The Red Bird

Chapter 22-The Red Bird Crashes The Queen's Party

I fly towards the castle, Scott sitting on my back. I can hear him scream every now and then, although I'm not sure if it's because he's enjoying himself or he almost fell to his death.

The castle loom ahead, and I pour on the speed. I look for a place to land, but all of the balconies are too small. I opt for the huge stained glass window in the front of the castle.

I turn my head and smile at Scott, who's holding on for dear life.

"Ready?" I ask, puffing smoke out of my nose.

"Ready for what?" Scott asks. Then he looks past my head and sees the window. His mouth forms an 'o' and he looks like he's regretting all of his life choices. 

With a great roar and a stream of fire, I burst through the window. Scott's screaming like a maniac. All of the servants and guests are screaming and cowering or running away. I look around for the Queen, but she's nowhere to be found. I turn into my human form so I can navigate the castle better. Scott follows me up the large, marble staircase before us. 

"Should we split up so we find her faster?" Scott suggests as we run down a long hallway, checking doors along the way.

"No, it's probably best if we stick together," I reply.

We hear shouts and screams from downstairs, as well as the large doors opening. "The guards are probably going to start searching for us," I say as I take a peek over the railing. Just as I suspected, there are many guards trying to comfort the guests. 

"Maybe we should do straight to the top? That's probably where she is, if she isn't down here with the guests."

"Perfect. Let's take a faster way up then." I turn into a pegasus and Scott climbs on. We fly through the broken window and up towards the top floor's balcony. 

"Wait, we broke that window for nothing, didn't we?"

"Yeah," I reply. "But it'll look cool in the movie!"

"What movie?"

"Good question... Forget I said that."

We land on the balcony with a thud. I turn into myself once again and open the double glass doors before us. The room is empty, but there was clearly something that went down in here. There's a vanity with a crack in the mirror, as well as broken glass and blood everywhere. 

A feeling of déjà vu washes over me, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

"Let's get out of here..." I say, pulling Scott towards the door.

He begins to follow me, but not before he pulls some random potions off a shelf.

"What are you doing?! You don't know what those do!" I say, trying to take the potions out of his hands and put them back.

"No, but I can figure it out in a few minutes."

"I don't think we have time for that..."

"It could help us get the upper hand though," he says, taking the rubber stopper out of one of them and inspecting the contents.

"Ugh, fine. Just don't accidentally pour acid on yourself..."

He gives me a lopsided smile and says, "I won't."

I try to open the doors by the shelf, but they're locked from the outside.

"Well, I guess we're going with Plan B then..." I say, backing up.

"What's Plan-" Scott starts. Before he finishes, I've already turned into a rhino and crashed through the door. "Oh."

On the other side of the door stands the Queen. Her eyes suggest that she's surprised to see us, but she keeps her composure.

"Ah... Here for round two?" she asks in her silky sweet voice.

Scott and I remain silent.

"Well, let's get this over with then," she says, pulling a crystal sword from no where. "Oh, and by the way, you're going to pay for that window," she growls.

I turn into a gryphon and give an ear splitting screech before going straight for her. Scott stays behind, examining the potions carefully.

She swings her sword, barely missing my ear. I swipe a paw at her, scratching her cheek with my long talons. She grimaces and reaches up to touch the wound.

She then starts hacking with the sword ridiculously fast, clearly blinded by anger.

Scott tosses a potion at her, and she screams as the container shatters on her head and black liquid pours over her face.

"That one's supposed to blind her, I think," Scott explains as he studies another potion.

I take the opportunity to attack. She swings her sword, although her attacks are useless.

She ends up dropping the sword and wipes at her face.

"That's pointless... It's not coming out for a while," Scott says, chuckling.

She yells in anger and starts running towards a wall. I watch and laugh when she runs into it.

"Running away already, coward?" I taunt.

She screams and says, "This isn't fair!"

"Well, I have a feeling that when you fought my mom, that wasn't a fair fight either. I'm just returning the favor for her."

"What do you mean?" she asks, looking very confused. Then, her smile turns murderous and she laughs. "Oh! You're the new Red Bird, aren't you?"

"I have a hard time believing you didn't already know that," I say, circling her. She looks a bit nervous, but she tries to continue her taunting.

"Who did you bring with you, anyway?" she stops again and says, "Oh, you must be the Head Scientist's son! I'll be sure to promote him for bringing you two to me."

"What? He didn't-"

Suddenly, the wall the Queen ran into opens and reveals a conference room with a bunch of important looking people sitting at the table. Scott's dad sits at the head of the table. He's bound to the chair, and Heather and Gladys are next to him in a similar situation.

I just stare in shock.

I then feel a sharp pain in my shoulder. I screech and turn to see the crystal sword lodged in my shoulder. The Queen's eyes are a nasty red color, but she clearly has regained her sight. 

"I thought it might be fun to put on a little show. You know, I'm all about entertainment," she says, smiling.

Before I can react, guards have taken Scott and tied him to a chair next to his father. He struggles hard against the ropes, but he stops when his dad shakes his head.

I'm also in a similar situation, except I'm being taken away from the conference room and dragged out down the stairs. I hear the Queen telling my friends to enjoy the show before she follows me down the stairs. I roll down the stairs to another group of guards who throw me down the next flight. The continues until I fall down all thirteen flights of stairs. Needless to say, I'm going to be feeling that tomorrow... I even live to see tomorrow.

At this point, I'm not sure what she's planning, but I'm scared nonetheless.

I get placed in a large cargo carrier and flown to who knows where. 

Eventually, my crate lands with a thud. I transform back into my normal self in hopes that wherever I am, I could escape easier if I blended in.

However, escape isn't an option.

I'm in the arena where the Thinnings are held. 

And there, standing in the middle and grinning like a maniac, is the Queen.