The Goliathus Chronicles
Chapter 25- Dark Interference
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Navius! Solarus! You must wake up now. Wake up and hide.
Navi bolted upright in her bed, quickly looking around and not liking the amount of tension she felt from her father.
What's going on? Solarus was next to her, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
Daddy said we have to hide...
From what?
I don't know...
There's no time to explain. Please, you must-
A huge crash came from the atrium. Navi gasped and clutched her favorite pillow close to her.
I bet it's Dinarius. Momma worries about him all the time, I sense it. He must be back.
Dinarius? But he's on our side, right?
No...something went wrong with him. Dad really didn't want to go into it, but...it's something bad. I think he might try to hurt momma now.
Solarus' eyes widened at that fact, but then he growled in such a fashion that Navi tore her gaze away from the bedroom door and over to her brother in surprise. She had never heard such a sound come from him before.
Well I'm not gonna let anyone hurt momma! He jumped off the bed, and as quietly as he could went up the door, pressing his ear against it.
Solarus, don't! We don't know how dangerous he is!
Her younger sibling huffed, and kneeled down so he could sniff under the door.
I'm not afraid! In the next moment he leapt back from the door in reaction to another huge crash, sounding like breaking glass. Then he heard a scream from his mother. This was more then Solarus could take. He was young, but there was a great protective nature that curled around him like a cloak. He snarled, opened the door, and ran out.
Solarus! SOLARUS! Where are you going? We're supposed to hide!
Come on Navi, let's go! Follow me! And take your bow and arrow, would you?
But where are we-
Just come on.
Navi sighed but jumped off her bed and ran to her closet, rooting around until she found her bow and quiver, full of newly made arrows. Then she quickly scrambled after him and just managed to catch sight of him jumping out of a high window.
/
Goliathus struggled to keep the frenzied thing snarling and struggling from his grasp to get any closer to Ami. She was huddled in a corner, arms wrapped around herself as she begged and pleaded for Dinarius to stop and realize what he was doing. But Goliathus saw no recognition in those eyes, and truth be told, he himself saw no heradus, but a frantic, writhing beast with one soul intent on its mind. With speed and power Dinarius did not have before, he had literally crashed right through the Atrium's triangular roof as if it were delicate china. Goliathus had never been able to break the bullet-proof plexiglass-like material, no matter what kind of rage he had been in.
What kind of power is this?
Oh, Gollie! Gawd! That look in his eyes! Ami had blanched white at the sight of his once gentle face. It reminded her very much of one of those Shadow Vampires, and of one in particular that had laughed at her when she screamed in pain...eyes full of fury, hatred, and frenzied madness. Dinarius' once blue eyes were dark like ominous thunderclouds, he truly looked demonic in every sense of the word.
You must get the children...Ami...find..them..and...hide..
Ami looked at him helplessly, she didn't want to leave him here, struggling with Dinarius' new-found and unreal strength, but she knew she had no choice. The other heradus was reaching towards her desperately with clawed hands, foaming at the mouth and eyes impossibly wide.
Quickly she got up and bolted, heading towards the bedroom door of her children, glad that for whatever reason Solarus had fallen asleep in his sister's room this time after their usual bedtime story.
She left none too soon, for in that moment Dinarius screamed in his utter insanity and snapped his wings loudly, breaking free from Goliathus' hold on him. He tried to go after her, but the King heradus would have none of it and grabbed fistfuls of his long white mane, tugging hard and tearing one handful out. Screeching, the other spun about and kicked out with his taloned foot, stabbing Goliathus in his face and almost blinding one eye.
High on adrenaline, he was practically immune to the pain and only reacted by grabbing the foot in the next moment and twisting, trying to break it off. Dinarius growled in a voice far too deep to be his own, and grabbed a nearby metal chair, breaking its legs off into sharp harpoons and driving them deep into Goliathus' back and partly into the floor. Searing pain spread up and down his back but even though he desperately tried to get up, he was held fast to the floor as if chained there. As Dinarius hissed at him in a small measure of victory, he quickly headed back after Ami, not wasting any time.
Goliathus howled in his anguished fury.
/
Navi slowly climbed up to the window, digging her claws into the wall as best she could, and looked down. She frowned, not only was her brother nowhere in sight, she couldn't even see the ground below.
Solarus? Where are you?
I'm down here, I glided! Come on!
I...I can't even see you down there...
They both stopped as they heard the loud cry from within. Is that daddy?
Just glide down! Now! Do you have the arrows?
Navi shifted the quiver slightly on her shoulder, adjusting the strap. Yes, of course.
Good. Cause you're gonna need them! And I...I'm going to use this.
She heard a slight metallic click. What? What is it?
One of dad's knives, of course. It's got on iron tip on it, like your arrows do. Suddenly Navi heard something behind her, and Solarus heard it too. Hurry! Before he finds you in the window!
Navi tried hard to overcome her fear and swallowed hard.
This is just a glide, I can do it, I can do it...
She jumped, opened her wings, and glided down rather smoothly. Unfortunately her landing was a little rough as she managed to fall right on her brother, who tumbled backwards.
Ow! Geez, watch it, would you?
Sorry! Sorry... Navi collected a few of the arrows which had fallen out of her quiver and then her brother's hand had grabbed her and he pulled her along as they ran.
But instead of heading away from the Atrium, Solarus led her around the perimeter, stopping to sniff occasionally, before nearing the main entrance. He looked up at the broken Atrium roof.
If we can get up there, we can use it to get a birds-eye view and hit Dinarius with our weapons!
But he's not a vampire, Solarus! It won't do anything to him.
Hey we'll think of something, but we have to try!
But you mean...climb...all the way..up there? She frowned, almost pouting, as she looked up at the roof which seemed a mile high.
Not climb...fly. We both are.
/
Ami reached the door and shoved through it, nearly breaking it down entirely. She stopped dead in her tracks, seeing the empty bed and crumpled blankets.
Navi? Solarus? She looked under the bed, in the closet, everywhere, but they were gone.
Trembling, she could only hope they had gone to their little secret cave outside, and she tore out of the room, down the hallway and to the exit, going right past the line of higher windows and not even noticing that one had been opened.
She almost made it to the door when she heard the clicking of claws on the floor behind her, and then felt a strong arm wrap around her neck, choking the breath out of her in an instant.
/
Navius shook her head at her brother, her lower lip trembling.
I can't fly all the way up there, and neither can you!
Yes, I can. I know I can. We have to Navi, dad...and momma...they're both in trouble.
They need us...
Yeah, you've got to get up there, Navi. You just have to. Now stand back...I'm going to try first.
Solarus crouched as if ready to run in a race, took a deep breath, and flapped his small and as of yet underdeveloped wings as hard as he could. He lifted off the ground, and slowly gained height, but it was exhausting. Feeling the muscles in his wings starting to burn, he looked up and was dismayed to learn that he had barely gotten halfway there. The distance was a lot higher than he had even realized.
He looked back down at Navi, who watched him with a turmoil of emotion in her eyes. She was anxious, terrified, and sad all at the same time, and worried about momma most of all.
So was he, but he knew he had to be brave now, dad had said that to him all the time.
You must always be brave, Solarus. Brave and determined. You will one day be stronger then your sister, and you will become what we are meant to be...a guardian. You most always look out for your sister.
And momma too?
Yes, and your mother. Always. Protect and cherish those who love you, as I have learned to do.
Breathing harder now, Solarus pushed himself further and beat his wings harder, but the lift was painfully slow. The muscles on his back felt like they were on fire, but he was getting closer...
Come on, Solarus, you can do- Navi stopped her mental sending abruptly, hearing her father's voice. He was not aiming at anyone in particular, but his anguish was impossible to miss.
Solarus! I think daddy is hurt, it's like he can't move. She looked up and sucked in a breath as she saw Solarus inches from the top. He reached out, managing to grab onto one of the bars and pulled himself up onto it, perching.
You did it!
Get up here! Quickly!
She didn't like the panic in his voice. Navi unfurled her wings, larger and far more developed then her brother's and copied him, beating them as hard as he had.
She found herself lifting fast, and in seconds, was far past the roof.
Gasping, she tried to remember how to get down and folded her wings slightly against her sides, which caused her to drop rather quickly. She stifled a scream as she rushed up to meet the hard titanium structure, but managed to grab onto a bar, albeit painfully as she knocked one of her knees hard against it.
Owch.
You ok? Solarus flashed a grin at her success but quickly pointed to his right. From up here Navi could see her father directly below, pinned to the ground and struggling to get free, and to the right where her brother pointed, was her mother, down on her back with Dinarius holding her there and both hands attempting to choke the life out of her.
Momma!
The arrows, use the arrows!
But I can't aim from this angle...
Just try anyway, Navi! Solarus readied his knife, and carefully hopped from one bar to another, trying to get into a better line of sight. He hoped he could hit, just anywhere.
He looked at the weapon intently.
You've got to hit...please.
He closed his eyes for a moment, as if praying, then suddenly just before he let go, he heard a sound much like a cawing crow.
There was a flurry of feathers, and a large black bird landed near him. It had a strange white star on its head.
Throw. Throw. Starcrow, help.
Solarus blinked at this sudden visitor, but the bird's star symbol began to glow slightly. He looked back towards the attacking heradus, narrowed his eyes, and let the knife fly. It surged forward as if by some unseen force, and slammed into Dinarius' neck, burying to the hilt.
Got 'im!
Solarus jumped up and down on the bar with his sister but their joy was short-lived. Dinarius howled, pulled the weapon from his neck. Dark blood like ink poured from him and he turned his head, looking up and staring right at Solarus, snarling.
Uh-oh...
FLY! FLY!
The raven leapt into the air and Solarus wasn't going to argue with the bird, he went after him, once again flapping his wings hard as he could but barely going anywhere.
Navius had been poised, ready to fire an arrow, when she saw the bird leave.
FLY! FLY!
Swallowing back her fear yet again, she quickly put her arrow back and jumped with wings flared, amazed even at herself with how fast she gained height. She saw Solarus struggling and picked him up in her arms, finding his weight was not too much and she could manage with the two of them, all the while trying her hardest not to look down. Meanwhile Starcrow led them, darting into forest for cover and then back out again, making it very hard to keep up as he kept twisting and turning in his direction.
Bird, wait up!
Bird? Bird? Starcrow. Raven. Follow!
Starcrow?
He helped me Navi, he made the knife hit him I know it!
So it wasn't you?
I don't think so, or maybe it was, but he just made it hit harder. I don't know, but that's one seriously cool bird. He glows like he's magical!
CAAW. Starcrow, raven. Not BIRD.
Solarus chuckled, but Navi was starting to panic as her own wings were now starting to burn from the effort. She panted, trying hard to keep her tears at bay, and slowly started to fall behind.
I'm so tired, Solarus. And hungry... as if on cue, her stomach growled.
Yeah me too...but you gotta keep going...you realize you're flying now? He said with optimism, trying his best to keep her spirit high.
But where's Dinarius? She hardly seemed to care that she was indeed flying, even though their progress was slow.
I think he's real close...Starcrow do you see him?
Fly! Fly! The raven urged, not stopping in its direction.
I think we'd better keep up!
But I can't...so tired...my wings hurt...
Solarus huffed, squirming. Let me go then, and I'll fly on my own. It would give you a break at least, right?
Navi was far too tired to argue with her brother, knowing he could fly for only short periods. But she let him go anyway, and he glided down for a moment, then flapped back up to their level. Just watching her brother was adding to her own fatigue. He tried hard, but he was still too small. Still, she couldn't help but manage a faint grin. Her brother was one tough little lion who just wouldn't give up, no matter what. She longed to be like him.
/
Back at the Atrium, Goliathus had finally managed to wrench himself free from the chair, even though it meant ripping two giant holes in his chest. His breathing labored, he went to check on Ami first. He found her, sitting on the floor and rubbing her neck, coughing.
Are you all right, love?
I'm..fine..I think... She coughed again, frowning. Where's Dinarius?
He...he went after the children..Solarus managed to hit him with one of my knives, but it was Starcrow who helped, I heard him.
Ami's unrelenting worry eased, just a bit. Starcrow is with them?
Yes. Even then I could hear his caw, nice and loud in my ears. He chuffed, rubbing one ear in emphasis.
Well then, if Starcrow is here, then the Ring of Dark fire is close behind. A slow smirk spread across her lips.
Hm..true. Even I do not know what that Ring is capable of. But Ami..I must go after them, and you must find someplace to hide.
I don't think I will be safe anywhere, I've realized that now. No matter where I go Dinarius could sniff me out, or Marcus would find me. You know he wants my head as much as Donovan did.
Goliathus could only stare at her, she was right. It was a painful fact that could not be denied, not with all that had transpired. And it seemed her own fears were slowly dwindling, he could feel how she was becoming stronger and sick to death of it all, wanting all of this to end as much as he did.
I guess I'm going with you, Gollie. She walked slowly over to a large metal cabinet door, and fished around for a key in the desk below. Finding it, she opened the door and pulled out a bunch of knives, shurikens, and other assorted weapons, handing them over to him. Goliathus couldn't help the slight purring sound that came from deep within him as he ran his fingers over their smooth surfaces before putting them in his pockets.
First, let's get you a meal to heal those wounds. Then... she grabbed one more weapon from the cabinet, a shotgun, and cocked it.
...let's go get our children.
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End of Chapter 25.
Whew, hoped you liked this installment! I did the best I could getting it together and it was not easy for me, not sure I'm entirely happy with it. And no, I haven't forgotten about Marcus, he'll be rearing his loathsome vampire head in the next chapter.