Ash kneeled to Silvey. He put his shield down and looked into her white pupils, “Stay here, Silvey. You’ll be safe. I need to figure out what those screeches are so we can get out of here.” Silvey gave him a worried, telepathic message, and Ash nodded, “I will. I hope so too.” With that, he next put his sword down and pulled her into a tight hug. Silvey hugged back with her feelers. Letting go, the young fairy rubbed her paw and added with, “Promise me you won’t come out until I say the coast is clear. Wish me luck, girl.” Silvey did, and Ash gave her one last hug. He loved this fairy dog. He wanted to make sure nothing terrible happened to her. After hugging, he carefully picked up his weapons, and Silvey watched as he hopped over the rock into the fray and called, “I’ll be all right. Don’t worry.” Would he though? He was suffering from a concussion and permanent brain injury.
Eighteen-year-old Ash saw something in the shadows – a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Whatever was there was protecting the river’s largest pool. That pool was the only way in and out of the tunnel. Though he was nervous, Ash stayed brave. He knew he made the right decision bringing some weapons. From the shadows, a growl was heard as well as the prancing of huge feet. The Wizard Fairy loosened his grip on his weapons and waited for his target – for whatever was guarding the exit. What he saw was a creature he’s never seen before! It was a terrifying, yet beautiful beast! It stepped out of the shadows and headed towards Ash. He took one step back, and then he planted his feet. Silvey frightfully looked up from the rock she was hiding behind. This was terrifying! She didn’t know if her friend could fight. His head obviously was hurting him again.
The beast facing looked like the Devil. In fact, it was called the Devil’s Heir. It stood on two, iron-cladded legs, and its large body above them was red. Two horns stuck out behind its head, and two smaller ones adorned its chin. Its left hand sported sharp claws, but its right one looked like a human hand, just with beefier fingers. It definitely was a sight for sore eyes. Legend had it that the Devil’s Heir could slice a steel beam in two with one swipe of its claws. They also knew psychic magic. Psychic monsters were insanely hard to defeat because they could easily throw their enemies, but it was possible. Even the Octopus Man and Kraken were harder than the Heir. Stories of it replanted themselves in Ash’s brain, but he stayed brave. He had his weapons, his magic, and his confidence. He was ready. Not bearing to watch, Silvey slipped behind the rock again and buried her head in a pile of dirt.
The monster soon roared in Ash’s face, and the battle officially began. It swiped its claws at the young man, but he protected himself with his shield. The force of each strike caused him to stumble backwards, but he didn’t fall. Young Ash acted out a backflip and smacked the Heir’s human hand with his shield. While it cringed in pain, he rolled under it and appeared from behind. He had to find this creature’s weak point. The young man put his shield and sword up and next drew his bow and arrow. He ran up a tall, rocky ledge and aimed his arrow towards its left eye. It wasn’t long until the Heir lowered its hand, and it hurried towards him. Ash though shot his arrow, and it stabbed it right in the eye he wanted! Crying out, the creature stumbled and fell right towards the ledge he was on. The young man put his bow and arrow on his back again and next drew his glider. He used it to glide out of the path the monster fell towards. When he landed, he stuffed it back into his bag and next tried a spell. Ash pointed his hand at the creature and concentrated. An array of vines launched out of the ground and wrapped around its legs, causing it to fall. This was the perfect opportunity to deliver a few strikes. The young fairy hurried to the monster and slashed it a few times with his broadsword. This was the strategy he had to use in order to defeat it. Those few strikes though didn’t it hurt as much yet because it was so big, and it wasn’t long until it broke free of the vines. As angry as a hornet, the Heir smacked Ash’s shield with its claws, which caused him to fly back and hit the ground...hard. Silvey, who had unburied her head from the dirt and was watching, gasped and took a few steps back.
Gasping for air, the teenage Wizard Fairy rolled onto his front on the ground and spat dirt out of his mouth. “Keep the heid, Ash,” he told himself, “You can do this.” Reaching for his sword, he picked it up and struggled to his feet. Ash held the blade behind him and used his magic to coat it in all blue. This would be so much easier if he had Crusader. He would be able to transform her into his extremely powerful bow and arrow, but he didn’t. This sword had to do for now. Once charged with power, the young man threw it like a boomerang straight towards the Heir, and it struck it in the shoulder. He then drew his bow and arrow again and constantly shot arrows at it. Even though each was successful, that didn’t stop the creature from attacking. Swiping its claws forward, it pulled Ash’s scabbard right off his back and knocked him down. That was way too close.
Getting up, the young Wizard Fairy climbed another ledge and glided on his glider towards the shoulder his sword stabbed. When he passed it, he pulled it out, and the Heir roared. Ash landed gently on the ground and put it up again. He prepared the spell for the vines, but no way was the creature going to let that happen.
Finally, it used some of its psychic powers against Ash. Its eyes glowed up, and the young, knight-like fairy was outlined by yellow magic. He yelled as the creature picked him up and threw him! Things went from zero to one hundred very fast from there. With his concussion and permanent brain injury, Ash was totally outmatched. He used magic to create a teeny bit of a bubble, so the impact wouldn’t kill him, but he crashed into the tunnel’s walls and fell onto a dirt section of the floor! The young fairy landed on his side, and everything instantly went black. A little bit of blood stained the dirt next to his head, and he lost his glasses.
Silvey yelped when she saw this and yelled through telepathy, “No!” Wasting no time, she leaped out of her hiding place and hurried to Ash, “Ash! No! No! Ash! Talk to me!” She shook him with her feelers, but he didn’t stir. The Octopus Man’s plot so far had been a success. Silvey soon stood in front of her friend to protect him and angrily barked at the Devil’s Heir. This time, it came for her instead of the fairy. Silvey fought back though. She knew Ash wouldn’t be able to defeat this monster in his condition. It was all up to her now.
Silvey extended her ribbon-like feelers and wrapped them around the Heir’s legs. This caused it to fall again. From the ground, it next used its psychic powers on her. Silvey too was picked up and thrown, but she fought the power and used it against the Heir. Landing on her feet on the wall, she ran across it towards another loose wall of rock. If it wasn’t for the psychic power assisting her, she wouldn’t be able to do this. Furious, the monster tried to attack her, but Silvey dodged. She led it straight to the loose wall she wanted and started to jump back and forth like a flittering fly.
Through telepathy, she yelled, “You inconceivable Devil’s Heir! I’m going to make you pay for hurting my friend!” The Heir attacked and continued to use its psychic powers, but the fairy dog was way too fast. With every failed attempt to get her, it crashed into the wall and caused the rocks to break.
Where he rested down below, Ash groaned and slowly regained consciousness.
When he opened his eyes, his blurry vision caught Silvey fighting for him, and he whispered, “Silvey?” in a feeble voice. His head cried out in pain, and he couldn’t get up because it was so severe. Ash was left to just lie there and watch the fairy dog.
With teeth clenched, she extended her feelers again and wrapped them around the Heir. Her hind legs kicked a loose rock and caused it to crash down on its head. This momentarily knocked it out. As the Heir fell, Silvey hopped onto its back and down onto the floor. When she saw Ash was conscious, she hurried towards him again. She had to find a way to get him out of there. That psychic throw had only hurt him more. It was amazing though; he remained strong. He fought through the great waves of pain and used Silvey to push himself to his feet. Right now was their chance to escape because the Devil’s Heir had been knocked out.
Ash thought about coming back and bringing Makenna. If she could defeat this creature, then that would be perfect proof that she could take on the Octopus Man and Kraken. It would be proof that she was ready to travel to the Bermuda Triangle and save the human and fairy worlds from The Mincing. Ash actually did not regret running into the Devil’s Heir. He and Silvey first had to escape before it woke up, and once they did, then they would have to find Makenna. Surprisingly, Tracey wasn’t the one destined to save the two worlds, even though Poseidon had targeted him most. Makenna was the one who was really being tested here, and Ash, Merlin, Selene, Raeven, Silvey, Gina, the fairy sprites, and Tracey himself knew this. Makenna was the true hero. She was the Metamorphic Fairy, and she had to prove that she really did deserve her Merfairy transformation.
Ash needed the assistance of Silvey to help him walk. She held him up with her feelers and picked up his glasses, slipping them over his eyes. She moved fast. She had too. The Devil’s Heir wouldn’t be asleep for much longer. Ash though was not in good shape, and within minutes, he slipped out of her feelers and collapsed onto his front on the floor. He and Silvey were only a few feet away from the underground river’s largest pool. Screeching to a stop, Silvey turned to her friend and approached him. Grabbing him again, she pulled him closer to the river, but Ash slipped for the second time and fell. He was not going to get far with that brain injury.
Silvey urged him to his feet, but he didn’t move, and it wasn’t long until he lost consciousness for the hundredth time. He was going to be asleep for a long time this round. This didn’t just come from the brain injury though. It also came from the lack of sleep he’s had for the past week.
A terrified Silvey glanced into the river’s gentle water and barked for help. She called for the Chief Wave, “Chief Wave, please! Ash is seriously hurt! He needs help! The monster was way too much for him!” As soon as she yelled that, she backed up to Ash and watched the water for a sign. It didn’t come for a few minutes, and in this few minutes the Devil’s Heir stirred and started to wake up. Silvey grew even more worried when she saw this, and she tried to wake Ash who rested motionless on his back now. “Please, Ash,” she begged as she shook him with her feelers, “You need to wake up.” No matter how hard she tried, she could not succeed. Truthfully, Ash looked like he was dead. Thanks to the impact against the wall and floor when the Heir threw him, his wounded temple was bleeding again, and a small puddle of blood rested next to his head. If dogs could cry, Silvey would. She was so scared for her friend now.
Now more alert and awake, the Devil’s Heir rose to its feet. Silvey’s jaw dropped to the ground, and she quickly turned in the direction of the river’s pool again. It wasn’t long until she finally got something from it! It wasn’t the Chief Wave though. Not yet. The water bubbled and glowed up a bright, blue color. To protect Ash, Silvey threw her body on top of him and suspiciously watched the magical phenomenon. It wasn’t long until a figure rose from the water, and her hair blasted in a gush of wind. Silvey’s eyes widened when she recognized the figure, and her mouth gaped open, “Makenna.”
She was right. The figure emerging from the pool was none other than Makenna Delling, the fifteen-year-old Metamorphic Fairy! When she headed towards the ocean after trapping Silvey and Ash, the Chief Wave stopped her and snapped her out of her trance. He told her what had happened and escorted her to the closest path that led to this underground tunnel where Ash and Silvey were. The Metamorphic Fairy had performed the Sunset Delay spell on herself again, with hope it would lower her chances of getting caught by the Octopus Man and to protect her new wings. For now, she no longer had them but instead a dress attire she made herself with her magic. Her long, brown hair had turned wavy, and it was held back in a ponytail. Her new attire consisted of a long, red, sleeveless, overskirt dress with coral-colored ruffles and flounces around the neckline and on either side it. It was attached to a white underskirt. Brown, laced-up boots adorned her feet. She held her wand in her hand, and she pointed it forward with a smile on her face.
Silvey took her body off Ash and stepped back a few feet. She focused on the beautiful girl. Her smile instantly vanished when she landed in front of her friends and held her wand off to the side. All Silvey could do was just watch. She couldn’t believe Makenna Delling came back for she and Ash. When the Chief Wave spoke to her about her wrongdoing, she realized how much she cared for Ash and the fairy dog. In favor of them, she fought against the the Devil’s Heir herself but not in a violent way at first. She instead put her ballet moves to the test. She had a plan in mind though.
Makenna crept close to the Heir and positioned herself in first position. The creature just stared at her and growled. Makenna stayed brave and smiled again. She started her dance by kicking her leg straight up. Then she added other ballet moves. The entire time she danced, blue and pink sparkles escaped her wand’s head and circled it.
A question mark appeared above the Heir’s head; it was so confused, but after a bit, it felt like dancing itself. Especially with a talented ballerina such as Makenna. Silvey was bewildered too. What on earth gave Makenna the idea that dancing would solve their problem? There had to be something behind this. There just had to. Closing her eyes, the young fairy stood on her tiptoes and crept backwards in a curtsy-like fashion. The Heir mimicked. Makenna next started to twirl, and her dress spun with her. She leaped into a jeté and danced in the direction of the wall Silvey had been on earlier, the one that had loose rocks in it. The Heir joyfully followed her. Makenna stopped under the rock wall, and with her wand still sparkling, she danced around it some more. The monster followed every move she made. This performance was merely a strategy the Chief Wave gave her.
Back where Silvey stood protecting Ash, she heard something behind her. The river’s largest pool started to bubble again, and this time, the Chief Wave itself rose.
At the sight of it, Silvey’s jaw dropped open. “Chief Wave!” she barked, and the Chief Wave nodded.
“Yes, my dear Silvey.” It and Silvey together glanced forward to Makenna, and the wave nodded, “Makenna is doing very well. This is what I wanted her to do. It’s something the Wizard Fairy would want her to do too. She’s throwing her personality into this fight.”
“But how does dancing beat the Devil’s Heir?!” Silvey frightfully asked, “I mean, it’s the Devil! It’s a freaking Devil! It can slice steel beams with one swipe of its claws!”
“Just watch,” calmly replied the Chief Wave, and the frightened fairy dog did.
Makenna continued to dance as well as the the Devil’s Heir, and she led it right where she wanted it to be – under the rock wall’s arch.
On the other side, as fast as a bullet, she made her move, “Shananzo!” and shot a spell from her wand. It crashed into the wall, CRASH, and multiple rocks fell and hammered the Devil’s Heir, causing it to cry out in excruciating pain. While the rocks hammered it, Makenna next danced towards Ash’s broadsword that dropped when the creature threw him and aimed her wand at it, “Escalata!” At her command, the sword picked itself up and headed in her direction. Makenna opened her hand, and it landed right in her grip! Eyes widening, her jaw dropped to the ground. Did she really just do that? Her? Makenna Angelia Delling? She couldn’t have, but she did.
The Metamorphic Fairy soon changed her face to serious again, and the sword’s blade glowed up like before. She held it to her right side in both hands and yelled at the creature, “Hey, Ant-Butt! Care for some spearmint? Sirkea!” Right there, Makenna let the sword go, and it headed towards her enemy.
Under the arch, the Devil’s Heir roared at her. Before it could drop down and attack though, Ash’s sword went SLICE and stabbed it right in its weak point, its chest! Lighting exploded across its entire body, and Makenna moved fast. She picked up her dress and ran towards a rock she could hide behind. Halfway to it though, she tripped and fell with a splat onto the rocky ground. The fall didn’t knock her out, but it did leave a cut on the right side of her forehead. She discovered this when she got up on her knees and reached for it. The sight of blood of her hand caused her to gag, but she didn’t let that slow her down. She instead leaped to her feet and dove behind the rock she wanted. Peeking up from it, she pointed her wand again, this time towards the dying Devil’s Heir, and yelled one last spell, “Alolamomola!” This one attacked it with both blue magic and lightning bolts. After launching the spell, Makenna quickly dipped behind her rock again, and the Chief Wave threw itself on top of Ash and Silvey to protect them. Hardening its body, it concealed them in a dry compartment. All the Devil’s Heir could do was merely screech and scream as everything Makenna threw at it finished it off. Within seconds, it exploded into a cloud of ash, and the wind blew it away. Ash’s sword rested under the arch where it used to be, unharmed and no longer glowing. Makenna’s very first fairy victory had been set in stone!
She peeped up from the rock again and checked to make sure the coast was clear. The screeches Ash and Silvey heard were no more. Finally, it was peaceful once again in the secret passageway. Makenna kept her cool for a little bit longer.
Then she yelled, “YAHOO!” and jumped straight up, “I did it! I really did it! I defeated a monster!” She was so proud of herself. Her feet moved by themselves, and she performed a victory ballet dance. She had her doubts that that plan wouldn’t work, but it did. When Makenna stopped dancing, she immediately lost her smile and jogged over to Ash’s sword. Bending over, she picked it up with a huff and next glanced at his scabbard that had been ripped off his back. The young fairy dragged the sword to it and slipped it inside. She then pulled the scabbard towards the area where the Chief Wave still protected her friends. It soon unhardened its body and took itself off the dog and unconscious boy.
“I can’t believe it.” Silvey murmured when she saw how quiet it was again.
“Told ya she could do it,” spoke the Chief Wave, “Just now, Silvey, Makenna proved that she can defeat the Octopus Man and Kraken. This victory is a huge milestone for her. We weren’t planning the Devil’s Heir, but now thinking about it, it’s not that bad.”
Silvey narrowed her eyebrows at him and admitted, “Maybe it wasn’t bad for her, but it was bad for Ash! He got his butt kicked so hard... He’s probably going to have to sleep it off for a century!”
“Well that’s only because he was already hurt. If he wasn’t, he most likely would have taken down the Heir. Attacking him was the Octopus Man’s idea. Ash rarely loses a battle, Silvey. Trust me. I’ve known him since he was yay high. I think I should take him to the Chamber of Reestablishment though. I can call Merlin and tell him for he, Selene, and Dr. Snugglekins to meet me there.”
“That’s a good idea.” Silvey admitted.
“What’s a good idea?” a voice suddenly asked behind her. Startled, Silvey’s fur stood straight up, and she whirled around only to come face to face with Makenna Delling. She held Ash’s sword behind her and plopped it down. Kneeling, she hovered over him and glanced up to the Chief Wave.
It looked her right in the eyes and explained, “I’m going to escort you and Silvey to safety and take Ash to the Chamber of Reestablishment.”
“Chamber of… What?” Makenna asked confused.
“Well actually, Ethelinda’s going to,” added the Chief Wave, “After all, she’s the Guardian of Coutarine Island. From here, you’re going to have to find the Wizard Fairy on your own, Miss Delling.”
“What? Why?” Makenna frightfully asked, “What about Ash?”
“Ash can’t help you right now. It is crucial that I take him to the chamber.”
“But what the heck is the Chamber of Reestablishment? Chief Wave!” The Chief Wave refused to answer her question.
Hardening its body into a hand, it reached into Ash’s satchel and pulled out the scroll he and Makenna were supposed to find, “Here.” The Chief Wave handed it to her, unhardened its body again, and turned back into a wave, “This is to reward for you from defeating the Devil’s Heir. You forgot to pick it up in the secret room.”
“The scroll,” Makenna spoke, “It’s the scroll we were looking for!”
“That it is. I just heard, Miss Delling, that Evelyn has returned from the Charleston Aquarium. She is awaiting your arrival in Aluna’s village section, where you were not so long ago. Hurry back there and have her help you pinpoint the next clue to the Wizard Fairy’s whereabouts. Once you do, follow her advice to him. After you seek him out, you’ll be ready to travel to the Bermuda Triangle.” Makenna lifted her finger and prepared to ask a question, but the Chief Wave didn’t let her. Instead, he picked up Ash’s scabbard, and then Ash himself and carried them both towards the underground pool.
Behind, Makenna yelled, “Wait!” and she chased after the wave, “Chief Wave, stop! Don’t leave us! Are you crazy?! Ash is going to drown!” She received no answer. She instead watched the Chief Wave disappear underwater with her friend.
Unlike Silvey, Makenna had no idea what was going on. With questions flittering around inside her brain, she turned her back to the pool and peered down on the scroll the Chief Wave had given her. Why was it so important? Silvey sat in front of the curious fairy and peered up to her. A moment of silence engulfed the area, but it wasn’t long until it was interrupted.
Makenna prepared to open the scroll, but suddenly, a huge splash was heard behind her, and she yelled. She whirled around, and her mouth dropped open when she saw Ethelinda, Coutarine Island’s Guardian, in front of her and Silvey. The towering, seaweed-covered woman twirled into the air, laughing, and held her arms straight up. Makenna’s eyes just widened. She couldn’t say anything. This was too unbelievable. Ethelinda soon lowered her arms and rested her elbows on the river’s rocky bank. Holding up her head with one hand, she met eyes with the Metamorphic Fairy and told her and Silvey, “Hello there.”
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