The Culling (Side Story)

[Indigo]

“C’mon, *****!” Davion barked with nothing left in his body as far as fear went and took hold of the nearest branch that was thick enough he barely could meet his fingertips and thumb when he gripped it tight. “Don’t just stand there! Batter up ***********!”

He felt the damage the walking carpet roll had to offer and knew there was more coming at him. He was good with it. Some got mowed down by cancer, some by the unfair hands of a fate dealt to them like his mother in the Trade Towers. Some lived through a hundred years and witnessed the world go from bad to worse despite all their efforts in trying to make it good. Davion hardly fit into any of those categories if they were to be applied. He was no one worth remembering. He was one of the countless expendables who put himself before his family. Though it could be said he often regretted it and even looked back he never changed his direction where he was heading.

The invitation was accepted before he had a chance to take a few practice swings of his makeshift Louisville slugger. From behind a tree a mash up of what appeared to be human, deer and Yeti snorted to announce it’s presence stepping in front and center. Davion’s eyes narrowed waiting for the first move that would lead to the smack down of massive claws and chomping of teeth.Defense was his only true shot of lasting longer than it took for him to polish off a packet of fries. Instead of what he expects something totally out of left field happens. He barely has time to **** his head in case he was seeing things.

What is that in it’s messed up hands?

He finds out as the sound he is quite familiar with rings out and he is sent backward. It wasn’t the first time he was nearly lifted off his feet by a hot piece of lead drilling its way through his chest. A gun?They had guns?! He barely had time to gasp in shock when his body landed with a thud. He cried out from the pain and clawed at the wound as if he could remove it. All he could think of is that if he was going to die no one would ever believe what killed him. Just as he was ready to get back on his feet and go down fighting the mess of walking nightmare was gone. With the branch still in his hand he rolled and scurried off for some sort of cover. Anything he could find was better than standing out in the open ready to be attacked again.

“It can’t be real.” The hiss of his words trailed behind him as his breathing became increasingly labored. “No way in hell any of this is happening. I need to wake up.”

A few slaps to his own face did nothing but leave his sweating face burning. He refused to give up if he could still move. Covering what seemed yards of exhausting distance involved beating his way through thick shrubs and over fallen trees until he staggered into the first massive upright trunk he came across. He could smell his own blood soaking his shirt as he hugged the massive pine like it was a life preserver tossed to him. He found it just in time. The sounds of screams and the ground rumbling from what sounded like a stampede had his fingers clawing his body to the opposite side of the tree. A raised surface on the trunk caught his frantic fingers. He looked up. A series of thick planks of wood were up fastened up the tree. Something was up there. And as the pounding of whatever was coming grew louder he decided not to waste time finding out what it was. Up he climbed like a squirrel desperate to protect it’s own nuts. Deer stands saved lives.

[Enver Marshall II]

Crash was taken by surprise when a solid form crashed into him and sent him ricocheting off the a small, thinner tree, then finding the ground and rolling. "WOAAAAAAAAH! What the?" He called out, having heard Skid Mark's voice a few seconds before the impact. "******* get off me, Skid." He kicked at the approaching figure--that wasn't skid mark. "GET OFF ME!" He kicked frantically, exposing himself completely to the new guy on the scene. Hadn't he seen him somewhere once before?

He was going the wrong way? "NO ****!" He said as the guy picked him up from off the crunchy ground. as if he were nothing more than a five pound bag of sugar and shoved Crash in the opposite direction of the one he'd been running in. "NOOOO!" Crash frantically struggled to get away from Adley, arms thrashing around, before he saw the thing again. Right there in front of the way they were running; back to the city! "LEMME GO!" He screamed, still trying to get away. "You're going the wrong way!" He watched the beast lock onto their location and come charging at them as fast and as strong as it could. "You made it mad!" Crash paled as it came at them; full speed ahead and that's when Crash lost it. Just like the fraidy cat he was.

A warm stream of urine went dripped down his left leg, past his knee and wet the only thing he wore below anymore...his socks. The strong odor of urine not to be missed by anyone in the immediate area. From above them was a noise. Crash shoved away Adley, this time with success, landing on his *** again and seeing...Skid Mark. "Get the **** outta there. You ain't an eagle *****!" Crash said as he laid there, ready to accept his fate. He couldn't outrun it, and he couldn't fight for ****, and without Enver...everything seemed to come to an end.

---

When Miss Knight took off into a run, Enver rolled his eyes and snorted. Adley would be fine, he was sure of it. No need for dramatics-unless it was Enver's dramatics. He grinned cheekily at the idea, then stalked after her. At first in a brisk walk, then into a jog when he saw he wouldn't be able to keep up with her. He should have changed. "Damnit." Enver said as he scowled while picking up his own speed. "Where?" He said as he came up behind Indigo, his glance going from left to right, keeping on alert for those fae goon pawns that were somewhere in the woods. At the first sound of something natural in the woods, Enver stopped and looked around. Was that a fae? Just a branch breaking under an animal, or having fallen from the tree? Or was it a Wendigo? "Crash!" Enver decided to cut right to the point and call for the guy that was the root of every problem tonight.

[Adley Reed]

The pink-haired tweaker freaked the **** out and, honestly, he had good reason. Adley, made of stronger stuff, was freaking out on the inside. But he focused on the adrenaline rush over the fear. He pushed it down and locked it away and instead pulled on willpower and strength. With his free hand he did his best to wipe the blood from his face, crimson goodness flicking from the tips of his fingertips as he tried to shake off his injuries. If only he could heal his own wounds rather than just replace lost blood. That, he could do later.

Only half a glance was spared for what – or whoever – Crash was shouting at. A face in the trees. One Adley saw… what the ****?! Hadn’t he left that guy in the dust? He’d run from the human, prone on the ground, to lead the Wendigo away from him. Unless there was more than one Wendigo. Adley had run fast, and far. Had he run in a complete circle? How the **** had this guy got here?

These weren’t questions to ask. Adley was reminded of his position and his predicament as soon the creature rushed him. He was stuck in a forest with mythical monsters whom he had no chance to defeat. He was stuck with no help – a tweaker who’d pissed himself and another guy who’d planted himself in a tree and did not look like he was willing to come down any time soon. Which left Adley to…

This one was different. As soon as Adley slashed his sword at the creature’s midriff he realised that this time, he really was up ****’s creek without a paddle. The sword went straight through the creature but caused absolutely no harm. No physical harm. The assault was not stopped and the next thing Adley knew, he had a Wendigo’s fingers around his neck and a fist slammed, like a hammer, into his chest. Several bones broke – ribs, no doubt. A second blow and blood spat from Adley’s lips as his chest caved into his lungs.

Good thing he didn’t have to breathe.

Adley’s fingers wrapped around the creature’s arm even as his eyes were wide, his fate sealed. He did the only thing he knew he could, and cursed the creature. It was the same curse that the Wendigo had previously used upon Adley, a curse which caused the spirit to seize up. Its grip loosened and Adley was able to drop and roll away, teeth bared as his body felt ripped in half with pain.

”You’re a couple of weak-*** pussies…!” he growled at the two men in his company, spitting a globule of blood from his throat directly after. And then he stood, enduring and embracing the pain. He screamed, like a battle cry. It was the cry of a man who was ninety percent certain that he was about to die – but he wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

[Indigo]

“Kick it’s ***, ***********.” Davion was regretting being clean as he listened to the tweaks protests. He was going to remember this **** for too long to be comfortable with. All of it. “Stop ******* around.” He advised while trying to pull at his upper clothing to make the material useful beyond sticking to him like a crusting up layer. He should be making a tourniquet or something. “And then I am going to kick yours soon as…” He felt a stabbing pain in his chest that cut off his words. He groaned at the feeling of things getting too tight around his chest and neck and dropped flat on his back. “**** it. Pretty sure I am dying here.”

Davion was losing blood but still trying to get his *** into some sort of position to inspect his collateral damage. He had some. More than he was prepared to invest in this whole nightmare of where the wild things are. He dropped to the minimal flat ledge and tried to stretch out his legs which did nothing but cause more pain than he already had. He could see his fresh pink meat of his upper thigh shimmering with the blood pumping and pooling over the top of the first wound he set eyes on.

Crash’s squealing was doing little to rouse him from his current vantage point. Not many who get shot in the chest by a walking Yeti with a rack and a gun in claw live to tell the story to the first ****** they come across. Davion was either going to make it out with a tale to tell or he was going to be chewed up and spit out like...well the dumbass that just walked into the forest like they did. He leaned over to find Crash putting up a fight with some guy who apparently came out of nowhere. He rolled to get a better view, lips open but not saying a thing. That didn’t stop his mind from calling it like he saw it.

Who the **** is this clown?

His exotic pools of indigo fixed down on the brother with an impressive blade wielding for some of the action. Crash was slicker than **** coming out of the guys hold. He shook his head slowly at the short lived grappling session. Crash was a spindly guy but he been in a few holds to know how to get his way back out. He would use whatever it took just like any black and white striped critter when cornered.

“I’m roosting, *****!” That is when the black knight below got his turn on the dance floor and had his number called. Davion rolled on his back and chuckled until blood spurt out of the small hole in his chest.“Gonna show ’em, young.”

It was just like his Dad used to say when Davion was still small enough to handle with a military grade temper and a leather belt. What happened next with the swordsman was pretty much a repeat of what happened to his own *** except the brother actually came out a little less bloody. He was about to tell him to call the Avengers for back up when the ***** got some serious attitude.

“Awww, know what...**** you man.”

Davion was fanning his hand like the one calling him him a pussy was that easy to dismiss, which it was until the small flat support beneath him gave way from a single and well executed shot. He landed with a hard thud sending up whatever was light enough to float out of the way as he did.

________________

“What was that?” She froze like a deer caught in the bright lights of a late night poacher. “Enver? Do you see anything?” Her hand slid to the weapon on her hip and pulled it out. As she prepared it to do business if needed her full lips moved slowly, her eyes sweeping to the left then back to the right. “Don’t move. I smell…” Her nose was getting flooded with something familiar but it couldn’t be...could it? Her face scrunched up as it increased. “What the hell?”

[Enver Marshall II]

Crash saw the animal monster do some mortal combat **** on the vampire, who looked like he was about to take a dust nap, but then recoiled before the guy met his demise. Thank ****. What could him or Skid do, that a vampire couldn't do?

Weak *** pussies?! Crash puffed out his chest then and threw his hands up in the air. "Not all of us are vampires!" He replied, chest still puffed out--that was until something came whizzing by him at lightening speed, the size and shape of whatever it was that was after him. He just about took off again, before he heard Skid Mark talking about roosting, giving him the middle finger. Maybe he saw it, maybe he didn't. It was after dark. "Wish I had that gun!" Crash could kick himself, now that he realized how he fucked up on tossing it back in the city. The vampire did a cry of...well, something that had Crash backing up away from the vampire. The guy was stronger and beefier and seemed to want to dance with the thing again.

A loud noise behind him had Crash yelping and jumping before he spun and looked over to see Skid Mark on his back and ***. Crash snorted and nodded his head. Served him right for roosting up there while he was left down here with the animal monster and the vampire! He could have died and Skid Mark would have just been watching. Roosting. "Ha! ******!" Crash said, before he heard more noises from around them and then his name. His ******* name! Enver was here. "Thank ****! OVER HERE!"

The sound of his voice had the monster's attention drifting towards him, then barreling past the vampire and in his and Skid Mark's direction. SKID MARK! While the dude was going to leave him down here, Crash wasn't about to leave the guy. Crash was sure he was about to die, and how much would that blow to be on the hairy back of some monster when he kicked the bucket? Crash moved in front of of Skid Mark and then made his own battle cry as he planted both feet in the ground and put both arms out. What he imagined he looked like and what Crash actually looked like where two very, different things. Crash imagined he looked like a super hero or something, all gallant and stuff, but he actually looked like an injured cat with it's hip busted up, while his 'battle cry' was nothing more than a garbled high wail.

---

Enver smelled it long before Miss Knight had. He tried to move away from the smell, but it was just too strong. "****!" Enver said as the tip of his loafers found the squishy **** pile, Enver lifting his leg to flick it off. "What the hell is this?" He growled, just before he heard Crash. No time to waste. "That's Crash." Enver said, moving towards the direction of where he thought he heard his thrall. Not being an outoorsy kind of guy [unless it involved fishing], Enver had no genuine sense of direction. When he heard what sounded compariable to someone stepping on a cat's tail and a monkey in an angry spur, Enver grabbed his own gun. "What the hell was that?" He asked, before moving towards the sound. Probably a mistake, but he HAD to see what was making that noise.

[Indigo]

Davion was hearing a odd combination of things happening at the given moment. There was a set of bells ringing in his ears. It was not as concerning as was the rhythm of his own heartbeat between his rattling wheezing. He was no doctor but he was pretty sure the rythm was now irregular and increasingly labored. Falling *** first from a deer stand likely at fault as well as the beast of a ******** that fired the impressive shot. Armed and dangerous Yetis. That **** was no where else to be seen outside a movie theater.

Who could possibly think it up? It was so god damned crazy it was actually real. What in the hell had he gotten himself into?

Some wanted to know if there was a God and that they were forgiven for all their wrong doings before their flame was snuffed out. Others wanted to know the meaning of life. **** all that noise. He wanted to know before he was kicked off his grand yet short stay on the main stage who the ringleader was for the freakshow nightmare he was forced to ride out. A call of the wild raised quickly. Was this the sign he asked for? The battle cry of someone ready to go balls on full blast at the carpet bag coming at them had his head turning to find the blade wielding stranger ready to rock and roll. Yeah, and he also wanted to know if this particular brother survived. He raised a fist to show his support. The regretted it when it became impossible to bring it back down.

He saw it for what it was. On his back he was sort of the ruled out as the last man standing and in this case it was damn fine for him. Nothing a little weed or better couldn’t cure once he got his hands on some...if he was that forunate to leave in one damn piece. Crash owed him. And that is when it appeared as if the tweak was actually pulling through on it. His twigs for arms stretched out like two white lines standing between him and...what the hell? Someone was calling out for Crash. There in the Canadian boondocks his former crackhead customer was all but nude and surprisingly a rather popular guy. Could it get any more bizarre than that? Yes. If someone showed up and saved his own *** that would certainly do it.

_______________

Outside the obligatory hop and weave around the proof that Crash was in fact not far from where they were, Indigo kept up hot on Enver’s heels. Despite the sinking of her shoes into the moist earth below she managed to be right behind him like a modern Jackie Brown. The bullet in her back did little to slow her down. Through the random sharp bite of thorned and barbed bushes she continued right behind Enver. The clearing adley had left behind salvaged most of the material on her frame as she kept an eye out for any signs of wild things. The young allurist was more than ready to take aim and fire at the first thing that jumped between her employer and the two they were searching for.

“Adley?!” She called out figuring it would better to be safe than sorry while getting deeper into the unknown. The sounds of cries left her imagining all sorts of dilemmas and possibilities of their sources and conditions. “That doesn’t sound good.” Her pace picked up.

[Adley Reed]

Adley had given in and accepted his fate. These creatures were ten times stronger than he was, and though he got a hit in here and there it hardly slowed them down. The sword was suddenly heavy in his grasp where before it had been the perfect weight. The strength was waning, and now Adley fought for his own pride. He wasn’t doing it for the guy crying behind him like a slaughtered cat, nor for the one who’d fallen so unceremoniously from the tree. He owed nothing to either of them. They were strangers. Maybe he’d come back and kill them himself, if they didn’t die out here. It all seemed so stupid. Why the **** had he agreed to come out here alone, and why had he hung around so damned long? Now it was too late.

Where once Adley had lived and survived a slashed gut, half his organs spilling out and into the fresh air, now he wondered whether this creature was after his lungs. The vampire attacked in a series of frenzied strikes, sword aiming to slice and dice the creature that was impervious to all of it. And yet, here was Adley, his shirt now in shreds as his chest was continually thrashed, skin opened to the night and ribs so smashed it was a miracle that the man could still stand. He was oblivious to everything – until he heard Indigo call for him.

He'd told her to stay away.

He’d dropped to his knees, his whole body shaking from the effort to stay here, now, in the land of the living. He opened his mouth to shout to Indigo, to tell her to go away, get back, turn around, but his voice was drowned by pooling blood. The onslaught of the attack upon his person ceased; the newcomers had gained the creature’s attention and it shifted from Adley.

”…no,” he croaked, pushing himself to his feet. He could hardly see straight. But he wouldn’t allow this creature to do to Indigo as it had done to him.

”Indigo… no!” he shouted, this time his voice gaining some weight and heft, flinging through the night until it reached her. If his heart were beating it would be in his throat, his fear for her life far greater than the fear for his own. He stumbled before he ran, hoping to overtake the creature. He launched himself from a fallen log, wanting to latch himself onto the creature’s back but it was not solid. It was a mere spirit, its flesh non-existent. Adley went crashing to the ground. But it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that he had, yet again, done the thing no harm. He was between it and Indigo, whose golden curls he could see, now, through the undergrowth. He had his sword held uselessly in front of him, as if it could ward the creature off – with a bark of frustration he sent a volley of magic in its direction; it seized up, stopped moving. Rigid, for a few blissful seconds. His other hand was held out behind him, bloodied fingers splayed in the universal sign for ‘stop’.

What Enver did, Adley could care less. Whether the others were still alive, he gave zero fucks. Indigo, however…

”…leave!” he snapped, hoping that she would listen.

[Enver Marshall II]

Crash had gotten the attention of the 'monster' alright. Not in the way he expected, but he had it. The Wendigo came charging towards him at full speed ahead, as he shrieked and then started off in his own run. Crash ran zig zag patterns throughout the wilderness, hoping that would work. He had heard that it worked for some animals...which, he couldn't remember. He was about to find out that the Wendigo didn't have as small of a brain as those animals and after the second turn, the Wendigo realized that at some point Crash would come back, so it was best to go straight forward.

A hairy arm wrapped around the guy's torso and hoisted him back up into the air after a rough shake or two. Crash yelped as he slammed against the meaty shoulder of the creature, eyes looking for Enver, that other vampire guy, or ever Skid. Most of them were too busy dying! "I don't know what you've heard, but animals are a no go, bro!" Crash pushed both his hands into the shoulder of the monster and then dropped down hard on it. If anyone had ever seen an a whale splashing in water up close and personal, that was Crash at his finest. He was dropped, probably out of shock more than anything, and Crash clenched his body together and log rolled away from the entire scene.

Everything was happening at lightening speed, but that's how it always was. When Enver arrived, after Indigo, he saw some guy he never saw before-human for sure, and Adley with his guts half hanging out. "Ohhhaaaagh." Enver said as he came to an abrupt stop, and stepped back a little. His eyes were peeled open for his thrall, only to see him heading off with...Was that a Wendigo? Enver felt his jaw drop as he stared at the things back, watching Crash try and scramble out of its hold. "That's my thrall, buddy." While Crash was still on Enver's list, if anyone was going to do anything to his thrall, it was going to be him!

"Hang tight, Reed. You'll be alright." Enver said as he strode past Adley, certain Miss Knight would help him the best she could. As he walked, he tugged off his tie, unbuttoned his button down and focused on changing his form. Becoming an animal would help him in a lot of ways; mostly throwing off the fae. But becoming a lion would hopefully give him the upper hand, so as his shirt fell to the ground, Enver muttered, 'Lion, lion, lion. Goooo, lion!" Suddenly, the guy was on all forms, body contorting to the left, the right and then he flopped flat down on the ground and vanished from plain sight under the remainder of clothes Enver once had on. To any watching him, it would look as if he was gone, but under his pants was a beetle that was struggling to find its way out of those very clothes.

Beetle: https://featuredcreature.com/wp-content ... junkie.jpg

Enver Marshall II Other None Luck Turn into a lion! Failed

[Indigo]

Davion was still supporting the sword wielding black knight with his arm stuck straight up like he could hold the reins of any steeds if they were brought in. Even that and the pain that could only be described as that of a cantaloupe sized pine cone shoved up his *** in the impact of landing couldn’t hold a candle to the name he heard coming from the guys lips with another demand to leave. When Davion heard ‘Indigo’ he found that he the strength and willpower left to turn what parts of his body would allow it to get a look at the direction the filleted brother with a serious set of balls was barking.

A cloud of golden ringlets appeared as a woman rushed in stopping quickly to the point the cloud of gold topping her head went forward falling into her face until her hands scrambled to collect what was out of place and brushed it all back. It was then that the set of unmistakable eyes that had haunted him all the years since he last saw them found him. He couldn’t move, his chest stopped rising. He tried to inhale but he was sure he had taken his final breath. There she was. The vision of his not so little sister was coming to him for the last time. This was what it came down to. He dropped his head to the ground beneath his arm and watched her for as long as he had left to live. Indigo. He knew his mind was finally disconnecting.

It was then as he continued to watch like all of the scene currently playing out was on some big drive-in movie screen. Indigo’s eyes predictably narrowed in defiance. Her face bunched up so her brows furrowed and finally met to knit together. Davion had seen it, inspired it in her so many times before when she didn’t get her way, when she wouldn’t back down. He had no air left to work with but somehow at that very moment he laughed. Despite the loss of all hope that anything different would happen but his death he let loose a laugh that was going to be his last. The world never stood a chance when she got like that. Which is exactly what she did next.

___________

“Oh hell no!” Her voice was coming from somewhere that felt as solid and impenetrable as a steel wall. There was no way was he going to be spilling his guts and get sent to the one place that she would go a hundred times over to keep him from ever seeing again. No one was there for him before when it happened. This time was different. He wasn’t alone and he wouldn’t even be in this mess if it wasn’t for her. “No way in hell you are telling me to…” Her focus tore from Adley to the roll of Crash’s bare body over and over. “You son of a …”

She was ready to go hands-to-neck for the cause of her current troubles when her boss had her swallowing her last word as he went about unbuttoning his shirt like it was going to be useful in the attempts to spare it damage because he would be wearing it later. Her jaw tightened as the emotions she had never fully experienced to the point of overload starting rising quickly within. A full force volcano was forming in the allurist at an alarming rate. Adley’s guts are turning into fertilizer and Enver is pulling some slick move and telling the massive mutated beast Crash was his with such ease it could very well have been scripted somewhere. It didn’t end there. The loud and proud vampire offered up some verbal reassurance to Adley as well. Great now he was a superhero.She was about to ask him if he had lost his mind when he somewhat proved it and shocked her even more-which was surprisingly possible.

“What in the hell are you doing?!” She growled as he babbled about lions and said he was good to go. How could this be happening? No time to wait for an answer. It was then that his body went all sorts of wonky, twisting up then finally disappearing altogether leaving his clothes behind in a pool where he once stood. “NO! Get your *** back here NOW!” Her ears felt on fire as did the rest of her skin as she reached out quickly yanking the various items of clothes apart and giving them a fierce shake. “This is NOT the time to disappear!”

There at the bottom of what was newly sprung blades of grass a brilliant colored beetle stood out sorely in the sprigs of fresh growth around it. She felt a piercing shiver race down her spine.

“No, no, oh hells NO!” She had only one repulsion that would hold her back and that was with bugs. She wanted to crawl right out of her skin looking at it. “C’mon no. Why did you have to go and do that?!”

Her face soured up and she pulled at her own hair turning once as if that would make things go back to the way they were. But this wasn’t about her. The scent of Adley’s insides catching fresh night air reminded her of that. Two choices came to her right there. Leave Enver the Beetle be or collect him then deal with the shitstorm exploding in front of her. Her fingers reached down and plucked the beetle up and tucked it the only place she could think of on short notice where he would hopefully be safe till he came back around. That is when the warning bells started ringing with the stench and grunt of another contender stepping into the area for a go at her.

“Don’t you even dare!” Her finger pointed out in reprimand at the beast she was about to take issue with while ignoring the reality that she had a bug stuffed deep between her boobs. “Enough is enough!” She had her gun still in her hand but opted to take off her shoe and throw it at the beast in warning as if that would make a difference. The other was just as quickly pulled off and chucked at the same target. That is when she made her serious move and took aim shooting at the beast of burden.“Shoo!”

Just as that came out of her mouth she was yanked off the ground and swung around so that she caught a blurred vision of all things around and below including her brother, Davion, laughing his bloody *** off at the sight of her. “Davion?!” She called out just as her body felt the force of meeting up with a wall of rough wood then just as quickly went airborne. She howled out in protest while flying upward to the branches above her like she was trapeze artist in need of something to grab onto. “H-E-L-L-L-P!"

[Adley Reed]

You’ll be alright, Enver said. The words repeated themselves in Adley’s mind, taunting him. It was such a lie, wasn’t it? It was a complete fallacy. Was this the usual for Enver Marshall, able to go around and tell lies that sounded like the truth? Adley was hoping that the arrival of the stronger vampire – he assumed Enver was stronger, having vaguely flicked through the book he’d released not too long ago – would help save their asses. Instead of doing anything worth anything, however, Enver disappeared. Just like that. Ziiipt, and gone. Indigo, of course, would not do as she was told. She ran into the fray, scolding the Wendigos like they were toddlers misbehaving on a playground or particularly large cockroaches that could be squashed underfoot. Literally, she tried to squash them with her shoes – which were, honestly, entirely impractical in this situation anyway.

It was all a bit of a blur, Indigo going through Enver’s clothes and plucking something clean to stick it between her breasts. Was that a beetle?! How in the world did Enver think that would be useful? Something passed between her and the other human, whose name Adley did not know. As if they recognised each other. How did they know each other? Adley could have asked the questions but now was not the time nor the place. Everything Adley did next hinged entirely upon Indigo; Indigo cared about Enver who in turn cared about Crash, his thrall. Indigo recognised the other endangered human, and maybe she knew him well enough to not want him to die.

Next thing Adley knew, Indigo was flying through the air and, though he did not doubt the woman could kick his *** if required, she wasn’t that much stronger than he was. Was she? If he couldn’t stand a chance against the Wendigos, nor could she. And given they were the only two who stood even the smallest chance, and he would let nothing happen to her…

Well.

The riot that Adley caused was phenomenal. He shouted bloody murder at the Wendigo – two of them, by his count – until his voice broke. He slashed at them both with his place and threw curse after curse in their direction until his magical energy was spent. All the while, he continued to take steps backwards. He threw rocks and sticks. He kept their eyes on him. He kept going until he was absolutely certain that they were going to keep following him, and only then did he turn and run.

He ran, and made sure that they stayed behind him.

He ran, knowing his stamina was on its last legs.

He ran and stumbled but continued to run, glancing over his shoulder every two minutes to make sure the creatures were still on his tail. Two of them. *******… two of them.

It wasn’t a matter of IF they caught him, it was a matter of WHEN. And he knew he was going to die. That place… he hated that place, but he was going to end up there. The Shadow Realm.

Hang tight, Reed. You’ll be alright. Yeah ******* right, Marshall. Yeah, right.