FOURTH BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF FANTASILIA SERIES
𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭. 𝘈 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘈 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘈 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦.
Xanthiene Vivenca, a fairy with a bounty for her soul, is caught between...
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"Xanthy look out!" Cirasa lunged for her.
They landed on the ground with Cirasa landing on top of her. The air left her lungs as she pushed him away. "What—"
"Statue," Cirasa hissed through gritted teeth. "Moving."
Xanthy knitted her eyebrows. What?
A huge sword sliced the air between her and Cirasa. Xanthy yelped and scrambled back. Rudik's ass, what was that? The rocks rumbled when a golden hand tore it from where it cleaved the wall into a deep crack. Blood drained from Xanthy's face as she traced the arm to a chest and finally, to a face.
Statue. Moving. She whirled to the dais. The statue had vanished. Queen's breeches.
The statue turned its blotchy, golden face towards her. Xanthy heard it growl. It charged before bringing its sword down with a deadly accuracy. Xanthy's fingers scratched the algae coating the floor as she scampered away. For a woman made of gold, the statue was damned fast. And agile. And deadly.
Gods.
Cirasa picked up a loose brick and chucked it at the statue. It thunked off its head. "Hey!" he waved his arms over his head. "Over here, goldbeard!"
The statue forgot Xanthy and swiveled towards Cirasa's voice before trudging away from her. Xanthy loosed a breath. Cirasa ducked as the statue swung, the sword hitting the walls once more. The room shook with debris shaking free of the domed roof. The shard fairy was nimble, Xanthy could give him that. He rounded the room and stopped beside Xanthy before bracing his hands on his knees. They watched the statue struggle to remove its sword stuck on the wall.
"Any idea how we might stop this?" Xanthy stepped back and lowered herself into a stance.
Sweat dotted Cirasa's brow as he panted. "Any idea what item we could pilfer from here?"
Xanthy gave the statue a quick glance. "Her sword?"
"No, too heavy," Cirasa shook his head. "Pelrise couldn't have carried it all the way from here with him being small in stature. How about the statue itself?"
"I thought he can't carry large stuff?" Xanthy's voice rose a notch higher. The statue pried its sword free and hissed—literally hissed—at them. Xanthy slapped her wrists against her temples. "Uh...shoes? No, it's molded to her feet."
"Amulet?" Cirasa straightened. "It's the only thing he could have carried here. Rafaline loved jewelry."
That made sense. "Amulet," Xanthy repeated. "You distract it. I'll go."
"What are you going to do?" Cirasa asked as Xanthy gathered energy on her legs. It's going to be one hell of a run.
Xanthy shrugged and winked at the shard fairy. "I'll figure it out."
The statue advanced. They dashed to opposite sides. Cirasa jumped up and down, waving his arms. It not only succeeded in getting the statue's attention, it made him look like a deranged krou, so...a win-win situation. Xanthy aimed for the walls as she ran. Cirasa was still hollering in the background, ducking and rolling away whenever the statue got too close. She hoped the walls had some proper hand and footholds.
