Downfall

Chapter Five

Staring out to into the great blue skies sat a girl, her long, deep red hair blowing gently in the breeze. Watching clouds vanish to beyond the horizon, she sighed. The girl looked to her left to see a boy with dark brown hair having a conversation with himself. His bright blue eyes danced around as he looked around, until he realised that she was watching him.

"Why did we have to leave the camp?" He asked, sighing.

"Alion, you know why. We were sent out on a Quest. I just wish that they had told us what it was about." Areille sighed in response, running a hand through her hair.

"I wish Liviya would just tell us!"

Areille rolled her eyes and looked out to the horizon, before she felt a sudden surge of strength. Looking to her brother, her eyes widened.

"We're not alone."

The bushes rustled, and a black dog pounced out, glowing red eyes focused on Areille, its smoking skin blowing in the wind. The light began to fade as a dark grey cloud that had not previously existed covered the clouds, the dark green of the forest growing darker by the second. The darker it became, the brighter the hound's eyes began to glow. It slowly strode across the dark forest floor towards Areille, its focus not dropping for a second.

Alion let out a yelp as he noticed another hound approaching from behind. The two hounds growled, and the twins stood paralysed in fear.

A growl echoed through the woods, alerting the hounds that they were not alone, and a great white lioness burst through the treeline, a tall, black haired girl on her back. As the girl jumped off the lioness' back, it grabbed the closest hound by the neck, tossing it off to the side where it hit a tree with a loud crunch. The light in the hounds eyes faded, and the wisps of smoke encased it, until it was no more. Bounding towards the other hound, the lion wasted no time. It met the other hound mid-air as it flew towards Alion with immense speed, which was matched by the lioness, whose jaw wrapped around it's throat, smoke leaking from the hound's wound, and threw it as far away as possible.

A tall girl stood next to the fierce lioness, looking annoyed. Held back by a black bandana, her midnight black hair fell loosely around her shoulders. Deep grey eyes observed the twins, checking for injuries.

"Hellhounds," She spat, glaring at where they had been.

"But Hellhounds wouldn't dare attack anyone in Lyonsdale!" Areille stuttered, still in shock.

"Exactly. We're not in Lyonsdale anymore. We're in the Darklands – The most dangerous place in all of Electrolyte. It's not safe for mere mortals here; that's why there's such a divide between Lyonsdale and Drakonica."

"You mean that all those creatures that we were taught about – the bloodsucking daemons to the angelic Pegasus – they're real?" Alion stared at Liviya in fear.

"You mean, we're going to have to watch out for creatures like that on a daily basis?"

Liviya didn't reply, only picked up her bag from a nearby tree, setting off to the woods in silence, Lea, the lioness close in pursuit. Areille nervously looked around the dark forest, confused by the sudden darkness – Only minutes ago there had been clear skies, not a cloud to be seen, but now, the clouds blacked out any possible light, leaving ominous shadows lurking behind the trees.

Areille wanted to try and force details out of Liviya, but she knew that if she did, she would jump on Lea's back and disappear into the woods, leaving them alone, and they wouldn't be able to find her easily.

A loud rumbling sound originating from Alion's stomach alerted the three to the fact that they had not eaten in days. It hadn't been easy finding food on their travels, and they had just finished all their pre-stored food. Liviya climbed onto the back of her lion, leaving the two alone, as she went off in search of prey. Areille sighed, aware that she would have to find food for herself – She may be around a lion a lot but that didn't make her one, and she didn't want to eat like one. She had been a vegetarian for years, and she refused to give it up just to eat one meal.