Many facets, my mind holds.

  So many glints and glimmers, I fear my sight lost.

  For light is not the way to see,

  nor shall night illuminate more to life than light!

  I wonder why it is, I, with broken light have vision?

  Yet one without the need to see,

  can be more blind, and a fool than me?

  So much is so little in this life.

  The worm eaten eye… The hole in the hoop… Love is the virus to end it all.

  As the darkness can bring sight,

  can joy cause pain, and suffering relief?

  In my youth, a fool, emotions stronger than my years, and never to catch!

  Alas, I fear emotions run deep at what I once would have felt at your name!

  Fooled all and yourself, you had, with your foolish game!

  For I am remembered of a time, that was so far, it seems a dream;

  where you were not as you are now.

  Where the light was broken,

  my eyes deceived,

  the huntress was not one to pray.

  I wrote not the rules, and at this, I do not cheat.

  I allowed you to win, these feelings not meant for you!

  The way things had gone, the way it became, was thanks to you.

  You, whom our lives meant nothing!

  … At that time.

  No more…

  is the loneliness you felt…

  Not even known to you…

  your black soul was pained…

  Was it like a craving? Unexplainable withdrawal?

  No.

  Need!

  Need is what you felt!

  Hunger is what drove,

  though sated is what you sought!

  For that is the call of Christ!

  Vile wench, how even the wolves abhorred you!

  You, who lie with the sheep, and slept like their own!

  However…

  Even the sheep have their secrets…

  Even a sheep hungers for satiation.

  For love.

  And those desires you exploited…

  The meek, and the weak…

  you had heartlessly preyed upon…

  Foolish wolf! Silly predator!

  Your actions achieved nothing!

  Your pleasure was given to you by your very prey!

  Your lies to seduce and destroy!

  Their truths, to love and forgive.

  Exacting the lies, and owning the choice,

  is the only way to see.

  To accept!

  Close away that darkness, and let the light come!

  Or -

  Continue on with your game to fool the masses!

  Your lies and ploys, to feed their needs!

  The ever gnawing hunger,

  that great gaping hole,

  no lie can fill.

  Let the sheep lay truth upon the deceived.

  Let thee admit your own poison!

  Choose to detox!

  Love is the lifeline we all hold,

  unaware how it shreds the soul.

  Love is the gift, the blessing that burns,

  yet the flame helps us live, to heal, and learn.

  Still-

  A flame without control kills.

  Love with no focus erases.

  Take heed my words, and listen from within!

  Love not the wolf, yet respect the sheep.

  For even the timid is willing to sacrifice for the strong.

  Shall you always live your own lie?

  Or one day, shall I look into your predator eyes with love?

  And see the love and kindness of a sheep looking back?

  A sheep in wolf’s clothing?

  And to once again be reminded of such a memory of a friend-

  of you.

  One whom once bedded with wolves.

  And now fights alongside the sheep.

  Who would we have ever been if you had not stood with us?

  For in all truth…

  I don’t think I ever did not know you.

  For you were meant to be with us.

  Your laughter meant to fill out ears.

  Your smile to bless our eyes.

  Meant for us to lead you to what you always sought.

  And never deserved.

  For us to give you that chance.

  That chance to make that choice.

  And be forgiven.

  Saved.

  If any other decision you had made…

  If not what you chose on that day…

  If salvation not where your flaming hand reached…

  Broken we all would be.

  Your transgressions, we now hardly remember.

  I am glad you found your path.

  I love you, you know that?

  We love you, do you see that?

  And we now all stand.

  Our family of friends we will see this through to the end.

  However abrupt that ending may be.

  ~To Lie With Your Prey, a poem for a once lost shard.

  ~Feldyn Goldchord, the Endless Bard.

  * * *

  Not surprisingly, they opted to steal a decent sized, newer model pickup. The cab wasn’t extended, but the bed was more than large enough for them to all sit comfortably. That left Stryker driving, with a hyper Gigi seated next to him. She insisted at trying to teach him some K-pop songs; lyrics that she didn’t even know herself. The off-key way she sang them made it all the more grating. Stryker couldn’t help but wonder time and again why anyone would listen to that horrible Asian gibberish that this kid was crooning next to him.

  Pulling into Ally’s place, the kids quickly headed inside. Feldyn was concerned; they hadn’t seen so much as one enemy. Reba and Stryker were going over some maps, in a bit of an argument, it seemed. Masque wandered off by himself to stand under a lone tree, with a tire swing that didn’t look very well used. Feldyn opted to go talk to the vampire. If there was something to sense, or an attack about to strike them, it would probably be Masque that noticed first.

  “Reminiscing?” Feldyn teased, stepping up beside the man in black, who appeared to be staring at the tire swing. “In my own way,” Masque replied. The bard wasn’t sure if he was serious or not.

  “Would you hear me speak, elf?” Masque asked. “We have a moment, there are no enemies, and the children should be currently occupied.” The further words from the large man didn’t really help to un-puzzle the bard’s mind. Regardless; “I would hear you, Masque. Even if we had no time, I would still give you this much.”

  With a nod, Masque closed his eyes, and tried to view memory of a time from long ago. “Many of these words I am to tell you, I know through tales, hearsay, and rumor, though I believe their validity, or else I would not bother to speak them. Is this acceptable?” The bard was growing more and more curious. “It is,” he answered, and waited as Masque stood silent for almost a minute.

  “Did you know this shadowcloth is also my skin? When God smote the tower, and sealed us all… the molecules of the cloth merged with my flesh.” He held up his arm, and opened his eyes to look at it. “It was forced to became one with me, by his radiance. Just how or why, I do not know. If I were to guess, I would say it tried to protect me from his light. Which is impossible, and ridiculous to even imagine. Yet it is the only possible explanation I can think of.”

  Masque turned now to look the other way. “On that day, I was man, and I was vamp’yiour’ae." Sensing the half-elf's confusion, "I, and many others, man and elf, were thralls. In short, we were incubators and holding vessels for the virus. We were forced to live shackled and standing in the sunlight of the desert without rest or food. Which was an impossibility the virus allowed. Still ourselves, we were also vamp'yiour'ae, and were so wrapped in shadowcloth to protect us from the burn of the sun. We still suffered the same as any mortal; doing nothing but stand in place their entire life, without the ability to die.” He paused briefly, before adding, “Or go mad. The virus also kept us sane, our minds healthy as our bodies.”

  Having only the basic knowledge of vampires that any Reveiran would, this was something Feldyn had never before heard. Who would? This was Earth history! The true beginning, from the original home world. Spoken from one who was there himself! Which brought to mind some questions…

  “Nin’deaa, was the city where X'al'antra ruled, was always very busy. More so than most, from what I had heard. And where we stood, where I stood, was within the palace grounds. The specific group of thralls I belonged to were X’al’antra’s chosen. The ones to be her next elite guard and soldiers. We saw and heard many things. The vampire queen herself would often come to inspect us, and force us to… drink from her. Incubating the perfect virus is a… slow process.

  “Occasionally, as we stood in the blistering sun, the guards would talk, as if we were nothing but statues. I guess we essentially were. With nothing else to do, you learned to absorb every piece of new knowledge you ever heard, never moving, never twitching. Then, one day, two guards near me spoke of overthrowing the queen. You see, word had begun to spread about Antioch, and his intentions. Many were afraid he would subject the nations, and rule the Earth. It was well known X'al'antra was loyal to him, many seeing her as a traitor for it.

  “When X’al’antra next came before us, I did something none had ever done: I spoke; warning her of what I had heard.” Masque clenched his fists, and snarled. “I should have just let them kill her. She queried the virus within me to see if my words were true. After which, she made me… her pet.” The way Masque said that, Feldyn was wondering if there was an erotic part of this tale. “At night, I would be taken to her side. Upon sunrise, I would return to standing. Her intent was to cultivate me into one of her personal guard. And by me, I am referring to the vampire she was to create from the combination of virus and my body.

  “She gave me extra blood, medicines, performed many rituals, and cast many spells and enchantments, all to strengthen the vessel that was to house her new guard. Then, eventually, the call came from Antioch; for all to gather at his great tower. It was not in his own city, but on land. For even Atlantis could not safely house the immensity of size and power that was Babel.”

  “Wait,” Feldyn had to interrupt. “Atlantis? There are stories of such a city on my world. Varying versions, though each tell the tale of a great city, built upon the ocean, that sank, or of a continent, that did the same.” Masque nodded, “A city. You know of the Flood?” Feldyn nodded. "Did you know there were no mystics until after the waters receded?" The tone in the vampires voice said he knew good and well the answer to his question.

  “After the Flood, God opened the minds of Noah and his family, to understand magic, in order to help them restore the land. God also created beings of magic to assist with the process. Those being were not intended to be permanent, though God left the decision in the hands of Noah, who took pity on the mystics, freeing them to go and live as they saw fit.

  Many years later, when man was again strong on the Earth, stronger actually, there came a man named Lorcresious Kurtooth. He wanted a safety measure in the event of another great flood. God’s promise that he would never again resort to such measures, not being enough. So man made Atlantis, which rested upon the waves of the sea. Or I should say the elves built it. As, at that time, the elves were hardly seen outside of slavery, being the weakest of the mystics. Lorcresious had children. Twins. One of them was a daughter named Kalisyn. The other was Antioch.

  “No one knows what happened to Antioch’s father or sister, nor who their mother was, only that the secretive Atlantis one day announced the building of the tower of Babel, and made it very clear Antioch was the one who now ruled.

  “All the nations gathered, rallied to the call of the great Antioch, in the shadow of Babel,” Masque continued, “The bulk of every army, their rulers, their servants and slaves.

  The vampire began to pace from side to side, appearing very human in action. His voice was still dead. Cold. His motions fluid. His actions, however, were showing more of a person now. Someone beyond the exterior of frozen steel. Even his speech patterns were loosening.

  “All gathered were shocked, and bordering on panic when the skies erupted in the first manastorms this world had ever known. Then angels, radiant and glorious, assaulted the tower.” To this, Feldyn interrupted, “But I thought the manastorms were put into effect after the sealing?” Still pacing, though with a glance at Feldyn, Masque said, “The angels themselves were wielding the storms.” The tone in Masque’s voice carried such weight, Feldyn felt almost smothered by the revelation. How anything could wield a manastorm, he could not imagine!

  “And by the hands of man and mystic, their assault was completely repelled, and chaos ensued. The very stasis of all that we knew, the order of things, was shattered that day!” He ceased pacing, and stood facing to Feldyn’s right, fists clenched tightly. “When people saw how easily the angels were repelled, things somehow spiraled into an impromptu rebellion; blaming God of trying to murder them out of fear of what they could do!” he laughed scornfully. “People have and always will be such fools.”

  Taking a deep, unneeded breath, the vampire continued, “How God’s mortal creation, the ones that had brought sin into this world, so easily repelled the angelic assault; the answer it simple as they can not go past the limits set upon them. A limitation man and mystic did not have.

  “I made my choice, then. I was to die. Die fighting for who I chose to fight for of my own free will. And with that will, I forcefully silenced the pup of a virus I housed, and took the blade from one of my house’s elites, who had fallen near. My nightblade, which I still wield today. Once they were numerous, now I know of no other.

  “Using my new weapon, I freed myself from my bindings, and began to cut down swaths of my former allies, man and mystic, fighting to help the angels. Whatever X’al’antra had done to me had made me strong; though I lacked battle experience, I could stand my ground against lesser enemies.

  “Others also began to ally with the angels. Even the elves, seeing their chance to finally be free, took up arms to fight side by side against those who would defy God. And together, we were winning!

  “Until one of the fallen appeared. The first fallen angel, who was said to be betrayed by Lucifer in his plot to overthrow the Kingdom. The power she wielded, it was of an energy never before seen. And using her new power, she struck down one of her former brothers. Her name is the name of the mother of all the demons, and the creator of witchcraft. Her name is Lilith.”

  Feldyn was so unbelievably caught up now in the tale, he was not aware he had sat down in the gravel, like an amazed child watching a movie that hypnotized them. He was not even aware that Stryker and Reba had wandered over to listen.

  “Angel turned against angel after that, and my own opponents grew more powerful than I could vanquish. Then, I noticed an angel about to be struck down by one of the newly fallen, and without thinking, threw myself in front of the thrusting blade that would have killed him. I felt the blade pierce through my back, and farther, also piercing the angel I was knocked into from the impact. The blade was pulled from us, the angel’s blood mixing with my own.

  “My entire body began to burn with a pain I had never felt. I fell to the side, the angel I shielded slaying the foe that stabbed us. Then, he did something inexplicable. Kneeling over me, he spoke, "As you have saved me, allow me to save you." Cutting his arm, he poured more of his blood into my mouth, forcing me to swallow. That was not all. This angel, who was not yet an archangel, summoned a manastorm into his grasp, and thrust it through me like a blade. Almost immediately, the burning from his blood stopped, and I could feel the consciousness of the virus no more. Not only that, I had become a full vampire; retaining my own soul.

  “He helped me to my feet, and stated, ‘With your newfound power and freedom, fight for the God you love, serve him with all your heart, and all your soul, this I beseech of you... Masque!” The vampire was trembling. “Before then, I had never had a name of any type. In many ways, I view him as my father.”

  “What… was his name?” Reba asked sheepishly. “Gabriel,” Masque answered, and heard Reba gasp.

  “As instructed by him, I used my new abilities, that I did not fully fathom, to fight and slay those I would have easily fallen to before. I fought alongside Gabriel, as much as one can fight alongside an angel, and he seemed almost as surprised as I from my ability to shadowstep, or my ability to manifest a soul weave. I had never known of such things, yet they were as second nature to me as walking, these new strengths. My new freedoms, allowing bounds to be surpassed.

  “Regardless of it all, we were still losing. All of us were losing to those that would defy God. Humiliating…” His voice choked, and for a moment, Reba thought he was going to have another seizure.

  “You hear the term wrath of God, yet experiencing it... The moment when our defeat was imminent, the angel of Lord appeared, unleashing but a small drop of his wrath, not willing to allow the blasphemous, evil fools such a victory.” Masque shuddered violently. “The hand of God was like embracing the sun! These cloths, that were my sign of shame, became a part of my flesh from just a glimpse, as his hand ripped through from beyond the Creation Veil, outside of all this is, all that was, or ever will be. Reality cannot fathom, contain, nor house his true glory. The glory that smote the Tower of Babel also sunk Atlantis to the deepest, most crushing part of the ocean, and crippled and sealed the minds of man, rendering them human.

  “The angels and mystics that sided with Lilith? God marked and cursed them with the mark of Cain. The mark of the forsaken, and cast them to another dimension. A dimension parallel to our reality, spanning all of creation. It is the sewer of existence, where the waste of all things go, as does every soul, inevitably, when God does not call it home. It is the Netherworld. Hell. And they became the first true demons.” Feldyn had been holding his breath. Demons were… once mystics? Lore stated they may have once been angels, but mystics as well? The mark of Cain… Hell… Demons… Lilith… He was fascinated beyond the ability to think!

  “God gave the magic of man to the elves, for he saw they were not like the other mystics. They were compassionate, and did not crave power. He sent them and all things magical to Aethra. The remaining things of magic, that did not get banished to Hell or sent to Aethra, were sealed.

  “And until shortly before the birth of Christ… I, too, was sealed.” Not really a news flash to Feldyn and Reba, but the way it was delivered gave them a chill regardless. “It was Gabriel that released me, and petitioned me to help defend Christ in his early years.”

  It took a moment for them to realize Masque was done speaking. Clearing his throat and standing, stretching his legs, “Masque, that was... astounding,” Feldyn said, and meant it. “The things you have revealed would send scholars on my world into a fit. On this world too, I would imagine!” He didn’t laugh, for he wasn’t joking. “Though I must ask… was it just for me, for us, to know your past, or was there a deeper meaning that eludes me still?” Feldyn inquired, a bit sheepishly.

  Masque looked about to strangle him; Feldyn taking a step back, honestly unsure how he had upset the vampire, when Reba volunteered speech. “I think he was trying to express the situation we are in, the might of our current enemy. Am I right?” Masque nodded, glad at least one of them understood. “I believe God is with us, and we will win,” he said. “Yet I felt it important for you to understand the truth. To know, and understand not just the strength of our foe, but the level of her wickedness. And just what level of blaspheme she has committed.”

  Now Feldyn got it! It was a pep talk! Designed to raise the half-elf’s morale, inspiring him to want to defeat their enemy even more, by knowing the truth!

  It had in no way, shape, or form, come across that way.

  “Also,” Masque continued, exciting the half-elf. There’s more? “I believe you may be able to quit holding back, and use magic.” Feldyn stared at him blankly. Masque almost sighed. “If I am correct, this barrier prevents storms from happening while within it.” Testing his theory, Masque drew his nightblade.

  No storm.

  Feldyn was floored! So, that was what had caused the destruction around the shield! The storms must have been forced outside the barrier, or something similar. That was… genius. And frightening that the Terrors could create such a thing. Even more frightening that God was allowing it. Just where were the angels?

  “Even if I agreed it was safe to use magic,” Feldyn started, “I am not a mage, my friend, nor is this world ripe with mana. It is not like I can just start throwing spells left and right!” It was true, though it was also not the full truth. Lance knew it as well, and for the first time in awhile- dug his claws quite painfully into Feldyn’s shoulder, deep enough to draw blood.

  Which caught Masque’s attention. For some reason, the half-elf’s shoulder had began to bleed. Masque couldn’t see it, but he smelled it. “Are you not a link?” Masque pressed. “Are you telling me that on Aethra, you are no more than you are here? That this is the extent of your powers?”

  Feldyn was about to respond when the kids, sans Ally, walked out the front door. Caleb held a serious expression. “Believe it or not, Ally’s mom is here,” he said to them. Masque had smelled her not long after they arrived. Since she had smelled perfectly human and uninjured, he had not been concerned. It was why he figured they would be occupied for a while. “And she doesn’t seem to be a demon or monster either,” Caleb further explained, and shook his head. “Ally’s mom, of all people, survived.”

  * * *

  For the first time in she didn’t know how long, Jenta was actually starting to get angry with her big sister. After everything that had gone wrong, all her gusto and lectures, she was taking her time with ridiculous games!

  Right now, right this second, Jenta, Zit and their big sister, could go down there to that house the group of ‘heroes’ were at, take the Dragonheart, Aetherian, and the homunculus, kill the others, and be back at the main ritual site, in a matter of minutes. But no, they had to play with them!

  Jen’taa’yi was also beginning to get nervous. Auntie was up to something. It was obvious. Plus, the fact these annoying fuckers Nini kept playing with had managed to survive so long… was troublesome. From a prophecy standpoint. Jenta was not stupid, and she was much better studied than her sisters. X’al’antra cited prophecy for her actions, which was horseshit, since she was trying to fulfill Ulteare Codex prophecies, while mixing in parts of the Kurtin Black, out of context. Which was not how prophecy worked. Either you fulfilled, or you did not. The concept of editing one prophecy with another to fit your desired outcome was, well, stupid, at best. X'al'antra was not stupid.

  “Oo, oo, it’s almost time! They’re almost here!” sister Nini said, far too childish. Zit clapped in excitement. They were all once again perched in a tree, watching the group of morons. Jenta sighed. She didn’t care to hang around for this nonsense. Instead, maybe she could use this opportunity for some intelligence gathering. “I’m going to check the perimeter,” Jenta said, and Iiyni’jeari’eea didn’t even look at her. “Your loss,” she replied instead. Rolling her eyes, Jenta turned to Zit, ‘Do not do anything until I get back. No matter what,’ she mouthed. Zit nodded, looking stupid and clueless. Good enough.

  Without wasting any more time, Jen’taa’yi bound away, heading quickly, but carefully, back up to X’al’antra’s. No one should be there save for new bloods and hellhounds, but Jenta was cautious. She was going back to snoop in areas she shouldn’t be snooping, and if her aunt caught her… Jenta would more than likely have to kill her. Which would seriously fuck things up. It was bad enough what Iiyni’jeari’eea did to their mom, Jenta didn’t need to complicate things more by killing their aunt.

  Even if she was a royal cunt.

  * * *

  Ally had been prepared for almost anything since she made her decision to leave home, and hopefully, her world. The worst her mind could dream up, the most creative disasters and surprises. Penis man-spider had already shown her she wasn't prepared at all. Finding her mother, alive and well, not a monster, dead, or possessed… and hiding in her closet? She had been more prepared for the spider.

  After they had first gone inside, Ally headed to the small laundry room near the bathroom in the upstairs hall. As expected, there was a basket full of clean clothes. Ally’s clothes. Her mom may clean them, but she never puts them away for her. She had then taken a quick shower. Her dad was crazy about things like long shower times, making her adept at being speedy when needed. Bathed and dried in minutes, she just as quickly put her hair in a tight braid.

  Ally had ended up dressing in a black sports bra, black dance briefs, cut-off jean shorts, and a yellow crop-top that said ‘FIERCE’ on the front. Not exactly battle armor, but what else did she really have other than hooker clothes? She didn’t mind admitting it; she liked dressing this way. If they were going to die, she may as well go down looking good, right?

  After all that, she and the others had headed to her bedroom, because Gigi wanted to look for some of her own clothes, and Pazely wanted to see if there was anything ‘cute’ she could wear too. Ally also wanted one of her backpacks. Carrying a box of tampons around was a bit… awkward. And she didn’t exactly have pockets to just take a couple.

  Galina Thompson had gone ballistic on them when Ally had opened the closet door. Hissing, panting, and gnashing her teeth like a madwoman, she bashed Pazely in the face with a shoe, and about stabbed Caleb with a butter knife. He still managed to hold her down, while Ally convinced her they weren’t monsters. With her mom lying in the fetal position on her bed sobbing, Ally had asked for everyone to please wait outside. Gigi was the only one to voice complaint, Caleb carrying the child out against her will.

  Ally’s mom was embarrassing herself quite epically. Plus, Ally had decided to put things to rest with her, here and now, and move on, no doors left open. Her mom had not exactly praised God in joy that her daughter still lived, so Ally figured leaving her here wouldn’t really insult her much. She had lived so far, right? So she could just go back to hiding in the damn closet, while her daughter went out and fought demons.

  “Was this your doing?” her mom finally asked quietly, still lying the same way, not long after the others had left. “Did you and your evil friends call the devil to this town?” Her mother had un-curled, voice full of hate, “Was it all of you that caused this?!”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Ally groaned. “Watch your mouth!” Mrs Thompson snapped. “Watch yourself, bitch!” Ally snapped back. “And while I’m at it, fuck you!” she added.

  Ally had never talked back to her mother. Well, not like that, anyway. She had wanted to do it for so long, fantasized about it. Her heart was pounding, adrenaline making her tremble. And she felt horrible. The words had tasted bad on her lips. Guilt wracked her heart in its fist. Ally had been sure it would feel good, feel amazing to stand up to her evil mother and cuss her out. Instead, it was shame that she felt. Disgust with herself. Because... regardless of the why, it was wrong to talk to your parent that way. Even if they deserved it. Really really fucking deserved it.

  “Where’s Dad?” Ally continued unflinchingly, denying the guilt before it could take over. Her mother froze in the act of beginning to stand, face displaying a confusing range of emotion. Then she lunged at Ally, slapping her across the face.

  For the last time.

  Allyssia slapped her mother in return, hard enough to knock her back to the bed.

  Galina looked up at her daughter, in open-mouthed shocked surprise. “Never will you lay a hand on me again!” she snarled to her mom, shame smothered by anger. “Never will you let someone lay a hand on me again!” Ally stepped towards the bed, and her mother recoiled from the approach. “Now you listen to me, and answer when I speak to you,” Ally stood over her, with all the fury and more that her parents had ever shown her. “The question was; where the FUCK is Dad?!”

  “He, um…” Galina started, with a blink, eyes staring in disbelief. “He had these intestine-looking things burst out of him, and he was, um… He, uh, started speaking in my dead grandfather’s voice and, um, he, uh… Well…” Her mom looked down now, gaze too much like a broken child for Ally’s liking. She needed to grow up and take it like the children had to! “Well, he was a demon. I mean, obviously. What else could he, it… could it be? So I… I cast him out.”

  This story sounded a lot like what had happened with Pazely’s mom. Her dad was a violent, angry prick. And now he was gone; simply a bad memory. However, the notion her mother, one of the most wicked people she had ever known, is saying she invoked Christ and cast out a demon, was unbelievable. Pazely, sure. But her mother?

  “You… what?” Ally asked, breathless. “I cast him out in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Mrs Thompson answered. “And he exploded. Like, splat, boom!” She closed her fists, then opened them to demonstrate an explosion. “I got covered in… parts of your father. Smelling it… reminded me of cleaning rabbit… Always… hated that smell…”

  The teenage girl was shaking her head in disbelief as her mother kept rambling.

  “Then, all the pieces, even the ones on me, all the blood and everything, suddenly rewound all backwards, like it never happened!” She looked at Ally quite calmly. “And there your father stood again, whole and intact. He then called me a cunt in Latin, I believe, bleated like a goat, and went flying backwards all the way out of the house, with the doors opening for him as he went.”

  Galina vomited on the floor.

  Ally was reeling. How could a woman that treated her so horribly, and was so evil, be a Christian?! Had she… was Ally been wrong? Had her mother not been evil but… pathetic? Broken? Had her mother only allowed all that to happen because she was too… afraid, to stop it? How… does one even begin to rationalize that? That someone can be that horrible, not even try to be a decent person, and know Jesus?

  “How?” Ally asked the woman spitting on her bedroom floor. “I mean, how can a monster like you be a Christian?” Ally's eyes filled with tears. “The reason I even got saved, the main damn reason I found Jesus, that I looked and looked, and searched for him-” Ally’s voice cracked and a sob escaped, “The reason I wanted to hide was because of Dad and you!” Ally wailed once. Only once. Her mother threw both hands over her own mouth and sat up as rigid as if she had just been electrocuted.

  And the look in her eyes… The look in her eyes was one Ally had been wanting to see for almost her entire life; one of emotional agony. And guilt. And despair. Oh, how she had longed to say those words of truth, that made her mother realize, that stung her to her core, never to heal again!

  Only... was that what she saw, deep, in those hard, cruel, eyes?

  Ally needed time to think. Rounding quickly, and hurrying for the door - Ally saw it, sitting there on the dresser: her golden bracelet watch.

  Impossible! She began to shiver, reaching for the item. Her breath caught when she noticed it was sitting on a folded up piece of paper, with three letters written on it: RTD.

  RTD was an acronym she had come up with as a kid. It was some silly idea; make a secret code that only she knew, in case she ever needed to send a note to herself. Stupid, right? She was on a time-traveling kick at that point of her life, and was always watching movies, and reading books about it. Even then, the idea embarrassed her, so she never told anyone. RTD - Remember That Day. ‘That day’ was nothing more than a camp out with Caleb, Bryan, and Pazely, yet had been the best day of her life, at that point.

  Now, years later, she stood here reading a note to herself, marked with her secret code, weighed down by an item she had lost nowhere near her home.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Written in her own handwriting:

  ‘Jesus loves you!

  Trust Feldyn, he’s a good friend.

  Forgive yourself when you find out the truth.

  Never give up! No matter how bad things get, never give up!

  Look in the mirror.’

  The writing was sloppy for her, rushed. Almost scribbled. Yet she was sure it was hers. Still dazed, Ally slowly looked up, into the hand mirror she had hanging over her dresser on the wall. Her mind began to clarify at what she saw. Her mother's head was tilted downwards, looking at her hands, but was raised just enough for Ally to see her face. A face with a wicked smirk, eyes cold and excited. The expression was that of a spider that had seduced it's pray into the web. Ally felt another chill. This one was accompanied with a dreadful caution.

  Ally whipped around, and her mother at first tried to go back to looking ashamed, made a few expressions in a sort of a panic, then sighed. “It was always about you,” Galina said, emotions settling on hatred, glaring at her daughter. “Always you. Why did you do it, Allyssia? Why did you fuck him?” Hearing her mother curse was almost shocking enough to ignore the context. Who was she talking about? Did she mean Caleb? She must, for who else had Ally ever had sex with?

  "Was it him? He set me free of it long ago, and I always wondered, but he swore you were not influenced," her mom continued. "You even got your cousin involved. Gigi? I would have understood the twins, but we couldn't even get an appraisal on that little psycho." Her mothers expression changed to disappointment, and she shook her head. "You, with your dark, whore's heart, had the most potential of any of the toys. I would have saved you. Claimed you for her. But no, you had to go and fuck it all up because you couldn't keep your legs closed. You could have had any man you wanted, but you chose to take mine."

  Her mother’s words didn’t offend her. Aside from the cursing, she was used to this. The insults and accusations that made no sense. Ally was done. This was the last time she would ever speak to this woman again. But there was one thing left to do before she left. If this was her last time talking to her mom, than she was going to do the right thing.

  Allyssia Nanastasia Thompson smiled. “I forgive you, Mom. For letting those things happen to me. For turning your back, because you were too afraid.” Her voice was steady, though tears began to escape her eyes rapidly. “And I’m sorry for not being able to be the respectful, perfect daughter you wanted, and God said to be.” With a deep breath, she closed her eyes. Now was the hardest part, harder than forgiving her.

  “And I love you,” she said, forcing herself to mean it, and opening her eyes, looking at her mother one last time. Galina was looking at her like she was the one speaking nonsense. Ally turned and walked from the room, stopping quickly in the bathroom to grab two loose tampons that were in the cupboard (having left the box in her bedroom), and one of Gigi’s old purple plastic-looking kid’s backpacks lying near the front door.

  * * *

  It hadn’t taken long for Ally to come back out of the house. She didn’t look happy- but didn’t look like something had tried to eat her either. “So, now where?” Ally casually asked Reba, walking over to where they all stood by the tire swing. Everyone stared at her in awkward silence, not sure what to say. Should they ask about her mom? And was she really going dressed like that? She wasn’t even wearing shoes! Not that Pazely was dressed much better…

  “Uh, well, uh…” Reba finally answered like a derp. Clearing her throat to more than a few smiles, Reba tried this amazing thing called speech again, “We still need to grab that weapons cache. After, we can check a smaller one near the feed store.” Spoken word successful!

  The distant howl of the lycanthropeire caused them all to freeze. They stood in silence for a moment after, waiting for something to happen. “Well, at least it didn’t sound too close,” Ally said, and forced a cheerful smile.

  ooooooooOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!

  Every on of them cried out, falling to their knees, hands over ears. The deafening squeal that pierced the air was not only was heavy, but felt like a spike shoved through the side of your head. And then the sound ceased abruptly as it had began.

  The group were all trying to stand, legs weak and shaky. Reba noticed blood coming from Gigi’s ears and stood too quickly to go check on the child. Her world spun, and she faceplanted quite painfully into the gravel. “Reba!” Caleb shouted, fairing better than the others; only he, Masque, and Pazely were not bleeding from their ears, eyes, or nose.

  Ears ringing, but hearing still intact, Feldyn noticed it first. The sensation in the atmosphere was like Aethra! He could once again feel the presence of mana! The ninja looked to him, meeting his gaze, which said he too recognized the change.

  “AtchPBLSHT!” Gigi sneezed loudly, stumbling to her butt, Caleb was glad he wasn’t near her. That sneeze was bloody, and disgusting. “What the fuck was that?” Pazely chirped, rather quietly for her, looking around wide-eyed. It felt like she was standing on a boat or something, even though nothing was moving! Ally had gotten back to her feet quicker than most of them, but was shivering like she was freezing to death. Dramatically enough, in fact, the others quickly noticed.

  Obviously struggling to stay on her feet, she shook, and trembled, and gasped. It was Feldyn that reacted first. “Ally, what is it?” he asked, walking -more like stumbling- over to her, head humming. This almost looks like...

  “I h-h-h-have n-n-no idea,” she barely managed to say through chattering teeth. Then she screamed, and arched her back wildly. Fuck! “Fuck!” Feldyn decided to voice, and hurried the last few feet to the girl, barely catching her as she fell, scooping her up in his arms. He was grateful his legs didn't betray him again.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Reba asked from where Caleb had helped her to her feet. Gigi was being checked by Pazely and Stryker. She kept saying she was fine, but was more docile than she should be, and it concerned them. Especially with her eyes, nose, and ears bleeding now. Feldyn felt horrible for Ally, but he couldn’t completely lie to everyone about her current situation. “She has mana sickness,” he said, and Ally arched back again, violently, her entire body tensing and trembling.

  Feldyn almost dropped when trembles turning to thrashes, the another scream before almost fainting. “Probably the worst I’ve ever seen,” he mumbled, face turning scarlet. “We need to get her inside!” Feldyn started to carry her back to the house.

  “Wait, mana?” Reba asked. “Indeed,” Masque answered, taking her attention. “Can you not feel it in the ai-” Masque stood straight, suddenly alert. “Enemies! Many of them!” he stepped back from Reba, nightblade now in hand. They had gotten so close without him noticing them!

  'I am so sorry, Ally,' Feldyn mentally apologized. “To the truck!” he said, running that way now with the teen in his arms. No one followed his lead. “Now!” he yelled, setting Ally in the bed, hopping in right after. “He is right, do it!” Masque snapped, and Caleb saw why a moment after.

  Off behind Masque, on the far side of the neighbor’s property that he could see from here, there were four of them. They were a ways away, but in today’s culture and society, it was hard not to know a moving corpse when you saw one. And, oh, was it moving. “Zombies!” Caleb could hardly believe his own words, as he instinctively grabbed Gigi, before booking it to the truck. “The least of our concerns,” Masque grumbled, bending his knees, not turning around to face the enemies behind him. Stryker and Pazely looked off behind the vampire, and saw the same sight Caleb had. Only much closer. “Motherfucking fast zombies!” Stryker cursed, he and Pazely hurrying to the truck.

  The four heavily decomposed bodies were sprinting like mofos across the field!

  “Drive!” Reba snapped to Stryker as he got in the driver’s seat. “I’m going to help Masque! We’ll catch up!” If they had fast enemies coming, she needed to fight. And she couldn’t do it from the back of a truck! “I suggest you keep moving,” Masque advised, then jumped over her head. She ducked as he collided with a large, winged figure; the two crashing to the gravel, and rolling past the tree with the tire swing; into and over a zombie. The other three undead kept coming. “Dammit, go!” Reba shouted at Stryker, her staff extending in her hand, hitting one of the zombies in the face.

  The terror the kids felt seeing what they saw! These were real zombies! The thing Masque was fighting, appeared to be made of stone, despite it's huge wings and, clunky, fluid movements. It was a gargoyle! A real life, big, stone, Gothic-looking, animated fucking gargoyle; slashing stone talons at Masque that were bigger than his head.

  Over a dozen more zombies now appeared from the trees on the other side of the property.

  Stryker floored it, peeling out and swinging the truck around to face the driveway; easily twenty more zombies began running from the trees all around the area; Ally continuing her thrashing and trembling, Feldyn struggled to hold onto her. Why does shit always happen to them in multiples!?

  Pazely and Gigi both screamed like the girls they were when the first two zombies reached the truck. Caleb almost did too as one somehow flung itself threw the air, over Gigi and onto him.

  Focus, and slay it!

  YOU GONNA DIE, DIE, DIE!

  Caleb grabbed its shoulder and throat as it fell atop him, snapping and biting, no eyes in the sockets, though plenty of bugs, worms, and dirt. The neck was like dry leaves and chicken bones. More of a meaty skeleton than a proper zombie.

  The other zombie (that had been holding onto Gigi’s arm with bony fingers) finally fell away; Pazely holding the other arm of the screaming little girl to keep the zombie from stealing her. Both girls toppled over backwards from the release of weight.

  “Oh, what the fuck is that?!” Stryker bitched, when an obviously dead and decomposing horse came running out of the trees on the left side, then turned to charge directly at the vehicle. The four headless chicken-zombies that followed were not so much a threat as they were ridiculous.

  Relaxing his grip on Ally, Feldyn kicked the zombie in the shoulder that Caleb was holding back, allowing the boy to throw it over the edge; Pazely and Gigi struggled for somewhere to brace themselves.

  Sprinting fast as she could, Reba had seen the zombie horse coming, and reached it barely before the truck did. She shoulder-bashed it to clear the way - moving it about a foot, and about knocking herself stupid. Fuck! She dropped and rolled under the beast, ignoring a headless chicken that was trying to find a way to hurt her – Stryker swerving right at the last second, driving down the three foot or so dirt and gravel incline, into the field that was next to the driveway.

  Grabbing Pazely as they went down the small slope, Caleb also managed to catch an air-born Gigi’s ankle, keeping her from flying out; belly flopping her into the bed of the truck, breaking her nose. “You alright, Geeg?” Caleb asked; Stryker driving in the field, parallel to the driveway, grass higher than the tires. Gigi blinked, confused, blood covering her pretty face. “No,” she answered, and started to cry.

  “Fuck no you don’t!” Pazely yelled at her. “You stayed to fight, you little shit, you don’t cry!” Pazely wanted to cry herself, from how hard she had hit her hip. It wasn’t fucking fair if Gigi could! “I CAN CRY AND FIGHT!” Gigi screeched back in defiance.

  Feeling horrified with his actions, Feldyn had to wrap his arms and legs around Ally tightly to hold her still as she screamed and trembled, fainted and seized. He was trying to make sure her bracelet didn’t come off as best he could. He had noticed before how much she cared for this cheap piece of costume jewelry. If she went out of her way to retrieve it from her house, he couldn’t let her lose it now, even if he broke his bloody back!

  “Stryker, my sword!” Caleb yelled, since it was in the cab. The officer heard him, but there was no time to grab the boy’s weapon. “Hold on!” Stryker shouted in reply, as a zombified Mrs. Troutsdale -Ally’s neighbor- charged in front of the pickup, half her head gone, and holding a meat cleaver. Several rotted and mutilated hog corpses ran with her. 'Don’t make me ram you, don’t make me-' “Shfuck!” Stryker shouted, as Mrs. Troutsdale suddenly threw the cleaver, knocking out the windshield.

  A giant, rotting pig carcass jumped through, landing face first and thrashing, in the passenger’s seat. The old portly zombie woman in the apron, belly-flopped on the hood, sliding almost into Stryker’s face, clawing at his eyes.

  Blindly reaching for it, Officer Stricksent found the cleaver that had gone into the cab, and smashed the remainder of Mrs. Troutsdale’s gray head off. Barely swerving in time to miss a huge rock, he ended up needing to lop off her hand to get her to let go of the windshield frame, finally falling off of the hood, and rolling under the back tire, almost sending the passengers flying again.

  The huge zombie pig was stuck with its face on the floorboard, ass flopping around wildly; harmless, but hindering his ability to drive! “Fuck you, you fucking stink!” Stryker raged, as he hacked away at the putrid pork bottom next to him, gagging more than a few times.

  Seeing an opening, Stryker got back up on the driveway, and immediately onto the asphalt of Westside Highway. “My sword!” Caleb yelled again, and Stryker opened the back window. “It’s under zombie bacon here, get it your damn self!” Looking inside, Caleb realized getting his sword would be impossible until they got the undead thing out.

  Speeding fast down the highway, they were almost to the four corners intersection, where going left would give them a straight shot to the feed store and into town.

  None of them saw the gargoyle that dove into the side of the truck, flipping it into the air, and off the road.

  Relax your body!

  Whoooooa!

  Caleb felt his violent, tumbling momentum stop, and he began struggling to stand without thinking. What the, holy shit, the hell – he stumbled to his feet, still in one piece, just battered. Oh my God, they crashed! Were the others okay?! The pickup was quick a ways from him, upside down and smoking, in the large overgrown field they had crashed into. Praying Stryker wasn't trapped inside, he was looking all around, trying to see where the others had been thrown. Beginning to feel panic, he finally noticed Gigi, closer to the road.

  And a zombie with a long beard was running at her!

  Sprinting frantically, he almost didn’t make it in time to flying tackle the gray-bearded, naked, zombie with the hollow eye sockets. Diving over the top of Gigi, he and the zombie fell, arms and legs wrapping together. The zombie ended up on top, and Caleb was struggling to unwrap himself, and not get bit. That was when Gigi, smashed the moving corpse in the head with a large rock.

  Caleb scrambled out from underneath, and Gigi fell atop of the undead old man, bashing it over and over, caving it the skull, destroying the brain. That universal kill-spot for zombies! Which this zombie apparently didn’t know about, grabbing Gigi’s leg and yanking, landing her painfully on the elbow. She was already in pain almost everywhere from the crash, so what was a little more?

  * * *

  Feldyn was pretty sure he actually had broken his back when he first hit the road; surprised to find he was somehow lying in grass, and not in any overabundance of pain. Curious. “Fuck you!” he heard Pazely scream in rage, and saw a gargoyle flying past above him, carrying the girl by the hair.

  …

  On his feet quickly, eyes locked on the Japanese girl in the sky, the bard watched Masque appear in a pop of smoke near the gargoyle, severing the wings of the flying stone monstrosity with his blade. Catching Pazely, he easily used his netherweave to lower them both to the ground. The giant pieces of stone fell into the field, striking no one.

  Feldyn sighed a sigh of relief, then remembered what was going on! Off to his left, the truck was upside down and beginning to burn. To the right, Caleb was fist fighting a mostly headless zombie, and not having a lot of luck; Gigi crawling around near the combatants, covered in dirt and blood. As were they all, so the fact she was moving seemed as good a sign of her being okay as any.

  Looking back the way they had come, he could see Reba a good deal down the highway, sprinting their way. Where the bloody hell were Ally and Stryker?!

  * * *

  Stryker barely got out from under the damn hog, right as the fire had gotten hot enough to blister his skin, and slid on his back, out of the broken rear window. Getting his feet under him (and grateful he could still feel his extremities) he turned without looking, and hurried to clear some distance. The smoke from the truck was thick now, and the fire spreading to the brush. It was making it hard to see, so he almost ran right into a - a zombie cow?!

  Instinctively shoving to tip it, like any fun-loving country boy would, his right arm went through a hole in its rotten side; torso crashing flush with the nasty mass, it turned towards the rapidly growing fire behind him, his arm still stuck inside. “Fuck animal zombies!” he shouted, the dumb cow running towards the burning vehicle, with him along for the ride. Left hand finally against the cow with some leverage, he shoved, getting his foot up and pushing off, pulling his arm free. Stryker rolled away, then scrambled to a run, the cow continuing headfirst into the now fire engulfed truck.

  About all that did to the zombie cow was light it on fire. It was back facing Stryker swiftly, completely unbothered. Masque chose that moment to appear and slice the flaming bovine to ribbons. Stryker sighed, and looked around. Masque had already dispatched the zombie Caleb was fighting, so he and Gigi were heading over to him. Feldyn was with Pazely, and Reba wasn't much farther, running towards them.

  Where was Ally? Were there more enemies? The vampire was moving around the truck, putting out the flames that had spread. A wildfire would have just complicated things even more. “We should be clear, for the moment,” Masque informed him. Well, that was one question. “Where's Ally?” Stryker asked, and Masque paused for a momentum, growled, and jumped away. "I hate when he does that,” Stryker complained.

  * * *

  Reba squeaked when Masque appeared next to her, picked her up, and went zooming away into the field. When he set her down, she noticed Ally, deep in a patch of tall grass, covered in blood and not moving.

  “She barely lives,” Masque informed her. Reba wasn’t sure if her heart could take much more of this! “Masque, find my bag, bring it to me, I need my supplies!” He was gone without so much as a nod. She stood and urgently motioned the others to her. 'Don’t die on me like this, Ally!' Reba dropped back to her knees, and for some damn reason, her mind took that exact moment to register that the sky was no longer blue, but a deep violet.

  * * *

  “I got her. I said I got her!” Feldyn snapped at Reba, setting Ally down on the counter space Caleb and Stryker had just cleared, at the feed store they had carried her to, on the far side of the field. It was the only building before the two lane bridge over the Cowlitz River.

  Reba said Ally's spine had broke, a lung collapsed, and God only knew what other damage. Luckily, the girl had been unconscious, and not gasping, shivering, screaming and seizing, like now. Masque had returned with Reba’s bag, and she quite literally used everything, save for an all-purpose antidote and a bottle of solvent, to heal the girl’s mortal injuries in the field.

  She woke shortly before they got to the feed store, immediately continuing the screaming and thrashing of her strange condition.

  “Masque, come here,” Reba urged, and he hurried to her side. She took a small map from one of the pockets on her leathers. “Here, and here,” she pointed out, “I have caches. This one is weapons, I’m sure. This is almost all alchemy materials. Both are hidden in stone, and I only have one solvent left that will remove it. Use this bottle and pour it on the stone at this cache. Should be right next to a tree with a small heart carved into it. Bring the entire chest here, then I’ll make another solvent, and have you get the weapons. Can you do that?” He hesitated a moment, then nodded. She handed him the bottle, but he waved away the map, before taking the bottle into his weave, and vanishing in a pop of black smoke. Reba had half expected him to just bust through the ceiling or something…

  Gigi was standing back, hugging Pazely, the two of them watching Reba and Feldyn tend to Ally. Caleb and Stryker had also moved back, to give them space. “She’s okay,” Gigi stated, and Pazely bonked her on the head lightly. “Of course she is! It’s Ally!” she answered the little girl, mistaking her statement of fact as simple optimism.

  Ally shrieked, and arched her back so fiercely that she almost fell off the counter. Caleb and Stryker began to rush to her side again. “Stop!” Feldyn ordered, stepping in front of them, with his back to the teenage girl, blocking them from getting closer. “Feldyn, what-” Reba started. “It’s the mana sickness!” he explained, a pleading note in his voice. “I swear to ye all, she is not in any danger!” She screamed again. “Give the girl her dignity, and get out!” Feldyn shouted this time, tone changing to anger. “Please,” he quickly added, softer.

  No one moved.

  “Reba… can ye remain here, please?” He was hoping if Reba stayed, maybe the others would be more content to leave. “I would explain to you how the sickness works,” he tried to express through his eyes the importance of this, words very deliberate. After a few seconds, she broke eye contact. “Give us a moment, guys. Okay? Go wait in the office over there, or the entryway or something.” The group did as Reba suggested, but not without more than a few grumbled complaints, and a lot of questions involving the word ‘mana’.

  “Explain,” Reba demanded, soon as the others were out of earshot. Feldyn seemed a bit flustered to her; holding the thrashing and shivering Ally in place. “Since that noise, presumably heralding the barrier’s alteration in some form or another, the atmosphere is now rich with mana," he explained with further prompting. "Quite densely. Some individuals are born mana sensitive. Being on a world rich with it their entire lives, they have been acclimated. Until they try to... pool it. To weave it. For ones that are extra sensitive, the reaction can be quite... dramatic.”

  Ally screamed, and appeared to have a brief seizure. Feldyn turned red. “I would say so,” Reba said, concern in her voice. “Feldyn, she is suffering.” He turned even redder now. “Oh, not as much as ye might think. Mana sickness is caused by... Ecstasy, produced from a reaction to in-taking mana for the first time,” he explained. “Ally is apparently very mana sensitive.” Frowning, “I don’t understand,” Reba told the elf. 'She is going to make me have to say it, isn’t she?'

  “Think of it similar to a drug addict that has never before felt their drug of choice, and upon that first high, their mind, unable to fathom the pleasure, expresses it in the only other way it knows how.”

  Reba looked even more confused. “Dammit Reba, she’s screaming in pleasure, not pain! Her body is being wracked with violent orgasms!”

  “Oh.” she said, then looked to Ally. “Oh,” she repeated, as his words registered. When Ally screamed and went rigid again, Reba suddenly felt both a little ashamed, and a bit envious. “Wow,” was all she could think to say after.

  Feldyn sighed. “I am trying to spare her dignity the best I can. Worse, she is likely at least partially aware of what is going on.” Reba blinked, “Still, Feldyn, those screams aren't-”

  “Are not normal screams of pleasure, I know. Screaming is the loudest and most intense expression the body can muster when feeling pleasure. Same with pain.”

  Feldyn’s features sombered, “I have heard of mana sickness incidents where the individual spontaneously orgasmed. Though the normal reaction to sensitivity is a dramatic euphoria: shivering, gasping, acting a loon. A reaction this severe, I've never heard of. It is akin to ones skin being so sensitive, that merely a light breeze blowing across your naked flesh would cause-”

  “Enough with the orgasm talk please,” Reba said uncomfortably. “How long will this last?”

  “Honestly, I do not know. In much less severe cases, I have heard of it lasting weeks. Though I fear merely an hour of this could be deadly.”

  “But you said she was not in any danger!”

  “Should I have just advertised the truth to everyone? Death by violent orgasm?” he glared at her. She looked ashamed and irritated. This was uncomfortable for her, she wasn’t trying to be difficult! “When Masque returns, is there a way you can, perhaps, sedate her?” Feldyn asked. “It may help her body to calm down…”

  With his usual impeccable timing, Masque walked in the front door, carrying an unremarkable brown chest, almost large enough for Gigi to fit in. “I am sorry it took so long,” he ironically apologized, for the mere minutes he was gone. “There are enemies everywhere.” Ally scream-moaned, and trembled wildly. “I did not want to say this before,” Masque began, in a hushed tone, “but I do not believe she is responding to pain.” Feldyn burst into such a fit of laughter, he had to sit on the floor, Reba just rolled her eyes. Masque seemed a bit offended as he scowled at the half-elf. “I am quite serious,” he growled. “Don’t mind him, Masque. He’s a moron,” Reba said, motioning for him to set the chest down.

  Reba was satisfied as she went through the contents inside. There was a decent variety of mats, and a powerful sedative already mixed. This needs to be ingested orally… “Masque, can you help me, please? I need to pour this in her mouth.” He took a step towards Ally, then she moaned, and began shivering like she was freezing to death. “I am not sure I should touch her.”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake!” Reba exclaimed in exasperation, “She’s just having orgasms, Masque, be professional!” That didn’t help to encourage him, as he turned completely around. Feldyn stood, laughter reinvigorated, but calmer now, and helped hold Ally, allowing Reba to pour the sedative in her mouth. “The one time when you being a pervert is useful,” Reba muttered to him. He chose to ignore the comment. “How long till it takes effect?” he asked instead, right as Ally let out one long sigh, going limp.

  “I will tell the others she now sleeps,” Masque rumbled, and walked back out the door, to the covered area between the two buildings that made up the feed store. “I shall join you in a moment,” Feldyn sang, happy the awkward situation was ended, for the moment. "I need to speak with our dear alchemist first." The dear alchemist groaned.

  "Reba..." Feldyn began, trying to find a way to word things, "do you feel... something is wrong. With this situation?" his concerned serious tone kept any smart ass remarks out of her mouth. She frowned, "I'm not sure what you mean." Neither did Feldyn. He tried to explain, to himself as much as to her. "Our... actions. Why we are here. It... does not make sense. When I try to think about it, my head, it feels.. cloudy. Or... at times there is a tingle, or chill, almost like it is in my brain, and it is like I wake up a little, and realize I've been sleep walking."

  He was relieved she frowned in thought, and didn't respond with the usual Reba dismal. "Dad has said similar," she told him. "He also is concerned our actions don't make sense. That, and we can't remember the prophecies." Feldyn stood up straighter, and she noticed. "Do you?" she asked him. "I mean, from what you read?" he wasn't sure what she was getting at, but the excited pricks to his shoulder from Lance said the girl was on to something.

  "I think we've really stepped in it," Reba continued, not waiting for him to reply. "I've always run, Feldyn. My entire life. This was supposed to be home. At least for longer than usual. The storms, you showing up, this prophecy nonsense, the demons- it was my chance! I could finally fight back! Fight for people I lov- care about." She held up her hand, closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. Letting out a long controlled breath, she corrected again, "people I love. I was so scared when confronting X'al'antra. No idea why I did that, but I was so sure I could take her. And then..." she trailed off.

  They were silent for a moment, before Feldyn broke it. "Regardless, we are here now. For good or for ill. I would blame fate, if I believed in such a thing." he sighed, a tremble of fear washing over his body, brain tingling, "I guess we see it through." When Reba didn't say any more, he finally followed after Masque

  “…headshots don’t kill zombies.” Caleb was saying, as Feldyn walked over to the group. “Correct,” the bard answered without asking for context. “A zombie is nothing more than a corpse of some variety, animated by means scientific or magical. To kill it, one must simply do enough damage for it to no longer be able to function,” Feldyn smiled his answer. If reality were only so easy as to have magic kill spots on the undead.

  “Which is the way to defeat pretty much everything,” Reba added, having followed shortly after Feldyn. “Weapons,” she said, handing Masque a vial of solvent from the chest, grateful she hadn't had to stay in there alone and mix more. “Same as the other cache, only this one will be heavier.” Taking the vial from her, he vanished, black smoke in his wake.

  Stryker was still trying to piece everything together, and wasn’t anywhere near as calm as the others. “We got zombies, and those flying things were gargoyles?” he asked. Everyone nodded. “Like those big stone things on churches, that come to life in stories and movies and cartoons sometimes?” Another round of nods. “We don’t even have something around here with gargoyles!” he pointed out. “Probably brought from elsewhere,” Feldyn said, “then animated with witchcraft once the barrier went up.”

  “So now what do we do?” Stryker asked.

  “You said there was magic in the air, or something?” Caleb asked the half-elf.

  The two glared glared at each other as they had asked their questions at the same time.

  “We wait for Masque, gear up, and head out as planned,” Reba answered Stryker, ignoring Caleb. The cop was looking very thoughtful. “I hate to say this now, but I think we have have bitten off way more than we can chew,” he said, and glanced at Gigi. “Aye, that we have,” Feldyn agreed. “And no need to mince words, friend. The child surely understands she may die here, with the rest of us.” No one admonished him. At this point, they may as well treat the her like an equal. She wasn’t, but what could they do? “We are outnumbered, outpowered, and outgunned,” he continued. “And If I had to guess, I would say we are to be ambushed at the bridge.”

  “Why are the terrors or the imps not coming after us?” Pazely asked. “I mean, this feels like a video game. The bosses are all off doing something else while they send stupid little wimpy monsters for us to fight.” She was way more accurate than she knew. “Why? In a game, it’s to gain experience and levels. Y’know, it’s a game, not real life. So what good does it do for the bad guys in real life? I don’t get it.” No one had a good answer for her, as they, in their own ways, thought the same. “For the time being, we should play their game,” Feldyn told her. “As we are the ones who foolishly chose to be in this situation, we might as well see it through.”

  “Are we going to die?” Gigi asked, her voice quiet. Everyone was surprised when Reba was the one to answer, “Some of us, probably, yes.” Masque landed near, holding a huge foot locker, setting it down with a grunt. “I don’t want to die…” Geeg mumbled, and Masque looked up, puzzled. “Then you will not,” he told her matter of fact. “You don’t know that, Masque,” Reba said, and held up a hand when he turned on her. “I’m not being pessimistic; it’s the truth. None of us can take on those imps. Unless someone or something intervenes, I have no idea how we are going to survive this.”

  “Yet here you are,” Masque lectured, slightly irritated. Had she been ignoring his words to the elf? “Yet here I am,” she agreed, with a faint smile.

  “What if we separated them?” Caleb finally voiced. He was messing around with his sword that the vampire had retrieved for him. “Masque has fought the witch queen, and the zombie king, and lived. Hell, I knocked that fat fuck on his ass. Reba, you were kicking the crap out of Rashelle-”

  “X’al’antra,” Feldyn corrected.

  “-X’al’antra. We saw you, it was awesome! And didn’t John seal her? Shouldn’t she be weaker now?” Caleb didn’t look doubtful in the least. Aside from Masque, he was the only one whose eyes showed confidence.

  He didn’t get it; why had they all so readily come back here if none of them thought they could win? “I mean, really, we can do this!” Caleb urged. “If they haven’t killed us yet, they need us alive for some reason. Let’s just get over the bridge, and see if, I dunno, we can maybe piss one of them off to come attack us alone? Then we gang up on them. They wanna play it like a game, well, so can we! A party of heroes versus one boss at a time.” He was grinning now, far too excited.

  And his stupidity was infectious. Which, in this context, was actually a good thing. They were in need of a morale boost.

  “If the half-elf would use magic, our odds of success would be even greater,” Masque stated. “I told you, I am not a mage!” was Feldyn's agitated retort. “There is magic in the air now or something? Mana, you said?” Caleb asked. “Yes,” Feldyn answered. “I know not how, but there is a large amount of mana in the atmosphere. ‘Tis the sudden change that made Ally sick. It is not lethal for her, it simply means she is very sensitive to mana.” Feldyn hoped they left the part about Ally at that.

  “Is having mana in the air a bad thing?” Pazely asked. “It means the enemy can use magic with much less effort. This barrier is also preventing manastorms from happening while inside of it,” Feldyn explained. “Doesn’t that mean we can use magic too then?” Pazely squeaked the question. “The girl is wise,” Masque complimented. “I am?” Pazely squeaked higher, and Gigi giggled. “No, you are not,” Feldyn said firmly, glaring at Masque, and inciting a cackle from Gigi.

  “You are a bard,” Caleb interrupted, as the half-elf and vampire looked about to start shouting at each other. “Are you telling me a bard from a world of magic can’t use magic? You can’t sing songs and play instruments that cause magical effects? Strengthen your friends, weaken your enemies, nothing like that?”

  “Do ye see an instrument in my hands?!” Feldyn barely kept from yelling the words, and Lance dug his claws into his shoulder. “It is not that simple!”

  “Why?” Reba asked.

  “Why? Let me ask you all, if you knew you could murder someone and get away with it, is it not still murder? Just because the storms will not trigger, does not change the fact that God is the one to say no magic on this world! Are ye not concerned that going against such is a sin?”

  “Since when do you care about sinning?” Ally asked, walking up behind him.

  He was glad for the interruption, everyone hurrying to the girl, bombarding her with questions of how she was doing, and expressing their relief she was okay. Feldyn did not actually believe it would be a sin for them to use magic. Not in this situation, especially not for him, an Aetherian, a link. He was more than capable of weaving some spells, and also do exactly what Caleb had implied. In fact, he had a rather decent trump card up his sleeve… But… there was a reason he didn’t want to use it. What was that reason?

  Fear.

  If he was not strong enough… Not good enough… Then it would have been for naught. If they saw what he could do, it may make them too lax, thinking he could carry them all to victory. But Feldyn knew better. He knew he was all ego. Could he give one of the Terrors a run for their money? Larry, yes. Shuzariel? Maybe, if he got the drop on her. X’al’antra? Doubtful. She was an ancient demon. The only reason Reba and John did what they managed, was likely due to the Vampire Queen holding back, and underestimating them.

  If Lance were to reveal himself, it would help, but only minimally. Lance was very powerful in his own way, but combat was not his forte. If one of the enemies were to even graze him with a passing blow, it would probably spell his death. Lance was also the only one who could reopen the portal. If he died, or his collar was damaged, then what? Also, due to the barrier suppressing storms, if Lance quit suppressing the mana leak, they wouldn't be safe. However, the chance of morale tanking when they found out another had been with them this entire time secretly, was high.

  All of that said, and every excuse aside, why he, and the ones that knew what the demons were planning, justified coming back, still made jack all sense. It was true, stopping them would be good. But running for the hills would be better. For succeed or fail, the Terror's terror would only go so far, worst case causing a regional disaster. Which begged the question: why were they even doing it?

  The tingling in his head came back, this time violently enough to make him gasp, spreading down the back of his neck.

  “I’m sure Feldyn has a reason,” Ally’s words startled the bard from his startle, as she replied to something he had not heard, “we should trust him.” When he looked at her, she was looking right into his eyes. There was… no lie in that look. No manipulation. She… meant it.

  “Are there weapons in there?” Ally asked, before anyone could start arguing, motioning to the big foot locker. “Unless I seriously screwed up,” Reba told her, and the group filtered over to it.

  Ally stepped over to Feldyn who stood behind the others. “Ally, I’m-” he started, and she held up a hand to silence him. “I know, thank you.” She wasn’t looking at him. “And if you ever wrap yourself around me like that again, I may have to kill you.” Ally didn’t blush in her words, but Feldyn knew the girl was horribly embarrassed. He laughed. “Perfectly understandable!”

  “Mana sickness, huh?” she said in an exhalation of breath. “So what does that mean? I’m a slut for magic?” She did blush now, and not able keep a straight face anymore, laughed. “Oh, Ally. Is your promiscuity really such a surprise?” Feldyn asked. She punched him in the shoulder, and giggled. “Don’t be a jerk!”

  Feldyn had never seen her like this. She seemed so… happy. Was this the mana sickness? He wasn’t sure, but he would enjoy it while it lasted. He liked Ally anyway, but seeing her all smiles, blushes, and giggles? It was a nice change. Maybe if -when- they lived through this, he could see her happy more often.

  ... Until he left her. Left them all, with Caleb, back to Aethra… After that... would she ever smile again?

  “Hey, Ally, there are throwing knives in here!” Pazely called to her, and she practically skipped to her friend to go look. Feldyn forced his dark thoughts down. There would be time for that later, right now there was more pressing matter of not dying.

  One by one, the group got geared up. Feldyn ended up with a short sword and stiletto. Pazely took the other short sword, Ally being content with throwing knives. The knives were on a band that was designed to wrap around your thigh. It was too big for the slender teen, so Reba was working on adjusting it. There was also a bandoleer of grenades (marked with the reality corrosive symbol) which Stryker took, and a huge handgun with avenger markings.

  That was it for weapons, but it wasn’t everything. There were dozens of bars of gold on the bottom, underneath a few layers of black and brown leather pieces. Reba said gold was a very good material for her to break down into other things, so she kept it around as a raw ingredient. The leathers were her special memory leathers, which reacted to the body they were designed to fit, tightening as needed.

  Reba used the gold and leather to fashion Ally’s leg band of avenger knives. She even offered to reinforce the bracelet watch on her wrist, but after inspected it, was surprised how durable it already was, and asked if she could analyze it later. Reba also used the material to make a belt to hold the small silver gun from the earlier cache, which they had given to Gigi. The child needed a weapon, and this would at least keep her at range, and was small enough for her to hold. Stryker took a few minutes to make sure she knew how to use it.

  Everyone outside now, standing in the gravel, Reba handed out two vials of an orange-ish liquid to each of the kids, one to both Feldyn and Stryker, and none to Masque. “Healing potions. Best I can do on short notice.” She shrugged, bag hanging over one shoulder. “I’ll make more once we are somewhere secure. Those should be enough, but don’t use them unless you have to! And let me warn you, they are not refined, and will itch like nothing you have ever felt before. Pour them on external wounds, drink them for internal damage. Got it?” Everyone nodded, putting the potions in pockets and bags.

  “Do you know where we are headed?” Stryker asked her. She nodded, “Behind the grocery store, one of the houses has a basement with a hidden safe-room.” She got a few weird glances. “Hidden means some weird locations, people. Hiding a hideout in someone’s house, who doesn’t even know about it, is a pretty decent hiding spot!” Reba defended herself. "It's a bit of a pain to get into, and has no supplies, but any port in a storm, right?"

  “Everyone ready?” Feldyn asked, and all said they were. So, as a group, they set out walking towards the bridge.

  All were on edge as they neared, and began crossing. Masque had not sensed a thing, having more trouble than usual catching scents. He figured it must have something to do with all the mana.

  They had almost cleared the two lane bridge, when Masque finally sensed the danger. From either side of the road a couple of blocks down, right before the police and fire departments, eight black-robed figures had appeared. The group froze as the figures turned towards them and removed their hoods. At this distance, only Masque could make out their features, and he hissed. Vampires! They began running for the bridge, fast.

  Netherweave flaring, Masque charged, intercepting them in an instant, large black katana sweeping the air – and all of them dodged! Four of them continued their run for the others. The four Masque was fighting moved strangely; they appeared almost to blur; movements quick and sporadic, he couldn’t properly anticipate their actions.

  “Get ready!” Feldyn told the group, as two of the vampires jumped off to the sides on the dike, next to the bridge on the far side, and just stood there, the other two stopping in the road. Stryker aimed his gun at one of the ones in front of them. on the road. Then, all four began to weave their hands around in the air, their mouths moving. And it looked wrong, like a video on fast forward. Unfortunately, Feldyn knew all too well what he was seeing. All eight vampires were under the effect of -at least- some type of haste spell; the four much farther down the street were distracting Masque, while these four could move into range to block them and begin casting.

  “Magic!” Feldyn shouted; the two vampires in the road ending their short chants before the ones to the sides on the dike. Extending a hand, palm forward; each blasted a bolt of wicked lightning. Both bolts missed their foes as the heroes all dove to the sides. Stryker recovered the fastest, firing three times, hitting one of the teenage vampires twice in the chest, and once in the face, tearing huge holes through his torso and completely destroying his head. Yeah, Stryker was gonna like this gun.

  No sooner than Feldyn was on his feet, the vampires on the dike finished their castings- and exploded. Not like a damaging, forceful explosion, but a gory splat. Likely a mana backlash. Which generally happened if too much mana strain was placed on the caster at once, or a spell was interrupted mid cast. It was a very novice mistake, and was practically unheard of for properly trained casters. Backlash generally was no more severe than mild manaburn. You would have to take in and misuse an insane amount of mana to explode, or have a very high tier spell interrupted for a severe backlash.

  The other vampire in the road was grinning like a fool, easily dodging the bullets Stryker was now firing at him, not being caught by surprise like the other one had.

  “How do we fight magic?” Caleb asked in a grim voice, sword in hand, frozen with indecision. Reba was to his left, staff crossed in front of her, Pazely near her, wondering the same thing as Caleb. Should they just charge in? There was only one left in front of them now anyway, the others fighting Masque.

  Feldyn was too concerned with what the ones on the side had cast to answer the teenager’s question. There had been a loud humming, which ended in a thump, right when they exploded. The bridge was also vibrating beneath them during the chant, though the others hadn’t noticed. “We need off this bridge now, something is beneath us!” he warned.

  Stryker was reloading, and the vampire in the road began casting again. Masque finally dispatched one of the four that were doing nothing but antagonizing him. Ally threw one of her knives, hitting the remaining vampire near them in the chest, interrupting his spell. “Go!” Feldyn shouted, as one of the vampires near Masque came rushing at the bridge in a blur, and jumped, flying like a rocket, and landing behind them. Reba turned, staff twirling and spinning, engaging the vampire, not having any better luck than Masque. Though, this one seemed to be slowing down, which may have been why it left the battle with the black-garbed superior vampire.

  “Raaaaaa!” Gigi cried, having made up her mind from where she had been sitting, wide eyed. Pulling her gun and holding it like Stryker had shown her, she charged off of the bridge, shooting at the vampire in the road. “Gigi, wait!” Stryker shouted, trying to grab her.

  Then, Stryker noticed the movement off the left side of the bridge as soon as Feldyn noticed it on the right.

  A ninth vampire, that had stealthily made her way close, used that moment of distraction to jump straight up from behind a large fence, just off the bridge to the left; the city shop yard.

  Reba, still fighting her opponent, never saw the vampire that had jumped in the air and began hyper speed casting. She also never saw the tarantula-looking spider that was large enough to take on an elephant, climbing over the left side of the bridge, nor the crab that was equally large as the spider, climbing into view up the dike, on the right side. Stryker cried out a warning, as did Feldyn.

  The casting vampire opened her eyes and finished the spell- right as Ally hit her in the face with a throwing knife, a fraction of a second too late to stop the fireball.