Chapter 74 Seventy- four.

Chapter 74 Seventy- four.
"Maya!" I shouted, tears welling in my eyes as I struggled against the hair that was pushing me down, but to no avail. Even its hair was too powerful for me to evade, and I gritted my teeth in frustration.

The Baken held her by her face, smiling widely as Maya screamed, showing its corkscrew teeth.

It happened so fast, I heard the familiar sound of warping and then Ayla was no longer pinned by hair. She reappeared behind Maya before grabbing hold of her and then disappearing. My head snapped to the right when I saw both of them reappear, tumbling to the ground. Ayla checked on Maya, who was unconscious, her terrified gaze flitting to the creature whose power she had just opposed.

The Baken dropped its hands to its sides at this, looking to both Ayla and Maya with a small ghost of a smile. It wasn't angry or even alarmed at the interruption. Rather, it seemed elated in a way that made me wish it would have been angry. At least then, I would have known what it was thinking.

"A spatial manipulator. How delightful," it drawled, licking its blood-red lips with a thin, long tongue, making Ayla tense slightly.

It dropped its hair then, wading through the corpses of Chigaru before sitting its long form on the side of the well, regarding us all. I let out a sigh at the feeling of weight removing itself off my chest. Getting up, I gazed to the boys, who were looking to the creature with wary looks.

"So, a noble leader, a temperamental pyromancer, and a mousy spatial manipulator? Who else do we have in attendance?" it mused, its eyes flitting across to our forms, and I held my breath when its gaze came on mine.

Nonetheless, no one spoke this time, and the creature let out a sigh, yet there was still an amused glint in its eyes.

"Oh? Silence? No matter. I quite enjoy making people talk," it muttered, gauging our reaction with milky white eyes, and I internally cursed at the feel of my hand that shook on the double sword.

It smiled to itself yet again, stroking a claw against the stone wall of the well, causing pebbles to crumble to the ground. I let my eyes glance to Kael to see what the plan was, but he kept his firm gaze on the creature, glaring with such an intensity that I would have melted had it been directed at me.

The creature, however, was unfazed, raising itself to stand to its towering height. It walked leisurely towards our forms, and I clenched my hands tighter against my weapon.

Suddenly, it raised its hair, and I jolted on the spot as it flung it towards the side, smacking Ayla square in the stomach and making her hurtle backwards off Maya and into a wooden merchant stall.

"Ayla!" Abrax shouted, running towards her form, to which the creature turned to him with a wide, animalistic grin, making Abrax growl loudly.

He raised his axe as he neared, but the creature raised a papery white arm out in defense. The axe hit against it with a resounding clash as Abrax struggled, his feet pushing backwards in the sand.

The Baken raised its claws, slashing at Abrax's torso, but Abrax hardened himself in time and the claws merely bounced off, making the creature smile wider.

"How thrilling," it breathed out in a bloodthirsty tone, drooling heavily now before grabbing the axe with its bony, clawed hand and flinging it away, taking Abrax with it, who crashed near Ayla's form.

I didn't hesitate before running towards their unconscious forms and stumbling down, my knees grazing against the hard ground. I looked to the Baken, where Rhydian and Kael were running towards it, before looking back to Ayla and Abrax. My eyes briefly flitted to Maya lying on her stomach, and my hands clenched in annoyance.

I needed to be quick.

Placing my hands on Ayla and Abrax, I let the doors open and the red liquid travel. I made sure to leave anything that wasn't too detrimental and let the red liquid do its work on the key areas. When all the wounds had gone and both were breathing at a less labored pace, I moved hurriedly towards Maya.

Turning her around, I let out a small cry at her face, which was burnt so much so that I couldn't recognize her.

"You'll be okay," I muttered, more so to reassure myself.

Placing my hands on her face hurriedly, I let the power seep to her until I was seeing black spots in my vision. I felt the urge to vomit, but ignored the feeling as I focused on Maya, who needed me now more than ever.

Her face was healing at an immeasurable pace, perhaps due to the adrenaline running through my system, and when everything felt lighter, I fell back, letting out heavy, labored breaths, suddenly feeling very exhausted.

Maya let out a small groan, but other than that, her eyes remained closed, and I looked to Abrax to see him helping up Ayla. He looked to me thankfully before turning his gaze to the fight, and I followed his actions.

The creature was standing in the middle of the corpses with both Rhydian and Kael trying to reach it, yet its tendrils of hair prevented that from happening. I watched as it hit a strand out, which Rhydian jumped gracefully to avoid, but two other locks of hair came from the side, hitting against his glaive, occupying his attention.

Kael, on the other hand, had resorted to using his sword to try to cut through the hair, but to no avail. The hair was as strong as diamond, yet still flexible and agile. I watched as it gave just as hard blows to Kael, making his biceps flex as he ploughed through.

"What are we going to do?" Ayla's anxious voice called from next to me, and I shook my head as I looked to the creature that merely looked at them in amusement.

This was a game, and we were just playing into it.

"I have no idea," I whispered in an unsure tone, and Abrax let out a small noise of agreement.

"The creature is much too strong. We must try to attack it together so as to divert its attention," Abrax concluded, and I nodded at his words, keeping my gaze on the other males.

"It's worth a try. Let's go," I muttered before making my way over to the clearing where the Baken was standing, with Abrax and Ayla following.

It turned its gaze to us, its expression contorting to a much colder one that made my heart thump faster against my chest, but I pushed on, raising my weapon.

I let out a yelp when I felt a strand of hair wrap around my unarmed wrist, flinging me to the side. The wind whooshed past as I hit the ground, letting out a loud gasp at the feel of my back hitting harshly against the ground.

The hair didn't relent at this, coming down towards me, and I raised my sword defensively, which it pushed against. However, it was much too strong for me to hold back, unlike the Chigaru, and I let out a few sounds of struggle as it pushed the sword closer to my form.

The hair raised up then before coming down at a tremendous speed. Instinctively, I rolled over to the side, my eyes widening as I saw the hair stabbing into the hardened ground, creating a gaping hole.

It intended to kill me.

Gritting my teeth, I lifted myself quickly before running towards the creature. The hair followed behind me, and I ducked as I felt it come for me, yet it still found me, grabbing my hair and pulling me back. I felt the burning, throbbing pain in my skull as I was pulled back rapidly, my elbows skidding against the floor and tearing through the skin. I landed harshly on my back again, making my muscles ache greatly. I didn't have enough energy to use my healing, with my head still pounding from Maya's afflictions.

I let out a scream when I felt hair wrap around both my wrists and legs, holding me in place as I struggled with heavy breaths.

"Is that all you have to offer? I'm disappointed," the creature sang out, looking to us, and I let out a frustrated groan.

Abrax was still trying to fight through with his left hand, which wasn't bound by the hair, a growl escaping his lips. Ayla, on the other hand, was held in place by her waist, making her let out a cry in pain. She raised her hands swiftly to her back before pulling out her arrow and bow. She let the arrow loose at lightning speed, and I watched with wide eyes as it hurtled towards the heart of the creature.

However, the creature had anticipated the actions and merely turned around and smacked the arrow out of place. It sneered towards Ayla, making her scream as its hold tightened on her.

"Very disappointed, indeed," it bit out in its eerie tone before dropping its hair and releasing us.

I instinctively held my weapon with two hands yet again as it raised a clawed hand, releasing a flow of magma towards Kael's direction. He moved out of the way at lightning speed, causing the magma to burn through the ground behind him, creating a huge ditch.

"Don't let that touch you," Kael called out to us in warning, his gaze on the magma, to which the creature let out a terrifying laugh, making me shudder at the sound.

"What a brilliant idea for a game," it sang out, drawing blood as its teeth bit into its lower lip before raising its hand lethally yet again.

The magma spurted out again towards Rhydian's direction, but he jumped away, landing in a crouch on a far wall, scowling.

"You missed," he said bluntly, making the creature drool in anticipation at the challenge.

"Not for long," it mused simply as it continued spewing magma. The whole area was alight with a burning orange glow, and I watched as Kael moved speedily to Maya, grabbing her away from the magma that neared her form.

Abrax moved forward again then with his axe, swinging as he ran, and the Baken laughed coldly before raising its hand towards Abrax. The magma hit against his weapon, nearing his form, but Rhydian reached out from behind, pulling him away in the nick of time. I looked with wide eyes at the half-melted axe that was left askew on the floor.

It could do that much damage with a single blow.

Kael neared Rhydian then, looking to Abrax in concern, to which the creature sneered at them in a way that made my insides curl.

"I believe a different game is more fitting for the two of you," it spoke in a monotonous, deadly tone before lashing its hair speedily towards Kael and Rhydian. It hit Abrax out of the way, rendering him unconscious, before grabbing Kael and Rhydian around their waists, holding them fixed in place. Ayla ran to Abrax's side to check on him.

I ran forward to try to help the other males, trying to evade the hairs coming to me, but they were faster than me, and I let out a scream as it pinned me to a wall.

Look, Aeryn.

I let out another groan of frustration at the familiar, licking voice behind my ear. It was the creature of my nightmares, here again, but I ignored its calls, choosing to focus more on the creature in front of me.

The Baken held the rest of us in place, raising its hands slowly as though it was taunting our helplessness.

"I prefer this game," it sang out, blood dripping down its chin from how many times it bit its lip in excitement.

Look, Aeryn.

"No!" I cried out, struggling against the wall, watching as both Kael and Rhydian glared at the Baken, no fear in their eyes.

Use it.

I saw fleeting images of a large oak door in the fog, just like the one I used for my power. I didn't know what it contained, but I felt the instinctive need to check as I did with my own mental door. I willed it open in the same manner and watched as a blue vapor crept out of the door, out of the depths of my brain, slipping out of my control.

Look at me, Aeryn.

I ignored its words as I focused my curious gaze on the blue smoke traveling across the ground, which the Baken didn't seem to notice, keeping its gaze focused on Kael and Rhydian.

I felt the whispering of the darkness in my ear, telling me many things, most of which I ignored, watching the blue smoke travel nearer.

The magma flew out of both of the Baken's hands in powerful bursts, creating light in the dark village, and I screamed loudly, lifting my hands up instinctively.

The magma flew towards them as Ayla screamed loudly, but surprisingly it avoided their forms, falling around them in puddles as though there was something obstructing the fire.

It was only when the light of the magma stopped as the creature dropped its hair and looked to them with a sneer that I saw the blue orbs around their forms. Even more surprising was that my hands were glowing blue as I held them up.

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