Trials of Love, the Frostclaw Chronicles 6: A Singing Wind in Nothingness
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The first steps out into the undead and desolate felt like a pain of its own as Alex and Lyra looked forward at the castle in the distance. Holding close to the dragon, Lyra was shivering at the ominous look of the ground, the cracks appearing in the dried surface only making her unsure if whoever that had trapped them might have planted traps there too, "Alex... I am afraid." The dragon knew her feeling of dread, but he could not solve it by turning into his serpentine form due to the place hosting some kind of inhibitor effect on the area around the castle, "I know, Lyra. You are squeezing my arm hard."
Lyra could not help that, she was in a place she did not know. Soon she could hear a voice softly singing a song that she knew very well, "The last that ever she heard him, silenced away like a moonlit horror. He passed on with sorrow and grieving, silenced away like a moonlit horror. Warming the heart on a Saturday night, happy with a girl by his side. He was caught by a stranger with a drink in his hand, and she cannot know what happened to her."
Lyra quickly joined in on the second part, "The winds that whisper in the nothing, silenced away like a moonlit horror. Sing a song of worries and warning, silenced away like a moonlit horror. All she saw was the face of a girl, trapped in a cave deep below. She had no chance to defend herself at all, and now we both know what happened to us."
Holding each other closer, they sang together, "I stay, I pray, seeing you in the outside later today. I swear, I hear, that our prayer will be heard today." Both were tearing up now before continuing, "At dawn early in the morning, silenced away like a moonlit horror. We both had a future forming, silenced away like a moonlit horror. The stars that appear in a dusky night, lit our world with joy and life. But they also foretold about a tragic event, and we couldn't stop it from happening though."
The sound of wings flapping behind them could be heard, if not for the fact that they were singing, "I stay, I pray, seeing you in the outside later today. I swear, I hear, that our prayer will be heard today." For just a moment, they stopped and hugged each other tightly, "Caught the darkness with only one light at hand, holding tight to what we now got. The pain is heavy and the nature is dead, but we still got to learn to push through." The flapping wings came closer by the second as Lyra closed her eyes, "Silenced away like a moonlit horror. Silenced away like a moonlit horror."
At the final line, a loud screech could be heard as a gargoyle swooped in and grabbed Lyra before Alex could react. The shark girl screamed in horror and Alex began to run after them, "Lyra! Give her back, you monster!" The gargoyle screeched before striking the ground, sending a fragment of dried earth being launched at him before Alex unsheathed the blade to quickly cut it in half, noticing the creature having already taken to the air with Lyra screaming in the claws, Alex calling out a final time in frustration, "Lyra!" As a thick mist rolled over the ground, Alex could no longer see Lyra or the gargoyle.
"Lyra... I failed you..." Alex sank to his knees before crying out in agony, "No!" Turning the katana towards himself, he was about to plunge it into his gut before a soft voice rode on the wind, "Do not give up. There is still hope to let her live." Alex froze and looked up to see that the cherry tree standing there, "Wait. We left the tree behind back there. So how can it come here when it was barren a bit ago?" Getting to his feet again, he walked over to the tree. The petals that fell from the tree began to slowly dance around the blade again, making him look curiously at it before using his kimono to wipe off the blade. Once he was done, the petals gathered closer to the blade until they almost fused into it, giving it a slightly pink color. Alex chuckled to himself but before he could sheath the weapon, he heard the screech of another gargoyle approaching.
Standing ready, he was looking around for the source of the sound without luck as the mist got thicker, "Could those beasts make this mist? Never heard of them being able to do this." Hearing the screech again, he listened and turned in a direction, only to soon feel two clawed feet grabbing him from behind and pinning him down, a soft whimper escaping the dragon as the gargoyle seemed to wanna hold him in place. Alex grunted out to it, "Let me go, you vile creature!" The gargoyle screeched again, making him try to cover his head as it hurt his ears on a close distance like this.
Soon he felt it moving off him before a halberd struck the ground next to him, sending the dragon to his feet before a second strike nearly connected with his chest, but with a lightning fast reflex Alex grabbed the halberd hilt before attempting to lift both the weapon and the gargoyle holding it, but without the proper training, he could only lift both slightly but enough to make it possible for him to begin spinning around like he was doing hammer throw.
The screeching of the gargoyle soon turned into a scream of fear when Alex had built up enough force to swing overhead before the ground got a massive dent from the impact. Turning around, Alex looked at the gargoyle and much to his surprise, it was a female gargoyle and not a male gargoyle like the other one, "Damn, do not tell me that I have to slay stone chicks." The gargoyle slowly stood up and screeched angrily at Alex before swinging her halberd at him, the swing losing its purpose when Alex delivered a quick cut through the hilt to send the axe and spear part into the ground behind him, his eyes focusing on her, "Listen, I could take down your male friends, but my respect for females prevent me from killing you. Please, do not make me do it." The gargoyle did not listen and screeched as she leap towards him, Alex quickly sheathing his katana before capturing her in midair, delivering a suplex that made her land on the neck and roll backwards until she landed on her front, Alex simply sighing, "Listen, just take me to the castle and I will let you live. I do not wish to kill a female."
The gargoyle was about to attack again, but the wind whispered to her, "Do as he says." Grumbling angrily, she moved closer and leap onto his shoulders, grabbing a hold of him before taking to the air and towards the castle. Alex scouted the mist slowly growing less dense until finally being gone and he could see the castle quickly approaching in the distance before the gargoyle slowly descended to drop him off in front of the doors. Being let go, the gargoyle hissed at Alex out of anger, but Alex approached her and gave her a soft hug, "See? It is not so hard to be good if you get a hug." After he turned around and left, he could have sworn that the gargoyle was blushing a bit, but his mind was soon set to the goal when the doors stood in front of him. Deciding to not waste any time, his katana was once again unsheathed and he delivered three swift strikes, kicking the doors open to be greeted by a huge armored beast roaring towards him. Grinning to himself for the first time in a long while, he called out loudly into the castle, "Knock knock, bitches! Here I come!"

The End.