Chapter 7: The Golden Bat, Firt

Jeff should have been watching Nick. Nick might have been twelve years old, but he acted like a five year old. The creature had released its footing and was now preparing to attack.

"Wait a second!" Kyle shouted from his position on the floor. "Hold on, we're not creatures of Darkness!"

"Even a speck of Darkness on a soul will corrupt it, only the two among you that are pure shall be allowed to leave this hallowed ground!" And with that the creature entered into a dive-bomb towards Jeff.

Jeff waited with his knife at the ready, but he wasn't ready for the giant bat's true size to be revealed. The bat creature was at least seven feet tall, but no matter how big the creature was, Jeff was responsible for Kyle and Jaeger. He was the oldest and strongest, and that meant that he had to protect them. But as the creature finished its dive-bomb it used its momentum and delivered a blow that sent Jeff sprawling across the floor as his world exploded into pain. Jeff tried to stand back up, but his limbs shook and gave out underneath him.

Jeff watched helplessly as the creature then lifted its leg with the intent to crush Jaeger and Kyle in one blow, but Jeff saw Nick racing down the stairs, just before the creature stomped on Kyle and Jaeger, Nick had jumped onto the creatures leg from behind. Nick grabbed hold with his arms and then wrapped his ow legs around the creature, and then Nick bit down as hard as he could on the back of the creatures' leg.

The bat began to shriek in annoyance at the pain as it tried to beat at Nick with its claws, but its arms did not bend that well and its legs were too long. The bat tried throwing its leg back and forth in order to throw Nick off of him, but Nick refused to budge. Meanwhile, Jaeger had grabbed Kyle and had run towards Jeff.

"We have to get out of here!" Kyle said as he began to tug on Jeff's shoulder, but Jeff shrugged him off and tried to stand up.

"I ain't gonna leave a slime-brain to die in a man's place." Jeff protested immediately as he dropped his pocket knife and hobbled towards Ashley's unconscious form. Her short-sword was probably lost forever in the ocean, but she had a dagger in another sheathe on the other side of her leg.

Jeff bent down and unsheathed the simple dagger and inspected it. The dagger had been kept sharp and Jeff knew that if he could just drive it into the heart or brain of the creature that they should be fine.

Suddenly a large projectile rammed into him and crushed him, and the dagger was sent flying away. Jeff couldn't tell where it went, but he had figured out what had rammed into him. Nick.

The bat creature approached slowly and angrily as its feet stomped on the ground and its claws dug into the floor slightly; Jeff could hear its sharp teeth grinding against each other in the creatures frustration. It stood over them for a moment and then it went in for the kill, only to be stopped a second later as it screamed in pain. Jeff looked around for the cause, and saw that Kyle had stabbed the creature in the foot with Jeff's own pocket knife!

Jeff finally forced himself to sit up, and he got a look at the state Nick was in. Nick was covered in bruises and there were several cuts and scratches over his body. He didn't appear to be conscious, but he wasn't going to die...at least Jeff didn't think he would.

Suddenly Jeff became aware that there was an armored figure next to him. Jeff turned towards the figure and realized that his eyes were only playing tricks on him. It was just Jaeger holding the dagger out to him.

"Here!" Jaeger said and as he looked at her he saw her in the dark armor again. It wasn't that she was actually wearing that black armor. It was just there, in spirit. "Take it!"

Jeff stared at her without blinking, and then he heard the ear-splitting screech of the bat as it yanked the pocket knife from its foot finally. It tossed the blade aside and looked down at the children, and then Jeff saw it look at Jaeger in revulsion. "Warrior of the Dark!" It said, or at least that's what Jeff thought it said.

Jeff looked back at Jaeger, and then he pushed the dagger back towards her. "You're gonna have to do it. I...can't anymore." He lied. Jaeger looked at him in confusion, as if she had no idea what she could do. "Do it!"

The bat lept for Jaeger and the other children and Jaeger stood up and swiped at the creature, sending blood flying from its maw. The creature lifted its claw to bat at Jaeger and send her flying, when all of a sudden darkness began to surround her on every side. It came out of every pore of her body and surrounded her like a protective cocoon. Jeff couldn't see anything inside of the cocoon, and the bat waited for the darkness to dissipate and its foe to reveal itself.

Jaeger stood as she had been standing, except now her clothes had transformed. Her pink shirt she had been wearing had turned into black armor, and the pants and shoes she wore had become greaves and armored boots. The helmet he had seen her wear had not appeared.

The bat like creature looked at his opponent and then at the other orphans as its ears began to twitch. "Only three of you have darkness in your souls, but if there are four children of the same age in one place then that could mean the Gulgan prophecy has come to pass. Any of you might still be the other three warriors, and so I will not allow any of you to leave here alive. Prepare yourselves to join the Great Spirit!"

The creature backed away a few steps and then began to flap its wings over and over again. The wind began to push at Jeff harder and harder and he had to raise his hands to guard his face as debris and dust began to fill the air.

The more the creature flapped its wings the stronger the wind got, after a few seconds of this Jeff saw his pocket knife flying around in circles in the room. The guardian of the Wind Crystal was going to create a tornado!

Jeff looked at Jaeger and thought that she looked pale now after the darkness had surrounded her, but she still looked up at the monster in her new armor and then she set the dagger to the left and prepared it. Darkness began to seep out of the blade, and Jeff got the strange impression that a spirit of the past was flowing through Jaeger and moving her body for her in the way that the spirit had moved in its own life.

The bats eyes widened as it began to flap its wings harder and harder as Jeff began to feel his body being pushed away by the storm when suddenly Jaeger stepped forwards and a dark blast of energy shot from the blade as she slashed the air. Firt's voice shrieked at ear-bleeding levels as its body began to flash and it slowly disappeared from sight.