182 Dangerous Fight: Power Awakening

CHAPTER182

'Hang in there, Avery. Father is here.' He said to himself, inwardly.

He looked back up at the Palace walls and his eyes caught sight of a figure standing by the window in one of the rooms.

"Hmm!"

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~ELVENFOREST – TUNNEL~

Jareth and the others continued walking in the tunnel as they advanced forward down the path. All of a sudden he stopped in his tracks. His ears twitched a bit as his eyes and brows furrowed.

Astrid who was busy conversing with the little white Tiger Phoenix beast, didn't notice Jareth's abrupt stop.

"Hahaha…" she laughed out loud at a joke the little White Tiger cub told her.

"Shh!"

It was not until Jareth silenced her that she became aware of his abrupt stop and adverted her gaze from the little beast to him.

He turned around on his heels so he was now facing her. After some seconds he let out a sigh.

"What is it?"

"It is nothing, nothing to be bothered with. Let's be on o…"

His eyes darkened and his brows furrowed as his ear twitched again. The next moment, he opened them wide and shouted, "Astrid duck!!"

"What?"

Before Astrid could react on time, Jareth was faster. The moment he shouted, he moved with speed.

He was so fast that it felt as though he disappeared only to reappear in front of her and picked her and the beast up, and then jumped far from the spot.

The instant his feet landed on the ground, something burst out from the ground where Astrid had once stood.

BANG!

The ground burst open and a huge beast sprang out from it. Astrid's eyes widened in horror the moment she took in the beast that had just emerged from the ground in front of them.

Immediately, she raised her hand and erected a force field, shielding them from the scattered rocks and huge stone being flung their direction.

SHRIEK!!

"AAHH!"

She dropped her hands and used it to cover her ears as the beast shrieked at them. Jareth quickly put down Astrid and the little beast and took his stance in front of them.

What stood before them was a tall and mighty, blue snake with spikes adorning its head. It looked at them with fierce eyes and tilted its head backwards ready to strike.

"Prepare to engage," Jareth shouted out his order.

"Right ahead of you."

Swoosh!

Before he made a move, Astrid was already in front of him and heading straight for the snake.

"Astrid! Stay back!"

The snake opened its mouth and shot its poison at her. She quickly stopped racing forward and raised her right hand.

The ground beneath them shook and a wall came out from it, shielding her from its poison.

"Astrid, look out!" Jareth yelled once more.

But this time, rather than staying put, he hurried over and carried her away from there.

"Thank you."

"Be more watchful…"

Before he could complete his sentence, Astrid pushed Jareth away from her, making him stagger backwards and several poisonous darts spot in between them.

"I should say the same words to you, Jareth."

He got his footing back and smiled at her. "What say you, how about we finish this quick?"

"I couldn't agree more."

She formed two ice twin swords in her hands and threw them at him, all the while her gaze never leaving the gigantic snake.

"Ready?" Jareth asked her. He noticed her hands began to glow with its usual blue shining light, signifying she was going to use her magic.

"Ready. Ready, Snow?"

"Yes, master," the little beast said fiercely in her mind.

"Attack!!"

All three of them lounged for the snake at once.

Jareth increased his speed and slashed and the snake's body. It threw spikes at him, but he dodged them effortlessly.

It kept attacking with its poison and darts and sometimes used its head to strike at Jareth. Astrid used her magic to create chains that surrounded and tied the snake, giving Jareth a chance to slash at its scales and finally inured it.

It shrieked louder, pushing Astrid back with force, she quickly closed her ears as it shrieked again. Seeing that she was distracted, it swung its tail at her and pushed her to the wall.

Snow charge forth and sprayed its flames on the snake's tail, making it shriek more from the pain.

Jareth didn't relent and ran up the wall then jumped down towards the snake and slashed st its neck.

He landed behind the snake and immediately ran towards it again, dodging and attacking at the same time.

Astrid got up, holding the wall for support. The snaked had wiped her fragile body against the wall too hard. She lifted her hands and large chunks of earth-like rocks raised in the air.

One after the other, she threw them at the head of the snake. Some made their target while the others fell on its body. Jareth and Snow dodged just in time to avoid been hit by the large chunk of earth.

The snake turned it head to face her. She could clearly see the anger etched deep in ts eyes and it shrieked again.

"Oh no, not this time," she said and erected a cube-like barrier to surround the beast thereby keeping its shriek in.

Soon the air seemed to condense and gather all around her. Before long, it formed a circular barrier around her. The force from the air around her became so strong that if one where to go near, it would fling the person away.

The next thing Jareth knew, Astrid was lifted off the ground and suspended in the air with her eyes closed.

The snake shrieked again and began hitting the barrier with its head and body. After a minute, her eyes opened.

It was not its usual colour of black or orange sapphire and blue. This time around it became white. Her eyes shone a bright light as her brows furrowed.

She moved her hands in the air and three huge earth spikes protruded out from the wall and ground and pierced the skin of the snake, pinning it in place.

It shrieked the more at the seething pain. Astrid didn't stop there and moved her hands in a slicing manner. The air moved in sync with her and began slicing the skin of the snake.

It wailed and shrieked as it rode out his pain, but she didn't stop there. She lifted her left fingers and moved them inward in a come fashion. The wind carried the snake forward to her as the eath spikes broke off its body.

She made it turn around and let the earth slice at it continuously before she set it on fire. It let out a loud shriek till it eventually died.

After she was sure it was dead, she flung it backward. Her eyes closed and she fell down.

Jareth was fast, he threw away the swords in his hand and leapt on a fallen rock and jumped. It caught her in mid air and landed with one knee on the ground.

Snow rushed forward as well to where they were. She was weak. Jareth held her close to his chest and used his free hand to touch her face.

"Astrid," he called out softly, but she didn't respond. "Hey, Astrid. Wake up, look at me."

He shook her lightly, wanting her to come around. After a minute of shaking her, her eyes opened sluggishly.

"Ja… J–Jareth?"

"Yes, it is me, Jareth. Hold on. Don't fall unconscious, please. Don't sleep. Stay with me."

His voice gave off his fear. He was scared, scared that she would faint and lose consciousness for days. He didn't want anything to happen to her. If he had known he wouldn't have let her go too far with her powers.

"Stay with me, stay with me," he chanted softly to her and held her close to his chest.

What happened next, both of them could never have prepared themselves for it.

Astrid began to shiver and shake in his arms. Snow and Jareth turned their gaze to look at each other and then back at her. Her hands soon changed colour. One hand was a bright light blue and the other was red.

She continued to shake and grit her teeth and the colours shone brighter. After about two minutes, it died down, but the shaking persisted.

Jareth hugged her closer to himself and his eyes widened in shock. Snow made some noise at him when it realized the change in expression in Jareth's eyes and face.

He pulled back from the embrace and stared wide eyed at Astrid.

"What is going on?" He finally managed to say and turned his gaze in the direction of Snow.

"She…She is… Her body is extremely hot but she is shivering terribly. Could it be an after effect of using her powers like that?"

Snow shook its head at Jareth, agreeing with his theory.

Before he knew it, it changed again. This time, her body became ice cold and her breath and palm very hot.

"Hot…So hot, my body…"