- 3 -

 

        "She has left." said Jaq who was now standing under the shelf, "I guess birds and Gus are able to see where she puts down the key."

        "Yes." Cinder winked to him, "Do you get a sharp piece?"

        "Of course! I stole one!" Jaq ran towards Cinder with a sharp glass piece in his hand.

        "Then three days are enough for escaping." Cinder smiled.

        She ground the rope over the piece and finally broke it after four hours. Jaq climbed up the iron chain and helped fetch some fruits as breakfast. "You are fine, right? I want to help birds and Gus." Jaq said.

        "Yes. I'm free now and I can protect myself." Cinder nodded, "Go ahead. Take care!"

        After the rabbit left, there was only the quiet sound of the burning torch in the basement. To get more information, Cinder tried to read books on the shelf. Among them, some were magic books, but she surprisingly found out that the others were diaries. She opened one of them, and it said in the bottom right corner that these diaries belonged to Ruby.

That was a name for a lady. Who was she? If the insane women told the truth, then she must not be Ruby. Was she another victim? Or was she the princess? The witch?

        Cinder shook her head again. It was not the point. Escaping was the priority. Though birds and rabbits were searching for the key, it was still unclear when they would find it. She needed to prepare for future fighting.

        "... Physical and magical damages only hurt one's body and result in pain, but there's nothing that can actually kill the one who uses magical power and connects with the tower, except two kinds of flowers. The first one is black and named Violence, and the second one is white and named Understanding..." She whispered and turned to the next page, which listed the ingredients needed to make these two kinds of flowers.

        Cinder spoke to herself, "I don't think the white one will work. After all, I have tried to talk with her and make her understand me."

        She checked the bottle on the shelf and the two porcelain pots and surprisingly found that all ingredients were ready. The only thing she lacked was an operating table where there were measuring cylinders and a magical panel. However, the woman had used a kind of magic -- the black smoke, which meant she must have an operation table...

        "Cinder! Hurry! Catch the key! The woman was not there!" Guz called her above. Dong! He threw the key into the bucket.

        Cinder tore another layer of her dress and packed the book and the ingredients she needed. After that, she opened the door. It was already morning, but it was cloudy.

        Cinder narrowed her eyes to adapt to light when she turned back and carefully locked the door. Birds flew down and still rested on her shoulder. "I will put the key back. You can go first and I will catch up with you." Bill said.

        "No. She needs to pay for what she did for me. Also, it is unsafe for others who lose their way in the forest and accidentally enter the tower. Do you see an operating table in the tower?" Cinder asked.

        "Yes. I saw it in the room on the top, the woman's bedroom." Bella answered.

        "I saw the woman who calls herself a prince came outside to the garden." Jaq added.

        "If you want, we will watch out for the woman." Bill said.

        "Good idea. Let's go." Cinder nodded.

        The birds flew away again. Rabbits guided Cinder to the bedroom on the top of the tower. There was an uneven sheet of dust on the floor with messy footprints on it. The mirror on the wall was cracked and seemed to be hit by a great force in the center.

        "What are you doing, Cinder?" Guz asked when he helped carry the ingredients.

        "To make a black flower that can kill the women." Cinder replied. After she put down all ingredients, a magical black light filled in the room and a black flower appeared on the operation table. She ground the petals and threw them into a broken cup on the table. After some bubbles, they soon resolved into water.

        Birds hurried in from a window of the room. "Cinder! She's coming!" they cried out anxiously.

        "Hush -- Let's hide under the bed. The sheet will cover us."

        The wooden stairs began to creak. The woman walked in slowly and smiled. "My bride. The princess. Beautiful, innocent, and obedient. Eternal happiness." She mumbled and came to the table for her cup.

        Cinder heard her heart beat like a drum.

        The women drank the water. Cinder saw her feet soon became stone, and so did other parts of her body then. "No... No! Who dare kill the prince!" She screamed and struggled to push the table and move, but she could not control her stone body anymore. With her force, she fell back down and broke into pieces.

        Cinder and her animal friends crawled from the bed."She can have a better ending." said Bill.

        "If she is willing to talk with me." Cinder sighed, "Everything is over. We can leave..."

        "Cin..."

        She didn't finish her word. Her friends didn't finish their words as well. She fell down and lost her consciousness again. So did they.