Chapter Five429Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIl6eMKEp79
Getting down into The Valley took a while, and Fable was having a bit of trouble getting her breathing under control. When she got back home she would definitely hit the gym, because this was a bit too embarrassing. The path she was taking descended steeply into the Valley. When she finally reached the bottom, she immediately lit the small lantern. A gust of wind drove down the Valley and Fable shivered as she continued walking deeper into the Valley. The lantern didn't give a lot of light, and she had to be very careful not to slip or stumble over something. As she walked deeper into the Valley, different sounds reached her ears, but she continued walking, mindful of what Anouke had told her.
A sudden vicious growl made Fable freeze in her steps. What the hell was that? Fable's breathing quickened and she stumbled. She looked around her "Where the hell is that cave"? she mumbled. She needed to find that cave before whatever was out there realized she was here. Or maybe it already knew she was here; Shit shit shit. Fable quickened her steps and searched for the cave between the Trees of Stars. What the hell was a Tree of Stars anyways; Jesus, "what am I doing here" she thought. As she continued her search while quietly mumbling, she spotted what looked like small lights in the distance. There were many and they were about three meters in the air. And there were two sets with a black spot in the middle. Were those the trees, the tiny lights looked like small stars; Fable didn't even think twice about it and marched towards the lights. As she got closer to the lights, she saw what they really were. Stars....in two trees. They hung like leaves and Fable gasped. Stars in trees. As she walked closer she saw the entrance of the cave between the two trees. Finally.
A growl behind her made her jump and she let out a loud scream. What stood there was not like anything she had seen before. The lantern fell from her hand she stumbled backwards. It was big and stood on two legs, and had the muscular body of man. But it wasn't a man. It's skin was covered in reptile scales, and it's claws were long and looked really sharp; It's yellow eyes glowed, it's head looked like that of a big snake. Fable stood rooted to the ground. It growled loudly, and crouched. "Run stupid, run" the voice in Fable's head screamed at her. And that's exactly what she did; running as fast as she could, she let out a yelp when she stumbled and fell to the ground. She looked at her feet and a long tentacle was wrapped around her right foot. She looked at the creature and saw that the came from it's mouth. Fable kicked and screamed and searched her pocket. She took out the dagger that Anouke had given her and sliced the tentacle causing the creature to roar.
The moment it let her foot go, she started her sprint towards the entrance of the cave. As she ran, she looked over her shoulder; the creature was right behind her it's claws only seconds away from reaching her. She reached the cave and stumbled into the cave entrance and watched as the creature slammed into an invisible wall." Must be a protection barrier"Fable thought out loud. The Creature roared and started pacing; Fable gulped and stared at it. It suddenly stopped, it's yellow eyes landing on Fable. It huffed before turning and running away from the cave. Fable let out a loud breath and leaned against the wall of the cave entrance. She had almost been eaten by some weird half snake half man creature with tentacles coming out of it's mouth. What the actual fuck. She still had the dagger in her hand and moved to put it into her pocket, but decided against it. She might need it again, and was taking no chances. She stood straight and mumbled a quick prayer to no one in particular before going deeper into the cave. Time to wake up the Guardians.
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Walking in the darkness without any light was absolute shit. Fable had already bumped into two big rocks and had also stumbled and fallen once. This sucked. Her leg where the tentacle had grabbed her was hurting, but she ignored it. As she walked deeper into the cave she noticed small glowing rocks on the wall; they were a blue and white color, and......it looked like they were.....moving? Fable stopped staring and walked further and deeper into the cave before coming to a stop. "Oh my god" she whispered as she admired the big chamber that was covered in glowing stardust. It lit up the whole chamber and Fable said a silent thank you; no more bumping and stumbling. "This didn't look like a prison" she thought as she walked into the chamber. On the far left side of the cave chamber, she made out seven cages that were carved into the wall. She slowly walked closer and gasped. They were really here. Each of the cages had one sleeping man in it, each of them chained at the back of their cage.
They were all wearing leather like pants and boots, and were bare chested; Fable tried not to stare. She walked to the first cage on the left; the man in it was big and muscled,with a smattering of short black curly hair on his chest, his skin a medium brown color, his shoulder length hair as black as night.
The man in the next cage had a lean build, his skin cream colored, his hair short and light brown colored . The next man was also big and muscled, his skin dark brown and his hair long and black. Big claw marks covered the right side of chest . He also had a short beard that made him look like one of those Mafia gangsters. His neighbor had a smaller build, his skin a soft brown color and his curly hair dark blond. He looked like one of those handsome models with boyish looks you could find on the covers of magazines.
The man next to curly was as big as the first two and his skin was a golden brown color. His hair was pulled into a bun at the back of his head, and he also had a short beard that darkened his handsome features . The next man was very muscled and was covered in what looked like tribal tattoos. He had dark wavy brown hair that fell to his shoulders and it looked like he his ears were pierced and had hoops in them .
The man in the last cage was the biggest of them all. His skin was a medium brown color and his hair short and brown colored. It looked like his ears were...pointed. He had a smattering of short brown hairs on his chest. His body was also covered in scars, from claw marks to cuts, some small, some long . "Why were they all so good looking"Fable thought as she walked back to the cage of the Guardian with the hair bun. For some reason she thought it best to start with him. She slowly walked closer to the door of his cage, and stared at the lock. Damn it. How the hell was she supposed to open it without a key. She looked around and spotted a small rock. She picked it up and slammed it against the lock; nothing happened and she slammed it again and again, and growled in frustration. As she slammed the rock again on the lock, it's sharp end cut her thumb and Fable let the rock fall from her hand. "Ow ow ow", she groaned before hearing a sudden click. She watched as the lock opened and stared at the drops of blood on the key hole. Ooookay. She opened the door and stepped inside and halted. She looked at the chained man in front of her ,uncertainty crossing her face.
"I came all this way for this, and almost got eaten by a snake man with tentacles; here goes nothing" She mumbled softly as she crouched before the sleeping man. She looked at the chains, and noticed that there was no lock. Fable frowned before looking at her bleeding thumb. She stretched out her hand and let her blood drop on the chains.
The second her blood splashed on the chain, it broke lose and the man fell forward. She tried to catch him but failed terribly; "damn he was heavy" she thought as they both tumbled to the ground, with him on top of her. She pushed him of her and quickly stood. He was still unconscious so she got on her knees beside him and poked his chest with her finger. "Come on, wake up Man bun" She said as she poked him again. He suddenly twitched and groaned, his eyes opening slowly. Fable jumped back and stared as he shook his head and groggily got to his feet. Her eyes widened, the man must around 6 Ft 2 inches tall. Fable stumbled to her feet and stared at the man standing in front of her; his dark brown eyes landed on her and he frowned. Fable slowly raised her hand and waved, "Uhh Hi".
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Ramiel looked at the tiny human before him and frowned. He had no idea what she was doing here; he looked around the cage and then at the chains. He had been chained, and imprisoned. Memories flooded his mind as he took a small step back and shook his head. He and his fellow guardians had made the decision to teach the humans magic, and for that they were punished. How long had he been in chains? His eyes widened and took a step towards the human "Where are they" he growled. The woman's eyes widened and she stumbled back "Uhh what? Do you mean the other Guardians?" She asked, her voice shaking in with fear. "Yes, tell me" he answered and took another step. "They're here, in the cages next to this one" She yelled quickly. He turned towards the cage door and stalked out.
Ramiel stalked to the cage on the left side and stood before the door. He looked at the big tattooed man who was chained in he cage and then turned his gaze towards the woman that had followed him and now stood a couple of steps away from him. He grabbed the lock on the door and tried to somehow break it; "It won't open like that", the woman said as she came to stand beside him. Ramiel watched as she squeezed her thumb and let her blood from the cut drip on the lock. The lock clicked and the woman removed it before opening the door for him. He frowned and stared at her curiously before strode towards his fellow Guardian. "Araqiel" he whispered as he took the man's face in his hands. The woman crouched beside him and let her blood drip on the chains, which caused them to break loose . Ramiel caught Araqiel as he fell forward and laid him on the ground. "He's okay, just give him a minute", the woman whispered from behind him. He looked over his shoulder before looking at Araqiel again, who suddenly twitched and opened his eyes. He groaned and Ramiel helped him to first sit up and then slowly stand.
"Ramiel?" Araqiel whispered as he struggled to stand straight. "Yes brother, it is I" Ramiel answered and grabbed Araqiel into a hug. Their reunion was interrupted when Araqiel noticed the woman in the corner of the cell. "Who's the tiny human" he asked Ramiel and they both looked at her. "She got us out, her blood opened the cage and broke the chains". They watched as the woman slowly stepped closer to them; Ramiel only now noticed how she looked.
She looked unlike any woman he had ever seen, with her dark long and curly hair, brown skin and hazel eyes. Her figure was full and her face, she had a hoop in her nose....Ramiel had to admit...she was breath taking.
"Hi, my name is Fable" she said with a trembling voice and stuck out her hand towards Ramiel.
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Looking at the two men before her, Fable instantly thought of how the name "Guardians" suited them. They were both big and muscly, and they had this sort of safe aura that surrounded them, which gave Fable the impression that they would not hurt her. Anouke had told her that she could trust them, and that they would protect her.
They were currently both staring at her outstretched hand, and she slowly let her arm fall. "Where are the others" Araqiel suddenly asked the other Guardian. "They're also here, in the other cages" Fable answered before he could. She walked out of the cage, the two guardians on her heels, and after what seemed like an hour or so, all the seven Guardians were awake.
Fable stood at the side and watched as they hugged and slapped each other on the shoulder. She also tried not to stare at their muscled bodies and handsome faces. The Guardian with the smaller build and curly dark blond hair suddenly looked at her and grinned, "So, anyone care to explain who the lovely lady is and how she managed to free us,; And also, how long exactly were we imprisoned?" He asked while looking at at each of his fellow Guardians.
"A hundred years" Fable answered before any of the others could. "You've been here for a hundred years".
Their eyes widened as they looked at each other. " So we are now in the Five hundredth year" The Guardian with the leaner build muttered and then Fable had seven pairs of eyes on her. "Yeah, and........ I'm the new Spell Worker, or so I was told; A witch named Anouke brought me here and said that I had to free you....and that I could trust you" Fable said softly.
The guardian she had woken up first, Man bun as she called him, took a step forward. "And your name is.....Fable?"he grumbled and she nodded. "I'm Ramiel, leader of the Guardians". He then pointed to the big tattooed man next to him who made a slight bow"This is Araqiel". He further introduced the remaining Guardians, the one with the smaller build and curly dark blond hair was named Florian. For some reason the name suited him, probably because that flirty grin and his boyish looks. The one with the leaner build and short brown hair was named Arvel, and next to him stood Ivaan, with his black as night shoulder length hair. The two remaining guardians were Inayat, who had the big claw marks on his chest and Zoran, who had the pointed ears.
"Thank you for freeing us Fable" Florian said with a grin. Fable noticed the guardian called Ivaan rolling his eyes, looking a bit angry.
"Uhh you're welcome Florian; uhm sooo, Anouke said that I have to create the spell that can imprison the creatures again, but with your help;....I uhm.... am not from this world, so Anouke said my magic will probably take some time to arise" Fable said as she watched the Guardian's reaction. "You're not from around here?"Ramiel asked and Fable shook her head. "No, I'm not".
"Our world......when we were imprisoned.......the prison realm.....all the creatures escaped" Arvel said, his face filled with concern.
"Yes, and it's up to us to put them back where they belong" Fable said with a determined face. She thought about the creature from her dream, and the one that had attacked her outside the cave. It was time to learn some magic and put those things back where they belonged.
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