The World of Shadows - Chapter 9 (Dark Paranormal Fantasy Story)

This is the third story of the BP series. If you haven't read the first story yet, you can find it here :)

Find chapters 1 - 20 of Retribution (the second story) on my Steemit Blog.

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About The World of Shadows
"In a world full of sinister creatures and treacherous terrain, Beatrix and Arthur must find their way to the castle where the dark creature resides.

Beatrix Percival fans can expect answers to many questions, many conclusions, and explosive battles of epic proportions!

Eerie beyond belief, and passionately romantic like never before, this third book in the series won't disappoint!"

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CHAPTER 9

Arthur held the Spells and Enchantments book and opened the suitcase. A small piece of parchment floated out onto the floor. Arthur muttered something, and the parchment grew to full size. It was a map.

“The Zabahkor Sea…It is not too far outside the village,” said Arthur. He folded the map and placed it in his jacket pocket.

Beatrix closed the suitcase. “Faluvouh!” said Arthur. The suitcase floated into the air and hovered behind them as they walked to the door.

“That is a handy spell!” said Beatrix with fascination.

“Yes!” said Arthur in agreement. “It can make any nonliving object hover and follow you. I came across a few other useful spells in that book when I was looking for the shrinking spell.”

They walked down to the front desk. Maggie walked up to them and gave them each a big hug. “Be safe, you two!”

“We will!” said Arthur with a smile.

They walked out the front door and up to the large gate. The gate slowly opened. Beatrix and Arthur walked through. Beatrix looked behind her at the old inn and saw a small creature dash through the open gate and dart toward the inn. She turned and ran toward the closing gate. The gate latched when she reached it.

“Maggie!” screamed Beatrix through the gate. She watched in horror as the lights in the house suddenly went out. With a loud blast, the windows blew out, sending shards of glass into the air. The building began imploding on itself until it completely crumbled to the ground. Beatrix stood frozen. An army of creatures burst from the rubble and stampeded toward them.

“We need to leave, Beatrix! We need to go now!” yelled Arthur. He grabbed her hand and started running. Arthur turned and threw a farplegak behind them. Black smoke violently raced across the ground and engulfed the air. Beatrix held onto Arthurs hand tightly as they sprinted away from the screaming creatures. She began to grow tired but kept running. The ground grew into a decline. The blackness slowly faded to reveal they were racing down a hill toward a large body of water. The smoke completely faded away. Beatrix strained her eyes to see the other side of the large body of water but could not.

“This is it! This is the Zabahkor Sea!” said Arthur with excitement. Their running slowed to a walk as they came near to the water’s edge. The sea was a deep green—almost black. Unlike the seas that Beatrix had seen in her life, this one was eerily calm. The surface was undisturbed like glass. She could see glowing objects moving below the surface.

“What will we use to cross it?” asked Beatrix. It was a truly massive body of water.

“Atticus said everything we needed would be in the pile of supplies,” said Arthur. He walked over to the hovering suitcase and opened it. Carefully, he looked through the contents until his hands met a miniature ship. He looked at it in wonder.

Beatrix looked at the small boat. “You don’t think…”

Arthur picked it up and carefully set it on the shore.

“It’s just a toy, Arthur,” said Beatrix.

“Petiollah avecktrium!” said Arthur as he stared at the miniature ship. It grew to the size of a small toy.

Beatrix looked at him. “I don’t think tha—”

“Petiollah avecktrium!” said Arthur again. “Petiollah avecktrium! Petiollah avecktrium!”

The small toy boat grew into a full-sized ship. Beatrix stood there, looking at it in disbelief. Arthur smiled and ran up to the ship. He stood beside it and looked up. Arthur raised up off the ground and landed on the deck of the ship. He peered over the edge with a smirk and said, “Come aboard!”

Beatrix smiled and looked up at him. She closed her eyes and imagined herself hovering up onto the ship. Her feet left the ground and she rose and landed next to Arthur.

“Now, how to get this thing into the water,” said Arthur, deep in thought. Beatrix wasn’t sure if it would work, but she hadn’t believed the small toy boat could have been a full-sized ship either.

“Can you and I lift it into the water like we lifted ourselves onto the ship?” asked Beatrix.

“It’s worth a try,” said Arthur.

Beatrix and Arthur stood next to each other and held hands. She closed her eyes so she could focus. She pictured the ship and imagined it hovering into the air and resting gently into the water. She became frustrated, for she didn’t feel any movement. She opened her eyes to a smiling Arthur.

“We did it!” said Arthur. Beatrix hugged him and looked around them—they were floating in the sea. Arthur walked up to the ship’s helm and unfolded the map. He looked at the suitcase and muttered a phrase which caused it to gently come to rest on the deck.

“Can you look for a compass in there?” he asked.

“Sure,” said Beatrix. She opened the suitcase and carefully searched for a compass. After a few minutes of searching, she turned to Arthur and said, “I can’t seem to find one.”

Arthur walked over to her and shuffled the supplies around in search of a compass. There wasn’t one in there. How were they supposed to find their way to the castle? he wondered. Arthur grabbed the copy of Spells and Enchantments and searched through the pages.

“Here we go,” said Arthur with relief. “We have to spell the map. Once spelled, the map will show our location on the map, and a blue path will appear on the map to show which direction we are heading.”

Arthur studied the spell. Beatrix looked at him. “What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing, really,” he replied. “Most spells only require a phrase, but this one…it requires a drop of blood.”

“I’ll do it,” said Beatrix. “I don’t mind, really.”

Arthur didn’t want Beatrix to hurt herself, so before she could make it over to him, he picked up a miniature letter opener from the suitcase, pricked his finger, and pressed it onto the surface of the map as he muttered a phrase. Arthur and the map began to glow lightly for a moment. “I think it’s done,” said Arthur.

Beatrix lifted his hand and said, “Syrellium.” The small cut healed. “You should have let me do that,” said Beatrix with a caring look.

“I didn’t want you to hurt,” replied Arthur. She smiled and gave him a hug. A blue path illuminated in front of the red dot on the map. “This is where the castle is,” said Arthur as he drew an X on the map. He grabbed the helm and turned the ship until the blue line pointed at the X on the map. “Well, we might as well get comfortable,” said Arthur. “This is going to take a little while.”

Beatrix stared out across the dark green waters. She recounted the events that had led her to where she was. How she had hoped her life wasn’t so ordinary. How she had met the spider that morning in her bedroom. Her many visions…Her encounters with the dark creature. Her father’s passing. The revelation about her grandparents’ false love story—her life had changed so much, so quickly, that she never had a chance to just breathe. She laughed to herself as she wished for her life to be just a little bit more ordinary again.

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More Chapters will be published soon!

Thanks for reading! :)

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