Chapter 18

Colson and Ivy jogged up the last hill, following the stream and reaching the lake, which led into the waterfall. Reaching the top of the hill, they saw the dull glow of Cassius in the distance. Ivy inched towards the edge and looked down the waterfall.

Seemingly reading her mind, Colson said, "Don't try to jump; you'll probably die." He glanced down; the water reflected the orange light from the setting sun. 'The rays of light are hitting it at just the perfect angle.' Colson's eyes sparkled with amazement as he continued to stare. Beyond that, the forest next to Cassius was alive. The slight blur of movement from woodland creatures darting between trees; a hive of glowing bugs slowly rose into the air, barely able to be seen in the sunset.

"What are you looking at?" Ivy stood next to him, squinting at the forest, using her hand to shade her eyes from the sun.

"It's crazy what beauty that yellow star can bring."

"Yellow star?" Ivy looked into the sky, "Oh, my mom always said the sun was black."

They walked down the side of the hill towards the farm. They found Zoe, she was in the field, holding a jar full of lightning bugs that she had caught. Showing her everything they bought: three walkie-talkies and two night vision binoculars.

"You really splurged," Zoe said, looking at the receipt.

"We should use these tonight and see how many of that gang are around. We saw a couple walking around outside when we came in." Colson said.

"Yea, that's a good idea. Hmm," Zoe said, deep in thought. "We should get on the roofs of the houses and stay low to get a better look. The roofs should be cooled off now that it isn't being fried by the sun."

Zoe looked up, seeing the shadow of a hawk in the moonlight. She continued to climb up the ladder to the roof, gingerly patting the sheet metal on top to check for heat. Ivy bounded up the ladder after her.

Zoe shimmied up the angled roof on her stomach, slowly poking her head out over the ridge. The house had been built on the edge of the river on the east side of Cassius.

She held the walkie-talkie to her ear, "Alright, we're both on the roof."

"Over," Ivy said into hers.

Zoe shushed her and listened intently for Colson's response.

There was a crackling sound, "Uhh, yeah, hold on." There was mumbling and cursing on the other end. "Alright, there we go. Yea, I'm in position near the library. I've seen five people so far; they don't look too tough, we could take em'." Colson said. "I'm still on the lookout for that big dude, though. Honestly, that man is an absolute Neanderthal."

Zoe grinned, "He was thawed out."

Geier opened his eyes. He was sitting around a small table with Marlin and Kurt-Adam.

"Those kids are split up right now. The two girls are on the roof of a house near the east side. The other guy is about a mile or two away from us to the north, also on a roof. We should leave them alone; I doubt they'll be much of a threat. I'll tell-"

He was cut off by Kurt-Adam abruptly standing to his feet, spilling his half-full bottle of alcohol on the table.

"I'll get em' back for last time!" He said, a wild grin on his face. "I'll make sure there ain't nothing left of em'!" He opened the door and disappeared before anyone could say anything.

"Well, there he goes. Should I tell Kiari?" Geier asked.

"He's not as drunk as before, and quite honestly, I'm surprised he can recall ever seeing them—which I might add is a massive achievement—he shouldn't have any issue with some kindergarteners, so I wouldn't bother Kiari," Marlin said as he took a napkin to clean the table. "But make yourself useful for once and keep an eye on him."

"Right," Geier said. 'He's gotta be right; I don't need to worry. They can have a good try, but there's no way they'll even scratch him. I don't think if all of us ganged up at once, we'd be able to beat him.'

The house those three were staying at was outside Cassius and was built near the fields of farmland—several miles away, the very edge of Cassius. Within seconds, Kurt-Adam had made it to the village and was jumping from roof to roof. He landed behind both Ivy and Zoe, who turned with surprise. With a casual backhand, he sent Ivy spiraling off the rooftop into the raging river below them. He glanced at Zoe, who stood staring at him, eyes as wide as dinner plates, her mouth agape. Kurt-Adam stepped forward, making her flinch so hard that she almost fell backward off the roof. He gave her a toothy grin and jumped off the rooftop after Ivy.

Ivy flew down the river, trying to grab onto the slimy edges of the canal to stop herself, kicking her feet to push herself to the top. Her head felt like she did a nosedive off a house into some concrete. She flailed around, feeling her movements slow from the ice-cold water that engulfed her. Her head broke the river's surface, spluttering and spitting out water and taking a quick breath as her body was pulled down under. Attempting to sink and push herself off from the bottom of the river, a strong current slammed her against the side, knocking the breath from her lungs. A dark, flaming sensation shot up the side of her ribs.

Ivy felt something clasp around her shivering body; a feeling of two heated pillows surrounded her torso. She opened her eyes as she was pulled out of the water; two large orange, semi-translucent hands had wrapped around her and brought her to the side of the river. The arms were made with rubber and elastic flowing consistency. Jashin crouched next to her—a light orange aura surrounding him—he observed her quietly. He noticed her wide hazelnut eyes grow when she realized he was the one who had saved her, glancing at his arms which were longer and had been replaced with long glowing ones. They returned to normal, dissipating, as he moved down beside her.

Ivy opened her mouth to talk but winced and grabbed onto her jaw, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. With every breath, she flinched with pain. Jashin cautiously felt around her torso, deducing that one of her ribs must have been snapped. He noted that her jaw was also broken.

What sounded like a cannon going off erupted behind Jashin; as he turned around, he saw Kurt-Adam standing with the same toothy grin. The ground where he stood had been cracked. Fissures ran along the cobblestone path where his feet were planted.

"Say, you give me that Angel's Ring, and I leave all of you alive; how 'bout that?"

Behind Jashin, Ivy slowly raised herself to her feet, fists clenched around her knuckle-dusters.

Kurt-Adam raised an eyebrow, "You're still alive? I guess I gotta hit you harder next time, huh?"

"Ivy, move back," Jashin commanded as he walked towards Kurt-Adam. She reluctantly did as she was told and shuffled back behind a house.

"Here I come!" Kurt-Adam yelled as he charged forwards.

'Wait, what just happened?' Zoe thought, a look of confusion on her face. 'Jashin didn't even touch her; it was as if he used some type of telekinesis with his arms to lift Ivy out of the water!' She took a running leap and landed on the adjacent house, getting closer to the fight. 'That orange light around Jashin, was that what Ivy was talking about with Reiza?'

The walkie-talkie crackled to life in her hand, "Hey! Ivy! Zoe! What's going on?"

"Come to the river!" Zoe said quickly. "Jashin and Ivy might need us soon!"

She landed on another roof, wheeling her arms to keep herself balanced. 'I was useless! All I could do was just stand there like an idiot!' She took a few steps back and launched herself to another roof. 'If I was just as strong as either of them, nothing like this would've happened! Why'd they choose me for this!' Those thoughts exited her mind as she looked across the river and saw Kurt-Adam charging forwards again, his face slightly bruised and his clothes torn. Jashin was totally spotless.

Kurt-Adam put up his arm to block a roundhouse kick from Jashin. Not noticing the translucent hand pulling down his head, making Jashin's knee connect harshly with Kurt-Adam's face. Jashin stumbled backward as Kurt-Adam pushed him, grabbing his face, an angry growl between clenched teeth. He tore away his tattered shirt with one hand, exposing his hairy chest.

Jashin grimaced, 'He could be all but beaten, but I don't want to use up all my energy to do it either. If I'm left vulnerable, then we're all dead!'

A blur fell from the roof above, landing on Kurt-Adam's head, the bokken being stopped by Kurt-Adam's hand before it could go through his eye. He carelessly spun around, trying to throw the boy off of himself. He ran backward into a wall, but Colson jumped away before he could get squished. The wall of the house caved, the brick home shuddered as the wall came down, showering the area with dust. One of the falling bricks cracked Kurt-Adam in the back of the head, briefly stunning him.

"No fair!" He grumbled as he got to his feet. He stomped towards Colson, who slowly retreated. He feinted toward Jashin but lunged toward Colson. Jashin was quick enough and knocked him out of the air with his arms. Getting to his feet again, he turned back and forth to both of them. As he did so, he felt the alcohol slosh around in his otherwise empty stomach. He slapped himself in the face, trying to knock the feeling back into himself.

Walking forwards again, a sudden searing pain shot up his right leg. Kurt-Adam collapsed to one knee as he turned to see Zoe scamper away behind a building, looking down, a wavy silver blade stuck hilt-deep into his tendon. He let out a howl of anger and ripped it from his heel. His vision turned red as he looked at Jashin. He showed his signature toothy grin; this time, his teeth were a steely grey, sharp and clean.

Kurt-Adam stepped forward out of the shadows; the moonlight revealed his muscle mass had increased. Another step forwards—his body was hairier. Another step—he grew a foot taller.

His muscles rippled under his sleek brown hair. He let out a groan of satisfaction, admiring himself in the reflection of a window. Taller, hairier, stronger, his nails sharp enough to cut through steel, his head elongated, and his ears twitched and picked up on every sound. He sniffed the air, his snout wiggling.

Zoe looked from behind the building, covering her mouth so it wouldn't hear her breathing. 'Is that a freaking werewolf! I just need to grab Ivy...no, he'll catch up to me in seconds. What do I do? Think! Think!'

Kurt-Adam, grinned, "This boosts my senses up so much, it's like I'm not even drunk anymore!" His laugh was booming. Jashin knew this was no mere boast. Kurt-Adam was more agile as he bounced from one foot to the other, the wound in his tendon seemingly healed or a non-bother to him.

Interrupting his gloating, Jashin caught Kurt-Adam off-guard by feinting a leg kick into a jab. Kurt-Adam shook off the hit instantaneously, grabbing Jashin by one of his magical arms and swinging him into the side of the nearest building, causing the wall to collapse and Jashin to be fired right through the home's living room. He looked to Colson, whose face had turned pale, and his hands shook as his bokken wobbled in his grip. About to lunge forward, Kurt-Adam felt something bounce off the back of his head. He marched on, feeling the same minor pain again and again.

"What?" He snapped—his voice lower and more animalistic than before—He spun around to face a silhouette, who had taken position several houses away, holding a brick in its hand, ready to throw another one. He squinted, sniffing the air, only then finding out the figure was Zoe. He stomped the ground, the cobblestone cracking effortlessly at his feet. He picked up as much of the debris as he could in one hand and flung the shrapnel at her.

One of Jashin's spiritual hands extended from inside the house, taking the full impact of the stone splinters. He grunted in pain as he looked down at his real hand to see lots of gashes open up on his right forearm and hand.

The squawking of a hawk perched on the roof of a nearby farmhouse caught Kurt-Adam's attention.

"Don't you dare interfere!" Kurt-Adam screamed at it. He turned back to where Colson was just a few seconds prior; he had disappeared, dragging Ivy down one of the many alleyways.

Sniffing the air, the werewolf's howl was one filled with bloodlust. A dark red aura surrounded Kurt-Adam. A miasma of fog slowly set over the village. Quickly catching onto their scent, he bounded after them.

"Turn right." Ivy tried to say, but with her broken jaw, it sounded like 'Tuwn ight.'

"What'ja say? What about tonight?"

Ivy shook her head and pointed to the right; a set of bilco doors led to a basement cellar. One door was slightly ajar, and a woman's voice was hissing at them to hide inside.

He dragged her towards the set of doors. She pulled her hand free of his, he gave her a confused look. She shook her head, turned away from him, and started walking back the way they came.

Before Colson could move, the shockwave of Kurt-Adam knocked them off their feet as he slammed into the ground between them.

Every cell in Colson's body screamed at him to escape as fast as possible, just exit Cassius, and never come back. 'I'm so scared! His bloodlust is so strong I can taste it. It's so rancid!'

Kurt-Adam's dark eyes glazed over both of them with a euphoric glee. The blood-red aura that surrounded him grew in size and intensity. He squinted at Ivy, most of her was blurry but one thing stood out; her brown eyes grew wide, but she didn't scramble away in fear, unlike Colson. Kurt paused, a little respect growing for her.

'That's a damn shame,' he thought. 'Oh well.' He opened his mouth wide, revealing rows of his razor-sharp canines. Kurt-Adam reached out and grabbed Ivy by the neck, ready to crush her windpipe. Ivy kicked and punched against his grip; the struggle was useless against his overwhelming strength and bloodlust.

Slowly choking her before fully committing to breaking her neck. He watched her lips turn blue and her face turn pale as he squeezed. His head bounced forward as a dull thud was heard. His ears twitched, and on instinct, his hand shot out, snatching Colson by the neck, the bokken bouncing uselessly off Kurt-Adam's head.

"Well...now...this will… be...good."

Through her haze, Ivy noticed that Kurt-Adam was almost out of breath. The dark red aura seemed to dim slightly, but the bloodlust remained pure.

A thought from above, 'Side two of six. That will have to do.'

Kurt-Adam's head snapped to the side as his ears caught a slight whistling sound. It was too late to react as a long, thin steel spike embedded itself into his chest. He turned to see a man standing firm on top of a roof. He had long thick dark purple hair—so dark that it was almost black—that reached his shoulders. His garbs that covered his strong slender frame were dark magenta, with his pants being cream in coloration. He had grey steel-toed boots that rode slightly above his knees. His face was somewhat tanned, chiseled, and angular, with cold steel-grey eyes.

Kurt-Adam roared in anger; with all his might, he flung Ivy directly at the man. A one hundred and forty pound, five foot six missile flew at the man who gracefully caught her and set Ivy down gently by his side. She started to cough violently, holding her throat, air finally traveling to her lungs.

With his free hand, Kurt-Adam yanked the spike from his chest, letting it clatter to the ground, he reared back, ready to throw Colson, but another javelin slid silently through the air, rooting itself into his shoulder, causing him to drop the boy, who scrambled backward in a crab walking position to escape.

The man held his palm out, another long and thin javelin manifesting in it. The spike that Kurt-Adam had thrown to the ground disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

Kurt-Adam bared his teeth as he yanked the spike from his shoulder, feeling his arm go numb, a warm sensation spreading from the impact point. He flung the javelin at Ivy, but the man easily deflected it with his own.

'What'd he do? My arm can't move!' He got down on all fours, launching himself towards the rooftop.

The second Kurt-Adam left the ground, he felt a searing pain shoot down his leg as a javelin appeared in his thigh. He landed on his back, breathing hard, rolling to his feet just as another metal spike pierced the ground where his head was milliseconds prior.

He stumbled back down the alleyways towards the river. He looked around, sniffing the air, their scent was faint, but he knew they were still close. Two large orange hands extended from the hole in the nearby home, slamming Kurt-Adam against the wall, shoulder first, making him groan in pain.

"Come out and fight me, you cowards!" Kurt-Adam stepped out into the open near the river, back where they initially fought. He repeated himself again, looking down at his body which had lost most of its added hair, his wounds too severe to be naturally healed by his transformation.

His ears twitched, hearing light footsteps reverberate from the alley from whence he came. The man from the rooftop glided through the misty alleyway into view. Eyes looking through Kurt-Adam rather than at him. As if he was looking at a ghost right behind him.

"You made a big mistake coming down here."

To Kurt-Adam's right, Jashin walked from the hole in the house. He picked up Zoe's dagger, which still sat on the ground, and put it in his back pocket.

"You look like a sick dog that needs to be put down," Jashin said.

Kurt-Adam growled, tensing his muscles; the red aura around him expanded, becoming erratic in its flow.

"So you wanna die first," Kurt-Adam said, turning to Jashin, his bloodlust changing its target and pointing directly at Jashin. He reared backward and charged, moving faster than he ever had before. A tornado of muscle and fur blasted right toward Jashin. He stood his ground as the werewolf hurdled down the cobblestone path.

When the beast was within reach, Jashin extended his magical arms—putting all his energy into one hand—and swung, aiming right for Kurt-Adam's head with all his might. Kurt lifted his good arm to protect itself, but the momentum was too great, snapping his head to the side with a sickening snap, making his vision go white; he kept moving forwards, body slamming Jashin. A crack of a breaking rib reverberated across the river.

Kurt-Adam roared, spraying the area with hot spittle, and launched himself forward. Jashin fell back, the werewolf's jaws snapping centimeters from his face. Kurt-Adam's hand slammed into the side of his torso, fingernails ripping into his skin.

The man from the rooftop appeared behind him, ramming a javelin into the back of his throat. It was as if he were skewering a piece of meat with a fork. The werewolf rolled to the side, holding his throat, the sound of gurgling emanating from his red maw. Jashin pulled Zoe's dagger from his pocket, burying it into his neck as well, seeing panic in his eyes. Kurt-Adam rocked away clumsily, swiping blindly with his arm in front of him.

Conjuring another metal spike, the man shoved the rod at his head, the skull too thick to penetrate, but Kurt-Adam still wouldn't fall; he flailed wildly, stomping his legs, and swinging his unusable arm like a club, trying to get distance from them.

Falling backward, he fell onto the railing on the riverside. He tried to push himself off, but there was a popping sound as the rail gave way under his weight. He staggered as he fell back, flipping around and grabbing onto another rail with a giant fist. Desperately trying to pull himself back up. There was a sound of metal grating as a bolt holding the railing tore and the bar came loose, dropping Kurt-Adam into the river.

A black eagle swooped down from the sky, joining its yellow partner, its eyes trained on the river. Continuously flying up and down the length of the river.

It finally saw something that caught its eye.

Geier opened his eyes. He sat, back breathing heavily; cold sweat ran down his face.

"Wh-what just...He's really dead. I never thought in a million years anyone would've been able to kill him. There's no way! But they did it. Those five just murdered him."

He looked over to Marlin, who had been asleep. He shook him awake, telling Marlin what he saw.

Marlin's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he listened to the whole story. When it was finished, he sat up in the bed, his eyes staring into space. He wiped a hand across his eyes. Geier didn't know if he was wiping the water that was usually there or tears.

His voice was shaky, "So, he's really gone?"

All Geier could do was nod.

His fist slammed against the wall, splintering the wood, "That imbecile! Why didn't he think about me when he...he really just left me…."

Geier wanted to say something to comfort him, but he didn't know what to say.

Marlin slammed open the sliding glass door, walking out of the house.

"Hey! Where ya goin'? Don't do anything stupid!"

"I'm going to speak to Kiari. Then I shall obliterate every last 'thing' here!"