"Queens and commoners, princes and peasants, welcome to the party of the quincentury!"
For most people, receiving an invitation to the White King's Masquerade is an honor. Even attempting to attend is a chance to go down in history. But for Sol of M...
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I woke up on hard, wet ground, pushing myself up and promptly lying back down.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to wake up. "I'm dreaming," I said to myself, softly, "this is a nightmare."
"Afraid not," a mellow voice replied, snapping me out of my reverie. My eyes flew open and Prince Syrion knelt beside me, looking mildly concerned but not hardly worried enough.
"So you're saying that..." I said, trailing off.
"Welcome to the Syclla's Hollow."
The cave we stood in was dark and damp, with threatening grey stalactites hanging from the roof.
"So Asriel felt there was no introduction necessary," Odelyn grumbled, as she picked her way stealthily over the moist rocks.
"Ten crowns says this was Kostik's idea," Ciel said through gritted teeth. I contemplated trying to talk to him but we were on our way to a six headed monster so I figured our conversation could wait.
The lightweight chainmail armor that decorated my body shimmered and shifted as we walked forward. There were no bones, although every inch of the cave seemed to be covered in some sticky goo, and the swords and knives of previous fighters littered the stone floor.
We hadn't walked for long before the cave widened into a large cavern below us, and there, right at the bottom, growled Scylla. I drew my sword, as one by one the heads straightened, grotesque, scaly monstrosities, tall enough to stare us in the eye, and roared.
I lunged forward, but just as I was about to stab the head nearest to me, it turned and bashed itself into the cliff on which we stood. The rock promptly crumbled, sending us sliding in an avalanche to the bottom of the pit and into a makeshift prison, with stalagmites blocking our way.
We were now by the monster's feet and, as we tried to no avail to crush the rocks, I noticed that we were missing a member.
Odelyn stood on what was left of the cliff, chest out defiantly, staring the monster in one pair of eyes. Scylla roared again, showering her with spittle. She shook her head, gritted her teeth and roared back.
I stood awed, as she loaded one of her daggers into her bow and fired it at one head, right between the eyes. The monster shrieked in pain, as she loaded her second dagger and shot it at another head.
"We have to help her!" I cried, watching her duck as one of the heads lunged for her, sharp teeth gleaming in the dim light.
"How?" Eleusis replied, eyes glued on the elven girl. She moved with an unnerving grace, dodging Scylla's attacks again and again. She grabbed an arrow and shot it at the monster but it did nothing to dispel it, only angering it further.
She continued to avoid it's strikes but as she jumped to avoid one's jaws she landed awkwardly on her left foot. She did not stop but her moves were slower now, less elegant.
