to a part of the book. I didn't bother looking at it knowing that she would read it out loud anyways.

"This is the good news! First off, anyone turned to stone can be reversed and put back to normal with some of the serpent's blood and some other stuff that I already have and a bit of magic AND," She paused and I knew it was for dramatic effect. A laugh caught in my throat but came out as a snicker. "It can be killed with the weapons we already have. However from the lore it says here, the Aleafare can be known to be extremely quick and sometimes even known to be smarter than humans."

Many thoughts of doubt passed through my head but one spoke the loudest.

This would be so much easier if Ember were here.

Oh boy that stung. I shook the thought away quite literally getting a weird look from Bliss who quickly dismissed it as I stood up. "Let's go kill that son of a-" Bliss covered my mouth with her palm before I could say more. Anger burned inside me as I chomped down on her hand. The tall girl pulled her hand away letting out a sharp yelp. "THERE AREN'T ANY CHILDREN AROUND" I screeched at her. "You never know" She shrugged.