It only took a couple of seconds for Fern and Snow to climb the short flight of steps that led to the top floor. Fern looked around the circular room curiously as they entered. There was a forge and several weapons displayed on the walls. “What is this place?”
Snow shot Fern a curious look. “You’ve never seen a smithy before? This is where Blacksmith Rapunzel forged enchanted weapons that were given to the heroes of Fantasia. The sword, Monster Hunter Aurelion, wields was made by Rapunzel.”
“Blacksmith Rapunzel…” Fern echoed and her eyes widened with recognition. “I knew that name sounded familiar. He’s the legendary blacksmith. The best blacksmith in all of Fantasia. Are you really friends with such an incredible person?”
Snow pouted. “What am I? Chopped liver? I happen to be a prince, you know? I’m also a very important person.”
“A prince and a cowardly, flashy playboy too,” Fern said, and stuck her tongue out at the prince. “I remember hearing the rumors about Blacksmith Rapunzel and that he was a demon in league with the Demon King Gothel…”
Snow chuckled. “Punzie isn’t a demon, but he had this horned headband that he would wear so the demons in Bones Kingdom would think he was one of them! We gave him such a hard time about it though that he stopped wearing it. I miss those days.” The prince’s voice had turned wistful.
Fern raised an eyebrow. “Punzie? Merlin! A horned headband?” She shook her head disbelievingly. “I suppose he wanted to fit in with the local denizens. So…is it true that he defeated Necromancer Gothel single-handedly?”
A shadow fell over Snow’s carefree expression and he gave her a grim nod. “Rapunzel killed Gothel only because it was the only way to save him.”
“Save him?” Fern asked.
“Gothel was a High Skeleton Monster…it’s a cursed existence and only death could reunite him with his dead wife Rosalind,” Snow revealed. “Gothel and Rosalind’s love story was tragic.”
“But why would Rapunzel care about a villain?” Fern asked insistently.
“Gothel wasn’t really a bad person. He raised Rapunzel like a son,” Snow began. “Rapunzel saw Gothel as his father. It really tore him up inside to kill Gothel, but there was no other way.”
“That’s…sad,” Fern said, giving Snow a sympathetic look. “I feel sorry for your friend. Everyone talks about Gothel like he was this evil villain.”
“At least, Rapunzel knew the truth. The real villain is the Leader of the League of Villains, who was manipulating Gothel behind the scenes,” Snow said, clenching his hands into fists at his sides.
“You mean…Reginald?” Fern asked tentatively.
Snow frowned and rubbed his forehead. “My head is messed up right now because of the magical lake water, but Blue said apparently Reginald tried to have me killed. He’s betrayed me, and put a price on my head. I’m not sure if he’s the Leader of the League of Villains though-”
Fern barked out a laugh and gave the prince a pitying look. “Oh, Snow, he’s not really hiding it anymore now that your mother…” The Huntress bit her lip and then continued. “I mean, it’s become pretty obvious. You should see the throne room’s new décor and motif. It’s all red-eyed, yellow snakes and red apples. A yellow snake with red eyes coiled around an apple that has a bite taken out of it - that’s the emblem of the League of Villains, isn’t it?”
Snow’s eyes flared. “I see…so all this time Reginald has been the Leader of the League of Villains. I’ve been so blind. Stupid. Naïve. Merlin! My mother! I left her there alone with Reginald! She could be in grave danger!”
“Ah, you’re going to have to trust Blue on that one,” Fern said evasively. “Please. Don’t make me say more.”
Snow nodded. “I’d trust Blue with my life so…yeah.” The prince focused his attention on Fern fully and took in her outfit. The last time they’d encountered each other he was too busy trying to stay alive as she tried to kill him, and as a result he hadn’t been able to get a very good look at her. Even now, there wasn’t much to see since she had her hood up and it shadowed the features of her face. But, the tight, brown, leather pants she was wearing showed off her long, shapely legs and caused Snow to drool slightly. Snow walked around Fern and looked down at her shapely ass. Nice. I bet she’s a real looker. “Say, Fern, why do you always have your hood up?”
Fern flinched. “That’s…none of your business.”
“Oh, come on, we’re friends now, aren’t we?” Snow took a step forward and Fern took a step back. “Are you shy? Come on, lower your hood and show me that pretty face of yours. I’m just curious to see what you look like. I feel like I’ve been hanging out with the headless horsewoman or something. Back in the Enchanted Forest your hair was covering more than half of your face. With a body like yours you must be gorgeous.” Snow tried to make a grab for her hood.
Fern leapt backwards and raised her hands in front of her defensively. “No! Stop! Quit it!” The Huntress backed up until her back hit the wall and there was nowhere else for her to escape.
“Aha!” Snow lunged forward, grabbed her hood, and lowered it. The prince sucked in a surprised breath at the unexpected sight of Fern’s left blue eye and the three claw marks that ran vertically over her left eye. “Holy shit! What happened to your face?”
Fern quickly raised her left hand to cover the left side of her face, and glowered at Snow. “Remember the bear we killed in the Enchanted Forest? Scar?” Snow nodded dazedly while he noticed that her right eye was a dark, emerald green color. It was pretty. “Well, that bear has been hunting my mother and I ever since I was born. For years my mother protected me until one day the bear finally managed to kill her while she was protecting me.
“I ran away and tried to hide inside a hollow log. But the bear found me instantly by tracking my smell. Scar tried to get me out of the log using his clawed paws. His paw smashed through the log, and his claws hit my face. That’s how I got these scars. The bear didn’t give up though, and kept playing with the log until he accidentally knocked it into a nearby river. The river swept me away from the bear and that’s how I managed to escape with my life.”
Snow gave Fern a sympathetic look. “How were you able to survive on your own at such a young age?”
“It was hard. At first, I lived as a bandit in order to survive. Then, I used the money I’d managed to save up to pay an old hunter to give me lessons on how to shoot a bow and how to use a crossbow. After that, I started to hunt that bear and monsters for money. I was only able to kill it without my weapons because of you. Thanks to you I was able to avenge my mother’s death. So…thank you. Well, now you know how I got these hideous scars.”
Snow looked at Fern intently. “I think ‘hideous’ is a strong word.”
A vein at Fern’s temple throbbed in irritation. “You practically screamed when you saw my face for the first time just now!”
Snow threw his hands up before him in a placating gesture. “Whoa. I was just caught by surprise. The scars make you look quite…fearsome, after all.”
“Fearsome, huh?” Fern said dryly.
“I don’t mean that in a bad way,” Snow said. “You look tough. Strong. Dangerous.”
“You mean ugly,” Fern grumbled.
“I don’t think you’re ugly,” Snow said firmly. “I think you’re-”
Fern swiftly put her index finger to Snow’s lips to silence him. “No. Don’t say it. I’ll know you’re lying if you say you think I’m ‘pretty’.”
When Fern pulled her finger back, Snow spoke: “That’s not what I was going to say exactly.” He’d been planning on calling Fern ‘unique’ or even ‘special’.
“You’re not the one,” Fern muttered to herself, thinking of how Yaga had told her she’d one day find true love. “You can’t be. I hate playboys.”
Snow raised a curious eyebrow at her. “The one?” A wolfish grin formed on Snow’s face. “The one you’re planning to give your virginity to?”
A pink tinge rose to Fern’s cheeks and Snow was caught by surprise at how feminine it made Fern look all of a sudden. “That’s…none of your business, playboy prince.” She pushed her way past Snow and stalked over to the window. When she looked down her eyes widened and her expression turned grim. “We’ve got company. Yaga was right. They’re here.”
Snow walked over to stand next to Fern. “Don’t worry, Milady. We’ve got this.”
***
Exiting from the edge of the forest were four figures: the minotaur demon Jericho, an Insectoid, a Dark Elf Witch, and a gorgon demon. Fern had never seen an Insectoid before, and its humanoid, insect-like appearance startled her. The Insectoid had a black exoskeleton that resembled battle armor, and instead of hands it had large claws. The monster’s human head had black skin, mandibles, and a pair of short antenna.
The Dark Elf Witch had tanned skin, red eyes, and long white hair. She was wearing a red, pointed, wide-brimmed hat, red leather corset that showed off a lot of cleavage, form-fitting, black leather pants, and boots.
As Snow looked out the window down at their enemies he barely noticed the males and his sole focus was on the female. His eyes zeroed in on the elf witch’s cleavage and he pouted. “How come Blue gets to fight the Dark Elf Witch? She’s a real babe.”
A vein at Fern’s temple throbbed in irritation. “And that’s exactly why you don’t get to fight her. Her feminine wiles won’t work on Blue. He’s too serious and straight-laced to crack. Besides, would you have been able to kill her?”
“Probably not,” Snow admitted sheepishly.
The gorgon demon was an unsettling sight, and Fern was glad they wouldn’t be fighting him. Instead of hair he had live green snakes that were swaying back and forth in an eerie manner and hissing occasionally. His eyes were yellow with slit pupils. The snake demon was shirtless showing off his golden-hued, muscular chest. From the waist down the demon’s body was that of an enormous rattlesnake. His tail was covered with green, gold, and black scales.
When the gorgon looked up at the tower window Snow quickly covered Fern’s eyes with his hand. “Careful, baby. Never stare into a gorgon’s eyes directly. If they activate their power they could turn you to stone in an instant.”
“I know that,” Fern huffed. “Would you kindly remove your hand from my face?”
“Oh, yeah,” Snow said quickly removing his hand. “Sorry.”
Snow and Fern watched as the mercenaries split into two groups. The dark elf and gorgon headed for the entrance at the bottom of the tower while the Insectoid and Jericho turned their attention towards the tower window.
“How the hell do they think they can get all the way up here?” Fern mused aloud. As if to answer Fern’s question the Insectoid charged towards the tower, and right when it was about to barrel into it, the monster leapt and began to climb up the side of the tower rapidly. “Oh. That’s how.”
Meanwhile, Jericho spread his wings, flapped them, and took off into the sky. The minotaur demon approached the top of the tower in this manner.
“I don’t think so.” Fern nocked an arrow to her bow, aimed at Jericho, and loosed her arrow at the demon. The arrow sped through the air towards Jericho at top speed. The minotaur demon waited until the very last second to dodge by executing a barrel roll in mid-air. After that, he continued his ascent until he landed on the roof with a loud, heavy thud. “Shit! He’s on the roof!” Fern cried.
Jericho whipped out his double-edged broadsword and swung it at the roof. His sword blow had the roof tiles shattering, and he continued to rain blows down upon the roof until a hole that was large enough for him to fly through had formed.
A determined expression formed on Snow’s face and he unsheathed his sword. “Don’t worry, Fern. I’ll handle Jericho. You…just concentrate on taking out that Insectoid.” The prince ran off to face Jericho as the demon flew down through the hole in the roof.
“Try to stay alive, Playboy Prince,” Fern called after him. She returned her attention to the Insectoid that was climbing the tower. Fern nocked an arrow to her bow, aimed at the monster, and loosed her arrow. The arrow flew through the air, hit the Insectoid’s shoulder and bounced off. Fern frowned and swore inwardly. Shit. That stuff all over his body really is like armor. The Huntress nocked another arrow to her bow and aimed at the Insectoid. If it reaches the tower window…I’m as good as dead. Yaga said I could handle this. I should be able to defeat him. Come on. What’s his weakness? What is armor’s weakness? That’s it!
Fern narrowed her eyes at the monster, aimed at the junction where the creature’s shoulder met its torso, and loosed her arrow. The arrow sped through the air and slipped into the small gap in the monster’s exoskeleton. Yes! Fern inwardly crowed when she saw that her shot finally hit its mark. Unfortunately, the monster continued to crawl up the wall and even appeared to be picking up speed.
“You’re a tough bastard, aren’t you?” Fern took a deep breath and aimed for the creature’s vulnerable point on the other side of its body. She loosed her arrow; it flew through the air, and hit the juncture with deadly precision. The Insectoid let out an angry roar of pain, spit flying out of its mouth, and the Insectoid lost its grip on the side of the tower accidentally. Fern watched as the Insectoid started to fall down through the air, and in a few seconds it hit the ground with a sickening splat. Fern whirled around to face Snow with a triumphant gleam in her bi-colored eyes. “I did it!” She would have said more, but the sight before her rendered her speechless.
Snow was engaged in swordplay with the minotaur demon Jericho. The two swordsmen were swinging their swords at each other viciously. Neither holding back. The clanging sound of steel meeting steel filled the room. “Whoa.” Fern’s jaw dropped open slightly as she watched Snow gracefully block and parry the demon’s attacks.
Jericho appeared to be evenly matched as he too thwarted and deflected the prince’s attacks. Their movements were so fast that Fern feared that if she blinked she’d end up missing something important. The only difference she could see was that Jericho’s sword blows appeared to hit harder and seemed heavier. She could see Snow’s arms starting to tremble with the effort it was taking to block those attacks.
In that moment, Fern wondered why she’d assumed that Snow would be awful at swordplay. Perhaps, his carefree attitude had made her underestimate him. I can’t believe this. Snow is actually a really good swordsman. Fern frowned as a sudden thought occurred to her. But then, why is he always running away like a coward? It makes no sense.
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