A green flash of energy slashed diagonally across the door as it exploded and fell to the ground. As the dust settled, it became apparent that the gold soldiers had encircled the entire room and were facing inward. Their eyes were now glowing with green energy.

In the doorway stood a man who looked like he had just stepped foot out of a desert. He had a white tunic with his right arm hanging out of the neck hole. The cloth ran down to loose-fitting tan pants and leather boots. All of the cloth was of a fine design and had golden embroidery.

He had a white and black checkered scarf that wrapped around his neck and covered his mouth. He had a spiky head of white hair with a rats-tail that came down to his waist and was decorated with golden beads. A massive greatsword at least a foot wide was grasped in his right hand and rested on his shoulders. An amulet hung from his neck with a fist-sized gem that irradiated the fierce green of Aura. Rox was visibly agitated by his appearance.

‘Prince Causius, what is the meaning of this?’

When the man spoke, his tone was slick and jovial. It had a slight pitchy nature to it. I hoped that he wasn’t the type to talk a lot. His voice was as annoying as a set of nails on a chalkboard.

‘Why, if it isn’t Roxanne? I’ve just come to celebrate, just like everyone else! I've heard that you have a new addition to the royal family!’

‘Then tell your knights to break formation and surrender your weapon to the guards. This act of aggression will not be tolerated.’

‘Well, you’re no fun. And besides…what guards? I don’t see any guards?’

I looked to the King and noticed a distressed look on his face. The guards should have come when the signal was given. Where were they? The prince began to walk forward and the crowd opened to part and gave him passage. It wasn’t long before he stood only a dozen feet away from us.

'Oh, she is a little cutie. She'll be a fun little plaything. Maybe I'll switch my target from you to her.'

Both the King and Rox moved between me and him creating a barrier between us. It wasn't necessary, but the protective sentiment felt nice. I noticed a slight wet smacking sound as he talked. I decided to prod the situation a bit.

'Touching. Why don't you remove that scarf and show me the face of my potential suitor? Or are you so ugly you're scared the children in the room will cry out at the sight of your unsightly face?'

'If that is your wish little princess. Kekeke.'

He pulled down the scarf to reveal a mouth that stretched from ear to ear like a turtle. It was full teeth that were long and pointy pins. His long tongue hung out of his mouth ans slithered down past his chin. Saliva flicked off the tip. Gasps were heard from the congregation as he revealed his mutated face.

'How's this little princess? Do you like what you...'  

In a flash, the King drew his sword and swung downward as he stepped forward past Rox. The speed and reach that the King was able to achieve was impressive. The prince shifted at the last minute and casually blocked the strike with his blade still resting on his shoulder. He pivoted his weight and swung back at the King, who jumped back to dodge.

Causius pivoted to dash forward in pursuit and was promptly met with a flying kick in the face from me. At least these shoes were good for something. I noticed a small line of green light leave his face and trail into my chest. His face showed surprise as he stumbled back and then slashed at me several times. I ducked under the attacks and tried to roll out of the way, but I tripped on the dress and fell on my butt. As the prince moved to attack, he was blocked by the King who continued with another barrage. It caught him off guard and he jumped back to catch his bearings. The King yelled back to me.

‘Samantha, stay back! I’ll handle him. Get the family to safety!’

‘If it wasn’t for this stupid dress He'd be eating his teeth!’

As soon as the words of frustration left my lips, I began to regret them. I felt the energies on my wrist and in the dress begin to turn. I saw the green and blue lights and felt the clothes shift around me. The energy stopped and I could see a twisted smile on the face of the prince as he leered at me. I looked down and cursed.

‘I’m going to kill you, Miss Puffin.’

The dress had turned into a sleeveless blouse and skirt combo full of frills and tool. The opal brooch was now in the center of my chest with a small bow around it. A larger bow now rested on the back above my skirt. The skirt mushroomed out and down to just above my knees. I felt slightly heeled, knee-high, leather boots and white elbow-length gloves as well. At least my locket and metal cuff had appeared by my side.

I reached down and called forth my fairyite blade. I looked to my side and Rox summoned a spear from somewhere on her person as well. The gold knights jerked and twisted, but didn’t seem to move as the nobles fled from the room and the King traded blows with Causius.

‘Rox, the gold knights are probably mutants like that tool fighting the King, twisted and strengthened by Aura. They will be stronger and faster than normal and their movement irregular, but normal weapons should be enough to take them down. Stay on guard.’

‘You don’t have to tell me twice.’

‘Clem, we are going to make a path through the knights. Get your family out of here and to safety when you see an opening.’

‘Our.’

‘What?’

‘Our family, Sam. You stay safe too.’

‘Touching, but if you think these third rate monsters have anything on actual Revenant, you are vastly underestimating me.’

Clem looked at me with a hint of sadness and worry.

‘We’ll be fine, Clem. I just don’t need you or anyone else getting in the way and becoming a hostage. Now get ready.’

The group of women and two children huddled together and I drew my sword and Rox readied her spear. I waited for the King to maneuver Causius out of the way of the door and then gave the signal.

‘Now!’

We all made a break for the door. The prince noticed and gave the signal for the knights to attack. The green amulet around his neck intensified and the knights began to jerk and twist. Some of their limbs unevenly bulked or stretched leaving gaps in their armor. Their hands either grew claws or enclosed and incorporated their weapons. They finished their transformations and began to lumber forward.

Rox crashed into a few of the mutants as I dashed ahead of the group to confront my first. Time for an experiment. I wonder what happens when a mutant runs out of Aura? I blocked the incoming strike with my sword and jumped in the air, delivering a kick to the creature's open neck. I kicked off and delivered a light slash to a second mutant.

The attack would usually leave a mutant unfazed, as the amount of damage was negligible, but a stream of green energy traced through the air from the impact points into my core. The mutants clawed at their necks and fell to the ground in a twitching mess.

Experiment two. I picked up a knife from a table as we passed and channeled Mana through it. I threw it at an approaching mutant. It blocked with its wrist, but the knife still entered through the armor and stuck in. No Aura traveled through the air. So a no go on ranged theft. I moved in close and left the beast in a twitching mess with another blow.

Rox fell her first mutant and continued to clash with a second. There were only initially twelve gold knights, so cleaning them up might be easier than I thought. We were closing in on the door and only two of the mutants were close enough to be in the way. I ducked the first’s horizontal slash and then flipped over the two as the second lunged with a claw. A horizontal from behind initiated the drain to dismantle the two.

The family ran out of the door as I moved around behind them to block the advancement of three more mutants.

‘Come on Rox, you gotta keep up. I’ve already downed five.’

‘That’s because I...hah...don’t have a cheating magic poison blade! Arg, Go down you freak!’

I blocked an attack with my blade and a second with my sheath. I maneuvered the second mutant to take the claw of the third and then spun and knee-capped the first, dropping it to the ground. A second mutant joined in on the fight with Rox. One mutant became a casualty in the continuing fight between the King and the prince, leaving the four we were engaging the last ones standing.

I moved to Rox’s back and the mutants encircled us. Back to back, I grabbed Rox’s spear for a moment. Experiment three. I pushed Mana into her spear.

‘Rox! Swing wide and high!’

I dropped low as she swung in a high circle. The Mana charged spear cut like butter through the knight's armor. Unfortunately, no Aura was leached out. The four mutants fell to the ground and I finished them off with quick light jabs to vulnerable spots.

‘What was that? My spear was blue and supercharged for a second!’

‘Trade secret. Come on, let’s go help the King.’

We turned just as a flash of green energy sent the King flying into a bunch of tables. He was holding his own, but he was clearly winded. Causius, on the other hand, looked like he had just warmed up. Rox and I squared off against him, putting us between him and the King.

‘Samantha and Roxanne. He’s too strong. Get out of here while you can. I’ll keep him busy. Go and get the Fairybond as quickly as possible.’

‘Please do! I’d love to have some alone time with the King.’

‘There is no way we are leaving you alone, father.’

‘There is also no reason to run from a muscle brain like him. You know this wouldn’t have been an issue if you just had a magic weapon like a lot of the knights have.’

‘It’s regrettable, but magic weapons are rare, so I saw no reason to keep one for myself when the front line needed them so desperately.’

‘Well, let’s go find one after this then. You have a lot of people counting on you, it’s important to not make them needlessly worry.’

‘I feel like I’m suddenly being ignored.’

‘Why wouldn’t we, you cowardly little parasite. You’re barely a threat now that everyone has escaped. You thought you could just burst in here and kill the King and everything would just work out fine? Who put you up to this?’

‘I’ll make you eat those words after you watch me kill the King while lying broken on the floor.’

‘Not if we have anything to say about it!’

‘No Rox. He’s mine. No use wasting energy. Go help your father.’

‘So cocky, little girl. How could you hope to face me when the King couldn’t even touch me? You’re going to be crushed like a gnat before my strength.’

Causius placed his blade on his shoulder and channeled the green stone around his neck. The energy coated his body and his muscles rippled and grew. He grinned a menacing smile. I sheathed my blade and held it by my side, lowering my stance.

‘One question before we start, mutant, a box or a jar?’

‘A box or a jar for what?’

‘Your body, when we send it back to your home.’

‘You cheeky little...’

I instantly blinked forward and slashed. The prince toppled backward in surprise, but my blade made contact with his thigh. Black ooze splashed onto the floor. He shifted and slashed downward, but I jumped to the right. While airborne, I jumped off an air platform, dodging a horizontal slash and moving behind him.

‘Too slow.’

He focused his Aura on his back in defense as my blade made contact once again. He spun around and slashed but I blinked backward out of his range. I held my metal cuff up and absorbed a large stream of Aura that leaked out of his seeping wounds. The glow around him dimed and his muscled shrank.

‘Wha…what was that! How are you a Fairybond?’

‘No fairy here. I don’t need a crutch like that to take the likes of you on.’

‘But, how are you stealing my energy?’

‘Maybe it likes me better? Either way, I’m going to take it all. Then, I’m going cut your arms and legs off and kick you repeatedly in the face until your pretty again.’

‘Aahhrrrr!’

He ran forward and slashed again and again. I simply jumped back a few feet every time to avoid it. I hated to admit, but the outfit was actually really easy to maneuver in. At this point, he was wildly swinging in rage. Sweat dripped from his brow as he crashed through tables and chairs to get to me. I continued to deliver small lacerations all over his body and leech the Aura from him. His movements became sluggish and awkward.

‘Pathetic, really. Can you even hold that sword without Aura?’

‘This wasn’t how this was supposed to go! He told me I would have the country. This should have been easy with this necklace!’

‘You thought you could just waltz into the castle with an Aura necklace and kill the King and everything would just work out? Because you’re a little stronger? You’ve got dumb pawn written all over your face. Look. Give me the shiny bauble around your neck and hold still while I beat the rest of the Aura out of you. Then you can tell us who put you up to this and we will consider sending you home with your legs still attached.’

Suddenly, the room slightly dimmed and I heard the flutter of wings. The windows to the Great Hall flashed with a yellow light. I looked over at the King, who was standing while being supported by Rox. They both had a worried look on their faces.

‘Sir, What is that?!’

‘Magic barrier. Something is trying to get through the windows!’

A loud metallic vibrating sound rang out and the windows flashed a bright yellow light once again. One of the windows buckled and shattered into large shards of yellow-tinted glass and fell to the floor. A blur flew through the open window and crashed into the prince, causing him to crumple to the floor. Suddenly, the room’s lighting returned to normal and windows stopped resonating. An eerie silence filled the area.

‘Is it gone?’

Our investigation was interrupted by the sound of a sickly crunching noise. We turned to see the prince convulsing on the ground. Through his chest was a four foot large black spike with green glowing runes on it. The spike had pierced through the green crystal on his chest and pushed it deep into his sternum.

His clothes tore as his body twisted and grew. His flesh turned a sickly brown color and his arms split into four. The hair on his head turned into spiked quills that extended down his back. His body grew round and scaled.

At the end of his transformation, the spike was pulled within him. He now stood over fourteen feet tall and looked like a spiny pill bug with four clawed hands and a gnarly set of mandibles like crystalline scimitars. Rox gasped in fear.

‘How?! He turned into a Quillion!’

It pushed off the ground and began to roll after us in a thunderous dash.

‘Everybody, run!’