The Hybrid Legacy Part II (Sequel to the Baile Series)

Chapter 13 Return as Ashbyrne

Fillan

"Do you have a plan?" I asked Erina as I tugged at the collar of the royally embroided suit I had materialised with my enhanced power. A suit wouldn't have been my first choice for a fight against a royal pain in my arse, but I guess fate had other ideas.

"Yes, we break into the castle, free our parents and kill the Ash Queen once and for all." Erina replied from our position on a mountain just beyond the Ash city. Erina had materialised a rather expensive looking crimson and gold dress that I imagined didn't have a lot of flexibility for kicking arse with.

"How are we going to do that when you won't take that off?" I pointed to the collar around her neck, the inner edges charred black from her power yearning for release.

"It'll be coming off." She assured, reaching down the front of her dress to retrieve an octagonal shaped object that glittered dozens of different colours under the moonlight. "Cullen gave me this before he was taken." She explained. 

"What is it?"

"I don't know and neither does he."

"That sounds promising." I remarked.

"I don't know how I know, I just have a feeling that this object will help me keep my fire in check."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I it doesn't sound promising."

Erina huffed exasperatedly. "We have one chance to do this, to save our parents and maybe even this whole realm. I need you to trust me and we need to be able to work together."

"I trust you."

"I trust you too." We exchanged a smile.

"Well isn't this heart warming?"

Erina and I both started in surprise.

"Coco!" Erina leapt to her feet to embrace her best friend in a long deserved hug.

"I've missed you so much, you look so different." Coco beamed.

"I've missed you too, what are you doing here?" Erina stepped away.

"We're here to have your back, as well as have your front." Coco replied.

"We?" I asked.

On cue explosions erupted within the city, bursting in quick succession in a straight line toward the castle.

"That's your cue." Coco addressed Erina and I. "Good luck."

"Likewise." I nodded her way before Erina and I turned to run down the mountain.

The reality of what we were undertaking hit me hard as ash civilians ran to and fro in hysteria. We were attempting to invade a castle, an empire that had remained strong for thousands of years. Our own mother had attempted to reclaim the other half of our family line and had failed.

Erina and I followed the bursts of smoke that were being exploded down the streets we needed to go down, providing cover so we wouldn't be detected by the Ash Knights.

"This is taking too long." I noticed after we had been running for ten minutes straight. We weren't even a third of the way through the city. I looked up to see Kassidy jumping from rooftop to rooftop, firing arrows relentlessly to our foes below.

I needed to get to much higher ground, and thanks to my recent encounter with death, I had a supreme means to do so. I stopped running and gave into my Darkness and my fire, my knees snapping backward and spine tearing upward from my back. Bit my bit I grew bigger and bigger, grey fur sprouting from my skin. I let loose a sound between a growl and a roar, shaking the foundations of the ancient buildings and legendary castle.