CHAPTER 53: 53: DEALING WITH A TRAP PT 5

Drake looked up at the sky briefly before raising his bow. "Don’t get killed. They’re here."

Just as Drake finished his sentence, the doors of the castle burst open; the large wooden doors splintered as they slammed against the side of the stone castle. One fell limply to the side, still attached, but only by the torn hinge, trying desperately to hold its weight.

Out of the open doors, gargoyles poured out like water, their weapons in their hands, ready to fight. Their eyes gleamed with a murderous red light.

Immediately, Drake and Chad began to fire their bows. One after the other, the arrows hit, filling the area with light particles. They kept firing. With each arrow that found its mark, a burst of light particles formed in its place. Fire...fire...fire.... The arrows flew.

The gargoyles that made it past the flurry of arrows, Mike and Renn dealt with. They were an efficient pair. Mike’s sword glowed brightly, lightning traveling along the blade, crackling its electrical blue light. As he swung his sword, clouds of light particles floated around him. More were created with each swing of his glowing, electrical blade. The lightning pulsed, eager to consume its prey.

Renn’s eyes gleamed as she dove into the mix, tearing the gargoyles apart one piece at a time, eating some as she went, to regain her energy as she tore through their bodies. There were no light particles when she killed them. She was a beast of the dimension after all. Her claws dug into flesh like paper, tearing through flesh and bone. Her fangs gleamed as he consumed her prey.

It felt like a never-ending flood. Wave after wave of enemies. They were having trouble keeping up with the gargoyles exiting the castle. As more and more made it past them, Drake put his bow away, uncoiling his whip. After filling it with soft green energy, he calmly stepped out of the shadows, lashing his whip as he did: A steady swing, taking the enemy’s lives with each swing of his whip.

His eyes were steady as he scanned the horde of gargoyles. His movements were calm as if there were nothing wrong. His eyes glowed brightly in the night.

The long ethereal whip struck first, slicing into several at once; A cloud of particles of light formed in its place. The metallic whip followed, slicing more bodies in half, causing the cloud of light particles to grow thicker.

Drake was far better with his whip than his bow. It was his preferred weapon.

Chad kept firing his arrows, not yet ready to enter into the fray. His eyes focused, his bow steady as he fired arrows into the horde. It didn’t matter; he was like a machine gun, shooting rapidly, taking the gargoyles out one by one. Bursts of light particles, like fireworks, surrounded the area where his arrows hit their targets.

More and more gargoyles flooded out of the castle. Drake and his cohort were barely hanging on. Drake wondered why none of them flew. They all had wings after all. Even the three from the group of ten that tried to escape didn’t try to fly away.

With methodical grace, Drake lashed, slicing one after the other, but they kept coming out; a nonstop flood of monsters, swinging their massive swords.

Mike swung with practiced efficiency. He had learned quickly, fighting in the battle at Draco Town; He had learned quickly, fighting the beasts, bandits, and ambushes on the road. His sword was a part of him now, an extension of his own hand. The glowing blade shot lightning up and down the blade, crackling as it traveled. With each swing of his storm sword, gargoyles fell, and light particles burst. His own eyes began to glow with a bright electric blue light. His vision started to change, sharpening with each strike of his sword. He could feel himself getting stronger. He grinned, slicing another head from its shoulder.

Renn leaped with a deadly, enchanting grace; her eyes were blazing with an emerald green shine into the coming flood. Her teeth were gnashing, claws extended as she tore through anything that got close enough to her to reach. As she ripped limbs, clawing heads, blood flowed like water, but the gargoyles kept coming. Bursts of energy rippled through her fur, the green patches briefly changing to orange, then back to green. Her claws grew; her fangs lengthened. The saliva dripped, causing smoke to rise where it dropped.

{Your familiar has evolved: Renn is now level 2}

Drake heard the soft voice floating through his mind, a smile on his lips as he gracefully swung his whip. His beast had evolved. With each swing, the ethereal whip slashed first, followed by its metallic counterpart, taking out layers of gargoyles with each strike.

Chad was still in the shadows, pulling his bow. The ethereal arrows flew elegantly through the air. Each slamming into its prey. Bursts of light particles lit the way, lighting up the entire area with constant bursts of light.

The doors of the castle helped, bottlenecking the gargoyles in. The opening was still too wide, making it easy for them to exit. At least it was the only exit the cohort had to worry about.

Drake scanned the castle with his glowing green eyes, briefly; the dozen inside remained. They weren’t moving, not wanting to abandon their trap. There was more to come, Drake could feel it. Giving only a second, he wondered what else was planned. ’Fly damn it, fly,’ he thought to himself. He needed the bastards to fly.

The sky above darkened, descending on the scene below. Even the sky couldn’t be seen. The shadows of the night sky were closing in, creating a dome around the city.

They kept fighting.

Chad’s eyes focused on the horde, his arrows hitting their targets with perfection. He smiled, he felt stronger, his eyes sharper, and each detail, each movement was easily seen. His eyes began to glow with a soft white light. His energy filled with each kill he made. He smiled softly. Understanding swept through his mind. They were getting stronger. They were all getting stronger.

***

At the computer monitor, back at home, the dimension master and his friends watched the three boys’ battle. The boys fought with elegant grace, their targets vanishing as if they never existed. When Mike’s eyes began to glow, his father gasped in shock.

Then Chad’s eyes followed.

"Their eyes are glowing. You see that, right?" The blond archer exclaimed in shock, standing up and pointing at the screen. "Even ours don’t glow. What’s going on?"

Drake’s father remained silent, watching the fight. He was taking in each detail. He noticed the area around them darkening. The only light was in front of the castle where the boys fought. It was the light particles from the gargoyles’ deaths that lit the area. Without them, the only sight that would be seen would be the glowing eyes of the boys and the beast.

He noticed the beast evolve. It was subtle. The green of its fur, its eyes, and even its saliva flashed orange before returning to green. As the beast fought, he noticed the change. Her fangs lengthening, her claws sharpening. Even the drip of saliva that sizzled on the ground below. The proud look on the beast’s face as she realized she had just evolved. She threw herself into the horde with a renewed vigor.

The brown-haired man stared at the screen, watching the fight. "I don’t understand... What’s happening to them?" he asked, his tone low, nearly in a whisper. The question was more to himself than anyone else in the room.

Drake’s father remained silent, still staring at the scene in front of him. It was as if he didn’t even hear his friends’ worry.

The boys were having difficulty fighting so many, but they all remained calm and focused as if they did this every day. Even the beast was calmly focused, as she was tearing through flesh and bone in a gruesome dance.

The dimension master stared, wondering what was happening. He didn’t voice it, though. His two friends watched as their sons transformed, their eyes glowing brightly as they calmly fought the horde of gargoyles. This was the first time the eyes of the cohort of the dimension master glowed brightly. Something was different about this group. It was no wonder that there were so many trying to stop them from completing the quest.

"I don’t understand," Mike’s father said slowly. He was in disbelief. This had never happened to anyone in his bloodline.

The blond shook his head. "I don’t either." He was in equal disbelief. His bloodline had never experienced it either.

After several moments, the dimension master stood up, glancing briefly at each of his friends before looking back at the screen on Drake’s desk. "I don’t know...I don’t know...I don’t know what’s going on." Confusion laced each word as they flowed from his mouth. "I don’t know what’s going on."