by Lisa Randall
The Elder saw my understanding and smiled. “Helen, Rai, you two rest for a moment and then when you feel you can move again, do what you just did with your weapons, and try sparring longer and longer to see how long you can keep your weapons coated in magic. This will help improve your endurance in the real world. Like I said earlier, the more you use it, the better at it you will be.” He said.
The Elder turned to Selena and Alice and I watched for a while as they tried to put their own magic into their weapons like we had done. After a while, Selena was able to create magical arrows with her bow, and she could change the effects of the arrows as well. She made a red arrow, which burst whatever it landed into flames, blue was ice, and yellow blew things up. After a while, she was able to create multiple arrows for each element. She would shoot one arrow, but in mid-air it would scatter into multiple arrows, increasing her range. I was impressed with how fast she learned to use her powers, but she was more used to using them than I was. Rai and I were still resting, watching her practice, when I noticed she kept glancing over at me. Before I could ask what was wrong, she aimed her bow at us, and created a white arrow and let it loose. It split in the air, hitting both of us. I expected to feel some sort of pain, but all I felt was a rush of power and energy fill me. I instantly felt my energy return and stood up. Everyone was shocked and we just stood there for a moment, processing what happened. I went up to her and gave her a hug. “How did you know that would work?” I asked her.
“I’m not entirely sure I did.” She said. “I realized we all have our own talents, and I figured I could try making healing arrows. I just focused on my healing abilities and it created itself.”
“That was some good thinking, Selena.” The Elder said. “I think you are ready to join Helen and Rai in their sparring. Don’t forget, your bow also has blades at the end, intended for close combat. Don’t be afraid to experiment with that and your powers as well.” He then turned to Alice, who was already practicing with her staff. It was glowing with power, but didn’t really seem to know how to direct it.
While the three of us sparred, I kept trying to glance over at Alice to see how she was doing. Almost getting hit by Selena’s flaming arrows and Rai’s electricity charged sword, I had to give it up and focus on the task at hand. We sparred for a while, and Selena kept up with us pretty well. When she tried firing arrows at the both of us, we turned our attention to sparring with her in close combat. She wasn’t that skilled in that area, but with our help she improved quite a bit. When the three of us were spent, we sat down and looked around for Alice and the Elder.
They were off a ways in another direction, and we couldn’t really see what they were up to. We sat there for a moment, watching them, trying to figure out what they were doing when Alice shot balls of energy in our direction. We scrambled to get out of the way and heard an explosion of electricity land where we had been sitting. Alice had a smile on her face and knew it had come from her. Before we could react, she shot a while ball of light at the three of us, splitting in mid-air like Selena’s arrows had done. As the light hit each of us, it had the same effect as Selena’s arrows, restoring us with energy and magic. She gave us the motion to come at her from where we stood, so we charged her. Selena stayed behind, shooting arrows at Alice, who was dodging them while also shooting balls of light at us. Like Selena, each light had a different color as she tried different spells. The blue ball of light was for ice, freezing anything it hit; the red ball of light exploded with fire on contact; yellow also blew things up, like Selena’s arrows; and then a new color appeared as we got closer to her. Alice shot purple balls of light at each of us, shooting electricity in all directions when it hit anything. Even if we dodged it, the electricity found us, shocking us all. Rai didn’t seem as affected by it as Selena and I had, probably since he could use electricity as well. He charged Alice, engaging her in close combat, and she swung out with her staff, almost hitting Rai in the back with the spikes near the top of her staff. They were almost hidden by the gem on the top, but were long enough to cause damage.
I wanted to smile at Alice for being so formidable, especially for a human, and was glad that she was on our side. There was no time for smiles for very long, however, since the fight wasn’t over yet. Alice now had to fight both Rai and I head on, all while avoiding Selena’s arrows. The fight was soon over, Rai and I both had our blades to Alice’s vital spots, mine on her neck from behind, Rai from the front. Then, without speaking a word, glancing between Rai and Alice, we all agreed to go after Selena now. The look of surprise didn’t last long on Selena’s face, and she began her own assault on us all. Soon she too was shooting purple arrows that shot electricity out even if they missed or not. Slowly wearing us all down. As Rai and I got close to Selena, she didn’t have the room to shoot any more arrows, even while she was running from us to get distance. But even as a shifter, she wasn’t fast enough to evade two vampires, and we were engaging her in close combat. She wavered for a moment, seeming to forget that she had blades at the ends of her bow. I hit one gently, as to remind her of them and she smiled. Then she began putting her magical energy into those, instead of arrows. When they glowed blue, one snagged a hit on my clothes and they instantly froze. We kept this up for a while, until we were all weary from fighting so much and decided to take a break.
The Elder was sitting off to the side, watching us spar each other. I wondered if we had enough time left before the demons came in the real world. After resting for another moment, I got up and started walking over to the elder to ask him about how much time we had left, but I never got the chance. He slowly fell to the ground, blood coming from his mouth and wounds were appearing all over his scarred body. Someone was attacking him in the real world. I had a brief fear that if he died, we would be stuck here. I caught his eyes before they began to dim and he seemed to understand and before I could blink we were all back in the real world.
*****
The Elder fell so fast, and we were back in the real world a moment later. There was chaos everywhere. The sounds of battle echoed in the mountain, making it almost impossible to think. Red was standing near the Elder’s body, tears coming from his bright red eyes, and he was mad. The anger and sadness practically radiated off of him, as he clung to the Elder and let out a large roar. The other gargoyles in the mountain all joined in, and the sound was deafening. I watched as Red became larger, almost the same size as the Elder had been, and his eyes took on golden flecks, blending with the red. A large demon tried to take advantage of Red’s grief and rage by trying a sneak attack on Red, but Red spun around and quickly killed him, tearing him apart limb from limb in a few quick motions.
Red roared again and a few gargoyles flew over to him and bowed before going back to battle. There were only a few more demons left fighting, and soon it was over. We didn’t even get a chance to move before the last demon fell and all of the gargoyles let out another loud roar, almost shaking the walls of the mountain cave. Each gargoyle went up to Red and bowed, before backing away. It seemed that he was now the new Elder, which didn’t make much sense to me. We all watched until the last gargoyle backed away from Red, who turned to us to explain what happened since we were gone.
“Later that day you all went into the other dimension, we had guards watching over the Elder in case of an attack. We were all preparing for the battle that we knew was to come, and didn’t see the first wave of demons arrive until it was too late. We had expected them to arrive much later and weren't completely prepared. A few of us died in that first wave, and we had been fighting them off for a while, waiting for you all to return, and protecting the Elder at the same time seemed to take its toll. One of the Elder’s guards died protecting him, and the demon struck him down before the others could react. I got here as fast as I could, but it was too late.” Red explained.
“Are you the new Elder?” Helen asked. It was what we were all wondering about, and why he was even chosen and how.
Red sighed and sa
id “Yes. I am.” Looking sad, he explained that he was actually the Elder’s only son, as well as the strongest one in the clan, both of which would have automatically made him the Elder if his father was not around. He told us how the Elder was not just the strongest gargoyle, but also the leader of their clan, their protector.
“What happened to your eyes?” Selena asked.
“Every gargoyle that is new to being the Elder gets a new color in their eyes, representing their strength and heart. Howlite’s eyes were grey and blue, the blue representing his wisdom and kindness.” I could tell talking about his father was tough, but he seemed glad to be able to tell us more about him. “As for my eyes, the gold represents my need to protect others, and my strength of heart, my love for my clan that is as bright as the sun.”
“Excuse me.” Alice spoke, looking to Red. “I would like to join you in mourning your fallen, if I may.” She looked to each of us and added “I think we all would.” Red nodded and told us how they mourn the fallen, not by burying them, but by burning their bodies with magical fire, while praying for their souls in song. We joined them, once the fires were lit, not knowing the words to the song, as it was in a different language, but by vocalizing with the beat of the song. It was beautiful, but terribly sad, and when it was over, everyone was wiping the tears from their eyes. Helen walked up to Red and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. “We will avenge them, Red.” He nodded and we all went our separate ways to have some time alone before we left for the demon city. We were all as ready as we could be for the battle at the Demon City, all we had to do now was wait for sunrise, when they were at their weakest. I found Helen looking up through one of the many hidden holes in the ceiling, looking at where the stars once were. I could see her imagining them there in her mind, and went to sit with her. After a while we both fell asleep, sad for those we lost today, and eager to put a stop to the demons once and for all.
*****
I was alone in my room, resting from the beating I let Baal inflict on me today. I stopped cooperating with him, not giving him any more information, pleading with him that I truly knew nothing, but I think deep down he knows I’m lying. I sensed their presence before I saw them, and didn’t dare move on the bed. I didn’t want them to see me like this. I felt responsible for making them what they are today, and sometimes I am sad about it. Ever since they began visiting me at night, my memories of the past years have been coming back to me. The years I spent in bloodlust, killing innocents fills me with nothing but regret. I can only pray that one day I can see her again, my lovely Hecate. I now know why I made that girl, Helen into a vampire. She looks just like Hecate did, so very long ago. I was in a deep depression when I saw her one night, and past memories took over me. Before I knew what I had done, she was almost dead. Back then, I believed that if I made her into a vampire she wouldn’t leave me again. But it was all a lie. She wasn’t Hecate, no matter how alike they looked.
“Go away.” I told the two in the corner, only I could see them. Sometimes, I felt I was losing my mind. That they weren't real, just ghosts of the past, figments of my crazed imagination.
“Do not despair, Viktor.” The male said.
“One way or another, it ends tomorrow.” She said.
I ignore them until the sun began to rise, and they disappear.
Chapter 23
I’m starting to realize that even though I don’t get sleepy since becoming a vampire, I have been doing a lot of sleeping since meeting Rai. I briefly wondered if I wasn’t really sleeping, since every time I have slept in this new world I visit Viktor with Rai beside me, and we learn a little more each time.
Last night we learned that Viktor’s mind comes and goes, and he is beginning to remember everything he did since becoming a vampire. At first we had believed he truly didn’t know, and now we know the truth. His grief and madness at what was done to him and what he lost made him go into long periods of bloodlust and rage. Eventually, his mind blocked those events in order to protect itself, so he could move on. Only, it wasn’t helping, it just made everything worse. Baal’s torture wasn’t helping him in any way either. If anything, it made our goal all the more pressing. Somewhere, deep in my heart, I felt sad for Viktor. As if he was an old friend I was made to watch to suffer, unable to help.
Today was the day. We were going to go to the Demon City for many reasons; to free any prisoners the demons have, rescue Viktor, defeat Baal and close the portal. Oh, and to defeat as many demons that get in our way as possible. Should be simple. Yeah, right.
I heard Rai let out a soft chuckle at my internal monologue and nudged him for eavesdropping, but not really mad.
We got up and stretched, and went to find the others. Today was going to be a long day.
We found everyone already gathering in the city center, Selena and Alice arriving as we walked up. The gargoyles were ready for a battle; all were clad in various types of armor and weapons.
“So, how are we going to do this?” I asked. “Frontal assault or sneak attack?”
Red smiled a wide, toothy smile and said “They deserve nothing less than a frontal assault. In any case, they will sense us coming a mile away. So a sneak attack would be useless.”
“What about the prisoners? Who will go to them and get them out?” Alice asked Red.
“The gargoyles will charge first into battle, and you four will keep an eye out for the prisoners. One of you will direct me and I will send word to the others as to where they are, and as soon as a gargoyle has freed someone, they will fly them to safety.” We all nodded in agreement. It was decided that since Red was so large now, all four of us could easily ride on his back into battle, at least until we reached the city.
As soon as the gargoyles were ready, we took flight. It was going to be a while until we would reach the city, so I tried to relax a little. Trying to relax on your way into battle doesn’t really work, so we all started trading stories about our lives, telling funny stories to ease some of the tension. Rai and I just listened, not having anything very funny or entertaining happen in our lives. Even if we did, it was so long ago it was a sad memory of our humanity that we didn’t want to think about. Everyone seemed to sense this and didn’t press the issue when we didn’t offer any stories of our own. It grew quiet after a while and I let my mind wander, thinking about everything that has happened since I became a vampire. I was just starting to relax when Red said we were close. The Demon City soon drew closer and closer, and I could barely make out a few tall buildings still standing.
Slowly, and all at once, demons began flying above the city, headed right for us. They too were ready for a battle. Soon gargoyles were flying headlong into the fray, and the weaker demons began to fall. I stretched my senses, feeling the others do the same, all searching for the witches, Viktor, and any other prisoners. The sound of battle was so loud, that we let Rai read our minds to what we were sensing, giving directions to Red with our combined senses. We soon located a building with many witch signatures in them, and Red flew down to let us off.
It was an old, abandoned warehouse, so the doors were big enough for the gargoyles to enter as well. At first we couldn’t see the witches inside, it was so dark. Alice shot a ball of light to the ceiling, lighting up the inside. The witches were all huddled in a corner, all with terrified looks on their faces. There were signs of torture on all of them, and I doubted they could even stand on their own. I felt the familiar sense of power growing within me, and tried to keep it in control until I needed it. When one of the gargoyles told them we were here to free them, they began to weep. I asked where Magnus Lockewoode would be, not seeing him here, and one of the witches pointed to a building next to this one. I sent my senses out and felt him there, but it was faint. He was what felt like a basement, and he was very weak, almost dead.
We watched the gargoyles gather up the witches and fly away with them, and I was glad we got to save some more people from the demons. We headed over to where Magnus was, Rai had to
wait outside because he was too big. We entered the building and immediately found a set of stairs leading to the basement, and descended into darkness.
The first thing I noticed was that the air was foul with the stench of old blood. It seemed this must be the torture chamber. I held my breath, not really needing to breathe anyways, but Alice and Selena weren't so lucky. I could hear them trying not to gag at the smell. Finally, we reached the bottom, and Alice cast a ball of light into the room, showing Magnus in the corner, chained to the wall and half dead. He didn’t even move to acknowledge that we had entered.
Not sensing any others in the basement, we ran over to him and got him loose from the chains, easing him to the floor. Selena tried to heal him, which helped enough that he could open his eyes and see us standing there. At first he didn’t seem to register what was happening, but then he tried to scramble away from us, back into the corner. “Leave me alone! I don’t know anything else about the portal, so your cheap tricks won’t work on me.” He said.
“He thinks we are demons in disguise.” Rai said.
I didn’t know what else to do, so I slowly moved towards Magnus until I was within reach, and got on my knees and gave him a hug. “I don’t think demons give hugs, do they Magnus? We are here to free you. We are with the gargoyles. They are currently flying the rest of the witches to safety.” I began stroking his back and his head, trying to calm him. “You can see for yourself, Magnus, just use your senses.” I felt his magic stir, and he gasped, seeing with his senses what was going on outside. I heard his heart rate speed up and let go of him and stood up. “Now do you see? It is time to leave here.” He looked at me and smiled and managed to get to his feet. We got him outside, Red had a gargoyle ready for him. Before taking off, he told us where the portal was, and to watch out for a demon named Baal.