A gentle breeze passes by and the forest creatures graze the lands. The carriage stops directly in front of the trap; Rango and Belinda wait in anticipation as they lure their prey.

As the carriage comes to a stop, Mother gathers us up, “Now children, stay in the carriage... I'm going to check outside, something feels off,” she instructs.

There’s a knocks on the door, it’s Jade, “M'Lady, how should we proceed?”

“Let's not be too hasty, we don't want to be ambushed,” Mother states as she exits the carriage, Jade nods her head.

“How many?”

“Right now? Only two,” Mother answers. “And judging by their presence, they're Lizardmen...”

“Damned savages,” Jade says with disgust.

Mother inhales deeply, and the surrounding mana begins to gently glow as performs her technique. Another massive wave of energy emits from her, but this wave seems more aggressive than the last.

“They have a base... Twenty meters to your left,” Mother says as she deactivates her ability.

The two women check their surroundings to make sure they’re still alone. As the wind comes to a complete stand still and the two lizardmen stand back-to-back, prepping themselves to battle.

The surrounding foliage begins to rustle, and the sound of rhythmic clicks starts to echo in the forest.

“Jade?”

“I hear it too, M'Lady,” Jade response softly, yet with urgency.

The clicks begin to crescendo and grow aggressive, causing the two to become more anxious. Suddenly, the clicks and rustling come to a stop, giving Twyla and Jade a moment to catch their breath.

Before they could acknowledge their peace, an unseen force yanks at Jade's leg, causing her head to slam on the ground.

Twyla quickly directs her attention to Jade, who is trying to recover from her fall.

“The hell was that” Jade cries out. “Are you okay-?”

Suddenly, Rango sneaks behind Twyla holding a club and lands a devastating blow on the back of her skull; blood begins to leak from her wound.

“M'Lady-!”

Belinda wraps her tail around Jade's mouth and strikes her across the head, knocking her out. Twyla, barely conscious, tries to stand her ground and fight back.

“Cowards,” Twyla declares panting and trying to catch her balance.

“Cowards,” Rango asks sarcastically. “Well, it seems this "coward" has found himself in an advantageous situation, hasn't he?”

Twyla looks around and notices more Lizardmen start to gather around the carriage; Rango approaches Twyla menacingly.

“What do you want...?” She asks.

“Now, why would I tell you that,” Rango yells out with a smug grin. The surrounding Lizardmen all erupt in laughter and begin heckling Twyla; she looks around, she counts at least thirty Lizardmen surrounding the carriage.

Twyla closes her eyes and begins to regulate her breathing and finds herself in a peaceful state of mind. One of the Lizardmen sneaks behind her for a surprise attack, however, while Twyla is in this calming state, she evades the attack; the other Lizardmen see this and begin their pursuit.

As she continues to dodge all the incoming attacks, her movements mimicked that of an intricate waltz that left the remaining Lizardmen mesmerized. Once she clears the battlefield leaving the Lizardmen confused. She reaches for her fan and starts to scribe her name in the air.

“Aspect of the Inferno: Demon Signature: Schubert - Symphony No. 9***,” Twyla screams as a massive black wave of mana erupts from her. Twyla stands firm and braces herself for battle. The Lizardmen begin their charge towards the demoness. Her once pinned hair falls to her shoulders as she's engulfed in mana.

The faint sound of a French Horn can be heard in the distance; a few Lizardmen stop at the sound and ponder its origins. The music continues to grow, and more instruments are introduced to produce a full symphony. The remaining Lizardmen start to faint as the music increases. Rango grabs Belinda and Naga by the arm and pulls them into the bushes to observe.

“Demon Wind Signature: Feldgeister,” Twyla uses her fan and scribes another spell.

She opens her fan and swings her hand to the left; an enormous gush of wind blows about fifteen of the Lizardmen away; a few Lizardmen hesitate to approach Twyla.

(***Twyla's attack, Aspect of the Inferno: Demon Signature: Schubert - Symphony No. 9 is a derivative from the Wind Signature; meaning, she can not only utilize wind magic but also sound magic as well. The sound waves produced in this attack act as invisible blades that can cause damage without penetrating the skin.)

Inside The Carriage

I rounded up my siblings and had them all huddle around each other to stay out of sight. Looking over my shoulder and I see my baby sister Boudica, sound asleep, I should probably swaddle her for the time being.

There is a loud crash against the side of the carriage, my siblings all flinch in fear; Boudica is still asleep. Dang, you can sleep through anything, can you? Not now, though, I need to think quickly... There is literally nowhere to hide!!

The noises outside continue to grow louder as my brothers and sister cover their ears.

Well, I could try... Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, “I want you to hold on tight... This may feel a little weird, but you have to trust me...”

Without hesitation, both Monspeed and Meliodas nod their heads and grab a hold of my arm, however, Minerva seems a bit hesitant.

I reach out and give her a pat on the head and a gentle smile.

“Everything will be fine, Mini, as your big brother, I promise I won't let anything happen to any of you.”

I take two of my fingers and presses them on my forehead before placing them on Minerva's heart, she lights up and holds onto my arm. I inhale deeply and closes my eyes once more.

I've never tried this on other people, I'm not even sure if it'll work...

I quickly open my eyes and all the color in the carriage begins to fade away. Since I was holding on to everyone, it allowed my siblings an opportunity to move freely in the frozen environment.

“What's going on?” Monspeed asks.

“We're hiding... You remember that loud bang, outside right?” “Yeah,” he responds, somewhat confused.

“There is a good chance we're being attacked... And if that's the case, we need to hide. The last thing we need is for our mother and father to worry about us.”

Meliodas tries to break away from the huddle to look outside. Without letting go of my grip, I try to grab his collar catch him.

Outside* The Carriage

(*The perspective is not only outside the carriage but also outside of Myrlin's Stasis Chamber. The perspective inside the Stasis Chamber appears to be moving 2000x slower compared to the outside environment)

Belinda sneaks behind the carriage to see if anyone is inside. She starts to tug on the handle and eventually rips the carriage door off the hinges and peeks inside the carriage.

Inside* The Carriage

I was able to at least pull my youngest brother back by snatching his collar.

That was a close one...

We all snap our attention to the carriage door as it slowly begins to move back and forth; the door looks as if it's flying off the hinges in slow-motion.

“Woah! What's going on-?!” Minerva screams. “How did the door do that?!”

I press my finger to his lips.

“Shhhh... They may be able to hear us...”

“WHO?!” they both scream.

Good grief...

Belinda's head slowly peeks into the carriage, much to the children's confusion.

“That's pretty freaky...” Meliodas states snickering.

So, being the eldest, I put on a brave face and approach the creature while it looked around the inside of the carriage.

Outside* The Carriage

Belinda scopes the inside of the carriage and sees nothing. She takes a step inside and begins rummaging through the children's bags. Belinda huffs and takes the four packed bags as proof the children were there.

Inside* The Carriage

Belinda's head is still peeking into the doorway; I wave my hand in front of her face and she does not react. Looks like she can’t see us...

I turn around and approach my siblings.

“We're going to wait here until the coast is clear...”

“But WHY?!” Meliodas cries.

“Listen to your brother...” Minerva declares as she folds her arms. “I trust him with my life... You should start doing the same...”

“You're asking a lot from a five-year-old, but she's right,” Monspeed shrugs.

I bring everyone closer to each other and try to come up with some sort of game plan to move forward.

Outside* The Carriage

Belinda steps outside the carriage holding the children's bags. “There were definitely young-ones here, Rango, look,” she tosses the bag to her leader. Rango examines the bags; Twyla directs her attention to Rango holding Boudica's diaper bag.

“DON'T YOU DARE LAY A FINGER ON MY BABIES,” Twyla screams. Her once golden-colored eyes now glow a harsh red, resembling boiling blood. The mana swirling around her causes the weaker remaining grunts flea in confusion as she slowly approaches Rango.

That’s Queen’s Ambition... She’s a Demon Queen, for sure, gotta handle this with care... Rango thinks to himself. “You're not in the position to make such demands sweetie...”

Rango tosses the bag to Belinda and grabs his whip from his waist while Twyla uses her fan to scribe another spell, however, the Lizardman uses his whip to knock the fan out of her hand.

He approaches towards a distraught Twyla who is looking for any means to protect herself and an unconscious Jade. Rango smiles menacingly and begins to whip the two demonesses.

“Not so tough now? Where are the Asura young,” Rango demands as he savagely whips the two women.

Twyla weeps and cries in pain as she lifts hands to show defeat, however, Rango's whip wraps around her wrist and he violently pulls her closer to himself.

“I don't know what kind of game you're playing... But I'm getting valuable slaves today, whether they be Asura or Demon,” Rango cackles. “And judging by your, assets, you two should make up for the lack of rare breeds in tomorrow's auction...”

“Fuck you,” She spits in his face.

Rango backhands Twyla knocking her out in the process. He turns his attention to Belinda who is still holding the children's packed bags.

Naga sniffs the bags to try to find a scent trail. “DAMMIT! Nothing!”

“Naga, Belinda, whatever you do, find those kids...” Rango commands. “They are extremely valuable...”

“Sir!” The two salute and make their exit.

Inside* The Carriage

After what seemed like several hours, the woman leaves the carriage. I look around and see all my siblings fast asleep from waiting.

So, she finally left...

I start waking everyone and check our surroundings to make sure we don’t get ambushed.

“It feels like we've been in here for hours!” Monspeed yawns.

Minerva smacks Monspeed on the back of the head.

“HEY! What was that for?” he yelps.

“It looked smack-able...”

Looking outside, I see that the Lizardmen disappeared.

“It looks like we have some free time, I want us to take advantage of it.”

“You sound so serious...” Meliodas states. “And where are we?” “Because this is serious...” Minerva corrects.

“This is called Stasis Chamber; time is slowed to a standstill while we're in here. But we can worry about that later, we were just attacked... And none of us are prepared for what is in store for us.”

“So, what are we supposed to do?” Monspeed ask with a questioning look on his face.

Minerva and I give each other a slight nod. “We get stronger...”

I readjust Boudica's swaddle, as Monspeed and Meliodas stoke themselves up to train.

End of Chapter Seven