An unearthly roar echoed through the town as Bonynth, the Dark one surveyed the building his new master instructed him to capture. It had seemed like a simple task, nothing as difficult as the castles he faced in the time of Arthur Pendragon. That is until he noticed the eye of the old ones hanging from a cord around the neck of one of the humans. His people the Makluans once faced that eye before in the hands of Agamotto, the ancient one. It was a powerful device even in the hands of a mortal, although that too would change over time if they held onto the artifact long enough.
Bonynth's eyes shifted and he scanned the house again. On the other side of the house stood three individuals that were attempting to cook something until they heard his roar. Two of them were cursed and the scent in the air told the Dragon it was werewolves, although one of them was too young for the curse to be active. The last of the people in the kitchen was to the dragon's senses completely normal. She must be the target that Baron Falsworth was after.
Inside he could see a blind girl, or not so blind as the woman in question was looking right at him despite being so well hidden in the building. He could feel a tickle of her psychic fingers on his brain and knew she would be a danger to him. The situation was rapidly becoming worse.
At his feet, several living stone statues marched around him towards the targets and the dragon could feel them bleeding some of his magic to fuel not just their movement but their very lives. The two women with the magician quickly took up positions beside the mage. Whenever he tried to look at one of them a blinding light flared up preventing him from seeing anything. He wasn't sure what the light was but knew it wasn't her magic, in fact, he could sense no magic in her at all. He was about to suggest the baron attack that glowing woman but knew the vampire couldn't see the light in the woman, but then the other one distracted him.
He thought she was human at first, with pure white hair on a very youthful face that seemed out of place. Her eyes spoke of that of a much older being. It wasn't until he sensed the dark dimension in her that the dragon truly panicked. He wanted out of the area and fast but the chains his master had placed on him held him in place until the death or success of his vampire Ally, the Baron. Several ways to attack the baron directly flashed out of his mind, it would have been a death sentence. He was trapped neatly and squarely facing someone tied to the dreaded Dormammu, his daughter perhaps? All the dragon knew was that she seemed trapped in human form. Vast magic energies crackled around her as she threw a bolt of purplish lightning against one of the golems.
The golem did not even have a chance to think of dodging the bolt, not even if it could have done so. The bolt blew chunks of stone from the golem as it embedded deep into the statue's body. Faint purple energy started as a faint spark deep within the hole created by the bolt and it only spread further still under the surface of the living statue. The eyes of the Golem took on a purplish hue as the statue arched back into a feral silent scream and then it exploded.
Stephen pulled Alison along rushing both her and Clea behind his cloak of levitation trying his best to shield them from the raining fragments of the flying golem. He wasn't sure where Elsa had disappeared to but likely she was attempting to sneak her way to a place where she could take down the vampire. Something she seemed distinctly trained for, given the faint hint of garlic he had detected on her earlier. He knew in this situation it would be increasingly difficult to defeat the vampire given their options. It was then he remembered something, the vampire was seeking someone without magic. There was another person who lacked magic but had just the right kind of power to take out a vampire.
'Congratulations Stephen Strange.' It took him a moment to realize Betsy was speaking to him directly to his mind. 'But I do not think he will go for her with you there, not after attempting to go after Linda. I do not think the dragon has warned the little fool what he will be facing there.'
Stephen casted a dimension spell onto the back of his cloak, the hint of a clear sword that at first glanced appeared to be made completely out of diamond slowly slide out of the rip in space and done. "Alison, take this sword and watch over the door. If any of those golem get past us then use it." She gave him a questioning look and he knew she had stronger powers but she reluctantly taking hold of the crystal sword. As she touched the sword a faint glow raced up the blade of the sword taking on various shades along the way turning itself into nothing short of a miniature rainbow in her hands.
He knew she might not recognize the true intent of the sword, it was to mask her mutant ability in a cloak of light.
"Clea, keep doing what you are doing and I will handle the dragon." With that, he detached the claps of his cloak instructing it to shield Clea. He barely had time to release several bursts of magic energy at the dragon before he was dodging the beast's claws attempting to do what he could to pull the creature's attention away from the house. He could follow the beast's eyes and knew at once the creature was looking at the eye of Agamotto with what he suspected was either fear or at least respect for the magic necklace. Even with the Eye, this would be a very difficult fight.
Stephen casted a minor flight spell on his feet using the momentum he had gained to leap towards the roof of the garage attached to the manor. The dragon once more attempted to claw him but missed showering the area with sparks as his claws raked a magic shield covering the house as if it were painted on. He glanced into the town noticing just how quiet the residents remained despite the battle raging on their doorsteps when he noticed the trails of a sleep spell floating on the wind and it seemed to have Baron Mordo's signature on it.
Elsa Bloodstone was thankful for Clea's initial attack. It had neatly drawn every eye to the tiny blond girl and away from her. She wasn't used to other people taking the spotlight from her given her hair which was a gift of her father. Over the years his use of the Bloodstone had altered him and thus she was blessed with hair so red that nobody believed she didn't dye it. Still, she was able to get out of the view of the dragon which was nothing short of a miracle. She wondered how that vampire had gotten control over one. Then again there might be another out there since she detected a sleep spell that seemed concentrated in the middle of Hale. She could see a ball of energy off in the distance over St Mary's Church and assumed the other one was over the village hall. The two balls of magic energy would be more than enough to put the entire population to sleep, which was just as well they would only be in danger otherwise. Still, the vampire would not have casted that spell and it didn't have the traces of energy she saw around Stephen Strange.
She quickly found the vampire moving quickly across the lawn doing his best to dodge the numerous vampire traps she had placed. She almost had the perfect strike on him, her wooden stake aimed directly at his heart. Inches from the blow striking she felt something sticky strike her face barely had enough time to remove it before the acids seared her skin. Elsa quickly grabbed for her flask of holy water splashing it onto her eyes and wondered for a moment what she had been hit by until she realized she was facing a blob-like creature. Her eyes were blurred from the blobs acidic skin but she could see it forming into a humanoid form as it ingested grass and plants around it converting to increase its size.
The greenish glowing creature stood her height now as she wiped her eyes again using the last of her holy water in an attempt to purge the acid. It completely copied her all the way down to small details in her hunting garb. As she stood down the creature it continued to refine its body becoming more and more detailed and while it remained an almost glowing moss green it was detailed enough to fool an expert on shape alone. She only had moments to dodge to the side as the blob creature pulled a section of its body apart forming it into a stake which it threw at her missing by inches, but she could still feel tiny drops of acid against her skin and armor.
The Blob made no sound but she could watch as its mouth moved and reading the lips only made it worse, 'Time to die'.
For Baron Blood, this entire adventure had been going from bad to worse for some time now. It was bad enough that he was back from the dead only to be caught up in some strange magic energy so far from home but he had also been trapped at that Bloodstone estate by Ulysses' daughter. He was starving and worse he knew that such a condition would not kill him only turn his life or rather unlife into a living hell until he was able to feed again.
As he approached the rear entrance to the Manor he could sense three beings in the kitchen. Two of them cursed and thus he could not feed on them but the third one without the taint of magic that kept him from feeding and finally releasing himself from his current torment.
It was an insult to Sir John Falsworth to be reduced to this state. There was the indignity of having to get past two dogs, or rather a wolf and its pup to get to his meal. The Wolf was looking out the kitchen window while the pup glanced nervously down the hallway towards the front of the manor. He thought his scent hadn't been detected but one moment he was plotting how he would take down the wolf and the next a howl cut through the night and he only had seconds to react before claws were reaching for his face and neck through a shattered window. Glass flew about and damaging the wings of his suit. The Baron knew he had one chance and gave in to his hunger. Falsworth felt his claws elongate, eldritch magic releasing from the very pores of his skin. He had one last moment of pure thought before the beast in him lashed out at the werewolf in front of him and the last thing his conscious mind could hear was the sound of a little girl screaming for her uncle.
Linda Carter knew she had to get the child away from the fight but it proved a bit more difficult than she imagined. She picked up Nina and retreated while the child kicked at her trying to get back to her uncle. After a moment the child calmed down and then Linda could hear Betsy in her mind. 'sorry that took so long, come back to the sitting room. You and the Child will be safe here. I hope.'
She did her best to sooth the fears of Nina as she carried the child to where Betsy was sitting. As she moved closer to the front of the house she could hear explosions and the sound of the house being showered by stone and rock. Out the window, she could see Clea using magic against stone-like creatures she could vaguely remember being called Golems. She couldn't see Alison but she could see light shining from the corner of the window and guessed she was guarding the front door.
As soon as she entered into the room Nina scrambled out of her arms and quickly scurried into a hiding spot.
"How bad is it?"
"It could be going better. Stephen is fighting a Dragon and Clea is facing those things. Is jack?"
"He's fighting that vampire that Elsa told us about. You know when I thought I wanted a vacation from work this isn't exactly what I had in mind." Linda looked over to where Nina was hiding. She wanted to go to the child and soothe her but her instincts told her that at least she was hidden and hopefully safe.
"I don't know why Jack rushed out of the house. A vampire cannot enter it unless invited."
"Jack would know something like this right?" Linda watched as Betsy nodded her head. "So what if he had been invited into the house before, it is Sir John Falsworth after all, surely he had been invited by Elsa's father."
Linda turned towards the door to the sitting room as she heard heavy feet reach it, "Jack…" She stopped as a bloody hand slowly came into view from the door and it was not covered in fur.
Baron wondered if he would get all of his clawed parts back into his own body by the time he reached the room. Already his healing factor granted by his vampirism was working, reattaching undead flesh back together from the deep claw marks given to him by Jack Russell. The werewolf was in much worse shape and it would take some time for him to extract the silver that Baron had jammed into his guts.
"Jack?"
"No… No Jack" he stepped into the room to see two women. One of them blind missing her eyeballs completely and he could see what looked like an image of a butterfly over her face all in purple. The Scent of magic filled the room making him want to vomit.
The other woman charged at him with what looked like a fire poker which John easily caught. A spike of pain fried his mind and the butterfly over the blind woman's face flared, Psychic energy. It wasn't magic but then again she had the stench of Merlyn on her. He yanked the poker from dark-haired woman dropping it to the floor before he dragged her along with him as he marched towards the blind woman striking her in the head and into unconsciousness.
He could see the fear in the Dark haired woman's eyes but that wasn't his problem. He would feed on her and leave this cursed place. As his fangs slowly neared her neck he felt a sharp jack of pain on his ankle and looked down to see the little pup and she had grabbed the poker from earlier.
Sir John Falsworth who always saw him as the peak hunter never saw the poker rapidly advancing to his jaw until it was too late. The little girl found enough strength to shove the poker through his jaw and deep into his skull causing him to stagger backwards and out of the door of the sitting room and into the hall. As she somehow managed to work the poker out of his skull, each inch feeling the pain of the iron in the weapon he watched in horror as the dark-haired woman closed the door and then a lock behind it clasp.
He was surrounded by blood now. The base of his strength and power and he knew he only had moments before the werewolf put himself back together and then that would be it. He had put himself into a corner with little escape. It was then he saw a beautiful blond girl standing at the door, her back to him with a glowing sword in her hands. He saw his meal as he sensed there was no magic in her. Perhaps she had been too close to the other mages earlier and that cloaked her. Using the last of his reserves he snuck up behind the woman and she never saw it coming.
Alison had been concentrating on the Golems ever since the fighting had started and now she had a weapon. A Crystal sword that might amplify her powers if she used it right, but Betsy had instructed her to stay at the door and to just use the sword to keep the golems away. It was amazing to watch Dr. Strange work and hold of the Dragon that had attacked them. It was almost like watching a ballet with magic as he twisted around the Dragon's attacks chipping away at the armor revealing green scales under the black ones.
Watching Clea was almost like watching a fireworks display. It was literally explosive as she tossed bolt after bolt towards a seemingly endless array of golems that marched towards the house. Nothing seemed to stop them nor convince them to retreat. The relentless march was starting to take a toll on her and Alison began to wonder if that was why she had been instructed to wait, so she would have the energy to take Clea's place for a spell.
She was so fixed on the fight she never heard Baron Blood sneak up on her, his skeleton hands drifted over her on clasping the hand she held her sword in and she felt her willpower drain. She could no more hold on to the sword than she could resist the vampire's steely grip. She felt his breath on her neck and knew what would happen next. A short sting of pain as his fangs sank deep into her neck and then finally Alison released her power.
Fear gripped her for a second and then the world was filled with a blinding light and a scream of pain joined her own as Baron Blood howled at the light tearing him apart leaving nothing behind but dust and ash.
Alison looked down at her hands which were still glowing faintly, her hands were covered in her own blood as she tried to cover up the fang marks on her neck. She felt Clea's arms around her holding her up and a warm feeling as the young woman placed her hands on Alison's neck. She found feel healing energy enter her neck and the two jagged holes by the vampire slowly closed. The rest of the yard looked a mess as the army of golems crumbled into smaller rocks and finally into dust drifting off in the breeze.
She could hear the dragon scream again and then fly off and then finally her energy gave out and all she could see then was the back of her own eyes as she drifted off.
Clea watched as Stephen carried the unconscious Alison back into the sitting room where Betsy was just recovering and Linda was holding onto a terrified Nina. After seeing Alison's mutant powers it was easy to forget she didn't have any magic in her either. The vampire had found out the hard way about what it means to attempt to bite someone who could produce pure sunlight. They had been lucky, however. She watched as Elsa helped a very injured Jack into the room and then as Linda and Nina ran towards him to help him to the couch. He was looking pretty rough for ware but nowhere near as bad as Elsa was although she too was healing most of her clothing had been burned off by some strong acid that he could still smell in the air.
While Linda looked over Jack, Clea helped Elsa in her attempt to get upstairs to her room where she could wash off the residue acid and find some more clothing. A part of her wanted to get the woman out of the room before Stephen saw too much and she felt a little guilty about that. Before she left the room she looked back to see Stephen's smiling face and he was looking at her eyes, not Elsa. With that, she helped the Vampire hunter up the stairs.
