Chapter 24
The forest was almost pitch black, shrouded in an eerie silence, broken only by the soft rustling of leaves underfoot. Eleven armored men crept through the woods, their guns held out in front of them, ready for any potential danger. Their eyes darted back and forth, scanning the darkness through their infrared radiation mechanism installed in their helmets, letting them see the heat signatures of the trees, the brush, and each other.
The men were spread out in the woods to cover as much ground as possible; each one keeping a safe distance from the other. Their ears rung with the sound of their own breathing. It was close to winter, but the cold air didn't bite on their skin due to their layered attire.
A crackle resounded in their earpieces, shattering the stillness of the forest. "They arrived at the location," the voice said to each of them. "Start moving in, but keep your distance in case. You guys know how unpredictable those creatures can be."
Their mission was clear. The children and their magical staffs were their targets. Elizabeth's failure to retrieve their major target had set off the next phase of the plan. The men were to stay in the woods and strike any of the children that tried to hide from the monsters sent to attack them. But at the same time, they had to make sure to stay away from the creatures, since they didn't have complete control over them when they were out in the open.
As they advanced in the direction of the target house, which they were far from, a faint rustling sound echoed behind them, making a few of them, the ones at the back of the group, pause in their tracks. They spun around, imagining it was some sort of animal that had made the noise, but still had to check in case it was something else.
At first, they saw nothing except for the trees and brush, but then the infrared display in their helmets suddenly flickered, picking up a heat signature in the distance, moving quickly through the forest.
Their eyes locked on the figure as it darted between trees. But then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the heat signature disappeared, as if the figure had hidden behind a tree.
The men were confused, unsure of what they had just seen. And then, just as suddenly as the heat signature disappeared, one of the men at the very back was gone.
Silence descended on the group as the voice from before alerted the remaining men. "Number 10 is down," the voice said, a tone of hesitation ringing in his voice.
"What do you mean, number 10 is down?" demanded the man, number 1, at the forefront.
"His life signal has vanished from our system," the voice responded, their words hung in the air.
As the group was scanning the area, something from the ground snatched one of the men and dragged him in a split second into the darkness, his screams barely registered by them before there was silence.
"Number 7 is down." The group heard from their earpieces.
The men opened fire the second they spotted a heat signature moving between the shadows of the forest.
One man screamed as his leg was clutched before he was yanked down to the ground and dragged deep into the words, suffering the same fate as Number 7.
"Number 1 is down."
Then another one was taken.
"Number 11 is down."
"Fuck, fuck," Number 2 let out, spotting an extended green arm made of goop, slithering towards her ankle. She immediately fired her weapon without hesitation. The bullet, illuminated by red light, struck the arm, causing it to recoil with a pained screech before retreating into the shadows.
The men stopped firing, making the forest fall into an uneasy silence again.
Then suddenly, emerging from the darkness, a mass of mud and bones began to pull from the ground. Before their eyes, the mass morphed into thin, horned creature, with black sockets, its gnarled teeth slowly opened, claws growing from its arms while it simply stood still for a bit. The creature's form wasn't the massive one the men had seen in pictures, but instead was a humanoid smaller frame sickly figure, but they recognized right away who they were dealing with by the horns.
"It's him," one of the men let out as dread fell on all of them at the same time.
And no one moved for a long time, not even the creature as it continued to stand there as if it was a statue. Dark holes staring at them.
"It's who?" the voice asked through their earpieces with confusion.
Before any of them could respond, the creature lunged at one man, slashing at their neck with razor-sharp claws, blood spurted out from the gaping wound as they grabbed their neck in shock before they fell to the ground, choking on their own blood.
The creature's horned head twisted to the rest of the group before it roared at them.
Everyone began shooting at it, but the creature contorted its form, dropping to the ground just as the bullets whizzed past where its body had been.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them shook violently, causing them to lose their balance. Then, two men were snatched away, yanked into the ground from the group, as if they were buried alive.
"Number 3 and Number 6 are down."
Without a warning, the creature shot up from the ground in front of one man, tackling them. Its sharp claws tearing through flesh and jaws clamp down at the man's head before doing the same with the woman closest to him.
Bullets landed on the creature, making it roar in agony, but the gaping wounds would take a few seconds seeping brown liquid before they rapidly closed up, as if they were never taking damage.
"What's going on there?!" the voice demanded through the rest of the men's earpieces, desperately seeking to understand who or what was attacking them while the creature vanished once again into the ground. "Number 9 and 8 are down!"
"It's that creature Elizabeth wants!" Number 4 yelled as she was shooting where the creature had vanished before she and the others seized their fire.
The remaining men quickly grouped together, their backs to one another, and scanned their surroundings.
"Shoot it in the head," Number 2 said under his breath to the other two.
They stood vigilant, their ears only picking up the stillness of the forest and their heartbeats hammering in their eardrums before Number 4 yelled, "He's in front of me!" The other two moved and together they unleashed bullets at the same time, aiming for its head. The deafening sound of gunfire echoed through the air as bullets tore through the bone and 'flesh', leaving behind gaping holes in the creature's skull.
"Hold your fire!" Number 2 told the other two before all three stopped shooting.
For a moment, the creature's movements faltered. He staggered backward, his head lurching to the side as if trying to maintain balance before he fell to the side and curled up upon himself. Claws vanished from his fingers before his hands instinctively reached towards his ravaged head.
The creature was gasping for air, groaning in agony as his head was taking a while to heal from the bullet wounds it had endured, and at the same time…
'You better come back safely too, okay?'
Come back… safely…
The creature didn't know what those words meant at first, but they kept replaying within the darkness that consumed his mind.
Little by little though, a face began to emerge. A face of a teenager that looked so familiar…
He grappled to gather his thoughts, struggling to make sense of what was going on. But all he could think at the moment was the agonizing pain his head was enduring, feeling as though someone had carved gaping holes into it, which was not far from the truth.
The creature panted as his hands just held on to his severed head as it continued healing by the minute, ignorant of the three armored men having their guns trained on him while they were talking to someone through their communication line.
For a moment, he simply wanted to hide far away from anyone that could hurt him, to be back to that warm embrace that he had just received from…
The warm embrace…
'You better come back safely too, okay?'
That's right…
Someone was worried enough for him to tell him he had to come back safely as well, after he had assured them he would be saving their friends.
But… who exactly was he supposed to save…?
The face of a blonde woman, with a dark smile, flashed in his mind, which made his stomach churn then the face of Hunter's sad stricken face and his friends made his chest tighten.
'You can't do anything right…' the dark voice hissed in his mind.
The heavy dark weight threatened to pull his thoughts apart, and he could have sworn he was surrounded by countless blond figures looming over him, suffocating him for a moment…
'You better come back safely too, okay?' Philip tried to cling to Masha's words and to the memory of the warmth that came from their embrace, as if they somehow were helping him hold on to himself.
The children, he reminded himself, were in trouble.
They were in danger because of him…
He curled himself up more, teeth clenching hard as he tried to ignore the pain in his head that was dissipating into just a faint memory and at the same time to stop the darkness from overshadowing him completely.
Come on… he told himself.
He was able to be in control of himself before… He didn't understand why it was so hard to just keep himself from losing it…
"Get ready to fire again." Philip heard a voice spoken up nearby, making his heart race.
Elizabeth's face resurfaced into his head before her voice crawled in his mind,'Oh, how I would love to get my hands on every one of you...'
And for the second time, Hunter's face and his friends rushed right after.
"He's almost done healing."
'You won't be able to save them…' the dark voice hissed. 'You are just a monster, after all.'
"Prepare to fire on my command."
'You better come back safely too, okay?'
"Fire!"
Then everything seemed to go still.
The three soldiers found themselves frozen in shock, finding their weapons rendered useless with Philip's arm that had turned into a goopy form, wrapped around their weapons, restraining them, and forcing them to point up to the sky.
Then, before the armored men, Philip's body had transformed. He slowly rose and they could see he had taken in a sturdier form. No longer was his body continuously oozing from his limbs. Instead, the green and brown substance had taken a more solidified state. His physique had shifted; lean muscles defined along his exposed arms, giving him a healthier and more stable appearance as multiple blue eyes gazed in different directions.
Despite his transformation, Philip's appearance remained of a beast to the three armored men. His beard and mustache framed his exposed teeth, and his skull continued to bore protruding horns.
The luminescent blue orbs within his black eyes burned with an intensity that pierced through the dark forest.
Silently, Philip forcibly tore the weapons from the soldiers' grasps, tossing them aside like discarded toys.
His gaze swept over the soldiers, his eyes locking onto each one with a penetrating intensity. While no malice lingered in his expression, a sudden burst of movement blurred the air. Philip lunged forward, his fists striking the soldiers' abdomens. The impact was powerful enough to send shockwaves through their bodies, and one by one, they crumpled to the ground, unconscious and unaware of their surroundings.
Standing amidst the unconscious soldiers, Philip took a moment to gather himself from the confusion that filled his head.
He felt powerful, in control, but could still feel the heavy weight of that darkness threatening to consume him, so it was strange to him when he took notice of his new stable form. His torn shirt hung loosely on his torso, remnants of the barrage of bullets he had endured, making him tear it away so it wouldn't get in the way in case another fight took place soon. He noticed the bloodstains that marred his body, making his stomach churn from knowing that the blood had come from the mangled bodies that were scattered in the forest.
He pushed guilt aside for now before noticing the little bottle still loosely hanging on his chest with the paper attached to it. He swiftly concealed it within the recesses of his chest, keeping it from prying eyes for now.
He counted himself lucky that none of the bullets had struck the bottle and that he didn't lose it while his body was taking different forms.
For a moment, Philip thought he had possibly taken out the danger that was heading towards the kids, but… as he took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart, he felt his senses detect something foul coming from the direction from Luz's house.
Something was extremely wrong…
His eyes flashed brightly before he ran, leaving behind only three men alive in the dark depths of the forest.
Luz felt she was floating in complete darkness, embraced by profound tranquility. Faint whispers tickled her ears, barely audible, and she resisted their pull, unwilling to relinquish the solace that enveloped her. After enduring endless months of overwhelming stress and anxiety… well, honestly, her memories now existed as fragmented blurs, making her unclear as to why she yearned to linger in the soothing darkness, detached from reality.
Abruptly, a brilliant blue light pierced through, eliciting a wince as a flood of memories crashed upon her. The images of her friends, her mother, and the chilling gaze of those icy blue eyes that had threatened her life came at her as well.
"Luz!" The familiar voice made her eyes fly open. Confusion etched across her face as she found Gus's eyes glowing bright blue by her side, a hand of his extended on her head.
"Gus?" Luz uttered; her voice laced with bewilderment. She rubbed her eyes once Gus pulled away from her. Slowly attempting to sit up, her gaze fell upon Amity, whose widened eyes expressed relief.
Luz immediately noticed a deep gash on Amity's shoulder.
"Amity, you're bleeding," Luz let out with utter confusion and concern.
Luz extended a hand to touch her girlfriend's marred skin once Amity took Gus' spot next to her.
"What happened?" Luz asked, still disoriented.
Amity wrapped her arms around Luz tightly, sighing in relief that her girlfriend was awake.
"We're not sure what happened, but some blue light put you and your mother to sleep," Amity said. "We had a hard time waking you up."
Luz's confusion deepened as Gus moved to the other side of the bed where Camila was sleeping.
"I'll try to wake up Camila now," Gus declared before his eyes shimmered with a blue light again and extended a hand over the woman's head.
Amity released Luz, who suddenly became aware of an icy chill seeping into her bones. Casting her gaze across the room, she took in the scene of disarray, a gaping hole torn in the wall leading to her mother's room. "What happened?" she demanded after pulling away from her shock, then a thought struck her. "Did Philip attack us?" she blurted out, directing the question at her girlfriend.
Amity shook her head, taking Luz's hand and guiding her to her feet. "No, it wasn't Philip," she replied while Luz realized Amity looked kind of pale. "Some monsters just came out of nowhere and attacked us. The others are fighting them right now outside."
"Wait, what?" Luz asked, but then both girls heard someone let out a groan. They turned to see Camila slowly raising herself up and rubbing her temples.
Gus had woken her up.
Her eyes widened in shock as they took in the sight of the wrecked-up room.
"Qué pasó aquí?!" Luz's mother exclaimed. Amity took this moment to explain to her the same thing she had told Luz.
Then, without sparing a second more, Amity snatched her staff and dashed toward the gaping hole in the wall.
"I'm going to help the others," she said before flying off.
"Amity, wait!" Luz rushed forward, but it was too late. Her girlfriend had disappeared from sight, leaving her scanning the surroundings in vain. Yet, as the floor quaked beneath her, a cacophony of commotion echoed from behind.
Turning on her heels, Luz found Gus approaching her with his staff.
"They're fighting on the street," Gus said before he jumped on his staff. "I'm going to join them too. Please keep your mom safe, Luz."
Luz swiftly seized his arm, preventing him from taking off like Amity.
"I'm going with you," she said, her eyes filled with determination.
"Luz, we don't have time for this," Gus groaned, attempting to break free from her grip.
Carried hurried over to them, stepping in to prevent the two from arguing. However, her attention was diverted by a figure emerging from the forest.
"Philip?" she uttered in confusion, causing the children to follow her gaze to the backyard. They noticed a figure halfway there with a familiar green and brown color scheme, along with the horns they were used to seeing on the man that had been staying with them for some time. The messy long hair confirmed to them who the figure was right away.
Confusion washed over the trio inside the house as they took in Philip's altered appearance, distinct from the usual forms they had witnessed before on him.
Luz released her hold on Gus and glared fiercely at Belos. Her mind raced, instantly blaming him for whatever was happening to them.
Meanwhile, Philip had the urge to go over the three in the house, but his senses were screaming at him about the danger that was coming from the other side of the house.
Without hesitation, he dashed around the building. Seizing the opportunity, Gus took flight, evading Luz's attempts to grab his arm again. Luz, though slower, dashed out of the room through the broken door, swiftly navigating the hallway that was in shambles until she reached the grumbling staircase.
"Mija, esperate!" Camila called her daughter, tightly clutching Luz's palisman egg against her chest as she ran out of her room.
"I need to help them, Mama," Luz desperately pleaded before darting downstairs, carefully avoiding the cracked and hole-ridden steps. Finally, she burst through the front door, her eyes widening at the scene unfolding before her.
Two long limbed creatures, bearing a human resemblance but stripped of their hairs and some patches of skin, engaged in a frenzied brawl with her friends on the street. Hunter was single-handedly confronting one of the creatures while Amity, Willow, and Vee fought the second one.
The creature, fighting Hunter, lunged forward, its elongated nails slicing through the air like razor-sharp talons. Hunter teleported with lightning speed, evading the creature's strikes. In an instant, he reappeared behind the creature, his staff crackling with energy. With a swift motion, he unleashed a powerful blast, aiming at the creature's back.
The creature twisted its body midair, contorting in an unnatural manner to dodge the incoming blast. As it landed on the pavement floor, the impact sent shockwaves through the street, and the creature's elongated nails scraped the surface, leaving deep gashes in its wake.
Hunter's eyes narrowed, focused. With a surge of energy, he teleported again, this time appearing high above the creature. As he descended, his staff unleashed a barrage of rapid-yellow blasts, each one aimed precisely at the creature's nimble form.
But the creature's body shifted and twisted out of the way from the incoming attacks, anticipating Hunter's every move. Yet Hunter persisted, continuing his onslaught, teleporting, and launching relentless volleys of energy blasts.
Meanwhile, Amity, Willow, and Vee fought the second creature together.
The creature, despite its emaciated frame, moved with an unsettling fluidity. He slashed through the air, trying to strike Amity who was gracefully soaring through the air, narrowly evading the creature's attacks.
Meanwhile, Willow channeled her magic, causing roots and vines to erupt from the ground. They snaked and writhed, attempting to ensnare the creature's limbs and restrict its movements. The creature, though, effortlessly weaved through the entangling vines, evading their grasp and with a click of its bony wrist, it sliced through the roots, severing them with ease.
Vee, who had taken the form of a large werewolf, had blood staining her grey coat, charged at the monster from the side. Her powerful grip caught hold of the creature's long arms, preventing it from tearing her to shreds.
"Now!" Vee's voice rang out, prompting Amity and Willow to swiftly fly on their staffs to soar through the air to get behind the creature. With practiced precision, they unleashed their unique abilities, entwining the creature in an intricate web of roots and oozing purple clay. Vee pulled away just in time, so she wasn't encased with the creature. However, the vibrant colors of the purple matter and roots began to decay rapidly, withering away, until the creature finally burst free from its entanglement.
"It happened again!" Amity exclaimed, swiftly ascending into the sky to evade the creature's vicious swipes. Vee tackled the creature, bringing it crashing to the ground.
Gus, observing the entire scene from the sky in front of the house, gradually descended to the front yard.
Camila, stepping outside and witnessing the fights, expressed her shock when she saw the two creatures. "Those are the things that destroyed my room!?" she exclaimed.
Concerned, Gus turned his attention towards Luz and Camila, who were now exposed.
"Luz, you and your mom shouldn't be out here," the boy said.
Luz, furrowing her brows, tried to argue with him, but…
"You should listen to the boy," came the familiar voice that somehow managed to maintain a calm tone that irritated her to the core. Glaring at Belos as he approached them, his blue, glowing eyes fixed on her.
Instinctively, she took a step back, assuming a defensive stance with her fists raised, causing Belos to halt. However, something began to emerge from his chest - a glass bottle with something attached to it.
He yanked it off from his neck, extended his hand and offered it to her.
The sight of the cerulean blue liquid, though in a small amount, widened Luz's eyes.
"Titan's blood!" she exclaimed, swiftly taking it from his hand.
"You found titan's blood?" Gus asked Philip, astonished.
Philip remained silent as Luz unfolded the piece of paper taped to the bottle with confusion. She saw it contained words drawn in a specific pattern. The words were…
"That's the teleportation spell," Philip answered before she could inquire about the pattern while he turned his gaze to watch the other teenagers continue to brawl with the monsters. "I need you to find a safe place with the others and activate it. It will transport you somewhere."
Luz took a while to process what he was telling her. "What…?"
"Masha will be there to meet you and -"
"Wait, Masha?" Luz interjected, annoyance creeping into her voice, making Philip turn to her. "Why would Masha be out at this late hour? Wait, were you with them? Why were you with them? What are these creatures? What exactly is going on?"
"Luz, please calm down," Gus said, a hint of irritation in his voice from Luz's barrage of questions, even though he also wanted to know the answers to those questions.
"Listen," Philip said in a stern voice to the girl. "That titan's blood will let you use that teleportation spell. There is someone with Masha that can possibly help you get more titan's blood, so don't worry about using it –"
"Hunter!" Camila cried out, interrupting Philip, her eyes wide in horror.
Philip whipped his head to see the boy crumbling to the ground, landing on his back with a resounding thud, his staff falling far from his grasp. The creature had struck the boy off his staff harshly.
Time seemed to stand still as the scene unfolded before Camila. She saw the creature lung forward, aiming to drive its jagged nails directly into Hunter's chest as the boy didn't even have time to recover from the shock his body endured from the rough landing.
The boy's eyes widened, but just as he thought he saw his last moments in his life, a blur of movement erupted before his eyes. Time snapped back into motion as a green figure had streaked across the scene and collided with the monster with all his strength. The creature, caught off guard by the unexpected strike, skidded helplessly across the pavement, its momentum abruptly halted.
Hunter's breath hitched in his throat as overwhelming relief washed over him. He blinked, his gaze rising to meet the sight of the familiar horns sticking out of the figure's head.
The realization of who had just saved him sank in, leaving his mind momentarily blank.
The creature regained its footing and lunged towards Philip, lashing at him. Claws shot out from Philip's fingers to intercept each frenzied attack. The creature struck from multiple angles to try to overwhelm the man, but Philip blocked each blow. With swift precision, Philip seized the abomination's wrists, his claws locking around the appendages. For a moment, time hung suspended, the creature's empty dark sockets locked on Philip's glowing blue eyes. Then Philip yanked the creature forward, its grotesque head colliding with a sickening thud against his own. The creature faltered, momentarily losing its balance.
Philip released one arm quickly. His left arm morphed into a dense, muddied matter and shot forward with all his strength. Like a battering ram, it crashed into the creature's twisted chest, sending it flying across the air before it crashed into the nearest garage. The building groaned under the weight of the impact. Its structure quivering as the creature's form imprinted itself upon the wall.
Philip withdrew his arm, the muddy mass retreating to its previous state.
His piercing gaze met Hunter's, even though Philip could feel the guilt threaten to grasp his heart and threaten the control he had on his current form.
"Get up, Hunter," he said to the boy. "Gather the others and join Luz. She's going to teleport you all away from this mess."
Hunter, who was still having a hard time processing what was happening.
"But…" the boy was cut off when his ears perked up as a chilling scream cut through the air, coming from the second creature that was caught in a web of thorns and relentless roots.
With beads of sweat forming on her brow, Willow stood with her trembling hands outstretched in front of the creature. Her body trembled with exertion as she pushed herself to continuously bring forth fresh thorns and roots to burst from the ground and ensnare around the creature, replacing the decaying counterparts.
Vee had launched herself onto the monster's back. Her claws tore into its neck, and she pulled and yanked, desperate to tear the creature's head from its body.
Amity flew forward on her staff, and, with a sharp purple spear, she struck the creature's neck by the front. Both girls fought against the creature's desperate resistance. Vee's claws and Amity's spear dug deeper into the creature's flesh and bone. Then, with an anguished cry, Vee wrenched the creature's head back, a cascade of blood and ichor spewing forth right at Amity.
Vee fell backwards, her body crashing against the pavement, the severed head rolling away from her grasp.
"Not going to lie… that was intense…" Vee muttered as she turned back to her human form and tiredly sat up.
The thorns and roots that were entangled around the creature ceased from withering. Willow, her energy spent and her knees buckling beneath her, sank to the ground. The green glow in her eyes dimmed, replaced by a profound relief. Her body trembled with exhaustion, sweat mingled with dirt streaked across her forehead.
"We did it!" she let out tiredly, but still managed to throw a punch of triumph up in the air with a grin.
Amity slowly flew to the ground, covered in brown looking blood. She groaned with disgust as she tried to wipe it off her face.
"Of course, this would happen to me," she grumbled.
"You guys were awesome!" The three heard Luz's voice. They turned to see her waving at them with a huge, proud wide smile.
Luz had imagined the worst when she saw her friends fighting the creature, but when she saw them take it down, she couldn't help but be filled with so much joy and relief.
Hunter smiled as well at his friends for defeating one of the creatures, but then his attention was pulled away as the second creature emerged from the rubble. It staggered forward, but then stood there for a moment, its disheveled form quivering with a violent tremor.
In an instant, Philip sprang after the creature, who was sprinting towards where the girls were gathered.
Without hesitation, Hunter jumped to his feet and snatched his staff. In a brilliant flash of yellow, he teleported to where Willow was before whisking both of them away.
Amity swooped down to Vee's side, who leaped onto the staff and shot out to the sky fast just when the creature slammed itself into roots and thorns that encased the second creature. The roots withered away fast in its presence.
Philip stopped in his tracks in shock as the creature began to merge with the lifeless husk of the second creature, their flesh knitted together. Bones cracked and reshaped to connect to one another, their legs melting together as it also reached out to the severed head on the ground, its elongated fingers wrapping around it.
A sickening squelch echoed through the road as the creature shoved the severed head to its putrid flesh on the abdomen area. The head fused just like the rest of the flesh from both creatures.
The air seemed to grow heavy and thick as the new mutated creature stood taller and thicker with four looking arms now protruding from it. Their movements were disjointed, like a marionette controlled by unseen hands. The two legs had merged with the other two withstand the weight.
If someone were to ask Philip when he first came to the Boiling Isles what the scariest and ugliest creature he had ever laid eyes on, he would probably say it was all the living beings in the island, but now… he questioned his younger self, judged himself for being so blind to believe anyone in the Boiling Isles was a monster when standing before him was a soulless husk of a being that stared at him with dark voids that looked like it came straight from a nightmare.
He was a fool to even think Luz's friends were monsters…
The mutated creature turned to face Luz, where everyone had gathered. The mouth from the second creature's flew wide open, before both heads let out a screech in their direction, making everyone freeze in the spot.
The creature tried rushing at them, but Philip's arms shot forward, grasping two of the creature's arms. His clawed feet had to dig into the pavement in desperation to hold the creature from moving, but his own limbs shook from the profound new strength of the mutated creature.
Philip's blue eyes flashed towards Luz's direction.
"Get everyone out of here!" He yelled at her before the creature's other arms twisted back slashed down at the green matter that was holding it back.
Philip hissed in pain, retreating his arms back as the deep gashes he had just received on his flesh sizzled as if they were burned.
In a blink of an eye, the creature dashed at Philip. He quickly jumped to the side to avoid from getting lashed at its two left sharp hands, but one of the right hands gasped one of Philip's ankles and threw him across the road.
Gus watched the man hit the pavement hard, but he jumped back to his feet before he did his best to evade the mutated creature's frenzied attacks. The creature had grown faster, and now that the creature had four limbs attacking at the same time, it made things difficult for Philip. And even though he was dodging almost each slice, there were a few that landed, leaving cuts on his arms and torso.
But Philip didn't react when he received a new injury, instead, his emotionless blue orbs stayed focused, trying to parry some of the long nails trying to shred him apart.
The boy turned to his group of friends who were still in shock at the mutated creature.
"We have to help him!" he exclaimed to them.
Luz pulled herself together and looked down at the glass bottle and the paper that contained the supposedly, teleportation spell to a safe place.
She had the urge to have her mom drive them away as far as they could, create the portal and use the little bit of titan's blood in the bottle to go back to the Boiling Isles. Especially since she still had doubts that the pattern of glyphs was indeed a teleportation spell…
But the whole thing with Masha waiting for them in some safe place didn't seem like something Philip would make up at the spot.
"Philip gave me the pattern to teleport us to somewhere that we may be safe," Luz said, getting everyone's attention.
"Wait, is that Titan's blood?" Amity asked, finally taking notice on what she was holding on one of her hands.
"Why isn't he taking his other form instead?" Hunter couldn't help but ask himself out loud while he observed Philip unable to land any sort of attack on the creature due to the large creature having an advantage with four long limbs keeping him away. Philip would try to morph his own limbs, but he had to hold back on that to block another attack that was coming close to his face this time. "He's faster with the other form. If he stays like that, he's doing to be stuck playing defense."
"Maybe he can't?" Willow pointed out with confusion and then winced when the mutated creature was able to slash a deep gash across Philip's exposed chest, drawing out green ooze.
"We should do what he said and teleport out of here," Camila spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "He's distracting the monster, and as long as we stand here, we're in danger and Philip won't be able to escape himself."
"But what if this pattern isn't a teleportation spell?" Luz asked her mom with a frown. "What if it's a one way to kill us?"
"If he was trying to kill us, then wouldn't he just let the monster do it itself?" Vee asked with an eyebrow raised, making Luz fall silent.
'I think Philip has given up on his mission,' Gus' words replayed in her mind.
Luz gripped the titan's blood tightly. The teleportation spell, according to Belos, would use the titan's blood when activated. He claimed someone could possibly get more of it for them for the portal to the Boiling Isles, but what if they couldn't?
But…
Seeing Willow, Vee, and Amity looking drained and carrying a few bruises and cuts from fighting one of the creatures made her chest tightened up and make her come to a decision.
"Grab what we may need from the house," Luz told the group quickly. "Like the instructions from the portal and, well, anything else that's important. Then let's meet up at the back of the house."
Everyone nodded, except for Gus, who looked uncertain, and Hunter, who was staring at Belos finally land a massive blow to the creature's chest, sending it flying to the ground a good distance on the street.
"Come on, guys," Vee said, pulling on Hunter's and Gus's arms which prompted them to finally join the others who had gone inside the house.
Quickly, everyone spread out after grabbing a bag or backpack and filled it with anything they thought was important.
Gus and Vee were in the kitchen, stuffing black garbage bags with boxes of snacks, protein bars, and water bottles.
Luz retrieved the instructions that Philip had written for them from her room before joining Willow to gather a change of clothes for everyone.
Amity was quickly washing off the blood on her before putting on a fresh of clothes.
Camila grabbed the backup first aid kit, and other supplies for medical uses from her bedroom, but also stood for moment in the middle of her room and looked at her bed before going over it and reaching underneath it for a specific thing hidden there.
Hunter wasn't sure what to grab. Well, he wasn't even thinking about it much as his mind kept replaying how Belos had saved him from one of those monsters…
He didn't understand why the man had done such a thing.
Didn't he want him dead…?
He stood there by the doorway, feeling everything so far out of reach before his body unconsciously turned to witness just in time Belos somersaulting over the towering creature.
The man twisted his body midair, landing on the creature's broad back, perched on its shoulder. Philip's left arm morphed into a sharp appendage. He tried aiming to sever the abomination's head from its form. But the creature twisted all four limbs with a sickening chorus of cracks, snatching Philip's body and yanking him forward. The grip held him in an embrace, squeezing the life out of Philip as the creature's head contorted with a sickening pop, its neck twisted to an unnatural angle, so its black empty sockets locked onto Philip's face.
Philip struggled against the creature's arms, but the creature's sharp nails dug into his flesh to keep him in place. The creature's jaws parted, revealing its blood-stained teeth before it tried tearing Philip's face off.
Hunter's instincts screamed at him. Energy crackled and surged through his veins thanks to his staff, and in an instant, he teleported by the two and unleashed a yellow blast that collided with the side of the creature's twisted face, causing it to recoil.
Hunter teleported behind the two figures and sent out more sharp blasts at the creature's arms, causing its grip on Philip to falter.
Philip seized this moment to use the creature's own body to propel himself away. He contorted in mid-flight so he could land on the ground next to Hunter.
Without hesitation, Hunter grabbed his arm and teleported them to a safe distance from the creature, who was taking its time to twist its arms and head back into place.
The boy released Philip and glared up at him, as if challenging him for disobeying his order.
"You can't fight it alone," Hunter said in a stern voice. "So, I'm going to help you take it down and I'm not taking a no as an answer."
Philip said nothing for a moment and simply stared at him with his glowing blue orbs. The boy was right; the monster was far too powerful for him to take it alone… Especially when he could feel his mind threatening to make him lose the hold he had on his current form.
"Very well," he said, which made the boy look at him with surprise that he gave into him helping him.
They turned to look at the creature when it let out another screech from both heads.
"Hunter!" Hunter looked to the side at his friends who had gathered by the doorway when he heard Luz call out to him with concern.
"It's fine!" he called out. "Belos and I can take care of it! You guys just gather everything we need so we can teleport all together!"
Luz and his friends looked at his direction with concern, and they were going to go and try to help him out, even though majority of them were worn out from their fight, but their intentions were swiftly halted by Hunter deftly teleported both himself and Belos atop the creature, while Hunter materialized farther back, allowing Belos to land upon the creature's back. Belos dug his claws into the creature's neck, just like Vee had done before. Before the creature could attack him with his arms again that twisted back, Hunter unleashed multiple blasts on them to keep them off Philip.
The creature flung itself to the ground, to try to crush Philip beneath its weight, but Hunter promptly teleported to Philip's side, whisking them both away. As the creature crashed on the pavement, Hunter positioned Philip above it. Philip wasted no time and, with a swift motion with his claws, he sliced one of the creature's limbs. Hunter teleported them away just as the creature's other appendages aimed to impale them.
Discarding the severed limb aside, Philip maintained his glowing eyes on the creature as it rose back up.
"How many blasts can you unleash with your staff?" he asked the boy.
"Multiple," Hunter replied.
"Then ascend to a higher altitude and unleash as many as you can upon it while I deal with the remaining arms."
"But I won't be able to avoid hitting you…"
"I'll heal," Philip said simply. "Now, go!" He dashed to the creature while the boy pursed his lips and quickly charged his staff. Once it bathed in a vibrant yellow radiance, he teleported high into the sky directly above the creature. As he began his descent, he unleashed a torrential downpour of yellow blasts, striking the creature and the surrounding road.
Philip evaded the creature's strikes before both found themselves trying to avoid the barrage of blasts. But, seizing the distraction on the creature, Philip swiftly shot at it and swung his clawed arm, severing the creature's lower left limb. Undeterred by a blast striking down on Philip's right shoulder, he lashed out again at the creature, slicing off the upper left arm with a powerful stroke.
A blast struck Philip's head, making him almost lose his footing, and made Hunter cease his attacks. At that moment the creature's bottom head shot out like a snake, sinking its sharp teeth into Philip's left bicep, causing him to gasp in pain before the creature forcefully slammed him into the ground. Green ooze spurted from the wound, splattering in all directions. The searing pain threatened to paralyze Philip momentarily.
Hunter teleported himself close to the creature and unleashed a piercing blast directly at the creature's last arm, just as it aimed for Philip's head. The creature stumbled to the side, emitting a piercing screech.
It desperately attempted to dislodge the second head from Philip's arm, but Philip's right claws pierced through the skull with all his strength, tearing out the decaying brain.
The creature staggered back once more, its shrieks filling the air. Ignoring Hunter's attempt to teleport them away, Philip pushed his hand aside as he tore the severed head from his arm.
Despite his left arm hanging limply at his side, Philip propelled himself forward.
"Let's finish this," he said.
As if reading the man's mind, Hunter teleported to the creature's rear and blasted at the legs, throwing it off balance. It toppled backward onto the ground, and, at that instant, Philip extended his right-hand claws longer than before and ran at the creature. He jumped on its chest and pierced the creature's head, seizing the brain with a powerful grip before yanking it out. And just like that, the creature's body laid limp on the road, with Philip's right claw drenched in the creature's blood.
"Damn…" Vee was the one to break the silence that had fallen on everyone as they stared in awe at what they had just witnessed as their friend stood silently on the road, still in a stance as if ready to fight in case the creature pulled another trick on them.
His friends knew Hunter had trained at a very young age to be a formidable warrior but witnessing in person his quick thinking that helped Philip from getting hurt and aiding him to take the creature down amazed them.
Even Amity who had fought him once realized at that moment she was lucky that he was tired the day they had fought back at the cave in the Boiling Isles. At first, she thought she had truly fought him when he was at his best, but apparently, she had indeed engaged with him when he was probably in his weakest point.
What also left them speechless was the way Hunter and Philip had worked together as if they were one… as if they have been doing it for years.
The creature's limp body began to slowly turn into a black liquid then it slowly began to sizzle into nothing but black smog into the air. Even the blood on Philip's right hand turned into smoke. And within a few minutes, the body had complete disintegrated, which made Hunter finally relax in his stance with a sigh of relief and finally felt the weight of exhaustion hit him.
A smile almost made its way to his mouth, but he quickly remembered who he had fought alongside with….
He straightened himself and hesitantly looked up at Belos who stood across from him up on the road.
The blue orbs were trained on him, emotionless, which caused Hunter's chest to feel nothing but emptiness.
The boy looked away before making his way to his friends.
"Luz, get that the teleportation spell ready," the boy said like an order he would give to someone in the coven.
Luz went over to the road and began to use a blue chalk from a stack her mom had bought a few months ago for them to use on back of the house for fun.
She drew the pattern exactly how Belos had wrote down on the piece of paper he had given to her while everyone made their way over to her with everything they had gathered to leave since they have been compromised by whoever sent those creatures after them.
Truth be told, she had so many questions that she needed answers to, and she was still hesitant to activate the glyphs pattern once it was all drawn on the floor, but there was one way to assure her that the whole thing wasn't some sort of way to kill them in one go.
She stood up, her cold eyes landing on Belos while everyone got on the glyphs pattern.
"What are you waiting for?" she asked him. "I'm not activating it till you're on it."
Philip met her gaze.
He wasn't surprised that she refused to trust him at this moment. Especially since the whole situation was probably so confusing for her and her friends. But he was relieved that he had arrived in time, that none of them were –
"Vee, are you okay?" He heard Amity say with concern and he glanced at the direction to where Vee crumpled to her knees, her hands landing on the concrete ground to keep herself steady. Then her body shifted to her green serpentine body, revealing to everyone what she had been hiding underneath her magical disguise, a body marred by deep gashes, blood seeping from the wounds.
Philip's stomach dropped at the sight while Camila acted swiftly, her voice urgent as she instructed Willow to help lay Vee down while she rummaged through her packed bag, retrieving the medical supplies she had decided to take with her. She knelt beside Vee, her hand steady despite her heart racing.
"Hay, mija…" Camila said sadly as she tended to Vee's injuries, quickly cleaning them so they wouldn't get infected. Amity was by the girl's other side, doing exactly what Camila was doing, but on the girl's left arm.
Willow held her friend's head on her lap, hating herself for not realizing that the creature had been successful with harming Vee, especially since Vee was fighting it in close range.
The wounds appeared severe, but a weak smile graced Vee's face.
"It's… it's nothing," the girl insisted, her voice strained, but did her best to make everyone that had gathered around her not to look so worried. Despite her effort to do such a thing, her face grew pale.
"We need to get her out of here before anything else attacks us," Amity told Luz whose eyes were wide, filled with worry at her sister's state, asking herself why she didn't do anything to protect her from the creatures.
"Luz," Hunter grabbed her shoulder and gave it a shake to snap her out of her trance, which worked immediately.
"Alright, everyone, make sure you're on the pattern," she instructed before glancing over to Philip, who was standing frozen from a distance, eyes fixated on Vee's battered form.
'That is your fault…' the dark voice hissed. 'You let her get hurt…'
A whirlwind of emotions surged within him. Guilt began to consume him as a whole as the dark voice clawed at his mind. As much as he tried to, he could not tear his gaze away from the raw wounds that marred Vee's body.
The dark heavy weight seemed to seize his weakened moment to suffocate him.
He finally pulled away from the sight, but he somewhat curled into himself as his grip on his current form began to loosen. His body began to warp and shift painfully.
'Your… fault…'
He tried to calm himself down, to stop the voice from making him fall apart, not realizing someone was trying to catch his attention. Everything seemed to blur around him as his body was consumed with agonizing pain. He tried desperately to hold on to that warm light that he had felt inside thanks to Masha's embrace, but it seemed so far out of reach now as self-hate took a powerful grip on him.
He had failed to protect Vee… a child that has suffered so much already due to his selfish actions.
He had failed Masha to protect her friend…
All he could imagine was Masha's face looking at him with disappointment just like his brother does whenever he sees him…
As he struggled, something pulled him to gaze upon Amity's staff, to stare at the radiant aura that only he could see at the moment. Then, his attention was drawn to the other staffs held by the children; they too held a radiant glow that his body yearned for, burned for…
Pure… untainted light…
In that moment, Hunter felt his stomach drop when Philip's blue eyes landed on his staff and the boy could all sense the dreaded danger that his palisman was in. Multiple memories of how Belos had crushed the palismen in his grasp before sucking their life essence rushed in his mind.
Hunter immediately pulled his staff behind him, out of the man's line of sight before he glared at him.
"Don't you dare even think about it!" the boy snapped at him, feeling completely defensive to protect his best friend, no matter what.
The boy's outburst made Luz and the others look at him with confusion and snapped Philip's thoughts back together before his mind reeled with panic at the realization of what he was craving for.
'And now you're going to hurt them because you're too pathetic to control yourself,' the voice whispered. 'Because you want to hurt them…'
No…
'You want that light, don't you…?' the voice teased. 'Then take it…'
No…
'Suck them dry like the parasite you are!'
No!
He didn't want to hurt any of the palisman… Never again… That was the last thing he wanted to do after everything he had done to the children.
"Philip," Gus called out louder, after trying quite some time to get the man's attention, but then his concern grew when Philip backed away from them with teeth clenched hard.
The man's arms clutched around himself as the green and brown mass shifted more on his body as fear consumed him. Fear that he would end up harming them…
"Philip?" the boy began to make his way to the man. "Listen to my voice, Philip," he tried to say, but Philip felt the powerful pull to rip the palisman from the boy's hands. His body contorted again, violently this time, and when Philip felt the urge for the light more than ever before, he did what he thought was best…
He ran.
He dashed to the forest, but to the opposite direction from where the church was at.
"Philip, wait!" Gus called out, jumping on his staff, and flying after him.
"Gus, don't!" Luz yelled after him while Hunter cursed under his breath and jumped on his staff too.
"Luz, teleport everyone out of here," Hunter said. "I'm going after Gus."
"But we can't leave you two behind," Luz said stubbornly. "We don't even know where this teleportation spell is going to take us."
"We have no choice," the boy argued. "Don't worry, I'll get Gus and later find you guys somehow. Trust me, I wasn't made into the Golden Guard at a young age just because I'm some clone of Belos' brother."
Luz pressed her lips into a thin line as she stared at Hunter, worried for Gus. But she knew the longer she kept Hunter from going after Gus, the more danger the boy would be in.
"Alright," the girl said before she stepped closer to the middle of the drawn-out pattern, near the rest who were still tending to Vee's wounds.
"Please be careful, Hunter," Camila told the boy while Willow and Amity looked at him with concern.
The boy gave them a sharp nod before he began to ascend to the air.
Luz hated herself for feeling so useless… and she fought the urge to take one of her friends' staffs and go with Hunter to find Gus, but… the way her sister laid there on the ground, still looking pale as her mother was strapping some gauze on her chest told her where she was needed the most right now.
With one last glance at the boy, Luz slammed her hand into the ground before the glyphs began to light up in different colors and the rest glowed in yellow.
Then they were gone.
And Hunter took this chance to fly as fast as he could into the dark and silent forest after his friend.
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