FULL NOVELXO Chapter Secret Helpers - Part2
Alexa reached the door of the castle. It was abandoned, and she couldn’t sense any form of life. " Why would there be a castle here?”
" There is no ‘why’ in this magical forest,” Adele replied.” Anyways, let’s shift and open this door.”
Adele shifted back and got dressed. Unexpectedly, the door opened way too easily. She saw a great hall with high ceilings and tall pillars, which looked old but was still in excellent condition. In front of her was a huge staircase that led to several rooms.
“Let’s explore the castle; maybe we would find some clues to the holy river,” Alexa suggested.
The first few rooms were regular rooms with nothing interesting. She then entered the last room, which looked like a gallery for paintings and artifacts. One particular painting held Adele’s interest. It looked like a typical picture of a beautiful scenery on the outside, but when she looked closely, she found something familiar.
" Doesn’t this look like the map we have?” Adele remarked.
" You are right. Look near the moon.”
Adele saw a woman in white standing under the moonlight, pointing towards a river in front of her. ” Is that the Moon Goddess?”
“Probably.”
Adele closely observed the entire picture and said, ” Right now, we are here...” she pointed at the image of a castle. ” ...so we have to move north to go towards the holy river.”
She then heard a cracking noise as if something was broken. ” Someone’s here!!” Adele exclaimed and rushed out of the room towards the sound and saw a flower vase shattered on the ground. She looked around and did not find anyone. ” This is strange,” Adele said. ” The windows are closed, so there’s no wind blowing; then how did the vase fall down?”
" I don’t even smell anything,” Alexa said.
" What did you say?” Adele asked suddenly.
" I said I don’t even smell anything peculiar.”
" That means...” Adele thought of something and unexpectedly turned around and said aloud, ” I suddenly feel famished. Let’s look for something to eat.”
" What? Didn’t we just eat?” Alexa asked. “And why are you screaming?”
" Shhh... just go along with what I say,” Adele whispered to Alexa.
Chris and Liam heaved a sigh of relief at the brief escape. Chris was hiding behind the large curtains, whereas Liam had climbed onto a chandelier that looked like it would snap anytime now. He hurriedly got down as soon as Adele was out of the room.
" Where’s that damn puppy?” Chris scowled. ” He almost got us caught.”
Liam picked up the puppy hiding under the table and cooed, ” Don’t be so rude. He jumped on the vase by mistake.”
They slowly peeked out of the room and saw Adele going toward the garden, searching for food.
“Let’s follow. It might be dangerous outside,” Chris said, and they tiptoed behind Adele.
Adele was jumping under a tree, trying to pluck a fruit, but her hand could not reach it.
" The f**k are you doing? Can’t you climb the tree?” Alexa said, exasperated.
Adele ignored Alexa and kept on trying.
" Can’t she climb the tree?” Liam remarked.
" What if she’s hurt?” Chris said, worried.
" Then we should help her.”
" But how?”
Liam plucked out a few fruits and threw them in the direction of Adele.
Adele picked up the fruit and wondered, ” Did it fall from the top? It felt like it came from the other direction.”
After having her fill, she jumped into the lake just for fun. Chris and Liam were still hidden and enjoyed watching Adele.
" I wish I could join her,” Liam whispered.
" Me too,” Chris said sadly. He then looked again and whispered,” Where is she? I can’t find her.”
They waited for a few minutes, and still, there was no sign of her.
" Where did she go?” Liam said in a panic. Without a second thought, both Chris and Liam jumped into the lake and frantically looked around for Adele.
" So, I guessed right.”
Chris and Liam suddenly paused when they heard the familiar voice. Adele was standing outside the lake with her hands folded. ” Why are you guys here?”
" We...umm...” Chris thought about what to say.
" We came for trekking in the mountains,” Liam replied.
" Trekking?” Adele rolled her eyes. ” Then why are you following me?”
" We happened to see you by chance,” Chris replied.
" Do I look like an idiot to you?” Adele asked, annoyed.
" Of course not,” Chris said hurriedly and came out of the water, followed by Liam.
" You guys must leave,” Alexa said, taking control. " I don’t want you here.”
" But the forest is so dangerous. You cannot survive alone,” Liam tried to reason with Alexa.
" I don’t care,” Alexa fumed. " I will manage it somehow.”
Suddenly the puppy pounced on Adele, and she was startled for a moment. Liam hurriedly picked it up, and Adele asked, ” You found a puppy here?”
" Yes. Isn’t it cute?” Liam asked with a smile while Adele intensely stared at it.
The puppy looked scared and jumped out of Liam’s hands and ran into the bushes.
" Why did you scare him?” Liam said and looked for the puppy.
Adele was about to respond when she saw a strange-looking creature emerge from the trees behind them. It looked like a wolf, but it was not. Even though it had the face of a wolf, its teeth were sharp like those of a shark, its claws were as pointed as tiger claws, and its golden eyes were similar to a cat.
" What in the World is that?!” Liam exclaimed.
“Argh!!! It’s ugly,” Chris said, and the creature directly pounced upon Adele. Adele dodged at the right moment, and Chris and Liam appeared in front of her shielding her from the beast.
" You stay here. We will take care of Mr. Ugly,” Chris said and lunged at it.
Adele grunted in disapproval but shut up because she didn’t want to distract her mates. The so-called unknown beast had no chance in front of the two known beasts. Within seconds, the creature fled with its tail between its legs, scared for his life.
" That was easy,” Liam chuckled.
" Couldn’t live up to that scary look.”
" You okay?” Liam asked Adele.
" See, three are better than one,” Chris added.
" I could have handled him myself, “Adele said.
” This one was easy, but what about others? There are lots around here. Earlier, there was a lion...”
" Lion? What lion?”
" A lion was just this far from attacking you, but we tackled it,” Liam said proudly.
" And, that weird trap which rendered her unconscious,” Chris stated.
" Ya, that too,” Liam added.
" You never know what’s going to happen, so you have to be always alert...”
" Are you done?” Adele asked.
" For now,” Liam said.
" Why did you follow me?”
" How could we leave you alone here?”
" I didn’t want anybody else to come; that’s why I left without informing.”
" That was a foolish move,” Chris couldn’t help but say, and Liam hit him on his head.
“He means you should have told us; we would have come along with you without hesitation.”
" This trip can be deadly. I don’t want anybody else to get hurt,” Adele yelled in frustration.
Chris and Liam were lost for words.
" W-We thought you were angry and didn’t want to...”
" Yeah...that too,” Adele added hurriedly, but Liam and Chris didn’t buy it.
" If that’s the case, then I should be the one to handle the moonstone,” Chris declared. ” You have to deal with it only because of the Black bloodline, so I must be the one to get rid of it.”
He faced Liam and said, ” Take her and leave; I will continue this journey alone.”
" If you are alone, there is a higher possibility of getting hurt, but if we are united, we can have one another’s backs and keep everyone safe,” Liam said calmly.
" They are talking as if we are not even there,” Alexa scoffed.
" But whatever they said is right,” Adele whispered to her.
" So you want them to tag along?” Alexa sneered.
" I-I mean, they helped us...” Adele said, and the puppy came rushing out of the bushes towards Liam.
" I found him,” Liam said excitedly.
" Rather, he found you,” Chris said, rolling his eyes.
Adele continuously stared at the puppy and said, ” The puppy is indeed adorable. Can I hold it?”
Liam nodded and handed the puppy to her.
Adele stroked the puppy behind its ear and looked into his eyes. Out of the blue, she twisted the puppy’s leg breaking it instantly while Liam and Chris watched in shock.