//------------------------------// // The First Attack // Story: Descendants Of The Isle 3: Rise of the Royal Villain // by Melody Song //------------------------------// “So who else knows? About the crown and the staff, I mean.” Luna asked, as Tempest paced in front of her. They were in Luna’s home. “No one besides Sandbar, his parents, Gallus, and Rising Dawn. And now you and me.” Tempest explained. “Understandable, of course, creatures are scared enough as is, Pharynx was just telling me about the new security measures they’re taking.” “Do you think it’ll delay bringing over more VCs?” “I…” Tempest stopped. “...Gallus said they’re… talking about closing the barrier for good.” “But he said no, right? I mean, what could they be thinking? The four of us are living the dream and we finally get to share that. Nothing could be more important than that.” “Y-Yeah, I know.” Tempest bit her lip, sitting down. “I mean, there’s security. And peace of mind for everyone in Equus.” “T, is that seriously what they’re thinking? That no one will ever go in or out of the Isle ever again?” Luna stood and began pacing. “That Phar, Gallus, Gilda, Thorax, Ocellus-all of them never get to go back and see their parents? And what about the new kids? We promised they could go back and visit whenever they wanted!” “I know that, Lu.” “Temp… I am so glad Gallus is going to make you his advisor…” Luna hugged her friend, startling her. “You’ll get to hear about these conversations and help him stand up for the VCs.” “Y-Yeah…” “Thanks for telling me this. You know you can always confide in me.” Luna said, and Tempest hugged her back at last. “Yeah, I know.” ----------------------------------- “Hey, there you two are.” Pharynx said as Thorax and Ocellus rushed into the kitchen of Luna’s house. They’d all been bunking there for the summer. “Where have you been?” “Stayed up late reading.” Ocellus said, as Thorax stuffed some towels into a bag. “Getting some beach towels.” Thorax explained, grinning at his brother in excitement. “You think Emmie will like the cake we made for her?” “She better like it, I swear, I’m still picking frosting out of my carapace.” Pharynx muttered, as he and Ocellus piled sandwiches and chips into a picnic basket. “Never cooking with you two again.” “Still, I bet she’ll-” Thorax walked over to the box they’d put the specially made gemstone cake in and froze. There was a chunk missing from the bottom corner. “Hey! Who got into Ember’s cake?!” “Oh come on!” Pharynx exclaimed, as he and Ocellus walked over to inspect the damage. -------------------------------- Outside, Smolder and Discord were sitting together, each eating a slice of cake. Smolder moaned softly, scraping the leftover crumbs off her plate. “So good!” “Ah, yes, and the lack of dirt is especially good!” Discord added, grabbing a gem from the cake and eating it in one bite. “And the lack of flies.” Smolder added, and Discord blinked, then took another bite and nodded. “Here, want some of mine?” Discord suggested, showing her how he still had half a slice. Smolder nodded eagerly and cut some with her fork. As the two sugar thieves chowed down on the gem cake, Tempest stepped outside, levitating a gift she’d gotten for Ember in her magic. As she walked down the path leading away from Luna’s home, a bolt of lightning struck the ground, causing a cloud of dust to rise. When it cleared, Yona was strutting towards her. “Oh good, I was hoping you were here.” Yona chuckled “What are you doing with the crown and the staff?” Tempest snarled. “Oh, I wanted them, so I took them.” Yona said, grinning. “You of all creatures should understand that.” “Wait, don’t!” Tempest shouted, drawing attention from the others inside. “You don’t know how to use that, it’s dangerous!” “Don’t you like spells, Tempest?” Yona asked, grinning. Gallus and Luna raced out, Pharynx behind them with Monarch padding along at the rear. “Yona, put that down, it’s not a toy.” Tempest growled. “I know, I want to be dangerous!” Yona pointed it at her, then realized Gallus was there and trotted to him. “My life was perfect, until you stole it, Gallus. Equus turned its back on me. It’s time for some payback.” “Yona, what-no!” Tempest shoved Gallus out of the way, getting blasted with the staff. They shrieked, and the smoke cleared to reveal Tempest had changed into an old mare, her cloak old and worn, just as Thorax and Ocellus ran out. “You think Equus will love you now, you old hag?” Yona laughed. “You’ll pay the price for what you did, I’m coming for all of you! So long suckers!” With that, Yona had vanished in another lightning bolt and cloud of fog. Pharynx went to Tempest, only to yelp in surprise. “Uh, isn’t there a spell to reverse that?” Gallus asked. “You’re lucky it didn’t happen to you.” Tempest said, looking at herself. “No spell can reverse the magic of my father’s staff.” “Oh boy…” Discord had walked over. Tempest shook her head. “Forget about me. Yona’s out for revenge, which means all of Equus is in danger.” “And Sea Kelp thought it was Spitfire.” Gallus muttered to himself. “Isn’t there anything more powerful than the staff?” Pharynx asked “One thing… the thing that created it…” Tempest hesitated. “...Grogar’s bell.” “Well that’s just great.” Pharynx muttered. “He’s not just going to hoof it over.” “And it’s not like we know where his lair is anyway.” Thorax added. “I do.” Discord said, biting a gem in half. “I run errands for him. I have a key at my dad’s.” “That’s our in.” Tempest said, pointing at Discord. “You’re coming with us.” “Aw, and I just got here.” Discord groaned. “Hey, guys?” Smolder, Garble, and Gabby walked out, then cried out when they saw Tempest. “Gabby, Smolder, Garble, stay here and look out for each other, we’ll be fine, go inside.” Luna told them. “I’m staying too.” Ocellus flew over and locked her hooves around Smolder’s neck, kissing her cheek. “I’m not leaving Smoldie again.” “Alright then, that leaves just one sibling to look out for, makes my job easier.” Pharynx thumped Thorax on the back, and he yelped. “If you guys see Gilda, get her inside with you.” Gallus said, scooping up Monarch and passing him to Gabby as he, Thorax, and Pharynx flew around back to get their things. Tempest looked over at Luna. “Lu, how bad is it?” Luna looked at Tempest, scrutinizing her for a moment. “Nothing a little makeup and a nice outfit can fix. Come on.” “Fine, but no makeup.” “Aw, come on!” ---------------------------------- “Are you sure this will work?” Thorax asked nervously as they stood on a cliff overlooking the ocean, the Hidden Isle in the distance. “Positive. It’s how I got across the last time.” Tempest stepped forward, igniting her horn and forcing it to work. “We stand here, proud and fair. We can go anywhere.” Magic sparked around their hooves, and Tempest stepped out onto thin air, the magic holding her up. The others, seeing her success, charged after her. As they ran, Thorax’s phone sounded an alert, and he levitated it over in his magic. “Oh no, Ember’s party! We’re gonna be late!” “Thorax, don’t you see this is clearly more important?!” Pharynx called back, and Thorax sighed, tucking his phone away and following the others.