W.I.T.C.H.
The Staff of Oblivion
Chapter 1
New Faces, New Foes
Will woke up with the same loving feeling she had woken up with for the past three days. And it was all the result from the same dream she had been having for the past three days. She kept forgetting it after waking up, but the bits that she managed to remember always left her feeling so happy. The first time she remembered dreaming of being at the beach with Matt. He stood behind her and held her hand while he whispered "I love you" into her ear. The second day she had dreamed about her mother and Dean getting married with a very young Yan Lin as the maid of honor. And today she had dreamt of all of her friends spending girl time at...
Will smiled as she rubbed her head, she had already forgotten. 'Oh, well' she thought. 'It was bound to happen'.
Will walked into the kitchen where her mother had left her a plate of food with a note. Will picked it up and started reading.
"Dear Will,
Hopefully you'll read this letter before your food grows too cold. I'm
sorry but I had to leave for work early. I should be back in time for
dinner, but I'll understand if you want to get started before me. Who
knows maybe take out won't be as bad as my cooking."
Love Mom
Will smiled again as she let the note fall on the table, but before she could get started on breakfast she noticed a p.s. scribbled on the other side of the folded paper.
P.S. "I hope you didn't forget today is picture day."
Will's smile sunk like the titanic. She looked quickly at the clock on the wall and saw it was only fifteen minutes before school started. Will rushed back to her room to look for an appropriate outfit before it was too late. On the way she noticed the minute hand click to the next black line, only fourteen minutes left.
…...
Outside Sheffield Institute a dark green truck rolled into the parking lot. Inside was the new chemistry teacher, Professor Owens, and beside him was the child he was legally responsible for, Gabriel Santos. Both looked at the building with a grim disposition. The professor reached behind his seat and grasped his briefcase, Gabriel picked his backpack off the floor and in unison they both opened the doors and stepped outside.
"Gabriel" The professor spoke, "I want you to be careful in this new school. I don't want to see you in any fights or else I'll send you right back to them.'
Gabriel nodded.
"That's fine with me. But don't expect me to act too much of an outcast this time. I just need one semester without someone trying to send me to hell to balance myself out." Gabriel tightened the tie around his neck and brushed some lint off his suit.
"Aren't you glad I decided to enroll you in time for picture day?"
Gabriel couldn't help but let a smile creep slowly onto his face. It felt good to smile, hell, it was the first time he smiled in months.
…...
Will's stomach grumbled. The one piece of toast she managed to stuff in her mouth wasn't holding her up as long as she hoped it would. The upside though was that she managed to complete a decent spring outfit to wear for picture day. A pair of pink mule sandals, a yellow mini-skirt, and a hot pink shirt with purple lace. She was a bit proud of how she looked, after going through her entire wardrobe and leaving her room in the worst state it's been since she was eight years old.
She couldn't help but notice Irma's outfit complete with a new denim jacket and imagined she bought it at the mall. She kicked herself for deciding not to go with her and her mom two days before. On the way in she also ran into Cornelia who bought a green dress and heels. She still hadn't met up with Hay Lin or Taranee, but surely they would also have better outfits than her.
Again Will's stomach grumbled, this time it felt like it was caving in on itself. Will looked at her watch. Only a ten minutes before her class could go to get their pictures taken, and then it was another half-hour after that before lunch.
Will slumped over her desk and buried her head in her arms. How could she have forgotten about picture day? For weeks she planned on what to wear to take a good picture, then a couple of sweet dreams spring up out of nowhere and she forgets all about it. But they were such sweet dreams, and the feeling she got from them was so wonderful. Why did reality have to throw a cold bucket of water on her warm fantasy world?
"Yes Gabriel?"
"Is the answer, um, X=3?"
"Correct."
Will raised her head just enough to search for the new voice, everyone did. The new kid that came to class remained quiet until now. Will found him at the front of the class, his back was turned to her so she couldn't see his face. Gabriel gave a small celebratory fist pump as the teacher answered him and wrote the answer down on his notebook. Will glanced at the clock overlooking the blackboard, she couldn't wait another nine minutes and thirty seconds to leave. She had to do something. So after she made sure nobody was looking she let out a small charge of quintessence from her fingertip. The little spark flew fast enough to escape anyone's sight, but before it hit the clock it slowed down painfully.
Will's eyes grew wide with fear as she watched the quintessence slow down more and more until finally it resumed its normal speed and absorbed itself into the clock. Once it did the minute hand moved effortlessly to five minutes after eleven o'clock. That bothered Will a bit, since she only meant for it to move to eleven on the dot. What was more weird was that the bell rang. It was a confusing mess as relieved students and the puzzled teacher struggled to get through the door to have their pictures taken.
Irma hurried to Will's side before she left the classroom.
"So what do you think of the new hottie?"
"What? Oh, I'm sorry Irma. I'm to hungry to think about anything right now."
"Aw did poor little Will skip her breakfast? Maybe if she had decided to come to the mall with us instead of napping all day..."
Will mustered a crooked smile. "I know, I know. But you should've seen the dreams I was having."
"Yeah, yeah, Hay Lin was on a cloud, you were with Matt, and Cornelia was actually getting along with everyone. That should've been the giveaway."
"Yeah, life was so perfect."
"Forget it kid, life's only perfect in your dreams, even if it's infested with talking llamas."
Will laughed, she couldn't help it. Her stomach cramped a bit but it was worth it, Irma always knew how to cheer her up.
…...
Gabriel was busy in the bathroom combing his hair for the fortieth time. It was his best attribute. This time though it was necessary, his hair had started to frizz back in that classroom. Something electric disturbed him, he thought it was probably due to the oncoming storm front. This always happened with him, he had grown more sensitive to electrical charges ever since...Gabriel paused. Slowly he began brushing his hair back again, those days were behind him. Even if they were to come rushing back, which he didn't doubt, for at least the next three months he wasn't going to worry about any of that.
Still though whatever he felt gave him the energy to attempt a simple enough spell to move the time on that clock forward fifteen minutes. He also added a bit of his own mana to sound the bells, just to make it convincing. The door opened up and he turned around to find Professor Owens stepping inside.
"Gabriel, what are you doing in here?"
"I'd thought maybe I should straighten up y'know?"
"Listen I know you want to be left alone, but you just can't drop off the map like that. I told you to tell me whenever you were leaving the public eye."
"Leaving the public eye, or just leaving?"
The professor sighed. "You know the conditions of us working together. I just want to make sure you play by the rules."
"Shut up. Play by the rules. Your dating my sister you piece of crap. She's only seventeen! How old are you like ten thousand years old?"
"I'll have you know I'm not a day over three thousand and seventy-one! I'm a baby compared to other demons."
Gabriel was ready to insult the professor again when he was interrupted by the sound of a flushing toilet. They both turned to the cubicle at the end and exchanged looks.
In the cubicle Uriah held his breath as he heard footsteps making their way to him. He heard them pause and then a long soft squeak as he opened one of the stalls. Then they started again, and then stopped, another long squeak. They started again, over and over in the same pattern until finally he opened the stall next to him. He could see his black dress shoes shining brightly before they moved into the stall. Uriah had the weird sensation of being watched, almost like Gabriel was looking through the wall at him only two feet away.
The toilet in Gabriel's stall flushed. Then he heard him chuckle to himself. "It's okay, these are those self flushing toilets. They go off all the time."
Uriah breathed a quiet sigh of relief, but then he grew tense. His toilet had just flushed because he sat up straight after hearing their private conversation. One wrong move now and he was done for. Rikya smiled as the shoes slowly moved out and away from him, but then noticed how dark his cubicle became. And slow steady sound of raspy breathing entered his ears. A chill ran up his spine at the horrible realization.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Came the professors' voice from inside his stall. Uriah looked up horrified. Professor Owens was leaning over him, looking down with a sick twisted smile on his face. Uriah couldn't believe it, their faces were only inches away from each other. As he looked at him he noticed that he could only see his head, arms, and chest. The rest of his body wasn't there, he was coming out of the wall!
Finally Uriah couldn't stand it anymore. All the fear within him culminated together to give him the strength enough to let out a loud horrible scream. The demon quickly put a hand over his mouth and muffled him. Uriah's heart was racing and soon his whole body struggled to do the same. But again professor Owens reached for his body and kept him anchored in his seat. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the new kid kicking open his stall and then his fist coming straight at him.
…...
Black storm clouds loomed overhead as Will started chowing down on her double cheeseburger and fries. Hay-Lin, and Cornelia couldn't help but stare at her as she inhaled her fries one after the other.
"You know Will you might be able to eat faster if you stop chewing altogether." Hay-Lin remarked. Will stopped stuffing her face long enough to see Hay-lin flashing her shiny smile at her. Her mouth was so stuffed that three fries were sticking out through her lips.
"Will skipped breakfast this morning getting ready for picture day. Believe me she's just getting started." Irma said as she took a sip of her juice bottle.
Will tried to speak but Cornelia stopped her before she could get a word out.
"Don't even think you can get away with speaking with your mouth full of half-chewed lunch meat."
Before any drama could break out though Hay-lin spotted Taranee talking to the new kid.
"Hey look you guys. Taranee's made a new friend."
Everyone looked over at her. It was true, Taranee was talking to the new kid, or rather giving him directions to the back of the lunchline. After a while the new kid stopped shaking his head and started to walk back.
"Taranee! Over here!" Hay-lin shouted at the top of he lungs.
Taranee looked over her shoulder, embarrassed as her friend stood up and started waving at her like a fool. The new kid turned around as well, he saw a geeky chinese girl waving at them, next to her was a blonde who looked like she was about to murder her. The other two had their backs turned to him but turned their heads to look too. Their was a blue-eyed brunette who seemed interested at what the other girl was waving at and a short haired red-head with food sticking out of her mouth.
"Hi, guys." Taranee waved back sheepishly. What was Hay-lin thinking?
"Friends of yours?" Gabriel asked.
"Um, yeah. They are."
Gabriel turned his gaze from Taranee back to the lunch table with the eccentric girls. The chinese girl stopped waving, but only because the blonde got up and forced her back into her chair. Now they were fighting about something. Across from them the redhead was hurriedly wiping food from her face as the brunette covered her mouth while giggling at her.
"I'm sorry." He said with a smile and started walking back.
Taranee smiled too as she ran to her friends' table.
"What do you guys think you're doing?"
"We're trying to welcome your newest friend to Sheffield." Hay-lin said. "Or at least I tried before Cornelia ambushed me."
"I had too. You don't just get up and wave at a cute guy like an idiot, that's not a good way to make a first impression."
"Yeah, and tackling your friends like a superbowl quarterback is?" Irma laughed as Cornelia gave her an icy look.
"At least he thinks you're tough. Some boys like that. I bet he thought I was a pig with those french fries sticking out of my mouth."
"No arguing with you there." Cornelia smirked.
"Hey that's not nice." Irma said, trying to keep Will from completely disappearing below the table.
"Don't worry you guys. Something tells me he thinks the same about all of you." Taranee said.
"He probably doesn't think that about you though." Hay-lin said with a smile.
Irma looked at her weird. "Why is that?"
"Because you weren't goofing around like the rest of us."
"Hey that's true isn't it? I was just sitting here. I bet he doesn't think I'm a total loser." Irma quickly regretted saying that once she saw Will sink even lower.
"Yeah, that's probably what he thinks I am. A loser."
Before Irma could make her feel better Uriah barged in on them.
"Hey stay away from Professor Owens."
Cornelia was first to respond.
"Get away from us Uriah! We don't want you here."
"Hey I'm trying to warn you. Stay away from Pr. Owens, he's bad news."
"What are you talking about?" Irma said as she struggle in her seat to get away from Uriah.
"I don't know but he just gives me this weird vibe. Something about doesn't seem right and he scares the crap out of me."
"I had Pr. Owens for chemistry earlier today. He seemed pretty normal to me." Taranee said.
"Yeah, well stay away from him he's bad news. I have to go warn everyone else now. Remember he's bad news."
And just like that Uriah went off to the next table and barged in on them.
"What was that about?" Hay-lin asked.
"Who cares it's just Uriah." Cornelia said as lightning crackled in the dark sky behind her.
…...
Yan-Lin straightened up in her chair as the thunder rumbled outside. She looked from her cup of tea to the window at the world outside. Rather suddenly all the light outside disappeared and the sunny afternoon was transformed into midnight.
"This looks like trouble." Yan-Lin got up and walked to the door. After unlocking it she barely had time to turn the doorknob before the gust of wind blew her to the back of the room. Lightning flashed again and all the lights went out. At the same time thunder roared so loud it made the building shake and caused all the car alarms in the city to go off.
"Looks like I was wrong. This IS trouble."
…...
In the teacher's lounge Professor Owens glared at the black green clouds outside as he sipped his coffee calmly. Meanwhile behind him all the other teachers were making nervously phone calls and running in and out of the room. Nobody seemed to notice him in all of their panic until he himself received a phone call. And the level of coolness he answered it with was beyond their own comprehension.
"Hello Gabriel."
"You see it too right?"
"Looking at it right now."
"Do you sense anything?"
"It's something ominous alright. I really can't tell you what's going to happen."
"This isn't really the way I thought my first day would go."
"Hey kid as long as nobody's dunked your head in the toilet I'd say it's going pretty well."
"Can't argue with you there. I really don't want to miss out on anything without a good excuse. Is it important?"
"There's talk about letting everybody go home early. It's not really here yet, so I'm guessing the school board just doesn't want to be sued."
"Do you see anything in the clouds?"
"Yea it's a real hellstorm out there. Are the girls with you?"
"Only Jane and Lily. Why?"
"I don't think I'll be able to brave to storm alone without knowing they're keeping you safe."
"Will you need me to come along? Should I bring Caroline?"
"Leonidas will do."
At that moment the intercom came on and Principal Knickerbocker advised all the students to return to their homerooms and be prepared to be sent home.
"You heard your principal. Meet me at the truck. I'll let you know where to go from there."
"Alright. But hurry up with you dimension warping I don't want to be left holding the bag alone."
Gabriel hung up and the demon professor did the same. And he sipped his coffee. Behind him nobody moved until the next flash of lightning snapped them out of it. The substitute music teacher
Ms. Carson walked up to him as he sipped his coffee again.
"Excuse me Mr. Owens?"
He slowly turned his eyes to her.
"Yes?"
"Your the new student's legal guardian correct?"
"Yes."
"Shouldn't you be with him at a time like this? I mean you know instead of maybe letting him drive home alone."
"He'll be fine. He know his way home. Besides this isn't the first time he's had to deal with a troubling situation alone."
"Yes, but..."
"I should go. I am responsible for him after all." The professor put down his cup of coffee and walked through the small crowd of people and out the door.
"Professor Owens..."Ms. Carson called as he stepped out of the room.
"Hmm?"
"Who or what is Leonidas?"
"It's just a nickname." He said as he closed the door behind him, leaving everyone dumbfounded. And when it was secure he spoke quietly. "For his double barrel shotgun."
…...
Outside many of the students were already being picked up by their parents while the others piled on to the only bus available. Gabriel was in the truck's cab getting ready to pull the mission. Earlier he tossed his bag onto the passenger seat and took off his coat. Now he was unbuttoning his sleeves as he continued to observe the students hastily leaving the school in the driving rain. Of the many faces of worry and excitement he could see on the other kids, his only a reflected solemn cool. He had done this so many times before it became second nature, he would've been angry if the monsters in the sky looked anything like the ones that were chasing him.
But since they didn't, this was just an unwelcome turn of events. A surprise attack to keep him on his toes in case the worst should happen and he were discovered. Gabriel looked at the sky again and tried to identify each creature. From the looks there were three different kinds, the common gargoyle which was nine feet tall with a wingspan of twenty feet and teeth and claws sharp enough to tear through brick with no trouble. The flaming imp which alone didn't present much trouble, but with forty or fifty friends you'd be lucky to get away with a second degree burn. It's tongue was long enough and dextrous enough to strike at you like a fiery whip, but it's body mass wouldn't hold out against anything bigger than a 9mm hollow point. And finally there was the giant bat creature that was too big to be taken on alone. At twenty feet tall with wings powerful enough to send you flying backwards with one swoop, and jaws that could bite through two inches of steel, it wasn't meant to be taken lightly. Luckily there were small numbers of every creature and just the one bat, but somehow they seemed different.
Gabriel opened the door as the demon Owens appeared out of thin air carrying a small duffel bag.
"I brought you Leonidas and Maggie, I thought you might want her too since I saw the imps."
Gabriel took the bag and put it inside.
"Remember I'm going to lead down main street and straight to you. Most of the city is without power so getting to the rooftop of city hall shouldn't be too hard."
"Okay, and you remember that bat up there. It creeps me the hell out."
Owens nodded and entered the warp again. This time however his face melted away revealing the skull beneath before being replaced by a dark slime, all in a split second. Time Gabriel used to start the engine and lock his seat belt. Shifting to first gear Gabriel started to speed down the road when out of the corner of his eye he saw a bright flash coming from the school. Gabriel turned his head back to look at the school but saw nothing, and dismissed it as the lightning.
Turning back around Gabriel shouted "OH SHIT!" as he swerved out of the way of a speeding trailer. The driver honked as he also swerved and turned into a side street. Gabriel in the meanwhile stepped on the gas for a panicked second, the mistake cost him dearly as the truck jumped the curb. Stomping the brake pedal didn't help as the truck slid into a thick tree at forty miles an hour and came to a crushing halt.
…...
Chapter 1
(part 2)
The demon Owens warped above the city, flapping his wings only so often. They were mostly for show. He flapped them once more to ascend into the low hanging clouds as a gargoyle passed overhead. He reached up and tore off one of its wings, it crumbled in his hands and the gargoyle fell down to the asphalt below. A sharp stinging sensation on his back made him turn his attention to the imps circling him. Another imp lashed out his tongue and wrapped it around his neck, as he struggled to loosen the suffocating burning tongue from his throat four more imps jumped on his body.
The imps scratched at his chest, back, and wings with their sharp black nails. Their burning bodies surrounded him in a ball of fire and smoke. The pain of their sharp nails, fiery bodies, and choking smoke drained his strength so much he nearly succumbed to them. But he didn't, instead he reached out and wrapped the imps tongue around his arm and pulled it hard. The surprised imp came flying to him and drove his right clawed hand through its eyes. At once the imps on his body jumped off and hid in the clouds.
The demon pulled a hand scythe from his waist and prepared to hunt them down when he felt a heavy blow to the back of his head. When he turned around to face his attacker he found nothing. Again he felt a blow and he turned rapidly striking out with the scythe. A shower of sparks erupted from the gargoyle's skin as the blade raked its leg. The scythe left a burning glow on the gargoyle's leg as it sped away. In the split second the demon took in to notice that mark another gargoyle dropped down on him from above and encased his head in its enormous hands. The gargoyle growled as it squeezed his head in.
The demon cried out in pain as he attempted to wrestle himself away from its vice like grip. A crooked smile slowly grew on the gargoyle's face as he enjoyed the demon's cries of agony. Suddenly the gargoyle's hands gripped nothing but empty space as the demon warped directly behind it and severed its rocky head. The hidden gargoyles roared as bolts of pure energy pockmarked the clouds around him, beneath him and to the right he spotted the source of the bolts.
Several strange beings he had never seen before appeared through the wispy clouds below. The five figures looked strangely like fairies, but they were the wrong size. From what he gathered from their first attacks, they each had a unique elemental attack. And right now they couldn't, or didn't, care to distinguish the good from the bad. After the blonde had cleared out the gargoyles around him the black fairy sent a stream of fire in his direction. He dodged the fire in time but found himself trapped in a massive whirlwind procured by the Chinese girl.
When he warped out of the whirlwind another assault began with more bolts of energy. Dodging the first few and deflecting the rest the demon prepared to counter attack when the clouds shifted and surrounded him in a black haze. Before he could try to warp out of the trap in time more bolts came at him until he was struck three times in the head and chest. Already weakened by the imps and gargoyles the bolts brought him to the point of blacking out.
The clouds receded and revealed to the girls a weakened hunched over demon. One of his eyes had swollen shut and had started leaking a thick black fluid. His breath came in quick raspy gasps that reverberated the paper thin membranes that replaced his cheeks. The girls began closing in on him as the imps came back in full force burning through the clouds in dozens of flocks. This time, however, they completely ignored him and attacked the girls from all sides.
Lashing tongues, fiery dives, and group attacks were all countered and dodged successfully by the girls. Even he was impressed with their teamwork while dealing with the imps, maybe that was what Gabriel needed, a team. Gabriel! Where had he gone? Was he in position? These girl fairies had interrupted their plan for the ambush. The demon Owens had to warp, he had to find Gabriel and tell him about the interlopers.
…...
One step, two steps, one, two. Gabriel had been carrying on in the same manner under the deluge of water for the past three blocks. He was barely conscious the whole time. The truck was totaled, and if it wasn't for the seat belt he would've been dead. The airbag didn't deploy. And now his face was bloodied from the windshield, in fact he still had a four inch piece of glass buried beneath his left eye socket. Gabriel stumbled and almost fell but caught himself on a lamppost. He was weak, too weak to fight. Now he just wanted to find that damn demon and get himself to the hospital.
Looking up at the clouds he could see they had changed color in one area. Now it looked as if the sun were trying to peek through. But he knew imps tended to burn brightly when they concentrated themselves in higher numbers. Great, now it really did seem hopeless. As long as they weren't here for him though, he could care less about what else they would do. The tunnel of darkness was coming back. He knew he was going to black out again and hoped a passing cop would see him.
A gust of wind brought him back from the brink and he made out what seemed like a black winged angel fly overhead. But it also had a tail. That was new, a popping noise beside him kept him from slipping back into unconsciousness again.
"Jeez, Gabriel. You look like hell."
Gabriel turned to his freakishly ugly companion and responded. "Yeah, well you're just a ray of sunshine ain't ya?"
The demon reached out a hand to him and gave him an annoying little shock. Gabriel grunted at first but then felt strange. He felt the same strange sensation that he did at school, only stronger. Even with a face full of pulsating gashes and the glass shard sticking out of his eye, he felt healthier. He pushed himself off the ground and stood under his own power. Both he and the demon were very surprised. Gabriel in a cocky mood decided to pull out the shard, and instantly felt more lightheaded. He leaned on the demon and tried to staunch the bleeding with his bare hand, it didn't do any good.
"Hang on Gabriel, you're still human. And if I didn't know any better I'd say that you had some of the greatest balls I'd ever seen. But you've been living off your mana kid, you're just about dead."
"Then what the hell was that shock you gave me? It felt good."
"Probably residue left over from the those damn fairies.
"Fairies?"
"I'll explain later. Right now I need to get you to some medical attention."
"I passed a pharmacy about a block back. They closed down, it's perfect."
With that the demon warped again, with Gabriel next to him, and left the fighting to the fairies.
…...
A fiery imp screeched as it lashed out its tongue at Taranee, only to be crushed between two massive gargoyles who also crumbled. Taranee thanked Cornelia by blasting the four imps gunning for her. Meanwhile Hay-Lin and Irma concentrated their powers trying to calm down the storm. The sea had already flooded the coastline and was threatening to move further inland. Irma struggled to hold the water in place while Hay-Lin was summoning up her own wind to put a stop to the rotating wall cloud before it could form a tornado.
All the while Will was guarding them from all the creatures that got past Cornelia and Taranee. Will was doing just fine until a loud shrieking filled the air. A screech so loud all the W.I.T.C.H. girls had to stop what they were doing to cover their ears. In that instant they were overrun by a new wave of gargoyles, a wave so large Cornelia and Taranee had to retreat to keep from being crushed under their stony wings. The girls grouped together and did everything they could to hold them off. The gargoyles swarmed around them and dove periodically trying to break them apart for easy pickings. On the third dive one of them succeeded in tackling Hay-Lin and sending her into a free fall, more gargoyles attacked the group to keep them from helping their friend.
Other gargoyles dove for Hay-Lin but were repelled by green lasers shooting from below. Bursting through the clouds Matt, or his alter-ego Shagon, caught Hay-Lin and flew up to the guardians blasting all the gargoyles he could on his way up.
"Didn't think I'd miss this party did you?"
Will smiled at him but her smile quickly was replaced by a grimace as the screech came back. Another shriek followed and all the gargoyles on one side of their concentric circle were blown inward by a powerful gust that also sent them all back. Rather than attacking, the gargoyles that were closest to the group flew back to join their kin on the other side. Hay-Lin woke up and Shagon let her go.
"What's going on?" She asked as she looked around the gargoyles who calmed down and were idly flapping their wings.
"Something else is out there" Shagon said. "And it's coming this way."
"What is it?" Will asked.
"I don't know, but it's big."
Ahead of them the clouds furled under some unknown force. It happened again in an area as wide as three city buses. The clouds furled again and the giant bat made it's presence known with another shriek. Upon spotting them all it flapped its wings vigorously and opened its jaws wide. Hay-Lin moved forward and sent the strongest gust she could muster at it. The air blast was strong enough to send the bat flying backwards and even flipped out over once before it spread out its wings. The wind caught itself in the membranes and stretched them to full capacity before it came to a stop. Lighting flashed behind it and gave the bat a menacing stance as it hovered in front of them.
Clearly enraged the bat took a deep breath and prepared itself for a screech of mammoth proportions.
"We have to move now!" Shagon screamed as they all dove away. The bat unleashed its screech. The screech was so powerful the air became wavy before the sound ever left its mouth. But when it did it was louder than the thunder and so powerful the entire middle section of the gargoyle horde cracked and crumbled from the blast. The rest scattered from the blast before they too were destroyed. The bat directed itself in the direction its prey had gone and folded its wings.
The cold rain stung their faces as they fell through empty space trying to escape the bat, the screeching came again. Will looked over her shoulder and saw the bat's eyes, two glowing red dots, through the rain and clouds. The bat unfolded its wings and flapped them instantly gaining more and more ground on them. One more flap and it would be on top of them, they couldn't keep flying forever.
"Everybody split up!" Will yelled as the bat screeched its attack sweeping through the space where they were flying moments before. The six of them watched as the bat dropped to the earth below them. The buildings were barely visible in the stormy haze but as they watched they could distinctly make out a set of massive wings unfold. The bat cut through the office buildings on both sides of the street, breaking through glass and concrete floors. The lost track of it though as it moved through the streets, and when they couldn't help but argue over the best course of action.
"Hay-Lin you and Irma try to blind that thing with wind and rain. Will, you me and Taranee will attack it at the same time."
"Hey what about me?" Cornelia demanded to be part of the attack.
"Well maybe you can dig up some boulders to pin him down."
"Not good enough. I say we lure it into the forest, I can tangle it up with some tree roots there and then you can all attack."
"We could barely outrun that thing and you want it to chase us again?" Will asked.
"Oh, and like your plan is so much better? Bats use echolocation to find their food in darkness. I don't think a little rain and wind is gonna stop it."
Everyone was a little more than surprised at Cornelia's argument. Not because of her knowledge about bats but because it actually made a bit of sense. However nobody agreed with her plan.
"I think Will's right." Irma said. "That thing was just gliding right on top of us who knows how fast it can fly when it really tries."
"Oh, yeah-" Cornelia was cut short as another screech filled the air. Everyone turned around in the direction it came from. The screech wasn't as loud as before but it was still bloodcurdling. Will spoke next.
"Whatever were going to do we have to do it fast."
"Right, maybe instead of trying to blind it me and Hay-Lin freeze the rain on its wings until it can't flap anymore. It can't catch us if it can't fly right?"
"Alright than that's what we'll do."
Cornelia tried to retaliate but another screech cut her short, it was louder this time, so she just frowned and took off after everyone else.
Will and Shagon led the way through the office buildings to where the screeches were still being heard. They were getting closer but not close enough to see it. Will was glad they hadn't spotted it yet, she still wasn't over the initial shock of having to face a monster bat. But at least Matt was by her side, she felt a bit better with him there. She also had all of her friends with her which made her feel more secure. Will had no doubt in her mind they would prevail against this threat like they did so many times before with Phobos, Nerissa, Cedric...
A group of five gargoyles exploded from the building in front of them and spotted their advance. Roaring in defiance the gargoyles spread their wings and flexed their arms. Will prepared to strike along with Shagon when suddenly two of the gargoyles were blasted away. A third started acting strangely as it bucked and jolted in the air. While the other two gargoyles were entranced by its peculiar behavior the demon reappeared and cut both of their heads off. As they watched, more gunshots sounded and the last gargoyle had holes appear throughout its upper torso and head. Before its eyes stopped glowing for the last time they all saw someone leap off its back and reach for the demons hand. Together they disappeared as quickly as they appeared, leaving the guardians and Shagon stunned.
A menagerie of roars, howls, and squeals followed the short silence as more imps and gargoyles descended from the black clouds. They descended, but not for them.
…...
Gabriel tried to get his bearings quickly as warped out. Usually it was easy for him to maneuver himself through the air as he fell, but this time the darkness hampered his abilities. Up, down, left, right, it was all mixed up to him. The eye patch didn't help much either, sure he opted for it but only because he thought it would look cool. Plus his eye was already swollen up with all the stitches so he was positive it wouldn't make a difference. Cheolkuth, the demon, also filled him in on the 'fairies' he saw earlier. Whether they were friend or foe wasn't clear, since they attacked him, but he was sure they weren't part of this invasion.
He felt something grab at his leg and he instantly pulled out the Beretta-96 from the quick draw in his sleeve and prayed he didn't shoot his foot. Whatever it was he hit it because it let go, now he had to concentrate as he pulled out Lily, his second Beretta.
Gabriel took a deep breath.
"Find your target. Fire imps." Gabriel fired in every direction he could, and let the targeting spell he infused the bullets with do the rest of the work. The tracer bullets barely left the barrel when they gained a life of their own and flew off in search of their targets. They disappeared in the clouds almost immediately but muffled pops and bright flares let him know they succeeded in their mission.
The demon warped behind him and grabbed him by the back of his shirt and flew off as the remainder of the gargoyles and imps followed in close pursuit. Cheolkuth shoved something into his chest and Gabriel gripped it, it was Madeline, his UMP-45 sub machine gun. Gabriel opened fire on the beasts and tore them apart. He infused the UMP bullets with a charging spell that kept the hollow points from exploding on contact and instead made them gain power with every hit. The monsters he shot first faltered but never fell, their brethren lagging behind however were vaporized by the immense power every bullet gained.
During the short flight through the streets Gabriel littered the ground below with gravel and flaming puddles of tar. When he ran out of ammunition Cheolkuth tossed him overhead and warped out, Gabriel rag-dolled for half a city block as the monsters closed in on him. One of the imps was close enough to lash at him when Cheolkuth reappeared and shoved a 12 gauge tactical shotgun into his hands. The imps flaming tongue whipped the demons back and he didn't appreciate it on bit. Rather than giving his partner another ride he let Gabriel drop as he went back and eviscerated the imp with his bare hands.
Cheolkuth planned on getting back to him but the wave of gargoyles kept him too busy to be able to warp again, and Gabriel kept falling. The strangest though passed through his mind as he prepared himself for death, 'I wish Kitty was here'. Gabriel closed his eyes as the pavement rushed up to greet him when he felt strangely light and flowy. He opened his eyes again and found that he was gliding slowly to the ground, a large headwind was blowing. He dropped and rolled when he was five feet off the ground and turned around.
Above him he saw what looked like five pixies and one black winged masked something. They didn't look anything like fairies, fairies were smaller, dressed in green and were practically hairless. And their wings, if they had any, were larger than their bodies. Typical ignorant Cheolkuth, he never could distinguish one race of mythical creature from another. Everyone above him was engaged with any number of creatures leaving almost none for him and never a clean shot.
Gabriel climbed onto the roof of a nearby car and shouted at them.
"Hey! HEY! Hey you stony ass potbellied gutter bird sons of bitches! I'm down here!"
Nobody paid any attention to him so he shouted again, nothing. Grumbling about how he hated being ignored Gabriel stepped off the vehicle and made his way to the closest building. The door was locked so he bashed it open with the butt of his shotgun and made his way through the lobby. Heading for the elevator he realized as soon as he pushed the button that the power was out. Silently cursing he made his way to the stairs and walked to the fifth floor. He was completely out of breath when he reached the top. Panting and cursing he opened up the door next to him and found himself in a room full of gray cubicles. A light bulb went off in his head and he started hobbling along the walls.
Halfway to his goal someone tossed a gargoyle through one of the windows in the far end of the room and it made its way to his wall. It instantly stirred in front of him and he blew its head off. Gabriel sighed and tiptoed over the remains slowly making his way to the water cooler and poured himself a cup. He sipped the cool water while staring at the decomposing gargoyle, then his gaze ventured to the gaping hole opposite him. He downed the last gulp of water and jogged over to the window, outside two of the pixies flew past him chased by four gargoyles. Gabriel raised his shotgun and pumped two shells into the monsters, blasting three of them out instantly and sending the last crashing into the car he was standing on moments before.
Gabriel shot the last two rounds at the imps surrounding Cheolkuth and the other guy. Afterwards he held out the shotgun to his left and waited. On the battlefront almost instantly the demon disappeared and moments later exchanged his shotgun for a Mac 11 machine pistol. Cheolkuth flew back outside and gutted a gargoyle trying to sneak up on a blonde pixie. The pixie turned around in time to see her savior be attacked by an imp and returned the favor by sending a gargoyle's torso at it and snuffed it out. Several icicles also caught his attention as they impaled more imps, as well as fireballs, and twisters, and even bolts of energy. That last one really caught his attention.
Cheolkuth flew past his window followed by three gargoyles, he let the first two fly pass, but when the third came up he jumped out the window and grabbed onto the hard knobs on its back. Cheolkuth flew away from the main group with the gargoyles and Gabriel in tow. Turning around Gabriel aimed the Mac11 and opened fire. The tracer bullets flew at and tracked down their targets, though not without scaring the pixies. When the clip ran out and the bodies stopped dropping a ear piercing screech filled the air. Gabriel couldn't cover his ears so he got the full brunt of it. The screech left him feeling dizzy and disoriented, he dropped the gun to hang onto the gargoyle with both hands to keep from falling off.
The world slowly spun around him as he buried his face in his arms to recover, and when he finally did he noticed just how much faster the gargoyle's wings where beating. He looked up and found himself in the middle of what looked like a flock of scared New York pigeons flying away from a hungry peregrine falcon. Gabriel dreaded looking behind him but did it to see how much time he had left. The sight left him feeling glad he had enough time left, but also crappy because it wouldn't be enough.
"Cheolkuth get me outta here!" He shouted and looked around for the demon but couldn't find him anywhere. Gabriel stood on unsteady feet and stepped on the gargoyle's head as he jumped forward and grabbed onto another gargoyles foot. From there he dropped onto another and jumped again to another as the bat finally closed in on his original gargoyle less than thirty feet away. He noticed that every gargoyle he landed on suddenly got slower, much slower, too slow. So speed here was the key if he was to survive. He jumped on to another gargoyle and was reminded of that Mario game where he was in the clouds jumping on flying turtles. He passed that level, maybe after a few tries but he succeeded in the end. He just had to pretend this was his last life, and he had no more continues left, no pressure right?
Gabriel kept jumping as the bat kept gaining on him. On his fourth leap Gabriel heard a pop and felt something cold in his hand, when he looked he found a flash bang. He managed to crack a smile as he pulled the pin with his mouth and let it cook as he jumped to another gargoyle. He had to time this right because he wasn't going to be looking at it when it blew. He turned his head and tried his best to aim the grenade at the bat's face. Gabriel let it go and closed his eyes. A second later he saw the bright light through his eyelids and nearly went deaf again. He felt something tug at his collar and then lift him off the gargoyle.
"About time Asshole!" Gabriel yelled as he turned up to look at his cowardly partner. But instead he found one of the pixies, the red headed one, looking down at him with an awkward look on her face. He recognized her as the one with the energy bolts, perfect. He turned his attention to the bat which was fluttering wildly as it tried to find a roost on a building.
"Sorry, but put me down already!" He pointed at the roof of a building and Will flew him over to the spot Cheolkuth materialized. As soon as she let him go Gabriel started yelling at the demon.
"Where the hell were you! I almost became a huge steaming pile of guano! You cowardly ass scooby-doo bastard! Give me that!" He yanked Leonidas from his clawed hands.
"Shut up kid! I was busy saving your girlfriend over there and the rest of the fairy squad!" At that moment the rest of the guardians and Shagon landed next to Will. "They didn't even apologize! I don't need this, but you do need me! And right now you need her!" Cheolkuth pointed at Will.
"Me? Why do you need me?"
Gabriel and Cheolkuth both gave her a look that made her regret speaking out of turn. They turned their attention back to each other.
"What's in here?"
"Dragon's breath shells, both barrels. Don't miss, manifestation is tricky in this weather."
"I know..." the bats screech filled the air. "I don't think it's at 100% yet. But I've been wrong before."
"More than once. Haha."
"Excuse me, but who are you guys?" Shagon stepped up and Cheolkuth answered him.
"We're what you might call specialists."
"Exactly what kind of specialists?"
Gabriel spoke next.
"The kind that take care of beings like you when they get out of line."
"Hey calm down I was just asking."
"Well nobody asked your opinion. And what the hell are you supposed to be anyway?"
"I'm Shagon, a knight of Vengeance And believe me, you don't want to know what I'm capable of."
Gabriel smirked and waved him off. "Who are the rest of you?" He said as he looked at Cornelia, he knew she was going to be trouble.
"We're the guardians of Kandrakar." Will said as Gabriel turned to her. Before he could say anything the blonde started on the redhead.
"What do you think you're doing!"
"What?"
"He was asking me."
"Well I'm the leader, so I'm the one that has to answer him."
"Maybe if he was asking you directly but not when he's looking at someone else, especially me!"
Gabriel didn't dare come between two women arguing, and right now there were more important things to worry about. Like the fact that he just felt the whole building sway. The two girls were still arguing.
"Oh this is going to be fun."
"What?" The two girls asked as giant clawed wing reached over the edge and blasted them with air as it came down.
"I'll take care of it. His heads gonna peep over that railing any second now. Even a faulty manifestation will take it out."
Gabriel took two steps forward and cocked both barrels on his sawed off shotgun. When the ears came into view he took aim. Finally the glowing red eyes gave him the green light to pull the trigger.
Nothing happened. Gabriel blinked. Now its yellow fangs made their way into view.
"What are you waiting for!" Cheolkuth shouted at him.
Gabriel desperately pulled back the hammers and aimed at the bats' chest. He pulled the triggers. They clicked. Before it could get its enormous bulk fully onto the roof he popped the chambers and pulled out the shells. The cardboard was soaking wet, and chances were so was the powder. He looked back at Cheolkuth with disbelief, and he could only return the look. Gabriel flashed back to when he crashed the truck, the duffel was in the seat next to him. The deluge never stopped and the window was broken. Was the bag open this whole time?
Gabriel felt a large shadow come across him as the bat loomed overhead. He slowly turned to lock eyes with it. The bat wasted no time as it opened it's jaws and gave him a closer look.
Chapter 1
(Part 3)
The bat's jaws closed around Gabriel's upper torso and crushed his ribcage, the fangs pierced through his body and punctured his lungs. As it lifted his head Gabriel's limp body went with it and dangled like a rag doll as everyone watched in horror. Cheolkuth spread his wings and flew to his rescue, he could see into his internal organs clearly, and his heart was still intact. Gabriel was still alive. Inside the hot stinking mouth Gabriel couldn't breathe, and his vision was failing him again. As Cheolkuth swung at the bat with his scythe it pulled away swinging the bulk of Gabriel's body and tearing his flesh even more.
The pain was beyond comprehension, again Cheolkuth struck again dealing a blow to the bat's throat. Roaring in pain the bat opened its jaws, allowing Gabriel one last look at the world as it grew red in his vision. The roar also popped his ear drums causing him to go deaf. A second later its jaws clamped shut allowing its smaller central incisors to stab through his sternum.
The world went black and Gabriel was brought out of his vision. The bat just made its way fully onto the roof and he looked at the shotgun in his hands. Both hammers were pulled back ready to make contact with the shells, but it wouldn't do any good. He heard the familiar heavy breathing of the beast and rolled out of the way as the bat attacked. Gabriel started running for cover behind one of the large ac units. Gabriel thought of what he should do next. He had already used up all of his munitions on the grunts, and now the loss of his ace in the hole left him crippled.
The bat screeched as it directed its next attack at the Guardians, its heavy tail swung as it tried to sweep them off the roof. The W.I.T.C.H. girls and Shagon took off but Cheolkuth stood his ground and took the blow. His supernaturally solid frame barely shuttered with the impact, before the bat could pull his tail away Cheolkuth grabbed hold of it and sank his claws deep into its flesh.
"Do it now! Gabriel, before I lose him!"
Gabriel peered out the corner of the ac unit, "The shells are soaked they're useless!"
The giant bat let out an air piercing screech directly at Cheolkuth but it had no effect on him, he continued to hang onto its tail. The bat increased the pitch of his screech until Gabriel thought his ears would pop. The windows in the buildings around and below them cracked and exploded in careful coordination with each other as the sound wave expanded. When at the end of its assault Cheolkuth still clung tightly the bat became enraged. It lifted the dazed Cheolkuth off the ground and brought him to his mouth. Before it could make a meal out of the demon a rush of water entered its mouth allowing Cheolkuth an opportunity to strike.
Shaking off the last of his confusion Cheolkuth dropped away and pulled out his scythe, while Irma distracted the bat he flew at its throat and cut through. He kept cutting until he was sure its vocal cords were completely destroyed. The bat shook him and tried to take a bite out of him, but Irma kept up her attack and directed its heavy head to empty space. The bat swung its head back and tried its screech, but all that came out of its throat was gargled mess. The bat hacked and coughed afterward and lifted its angry gaze at her as it stretched out its wings. It beat them twice before several large fireballs rained down from the sky and battered it back to the ground. The bat let out a roar that made the blood in its throat spill out of it mouth.
Gabriel saw the fire pixie bring the hurt to the bat before taking off and letting lightning one take over with whatshisname. He kept track of the fire pixie until she was within range then he ran alongside her.
"HEY! Get down here I need some help!"
Taranee flew down and picked him up by his collar.
"You need to get out of here. Do you even know what your doing?"
Gabriel struggled in her grasp. "Of course I know what I'm doing. I just ran into some technical difficulties. See these?" Gabriel pulled out the shells. "They're soaked I need you to dry them if you want to get rid of big ugly back there."
Taranee looked over her shoulder, the other guardians, Shagon, and his friend were attacking the bat from all directions but nothing much was coming out of their attacks. Taranee reluctantly landed in one of the offices through a busted out window.
"Alright let me see them."
Gabriel handed over the shells and waited for her to start drying them, but all she did was stare at them like they were some kind of new creature she'd never seen before.
"What the hell are you waiting for? Get started."
"Sorry. I've just never seen these before in real life. Just in the movies."
"Well let me tell you something, these aren't your ordinary 12 gauge shotgun shells. These are specialty dragons' breath shotgun shells. They're zinc covered pellets that burn through anything they come in contact with. They're highly flammable so don't overheat them."
Taranee looked uneasy as she closed her hand and started heating up her palm. Slowly, steam began to rise from her hand. Lightning flashed and was followed by an incredibly loud thunderclap, Taranee jumped as she looked to her friends. Gabriel snapped his fingers repeatedly to get her attention.
"Hey, focus."
Taranee looked at her hand again and thought she saw a small spark jump out. She instantly stopped and looked at Gabriel.
"Let me see those." He took them in his hand and weighed them. "No still too heavy, they're still damp in the middle, keep going."
Taranee took the shells back and carefully started to heat them up again.
"Hurry it up, we're running out of time."
She jumped again and tried heating them up a little more, but not too much. Had she imagined what she saw earlier, or did that spark really have teeth?
…...
Back on the rooftop the bat no longer tried to take off, its battle had become more physical. Once Will started barraging the bat something unusual happened. A lightning bolt had come down from the clouds and struck the bat, instead injuring it though it seemed to heal its wounds. Now its screech was coming back, though it was still not as strong as it was. And now neither Will or Shagon could land a hit with their powers.
It was really putting them through their paces as their positions switched from attackers to distractions. Irma and Hay-lin were trying as best they could with Cheolkuth to bring the bat down once and for all, but it became extensively difficult. Luckily Cornelia had anchored it to the rooftop by turning the concrete into quicksand and then solidifying it again. But it kept breaking loose.
"Where did Taranee go? We need her!" Irma said.
"I saw her fly off somewhere with that kid!" Hay-Lin responded as she prepared another air slam.
"Forget her! We can do this on our own, we just need a good opportunity for that demon to strike again." Cornelia and the girls dodged another screech attack as Cheolkuth slashed at its throat again with no success. Will and Shagon teamed up their attacks to keep the bat busy as he came back around for another attempt. The bat opened its mouth to screech at them but was cut off by a fireball that smashed into its face.
Taranee was back and she brought Gabriel with her. He let go of her hand and ran as he landed to keep from losing his balance. He also landed in front of the bat, but this time he was prepared. As the bat looked back down at him everyone's' eyes followed it gaze. Gabriel lifted the shotgun and pulled back both hammers the uttered the manifestation spell.
"Manifestation, Ardens Leonis." He pulled back the triggers and this time the shells ignited. From the muzzle of the sawed off shotgun bellowed a wall of flame that carried the pellets with it. The fire kept growing as it neared the bat and took the shape of a leaping lion. The bat screeched but it did no good against the growing flames. The lion dug its paws into the chest of the bat singing the hair and the pellets dug their way through its body bursting out the other side. The flames then enveloped its entire body and choked the last breath of life out of the bat.
Keeling backwards the bat's bulk pulled it loose from the concrete floor. The flaming mass howled in pain a final time before it spread out its wings, the membrane melting off, and struck Gabriel sending both of them over the edge of the building. Gabriel toppled end over end as he fell down the length of the building. Will raced down after him being the closest and reached out to him as he came right side up again.
Instantly Will felt a drain on her power, she felt sleepy and weary, but she forced herself to fly over to the closest building. The landing was anything but soft as Gabriel's foot caught on the railing of the building and flung Will through the air. They tumbled and rolled until they came to a stop, despite the pain and dizziness from the fall Gabriel stood up instantly. He felt it again, the surge of power throughout his body, the healthy feeling, and best of all the numbing pain. He looked down at his shoulder and saw it was dislocated.
Biting his tongue he used his left hand to lift the arm until it popped back into its socket. A sharp stinging pain made him gasp for air and then it was gone. He moved his arm around and felt no pain, his mana had healed him, and he guessed as he looked at the guardian that her element was energy. The rest of the crew landed behind him and the masked freak ran over to her.
"No! Will. What did you do to her?"
"How the hell should I know? She probably knocked herself out on the landing, you ever think of that einstein?"
Gabriel exchanged a meaningful look with Cheolkuth and a small smile flashed across his face. It was then that Will started to open her eyes.
"What happened?"
"It's okay Will, I'm here for you."
"Oh, and what are we chopped liver?" Irma joked.
"Hey," Cheolkuth called Gabriel. "When you left something happened, up there." He pointed to the sky and Gabriel took a look at the dark clouds now flashing angrily.
"What, you get the big guy upset?"
"No, someone else is up there. I heard him deliver a spell to that winged bastard. I bet he's the one behind all this."
Gabriel popped the chambers and took out the burnt shells.
"And what do you want me to do about it?"
Cheolkuth took one look at the shells and disappeared, leaving him to make small talk with the guardians while their leader recovered. Gabriel turned to face them and thought of what to say.
"So...um. Nice weather, huh?"
An awkward silence followed as Will slowly regained consciousness and stood up.
"What was that?" She said.
"A poor attempt at an ice breaker."
"No, up on the roof. That fireball you made with that gun."
"Oh, see unlike you I'm not a magical creature." Gabriel inspected his shotgun. "So what I do is instead use my mana in a unique way, by imbueing my bullets with spells I get different results. It's like how witches and warlocks have wands or staffs, I have guns."
The guardians became suddenly uneasy around him.
"So instead of carrying around a wand you carry weapons that can kill people?" Cornelia spoke up.
"It's more complicated than that."
"What are you talking about? What else do you use those weapons for? At least with a wand you could like, keep from hurting someone you know."
"I haven't killed any innocents if that's what you mean. And those I did fill with lead had it coming." Gabriel shut the chambers on his shotgun for added effect. The sound was enough to make the girls jump, even Shagon wasn't completely immune to the sound. Gabriel looked at his watching and counted down another thirty seconds.
"So what, what kind of spells do you use for your guns?" Taranee said.
"The most common spell I use is the tracking spell," Gabriel procured on of his handguns from his sleeve. "I use it mostly in small arms and repeating weapons, what it does is really simple, seek and destroy. Another spell is the charge spell, makes the bullets last three times longer when used. Every hit powers it up until it reaches the end of its life and explodes like a hand grenade."
"What about the one you just used?" Will beckoned more interested than afraid at this point.
"I was getting to that..." He showed them the shells. "That was the manifestation spell. I only use it with these rounds. You can guess what it does. Then there's..."
Gabriel stopped talking and bowed his head as if listening for something, then he stretched out his hand and gripped empty air that was filled by a weapon as Cheolkuth reappeared. The assault weapon was solid black, was equipped with a sight, grenade launcher and a pair of magazines that were duct taped together.
"Nice gun. What kind is it?" Shagon asked.
"M4A1 carbine assault rifle, uses 5.56 mm bullets, thirty in each mag, all of them tracking and an M203 grenade launcher. This weapon does enough damage on its own."
Gabriel looked up at the sky, in the brief flashes of lightning he could see the last the gargoyles, there didn't seem to be any more imps. Gabriel whispered the bullets to track the gargoyles and hopped on Cheolkuth's back.
"Whoever's up there is using magic, strong magic. I can't counter magic so you'll be the ones who have to take him down, me and Cheolkuth will cover you. Shyguy I think you'll come with us just in case." With that Cheolkuth took off and Gabriel took aim at the nearest group of gargoyles and let loose.
"He's right." Will said.
"He is?" Hay-lin asked.
"Yeah, those gargoyles are coming from somewhere. My guess is there's a portal up there we need to close."
"Did he just call me shyguy?"
"Then let's go! Were losing time down here!" Cornelia took off.
"Jeez you'd think just once Cornelia wouldn't be so egotistic." Taranee said as she flew off with Hay-Lin in tow.
"Really? Shyguy?"
"Yes captain I-can't-believe-it's-not-butter, shouldn't you already be up there?"
"Fine, just promise me you'll be careful."
"Oh, Matt you're so sweet." Irma smiled tauntingly.
"Not you, Will."
"I will, don't worry. Everything is going to be alright." Will said as they flew up.
Shagon flew ahead leaving Will and Irma behind. As they flew higher the lightning became more and more agitated until finally a bolt made it's way down from the clouds and nearly hit Taranee. Another bolt came down and split them up, Will noticed that this lightning didn't thunder when it hit the ground. They were quintessence bolts, as the lightning built up again she started redirecting it as it fell. Once they entered the clouds Taranee and Hay-Lin joined up with them, then Cornelia. They kept flying until the darkness of the clouds gave way to sunlight. After breaking through the top of the thunderhead the girls looked around for the enemy.
Hay-Lin was the one who spotted him, he came into view as he ascended from the black clouds below. He was cloaked with a long black garb that covered his face and he carried a snakelike scepter. When he spoke it was in a whisper voice that reached their ears clear as a bell.
"Sunbeam of Ra."
He raised the scepter and aimed it at the guardians as a ray of golden light shot out at them. Irma flew in front of the group and formed an ice shield to protect them from his attack. As soon as the impact shattered the ice pack the attacker disappeared into darkness. Even though the sun was shining above them its light did not reach them, not after they heard another spell.
"Law of Set."
The guardians formed a defensive circle as the attacks continued, Will and Irma held off the attacks as Hay-Lin began shifting the winds and blowing back the clouds. Once he was revealed Taranee sent a stream of fireballs his way, and soon he was the one playing defense as the girls unloaded on him. All except Cornelia, as soon as the guardians started attacking him a cold gray hand reached out through the darkness and dragged her below. Nobody noticed that Cornelia was gone, because in their eyes she never left.
After Taranee and Irma took their turns attacking him Cornelia brought up two gargoyles and sent them flying at him. The enemy dodged the gargoyles and tried to attack her too, but Will kept him from being able to attack her by shocking him with her bolts from above. The enemy roared with agony and rolled over quickly. He reached inside his cloak and threw five silver crescent blades at her, but when she dodged them Irma told her to look out. Will looked behind her and the blades boomeranged their way back to Will. She flew away again and tried to shoot down the blades as they came after her.
Will managed to shoot down three of them and Taranee helped her out with the other two, she thought she was in the clear until she looked ahead. She came to a stop as a vortex stretched open in front of her, from its black gaping mouth another set of crescent blades flew at her. This time she was too close to dodge. She prepared for the worst when five beams of green light shot them to pieces. She knew that meant only one thing, and Shagon was quick to confirm her hopes.
"I thought I told you to be careful?"
Will managed a smile before an evil laughter emanated from the portal and their cloaked enemy returned. The sound was disturbing, like a cross between a coyote and a hyena. A high pitched laughter that reverberated through the air.
"Love, it is the strongest power in the world. And all the others bow down before it. All except death." He raised the scepter. "Kiss of the Asp!"
The scepter glowed green for a moment, then the glow transferred to the head of the scepter and shot out at them.
"NOOO!" Shagon moved himself in front of Will to protect her. He spread out his arms and questioned if he was doing the right thing. Then Cornelia flew in front of him and spread out her arms as the killing blow struck her instead. Everyone was surprised by what had just happened. The rest of the girls instantly flew to her aid, Shagon held her in his arms as she collapsed.
"Cornelia! Are you alright! Don't worry we're going to take care of you!" Will said as she tried to keep her from looking down at the burn mark beneath her chest. But it was too late, before her eyes Cornelia started to die. Cornelia started to age at an accelerated speed, her skin dried out and wrinkled up and sagged. Her eyes sunk into her skull and dark circles appeared under them. Her hair too thinned out and became gray.
"No."
"Yes. The Kiss of the Asp kills you in the worst way you can imagine. I suppose her vanity was also her biggest love." The man laughed again. "Now that you know my power, you will know my name. Listen closely guardian, I am Nubios, Master of Darkness and Plague. And the heart of earth will be..."
"Shut up!" Will shouted as the guardians gathered together. "You've just met the end of the line. You're going to pay for what you did to her!"
She heard laughter next. But Nubios's face was as stern as it was when he announced his name. The laughter continued until Shagon noticed Cornelia's head bobbing slightly. She started feeling light in his grip so he let her go and was amazed that she was floating without any help from her wings. She kept laughing as Will tried to talk to her.
"Cornelia?"
Cornelia lifted her up with unnatural speed and cackled horribly. Apparently her teeth had also suffered from the curse because the gums retreated so far back the roots were visible. They were also yellow and rotting in a mouth full of black flesh. She was transformed into full on creepy old hag that was so amused at something she kept laughing as she dug her hands into the wound and split her ribcage open.
Everyone was horrified and shocked at what she had done. But none more so than Will who had a clear view at her organs. She grew pale as her organs began to squirm until finally something chewed its way out through a tiny hole and then flickered its wings before flying away. As she watched more and more of these locusts chewed their own escape and flew at Nubios with a vengeance. The swarm was never ending as Nubios became engrossed by the ravenous insects.
Soon the old hag in front of her closed her ribs and stopped the swarm, then it transformed into a more familiar yet equally repellant face. The face of Cheolkuth, the mysterious guy's demon assistant. He continued laughing until Nubios cast a spell that burnt up all the locusts swarming around him. When the cloud of insects fell it revealed an obviously ravaged dark skinned magician, the locusts had eaten away the majority of his clothes as well as most of his scalp. His red eyes glowed with hate as he stared at Cheolkuth.
"A demon? You bring to your aid a demon slave? Maybe we are not so different after all guardian. You appreciate the black arts."
"The only one who appreciates the black arts is you. And for such a magician you warrant my pity. As my friend would say you're nothing but a little bitch. A minor annoyance in my vacation, like a mosquito. And I'll squash you as such."
Nubios stretched out his hands and the darkness increased to pitch black levels. The sun was a lonely ball of light in the sky that cast no rays anywhere. The darkness continued to grow until nothing was visible but his own glowing red eyes.
"Know my name. I am Nubios, Master of Darkness and Plague. What powers have you demon, that pale in comparison to those of a God?"
Nobody said anything as they struggled see in the darkness. Cheolkuth, in an attempt to keep from being shown up, set his own body ablaze. The hellfire that surrounded him gave off enough light to penetrate the darkness and light up the girls. He continued to increase the size of his fireball until Nubios became visible.
"What is it that goes before destruction if not pride?" Cheolkuth concentrated his fireball he held above his head. It took a moment for the shock to wear off before the guardians and Shagon also prepared their own attacks. Nubios held the scepter in front of him as they struck together. There was a brilliant blast that blinded everyone and then nothing. The darkness was slowly lifted, and the world returned to normal. The sky around them became a shade of light blue and the clouds below were no longer as dark and menacing.
Everybody floated above the sea of gray waves and lightning waiting for Nubios to make his next move. It was a tense moment when he reappeared. Nubios held his scepter out again but this time he opened another vortex, a portal back to his world. Nubios paused to grimace at them, "I leave you with this victory. But heed my warning, when Lord Vengnaza hears of this, your powers will not be enough to save you from his wrath. As well as mine." Nubios entered his portal and left them alone with a hollow sense of victory.
…...
Will got home completely exhausted from the events that transpired that day, and she wasn't the only one. As soon as she collapsed on her bed her computer buzzed to life and informed her she had messages from all of her friends. Will hoped she could've taken a shower first, but they agreed that once they had to get home first before all their parents became too worried. So this was how they were going to discuss the unusual appearance of the mysterious cyclops guy and his demon friend.
"Yeah, Cheolkuth kidnapped me because he said my powers woudn't do any good in the air. He said he didn't want me to get hurt. How weird is that?"
-Cornelia
"Totally weird. I thought demons were supposed to be evil."
-Irma
"Well not this one. Remember how he popped up right when that bat almost had me for lunch. He almost got chewed himself."
-Hay-Lin
"Well maybe that other guy's controlling him somehow. Nubios did say he looked like a demon slave. Maybe that guy found a way to enslave him or something."
-Will
"Yeah that's what I want to talk about...slavery."
-Taranee
"Oh. Sorry, Taranee I didn't mean anything by it."
-Will
"Relax Will it was a joke. Don't take it personally."
-Taranee
"Sorry I'm late guys. I had to help clean out the pet store, the animals really made a mess but I don't blame them. What are we talking about?"
-Matt
"How that guy managed to get an evil demon to help us defeat that Nubios guy.'
-Hay-Lin
"Oh, yeah. Man that guy freaked me out when he pretended to be Cornelia."
-Matt
"Can we please not talk about that. I had a front row seat to that show and it's definitely gonna give me nightmares tonight."
-Will
Will finished typing her sentence and had a flashback to that moment she thought Cornelia was really dead. Then that happened and...Will shuddered. She didn't want to think about it but it forced itself into her mind. To get her mind off the idea she started to think about how that guy must feel having to deal with that kind of help. But then he must have gotten used to it by now. Then an even more frightening thought entered her mind. What kind of monsters must he have dealt with to warrant that type of approach to his fighting style. Will looked out the window. It was still pouring buckets but at least it calmed down from earlier that afternoon. Thunder rolled in and shook her room a bit. She wondered, where he could have gone? She hadn't seen him before today, maybe he was just passing through. Or maybe...she remembered his final words to her before he left.
"Listen I didn't think this city was under any protection so next time don't expect me to come to the rescue."
If he didn't want her to expect him next time, he must be planning on sticking around for a while somewhere in Heatherfield. Maybe a motel or an inn. Maybe she could convince him to join them in their fight against evil. Maybe she could convince him to stay.
…...
Gabriel stared out his bathroom window as lightning flashed. He had just finished piecing his wounds together with the mana he sucked out of that pixie. Though his new found reserve of energy was depleted a bit he knew how to keep it from registering empty. It was torture on his taste buds and his stomach, but it was the only way he could maintain that certain charge before it drained away. The energy was stolen, and so the laws of magic would have it drained away unless he could lock it away for good. But that would require a larger amount of magic and a really powerful spell, both of which he were out of his reach currently. And the source of one of them he was trying to avoid.
Turning off the light he went for the couch in the living room and turned on the t.v. He flipped through the channels aimlessly until his eyelids became to heavy to bear. Today wasn't a total loss. He met a few new people, both in and out of school. He had some fun with the gargoyles and imps. And to top it all off he even managed to put together a small practical joke that very well might've saved the life of one of the pixies. Even if she was a bitch about it. Gabriel slipped blissfully into a peaceful sleep as his demonic companion worked on his lesson plan for the following day.