Chapter 33. The Golden Dragon's Lair

"What do you mean?" Alek asked.

"He means", Vasik explained, "that he has been in those shoes before; he was there, then. He knows her, the princess."

"Is that necessarily a good thing?" Alek was apprehensive about it.

"Yes and no", Black said. "But before we come to that, do you have any more leads on her?"

"Lay said that she reacted to a certain phrase. He suspects something, I'm not sure what." Alek replied.

"Care to explain the phrase to me?" Black asked.

"Blue hazel, black lavender."

Hearing this, Black smirked.

"I knew it. Lay is right."

"I don't understand." Alek stood as perplexed as Vasik.

"The Princess, as in your story, had collected souls of humans to heal herself. But they were not ordinary humans. Do you remember the flower in Ara's spell ball?"

"Periwinkle." Alek didn't even have to think.

"Well, each person has a plant of their own, as you very well know. These plants, however, aren't arbitrary representations. Ara is periwinkle because she has a certain power. But she's human, nevertheless. There are those who are born with capabilities that are not merely human; who carry the weight of any incarnation with them which was supernatural and animal. Non-human animal. Now do you see? " Black asked.

"So these souls the princess collected were all parts of a bigger whole? I mean, two bigger wholes? " Alek asked for clarification.

"Exactly. You've caught on well. All those souls belonged to people who were lavender and hazel flowers. But above that, they had another similarity: they had a feral past. They were fox demons. "

"Kitsunes", Vasik whispered in shock as realization dawned upon them.

"This would also mean.." Terror dawned upon Alek's face.

"Yes, the Kitsune spirit is under threat; so is its master." Black nodded.

"I need to warn them", Alek started walking as he spoke.

"Send Lay in your stead." Black walked with him for a few steps.

Alek nodded and ran towards the castle.

* * * * * * * * *

"Where's Leia?" Mitra asked as he barged into Nyx's room.

"What do you mean? It's night. She must be either in your room or hers." Nyx replied nonchalantly.

Anger welled in Mitra's eyes, but Li Juan, who had followed him, came and dragged him out of the room.

"Nyx, please, could you stay here? If Leia comes here, don't let her leave." Li Juan strategically uttered those cryptic words so that Nyx would be less suspicious, although chances were high that she had already caught on.

"Brother, Naomi tried a trace spell and it leads to the a place outside the castle", Juan spoke in a hushed tone.

"Where?" Mitra asked.

"Come." Li Juan grabbed his hand and ran.

Naomi, Alek and Pat were already near the summer cottage when Akira, Mitra and Juan joined them.

"There are traces of blood here", Naomi told the others, her voice laden with nervousness.

"What blood?" Pat asked.

"By the looks of it, animal blood, I'd say", Akira answered.

"Okay. Weird." Pat shook her head.

The entrance of the summer cottage was locked from outside and the trace led them to the back of the house. The trace meandered into the thick Camellia, Azalea and Rose of Sharon bushes behind the cottage. Behind them were a row of juniper bushes in a circular pattern, right in the middle of which was a small hut. The trace ended at the door of the hut. Alek took the lead and slowly opened the door. Their tiny flash lights hit the bright hessonite eyes of the kitsune. They were huddled in a corner with Leia hugging them tight. They were bleeding — the kitsune. Leia sobbed in a low voice; her eyes were closed as if she was possessed. Akira and Pat were quick to respond. Together they started creating a healing magic spell and aimed at the kitsune. At first, they shrieked with pain but soon, their purring noise became much less painful and calm. The bleeding stopped and they gently fell asleep.

Mitra stepped towards Leia with much caution.

"Taiyang?" He addressed her. She stirred in sleep. It looked as if she was shivering from the cold. Alek moved towards Mitra and gestured to stop. Alek slowly muttered something in a strange language and a small sound emerged from the hut. It sounded as if something snapped into two. Leia opened her eyes as if she came back from death.

"Leia?" Pat whispered.

"Zhuque", Alek called her too.

Her eyes turned the same garnet hessonite shade as those of the kitsune. She began to speak, but in several voices:

"A night shall come in seven

When the daughter of Aurelius

Shall rise from the dead

But with her shall rise

The hidden empire;

Beware of the Witch from the East of Dead Sea."

She collapsed like a corpse after delivering the prophesy.