Of Lights from Within: Part Three

Also by chocolateisamust

"Somebody gave me a box," Maddi murmured.

      Fyora frowned and titled her head to the side. "What type of box?" she inquired.

      "A…a Hubrid's Puzzle Box," the baby Kougra gulped.

      The queen nodded slowly. "Why is this important?" she asked gently.

      "Because," Maddi explained, "not just anybody gave me the box. Hubrid Nox did."

      Fyora gasped, and urgently grabbed onto Maddi's paw. "Follow me, child," she instructed.

      Trembling, Maddi let the faerie drag him away. Soon, Fyora arrived at a small purple door; one so ordinary nobody would ever take much notice of it. It merely looked like, well, what it was; a door. She opened it, let both herself and the Kougra in, and then closed it again.

      "Where are we?" Maddi questioned in a low voice.

      Fyora smiled, but it was a smile of apprehension, not kindness. "We are in a safe place," she answered. The queen let go of Maddi's paw and softly shut her eyes; she was shaking.

      "Why d-did you bring me here?" the Kougra asked.

      Fyora reopened her eyes and stared at the child. "I will not lie to you, young Kougra," she said. "You are in horrible danger."

      "D-danger?" Maddi's voice squeaked.

      The faerie nodded. "Yes, danger. You and all of your family. Oh my, your family! Where are they? You're too young to be way up here in Faerieland all alone!"

      "I-I ran away!" Maddi cried, his eyes widening as they gazed upon Fyora's incredibly frightened expression.

      "We must head to the residence that they're at immediately!" she cried, her wings already began to flap madly. Maddi gulped and then nodded. "Hop on my back," Fyora added, beckoning her head towards her backside.

      Maddi quickly hopped on and made sure his paws had a firm grip on the Queen's shoulders. Queen Fyora made her way out of the castle and into the rising sky, her wings flapping more furiously then ever.

      "Where is your family located?" she shouted, as she peered down into her city.

      "They're staying in this blue house. I don't know the address!" Maddi yelled back.

      "Blue house?" Fyora whispered questioningly. "Thanks goodness. Only one family in this entire area has a blue house!"

      The Faerie tore down to a neighborhood and swooshed to the entrance of the abode where Maddi's family was located.

      Fyora urgently knocked on the wooden door, brushing a strand of her hair out of her face while doing so. She was panting intensely and her cloak seemed incredibly wrinkled. The two waited at the entry for what seemed like hours. It looked as though there was no one inside the house.

      At last, Fyora whispered, "This was what I expected."

      "What do you mean?" Maddi cried, his eyes quickly forming fresh tears.

      Fyora sighed and silently pushed the door open. When Maddi stepped inside, he couldn't believe his eyes.

      For inside, the house was trashed; chairs and couches and tables and books were scattered everywhere, all ripped and broken and in awful condition.

      Maddi gasped in horror. "ALLI! NORA!" the Kougra screamed. When there was no reply, he sunk to his knees and starting weeping uncontrollably.

      Fyora silently surveyed the room. She had never been one to cry, yet this situation did in fact bring tears to her eyes. A helpless child's family taken because of a naïve mistake. The mere thought of that sent chills up her spine.

      "Child," she finally murmured, "where was the box?"

      Maddi sniffled. "My name is Maddi… not child," he sobbed.

      Fyora nodded softly. "Maddi, where was the box when you last saw it?"

      Trembling, Maddi thrust his paw to an open door all the way across the foyer. "In there," he said, "on top of the dresser."

      Fyora quickly glided off toward the area specified. Maddi waited alone for a few minutes, but then the faerie returned empty-handed.

      "Is it gone?" the Kougra inquired, gulping.

      She nodded dismally, and brushed a tear from her pale cheek. "Yes, Maddi," she replied.

      He let out a long groan. "What am I going to do, Fyora?" he asked in between sobs.

      The Queen sighed and placed her gentle hand on his forehead. "I found this," was all she said. She dropped a small and crisp piece of parchment in Maddi's paw. Maddi slowly unrolled it and began reading:

      To Maddi and All Others Who It May Concern,

      I, the great almighty one, have taken your family away from you. It seems as though a girl who goes by the name Nora contains a special gift that can unlock the Puzzle Box and provide me with my world-dominating powers. When I first saw her a few weeks ago, I immediately felt that she possessed this special gift, which was why I handed you that Puzzle Box. I needed to prove it to myself that she was the one. And you, such an immature and foolish child fell for it and now, you will never have them back. Neither the bearer of the gift or the Lupe girl called Alli who is not with you for information purposes. Do not bother saving them; I have them hidden in my undisclosed fortress. However, if you try, as I know you are, I advise you to watch your back.

      That was the end of the note. When Maddi had completed reading it, he slowly stood up and gazed at Fyora.

      "I-I can't believe it," he whimpered, tears gliding down his dirt-spread cheeks.

      Fyora let out a quiet sob, wrapped her arms around Maddi, and gave him a warm and gentle hug.

      "Do not worry," she whispered. "We will find them."

      Maddi snuffled. "But how do you KNOW that, Fyora? You saw what Nox said! It's in an undisclosed location! Nora and Alli are gone forever!"

      Gently, the faerie lifted Maddi into the upright position. He flailed his arms intently in the air, and let out long, pitiful moans. The baby Kougra was in a state of hysteria; so overwhelmed and upset it seemed as if nothing could calm him.

      All of the sudden, there was a long CRASH! from the bedroom next to the one Nora, Alli and Maddi had shared the night before.

      "I'll be right back," Fyora immediately said with a strong hint of anxiousness in her tone. She rushed off towards the room. A few seconds latter, a shrill shriek suddenly drifted out of the area.

      Shivering, Maddi staggered to his paws and clumsily plodded over to the large space. He never would've been prepared for the sight that he was presented with when he peered in.

      Dozens of creatures were crowded around the room, every single one of them wearing the darkest costume anyone could imagine, and screeching strident remarks of amusement and rage. They were all attacking the Queen, who was now laying on the ground, and who was horrified by the creatures that were closing in on her.

      Tears gushed down Maddi's cheeks as he watched the sight, and his lip started bleeding from the pressure that he had placed on it with his teeth. He felt weary and absolutely terrified; not quite understanding what was all happening. Though, there was still that small bit of inner-strength that was hidden in his mind, and that was what made him cry out, "Hey! What'd she do to you?!"

      Dozens of heads instantly shot at the Kougra. He couldn't see their features, for black hoods were placed over their heads, yet to be honest, he was glad that he couldn't. Many creatures continued focusing their attention at the Kougra and forgot about the Faerie Queen. One in particular began slowly pacing forward, hissing in agitation with its hands sticking out.

      Maddi felt fear-stricken, yet he remained still and glared at the ominous being.

      "No one tries to attack the Queen and gets away with it," the Kougra hissed.

      A grand beam of light instantly shot out from Maddi's chest and flew towards one of the creatures. It soared back and was whacked against the wall, subsequently collapsing on the rug.

      Maddi gasped in shock, and he placed a gentle paw on where the beam had come out. It felt as normal as ever, with his soft orange fur just a tad bit warmer than regular.

      He was now so engrossed in examining the situation that he did not notice a shadowy figure emerge from the group of others. It was slightly bigger than the rest of them, with a rounder body, and eyes a bright shade of red.

      The Kougra only did in fact become aware of his presence, when the creature slithered, "Ah, if it isn't the girl's other pet."

      Maddi's eyes shot toward the voice, and his jaw dropped when he saw none other than Hubrid Nox standing there. "What have you done with them!?" he screamed in fury.

      A sly grin crept across Hubrid's face. "Now, those are facts I cannot reveal."

      Maddi gulped. "You must tell me where they are, o-or take me with you to them!"

      Hubrid's lips began to move, but before he could utter a sound, Fyora said, "No, Maddi. I forbid you to go with him."

      The child clenched his teeth and shifted his glance towards the faerie who was now on her feet. She was gently brushing dust and carpet fuzz off of her lilac dress. The mysterious, dark-cloaked creatures were not encircling her, but instead they were all cowering in the corner of the bedroom for some unknown reason.

      "Fyora," Maddi whispered, "you don't understand. They're my family… I can't just abandon them."

      "I do understand. But Maddi, you must understand that you just cannot go with Hubrid to find them. Your owner would not want you to intentionally put yourself into danger."

      Hubrid cut in. "Not used to not being in charge, faerie? Sadly, you can't tell our dear Maddi here what and what not to do," he snarled.

      Maddi did not like the way Hubrid spoke to the queen, but then again, he still did agree with him.

      "Let's go, Hubrid," Maddi whispered.

      The Chia grinned sinisterly, and turned toward the cloaked creatures. "You heard the child!" he barked. "Let's go!"

      If somebody passing by were to ever lay eyes on the scene, they would most surely call it uncanny. And it was, with a crowd of black-clothed creatures, Hubrid Nox, and a young baby Kougra, all pacing out of the abode and silently creeping away.

      "Where are we going?" Maddi asked as the troop noiselessly marched down the sidewalk.

      Hubrid Nox instantly shot his blistering eyes at Maddi and hissed, "You will not speak unless spoken to!!"

      Maddi glared and peered down at the sidewalk. He was beginning to regret ever following the evil overlord. However, it was too late to change his mind. He was in the middle of the cluster and there was no way he could walk out without being noticed.

      The troop continued walking for a few minutes when suddenly, a giant creature flew down from the sky and landed smoothly in the middle of the road. Maddi was a bit startled by the creature's sudden appearance, but then relaxed when he realized it was simply an over-sized black Pteri.

      Hubrid Nox clicked his tongue disapprovingly and advanced towards the Pteri. "Nagria," he hissed, "you will transport me and this young fellow to my fortress."

      The Pteri slowly nodded and lay down on its knees so that the two could climb on. Hubrid Nox mounted on the bird's backside effortlessly, while Maddi kept trying to grip on the feathers and pull himself up. However, he kept plopping right back down on the ground. Hubrid Nox had finally had enough. He seized the Kougra by his ear and hauled him up alongside of him.

      "Hold on tight," he snapped, his expression more menacing then ever.

      Maddi whimpered and clutched firmly onto the Pteri, fright beginning to take over his emotions.

      "NAGRIA, NOW!" the Chia bellowed, his eyes resembling cackling flames.

      The Pteri screeched in the still, sunny day and tore of into the sky, commencing Maddi's elongated quest to save his family. Or so he thought.

      It took three hours to get to Hubrid's fortress, if you could call an unsightly hunk of rotting wood a fortress at all.

      "Well, here we are," the Chia announced, hopping off of Nagria's back.

To Be Continued…