Fox, Satyr, Dragon Pt. 02

An obsidian spike burst out of Branigan's right eye socket and curled back like a ram's horn. It was a miracle he didn't scream but Branigan felt his control disappearing again. He knew he wouldn't be able to get it back this time. The demon was too strong to handle without the chains binding it. The hate he had felt for Lucas had shattered them completely.

Branigan looked at Jack with his remaining eye and locked her in his gaze. He managed an apologetic smile around his large fangs. Out of the three, he knew which one would find it easiest.

Jack shook her head. "No. I can't..."

"Kill me..." Branigan pleaded. "Only... Way..." He groaned and delivered what he felt were his last words. "I love...You...All."

"I'M FREE!" The Demon screeched an obnoxious laugh. " THIS BODY IS MINE NOW!" It spun up into the air and snapped its leathery wings to their full span. "You made a mistake binding your soul to mine, Branigan!" It unleashed some of its hate onto the four Dra, causing them to bend from the pressure. "And what a reunion this is! A Fox. A Sardrakan. And..." It cocked its head and narrowed its snake eyes at Anette and Sasha. "Ha! Well if it isn't the stink of bastard satyr children!"

Anette held her daughter, trying to shield her with her body. As emotional fallout could only be blocked by magical defenses, this act of selflessness was in vain. Sasha felt every bit of what the demon wanted her to feel. "Sasha!"

Her mother's desperate voice reminded Sasha of something she had said in the beginning of the year. If you ever have to pick between saving yourself or saving me, pick yourself. Please. Sasha also remembered the phrase that would activate the safety bubble. It would, at least, stop the familiars from leaving the auditorium. She looked at her mom and memorized Anette's face like she'd never see it again. "I love you, Mom. I am sorry."

Anette frowned. "Sasha?"

Sasha shoved her mother out the door and screamed the security phrase. A shimmering wall descended over the auditorium, ending a foot beyond its perimeter. Natalia, Sasha, and Jack were locked inside with the demon roaring in annoyance.

Anette was left watching.

***

"What the hell is going on?!" Neil came running up the pathway accompanied by Seymour, Gilroy, and Leela. "And why did we have to kill familiars on the way here?!?"

Anette pointed a shaking finger into the auditorium.

"Mother Dra save us...." Gilroy gasped. The remains of his mustache twitched. "It's free."

"Get rid of the security bubble!" Leela exclaimed. "There are students inside!"

"Wait!" Seymour grabbed Neil to stop him. "It's strong enough to hold the demon in there, right?!"

Neil shook his head. "It will fail eventually. If a spell like this was enough to stop something of this caliber we would have solved the problem years ago."

"Then we'll use this time to evacuate the school." Seymour said. "And kill any familiars we missed. But the evacuation will take priority."

"What about those three?!" Anette exclaimed.

"I trust them to hold on." Seymour said. He licked his lips and cast a worried look inside. "We'll have to, at least."

"I will not abandon my daughter!" Anette attacked the barrier with a spell. It dissipated harmlessly. "Father!"

"No, Anette." Neil gulped. "Seymour is right. We will trust those three to hold on."

"Dad."

"I know, Anette." Neil said, straining to keep his demeanor under control. He had never looked, or felt, so old. "Let's hurry. And once we are ready, we can conduct the ritual again. I have studied it just in case."

"But that would kill Branigan!" Leela argued.

"Love." Gilroy said gently, touching her shoulder. "Branigan is gone."

"...He is gone." Leela's eyes misted over. "Right."

"We can mourn later." Seymour said, regretting his callousness but knowing it was necessary. "We need action now. Anette, are you willing to be the new lodestone?"

Anette watched her daughter fighting inside the auditorium. She had sacrificed herself so easily. She nodded. "I am."

"Thank you." Seymour said. "Alright, let's move out. Leela, call Simran. We'll need her help. And see if she can get Arthur to come. They're both too broken to be a lodestone but they can help us fight!"

***

"Fuck off." Jack shouted in frustration as she chopped a familiar in half. At least it was one of the last ones remaining in the room. The security bubble had shut the demon's portals. "You two good?! Four little fuckers left!"

"I'm doing great!" Sasha had been casting Blackvine to keep her despair in check. Spider familiars were dying to a drunk Dra. Branigan... Please don't be gone. Jack and Natalia had, in between attacks from the Demon, filled her in on what Lucas had done. She hadn't seen the hands but she could picture them every time her name casting wore off. But she needed to forget them right now, so she kept casting Blackvine. Damn you, Lucas. I'm going to kill you. "You, Nat?! You good?!"

"YEAH!" Natalia exclaimed. She had entrusted Jack and Sasha with killing the familiars while she kept the demon's attention. Once the familiars were dead, they would attack it as a triumvirate.

"My, my, my..." The Demon snickered as it dodged all of Natalia's fireballs. "You are quite powerful, little Natalia.You truly are that swine Nathaniel's heir. I see what Lucas saw in you." It sneered. "I love a feisty human in a petite body."

Natalia ignored this taunt like she ignored the others and continued defending herself against the spells cast her way. The Demon was aware that its familiars were being picked off. It didn't seem to care, confident in its ability to kill the three Dra eventually and choosing to play with them for now. Natalia planned on punishing its arrogance. She launched more fireballs, purposely aiming them close enough to the Demon's airspace to where it would think the attacks were meant for it.

"You want to become a Demonologist." The Demon said. "Do you want to study my kind? Lock us away or kill us?" It cackled. "Ridiculous! See what happens when pathetic Dra try to imprison their betters? All we have to do is wait for your weak rituals to run their course." It batted a fireball away with a wing. "Or find a little toy to use and chop up the right loved one." It bobbed in the air as it shook with laughter. "Or two! Nathaniel and Auberon failed you all."

Talkative villain. Really? Natalia thought. Branigan would talk right back. He'd laugh and be charming and....He's dead. Oh God Branigan is dead. A few of Natalia's attacks sputtered out meekly into smoke before reaching their target. No. He's not dead. There's a way to fix this. Branigan was wrong. He was WRONG.

He has to be. Natalia begged. It was the last expression of grief she expressed before pushing the heavy chains down. Emotions later. Action now.

"That's the last one!" Jack called out. She swung her sword to rid it of some of the viscous blood. It didn't dissipate like the spider familiars' bodies did. She hadn't turned her sword invisible yet, not wanting to reveal her trick to the Demon so early. There was a possibility it knew due to it being able to see into Branigan's mind, but she wanted to take the chance anyway. If his mind is still there maybe he's not gone.

"Fantastic!" Natalia created a larger fireball and hurled it, her arms the catapult to a flaming boulder. The heat of it drew a fresh layer of sweat from them all.

It completely missed the Demon.

"HAHAAHAHA!" The Demon let its unfettered glee sink into the three Dra. The sickly honey sweetness turned their stomachs from the waves of nausea.

The Demon's laughter stopped when the massive, iron-framed light fixture on the ceiling slammed into its back. Natalia's numerous missed fireballs had weakened the fixture's safety wards, with the final fireball destroying them entirely.

The Demon plummeted with a roar and slammed into the ground, scattering cracks and splinters. Jack cleared the distance to the Demon in seconds by pushing her prosthetic legs to their limits and, with two quick and savage chops, removed the Demon's wings. Jack's arm muscles nearly tore from the strength it took to do the deed. The Demon's deafening screams of pain caused the three to cover their ears.

"You stupid, little, humans." The Demon jerked an elbow backwards into the light fixture and launched it off, barely missing Jack as she retreated back. "I planned on playing with you a little while I waited for this stupid bubble to dissipate but..." It got to its feet, claws growing slick from the black blood streaming down its back and legs from the stubs of its wings. With a vicious smile it unleashed its full anger on Natalia, Sasha, and Jack.

The three Dra were slammed to the floor from it. The hate they had felt for Lucas was a drop in the ocean of what this Demon had. Centuries of imprisonment and resentment for Natalia and Jack's ancestors mixed with its natural born evil. This Demon had the ability to unleash emotional fallout that could kill normal humans and completely paralyze most Dra. Exposed to it for too long, and those Dra would die as well. Jack, Natalia, and Sasha knew they were getting closer to dying with each passing second.

Natalia dry heaved into the small puddle of vomit and bile her face was being forced into from the demon's onslaught. Her stomach cramped in protest and her heart pounded so rapidly it was like it would shatter through her sternum. Her blood felt like it had become sharp iron burs that scraped her veins and arteries with each pulse. Any attempts to breathe the heavy air burned her lungs. She strained her eyes open and tried to see Jack and Sasha with her blurred vision. Jack was somehow on her hands and knees, but she looked just as paralyzed. Natalia couldn't see Sasha. She hoped her girlfriend was simply out of her sight.

How did Bran...Do... This... Natalia's thoughts were equally as scrambled as her body. Can't... Scared.... Scared... Branigan... She cried out like a mad woman. Her mind was going to break from the strain. Impossible...How did he...

She remembered.

Natalia Fox scraped together the tatters of her willpower, focused her fein, and cast her surname. Fox. Her hair ruffled like a playful breeze had danced its way through it. The smell of dirt, leaves, bark, flowers, fruit, and morning dew suffused through her soul like she had become one with a forest. With the cast of Fox upon her, Natalia was empowered with earnest companionship. An equilibrium of life so deep and interwoven that it was felt and lived by all but forgotten. Natalia stood and smiled. Seeing Sasha curled up in a fetal position and Jack's whole body shaking uncontrollably, Natalia told them what to do. "Branigan told us how he stood up to it six years ago. Remember? Names."

Jack Sarkan grinned. Her damned prosthetic made most spells difficult at best. But namecasting? A child with no magical experience could namecast. Sarkan. Like her soul had become hellfire, Jack smelled brimstone and smoke. Unbridled power shook her body now, not the Demon's assault. She felt as though she could alter the world with a gesture. Named after dragons, House Sarkan was a hammer that could beat the universe into whatever form they desired. Jack stood and gave the Demon the finger.

Sasha Blackvine did not want to cast her surname. She had taken advantage of its drunken joy so she could face the familiars but it had felt inappropriate. Branigan was gone. And I got drunk. Sasha wept. No. He's not gone. We're getting him back. And so, she decided upon a different name. It wouldn't be as strong as casting her own, but it would be enough. She hadn't used it before but she had a guess as to what it would do for her. With a shaking breath, Sasha cast the surname of ancient Hindhrani royalty. Malik. Strength, both physical and internal, returned to Sasha. Her soul shined with confidence, the unwavering belief that her path was just and all could depend on her. The Princess of Foxcastle stood with a monarch's conviction coursing through her veins. She flicked her hair back over her shoulder and smirked at the Demon.

Then she sprinted to her diffusers. Sasha began twisting them on to their max setting. They hissed as Sasha's Hellward healing potion came into the room as a green mist.

"STOP!" The Demon stomped the ground as the demon-repulsing Hellward filled the auditorium. The auditorium floor bulged and cracked forward like a splintering wave towards Sasha.

"Nope." Sasha blocked the wave with a defensive bubble. She kept it maintained around herself just in case. "Jack! Nat! I'll keep these diffusers going! You two fight the bitch and get our Branigan back!"

How? Natalia thought as she and Jack immediately jumped into fighting the Demon. She had been racking her brain the entire fight trying to remember something, anything, from her year of reading Demonology books and corresponding with Branigan's father. Her first idea had been redoing the ritual that had sealed the Demon in the first place. But there were too many issues with that idea. She didn't know how to do the ritual. And even if she knew how to do the ritual, she would have to use herself, Jack or Sasha as the lodestone and put them in the same situation that Branigan was in: cutting their lifespan short. Finally, doing the ritual would kill Branigan. This is what had caused her to dismiss the idea entirely.

"Any ideas at all, Nat?!" Jack was up close and personal with the Demon. Her sword had defense runes that would do a better job of keeping her safe than any attempts at casting spells. She ducked a claw swipe and used the flat of her sword to block the Demon's knee. The barb runes engraved into the sword damaged the Demon enough for it to hiss in pain. "Get fucked, sucker."

"I'm thinking!" Natalia snapped.

"No pressure!" Jack kicked the Demon in the stomach. Pain shot up the prosthetic as it strained. Note to self. Don't attack it with my body. The Hellward that Sasha kept misting in the room helped though. Jack could see that the Demon's movements were slower than before the diffusers had been turned on. It was also healing the Dra of some of the injuries they had gotten. "But we also don't have time, Natalia! The Demon is attacking the barrier and it doesn't feel like it'll last any longer!"

"I know I know..."

The necklace they had given Branigan was still on the Demon. The garnet shined and caught Natalia's eyes.

She noticed something odd about the Demon's chest. It was the last part that was still human, with every other inch covered in black, draconic scales. The chains that had formerly wrapped around Branigan were now faint scar tissue in a chain-link pattern. Except over the right side of his chest. The chains remained in that spot, bunched up and writhing in place like a nest of snakes. I heard two heartbeats when I put my head on his chest. The Demon is bound to Bran! She bit her lip. Bran stabbed the right side of his chest for the ritual. I'm sure of it. Her idea was a long shot. But it was all they had. Hopefully the diffusers have made it physically weak too.

Natalia ran behind the Demon, grateful for Jack keeping it preoccupied. Once there, she wove the same vine spell that she had used against Lucas but altered it to account for the warded wooden floorboards. Twin vines broke out of the floor and grabbed the Demon's arms from behind, pulling them back so its chest broadened.

"NOW, JACK! STAB THE CHAINS!" Natalia screamed, tearing the inside of her throat from the effort. "TWIN HEART BEATS!"

As Natalia hoped she would, Jack reacted without thinking. First a feint to the Demon's left to make it pull that part of its chest away from an incoming stab. Then, she turned her sword invisible to confuse the Demon. Finally, she twisted her feint back to the Demon's right and drove it completely through the Demon's chest while it was still frowning in suspicion at the disappearing sword. Hot, black blood sprayed onto Jack's face. The chains in the spot Jack had stabbed disappeared completely, leaving the same chain-link scars that were everywhere else. The necklace was covered entirely with the Demon's blood.

"You..." The Demon stumbled and its face twisted. "What have you... Impossible..." It tugged free of the vines. "I cannot...Die..." Its horn crumbled into dust, leaving behind a gaping hole where an eye should be. The blood was a human, iron-rich, red. "Not to you...Dra..." The Demon fell. Its wing stubs disappeared into cinders and then smoke that smelled of brimstone. Its black scales did the same, spilling to the floor with the soft susurration of a summer drizzle. "....Damn you...Auberon...."

Branigan lay prone with his blood pooling beneath him.

"Bran!" Jack dragged herself to him. She flipped him to his side, taking care to not hit herself with the sword still sticking out of his chest. She felt for a heartbeat and was rewarded with a faint pulse. Simultaneously rewarding and terrifying. "He's alive! But he needs help!"

Natalia finally noticed the professors waiting just outside the auditorium. She spoke the phrase that would undo the security bubble.

Anette used a spell to check on Branigan from a distance. She cried out in relief from learning that he was still alive.

Leela weaved a levitation spell to carefully lift him up off the ground. "I'm taking him to the infirmary! We can still save him!"

She left in a hurry, sobbing with relief that Branigan was alive and fear that he could still not make it.

"Dear God..." Seymour looked around the ruined auditorium. Many student projects had been completely destroyed while others had been untouched. The warded wood floorboards were covered in char marks, gashes, holes, and massive cracks.

"The demon." Neil said. "Is it...?"

"It's dead." Natalia gasped for breath. "Jack killed it."

"Only because Sasha weakened it with the Hellward and you told me where to stab it." Jack panted. Exhaustion tugged at her eyelids. She tried to get up and immediately fell down with a surprised shout of pain. Evidently, her prosthetic had broken from the kick. "Fucking hell!"

"We need to get you girls medical attention right away." Neil helped Natalia up while Gilroy did the same with Jack. "Where's Sasha?"

"She's right..." Natalia pointed to where the diffusers were. "...There?"

Anette ran out of the room with Seymour. "We'll go look for her!"

"Where could she have gone?" Natalia asked.

"Infirmary to be with Bran, maybe?" Jack offered. She kept her true guess to herself.

"Maybe." Neil said. He glanced around the auditorium. "What... What broke the chaining?"

Natalia's resolve fell to pieces and she buried her face in the Headmaster's shoulders. Heaving sobs were her only answer. Neil looked to Jack for a response and was shocked to see the Sarkan in a similar state.

"He..." Natalia wailed. "Lucas...He...Balraj and Alina..."

Jack answered with a finger pointing at the ground a few feet away.

It took the Headmaster and Gilroy a few, exasperated moments to see what she was pointing at amidst the detritus. Then they saw the two hands.

"No..." Neil's eyes shimmered. "They're dead?"

"Lucas said he had their heads." Jack said.

"Oh Mother Dra save us..." Gilroy whispered.

"Natalia, my dear," Neil said. "Are you able to stand on your own? I will retrieve the... I will pick up Balraj and Alina."

Natalia pulled away and hugged herself. Jack leaned heavily against Gilroy, her chin on her chest from how low her head hung.

Neil crouched and tenderly picked up the two hands. The warmth of his palms did nothing to their cold, rigid flesh. Old Blackvine held the hands to his chest and wept like a father.