Dark Castle

My grip on Garv's feathers tightened — holding for my dear life when he suddenly brought his head to the ground. The part where he dug a small hole. Exactly seconds after that, Garv started drilling on the hole nonstop using his beak like a goddamned woodpecker — drumming furiously on the dirt. Its back vibrating.

It didn't even take a whole three seconds to create a pit deep enough to bury a whole human body. It was that fast. And while his beak was doing the drilling, his wings are sweeping the dirt to the sides making a veil of dust around us to form into a misty fog.

And before I knew it, we were already under the ground. It made a tunnel! But it didn't leave a hole behind us as he would sweep the dirt backward, covering our tracks as we go deeper.

Cough! Cough! I have forgotten about Ethan's warning earlier until the surrounding has become dark and dusty. I immediately pulled the cloak over my head, covering it completely.

I didn't know how long exactly was it until the vibration stopped and I was finally able to breathe some "real" air. I removed the cloak that was covering my head and saw that we are now in a completely different place.

In front of us stood a gigantic dark castle. A gothic dark castle to be precise. It was so high and some of its tips are camouflaged by the fog above and some naturally blended to the darkness of the night sky. A type of castle that would first enter your mind when you thought of a vampire castle. Its windows aren't even lit.

I heard a flapping sound of the wings from not so far. I turned to look what it was and saw a yet another weird-looking winged animal flying around the castle. I couldn't clearly see its figure from where I am. But there's one thing I am certain of — it was huge. For some reason, I have got this feeling that every animal that we are gonna met from hereon will be colossal. Or if not, would be equally bizarre.

"Surprised, aren't we?" Ethan suddenly asked. Long gone was the excited look on his face. "You were expecting us to fly, weren't you? Well, sorry to have disappointed you, Mr. Jack. Flying means attracting unnecessary attention, you know?" he said.

"Of course, I did! Who wouldn't? I mean, why shouldn't I? Garv's an owl, Ethan. And an owl was supposed to fly. Also, what were you so excited about earlier?" I asked. I didn't look away from him. I wanted to see the expression on his face. I'm starting to get curious about this guy.

"Hmm… I see your point. But you see, Mr. Jack. Garv isn't a normal owl. He's a hybrid from many animals like moles and rabbits. And for some reason, the owl has become more dominant when it comes to his appearance. You can basically see that," he said while going down from Garv's body. I went down after him. Monica and Victor were last. "But well… ahem! Speaking of why I was excited. You see…" he scratched the back of his head. And even if it's dark, I can see his pale cheeks flush red. "I have always admired Garv's ability to dig holes so fast. You see, digging that fast is just impossible for me."

For a moment, I was at a loss for words. "Of all things, digging? And why the heck would you even dig a hole? What for?" I asked. It couldn't be one of your weird hobbies, could it?

"Ha! Allow me to tell you this, Mr. Jack. Underground tunnels are way better than houses and apartments!" he proudly declared. And I was slack-jawed for a second. What was this guy talking about? But then I remembered what he was. A rabbit shapeshifter.

He seems to be pleased with the idea that I wasn't able to respond, thinking I was speechless by what he said. Well, that's one part of it but the real reason I did not respond was that I noticed Monica and Victor looking at us, also Garv. They must be waiting for us to finish talking.

Our conversation basically ended there and now, we're headed towards the dark castle. Monica and Victor were leading the way. Garv was walking beside them — still in his colossal form.

As soon as we got to the entrance, the towering double door suddenly opened on its own slowly, producing a creaking sound. It was as though it was welcoming us. I gaped as soon as I saw what was inside.

From the entrance, there was a red carpet extending up to who knows how long. The entrance was so big you could have fit the whole of the apartment in it. It was that big. The ceiling was so high as well. In fact, Garv was walking just fine inside despite his colossal size.

The walls on either side were lit with torches and that's not even the most amazing thing! They would light up with red-yellow flames as soon as we get near them on their own as though they had sensors in them.

While I was busy admiring the entrance, I suddenly heard some tiny footsteps going in our direction. I jerked my head to see what it was and saw a yet another weird animal. And for the record, this one is by far the weirdest in terms of looks. It has the head of a capybara, a body of a baby elephant walking like a human, and bat-like wings protruding from its back.

"That's Mr. Chaffer, the best butler there is. And as you can obviously see. He's a hybrid," Ethan whispered to my side.

"Welcome to the mourning castle!" Mr. Chaffer greeted. He then turned to the skeletons and said, "Thank you, Monica and Victor. I will take it from here."

But instead of leaving, they said something to Mr. Chaffer. I mean, that was how they look like to me at least.

"Okay, I understand. You can go and get the lord," he said before turning to us, specifically to me. "Forgive me for the late introduction. I'm Mr. Chaffer, the mourning castle's one and only butler. Nice meeting you."

"No, I don't mind at all. I'm Jack, please call me Jack."

"I see. Nice meeting you, Mr. Jack. To you as well, Mr. Ethan. We've met again," he said. Ethan just nodded at him.

He motioned us to follow him which we did. But Victor and Monica went a separate way. Garv went with us.

Mr. Chaffer led us to the dining hall which looked… kind of odd. There was a large long table by the middle. But it was the chairs. The sizes aren't the same at all! Some looked like they belonged to a giant. The others are crooked while the others are flowery. He made us seat on the "normal" ones.