Chapter 24 [Minutes Earlier]

The Child spat on the snow. Irritation burned at his brain. Magical discharge reddened his skin. Pinpricks jabbed at every pore. Yet Euphoria and Rush strengthened him. Bolstered accordingly, his senses detected several advancing menaces. Shrill Scream akin to Banshee's echoed into Nocturne's air.

Still, nothing moved. No sound came. Wind puffed nary a breath…. Nothing…

Caution guided Katrina to his side. Detection spells picked up on the wraiths' approach. "Anything?"

"Wussies're worse than last bunch! Damn hide n' seek!" The Child narrowed his open eye. He strung his bow. "Jus' like a damn birdie shoot!"

"I would say these are not quail, my Friend." Ichabod loaded his own crossbow.

Snort spurted from the Dark One. "Ah said 'like', Cranie! Ah've faced these scuzzies! Ya haven't!" Hiss grated on all ears. He aimed off to the barn's side. "Yeah. Like a birdie!" His finger plucked the string once and then again. "'Mon, Birdies! Mon!"

Arrow and then another flew into the dark.

Two screams pierced the night. Acrid stench contaminated the air.

"YA CAN' HIDE, WITCHIE POOS! YA'LL CAN FOOL BIG BRO! AH AIN' 'IM!" the Child shook his fist.

Breeze stirred. Fog and Humidity rose from the snow itself. Elements howled about the trio. Whiteout blinded them.

Katrina waved her hands. "ELEMENTS CLEAR!" Canary glinted in her eyes.

Magical weather slowed. Vision cleared.

A dozen bulky aliens plodded toward them. Pink hue stood out against thinning fog. Canary saucer-like eyes glared out from overhanging unibrows. Tails dragged behind them. Thin stringy tongues hissed from oblong mouths. "GIVE US THE HYBRID!"

"NA' JIMMY! YA GOT 'IM! YA AIN' GITTIN' 'ER!" The Child shook his fist at them. "GIT 'EM!" He tossed two colored balls at the wraiths. "SOM'THIN' FER YA!" He threw four more arrows in the air. Telekinesis flung them at the wraiths.

Herbal smoke blinded the central aliens. Three shafts of the four found their marks.

Wraiths' spells deflected Ichabod's bolts. Stubby digits pointed at him. Bolts arced back toward their source. One buried itself in his arm. He staggered back toward the house.

"GET BACK!" Katrina shoved the left side of the Wraiths' forces back. Emerald hue lit up her eyes. Her spell leeched around the entire area.

From all sides, unsecured things quivered and shook. Rocks pulled themselves from colonial era walls. Farming implements lifted from their places. Branches snapped from trees. Pitchforks, nails, hammers, saws, drill ends and screwdrivers skewered the invaders. Four more ash plumes billowed about on the wind.

Wraiths communed. Dark fire akin to their nebula's sun leapt from outstretched pink hands. Additional spells reshaped the plumes. "OUR NEBULA AGAINST YOU, ACCURSED ONE! FLY, PRETTIES! FLY! DEVOUR THE DEMON SPAWN!"

Hellish Bird-things and animal familiars swarmed forward. Several evaporated against Katrina's light burst. The remaining herd swarmed over the Child. They buried their prey. Claws and beaks tore at arms and legs. Hellfire would've chilled soul and stopped mortals' heartbeats.

Ichabod narrowed his eyes. Memoria recalled Molock's minions' assaults on Dubois and the Child. Musket balls and Bayonets bent and broke before the Dark One's rage. "What is with him? They…?"

Katrina ran for the porch. She stepped in front of him. "BEHIND ME, ICHABOD!" Her fingers twitched. Long forgotten words formed chants. Chants formed a protective field over them.

The constructs massed tighter and tighter. Pressure asserted itself. Then, Hesitation ceased their activities. Panic lit glowing eyes. Squawks and screeches sounded alarm and distress. They shimmered and lost continuity. Spell sundered.

Explosion rocked the entire farm. Familiars fell apart akin to Wet Rag Paper. Flames impacted the protective barrier. Energy residue soaked into the infuriated Child. Energies penetrated his form. Scar glowed brighter and brighter still. Emerald gave way to rouge and then blood hue. Ebon fire erupted covering him from head to toe. Right eye now opened. Blood Red glowed in those eyes.

The Destroyer snarled. Its scream echoed well toward Eagle Plain fifteen miles away. It remembered the smaller yellow pests from decades earlier. These snide pink bitches earned what was about to come. It raised its hands. Its eyes glowed.

The remaining Wraiths floated into the air. The preceding spell had exhausted their magic. Still, they conjured and conjured more. Attempt after attempt fizzled against the Destroyer's assault.

It hissed. Burning hay bale's flames streaked upward. A finger point prompted a sudden turn. "DIE!"

Plume seared and charred the witches. Screams and protests rang out from their dying mouths and tongues. Finally, limp and dispatched forms spewed final ash into the New York night.

The Destroyer watched the last attackers' burning remains fall to the dirt ground. It sensed only the Rider's battle close by. A grunt left it at that. It closed its eyes. Ebon flames dimmed and snuffed out. Right eye closed anew as the Child reasserted control.

"Dum'asses!" the Child spat. "Ah'm sick a' buttwipes! They'll know tha'!" His left eye squinted toward the house. "Xena's out there? Aww….more a' 'em?"

Katrina let her barrier melt away. "Get inside, Ichabod. Lichtenfeld's still out here. I'll go and stand with our dark friend." She hustled down the step and up the walk toward him. "Come out, Anne Lichtenfeld! I sense your presence!"

"Course she's 'round! Damn Lichtiebitch likes crap!" The Child watch Wraiths' ashes run through his fingers. "This crap 'gain!"

Rude child! Ah shoulda let 'em take ye! Lichtenfeld appeared in front of him. A flick of her eyebrow dropped her writhing prisoners in an unceremonious heap. Satisfaction warmed her over the Destroyer's appearance….

…it seemed that even the Wraiths could blunder into her master's service…

"Fire Puss won' like tha'!" The Child's smirk jabbed a hit at her ego as well. "These bitches're diff'rent!"

"They be formidable enough, my Friend." Caution urged Katrina to advance at a guarded pace. Soot clogged her nose. Her eyes narrowed at the suffering wraiths. "You canna' help yourself. Can ye?"

"Cannst thy sisters of the Radiant Heart, Katrina van Tassel?" Lichtenfeld sapped still more from the wraiths' auras. Triumph and pleasure drank from that act.

"Dam' Mind Witch's dead!" The Child narrowed his open eye to a slit. Despite Protest, Experience knew his adversary well enough. Advantages would be gained and lost. Situations came and went. Opponents and allies involved themselves according to Destiny's throws.

Another battle went on close by. Yet, Stalemate had found Child and Witch once more….