15 Under A Spell

Monsoon must have informed Droplet, Blaze, and Ground about Miyara. When Thea and Asuren reached the house of Lazano, he and Aldrin were already being assisted by Riz, Sel, and Gia. At that moment, their opponent was not only Miyara. Lena was also there. She was trying to make way for Miyara to escape.

Sel, Gia, and Lazano were trying to calm Miyara while Riz and Aldrin tried to prevent Lena from interfering.

It was disturbing how Lena could further enrage Miyara and use that to attack Sel, Gia, and Lazano. The three fairies could only deflect and evade Miyara. A powerful dark aura was covering her body, preventing any attempt to knock her unconscious.

"Mom…"

With that single whisper from Asuren, everyone stopped moving.

"Asuren, come back to us," Lena easily moved past Riz and Aldrin, but Thea rushed in front of Asuren and formed a strong wind shield.

Lena did not attempt to break the shield. She only stood in front of it and informed Asuren, "Take Ayhan and Juliann with you. Aunt Cloudia, Aunt Kamia, and Aunt Lagoona are no longer mad at the three of you."

"None of them will return with you," Thea manifested a wind blade in her right hand.

"Mom, will you free Miyara if I return to Southern Peaks?" Asuren was looking at Miyara. Her eyes were no longer hers. It was the coldest blue Thea had ever seen. And those eyes belonged to only one fairy.

It was the eyes of Cloudia Nightgloom.

"You are bargaining with me?" even the voice was no longer owned by Miyara. It was the chilling voice of the Nightgloom Realm Leader.

"Aunt Cloudia, you told me that I will handle this task," Lena looked hurt.

"Fine. Bring him here. Don't fail me, Lena," her chilling voice softened a little.

"Thank you, Aunt Cloudia!" Lena happily exclaimed and even though Miyara's eyes were still filled with rage, it returned to its normal color. Cloudia had left her body but she was still out of control.

Lena must be the one loading her with rage.

"Asuren, your mother will welcome you back. Believe me."

"Do you honestly believe that?" Thea could not believe that Lena was a close friend of Asuren. "Do you honestly want Asuren to live his life as a tool to his mother's vengeance? Are you truly his friend?"

"How dare you speak to me like that?!" Lena was about to break the shield Thea put up in front of her and Asuren but before those two fairies could fight one another, the son of Cloudia Nightgloom had spoken.

"I'll come with you," he stood beside Thea and held her weapon hand. "Just, please, free Miyara from your spell and do not cause any more commotion."

"Asuren…"

"I'll return, Thea. Wait for me," Asuren promised with a smile that seemed to say trust in him.

Thea took a deep breath before allowing the shield she had put up to dissipate.

"Let go of Miyara," Asuren commanded and Lena happily complied.

Her right hand had been surrounded by a purple light. She pointed it at where Miyara was standing before releasing it.

Miyara was hit on her chest. The light seeped into her body and passed through her back, pulling a dark smoke from within her.

Lazano caught Miyara when she was about to hit the ground.

"Caz, I'm sorry..." she cried before losing consciousness.

"Let's go home, Asuren," Lena grabbed his hand and broke a purple transport seed.

"Thea..."

"Asuren will keep his promise. He will return," Thea told Gia with a confident smile. "I'll go to the Rainforest Inn. Do you want to come?"

"Sure," the three fairies chorused despite their anxiety.

"Lazano, tell me if there is still something strange in Miyara's behavior. Tell me right away, okay?"

"I will, Thea," Lazano carried Miyara in his arms. "Thank you for saving my cousin. Again."

"Asuren is the one who saved her twice. Thank him later."

Lazano only smiled and carried Miyara inside their house.

"Aldrin, I will ask you to guard this house again."

"Leave them to me," Aldrin said. "Whatever you are planning, always be careful, Princess."

"I will. Thanks, Aldrin," Thea smiled gratefully at her bodyguard then soared with her friends towards Rainforest Inn.

^####################################^

"Where is Asuren?" Ayhan asked as soon as Thea, Riz, Sel, and Gia landed on the balcony of Rainforest Inn where he and Juliann were waiting.

"He returned to Southern Peaks with Lena," Thea replied, leaving Ayhan terrified and Juliann uneasy.

"You let him return to his mother?" Ayhan was starting to look angry.

"He wanted to save Miyara without anyone getting hurt," Thea quickly explained. "I understand his decision. His mother can enter Miyara's body. If we put up a fight, Miyara will die. Lena is the only one who can release Miyara. We need to agree on her terms. But I did not promise her anything," she smiled mischievously at Ayhan. "Let's go to Southern Peaks and take back Asuren."

"You're going there again?" Sel was horrified. "How will you enter their realm unnoticed? Ugong cannot help you this time."

"Juliann and I know a way," Ayhan eagerly offered.

"Juliann needs to stay here. We need to keep Henry safe," Thea suggested.

"I will keep this place and anyone inside safe until your return," Juliann promised.

"I will stay here and help," Sel presented.

"Me too," Gia said.

"I'll go with you, Thea," Riz looked persistent that Thea could only nod and soared away from Rainforest Inn with Ayhan and Riz.

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Cloudia Nightgloom was not the forgiving type. If she were, vengeance would never be her topmost priority. Instead of forgiveness, Asuren expected a harsh punishment. He was willing to take all of it and help his mother release some of the hatred she could not successfully unleash towards her enemies.

If Asuren could absorb all the rage his mother had, he would have done so a long time ago. But his mother had an overflowing supply of fury. She could lash out some on Asuren but still had plenty of it left for her opponents.

"Lena, you can go home," Asuren told his friend when they set foot in front of the Nightgloom residence gate.

"I'll help you with Aunt Cloudia," Lena seriously offered.

"Mother treats you like a daughter but we both know that no one could ever lessen her rage. She needs to let it out."

"You only need to follow her commands, Asuren. Those fairies are enemies of our realm. Why are you befriending them? Why choose them instead of Aunt Cloudia? Your decision hurts us, Asuren."

"I am always willing to follow as long as her command is reasonable. But killing someone without enough reason, I cannot blindly obey. You are my friend, Lena. You should know that. I cannot brand someone an enemy without seeing enough reason for it. I cannot see why mother hated the royalties of Northern Peaks. I wish she would tell me, but no matter how many times I asked, she would never answer."

"Asuren…"

"Please, Lena. Just leave. It will be a tiring day for me."

Lena scowled before soaring away from the Nightgloom residence.

Asuren turned towards the towering gate and took a deep breath before announcing, "Asuren Nightgloom has returned!"

The gate was opened from the inside by two strong fairies.

"Your mother is waiting at the courtyard," one of them informed Asuren.

He took another deep breath before marching towards Cloudia Nightgloom.

There were two courtyards at the Nightgloom Residence. One was at the south, near the guard quarters and one was at the west, just below the balcony of Cloudia's room.

Asuren stepped on to the west courtyard. It was a circular ground with neatly piled stones around its perimeter. Glowing violet flowers with petals and leaves shaped like teardrops were climbing all over the piles of stones.

The moon was the only source of light in that huge and nearly empty place.

"Do you still consider this your home?" Cloudia Nightgloom gracefully jumped from the balcony of her room towards the center of the courtyard. "Do you still see me as your mother?"

Asuren knelt in front of Cloudia and lowered his head until his forehead touched the ground.

"I cannot kill an innocent fairy," he honestly admitted.

"Innocent?"

Cloudia vanished from the middle of the courtyard and reappeared in front of Asuren. She grabbed Asuren by his neck and pulled him up on his feet.

The Nightgloom Summit Leader was taller than Asuren by a few inches. Her body was slim and so were her long arms, but she could easily drag Asuren from the ground.

"You think that Thea Gailbreeze and her family are innocent?" her eyes were fuming with rage.

"Why… do you hate them… so much?" Asuren asked despite his neck being crushed.

"You don't need to know!" Cloudia yelled and tightened the grip around his neck. "You only have to follow my orders! If I tell you to kill the entire Gailbreeze family, you should kill all of them!!!"

Cloudia had thrown Asuren on the ground.

"If I say kill Thea Gailbreeze, you should kill her instead of befriending her!!!"

Cloudia knelt beside Asuren and put a hand over his chest.

"My son, don't you want me to be happy?" there was no other emotion in her eyes aside from hate.

Asuren felt his chest tightened with pain and each breath he takes intensified his agony.

"Mother…" he weakly raised his hand and gripped Cloudia's hand that was over his chest. "Please… stop…"

"Eliminate the Gailbreeze family and I will stop," she raised Asuren into a sitting position and gave him a tight embrace. "Start with Thea Gailbreeze," she coldly whispered to his ear and an agonizing pain shot from his chest towards his brain. "Kill her and the pain will eventually go away. Let go of your emotions, my son. It will only bring you excruciating pain."

Cloudia let go of Asuren and his back hit the ground hard, nearly knocking him unconscious.

Kill Thea Gailbreeze…

Those words echoed painfully inside his head. He tried shaking his head to make the voice go away but it only pounded louder and caused him terrible agony.

Kill her… and your pain will finally fade away.

"No…" he weakly breathed, and his body felt like being smashed repeatedly from the inside.

KILL HER!!!

Darkness crept upon him and his body began to feel numb.

KILL THEA GAILBREEZE!!!

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