Book 3: Chapter 127 (1/2)

“Possessed? No, how could he possess me?” Alora shook her head back and forth. She wiggled her front claw. “But, okay, yeah, this is Zyocuh. He ended up living in my claw due to circumstances. I’m not possessed, promise.”

Stella placed her hands on her hips, still half-embedded in Vur’s snout. “That’s exactly what a possessed person would say.”

Alora furrowed her brow and scratched her snout. How was she going to convince someone that she wasn’t possessed? Well, when in doubt, ask. “Um, what can I do or say to make you think I’m not?”

“You can recite Grimmy’s code of honor,” Vur said before Stella could say anything. “I told you it and not Zyocuh. Only you should know it.”

Alora’s face darkened. “Yeah, I totally know it…. Code number one…, uh, never bite Grimmy’s tail. Ever.”

Vur’s eyes crossed to stare at the fairy on the tip of his snout. “You’re right; she’s possessed.”

“I’m not! The code’s dumb and stupid and I forgot it, alright!?”

“His acting’s really good,” Stella said and nodded at Vur. “I almost thought he was actually Alora for a second. Why don’t you try hitting him with that purifying laser beam that Kondra used on you? It should cleanse her and fix her possession problem by removing Zyocuh.”

“That’s a good idea,” Vur said.

“Wait. Hold up,” Alora said. “Laser beam?”

Vur nodded. “It’s a skill that cleanses things until they have a pure heart.”

“Or die,” Stella added.

Alora took a step back as white light leaked out of the gaps between Vur’s teeth. “Wait a second, just hold—on!” She screamed and leapt to the side as a bright, white beam of light shot out of Vur’s mouth. It narrowly missed her head, hitting and incinerating the buildings inside of the empty town, leaving a line of destruction in its wake as if someone had taken an eraser to the earth. Alora turned her head behind herself. Her eyes bulged, and she whipped her neck back around to face Vur. “Hold up! What part of that is cleansing!?”

Vur tilted his head. “Why did you dodge? If you let it hit you, you’d know.”

“If I let that hit me, I’d die!”

Vur blinked. “Oh, right. You’re Zyocuh right now.” He nodded. “That’s why you dodged.” His throat shone, white light accumulating in the back of his mouth. His voice was low and throaty, “Don’t worry, Alora. I’ll free you soon.”

“You can’t hurt family members!” Alora shouted as she scrambled backwards and flapped her wings. “Remember Grimmy’s code! You can’t hurt family members!” She ducked, and a laser beam flew over her head, barely missing her temple. “You’re breaking the code!”