Before anyone knew what was happening, the ground shook violently. Simultaneously, the sky rolled loud, and heavy thunder and more clouds tainted the red sky. Black and white bolts of lightning struck the city, destroying the buildings and setting others alight in flames. Large red drops of rain like blood showered from the sky. Ignatius struggled in his gryphon form whilst flying and carrying Vandal; his feathers aren't made to withstand such heavy rain for a long period of time. Ignatius sensed in every bone that time was against him and the others. He flew around locations where he last saw Magpie, Carlos and Dark Weaver, but they were nowhere in sight, nor could he sense them with his telepathy. He gave out an eagle's cry, but a loud crash of thunder drowns out his. "I hope Magpie and the others are safe," thought Ignatius to himself. With every beat of his wings, he feels his energy and magic draining; he needs to land soon and change back to his human form.
Suddenly a sharp burning pain pierced at one of his wings. Vandal nearly slipped off but manages to sit tight. Ignatius looks up and sees a wave of red hail coming up against them, and they look sharp like shards from a broken mirror. Quick-witted, he spins to turn around to fly away from it and find any form of protection. A force field with his own magic will drain him on the spot-
Suddenly within a blink, he finds himself flying aimlessly in the midst of darkness and some hard object made him turn and tumble on the ground. Quick-witted Ignatius grabbed Vandal and unfolded his wings to protect him from the tumble.
As the tumble and rolling ended, Ignatius felt how the ground shook and heard a very deep groan with his sharp senses. It sounded nearly human or rather that of a giant. Ignatius' head spun, and he couldn't find the strength to stand up. Dust and debris rained from the ceiling, which didn't help Ignatius observe his new environment but felt a secure telepathy connection to Vandal. "Vandal, are you alright?"
Vandal blinked and groaned as he got up; he couldn't see much in the darkness but felt beneath his hands feathers. "Ig, am I on you?" He wondered, confused. Before Ignatius could answer, further debris made Vandal slide down on the side and pressured his wounded side.
Ignatius sensed blood aside from the dust, and it wasn't his. Slowly he stood up but felt the strain and wanted to transform back into his human form, but nothing happened. He drew in a deep breath to refocus anew, but there was no change.
Suddenly a large bolder of rubble was cracking loose from the ceiling right above Vandal. Without thinking, Ignatius leapt and pushed Vandal; as a reflex, he held up one of his unfolded wings, but the weight came crashing down on him. He shrieked an eagle's cry as he fought and pushed the weight off him with all his strength he has left. Soon his body began to glow in orange while pushing the crushing weight. Ignatius thought of the wind spell, and before he knew it, an orange glowing gust of strong wind lifted the rock and threw it far away. "What was that-"
The ground shook violently, and there was another groan that reminded him how other people sometimes sleep, emitting such a groan only less deep tone and not so loud. He shook his head as his mind wondered if the world is on the back of a sleeping giant. No time for such ridiculous thoughts; where's Vandal and Magpie?
As a gryphon, his sharp senses are still there and soon scented Vandal, but the dust made him sneeze from time to time, and the darkness wasn't completely dark to his eagle-like eyes. Ignatius found Vandal sweating in pain and pressuring with a hand at the side where his ribs are. Drops of blood slowly dripped from between his fingers. He was leaning against a large stone pole."I wish I can heal you, Vandal, but it can only be done in human form. Oddly I can't transform back, and I don't have sufficient strength even if I could change back." Spoke Ignatius through his telepathy.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Best we get out of here and find the others." Vandal gruffed and forced a grin, but Ignatius saw he was trying to cope with the pain. Vandal grimaced as he tried to stand up and suppressed a groan. "Can you see in this darkness? Is there a way out?"
"With my current form, my senses are more sensitive than before; I can locate clearly my surroundings and even better if it weren't for the dust and rubble. Can you walk?"
"I'll try to keep up with you." Vandal spoke through clenched teeth and started to search through the darkness like a blind person with the other arm and hand outstretched.
"Spare your strength, Vandal." Assured Ignatius as he paced behind Vandal and let him slide past Ignatius' head onto his back. "Try to sit upright; that way, you won't lose so much blood until I have the strength to heal you." Ignatius walked on while keeping his eyes and ears sharp and hoping no further large debris will come crashing down on Vandal and him. The further Ignatius walked, the tremor slowly ceased, and the ceiling held firm above Vandal's and Ignatius' heads. The smell of Vandal's blood didn't calm Ignatius, and he hoped to find a safe spot to rest soon and heal the wound or at least stop the bleeding. They neared to a place where the ceiling has a large round hole, and many loose cables were dangling over the rim as if they were vines. Ignatius caught a faint scent of Magpie, "she was once here."
Suddenly Ignatius' thoughts were interrupted by a soft chiming sound of little bells and there were voices, but he couldn't make out what was said with his sensitive ears. "Hey Vandal, did you hear something? Vandal, you need to stay awake," thought Ignatius through telepathy.324Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4Mw2T7I3N
Vandal grimaced in pain and sucked through his teeth as Ignatius rocked a little to shake him awake. "Hear what?" He grunted, exhausted.
Ignatius halted and stared intensely at what was in front of him as he heard footsteps nearing. From the faint red light, Ignatius saw a figure with spikey hair and, from the shadows, stepped out Talon with a glowing lantern at hand, emitting the strange sound Ignatius has heard before.324Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5Z8YBmbwl
Magpie popped her eyes open in fear as thunder crashed in the skies above her and black and white lightning bolts struck buildings in the distance. She blinked as she slowly sat up, barely recalling what happened. Soon she looked to her surrounding, noticing lush green grass and other wild plants beneath her and many small standing stones with engravings and letterings. She was in a cemetery. Magpie slowly and cautiously got up to her feet, but a strong earthquake made her fall back. She felt the tremor beneath her and a long deep groan she's never heard before. It reminded her of a large ship but what made her scared was knowing it didn't come from a ship. More flashes of black and white lightning made her look up with a silent gasp and notice the sky turning redder; there were hues of wine red and blood red. A strong gust of warm wind blew through the cemetery but heard a whisper faintly-
Suddenly Magpie heard nearby a giggle of a little girl's. Ravage! Thought Magpie and quickly staggered up to her feet with the help of leaning against a tombstone while the ground continued to shake less and less. Her eyes wandered around her surrounding, searching feverishly for Ravage. At one corner of her eye, Magpie spotted something pink, but as she turned to see, it was gone. Quickly she checked her belt and noticed all her weapons were there. She blinked as she couldn't believe what she saw on the ground with her left eye; beneath the soil and plants run violet glowing roots, and they pulsate, like gigantic veins, to a certain direction. They led to somewhere behind the collapsed church, and from there, Magpie sensed a strange power. As the ground ceased to quake, she walked cautiously around the ruined church and while looking over her shoulder in case Ravage would attempt to attack her from behind. As Magpie neared the other side, she heard a deep buzzing sound and sensed the strange power intensely that it irritated her; she couldn't think clearly.
She blinked as if blinded by bright light, but it was its power and loud buzzing along with a pulse sound. There stood among the graves a black-violet pillar in the shape of a two-winged door with two door handles. Curiosity got the better of her and neared it cautiously while eyeing at the door. The black and violet colours were marbled, but with each step she took, it shifted as if anticipating her approach. The whispers Magpie heard grew louder, and its source came from the door, but they were muffled and unclear to make out the words. Another roll of thunder emitted from the sky and soon started to rain, the drops were large and red as blood, but the pillar remained as if by magic dry-
Suddenly a branch snapped that made Magpie turn around and saw Ravage leaping at her with a kunai knife at hand and a malicious grin with sharp teeth splitting her face.
Without thinking, Magpie rolled to the side at the last moment to dodge Ravage's attack and pulled out her sword as she faced her.
Ravage giggled and spun her knife in her hand. "Shadow's little Magpie still knows well how to play."
"I'm not going back to that son of a bitch!" Hissed Magpie and held up her arm at shoulder height with her sword pointing to Ravage.
"What if I was sent here to play with you?" She licked the knife and sniggered while her eyes flashed red for a moment.
Suddenly she sprung straight at Magpie with the kunai knife in between her sharp teeth. Magpie's sword soon parried with the knife while Ravage's force made Magpie stagger backwards. Rapidly she lost her footing from a tombstone and stared in terror at Ravage. Quick-witted Magpie kicked Ravage aside and sprinted off to hide among the gravestones. Soon she heard Ravage humming a sad melody interrupted by her sniggering and metal scratching against a stone. "Come out, come out where ever you are, little Magpie. Or shall we play hide and kill?"
Magpie soon dared to peek over the rim of the gravestone she hides. Ravage was holding her sword that she left behind and brushed the blade against the stones. She was approaching in her direction but not directly. Suddenly Ravage halted and turned around in her direction. Magpie winced back and hoped Ravage didn't notice her. Either way, she must move on if she wants her sword back and defeat-
"There you are." Mused Ravage with glowing red eyes from above the gravestone and sword at hand. "Tag, you're it." She growled with an inhuman voice.
Magpie gasped in shock and quickly leapt away and rolled to her feet. I've never killed a child before, but I have no choice if I want to survive and avoiding meeting that sick bastard Shadow again. Come on, Magpie, you need to do this! Ravage is giving you no other options. Thought Magpie as she ran in zigzag to limit the chances of getting hit or caught so soon by Ravage.
Suddenly there was a sharp pain on her left arm, and she saw from the corner of her eye Ravage jumping at ease from stone to stone with the sword. One part of the blade was caked with blood, her blood. A sharp whisper made Magpie turn to the dark, mysterious violet door. She grunted with dislike to the idea and sprinted for the door while holding her bleeding left arm. Her lungs and legs were burning, but with clenched teeth, Magpie ran on the last stretch for the door, which opened as she neared and slammed shut right behind her. Magpie fell to the ground of exhaustion and turned around to see, hoping Ravage didn't make it. The door was slightly ajar, and the sword was avoiding it to close or open completely. Through the cleft, Ravage smiled at her broadly and tilted her head to the side with glowing red eyes, "I'll be waiting for you." Suddenly the door shut completely, and there was no trace left of Magpie's sword or Ravage.
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