Number 100 Red Nova Sorcerer

Chapter 17: Gatekeeper

"Crimson," Blackie starts when the ninja calms down, "the shape of your canines, is that not the shape of a Moon Number?"

Crimson nods, still smiling. "Yes, I suppose I cannot keep it from you longer. Half of me is a Number of the Moon, and the other half of me is a Number In Between." He acts like it is nothing to be half of one and half of the other. He then pulls his mask up. "Come. I can tell it is close. Maybe only a few more hours of traveling, and we will be there."

The five of us enter the den and continue on our way.

"Were we asleep the entire day yesterday?" Bura asks, adjusting his mask so it fits properly.

"Yes," I reply with a curt nod. "The air is dangerous to breathe in; you and Amber were affected by it the first night."

"Okay." He tightens the mask around his mouth and nose so it stays. "So, this is gonna help us not get affected?"

"Correct!" Crimson chimes out of nowhere. "As I said before, the masks have a filter much like my own, so the air conditions will not bother you!"

We walk on for a few more hours. Blackie and Crimson talk about adult stuff while Bura, Amber, and I tell each other riddles. So far, none have tricked me, but the same cannot be said of Amber and Bura, though. The cloaked brother answers more of them than Amber does, so maybe he's not as stupid as Crimson teases him to be.

"This is a different one," I say two hours into the game. "I heard this from somewhere, but I cannot remember where. Now, A dad and his son were riding their bikes, and then they crashed. Two ambulances came and took them to different hospitals. The man's son was in the operating room, and when the doctor comes in, the doctor says, 'I can't operate on him! This is my son.' How is this possible?"

Amber thinks about this for a while, but she cannot even think because Bura answers immediately. "This one's another easy one! The doctor is his mom!"

~.Crimson.~

I hold my hands, which hold a ball of fire, in front of me to light the way. I hear Nova tell the riddle, Bura answer the riddle with ease, and Amber gasp and groan in realization.

"That seems so obvious now!" she exclaims, sounding a little disappointed with herself. The two boys laugh in childish amusement.

I smile when I hear this. "Well, Black Mist, they seem to be getting along very well, now."

My king fiddles with his stuffed dragon. "It seems that way." A small smile finds its way on his face. "It's like they forgot about everything that happened before."

"Yes." I turn my eyes to him. "Have you gotten word from the kingdom yet?"

Black Mist shakes his head. "Not yet. I can only assume that 34 is gaining more control on the situation about the Numbers' disappearances." He grimaces. "Either that, or all of the Messenger Numbers have been taken away."

"Do not fret!" I chuckle. "The Numbers of the Moon are a difficult bunch to catch. The Messengers always have a way to escape the enemy. More likely than not, they are all safe."

A giggle from behind us tells us that Amber is once again fangirling over Nova's little dragon. She squeals about how cute it is and all that stuff.

Basically, girls stuff.

I stop, raising one hand up to signal them to stop, coating that hand with fire so they can see. "Here. It is here." I extend my hands to an unprotected and fragile gate. "We need to pass through this gate."

"Is that very hard?" Bura sighs. "It's a gate; I'm sure nothing's gonna-"

Before he can even finish his sentence, a snarl from behind the gate resonates through the empty space. All five of us freeze in place as a creature with six feline and canine heads climbs the stairs that leads down below the building that towers behind the gate. Some of the heads are mangled, and some of the heads are in perfect shape. The body is large, well-suited to support the mix of brainholders (Dat wordage . 3.). All of the felines are black, and all of the canines are a light brown. The body is a mix of those two colors with feline front paws and canine hind paws, and one feline and one canine tail on the rear end.