I blindly walked over to lean against the wall. I only half registered Liz coming over to stand beside me. "What's wrong, Cara? You look like you saw a ghost. Wait…" she paused to find a better wording. "Well, you know what I mean, right?"
I nodded and slumped my head back against the wall. "Ugh!" I moaned. "I would much rather keep up the mild mutual hatred; but no!" I stole a glance at the new-found cousin in question. "Liz, can you keep a secret?" I said, rolling my head to face her; hoping my face would portray my desire to keep the whole issue under lock and key.
She nodded. "But if you're talking about the thing between you and Abe; I already know." She shrugged as if it was yesterday's news; which it probably was.
"Is it that obvious?" I got another nod from Liz. "Well, that's not the problem at hand." I took a moment to collect my wits. "Hellboy is my cousin." I sighed.
Liz clamped her hand over her mouth to halt the giggles, but some made it to my ears. "That's going to be interesting!" she joked after she had control of herself.
"I know." I huffed as I shrugged away from the wall to standby Abe; who was, unfortunately, talking with Hellboy. I stood slightly behind Abe so as to keep as much space between Hellboy and I as possible. Now I had two good reasons not to look at the aggravating red demon.
And Hellboy began to destroy one of those reasons. "Hey, Cara," I looked up at him, but refused to make eye contact. "I'm sorry about this morning. I should have knocked. And laughing was a bad idea; even though it was pretty funny."
"It's alright, Hellboy. I shouldn't have reacted as badly. We're all adults here, after all." I managed to give him a weak smile.
"But the maturity levels range from Professor to infant." Abe grumbled.
I tilted my head to look up at him with a smirk. "And where would I fit into that spectrum?" I knew where Damian would but me, so I wanted to see if Abe agreed.
"Early adulthood: you're level-headed, determined, and considerate; but you have your moments." He shrugged. Then he looked down at me with an identical smirk on his face. "Where do you think I fit that spectrum?"
I looked down and bit my lip while I thought. He was more mature than me, but nowhere near Krauss. Then it hit me. "I think the proper placement would be a 170 year old ichthyo sapien who is about to have his seat taken by a certain red dragon hatchling."
Abe whirled around to glare at the scaly perpetrator while Hellboy and I laughed our heads off. "I think that was one of your moments, kid." He managed to say in between laughing fits. He was cracking up so hard that he began to tear up.
I nodded before I collected myself enough to go apologize to Abe. I walked over to him and slowly slid my hand up his arm. "Still sure you love me?" I whispered in his ear.
"Absolutely positive." He gave me a quick squeeze. "By the way, when are you going to tell Hellboy that he's your cousin?" when he looked down at meI could tell he was completely serious.
I gave him a light shove in the chest that did nothing. "When did you read me?!" I hissed.
"I didn't; Krauss told me." Abe knew quite well that I didn't like to be read without giving my permission.
"After breakfast. I know that there are legends about the Queen of Darkness being the older sister of the Prince of Sheol; but I thought it was only that, a legend. I wonder how he's going to react." I mused out loud.
"Laugh." Abe said simply as he plucked a squirming Bahia from his seat.
I nodded and took my seat next to him as others began to seat themselves. Breakfast was as uneventful as the day before; well, except for Bahia's constant complaining. After breakfast, Hellboy was the first to leave. I sprinted after him to catch up. " Hellboy, wait!"
He turned around just in time for me to crash into him. "Oh, sorry, kid."
I nodded and took a step back from him. "Hellboy, there's something that Krauss told me that you should know." I took a deep breath to steady myself. "You're, my cousin." I stated as simply as I could.
"Okay." He breathed as he ran his non-stone hand over his head. "How'd that happen?" he looked absolutely confused.
"Your father, the Prince of Sheol, was the younger half brother of my mother, the Queen of Darkness." He nodded; apparently he was familiar with the legends of my mother.
"He may have been my creator, but he wasn't my father, My father was Professor Brunttenholm." He stubbornly crossed his arms across his chest. "But I know what you mean. Don't think I'm going to treat you any different." I nodded. "But it's good to know, cuz." He playfully pulled the end of my braid. "Take that back, I'm going to keep calling you kid."
I was about to respond when our communication devices let loose a continuous, shrill whistle. Hellboy reached over and hit a button on mine to turn off the sound. "Thanks."
I would have said more, but he cut me off. "Go get your sword thing and meet us in the garage. Run as fast as you can." He pushed me towards my room as he turned toward his. I sprinted down the hallway. Bahia joined me half-way down the hall; her full-body leaps equal to my stride. "Angsana." I said as when the mahogany door came into view. I opened the door as I slid past, and then rushed in behind Bahia. I snatched up my sword and my two daggers; I was glad that I had worn my uniform to breakfast. "Stay!" I ordered my familiar as I raced out the door.
That's the last thing I'm going to do! She shouted in my head. She had taken to the air to keep up with me. In her mouth was my spell components bag and the satchel that held her armor. You're going to need my help.
I sighed, but relented, as I took my bag from her. We barreled into the garage and saw Abe, Liz, and Krauss climbing into the back of a black garbage truck. We darted between the vehicles to reach them. When we got to the vehicle, Abe held out his hand to help me in to the truck; which was more like a control room on wheels than anything else. When he saw Bahia fly in behind me, his face became utterly perplexed. "I thought you said she couldn't fight?"
"She can't; but she makes a very good distraction." I looked out the door and saw Hellboy and Mr. Manning rushing toward us. I slid into the seat next to Abe to give them room. As soon as they jumped in and shut the door, the technical fortress began to move. Bahia yelped as she fell to the ground. I too was caught off guard and tumbled onto Abe's lap. He gave me a small smile as he steadied me in my own seat. "What exactly are we doing?" I finally asked.
"We are addressing a paranormal disturbance in the park in the city." Krauss answered. For some reason, I was just as confused as I was before I asked the question.
Apparently that opinion was painted on my face, because Hellboy translated for me. "Beat up evil things."
I nodded as I began to help Bahia into her armor. We reached the park quickly and we all jumped out of the back of the truck. I turned the communication device on my belt to the open channel setting the way Krauss had shown me. Then a familiar and equally terrifying sent hit my and Bahia's noses. My eyes widened in fear as I stopped in my tracks. Abe turned to me and opened his mouth to speak when I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down to the ground. The others followed suit as a barrage of arrows flew through where our heads had been. "Orcs!" I shouted. "Watch your back, I don't want to lose you again." I whispered to Abe as I moved away.
I reached into the spell components bag on my belt and pulled out a clear piece time. "Magine Shirak!" I shouted as I tossed the item into the air. It began to glow a bright off white as it hovered about ten feet off the ground. The disgusting creatures from my home world became visible from the shadows.
The others took this as a cue to attack. Abe let off only two shots from his hand gun and two orcs had fallen to the ground dead. Hellboy took out one of the many guns from his belt and blew the head off of a nearby enemy. I threw a dagger through the throat of one of the creatures. But before we could attack anymore, the scratchy voice of one of the orcs began to chant a spell. Soon all of our and the orcs' weapons were flying into the treetops.
"Lovely." Liz sighed as she dropped into a stance in front of an advancing enemy.
"I'll take care of their mage." I called as I raced toward where the voice had come from. Standing there was a scarred and putrid elder orc in the brown robes of one who hadn't even taken their test of high sorcery yet. "You've got to be kidding me!" I laughed at him.
"How dare you laugh at who soon be mage! Your trick could be done by kender." He mocked in broken common.
"I happen to be the second most powerful mage of our world. And I know a kender who can do this…" I curled my fingers and extended them toward the orc. "Serpicatun mortstrang!" I hissed. The tree branches near my target turned into snakes and began to strangle him. As I began to turn to return to the others, a slimy hand wrapped itself around my throat.
I shrieked despite myself and struggled as best I could as the orc lifted me off the ground and turned me to face him. "Greeting, princess." He sneered.
"Get your hand off my cousin!" Hellboy shouted as his stone fist crushed the orc's skull.
I landed on my feet and immediately turned and vaulted to attack an orc who was sneaking up behind Abe. One of my legs landed on his shoulder while the other wrapped around its neck. I arched backwards and braced my hands on its back, then separated my legs; effectively breaking its neck. I pushed off of it and stood up from the ground.
We all looked around and saw that all eight orcs were dead. Bahia trotted up to me and sat down at my feet. There was orc blood spattered all over her armor. That was easy! She smiled up at me.
Sorry it took longer than usual to update. Half of us (C M) was on vacation this weekend. In a few hours, we will also have chapter 8 up for this. But we also need to update some of our stories.
Why were the orcs sent? Who sent them? Who's the only mage more powerful than Cara?
Find out in a few hours. As always, your input (reviews) are cherished and always replied.
Sincerely,
C M + L W idkaname
