A Final Night

Luke’s head turned in the direction of the loud sound. He had been silently crying at the boy that was lying in his arms. He slowly detached himself from Oliver and jumped up, alert of his surroundings.

“Who’s there? What are you?” asked Luke as his voice cracked, betraying him.

In return, there was a snarl. “Get out.”

“Are you freaking kidding me? You locked the damn door! How the hell do you expect us to get out? You hurt my friends and then you expect me to just do what you say? How about no! I’m completely done with this crap. Turn on the lights and let me see your face!” yelled Luke, seething with anger.

There was a sound as the creature jumped toward Luke, landing on top of him. Luke flailed about, arms and legs kicking at whatever they could make contact with. Two clawed hands grabbed at his neck, cutting off any air.

“You will die, you human fairy,” croaked the creature.

“Who… are you… calling… a… fairy?” gasped Luke.

With the last of his strength he tried to push the creature off, but the creature slashed its claws across his chest, leaving a bleeding gash. The light from the moon flooded in and Luke saw the ugly being. Its eyes were a gooey yellow and its skin was a grotesque green, oozing black in between the scales. The stench from the creature was fowl, like death. Its claws were long and red, jagged along the edges. The teeth were just as sharp, jutting out at weird angles. To top it all off, he had a tail that whipped around, as sharp as barbed wire. The black goo dripped off of the creature and seared Luke’s skin like poison.

Before Luke blacked out, he saw a bright light. It was Oliver. The creature flew ten feet into the chalkboard. It fell into a heap and quickly recovered.

“What is your name?” asked Oliver calmly.

“Human, I am a creature of the eighth dimension of Gardron. My name is Kalek, a member of the assassin corps. Your friends should have left, but this place sensed a threat; a threat that you all pose to the universe. I only desired you, but I got all three of you. In case you have not noticed, you are the so-called savior to these lowly humans. You are one of the select few humans who are granted the power of the light. Though it won’t do you much good if you don’t know how to use it in the least,” snarled Kalek before he jumped at Oliver again. A light started to shine around Oliver as Kalek pounced.

The creature screeched as its tail was completely disintegrated. The light ebbed and the room was dark once more.

“Foolish light bearer, you may be able to save yourself, but can you save your little friends? You know, the fairy and the banshee,” he signaled a wave in the darkness, “Lindek bring out the banshee,” he said.

“Why are you calling them that?” asked Oliver, genuinely perplexed.

“Well, that one has screams that could pierce the night. She is very loud and sounds like a siren. The other one acts like a little girl,” replied Kalek as if it were common knowledge.

Serenity looked as though she had been beaten with a bat. Her arms and legs were tied up with a black leather rope that seemed otherworldly. The room was blurring and Oliver could only see a red haze as his anger flared. She was still alive, but badly bruised.

“Don’t you dare touch her!” he yelled.

“She shouldn’t be the one you are worrying about. Your little friend, as you so call him, is doing a lot worse,” said the creature.

The anger Oliver felt fueled the light and a huge blast illuminated the room. He saw Luke's chest slowly rise and fall in gasps. Blood seemed to spill from the gash across Luke’s chest. He tried to run to his friend, but the creatures were there first. They pulled him up quickly, which elicited a scream to escape from Luke’s lips.

“Stop! Don’t hurt him. Let him go! We all know that I’m the only one with real power here. So, just let him go and you can have me,” Luke said slowly.

“You are not the only one with power, light bearer. Your friend here is a guardian. He was meant to protect you and help you save the world. He sensed something in this place and without even knowing it, brought you here to save the population within this area,” Kalek stated.
Oliver was trying to focus all of his power on disintegrating the two creatures, but his head was becoming murky. The room seemed to spin uncontrollably, every feature blending into the next. He tried to catch himself from falling, but to no avail.

“The light is sucking your life force, human. You do not yet understand the light’s power, so it drains your energy. It also doesn’t help that I scratched you and injected you with my venom. Nasty stuff, Gardron venom is. The exact stuff is coursing through you little friend’s veins. He doesn’t have much time left. So, I suggest you hurry up and catch me if you can,” laughed Kalek.

Oliver tripped to find the creature, tumbling over his own legs, which seemed like Jell-O. With the last of his willpower, he aimed the light at both demons and they disintegrated into a pile of black goo. Oliver collapsed and fell face first into the grass. The building was gone, as though it just disappeared into thin air. Orange and red flooded the sky as the morning sun came into view. Oliver’s eyes closed as he was pulled under a wave of unconsciousness.