A Rescue Mission – Chapter 24

“Oy! Leona, what the fuck just happened?” a soldier who was driving the truck shouted to us at the back.

Leona shouted back, “Not now, Chris. And why the hell are we heading toward the center of this shit? Aren’t we supposed to be heading out, as instructed?”

“Sorry, but we’re being chased again,” came the reply.

The other soldier, who now had his rifle in his hands, said, “Looks like we won’t be getting out of this easily.”

More enemy trucks were heading for us.

“Shit!” Leona swore. She rushed over and, with the rifle in her hand, started shooting again as she screamed.

We were trapped on all four corners now, and the one on our left drove straight at us, causing our driver to lose control of the vehicle. Suddenly, our truck crashed into the one on the right, veered off course, and spun around, making me feel sick and dizzy. I prayed for my life. I held one hand tightly to the iron bar attached to the truck, while, with my other hand, I was holding on to the injured Dave. Suddenly, the truck flipped onto the side, and we all screamed our heads off.

Somehow—and honestly, I had no idea how—we survived the crash. Once we realized that, we hastily crawled out of the vehicle as the enemy approached. Their vehicles came to a stop, and men armed with weapons rushed over to us.

Why the hell are they so relentlessly chasing after us, for God’s sake? We had nothing of value here.

Once we were out of the collapsed truck, we realized we were out on the open ground and completely vulnerable to attack. Suddenly, I felt a breeze from above. I raised my head and saw a majestic griffin hovering above us in the air.

The moment I saw the man on the back of the bird, I felt sick to my stomach. It was the prince, and he had a hard look on his face as he stared right at me.

Within a split second, he and his bird descended upon us. Gut instinct told me that he was after me and not the others, so I started running.

Leona shouted, “Alfie! Come back!”

I wasn’t listening to her. If I could lure this man and his army away from Leona and the team, that was good enough in my mind.

The prince did chase after me, shouting at his men to seize me.

Within no time, I was surrounded, and then the prince and his mighty bird swooped down and caught me. His strong arms gripped tightly around my middle as he hurled me up and dumped me on the back of the bird.

Flying high in the sky, I commanded myself not to feel sick. The position wasn’t at all comfortable, nor was it safe. Thus, I held on tightly to the bird as it flapped its wings and soared higher.

I raised my face and looked the prince in the eye. I asked, “What do you want with me?”

His face hard, the prince seized a bunch of my hair and gripped tightly, which hurt. He asked darkly, “Your qi. What the fuck happened to your pure qi?”

So he couldn’t sense it, eh? That meant the protective spell worked.

I said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His grip tightened, and he jerked my head back. It was painful, and I felt tears burning my eyes.

“Lies!” he said. “You’re lying. Oh, I’ll draw that pure qi out. No matter what it takes, I’ll draw it out of you.”

Suddenly, there was a massive bump, and I nearly plummeted to my death—and would have if I hadn’t been holding so tightly to the bird.

The griffin cried out as if in pain, and then it started falling. Appearing as if out of the blue was Caleb atop his winged lion. With a kickass-looking rifle in one hand and the other holding on to the reins, he and his beast charged forward. I watched in awe as the winged lion opened his mouth wide and then attacked the bird right on the neck, causing the bird to cry out and lose control. Falling at a breakneck pace, Caleb and his winged lion pursued me. Once he got close, he grabbed for my arm and effortlessly pulled me onto his lap. Then he pulled the reins again, and the winged lion veered away from the plummeting griffin and the prince and flew away in another direction.

I heard the prince yell and curse at Caleb as he and his bird fell and, a moment later, hit the ground with a loud thud.

I held on to Caleb tightly as he took me over to another truck and dropped me off there. He ordered, “Take him out of here. Now!”

“Aye, my lord!” the soldier said.

I watched as Caleb and his beast flew away to continue with the battle. I held on tightly as the truck drove at full speed toward the other end of the field.

I saw Felix and his winged lion heading toward the prince and his now severely injured bird on the ground. A moment later, Felix got down from his lion and walked toward the prince.

Oh my God! What is Felix doing?

Suddenly, it was an all-out fight, with both men going at each other with their bare fists. Lord, but Felix looked pissed as hell as he smashed his fists repeatedly into the prince. But, of course, that prince was no weakling. He punched back like a pro boxer.

Up in the air, I noticed Caleb and another warrior lord kept on firing their weapons at the enemy below.

“Get down!” the soldier shouted at me, drawing my attention away from the battlefield.

I obediently did, and thankfully, no enemy was chasing after us this time. Within a few minutes, we reached the safety of the woods, and the soldier parked the truck. Then he got down and ran over to me. He said, “Stay hidden, all right?”

I nodded. Then, with his weapon, he ran over to the other side of the woods. I watched him as he lay low on the ground, prepared his rifle, and started shooting at the enemy from this distance. Wow! He is cool.

I shifted my attention to the battlefield again and scanned across, searching for Felix. I found him in the middle of it all, and I immediately zeroed in on him, using my lenses. He was still fighting the prince, his dark warrior garment now torn and stained with dirt and blood.

I saw him moving his lips as if he was talking, and I wanted to know what he was saying. Instinctively, I closed my eyes and concentrated for a second. Suddenly, his voice became clear as day.

I heard his heavy breathing as he fought. He said, “You fucking haven’t changed, have you, Philip? Still have a grudge, or is this about something else?”

I saw the prince moving his lips, too, though I couldn’t hear anything. Suddenly, he attacked Felix forcefully, as if he were angry, punching the lord here and there on his body and then right on the face. When he moved back, he pulled Felix’s mask off in the process.

I gasped in reaction as I stared hard at the scene before me. I heard Felix’s heavy breathing. I also noted that his stance was tense, as if he were in a rage. Then he said, “You just have to go and ruin my perfect image, don’t you?” He sighed, and then raised his head to look up to the sky.

At this point, I still couldn’t see Felix’s face without his mask, as he had his back to me.

He said, “I didn’t want the little elf to see me like this… This uncool, fucking hideous version of me.”

Then he laughed, a mixture of pain and sorrow and dripping with cynicism.

I saw dark dust and smoke swirling around him, and I knew this was his dark qi. In an instant, it circled him completely and charged up to the sky, twisting and swirling like a desert tornado. The men who were close to him were engulfed by his dark qi, and they were attacked and thrust back by the sheer force of its power.

When the dark qi settled and gently flowed around him, I finally got to see Felix for who he really was without the mask on.

Two horns protruded from atop his forehead. Long, fiery red hair, just like a burning flame—glowing and engulfing—flowed down his back. Tall, massive, bulky, muscular body twice his normal size. Deep-set lion-like mauve eyes, along with a snouted nose and wide mouth with fangs.

My stomach hollowed, and I felt like fainting.

Felix is a demon lord.

I continued to watch in astonishment as he charged forward at full speed and attacked the prince, beating the crap out of the man in a few seconds. His movements were fast and powerful as malicious, overwhelming dark qi enveloped him. Within a few seconds, the prince was beaten and couldn’t even move an inch.

Felix was about to give the prince another formidable, deadly punch when another griffin appeared and, with a burst of energy, attacked him.

Felix jumped back in time.

Within an instant, the griffin descended, and a woman in a purple garment seated on the bird bent down and swiped the prince away.

I couldn’t watch anymore, as I felt my body shaking like a leaf.

Felix was a demon lord. I couldn’t get the sight of him out of my mind. God, I felt dizzy and exhausted and sick.

I closed my eyes. Just for a moment.

I wanted to rest and forget about everything that had happened to me so far. I wanted all this to just be a dream. I wanted everything to be normal again, where I was back on St. James Island with my parents, going to the beach and just chilling and enjoying my summer.

Felix is a demon lord.

I fell unconscious and retreated into the darkness of my mind where it was safe.