THE LONG MOURNFUL whine of a horn warns us that death is coming. The ground QUAKES, and the snow is shaken loose from the trees. The mountains are stripped bare.
The tingling is dancing through my skin. The only other time I felt it this way was when I met one redeemed: Monster.
The cold wind carries the scent of human hate. We are not ready. They are coming…
They fold over the hills like a wave of locusts. There must be a few hundred at least. We are outnumbered.
The survivors are only now coming out of their tents. They will soon be overrun. We failed them…
What is Monster thinking? He knows the humans can’t hurt us. (He wants to hurt them on both sides.)
Bits of hate crash into my body. (They have guns.) My mind calls out to the Ghouls, and soon they are in action.
The Ghouls move through the snow like a terrible nightmare, blocking every bullet as I stream my energy to them in a constant healing. The light that is leaving me to them is quickly replenishing in my body.
“BOOGEYMAN!” Monster roars.
His voice carries over the wind like a waking giant. The nearly bare hills shake, with no more snow to fall.
It is now cloudy, and the moonlight that shines through is providing an eerie light show of poison above us.
Red lightning is raging in the sky, and with every crash of thunder, the humans jump.
We are standing in front of the Warrior and the humans to protect them from the bullets.
Monster had to know this was going to do very little, and that’s when I thought about the Demon. Is this a distraction? Is he here to finish the job he started with her friend?
This is not the way the battle was supposed to go. We would have had the trap ready. How did Monster find us? We didn’t fly anywhere; I thought that’s how he was doing it.
THE CROW SOARS ABOVE
“I’m a spy.” Reason yells.
How did Reason read my thoughts?
“How are you a spy?”
“He can see through my eyes.” Reason responds.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“You never asked.” He replies.
My eyes travel over the battlefield; there is a clash happening. The Demon is facing the humans, biting their heads off.
The Ghouls are fighting back-to-back with the Warrior and her humans.
Cowboy is firing his bolts of light from his finger guns. The only one who isn’t fighting is me. I need to be there for the people I care about. Why can’t I see Monster anywhere?
Why is the enemy avoiding me? Is it all in my head? No, some of the humans try to run right by me. I see that Monster told them that I am his.
I send them tumbling to the ground.
I’m falling. Up. I can see Monster on the ground below. Did he throw me? I didn’t even feel it. He is grinning at me through his little boy beard. (Yeah, I said it. Grow up, Monster; you look like you’re in a boy band.)
Look at him down there, quickly shrinking. What did he think he was doing? The air is getting misty and I can feel the radiation all around me.
I have never seen the moon so big.
Oh yeah, he threw me, and I am still moving higher.
MONSTER NEEDS TO BE STOPPED
I open a portal above me, as I am quite high, and I may be on my way to see the stars in person.
Passing through the portal, I come out near the tents. Most of them have been ransacked or torn down; only one stays standing.
How am I going to stop Monster? He is bigger than me, stronger than me; he never had to struggle; he was the type who skated through life without trying. Women went to him because of the muscle, and I’m guessing he was spoiled too.
I don’t think Monster worked hard for something a day in his life. He has no idea what it is to build something in a world set against you. He has never lain awake at night and worried about the future.
“You’re weak, Monster. Give up now while that’s still an option.” I yell out, trying to find him.
Where did he go? He was only ten feet away a moment ago.
“I’m right behind you.” I heard his voice say softly in my ear.
Did I jump? Yes, yes, I did. I did not see him move, let alone come right up to me. I roll through the snow to the right and stand to face him, only to see he is actually further away and closer to the humans.
I didn’t know he could throw his voice.
Some of the humans are down. Their fallen bodies devoid of souls. They lay dead in the snow, bloody snow angels.
I roar out and surround myself in the green light. My feet are a blur beneath me. I run at Monster in full rip and crash with everything I got right into him.
My feet come off of the ground, and I start to turn over, feet in the air. Honestly, it is like I ran into a building made of steel. I don’t know what I was thinking. I need to stop acting out of desperation and start using my head.
I can see his grinning face as mine is coming close to his. The whole top of his head is being covered in a substance; his arms are wiggling around. Oh, it’s the Demon’s mouth.
I crash into the snow and quickly shove a few attacking humans, watching them sail off through the air. Climbing to my feet, I can see the green tears in her eyes. Damn it, I want to help her, and I don’t know how.
I can feel her worry. ‘My teeth won’t go through his neck. I can’t bite his head off.’
The Demon’s body passes through Monster like a ghost. He falls on his arse, wet with saliva from the waist up. His eyes closed. He is contemplating his moment.
I open a portal under him and he falls through. I won’t let him hurt my friends. The portal closes behind him.
I find the Cowboy, and he is otherwise occupied with the attacking humans.
I lower my head, knowing this may be the last time I am with my new family. I rip the portal open and pass through. It closes behind me.
We are alone now. I can see his massive back. Monster stands a little away from me.
“Brave… Or stupid. At least with your friends, their deaths could have bought you some time. Now YOU’RE MINE!” Monster spins around to face me, but I already made some space between us.
He grins at me, and the green lightning dances over his body. He is speeding towards me.
I may have made a terrible mistake. If this is the end, tell them I love them all… And tell them, goodbye…