Spiritual Ascend (Book 1 of the Spirit Trilogy) [ON HOLD...SORRY!!]

20.) Spiritual Ascend

                "You know we never kissed, Nate. She wouldn't want that and I would be willing to wait for her, too." Victor looked down at his shoes as he muttered. He was quiet for a few moments but then he looked back up again, that happy look in his eyes. It suited him; he was a Warrior of the Spirit of Happiness. "Well then," He said smacking his hand together. "What did you call us for?"

                I nodded. Back to business it was. "You know that sound you heard a while ago? Those roars, I mean?" They all nodded. "Let's go check it out and keep the people here and our girls safe."

We crossed the playground which was at the back and kept our senses up as we checked all around. We had our weapons out and ready for a battle, if there should be one. I prayed not for things could get dirty.

                Simon kept bending down and muttering, but I knew what he was doing. He was picking up the ants that walked the fields and asking them what they had seen. You see, Simon was blessed by the Spirit of the Wild, thus inheriting the ability to speak to animals.

                All the others were spread out all over the yard, doing whatever. After ten minutes, Michael shouted. "Aha!"

                "What?" I shouted to him from where he standing-beside a sort of bush/head. Wait...that wasn't there yesterday when I came here… "Did you find something?"

                "Hell yeah, I did!" He replied as he pulled away the branches from the thing they were hiding. I gotta give it to him. Being a Warrior of the Spirit of Intuition can really come in handy!

                A few moments later, a cage as big as a minivan was seen; the cage was open and some sort of purple liquid dripped out of the edges. Victor asked with a grimace as he neared Michael. "What the hell is that?"

                "A cage, idiot," Mike said, snorting. Victor narrowed his eyes playfully. "You think this is the one that held those things that roared a while ago?"

                Simon moved up to it and held his hand right out in front of him. In it was a hedgehog and I was pretty surprised he managed to find one. He began asking, "What was in the cage?"

                There was a moment of silence from us. We waited for the answer of the animal though we could not understand it. It was a full two minutes before Simon spoke again and he sounded angry and worried. "Where did those creatures go?"

                Again, the hedgehog answered with its tiny and quiet squeaks. Simon stiffened and his eyes widened with fear. It didn't take a genius to find out something was wrong with the picture. He thanked the animal and let it go in the dark.

                He turned to us with a frightened expression. It took a lot to make this expression cross Simon's face and obviously, this was a whole lot of trouble. He took a deep breath and answered the universal question that no one asked.

                "They were demons, heading to the front parking lot, and the hedgehog said they were after our girls."

                No one spoke until I broke it.

                "The girls are inside, right?" I asked all of them. Simon, Michael and Cody nodded. I sighed in relief but noticed Victor standing in shock. "Victor, you okay?"

                Victor shook his head, still shocked. A flash of regret instantly entered his eyes. "I don't think they're all inside."