Sanity is forbidden Circulation: 110,013,549 Issue: 158 | 20th day of Gathering, Y6
Home | Archives Articles | Editorial | Short Stories | Comics | New Series | Continued Series
 

Of Lights from Within: Part Five


by blubblub317

--------

Also by chocolateisamust

"It's okay Maddi," a voice suddenly whispered from behind him. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

     Maddi could've fainted from relief when he realized his captor was no other than Nagria. He speedily jerked his head towards her, and the Kougra made the widest grin of his life. "Oh Nagria," he moaned, "I thought you were Hubrid. I thought that I wa -"

     "Shhh…" Nagria pressed her paw to her beak. "We must be quiet."

     Maddi nodded. "Okay," he murmured. "I'll be quiet."

     "Good." The Pteri slowly let go of Maddi, and the child stumbled into an upright position. He flashed an awkward grin toward Nagria, and she gently wrapped an oversized wing around him.

     Maddi wanted to stay like that forever… eternally surrounded by her protective wing. With Nagria guarding him like that, he felt as though nothing could harm him, and like everything would be all right.

     But everything was not all right, because suddenly one of the two saw red eyes gleaming in the distance. Maddi was the one who did not spy them, as he was staring at Nagria, but the Pteri spotted them all too well.

     She quickly snatched Maddi's scruff into her paws and hoisted him onto her back. "Hold on," she hissed. "Hold on tight."

     Maddi was confused, but he nodded anyway and grabbed firmly onto her feathers. Nagria took in a deep breath, and started flapping her wings in a slow motion. But she had been airborne for only around a minute when something happened.

     The glimmering eyes that had been watching them so intently before reappeared and an enormous body slammed itself against Nagria. Maddi cried and swiftly tumbled off her back. Fortunately, before he could fall to his doom, he hastily seized onto one of her smooth feathers.

     "Be careful Maddi!" Nagria yelled, at the same time trying to evade the creature's unearthly attacks.

     Maddi gulped and gripped onto the feather even tighter then before. He had no idea of what to do or what to think. Would this be the abrupt end of his short life? He didn't know and he was glad about that. Sometimes, things are left better mysteries, and this was one of them. Not having anything else to do but hold on, the Kougra peered down at the ground below and immediately gasped chillingly.

     He finally realized that he was up in the murky black skies of the Haunted Woods and was approximately 150 feet away from the ground. The horrifying truth quickly flooded his mind and stomach, and made him feel incredibly nauseous. His paws began slowly slipping away from the feather, the only thing that would keep him alive. Unfortunately, Maddi's paw let go and his body immediately began flying down into the gloomy black skies. Realizing what was happening, Maddi shrieked like he had never shrieked before.

     "NNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!" Maddi bellowed, his voice seeming as if it were going to pop any second.

     The scream filled the midnight sky, and pierced the ears of Nagria and Hubrid Nox.

     Hubrid Nox's eyes flashed at the Kougra, who was flying down. He roared, "NO! I can't let him die! He's the only one who can unlock my puzzle box!"

     The evil overlord immediately threw himself down in attempt to snatch Maddi from the skies. The Kougra thought he would fall to his own doom, but soon realized he had something - a fairly large Pawkeet - flying for him. Hubrid was more than prepared.

     Nagria glared at the Chia and yelled, "Oh no, you don't!" And then she zoomed down after Maddi.

     The villain and his ex-accomplice were racing as fast as they could to seize the Kougra. Nagria was beating her wings harder by the second, and Hubrid was screaming at the Pawkeet to 'hurry up already'.

     Somebody caught Maddi in the knick of time. But it wasn't either of the two who were pursuing him. Instead, it was a stranger… a small faerie Gelert, in a black cloak.

     "Maddi," it whispered as it landed gently on the ground. "It's me… Kylan."

     "K-Kylan?" Maddi stammered, thinking of the guard from earlier that night.

     He nodded slowly, and let go of the Kougra. "Yeah," he murmured. "Not so mysterious afterall, eh? Just a Gelert. A Gelert who was plucked off the streets by Hubrid Nox as just a pup."

     Maddi sniffled. "The rest of the creatures… a-are they just Gelerts also?"

     "Some of them. It's a mix of Gelerts and Acaras and Kach -" Before he could finish, there was a large THUMP! on the ground a few feet over.

     Both Maddi and Kylan instantly shot their glances to where the noise had come from, and they discovered Hubrid, his Pawkeet and Nagria sitting there, all looking awfully confused. The forest was silent for a few moments, but then the Pawkeet let out a long tweet.

     "Be quiet!" Hubrid snarled, poking the petpet angrily. He stumbled up to his paws and glared at the tiny creature, and then at Nagria. "Where's that filthy li'l runt, Nagria?" he snapped.

     "What little runt?" she replied sarcastically.

     "You KNOW who I'm talking about!"

     "Oh, really? Find him yourself, Hubrid."

     And it was then that Kylan grabbed onto Maddi's paw and led him silently away. Hubrid was too absorbed in the argument to even notice.

     "Where are we going?" Maddi whispered as softly as he could, at the same time tiptoeing away from Hubrid Nox and Nagria.

     Kylan did not reply, but instead suddenly changed his walking direction to his right. Maddi followed. They quickly rushed deeper into the woods, making sure that the tree branches didn't swipe their bodies and give away their hiding spot.

     "What are we gonna do now?" Maddi asked in his normal voice. He felt certain that they were now far enough away so that Hubrid couldn't hear them.

     Kylan jerked his head towards his backside and said, "Hop on. We're going to Faerieland."

     Maddi grinned blissfully and quickly scrambled onto the Faerie Gelert's back. At last, he would be able to return home and be with Nora and Alli.

     "Just so you know," Kylan abruptly said, cutting through Maddi's chain of thoughts, "this isn't over. We still have to destroy the Puzzle Box without Hubrid snatching you away so that he can use you to unlock it. You're still in a lot of danger and a lot ca - oh what am I saying? Fyora will explain everything. Let's just get to her for now."

     Maddi groaned in despair, unhappy about still having to deal with the box and Hubrid, and gently laid his head on Kylan's neck. "Oh well," he whispered, "at least I'll be with my family."

     Although the Kougra couldn't see it, Kylan's expression stiffened. "I wouldn't be too sure about that, Maddi," he said softly.

     "What do you mean?" Maddi questioned in perplexity.

     Kylan heaved a sigh, and started flapping his wings. He was soon soaring high in the sky, and it was then that he spoke again. "You're still in a lot of danger," the Gelert explained. "It might not be safe for you to stay with your family. It would place them in hazardous situation. I don't think you want that."

     "No, I don't," Maddi stated.

     "You might have to live in secrecy for now… with a new family, and a new name. That might sound scary right now, but in the end, it could be for the betterment of everybody."

     Maddi took in a deep breath, and squeezed his eyes shut. "How do you know what Fyora would do? Y-you're a former minion of Nox. How do I know you're not just betraying me?"

     Kylan calmly answered, "I guess you don't know. I just hope you can trust me. I promise you that I'm being sincere."

     And yet, Maddi didn't trust him. This sudden feeling of hate and distrust washed over the Kougra. "Land," he hissed. "Land on the ground. I'll be fine. I can do everything myself from now on."

     "No, you cannot," Kylan retorted.

     "Yes, I really can." Maddi clenched his teeth in irritation.

     Kylan held a stern expression on his face. "I am not landing, Maddi," he calmly proclaimed. "Either you jump off and never see the light of this world again, or you fly to Faerieland with me."

     "I'd rather jump off then stay with you," Maddi hissed.

     And before Kylan could say another word, Maddi let go of the Gelert's shoulders and pushed himself off of his back, causing the Kougra to fly down into the endless night sky.

     Kylan gasped, and yelled, "Not again!"

     The Gelert shot himself down into the murky clouds, his eyes quickly collecting salt-ridden tears from all the air that was passing through them. He flapped his large wings intensely, positioning his strong paws so that they would catch Maddi flawlessly. And in a matter of seconds, they did.

     Surprisingly, Maddi not scream, nor did he try to let go of the Gelert's strong grip. He simply hung there in the night sky, and began sobbing uncontrollably. "I want my family back!" the Kougra wailed, his arms draped around his weak stomach.

     Kylan heaved a sigh of pity and pushed the Kougra onto his back. "You have no idea how sorry I am, Maddi," he said softly. "And don't worry; I will try to get you to your family as soon as possible. But we simply must complete these serious affairs first."

     "What serious affairs?" Maddi asked through his tears. "Destroying the box? Capturing Hubrid? What!?"

     Kylan started flapping his wings slowly. "Yes, Maddi," he stated, "we do have to destroy the box. But capturing Hubrid… that might be impossible."

     "Impossible?" the Kougra squeaked.

     The Gelert nodded, and took in a deep breath. "Impossible," he said.

     Maddi bit his lip nervously, the word 'impossible' racing through his mind. Nora used to tell him that nothing was impossible. But Nora wasn't here now. It was just he and Kylan. The two of them and nothing else.

     Maddi pondered on those words for a few moments. "Fine," the Kougra finally sighed. "I'll be patient, and wait till Fyora explains everything. Just please get there quickly, okay?"

     A small smile formed on the corners of Kylan's lips. "Sure," she said. "Hey, why don't you rest during the trip? It's been a tough day, eh?"

     "Yeah, I guess you're right," Maddi agreed, yawning. He stretched out his arms and placed one over the other, subsequently resting his head on top of them.

     "Good night, Kylan," Maddi whispered.

     "Good night, Maddi."

     And with the conversation settled, Maddi's eyes slowly shut, his mind continuing to run the same sentence over and over again: Don't worry Alli and Nora. I'll see you both again very, very soon.

To Be Continued…

 
Search the Neopian Times




Week 158 Related Links


Other Stories


---------

Only an Accident
"If you say 'Eld of the Fire, come to my aid!' while holding this leaf I'll come and try to help you," Eld said. "But please do be careful, this can only be used once."

by shadowcristal

---------

Jelly Woes
I'm weird

by imogenweasley



Submit your stories, articles, and comics using the new submission form.