"Sweet merciful Jesus," Thompson whispered, his arms shaking slightly.
Zachary was huge, much larger than Mr. Burke. Even hunched over he was at least seven feet tall with broad shoulders ending in sharp spikes. His arms were long, his fingers now pointed into wicked-looking claws. His skin had changed from its pale, sunburnt glow into black iridescent scales. All around him a layer of smoke flowed around his body, ever-changing, pulsing, and rippling. What was most horrifying was his face, now elongated, his teeth seemed overly crowded and much too sharp for his mouth. Zachary stared at us with his silver eyes, grinning as he surveyed us.
Slowly he began lumbering towards us, his black smoke trailing behind him as he walked. He glanced at me before settling his sites on the detectives, raising his claws to attack.
Azar wasted no time, grabbing me and rushing for the exit. I heard the screams of the detectives and the hailstorm of bullets as they attempted to defend themselves. Zachary roared as he crashed into them and the silence that followed was chilling. I clung to Azar, burying my face in his coat when suddenly he stumbled and we went crashing into the floor.
"Azar!" I cried, still clinging to him. The Fire Elemental cursed and rolled over, looking down at his leg. The wraith had reached out with his smoke, the shadow wrapping around Azar's leg, yanking him back to the middle of the room.
"Don't leave just yet," Zachary growled, his voice much deeper.
"Diana keep going!" Azar commanded, pulling his hand into a fist. A small white flame emerged from his hand and I watched as the Fire Elemental reached down to engulf his own leg in the fire. The wraith's shadow shriveled and retreated under the bright white heat of Azar's flames. Zachary growled angrily as he was forced to pull back, his attention now locked on the Azar.
I scrambled to get to my feet but didn't want to leave Azar by himself. He was up and running at Zachary, his ghostly-white flames concentrated on his right arm. Azar stopped just before his opponent, sending a blast of fire forward as Zachary leaped away, avoiding it narrowly. Azar took this moment to dive for his staff, rolling next to it and picking it up in one fluid movement. I had stopped to watch in awe of how graceful he looked.
Azar glared over at me. "I told you to run!"
"B-but-"
I screamed as a large table flew over my head, crashing into the hallway leading to the back offices. Zachary was attempting to block off one of my exits. Another table flew near me and I dashed towards the bar, nearly tripping over the body of the man Zachary had stabbed earlier.
"Hey ugly! Leave her alone," Azar taunted, slamming his staff into the ground.
Zachary leered at the Fire Elemental, glancing down at his arm. His flames were flickering, now covering only his fist.
"What's wrong? Run out of magic so soon?" Zachary observed, chuckling as he spoke.
"More than enough to burn your ass to cinders."
"We'll see," the wraith replied.
The two jumped forward to clash again, Azar fairing much better now that he had his weapon. I saw Zachary grimace whenever the staff made contact, but it still didn't appear to be doing that much damage. I wondered if it was my blood that made him harder to injure, as I recalled the Fire Elemental boasting he could kill wraiths with little difficulty. I held my breath as I watched the pair clash, wishing desperately that I could help.
Help, yes Diana you idiot. Call for help.
I stuck my hand into my jacket pocket, reaching for my cell phone. I hoped that my previous fall hadn't broken the screen or even worse, perhaps the battery had finally gone dead on me. I pulled out my phone to see a precious 10% battery life and nearly cried out in joy. My eyes flicked up to the action, Azar still circling the Zachary wraith, his flames growing ever dimmer. I was betting that if we didn't have some sort of magic attack for the final blow, like Casimir's sword, then we would have no luck defeating this wraith by ourselves.
He's already survived a ton of bullets, I grumbled.
On that thought I looked over at the detectives, still lying on the floor. I saw the pair struggling to move, still hurt from Zachary's attack. I was relieved to know that they were still alive, at least for now. My fingers slid over my phone screen as I stood perfectly still, my attention divided between my phone and the fight. I had just finished my short message, my finger edging towards the send button when Zachary got the upper hand, knocking Azar's staff out of his fingers. Azar moved to throw one final fire blast but the wraith grabbed his hand, crushing it in his own massive fist. I could smell the burning flesh even from my spot near the bar and I gasped, covering my mouth in shock. Azar was stuck, struggling as he tried to get out of the wraith's hold. He reached out with his other hand, gripping desperately at Zachary's fist to try and free himself. I could hear Azar shouting in Terrarish as the last of his flames surged and then went out.
Zachary's toothy grin widened and in one swoop he raised his other arm up and brought it crashing down onto Azar's body.
"AZAR!" I screamed, watching as the Fire Elemental crumpled to the ground. Zachary stood over him, slamming his fists into him again, and again.
A fury overtook me and I rushed forward. I couldn't stand the thought of my friend being beaten and possibly killed right in front of me. All the pain, fear, and worry inside of me vanished. All I wanted to do was save Azar and these innocent people here from this monster my blood had created. Zachary had stopped punching, his face confused as he watched me run forward. I threw back my arm, clenching my fist tightly as I punched him square in the jaw. I fully expected my hand to crack or break from the force of the impact. Instead, I watched as the hit landed, throwing the monster's face to the side. I was glowing, awash with a strong silver light. I looked down at my hands, mesmerized by the luminous color.
"I-impossible..." Zachary spat out.
I looked up to see the blackness around his face had cracked, his human skin tone visible underneath. I glared at him, pulling my arm back into another punch, this time, aimed at his gut.
"You've had this coming, asshole."
Why he didn't throw up his arms to protect himself, I'll never know, but my punch landed square into his stomach. I never thought I was that strong, but my hit caused Zachary the human to fly backward, crashing into a set of tables behind him. The shell of the wraith still stood before me groaning in agony as my silvery light encompassed him. The place where I punched began to crack, and fall apart, inside his body was only bright white light.
"My queen..." he whispered, his silver eyes pleading with me.
"Goodbye," I whispered, suddenly overcome with a sense of loss as I watched this creature crumble before me. Unlike Mr. Burke, who had turned to black ash, the Zachary wraith became white and glimmering, like stars floating in the sky. As the white sparkles began to fall, the glow in the room faded and exhaustion overtook me.
"Ugh, Diana, what...?"
I looked down at Azar, still lying on the floor. I fell to his side, afraid to touch him for fear of hurting him more. "Are you okay?" I asked desperately.
"Doing better than that wraith," he commented, moving to sit up.
"Be careful. Maybe you should just lie down?"
"I'll be fine, just reach into my coat pocket, grab my okashis," he said, groaning as he held onto his side.
"You can't seriously be hungry," I declared, yet I still reached into his coat pocket to grab his pack of cigarette-looking snacks. He took them from me, pulling out a strange green-colored stick.
"The green one helps with healing," he replied simply. Azar stuck the green okashi in his mouth as he tried to light the cigarette in his usual way. After a few snaps of his fingers, nothing came out and he let out a long groan. "Can't believe I used up all my juice."
"I bet there are matches or a lighter near the bar," I stated, jumping up to run over to the other side of the room. I was beyond tired, but my new mission to help Azar pushed me to rifle through the back of the counter. I did find a lone lighter next to the cash register and trotted back to Azar, tossing it at him before heading over to the detectives. Johnson had been sitting up, watching as I approached. His face became more fearful the closer I got, his eyes glancing at his gun on the ground nearby. I held up my hands in a sign of surrender.
"Woah, hey, I mean you no harm," I said, laughing lamely. I stopped in my approach, somewhat winded. Jeez, I am out of shape, I groaned.
"What the hell just happened here?!" Johnson shouted, his voice reaching a pitch I had never heard before. I hesitated, not sure what to tell them, as they had seen almost everything.
Maybe they'll believe the story of my attack now.
Thompson was attempting to sit up, groaning loudly as he did. His partner reached over for him, slowly helping him stand to his feet. Thompson's dark skin was beaded with sweat, his breathing erratic as he clutched at his side.
He glanced over at his partner as he spoke. "I think I might have broken a rib, or two."
I took a step forward, eager to help.
"S-stay back!" Johnson yelped, throwing out his arm for emphasis.
"Relax, she just saved your lives," Azar shouted from his spot on the floor nearby. The Fire Elemental had lit his okashi, taking in another deep drag before rolling over to stand.
"Hey, don't think I didn't see you before with your arm on fire or whatever special effects you were using!" Johnson snapped. He wiped the sweat from his brow, running his fingers through his tangled brown locks.
Thompson looked over at me, his face somber. He seemed much calmer than his partner, but I was betting that was due to his age. "You said she saved us, but from what? What was that thing?" he asked.
I took a deep breath, standing a little taller as I responded. "It was the same thing that attacked me at school." Well, not the exact same thing, I thought.
"Diana, they won't believe you," Azar scoffed as he walked up beside me, glaring at the two detectives.
"You know what that monster was?" Thompson pressed.
"It was a darkwraith, a type of creature that feeds on humans," I answered.
"Feeds?"
"Their souls specifically," I muttered, realizing how silly it sounded when I said it out loud.
Johnson glanced over at Zachary still lying prone on the floor. "Did you really kill the monster?"
"I-I think I did," I replied, glancing down at my hands. With some strange light from my body. A wave of dizziness passed over me and I wobbled slightly. "Ugh, I'm not feeling so great."
Azar reached out to grab me, pulling me to his side. "You kinda overdid it there, kiddo."
I looked up at him, snickering quietly. "Saved your butt though."
My eyelids began to feel heavy but I was trying my hardest to stay awake. Suddenly, a glowing blue light filled the center of the room. The detectives jumped back, their minds pulsing with fear. From the light grew a trail of water that twisted around creating a small circle. Casimir appeared from the circle, landing down in a light thud. In his hand was his glowing sword, ready for battle. Maayan jumped in after him, their bow at the ready. The circle disappeared but the radiant light from the sword filled the dim room with a strong glow. Casimir and Maayan stood back to back for a moment, surveying the room before lowering their weapons.
"Diana!" Casimir called out, spying me over near the entrance.
"Casimir, Maya!" I yelled, my face breaking out into a smile.
The pair rushed over, startling the detectives even more with their inhuman speed. The large weapons didn't help either.
"You missed all the fun," I joked, gesturing at the wreckage around us. I groaned as another wave of exhaustion hit me. "What took you so long?"
Casimir stared at me, befuddled as he dismissed his sword. The light in the room faded and I blinked slowly.
"We got your message, although you sent it to Master Enki's phone," Casimir confessed, his brow furrowed.
"Oh dang, my bad," I groaned.
"Here, take her, I'm going to tie up Zachary," Azar grunted, handing me over to Casimir. I didn't realize how much the Fire Elemental was doing to keep me standing, so when I reached out for Casimir I nearly collapsed. The young warrior's arms shot out, deciding to pick me up and hold me entirely in his arms. I resisted the urge to fall asleep against his chest.
"What happened, what are they doing here?" Casimir asked, looking over at the detectives.
"What are we doing here? What are you doing? Who are you people?! Where did you even come from?!" Johnson screeched. I was sure the magic portals and magical glowing swords had broken his brain.
"I'm getting too old for this shit," Thompson muttered, a sigh escaping his lips.
"Um, this is all a dream! You didn't see anything," Maya sang out, waving their arms emphatically in front of the detective's faces. They leaned over to Casimir, whispering softly. "Should I knock them out?"
"It won't help Maya, they saw the whole fight," Azar grumbled. He walked over to Detective Johnson, holding his hand before him. "Gimme your cuffs."
"I will not give you anything!"
"Either you give them to me, or you can go tie up that dude over there," Azar snapped, pointing at Zachary. "You remember, the guy who you shot like ten times before he knocked you both on your asses."
Johnson pursed his lips, debating what he wanted to do. Slowly he reached for his cuffs, handing them over to Azar. As the Fire Elemental walked away I swear I heard the detective mutter something about Azar not faring much better in the fight.
Casimir was glancing between us all, his face concerned. "Fight, what fight!?" he insisted, not wanting to get off-topic.
"Zachary transformed into a wraith and I punched him," I replied, somewhat proud of myself.
"You punched him?" Casimir asked, perplexed.
"There was this beautiful silver light and I grabbed hold of the wraith and he just poof, exploded," I whispered. I very much wanted to sleep.
"And Zachary is still alive?" Casimir asked, turning to look over at Azar, who was cuffing the bully as we spoke.
"Yeah, they separated somehow," Azar responded, yelling across the room.
"I think I need to take a nap," I mumbled, pressing my face into Casimir's shoulder. He still smelled of cinnamon and soap. An errant thought crossed my mind and my head shot up, looking straight into Casimir's eyes. "I got his cell phone, don't forget to show the detectives the whole video."
"Diana..." Casimir whispered. His eyes seemed forlorn to me.
"Shh, I'll be okay, just gonna close my eyes for a second."
And so I drifted off to sleep.