Flames and Starlight

Ruben and Laura flew as fast and as far as they could before they had to land and rest. They flew over the once beautiful and vibrant city that was now broken down and nearly destroyed.

They found an empty space in the alley behind the theater that closed down a year and a half ago. They landed there and shifted into their human forms. They leaned against the wall, breathing heavily from the long flight.

Even though he was healing from the injuries from the car wreck, he still felt sore and the flight didn’t help. It was going to take a while before he felt one hundred percent okay.

He couldn’t believe all the events that took place today. His mind was spinning and refused to stop. He couldn’t believe that he and the love of his life had almost gotten killed and watched two Guardians get killed before their eyes.

He leaned against the wall, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to erase the nightmarish image of those two Guardians literally being crushed to death out of his mind but the harrowing imagery would forever be burned into his mind. He would never escape it.

“Are you okay?” Laura asked between pants.

He opened his eyes and looked over at her. He let out a humorless laugh.

“Seriously? What do you think?”

She swatted at him. “Don’t be an ass. Is your head okay?”

He touched his head and winced. “It’s healing but it hurts.”

“Do you have a concussion?”

“I don’t think so.”

She ran trembling hands through her hair and he noticed a nasty gash on her hand. He gently grabbed it and peered down at it with concern.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” she tried to assure him.

“It looks deep.”

“It didn’t puncture a vein or an artery. I’m not injured anywhere else. I’m fine, really.”

Ruben nodded and looked around. “I don’t know what to do. I know we should find a shelter but -”

Something ran past him in a blur and before he could comprehend what was happening Laura and a vampire we locked in a vicious fight. He snarled and was about to attack the vampire but was thrown against the wall.

A gargoyle, possibly the same gargoyle that helped kill the Guardians, had him by his throat and was slamming him against the brick wall behind him. Pain radiated through his skull and spine but fiery rage overrode it.

A feral growl escaped his throat and he gathered all his strength to shove the gargoyle back. He shifted into a silverback gorilla, grabbed the gargoyle by his neck, and threw the gargoyle into the wall over and over until a huge crack formed between his eyes. The gargoyle’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body went limp.

Ruben released the gargoyle and shifted back into his original form. He snapped his head around to see Laura and the vampire moving out of the alley toward the road.

Ruben ran after them and his eyes widened when he saw the vampire pick Laura up by her throat and throw her through a nearby window.

Hannah hid behind the counter in the Guardian station, scared out of her wits. She was questioning her choice of following Mary now and wondered where all her common sense had gone.

She should’ve stayed at the shelter because she was no help to stop the fighting outside. She only knew basic, simple magic and only lived in the Eternal World for two months. She didn’t know any defense or battle magic. Her aunt was out there fighting and probably couldn’t focus on her fight since she had to think about her.

She was crouched behind the counter, covering her ears, trembling. She tried to block out the noise to no avail. She prayed her aunt, Peter, Laura, and Ruben were okay, wherever they were.

A crashing sound made her look up and see the back door of the office was being broken down. She cursed and ran out of there. She heard the door shatter as she ran out of the door and a chilling roar filled the building.

She ran out and the sight in front of her chilled her to the bones. It was the same sight she’d seen in her vision, with the Eternal World in a bloody war.

She was stunned when she noticed that Laura was there. She saw that Laura was fighting with a vampire. Laura had the vampire by her hair and was trying to get her off as the vampire dug her fingers into Laura’s throat.

Without thinking, Hannah started to run over to them even though she knew she had no fighting skills but knew she had to help somehow.

She watched in horror as the vampire picked Laura up by her throat and threw her through the window of the building next to them. The sound of shattered glass filled her ears and she heard Laura cry out before going silent. Hannah gasped and ran even faster.

The vampire snarled and seemed like she was going after Laura again. Hannah threw her hands out and screamed, “STOP!”

A green light came from her hands and she saw the vampire soar through the air and crash back first into the nearby building. A sickening crack came from the vampire that was heard even over the sound of the fighting around them and the vampire slid to the ground unconscious. Or dead.

Hannah gaped at the vampire and then down at her hands, unable to believe what she had just done. How was she -?

“Laura!”

The sound of Ruben’s voice drew her attention and she looked back and saw Ruben climb through the broken window and pick up Laura’s limp body in his arms. There was a terrible gash on the left side of Laura’s face and blood was trickling down. It looked bad.

Hannah ran over to them. “Is she okay?”

“She’s unconscious. We have to get out of here.”

She looked around and couldn’t find her aunt anywhere. “I need to find Mary.”

“We need to go now or we’ll get killed. Stay if you want but I’m getting Laura the hell out of here.”

“But -”

He ran off with Laura in his arms without another word. She desperately looked around for her aunt one more time before running after Ruben and Laura, praying her aunt was safe.