The Blue Werewolf

Part III: Spellsinger

©/By: Kenjaje

Chapter 9: Only A Rescue

October 31st 11:31 PM

He felt cold as he passed into the darkness of the tree. Instead of the inner hollow, he arrived into a very a dark and wooded place, with dim lanterns hanging from gnarled boughs. Almost as soon as his foot stepped onto the stoned path, it was clutched by the hand of a Shadow. He ripped his foot into the air; the shadow flew into the sky. It erupted into flame.

"I told you they'd be on us," the fox said.

"If I can't make them go away why'd you bring me here?" Another Shadow sprang from the ground; Stitch slashed at it three times, tearing into its form. As it floated in shreds, it burst into flames.

"Your strength weakens them enough that I can take them out without much effort," the fox replied. "Magic is of energy; you get tired from it after a while. Now let's go." The fox darted ahead. Several shadows sprang into the air, all after Stitch. He dodged their blows and countered; after his claws dove into each one, they receded. "Don't worry," the fox said, "They're trying to stay away; they know I can harm them."

Onward they charged, fox in the lead. The path seemed linear, with very slight curves. It threaded between hills, and over at least one small stream. The Shadows grew quickly in number; they focused their attacks on the fox rather than Stitch. After they had crossed the bridge, several swarmed the fox; Stitch leapt into the air, slashed at three; he landed on the ground on the other side of the fox, and leapt into the air again, crossing once more.

A shadow got through; the fox rolled to the side. Stitch slammed down on the dark mass and bit into it. He backed away when it was burned. They continued. Over the large hill to his right, Stitch saw a tall mansion.

"Stay on the path," the fox advised, apparently aware of Stitch's observance. Stitch heeded the fox's words. The shadows became more of a threat. Now they came almost continuously, and several began making contact with Stitch and the fox. Stitch was hardly scratched, but each time the fox was hit, he was visibly wounded. Stitch began taking blows for the fox.

But soon the shadows would overwhelm them; Stitch was getting frustrated. The fox hardly caste any magic, and yet that was the only thing that defeated them; was he just wasting energy for nothing? There had to be another way to fend the shadows off. He looked for something—anything. They passed a lantern slung onto a bough; Stitch noticed the shadows thinned in the radius of the light. There.

He quickly leapt onto the tree and scaled the bough, snatched the lantern in his foot and tossed it to his hand. He landed near the fox, which was dodging left and right, and held the lantern into the air. The shadows waned.

"Agata!" Stitch taunted.

"Look out behind you!" The fox shouted. Stitch turned; the whole mass of Shadows erupted from that direction. "Throw the lantern!" Stitch complied. "I told you; the rules in your world don't apply." The fox said as they ran, "These shadows don't weaken in light, it only changes their direction to behind you," The mansion was close in sight. "The True of Heart is in there—most likely."

"Most likely?" The doors to the mansion thundered open as Stitch charged in; the left frame was thrown into the room and the right slammed to the wall and cracked. Shadows surrounded them, and for the first time Stitch's heart skipped a beat. The Shadows quickly moved in.

Stitch growled, and as the Shadows moved closer, he began to attack. Each shadow he sent into shreds burned one-by-one, but three more took its place. He threw out his second set of arms, and in a flurry of glinting claws slashed and blocked until his limbs went numb.

"We're not doing anything!" He shouted; as if in answer, he saw a bright blue light emerge from the sea of darkness. The Shadows that came into contact disappeared; some started to run, but were too slow. As Stitch watched the Shadows disappear, he felt the air around him take on warmth. The light faded, and the fox staggered from the origin.

"Hurry, find her…" He muttered. Stitch sniffed the air; she was just ahead. Up the stairs through a set of doors; Stitch broke through them. Lilo looked up from the corner of the room, her eyes frozen; all she could see was a dark figure.

"Don't be scared," Stitch growled, stepping forward.

"I said leave me alone you monsters!" She shouted, her voice badly frightened; Stitch balked.

"M-monster?"

"If you monsters keep here any longer, pretty soon my friend is gonna come and kick your butts!"

"Miga…monster?" Lilo blinked; her face flooded with color.

"Stitch?" She asked. He stepped into the room, only to be tackled by her. "Stitch!" She said, with a weight of relief. She hugged him tightly. "The Shadows—there's tons of them, we have to get out of here," she said, shivering in his arms.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of here." He picked her up and placed her on his back; she wrapped her arms and legs around him.

"We?" She asked, as he ran into the vestibule. She saw the fox, standing in the room; he was panting heavily. "You!" She shouted.

"Hello again, True of Heart." The fox said.

"Can we get out of here? We don't have much time…"

"Don't worry, there's a shorter way out, we just have to get to it before—" From the room Lilo was being held, a flood of darkness crashed down the stairs. Lilo screamed, and Stitch felt her grip loosen. He locked his upper arms around her wrists and his lower arms around her ankles. "Let's go!" Through the dark haze, Stitch could barely see the fox, but nonetheless he was able to follow.

Out of the mansion they ran through the smog, guided only by the fox. Several moments passed, and they managed to breach the edge of the haze.

"Shouldn't we stay and fight this thing?" Lilo asked.

"Ih! I want to fight," Stitch growled.

"Don't be foolish, this is only a rescue—nothing more. It would be impossible to take on the source of that cloud." Stitch saw a fork in the road; the fox turned right. Rather quickly they passed a stream, and only seven yards ahead a tree similar to the one they had come into this world from rested at the end of the path. The fox paused, and lowered his head. He staggered back, and a small blue flame grew in the candle. "Hurry," he beckoned them to run through. Lilo looked back; the fog coming, a dense layer of it already consuming their feet.

She winced as she was brought into the blood-red light. Stitch paused and turned back, to watch the fox make it through, and extinguish the flame; what little smog made it through dissipated.

"There, we're safe—now to get you home." Stitch looked into the distance, and spotted the dark circle.

"I see it!"

"See what?" Both Lilo and the fox asked.

"No time—it's fading!" Stitch took off with Lilo. The fox, somewhat weary, tried to keep up.

"Stitch where are we going?" Lilo asked.

"Doctor Acula made a portal for me to rescue you—he said I only had an hour. If we don't make it, we're trapped here." The portal came into Lilo's focus.

"It is fading…it's almost gone." They were nearing it quickly but with each step it seemed to disappear. "Stitch," they were ten yards away, "It's gonna disappear!" She hugged him close, "We're not gonna make it!"

"You will," he muttered. Lilo felt her weight go to her head as she was held upside-down. Stitch gripped her by the ankles and right arm; she started to stammer his name, and yelled when she was sent flying through the air. The portal flickered before her, and just as it looked like she was going to pass it and slam into the ground, it came back to life, and she sailed through. It faded once more, and a moment later Stitch passed the spot where it had been, only to see the blood-red horizon.

He sat on the ground and stared at the cracks. A minute later, the fox finally arrived.

"She's safe." Stitch said. He closed his eyes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, but…" The fox laid down, "Don't you realize that…you're trapped here now?" Stitch sighed.

"Better me than Lilo." He replied.

"Well…actually, you will be able to see her again—but it will be next Halloween." Stitch opened his eyes.

"Why next Halloween?"

"That is when the two worlds—your world and this world—are close enough to open a portal. Right now, it's almost midnight, and so the worlds are closest—then after this hour the worlds will be thrown apart."

"Wait," Stitch said, "If both worlds are still close, why can't I go through a portal?" The fox laid his head down.

"Because if a portal were to open now, there is a chance that both worlds could merge into one." Stitch tilted his head.

"What happens then?"

"Well…first the worlds would collide into one another…and then the Shadows would cross over. At first they would remain Shadows, but then…they would turn into the monsters that everyone is so familiar with." The fox's tail twitched. "Perpetual night would ensue. The only way to end it would be to tear the worlds apart…but that would take an extreme amount of magi—"

"Wait…what's that?" The fox looked at Stitch, and saw him pointing into the air. He looked in the direction, and abruptly stood and growled. A sphere hung in the air, and Stitch recognized the room of the dance school.

"Someone…is about to merge the worlds…"