Standing on the Gates of Hell

"He had learned well the law of club and fang, and he never forewent an advantage or drew back from a foe he had started on the way to Death. He had lessoned from Spitz, and from the chief fighting dogs of the police and mail, and knew there was no middle course. He must master or be mastered; while to show mercy was a weakness. Mercy did not exist in the primordial life. It was misunderstood for fear, and such misunderstandings made for death. Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law; and this mandate, down out of the depths of Time, he obeyed."

― Jack London, The Call of the Wild

Sef settles on the night Doom finds them. Tess and Oliver are huddled together behind her, daemons hiding in pockets or around their necks. Sef is growling beside her as an arctic wolf, teeth bared. They'll die before the Grey Guards take her siblings, and should that be the case, they'll go down fighting.

Grey Guards don't have daemons. That means they're not human, and so they're okay to kill. She and Sef tear through the guards. The wolf pack dared not to interfere, knowing full well what fate will befall them if they do.

One girl against an army of Grey Guards is not a fair fight. She is growing tired, and she knows she will not survive.

"Tess, Ollie! Run to the pack! They'll protect you!" She slices another Grey Guard in half, sending him to his doom.

"Jonah! Don't leave us." Tess begs. Jonah nods to Sef, who runs back to the duo.

"Little one, we will never be truly gone." Sef licked the 9 year olds cheek. "But for now we must leave, for your sake. Ginny and Marcus will look after you. They are forever in the Pandora family's debt. They will protect you." Sef then turned, sifting into a bigger, much more powerful form. A wolf dog.

Jonah was growing tired. Each swing was harder than the last, the blade growing heavier in her hands. Sef's fangs rip and tear, but he was growing weak. His legs trembled and his sight blurred.

Jonah fell to her knees in exhaustion. She could fight no more.

"So the kid can't fight anymore. Pity, you could've been a great fighter in the shadow arena. But our orders are to kill you, so you'll have to die." The Grey Guard lifted his sword and Jonah closed her eyes, prepared for the end.

"Kid, on the count of three, run for the bushes." A quiet voice whispered. Jonah opened her eyes.

"Three!" A different voice yelled, and Jonah scrambled to her feet, bolting into the brush. Sef dashed for the trees, burrowing under the roots. Jonah crawled to him.

A shadow fell upon them. "Get up, kid. They'll be distracted, but not for long." Jonah looked up.

The man was tall, and had a scar on the side of his face. A large white bird was perched on the branch above him. He held out a hand and Jonah grabbed it, standing on shaking legs. She leaned against him, and he half carried her to where she and her siblings once played.

"Jonah!" Oliver and Tess said in unison, daemons untwisting from necks and jumping from pockets to greet Sef. The wolf dog let out a quiet ruff, then winced. "Thank you, sir. Jonah would've been killed back there had you not saved her." Oliver said quietly. "We need to go to the house. My supplies are there."

The man nodded and lifted Jonah. Kanda shifted into a bear and carried Sef on his back.

The garden around the house had grown wild. Built in the middle of the forest, camouflaged by the overgrown garden, the house could only be found by the trained eye. Their father had been a paranoid man by nature, and thus surrounded himself and his family in complete solitude. Since the path hadn't been used in 8 long years, it had been forgotten. And so, the Grey Guards would never find it.

Oliver opened the door and bid them inside.

Soon a fire was built and Jonah's wounds were bandaged and covered in ointments. With a little struggle, Jonah had been able to walk around. Sef limped beside her, lying in front of the fire.

"Thank you, sir." Jonah had said. "What's your name, if I might ask?"

The man looked at each of them with weary eyes. "My name is Doom. This-"He pointed at the albatross perched on the back of his chair, "-Is Deirdre."

Jonah nodded. "I'm Jonah. These are my siblings Oliver and Tess. My daemon's name is Sef, Ollie's is Jada, and Tess's is Kanda." Jonah looked at Deirdre and tilted her head. "What an interesting daemon."

Doom stared. Then his eyes narrowed. "How so?" He asked, raising a hand to stroke Deirdre.

"Well, she's an albatross." Oliver interjected "It symbolizes weakness."

Jonah scowled at her younger brother. "The way I remember it, the albatross brought those sailors some good luck before some idiot shot it." She pointed out, and then turned to Doom. "However, he is right. Albatrosses usually symbolize a psychological burden or a curse. However, to sailors, its good luck to see an albatross and shooting one down is considered to bring extreme bad luck."

Doom nodded. "So I wonder what your curse is." Tess said. Oliver and Jonah exchanged looks, then Oliver looked at Doom.

"Tess, that is rude. It is none of our business." He said.

The younger child crossed her arms. "What? I was only stating what we all were thinking. Last time I checked that wasn't a crime."

Jonah sighed and knelt down to the 9 year olds level. "I know, little one, but some things are better left unsaid."

Doom looked at all three siblings. The eldest being Jonah at 16-17, then Oliver at 12 and last Tess at 9. They obviously had no mother, else wise she'd be cooking dinner instead of Oliver, and if they had a father then Doom probably would've never needed to save them.

He looked at Deirdre. The bird nodded and he turned to the bickering siblings. "I suppose you all owe me a favor for saving Jonah. I do not ask for much, and I think it'd help you more than it'd help me."

"Go on." Sef said, sitting up.

"I've been forming a group of people to form a resistance against the Shadow Lord. I've seen how you fight, Jonah. You're quite skilled. And Oliver, I could use a lot more healers like you."

"What about me?" Tess asked, crossing her arms. Kanda shifted from ferret to bear cub and let out a sound of distaste.

"I am not sure. I'll find you something to do." Tess did not looked pleased with this answer, but remained quiet anyway.

Jonah stood. "My siblings and I need to discuss this, we'll be outside."

"Sure. I take it it'll have to be a long discussion."

"Probably. Make yourself comfortable." And with that Jonah followed her younger brother and sister into the darkness outside.

Doom looked around the room. It was a little too small for his comfort, but it was enough. There was a bed in the corner, but it looked like it hadn't been touched in years. The table he sat at was old and worn. In some places, the blood from years of stitching, treating, and dressing wounds could not come out of the wood. All three had carved their names into the wood, like they were marking their territory.

The door opened and closed. "We have agreed to come with you."

A/N-This is probably the most I have written. EVER.

I'm back from my semi hiatus, though wether or not it's permant is up to discussion.

Names-Forms-Meanings

Deirdre-Albatross-As explained in the story, Albatrosses are usually not good things. Deirdre is an Irish name meaning "Wanderer"

Sef-Wolf Dog-There's a reason why the quote's from Call of the Wild. Wolf dogs are, in my opinion, more dangerous than ordinary wolves. More often than not, they're bigger than wolves, but I wanted to keep a tame element within Sef. Wolf dogs are a balence between wild and tame. In Egyptian Mythology, Sef was one of the two lions make up the Akeru, guardian of the gates of morning and night and means "yesterday".

Jada- A type of snake-Snakes used to be assoicated with wisedom and medicine. Snakes are unlikey to fight unless prevoked, and can go (in some cases) months without food. Jada is a Hebrew name for "wise".

Kanda-Some sort of hard to train dog-Tess is stubborn and tempermental, unlike the level headed Jonah. Kanda is a Native American name meaning "Magical Power" and is actually a girl's name, though the Kanda in our story is a guy.

Please leave a review for the story, or if you have any suggestions for character's daemons.