Rise of Xavia

by Tara Chau

  “Yes!” she squeals, jumping up and down.

  "Okay, can you get me two-pot or pan lids?" I grin.

  Ronnie nods eagerly, running off to ruffle through the drawers, coming back a minute later with two metal pot lids.

  “Good job,” I whisper, “come on.”

  The two of us creep down the hall. We enter Ty's room. Ronnie's eyes widen as she realises what I'm going to do, silently jumping up and down. It takes all of my self-control not to laugh as I walk up close to Ty, who's still sprawled out over the covers. From the corner of my eye, I see Ronnie block her ears with her fingers, eyes gleaming with mischief. Putting one lid on each hand, I take my arms wide before smashing the lids together like symbols. The loudest clash of horrid noise echoes through the house, ringing in our ears.

  Ty jumps up from his spot hurriedly, missing my own forehead by inches. His eyes are wide despite just waking up, looking around frantically. His breathing slows once he realises that there's no threat. Ronnie and I burst out laughing, both our faces growing multiple shades of pink. Gabe comes skidding around the corner, looking into the room in confusion.

  "What's happened? Are you all okay?" he asks, still taking in the sight.

  “No, I’m not okay! Your girls just freaked me to hell!” Ty shouts.

  Ronnie and I continue laughing as if some invisible entity is forcing it out of our mouths. Even as Ty glares at us, we continue unburdened ourselves.

  “Why, may I ask did you two do that?” Ty asks, glaring at Gabe when a huge lop-sided grin breaks his face.

  “Because you were supposed to leave to see Helen ten minutes ago,” I point out.

  Ty groans, closing his eyes. “I already cancelled that; do you think me a complete moron?” he asks.

  Ronnie and I simply gaze at him, unwilling to answer. Ty growls at us to get out, Ronnie and I still giggling as we exit. Once we’re back in the kitchen, I notice Gabe looking at me.

  “What?” I ask innocently.

  “Nothing,” he says, breaking his gaze, “I just haven’t seen you this happy in a little bit.”

  "Yeah, I guess I should hang out with the little devil more. She makes me feel like a kid,” I say, glancing at Ronnie where she’s swinging her legs from the high bench.

  Gabe nods, a smile spread across his face, this time not fake. “You know what I just realised?” he asks.

  “No,” I say obviously.

  Gabe rolls his eyes but takes two steps towards me, “We haven’t had our first date yet.”

  I let out a sigh, yeah. "Well, between trying to find hundreds of apparently very well-hidden Shifters, dealing with Lucien, who now is a warlock, and prepping to fight the world-killing demon, we haven't really had a lot of free time, have we?" I say sassily.

  "No, no, we have not." Gabe shakes his head, "What will it take for us to have just one night to ourselves?" he asks, matching my sass.

  “I have no idea,” I say with a shrug.

  We both beam at each other. Gabe swoops in to steal a quick kiss, but Ronnie calls us out.

  “No!” she says strictly. “Nope, sorry, but just no,” she says, shaking her head.

  “Oh? The student attempts to overthrow the teacher?” Gabe asks.

  “No… just no kissing, it’s gross,” she says, screwing up her face.

  Gabe and I grin at each other before leaping, Gabe wrapping his arms low around my waist, me cupping his face. I close my mouth around his lips, holding him tighter.

  "No, stop it!" Ronnie begs, unable to hold back her laughter. “Ewwww.”

  She jumps off the bench and starts to pound on our legs, trying to rip us apart. Gabe and I let go, looking down at the little girl.

  "You know what, Ron? It is pretty gross,” I decide, winking at Gabe.

  “See!” she says, pointing satisfied at Gabe.

  “Ronnie, when you grow up, make sure that you’re never as mean as Di,” Gabe says, winking back at me.

  I shove him away violently, both of us laughing.

  "When I grow up, I'm going to be exactly like Di. She's the best,” Ronnie says, poking her tongue out at Gabe.

  “Yeah!” I say, emphasising Ronnie’s point.

  Gabe rolls his eyes, walking back to flip the pancakes.

  For the rest of the day, we run around from shop to shop, giving Ronnie a budget. She buys a small notebook with a tiger on the front, a scented candle for her mum, and a small owl sculpture moulded from clay. She has exactly sixty cents left and drops it into a charity box at the cashier.

  By six o'clock, Gabe and I are so giddy with joy that we'd forgotten about feeding her dinner and skipped straight to ice cream. I get two scoops of lemon gelato, Gabe a scoop of hazelnut and chocolate, and Ronnie orders a rainbow vanilla scoop.

  The three of us walked along the dimly lit streets, talking and laughing. I can see that Gabe, though, is always aware of our surroundings, his eyes always darting about every corner and small ally. Ronnie hums a tune, holding my hand as I use the other one to eat my cone.

  “Have a fun day?” I ask.

  “The best,” she beams; her smile is blinding, making Gabe and I beam back down at her.

  "Hey Ron, you better eat that ice cream real quick," Gabe warns, "I'm done, and yours looks damn good."

  Ronnie gulps, shoving the last of her cone down in one bite. I laugh as Gabe eyes my ice cream. Cramming it into my mouth, I grin at him. Gabe's phone chimes. He glances at it quickly before shoving it back into his pocket.

  “Your brothers at the Sanctuary, it’s time for you to go back,” Gabe says sadly.

  “No,” she whines.

  “It’s okay, we had a good day, but it’s not like we’re never going to do this again,” I say, ruffling up her hair.

  We three stroll through the streets. It takes about twenty minutes to walk there. The sky turns dark, starts glowing down on us. A cool breeze drifts past, cooling my face. The only sounds for a while are the sounds of feet on gravel and the slow breathing of us three. A sense of peace rushes over me. I don't remember the last full normal day I had.

  As we approach the Sanctuary, I spy the huge doors of the cover pub thrown open, masses of people filing out. My body quakes as I smell iron and blood. The three of us sprint into the lobby, silently, stopping dead at the sight that lies before us. Dozens of Protectors lie in piles around the room, some groaning with pain, others completely still. The smell of blood is overwhelming. It knocks the sense from me as I take a step forward, holding back my bile as I shake the blood from my boot. My head whips to Gabe. His eyes are wide as he takes in the room, beholding the slaughter. Taking hold of Ronnie's hand tightly, we all dash into the elevator, our breathing becoming ragged with the suspense of what we're about to see. Nothing, we see nothing as the doors of the lift ding open, making Ronnie and I jump. The main room is in shambles. The screens have been smashed and thrown to the floor, sparks flying from the technology as its wires soak in the wet blood pooling over the marble surface. There are about ten people here, dead, limbs and flesh scattered everywhere. Vomit starts to rise through my throat as the smell reaches us. Huge animal claw marks decorate the walls, floors, and bodies; not only red blood drips from the ceiling and walls, but also black ichor.

  Turning back to Ronnie, I see her chest rising and falling incredibly quickly, her eyes darting across the room. I step quickly and lightly back to her as she is starting to back up towards Gabe and the elevator. Kneeling down on one knee, I grip her hands.

  "O-okay," I breathe, my own heart banging against my rib cage intensely, "alright, breathe. We were going to go find your brother and the rest of them, okay? You have to stay really close to us, an-and stay quiet,” I say slowly, letting it all sink in for the both of us.

  Ronnie nods slowly, taking a really big shaking breath. Standing up, I look down at my clothes, my black jeans, and plain white T-shirt, no weapons. Looking up at Gabe, I see the panic in his eyes, the pain as he gazes
away from me and down at Ronnie.

  “Let’s go,” he decides, looking down the hall. “We need weapons,” he says, snapping into the warrior mental zone.

  “We have no idea what’s happening,” I say, looking around again.

  "No, we don't. We'll go to our rooms and get our weapons from there,” Gabe says, leading us through the field of bodies.

  The muffled sounds of shouts, cries, and weapons clashing, echoes from the second gathering room, a big hall meant for celebrations or important meetings. Running past, we dash into Gabe's room, tuning out the growls and hisses of monsters. Gabe hands me, my staff. I flick the blades out and back in again, twirling it around, warming up for something unforeseen. Gabe tosses Ronnie a pair of small knives which she sheaths against her waist, shaking slightly. Finally, Gabe picks up his bow, which he strings over his back along with his quiver, also taking up a short sword.

  “Ready?” he asks.

  I give him a small unsure nod, the best I have to offer, “What about Ron?” I ask.

  Gabe glances over at her, noting her shaking hands and darting eyes. “Ronnie,” he says, taking her to sit on the edge of his bed. “We need you to stay here, okay? We’re going to go see what’s happened, but you need to stay here.”

  "I-no!" she decides, "I want to come help. I want to see Ty."

  "And you will see him. We'll bring them all back. Stay here Ronnie, you'll be safer,” I plead.

  Ronnie shakes her head defiantly.

  “Ronnie, stay here,” Gabe says, an order from teacher to student.

  Gabe seems to be pleased enough that he leads me out the door. We don't leave until we hear the click of the lock being turned. Running down the hall back the way we came, we emerge from silence into chaos. The room is a war zone, bodies clashing against each other, flesh and steel collide -wolves, vampires, warlocks, and even a few faeries meeting head-on with helpless Protectors, more blood in this place than I have ever seen in my life. My ears sting with the sharp sounds of cries and the grinding of weapons smashing against each other.

  Bright flashing lights bloom before my eyes, seeming to make me blind, each one a different colour. As the magic lightning ceases, a scream of agony cuts the air, making me shudder as I see the wolf pounce on a man. It bites out a huge chunk of his shoulder, blood dripping from its maw, before going straight for his neck, silencing the scream. Only a metre away, I see a warlock throw a muscly Protector over his shoulder, smashing her into the wall. I hear the crunch of bones and a sound so shrill it pierces my eardrums; the warlock simply smiles, closing his fists completely. The girl gives one last silent scream before crumbling into nothing.

  Gabe and I stand on the threshold of this chaos, outside looking in, staring helplessly. The room is huge, like a grand hall, and even with all this space, the foundations groan as the room overflows with beasts and slayers. Across it all, I see Anne and Ty, back-to-back, eyes wide and focused on the mayhem around them, Hayden and Jess not too far from them.

  Even though all the pained, angered screams, I cannot hear one person begging for mercy or death, except one. A boy not much older than me, he's sprawled on the ground, clutching at his shoulder where a deep gashing wound hangs open, looking up at the huge black wolf.

  “Just-just kill me,” he says defeatedly, cringing as the wolf bares its teeth.

  I tune my ears onto him, ignoring the wails and shrieks of others, to listen to this boy say his last words. My blood turns to ice as that frosty voice calls, the voice that now haunts my dreams, day and night. Lucien steps forward to confront the downed boy.

  “Dying is the coward’s way out,” Lucien sneers, looking down at him like the boy is a measly worm.

  It seems like Gabe has found the source of my extreme panic, his gaze homing in on the ultimate threat.

  Lucien hauls the boy up forcefully by his wounded arm. He lets out a scream of anguish, looking into Lucien's dead eyes, cowering at his power.

  “You,” Lucien breaths, “are going to watch as your Sanctuary comes tumbling down, knowing that you would rather die trembling in a corner than die on your feet fighting for everyone’s lives. Then, once we have decimated everything here, only then will I grant you the mercy of death.”

  Lucien throws the boy against the wall, his magic forming a pale-yellow glow around his body, deflecting all of the wolves and vamps desperate for an easy kill.

  A loud wail sounds from across the room, all too familiar - Gabe and I snap our heads in the direction of Anne's scream. I flinch and stumble back as I see her lying on the ground, a vampire on top of her. Ty screams her name, plunging his sword into the vermin's spine. It falls off her stiffly, black blood spreading over the wooden floor. Anne raises her head, looking around for her weapon. An indescribable flood of relief flushes through me, leaving a wave of blazing anger in its wake.

  Extending the blades of my staff, I bound into the pandemonium, ignoring Gabe’s beseeching shouts. Fling my blades right and left, I twirl and dodge, stab and slice mercilessly until I reach Anne, aware of the havoc and impact Gabe is making behind me. By the time I’m kneeling next to Anne, my blades are dripping with ichor, heavy in my hands.

  "Hey," I say, shaking her lightly, searching for her wound, "Hey, come on, get up."

  Anne reaches towards me, requesting help. Hauling her back up onto her feet, she winces as she clutches her arm, her golden whip hanging off her wrist.

  “Why is he here?” I demand.

  “I don’t know,” Anne says, shaking her head. She stretches her arms back, taking up her sword in one hand and unlooping her whip.

  “I’m good, let’s go,” Anne says, a new gleam in her eyes.

  I simply nod before running into the crowd again, Gabe at my back.

  A damned vamp catches my eyes, a feral smile spreading across his face. I lunge, blade extended to impale his dead heart. The thing dodges, missing the tip by millimetres, fast. I spin around his attack. Falling to the ground, I dive between his legs and come out the other side, shoving my weapon into the back of his neck all the way to the other side. The vampire, not quick enough to escape, dies on the end of my blade. Yanking it back out, I swirl and deflect a blow from one of the poor vamps' friends. Swiping a blow across the back of her knees and then into her gut, I deposit the next damned back into hell. The next Shifter darts for me before I have enough time to rid my blade of the thing. I sense it before I feel it. The blow sends me to the ground, where my loose hair soaks up the filthy ichor. Great.

  Without my weapon, I kick at the wolf's muzzle, sending it back. Jumping up, I jerk my staff from the dead's stomach, piercing the wolf's hide and sending my knife into its spine. Ripping my blade from the body, I wipe its blood from my cheeks in disgust. Peering down at the wolf, I think: have I really become something so warped that I don't even think twice about killing now?

  Suddenly, I hear the innocent call of a desperate girl and the horrified scream of a brother.

  Spinning away from my kill, I gaze a few metres away to find Ronnie facing another wolf, small but still outweighing the girl by hundreds of kilos. Both Ty and I race towards her, frantic to get to her in time.

  Ty lunges for his sister. I jump for the wolf, tackling it to the ground before stabbing my hidden dagger into its eye. Jumping up, I add the life to my count, five. I dash for the girl encircled in Ty's arms.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I snap, eyes darting around our surroundings, weapon up and ready.

  “I was scared,” she admits.

  "So, you decide to run towards the battle, where fear is the very definition of this place?" I ask, still angry and not able to take it out on anyone else but Ronnie.

  Taking a deep breath, I focus, leashing the anger. “Okay, Ronnie, it’s going to be okay. Ty and I are going to get you to the exit to get you out,” I say, glancing at Ty, who simply nods grimly.

  “Be brave,” Ty whispers as we all rise.

  “Be a P
rotector,” I finish, brushing away a strand of her hair, attempting a confident smile.

  Ronnie doesn't smile back; instead, she just draws her two knives, raising them close to her face. I lead, Ronnie walks in the middle, and Ty takes up the back. We make our way slowly towards the outside hall, where the fighting is minimal. A warlock locks gazes with me. I smile savagely at him; tucking my staff into my jeans, I raise my hands. We continue forward, Ronnie not surprisingly, taking out the few Shifters that make it past Ty and me. I use my powers to deflect attacks, sending the attackers into others and walls or even straight into other blades. My death count gets higher, five, six, seven, eight. It climbs still as we near the hall—finally, the warlock steps in front of me. Unable to stop, I charge ahead.

  Something ancient and angry grows inside me. It's somewhere deep, deeper than I wish, so far out of my reach that it doesn't seem there at all. It flows, glimmering dully, there but not useful. The ancient power burns my blood, boiling it, building it up for something big. For now, I simply fling out my remaining energy, casting a warm silver wave of magic, sending everything dead and corrupt onto the ground, holding them there, still.

  I strain to keep the whole army of Shifters at bay while the remaining Protectors take advantage of the opportunity, driving their weapons into their restrained bodies. Wails, howls, and cries of suffering filter through my head, making me quiver.

  “Well, I must admit,” Lucien says, stepping forward, “I’m impressed.”

  “Go to hell,” I strain, my arms still held out, sweat dripping down my forehead, mixing with demon blood and my own.

  “Ouch,” he says, shaking his head.

  A punching wind throws me to the ground, breaking my hold on the Shifters. Again, the clatter and grunts of fighting resume around me. My head pounds as I try to draw in enough breath to stand. My stomach aches from the impact. It reels as I'm now closer to the black foul-smelling blood of dead Shifters. Steeling myself, I rise, stepping back to hold Ronnie against me. She peeks out from behind me, clutching my waist as she beholds the grotesque face of Lucien. His face is again that sickly yellow, his hair stark white, and his eyes a swirling mess of yellow and green.