But something was wrong. He wasn’t moving. As my initial panic faded, I drew cautiously closer and landed a safe distance away. The ground was strangely flat here, as if it had been purposely altered. Cobblestones covered the earth, and wild weeds poked out through the old cracks. Huge trees hung over the area, protecting it from view. In the middle of it stood the Knight, who still brandished his dull sword.
The Knight remained still. Tense but curious, I approached him, ready to fight if necessary.
The Knight’s eyes were closed, and he wasn’t breathing. I quickly realized why and let out a sigh of relief.
He wasn’t moving because it was only a statue.
And not just a statue - it was Silas, one of the highest ranked Knights. One of the men who were responsible for my capture.
Anger stewed in my gut, but it was tempered by a sense of smug superiority. I was still alive after all these years - I pulled offtime travel, for gods’ sake - and all Silas had to show for his achievements was a measly old statue.
“Who would even make a monument to him?” I growled to myself. “He never did a good thing in his life.”
They must have built this statue after I disappeared,I realized.Some kind of homage to Silas, or the Knights in general. They probably took the credit for getting rid of me, even though they didn’t actually kill me.
A flash of rage struck me. Those cowards were rewarded by monuments while I was forced into hiding. But my anger melted away, replaced by an idea. This strange monument was far from town, and judging by the cracked stones and overgrown nature, no one had been here for ages. Possibly four hundred years.
No one remembered Silas, or what he represented. Therefore, nobody would mind if I destroyed the statue.
Silence gripped the thicket. Nobody was around. Deciding it was safe to temporarily let go of Angel, I backtracked into a corner where a clump of bushes grew near a crumbling step. I gently placed her on the ground along with the hoard of dead pheasants. She was too hungry to wait for me to cook one - she shifted into the form of a wolf pup and threw herself teeth-first into the pile.
“Smart and self-sufficient, just like me,” I remarked with pride.
Knowing she was safe in the corner, I stormed back towards the statue of Silas with my fists balled.
“You tried to kill me,” I growled at the statue, feeling anger bubble towards the surface. Four hundred years had passed, but to me the incident barely happened a day ago. The wounds were still fresh. The memory of his twisted face calling me a demon made me snarl. “You don’t deserve to be remembered!”
In a flash I shifted into my golden dragon form, and with a deep growl I swung my tail in a powerful motion towards the statue. It smacked into the statue’s head.
I grinned, ready for the satisfyingcrackof broken stone and scattered debris - but it never came. My smile fell. The statue was still in one piece.
“What the hell?” I growled. Indignant, I smacked it again, growing angry that I couldn’t destroy it. “Why don’t youbreak!?”
Frustrated and not wanting to waste my energy any longer, I shifted back to my human form with a deep scowl. My failure turned me hot with shame. I wanted to leave this place. But as I turned to pick up Angel, a cold light filled the area.
I whipped around, my heart racing. A horrified gasp escaped my throat. The statue was glowing. The stone shards of the statue broke, like a clay pot crumbling - but instead of turning to dust like I intended, something unimaginable happened. As the shards fell away, it revealed a face underneath. A living face.
The statue wasn’t a statue at all - itwasSilas.
My lungs felt like they were crushed. Terror struck me and I scrambled to back away. But the moment his face was fully revealed, it was too late. I cried out as a sharp, rough claw of stone shot out from the ground and clutched my wrist. Another one quickly apprehended my other wrist as I tried to jerk myself away. My heart raced, thick with horror.
“No!” I screamed.
Desperate, I tried to throw myself against the ground to break the stone cuffs, but they locked me in place. Even the panicked instinct of magic running through my veins wasn’t enough to free myself - my magic was still exhausted, and there was nothing I could do.
The rock shards continued to crumble until Silas’s body was freed. When he opened his eyes, a new jolt of fear hit me.
He smiled.
“Well,” he said slowly, “hello, Halo.”
I snarled. “How did you do this? Let go of me right now!”
Silas stretched languidly with a grunt. “How many years has it been? It’s hard to tell the passage of time when you’re locked in stone.”
My heart beat violently against my ribs. “Silas, release me before I kill you where you stand.”
He didn’t reply as he shook the remaining rock debris off his armor. It should have rusted by rain and wear in the centuries he was dormant - instead, it gleamed just as brightly as it did the night of the incident.
