Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter 6

Aske had grabbed two medium-sized daggers;  Valemon grabbed a rifle;  Mystice grabbed a silver sword.  They were walking through the woods which was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.
  "Do you have any idea who would've taken your father? Was there any one who held a grudge against him?"  Aske had questioned, sticking both daggers in his back pockets.
  "No one would've had a grudge against Dad; he was pretty isolated from the world.  He never wanted to talk to anyone either.  His excuse was always "You kids are more important than having friends out there"."  Val was answering with a look of annoyance on his face.  "We're sure it was the Tongku."
  "But the Tongku wouldn't have taken him, if they didn't have any reason to,"  Aske replied.
  "Do you think someone ordered Them to take Dad?"  Mystice gave him a confused look.  "If so, I had no idea They had a master."
  "I wouldn't call her a master; I'd say she's more of their creator."
  "Creator?  What do you mean?"  Val ran a hand through his hair, trying to get rid of the sweat. 
  "As in,  I don't believe that creatures like those would just appear randomly.  I think she created them.  And if she did,  the only way to get rid of the Tongku is by killing her."
  "Who is she?"  Mystice had gotten a headache from taking in all that information that just kept pouring out of Aske's mouth.
  "I hear her name is Aries, and once you've looked in her eyes, she will give you these horrible nightmares that will haunt you so much that you'll die from fear."
  Chills ran down Val's spine.  "Now I feel bad for her future husband."
  "Be careful what you say,"  Mystice giggled.  "It might end up being you."  What could she say?  She loved picking on her older brother.
  This caused an eruption of laughter-  something they had all needed.  They kept it up until they were out of breath, and felt a bit of pain in the pits of their stomach.  But even the pain felt good.  Then, they were all quiet again-  not a word to be said, not a topic to be talked about.
  "You okay, Myst?"  Her brother asked.
  She realized she must have been silent for way too long, not meaning to, but it happened.  "Just hoping Dad's okay.  If this Aries chic has him,  Do you think he accidentally looked in her eyes?"
  He didn't even answer her question,  just laid a hand on her shoulder and said,  "I'm sure he's perfectly fine."

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His mind was playing tricks.  He felt like his heart was being ripped out every time one of those nightmares were finished.  He knew it was Aries fault;  he had looked into those orange eyes that reminded him of fire,  not knowing what the consequences were to that sort of action.
  His vision blurred,  and he fell back into the trance of one of his nightmares.
  He was running down a long, dark corridor;  the only light was the bulbs that flickered on and off,  giving off a horror movie effect.  Screams echoed through every door.  Whatever was being held in those rooms made him not want to hang around and find out. 
  At the end of the hall was an open door with a bright, white light shining out of it.  That's where he had to go.  No, that's where he needed to go.
  He finally reached the door.  The light burned his eyes;  it felt like he was looking directly at the sun,  but he went inside anyway.  There laid Mystice on the ground, laying on her back in an unnatural position.  Her hair and face was covered with dry blood and dirt that was half mud.
  She was breathing, but it sounded more like inhuman growls- almost like the Tongku growling.  He walked over, knelt down, and put his hand on her wrist;  he wanted to make sure she was actually breathing and it wasn't just his imagination.  Suddenly,  her free hand gripped his arm tight, causing him to jump and shout in trepidation.
  "Daddy,"  She whispered shakily.  "Is that really you?"
  He gulped.  "Yes, baby; it's me."
  "I always knew you were my hero,"  She sat up carefully. "I love you, Daddy."
  Her eyes turned into a pitch black color,  and a devilish smirk was then plastered on her face.  She let out a scream of pain as she turned into a medium-sized, purple dragon.
  "M-Mystice," He whimpered as he backed up.
  She let out a roar of anger as she pinned him against the wall.  His body was trembling as he tried to push her off of him.  Frustrated,  she bit down on his shoulder as hard as she could,  swallowing a humongous chunk of his light-colored skin.  He yelled in pain,  grabbing his shoulder.  Blood seeped through his fingers.
  "S-Stop, Myst!"  He grabbed a dagger from his pocket.  "This isn't you!"  He stabbed her in the neck,  causing her to fall with a loud crash.
  Mystice turned back into her human form.  She was like a canvas, and the blood was like the paint brush, painting her a rosy red color.  A low growl erupted from the other side of the room.  A four legged,  shadow like, wolf creature was standing there.  The creatures eye met his,  but quickly shifted to Mystice's half dead body.  His pointy, syringe looking tail waved back and forth as he sniffed her.  His ears perked up, then he made a high pitched scream.
  Many of its friends entered the room,  surrounded her body.  All at once, without hesitation,  they all started feeding on her-  started ripping her flesh from her bones one by one.  One creature stuck it's tail in her; another bit her frontal lobe, revealing her skull.
  Fluego watched in horror as the Tongku devoured his daughter like it was the first meal they had eaten in months.  He plopped himself on the floor,  sobbing.
  He wanted to get out.  He just wanted to get out.