The Alpha King's Nemesis-Chapter 121: Not What, Who...()
Holt sniffed, his large eyes scanning the forest filled with brightly blooming flowers before he tilted his muzzle down to the earth, sorting through the various scents.
Holt shook his head at the sharp, piercing scent of the flowers that altered his sense of smell and made it extremely difficult for him to concentrate on a single one.
Holt growled lowly, isolating the unnecessary scents till he again picked up that unique scent of spices.
Holt moved forwards, the soft mud of the forest earth squelching beneath his paws as he moved in a slow pace, his muzzle still leaned towards the earth, following the scent trail.
When Holt was certain he had determined the right direction, he lifted his head up to breathe in much needed air and clear his nose of the flowery scent.
A flower petal rested on Holt’s nose and he shook his head furiously to get off the annoying petal and possibly get rid of the irritating itch it caused to his sensitive nose.
"Disgusting!" Holt exclaimed in his mind, shuddering at the scent of flowers all around him.
If there was one place Holt never thought he would ever be, it was tracking a scent through a flower field that stretched on for miles.
"All this for some flower princess? How do they survive here with all these suffocating stench?" Holt thought to Darren in bafflement.
"Beats me." Darren replied, equally as baffled as Holt was.
Holt grunted as he broke into a dash through the field of flowers, following the scent trail he had picked up and Holt could hear paws thumping behind him and knew Allen was not far behind.
As for the rest of the council and the pixies, they were all supernaturals with their own abilities, they would each have their own way to keep up.
"Is it just me, or is the temperature dropping rapidly?" Allen thought to Holt.
Holt grunted again, he had also noticed the odd chill that had begun spreading through the flower field and he knew it originated precisely from the direction they were headed in.
"If we can get away from these flowers...cold is good." Holt thought back to Allen and Allen hummed in agreement.
For shifters who had extremely sensitive senses, such sharp and overwhelming scents were displeasing even when it was flowers.
Holt lead the way through the flower field till he arrived at what looked to be a barrier and skidded to a stop when a wave of chilling cold air hit him from the barrier.
Allen also came to a stop besides Darren, shaking his fur to get rid of the flower petals that had stuck on to it before he glanced up at the barrier suspiciously.
"What do you think is on the other end?" Holt thought to Allen, unable to come up with any guesses.
Usually, Holt would just run right into the barrier but Darren had entrusted control to him, expecting him to be reasonable and show restraint...he knew Darren would never let him off if he acted without thought.
Who knew what exactly could be on the other side of the barrier? Everything about the Floral Domain was horrifying enough and so Holt would not leave anything to chances.
"I believe we should hold on for just a moment and get an answer from someone who actually knows what is beyond this barrier." Allen decided.
"Well how long do you think it will take them to get here?" Holt thought back impatiently,
He would much sooner be done and over with this rescue so he could be on his way out of this flowery hell before he lost his sense of smell for good.
"Patience Holt." Allen warned.
Holt released a low growl of annoyance but complied, resorting to pacing impatiently outside the barrier.
"The scent leads here...you are certain what we’re looking for is here?" Allen thought to Darren.
"Not what...who." Holt thought back to Allen.
"It wasn’t the mers all along but someone in the Floral Domain...?" Allen thought in astonishment.
"Who?" Allen thought again.
"The only other place I picked up the scent of spices is on Lord Dinani." Holt revealed.
Allen was momentarily shocked to silence.
"Only the Fairy Princess was granted entrance into the enchanted forest, he could not have come in contact with the scent of spice unless..." Allen’s thoughts trailed off at this point.
"Unless he was in contact with his daughter." Holt completed instead.
The two did not have the time to converse further as the rest of the party arrived.
"We headed to the Floral Palace but could not find Queen Heveneth, we cannot spend any time searching for her, since Darren has a lead, we will have to trespass without her consent." Lord Kodin revealed.
"Right, let’s just give her enough justification to toss us in her dungeons." Vima, the council vampire muttered in a tone of resignation.
"The presence of the pixie lord and the pixies will alleviate any guilt of trespassing at least, as for tricking the battle fairies into believing we have Queen Heveneth’s permission to search these woods...we will deal with the aftermath later." Lord Kodin decided.
"This barrier leads to the winter woods... it’s dangerous, pixies cannot go in. Pixies wings will freeze." The pixie lord said with a shake of his head.
Holt released a low growl of annoyance, displeased by the unnecessary delay as he shifted into his human form, his clothing still intact
"I have the orb of Crimson Flame, there is no winter magic able to contend with the Creator’s Flame. Pixies will go into the woods." Holt declared said in a tone that left no room for arguments.
"Can you command the Crimson Flame?" Gaveth, the council vampire asked in surprise.
"It recognizes my blood, it will obey my will." Holt replied blankly.
Lord Kodin passed a glance to Holt and Holt nodded, his eyes fluttering closed as he stretched out a hand and summoned the orb of Crimson Flame.
The orb materialized and hovered over his outstretched palm, the orb then glowed brightly, casting a large shield around the party and Holt wasted no time leading the way.
The moment they stepped through the barrier, Holt felt the change in temperature as it dropped completely, yet the shield around them quickly exuded warmth that stabilized the temperature.
Holt’s eyes scanned the frozen wasteland and wondered just what had happened here to leave the very heart of a flower field in such frozen devastation.
But then again, just as he had already concluded, everything about this Floral Domain was more horrifying than the other... Holt would much rather be out of here as soon as was possible.
Holt did not bother wondering for too long as the scent of spice he had been trailing grew much stronger and he immediately headed in that direction, navigating through the ice wasteland with cautious steps,
Holt’s ears soon picked up a conversation and he frowned slightly as he lifted a hand to halt the party and listened closely.
"I shall tell you what shall happen as an act of gratitude for gifting me your magic."
"After you are dead, I will steal your face as well. I have watched you long enough to act out your part perfectly and with your magic in my hands, your Fairy Elders will never even notice it."
"When they do not even know you are dead, how will they go after your killer? How will they ever figure out that all along, the true culprit has been right there amongst them?"
"I shall play as both the battle lord and the revered Floral Queen and order for the execution of the Crimson wolves and then I shall order the Floral Domain to war against the Sea Kingdom."
"A war unlike any other so both domains will be completely ruined at the end of it and then His Grace shall reap the benefits. The more deaths... the closer His Grace gets to his goal."
"And should His Grace fail to keep his promise to my tribe, your magic shall provide me the leverage I need." A voice Holt recognized to belong to Lord Dinani said.
"You will never get away with this! You will not get away with this!" This time, Holt knew this voice belonged to the distasteful Fairy Queen and Holt was momentarily tempted to retrace his steps and leave her to her fate.
And if it wasn’t for the rage curling within him at the preposterous words the other voice had said, Holt perhaps would have done so.
"Look around you Fairy Queen, the time of the supremacy of beings of light is over. The darkness has come and the supernatural realm will fall... one domain at a time and it begins with yours." Lord Dinani’s voice came again.
Holt’s hands clenched up into fists, his lips pulling back in a snarl.
"The Floral Domain will not fall so easily and the Crimson Moon has returned, whatever your plot is...you will never succeed, mark my words!" Queen Heveneth swore.
Holt scoffed beneath his breath, to think it was in her time of trouble that Queen Heveneth did remember that the Crimson Moon had always stood for the supernatural realm and never against them.
"Mark her words she said... you should have listened." Holt snarled, his eyes glowing as he stepped into view, Allen’s gigantic wolf right at his side and equally as furious.
