The Macabre Omen and the Cerulean Countess

"Shien? My little chickadee?" Isrina panicked as she ran across the darkness. "Where are you? My little chickadee?"

Soon, Isrina saw her son in his virtual attire. Shien lay on the ground with his eyes closed. His beaten face was full of dried blood and bruises.

"Oh my god!" Isrina knelt to Shien, holding him up. "My little chickadee?"

"M… mom…" Shien slowly opened his eyes. "Mom? I'm… I'm scared..."

"Shien!" Isrina cried as she hugged him tightly. "I'm right here! I will protect you till the end!"

"Mom…" Shien struggled as Isrina stroked his face.

"Who did this to you? I will beat them!"

Shien sobbed as Isrina hugged him harder. The two cried with each other.

"It's going to be okay, my little chickadee," Isrina caressed Shien's head. "Shien, you're my treasure. I love you so much. I will never leave you behind."

"Mom… he's… he's coming…" Shien said.

"Who? Who's coming?"

"The… the Eszkeios… He's too powerful..."

Suddenly, Shien was coughing non-stop, thrashing from Isrina's arms.

"Shien?" Isrina tried to hold him.

Shien was screaming in agony as he continued to thrash away from Isrina. He started to levitate. Shien squealed as he vomited thick black smoke into the air. Isrina saw three female figures emerge from the dark miasma that pushed her away.

"What's… what's happening?" Isrina trembled in confusion.

She looked at the women that spiraled about Shien's body. One of them was wearing an earthly brown robe and a skull mask with horns protruding out of her eyes and nose. Her hood was surrounded by elegant rings of jewelry along with a shiny emerald in the middle. The woman had a spiky orange necklace that was shaped like the Sun.

Another wore an icy blue robe and had a skull mask as well. There was a bird's skull with little wings attached to her hood. Her hands were harps with sharp fingers while her third fingers were elongated long blades. She kept on groaning.

The last one wore a dark gray robe and had a rotten Vulpi tail full of insects. Unlike the other two, her head looked like an Anubis with large pointy ears and snout. Her red eyes gleamed with evil as her snout melted with dark liquid. The snout opened with monstrous fangs, crawling with black scarabs.

"Get away from my little chickadee!" Isrina gnashed her teeth, charging at the women with her UICA sword.

She slashed her blade at the horned woman. The lady in earthly brown pointed her third finger at Isrina, releasing a bloody pentagram shield that deflected Isrina onto the floor.

"His... His blood…" The horned lady hissed. "Yes… His precious blood..."

"It brings us..." The woman in blue spoke like a child. "It brings us life…"

"Finally… We are reborn!" The Anubis lady echoed with the sound of rustling bugs. "The Omaunukai shall return!"

***

"Dr. Niang? Dr. Niang!" Isrina felt Oreic shake her. "You there? Wake up, good Doctor!"

"Shien!" Isrina screamed.

She looked next to her to see her unconscious son leaning on a bookshelf.

"Thank God!" Isrina cried as she hugged Shien.

"Dr. Niang!" Oreic nudged her. "We gotta get out of here!"

"Why?" Isrina carried Shien.

"They're too many of them!" Rahim ran to the group with Naphthien, turning back to fire his shotgun behind him. "They found us! Wake up!"

"Huh?" Niode rubbed his eyes, gazing at the window. "It's still dark though."

"Just wake up, Niode!"

Naphthien thrashed her two chain and claw whips behind the group as Oreic and Nashura quickly woke up the Shuruukos. Nashura picked up the unconscious Mivangeline, telling Niode to carry her.

"Um, okay? What's happening?" Niode panicked as he held his daughter.

"What… what are those?" Tetsuyin saw red eyes moving about the bookshelves.

"Stealth hounds, very dangerous. We need to get out!" Master Oreic said. "Want me to carry your son, Dr. Niang?"

Would Master Oreic understand my nightmare? Isrina held Shien tightly. I remember him telling stories about the Omaunukai Klan. Perhaps he could explain to me what my dream means after all this.

"Nash, you're with me!" Oreic ordered. "You and I will cover them from the front!"

"Okie," Nashura replied.

"Ugh, guess we gotta deal with these wolves again."

"Nani? Nani?" Lansen waddled about, clueless of what's happening.

"Mrs. Shuruuko," Nashura picked up Lansen to give it to Tetsuyin. "Can you carry your trash buddy?"

"Um, sure," Tetsuyin nervously nodded.

"Konnichiwa, Shuruuko-Chan!" Lansen flapped his wings on Tetsuyin's arms.

Naphthien swung a chain claw behind Tetsuyin. Tetsuyin screamed as Naphthien's claw strangled the stealth hound from biting her leg.

"Go! Go!" Rahim spun a scythe to block the incoming laser fire from the stealth hounds' blasters.

Oreic and Nashura lead Isrina and the Shuruukos across the maze of bookshelves as Nashura's parents protected them from behind.

"I sense, they're in front of us as well!" Oreic warned Nashura.

"Wut do we do?" Nashura drew her sabers. "Dad says we can't see them!"

"They're invisible?" Niode sweated. "Then how does your dad see them?"

"Rahim's goggles can detect any wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum," Isrina said. "Perfect since stealth hounds constantly change their visibility to any wavelength."

The Vultau master stopped the group as they saw sets of red eyes scrambling about the shelves ahead of them. The spectral stealth hounds jumped about the floor, flickering their visibility.

"Reveal yourselves, cyborgs, who hide in the shadows!" Oreic made a quick sequence of Tai-Chi moves into a Brush Knee stance, facing his right palm out.

His palm released a fiery air across the library, revealing the stealth hounds from their invisibility cloaks. The hounds cringed within the flaming light.

"Ooo, cool!" Nashura said, blocking the stealth hounds' laser fire. "That's a big help!"

"Let's move!" Oreic spun his flaming saxophone bo staff, smashing a stealth hound down. "There's a stairway across this floor!"

The gang rushed through the library for the stairs as Master Oreic and the Murhavs protected them from the savage wolves.

"Isrina!" Nashura slashed a stealth hound that pounced for Shien and Isrina.

"Thanks, Nash!" Isrina replied.

Naphthien spun her chain claws around the group, protecting them from the hounds' blaster attacks.

"Waah!" Niode flinched at the sight of fangs jumping to his face.

"Stay alive, Niode!" Rahim threw a shuriken at the stealth hound before it could chomp on him. "If you die, we can never get to Choro Emplexion!"

"We can lose them at the stairs!" Oreic crossed his hands, commanding a surge of fire to clear the path of stealth hounds in front of them.

However, the group heard booming engines that made the floor rumble. They looked at the window to see a red-eyed gunship shaped like a hammerhead shark. It grinned with its metal teeth. The two mounted laser cannons on its hammer-shaped head faced the gang.

"Sphyrnidae gunship!" Oreic pushed everyone into the stairway. "Don't stop!"

The shark-shaped aircraft fired its huge cannons towards the gang. Master Oreic spun his flaming staff to protect his friends from the plasma fireballs.

"I don't like this!" Tetsuyin screamed with the roaring explosions. "Why is this happening to us?"

"I'm sorry, Tetsuyin," Isrina scrambled down the stairs with the group. "I'm sorry you had to see all of this…"

"It's not over!" Oreic yelled from the back. "The hammerhead is coming back around!"

As the group rushed down the circling stairs, the sphyrnidae gunship hovered down with its rectangular eyes watching them through the windows. Naphthien swung her chain claw at the gunship's right eye. The gunship roared, squirming its large shark-shaped body. Naphthien glared, pulling her claw back to pluck the machine's eye off. The hammerhead emitted a bone-shaking howl as it flew away.

"Nice one, Naphthien," Rahim rubbed Naphthien's back. "You still got your touch."

She winked as she took the machine eye off her claw.

"Are we safe now?" Niode huffed and puffed, carrying Mivangeline down the circling stairway.

"I'm not sure," Oreic looked at the windows. "Hammerhead gunships are usually aggressive…"

The one-eyed hammerhead soared from afar. It growled, activating its missile launchers attached to its fins, firing a swarm of spinning missiles at the group.

"Incoming!" Master Oreic yelled, facing his palms out.

Closing his eyes with concentration, he created a fiery shield to protect them from the explosions. However, he couldn't stop the missiles from destroying the stairs below them. The group screamed as they fell toward the ground with the incoming rubble.

Everyone fell onto the hard floor with a thud. Oreic flipped back up, making another quick series of Kung-Fu moves. He faced his palms at the incoming rocks, crushing them into ash.

"Ow…" Niode was still holding onto Mivangeline with his hands trembling. "What did I get myself into?"

"Niode-Kun," Tetsuyin crawled up to him, shaking her head full of debris.

"Heya, Tetsuyin," Niode struggled to make a smile.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Lansen squirmed under Isrina's stomach. "Desert robin too heavy!"

"Heavy?" Isrina woke up to grab Lansen, shaking the bird-shaped trash can. "I didn't make you so you can insult me! Huh? Shien?"

She saw Shien lying next to her.

"My little chickadee!" Isrina threw Lansen at Niode's face.

"Itai! Itai!" Lansen shook his metal feathers as he sat on Niode.

Isrina hugged Shien tightly.

"Ugh, getting a bit tired," Oreic brushed the dirt off his red robes.

"That gunship's looking for us," Rahim peeked outside a wall crack to see the hammerhead's left eye scanning the ruins with a red light. "Let's get out in the opposite direction."

The group picked up their weapons, getting back on their feet. They ran through the dark hallway full of bookshelves, tattered furniture, and a circular receptionist desk.

"Good," Rahim loaded his shotgun as he analyzed the lobby with his goggles. "No stealth hounds here. Hope it stays that way. I will lead this time, Master Oreic."

Oreic nodded.

Who were those women? Isrina worried, almost tripping off a pencil. What were they doing to Shien? The Omaunukai Klan… The Eszkeios… they're just stories! Aren't they? Does the nightmare mean anything? It's not real, right?

The questions stormed through her mind. She could feel her arms aching from carrying Shien too long. Her hurting arms trembled with Shien slowly dropping off her grip.

"Got him!" Master Oreic caught Shien from falling onto the hard floor. "Dr. Niang, if you need a break, I can always carry your son. Remember, I'm a veteran at it!"

"Thanks," Isrina shook her arms from the tension.

When Shien was a baby, Oreic loved to carry him. He would make silly faces to make Shien laugh, rock him back and forth, and tell him stories of the Vultau. Isrina lost count of how many times Oreic carried her son ever since the Middle Eastern Smite. Master Oreic even helped her train Shien for about 15 years. After all, Oreic promised Isrina, vowing to protect her son from Fanghui.

"He's gotten bigger!" Oreic chuckled, holding Shien in his arms. "I remember last time I carried him, he was like a wee baby!"

"Mmmhmm," Isrina nodded. "Thank you, Master Oreic, for helping all of us, especially during our crisis in Europe all those years ago."

"Ah, yes! Always a pleasure to be working with the great grandmaster Isrina Niang of Kung-Fu!"

Isrina smiled at the Vultau master but looked down with a frown when she remembered Shien's beaten face in her dream.

"I can tell you were holding him tight," Oreic twitched his Vulpi ears. "I sense something's troubling you deeply."

"Um, yeah. I… I had a… bad dream…"

"Goodness, I never liked those," Oreic chuckled to cheer Isrina up. "Wanna talk about it, good Doctor?"

"I saw-"

Oreic suddenly ran in front of the group, stopping them from walking out of the library front doors.

"What is it, Master Oreic?" Rahim looked around to see if there were any stealth hounds.

"Did you feel that?" Oreic asked.

Everyone stood still. They could feel a snowy wind blowing through the building cracks and doors onto their skin. However, the wind was not the only thing they felt, but their hearts felt as if they dropped cold. The air around them turned misty white and blue. The gang felt goosebumps numbing their entire bodies.

"It's… cold," Isrina saw steam come out of her mouth.

"What's… um…" Niode struggled to keep Mivangeline up on his arms. "Why is it… so cold now? It's still summer."

"No way…" Rahim chattered his teeth. "I haven't… felt this cold… since…"

"Sychrom Takoizu…" Isrina shuddered.

"Who... is that?" Nashura asked.

"A powerful Shin-Kaminari… Amitonyx's right-hand man who mastered the Palms of Ice… the techniques of the Panthereal Shiva…"

"But your husband… didn't he already kill that beast before Amitonyx burned everything?" Rahim asked. "Unless…"

"Someone's out there!" Oreic pointed.

The group shivered their heads to look outside the front doors of the library. There were ravaged hotels, hospitals, and restaurants outside in the nighttime as the misty winter wind howled. A girl stood on the tattered streets, facing the gang within the cold mist. They couldn't explain how but the group could feel the ominous winter coming from the young lady. She was wearing a dark blue overcoat along with a green shirt and gray skirt. She had deep blue hair with a turquoise flower ornament on the right side. Blue quartz crystals were erupting from the street around the mysterious girl. The entire group huddled together, afraid.

"No..." Rahim held his wife and daughter with his trembling hands. "The… the Cerulean Countess?"

"Crap..." Isrina had a feeling she may know who the mysterious girl would be.

"I can… I can feel…" Oreic felt his Vulpi ears and tail frozen by the cold. "One emotion… from her…"

"W… what?"

"Anger… especially towards you… Dr. Niang…"