Whitefield: Shattered Realms

Fight To Finish

Chapter 19

~~ Fight To Finish ~~

Night had fallen completely and the blue crescent moon shone at its peak. An ambience of calmness and serenity was dispelled from the moonlit sky, showering on Huntsville like the morning dew.

A green dirt bike rode fast through the woods, maneuvering through trees and stomps. Kira cuddled firmly to Ian’s waist as they sped through the woods. Ian didn’t slow down, he rode as fast as he could. If in any situation they were to crash, their worn helmets were there to safeguard them. All he had on his mind was saving his little sister, Avery.

Mia’s car couldn’t go fast due to its size, and had to take cleared routes, sometimes turning and turning before heading in the right direction. So, she and Chase were a little far behind.

Then, they heard a loud shout from nearby. Its pitch was as that of a male with deep voice. Ian instantly recognized the voice.

“Peter,” he muttered before turning in the direction of the scream.

He spotted the Mystic wolf towering over the kneeling Peter, its claws drenched in blood.

He stopped his bike and jumped down, immediately taking off his helmet and running towards the scene. Kira jumped down, took off her helmet and ran after him.

“Hey! Hey! I’m here! Leave him alone!!” Ian yelled at the top of his voice as he got closer to the Wolf.

A mischievous smile formed on the Wolf’s face as it heard Ian’s voice. Still staring down at Peter, it said, ““Whelcome. Dhon’t whorry, ii whasn’t plhanning tto khill hhim anhyways. Hhe whas tto bbe mhy bhait…”” it scoffed. ““Bhut ii gueess thhat whon’t be nhecessary aghain.””

Ian stopped some feet behind it and exhaled, “Just don’t kill him. I’m the one you need.”

At that moment, the Mystic Wolf’s crimson eyes glowed bright, its fangs coming out as it smiled, and it vanished with the wind. Peter passed out right after.

“Ian, watch out!” Kira yelled and stepped in front of him, her sword cutting the air diagonally from right to left…

Clang!

Metal met bone, the sword blocking the Wolf’s lunged claw just in time.

If not for Kira’s heightened hunter perceptions, Ian’s head would have been cleared off his neck.

““Ah…. Ahnother hhunter…”” the Wolf smiled, pressing its claws harder against Kira’s katana blade.

Kira held the pink hilt firmly as the huge beast pressured on her. But it was too much, just too much. Her legs started shaking, the bones in her arms tweaking, and she dropped on one knee. Still, the Wolf pressured on, while her body quivered with heaviness.

“Ah!” Ian leapt and punched the Mystic Wolf in the cheek.

But, his hands bounced back instead and he almost lost balance. His face contorted in pain.

The Wolf just looked at him with a raised brow, ““Dhid yhou tapp mhe?””

Ian frowned, “No… I… Never mind.”

‘God, I’m so useless!’, he palmed his face.

The subdued Kira capitalized on the split second that the Mystic Wolf lost its focus when it faced Ian. She pushed forward with all her might, before springing back and landed on her butt. The Wolf didn’t seem worried about it. It was just staring at Ian.

““Soo, ahre yhou ghoing tto layy yhour hhead whillingly or ii khill hher fhirst fhor yhou to ahccept?”” it asked pointing at Kira, who had taken a fight stance.

“I will. Don’t hurt her or anyone else, just bring Avery to me,” Ian tried to negotiate, walking round to stand beside Kira.

“She is perfectly fine. I’d never hurt my student,” the Wolf’s voice, for the first time, sounded normal and feminine. “Just lay down your life and she’d be returned home safely.”

‘Damn! Either way, I die…’ Ian felt disappointed.

“I still can’t believe you’re the same Ms. Selene that looked so beautiful and kind,” he scoffed.

The Wolf growled, ““Bheauty liies iin thhe hheart. Nhever ghet attraacted jhust bhecase shomething’s ghood lhooking onn thhe outsside,” It’s voice returned to normalcy; an undulating pitch and escorting whispers.

“Who are you to preach such morality?” Kira shouted with a frown. “You’re nothing but an apathetic killing machine!” she pointed her sword at it.

Ian looked at her in surprise, ‘Wow. She looks so confident and speaks loud. Does she have a dual personality?’

Not giving it that much thought, he turned his head straight to look at the Mystic Wolf.

‘If I’m to die either way, then fighting back would be the better option. Well… Would have been if I actually knew how to do that. Heh…

‘Kira’s the one standing between me and death right now. But who knows, maybe my supposed Aeonic status could help.’

“Okay, Ms. Selene, it seems I have no option than to make you show me where my sister is. And to do that, I’d have to take you down first,” Ian hollered, cracking his knuckles – that didn’t crack or make a single sound.

The Mystic Wolf scoffed, ““Ffine bhy me.””

Kira brandished her sword, taking a classic fight stance. The Mystic Wolf growled.

~

Slam!

The doors to a black car, slammed shut as Mia and Chase alighted from it.

Mia was holding onto a baseball bat and a flashlight, while Chase held a Taser gun and also a flashlight.

“Hey, wait up!” Chase half-shouted, walking briskly to catch up with Mia, who had sauntered off into the dimly illuminated woods.

“Move fast, sloth-y feet,” Mia replied in her usual mood, not stopping for Chase.

Chase rolled his eyes and ran, before finally catching up to her. Even at that, he still walked briskly like a toddler, behind her. She had shorter legs, yet faster than him. He had always been lazy, never wanted to do anything stressful.

They had discussed with Ian and Kira, prior before now, to split into two groups. Ian and Kira would distract the Wolf, while they looked for Avery. Ian had directed them to where he perceived Avery from.

Their flashlights beamed white light, brightening the path before them as they searched for the little girl.

“You sure this is the right place?” Chase asked, fear slowly seeping into his bones.

“How should I know. Am I Ian?” she replied with an indifferent expression, trudging on between trees.

“Hehe…”Chase chuckled sheepishly. “Maybe I should call him to ask.”

He then stopped, bringing out his phone.

With an exasperated grunt, Mia stopped too and turned to look at him, “Oh yeah! Call him to ask and then the Wolf knows we’re here and rushes here to kill us, then proceeds to kill Ian, then Kira, because our plan failed. Why didn’t I think of that!?”

Chase’s hand was left hanging in the air, his phone held in it. Heh… And he thought he was the most sarcastic one, but she beats him by far. He dipped the phone back in his pocket and sighed.

“Fair point.”

Mia exhaled and drew close to him. She rubbed his left cheek with her hand, her deep sea blue eyes gazing into his brown eyes, “Of course. That’s why you’re the smart one and I’m the cute dumb one.”

She patted his cheek and turned, gradually walking away.

Chase was dazed for a second, before smiling like a baby that had just gotten candy. His smile soon faded when he realized something.

“I’d take it you were ironically speaking!” he half-shouted, walking up to her.

She laughed, “Took you long enough. You really are dumb.”

Chase rolled his eyes, “You don’t have to rub it in, you know?”

She smiled and tilted her head to look at him, before returning her gaze to the path before her, “And cute too,” she shrugged.

They had walked for some minutes, when they heard ruffling noises, that sounded very close by.

Chase tensed up, “It’s here!”

“No, silly. That’s…” she pointed her flashlight at the spot she heard the sound. “… Avery!” her eyes dilated in shock and joy.

Chase gasped and was left speechless.

“We found her! Come on!” Mia dragged him by the wrist and rushed towards Avery, who was trapped in a make-shift cage made of vines. She was gagged with a piece of cloth, torn from her plain blue gown. She held the vines once she saw some people approaching, trying to scream for help through the gag.

“Hey, Avery, it’s me. Sorry it took us so long,” Chase feigned a comforting smile as he crouched in front of the cage. But on the inside, he was hurting. She was only eight years old and had to go through such trauma.

Mia also felt the same, but it didn’t show on her face. Her stoic expression hid her feelings perfectly.

“Okay… Uncle Chase will get you out any moment now,” Chase stood up and turned to Mia. “Got anything sharp?”

Mia just scoffed and brought out a pocket knife from her pocket. She reached the cage and began to cut the vines. They were thick and big, so it took her some minutes to caught a part big enough for Avery to crawl out.

As Avery got out, she hugged Mia tightly. Mia wasn’t that surprised, they had known each other so much that Avery started calling her Ian’s girlfriend. She rubbed her scattered brown hair, before disengaging from the warm embrace. She loosed the gag around the little girl’s mouth and the latter let out a long and relieved exhale.

One thing that shocked Chase was that there wasn’t a sign on Avery’s face that she cried.

‘Wasn’t she scared? Of Ms. Selene? Of the dark? Meh… If she found out that uncle Chase is scared of these things, I’d probably loose my respect. Heh…’

She hugged him too and he carried her in his arms. Though she didn’t cry, she was weak and sad.

“Come on, let’s get you home,” he said as he and Mia walked side by side towards the car..

~

Swish! Swish!

Kira swung her sword to slash the Mystic Wolf. But it wasn’t as fast and accurate like that of her parents, so the Wolf dodged with ease. It was only toying with her before slowly killing her, to spite Ian.

Frustrated with no successful hits, Kira lunged her sword straight to stab the Wolf in the chest. The Wolf parried the sword aside with its claws. But the quick-witted Kira, sharply threw her leg forward, kicking it in the lower torso. It didn’t have any effect on it, and now she was left open.

The Mystic wolf raised its claws and was about to slash her chest, when…

Tink

A small stone touched its head and dropped to the floor. It turned its head to the side in confusion. The almost-dead Kira took some steps back and also turned to see where the stone came from.

Ian was standing there with loads of stones packed in his joined arms.

“What?” he asked, noticing their perplexed expression. “I’m trying to contribute as much as I can.”

““Yhou ahre jhust tooo obthuse tto bhe aan Aeon. I willl ghet bhack tto yhou,”” the Wolf snared and turned to face Kira. ““She’d be fhasteer to khill.””

‘Blazing Radiance!’ Kira said inwardly and concentrated. Slowly, the Japanese texts, triangle and circle insignia on her Katana’s blade, transformed into the shape of a flame.

The Wolf bounced off the ground and descended towards her, its arms stretched out to claw her when it gets close.

“No!” was all Ian could say, he couldn’t do anything.

As the Wolf inched closer in a projectile, pink crackling flames erupted over Kira’s blade and she swiped horizontally at its opened torso and stepped back.

Slash!

A cut was made on the Wolf’s skin as it landed, smoke exuding from it. It roared from the burning feeling around the wound.

Kira rushed at it again, now certain that her attacks would hit…

Bam!

The Wolf swatted her aside with the back of its hand. Kira was sent flying some feet back, before crashing to the floor. The Wolf was now vexed. Its lenient attitude towards her almost got it killed.

Ian ran up to Kira and knelt beside her head.

“Kira… Kira! Are you okay?” he asked, patting her cheeks.

“I’ll be fine. But I think I broke my arm,” she grunted in pain and tried to smile.

Ian looker at her, mad at himself for being so useless. He just pushed her to fight a mystical beast from another world without thinking twice. How stupid was he.

“Stay with me, okay?” he stood up and turned to the beast. “It’s just me and you now, lunatic! Isn’t that why you wanted!?”

The Wolf smiled, ““Ehxactly.””

With that, it dashed at Ian, who was prepared for the worst.

Thoom!

An invisible force field around Ian repelled the Wolf back as soon as its fist came close. It landed on its feet.

‘I see… It no longer works against my claws only, but every part of me. Doesn’t matter, I’ll get what I want!’

Many Runic circles appeared around it and joined to form an armor around its body, shining red and starry. It cracked its neck and bolted at Ian once more.

In proximity, and before Ian could even figure that it was close, it rained multiple punches and slashes with its claws and fists, shockwaves upon shockwaves erupting from the impacts with the force field bubble surrounding Ian.

In contrast to the loud bangs outside, inside the bubble was rather quite, if not too quite. But all the same, Ian was squatted, his arms over his face for protection even though he was protected already. He was only acting on instincts. He then summoned courage and took a peak through his fingers. He saw the Wolf’s fist moving towards him. He winced, extending his arm up to block it out of instincts again.

Thoom!

A repulsive wave was produced, lashing against the Wolf and shooting it back, through two trees, decimating them completely. It collided with the ground with prudent force, a force strong enough to kill over a dozen men if they went through the same process simultaneously.

As it laid on the ground, the armor of runes around it glitches with flickering sparks, before fading off completely. It took it no time to bounce up to its feet again, though it felt a little drained this time. It felt as though, Ian’s bubble had been absorbing its energy while it attacked, then used it launch the attack. Normally, the Wolf wasn’t at full strength. Since when it arrived in Huntsville, to sharing its essence with a Wolf for decoy.

‘Wow! It happened again, just like last time… Does that mean…? I guess I do have powers to fight now,’ Ian pondered, staying rooted to a spot in fear that moving could dispel his shield. ‘Or is it the pendant?’

His mind suddenly spun to what happened early this morning before he left for school. Today was his birthday and his mum was the first to congratulate him, on his bed. His mum had come into his room and sat with him, telling him how proud a mother she was, to see him become a man. Especially his late father. Then she opened a small box in her hand and brought out a pendant of many colors. She gave it to him, saying it was a request made by his father and that he should make a wish before the next day. She also apologized that his father had died so early in his life. Even she herself couldn’t really remember him; it was like a part of her memory died with him. Or maybe all the therapy sessions she did to ease her trauma at the time, eventually made her develop temporary amnesia about her late husband.

He was currently wearing the pendant around his neck; the many colors entwined with each other.

Thud! Thud!

Ian could hear the quick and heavy footsteps of the beast, rushing towards him. He stood bold, prepping to launch an attack with his own will this time.

‘I can do this. I just have to imagine me doing it, and have faith…’

Just then, he saw Kira jump in front of him, holding her sword with her left hand, since her right arm was broken.

‘What the hell! Is she crazy!?’

“Kira, stop! I have this--”

Before he could talk her out of it, she ran towards the Wolf and slashed…

Bam!

The Wolf bashed her out of the way with the back of its hand and she was sent hurling through the air, spinning like a ragdoll before crashing to the ground, bleeding from her head, and knocked out cold.

“No!!!” Ian screamed at the top of his voice, devastated by the gruesome sight of the one he loved.

The Wolf had neared him and was about to attack, when Ian turned straight with bloodshot eyes and pushed his hand forward whilst yelling. The multicolored pendant on his chest glowed in a beautiful radiance.

Boom!

A transparent energetic wave exploded out of Ian as he levitated, and it traveled omnidirectionally throughout the woods. Although, the violent effect of the wave was only focused on one side — on the Mystic wolf. The rest of the wave brimmed with pious auras. It whipped at it violently, ridding it off its energy as it was shot far back, scaling through trees upon trees, breaking them like twigs.

It finally crashed meters away, now as a battered Ms. Selene. She grunted as she squirmed on the ground like a worm in salt. Almost all her mystical energy had been expended.

‘This is bad. He’s already unlocked it. They… Have to know…’ she thought while staggering to her feet.

‘But… They hate… No! Lord Dhamon will be very pleased with this information.’

A wry smile formed on her lips. She managed to raise her left arm straight, opening her palm as a faint runic circle formed before it.

“A’stra Tra’vele!” she muttered in an unknown tongue. Something she hadn’t had to do since she got here, but she was too exhausted to use a mind spell.

Space warped before her, convulsing like a person’s heartbeat, before bursting open into a portal that led to only God-knows-where.

“Dhemistaria awaits you, Aeon,” were her last words before she jumped into the portal and it closed up immediately.

The glowing pendant dimmed. Ian’s feet slowly touched the ground as he saw and heard her leave. Her last words replayed in his head over and over like a loop. It freaked him.

“Dhemistaria awaits you, Aeon.”