TATTOOED

This is the story i made 12 years ago. If you love fictional storyline, fantasy and adventure, you might give this story a go. Hope you get hooked and enjoy reading my story.

TATTOOED

BY

 EVE LYNE ALMACEN-MEDINA

Seventeen years had passed, when the Foley family, from Martinsville, Virginia lived happily and contented. They were well situated and financially stable. They gave their daughter Casey her wants and needs but, not to the point of spoiling her.

     Until one rainy night on October, something happened that changed their lives forever. It was nine o'clock in the evening, when Mrs. Foley was driving her car to her way home from late night work. When suddenly she saw a woman whom she thought crossed the street. She avoided an accident to occur and tried to land her car on a ditch, which was not so deep and perfectly parked there. She went out of the car to check out if the woman was all right. Then, she realized that the road was clear and thought that she was only hallucinating.

     The rain was pouring so hard that made her totally wet, when out of nowhere she heard a woman's voice crying for help. Mrs. Foley wandered around and saw a pregnant, bleeding woman on the other side of the street, leaning on a big tree. She urgently ran towards her and was very shocked upon realizing the fact that she was not just pregnant but also have deep, bleeding, stabbed wounds on her body

     '' Wait here, I'll call for help'', Mrs. Foley said in a panic voice.

     When she got her phone, it was out of coverage area and was not useful at all. Upon realizing that help was impossible, she immediately ran back to the pregnant woman and helped her by herself. The woman was weak and pain overwhelmed her whole body. Her big belly suddenly contracts and the woman shrieked in pain.

     ''Oh my God, what is wrong now? What am I going to do?'' Mrs. Foley panicky muttered.

     ''Help me, my baby'', the woman uttered touching her belly. She was a weird-looking being and had tattoos all over her body. She was wearing silky, old-looking clothing, stained with blood. Mrs. Foley thought that this woman went to a costume party and was about to be murdered by somebody before she met her.

     The contractions continue to shorten its intervals. She was about to deliver a baby in a cold, rainy and miserable night.

     ''My baby'', the woman uttered once more with a grimace face. Mrs. Foley had no other choice but to help her deliver the baby. After a few minutes of intense pain, the woman gave birth safely, but she was getting weaker and weaker. The rain also stopped pouring when the baby arrived.

     Mrs. Foley rejoiced upon seeing a little angel with a healthy crying sound. She carried the baby on her arms to warm her a bit. Then, she glanced back to the baby's mother.

     ''It's a baby girl and she's beautiful'', Mrs. Foley proposed with a sweet smile. The woman smiled back and uttered her final words.

     ''Keep her'', she paused when pain overwhelmed her.

     "Protect her...don’t let them take her'', she added. Mrs. Foley was confused and did not know exactly what to do.

     ''Who's going to take the baby?'' She tried to ask the woman but failed to have an answer because, she just passed away and suddenly turning herself into ashes from head to toe right before Mrs. Foley's eyes. She was very frightened that she immediately ran towards her car while carrying the baby. Her mind was juggling of what exactly had happened. She was still trying to digest the fact that she was not dealing with an ordinary woman earlier. She was so spooked that she almost panicked. The baby made a little cry that catches her attention; she looked down and stared at her. A weird, scary thought flashed on her mind of what kind of baby she was holding at that moment. She felt scared but, took love and pity than be frightened and rejects her.

     ‘‘Do not worry, my dear. I'll take good care of you and love you as my own, no matter where you came from and what you might become'', Mrs. Foley uttered those sweet words with a hug and a kiss. She was all wet and the baby started to cry. She picked up the phone and called home. Luckily, it rang and her husband answered it. Help came sooner and they have arrived home unharmed. Mrs. Foley explained everything to her husband, every detail of what had happened. At first, her husband hesitates to adopt the baby. However, he was also a kindhearted person like his wife and finally decided to keep the baby. The couple promised to love her as their own daughter like the treatment they have given Casey. Most importantly, they wanted the baby to grow up as a normal kid and not as an outcast of the family and the other people around her. Casey on the other hand was so happy to have a baby sister and wanted to take good care of her.

      Before the incident happened, the couple already planned to have another baby and pleasured that the little angel arrived sooner, though not biologically theirs. They named her Christie.

     Christie grew up as a normal little girl as what the couple wanted. She was so lovely, sweet and smart.

     She went to school at the age of five and did very well in almost all her subjects just like her older sister.

     While she was growing up, there were no any signs of strange behaviors or abilities displayed. She acted just like any other normal kid. However, there was one weird thing appeared on her hand since the night she was born, a tiny mole on her left palm and on her right ring finger. They thought of the mole as ordinary thing that a normal person has, but as days and years passed by it grew longer and bolder. They did not know why that happened or what its purpose was and thought maybe it’s part of her being a true daughter of a strange woman with tattooed body.

     The couple ignored it. Christie did not mind asking questions about it as well.

     Every year was a great year for the family, until a year of nightmare came in 1993, when a dreadful event happened inside their home. Christie was seven years old by that time and Casey was twelve.

     Their mother was at the kitchen that night preparing for dinner while Casey assisted her. Her husband was sitting at the couch watching for his favorite TV. show, and the youngest, Christie, was upstairs inside her room with her coloring books when suddenly strange-looking beings attacked them. They were weird-looking creatures with sharp teeth, two heads, four hands and decomposing, filthy skin. They have scary-looking barbarian-like armors. The Foley's have no idea who they were and where they came from. Casey's mother immediately told her to go up stairs, to get her sister and hide before the monsters see them. The little girl obeyed her mother then went to Christie's room and hid inside the closet. Meanwhile, their father hurriedly dialed the phone beside him to get some help. Just after he pushed the first digit, one of the creatures grabbed his neck and choked him that, he almost passed out.

     "Where is the girl?'' one of the monsters asked out in a growling voice. Mr. Foley did not say a word now that he knew what the monsters want. They wanted his little Christie. He was frightened and did not want to die soon but he would do anything just to keep his girls out of harm’s way. When the creature did not hear an answer, he got so mad that without any second thought stroked his sharp armor and cut off Mr. Foley's head. Blood spilled on the floor as his helpless and headless body fell on the pool of blood.  His wife was shocked and terrified of what she had just witnessed. With rage, she immediately took a knife from the table and hysterically attacked the monsters but one of the creatures grabbed her by the arm and asked her the same question.

     “I don't know what you're talking about", she replied in an angry voice while tears fall down from her face.

     "And if I do, I will not tell you anything!!!" she continued madly, spitting on the monsters ugly face, then stabbed the creatures stomach but failed, instead she was the one being killed. The two innocent, scared girls' parents were already dead.

     The two-headed creatures freely searched for Christie everywhere until, one of them went inside her room. The little girls were so frightened when they heard footsteps coming towards their hiding place. Casey covered her sister’s mouth to avoid her from screaming. Their hearts were beating faster and faster as the big footsteps grew louder, and louder. Then all of a sudden, the creature opened the closet door and the two girls saw the ugly monster’s face staring at them, that they almost screamed in fright. To the surprise of two girls, the monster closed back the closet door and walked out of the room after realizing that there was no one inside.

     “Let’s go! The girl’s not here!”  The filthy creature demanded the others then they disappeared in the thin air leaving the two scared girls and their dead parents.

     Meanwhile, the little girls were puzzled on why the two-headed monster did not see them, that they were just right in the monster’s face but, what they didn’t know was Christie has the ability to make herself invisible as well as the person literally attached to her that moment. She has no control that time but out of being so frightened, her power showed up. They ignored to think of a reasonable explanation of what happened and were just thankful that nothing bad happened to them.

     When they realized that the monsters were gone, they hurriedly went downstairs only to find out their parents’ lifeless bodies on the floor full of blood. They were shocked and scared of what they saw.

     They cried and grieved for many days; they still could not accept and believed what happened to their parents, to their happy family. Their lives changed after that horrible tragedy.

     Right after the burial of their parents, their Aunt Elizabeth decided to adopt them. She was the only relative the two girls knew. Miss Elizabeth Molly was their mother’s older sister. She has no children and a husband. Miss Molly as well knew about Christie’s past, everything about her and her biological mother. Her sister, Mrs. Tara Foley told her about Christie’s secret, every detail of it, they considered each other not just sisters but also best of friends.

Miss Molly loved her nieces so much and treated them like her own. She gave everything they needed but still she could not take away the two girls’ longing for their parents and their sadness but that didn’t stop her from loving them. She continued caring for them and did the best she could to make them happy and raised them as good individuals.

     Casey and Christie went to another school in the city they currently lived in. Slowly, they wanted to forget the past and moved on. Because of that terrible experience, the two sisters were closer than ever before. They loved and cared for each other so much.

     Meanwhile, Christie’s tattoos became longer and bolder each passing month. She also used her power every time she was in trouble but not noticing it. She really did not know she has that some kind of ability. Her power just naturally worked by itself when she was in need. Casey and Christie promised to each other not to keep secrets. They shared stories whether it was about crushes, school grades, weird things, and some other stuff. It was just as if they were soul sisters.

     By the time Christie was fourteen, she started to fuss about the tattoos on her hands. However, her Aunt Liz always find herself an alibi. She thought it was not yet the right time for her to know everything.

     The tattoos on her ring finger already formed itself a ring with an eye in the middle and on her palm; the symbols were a lot bolder with some spiky patterns. Sometimes, she even thought that she was truly a freak, like what others teased her ‘Tattooed Geek’. Often times, she ended up crying while thinking about it but, fortunately she has a sister and an aunt who comforted her and made her felt like ordinary and that could calm her down but, behind it she still thought to herself “I’m not Ordinary”.

###

Presently, Christie has just finished her graduation rights. Her Aunt Liz and her sister Casey were very proud of her.

     “Congratulations, my dear”, her aunt said and hugged her.

     “Thank you auntie”, Christie responded.

     “C’mon little sister, give me a hug”, Casey happily uttered and the two embraced each other.

     “I’m so very proud of you”, Casey added in whisper while Christie got a little bit emotional.

     “Why are you crying? Stop that, I don’t want to cry too”, Casey demanded while wiping out her sister’s tears.

     “I’m just so happy, that’s all”, Christie answered.

     Then her Aunt Liz added, “I think Casey has something to say to you”.

     “What is it, sis?” Chris asked.

     “Oh yeah, wait”, Casey paused, and took something from her pocket.

     Then she added, “since you did a very good job in school and soon you’ll be going to College, Aunt Liz and I wanted to give you something”, Casey finally proposed while showing the car keys jingling in her hand. Christie was wide-eyed and very happy.

     “Wow guys, really? Oh my God, I can’t believe this, finally I have my own car”, she said excitedly and took the keys from her sister’s hand then hugged them again.

     “Thank you so much, I love you both”, she answered.

     “You want to come see it?” Aunt Liz inquired.

     “Of course!” she replied excitedly and the three went to the parked car under the shaded tree.

     “It’s brand new”, Aunt Liz added.

     “This is so cool”, Chris said. “This is too much guys. You must have given me something that is not so expensive or just nothing, you’re presence is much more important to me”, she added.

     Aunt Liz and Casey were looking at each other.

     “Really?” they said in chorus. “So, you mean you don’t want this? You don’t want a car?” Casey added.

     “Yes, I do want a car. I want it and really appreciate it so much”, Christie replied.

     Then her aunt said, “We know you’ve been saving money to buy a second hand car. Therefore, we decided to give you one and you deserve this. Don’t feel bad, money is no importance, we can earn it again. But your happiness we can’t and we absolutely know that this one could make you very happy”. Then the three went inside the car and gave it a ride home.

     Christie grew up to be a lovely, model-type girl and yet so simple. She has red hair, cute face, fair complexion and green eyes. Casey on the other hand, has short hair and blue eyes. She was five years older than she was and already has a job. She was working at a thriving business firm. She has a long-time boyfriend for about five years already; his name was Tim, a cool, handsome, and well-muscled guy who owned a Diner.

     “Anyway guys, Tim invited us at his Diner tonight and it’s all for free”, her auntie said.

     “Really, that’s wonderful”, Christie paused. “By the way Cas, where’s Tim? He told me he will come to my graduation”, she added while driving the car.

     “He’s still busy Chris”, Cas replied, but before she could continue Chris interfered. “Yeah, I know. I understand. Well, I’m not mad at him at all. Actually, I’m getting used to it already. He always do that anyway”, Chris uttered.

     Finally, they got home. Aunt Liz directly went to the kitchen and the two girls followed after. Christie immediately noticed something above the living room table. She went over there and picked it up.

     “Casey look, this is my favorite book, ‘The Mummy’s Curse’. Is this yours? Can I borrow it? I haven’t read this for so long”, she asked her sister. Casey tried to ignore her at first, but was amazed when Christie mentioned the title of the book.

     “Chris, how did you know it’s a book, and also the title? You haven’t done the unwrapping yet”, she stated a little bit freaked. Christie was puzzled and looked at the book she was holding.

     “Cas, what are you talking about? It’s unwrapped, can’t you see it?” Chris answered back and Casey was staring at her wondering what was happening.

     “Okay, you won’t believe me it’s wrapped? Then try opening the book, let’s see if you can”, Casey demanded and her sister tried to open up the pages but she could not do it.

     “How can that be? I cannot open it. It’s like something is blocking it”, she answered, puzzled.

     “See? I told you”, Cas replied. “But, how…?” Chris asked back and the two gazed at each other.

     “Maybe you have some special powers, like a psychic ability”, Cas said. Her sister did not reply and was puzzled too. Suddenly the tattoos on her hand caught her attention. She opened and gazed at it for a while. She has this weird thought about what happened.

     “Maybe the tattoos are making me see things that are blocked. I don’t even know why I have these freaky drawing in my hands, anyway”, Chris muttered.

     “Oh, don’t be silly. Don’t think things like that”, Casey paused and read where the gift came from.

 “Chris, it’s actually from Adam.” She continued, trying to change the subject.

     “Really?”

     “So, don’t you wanna open it?” Casey inquired. “I want to, but I don’t know where to start. I still see the book without the box and the wrapper. Maybe you should open it for me”, Christie demanded.

     “No, I think maybe you should try to focus and make what you see be back to normal. Can you do that?” Casey asked out, and Christie tried to focus. Amazingly, it worked. She finally saw a gift with a wrapper and a ribbon on it. When they saw what it was, the two were amazed that it was in fact a book entitled ‘The Mummy’s Curse’.

     “Okay, that was freaky”, Casey uttered, perplexedly, then stared at her sister.

     “How did you know…” she paused with a question.

     “It’s just a guess”, Christie answered unsure.

     “Actually, I really don’t know sis”, she continued when she saw the look on Casey’s face, not buying her alibi.

     “Well, whatever it is, don’t make so much fuss about it. I’m sure it’s just nothing, okay”, Casey said in a concerned way and her sister nod her head.

     “If you need me, I’ll be at the kitchen”, she continued, leaving Christie behind, still thinking about what happened. She placed the book on the table and opened her palms. The tattoos on her hands were almost finished. It continued making markings on the other palm. Two spiky flower symbols and a fire appeared on her hands like a tattoo. She brought her palms close together and stared at it for a while. Possible, crazy thoughts flashed her mind.

     “Maybe, you’re the one responsible for what happened”, she continued in a whispering voice while staring at it. Then the phone rang. She stood up and went over to pick it up.

     “Hello”, she began.

     “Hi Chris, congratulations!” the guy on the other line said.

     “Thanks Adam, and thank you for the gift, I love it”, she replied.

     Adam Camdem was her long time close friend since grade school, and though they went to different schools during high school, still they don’t forget to call each other. Adam also visited them occasionally.

     “Sorry, I did not make it. I know, I promised you I’d come but…”, before he could continue explaining, Christie interfered.

     “Don’t worry Adam it’s okay, I understand”.

     “So what are you planning for tonight?” she continued with a question.

     “I’ll be coming home and maybe visit you”, Adam answered back.

     “Well, that’s great! Why don’t you come with us for dinner at TIM’S? His treat, all for free!” Christie announced with a smile.

     “That’s great! Count me in, I’ll be there”, Adam answered.

     When their conversation was over, Christie went upstairs inside her room. She sat on her soft bed all silent and thought that her tattooed hands were a big deal. She couldn’t stop thinking about it. Few moments passed, she decided to try it again to prove her suspicions were true.

     She stared focused on the bedroom wall. After a few seconds passed, the wall slowly became invisible in her eyes. So transparent that she saw her sister Casey walking in the hallway towards her room.

     “What’s the matter Chris?” her sister asked out; when she caught her with a blank stare.

     “Nothing, just nothing”, she answered. The two were silent for a while, but Casey knew exactly what she was thinking.

     “I know, you’re thinking about you’re tattoos again, huh?” she asked out. It took a while for Christie to say something.

     “Yeah”, she answered. “It’s just not normal to have markings like these”, she continued.

     “They’re almost complete now”.

     “Maybe, I’m not really a Foley”, she uttered.

     “No, don’t stay that. You are a Foley, you’re my sister”, Casey said to comfort her but, Christie’s intuition told her that she was not biologically came from the family she grew up with.

     “That’s why they called me ‘FREAK’. Maybe, I’m an alien”, Christie continued.

     “Don’t be silly Chris, please stop thinking about it. You are not an alien, okay”. Casey uttered in a concerned voice. Her sister was all-silent and nod her head in agreement. She wanted herself to believe what her sister told her. There was doubt inside her.

    

     Later that night, the four of them including Adam who just came back home went to Tim’s Diner.

     Tim greeted them at the entrance glass door. “Your table is over there”, he said. His Diner looks spacey and has good ambiance.

     “Congratulations Christie”, he added. He treats her like a younger sister, since he has none.

     “Thanks Tim”, Chris replied, with a sweet smile.

     “You owe me one, remember?” she added, with a question.

     “I know, I know. That’s why this is a treat”, Tim replied. Then they went over to the vacant table reserved for them. Before Casey went on, she whispered something to Tim.

     “Are we going to tell them tonight?” It’s good we’re all together now”.

     He answered, “Yeah, let’s give it a try”. Then they went over to the table were the others were.

After they have finished their meal, Tim changed topic. “Um, guys I have something to say. Actually, we”, he said referring to him and Casey. He was holding her hand and was shaking a bit, but before he could continue…

     “Oh my gosh Cas, are you having a baby? I’m thrilled”, Christie interfered in a surprising tone. Adam and Liz were wide-eyed too.

     “No, you’re wrong sis. I’m not pregnant”, Casey clarified, with a pause.

     “Actually, Tim and I wanted to tell you that we’re getting married next year. We’ve talked about it already and we’re so excited”, she finally announced. Silence for a few moments was the reply.

     “That’s very good to hear, I’m so happy to both of you!” Aunt Liz happily began.

     “Oh I can’t wait to see little Casey and little Tim soon. I’m so glad for the good news guys”, Christie seconded, anxiously.
     “So, we’ve decided that Christie will be my maid of honor”, Casey said with a pause while glancing at her sister.

     Then Tim added, “And Adam will be my best man”.

      “Ooh… we’re touched”, Christie uttered, smiling.

     “We wanted a Garden wedding at your place Aunt Liz. Well, if you permit”, Tim stated.

     “Well, of course. It’s an honor”, Miss Molly replied with pleasure.

###

     After having a nice dinner and conversation, Aunt Liz went home first, leaving the two sets of couples behind. Few moments later, Adam and Christie went off too and decided to have a short walk at a nearby park. Casey was still at the Diner helping her fiancée.

     While at the park, silence conquered them for a moment. Then, Adam smiled and said, “You know what Chris?” he asked.

     “What?” she asked back curiously.

     “I’ve found the right girl already and I’m truly in love with her”, he stated, while Christie was just silent. She was confused why her heart beat suddenly beating fast.

     “Really, good for you”, she paused.

     “Where did you meet her?” she pursued with a question.

     “I met her at school”, Adam replied.

     “Well, does she have a sense of humor or does she make you laugh?” she asked, simultaneously.

     “Definitely, she made me laugh and we’re very well-acquainted”, he added with a teasing smile.

     “Well, glad to hear that. What makes you happy, makes me happy too”, Chris uttered and was silent again and a bit jealous too.

     She was not good in hiding her feelings and Adam noticed her.

     “Is there something wrong Chris? It is unlike you; you don’t talk much right now. Are you feeling alright?” he asked, very concerned.

     “Yeah I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I’m just happy that you have found the right person for you”, Christie explained with a smile.

     However, what she did not understand was the mixed feelings she felt. She was happy for Adam but was also sad and jealous at the same time.

     “Just don’t forget me, okay?” she added while walking.

     “Why would I forget you? I will never, ever forget you and you know that”, Adam uttered.

     “I hope so. This is just a reminder in case you get busy with your ‘right Girl’”, Chris added.

Adam made a laugh. He suddenly holds Christie’s hand. “I promise”, he said and she smiled back feeling assured and her doubts went flying to the air.

The two continued walking. As they passed by a Camilla plant with pink flowers, Adam grabbed one big one without Christie noticing it.

“Hey Chris”, he said in a low tone voice.

“Yeah?” she asked and they stopped walking.

“For you”, he answered, giving the flower to her. When Christie took it, he popped out a question.

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

     It took a while for her to react. She was surprised of what she just heard.

     “What are you talking about, Adam?” Chris asked out in a puzzled way.

     “I don’t understand”, she added.

Then he replied, “I don’t want another girl or a best friend in my life. I only want you because I love you more than a friend”. He confessed his feelings to her in a calm voice. Then he popped the question again while Christie was speechless at that moment.

     “Will you be my girlfriend?”

     Chris looked down at the flower she was holding and said.

     “I’m… scared”, she paused. Then Adam hugged her while her head rested on his chest. She could hear his heart beating fast.

     “I don’t want our friendship to end. I’m scared that if I will say yes and our relationship will not work. What will happen next? I don’t want to lose you. We know everything’s not gonna be the same if it will happen”, Christie explained, having second thoughts.

     “Don’t be scared Chris, I’ll take good care of you and love you more every day. Stop worrying, it will not happen, I’m not gonna leave you”, Adam explained with sweet words. Christie was just quiet and thinking.

     “Alright, I’ll take the big risk”, she finally said. Adam looked at her and said with a smile, “Does it mean yes?” he asked out, excitedly and he received a nod from Chris who has a big smile on her face.

     Adam was so happy that he wanted to shout to the world.

     “Oh, I can’t believe you said ‘yes’. I’m scared you’re gonna say ‘no thank you’”, he added while hugging her.

     “Me too, I can’t believe this is happening”, Chris seconded.

     The two were having a very good night. Hours passed, and they decided to go home.

     “Can I have a ride?” Christie sweetly requested.

     “Of course, I miss this one”, Adam added, and then Chris hopped on his back.

     “Ooh, aww…” he teasingly complained.

     “You’re heavy”, he added.

     “I am? Oh don’t be silly Adam, I’m still skinny, you know”, she explained with a laugh.

     When they were halfway through, Adam decided to put her down. He was already tired and just walked her to her house while holding her hand.

     When they finally arrived at the front door, Christie uttered.

     “Thank you for making this night so special. I truly have a great night”.

     “Thank you too”, Adam replied with a good night kiss and a hug.

     “I love you so much no matter what”, he added. Then they depart ways.

###

It was eleven o’clock at night and Christie could not sleep. She was lying on her back staring at the ceiling. Many things were juggling inside her head. Oftentimes, she gave herself a sweet smile when she remembered Adam. She really couldn’t believe that they both took the next big step. She thought, everything happened so fast, but she was glad it happened.

     Lightning and thunder occurred that night while the rain was pouring hard. She suddenly remembered the weird ability she possessed. Memories from the past flashed back. The time when the two-headed monster did not see her and Casey in the closet, well in fact they were just right in front of the ugly creature. She thought, maybe it was possible to possess another power, to be invisible. As she was thinking about it, her opened window caught her attention, while the wind blew the curtain. She went over to close it. The rain was still pouring hard and the harsh wind whistled in the air. She turned the light on and stood in front of the big mirror, observing herself and stared at it for a while, then concentrating.

In few seconds, she amazingly disappeared. She could not see herself anymore even the pajamas she wore. She was amazed that her doubts were true and she was scared at the same time. When she started to freak out a little, she turned herself back into normal then, immediately ran towards Casey’s room, which was just right next to hers. She slowly tiptoed inside and slipped her body inside the blanket next to her sister.

“Hey Cas, are you asleep?” she inquired.

“Almost, what are you doing here?” Casey asked back.

“Can I sleep in here tonight?” she questioned with a request.

“Sure Chris, so can we go to sleep now?”Casey paused.

“I thought you’re not afraid of thunder anymore?” she continued asking.

     “I’m scared of something else”, Christie replied in a worried tone. Casey suddenly got interested then faced her.

     “What is it?” she curiously asked.

     “I think I have some special kind of talents”, Chris answered.

     “What do you mean?” Casey asked back, nosily.

     “I think I can see things that are blocked. That’s why I knew exactly what the book title that Adam gave me”, she explained further.

     “You’re joking, right?” her sister wanted to believe it but somehow still in doubt.

     “No, I’m not kidding. I even discovered that I can make myself invisible too”, Chris added.

     “Are you sure about that?” Casey inquired, curiously.

     “Positive”, Christie replied and got out of bed.

     “Look sis, I can make myself invisible now”, she added and made herself unseen. Casey was so surprised.

     “Chris, where are you?” she asked.

     “I’m still here Casey, in front of you”, Christie answered then made herself seen again. Her sister was so wide-eyed and could not believe what she just witnessed.

     “Okay wait, where on earth did you get that trick”, she interestedly asked.

     “It’s not a trick Casey. I told you I’m not kidding”, Chris explained.

     “I think my tattooed hands made me do it”, she added. Casey was just speechless, still trying to make sense of what just happened.

     “Is it really possible?” she finally asked out, nosily.

     “I think so”, Christie said, unsure.

     “Well, the only unusual thing in me are only my tattoos”, she added, while her sister did not know what to say.

     “Cas I’m scared. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me next”, she added in a worried tone.

     “No, nothing bad will happen to you, okay? Everything’s gonna be fine”, Casey uttered to comfort her sister.

     “Come here…” she added and Christie went over and sat down beside her.

     “No matter what happens, I will be always here for you okay?”  Casey promised. Her sister was silent for a moment then questioned curiously in a continuous manner.

     “Where did I come from? Where are my real parents and who are they? Why mom and dad did not mention this before? Do you know about this or even Aunt Liz?”

     “No Chris, I don’t know anything about who you really are. All I know is that you’re my sister and you will always be”, Casey uttered in a concerned tone.

     “You know what, I really don’t care where on earth you came from or what are you capable of, as long as you don’t hurt anybody or abuse your special ability then that’s very fine for me, okay?” Casey added in a calm voice as she wiped Christie’s tears off her face.

     “Thank you Cas, thank you for everything”, Chris replied with a hug. She was so glad of Casey’s judgment even if she now knew her sister’s secret. Christie showed her other ability too, which was the ability to see through borders and her sister was so amazed.

     “So, what are going to do now? Are you going to tell Aunt Liz about this too?” Casey inquired.

     “I’m not ready to tell her yet”, she replied. The two went back in bed and the rain was still pouring hard as thunder trembles louder and lightning flashes in the room. The two were silent for a while then Casey questioned out.

     “What other powers do you have? I’m just wondering”.

     “I don’t know, maybe I only have two”, Christie answered facing the ceiling.

 Her sister suddenly became interested. “May I see your tattoos?” she asked out. As she looked at Christie’s tattoos, the ring finger caught her attention.

     “I wonder why this one has an eye drawing, this is so freaking mysterious”, Casey paused.

     “Actually, they don’t look scary at all but I know they mean something”, she added.

     “You know, I think this one symbolizes fire. Look sis, if I put my hands close together it forms a fire burning,” Christie explained.

     “So, does it mean you can make fire?” Casey inquired, nosily. Christie gazed at her open hands for a while.

     “You think so?” she curiously questioned with a smile.

     “Well, let’s find out. Why don’t you try it? But, be careful okay, fire is a dangerous thing”, Casey suggested. Then Chris stood up in front of her.

     “But how should I do it?” she asked out, did not know exactly what to do.

     “Well, usually fire comes out from the hands; maybe it will work for you too”, Casey uttered with a pause.

     “Just don’t forget to concentrate, okay”, she added.

     “Right”, Christie replied. She obeyed what her sister told her and focused. After a few minutes of concentrating, nothing happened.

     “Cas I can’t do it, maybe I don’t have this fire ability”, she uttered a little disappointed.

     “Just concentrate more, try again”, Casey demanded once more.

     Before Chris focused for the second time, she glanced at her open hands first.

     “I hope you’re not just a symbol. I wish you work”, she murmured, but still nothing came out for the second time and felt upset.

     “It’s no use”, Christie murmured, giving up.

     Electricity went out as the lighting flashes followed by the loud trembling noise of thunder that startled her. Fire surprisingly went out from her right hand and burned Casey’s blanket. They freaked out because the cover was set on fire. They hurriedly pulled the cover away from the bed and stamped on it on the floor, and then it was completely out.

The two stared at each other for a while.

“Oh my God, it really works, Chris. I saw your hand fired up”, Casey uttered excitedly. Christie could not even believe that she has three unique abilities.

“Yeah it did!” Chris gladly seconded. Then the electricity finally came back.

“Thank goodness…”

“You just have to control it more, so you can not hurt anybody or even yourself, okay”, Casey said, concerned. She took the burnt cover and put it back on the bed making sure first, it was not smoking anymore.

     “I’ll just change the cover tomorrow”, she added, and then they went back in bed.

     “The fire power was freaking awesome, don’t you think?” Christie asked her sister.

     “Oh yeah, but I love all of them”, Casey uttered.

     “Me too”, Chris seconded in agreement.

     “Just don’t abuse your powers okay. Remember, you have to use it for the greater good and not for your personal gain,” her sister reminded her in a concern way.

     “I will Cas, don’t worry”, she replied.

     “So, can we sleep now? I still have work tomorrow”, Casey asked out, and then the two went back to bed.

     “Good night Cas, love yah”, Christie uttered. She was so glad that her sister still accepted her as her own.

     “Good night Chris, love you too”, her sister replied, and then closed her sleepy eyes.

     At exactly three o’clock dawn, an eerie voice echoed from outside the house. The two sleepy girls did not notice it and were still fast asleep. Christie was even snoring.

     “Ashbel…Ashbel…” a woman’s voice called in a ghostly sound. She called many times until Christie heard it. Chris even thought it was part of her dream. When she opened her eyes, she realized it was not a dream at all. The woman’s voice was still calling out the same unfamiliar name in a prolonged eerie tone. Christie got interested and threw her blanket off. She slowly went out of bed, not bothering her sister to wake up. The room was a little dim, only the light from outside shines through. The rain had stopped at that moment and she was curious enough to find out who was calling. She was not even scared at all but she felt like the echoic sound was pulling her to get closer, instead.

     She slowly tiptoed towards the closed window. When she peeped outside, she saw a blurry human figure. As the light’s post shines through the form, Christie realized it was a woman wearing a beige colored, glittery silk dress. Christie looked at her and their eyes met. The woman called her Ashbel once again in a ghostly tone. Christie moved a few steps backward when she felt scared and puzzled at the same time.

     “Ashbel…don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt. Come, come closer, my dear”, she uttered in a hypnotizing, sweet voice.

     Christie’s fright did not last for long and she peeped again outside. She still saw the same human figure. Curiosity hits her once more and hurriedly went downstairs with her pajamas and robe on. The weather was chilling cold when she stepped outside the house. She saw the woman still standing near a small willow tree. The surrounding was so silent and a little dark.

     “Come Ashbel, don’t be afraid”, the woman said to her.

     “But my name’s not Ashbel. My name’s Christie”, she replied.

     “Come Ashbel…come closer”, the strange woman uttered again as if she did not hear what Christie had said.

     Chris decided to finally obeyed the woman and put her fears aside. She slowly walked towards her but still keeping her distance because she was dealing with a stranger.

     “Come closer Ashbel”, the woman told her again with a sweet smile.

     “What do you want, and why you keep calling me Ashbel? My name is Christie”, she calmly explained. The strange woman gave her, her sweetest smile instead as an answer. She was not a scary looking woman at all. Her face was beautiful with different tattooed symbols printed on it. Her arms have tattooed prints too, except for her palms, and Christie definitely noticed them.

     “Why do you have tattoos as well? Where do you come from?” she asked curiously and thought that maybe this woman could answer all of her hidden questions.

     “My name is Nineveh; I’m a Valinor from Matred and you are too, my dear”, the woman answered. Christie never heard of those names before but so curious to know about it.

     “What do you mean? I’m like you?” Christie nosily asked.

     “Yes my dear and I’m your mother. Your real mother”, Nineveh revealed with a smile.

     Christie was so overwhelmed to hear the big truth.

     “You are?” she inquired for confirmation and Nineveh nod her head upon saying yes.

     “Let me see your hands, my daughter”, the woman requested. Christie has a little hesitation but finally extended her arms and let her mother look at them. Nineveh saw her almost finished tattoos and smiled.

     “It’s nearly done. You have a big responsibility ahead of you, my dear. The Valinors need you. You must save our race. Your powers will protect you and your loved ones from harm. Kadeshmals are traitors, you must not trust them”, Nineveh explained with a warning.

     Everything was a blur for Christie. “I really don’t understand what you mean. All I want is a normal life”, she stated.

     “You will know the answer in the right time, my dear”, her mother answered back.

     “I only have a little time now”, her mother paused. “You’re so beautiful, I wish we have a lot of time to be together”, she smiled and Christie felt the emotion and cried.

     “I wish you’re here mom, I’m scared”, she replied. Her mother kissed her on the cheek.

 “Be strong Ashbel”, she added and then slowly disappeared.

     Then an eerie sound traveled in the wind, “I love you Ashbel…” she heard her mother’s voice.

     Christie was still standing there as she was crying hard, longing for her real mother. She could not believe that she saw and talked to her.

     “I love you too mom, I wish you come back”, she said while tears fell down from her face. She wiped it and went back inside after realizing she was now all by herself. She went back upstairs inside Casey’s room and slowly slipped her body under the blanket. Her mind was totally juggling at that time, about what she just discovered. She was so emotional too while thinking about her mother. How she misses her so much. She cried silently until she fell asleep.

     Morning came and Casey got up first at seven preparing for work. When she went inside the bathroom for a hot shower, Aunt Liz came in and saw her other niece lying in bed, snoring. However, the burnt blanket caught her attention instead. Aunt Liz was alarmed of what she saw and wondered who did it. She did not say any word but instead sat down on a chair and waited for someone to give her an explanation. She was a little mad at them.

     After a while, Christie was up and Casey finally went out from the bathroom with the towel wrapped around her body.

     “Good morning Aunt Liz”, Christie stated in a sleepy voice.

     “Can someone explain to me what happened to the blanket?” Aunt Liz questioned out.

     The two girls were looking at each other first trying to read each other’s mind on who was going to do the explanation. Without haste, Christie muttered.

      “It was me. I did it”, she said in a low voice.

     “What were you thinking?” her Aunt asked out, could not believe that Chris would do such a thing.

     “It was just an accident Aunt Liz”, Casey interfered.

     “An accident?” their aunt said with a pause.

     “Didn’t you know fire is a very dangerous thing?”

“Or am I missing something here?” Aunt Liz continued.

     “Casey’s telling the truth Auntie. My tattoos made me do it, actually. Thunder startled me last night and then fire came out from my hands and burned Casey’s blanket”. Christie explained, seriously.

Aunt Liz had a strong feeling that Christie would be asking about her past. She was also surprised that Chris possessed an extraordinary ability.

“You can control fire?” her auntie asked out in a surprising tone.

“I cannot really control it yet but I will real soon so I won’t hurt anybody”, Christie replied. Her Aunt Liz was just silent.

“I’m sorry about the burned blanket auntie, I really did not mean it”, Christie said with an apology.

“I forgive you”, her Aunt replied quickly.

“Okay girls, it’s a beautiful morning today, maybe we should get going”, she added trying to change the topic. When she was about to leave while holding the doorknob, Christie said something that made her aunt interested enough not to leave.

“I saw a strange woman this early morning; at three o’clock”, she paused.

“She has a lot of tattoos too except for her palms. She said her name was Nineveh, and she was my mother”, Chris added. Her Aunt Liz was surprised to hear the familiar name, and then she faced her niece saying nothing to her.

“Is it really true that she was my real mother?”  Christie popped out a question but received no reply from her aunt. Casey on the other hand was just listening to her conversation; she also had no idea about her sister’s real story.

“Tell me Aunt Liz, do you know where I came from? Do you know anything about my past?” she asked out a big question mark. Silence filled the room while her aunt and her sister were very surprised to hear those questions. It took a while before her aunt could answer her.

“Okay, maybe it’s about time, you’re old enough to understand the situation.” Aunt Liz replied then went towards the bed and sat down.

“Actually, you and Casey are not real sisters”, she revealed with a pause. The two girls were very shocked and speechless upon hearing the truth. Christie’s intuition was true after all.

Then Aunt Liz continued, “Nineveh had a lot of stabbed wounds and was also pregnant when your mother, Casey’s mother saw her and helped her. She died after you were born. Then the Foley family decided not just to keep you, but care and love you”, she said while holding Christie’s hand who was teary eyed.

“Why did you keep this a secret for so long?” Christie blurted out a question.

“Well, it wasn’t the right time for you to know yet. You may not understand everything. I’m sorry girls, if I kept this for so long”, Aunt Liz replied with a sincere apology. Chris understood what her aunt had said and was not upset to her at all; instead, she was upset to herself.

“If that’s the truth, then that means I killed mom and dad. It was my entire fault after all. I killed Casey’s parents”, Christie uttered, while tears fell down from her green eyes.

“Chris, don’t say that. It’s not your fault”, Casey said. However, the truth also hurts her but she tried to be open-minded as much as possible and understand the situation.

“I was the one they want that night”, Christie said recalling the horrible past.

“If I just know everything, I would have let those filthy creatures take me and not harm mom and dad”, she continued, sobbing. She felt very sorry for everything that happened.

“That’s the reason why your parents don’t want you to know. That is what they’re afraid of, losing you, both you and Casey. They sacrificed everything even their lives just to keep you girls safe. They love you both so much”, Aunt Liz explained further with the hope that her niece would understand. Casey on the other hand was silently crying upon remembering the terrible night when their parents died.

“I miss mom and dad. I wish they’re here with us”, Christie muttered.

“I wish that too, Chris. However there’s nothing we could do, everything happened for a reason and we don’t blame you for what happened”, Casey uttered with a pause. She tried to comfort her sister with nice words telling that they accepted her for whoever she was. On the other hand, Christie was just quiet thinking what her sister had said. Aunt Liz also agreed.

“Stop blaming yourself, okay? Look on the brighter side instead. Like for example, I am very happy you came into my life ‘cause you’re the sister I truly wanted and a best friend I never had”, Casey added.

“You’re the baby girl we truly adore”, Aunt Liz uttered.

“Actually, both of you brought me so much joy and I love you both so much”, she added while kissing the two girls on the forehead.

“So, let’s not dwell in the past, okay? All we have to do is to move on”, Casey seconded, wiping her tears.

“Thank you both for still accepting me. I don’t know what I would do without you two”, Christie said, feeling so blessed to have people like Aunt Liz and Casey who did not judge her for what she truly was.

###

Summer went well for them. The two-headed monsters did not show up anymore. She haven’t thought of telling Adam about her abilities yet. She was trying to figure out the right time and how she would say it to him. However, there was one thing she always complained about, a very painful headache that would attacked her at anytime. Her Aunt and sister were very worried there might be something seriously wrong to her. They went to a specialist doctor check if something was not right to Christie. To their surprise, the doctor did not find anything unusual. Everything was perfectly normal as diagnosed by the physician. However, Christie’s family were not convinced by the doctor’s findings so they went to another specialist and to another and to another but still finding the same result as the first one. They were wondering what caused Christie’s painful headache. Pain relievers were no use, as the pain would just stop whenever it wanted to. It could even go for days in moderate pain.

When the pain gradually increases in scale, they have decided to go to another physician again but same as before, everything was normal. However, since their last visit, the pain did not come back as if nothing happened.

When summer was over and school started, Adam and Christie decided to go on the same school. They took different degrees but Adam always found a way to spent more time with Chris. They’ve dated a lot too. They took the big risk and made their relationship a lot stronger.

One day at school, after Christie’s fourth subject, a good-looking guy went over to her while she was putting books inside her locker. His name was Brent, a popular guy at school known for being an arrogant person as if he owned everything and he could do whatever he wanted, he was a well-muscled too and girls were crazy about him. He always had his four low self-esteem friends in other words his shadows.

As Brent leaned on one of the lockers he greeted Christie with an arrogant smile, “Hey, Chris”, he said as if Christie also liked him.

“What do you want Brent?” Christie inquired while holding some of her books.

“Can we go out sometime, maybe dinner?” he stated, insolently.

“What, a date? You’re crazy. Forget it Brent, not interested, thank you”, Christie replied.

“Oh, come on Chris; don’t be like that to me. I know you like me too. A lot of girls want me, so just say yes”, Brent uttered, following Christie as she started walking.

“Well, thank God I’m not one of them. You’re not my type. I already have a boyfriend and I love him, so stay away from me, okay?” Christie strongly demanded as she pursued walking leaving Brent behind.

At break time, Adam and Chris were at the canteen taking their snacks. Adam noticed that someone was staring at them especially at Christie.

“Chris, you know that guy? He was looking at you since we sat down”, Adam said and then Christie glanced at the guy her boyfriend referred to.

“Yeah, it’s Brent, he’s my classmate. Just don’t mind him, he’s always like that”, she answered.

“I think he likes you”.

“I know, he asked me out on a date and I said ‘No’. He’s totally not my type”, Christie frankly replied but, Adam gave her a doubtful stare.

“Don’t give me that look. I’m definitely not gonna date him”, she answered.

“Anyway, there’s something I would like to talk about”. Christie changed the topic.

“About what?”

“All about weird stuff”, she replied, teasingly.

“Cool, tell me then”. Christie held out her hand showing her tattooed palms to him.

“See these tattoos? They give me some kind of special abilities”, she begun. All of a sudden, the school bell rang for the next subject and their conversation ended abruptly.

“We’ll talk about this after school, okay?” Adam suggested then kissed Chris on her cheek. He hurriedly went to his next subject; for a strict and terror teacher was waiting there on time. Christie was left behind and was about to leave the canteen too. However, Brent followed her with haste when she started walking at the lobby.

“Hey Christie, wait up!” he shouted. The lobby hall was starting to get silent; students were already inside their respective classrooms. Christie tried to ignore him as she continued walking as if she did not hear anything.

“Hey Christie, why are you avoiding me, what’s the problem?” Brent finally caught up with her.

“You already know the answer, Brent”, she said back.

“So, can we go out on a dinner tonight? I’ll take you to a beautiful place, I’m sure you’ll really love it”, he added, arrogantly.

     “You know for a fact that I will never, ever date a person like you”, Christie honestly told him.

     “Aww… that hurts. Why won’t you date me? I’m a very handsome guy! A very eligible bachelor and most especially, I’m rich! Why would you turn me down?” Brent proudly questioned out. Christie did not answer him and immediately went inside the classroom, and then sat on her chair. Brent followed inside and sat on his chair too which was far apart from hers.

     An hour went by and the bell finally rang, students went outside and the hallway was once again noisy. When Christie was out walking in the lobby, Brent suddenly grabbed her arm and pinned her on the wall then kissed her on the lips without warning. She was wide-eyed and struggled to escape from him, but Brent was a strong guy and Chris had a lot of difficulty pushing him away. She tried to look around and saw a lot of people around them while Brent was still kissing her. Everyone saw that embarrassing moment including Christie’s boyfriend, Adam. Once again, Chris pushed Brent away and finally succeeded. She slapped the arrogant guy so hard on the face.

     “How dare you?” Christie acclaimed angrily, but before Brent could answer her, Adam was madly charging with his firm fist towards him and he received a big hit on his handsome face. Brent fought back and the two exchanged strong punches and made a commotion. Christie was freaking out. Other concerned students called out some teachers to stop the fight ‘cause it seems like others enjoyed what they were watching and had no plan on stopping them.

     “You two, please stop this madness!” Christie shouted but without success.

     Meanwhile, Mr. Thomason, one of the faculty teachers hurriedly went out running and stopped the two hotheaded guys from fighting. Adam and Brent finally departed with aching faces and busted lips.

     “Stay away from my girl you stupid, bastard!” Adam strongly demanded in a mad voice. Brent did not say a word and just stared back at him with an angry expression.

     “C’mon Adam, let’s go!” Christie insisted. She wanted to get out of that place as soon as possible. Adam picked up his backpack on the floor then leaved Brent behind, wiping the blood on his busted lips.

     The two went outside and sat down on the ground under the big tree.

     “Are you okay?” Christie asked out in a worried tone.

     “I’m fine”, said Adam.

     “Thank you for defending me. But, you should have not done that”, Christie stated.

     “I told you, he’ll be sorry, right?”

     “I just don’t want to see you fighting again”, Chris suggested.

     “Well, I can’t promise you that. If that guy touches you again, he’s dead!”

     “But fighting is not good”, Christie insisted with an objection.

     “Then, what am I suppose to do, watch him while he was harassing you?” he stated in protest.

     “That’s not what I mean. I just don’t want to see you hurting yourself”, Christie explained.

     “I’ll do anything for you, okay? Fighting is good if it means protecting your loved ones”, Adam sensibly replied.

     Hours passed by and the campus was quiet when school was over for the day. Chris and Adam were walking towards were the car was parked. Out in a dim corner, Brent and his minions appeared. The two were surprised and concerned.

     “What do you want Brent?” Christie asked out. She felt very worried that fight was fast approaching. Without any words said, two guys immediately grabbed Adam’s arms while the other two took a tight grip on Christie’s. Brent did not waste the opportunity and punched Adam’s stomach so hard that he almost passed out. He could hardly stood up after five blows. He just curled his aching body on the ground.

     “Brent, stop it!” Christie desperately shouted, demanding them to back off. But, the arrogant guy did not listen a word she said and pursued kicking her defenseless boyfriend. However, Adam’s mind wanted to fight back but his body could not possibly do it. Numbness almost overwhelmed his entire body.

     “Help, help us!” Christie yelled out, hoping someone would hear and help them. But, one of the guys covered her mouth and held her arms tighter; for she was trying so hard to escape. She could not stand Brent’s madness any longer and feared that he might kill Adam if she would just stood there demanding them to stop (which eventually was impossible) and do nothing.

     Christie decided to focus and her hands gradually heat up in seconds, until blazing fire went out from them. The two guys who were holding her were startled and immediately took off their hands from her arms. Right away, she made bigger blazes of fire from both hands that caught Brent’s attention with a startled look,

     “What kind of girl are you?” he confusedly asked.

     “I’ll be your worst nightmare if you’re not gonna leave us alone”, Christie answered with a warning. Adam, on the other hand was wide-eyed too upon seeing Chris’s hand burning. He had no idea about his girlfriend’s ability.

     “Dude, let’s go! That girl is a freak!” one of the guys suggested but, Brent was still stubborn and attacked her instead. He thought it was just a trick and that could not hurt him. Christie had no choice but to cast away one of her fireballs that got Brent’s shoe burning. She did that on purpose as a warning to back off and not really hurt him.

     “What kind of trick is that?” Brent teasingly questioned, right after wiping the fire off his shoe. Meanwhile his other companions went running away, scared of what might gonna happen to them.

     “I don’t want to hurt you Brent and this is not a hoax, I’m warning you”, she stated but Brent persisted.

     “Or else what?” he said, mocking her. When he was about to attack again, Christie had made a quick decision and finally threw a huge fireball towards him, hitting his well-muscled chest. Strong force tossed Brent away and then fainted lying on the ground. Chris got nervous that she could have killed him but, after a while, Brent gained back his consciousness as pain overwhelmed his body. He looked down to his chest, realizing how bad it burned, and still smoking hot. Meanwhile, Christie was relieved seeing Brent alive.

     Without any word said, Brent hurriedly stood up and ran away after everything sunk into his head, that what happened was true. The two were now safe. Adam stood up while touching his aching tummy. Christie went over to him.

     “Adam, are you okay?” she concernedly asked.

     “Yeah I’m fine”, he replied, to keep her from not worrying.

     Before their conversation pursued, Christie’s head suddenly ached. It had been a long time since it happened.

     Adam got a quick hold of her when she almost fell on the ground, as the pain was overwhelming her.

     “What’s wrong Chris? Are you okay?” Adam worriedly questioned, but he received no answer from his girlfriend. The pain continued attacking her head including her eyes, the kind of pain she felt before. The aching increases and Christie let out a scream for she could not handle the pain anymore. Adam was very worried but he stayed calm. Few minutes passed by and the extreme pain subsided and then completely gone.

     “Are you okay now?” Adam once again asked.

     “Yeah, it’s gone. I don’t know what’s going on and this pain is slowly killing me”, Christie answered, and then stood up while Adam supported her.

     There was silence for a while. A lot of questions were rolling round and round inside their heads.

     “Are you scared of me?” Christie questioned.

     “Why would I be scared of you?” Adam asked back.

     Christie replied, “Because of what you saw”.

     “Honestly, I was surprised, but not scared. I know you don’t have any bad intentions”, Adam paused.

     “But why didn’t you tell me about this before?” he pursued with a question.

     “I tried to this morning at the canteen, remember?”

     “Oh yeah, but then the bell rang”, Adam stated, finally remembering it. “Actually, I was scared to tell you. I don’t know what might happen to our relationship if you finally knew about me. I’m afraid to lose you”, Christie further explained.

     “I will never leave you, okay? Just as I promise. Now let’s go home, I’ll drive”, Adam stated with a request. Christie put a huge smile on her face and hugged him tightly.

     “Thank you, Adam. Thank you for not letting me go. I don’t know what to do if you will dump me”, Chris happily uttered, that the truth was revealed and she was still accepted. Then the two went over to the car.

     “I’ll drive, okay?” Adam said again.

     Christie objected, “Adam, you’re not feeling well, you’re still in pain. Those guys kicked you so hard. I’ll drive”.

     “Don’t mind me, I’m totally fine, it’s you I’m worrying about. You’re terrible headache might come back while you’re driving”, he concernedly said. Christie understood and finally agreed to let him do the honor of driving.

     While on the road, Adam blurted a question.

     “So, why do you possess such kind of ability? Where do you come from?” he asked.

     For Christie, it was very awkward to hear those questions coming from her boyfriend.

     “Good question you got there. Actually, I really don’t know where I come from and these tattoos give me strange abilities and made me a freak”, Christie truthfully answered.

     “Hey don’t say that. You’re not a freak, okay”, he protested with a pause while Christie was just silent.

     “There’s a nicer word other than freak…oh…I know, just say you’re special”, he continued with a smile.

     The two pursued chatting while on their way home. Christie told him everything, she even showed him her other two powers; which by the way almost caused them an accident. Adam was startled when Christie showed him how she became invisible. He wasn’t expecting that to be possible. Fortunately, they arrived home safely. Tim was there too when they got inside the house and he finally knew about Christie’s unique abilities when they started telling them what happened at school.

     The next morning, Brent talked about what happened to him last night. He let everyone know what his burned chest looked like and said that Christie did that horrible thing to him by casting a huge fireball at him and that he almost died. Nevertheless, nobody believed him, for everybody knew that he was an arrogant person and fond of making stories. On the other hand, Christie mastered her abilities through constant practice. She still don’t want to abuse her powers and as much as possible just use them when in need. Oftentimes, her headache would come back after using her powers.

On the other hand, she was preparing herself of what might happened to her as her eighteenth birthday was fast approaching. She thought, maybe her almost finished tattooed hands really meant something that could change her life forever when that day came.

###

Days past by so quickly and the night before Christie’s eighteenth birthday came; everyone was fast asleep. The ambiance was calm and quiet. Unexpectedly, a mysterious event happened when the clock stroke at midnight, a sudden painful headache awakened Chris, the kind of pain she never felt before. She was touching her head and squeezing her hair tightly just to make the pain go away, but it got worse instead and the pain abruptly shoot up. She could not handle the agony any longer and felt like her head would explode. Aunt Liz and Casey heard her loud scream, and they were so worried of what might be happening to her. As pain overwhelmed her body, Christie’s green eyes were wide open and without haste changed its color to completely white. Swiftly, an icy, blue color crystallized, cold water went out from her eyes and went shooting up towards the ceiling. The pain she felt was unbearable that she screamed very loud as her both hands were squeezing tightly on her bed sheet and her body arched a little. Christie’s entire room progressively freezes with creaking sound. Aunt Liz and Casey hurriedly ran towards her room as they continued hearing her loud scream and right after they opened the door they saw the freezing, crystallized water went back inside Christie’s eyes then the color went back to normal after everything was over. They were very shocked of what they just witnessed. Christie’s frozen room was glistening as the light from outside gleamed through the window. Everything was hard cold, her bed, walls, ceiling, windows, cabinets, tables, chairs, computer and some other stuff except for herself. Christie was chilling cold after it happened. When Aunt Liz and Casey realized what was truly happening to her, Casey immediately went back to her room and took a thick blanket then brought it back to her to cover her cold body and kept her warm. It was freezing cold inside as Aunt Liz supported her niece from getting up. They rushed outside towards their Aunt’s room. She had a big bed and the three stayed there for the night. Aunt Liz and Casey were very worried of what was going to happen next. Christie’s powers eventually grew intense, as she got older. They were scared of the fact that she might hurt them or leave them one day, but then, it did not matter as they prepared themselves if everything got worst. Fortunately, they spent the night safe and sound.

The next day was Saturday, Christie’s big day. She was still fast asleep in her Aunt’s room when Casey and Aunt Liz were already downstairs preparing for breakfast.

“Christie scared the hell out of me last night”, said Casey who was sitting on the chair while her arms rested on the table.

“Yeah, I hope she’s fine”, her Aunt seconded while cooking. They were silent for a moment.

“You know what I’m scared about?” Casey had begun the conversation back. Aunt Liz just looked at her and said nothing, waiting for her to resume talking.

“Well, she might leave us one day and join her own kind”, she pursued with a worried look on her face.

“Hush Casey, don’t say that. Let’s not think about that stuff, alright?” her aunt stated with a request, changing the topic about the harsh truth their facing ahead.

“Okay, but you know it’s really possible, right?” Casey added.

“I know it is, but let’s not think about it now. We have a celebration today, we better prepare instead”, Aunt Liz added with a pause.

“Why don’t you call Adam and tell him to take Christie out tonight on a date while we prepare for a surprise party”, she resumed.

“That’s a very nice idea you got there, auntie”, Casey amusedly said then picked up the phone and called Adam. Adam also agreed on their great plan. When their conversation was over, Christie finally went downstairs. She had finish herself taking a shower and was simply dressed up for the day; she tied up her long red hair in ponytail.

“Good morning guys”, she happily greeted them. Aunt Liz was cooking bacons while Casey was eating her plain bagel with a spread of cream cheese and an orange juice on the side. They were amazed to see Christie in a happy mood as if not minding what had happened last night. She then went to the table and sat down on the chair and took out one slice of whole wheat bread then spread an orange marmalade on top of it.

“Sweetie, are you feeling okay?” her aunt Liz questioned, curiously.

“Yeah, I’m totally fine”, she immediately answered, smiling.

“Do you remember what happened last night?” Casey also inquired, inquisitively.

“Yeah, I perfectly remember everything. Oh it hurts so much last night, it was unbearable. Thanks guys for helping me, and oh by the way, I already thawed my frozen room after I took a shower. Too bad my computer’s damaged. All my files were there but, I already backed it up last week so everything’s perfectly under control”, Christie chattily stated. They thought, maybe she was changing because of the way she joyfully acted that moment which was very unusual after a puzzling event. Still, they look on the positive side and thought Christie was always a chatterbox.

“Well, good to hear you’ve got some positive thinking”, Casey spoke up.

“Bacons!” Aunt Liz exclaimed, interfering the conversation then put a plate on the table with smoking hot bacons.

“Yummy, my favorite, Oh it smells so good!” Christie acclaimed, complementing the tasty look and smell of freshly cooked bacon strips. She took some and ate them.

When she reached for a glass of orange juice, her sister noticed something at the back of her neck.

“What’s that on your nape?” Casey curiously asked her.

“What is it?” Christie questioned back having no idea of what her sister was saying.

“Here let me look at it”, Aunt Liz requested then she faced her back on her auntie to see what it was. Aunt Liz was surprised after realizing what she saw and was positively sure it meant something.

“What do you see, auntie?” Christie impatiently inquired.

“Well, you’ve got another tattoo, sweetie. It’s shape like a star and has an eye drawing in the middle of it”, her aunt answered. Christie was perplexed then faced them.

“What does it mean? This is so weird. I’m very sure I don’t have any markings on my nape before”, she murmured with inquiry then took a sip of orange juice.

“I think you got that from last night. Right after you’ve fired out freezing cold crystals from your eyes”, Casey uttered with a possible guess.

“Yeah, that makes sense”, Chris agreed.

“So, you think I can manipulate ice?” she excitedly pursued with an inquiry.

“Why don’t you give it a try then”, Aunt Liz suggested. Christie went after that idea and stared at Casey’s half-filled glass of juice. She stayed focus for a while then the amazing thing happened. It did work! Casey took up her glass that was freezing cold and held it upside down. They were so amazed to see the orange juice still inside the glass frozen intact.

“Wow, you did it Chris”, Casey gladly said.

     Christie seconded, “This is so awesome!” But, something caught Casey’s attention.

     “Have you been doing some artworks lately?

     “The last time I checked, nope”, Chris replied.

     “Well, there’s a glitter on your forehead”, her sister added. Christie rubbed her forehead but failed to take it off.    

     “It’s still there, here let me do it”. Casey gently rubbed the glitter right above Chris’s eyebrow.

     “What kind of glitter is this? It won’t go off”, she said complaining, and she then paused for a while and stared at the glitter. She became surprised when it became rounder and bolder in color. Casey directly looked on the other side and saw another small sequence-shape glitter. Her sister was curious and impatiently asked when it took a while for Casey to say something, “What’s the matter Cas?”

     “I think the glitters are not ordinary”, she finally uttered.

     “What do you mean?”

     “Well, you better see for yourself”, Aunt Liz suggested. Then Christie went over to a medium sized round mirror hanged on the wall. She looked at the glitters for a while and tried rubbing them off even harder. Instead of erasing it, the small sequence glitters grew in number, which now became four, two on each side aligned with each other.

“This is weird, they’re actually stuck on my skin”, Chris uttered, puzzled.

Then she added, “This is so unfair, tattoos are enough for me. I look like crazy with these glitters stuck on my forehead all the time and go wherever I go. What will other people think of me?” she ended with a question and a worried look on her face.

     “You look like one of those skinny ramp models with decorations on their skins”, Casey blurted out with a little laugh.

     “My God, this is not good”.

     “Well, we can cut them out from your skin if you like, or we can try concealing it with make-up”, her aunt teasingly suggested.

     Christie immediately answered, “I’ll go with the make-up, thank you”. Casey took her skin tone make-up and tried concealing her sister’s glittery small sequences. As she wiped the make-up on, she was totally surprised that another two were coming out, then she abruptly stopped.

     “What’s wrong Cas? Is it done yet?”

     “Well, another two came out”. Christie hurriedly looked herself in the mirror and her sister was telling the truth, she saw two more glitters slowly appearing. Aunt Liz and Casey were very concerned too of what was happening. She quickly ran in the bathroom and hastily washed her face, hoping the glitter sequences will stop appearing. After she dried up her face with towel, it sure did stop. Two half-unfinished glitters ceased to complete its shape. Now, for the total of, three and a half sequence glitters on each side stuck right above Christie’s left and right eyebrows. She was so glad it ceased. Aunt Liz and Casey were just outside the opened bathroom waiting for her to come out.

     “I think it reacted to the make-up”, Casey said when Christie was finally out.

     “Obviously”, she seconded. Meanwhile Aunt Liz had another reason in mind why it happened that made sense. “I think that’s not the case. Maybe it doesn’t want to be hidden at all”.

     Then the ringing phone halted their conversation from the living room. Casey went over and picked it up.

     “Hello?” she began. It was Adam on the other line.

     “Hi Cas, is Chris there?”

     “Yeah, I’ll call her, and oh, don’t forget our plan”, Casey reminded him.

     “Yup, that’s why I called”.

     “Okay good”, she replied. “Hey Christie, it’s for you. It’s Adam”. Then Chris went over and they chatted for a while. Adam was going to pick her up at seven in the evening on a date. It was their entire plan so they would have enough time to prepare for Christie’s surprise birthday celebration. They just pretended as if they forgot the big day. While Chris was saddened of the fact, that nobody even greeted her, which was very odd for they always celebrated her birthday without delay.

     Later that night, Adam arrived at her house and picked her up. Christie was simply beautiful that night with her skinny jeans on and white shirt with printed flowers. She was so lovely with her pink headband on her head. Adam was waiting for her at the living room. He always admired how Christie carried herself simply pretty.

However, he noticed the glitters on his girlfriend’s forehead and it bothered him.

     “You can take off those glitters Chris, it’s not really necessary”, he said.

     “Well, too bad I can’t do that, it’s stuck on my skin unfortunately. It also annoyed me and I think we better start dealing with this so everything will be easy”.

Then the two went outside and into Adam’s car.

     “So, tell me, where you want to go?” he asked out.

     “I don’t know, it’s up to you. I just don’t want anything fancy at all”, Christie responded while locking her seatbelt.

     “Okay got it, nothing fancy it is”. They first stopped by a convenient store and bought chips and sodas. Right after, they continued travelling on the road. Minutes passed by when Christie realized that the area they had passed through was not familiar to her any longer.

     “Adam, where are we, I don’t recognize this place anymore?” she curiously inquired. She got a little frightened but she got more confident that she was in good hands because she knew Adam won’t hurt her.

     “Just wait, this is something very special”, Adam replied with a smile on his face. Christie was just quietly waiting.

     They had driven a little far from the house when they finally arrived. The atmosphere was silent and the view at the hillside was as well stunningly beautiful. Christie was amazed to see where they were. She had not gone to that part of the city yet.

     “Oh my God, this is so beautiful Adam”, Christie amusedly said in awe.

     “How did you know about this place? I’ve never been here or heard about this area before”. Her boyfriend was just looking at her happy face instead of saying something. He was only glad that Chris like his surprise very much.

     “Wow the stars seem so close from here”, Christie added while her eyes wandered around.

     “I never told you about this place before cause this is meant for a surprise gift”. He paused. “Happy Birthday, Chris” She was so pleased hearing those words and the fact that her boyfriend did not forget her birthday.

     “I’m so happy you remembered. Thank you Adam, I really like your present. You made this night so wonderful”, she stated while hugging with a little sob Adam and kissing him after.

     “What’s wrong now?” he asked when he saw Christie’s tears twinkled in her eyes.

     “Aunt Liz and Casey forgot my birthday. It was just very odd since it never happened before” she answered.

     “Well, the night’s not over yet, maybe, give them a chance. It might they will remember, don’t get upset okay?”

     “Yeah, that’s true. A greeting is all fine with me even without a party”, she positively added.

     After more chats, they laid side by side on the ground while looking at the stars that twinkled beautifully in the night sky. As they gazed above, Christie curiously asked questions.

     “Where do you think I come from? Do you think I’m from outer space or from a mysterious dimension?”

     Adam replied uncertain, “I’m not really sure about that but, if you want me to choose, I’d say you’re from strange world. I think you’re a fairy”.

     “Why do you say so? I don’t even have wings”, Christie said in protest.

     “Because you sparkle, and fairies definitely sparkle”, he answered with a smile.

     “Oh, don’t be silly Adam”, she said in denial.

     “Or, maybe you’re a changeling. A baby fairy exchanged for a mortal child”.

     “Well, that’s not true, Aunt Liz told me everything. Casey was the only biological child, she doesn’t have any sister before I came, and besides, my real mother told me I’m a Valinor when I spoke up with her and not a fairy”, Christie explained further in clarification.

     “All right, you win”, he stated.

     “Nobody wins, I’m not arguing with you”.

     “Really, alright we’re not arguing”, Adam pursued trying not to create a conflict, then he got up and sat on the ground, his girlfriend followed and they faced each other.

     “Just remember this, no matter who you are and where you came from, my feelings for you will always be the same”, Adam sweetly said those sincere words.

     “Thanks for not giving up on me; I’m truly blessed to have you, and Aunt Liz, and Casey and Tim, who still accepted me for who I really am. I couldn’t ask for more. I think that’s the most precious gift I’ve ever received”, she thankfully uttered that she had a very nice family.

     Adam’s phone rang just before he spoke up. He answered the call and Casey was on the other line telling them to come back home ‘cause everything was all prepared. He had to think of an alibi fast that Christie wouldn’t notice he was lying. So, after he hung up the phone, he change the mood and displayed a worried facial expression that made Chris wondering what was going on.

     “What’s wrong?” she curiously asked out when she saw Adam’s panic reaction after he stood up.

     “Chris, we have to go back home right now”

     “What’s going on? You sound so worried. Who called you?” Adam walked towards the car while she was following him.

     “It was Casey. I don’t know what happened but she told me it was an emergency. Then the two drove towards home. Curious Christie was just silent and worried what might be the problem. She had no idea that a surprise party awaits her.

     When they arrived, she was in total perplexed upon realizing that the house was in complete darkness. Her heart palpitated a little faster and felt like something wasn’t right. She hurriedly went over to the unlocked front door and hastily opened it. After turning on the lights, she was startled hearing a loud voice in chorus and a big boom of party poopers.

     “Surprise!” Tim, Casey and Aunt Liz were there wearing their big smiles. Tiny, rainbow-colored confetti went dancing in the air as the gravity pulled them down. Aunt Liz was holding a one-layered beautiful chocolate cake with tiny flower decorations and one small stripe red candle. A streamer was hanging on the wall with different candy colors and a happy ambiance, were present that special night.

     “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Christie, happy birthday to you”, they ended the happy song with big smiles on their faces.

     “Wow, you guys, I don’t know what to say”. Christie wasn’t expecting for it be so startling and happy. Aunt Liz suggested she blow the candle.

     “Don’t forget to make your wish”, her aunt said. She then closed her eyes and blew the lighted tiny candle.

     “Yey”, they cheered.

     “Happy birthday, sweetie”, Aunt Liz greeted her with a big smile and a kiss, and then the rest followed. Christie was very delighted and overwhelmed with happiness of what was happening around her.

     “Thank you all so much, this means so much to me”, she said, as her heart overjoyed. “I couldn’t ask for more, I thought you forgot my birthday. I never even expected it to be like this, startling and happy”.

     They turned the music on and started the party. They cheered sparkling apple ciders for Christie’s good health as well as everybody’s. The party was going on very well so far, they were having so much fun dancing, singing, chatting even sharing silly jokes. The night was all plain fun as if they forgot all the troubles and worries they have. After sometime, Christie excused herself and went inside the restroom that was located passed the kitchen area. When she was done and was still few steps away from the comfort room, the eye tattoo on her ring finger heat up a little. She looked at it, wondering what was happening and amazingly saw rainbow colored lights appeared on the eye symbol. Suddenly it happened she felt the heat got intense and her intuition kicked in; feeling something would come out. She quickly extended her right arm and pointed her tattooed ring finger in a safe vacant direction. All of a sudden, a bright light swiftly went out from it and sucked back its light after an oval-shaped portal with multicolored lights in black background appeared, same height as her. She was astonished on how the colors interacted with each other, hypnotizing as it looks; she was tempted to cross the portal, very curious to know what was behind it, where would it lead her? That kind of question was juggling inside her head. Curious enough, she slowly extended her right hand and her fingers touched the colored lights as it was moving around. It was a cold feeling while she felt a certain connection of belongingness.

However, doubts came back and she quickly departed her hand from the portal. She then felt scared and confused on what to do. She was between a decision of going ahead or leaving it. Meanwhile, the others had no idea what was happening, they were still in party mood, until Casey decided to excuse herself too.

     “Guys, I have to get more drinks and check on Christie. What took her so long to pee?” Then she went on.

     At the meantime, Christie was tempted again and was willing to risk now. When Casey arrived at the kitchen, she was shocked upon seeing almost vertically half of her sister’s body was inside the portal. She hurriedly ran towards her shouting Christie’s name, grabbing her body, trying to pull it out. The two were in panic and unluckily got out of balance. They stumbled themselves on the other side of the world, a cold, bizarre world. Then, the portal closed and disappeared. By that moment, Christie was out in the human world. Her protective shield also vanished but her scent remained floating in the air.

###

“Grrr… I can smell the girl now”, Evil Shur growled while finally sensing the girl’s presence as he deeply inhaled the filthy air around him. He was the master of the two-headed Kadeshmals and the ruler of the dark, scorching hot, filthy place called Ashteroth. Among the Kadeshmals, he was the only one with a single head, for he killed the other and considered it as a parasite. He simply did not want any interference on whatever plans he would do. Shur was brutal, selfish, strong, smarter, and tougher and most of all the ugliest, most deformed creature ever.

     “Go get the girl immediately! Don’t kill her, but bring her here to me, safely and without a single scratch. I’ll do the bidding myself”, he strongly demanded and his ugly minions followed politely.

     “Yes master”. Then, they disappeared in the thin air. Five Kadeshmals went over to the human world to pursue Christie. Shur felt the victory was so close, that the girl could not escape this time.

###

     Meanwhile, back at Aunt Liz’s house, the doorbell was ringing. They still had no idea that the two girls were already gone.

     “Okay, I’ll get it”, Aunt Liz volunteered. It was their neighbor when she opened the door. She was also a very good friend of hers. The two chatted for a while. The two guys were left behind the couch, still drinking and talking while waiting for Casey and Christie to come back. Then out of nowhere, five ugly Kadeshmals appeared in front of them with their sharp, pointed weapons ready to strike at any moment. The two were very startled and alarmed and before they knew it, one of the monster’s grabbed hold of Tim’s arm while pulling him harshly, same as Adam. Then the troop leader loudly asked with a monstrous growl.

     “Where is the girl?”

     “Christie?” Tim curiously questioned him back. But before any further conversation was made, one the Kadeshmals interfered while intensely sniffing the air.

     “I cannot smell the girl’s presence anymore”, he said. “She must have escaped again”.

     “What are we gonna do? Master will not be happy about this”.

     “Then we have to bring them, they might be useful to us”, their troop leader finally decided.

     “And if they’re not?” the other questioned with objection.

     “If that will be the case, then we’ll have to eat them. It’s been a long time since we’ve tasted such good, juicy, fresh meat”. Their mouths drooled like a hungry maniac while imaginative feast of human flesh stuck in their heads.

     “Now, tie them up!” Then the monsters vanished in thin air together with Adam and Tim.

     When the living room was all clear, Aunt Liz came in.

     “Where is everybody?” she said wondering what was going on.

     “Adam, Tim!” she called out but received no response. She thought they might be at the kitchen with the girls. But, nobody’s there. Suddenly, she felt worried. She even checked out all the rooms upstairs as well as the basement, but the coast was all clear. She was really getting scared and did not know what to do that moment. She tried contacting their cellphones but could not reach them. Then, she finally decided to contact the police and asked for help.

###

While on the other hand, Christie and Casey were wondering what kind of place they were in. It was all gloomy, like it was going to rain at any moment, silence filled the atmosphere, trees were dead and it was all creepy.

     “Where are we? Is this the place where I really came from?” Christie inquired, curiously. But something surprised Casey before responding.

     “Oh my gosh, your face!”

     “What, what’s wrong with my face?” Christie asked her sister.

     “Why, can’t you feel it?”

     “Feel what? Is my face changing?”

     “Yes it is changing”, her sister answered.

     “Oh my God, I look horrible in this world! I bet my true appearance is a monster-face girl with big eyes, big nose and bumpy skin! But why can’t I feel anything?” Christie uttered while touching the skin on her face to check on bumps.

     “Chris, stop it, you’re overreacting. Your skin’s not bumpy at all. It’s just that your sequence tattoos have grown in number, and I mean they’re a lot and I think they’re finished. Ten on each side, hmmm not bad, curvy lines appeared too three on each, actually, they go through sideways”, Casey paused.

     “Actually, you look pretty amazing and they’re non-invasive which is a plus factor”.

     “Yeah right, this is actually unfair. They even appeared on me without consulting the design”, Christie uttered teasingly.

Meanwhile at Ashteroth, Shur demanded to imprison Adam and Tim below his murky place in the dungeon after knowing that they were family with Christie; the girl they were searching for a long time. Christie did not know that she had this special kind of protective shield; that was the reason why the Kadeshmals could not sense her presence anymore even if she was in the same dimension they lived in.

In the meantime, Casey and Christie were in Matred, the place where Valinors used to live. As they walked through the woods, they realized how quiet and eerie it was. Looking up above the cloudy, dim sky made them feel like no hope at all. The tall trees have aged and were dead, same thing happened to the flowers. The place was entirely dull and has no life at all.

“This is a heavy feeling. I don’t like it here”, Casey commented.

“Maybe this is the place where I came from. My ring tattoo brought me here”, Chris added. As they continued walking, they have arrived to a part where it was shockingly disturbing; a clearing full of statues in all ages, children were visibly numerous. Some statues were on the ground, others were in an act of motionless running, mothers carrying their babies and pulling their young kids as if they were in haste. Some were screaming for their lives. Overall, it seemed like someone frightening was chasing them and made them stuck frozen like a stone sculpture.

“Oh God, what happened here?”Casey mumbled with inquiry as her eyes roamed around looking at the stone figures. The two went over to them to have a closer look.

“This is so weird”. “And scary too”, Chris seconded.

“Well I hope they’re just stones and not real people turned into stones. Their so many of them, like they were struggling to escape from whoever was chasing them”.

“This is so freaking scary, I’ve got goosebumps now, maybe we should go back home, Casey”, Chris requested.

“Or maybe not”, her sister objected while staring at a woman’s stone figure.

“Look at the lady’s face and her arms too. Tattoos are all over them, like yours”, Casey added. Christie’s heart melted after realizing they were also Valinors; her own kind. She felt terribly horrified and was willing to help them in any way.

“I think, I know who did this terrible curse to them, the monsters who killed mom and dad, but I don’t know where to start, I’ll do everything to bring them all back to life”, Christie muttered with hopeful heart.

Before any further conversation continued, somebody interrupted them; a lady in a silky blue dress with tattoos on her skin was spying them a while ago. Her dress was a bit ragged, her face and feet were dirty as well, but behind that filth was a beautiful, angelic being with red hair and green eyes, like Christie.

“Who are you? What are you two doing here?” she strongly asked out while extending her sharp sword, warning them not to make a wrong move.

The two were scared but Christie faced her calmly. “Look Miss, we’re not bad guys. We are harmless and we don’t come to fight. So, can you please put your sword down?”

The lady did not know why she felt a comfort feeling towards Christie, she even obeyed her by slowly putting the sword down. But doubt came back inside her head and immediately pointed back her sharp sword at them.

“How you two get in Matred?” she paused with a question. “And you, why you have tattoos as well?” she uttered referring to Christie but before Chris could even answer, the lady pursued asking questions. “And that Heth on your forehead, why do you have that?” she strongly asked out.

“Oh, these glitters? I don’t even have an idea why I have these”, Christie answered her. Without any word said, the lady suddenly grabbed Casey in firm grip and aimed her sharp sword on her neck. Cas was frightened she might get killed.

“Don’t play tricks on me you two, I know you’re spies”, she said in a loud voice.

“We’re definitely not spies and not planning to be one. Look we can talk about this calmly, so everything will be fine. Now let go of my sister”, Christie requested, hoping that the lady would try to listen to her.

“What’s your proof that you’re not spies?”

“Okay, I’ll explain”, Chris paused. “Can’t you see? I’m just like you. I have these tattoos since the day I was born, and this what you called Heth on my forehead are the new ones appeared on me, then when we got here through the portal made by my ring tattoo, my Heth were then complete, that’s why I look like this”, Christie explained further.

     Then Casey interfered, “and she has powers too”. “What powers?” asked the lady.

     “I can manipulate fire, I can make myself invisible, I can also see through borders”, Christie halted with pride while enumerating the abilities she possessed.

     “Are you a Valinor too?” the mysterious lady curiously asked.

     “Yeah, that’s what I’ve said, I’m just like you, and oh, I can also control ice and my real mother’s name was Nineveh, she’s also a Valinor”.

     The lady was surprised to hear that name and finally released Casey.

     “That can’t be! The Queen was long dead together with her unborn daughter”, the lady uttered still in doubt.

     “Queen?” the two uttered in chorus.

     “Yes, and you can’t be the princess, the Kadeshmals did not give her the chance to be born, they also killed her”.

 “But have you seen Nineveh’s dead body?” Christie questioned, wanting to convince the stubborn lady so badly. “No”, she answered.

“It’s because Nineveh went to the human world trying so hard to escape”.

Then Casey seconded, “and my mom helped her in order to deliver the baby safely because she was in labor and in terrible pain ‘cause she was badly wounded and my family kept the baby after Nineveh passed away”.

“And now, here I am still alive and kicking in front of you!” Christie acclaimed. The lady was trying to grasp all the information she heard and was wide-eyed after realizing who she was harshly exchanging words with. She finally bends her right knee, bowing her head in respect to the person in front of her.

“I’m sorry princess Ashbel. I’m sorry if I doubted you. I thought you were never born. I was the only Valinor left and I’m very happy to know that I’m not alone anymore”, the lady pleasantly uttered those words, teary eyed.

“I should have trusted my intuition. I know only a princess can have Heth and can manipulate ice, those represents your royalty.” Casey and Christie were silently amazed of what the lady had said.

“So Ashbel is my real name? That’s what my real mother called me.”

“Yes princess”. “And what’s your name then?” Christie inquired.

“I am lady Mishma, my princess. Granddaughter of the Kingdom’s great healer, Sephar”, she proudly introduced herself.

“How come you were not cursed and turned into a stone?” Casey curiously asked out.

Before Mishma could have said her response, she looked above first and roamed her sight at the surroundings.

“It’s a long story”, she said as her gazed noticed something rumbling behind the bushes.

“C’mon follow me, it’s not safe here, someone could be spying on us”, Mishma suggested and the three departed with haste.

###

     Meanwhile at Ashteroth, Shur was so eager to find the girl and commanded his nasty minions to conduct a thorough search in Matred in case the girl might be there.

     At that same moment, Mishma led the two girls deeper in the woods where a huge castle erected. They were mesmerized how enormous it was. Finally, they saw a real castle, which only exists in their fairytale story when they were younger.

     They hurriedly went inside through the opened palace door. The place was so spacey and dim; cobwebs were everywhere, dusts and insects invaded the territory. More horrifying, large number of stone figured Valinors were in there.

“This place used to be joyful and peaceful, now it’s cursed”, Mishma muttered as they go by other stone figures of cursed Valinors. Christie could see how they were asking for help by looking through their facial expressions. Until they’ve reached the throne, a bearded man with long hair was lying facing on the ground, his eyes were shut closed and his body was cold stone. Not far from where he was lying was his dusty, golden crown, it used to be so elegant and wore with pride but now only a house spider was living on it with its web perfectly made.

     “Oh my God, is he my father?” Christie questioned as she bent her knees down and teary eyed. She wasn’t expecting to see her real father for the first time in that kind of miserable state.

     “Yes princess, he’s King Hebron, your father. The Kadeshmals did this to us! They betrayed us and stabbed us at the back!” Mishma strongly stated while recalling the day the curse happened.

     “What did they exactly do?” Casey curiously asked, but Mishma refused to give them the details.

     “I can’t tell you both here, it’s too dangerous. Kadeshmals often come here, they might catch us”. Then, they pursued walking in fast paced.

     “Where are we going now?”

     “Just follow me, I’ll keep you in a safe place”, Mishma answered back and the two tagged along. They went to a darker part of the castle, the door was in camouflage and they went inside a narrow tunnel. Mishma started a fire from her left hand to light up the way while her other hand was taking charge of the sword which she actually stole from a dead Kadeshmal in order to protect herself.

     “You can make fire too?” Christie nosily inquired with delight.

     “Of course I can, all Valinors can! Well, except for us having red hairs and green eyes, we really can manipulate fire at will. But of course, you’re a princess, so you have more than one ability”, she answered with a pause.

     Few seconds later, they arrived in a spacey area; Mishma quickly threw fireballs on every torches hanging on the wall and by closing her hand, the fire disappeared. The room was well lighted but dusts and cobwebs where almost invading the place. It has so many books in different sizes, perfectly tucked in the dirty bookshelf. Amulets, potion bottles, herbals, different tree roots, and magic dusts were placed above the table along with other scattered things.

     “We’re a lot safer here”, Mishma stated in a low voice. Then she pursued, “This is my secret hiding place. All of these are my grandfather’s stuffs, I just transferred them here, and he used all of them when he performed rituals and healings. I was also his apprentice”.  

“Where is his stone figure?” Casey asked. “I don’t know; I couldn’t find him at the castle. I’ve even searched for him everywhere with no luck at all, I just hope he’s still alive”, Mishma was overwhelmed with emotions of grief and how she misses her grandfather.

     “But how did you manage to survive? Everyone else turned to stone except you”, Chris asked out.

     “I survived because I was not here when that dreadful day happened. That early morning, my grandfather told me to go to Mount Gomorrah, where we usually get our medicinal roots from the talking trees. He asked for a basket full of it and white fruits from shrubs”.

     “You have talking trees here?” Christie surprisingly inquired.

     “Yes, they are friendly. You just have to ask permission if you want something from them.  Then, when I was on my way to the castle, I was worried when I saw smoke from afar. I hurried on my way and it was so horrifying when I arrived. All the Valinors turned into stones including the King but the Queen and my grandfather was nowhere to be found”, Mishma explained further.

     “But what are we going to do now? Is there any hope for us?” Christie inquired, with a lot of faith in her heart.

     “Well, now that I know you’re alive, yes there is hope. It was said that you’re the only one who can save us”, Mishma answered with a smile.

     “Oh, I see that’s why the Kadeshmals wanted to kill me when I was still little”.

     “Just before the frightening event happened, everyone was in harmony, friendship between Kadeshmals and Valinors happily existed. When the time came that harmony was a blur, feud occurs. Then a huge decision was made, a decision that will give us hope if everything gets worse”, she paused while her hands were busy arranging the small potion bottles.

     “What kind of decision?”

“When you were still inside Queen Nineveh’s womb, the King bestowed you with great powers and intelligence as well as the symbol on locating the two powerful crystals with the use of his golden scepter. That scepter is very powerful, it can casts spells, curses and other things, but it cannot reverse or take anything back that has been casted. The day after the bestowing, the Kadeshmals attacked and betrayed us. They took advantage of our kindness. That’s why we have to find that crystal as soon as possible”, Mishma explained in addition.

“But, where are we going to find the crystals?” Casey and Christie asked in synchronize.

“It’s in your body princess; your tattoos will reveal it”.

Christie then stared at her palms and uttered, “I have two tattooed flowers here”.

Mishma was delighted and questioned, “What kind of flowers? Let me see it”. While she gazed at it, quickly she recognized the symbols. “It’s the twin Sheleph flowers! So they’re the ones bearing the crystals”.

“So, that’s what my tattoos mean, and now that we know where to find the crystals, then we better move up”, Christie uttered.

“Yes we have to hurry but first we need to prepare. Those flowers are not just shrubs or ordinary plants. Remember, they’re enormous and very, very deadly. With their huge mouths, they can eat us alive in one swallow and see us wherever we’re hiding with their thousand eyes. So, we have to be very careful”, Mishma further explained and took her sharp sword.

Meanwhile, three Kadeshmals were patrolling the place. They were suddenly curious when they heard chatting voices. Out in the blue the Kadeshmals appeared in the room when the girls were in the middle of their conversation. They were very shocked how they found out the hiding place. One the two-headed Kadeshmals started attacking the two girls but Mishma quickly shielded them and bravely fought the Kadesh instead with her sharp sword. The two monsters followed after; one on Christie’s and the other on Casey’s.

Immediately, Christie made two blazing fires from her hands and pitched it over the monster’s body which almost no use at all because of  his tough skin. While Casey on the other hand, was struggling not to hurt herself by always avoiding the sharp sword, which was swinging from every side. Until, Cas got into a corner and her hand patted something, a cold, shiny metal staff lying on the ground, then she urgently picked it up and defended herself.

After casting two more fireballs, Christie realized it was no use at all; then she made a bigger, hotter and bolder blazed of fused fire from both hands and directly tossed it over to the monster. By great force, the two-headed beast flung away and hit the other side of the wall.

“Christie, um… a little help here, please”, Casey shouted in a frightened tone after her metal staff hurled down on the ground. The Kadeshmal finally cornered her.

After hearing her sister’s plea, her eyes turned from green to completely white and abruptly released cold, crystallized ice that made the ugly Kadeshmal frozen cold in a minute. The monster was still raising his sword when he couldn’t move any longer. It was an effective strategy and froze the other monster that Mishma was still fighting. While the other Kadeshmal who just lost conscious after slamming on the hard wall, was finally wide awake. He saw what happened to his other companions who were ice frozen. He was alarmed and panicked then urgently vanished.

“Uh-oh… that was bad news”, Mishma uttered with a pause. “That Kadeshmal will tell the others what he saw then we’re gonna be in big trouble”. The girls thought they were still in luck because the monster did not notice the tattoos on Christie’s palms but they’ve been mistaken, he saw it.

###

Meanwhile at Ashteroth, the injured Kadeshmal appeared in front of his master, Shur who looked so puzzled.

“Where are the others?” Shur strongly asked. The two-headed monster bent his right knee and bowed his heads then politely answered him. “My lord, we’ve been attacked”, the left head said. Then, the other one seconded, “the princess is already in Matred my lord with Mishma and other unusual girl just like our two prisoners”.

Shur was wide-eyed when he heard the name princess, the golden scepter was in his tight grip then he angrily uttered with a snarl, “Fools! Why didn’t you manage to capture even one of them, especially the princess?

“My lord, forgive us, but the princess has great powers”, the first one said.

“Indeed my lord, she even frozen my companions. Her eyes were powerful, it can release crystallized, cold water”, the second one reasoned out. “But my lord, we’ve seen her hands with tattooed flowers on it. Maybe that’s where we can find the two crystals”, he added.

“What kind of flowers?” Shur curiously questioned.

“The Sheleph flowers, my lord”, he answered. Shur was surprised. He was not expecting it that the twin deadly flowers were the ones guarding the crystals.

“Then we have to go there as soon as possible”, he immediately ordered while his ugly minions were frightened upon hearing the plan. “But my lord, we can’t possibly kill the Sheleph flowers, nobody can, even King Hebron’s scepter cannot cast a curse or spell on them. They’re too powerful for us to fight”. Before Shur said his reply, he turned his back on them and made an arrogant grin.

“Foolish! Who said we’ll fight them? Instead, we will let the princess go to the murky mountain of Sithri first and let her kill the Sheleph flowers, I know she has the power to kill them and once they’re killed, we will snatch the crystals from her. And that soon, will be our victory”, Shur chuckled; his minions were pleased of their master’s plan. Their dark place echoed with evil laughters.

Back at Matred, Mishma was preparing her things for their departure. She had a sling bag filled with stuffs needed for their long journey. She took a diamond-shaped necklace out from the bookshelf’s corner.

“Casey, you should wear this, this will protect you from harm”. Then she locked the necklace on Casey’s neck. “Thank you”, Cas replied, smiling.

Then Mishma stared at one of the frozen Kadeshmals and went over to him with an idea in her mind to cut off a hand holding a sword, and she did it. The icy, slashed-off hand dropped on the ground and was thawed she then took the sword out from its tight grip.

“We have to get more weapons. It’s a very dangerous world out there”, she said and handled it over to Casey. She did the same thing to the other frozen Kadeshmal and gave the last sword to the princess.

“But Mishma, we don’t know how to use this!” Christie complained, uneasy with the sharp weapon she was holding.

“Not just that, it’s heavy as well”, Casey seconded.

“I grumbled about that too when I first used it to defend myself. Originally, Valinors are peaceful, kind beings and because of what happened and out of rage and revenge, now I know how to exercise this sword properly well. I’ve learned, that we should not be kind all the time instead we have to be brave and fight back to survive. Trust me you’re going to kill your first monster with that sword before you know it”, Mishma uttered with a pause.  “We have to hurry now. Kadeshmals might attack here again”.

The three finally went out from the cursed castle through the secret back door that Mishma created. The atmosphere was still gloomy and a bit cold. They hiked in a vast clearing towards the first forest of Gomorrrah.

“Is it always cloudy here Mishma?” Casey asked out.

“No Casey, this place used to be so beautiful and alive. This just started when the curse happened. We better make haste before it gets even darker”, Mishma replied.

They were in fast-paced steps when Christie inquired, “Where can we find the Sheleph flowers?”

“At Mount Sithri, but before we can reach our destination, we have to pass on three forests. This is indeed a very long journey, princess”.

“What kind of forests are they?” Christie asked again.

“The first forest which we’re going first and hopefully stay for the night is Gomorrah”. Then Christie interfered, “That’s where you gathered your medicines and the talking trees are there too, right?”

“You’re right, princess. That’s the only forest in Matred that is gentle and tamed, while the second one is a bit unkind, the Shimron forest and the third one is Siddim forest which is a lot meaner and harsh. Though, no talking trees live there but cruel, dangerous creatures dwell in those forests and those who dared to go there went missing”. They were scared upon hearing what Mishma had said.

“Well, can’t we just use my tattooed ring finger to make a portal and go directly to Mount Sithri?” Christie suggested, making things easy.

     “I’m sorry to tell you princess, that we can’t do. Those forests have shielded their territories from portals”. Then the three went hiking silently, hours later they were a little closer to Gomorrah forest until Casey curiously asked Mishma after drinking from a small water container they brought, “I’m just a little nosy, what do Sheleph flowers look like?”

     “I haven’t seen them actually, but the elders said they were gigantic and deadly”.

     “That sounds very scary”.

     “That’s why we have to hurry before the Kadeshmals can get the crystals first. We have to save this place desperately as well as the world you grow up. Both worlds will be in great danger if Shur will get the two crystals and gain its powers. He will conquer Matred and all the Valinors will be finally forgotten and vanish. He will rule the other world too and spread darkness, Shur will own everything in case everything gets worse”.

     “And what will happen if we get the crystals first?” Christie inquired while following Mishma.

     “Then, we will gain back everything that we’ve lost; our honor, our lives, freedom, and your father’s scepter. Matred will be beautiful and lively once more. But, that’s not all, eternity and great power will be ours. Harmony will rule and Kadeshmals will be destroyed”, Mishma answered with a lot of faith that they will succeed.

     “That sounds perfectly good to me”, Casey uttered.

     Finally, after few more hours of hiking, they’ve finally reached their first destination and it was a little dark already.

     “Is this Gomorrah forest?” Casey inquired, while her eyes wandered around, she was amazed by the enchanted trees.

     “Yes indeed, finally we’ve arrive on time. Now, we have to go to Calah”, Mishma replied and led the way to her old friend.

     “Calah…Calah…” Mishma called out while they were standing below an enormous, old tree but she heard no response.

     “Calah!” she called out once more still with no response. There were other tall and short trees too in the surrounding. An old tree from a distance noticed the visitors and decided to help them.

     “Calah, Calah! Mishma is here!” a tree called out her old friend. Finally, Calah opened his wrinkled eyes to see what was going on.

     Then Mishma was grateful, “Thank you, Cush for the help”.

     Calah was fully awake and saw his friend looking back at him.

     “Oooh… Mishma it’s you! Is there anything we can do for you?” he questioned in a slow voice. The other trees were awake too, listening to their conversation.

     “Yes, we want to ask permission for your protection. We’re going to stay here tonight”.

     “That will be an honor Mishma...”Calah paused. “Oh, I see you have some company. They look so very peculiar”. Then Mishma gladly introduced the two girls to them, “this is my friend Casey, she’s a human”. Everyone was startled and mumbling with curiosity.

     “How did a human get here?” one of the trees named Moreh inquired.

     “Well, that’s because of her sister, Christie”, Mishma replied prolonging to tell the truth. Before anyone could say another word, a small young tree named Haran went jumping closer to Christie, he was Moreh’s son. As Haran stared at her face closely, he saw something that made him curious then called out his mom in a tiny child-like voice.

     “Mother, mother Christie has tattoos and a Heth on her forehead!” Then he went jumping back to his mother’s side.

     “A Heth!” the trees surprisingly acclaimed.

     “Haran, are you sure about that?” his mother asked, making a confirmation.

     “Yes mother I’m telling the truth. She got some sparkling circles and curvy lines on her forehead. I remember you told me before that only a princess can possess a Heth”, Haran stated his explanation. “Mother, maybe she is a princess”, he pursued with a guess.

     However, Calah protested, “that’s impossible! The unborn princess was long dead together with the Queen”. But, his old friend Cush was all curious and demanded him to verify the evidence.

     “Calah you better look at her closely, perhaps Haran’s telling the truth. I believe kids do not tell lies”.

     “Well, that I can’t do Cush, I’m too old and weak to bend my body”, whined Calah. Then, Moreh finally volunteered, “okay, I’ll do it”. She bent her tall body and stared closely at Christie’s face. After realizing her little boy Haran was right, she exclaimed surprisingly, “She has Heth!” Before any of the trees could have reacted further, Mishma interrupted and finally decided to tell the truth, “Okay, everyone, listen, I’ve got something to say!” she said in a loud voice as the forest was filled with mumbling trees.

     “Christie is not really a human and Casey is not her real sister either”, she continued and the trees gasped more in a surprising manner.

     “Christie was also a Valinor, her real name is Ashbel and she’s Queen Nineveh’s daughter”, Mishma finally revealed.

     “But that can’t be!” Calah objected.

     “How did the princess survive?” another tree curiously inquired, then Christie stepped forward and uttered, “I survived in exchange for my mother’s life. She died after I was born and Casey’s family kept me since then. They loved me and cared for me like their own”. Silence filled the air and slowly each one of the trees bowed their long bodies in respect for the Princess.

     “We are so glad that you are indeed alive, Princess Ashbel. We will try our best to help and protect you. Where will your destination be?” Calah inquired and Mishma quickly answered, “We’re going to Mount Sithri”.

     “That’s very dangerous, it’s the dark mountain!” Calah said, astonished.

     “Why would you go there? The twin Sheleph flowers live there”, he continued.

     “Exactly the point Calah, they’re the ones who keep the crystals, according to what the Princess’ tattooed palms showed us”, Mishma explained while showing Christie’s palms.

     “Oh boy, this will be a long, tough journey”, Cush muttered. Then Calah, the oldest among the trees stated whole-heartedly, “I wish we can help you with the fighting. The monsters are very mean along the way. We can’t defend you, we’re too old now. Our roots have dug deeper to the grounds and we’re too weak to even take them off”. Then Haran, the youngest of all the trees excitedly said, “Oh mother, look I can walk, I can even run. I will go with them and help them fight the monsters. Please mother can I go, please”, he said, pleading but his mother strongly objected, “No Haran, you can’t fight the monsters with your tiny, short branches and twigs. You’re too young for that.”

     “But, we can provide you with medicines that cure wounds made by the monsters”, Moreh added, offering another alternative of help that they can surely give.

     “Oh yes, that absolutely we can do”, Calah happily agreed, then cleared his throat and demanded something to Mishma.

     “Now Mishma, you get the medicine at my foot. You have to dig it first but not so deep”. Mishma obeyed and dug the soft ground as tangled big roots were on the way. When the moist ground was slowly hallowed, a bright light came out from it and her eyes fascinatingly met a golden, wrapped cloth.

     “Yes, that one, take it then my friend”, Calah ordered. They were amazed as Mishma slowly took the golden cloth out from the ground.

     “Calah, this is so beautiful”, she uttered.

     “Open it”, the old tree simply ordered. Mishma laid the shiny golden fabric on the ground and untied it. Right before her eyes were three pieces of white fruits half the size of a ping-pong ball with red spot each.

     “What are they Calah?” Christie nosily asked.

     “Those are everlasting fruits, princess. Long time ago, one of the oldest trees named Eder who died centuries ago gave the three remaining white fruits to his descendants until it got into my care and watchful eyes. I waited for the right time that it’s going to be in great use, and now is the perfect time to give them”, Calah explained further.

     “And how do the fruits work?” Casey questioned out.

     “When one is wounded, you have to eat one piece and the wounds will be gone in a blink. But remember, they can only cure wounds made by the beasts who dwell in the two dark forests, Shimron and Siddim but not by the Sheleph flowers at mount Sithri. That is why you have to be very careful, for there are only three left”, Calah clarified.

     “Can the fruits give us immortality?” Mishma asked and the old tree replied, “No it cannot. That’s only everlasting because they remain fresh and won’t die out forever. It can’t give us everlasting life, only healing and strength”.

     Their conversation lasted and finally they gathered some dead woods for fire. They’ve chatted around the fire while eating Mishma’s last three pieces of bread while the trees are just around them listening to the conversation, until Casey questioned a very interesting question. “Mishma, you said that Kadeshmals and Valinors are friends before and war doesn’t exist. What really happened then?”

     “You’re right, feud doesn’t exist before. Valinors and Kadeshmals were friends at heart and at hand until a dreadful and undistinguished disease occurred and was slowly killing Valinors and Kadeshmals, even my grandfather could not heal the sick. A lot have died and nobody knew what really caused it to happen. It was a terrible curse. Then, Lady Elealeh; a neutral nymph told us that there was still hope, that the two powerful crystals can cure any sickness and curses. It indeed possesses great powers but nobody knew about the exact location. Using the King’s golden scepter, Lady Elealeh told us to bestow an unborn child the gift of intelligence and the symbol on where to find the two powerful crystals and now princess Ashbel’s tattooed hands tell us where to finally find them ”, Mishma paused while she placed another dead branch over the bonfire.

     Then she continued as the two girls interestingly listened to her story, “by the time when the Queen experienced painful labor pains, the Kadeshmals suddenly sabotaged us. They went greedy and mad and killed our kind one by one until Shur took hold over the golden scepter and cursed every Valinor he could find. It was their plan all along and they’ve just waited for the perfect moment to execute it; the day after what happened, I’ve heard them once while I was in hiding that they’re supposed to take the newborn princess so they will know the crystals location as she grows up but then they failed”, Mishma explained further.

     “That’s quite a story; it was horrifying. They’ve been very good impostors then. A wolf in a sheep’s skin”, Casey commented but Mishma was confused about some of the unfamiliar words. “What’s a wolf and a sheep?” she curiously asked.

     “Well, they’re creatures in my world; the wolf is the mean and wild one while the sheep is the tamed one. The wolf will disguise itself into a sheep’s clothing so that it can eat the sheep, you get what I mean?” Casey inquired.

     “Yes, I think so”.

     As they pursued chatting, Christie suddenly remembered someone and acclaimed, “Aunt Liz!”

     “Tim, Adam!” Casey added. They both displayed a very worried expression.

     “How can we tell them that we’re okay and still alive?” Christie concernedly questioned. Then Mishma has the solution, “don’t worry princess, I’ll let someone tell them”. Before the two could say something, Mishma whistled in the air. It was a very enchanting whistling tone echoing to the forest in the silence of the night. In a minute, they noticed something was hovering above them passing through the thick leaves of the old trees. As the fire’s glare glistened over, they thought it was an enormous bat but as it got closer, they realized that it was actually a huge butterfly with wings glittering as it slowly hovered down.

     “Wow, this is so amazing! I’ve never seen anything like this before; a butterfly as huge as a bat!” Casey pleasingly uttered, could not believe what she was seeing.

     “Absolutely, this place is really enchanting”, Christie seconded.

     As the butterfly flapped its wings, it flew over to Mishma and slowly landed on her arm and introduced her friend to them. “Her name is Shiloh, the lady of the enchanted group of butterflies. They fly in thin air and may become invisible at will”.

     “How pretty amazing, can she also talk? I mean it’s possible right, besides this place is enchanting after all”, Christie asked out in an interesting way. Instead of replying, Mishma tossed the butterfly Shiloh in the air and quickly flapped her wings. Shiloh landed on the ground and spellbindingly turned herself into a beautiful lady, wearing a charming silver colored silky dress with gold accents. The two were more astounded of what they just witnessed and were speechless.

     “What can I help you my friend?” Shiloh uttered in a soft tone of voice as she slowly bowed her head. Mishma made a gesture with her finger to come closer then whispered something on Shiloh’s ear. She nodded her head upon agreeing.

     Beautiful Shiloh gently bowed down before the princess then uttered, “Don’t worry princess Ashbel, I will tell your family in the other world that you two are both fine and I’m so glad to finally meet you”, she pleasantly said with honor then stood before the princess with a lot of hope.

     “I’m also glad to meet an amazing creature like you”, Christie replied with a smile.

     “And please, don’t forget to tell them that we love them and miss them so much”, Casey interrupted. Shiloh smiled first and answered her, “I will”. She then astonishingly turned herself back into an enormous butterfly and flew up in the air until she vanished above the vast group of leaves and dark sky.

###

Meanwhile at the human world, Shiloh was just right outside Aunt Liz’s closed bedroom window still flapping her glistening wings and waiting for someone to open it. Aunt Liz was at the bathroom that moment, preparing to go to bed. Every night she could hardly fall asleep while thinking about where the kids went. When she was done and was about to retire to bed, she noticed a shadowy moving figure hovering near her window. She was curious and went closer to find out what it was; it startled her upon realizing that it was a huge butterfly so peculiarly big to be and ordinary creature. It was hypnotizing as she stared at the living insect, and finally persuaded herself to open the window. Shiloh went inside fluttering her wings as she magnificently flew in circles inside the room. Aunt Liz was so amazed of what she saw. More astonishing, when the huge creature transformed itself into a lovely lady with blonde hair and icy, blue eyes. Aunt Liz was all speechless as Shiloh uttered the message, “Don’t worry now, the two girls are safe. We will look after them”.

     “When are they going to come back?” Aunt Liz was still worried.

     “I don’t know, but not now. We’re in an important mission to save everyone”.

     “What about the boys, Tim and Adam?”Aunt Liz inquired again.

     Shiloh gave her a confused stare and replied, “The boys? We don’t know about them, they’re not with us”.

     Aunt Liz was just silent with blinking tears then said, “We were celebrating Christie’s birthday that night, everything went fine, having fun then suddenly they were gone. I’ve searched everywhere and they’re nowhere to be found. It’s been a month since they’ve left”, Aunt Liz added in a sad, worried tone.

     “Well, can you bring me where the boys disappeared?”

     “Yes, I can do that”. The two went downstairs going to the living room.

     “This is the place where I’ve last seen them”, Aunt Liz muttered. Shiloh was then solemnly focusing while feeling the presence of the environment.

     Then she finally confirmed, “You’re right, this is the place where they’ve vanished”, Shiloh paused then feeling the presence again, “Kadeshmals! They’ve been here and took the boys”, she verified.

     “Oh God, I hope they’re fine. Please find them”, Aunt Liz whole-heartedly pleaded.

     “I will”, Shiloh simply answered sincerely.

     “Thank you, you are so kind”, Aunt Liz replied and the fair lady gave her a beautiful smile then uttered, “I won’t be long now. I have to tell them what happened here”. She turned herself back into a butterfly and took off from the main door.

###

Shiloh arrived at Gomorrah forest at dawn, caught up the three girls preparing things up for an early start of their journey. She told them what happened back home, about Adam and Tim but then they’ve decided not to go to Ashteroth to save them, there was simply not much time to go back. Shiloh on the other hand bid them goodbye and the three continued on their journey to get the crystals and to save everyone. The matured fruit bearing trees gave them fruits to eat on their travel then they continued their way to the next forest after saying goodbye to their friends.

As they hiked the path, it was silently peaceful until they’ve reached a wide, clear river without a scratch. Mishma had no idea about the place, she have not gone that far before. As she was observing the surroundings, Casey drenched her mouth with cold water, as she was already very thirsty while her sister Christie took out her empty water container and filled it up.

It was too late when Mishma sensed something bad and quickly acclaimed, “Get away from the water!” The two already drunk from it as Casey cough a little and cleared her throat. They immediately moved away and stood beside Mishma.

“What’s wrong?” Christie asked out, perplexed.

“I think this is the river that separates Gomorrah and Shimron forest. Somebody’s living here, we have to prepare”, Mishma answered in a strong voice. The three took out their swords and were all set to fight. Suddenly, the water from the river started boiling tiny bubbles, until a group of tiny creatures with human like features appeared hovering in front of them with angry faces. They have wings on their backs and fish tails on their behinds, which allowed them to both fly in the air and swim in the water.

“Naiads!” Mishma acclaimed with her sword ready for defend. She knew perfectly well that naiads are also mischievous and harmful if you did something bad to them. While the two girls were flabbergasted that fairies really did exist.

“I can’t believe I’m seeing this, they’re so cute. I hope they’re harmless”, Christie complemented.

“Don’t underestimate them princess, they’re tricky and can harm you if they wanted to”, Mishma warned out, and then turned back her attention to the flying creatures.

“What do you want from us?” Mishma inquired strongly. Then one of the water nymphs flew closer to her ear and whispered something that only Mishma could comprehend in their own dialect.

Mishma has a confused look after. “What are you talking about?” she questioned curiously then the naiad responded in a squeaky voice while her wings flapped faster like a hummingbird.

     “What? Who is?” Mishma asked simultaneously and very worried that there might be a big problem then the little creature pointed her finger on Casey.

“Oh no”, she mumbled.

“What’s the matter Mishma?” Casey impatiently asked out then Mishma explained what was going on, “You did something terrible. You’ve drunk from the water and you’ve swallowed someone”.

“Swallowed someone?” Casey repeated what Mishma had said in an inquiring tone.

“You’ve ingested two little naiads, her children”.

Before Casey could’ve said her reply, she was suddenly choking and felt something moving from her throat and without warning two naiads went out from her mouth. Everybody was horrified of the tragic fate. The water nymphs immediately flew down to the ground and comforted the young ones. Unfortunately, one of the swallowed naiads did not make it and died. They’ve wept and grieved so hard that they wanted something in return for the lost life. They’ve chosen Casey in exchange, to be their prisoner forever.

“No, not my sister, please!” Christie acclaimed, begging. Mishma on the other hand did all she could do but unfortunately failed. The little creatures were consistent about Casey to be their prisoner; she can be useful for a lifetime of slavery. Then the naiads told them that Casey could only be release only for one difficult condition; if their dead little naiad would come back to life again, then she will be free.

Before they left, the water nymphs have finally took Casey at the bottom of the river. Christie could not help her tears from running down her eyes. She made a promise to come back for her sister.

Then Mishma took a small pouch of magic dusts from her sling bag and threw it over the wide range of streaming water. The dusts quickly made a glossy bridge like a hard transparent plastic across the river going towards the next forest.

They prepared themselves while they crossed the water, for the next forest was dangerous. A wide trail awaits them as they stepped on the ground. The place was dim and obviously silently creepy.

After a while, they’ve noticed three annoying crows transferring from branches to branches. They ignored the black flying creatures and continued walking but still vigilant of the surroundings. Then suddenly, one of the crows started spitting acids, the first spit landed close to Christie’s boots, “Woo, what was that?” she surprisingly inquired.

“The crows…!” Mishma shouted, then immediately threw fireballs towards the black birds but unfortunately not hitting them for the creatures were smart and alert. As the birds pursued spitting acids at them, they’ve also grown in number. Christie made herself invisible while Mishma quickly hid behind a big tree. The crows tried to figure out where they went and more crows arrived and joined the others on defeating the invaders. Quickly, crystallized, cold water went out from Christie’s eyes and perfectly hitting the birds one by one while Mishma threw bigger fireballs towards the escaping black, evil birds. Luckily, they’ve defeated them and were frozen and toasted to death as they fell hard on the ground. They’re thankful that the fight did not last long.

“That was close”, Christie uttered. “That is only the beginning, princess. Meaner to come, we have to be more alert”, Mishma warned out.

 As they hiked through the second forest, Christie questioned out, “Is it possible to bring back the dead naiad’s life?” and Mishma answered back, “Yes princess, it is possible if we get the crystals and offer them to the Lady nymph first. Definitely, there’s a big chance that we can bring back your sister. Don’t worry princess, I will do my best to help you”.

Time passed by, until they’ve noticed walking in a path with bushes lining up the sides of the trail and some were not far away scattered around the place. The bushes had a lot of flowers as red as blood.

Christie perplexedly asked, “I thought this place was all dark and gloomy? But look at the flowers, they’re so beautiful”. Mishma on the other hand didn’t think so, then said, “I’m very sure nothing good is in this forest. Let’s just continue walking, princess”, demanded Mishma. But as the flowering plants were being ignored, the bush flowers melted with red blood and gradually turned into deceiving and tempting women in red floating dresses. They have black hairs very white skin complexions and hypnotizing eyes.

“Ignore them princess, we have to walk faster. They’re the Temptresses of the Dark, though I really don’t know what they could possibly do to us, but I’m sure it’s no good”, Mishma quickly uttered as they pursued walking in a fast-paced manner.

After a while, they suddenly heard a man and a woman’s voice from behind them.

“Christie, honey”, a woman’s voice uttered. Christie halted as she knew perfectly well who owns that familiar soft tone. She slowly turned around and was so surprised to recognize the faces. “Mom…? Dad…?” she inquired, perplexedly.

But Mishma interrupted, “Don’t listen to them princess, they’re not real. The Temptresses are trying to trick us. Let’s go!” she strongly insisted and Christie listened to her. As they’re about to walk, she heard another voice, “Sweetie, we love you”, the man stated out and Christie could not handle her feelings any longer and turned her back to talk to them.

“I love you too and I’m so sorry of what I did to your family”, she was finally tempted as she walked closer to them while letting out her feelings she carried for a while.

“You did nothing wrong Christie”, her foster mother replied softly.

“Stop it princess…! It’s just a trick! Don’t listen to them!” Mishma shouted but Christie continued as if she did not hear what her friend had said.

Then Chris pursued talking to the Temptresses, “Yes I did mom, because of me you’re both been killed”, she said as tears ran down from her eyes.

“That’s okay honey. What matters now is that we’re gonna be together. We missed you so much”, her mom stated with arms stretched for a big hug. Without any hesitations, Christie walked towards them slowly. The Temptresses knew exactly her weakness.

“Princess, what are you doing?” Mishma inquired but still no use. “Princess, they wanted to destroy you, you have to wake up!” she continued shouting. As Mishma was about to grab hold of Christie’s arm, the Temptresses quickly blocked her way, not allowing her to ruin their plan.

Without any second thoughts, Mishma swiftly raised her sword and slashed the evil women one by one, but unfortunately, they could not die by just an ordinary sword.

Mishma backed off after realizing it was no use and urgently made another plan, which was to call for help. Hastily, she whistled in the air in a different enchanting tone.

As the sound echoed in the dark forest, a group of large butterflies led by Shiloh came flapping their wings to the rescue. They flew above the Temptresses as they poured and spread golden dusts that blinded the evil women. Finally, Christie was back to her normal consciousness and almost out of danger but in panic. Good thing Mishma got a hold of her hand and grabbed her away from the evil women who were now in chaotic state as they whined and reacted hysterically to the sparkling dusts as it landed on their skins and burned them slowly and painfully. When smokes started to appear on their pale white bodies and the pain was more unbearable, they swiftly turned themselves back into bushes and the red blood colored of the flowers turned to black lifeless colors then finally died.

At last, the coast was all clear and the butterflies flew in circles until the biggest one landed on the ground and instantly turned herself into a lovely lady while the other butterflies were just hovering behind her.

“Thank you Shiloh”, Christie and Mishma said in chorus with smiles of relief.

“Anytime my friends”, Shiloh responded but she noticed something that made her to ask concernedly, “Where’s Casey?” Then, Mishma answered her, “The naiads took her to be their prisoner”, she paused.

“Why, what happened?”

“She drunk from the river and accidentally swallowed two baby naiads. Unfortunately, the other one died after she spit them out. The naiads told us that she can only be release if the dead naiad be given life again”, Mishma explained further.

“If that’s the case, then I have to come with you. I need to help the princess on her journey too”, suggested Shiloh and they were pleased that another helping hand will be joining them.

“Thank you Shiloh, you’re indeed a great help to us”, Christie uttered.

“It’s a great honor princess”.  Then, they continued their journey deeper to the dark Shimron forest.

###

Meanwhile at Ashteroth, beneath the murky, evil place, Adam and Tim were held captives inside the filthy dungeon. The place was dark but the light from outside shines through the small window bars. Two ugly Kadeshmals were strictly guarding the prisoners, making sure no one escapes.

“How can we get out from here?” Tim asked out, while standing at the corner.

“No idea, that’s what we’re going to find out before everything gets worse”, Adam answered while sitting at the other side of the corner. Suddenly, something caught his attention while positively feeling that he sat on something bumpy. He then took it out and observed it; it was a small golden coin. “What’s this?” he asked. Tim went over to him to have a look. “It’s simply a gold coin”, Tim uttered, and then Adam bit the coin to prove it was true. “Yeah, it’s gold”, he paused.

Then he added while tossing the gold coin in the air and catching it on his right hand, “I wonder if this dungeon is built under a floor of gold?” he added and finished tossing the coin for the third time and as it landed on his hand, an unusual looking creature suddenly appeared in front of them.

“Hello…” he said in a tiny voice. He was about the height of a three-year-old child. He has big eyes, long, pointed nose and ears and wrinkled mossy green skin. The strange looking-being really startle them.

“Holy crap!” the two guys both acclaimed. Adam stared at him and asked him, “What are you?”

Then the creature answered politely, “I am a Wish-Servant goblin, masters”.

“So, you really can talk”, muttered Tim and the goblin replied, “Of course master, I can talk”.

“Do you have a name?” he questioned. “Yes, my name’s Ham”, said the goblin.

“Do you bite?” Adam inquired. “Of course, I bite. I have teeth, see…!” the little creature replied diligently while showing his filthy-looking set of yellowish teeth.

“What I mean is, are you harmful?” Adam clarified. “Well, it depends on the situation”, he answered. “So, what are your wishes, masters?” the goblin impatiently questioned.

“Are the wishes, limited to three only, like the Jinni?” Tim curiously asked.

“Not at all master, as long as the coin stays in your care then you can wish infinitely”, the unusual creature replied.

“So if we wish that you let us out from this place, will you grant it?” questioned Tim.

“That is so easy, whatever you wish master”, and in a blink they vanished from the dark evil place. Ham brought them in a dry and quiet forest that seemed haunted. The two guys were curious to know where they were. “What is this place?” Adam inquired as he roamed his sight.

“I don’t really know about this place masters. Haven’t gone out since my last master became mad and abandoned me in that filthy dungeon”, Ham replied as they slowly walk to observe the surroundings.

“Well, the important thing is you’ve gotten us out from that place”.

“Anytime masters”.

“How do you appear anyway?” asked Adam.

“Like what you did in the dungeon, you have to toss the golden coin thrice and to make me disappear, then you have to put the coin on the ground”, the little goblin explained further.

Then he added with a warning, “But, if the coin will get in the hands of evil masters, then nothing I can do, I will grant their wishes whether I like it or not”. Until they’ve arrived in a place where they noticed something strange, where blurry human figures seemed to be moving from trees.

“What was that?” Adam asked after noticing one almost in action.

“Someone’s in the trees!” Tim added with a pause and turned his attention to the goblin. “You tricked us Ham. Maybe this is a dangerous place”, he doubtfully uttered.

“No master, I won’t do that”, the small creature reasoned out but before he could defend himself any further, male and female human-like creatures with wings appeared in front of them, they’re woodland nymphs called Dryads. They were wearing ragged clothes and their wings were all tattered.

“What are you doing here?” Zillah strongly asked with a pause, she was one of the leaders.

Then she continued, “This is our territory and we’re not going to let anyone destroy this place again. The Kadeshmals have ruined too much already”. Then more Dryads went out from the trees and stood in a group.

Then finally, Tim spoke up, “okay look, we don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re outsiders and we’re actually from the human world but, we’re good guys. Kadeshmals brought us here and made us prisoners inside their dungeon. We’ve only escaped because of our friend Ham”, he uttered while introducing the little creature.

“Yes, woodland nymphs are also friends”, said Ham with a smile on his wrinkled moss green colored skin.

Curious, Adam questioned, “What happened here, this place seemed abandoned”. Then Zerah replied, “Kadeshmals destroyed this place. Everything was ruined”, she paused. “Our trees are dying now as well as the nymphs living in them. We desperately need help or else we will vanish and be forgotten forever”, she added.

Then another one said, “Matred was also destroyed where Valinors lived. They were cursed, Kadeshmals sabotaged them first then everyone was affected”.

“We need your help, you’re the only ones who can help us right now”, another Dryad pleaded.

Tim was about to object but Zillah interfered, “Please, we cannot separate ourselves to the trees. If we leave them, Kadeshmals might come back here and continue destroying the trees and would get all the woodland nymphs in big trouble. Our lives depend on trees”.

“But we don’t know what to do?” Tim responded. Then, Adam interfered with an idea, “Well maybe Ham can help us, he grants wishes. Maybe he can grant it”.

But Zillah protested, “It’s not as easy as that, though we’re not being cursed or put into spells but wishes are useless for us, only the golden scepter that the Kadeshmals used to drain our powers can bring this place back to normal”.

“Is it the golden staff that Shur has?” Adam inquired, just to make sure.

“Yes you’re right, they actually stole it from King Hebron, leader of the Valinors”.

“So you mean we’re going back to that hell place?” Tim questioned out in protest.

“I’m sorry to say, but yes”, answered Zillah. The two guys were looking at each other trying to read each other’s thoughts on what decision they would do. Then, Tim concluded, “Okay, we’ll help you. I know we can do it, we got Ham too”.

“Thank you so much”, the nymphs said in chorus.

“I would like to ask you something”, Adam paused while the nymphs were eager to listen to the question. “Have you seen our friends? Two beautiful ladies also wearing an unusual clothing like ours. The one has short hair and the other one has long red hair and has tattoos on her hands and…”, before he could even continue describing, Zillah interfered in a loud voice. “Tattoos, you mean she’s a Valinor?”

“Yeah, she mentioned that to me. She has these unusual glitters on her forehead too, like small sequences”, Tim added and the woodland nymphs were more surprised of what they just heard. They knew exactly what he meant.

“You mean a Heth? That can’t be, only a Valinor princess can posses Heth. But, the unborn princess was long time dead, when the Kadeshmals attacked them”

“Does she posses any powers?” Zerah asked.

“Yes she does posses special abilities like manipulating fire and ice as well as becoming invisible at will”.

“No doubt, she is a Valinor princess”, Zillah confirmed. The woodland nymphs wanted to know more about everything so they invited the two guys and their goblin friend, Ham to their almost abandoned lair.

###

Meanwhile, at the dark Shimron forest, Mishma, Christie, Shiloh and the butterflies have hiked further in the woods. While they continue on, a long, sticky and most of all deadly tongue stretched out from nowhere and suddenly snatched one of the hovering butterflies without anybody noticing it. Again, the deadly tongue snatched three more butterflies that brought them in a panic state. Shiloh immediately ordered the fluttering huge insects to scatter around and turn themselves quickly into human like figures so they can defend themselves. Mishma and Christie prepared their sharp swords for the next blind attack. It was like a guessing game for they don’t know where the tongue would strike again.

“Everyone, be alert! We don’t exactly know what kind of creature we’re dealing with”, demanded Mishma. Silence suddenly conquered the dark place while their eyes kept watchful. As the monster hid in the dark, its long tongue swiftly stretched out and slightly wounded Mishma on the back that made her shrieked a little and bend her knees for a while.

“Mishma, are you alright?” Christie concernedly asked while helping her to stand up. Then, she answered, “Yeah I’m fine, it’s just a scratch”. But, she truly felt a lot of pain after the monster retrieved its deadly tongue and Christie did not buy what she said.

“It’s serious Mish”, she said while seeing how her friend was badly hurt even slightly wounded. “You better eat the everlasting fruit”, she suggested and quickly took out one of the white fruits from Mishma’s bag, as she did so, the sticky tongue stretched out again from nowhere and rapidly wrapped around on Mishma’s body. The monster tried to snatch her towards the darkness but Christie directly raised her sword and immediately cut off the long tongue. The cut off piece wobbled out of control as the other part quickly quivered back into the darkness and disappeared in sight. Wounded Mishma was almost in bad shape, for the tongue has sharp pointed parts like small nails. Urgently, Christie finally put the everlasting fruit inside Mishma’s mouth and let her chew it. Christie was well aware that the monster would strike again, and it did! As fast as a speeding bullet, it stretched out once more and tried to grab Shiloh at the back but Christie managed to grab hold of the tongue instead and took a tight grip on it. As she raised her sword to cut it off, the shiny metal suddenly went loose from her hand and fell on the ground. Both her hands were now holding tightly on the monster’s tongue as she was gliding herself towards the darkness while the beast tried to retrieve it. Thinking quickly, Christie manipulated flame from her right hand and burned some part of the tongue. The monster shrieked in pain as the blazing flame dug deeper to the tissues. The monster was in rage as Christie threw huge scorching hot fireballs towards the dark side and luckily hitting the evil creature, but his skin was tough and rough, hardened by fury. Finally, Chris realized how huge the monster was when she was getting closer and closer to the shadows of the night.

“Uh-ooh”, she mumbled in surprise while she saw how enormous the creature was and how red and evil its eyes were. She hurriedly released the tip of the tongue she was holding and hastily made huge blazing fireballs from both hands then directly pitched it towards the monster’s ugly, nasty face then urgently ran back to where her friends were.

“The creature is so big, King Kong!” she acclaimed to them while still running. Mishma quickly picked up Christie’s fallen sword and swiftly threw two sharp swords simultaneously and hardly pinned down the tip of the creature’s tongue to the forest floor as it almost grab hold on the princess’s body. The monster’s growl echoed in the dark and finally went out from the shady side furiously. The ground shakes as it stumped its enormous feet towards them. Christie’s eyes turned completely white right away as crystallized, cold water went out from them, freezing the pinned down long tongue, but as it was half way frozen, pointed and sharp nails erupted from inside the tongue’s muscle tissues shattering the crystallized water into tiny bits of pieces.

The huge creature was standing right in front of them with red, burning eyes, curvy horn, pointed teeth and evil claws; signs on how evil the creature was.

“We have to get his tongue”, Christie suggested strongly, still in focus towards the beast.

“Good idea, that way we can make the right attack”, Mishma agreed. While the monster growled so loud, Shiloh and her minions hurriedly grew wings on their backs then flew up, gradually disappearing in the night air.

Then the monster’s big foot came down in a haste wanting to squash Mishma and the princess but luckily their sharp swords pinned its huge foot instead. The beast’s rage shoot up not because of the pain he felt but because he was not successful yet on killing them. He bent down with his opened huge hand towards Mishma to grab her, but in a rush, Christie frozen it, up to his vast shoulder. However, the monster was too strong that he made his muscles very firm enough to break the ice from his frozen arm. He suddenly stretched out his wobbly tongue and surprisingly it splits into two without warning. The two were startled that their swords fell off from their grips as the monster finally squeezed them tightly in separate ways, bringing both of them towards his enormous mouth with pointed teeth. The pain they felt was unbearable that they could hardly use their powers any longer. It was more deadly if the tongue would spurt out sharp nails at anytime. That kind of situation they were in could be their final breath.

Thankfully, Shiloh and the other pixie butterflies were on their right position to save their friends. They finally appeared and surrounded the monster. Then, they acclaimed in chorus, “Fire dusts! Fire dusts!” The evil creature did not feel any pain as the sparkling yellow orange dusts stuck into his tough skin then dug deeper into the muscles. Within few seconds the dusts burst from inside in different parts of his body and it made him shrieked in agony. His tongue finally releases the two hostages while abruptly dropping them into the air about twenty five feet high. Luckily, the pixie butterflies caught them in time before hitting the forest ground. The monster was exposing a lot of flesh now as blood gushed out from his body; the pixie butterflies continued throwing fire dusts on him that made him a lot furious. The evil creature was in great pain and struggling to fight while half percent of his body was exposing more bloody muscles.

Sensing that the creature was about to revenge, Shiloh immediately acclaimed, “Let’s back off!” then they urgently flew away and hid behind the trees while they made themselves unseen. The beast was hysterical and wanted to kill everyone. Without a warning, he grab hold on Mishma and Christie’s body then threw them off, but were not severely hurt.

The monster’s focus was still on them and rushed towards on smashing them with his mighty hand, but as he was about to do it, Christie froze him with all her strength, still the monster was determined to fight back. Christie did all she could do as she pushed herself to the limit and successfully froze the evil monster into completely cold statue. Exhaustion overwhelmed her after as Mishma got hold of her when she was about to fall down. Shiloh and her companions urgently flew towards the cold monster before the ice would break; they could even still hear the beast growling in rage from within the crystallized water. They quickly threw fire dusts all over his body, it went inside the ice, and reached into the monster’s skin until it contained all of his muscles and tissues. In few seconds, a loud, big blast echoed all over the forest. Enough fire dusts blew the monster into tiny bits of pieces. Debris of skins, ice and bloody parts went flying to the air then landed on the ground finally destroying the evil monster.

“Are you all right, princess?” Mishma concernedly asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, that was tough. I thought we could not defeat him”, she answered. Meanwhile, Shiloh and her companions flew down on the ground, joining the others. Their wings finally burrowed back into their flawless skins as they landed.

“That was awesome, you guys!” Christie pleasingly uttered, casually. Shiloh smiled back and said, “It’s our job to protect you, princess”.

Then Mishma added, “And it is our great honor to serve you”.

“Well, we all did it. Good team work”, uttered the princess. Shiloh’s companions turned themselves back into huge butterflies and hovered around her. Wherever she goes, they follow. When they were about to leave and continue on their journey, the beast’s head was not completely destroyed that it suddenly stretched out its long tongue with a sharp pointed blade at the tip of it and unfortunately pierced deeply on Mishma’s back who was last to move on. That was the monster’s treacherous way of revenge up to his death. Overwhelmed by severe pain, Mishma fell directly on the ground as blood spilled out from her mouth with her eyes closed. Christie and Shiloh were horrified after realizing what was going on. Chris quickly cut off the monster’s exposed part of the tongue leaving the deadly part inside Mishma’s body. She turned her over and saw her friend, lifeless with blood-spilled mouth.

“No, Mishma, no!” the princess screamed in terror and fear. “Please Mishma, talk to me, please”, she pleaded hard, but with no response. She urgently pressed her right ear over Mishma’s chest and still could hear her heartbeat. “She’s still alive!” she acclaimed with a bit of hope and Shiloh quickly handed over one of the two remaining white fruits to the princess. “Mishma, please c’mon eat it”, she said while shoving the fruit to Mishma’s mouth who was still unconscious. “C’mon, this will make you feel a lot better”, she added still without success. “Please Mishma, just few chews”, Christie pleaded again, hoping her friend would react but nothing happened. Then finally, Mishma died cuddled in her arms. She was in blinking tears before she knew it.

“It’s too late princess. She’s dead”, Shiloh uttered. “What are we going to do Shiloh? Can’t you help her?” Christie replied with inquiry.

“I’m sorry, princess. That we can’t do, that’s beyond our powers”, answered Shiloh who also felt so bad of what happened to her long time friend, but she did not cry at all.

“What should we do now? The trees told us the fruits could not bring back the dead. I don’t want to lose another one, Shiloh”, Christie’s tears finally fell down; she was upset that she could not do something to save her friend; the last Valinor she ever met. Saddened by what happened, disappointment and rage, the firmness of her hand accidentally cracked the white fruit open. The tiny crack made a bright light that grew brighter and brighter in every passing second. The dark place was well illuminated, the light was almost blinding. When it vanished, they noticed that a little girl was standing right in front of them. She had a snow white, curly hair, red lips and purple eyes. With her silky white dress and a wreath of leaves on her head, she looked adorable.

“You can still save her”. A child’s voice uttered. They were astonished of what was happening because nobody knew it would come to that kind of situation.

“Who are you?” the princess curiously inquired. Then, the little girl answered, “I own that white fruit. The trees actually know little about us, they thought we couldn’t give life for those who are dead. I’ve heard what your heart has cried out. That small crack told me to give your friend her life back in exchange for mine”, the girl proposed.

Christie wiped her tears off and felt a bit of hope then uttered with pity, “But you’re going to die instead”.

“Don’t worry, princess. That’s exactly the reason why I’m here and I’m going to serve that purpose well”, the girl stated her reply with a smile. Then, she ordered Christie. “Now princess, you have to open the crack wider”. As Christie obeyed what she commanded, a tiny, purple seed went out floating from the white fruit. It moved directly to Mishma’s cold body and went straight to her dead heart then the little girl disappeared. The cut part of the tongue that was stuck in Mishma’s flesh vanished. Her heart was pumping blood once more and the severe wounds healed in a blink. Mishma’s closed eyes were moving and as she slowly opened them, Christie and Shiloh had put a happy grin on their faces.

“Thank God you’re all right Mish”, Christie happily muttered. Mishma on the other hand was perplexed of what had happened. “How come I’m alive?” she asked. “I know I’ve passed out”.

“You did not just pass out, you were dead. The monster severely wounded you and you did not make it”, Christie clarified.

“I was dead?” echoed Mishma in inquiry, not believing it happened. “Don’t tell me the fruit saved me? I know it won’t bring the dead back to life”, she stated with a pause. “So you mean the trees lied to us?” she added but Christie objected, “No they did not lie to us. They just know little about the white fruits”.

###

Meanwhile, Tim, Adam and their goblin friend Ham went back to the dark place of Asheroth. After minutes of sneaking into dim corners and hallways, they’ve finally located Shur’s private fiery domain. They wanted to accomplish what they’ve promised to the woodland nymphs.

Inside, Shur was sitting on his throne with Kadeshmals guarding around his territory. The golden scepter was out of Shur’s grip but still on watchful eyes. It was vertically placed above a small round table with only one leg and has a small circular slot in the middle in which the scepter’s base was perfectly erected. Shur was visioning his victory and uttered arrogantly, “once we get the crystals from the princess, everyone will bow before me, and I will make everyone a monster and will serve me well”, he chuckled loudly while the three were hiding around the dark corner of the room listening, trying so hard not to get caught by the monsters.

“This is our big chance, the scepter is just right there. Any plans?” Adam asked in a whispering voice.

“I can wish to be invisible”, answered Tim with a pause. The idea immediately clicked and with one blink, Ham granted it. Tim was now unseen by their naked eyes, then he murmured, “You both stay here while I’ll get the scepter”. He tiptoed towards Shur’s throne. Before he knew it, his hand was finally grasping tightly on the golden scepter’s long handle but, there was one problem; Shur noticed that the handle was moving by itself as Tim tried to pull it off. When Tim succeeded, Shur was puzzled why the scepter was floating and gliding in the air. Urgently, young lad quickly made haste and ran off towards where his friends were hiding.

“Make way you filthy beings!” Tim stated as he pushed aside one of the Kadeshmals who was blocking his way.

Shur was alarmed and strongly shouted, “Get that bastard!” His minions obediently followed him. Tim was still invisible while Adam and Ham were running beside him. They sneaked into corners, trying to find a hiding place until they did.

“Ham can you teleport us from here? We have to get out quick!” Adam questioned out. “I’ll try”, answered Ham not certain if it will work. When he tried it, surely, it did not work out, and then he uttered with a bad news, “Masters, I’m afraid I can’t do it this time. I guess this place is protected from teleportation”.

“Are you sure about that? Maybe you should try a little harder”, Tim suggested but still no use, they indeed could not get out from that place in one blink.

“If that’s the case, I’m afraid we have to get out from here by foot”, muttered Adam. Before they went on, they made sure no Kadeshmals were around. Then they continued sneaking throughout the area. Tim was at last visible again. Every wish runs out without notice and could not be repeated.

While they continue on, two-headed Kadeshmal was in sight. “Wait, someone’s coming”, Adam paused. The three urgently hid in the dark corner.

“Ham, I have a wish”, Tim whispered with an idea. “I wish Adam and I will turn into a Kadeshmal”, he added. “As you wish master”, replied the goblin, politely. Immediately, their bodies fused and became one. The two guys transformed themselves into one of those ugly, filthy creatures complete with barbarian-like weapons; A fake Kadeshmal with two ugly heads. The golden scepter was concealed perfectly along with their weaponry.

 “Ham, I will put the coin on the ground. The others need not to see you”, Tim suggested but before he did, Ham said his last words, “Alright master, but you have to hurry. The transformation will expire by itself and I don’t know how much we have left”. Then the goblin vanished and Adam got a tight grip of the coin. They went out from the hiding place and walked casually through the dark hallways and narrow lobbies as if they were one of the Kadeshmals. They mixed with the crowd perfectly well.

After sometime, nasty-looking Tim and Adam smoothly found the huge passageway, which is the main entrance door. Their hearts almost filled with joy that finally they were about to escape but, as they went closer and closer to the huge opening, their physical appearance was slowly melting and changing into their normal human features. The two were alarmed after realizing what was going to happen soon to them.

“Adam we better run!” Tim strongly uttered then they dashed off. Unluckily, a real Kadeshmal spotted them, who noticed the two a while ago that something wasn’t right. “Hey, you, stop!” the monster acclaimed in a monstrous voice while trying to cease the two impostors but, the two quickly ran away out from the opening and their physical appearance at last melted that finally separated the two and change them back to humans.

They were finally out from Shur’s reach. Still, a handful of Kadeshmals were chasing them, so eager to capture the two and take back the scepter. Tim and Adam have gone further in the woods and finally stopped at once while they took cover from tall grasses and big rocks.

“Keep searching, they’re not that far!” Aramean, a Kadeshmal in-charge yelled in command when they lost track of the two humans.

Then another minion suggested, “Aramean, the traps will do the job for us. They will not escape its cruelty”.

“Still, we need to keep an eye on where to find them”, Aramean strongly demanded.

Meanwhile, Tim and Adam ceased for a moment from running after they’ve gone further in the woods filled with traps. They were gasping for breath and exhausted.

“I think they’ve lost us”, Tim muttered.

“Yeah I think so, but they will keep on haunting us as long as the scepter is in our hands. We need Ham now”, answered Adam. After three successive toss of the golden coin that finally landed on Tim’s hand, the little goblin appeared.

“Masters, what happened?” Ham worriedly inquired.

“They’re after us, but good thing they’ve lost track on us”.

As the three were about to continue, they were undecided on which way to go. Even little Ham had no idea where to. Finally, the three decided on one direction and pursued. However, after some few steps from where they stood before, a net trap startled Tim and Ham and got them good sudden lift. The three were in panic on what to do. At that moment, Kadeshmals directly sensed them. “Gotcha!!! They’re trap now. Let’s go kill those filthy humans”, Aramean ordered and off they went.

Adam on the other hand was out in trouble. He fortunately avoided the trap; he was terrified on how to free his friends. He tried untying the rope but as his hands landed on it, a blue spark sent him trembling with electricity.

“Oh God I can’t do it. This thing has some kind of shield”, he answered with not so good news. “Ham, can’t you do anything?” he added.

Disappointed Ham replied, “Masters, my powers are gone, the shield prevented me from doing so”. They were alarmed when rustling of leaves and big footsteps were getting closer and closer. “Adam, go now!” Tim ordered in a loud voice.

“What?”

“Go now before they catch you too. Don’t worry about us, go! Save the nymphs and tell them we’re in big trouble. Now go, go!” Tim strongly demanded while tossing the scepter to the ground. Good thing it didn’t bounce back from the shield and now Adam got a tight hold of it and swiftly ran. He has not gone further when the Kadeshmals arrived and the two were doomed.

“Mmmm… where’s the other human?” Aramean immediately noticed that the number of prisoners were lacking.

“There he is!” another Kadeshmal acclaimed pointing at Adam’s direction who was trying his best to go further, away from getting caught.

“Get him!” intensely and madly ordered by their troop leader. Without delay, three Kadeshmal were chasing after Adam and the golden scepter.

Meanwhile, Tim and Ham were back at the dark, filthy dungeon. The Kadeshmals placed a preventive device wrapped tightly like a bracelet on the little goblin’s skinny wrist, for him not to perform any magic and wishes.

When Adam was closed of being caught, a trap hole sent him falling down in the dark, deep pit and hit the hard ground below. The three Kadeshmals saw his unfortunate fate and stood beside the hole gazing down under.

“Let’s just leave him there. Let Yavannah do the deadly task for us then after he’s dead, we get the scepter. Surely, that man will not last there tonight”, a Kadeshmal arrogantly stated before finally leaving the deep pit at once.

###

Adam was struggling at the bottom of the trap hole but not badly injured. As he stood up while the scepter was on his hand, he often times heard indistinct noises from the dark tunnel in front of him.

“Hello, anybody there?” he called out but only heard his echoed voice instead as a reply. All of a sudden, Adam was caught by surprise when a bright light went out from the carved golden eye in the middle of the head of the golden scepter as it became animated. The light illuminated the tunnel well that allows Adam to see what was in there, but surprisingly found nothing, in spite of the strange noise he heard a while ago.

Upon realizing that the pit was deep and tough enough for him to climb back up, he then continued walking inside the dark narrow place. But before he could even gone further, thousands of flying insects amazingly formed into a lovely lady in front of him, very pretty and tempting. Adam was mesmerized of how flawless and fair the woman was.

“Who are you?” he finally dared to ask.

“Come follow me. I’ll show you the way”, she answered in a soft voice.

“How shall I know you’re telling the truth?” No more words said, the lady went closer to Adam and kissed him and he was totally speechless.

“Just follow me, I’ll take you to a safer place”, she answered. He was hypnotized and followed the lady without any objection.

While on the way through, flying and crawling creatures were on the tunnel’s walls that seemed to welcome his arrival. Few more steps and they’ve finally reached a huge hollowed end, torches were hanging on the wide walls, some were not lit up.

“Come, welcome to my humble place”, the lady in black dress stated with a smile.

Adam answered with an inquiry, “What’s your name?”

“My name’s Yavannah”, she replied while facing the unlighted torches that were swiftly lighted as she blew feisty fire from mouth.

“Soothe yourself…?” she paused waiting to know his name.

“Adam, my name’s Adam”. Then Yavannah smiled as she asked curiously, “What are you Adam? You seemed to be lost”. Then she covered a pond of crystal clear water on the ground with her transparent shield.

“I’m a human”, Adam straightly said but nervous. Though shaking a bit, his hands were still tightly grasping the golden scepter, not allowing someone to touch it.

“Oh, a human, very interesting but I don’t want to know how you get here. What I want to know is, if that’s a golden scepter you’re holding?”Yavannah cleverly inquired as she changed the topic.

With hesitations, Adam answered, “Yes, this is the scepter”. He paused a moment and did not feel comfortable any longer, then added, “Um, Yavannah, I think I better go now”.

“You don’t have to go. You can stay here all you want, it’s very dangerous outside, Kadeshmals always roam around the place and there are deadly creatures too”, Yavannah quickly objected then she went towards the young man.

“May I have a closer look at that precious thing?” she requested, wanting so badly to hold the scepter and finally own it for greed and power. Hesitations rolled around Adam’s head and immediately hid it behind his back.

“No, I’m afraid I can’t do that”, answered the young man.

Meanwhile, a tiny fish with glowing wings named Buz, peeped above from the shielded pond of clear water and saw what was happening inside Yavannah’s lair. He was more alarmed when he spotted that the young man was holding the golden scepter.

The small peculiar fish was startled and urgently swam back into the depths. Right away, he reported Lady Leka of what was happening above the ground.

“Lady Leka, your sister has a human prey and he has the golden scepter! I’m afraid Yavannah will do anything to get it”, uttered the small fish, worriedly.

“Are you sure about that Buz?” Leka asked just to make sure and received a big nod from her little friend. After confirming, she hurriedly swam towards the pond’s opening but unfortunately stuck herself and couldn’t get out from the strong transparent shield her sister made. All they could do was to witness what was happening above them, a horrifying scene.

During that moment, Yavannah decided to use force and transformed herself into a giant, ugly, flying creature like a big stinging wasp that threw fire from the mouth. As she pitched fire from the young man, Adam quickly ran at a nearby huge rock and took cover from the approaching danger. Leka on the other hand was trying to figure out on how to get out from the shield, until she got an idea by pouring watery dusts on her tiny fish friend. Buz easily got through the shield and in return spread the watery dusts above the transparent guard in order to free Lady Leka. The two were successful of getting out with no one noticing it.

“Yavannah, stop what you’re doing!” Leka shouted strongly as she hurriedly manipulated water from her hands when her evil sister fired out the hot element towards the young man. Yavannah was hit pretty bad and slammed herself on the cave’s wall by the strong force of the water. It got her attention and faced her sister, angrily.

“I told you Leka, do not stop me from killing my prey. I need to eat! I thought we already agreed on that!” ugly Yavannah madly questioned.

But Leka knew exactly the real reason, then she answered, “You’re not after the boy, I know that! The scepter is what you want. You’ve been longing for it entirely your cursed life. But I’ll make sure this time you will not kill anyone or get the scepter! If fighting you means saving this entire place, then I’ll do anything to stop you!”

“Foolishness!” Yavannah stubbornly acclaimed and fire went out from her mouth towards her sister. Leka quickly protected herself by forming a wall of water right in front of her. She then created more pressurized water that sent Yavannah slamming on the wall. She was a little dazed and warned her sister, “Leka, I don’t want to kill you!” she shouted in a monstrous voice.

“Me either Yavannah, so stop this stupidity this instant!” Leka answered with authority as her older sister.

But the gigantic wasp stubbornly objected, “You don’t have the right to tell me what to do and I won’t stop until I get that scepter!” Then she threw blazing fire towards Adam but Leka quickly shielded him. “Come here young man”, Leka ordered and Adam grabbed the right opportunity to be on the safe side and ran towards her while the water was still protecting him.

Rage triggered Yavannah more and infinite blaze shoot out right from her nasty mouth towards them. Too much water was protecting Adam and Leka, still the burning blaze almost penetrates through that brought the water to its boiling point. It was scorching hot and their skins almost burned.

Swiftly it happened, when they were about to fail, the golden scepter’s eye became alive again and a blinding light shoot out from it. The brightness blinded Yavannah that caused her to urgently retreat and withdraw her power.

“My eyes, I can’t see!” she whined in pain but it did not last long.

Then Lady Leka took the chance to say something more sincere to her monster sister while she was still calm.

“Stop this right now Yavannah. Why don’t you cooperate with us? We can save this place together and kill those filthy Kadeshmals who cursed you and made you like that. You have to always remember what we’re fighting for before. Come back to me and let’s fight for peace and freedom! You are indeed a great help”, her sister pleaded, with desperate hope.

Amazingly it worked! Yavannah was stunned by Leka’s chosen words and her eyes slowly changed in color and went back to normal as well as her physical appearance,

and then she cried, “ But, I don’t know how to get out from this curse! I don’t want this anymore, Leka. I don’t want to eat flesh and be evil. Please help me”, she finally pleaded then Leka walked towards her and hugged her sister.

“Don’t worry Yavannah you’ll be fine. I will help you. For now, just try your best to fight your urge”. At that moment, the golden scepter flew by itself away from Adam’s grip as the eye became animated. Rapidly, a bright laser went out from it hitting through Leka’s back and finally rested on Yavannah’s heart.

As the eye winked, it slowly melted the evil element that was coating and sucking on Yavannah’s good heart. The scepter has heard her plea and it glided back to Adam when it was over. It took time before they could say something.

“Leka, I think I’m now free”, Yavannah happily begun.

“Thank you Adam for saving my sister”, Leka gratefully added.

“The scepter made it all not me”, responded Adam.

“But, you stole it from Shur and brought it here. We still have to thank you then”.

There was a moment of silence before Adam snorted, “Can you help me find the way to the woodland nymphs? I have to save them. The golden scepter took away and sucked all their powers and now they’re dying”.

“Yes, we can help you. We know the way”, answered Yavannah. Then suddenly, the cave’s ground shook in great magnitude that brought cracked rocks to the ground.

“Hurry, c’mon we have to get out from here”, suggested Leka. The trembling continued and worsens while rock debris big and small were covering the main door, where Adam went through after falling down the pit. The clear pond was their only option to escape.

“Yavannah you have to lower down your temperature”, her sister commanded to prepare herself. She magically put something behind Adam’s ears, which then grew into gills. She did the same thing to Yavannah. The three immediately jumped into the water and swam away to the depths together with Leka’s little winged friend, Buz.

Not long after, they’ve finally surfaced into a vast lake, which was Lady Leka’s lair.

Then Yavannah uttered pointing out into a nearby mountain, “That’s where the woodland nymphs live”. Their gills disappeared as they breathed the fresh air, and Yavannah’s burning temperature went back as she stepped on the ground.

The three started hiking in haste; fortunately, the trail towards the mountain was not dangerous at all. Therefore, they arrived safely on time. The atmosphere was dead quiet when they got there, only the swooshing of the cold wind was present.

“Zillah!” Adam acclaimed. “I’m back with the scepter!” he added, calling them but no response. “Where are you guys? Zillah!” he shouted once more, still same result.

Until, finally the woodland nymphs showed up but with sharp swords aimed at their necks. Kadeshmals took over and they became hostages. Then their troop leader uttered in a dark monstrous voice, “Yavannah, follow what I say, you have to take the scepter and give it to me”, Aramean demanded, he thought Yavannah was still under Shur’s curse.

“You cannot fool me no more you ugly, filthy beings!” she strongly answered with objection.

“Do it now Yavannah or you’ll be in big trouble”, Aramean warned out.

“Let’s see who’s gonna be in trouble now if you don’t release the Dryads”, Yavannah answered back.

“Do it Aramean!” Leka seconded.

“You won’t do then, so be it!” he paused. “Now, slit their throats!” he wickedly commanded.

“No!” Adam objected quickly that caught the Kadeshmals attention before killing the dryads.

“Okay, let’s make a deal”, he paused while Aramean was just listening. “How about, you release the nymphs first then I’ll give you the scepter, deal?” he added.

“Don’t fool me you filthy human!” that made Aramean mad.

“We don’t want this conversation anymore! Kill them!” Right before the deadly attack was made, a male dryad with only his short on and a shady green wings on his back suddenly appeared jumping from a tree. He directly wrenched the two-headed monster’s neck that got Zillah as a hostage. The monster fell on the ground after a quick crunchy snap was heard. As Zillah was finally released, the others were startled and the nymphs immediately took advantage and fought back.

On the other hand, Aramean rapidly threw a handful of nails, sharpened from both sides towards Adam, who at that moment was fighting a Kadeshmal. Without delay, Leka’s immediate action saved him as pressurized water formed a strong fence so the sharp spikes could not get through and hit him. Then teamwork occurred smoothly as Yavannah hit the water with intense fire that increases the temperature very quickly at a boiling range. Lady Leka instantly casted the boiling hot, pressurized water including the sharp spikes towards Aramean and it got him so bad. The nails deeply stabbed into his strong chest as he fell hard on the ground.

While on the other hand, Adam gave a sudden firm slap with the scepter on an attacking Kadeshmal on the head that got him dizzy. The ugly minions were alarmed when Aramean fell and badly injured.

“We better go, Aramean’s wounded! Let’s go back, now!” one of the Kadeshmals cowardly acclaimed. They immediately took their troop leader and disappeared in sight, leaving three of their kind cold dead on the ground. Finally, the coast was all clear.

“Seth, you’re alive!” Zillah gladly exclaimed while hugging him.

“In flesh sister, in flesh”, he replied, overwhelmed with joy while embracing his sister. Serah was sobbing upon seeing her husband alive and still kicking.

“Come here my wife”, Seth stated and gave him a tight hug as well.

“We’ve trying to search for you. We thought you’re dead. What happened?” Serah curiously questioned.

“Yes, I almost died. Kadeshmals captured me. Shur took my power and strength then ordered his minions to dispose me into the Birsha River…” Seth halted as his sister interfered.

“That river was extremely dangerous. It can suck you at the bottom and grind you into bits of pieces. It was a miracle how you survive”.

“Yes, somebody helped me”, Seth paused, then he added, “It was a blur, I was so weak, and hungry but I remembered that they rescued me from the deadly water. They resemble like of a naiad. They’re not small like the naiads in Shimron forest, they’re just our size. I could not figure out how their faces looked like, few moments after I passed out. The next thing I know was, I woke up in vast clearing surrounded by fruit-bearing trees of different kinds. It was an enchanting forest with fresh water and luscious fruits. I stayed there for a while and gained back my strength”, Seth told them his amazing journey.

“How bizarre, where can we find that forest?” Leka questioned out curiously.

“I don’t have an idea. It actually vanished before I decided to go back here”, answered Seth.

“But whatever it was, we’re so happy you’re back and all well!” Merari stated happily while others also agreed.

“Now Adam will help us, he took the golden scepter from Shur and finally we can have our powers back!” Elisha added, excitedly.

Then Zillah interfered, “Adam, where are your companions?” she asked.

“They were caught in a trap. Kadeshmals took them back”.

“If that’s the case, we have to help them”, Moriah uttered.

“Give us what has been taken from us nowra, Adam. We are all ready”, Zillah impatiently suggested, then the nymphs kept distanced from each other.

“How shall I do it?” Adam asked.

“Just focus, you have all the right to command the golden scepter”, Zillah finally confirmed.

“Alright, here we go”. Then Adam took charge. “I command this golden scepter to give back what you have taken from the woodland nymphs! All their powers and strengths and the life of this place, now!” Adam shouted with great command while the golden staff was raised high.

Suddenly, a blinding light went out from it, which temporarily beamed the dull place with extreme brightness. Everyone closed and covered their eyes. When the light disappeared, sparkling dusts exploded in the night sky and took over the whole place. The dead and almost dying trees became alive when the dusts touch the leaves. Green grasses grew quickly on the ground. Their tattered wings came back to its beautiful and delicate shape full of colors. Their ragged and filthy clothing turned pretty and neat. Finally, they gained back what they truly owned, their powers and strengths. Everyone was overwhelmed with joy and happiness.

###

On the other hand, at the dark place of Ashteroth, one of the servant Kadeshmals saw the exploding light from afar where the nymphs lived. He knew exactly the meaning of it and immediately reported to Shur, who at that time was healing the badly injured and half-conscious Aramean.

The servant Kadeshmal bowed first before he spoke up. “My lord, the woodland nymphs have succeeded. What are we going to do now? They have the scepter and soon they will claim the hostages”, the left head uttered.

     Then the other head seconded, “Yes my lord, they’re powerful now, the Elemental Sisters are with them”.

     “Shut up!” Shur shouted in interference.

     “Why don’t we make use of the goblin my lord”, stated Aramean, who was in the verge of healing. “We will fool them, no hassle, no bloodshed”, he added.

     Shur asked with interest, “What’s your point?”

     “The goblin grants wishes, why don’t we make use of it. Let’s turn two of our soldiers into impostors. First a human, then a goblin”, Aramean suggested and Shur gladly agreed to it. They went down to the dark dungeon and took the protective device that was tightly wrapped, around the goblin’s wrist. After realizing they could not make a wish themselves, they let the master’s goblin do it. They tortured Tim when he refused to obey what Shur demanded him to do but he was stubborn even after being threatened by them to slit his throat and kill his little goblin friend. They tormented him more until Ham could not handle seeing his good master suffering in terrible pain, then he pleaded, “Master, please do it. Make a wish now”, he said with puppy eyes. Their eyes met, and Tim understood what he meant. He saw in Ham’s eyes telling him to obey Shur, everything is gonna be alright.

     Without further ado, Tim finally spoke up while blood spilled from his mouth. At last, he made the wish and Ham granted it in a blink. In an instant, two ugly Kadeshmals turned themselves into a fake Tim and fake Ham. Shur was delighted of the result but good thing they did not have an idea about the gold coin that would make the goblin a servant whoever will own it. Shur ordered the fake Kadeshmals to go to the mountain where the Dryads lived.

###

     Back in Matred, Christie and the others had successfully passed the second forest but they were still on a deadly hike towards the third one, the Siddim Forest. After few minutes of walking, it was all fine and calm. Until, they noticed that the environment was slowly changing and became unusual. The trees seemed to move while their leaves rustled loudly joined by a strong swoosh of the wind. Shiloh immediately ordered the butterflies to scatter around and be ready.

     “Everyone be prepared!” Mishma ordered strongly with her sword positioned properly for a sudden attack.

     After a long, swoosh of the wind, green sharp leaves suddenly went shooting towards them in fast speed. Mishma quickly protected herself by slashing the oncoming wicked leaves with her sword. On the other hand, Christie froze them. They’ve been luckily successful in defending the group, but the trees charged more leaves towards them that seemed endless. Nevertheless, they did not give up and fought back.

     “Fire dusts! Fire dusts!” Shiloh and the pixies acclaimed as they casted fiery dusts towards the leaves, which instantly exploded into tiny pieces. The trees were all over them and wicked, sharp leaves were charging from all directions.

     “Lady Shiloh, the trees are vast, and the leaves, there’s too many of them”, Sagi, the violet pixie suggested. “I think it’s time for the pixies to fuse”, she added.

     “All right pixies make haste!” Shiloh acclaimed with a demand before they could not handle the situation any longer. The pixies urgently fused into a ball shape.

     “Shiloh, what are you doing?” Christie questioned out.

     “Ending this up!” she responded while the ball was on her hand then she quickly threw it up, passed the trees headed for the dark night sky. When the ball reached to its highest level, it exploded, setting the pixies free then positioned for an attack. They hurriedly threw fire dusts everywhere. While on the ground, the situation was almost uncontrollable, a lot of leaves died but much more took over for revenge and they were almost out of juice to fought back. Christie decided to just defend themselves by manipulating ice and forming it into a thick wall and curved all the way up to form as a roof for a cover. No matter how much leaves charge towards them, it could not penetrate through.

     While up above, the pixies did everything they could do. They threw more fire dusts simultaneously towards the attacking trees. The leaves finally exploded into pieces until the trees that only surround them all became bald, exposing only their trunks and branches. Only half of the forest went bald and destroyed.

 On the ground, the three threw huge fireballs towards the dry and cracked bodies of the old trees and they shrieked in pain as fire ignited and scattered all over the forest. It was a huge scene from afar with the fire’s feisty red burning color and dark smoke covering the night sky.

“I’m afraid we’re gonna be killed too. We need to get away from this place quickly”, Christie uttered and the three hurriedly ran as fast as they could. The trees were quickly burning as they collided with each other and fell strong on the ground.

Until, they’ve reached a wide clearing and successfully surpassed the burning, shrieking trees.

###

In the meantime, Adam, Yavannah, Leka and few of the nymphs spotted the fake Tim and Ham hiking in the forest when they were about to save them at Shur’s lair.

“It’s them!” Adam shouted, recognizing the two familiar figures. They did not have a single idea that they were facing frauds.

“Good thing you both manage to escape. We have to hurry back now before Kadeshmals might catch up with us”, Zerah ordered. They finally traced their steps, back to the Woodland Nymph’s mountain. They welcome the two impostors warmly, offering them drinks and food to eat. The goblin’s magic always have a limitation and everytime the two impostors’ physical appearances slowly changed, they quickly ate a tiny black fruit to prevent them from going back to their original form. The atmosphere was joyful and everyone celebrated, not knowing that it will not last long.

###

Meanwhile on a vast clearing at Siddim forest, Christie and the others took a rest for a moment and gathered some firewood for the night but light always attracted creatures. Unaware of what was coming, a gigantic troll suddenly jumped right before them that made a big thump as the ground trembled. The troll immediately blew out the bonfire like blowing a candle.

     “Woah…” Christie mumbled and everybody was stunned and startled, still stuck on their seats, not moving a muscle.

     The huge creature growled and deeply stared at them. When the troll stood erected, Christie and the others were alarmed as get their swords ready. The creature yelled out a monstrous voice as he raised his head high. It was so loud that it echoed throughout the dark forest.

     “Be ready, he’s calling some of his kind”, Shiloh warned out to be ready. Her intuition was right, few minutes later, bunch of huge trolls came running towards them as the ground shook terribly. Fight came sooner with slashing of swords and eerie monstrous voices of rage.

     Christie turned one of the huge trolls into ice but having firm muscles and tough skin, the ice easily cracked into pieces, finally setting the troll free. It slammed its huge hand towards her as a revenge but she quickly punctured it with her sword that made the creature shrieked in pain.

     The pixies did all they could but it did not stop the trolls from killing them. Finally ending the lives of two of the butterflies, they were chewed and swallowed whole and still alive.

     In the middle of the great commotion, an enormous troll was put down. The pixies simultaneously casted fire dusts everywhere on his tough body and exploded into pieces as blood spattered in every direction. Then again, enough fire dusts sets the troll to finally made a huge bang, as skin debris fall down quickly on the ground. What happened recently did not even threaten the other trolls to back off. They became mad and more determined to kill the intruders who wanted to pass through.

     From a distance, while the fighting was still going on, a giant troll with fierced eyes unexpectedly cornered Mishma. She unluckily lost her sword in the middle of the fight and just used her inborn fire power. But then, it did not make any difference either, her power was simply useless when fighting alone a giant creature.

     She leaned on a big rock and was doomed. The troll bent his body to look his prey closely and in rage, impatiently wanting to eat her alive. Her fate changed when their eyes finally met. An eye-to-eye contact made them halt, as if they’ve know each other for entirely their whole lives.

     Mishma was wide-eyed and said, “Grandfather?” They were both shocked as she saw the big scar on the monster’s right side of the face. However, the troll gave her an angry growl instead.

     “Grandfather, it’s me, Mishma”, she uttered again that made the troll perplexed, then the rage on his face disappeared.

     “Mishma…?” at last, he finally recognized her granddaughter. Shortly after that, his facial expression went back to rage and in bad temper. He urgently turned around, away from Mishma and ran angrily with a horrible snarl towards the other trolls in full charge, finally changing sides. His anger and revenge overwhelmed him while he wrenched, punched and gnawed every troll that was on his way. Mishma was left behind still leaning on the big rock, bewildered and could not believed that her grandfather was still alive but turned into a monster.

     Finally back to her senses, she immediately picked up her fallen sword and helped her friends in fighting the bad trolls.

     “Mishma, what’s wrong with that troll? Why is he fighting his own kind?” Christie asked out, nosily.

     Then Mishma answered, “Don’t kill him, his on our side now princess, trust me”. Before Christie could curiously question once more, a troll suddenly attacked them but she attentively caught the attack before it hits her. She instantly froze the troll while the pixies threw fire dusts towards his enormous chilled body. Seconds later, an explosion took place and debris of troll’s bloody meat scattered around with big knocks on the ground.

     Finally, after few more tough fighting and with good team work, they’ve successfully defeated the giant trolls, also with the help of Mishma’s grandfather, who was as well one of them.

     When everything was all hushed silent, Mishma walked towards her grandfather. Tears streaked down her cheeks while she stared at the big, ugly troll who happened to be close to her. “Grandfather, what happened to you?” she finally stated. It took some time for the troll to answer.

     “Shur”, he finally replied with a pause. “He cursed and turned me into a monster. I was disgusted by myself and fled from the kingdom”, he added. “Then I got here and the other trolls welcomed me and taught me how to keep rage and hatred inside me. I literally became wicked and flesh-eating”.

     “No, you’re not wicked at all, you see, you did not kill me or harm my companions. You helped us kill the trolls instead. This is none of your fault grandfather, this is all Shur’s doings”, Mishma uttered, and glad to finally see her grandfather alive even cursed.

     Then the troll snorted, “Why did you come here? Risking your lives in these forests could cause you a lot of trouble, which could easily kill you all”.

     “We’re on a great mission, to save everyone and this place. Most of all, finally destroying the Kadeshmals”, she replied.

     “You’re just wasting your time, you cannot save this place my dear granddaughter. No one even knows where the crystals could be found”, the troll said, knowing only a little.

     “But we know now. The princess’ tattooed hands told us where to find them”. That gave her grandfather a surprise.

     “The princess!” he was astounded.

     “Yes grandfather, this is Princess Ashbel. She’s alive and the Sheleph flowers were the ones keeping the crystals safe”. Mishma’s grandfather, Sephar went silent about how fast he received the important information but was so glad knowing there was hope at hand.

###

     Back at the Dryads’ place, they were still celebrating and the impostors continued to blend perfectly with the others. Meanwhile, watchful eyes of some trusted dryads protected the golden scepter. Everyone was dancing and singing, until Adam popped out a question. “Zillah, why don’t we use the scepter’s power so we can curse and kill the Kadeshmals?” And the nymph answered, “I wish we can my friend. But, only the princess can destroy them. She was entitled to bring peace back in this place, that, if she will be successful. We all hope she will. We still have friends in Matred, they will not leave her alone on her journey. On our part, now that the golden scepter is in our hands, we should protect it with all our might. As long as the Kadeshmals are not destroyed, they will not stop haunting us until we’re all dead”.

###

     After a long tough journey, Christie and the others finally overcame the two deadly forests. They now stood at the foot of the murky mountain of Sithri. They were glad that Mishma’s grandfather was with them, he was strong and a little brute, he can be in great help.

     “Finally, we’re here”, Mishma uttered with a sigh. “C’mon let’s go, there’s no time to rest. Time is of the essence”, she added. Suddenly, they bounced back upon passing to the Mountain’s territory. Few more attempts and still the same results. Until, shady figures appeared gradually in front of them. They were Black Magic Sorceresses with black long hairs and tempting eyes, tattooed crescent moon and stars marked their arms. The first one was holding an eternal candle with a pet moth, while the other one was jiggling in her hand a simple looking key with a pet crow on her shoulder.

     Then, one of them began to speak. “You’re not allowed to pass through here”.

     “We need to pass, there is no other way. We have to kill the Sheleph flowers to get the hidden crystals”, Christie explained,

     “For what reason?” the other lady with the candle asked.

     “Inorder to bring peace back to this place and to save everyone, so please, let us through”, Christie begged.

     “So be it, but only one can pass, the one who bears the Sheleph symbol”, the lady with the key proposed with not so good news.

     “That we can’t allow”, Mishma strongly objected. “The princess needs our help, she can’t do it alone”, she added.

     “We know what you mean, but we really couldn’t allow everyone to enter. Only the princess is allowed”. Then, there was a moment of silence.

     “Guys don’t worry, I’m gonna be fine. I’ll try my best not to fail”, Christie said keeping herself strong.

     “All right princess, we believe in you”, Shiloh stated.

     Then Mishma added, “We know you can do it”.

     “Oh yes she can!” the sorceress with the candle exclaimed in assurance.

     Before Christie pursued, the lady added, “Princess, we know how far and difficult you and your friends have gone through and that you deserve our simple aid”, she halted and before the princess.

     “I’m Leir, and I’m giving you this key. This will help you unlock a hidden door”, she uttered and handed the small, shiny thing to Christie.

     Then the second sorceress seconded, “And my name is Keturah, I’m giving you this immortal candle to guide your path. The light will show you the right way”, she halted after giving the candle.

     “You have to remember princess; the Sheleph flowers are very deadly. Populating themselves indeed can make them stronger. But, the goodness inside you will bring them down. You have to hold it and plant it, victory will in your hands”, Keturah added those puzzling words that made Christie and the others thought about what it meant. Before they could even asked for clarification about it, the two sorceresses immediately disappeared.

     After a while, Christie started making progress on her way up to the murky mountain of Sithri. While her friends waited for her at the foot of the mountain after they bid her good luck. Christie kept the key inside her safety pocket while the eternal candle was on her safe grip. Now, she was all by herself.

###

     Meanwhile at the woodland nymphs’ place, everyone was finally tired and had fallen’ asleep. The dryads were at their respective trees while the impostors were sitting and lying on the ground resting and Adam was having a tight hold of the golden scepter.

The atmosphere was silent and the fake Tim and Ham were all wide-awake, spying around.

“Let’s do this”, one of the impostors uttered in a whispering voice. They roamed their sights around and still the coast was clear. Then they started sabotaging the nymphs. The fake Tim had succeeded taking the scepter from Adam, while the fake goblin was doing his part too. He quickly placed black fruits at the foot of the trees. The fruits immediately sprouted evil vines and as fast as it possibly could grow and covered every tree with black vine leaves. The Dryads were in absolute panic as they were caught blindsided.  They were trapped and started choking, they could hardly breathe. They were literally suffocating to death.

Adam heard noises that awakened him with total disbelief. He got up after witnessing the two impostors changed themselves into traitor Kadeshmals.

“Hey you two, stop right there!” he shouted in demand but the Kadeshmals stubbornly obeyed him.

“Catch us if you can, you filthy human!” they mocked him with evil chuckles and they quickly disappeared in thin air with the golden scepter. Realizing he couldn't do it all by himself, he quickly ran down the steep mountain side and asked for the Elemental Sisters for help. He must move faster to save the dying trees and the nymphs living in them. The beautiful lake greeted him upon reaching the mountain's base. The pathway of the moonlight laid across the water as the shore connected the horizon.

"Lady Leka! Yavannah! I need your help!" Adam shouted, and in few minutes, the Elemental Sisters showed up.

"What is it?" Yavannah asked out.

"We've been sabotaged. We need to help the nymphs, they're all dying!" The three quickly went back up the mountain. When they've reached the top, the evil vines completely invaded all the trees. Adam tried pulling the roots off with great force, but no use at all. The roots dug even deeper and sucking more life out from the trees and nymphs' powers. Then Yavannah interupted, "Don't pull it Adam, you're provoking it to grow more. These plants are so stubborn but luckily I know their weakness. Let me handle it". The black fruits trembled uncontrolably and shrieked so loud in pain when Yavannah urgently blew fiesty fire on them. The dark green vines and the branching roots shrunk as the black fruits quickly retrieved them back to their shells. The trees were finally free and the Dryads quickly flew out, glad they were alive. Leka hurriedly gathered the black fruits and placed them inside a small purse.

###

In the meantime, at Mount Sithri, Christie have gone further and finally arrived at the top of the mountain wherein a huge cave opening was waiting for her. The atmosphere was eerie as the moon shines dimly upon the dark surroundings. The eternal candle gave her hope as she stared at it for a moment of solidarity, that no matter how hard the wind blew into the light, it never died out and that made her strong enough to venture inside the cave. The glow of the candle guided her as she nervously took her steps through the cave's pathway. There was a small gleam of light upon nearly reaching the hallowed end of the cave. She got her sharp sword ready after hearing a loud scary sound that echoed from wall to wall. Upon reaching the end, she was astonishingly amazed on how enormous the Sheleph Flowers were. A strip of moonlight’s beam went through a large hole at the cave's ceiling, shining clearly upon the gigantic flowers. Christie gradually put down the eternal candle on the ground without taking off her sight at the flowers.

Suddenly, the Sheleph's made a shrieking sound that was painful to hear after they caught an intruder entering inside their territory and was trying to invade them. With rage, the Sheleph's extended its wobbly vines towards Christie trying to grab a hold of her, but luckily she immediately slashed the vine's tip that quickly retrieved back up. Still, it did not stop the Sheleph from doing the same thing over and over again, until one of the vines had the right opportunity and quickly wrapped around Christie's slim body, good thing her sword didn't get loose this time.

However, the Sheleph Flowers gripped her tighter and tighter and squeezing her to death. That situation caused her to drop her strength and focus and could not exercise her powers. As she was getting nearer to the Flower’s mouth, she realized how enormous it was and how sharp the teeth were, hundreds of eyes were rolling around from every side on each flowers huge petal. The large mouth widened, ready to swallow her whole, but quickly it happened, as she lost almost all her strength from the tight squeeze, her tattooed eye at the back of her neck lightened up and swiftly, cold, crystallized water went out from both her eyes freezing the flower quickly. She was amazed it happened, for her power came to her aid when she could not focus at all and in times of great trouble. She eventually did the same thing to the other monstrous flower. After being successful in freezing them, she then thawed a small part of the the hard, cold vine that was still wrapping tightly around her. When the soft part was finally exposed, she strongly cut it in half, gravity quickly pulled her down, and she landed not so badly on the ground.

     Not long after, the icy cold Shelephs seemed to move again. Quickly, the frozen ice melted for they have the ability to produce an inner heat, finally setting them free. They were in great rage and once more back in action. One of the flowers brought its face nearer towards Christie as it was about to bite and cut her in half. But Chris pinned one of its hundred eyes by her sword and the flower shrieked in pain while green blood spurted out.

     Suddenly, two of the neighboring eyes were being irritated and popped out from their sockets. After touching the moist, rich soil, the eyes immediately grew roots and swiftly sprouted fat stems with flowers just like their mothers. They grew faster and bigger and Christie was having a difficult time killing them. A lot of vines were trying to grab her but she managed to survive by using her powers alternating with her sharp sword. However, more eyes fell popping on the ground after being poked, touched or irritated by the sword, somehow they did not have the ability to propagate themselves without popping out from the socket out of irritation. The Sheleph Flowers became meaner, stronger and mad. She could not handle the situation anylonger, for the gigantic flowers tripled their numbers. After trying everything she could and still without success, she immediately remembered what the Black Sorceresses had told her. "Remember Princess, populating themselves can indeed make them stronger, but the goodness in you will bring them down. Hold it and plant it, victory will be at hand". The reminder flashed her mind realizing what it really meant. (The Sheleph flowers' eyes can make them stronger but can also bring them down.    

     In immediate action, everytime she irritates the eyes with her sword, she quickly ran towards the fallen' eyes and picked them up from the ground, gathering them all together. After she got a handful of it, she urgently became invisible and planted the eyes one by one on the moist, dark soil right at the foot of each evil Sheleph flowers. The good seeds glowed brightly and sprouted same flowers and vines as it grew enormously taller, stronger and fatter. The good Sheleph flowers hurriedly wrapped and overcame each bad counterparts. Loud, irritating shrieking noises echoed throughout the cave walls as they stubbornly fought back until they were all covered and fell weakly on ground. Christie immediately ran towards the bad Sheleph Flowers and without any second thoughts, stabbed the fat stem where the heart was located. Green, sticky fluid spilled out from the green-colored Sheleph Flower and eventually she did the same thing to the red one.

     Christie was wondering where to find the crystals after the flowers were all lifeless, but then she waited. Without a doubt, the stem was glowing inside in a sphere-shape light, in green and red color respectively on the two original Shelephs. Gradually, the gleaming circle move towards the mouth's opening. Simultaneously, the red

crystal sphere dropped out first on the ground and the green followed. Christie was amazed to finally see the two crystals. She first picked up the green one (the color of peace and harmony) and hold it for a moment, after a while, the crystal hovered and float in the air. Swiftly, the tattoo on her right hand, shaped like a tiny ball sucked the green floating medium size crystal into her marked skin. The same thing happened to the red crystal (the color of blood and war). The Sheleph Flowers' lifeless bodies suddenly bursted and the dusts went circling round and round in the air until it went inside the cave's cracked portion and completely disappeared. Christie saw exactly where it went. Staring at the cracked wall for a while, a small hole caught her attention and was uniquely shaped like a key hole. She remembered the tiny, simple-looking key that Leir gave her. Quickly, she took out the shiny object from her safety pocket and pierced the key to the key hole. It was a perfect fit and Christie put a happy grin on her face, thrilled of what was behind the wall. When she turned the key clockwise, it made a nice popping sound, the kind of sound she wanted to hear.

     A loud thumping noise was heard as the cave wall divided into two. Slowly it opened up and exposed a secret room, it was completely dark inside. Christie took her eternal candle to see what was lurking in. The hollowed room was quitely small and a small box was sitting in the middle of it above a short rock post with a flattened top. She went near it and slowly took the tiny box after putting down the candle in replace of it. Realizing it was locked, she used the same small key to open it and thought maybe it will do. Fortunately, it did work! Curiously opening it, her eyes met a silver necklace with an elongated beautiful pendant made of pure crystal. Holding it in her hand, appreciating how detailed it was, suddenly, it startled her when the tiny pendant grew into a crystal scepter. Shocked and perplexed, she uttered, "This is incredibly amazing! Another scepter". The crystal staff glowed beautifully in the darkened room with the aid of the eternal candle.

     Before Christie went out from the secret room, the scepter changed itself back into a tiny pendant and locked the necklace around her neck with its pendant tucked behind her shirt's neckline. She went out of the huge cave and down the dark mountain and she safely arrived at the mountain's foot where her friends awaited her for two days. But, what she saw horrified her the most, her friends were held as hostages. The Kadeshmals led by their troop leader Aramean, caught her friends at dawn and captured them after a great fright just before the princess arrived. 

     "Release my friends!" Christie strongly commanded with her sword ready for fight. Some of her friends were wounded, and their hands were tied up behind their backs. While the troll, Mishma's grandfather was as well wounded and unconsciously lying on the ground, but not in bad shape.

     "I'm not dumb, Princess!" Aramean arrogantly shouted. "This time I have the ace. So, give me the crystals right now!" he intensely demanded.

     "Unfortunately, I don't have the crystals, I backed out! The Sheleph Flowers were terrible and mean. I have hard time killing them!" Christie replied with a lie which was not her expertise, according to her older sister Casey.

     "Fool!" chuckled Aramean who did not buy what she said. "You give me the crystals now or I'll slit their throats one... by... one".

     Christie was afraid it would be truly executed. She was thinking of the right thing to do. She even motioned to fight back.

     "Ah-ah, don't even think about using your powers, princess if you don't want them in big trouble". Surely, Kadeshmals have the numbers that moment and Christie could've executed her powers easily but she did not want any of her friends dead. Aramean's gut feeling told him she had the crystals, for he noticed two round colors on Christie's palms, red and green colors respectively on right and left hand. Before Christie could've said and reacted something, an ally from the dark side pierced a small spike using a blow gun on the side of her neck. In few seconds, Christie was dozed but not poisoned. Before she fell down, two Kadeshmals caught her on time. They immediately covered her eyes with a piece of ragged cloth so she could not exercise her power. They even placed a preventive device on her wrist, as well as Mishma's so their fire power couldn't be executed while their hands were also tied up.

     They left the unconscious troll behind while they were on the way back to Shur's fiery domain. It took hours of hiking through the murky, bushy path before arriving in a small clearing right in front of Shur's big cave opening. Aramean presented the princess in front of his master.    "My lord, I finally present to you, Princess Ashbel".

     Shur arrogantly stood in front of them with the golden scepter in his tight grip.

     "Take off her blindfold!" he demanded Aramean.

     "No my lord, if I will do that, she might freeze us to death".

     "Oh, that's interesting", Shur paused.

     "May I just present myself to you then princess. I'm Shur, the master of all the Kadeshmals, and soon you all will bow before me!" he shouted. Shur had no idea that Christie can see him clearly and what was happening around her. She can see through the ragged cloth that was wrapped tightly around her eyes, for she has the ability to do so.

     "Welcome to my beautiful place...at long last we've finally meet, your highness", Shur arrogantly added without bowing his head. Without further ado, Shur went straight to the point. "Now, where are the crystals!"

     Aramean quickly interrupted, "My lord, she had them sucked into her hands".

     "Really, untie her then" commanded Shur, but Aramean had hesitations.  

     "Do it now! Don't worry about her killing us. I'm sure the princess is not gonna do it", he paused. "Bring out the prisoners!" Shur demanded loudly. Two servant Kadeshmals brought out Tim and the little goblin, Ham.

     "Christie...!" acclaimed Tim in a weak voice.

     "Tim...!" she answered.

     "Where's Adam?"

     "He escaped", Tim managed to answer.

     Then Shur strongly interfered, "Enough! Stop this nonsense right now!" he angrily demanded then went to the state of calmness.

     "Now Princess, I will say it calmly this time. Give me the crystals right now or blood will shed, right before your eyes". But he received no response from her.

     "What are you waiting for?" Still, Christie has no action on granting it. She could clearly see how badly Tim was beaten up even the blindfold was still on.

     Shur's madness escalated and he became very impatient.

     "Kill everyone of them...!"

     "Okay wait, I'll do it", Chris finally answered. Then, Shur put an evil grin on his face.

     "That's a very good decision, princess. Now, make haste!" he urgently demanded.

     "But I can't see", she lied. "Take off my blindfold first and this device, then I'll do what you want. I can't perform if I still have this", she lied again, only her fire and invisibility were being prevented to perform by the device wrapped around her wrist, the rest of her powers can perform very well. Shur has hesitations at first, few moments later he granted it.

     "Take off her blindfold and the device!" he commanded madly.

     "But, my lord..." his servant quickly objected.

      "Do what I say! Just make sure your blade is pressed on her neck".

     The servant Kadeshmal obediently followed what his master told him. The filthy blindfold  and the preventive device were finally off and Christie had the perfect strategy to kill them that moment, but too many were at risk. "There must be some other way. If only someone could make the first attack for a destruction, then my powers will be in great use", she thought. Unfortunately, no one dared to.

     Against her will, she finally gave in and handed the red crystal to Shur. It took a while for her to give the green crystal and Shur was angrily waiting.

     "Do it...!" the ugly monster shouted. Christie obeyed and Shur impatiently snatched the floating crystal right above the princess' left opened hand. Shur was chuckling arrogantly upon holding both crystals.  

     "We're close, this is only the beginning of our victory!" he acclaimed and growling, monstrous cheers filled the night.

     Until, an attack turned the crowd chaotic. The Woodland Nymphs abandoned their trees for a while to give a helping hand and fight for freedom and peace. Adam and the Elemental Sisters joined too. They hid behind tall grasses, huge rocks and trees while waiting for a signal to attack.

     Adam and nymph Seth did the first move, wrenching Kadeshmals necks one by one. When Christie quickly executed her power, Shur was immediately saved by one of his servant Kadeshmals from being frozen cold to death and had escaped with the golden scepter, and the two crystals that were safely tucked in a dirty-looking bag.

     The device also prevented Mishma from using her firepower and just relied on her sword fighting skills. The pixies and the Woodland Nymphs had their advantage, because they fly.

     "Fire dusts...!" the pixies shouted and eventually, they decreased in number for the past few hours because some were wounded and unluckily got killed. In return, the Kadeshmals shrieked in terrible pain as the dusts unavoidably entered through their tough skins and exploded. Blood spilled and spurted everywhere, but they did not easily give up.

     Unfortunately for the goblin, Ham, he as well was being prevented by the device to use his powers, only his cleverness, wits and being small were his advantage in fighting. Meanwhile, Adam had kept the black fruits in a tiny purse and used it as his major defense. Throwing the fruits on every Kadeshmal he saw and were quickly covered with black vines until they suffocated to death. While the Elemental Sisters did all they could possibly contribute to kill the demons.

     Christie's focus was with Shur who tried to escape the crowd of death. Until, she spotted him not far away and was quickly bailing himself out.

     Christie tried to freeze him with her power but Shur was protected too by the stolen golden scepter. The ice just melted down without even hitting his body. Caught unaware, Christie's right arm was wounded by a sudden attack of Aramean's sharp blade. He was following the princess when he noticed where she was heading. Aramean tried to finish her, once and for all but Christie got him first and quickly froze the upper part of his body until entirely ice cold.

     Shur tried to intrude too and wanted to desperately kill the princess. Using the golden scepter, he attempted to cast a curse her, but Ham suddenly jumped on him, wrapping his tiny arms over Shur's head. The little creature literally bit his ear and sharp claws went out from his tiny fingers, scratching him everywhere. Until Shur lost his tight grip off the bag and the crystals rolled out from the open sac. Christie quickly gathered them and while she holds the crystals one by one, her marked opened hands immediately sucked the crystals back into the sphere tattoos. At last, they were safy hidden. Meanwhile, when Mishma was in the verge of losing from a tough fight, a giant troll, her grandfather jumped from behind her to in front of her, protecting his beloved granddaughter. The troll fought the Kadeshmals well, slamming his huge hands and smashing them flat to the ground.

Annoyed and mad by the goblin, Shur got a startling hold of him and threw him hard on the ground. Ham was not so badly hurt but in pain. Shur grabbed the opportunity and raised the golden scepter, wanting to curse him. Before he got his success, Christie urgently grabbed her crystal necklace that quickly turned itself into a pure crystal scepter, more powerful that the golden one. Shur was wide-eyed and startled of what he saw. Christie unleashed the scepter's power against Shur's scepter. It was a fight to finish as the powers collided in the middle. The light from both scepters grew brighter as their powers intensely grew. No one could guess who's gonna win, it was a fair, tough fight. Until, the crystal scepter displayed a sign of conquering the opponent. Shur gradually became weak and the power of the golden scepter was almost done. Then Shur suddenly shrieked in pain while the crystal scepter sucked off his powers. Pain slowly overwhelmed his body. The golden scepter turned to stone after its powers were gone and Shur changed into a rock form with his knees bent down, his eyes and mouth wide open while holding the failed golden scepter high.

     Unexpectedly, the crystal scepter's light shoot up from any direction, avoiding Christie's companions and targeting only Kadeshmals who were quickly turned into stones like their master, Shur. Suddenly, it was quiet and calm, the kind of calmness everyone wanted to feel. The ones left alive were surprised that they suddenly won while they were in the middle of fighting. Realizing what really happened, they were glad it was finally over. Saddened by the fact that few companions of the princess died while others were badly wounded but in the long process, they were victorious.

     "We did it princess!" Mishma acclaimed as they hugged each other.

     "Yes, we finally did it, Mish!"

     Shiloh and the pixies were still alive but two of their friends unluckily passed away. The Elemental Sisters were untouchable. Ham went over to his master Tim and comforted him. The preventive device finally broke up, setting him free.

     "Master Tim, make a wish now, so you can feel better", the goblin requested.

     "Heal me now Ham", Tim replied. "You are a good goblin", he complimented.

     "Thank you, master". Then in a blink, Tim was a lot better, without scratches, spilled blood and aching muscles.

     Other Woodland Nymphs died in the battle, same fate happened to their trees they lived in. The leaves withered and the branches easily breaks even to the slightest swoosh of the wind and finally exposing the structure of the dead trees.

     Meanwhile, Adam spotted Christie and immediately went over to hug and kiss her.

     "It's been a while. I'm so glad you're alive", Adam stated.

     "Me too", she answered.

     Then Mishma interrupted, "Princess, we have to hurry, it is time to break the curse", she uttered and started making paces.

     "Where are we going?" Christie curiously asked, while the crystal scepter changed back into its miniature size.

"To the lake! Lady Elealeh must break the red crystal at once to completely break the curse", Mishma replied while she took her downhill steps.

     Finally arriving at the vast lake, Mishma picked up three small stones and pitched it over the water. The calmness broke as the water rippled quickly. When the last stone finally sunk at the bottom, Lady Elealeh appeared floating in front of them as she greeted them with a lovely smile.

     "Ah...finally the princess got it. The Valinors succeeded!" the lady stated happily.

     "We're here to finally present to you the crystals, my lady", Mishma uttered with the good news. Then Christie went over to the Neutral Nymph.

     "I'm so glad you did it princess! Now let me see them", the Lady requested. When Christie opened both her hands, the two shining crystals went out floating above her palms.

     "The green crystal must destroy the red crystal, that way victory will be complete", the water nymph explained further and caught Christie with a puzzled look, not knowing how to do it.

     "Don't worry princess, I'll help you do it", the nymph assured her with a sweet smile as she extended her left arm and placed it over the princess' chest where she could feel her heart beat, while her right arm was placed above the green crystal. Magically, the crystal melted and formed itself into a miniature human figure, which was Christie's own self. With her own little sword, the small human form expertly displayed her sword fighting skills. Finally raising the sharp sword above her head, she quickly sliced the red crystal into two. Red light flashes and gradually deminished in seconds, it started to crack and bursts, red particles went flying the air as the strong wind blew in.

     At the same moment, all stone figured Kadeshmals instantly cracked and exploded into chunk pieces and where dropped hard on the ground. Finally, the curse was broken, Lady Elealeh's lake became crystal clear just like it used to. Then, she took the small green crystal ball and tossed it above the sky, so high that it reached the clouds. A blinding explosion happened and as it gradually subsided, that was the moment they witnessed the enchanting transformation. Trees sprouted everywhere with fresh green leaves, flowers in various sizes, colors and perfumes bloomed beautifully. The dark, gloomy sky welcomed the shining sun. Trees, grasses and flowers replaced Shur's sunking murky palace that was buried deep in the darkness. Tamed animals of different kinds roamed freely around the surroundings.
     Matred's kingdom came back to what it was before while every cursed Valinor breathe life once more, unfortunately to the once who lost their lives during the battle, including the Queen, they did not make it through. Meanwhile, Christie did not forget what she promised to her sister. She finally bailed Casey out from the Naiads kingdom after she brought back the dead little naiad's life through the crystal scepter's power and Mishma's monstrous grandfather changed back to his human form.

     Christie finally met her real father, King Hebron. It was a sweet reunion even without the presence of the Queen. Everyone celebrated and held a great feast.

     Then King Hebron said something that made Christie thought deeply.

     "My dear daughter", he begun.

     "You have to make a difficult decision, to stay here or leave us forever", her father proposed.

     "That's a very hard choice, I don't want it forever. Can't I just visit both place anytime I want?" Christie questioned out.

     "I'm afraid I can't agree on that idea my dear. That's actually beyond our law. You're the only descendant left of me and I want you to take the throne", King Hebron uttered.

     "You mentioned a while ago, that this place offers immortality. That means, you can reign Matred forever. That way you have no need of me to seat the throne", Christie replied.

     "Immortality, that's true, but only for the young Valinors like you and the next generations to come, you can experience eternal life. That means the old Valinors will soon perish. My reign will last, I will follow your mother soon then your time will come to replace me as ruler of Matred. We will train you to become a good leader", King Hebron explained further but his daughter did not like the selfish idea.

     "Well you can't force me to stay here, I do have the right to choose. I grow up my whole life in the human world. These people loved me, I did not even think this place ever existed", Christie clarified.

     "But my daughter..." her father uttered without finishing the sentence for Casey interrupted, "Christie", she called."It's okay with us. We totally understand the situation, you're needed here most. You did a great job in our world already, it's time for you to share it here", her sister calmly explained.

     "But Casey..." Chris objected, a bit disappointed. Then, she was quiet for a while.

     "Okay father, I made my decision, I choose to stay here", she proposed, the other Valinors and the King gave out a sigh of relief.

     "But, in one condition..."

     "What condition?" the King inquired.

     "They are allowed to visit me here anytime", she answered. Her father went silent for a while before commenting. "Yes that's possible, but next time they come here and back to the human world, they will age fast, their life span will be rapid. Humans are not actually fit in our world", the King Hebron explained further. The argument between father and daughter went on. Heartbroken and disappointed, Christie ended up agreeing to his father's orders.

     Whether she liked it or not, she had to bid goodbye to his human family, but she promised them she would do anything to see them again. Tears streaked down their faces as they depart ways. Casey told her Aunt Liz everything that happened to them. She was so saddened that her youngest, sweet Christie wasn't going home that day or maybe forever.

     Time and days passed by, Christie missed one of her all-time favorite season, Christmas. Now, New Year was fast approaching as well as Casey and Tim's wedding.

     The day Christie did not come home, the Foley's kept her room as it was. It brought them a lot of good memories and eventually heartaches whenever they stayed inside, so they locked it up.

###

     While in Matred, Christie was in serious training for her to become a good princess and a future ruler of Matred. Gradually, she fell in love with the place and the immortal beings living there. But Casey's wedding was buggling her, "I must find a way to go home", she thought.

     One day, Christie begged Mishma to accompany her to the lake, where Lady Elealeh lived.

     "But princess, King Hebron 's gonna be mad if he finds out you're not on your next lesson", objected Mishma.

     "Don't worry Mish, he's not gonna find out, c'mon hurry!" assured Christie. Holding hand in hand, the two disappeared and arrived safely at the lake. Only the princess has the power to be unseen. As they made themselves visible again, Christie quickly picked up three small stones and pitched it over to the crystal-clear lake. The water nymph showed up, greeting the princess warmly with a bow. "What can I help you my princess?" she calmly asked.

     "My Lady, please tell me how to go to the human world? My father said it's against the law", the princess impatiently asked.

     "I'm afraid princess, I can't give you good news. King Hebron's right, you cannot break the ancient law... Well, except if it is really needed, like life and death situation. Like what the Queen did", Lady Elealeh explained over and saw Christie's saddened expression.

     "But, if you really insist princess, you can. In exchange for your immortality, your powers will be strip off and you will become an ordinary human being, only the King has the power to do so", proposed the Water nymph. After that conversation at the lake, they did not go straight to the castle, instead they went to Gomorrah forest to seek refuge and told the trees about her problem. She was confused to make the right decision that moment. While silently sobbing, the little tree Haran went jumping over to her and spoke to the princess in whisper.

     "Laws of the ancient Valinors are so boring", he paused with a smile.

     "Just like my mother, she got so many rules for me and I don't like all of them", he continued in a low voice so his mother won't hear.

     "Princess, this is just a secret, I even wish on breaking or even changing them", Haran added. That idea gave Christie a lift and immediately stood up.

     "C'mon Mish, I know what to do. We have to go back to the castle", she uttered pulling Mishma's hand and they went off running.

     "Princess, slow down", Mishma whined. The two finally left Gomorrah forest.

     "Haran, what did you say to the princess?" his mother curiously asked with a stare.

     "Nothing mother, nothing..." the little tree answered.

     When the two arrived at the palace, they dashed inside until Christie arrived in front of her father's throne while Mishma halted at the foyer, panting. The King was wondering what happened, "What is it my daughter?"

     "I have to make a deal with you", Christie stated as she slowly catches her breath.

     "Strip out my powers and make me a mortal, or you will change the ancient law", she boldly proposed. Everyone gasped of what she said and her father stood up from his throne.

     "What, are you mad? What are you thinking?" King Hebron questioned strongly.

     "You choose father, I'm willing to sacrifice all my powers and my immortality", she halted when her father interfered. "Ashbel, you can't do that! You're next to the throne".

     "If you want me to still rule Matred, then allow me to change the ancient law", she paused, but received no response from the King.

     "Father, we owe a lot to them, those humans saved me, and now is the time to change things. It's a new life for us, a new beginning. I admit that I love you 'cause you're my father. I fell in love with this place too and to everyone who lived here. But then, no matter how I force myself, something is really missing because those humans are my life too, part of me is them, and I really need to go see them not just because I missed them a lot but also I have a commitment to my sister, Casey. She's getting married soon. So please father, I beg to you to change the ancient law. If you allow me to go there anytime, then I agree to still rule Matred and be the descendant of this Kingdom's throne", Christie let out all her feelings and thoughts, but her father reflected for a moment.

     Then said, "My daughter, I cannot do it. I cannot break the law".

     "Then I insist you to make me a human right now. I don't care about my powers and being immortal. I'd rather be a mortal and die", Christie insisted her final decision.

     Her father went silent, thinking he has no other choice. He loved his daughter so dearly and he wanted her to rule next to him.

     "Okay, I give up. You win this time", and the King's decision was final. Christie can go to the human world anytime she wants.

     She was so happy as well as Mishma and ran over to her father to give him a big hug and a kiss.

     "Thank you so much, this means a lot to me. I love you father", she stated.

     "I love you too my dear, but you have to promise to never miss a single lesson or training, it's very important too", her father reminded her.

     "I will father, I promise", she answered in assurance.

     "Oh, can I bring Mishma with me? Casey would love to see her too". Without a doubt, her father agreed.

     "We promise father we'll be extra careful", she added.

###

At the human world, it was Tuesday, past ten in the evening, Casey was at home, inside her room. She had been very busy those past few days, preparing things for the wedding, which will be on Saturday. She was sitting in front of the mirror, taking off her earrings. She was thinking of a lot of things, which includes Christie, not coming on her big day. It saddened her a lot everytime it flashes. Until, a noise from the next room bothered her, which happened to be Christie's locked room.

     At first, she ignored it but the noise was consistent and even getting louder. She got very curious and quickly got up from her seat and went outside towards the next room. When she stood in front of the door, the noise disappeared. Still, that did not stop her from investigating, so she leaned her right ear closer to the door just in case the noise comes back. Without warning it did come back. Casey unlocked the door and slowly opened it, the darkened room greeted her with fear while thinking, a burglar must've  gotten inside and wants to rob or worst kill them.

She turned the lights on and acclaimed, "Who’s there?" But no one answered. It was even odd when the place looks exactly the same, and no mess. The windows were even shut close, but the bed  caught her attention. It looks like someone was hiding under the cover. As she got closer, she noticed that the blanket moved then someone under it started humming a familiar song.

"Christie, is that you?" she curiously and nervously questioned.

"Yeah, you called me?" she calmly answered. Casey's eyes widened and shocked.

"Oh my goodness, you're here, you're back!" Casey acclaimed with happiness while she hugged her sister tightly.

"Oh my god, I can't believe this. Wait I'm gonna call Aunt Liz, don't go and don't become invisible", Casey was jumping with joy.

"Yes I won't go". She answered.  When Casey opened the door, Mishma surprisingly greeted her with a boo, which Christie taught her how to say and do it, to scare someone. The two happily hugged each other, and Casey was so glad Mishma was with them.

"Why don't you two come with me instead, I'd like you both to meet someone", Casey sugested. The three urgently went downstairs straight to the living room, where Aunt Liz was sitting on her comfortable chair with a blank stare but her head was filled with Christie's memories.

"Auntie", Casey softly called out. As her Aunt turned around, she said, "Look who I've found hiding inside Christie's room". Before Aunt Liz could even said something, Christie and Mishma showed up that gave her a surprise.

"Christie, my darling!" Aunt Liz acclaimed running towards her and gave her a tight hug and lots of kisses.

"What took you so long to come back? I missed you a lot", she added.

“I missed you more. Oh auntie, I’m so glad I’m here”, Christie stated with the most beautiful smile she could make.

“Oh, yeah Aunt Liz, I’d like you to meet Mishma, she’s the one I’m talking about”, Casey pronounced, proudly introduced her new friend to her dear Aunt.

“Finally, we meet, I’m happy you’re here with us and thank you for taking care of Christie”, Aunt Liz stated.

“No, thank you for taking care of the princess, we owe a lot to your family and it’s been a great honor to serve Princess Ashbel”, answered the immortal Valinor.

“What happened? Come on feed us the information”, Casey impatiently wanted to know the whole story on why Christie was allowed to go to the human world.

“Well, I broke the law”, she started while they were very eager to listen.

“I told him to break it or else strip my powers and my immortality, so I can be a pure human being. I know the King loved me so dearly so he changed the ancient law. That’s why from now on, I can come here anytime I want if I’ll don’t forget to attend my lessons and don’t forget my responsibilities as a princess, for now”, explained Christie.

The night was filled with joy and a lot of sharing stories before they retired to bed. Everyone had a goodnight sleep. The next day came and Christie suddenly made a suggestion, “Hey guys, I have a nice idea. Since Casey’s wedding will be held at our beautiful backyard, which is mainly a garden wedding. Then, why not make it a Matred inspired theme? Like a paradise, everything’s gonna be colorful, flowers everywhere, butterflies, nymphs…” before she could even continue, Casey interrupted, wide-eyed.

“Wait, wait…you’re idea is good, but nymphs and butterflies? You mean the real thing?”

“Why not, right? It can be, wait ‘till you see all of them”, she answered. Everyone liked the idea but doubts still bugged them.

“Chris, that’s too risky. People will be wondering and you know exactly that other people don’t know who you really are, Nymphs and fairies here are fantasies”, Casey objected a little.

“Exactly the point Cas, they’re fantasies. People don’t have a single idea that they actually exist. Sister, this is gonna be a dream wedding, please agree. I promise you, this is going to be perfect and don’t worry, I and Mishma will do the wedding arrangement. We still have few more days, just call everyone, there will a change of plan. I’m sure your flower girls and bride’s maids will be thrilled to have pixie wings”, Christie uttered, giggling with excitement.

The next day, the two went back to Matred.

“We’re gonna be in trouble, princess. I’m sure the King will not allow us to expose our kind”, Mishma objected, liking the idea but nervous in doing it.

“No trouble Mish, I’m sure my father will agree. It’s only for one day; it’s once in a lifetime event”.  When she asked the King’s humble permission, as usual, they were in argument again, and once more, Christie ended up winning. She guaranteed that they will be extra more careful.

Therefore, the two continued and kindly approached Shiloh and the pixies, they somehow agree with the plan too. After, they went to the lake, where the Elemental Sisters resided, Lady Leka and Yavannah. They were pleased to be part of the celebration, as well as the Woodland Nymphs. They were even excited to witness an eternal vow in the human world. Ham, the diminutive goblin, wanted to be part of the event too. He was thrilled to see his previous masters again. Since the day Adam and Tim went back to the human world, they both made their final wish, which is to set the goblin free.

The day night before the wedding came, Ham was in great use for the event. In one click of his finger, he changed the backyard into a dream paradise. Different kinds of flowers, in all colors were arranged perfectly. Carved and antique-looking chairs were all set for tomorrow’s guests. Fairy wings and nature-inspired costumes plus lovely wreaths were all prepared and delivered to their respective owners participating the big day.

 Everyone was excited, until finally, the big day came…Casey was so amazingly pretty with her white flowing gown while the butterflies fluttered their wings as they followed her in every direction. The guests were mesmerized and enchanted by realistic theme they put up. More astonished, when the Woodland Nymphs started flying above the long red-carpeted aisle and showered flower petals while the lovely bride took her paces. Somehow, people were curious and asked to compliment or clarifications.

“How do you do that? Those fairies are so graceful that they seem so real”, one of the guests, inquired Christie nosily, upon sitting at the front chair.

She replied calmly, “Well, we put up a very thin but durable harness at their backs. They’re so thin, you can’t even see them. It’s cool, right”.

“Yeah, totally cool”.

The ceremony was romantic and incredibly wonderful. People were so amused and fascinated, that they started to ask questions again.

“Christie, are those real butterflies? They really look authentic and huge”.

When an alibi ready, Chris quickly replied, “Oh no, they’re not real. Actually, they’re battery operated”.

“Really, they’re so amazing. Where did you buy them at Amazon? You know, I want one of those”.

“Truly speaking, you cannot buy them here. We ordered them at a very far away land; an old man made and customized them. Unluckily, they’re not for sale anymore, because after we got the delivery, we heard that he died from heart attack”.

“Oh, he’s a very unfortunate man”.

“Yeah, I know”.

Before the ceremony ended, Casey and Tim became husband and wife. They vowed to love one another through sickness and in health ‘till death do they part.

Years passed by quickly and they got two lovely kids, a boy and a girl. Christie and Adam were married too and a baby green-eyed boy was their precious blessing. Half Valinor, half-human, which was a new breed of Valinor. Aunt Liz passed away, as well as King Hebron. Adam became immortal and they both finally became new rulers of Matred.

THE END