Chapter 65 – A Tale Amid the Crumbling Keep

As they fell, Shawn and Selena found themselves caught in the chaotic descent, the shattered stones tumbling with them. Fragments of the massive boulder from the southern part of the castle slowly spiralled down into the churning ocean below. Amidst the chaos of their fall, a sudden, sharp metallic clash cut through the tumult. Shawn and Selena turned toward the sound above them, their gazes narrowing as they watched a shadow dart through the air. From the haze of falling rubble, a figure hurtled briefly, catching a glint of sunlight before colliding with a massive boulder. The impact sent up a cloud of dust and debris, but the figure quickly shot upward again, this time meeting another figure mid-flight with a thunderous clash that sent them spiralling away in opposite directions and crashing into another random boulder falling.

“That’s Makara and Thane fighting each other,” Shawn muttered, his voice tight with disbelief.

Selena, eyes wide with realisation, responded, “Now we know where he went.”

As the two figures clashed again, their violent battle continued through the falling rocks, sending shockwaves through the air. The shockwaves knocked debris out of their path, creating temporary openings as the figures spiralled downward in opposite directions, locked in their intense airborne struggle.

Through the chaos of falling rubble and the overwhelming descent, Makara deflected Thane’s next vicious attack with a powerful whip-like air wave. Thane countered instantly, his own wave striking back and sending Makara careening toward a massive falling boulder next to Shawn and Selena, who were free-falling and Thane in the opposite direction upward towards the slow-falling rock which holds the castle. Regaining his footing on the crumbling, falling rock, Makara’s gaze flicked toward Shawn and Selena. Despite the chaos, a smirk crept across his face. “Hey, guys! What’re you doing here?” he shouted over the roaring wind.

Selena’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Makara! Where have you been all this time?” she managed, her voice barely audible over the wind’s howl.

Makara followed her pointed gesture toward all the broken destruction around them, and along with the lifeless form of the transformed Prince Enthril, spinning wildly in free fall alongside them. His approving nod was almost casual. “Looks like you guys had fun,” he said with a grin. “But are you aware you are falling?”

By now, the rest of the massive boulder supporting the castle—the west wing, east wing, and the north—had given way entirely, following the south wing’s descent into the ocean. Before Shawn or Selena could respond, a piercing screech cut through the air. Out of the swirling haze above, the familiar form of the barn owl swooped down, its massive wings shimmering as they caught the sunlight. With an elegant twist, the owl dove beneath the trio, catching Shawn, Selena, and Makara on its sturdy back. Its powerful wings spread wide, stabilising their descent as debris rained down around them. As the trio clung to the owl’s thick feathers, a sudden movement caught Thane’s attention. His eyes locked on them, and with a fierce snarl, he launched himself into the air, targeting Makara.

Clinging to the owl’s thick feathers, Selena shouted in alarm, “It’s Thane!” Her eyes locked on the figure propelling toward them with relentless speed. Thane, his face a mask of fury and determination, lashed out with his whip. The weapon coiled around a large chunk of falling palace debris, allowing him to launch himself directly at Makara. His expression twisted with rage as he closed the distance.

Makara’s instincts flared, and with a swift motion, he leapt from the owl’s back to meet Thane mid-air. Their weapons clashed like a whip, the impact sending them spiralling apart, free-falling through the chaos. Just then, Thane twisted in the air, and his focus shifted as his gaze fell upon the lifeless form of Prince Enthril just a few feet below him. For a fleeting moment, his expression softened, grief breaking through his fury, and he whispered under his breath, “No!”

With unwavering resolve, Thane snapped his whip around a fragment of falling rubble, the leather coiling tight. Using it as an anchor, he pulled with all his strength and hurled himself forward, propelling through the collapsing air toward his master’s body. Prince Enthril was almost within his grasp, but before Thane could reach him, they both plummeted rapidly, crashing into the ocean—Prince Enthril first, with Thane following close behind—before vanishing into the churning waves below.

Meanwhile, the owl swooped low, its talons catching Makara mid-air just inches above the ocean’s surface. With its wings flapping fiercely, the owl tried to climb higher, flying narrowly avoiding the debris. Yet the massive boulder that had once been the heart of the castle plummeted just behind them, smashing into the ocean with a cataclysmic impact. The force of the impact sent a tremendous wave hurtling upwards. The owl strained against the force, struggling to break free of the impending wave. The wave crested, swallowing them all in a massive spray. The weight of the water pulled them under in a whirlpool of foam. The world around them turned into pure chaos—flashes of falling stones, the roar of the ocean, and the suffocating pressure of the currents as they were flung into the ocean.

After some time, as the sun hung high in the sky, the waves eventually washed them ashore, depositing the trio unceremoniously onto a sandy beach. Drenched and gasping, Shawn and Makara lay sprawled out, coughing up water, while Selena sat upright, dazed but breathing steadily, her demeanour unusually casual despite the ordeal. Behind them, the remnants of the once-floating palace disappeared beneath the ocean’s surface, sending massive ripples across the shoreline.

Makara, already pulling himself to his feet, brushes sand off his clothes. But his attention quickly shifted when he noticed Selena’s steely glare fixed on him, her narrowed eyes brimming with unspoken frustration.

“Where were you?” Shawn and Selena demanded in unison, their voices sharp, a blend of curiosity and irritation.

As sunlight filtered through the scattered canopy of trees bordering the beach, Makara turned to them, his expression light and unapologetic. With his usual grin, he began explaining, an unusual cheerfulness in his tone that seemed completely at odds with the chaos they had just survived. “So, there I was,” he said, gesturing dramatically. “I woke up from my sleep by the chirping of birds in the garden in the early morning, so I thought I’d explore a bit and maybe I’d find that sake we had yesterday. That’s when I saw Thane—tending to the gardens. Quietly. Almost like it was something sacred. Snipping leaves here, straightening branches there, every movement precise and deliberate.”

Selena, still dripping wet from the waves, raised an eyebrow, her scepticism plain as day, but Makara pressed on, undeterred. “When I got closer, he noticed me, gave me his usual deadpan look, then—get this—he invited me somewhere special. Said it was a part of the castle that most visitors never got to see. Naturally, I thought, Why not?” He shrugged with a smirk.

Makara’s eyes lit up as he continued, his voice carrying a tinge of nostalgia. “He led me through these winding stairs, deeper and deeper below the castle. Turns out, we were heading to the basement—the place where they store their premium wine.”

Selena’s brows shot up in surprise, while Shawn tilted his head, his gaze sharpening as if trying to piece together any hidden implications in Makara’s tale.

“The whole place was incredible,” Makara continued, his tone almost wistful now. “The walls were lined with casks and barrels, some so ancient they looked like a strong breeze might turn them to dust. And the smell—oh, man. It was this mix of rich, earthy aromas blended with spices and fruits. It felt like I’d stumbled into heaven. Then Thane offered me a taste of their oldest sake from an old, small gourd…” He paused, his smirk deepening. “Well, of course, I didn’t hesitate.”

Makara shook his head, a mix of amusement and frustration evident in his expression. “Then Thane poured it into a small cup and offered it to me. So, there I was, about to take a sip of that sake, and somehow, I ‘accidentally’ spilt it. I didn’t understand what had happened. Then, when Thane offered me another cup and I tried to drink it, out of nowhere—I spilt it again!” He laughed, exasperated at the memory. “That’s when I realised something was off. I looked at him. He was sitting right in front of me, acting like nothing had happened, but I figured it out pretty quickly—he was doing something to make me spill the drink.”

“So, I stood up, grabbed the cup and the sake gourd, and started moving around the room. I poured another drink, nice and slow, watching him closely. He just sat there, smiling, with this stance that challenged me, ‘Go ahead, take a sip. I dare you.’ I acted like I was about to drink, but the second I raised the cup to my lips—snap! A whip shot out of nowhere, knocking it right out of my hands.”

Shawn raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “A whip, you say?”

Makara chuckled. “Yes, a whip. And let me tell you, he was not letting up. But I wasn’t about to give up either. Lucky for me, I’d been saving something special from Prince Aerion’s castle—the mirage hummingbird, the one that was causing all those illusions back there. I set it loose above me, and it worked like a charm. In no time, there were duplicates of me spread all over the room.” He grinned mischievously. “Even then, Thane was persistent. Somehow, he managed to pick me out from the clones every time—but only when I was about to take a sip!”

“So, I got clever. While he was distracted, I managed to pour a bit of sake into my own personal gourd and kept it aside under my cloak and continued with the old gourd. But I couldn’t take a sip in front of him. He had this uncanny knack for stopping me no matter what I tried.”

Makara’s grin widened as he went on. “Then came the moment everything went south. A loud crash thundered from above—it shook the whole place. The hummingbird panicked and bolted, and just like that, poof, all my clones vanished. That’s when Thane looked for the real me and spotted me—peeking under the table once the illusion dropped. There I was, crouched like a fool, trying to sneak a drink while the whole room fell apart around us. He looked at me, I looked at him… and I knew he’d tip it off anyway, so I just poured the sake straight onto the floor myself instead of the cup. The moment I scrambled out from under the table, he snapped his whip at me—and I grabbed it.”

“I think he got mad because I tried to drink some sake without him noticing, so Thane launched into a full-on fight. His whip was a blur, and I was dodging and parrying with my weapon. I swear, we were at it forever until—” Makara paused dramatically. “—the tremor hit. Cracks started splitting across the room, and there was this deep, rumbling noise, like a stampede.”

Shawn’s eyes narrowed, already guessing. “Elephants?”

“Exactly!” Makara exclaimed, nodding. “A whole herd of elephants came charging toward us. We barely had time to react before the ceiling started coming down on us. And mind you, Thane and I were still fighting, trading ranged attacks as debris fell around us and the walls caved in. At one point, I couldn’t help but think about all that sake inside the barrels spilling around us—what a waste! But I managed to save some in my gourd.” He laughed, shaking his head, slipping a hand inside his cloak as he searched for it.

Makara continued as he searched for his gourd “And then, right in the middle of all that chaos, the floor gave way. We went tumbling down—Thane, me, the elephants, everything.”

Selena’s jaw dropped, clearly struggling to wrap her head around the scene Makara had painted. “So, let me get this straight,” she said, half-impressed, half-incredulous. “You were still fighting Thane… over a cup of sake?”

“Oh, he wasn’t stopping for anything,” Makara said with a grin. “Even while we were falling, he kept coming at me. Just when I finally spotted the two of you—right after I smashed into a rock—I managed to catch a breather. And, well… here we are.”

As he finished his story, Makara pulled out his gourd from inside his cloak. “Oh, and look—this is the sake gourd! I saved it through all that chaos.” His grin widened triumphantly as he opened it. Meanwhile, Shawn and Selena had spotted the owl nearby, its head buried in the sand, wings flapping wildly as it tried to free itself.