Ileus: The Dark Prince

The serpent met with the same fate. The beam of light pierced its mouth and ripped it into half and then it splintered, blasting the serpent into tiny pieces of flesh and bones that littered across the shore and the water. Not bothering for other serpents, Ileus shouted, "Where is Anastasia?" 

"Over here!" Kaizan called him from a cover of thick bushes.

Ileus rushed to them. "Get Darla and Tadgh with you at the entrance of the village. I am going there and creating the portal. Tell Aidan to go back and collect all items from the inn." 

Ileus held Anastasia's hand and darted towards the place where the trade path ended, while Kaizan rushed to Darla and Tadgh to hold the casket. Aidan ran towards the inn. 

"Do you think they will be able to get the casket? It must be heavy," Anastasia pointed out. 

"They were werewolves, sweetheart. Kaizan alone can carry the coffer easily but others are going to help him to hurry things up," Ileus explained. 

Anastasia gave them one last look of amazement. No wonder she was tossed around like a porcelain doll amongst them. "I wish I could use my wings to fly," she ruminated. 

Ileus scooped her in his arms and said, "I am fast enough for both of us, sweetheart!" And then he ran. He ran so fast that everything passed as a blur on the sides. Anastasia marveled at the speed and strength of the vokudlaks. 

As soon as they reached the designated place, Ileus set her on her feet and asked her to stand aside. He had to create a portal big enough for all of them to escape along with the wagon, horses and coffer. He closed his eyes, chanted spells and raised his hands up in the air. He closed his fists and drew them as if dragging heavy air down. When he opened his eyes, they were burning golden and orange. He flung his hands forward and opened his fists. A fiery beam of yellow flames left him and whirled in a circle in front of them. "We are going to step in last," he instructed her and she nodded with amazement. The whole thing was so mesmerizing. She wondered if she could ever create a portal outside her realm. 

Clopping of hooves distracted her attention and she turned to find the Mozias along with Aidan on the horses. They had got the wagon with them. "Where are Kaizan, Darla and Tadgh?" he asked. 

Before Ileus could speak, they saw the three of them running with the casket towards them. They loaded the casket on the wagon that was being driven by one of the Mozias. 

"Go in!" Ileus barked and the Mozia drove the wagon through the portal. 

All at once they heard hisses from behind. The serpent shifters had shifted into their human forms and were closing in on them. 

"Quick!" Ileus shouted. He asked other Mozias to enter while he mounted his horse along with Anastasia. 

The remaining two Mozias also jumped in. Ileus ordered the rest of them to jump in. As they were all going in, the serpents were barely fifty meters away. "Capture Ileus!" one of the roared. "Our king wants him!" 

Anastasia's heart pounded hard against the ribcage threatening to leap out of it. She gripped her husband's arms tightly. She saw Kaizan jumping through the portal, then Darla, followed by Aidan and Tadgh. She knew that Ileus was going to go last because he wanted his people to be safe. She looked back and found that the serpent shifters had come dangerously close to them. 

Ileus whipped Lovac's rein and the horse broke into a trot and then into a gallop. The serpents ran after Lovac trying to hold its rear legs, but the horse was too fast for them. When he was five meters away from the portal, he leapt into the air and entered it. Ileus chanted loudly, "Zakraya Bliz" and the portal started collapsing. A serpent lunged at the collapsing portal, and managed to get into it, cut couldn't cross it. The portal folded, cutting him into two pieces—one piece was still in the Tides of Bromval while the other on this side of the portal. 

Ileus made his horse gallop until he reached the group. They all waited for him and for a long time none of them spoke, each trying to quiet their inner panic and heaviness that surrounded their souls. Anastasia noticed the predawn gloom. Though the sun was rising slowly as a canopy of golden flowers behind the trees, forcing the stars to go elsewhere and spread their dazzle, she couldn't help feeling ominous. Even as the darkness on the outside surrendered to the sunrays, on the inside, charcoal of the night remained. "Are we in Draoidh?" she asked as she looked at the ravine on the left and slopes on the right. Across the ravine she could see thick vegetation. Mist rolled on the tip of the rocks covering the lower half of the trees. A shudder passed through her body as she witnessed the miasma in front of her. 

Ileus gathered her close to him and wrapped his right arm around her as he held Lovac's reins with the left. 

Surprisingly, she heard Kaizan grunting and spewing a litany of invectives in his language. 

"I told you," Aidan said with a clenched jaw. 

Ileus turned his horse into a circle as if to prove that Aidan was wrong. Buffeted by the chilly gusts of winds that whooshed through the ravine, he coaxed Lovac into walking across the edge of the ravine and then back to the group. 

"Where are we?" asked Anastasia again. 

With a sigh, Ileus pointed to the other side of the ravine. "That is Draoidh, love, and we are on this side. The powerful spells of the wizards and Generals of Draoidh have cast us here." 

"I don't understand…" she whispered. "You couldn't transport us inside even though you could easily go inside the last time?" 

He pursed his lips in a thin line as chose to stay quiet. His portal would have easily landed him in the palace, but the spells around the kingdom must have sensed Anastasia's presence. He was sure that it was his mother's spells to ward him off if he brought Anastasia with him. Fury rose in his chest. He challenged his mother internally. 'Stop me if you can.' 

After a moment's contemplation, he looked at the Mozias and said, "I want all the Mozias to create a portal and go inside Draoidh now." 

"What?" Aidan countered. "I am not going!" He knew that going against the prince's order was like a death sentence but he wasn't going to leave Darla. 

"Shut up Aidan!" Darla retorted. "You are going back!" She became afraid of Ileus' wrath, which she sensed was about to unfold. The prince was already fuming at the trickery of his mother. 

A muscle flickered in his jaw. "Yes, you are going back Aidan," Ileus snarled. "I will stay here along with Kaizan and Darla." 

Aidan looked flustered and angry, but looking at Ileus' mien, he decided not to argue. He clenched his fists tight. 

"Take Guarhal to Isidorus. Be as secretive as possible." Ileus instructed. "I will try to find a way inside." 

Anastasia was shocked.