Greetings everyone. I don't really have anything to say. So... Ya.
CHANCES ARE this will take place in the same world create by Eric Kripke's "Supernatural" while there will most likely be no cross over in storyline or characters. This world was not created by me nor do I claim to have done so. I however do not like some of the creature features of said world. They will most likely be changed. Deal with it.
~~ Supernatural 101 -- Part 2.5 ~~
I awoke in the same position that I fell asleep in. But it was different, it was warm. I opened my eyes on Desmond's hairy chest, the hairs tickling my eyelashes and making me jump away. Looking out over the lake, I was enthralled by its beauty. It was still dusk, the red and yellows of the sky mixing together to form brilliant oranges that transitioned seamlessly to other colours. But these were different. I sensed that somehow, these were the source of my warmth. I felt happy when I looked at the swirling, beautiful colours. I reached out to touch them, they seemed so close.
I touched them and all at once the light from the morning sun raced into my eyes, temporarily blinding me. I blinked furiously and armed a hefty pulsus to defend Desmond, who was still asleep. I stood and heard a `ooh!' as the smell of bacon filled my nostrils.
"Hey you!" Celine shouted and yet whispered at the same time. "Come in here!" I complied, entering through the sliding glass door and stepping onto the cold marble floor of the kitchen. Celine smiled warmly at me before returning to mixing a bowl of what seemed to be pancake mix. "Thought I'd just let you two sleep the night away! `Course I put up that nice warm ward up to keep you two roasty toasty!" she tapped the glass of the window with her nail, but it made no sound. I looked outside and the red swirling colours were surrounding Desmond once more. "He can't hear us now." She laughed and slapped her knee.
"You're awfully giddy for the morning... And for someone who just learned that her ex is fucking another guy." I said nonchalantly.
"Oh pu-lease!" she said in a rather animated way... Although most of her is animated if you haven't already noticed. "I've had guys do worse things to me! It's not a big deal. One guy I dated for awhile who was only interested in me because he thought I had children he could sacrifice to Adramelech! Well I haven't popped one out so he was mighty upset! Shame what happened to him... Pancakes?"
"I'm... ok... I'll wait for Dizzy... Desmond." I smiled.
"Awwww! Ok, coffee? Tea? I make a wicked dragon berry tea!" She started ruffling through the cabinets and pulling things out. "Not a problem, don't worry. You don't seem like the coffee type person anyways eh?" The sharp slam of a coffee mug onto the granite counter snapped me out of whatever sleep was left in me.
"I'm not a caffeine person really."
"No caffeine in dragon berry tea. It's just delicious!" She put a cup of foul smelling liquid in front of me then sat down with a cup of her own. I looked outside to see if Desmond was still here. He was, still inside that bubble. "It's just `cause you can do magik that you can see it you know. He won't notice anything different until he pops it."
"Hmh." I tried the tea. It tasted at least ten times worse than it smelled. I spit is back in the cup. "Oooh. Hot." I lied.
"Aww sorry there love! Just give it a few minutes to cool down." She smiled and took a sip of her tea. "You know, once you and Desmond have eaten, I've got a surprise for both of you! Ooooh you'll just love it!"
"What is it?" I ventured, fully expecting the answer that I got.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise silly!" She cackled and slapped her knee. "But you know, I can tell you that it'll help us find your friends in the Society."
"Oh good, I can't wait. I do love them and miss them so." I spun the mug around in circles by its handle. "You know, it's kinda funny that they'd just disappear like that though. I mean, doesn't seem very professional."
"Professional?!" She burst out laughing again, finding the mere hint of the word worthy of hours of hiccupping. "Oh my dear boy, no... Even if those guys claim to be some sort of covert operations team, I highly doubt that they'd be classified as professional!"
"Mmmh. Morning." Desmond closed the sliding door behind him. "It's cold..."
"Clothes are upstairs hun," she turned to me, "dried them last night." Her gaze said that she knew what had transpired but would keep her mouth shut. I was getting really tired of people knowing exactly what's going on at all times when I have no idea myself. But if she started responding to my thoughts the way Winnie did, I was done. Hangings and stake burnings all around.
"Did I miss anything important?" Desmond said as he walked back into the kitchen, clothes on and pressed. He kissed me on the head before helping himself to pancakes and bacon.
"No, not a thing! Just idle chit chat really." Celine said. "Tea?"
"Oh no thank you." Desmond said sitting down.
"Well! Then I might as well get to that surprise now eh?" She suddenly got very gitty. "We're going to do... Wait for it... A Séance!"
Desmond flopped his hands down on the table, piece of bacon in one, another piece hanging from his mouth. He stared blankly at Celine. "Séance are neber a gud idea!" he stammered.
"Oh come off it! I do it all the time. I've got a spirit guide that follows me around so it works out quite well when I need some information. Well, technically I guess you guys need some information huh?" She slapped her knee in laughter. Though I didn't see how what she said was remotely funny.
"Well we can just move on, forget that any of this ever happened with the Society." Desmond swallowed. "I don't want us mixed up with them anyways, they're better off dead."
"Desmond don't say that." I did I guess have some remote feeling of friendship for Cade. Regardless, we couldn't just leave this mystery unsolved anyways.
"Why not? Look what they've put us through. Put you through more specifically. I'm done with them if the only thing they're going to do is fuck with us. End of discussion."
"Not end of discussion Desmond." Celine said in a forceful tone. "I do believe that there are more people affected by this than you. Tim and I will do the séance ourselves then. Good day to you. Common Tim." She grabbed my hand and whisked me away through the halls of her house.
Desmond called after us. "Oh common!" A pause. "Fine! I'm coming!" and his footsteps raced to meet us.
"He's stubborn," Celine whispered, "but not impossible."
"I heard that."
We came upon the dining room, a grand oak table stood as the focal point of the room. A small yet elegant fireplace adorned with tree boughs and what looked to be feathers decorated the mantle. Desmond and I sat while Celine busied herself, organizing the required elements for the ritual. A large black table cloth was thrown over the table, it had a large pentagram painted on it in a silvery white paint. Five candles were placed on the pentagram, one at each point. They leapt to life after a small burst of energy from Celine, Desmond seemed not to notice. When finally she sat down, she got us to join hands.
"Oh! Almost forgot!" She grabbed under the table for something and I could hear the sound of chains rattling. She produced said chains and clamped the irons onto her wrists. "Just in case!" She grabbed our hands again.
She began humming very low, muttering things incomprehensible to herself. The room suddenly grew rather dark, though the sun still shone through the windows. It was almost like whatever Celine was calling to was taking in all of the light.
"I invoke thee!" Was all that made sense of what she was muttering. It was followed by a sharp and high pitched inhale. She seemed to snap out of her trance and blinked a few times. "Oh hello darling." She seemed to be talking to the center of the table.
Desmond gave me a confused look, one that I returned. But as I returned it, I noticed a small wisp of silvery air in the middle of the table. It danced and played, never growing too large, compelled by an unfelt breeze.
"Yes well I'm doing wonderfully thank you... Oh this is Tim and this is Desmond. I believe I've told you about him before." She winked and bit her lip. "Well the Society actually, have you heard of them? ... Ah well would you mind asking around?" The silvery smoke flattened out on the table, too thin to see any longer. "She'll be right back." Celine said mater of factly, nodding that she spoke the truth.
"So what are we here for?" Desmond looked annoyed.
"Well, we'll have to see. I'm not sure if any of the spirits will really even feel like talking today. They're very finicky you know... Oh hello again." She smiled at the wisp that had returned. "You don't say... Well I hardly see how that matters... Yes... Oh perfect!" She turned to us. "She's found someone willing to talk. And..." She began as if listening. She stared at nothing. "It seems... Ah. Well that's not too far. Well boys, seems like there's a spirit out there that likes you. My friend here tells me that you'll find the Society headquarters in Toronto, I can give you the details later."
"Well that's good. At least we now have the option of checking it out." I said. Desmond shrugged looking all too unimpressed. I squeezed his hand and smiled at him. He exhaled and closed his eyes, face expressionless.
"Oh another? Alright, what's this one have to say? Door's open." She listened for a moment and cocked her head curiously to the side. "Well I'm not comfortable with tha-" Her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Celine?!" Desmond He stood up.
"Don't break the circle!" I shouted at him. Celine let out a terrified scream and flung her head backwards, screaming towards the sky. Her grip on my hand became rigid and icy. It became almost painful to hold. "Ah! Celine!" Then she stopped. Slumped forward in her chair, she breathed heavily and seemingly with pain.
"Celine...?" I asked quietly. "Celine are you..."
"Timothy..." She wheezed. "Good to see you again..." Her chest heaved and she shook slightly as she spoke. "Do you not recognize me...?"
"Celine...?" I stuttered.
"Wrong... Timothy..." She looked up at me, but her face was different. It was familiar...
"Winnie...?"
"What? Winnie?!" Desmond looked to me, then Celine rapidly.
"Hello Desmond." She clamped down on our hands, painfully squeezing them until I thought my hand would shatter. "I will kill you for what you did to me!" She shrieked. "I will kill you both! Mark my words you insolent little maggots this is not over!" Celine's head turned to me with blank eyes. "And you... The Weapon of Light. You are nothing. You are less than nothing! You are the scum on the bottom of my shoe, do you hear me? I will flay the skin from your bones sinew by sinew, and I will love every moment of it."
"Over my dead body." Desmond threatened and released his hand from hers. A brilliant flash of light pierced the room as Celine was thrown backwards, the chains alone stopped her from hitting the wall. A silvery smoke escaped her lips as she exhaled, unconscious.
"Diz..." He leapt over the table and held me close.
"She can't hurt us T. She's dead. I won't let her hurt us." His arms were so strong, so tight against my body. I hadn't had the time to drop my hands, so they were wedged between us, the embrace all his. "She wouldn't dare." He whispered.
I broke out of his grasp to run to Celine's side. "Celine? Are you alright?" My touch seemed to stir her into consciousness.
"What happened?" She said after a few moments. "All I saw was anger, hatred..." She began to cry. "Oh gods what happened?!"
"It's alright, one of the spirits possessed you for a minute. It's fine, it's over." I explained.
"It's not over..." She quivered. A tear rolled down her cheek and her eyes were lost.
There was blood everywhere. It was difficult to comprehend what had happened, it was all so... fast. The bullet had struck Ironside's head, that was for certain. But it hadn't gone through. Something prevented that from happening. But as for the three men, well... Their lives were forfeit after that gunshot. Ironside stood above his last victim, the Carter boy. He cried and wined and pleaded for Ironside to kill him. Harvey was dead, therefore his life was over. Well, at least that was his case. Ever since that little smudge of charcoal had caught his attention, all Ironside wanted to do was rip out Bill's throat and drink the glorious sanguine that would flow from the wound. So he did. Harvey's was much sweeter, much more virile. But Carter was the youngest of them all. Surely his blood would taste the sweetest, fill the burning hunger within his stomach and satisfy Rabnix who... Rabnix...
"Oh my boy, you should see your face right now!" Rabnix laughed from inside his mind. "Oh, it's beautiful!" his laughter continued as Ironside realized his deeds and what caused them. "A push! That's all you needed! A push and then I sat back and drank in the life force of these pitiful humans. You're wonderful my boy!"
"No..." Ironside whispered, hand clenched around Carter's throat, teeth barred.
"Please... Kill me!!!" Carter screamed.
"I cannot offer you that salvation Carter." Ironside released the boy and began to walk away.
"What are you?!" Carter screamed. Ironside felt something hit his back. Carter threw things at him. A rock, a beer bottle, a shoe... But this would not provoke him, nothing the boy could do would. "You fucking vampire! You're a fucking monster!"
"I know I am." Ironside walked further from the now smoldering embers of the blood soaked fire. The tears and sobs of the boy echoed in the night.
"Oh you are you know..." Rabnix taunted. "And if I had wanted you dead... If I had the strength to take over your form then, I would have. And I would be laughing and dancing with their corpses. Bathing in their blood and wearing their intestines as a lovely scarf. Much better than yours I might add."
"Quiet." Ironside said calmly. He leapt into the trees after grabbing his sword and sat, watching Carter from on high. He felt sorry for the boy, for what he had done. Must he kill everyone? Must he be doomed to wallow in the pity of his victims and yet feel compelled to still create them through bloody violence? He had freed Timothy from the oppression of his parents. They did not deserve to live. But what of this boy? Surely Ironside could not take him to his bed after this. Timothy never saw the act itself. Carter had.
"Oh banish such thoughts! No one could ever love a monster like yourself. Look how much pain he is in. You should end it..." The boy wailed out in agony, clutching the corpse of his ex lover, crying uncontrollably.
In a moment of clarity, Carter dropped the corpse and reached for his rifle. Would he? Ironside made no movement to stop him, only studied the situation very carefully and with a keen interest in what extraordinary lengths humans go to end their perceived suffering. If only the boy knew what suffering Ironside had been through. Although... Suffering is relative is it not? How can you quantify human suffering? It isn't possible he concluded.
"The problem with people," Rabnix said, in an oddly serious tone, "is that they are far too self involved to admit that anyone else's suffering is worse than their own."
"I do not wish this on the boy." Carter couldn't reach the trigger while at the same time aiming the barrel of the gun at the underside of his jaw. This only made him weep harder. "But I'll not feed you."
"Oh come now... It's only a little bite..."
Ironside landed behind the sobbing boy gracefully. "By now you know that I am not exactly human no?"
"Please kill me... I want to die!" Carter pleaded.
"All manner of evil exists in this world. The monster in your closet, the shadows that stalk you when you're alone... They're all real, and very dangerous."
"I don't want to live!"
"I'm not sure what I am. But I know that I have a demon inside of me. I control it most of the time, but occasionally, like just now, it comes out and I do... Terrible things."
"Why are you telling me this?" his cheeks were dampened by tears and blood. "I'll do it myself!" He reached for Ironside's sword and unsheathed it before putting it to his stomach.
But Ironside was quick. By the time that the boy had pulled his hands towards his chest, the sword was in Ironside's possession once more.
"My master once showed me hell boy. You do not want to go there." A long pause. "As I will."
Once Celine was calmed down with a significant amount of pot and valium, Desmond and I departed for the city. The spirit before Winnie provided the details and it was not a half hour from where we overlooked the lake. From the periphery, we slowly made our way into the city, the landscape becoming more and more industrial as we went. The cars and trucks we passed carried on their merry way like nothing was happening. Of course to them this was just an ordinary day. But not to me, not to Desmond and certainly not to Celine. This was the day we would find out what happened to the Society, I was sure of it.
If you've ever parked in downtown Toronto, you'll know that it's actually fairly impossible. Where it's the lack of space or the people who don't speak English trying to direct you into a spot at the back of the lot because it's the only one open, it's difficult. As a result, we managed to park a fair distance away from where we needed to be.
"Heel-Toe Express." I said as I slammed the door and began walking towards our destination: The Scotia Plaza. It's the only building that graces the Toronto Skyline that is pink. It's interesting enough I suppose, and not too difficult to find. Seems odd that a secret agency is in the basement, but hey.
"How are we going to get in? We don't even know where the entrance is." Desmond held my hand as we walked around the city. No one looked twice, I could get use to it here...
"Celine said to just follow the signs." Whatever that means.
We entered the PATH, a twisty underground area that connects many of the largest buildings in Toronto through a... Well a path. As it turned out, we did simply follow the signs to the base of the Scotia Plaza, then right back out again.
"I think we passed it." Desmond said looking around.
"No no, it's over here. Look, the sign says `Scotia Plaza -- East' and we came from the South, so we haven't passed it." I dragged Desmond the way I felt was correct. About fifteen minutes later, we ended up in the same spot, never having found our destination.
"The fuck is wrong with this path?!" Desmond was losing his cool. Everyone that walked by us seemed to know exactly where they were going. We stood in a rather ritzy area with expensive shops and white marble... everything. There was a fountain to one side and plants adorning a small incline in the path. It was rather nice actually. Four halls lead out from our location and there was a homeless man playing with something in the corner and muttering to himself.
"Excuse me," I approached a woman. She was in her 40's at least and wore a red coat with matching hat. She was clearly a successful business woman of the city. "Which way is it to the Scotia Plaza?"
"Oh well you go that way then turn right and then left through the eating area." She hurried on her way.
"Alright, let's go. See? It never hurts to stop and ask for directions." I mused in superiority at Desmond.
"Ya, unless there are zombies in the food court."
"Well that would be fun actually." I joked. He was not amused. Oh quick tempered Desmond...
After a little bit of a walk, we found ourselves exactly where we started out from. The white marble incline reflected the light that the fountain gave off.
"This is fucking stupid." Desmond threw his arms up.
"Excuse me," I approached a woman She was in her 40's at least and wore a red coat with matching hat. She was clearly a successful business woman of the city. "Which way is it to the Scotia Plaza?"
"Oh well you go that way then turn right and then left through the eating area." She hurried on her way.
"Thank you!" I said and dragged Desmond the way the lady pointed. "See? It never hurts to ask for directions."
"Ya, unless there are zombies in the food court."
"Well that would be fun actually." I joked. He was not amused and instead of smiling, smirking, grinning or any other sort of verb action. He stopped and let go of my hand.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh Goddamnit!!" He shouted and thrust his fists downward.
"What is it Diz?"
"We did this before... Déjà vu to the max down here." He got onto his knees and grabbed something from his pocket. He then began to draw an intricate pattern on the carpet.
"What are you doing?!" I whispered in a forceful way. Kneeling down beside him, I tried to block as much of what he was doing as I could with my body.
"There's something wrong here T." He drew furiously. "A-a a time loop or a uhh... Trickster maybe? God those guys are douches... Or the Society HQ fucking with us with some kind of spell. That's why this place is so damn confusing. There's something supernatural about it."
"And so what are you doing?" I ventured.
"Dispel glyph. If it's a witch, white or black, this should take care of the spell." He explained.
"Excuse me?" I looked behind me. There stood a woman I her 40's at least. She wore a red coat with matching hat. She was clearly a successful business woman of the city... Hang on. "Do you know the way to the Scotia Plaza?" She blinked and her eyes grew pitch black.
"Dizzy!" He looked up and flew backwards, landing in the fountain.
She made a tisk-tisk noise at me, shaking her finger. "That's a bad Timmy." She approached me, her face now twisted and evil. "Searching for things that are not to be found." She paced around me and the unfinished glyph, now unneeded.
"Why are you hiding the Society?" I demanded, concentrating on making the biggest flare of white magik I'd probably ever had attempted.
"For fun." She... It?... Explained. "I certainly wouldn't want you snooping around there. If you with all that potential went and started conversing with the enemy, well... We can't have that now can we?" She knelt down to my eye level, delicately smoothing her skirt as she lowered. She grabbed my chin and looked at me with those eerie eyes. "You can't hurt me with that power you've got. You're not the Weapon anymore."
I could feel her getting ready to throw me as she had Desmond. She moved her hand from my chin to grab my whole face. "Sweet dreams."
"Fractere." I whimpered. The demon screamed and was thrown backwards, making an impression in the white marble wall. The people walking by were nearly hit by the falling debris, but were sparred by mere millimeters... They didn't seem to notice in the slightest.
She roared in anger and threw another demonic wave at me. Too slow to reflect it back on her this time, I slammed into a marble pillar. Fuck those things are hard. My head erupted into a painful migraine.
"You'll never find it, and no one will ever find you!" She shrieked coming towards me.
I had to find it, just had to follow the signs.
"Hey bitch!" We both looked to Desmond just in time to see him run up and pour the contents of his flask onto her face. It sizzled and burned and the sound she made was horrific. "Common!" Desmond grabbed my hand and we took off running.
"Wait!" I said as we passed the homeless man in the corner. I hadn't looked at him close enough before. He was playing a small harp and chanting... Not mumbling. I keyed in to what they must have done and looked all the more carefully. As I paid more attention to the wall beside him, symbols started appearing. They traced along the walls and around the corner, beckoning us to follow. "This way!" I took off running, listening to Desmond's heavy stomps follow me.
Another open area. Glowing blue symbols to the left. To the left. To the right. The walls turned pink as we entered the Scotia Plaza. Quickly looking around, I saw the symbols turn into a doorway in the solid wall. Etched blue writing forming an elaborate archway for us to go through... If we could walk through walls.
I hurried up to it. "This is it. It has to be." The shrieking of the demon grew closer. She was revived, and following us.
"T it's just a wall. We've gotta get out of this path and up to the streets! She won't attack us up there. People down here must be under some kind of misdirection hex." Desmond pulled my shirt.
"No wait! Look." My harnd had disappeared through the wall. "It's all platform nine and three-quartersy. Let's go!" I pushed through the wall and Desmond followed. From the inside of the pink room, the archway was clear, and the demon was making a run for it.
"Look out." Desmond pushed me aside. There was a white devil's trap carved into the floor. Some sort of magik had recreated a small bit of pink stone to disrupt the trap, making it unfinished. "Stand back." Desmond pulled out his gun and aimed carefully at the polished pink stone. Firing, the bullet took a chunk out of the floor, extending the circle of the devil's trap further towards completion. The demon leapt at the arch and Desmond shot again, digging more stone up and completing the circle. Bones could be heard crunching as the demon in the red coat slammed into the now impenetrable barrier.
"I think she's out." I said looking at her through the archway.
We were then able to observe the surroundings. The small pink room had one door leading out. It was large and made of what looked to be silver. Overhead, a sprinkler system that presumably held holy water was firmly attached to the ceiling. No demons, no ghosts... Nothing was allowed to enter this place if it wasn't entirely human or angelic.
"Hello?" I called out. No answer. Desmond tried the door and it opened with a little effort.
"Hello?" He called out through the open silver door. His voice echoed off the walls of the dark corridor leading further down into the bowels of the Plaza. "It's too dark, I can't see anything."
"It's ok... I can." The glyphs that had lead us here lined the walls of the corridor, lighting it up so only those with an affinity to white magik could enter. The final test any undesirables had to go through I suppose. "Here, take my hand, some of the steps are missing." Desmond obliged with a tender hand in mine. I guided him down the long staircase, telling him when and where to step. Some stairs were missing, partially missing or pitfalled into harpoon spikes, meant to trap the foot of an intruder. Nasty traps.
Before too long, we got to the bottom, to a simple white door with a metal handle. A small sign glowed with the same blue incandescence as the glyphs that read "Welcome to The Society." I assumed that that was the most formal greeting we would get. I pushed the door open and the dark corridor was filled with light.
It took a moment or two to get use to the bright light of the white lobby-type room. There was an ornate security desk with no one currently occupying the chair and a series of undistinguishable doors leading from the room.
Desmond approached the desk. "Anybody home?" He leaned over. "Oh shit..." He ran around the desk, motioning for me to stay back. "He's dead. Blood's dried... He's been gone for a long time." I stepped carefully to see behind the desk as if the floor might open up and swallow me at any moment. There was a body in a white robe lying stuck to a puddle of dried blood behind the desk.
"Oh no..." I whispered. "I think I know why the Society stopped talking to us."
"Common," Desmond motioned, "let's look around." He took out his gun and opened one of the doors.
The Society HQ was expansive. There were so many twisty hallways and random rooms, all pure white but painted with the blood of Society members.
"Everyone's dead Dizzy." I was starting to feel queasy with all the blood. "What are we looking for here?"
"Timothy?" It was faint, but audible. Just a small voice full of humility. I turned to the door that held this voice in constraint.
"Hello?" I walked to the door, placing my hand upon its surface, feeling the power behind it. I couldn't quite place it, but I knew that it was warm, safe and beautiful.
"T be careful." Desmond pulled me from the door I was drawn to. "Don't go in there."
"They called to me Des. They need my help." I pushed the door open to a very tall room. White again, but with significantly littler blood. There were books and files and every manner of computer thrown about the room and torn apart as if by wild animals. In the center though was the source of the voice. A faintly glowing form laid on the floor, rising and falling in slow breaths. Around it, a circle of fire burned softly.
"No stop." Desmond grabbed me again as I tried to race towards the form.
"It's Cade. It has to be."
"And what if it's a trap? That fire? We don't know what that is." His eyes screamed at me not to, that if I was hurt then he'd die.
"I'll be fine." I pulled away from him. "Cade?" The form stirred and Cade's face looked to mine. His tattoos were faintly glowing and his eyes were dark. His head appeared to have been bleeding profusely, now only a crusted mess.
"I knew you'd come." He gave a dry cough and I rushed to the edge of the fire. "Holy fire." He said meekly. "My soul is only half angel, but that part of me is still unable to cross it without tearing me apart in this withered state."
"Desmond! It's ok, come help me.!" I stamped out the fire, spreading around the oil that fueled it. Desmond helped sit Cade up though his body remained limp. "Are you alright?"
"Where's Theresa? Martin?" Desmond asked. Cade's eyes drifted to the ceiling. Looking up, a body hung from the roof, skinless and hanging by a noose. The blood had dripped down onto Cade's head for who knows how long. His head turned out to be fine. "Oh god..."
"Who did this?" I asked, taking his head in my hands. His eyes drifted to mine and blinked slowly enough for me to assume he had died.
"The Fellowship." He muttered.
"Esmeralda has informed me that Carris and Luengo have made it to the Society." A dark voice came from behind the master.
"And I expect they found it quite in ruin." He chuckled "The Erelim unfortunately must still be alive... No matter, we can extinguish him easily enough once we have the Weapon."
"Of course Sir. But what shall we do with the girl now that the Erelim is free?"
"We shall use her to lure them into our trap. The Erelim will wish to save her, even though Luengo will most likely protest." He turned from the altar and lit a large black candle on a candelabrum near by. "But how to procure Rabnix? We need him alive and therefore we need Ironside alive. One cannot exist without the other, they've been connected far too long. They rely on each other now."
"Then perhaps a more sophisticated devil's trap?"
The master spun quickly and backhanded the apprentice. "No devil's trap can hold Rabnix you fool!" The apprentice picked himself up and rearranged his robes. "No, we need more insight into the magik that created him."
"I can help you."
The pair spun to face the altar. There stood a woman in white, fair and beautiful. Her body seemed to be surrounded by swirls of wisping silver smoke.
"Who are you?!" The master demanded.
"The true Weapon of Light, and I know how to get everything you've ever wanted." The ghost smiled mischievously.