Twilight Shadows

Chapter 29

**Thanks to all of your reads, votes, and comments! Keep up the great work! And... I suck at writing, don't I? XD Yeah I know I'm bad... Oh well, I shouldn't be wasting your time. Here's the chapter...**

I swam back a little, in shock. The nymph had a green-ish skin tone, and her hair was a soft, hazelnut colour. Her eyes were a lime green, and she wore a simple dress which was made up of leaves and twine.

"Um... Who are you?" I asked, although I already knew the answer.

"I am a wood nymph." She said simply. "My name is Flora. And who might you be?"

"I... I'm Stephanie." I said cautiously. "Nice to meet you...?" I flashed an awkward smile, but it quickly disappeared.

Flora smiled warmly. "Open up the scroll, Stephanie..." There was a hint of a flash of red in her eyes, but I didn't question it.

Slowly, I began to unravel the scroll. My heart pounded and I could hear my heartbeat in my head. The last bit of the scroll fell flat, into a piece of paper. Glowing, golden words started to form on it, writing neatly in some ancient language.

As if I knew what to do, I closed my eyes and pressed my furry paw to the words. I felt a swirl of silver, and I opened my eyes. I was back into my human form, and to my surprise, I could breathe underwater.

My fingers traced the ancient words, and they began to translate.

Beware the one who acts like a friend,

Trust the one who has no end. 

Find the light within thyself, 

One decision will change herself.  

"Oh." My heart plummeted. "It's the same thing that my mother said to me..." I gazed up at Flora sadly. "It's always the same thing... I can't make sense of it!"

Flora's eyes glinted again. She flashed a crooked smile. Sensing danger, I quickly summoned Midnight, my balanced sword, from my bracelet. It appeared in a flash, the blade shining in the damp underwater castle.

I wielded it, and slashed out at Flora. The wood nymph began to change. The warm hazelnut hair changed into black curls, and her leafy dress turned into a tight, red and black robe. Her skin tone, once green, turned into a vampire pale.

I gasped in recognition of who this was. Mrs. Smith...

"You!" I snarled. "How did you come back?"

Mrs. Smith let out a cold laugh, exposing her sharp fangs. "I, dear," She said mockingly. "Am immortal..."

"But... I thought..." I stammered. "I thought Noah got rid of you for a while!"

"A while, yes..." She smiled again. "But not long enough for me to track you down!" Mrs. Smith lunged, her claw-like fingers reaching for my throat. I slashed with Midnight just in time, decapitating her head. No blood oozed out.

The head floated around in the water, and laughed. "You can't defeat me!" It screeched.

Anger propelled my body. I slashed and turned, swiftly landing each attack neatly on Mrs. Smith's body. In a swirl, I raised my sword for the kill. My hand shook, and I realized that I had never killed someone before. I gasped, and shrunk to my knees, onto the cold, hard ground.

"Want more?" The head taunted, before reassembling onto Mrs. Smith. The limbs that I had chopped off came back on, reforming Mrs. Smith. She let out a triumphant laugh.

I stood back up, anger coursing through my body once again. I narrowed my eyes. Hate flashed dangerously in them. I smiled crookedly, before stabbing Mrs. Smith in the stomach, where Noah once killed her too. As I predicted, Mrs. Smith went limp, before fading away.