Bone's End

"Any chance it's that annoying demon?" one of the werewolves asked their boss, referring to Ammine.

"No, there's no chance," said Bloodmane.

"Whoever or whatever is coming down that tunnel, its presence is bizarre. I have never felt anything like it before," Haro added.

"Yea, while I can't sense magic that well, I'm getting a really dangerous vibe from that-'' Bloodmane's sentence was cut off by the sound of childish laughter echoing down the tunnel.

Upon hearing that laughter, Kies felt a chill go down his spine. He glanced over at Fae and saw that all the blood had drained from his face, making him several shades paler than he already was. "Oh no..."

"What do you mean, oh no?" the witch asked him. "Do you know what's coming towards us?"

"Yes, it's not something we can handle. We best leave while we still have the chance. Your excellency, please open up a rift and bring us out of here."

"Well, that's my plan in the first place as we have already accomplished what we were here for. But what is that thing that would make even you, the great witch, fear it? From all the years that you have served me, I have never seen you like this before."

"The thing that is coming our way-" Fae pointed down the tunnel before continuing, "-is what is believed to have killed my previous master, who was also the previous ruler of this forest."

"Oh, is that so... What kind of being is capable of killing someone as powerful as that?" the witch asked curiously while opening a rift for them to escape through. Anyone would naturally want to know what kind of a monster it had to be able to bring down the strongest being in the forest that was the ruler.

Fae shook his head and said, "I would rather not speak of it, but if I must describe it somehow, it takes on the form of a small humanoid child. But do not be fooled by its innocent appearance as what hides under it is something to the likes of which you have never seen before... and it is better if you don't find out," he added after a slight pause.

"I'll take your word for it, that it isn't something that I would like to meet." The witch finished opening the rift and beckoned for everyone to go through. The werewolves were the first to go followed by the three who were on the Bone Whistler's side, then Kies, Haro, Issie, and finally Fae and the witch. Everyone made it through to the other side safely, and not a moment too soon either. From the other side of the rift, they heard a burst of loud laughter, signaling that the monster was very close. The rift abruptly closed by itself a few seconds later which surprised the witch since it wasn't her who made it close.

They had arrived back at the castle in the sky in another dimension above the forest if Kies remembered that right. They were currently in a new room that he hadn't seen before. It was rather plain with no decorations and had nothing but a few chairs and tables.

Everyone took a minute to settle down after the battle they just had and Bloodmane walked up to the witch and asked her, "What are we going to do with these three?" The werewolf pointed at the three who were not technically their prisoners. They were being watched by the werewolves so that none of them could escape or try something fishy, primarily focusing on Lisler considering the things that he had done.

"I'll deal with that later." The witch turned to Kies and said, "For now, I think I better thank you for helping and also find your companion as she is still searching this forest for the Bone Whistler." The witch waved her hand and chanted some magic words and a puddle of water appeared before her. "Show me my heart's desire."

An image of the forest appeared in the puddle and it panned to a familiar demon standing on top of a tree branch who was angrily searching for something. Below the tree, littered all around the base, were bodies of lesser undead who were unlucky enough to have been in her way while she was trying to find her target.

"Ha! She's nowhere even close to where the Bone Whistler was!" Bloodmane remarked. From the looks of it, it seemed that Ammine had gone quite far past where she was meant to go and was at the edge of the forest. There was nothing in front of her other than empty lands.

"We better go get her," said the witch.

"Are you going to open after another rift?" Kies asked her.

"I wish I could, but I'm completely drained of magic after that last one. We will have to go fetch her the old fashion way."

"What do you mean?"

The witch waved for Fae to come to her. The undead hurried over at her command. "What is it, your excellency?"

"Go get her. You know what to do right?"

"Yes, right away."

"Where is he going?" Kies asked as Fae walked off and disappeared behind a door.

She pointed at the puddle and said, "It's faster to show you than explaining it."

Kies looked at the puddle. Nothing has changed so far. Ammine was still sitting on top of the tree grumpily and some lesser undead were starting to notice her presence and swarm her at the base of the tree. You would have thought that the bodies of their kind which laid on the dirt surrounding the tree would have warded them off but they didn't seem to care.

Kies continued watching the puddle and didn't see anything of interest. Ammine flew down and quickly disposed of the undead and flew back up. She was still searching for the Bone Whistler, turning her head left and right. Kies noticed that her eyes were glowing and guessed that she was probably using a spell that let her see in the dark or enhanced her eyesight. A few more minutes passed and Kies was just about to ask the witch what she was talking about when he saw it.

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