Full Moon Strays Ch. 08

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Evil Alpaca
Evil Alpaca
3,660 Followers

Croc appeared. He never would have believed that such a timid creature would be so effective in combat. He heard a voice in his ear.

"And this is when she's hesitant," Anya told him. "You don't want to see her when she's mad."

They heard someone scream from the building. It was Nat.

"They've broken the perimeter!"

"Head back!" Croc yelled upwards.

Jane wasn't waiting. Red was in there. She tore through the tree tops, swinging and pulling her way to the stairs leading to the second story entrance. There were some human looking things with long teeth . . . vampires. Natasha had one in a headlock while Snake shoved one over the rail and to the floor below. Johan lay on the stairs, bleeding from multiple wounds in his neck. Jane felt a cold chill when she arrived. She knew he was gone.

Croc helped Nat dispose of her two opponents while Anya was still reaching the entrance. Jane came in through and access window and noticed that several of their enemies had gotten inside. Red had broken from her post to deal with them.

Even someone who hated to fight couldn't help but admire the almost graceful way that Red fought. She was as smooth as a stream but as powerful as a wave. She took out a vampire and some slimy bipedal creature in a matter of moments. A hellspawn tried to attack her from behind, but it was captured in eight magical braids of hair and smashed against the ceiling. Red turned and smiled. Jane had been watching her back.

The fight didn't last much longer. The attackers had thrown everything at the defenders at once, walking into the fortified area with almost reckless abandon. Soon, the only thing left was the clean up.

"This makes no sense," Tarloh said. "This was one of the clumsiest attacks I've ever seen."

"Not so clumsy," Talia said, tears in her eyes as Johan and two harpies were laid on the ground. The allies had suffered losses, and it pained the survivors to see their friends laid low. Shield stood over his long time friend and just looked angry.

"What the hell were they trying to do?"

Croc walked to the center of the room, dragging a heavily wounded vampire with him. "Maybe we can . . . extract . . . some information from this one."

Red stood over him, then looked at Jane. "Babe, would you mind checking outside? Take Mindy and Talia with you. You probably shouldn't be here for this."

"No need," the vampire coughed up, an odd smile on its face. "I'll tell you what you want." It then coughed up some blood.

The Strays and Raptors looked incredulous. This was getting weirder and weirder.

"I don't trust it," Besla growled. "It is in alliance with the enemy. It has to be."

"I . . . was," the vampire growled. He looked at Croc. "You were touched by it, weren't you? I can sense it." The vampire was staring at Croc's useless eye. That was when Croc noticed that BOTH of the vampire's eyes were blood red.

"You've seen it?" Croc said, shivering in spite of himself.

"Yes. More of it than you I should . . . (cough) . . . think. It called out to those it could . . . to those of us that were weak. It came in our dreams . . . made us promises . . . it was impossible to resist."

"If that's true, it's gotten stronger since your encounter with it," Tarloh told Croc.

"No," Jane whispered, burying her head in Red's chest. "It's just gotten closer."

The vampire laid its head down. It was dying, and yet felt nothing but relief. "I see its lies now. In death, I will be beyond its power." It looked at Red, the life draining from its eyes. "Don't listen," it hissed. "Don't listen to what it promises you. There is a price." Then the prisoner died.

Chris was looking at Croc. "So you got touched by this thing, hunh?"

Croc looked back. "Yeah, but I never heard any promises."

"How do WE know that?"

Anya looked vexed. "Chris, if Croc was working with them, we'd be dead right now."

"Maybe," the wereboar said, then turned away and went to help with the dead.

"It's okay," she told the assassin. "He's just angry."

Croc was less willing to let it go, but he didn't push the matter at the moment.

Red looked at Tarloh. "We can't wait. We've got to seal up the dimensional weak spot, and we've got to do it now. If it's powerful enough to exert its influence in this world, then the Elder God is way too close for comfort."

Tarloh nodded with a heavy heart. "Lothar, do you have an idea how to use that thing yet?"

Lothar was holding the Heaven's Eye. "I . . . I think so. I just need to match my will to this thing's, and then convince it of what I need to do. But I won't be able to do that until it's time, and I'll need to be able to see it."

Croc stepped in. "I can open up a hole, but it won't last long. Normally, I just slip through, but the principle is the same."

Red looked outside. The sun was getting ready to come up. "If we wait until night, it'll have a chance to find more forces. We're tired," she said, looking at the throng. "We're hurt. We've been back on our heels for months. And we've all lost people we care about," she added softly, looking at the dead. "We bury those that fell, and then we go to finish this. By tonight, we'll be dead, or we'll have pulled off the impossible." She walked over and picked up Johan. Besla and Otlivant picked up the fallen harpies and sent their comrades to build pyres. The Raptors burnt their dead, sending their ashes to the sky the loved so much.

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A few hours later . . .

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The crowd walked or glided in silence. Walking to the gates of Armageddon seemed to have a sobering effect. Lothar was staring deep into the Heaven's Eye. He'd wanted to be part of an adventure. He was beginning to wish he had nothing to do with it.

Croc and Anya walked next to each other. Chris hadn't spoken to either of them since the accusation earlier, and it was eating Anya up. But she didn't know how to approach him, so she decided to wait until after this was all over.

Red walked hand in hand with Jane. Red was almost ashamed to admit to herself that she felt relieved. She was just along for the ride on this one, and she had meant what she said. They would win or lose in a matter of moments. No more waiting and then, one way or the other, she would get some rest.

Jane wanted to kiss the warrior goddess she had become so dependent on for her happiness and sanity. Only one thing kept her from doing so. It would be too much like saying goodbye.

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A little while later . . .

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There was no noise around the mineshaft. It seemed like a lot of vegetation had died, and the local wildlife was nowhere to be seen or heard. There would be moments where the air was still, and then there would be an apparently random gust. The temperature shifted from too hot to too cold in minutes. The rules had changed in that little corner of the universe.

Lothar stood facing a spot that Croc had pointed out to him. He was sweating. He was terrified beyond normal comprehension of the word. This isn't what he thought he would be doing since he first discovered his talent for magic. He thought it would all be about cool tricks and impressing chicks. Facing down unimaginable evil with an untested magic had never been part of the plan.

Red hated this. She felt about as useful as a knife with a bowl of soup. She walked over to Lothar and put a hand on his shoulders.

"Sometimes, the heroes don't get to choose. They just get chosen."

"Thanks," Lothar replied, his voice hoarse. He looked at Croc. "Now's as good a time as any." He wished he had something cooler to say, seeing as it might be the last thing ever said.

Croc concentrated. He would've like to get a boost of energy for this from Arthur, but the healer was standing near Lothar, ready to feed him as much energy from Nat as he could. Jane too. The young woman was almost petrified, but she wasn't ready to give up on the world that she had just found a place in. Red's past and present lovers had both shown themselves to be in possession of great power. Everyone wondered if it would be enough.

The assembled crowd watched as Croc reached into the air. It shimmered around his hands. Then a thin line appeared, which quickly expanded and filled with a blinding light. That's when things went wrong.

A roar was heard by the Strays and Raptors. It was unlike anything any living thing had ever heard. It was pain . . . madness . . . fear . . . It was, in fact, Chaos. Chaos had a voice and then, it showed its hand. From the breach emerged a pitch-black tentacle came shooting out, reaching for whatever or whoever it could.

All the allies were hearing voices in their heads, but they didn't seem to make sense. They wondered how long those creatures that had attacked the Den had been exposed to those voices. They couldn't give Chaos another chance.

"LOTHAR!" Red screamed through the buzzing in her own head.

Lothar snapped from his amazed stupor and concentrated. Getting the Heaven's Eye to do what he wanted was like trying to hold on to a greased pig . . . difficult at best. He looked through the Eye and saw where the fabric of existence for Chaos's dimension had grown weak enough that it was beginning to poke through.

The tentacle was frenzied. It lashed out, heading right for Anya's head. Croc screamed, but he couldn't stop what he was doing. Anya thought she was done for. Then Chris leaped in the way.

Chris was bound and determined to be the one to save Anya. The tentacle made direct contact, but didn't smash him like he had expected. It past into him. Then he heard Its voice very clearly. Somewhere between a whisper and a roar, It made him promises. Give into It, and Chaos would grant him everything. Even as his left eye filled with blood, Chris couldn't help but listen to it. It promised him peace . . . love . . . fame and fortune. Then, it promised him Anya. The object of his infatuation would have eyes only for the wereboar. And for a moment, Chris wanted that. And that was all the time that Chaos needed.

Red watched as Chris turned. The man who had once been her trusted friend had been transformed. His eyes were both red now, and his mouth was opened in a maddened snarl. And he was charging Lothar. Chaos knew that the sorcerer, along with that accursed orb, could banish It back to Its prison for an eternity.

As Chris charged, Red stepped forward to meet him. Both lycanthropes morphed, and a savage battle ensued. They fought, scratched, rolled and struggled with one another. Red felt tears in her eyes as she called out for him to stop. She knew he wouldn't listen. And she knew what she had to do.

Chris punched her in the stomach and then tried to run past her. Red mustered up her strength and jumped on his back. With her bloodlust in conflict with her heavy heart, her powerful feline jaws clamped down on the thick flesh around Chris's neck. She could taste the foulness of his blood and it made her want to vomit. The voices in her head started to get louder.

The allies were enraged. They were throwing anything they could at the tentacle, but their attacks had no effect. Shield had a force wall up to protect Croc, who was otherwise quite vulnerable. Tarloh swung a heavy branch at the attacker, but it passed right through.

Chaos was angered. It reached for another victim. It sensed a familiar soul . . . it reached out for Jane.

Besla grabbed Jane and pulled her away. The quiet girl with the beautiful, magical hair was screaming. She was particularly susceptible to the whisperings of this entity, and she decided she would rather die that suffer that kind of touch again.

A number of allies moved to intercede. Besla and the Raptors were trying to get Jane out of the way, but the whisperings of Chaos were echoing in their minds, making it hard to concentrate, much less fly. Natasha moved between Chaos and Jane, knowing that even her near-invulnerability wouldn't save her. But it was Red who was closest.

Red saw the enemy go after the two women who had defined Red. One of them, Red loved more than anything. She was looking in Jane's eyes, over Nat's shoulder, when Chaos's hand made contact with Red's mind.

{{ YOU ARE STRONG, }} came Its voice directly into Red's thoughts, now clear as crystal. {{ BUT YOU TIRE. YOU FIGHT, BUT YOU DESIRE PEACE. I CAN GIVE YOU THESE THINGS, }} It crooned. {{ KILL THE SORCERER AND ALL THAT YOU CAN IMAGINE WILL BE YOURS. YOU CAN REST, }} It promised. It delved deeper into her subconscious. {{ I WILL MAKE HER YOURS FOREVER, }} It added, putting Jane's face at the front of her thoughts. {{ I WILL MAKE HER LOVE YOU. I WILL GIVE YOU A PALACE TO LIVE IN. }} It tried one more tactic. {{ I WILL GIVE YOU YOUR PARENTS BACK. I WILL MAKE YOU A FAMILY AGAIN. SERVE ME, AND IT WILL BE SO! }}

Jane watched as one of Red's eyes began to turn red. The other was still filled with tears. She heard Robbie screaming, trying to get to his sister. He had just reached where Jane was standing when something new happened.

A light began to shine. Somehow, a single brilliant ray of light was beaming into the clearing. It was as bright as the tentacle was dark, and it fell directly on Jane. For the first time in seven years, her head was completely clear and serene. Then she heard two voices . . . male and female. They whispered encouragement to her . . . and then they whispered a name.

"Annabel," Jane said in a voice not her own. It was a mixture of the two voices that had soothed her soul. Somehow, she knew what it meant. Robbie stopped and stared at her. He hadn't heard that name in a long time. It was Red's real name. The only ones who had ever called her that were . . .

"Mom? Dad?" Red whispered, but was still miraculously heard by Jane and Robbie and Nat.

"We're here," came the not-quite-Jane's voice. "And we are so proud of you." Then their voices were gone, but Jane's returned.

"Please," she whispered. "Come back to me."

Red turned her thoughts to the enemy in her head. {{ You offer me nothing, }} she thought with surprising calm. {{ I would never shame my parents by accepting you on their behalf. And you offer me a love that I would never take by trickery. I have no need to. It is given freely. I reject you . . . now and forever. }}

Red tore free of the tentacle's influence and stumbled forward. Nat and Robbie caught her.

Jane was still bathed in light. She heard the voices of Red and Robbie's parents grow feint, whispering things to her . . . things for their children. Then she heard another voice. This one was much more familiar. It was very masculine, with a deep baritone quality. It was the voice of bedtime stories. It was the sound of laughter when Jane was waiting for her hot chocolate complete with little marshmallows. It was the voice from behind the big white beard that Christmas morning that conveyed the illusion that there was still a Santa Clause. It had been her whole world until that voice was silenced. Now, it whispered sorrow . . . pride . . . love. The voice whispered something that made Jane blush, even as she cried a little. The voice faded.

"Bye Dad. I love you too," Jane said to the wind.

"GOT IT!" Lothar shouted. It was like hearing the last click of a combination lock sliding into place . . . a moment of clarity. The Heaven's Eye glowed in his hands as man and magic came to a mutual understanding. And on the other side of the tear that Croc had created, the fabric of Chaos's dimension began to heal. And Chaos screamed.

Immortal power equaled immortal pain and immortal fear. Chaos knew that it was returning to its prison . . . to wait another eternity. Its finger into the new world was being forced to withdraw. The last bid of Chaos to make a great and terrible war had been foiled . . . all thanks to the meddling of an insecure wizard, a neurotic young woman and a red-haired warrior's defiance.

The Raptors and Strays watched as an ancient evil slowly retreated back into its hole, its scream trickling to a whimper. And then it was gone. The hole it had dug through its own dimension vanished, ripping like water and then lying still. Croc's rift was likewise close and healed over.

It was all over but the crying. Despite being safe, Red still felt a tinge of sorrow when she looked at the ground where Chris was lying. Anya knelt on the ground and looked into the un-morphed and maddened expression of a man she had once known.

"It's not him," she said out loud. "It's not him."

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A few hours later . . .

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The celebration was somewhat muted considering the circumstances. They had just narrowly averted an apocalypse of biblical proportions. Raptors and Strays mingled in the new Den engaged in numerous conversations. Most of them were genuinely pleased that there would be many more tomorrows for all of them. But not everyone was feeling relieved. Anya hadn't spoken to anyone since the battle. Neither had Red. She had collapsed shortly after Chaos had been banished. Fighting an Elder God, even in your head, was apparently an exhausting process.

Jane and Robbie had been hovering over Red until she came too. Arthur had been called in to check on her, and several other allies followed along. Red had defied a god . . . they all wanted to know how.

"You okay?" Jane whispered when Red stared up at her, one eye beautiful green and the other eerie and red.

"No," Red replied. "No, I'm not."

Arthur was investigating the warrior's red eye. "I take it . . ."

"Nothing," Red interrupted. "I can't see anything with it." She closed that eye.

There was silence. Besla finally broke it.

"I don't understand. We won. You vanquished the enemy. Lothar sealed it away forever. Why is no one . . . elated?"

Red closed her other eye. "I can still taste my friend's blood," she muttered. "I killed Chris. I guess I don't feel like much of a winner."

"You didn't have a choice," Nat said. "I loved Chris too, but what you killed . . ."

"It wasn't him," interrupted a soft and sorrowful voice. Anya was standing in the doorway, and the rest of the onlookers cleared a path. "I . . . I've been thinking for the last two hours. I've tried to figure out what It must have offered Chris . . . to make him turn."

Red and Anya just looked at each other for a moment. Both of them knew that Anya had a role in Chris's possession. That was something Anya would have to come to grips with on her own.

"How can you not hate me?" Red asked. "I know Chris was special . . ."

"Chris was," Anya interrupted. "That . . . thing . . . wasn't Chris. I've been grieving losing the man that was special. But he was gone before you killed what was left. You did what you have always done. You made a decision that I never could have. The thing in Chris's body . . . it would've killed Lothar and the universe would have ended."

"I'd like to give props for stopping the 'killed Lothar' part," the sorcerer in question interjected.

"You did good," Red said to Lothar. "You saved our asses."

"I just did what you gave me time to do. You and Jane and . . . well, a little help."

"What . . . what was that?" Talia asked, talking to Lothar but looking at Jane. "That light . . . was it . . ."

"I . . . don't know," Lothar said. "But my guess is yes . . . It was God or Order or whatever you want to call It."

"But, it really didn't seem to do anything," Croc said, obviously confused. "Did it?"

All eyes were on Jane. "It . . . I . . . I didn't see any . . . God or anything. I didn't hear Him or Her. I just heard . . ." She stopped and looked at Robbie and then back to Red. "I heard your parents. They told me your name," she said.

"Her name? Her name is Red, isn't it?" Tarloh asked. It had never occurred to him that it could be any other way.

Evil Alpaca
Evil Alpaca
3,660 Followers