Creatures

“You look much happier,” Talon commented as they took off.

“I am.” Karen looked out at the window and watched as the town grow smaller before turning back to Talon. “Are we really going to go get married?”

“Having second thoughts?”

“Just worried about everyone else’s reactions when they find out that we did this without them.”

“Is that all your worried about?” Talon asked, certain that there was something else.

“A Vegas wedding?”

“What is wrong with that?” Talon asked. “Do not tell me you are like your sister and want a circus-like what we just went through.”

“No, but I do want our family and friends there and I would prefer to have it someplace other than a vegas wedding chapel,” Karen told him softly, not looking at him.

“Understood.”

Karen did look at him now. “What do you mean by that?” She asked.

Talon shrugged his shoulders and moved to sit next to her, folding her into his arms. “It means that I understand your concerns, but make no bones about it, we will be getting married today.”

“I am fine with that, I just wish...”

Talon covered her mouth with his hand. “Let me take care of it. I promise I will not let you down.”

Karen could only nod her agreement since she could not speak at the moment.

Talon gently removed his hand from her mouth and then gave her a saucy smile.

“Now... Want to join the mile high club?”

Karen punched his arm and then settled into his arms more securely to take a nap. It seemed it was going to be a long day.

Talon smiled as she curled up in his arms. If only they could be like this every day, he thought as he watched the clouds go by as she slept in his arms.

“Wake up hon. We have arrived.”

Karen opened her eyes and looked up at Talon. “Huh?”

“We are here.”

Karen sat up and looked around, disoriented.

Talon laughed. “Come on sleepyhead.” He took her hand and helped her off the plane.

“We are home,” Karen commented.

“Of course we are. You wanted to get married with family right?” Talon replied as Carrie and Michael appeared.

Karen grinned ear to ear and took off at a run, throwing herself into their arms.

“Oh my God, when did you get back?” She asked.

“This morning. Welcome home.” Carrie smiled. “Now,” She turned to Talon with a glare. “What is this about getting married today? There is a Father in our garden and Mr. Lee is in the kitchen decorating a cake!”

Talon shrugged. “She would not go to Vegas with me.”

“Of course not! Men!” Carrie snorted, startling everyone. They had never heard her snort. “Well... if you are insistent on this, then come along Karen, we need to get you ready.”

Karen nodded and followed. “See you in a bit.” She told Talon as she left.

“Only you would rush something like this,” Michael commented after the left.

“Why wait?”

Michael smiled. “You have changed.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No. Michael commented. “We are all very thankful every day that Karen came to us.”

“I am too.” Talon whispered.

“Now come, we have to get you ready as well.” Michael took Talon’s shoulder and steered him towards the house.

“You want me to wear this?” Karen looked at the wedding gown before her. It was gorgeous, but where had it come from?

“If you want.” Carrie came out from her closet. “I wore it when I married Michael and Lily wore it before me. It seems to have become a tradition in this house.”

“And I will wear it when I marry Evan.”

“Huh?” Karen turned to Emerald. “You are going to marry Evan? I thought...”

“If I want a family, then we will be married.” Emerald shrugged. “I do not have any other options.” She laughed at the look on Karen’s face. “Do not worry, that is many, many years down the road.” She hopped off the bed. “Now, let’s get you ready.”

“Why do I have to wear this monkey suit?” Talon looked at the tux that Michael was forcing him into.

“It is required,” Michael commented.

“Like hell it is.”

“Shut up and wear it. It will make her happy and that is the whole reason we are doing this.” Evan commented from the bed.

“And you, what are you doing here, dressed like that?” Evan looked down at his own tux.

“We are standing up with you,” Michael commented. “No quit acting like a child and finish dressing.”

Talon let out a sigh. “Fine.”

After he had finished dressing, Talon went out to the garden to meet with Father Bane, The President, and Mr. Lee.

“Thank you, Father, for doing this.” Talon shook his hand. He and Father Bane had been friends since he opened the orphanage. The Father and his parsonage took the children on outings and always provided presents for their birthdays and Christmas. Talon owed him so much.

“I would be insulted if I was not the one to bind you in marriage. Of course, I did not think I would get the chance either.” Father Bane smiled at the man before him.

Talon pulled on the neck of his suit. “Where are they?” He asked.

“They will come when they come.” Mr. Lee commented.

“What are you doing here?” Talon asked.

“What? And miss this? Not on your life.” Mr. Lee informed him. “Besides, Miss Karen needed a proper wedding cake for the occasion.”

“You and your baking,” Talon muttered.

“Do you have a problem with that?” Mr. Lee asked quietly and Talon threw up his hands. “Oh No, I have no problem, no problem at all, swear.”

Mr. Lee smiled. “Good.”

“I take it you were unable to reach Lily and Eric,” Evan commented.

“If I tried, I might get them killed. I am sorry.” The President replied.

“That is all right. As long as they return to us eventually, we will forgive you.” Michael tapped Talon on his shoulder as the others scrambled to take their places. “Your bride.”

Talon looked down the path and watched as Karen floated towards them. She was smiling and he had never seen a more beautiful sight. They waited silently as she and the others came up to the party, Talon taking her hand to help her when she got close, afraid that she would trip over all that fabric.

“Thank you.”

“No, Thank you.” Talon took in a deep breath, her fragrance surrounding him. “May I introduce to you Father Bane, a good friend of mine.”

“Hello, Father.”

“Hello My Dear, I am pleased to meet you.”

“Same here.”

Father motioned for everyone to settle in. “Shall we?”

Late that night, Karen laid in Talon’s arms. The wedding had gone smoothly and it had been wonderful to spend the day with everyone, even if Lily and Eric could not be there.

“Happy.”

“Mmm.” Karen nodded. “I cannot believe that we did that.”

“Did what?”

“Got married.”

“Do you have regrets?”

“No.” Karen curled up and let out a yawn.

“Sleep.” Talon folded her into his arms more securely. “I will be here when you wake.”

Karen wiped the blood from her weapon and stood up.

“Is it me or does it seem like there have been a lot of attacks lately?” She asked as she met up with Talon.

“No, there more than usual. Something is going on.” Talon placed his eyes on her hair and felt their connection flare, healing them in one go.

“You like doing that, yes?” Karen grumbled.

“It is faster.” Talon grinned. “Let’s go get cleaned up and head home.”

They headed towards the hotel they were staying at. The school was on break and they had been sent out to take care of a group of beings that were on a rampage throughout South America.

Karen stepped out of the bathroom with a sigh. She was tired. It had been two months since Talon and her had married and they had not heard from Lily or Eric in six weeks of it. Carrie and Michale were out as well, leaving only Emerald and Evan at home,

“Miss home?” Talon asked from his spot at the table. He was working on curriculum for the school.

Karen nodded as she took a spot across from him and started in on her own work.

“Think everyone is doing all right?” She asked.

“We would know if they were not,” Talon replied as he worked.

“What do you think they are doing?”

“Who?”

“These beings. They are attacking more and more, why?”

Talon shrugged. “Could be they are running low on food or it could be that they are preparing to start a full-scale war with us. I have no idea.”

“Are you not worried?”

Talon looked up at her words. “Of course I am worried, but there is nothing we can do but keep doing what we are.”

Karen fell silent at his words. He was right, they would just have to wait and see what happened.

“When are they returning?” Emerald asked as she sliced through another being, another immediately taking its place.

“Any time now,” Evan replied, taking out two with his sword and dropping two that were sneaking up behind Emerald with well-placed ice shards.

“They had better hurry or we will not be here to welcome them back,” Emerald spoke between clenched teeth. They had been fighting for most of the night and there was no end in sight. For every being they killed, two seemed to take their place. The compound was in ruins and even Mr. Lee and The President were fighting.

“Did someone ring?” Evan looked up to see Talon drop from a helicopter, followed by Karen.

“About time you showed up. I sent for you hours ago.” The president growled out.

“We got hung up on the way here. I am afraid we brought some more company.” He pointed to the beings that were dropping out of the sky around them.

“What is going on?” Mr. Lee gasped. “I have never seen anything like this.”

“I think it is an extermination.” The president spoke as he and Lee met up with the others. “They are removing the only ones that can stop them.”

“Well Shit.”

“Watch your mouth, Evan,” Karen spoke. “There is no call for that kind of language.”

“I think this is as good a time as any,” Emerald commented. “In case you have not noticed, we are about to be killed.”

“Such a pessimist,” Lee commented. “Shall we?” He gestured towards the beings that were closing in on them.

“Lets.”

They split up into three groups, Lee and President creating the third group, and systematically started to clear out the beings in front of them. Slowly widening the circle as they fought, eventually though, they could go no bigger for fear of one of the beings breaking into the circle.

“We need more people,” Emerald called out.

“We need a break. At the rate we are going, we are going to drain our power cores and kill ourselves.”

“I think that is their plan,” President spoke as he continued to take down being after being. “Think about, they do not know how to kill us, so the next best thing is for us to kill ourselves.”

“This sucks.” Evan shot an ice shard through the eye of a being that was about to attack Karen.

“Thanks.”

“No Problem.”

“Did you contact the others?” Talon asked as he spun, taking the head of one being while cutting through the stomach of another.

“Of course.”

“And?”

“Looks like you could use some help.”

“Carrie! Michael!”

They watched as Carrie and Michael traveled along the heads of the beings, cutting down all that got in their way.

“We have been making our way to you for the past hour. They are everywhere.” Carrie commented as the joined the circle and started to take out beings.

“Anyone heard from Lily or Eric?”

“You rang?” They watched as Lily and then Eric dropped down in the middle of the circle.

“Thanks for clearing a spot for us,” Eric commented.

“Good to see you. You doing all right?” Carrie asked, taking in their appearances. They were disheveled and had lost quite a bit of weight since they had seen them last.

“We will be. Had some trouble getting back is all, but we took care of the problem.”

“What do you mean?” Karen asked.

“We were able to find the leaders and take them out. At least, the ones that were there.” Lily explained. “Some had already left for here before we arrived. You were right.” She told the President. “They plan on exterminating us.”

“What now?” Eric asked.

“We take them out.”

“At this rate, we will all be dead in an hour.”

“We need to find the leaders,” Talon commented. “Without them, the rest will scatter.”

“Who is going?” Lee asked as all eyes turned towards Talon and Karen. They were the most rested and the strongest pair.

“We are I guess.” Karen sent them a grin. “Good luck.” She hopped onto the head of a being and took off.

“Where is she going?” Michael asked.

“To find the leaders. Be safe.” Talon took off after her.

“Where are you going?” He asked when he caught up to her, slicing away the limbs that grabbed at their ankles to bring them down.

“The perimeter. I would bet your entire orphanage that the leaders are there, watching on the sidelines.”

“Probably.”

“So then what is the problem?” Karen could feel the anger radiating from Talon.

“You took off without me.”

Karen sent him a look. “What are we? Six?”

Talon only grinned at her in amusement. “Come on. We need to take care of them soon or the rest will be dead.”

“Agreed.”