Kenzi arrived at Engelram's Warehouse and saw Julia waiting outside texting someone.
"Hey!" Kenzi said as she walked up.
"I just got here, but I received a text from Grace." Julia tapped a few more words then put her phone down. "All good."
"Head in?" Kenzi asked.
"Ready." Julia replied.
Kenzi and Julia walked inside and made their way to the room that was transformed in a catalog room.
"Isn't the Catalog Team here?" Kenzi asked.
"They should be." Julia replied
"Where is the life in this building? There should be some activity." Kenzi said.
All of a sudden the Under Fae that eluded Julia stepped out from the side right in front of them.
"You!" Julia said as she started for him but Kenzi stopped her with a touch.
"You are not The Regnant." The Under Fae Selkie said to Kenzi.
"Obviously." Kenzi replied.
"Where is she?" The Under Fae demanded.
"A bit indisposed right now, but whatever you needed to trade with her I can do for her." Kenzi replied
"This is not the type of transaction where a 'stand-in' will suffice." The Under Fae replied.
"What kind of trade is this? I was told you wanted to trade the relic you stole for this Athenaeum." Kenzi said. As Kenzi spoke, Julia's eye noticed something liquid moving on the ground behind the Under Fae. She squinted her eyes, and saw it was blood. Julia looked back at the Under Fae.
"Where is the Catalog Team?" Julia demanded.
"Oh, you mean the people working in the office back there?" The Under Fae said sinisterly.
"Yes!" Julia demanded again.
"They have joined Engelram." The Under Fae smiled. Kenzi and Julia quickly looked at one another and then backed up slowly.
"I guess since Her Majesty did not show you two will simply have to do as a consolation prize. A nice dessert, so to speak for the feast our dear friend just enjoyed." The Under Fae said Kenzi and Julia turned and ran for the exit.
As they approached the exit they heard a sudden crash ahead, then a hissing sound which caused them to stop dead in their tracks to the echoing laughter of the Under Fae behind them. They saw their original entrance was blocked by debris caused by the wake of the crash. They looked around frantically and saw a nearby corridor and ran into it.
"That hissing sound does not sound right!" Julia shouted and as they ran.
'It is clear whatever killed Engelram is after us!" Kenzi shouted back.
They ran down the corridor and heard the creature pounding down the corridor in pursuit. They tried doors as they went, saw one was unlocked, burst through the unlocked door, slammed it and locked it behind them. They turned around and could hardly see anything, but well enough to see they had entered another storage area with lots of crates in it.
"I can hardly see anything!" Julia said out of frustration.
"We need to find an exit!" Kenzi said.
"What the hell is pursuing us?" Julia asked.
"Lauren said the creature that killed Engelram had Basilisk DNA, but the one she Bo encountered once was a small one, no bigger than a python or something!" Kenzi replied.
"Whatever is pursuing us is not seven-feet long!" Julia replied.
"Hopefully there is an exit on the other side of the room." Kenzi replied as they ran to the other side. They were three-quarters of the way through the room when they heard a crash behind them.
"I think it found us!" Julia said as she and Kenzi broke off into a run.
The quake of the crash caused debris to fall around them. Kenzi and Julia covered their heads as they dove opposite from one another to safety. When the debris cleared just enough Julia looked around for Kenzi.
"Kenzi!" Julia called out in a whispered shout so as to not alert whatever was in the room with them. No answer.
"Kenzi!" Julia called out again. Still no answer. Julia was furious the room was so dark. She could not see more than three feet in front of her.
Julia crawled on the floor as she could hear the creature moving and hissing about. Julia saw some light creeping into the darkness and crawled to it. As she came closer she saw it was a nearby window. When she got to it she saw it was a pane window. She peeked out and saw she could jump from the second story on top of the parked cars below. She calculated if she broke the plane and jumped fast enough she could divert the attention of the creature to draw it away from Kenzi, buying Kenzi time to make her escape wherever she was.
Julia quickly looked around for something large enough to break the window pane and found a large box. She tested its weight. It was just heavy enough to do the job. She stood up, stepped back and threw it at the window. The breaking sound of the window did the trick. The creature roared and seemingly turned in her direction as she ran to the window, broke some of the sharper pieces off then crawled up, looked back to hear the creature coming closer and then she jumped. She landed on top of one of the cars hard, rolled off and hit the ground, which stunned her for a moment. She looked up at the window she jumped out of to see the eye of the creature move past the window. Julia nearly died of shock at the sight of the eye alone.
"Oh sh…!" She quickly looked around in the hope Kenzi was outside somewhere. No dice. Julia checked for her phone, and exhaled that she didn't lose it in all the chaos. She pulled it out and called Dyson.
When The Regnant and Bo emerged from their private chat they were greeted to Dyson shouting in his phone.
"Is she okay?!" Dyson shouted.
There was a pause.
Dyson quickly took the phone away from his ear, looked at it then put it back to his ear.
"Julia! You are breaking up?!" Dyson shouted
Another pause.
"Julia!" Dyson shouted again.
"What is going on, Dyson" Trick asked. Dyson looked around quickly as if looking for something.
"Kenzi and Julia have been attacked!" Dyson said.
"By whom? Where?" Bo asked.
"Engelram's old Warehouse. She and Julia went there to retrieve that one relic when they were attacked. Julia thinks it is the same creature that killed Engelram."
"We have to get to them!" Bo said desperately.
"We may be too late. Julia escaped out of the Warehouse but Kenzi is still trapped inside, and Julia hears that creature tearing through the place now." Dyson replied.
"I can get to her." The Regnant said. This caused all of the Fae in the room to look at The Regnant, shocked, and Bas Gunther to go to one knee.
"Your Majesty, I can get to her." Bas Gunther said.
"You and me together, then." The Regnant said then she turned to Dyson. "Show me the location of this Warehouse." Dyson already had a map up on his phone.
"Here we are. Here is the Warehouse." Dyson pointed out to The Regnant.
"Got it!" Then the Regnant turned and headed for the nearest exit.
As she went she said, "Antony, Dakari meet me at the JFM. Fitzpatrick, have your medical facility prepped and ready just in case. Julian and Jock stay here to clean up the details of this meeting with Agent Chennai, and then meet up with us afterwards."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Her sons all replied as everyone followed her out.
"I will have Dr. Lewis standing by." Trick replied as they emerged outside.
"Bas Gunther." The Regnant said as she threw off her longer coat, and extended out her hand. Bas Gunther reached into one of his coat flaps and handed The Regnant what Bo recognized to be a Seracon weapon, but not the blade type one she was familiar with.
Bo looked around, saw no immediate form of transportation.
"What are you going to do? Run there?" Bo asked in frustration. The Regnant smiled.
"Not quite." Then The Regnant looked up and flew off at a shot.
Both Bo and Dyson's jaws dropped as they both whirled and looked at Trick.
Bas Gunther then threw off his jacket and suddenly massive pair of black wings expanded out of his back, larger and thicker than Bo or Dyson had seen with Tamsin.
"Bas Gunther, a moment." Antony said then turned to Dakari. "See you at the JFM."
"Understood." Dakari replied.
Antony nodded at Bas Gunther who took Antony by the waist and then flew off at a shot in pursuit of the Regnant.
Both Bo and Dyson looked back again at Trick, their jaws still dropped.
"We need to get moving." Trick said.
Kenzi opened her eyes cautiously and looked around. She suddenly found herself not in the same room she and Julia were fleeing the creature, but in the old ballroom area where she once danced the tango with Dyson and Hale nearly thirteen years ago. Kenzi shook her head in exasperation with herself. This was no time for whatever the heck was going on inside of her to start kicking in. Reflexively she called out Julia's name in a loud whisper. No response. She called out again. Still no response. Kenzi got up slowly and surveyed the room. She could hear crates falling to the ground so she knew the creature was not far. She vaguely remembered the exit from the ballroom, and went for the path she best recalled.
After the call with Dyson went dead Julia tried to call Leighton, but the signal in the area was horrible. She sent a text to Leighton and Tamsin in the hopes it would get out as she went and searched for another way back inside. As she was about to head around the corner of the Warehouse. A figure landed right in front of her. It was The Regnant.
"Your Majesty! You can fly! So…wow!" Julia said stunned.
"Are you okay?" The Regnant asked.
"Yes, I am but Kenzi…!"
"Is where?"
"Still inside!" Julia replied. Suddenly both their heads jerked up when they heard the sounds of crashes inside the Warehouse.
"What was that?" The Regnant asked.
"Some enormous creature! It slithers! I have never seen anything like it! Ever!" Julia replied.
"Stay here! Bas Gunther is right behind me! Wait for him!" The Regnant ordered.
"Your Majesty!" Julia called out, but The Regnant shot off into the air. Julia saw The Regnant deploy something as she approached one of the second floor windows which she used it to buffer her crash through it.
Kenzi ran down the corridor towards the exit. Debris was falling everywhere. Her memory started to recall this was the correct hallway and the exit was at the end of the hallway on the left. As she was making her way there she heard another crash then she heard a very loud hiss and then a roar. Whatever was pursuing them was ahead of her at the end of the hallway she needed to get to. Kenzi shook her head, turned around, and ran back in the direction of the ballroom as she heard the creature raging behind her as she stumbled though the falling debris and the crumbling floor beneath her. She feared she may not make it.
Julia looked on anxiously at the building still trying to get a call out on her phone when she saw a brief overshadow. She looked up and saw Bas Gunther landing with Antony. Julia was shocked at the wings protruding out of Bas Gunther's back but this was no time to indulge it.
"Oh thank God! The Regnant is in there! And there is some huge slithery thing chasing Kenzi!"
"Stay here with Julia." Antony said to Bas Gunther.
"Your Serene Highness, I must…!" Bas Gunther started to protest.
"Stay here and protect her." Anthony repeated.
"Yes, Your Serene Highness!" Bas Gunther replied.
Antony then turned and ran towards the Warehouse. As he ran he began to shape-shift, and Julia's eyes went wide as she watched what he transformed into.
Bas Gunther then pulled out a communications device and called for the Regnant Guard.
Kenzi could hear the creature on her heals and frantically looked for some route, any route to escape the creature. Suddenly, there was a large crash several feet ahead of her, and she saw someone come through the wall amid the falling debris. She lifted her arm to protect herself, but also strained to see what came through the wall. It was the Regnant.
"Your Majesty?!" Kenzi called out incredulous at what she just witnessed.
"Kenzi!" The Regnant called out her name but could not see her.
"Over here!" Kenzi shouted as she waved her arms. The Regnant saw her waving arms through the falling debris and made for her.
"That thing is right behind me!" Kenzi shouted when The Regnant reached her.
The Regnant grabbed Kenzi and was about to make for the exit when the creature crashed through the debris, and Kenzi saw its large eye flash before her.
"What the…!" Kenzi said incredulous at the sight of the creature as it reared up and Kenzi got an eyeful of the creature. It was about eighty-foot long, twenty-five wide, had a reptilian head, its eyes flashed orangish-yellow, and its skin was full of scales like fins. It roared at both The Regnant and Kenzi.
"Get behind me!" The Regnant ordered. Kenzi did as she was told.
The Regnant deployed the Seracon weapon Bas Gunther gave her, it was a shield, flipped on her baby blues which fully emblazoned her eyes, and then formed a large, bluish energy ball in her right hand to Kenzi's utter shock.
"How did you do that? Can Bo do that?" Kenzi blurted out as her eyes went wide. The Regnant threw the energy ball at the creature causing it to lurch back.
The Regnant kept pushing Kenzi backwards to the open hole she made when she first entered the room.
The creature lunged for the Regnant but The Regnant hit the creature perfectly in the snout with the butt of her shield, then formed a second energy ball, and hit the creature right between the eyes causing the creature to rear back and thrash.
The Regnant took advantage of the moment, turned, grabbed Kenzi, and was about to fly out through the hole in the wall with her when the tail of the creature grabbed The Regnant mid-stride, slammed her to the ground, picked her up, and threw her across the room. The Regnant crashed through a pile of crates. Kenzi's hands went to her mouth. She thought for sure The Regnant was at least knocked out if not dead all-together. The creature slithered towards where it threw The Regnant. The crates moved and The Regnant slowly crawled out of the crush of crates, flew up in the air, deployed her shield again, came round the side of the creature, and smashed into its gills with the base of her shield. She then formed another energy ball and threw it into the same area where she hit the creature in the gills, then formed another energy ball and hit it again in the eyes. The creature reared and thrashed about.
Then Kenzi heard another crash from the side and when enough smoke cleared in its place rose a giant beast that Kenzi could only describe as some sort of hairy gorilla-like beast that stood one-feet tall and just as broad as the slithering creature that was attacking them. The gorilla-like beast roared loudly causing Kenzi to cover her ears, but the falling debris from all of the fighting collapsed on Kenzi and knocked her nearly unconscious. Kezni staggered as she could feel blood running down her face. The gorilla-like beast tackled the slithering creature as they grappled one another.
The Regnant then grabbed Kenzi and said, "Put your arms around me, and cover you head as much as possible!" Kenzi did as she was told, but glanced at the huge gorilla-like beast who was battling the thrashing slithery creature.
"What is that…gorilla?" She yelled through all of the noise.
"That is my son, Antony!" The Regnant replied. Kenzi looked at The Regnant in complete shock.
The Regnant's and Antony's eyes met with the gorilla-like beast that was her son, and nodded her head.
Antony returned his attention to the slithery creature he was holding as it was thrashing, and took it by its jaws. Kenzi's last memory before passing out was watching the gorilla-like beast that was Antony rip the slithery creature apart as she was flown out to safety by The Regnant.
