Whisking Away, Part 2

"Came so far, only to fail in the end."

 So the leading knight said, slinging his giant blade over his shoulder with a smirk. "You caused a lot of trouble for us. Never before had anyone slipped by our security and climbed all the crystals to the very top, even with our guards and security system chasing you at every corner."

"First time for everything," Juan replied curtly, holding the little princess's hand gently. He could see the red wisps swirling around the knights, with an aura of yellow shining from their leader. He continued, "I guess it'll be your first time losing, too."

 The princess turned to the tall man and asked, "Princess? Why are they all looking at you like that?"

 "Because he's a God of Death!" the lead knight yelled, pointing directly at Juan with his blade. "A murderer, a villain, wishing to whisk you away and rip your soul from your very body?"

 Juan sighed. Oh, here they go again. Always mistakening him for that freak show. So just because he used a few spirits and had a scythe to go along meant that he was snatching babies from the cradle and ripping out their souls? "Does it look like I'm a mindless murderer to you?" he asked bluntly, staring at the knights as if they were dumber than a sack of rocks. "I mean, I was kind enough to only hamper you guys, not outright kill you." He paused to scratch at his chin. "Oh, okay, maybe I destroyed one or two of your robots, but I didn't kill any of your force, did I? Does that sound like something a God of Death would do?"

 The knights turned to each other, whispering and gossiping. It was true: the most he did was injure them. Every one of the force was still alive and well. It took slamming a giant sword into the ground to get their attention again.

"And yet, here you are," the lead knight growled, "snatching away our princess like villains of yore. Here to take her to the Netherworld, just like the prophets predicted!"

 Uh oh. A prophet predicted he would be here? So much for avoiding self-fulfilling prophecies. Juan took a glance over to the side, noticing light shining from the window by the girl's bed. He held up his hand and snapped his fingers, runes lighting up on his arms as a blast of energy crashed into the window and shattered it into tiny pieces. He grabbed the princess and led her over, only for the knights to take another step further.

"You would try to escape, even when I, Baron Yulrick, have alerted everyone to your presence?" the knight asked. "Even when I can cleave your head off with a single swing?!"

 He certainly didn't expect the "god" to wink at him and smile. "Trust me, if you wanted to cleave my head off, you would have already done it by now," Juan said casually. "Many have tried, but as you can see, this good princess's head is still attached!"

 "You little rat... you think I won't?"

 A pause. Juan placed a finger on his chin before he grinned right back at his opponent.

 "Nope!"

 He leaped out the window with his charge, just as Baron swung his blade.  It was one helluva way back down, but he had his plans, even while drones were firing at him from every angle.  He held out a hand and mumbled something the princess couldn't understand. She could hear one word she did recognize, though...

"FAERIE!"

Magic did not fly out from his palms like it did before. Rather, a spirit appeared, blooming into a small little fairy. "You called, Juan?" she asked. "I was in the middle of getting a manicure-"

"You didn't have to come if you were busy," the man replied, too casually for someone falling down to his doom. "Think you can light up a path?"

 The faerie considered this before she smirked and snapped her fingers. "I'll do you one even better!" With as much effort as she could muster, the spirit shot out a blast of light, revealing a path down to safe ground. Well, not a path. Rather, a slide. One that Juan and his charge managed to fall onto.

"This will do!" Juan said. "Hang on tight, ah... Oh, I don't think I asked for your name, princess."

 The little girl's eyes lit up as they began slipping and sliding down the path of light the fey kept up, with lasers and energy bursts wizzing past them. "My name's Shiela! And what about you?"

 "Juan. Juan Lyon. Or maybe it should be Juanita? I am a princess, as you know!"

 A quick check of the watch before they reached solid ground revealed that there was only 10 minutes left before the portal closed. Now it was time to get worried. Moreso now that Juan heard Baron screaming, "Release the Cerebus!"

 The duo barely touched solid ground when both could hear the growls and barking of a gigantic three headed dog, fur black as soot, rushing right at them. Juan whistled out, hoping that man's best friend didn't turn away with his tail between his legs just yet. The princess was confused, though. "What was that for, princess?" she asked quietly, her eyes darting back and forth between her kidnapper and the monster getting closer and closer.

 Juan only smiled. "I'm just calling our fair steed, that's all!"

When Shiela heard "steed", she imagined a big, white unicorn, mane flowing in the wind as it shot rainbows out of its horn. Elegant and beautiful, just like herself. It would talk to her and tell funny stories and keep all the big, bad guys away! And then they could have a meal of apples and carrots and whatever else Unicorns eat!

She didn't expect it to be a giant, black lab with a blade on its snout, donned in midnight blue armor and a saddle on its back. She also didn't expect it to pick her up with its mouth and hurl her onto its mouth while Juan hopped on and took the reins. "Good boy, Jasper," the man said while scratching the giant pooch behind the ear. "Now let's hightail out of here, before that portal closes!"

 With a loud, "Aroof," the cu sith bounded away, Cerebus slowly catching up and belching flames from its three mouths. It shamelessly stepped on houses and farms close to the castle, caring not for the casualties it brings. The grass rustled as the dogs' paws reached the forest area, trees and bushes flashing by in a blur. 

As the Cerebus caught up, its massive jaws snapped at the steed, Shiela yelping and pressing close to her kidnapper.  Juan glanced at his watch again. 3 minutes. Did it really take that long for his steed to get here? And the portal was still far away... Shit! All he could do was shoot jets of water from his hands to counteract the fierce flames the Cerebus was determined to singe them with.  He was in no mood to toss his weapon like a boomerang, especially if the spirit inhabiting it didn't feel like returning like it should. He didn't want to force a spirit into doing what he wanted, anyhow.

3 minutes turn to 2. 2 turned into 1. The portal was within reach, cunningly placed on the mountain right ahead. If someone tried to chase after them after the portal closed, they would find themselves crashing into a wall. On the downside, if the trio didn't reach it in time, they'd be stuck in a giant rut. Juan urged the cu sith to go faster, the portal slowly beginning to shrink. Faster...faster! Cerebus was right on their tail,  one of the heads opening its jaws and ready to snap them up. Do or die-


Whoosh! SLAM! Too late. The Cerebus couldn't get its meal in time, instead ending up with a mouth full of rocks, dirt, and broken dreams. The intruders had escaped.


The King won't be too pleased to hear about this, will he?