Chapter 27

Twenty-seventh Chapter





Theme: Purple Dragon Villa



"Edgar, now that we have acquired the second ring of terror, what did you suggest that we do?" Lord Darius asked with his thick voice. He was sitting on his dragon fur chair. His long red robe swept the floor in front of him. He placed his hand on the armrest and then rubbed it softly. 



"Micah Tyler told me that he had met the half-breed in Moab, just like you had predicted. Don't you think we should go after her before the resistance starts growing stronger?"



"No, My Lord." Edgar Allan replied. "We all know what the half-breed and his team are capable of doing. Especially since Jerushah and Claire are with them, that will be a suicide attempt." He elaborated.



"So, what are you indicating? Edgar Allan." Says Lord Darius. He got up from the red dragon fur chair and walked towards Edgar. The mere sight of his full height was enough to make someone shiver, while the aura of his body could make someone powerless.



"Remember that the more people the half-breed saves, the more people will trust her and rebel against us. Especially the resistance, I despise them." He said in a rage.



"Easy, my Lord," Edgar Allan cautioned. "I have known Sandra for a long time, and I know what she's capable of doing." He elaborated. 



Edgar took in a deep breath, then ruffled his hand against his white hair as if he was thinking.



After a few minutes of silence, he finally said, "I have a way out, my Lord."



Hearing this, Lord Darius gives him his full attention. He knew that any word from Edgar was accurate. That's what made him respect the man most. 



"What did you advise this time, Edgar?" Lord Darius spoke up, a smile forming at the corner of his lips.



"I heard that the purple dragon queen is celebrating her daughter's birthday today," Edgar said, and then gawked directly into Lord Darius' eyes. "Let's visit her. She will be surprised to see you, and she will try everything to please you. Then we would make a deal with her. We can ask for the ring in exchange for something else. If we can get the ring successful, only then can we confront the half-breed and her protector. They will bow at the power of the ring."



"Did you think she would give it to us freely? Remember that it belongs to her late husband." Lord Darius said this in disbelief.



"That's the main reason why she will give us," Edgar said with a chuckle. "Simply tell her that you will give her the goldfield of Seth, her husband. In return, you will request the ring. I'm sure she will accept the deal."





"That's why I cherish you, Edgar Allan." Lord Darius complimented him and walked back to his chair. "Send men to the Purple Dragon Villa; let them inform her of my arrival and about the deal. After that, they should prepare an escort for me." He ordered



"Right away, my Lord," Edgar said, with a bow.





*******



"Why would you do such a thing for God's sake?" Joy asked for the fifth time. "Did you know that Favour could have been killed by Micah if we hadn't interfered on time?" She complained.



"I did it to save you," Jerushah replied nonchalantly. "It's better if people's lives were replaced with yours. The number of lives lost to save your own doesn't matter. What matters is that you are alive and you should be able to defeat Lord Darius." She elaborated.



"Hell No! Every life matters to me," Joy yelled at her. "You didn't tell me this, did you?" She asked, her gaze now resting on Mrs Sandra.



"Take it easy, Joy." Dan said as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Everything they are saying is right. Your life is what matters to us most. Without you, the middle land will be in darkness forever."



"Stop telling me that," she slammed at him. "You know what? If you want me to continue on this quest, you will have to follow my orders and stop risking innocent beings' lives for mine, Okay? I don't believe in any prophecy."



"It's alright," Mrs Sandra chirped. "So, can we focus on the pending mission?" She asked no one in particular.



"Lord Darius has acquired two of the rings, I'm sure he will go after the last one now," Jotham said. "What matters now is that we must find a way to be ahead of him. He must never lay his hand on the last ring. If he does, everything is over."



"Then let's go to the purple dragon queen villa right now. I'm sure she will be willing to help if we explain everything to her." Joy suggested, but her word earned a giggle from the rest of the team. 



Why are you guys laughing? Will the purple dragon allow Lord Darius to take control of the middle land? Hell No! she won't. She wanted to say all these words, but she forced herself to remain quiet.



"The reason you are saying all this is because you don't know the origin of the ring," Mrs Sandra said with a chuckle. "The ring belongs to the purple dragon queen's husband, Seth. After her husband was defeated, two of the rings went missing without any traces. Since then, the purple dragon locked the last ring in a well-secured place where no one could find it."



"That's what makes it difficult," says Jotham. "Fighting the purple dragon queen isn't the right choice. We would be endangering our lives by doing that. We must extract a plan."



"Allow me to think about what…" Joy was saying when the rustling of the panes broke into her speech. 



Hearing this, Jotham and Jerushah quickly hide amidst the trees. Mrs Sandra disappeared into thin air while Dan and Joy climbed to the top of a nearby tree. General Rick and Drax also copied Dan by climbing a nearby tree.



Not long after, the rustling of the layers stopped, followed by heavy footsteps and the howling of D'arcy soldiers. Perhaps fifty lycans. 



Jotham was the first to emerge from his hideouts. He grabbed the first Lycan by the neck, and then stabbed him in the heart with a silver knife. The remaining lycans charged at him.



Mrs Claire appeared from the other tree and drew a somatic pattern in the air, freezing two lycans. Mrs Sandra appeared again and consumed three lycans' souls at once with her scarlet fire. She went deep into their vision and replaced it with a terrifying entity.



Joy and Dan jumped down from the tree and started their killing spree. The same goes for the two Generals.



Raising the blood sword, Joy swung it and brought down a lycan's head in the process. She stepped aside to duck a lycan's claw, then retaliated by whacking down the lycan's head.



She leapt up and then planted her feet on another lycan's chest. She went low and used the blood sword to slice another lycan into two. Like a tsunami, she dashed into another group of lycans. She was fast, much faster than any supernatural they had ever met. She used the blood sword to draw a contour in the air, and a huge Hado Hans ball emerged from the sword which consumed three unlucky lycans.



Joy was too slow to evade a claw swipe, and she felt the lycan piercing her skin with his long, sharp claw before the being kicked her in the chest. Before she could regain her posture, the Lycan attacked her again, and Joy braced herself for the impact. 



A few inches before the claw reached her face, Dan appeared between them. He grabbed the lycan's hand and then twisted it, followed by the cracking of bone, which deciphered that the lycan's bone had broken. With his alpha speed, he dashed at the rest and decapitated their heads at once. 



Seeing that Jotham was about to kill the last Lycan, Joy shouted. "Don't kill him! At least not yet," Jotham paused, then stared at her, wondering what she meant. 



"We need to find out where they are going. How did you expect us to do that if we killed them all?" Joy elaborated as she moved towards the last lycan. With the dizzy look on her face, Joy was sure that Mrs Sandra had tapped into his soul, and replaced it with something else.



"How did you expect us to do that when he's still in his lycan form? Don't you think that will be useless?" He argued.



"Patient, Jotham." Mrs Claire joins the conversation. "You still have a lot to learn. So, calm down and allow her to do the remaining job."



"Sure," Jotham said, with his head bowed in respect before he moved towards his mistress.



Joy stood a few inches away from the Lycan, then grabbed his neck. It was all thanks to whatever Mrs Sandra had done to him; it made him look powerless. She went deep down for her power and summoned them out. She picked it from the source and then threw it at the man's soul. Then she asked him to obey her command.



Just like she had thought, the man's eyes turned deep red. The same went for Joy's own. 



“Mistress!" The lycan said as he got down on his knees. Seeing that he had been commanded, Joy staggered back, and Dan quickly held her at the waist before she could slip.



"How does it feel?" He asked with concern written on his face and voice.



With a chuckle, Joy replied. "Bad, but not terrible. At least it's better than passing out again." 



She excused herself from Dan and walked towards the lycan who had now transformed into a young naked man with brown hair.



"Where are you going?" Joy asked impatiently. "I'm sure you and your pack were sent on an important mission. If not, you won't be so much in number."



The man replied truthfully. "You are right, Mistress. Lord Darius sent us to the purple dragon villa." A loud gasp escaped from Joy and her teammates' mouths upon hearing this.



Even though Joy already knew the answer to what she was about to ask. However, she decided to query the man further. "What does he want from the purple dragon queen?"



"Though I don't know more about this because Lord Darius never reveals his plan to anybody except Edgar Allan, his adviser, and his wizard."



"That bastard! I will make sure to suck his soul whenever I get the chance to meet him." Mrs Sandra cursed angrily. She clenched her fist tightly to show her level of anger, and the knuckles turned white.



"Are you referring to your husband?" General Rick asked Mrs Sandra.



"Point of correction: he is just my trinket, nothing more. My real husband is living with the Olympians." Mrs Sandra elaborated.



"That doesn't answer my question," Joy asked further. "What message could be so urgent to Lord Darius that he sent a whole pack of D'arcy Lycans? It is something important, isn't it?" She said and stared directly at the man's eyes.



"You are right, Mistress." The man retorted. "Lord Darius sent us to inform the purple queen that he was coming to celebrate her daughter's birthday with her today."



"Now that makes sense," Jerushah and Mrs Claire said at the same time. 



"That means Lord Darius will use the opportunity to request for the last ring." Mrs Claire concluded.



"That's impossible!" Dan and Jotham chorused in disbelief. "Ever since the two rings went missing, the purple dragon queen had been protecting the last ring with her whole power. Besides, it's the only thing she inherited from her late husband's property. What makes Lord Darius think she will release the ring to him?" Dan elaborated.



"There were rumours in the palace that Lord Darius would offer the queen one of her late husband's property in exchange for the ring." The Lycan chirps into their conversation. "We were sent to deliver the message and report our progress to Lord Darius through the memo book."



"Now that makes sense," said Joy, as she clapped her hands. "Seems like our prey is coming to the trap we made for him." She elaborated, and everyone turned their attention to her.



Seeing that she had gained their attention, Joy faced the man. "Where is the memo book that you will use to report your progress to Lord Darius?"



"It's inside the bag behind our leader's," The man elucidated while pointing at the corpse of a Lycan. It's the same lycan that Dan broke his bone earlier.



Before anyone could blink, Dan dashed to the dead body, unstrapped the bag pack, and returned it to the team. With his claw, he tore the bag apart and then scattered what was inside. True to the man's word, there's a yellow memo book, a quill, and a jar that contains blood.



"With this, we can lure Lord Darius to a scheduled place where he won't escape. We can launch a straight attack on him and stop him from going to the purple dragon villa. Perhaps, we might get the chance to kill him." Joy suggested, and everybody clapped for her.



"There's more," Mrs Sandra chirped. "The purple dragon queen always hired a magician every year to perform tricks for her daughter. Since none of her people recognizes my true face, I can pretend to be one. Perhaps I can get the ring. You know, Lord Darius might be cunning sometimes. He might have discovered a trick in the report you are about to make and found another way out. Before he arrived, I'm sure that my mission in the purple villa would have been completed."



"Great idea, Ariel," Mrs Claire and Jerushah commented. 





"I wish you success in your mission," Jerushah said. "As you all know, this is the furthest we can go. May the spirit guide you."



Mrs Sandra ambled toward her and gave her a tight hug.



"Thanks for saving the half-breed's life," she whispered into her ear, and the latter chuckled. Mrs Sandra disengaged from the hug, then walked towards Mrs Claire and kissed her on the cheek. 



"Thanks for the help," she said.



"Anything for the half-breed," Mrs Claire said. 



"Thanks for aiding us in the war," Dan said as he hugged General Drax and Rick tightly. "We've got one for you."





"It's nothing," the two beings said together. 



"Don't hesitate to call us next time. We would be ready to help you and the half-breed." General Drax says.



"May the spirit guide your path and protect you all," Jerushah said while beaming with a smile. She raised her palm, drew strange writing in the air, and mumbled some words inaudibly. A bright light engulfed all of them except for Mrs Sandra, Dan, Joy, and the Lycan. In the blink of an eye, they vanished out of the woods.



"Now, let's get down to business." Mrs Sandra said, with a serious expression.





********



"My Lord, the men that we sent out earlier have reported their progress," Edgar said, his eyes staring directly at the memo book that was placed on a pulpit in front of him. "Seems like it's good news."



"What's the content, Edgar Allan?" Lord Darius asked with his deep guttural voice.



Edgar took a deep breath before reading the content. "They said the purple dragon is willing to entertain us. They also said she is willing to sign a peace treaty between the two territories"



"Good news indeed," Lord Darius said with a crooked smile.



"Not only that," Edgar said while Lord Darius focused his attention on him. "They said the main road doesn't exist again. So we were told to pass through the Hill of Stretch." He concluded.



T.b.c