*Don't play music till my story says.
I started to hyperventilate as the Manticore twisted, turned and looped through the air. My mouth was covered so I couldn't scream. And I could only feel the grip of a strong arm around my torso. Occasionally my captor would whisper in my ear, causing chills to go down my back at the tickle of his breath. He'd laugh everytime the Manticore flipped and made me grab on to the captor for dear life. He liked that apparently. I was just trying not to throw up nor fall off the beast.
"We're almost there, princess. Then we can talk at a distance." His breath again tickled my ear.
I only shook my head. He laughed again. The sound was almost comforting like he was having fun. And his voice sounded young, a youth. Not as it did earlier, like a middle-aged man. I shivered again.
"Mon'el. Cruise." He commanded the Manticore.
To my relief, the manticore leveled out and glided across the sky. Then, to my horror, I was able to see the massive structure that we were heading towards. It was the one I saw back when I first came out of the portal. The one that was dark and looked threatening, with lightning and thunder every other minute. The air was chilled with no sun to warm it up. I tried to look back to see if I could find any light. The stranger only made me face forward.
I took a deep breath then, calming myself. I closed my eyes and let the wind blow my hair behind me. Without all the crazy dips, I actually began to enjoy the ride. It was as peaceful as it was going to get with the storm roaring.
I noticed that the storms were at least a mile away from us and never came too close like it was avoiding us. Like we were dangerous and to be feared.
The Sumps were flying around or running below. I wanted to cower away, but I couldn't look away from the structure that screamed death.
And that I was headed straight towards.
"West Wing Mon'el." The stranger commanded.
My stomach lurched as the manticore tilted to the right and went around the hideous building.
We were so close now, I could see a lot of detail on the towering keep. Many jagged points for battle, I realized. Lost's of remains from previous ones.
I reluctantly gripped the arm again as the Manticore flew into an opening of a balcony and landed gracefully on the balcony.
"Come on," my captor demands nearly throwing me off the saddle and on to the cold floor of the structure.
I grunted as I hit the ground, but managed not to fall on my face. I immediately ripped the cloth from my face and whirled around to face the man who thought it was smart to take me. But I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw his face.
"What? Expecting someone older?"
I didn't say anything. He was about the age of seventeen. Jet black hair styled disheveledly. His eyes were an icy blue and his skin was pale, from the lack of sun, I guessed. He was good looking for sure, but not enough for me to want to swoon. Especially not after what he did.
"Why'd you rip off the muffler when you weren't going to say anything anyway?" He asks striding towards me. "Girls make no sense."
"You're a side in this battle huh. You're going to attempt to sway me into joining your cause. 'The winning side'." I said unmoving, even as he was less than a foot away.
