Heroes and Villains

The Creatures

Briar raised her arms in defence, but it wouldn't stop anything anyway. Rose grinned, and flicked her wrist. A chunk of the hovering floor flew towards her, but suddenly burst into flames and burnt to ash before it could hit her.
Noah was stood across the room, a hand thrown out. His face was still bruised and covered in plasters and bandage, but he was there anyway.
The doctors in the lab were just cowering in corners, for they could do nothing against a group of kids with powers. They would help the injured, but only if they were away from the dangerous areas.
"Get away from her." Said Noah, a stern tone in his voice. "Come at me instead, make it a fair fight."
"Noah, don't hurt her," Briar shouted over the noise of alarms and people giving orders. "She's Roman's sister. She doesn't know what she's doing." The girl shuddered and shook her head.
"I know exactly what I'm doing, thank you very much." Her attention turned to Noah, and the black tentacles had reappeared on her back. "I'm about to disperse of your friend here." One of the tendrils snapped against the floor like a whip, and left a splintered dent in the wood. Briar saw Noah flinch and he summoned the fire to his hands.
"Briar, get out of here." He said, and nodded to the door. "I'll hold her off for a bit." Briar pushed herself to her feet and ran to the glass doors that were stuck open with wires sparking from the broken ceiling. She stood in the centre of the grass garden in front of the lab and looked up at the sky.
Tanwen, Briar thought, and closed her eyes. I need you, now.
She heard a flap of wings above her, and when she opened her eyes, Tanwen was lowering herself onto the grass.
Can someone other than me ride on you? Briar asked, her attention turning to the lab, where Noah was throwing flames at Rose to keep her back.
Yes, but only temporarily.
That's okay, we just need to lure Rose away from here. Briar cupped her hands around her mouth.
"Noah!" She shouted. "Let's go!" She clambered into Tanwen's back and as Noah ran from the lab, she held out a hand. "Just trust me," she said, and he rolled his eyes.
"Just don't kill me." He gripped her hand, and let himself be hoisted up onto Tanwen. He stared in awe as she beat her wings and leaped into the air.

Rose ran out of the lab just in time to see them fly off, and immediately began to tail them. When Briar looked back, she saw Rose leaping through the trees, held aloft by the black tentacles. They curled around tree trunks and seemed to swing by them and when Tanwen had stopped in a clearing, the tentacles dug into the ground and left Rose hovering between them. The girl looked at her surroundings and smiled, raising her hands. The ground began to shake and crack and suddenly, black hands were shouting up from the dirt and clawing their way out. Dark, shadowed creatures were climbing out of the ground, and when they stood, had the physical form of humans except they had no face.
On their heads, there were indents made by rocks and trying to climb out from the dirt, and their hands were claws. The stood still as they waited for their brethren to join them and when Rose snapped her fingers, they turned savage.
The creatures seemed to snarl and growl and ran across the ground with inhuman speed. They acted like demons from Hell itself.
"Um, Briar." Noah said, as the creatures got closer. "We can't stay here, we're not powerful enough to fight them all. We need backup."
"Tanwen, can you get your dragon friends to bring others here?" Briar asked.
I can try. She said. But just before the creatures attacked them, Tanwen rose into the air away from their reach. People with powers should now be getting an urge to come here and help. Behind Briar, Noah gasped.
"Yep, definitely getting the urge to fight now." He grimaced. "Wow that's strong. I would jump down right now but I'd rather not die that way."
"How long will it take to get people here?"
It depends on where they are now. Tanwen beat her wings and began to fly higher still. Briar looked down. The creatures were clambering up trees now, trying to reach them. More were clawing up from the earth, and Rose was still suspended by the black tentacles lodged in the ground. Briar sighed. She didn't know how much longer they could keep this up, just flying higher and higher and the creatures began to use strategy over just clambering over the top of each other to kill them.
This might never work. Briar thought to herself.
But soon enough, the sound of voices began to fill the clearing, and heroes and people alike were rushing past the trees. They had their powers at the ready, and as soon as they stepped into her sight, she set her creatures on them. Tanwen lowered herself to the ground and Noah leapt off her back.
"Stay safe," he said as he looked back at Briar and her dragon. "Don't die."