Chapter 4  Attack

 

“That... was just... great...”

 

The front door of the Dragoon Warriors office slams open... and Ryan slowly walks in, head lowered... covered with squid guts. Crystal walks in after him... also covered, but slightly less so.

 

She has quite a sickening look on her face...

 

“This stuff... really, really stinks.”

 

Ryan slowly nods as Justin walks in. He has some of the sticky squid parts on him... but not much. Behind him, is Saphir... and there is not a single drop of stuff on him.

 

“I told you guys that you should’ve used that charm of mine.”

 

Ryan and Crystal glare at him... Justin laughs...

 

“At least you guys aren’t as bad as Brad.”

 

Brad shows up at the door... covered in a great deal more squid guts than Crystal and Ryan combined. Wrapped around his waist, and dragging behind him, is one of the Kraken’s tentacles... securely attached to him by the suckers.

 

“That... really... really sucked.”

 

Brad turns to Saphir...

 

“And... what was with your Warp Spell? Why did it drop us off down the street rather than right in the house?”

 

Saphir just glances around nervously...

 

“I’m not sure... I guess it’s not working right...”

 

“Yeah... I guess so. Maybe you should look into that.”

 

Brad starts for the stairs...

 

“Okay... I’m going to go sleep for, like... a year or so... later guys.”

 

Crystal and Ryan head for the basement stairs... Crystal still has a rather nauseated look on her face.

 

“I need to shower... a lot.”

 

Ryan follows her down the stairs...

 

Justin, who isn’t covered enough to need a shower, heads to the kitchen to wash up. Saphir, of course, goes right to the library.

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

The next morning, everybody, save Brad, is gathered in the library. Even Ryan had managed to wake up in time to get in on a good morning’s research time.

 

It is a very nice, relaxing day...

 

... until the front wall of the house collapses in.

 

The four of them rush from the library to the living room... and they nearly run the other way in terror...

 

A very tall, very spiky demon, who rather looks like it’s made of rock, is standing inside their house, having just slammed through the wall.

 

Crystal takes a deep, shuddering breath...

 

“It’s... a Retorak!”

 

All of them had heard the story of Crystal’s first vision... a Retorak demon slaughtering an orphanage full of children... and quite frankly, they are not too keen on fighting one of these things.

 

Arrowny casts a sideways glance at Crystal...

 

“Go get our weapons... and then figure out how we can kill this thing!”

 

Crystal runs off... Arrowny steps toward the Retorak...

 

“You broke my house... I’ve killed things for less.”

 

Amazingly enough... the Retorak smiles at him. Its teeth look like jagged pebbles that one would find on the beach...

 

“I have a message for you... from Bastian.” It rushes forward, a great deal faster than it should be able to do, and slams against Ryan, sending him back against the wall. “He wants you to know that he wishes you a quick death. He was, however, quite adamant about his wish not coming true.”

 

Saphir tries kicking the Retorak in the knees... but only succeeds in hurting his own foot.

 

“That... was a bad plan!”

 

Justin steps up...

 

“I’ve got a better one!”

 

With a wave of his hand, the technomage uses a force field to send the Retorak flying back against the adjacent wall. It contains the demon... for a few seconds, anyway... until he raises his fist, and punches the field with all his strength.

 

The energy barrier seems to shatter like glass, and Justin drops to the floor, holding his head in pain.

 

Arrowny points his hand at the demon, and zaps it with a massive lightning bolt... which bounces harmlessly off the Retorak’s rock like skin. He tries a fireball... but that doesn’t work either. Lastly, he throws an icy blast at the demon... but it just laughs.

 

Crystal runs into the living room, carrying Sky Render, the Glaive of Ceruleus, and Justin’s quarterstaff. She throws each one to its rightful owner, and turns to Arrowny.

 

“What do I do?”

 

“Do you know how to kill this thing?”

 

“No!”

 

“Then find out... please...”

 

Crystal rushes into the library, quickly scanning the demon reference books. She pulls ‘the Anextian Demonological Compendium’ from the shelf, and starts running through the pages. She can still hear the sounds of battle coming from the living room...

 

Metal blades bounce off of rock like skin... bodies slamming against walls...

 

“Oh my god, it’s got him by the throat!”

 

“I never knew the human face was able to turn that shade of blue...”

 

She finds a passage referring to the Retorak. After a quick read, she rushes into the living room.

 

Saphir and Justin are attempting to break Arrowny from the demon’s vice like grip around his neck. Crystal calls out.

 

“You have to cut off its head!”

 

Saphir takes a step back, and slams the blade of the glaive as hard as he can into the Retorak’s neck. It bounces harmlessly away... Saphir just glances at Crystal...

 

“We can’t!”

 

She looks back at the book... turns the page...

 

“Oh! You have to freeze it first! Break open its chest, and freeze its body from the inside!”

 

Justin turns to her...

 

“Get Brad. His axe is designed to break through thick armour... and quite frankly, skin that’s made outta rock is pretty good armour!”

 

“Can’t I just go get the axe?”

 

“He took it to his room last night.”

 

Crystal rushes up the stairs, and starts banging on Brad’s bedroom door.

 

“Brad! Wake up!”

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

“This time, you’re going down Ryan!”

 

Brad swings his axe around, striking a few poses as he speaks... the air in the training room changes colour with each new pose... red, blue... lots of bright colours.

 

“We shall see!”

 

Arrowny strikes some poses, holding Sky Render firmly in hand. For him, the air turns dark colours... black, purple...

 

As they are both posing, Saphir turns to Justin.

 

“Think he can do it this time, Justin?”

 

“I think we’re about to find out!”

 

Goku walks up beside the technomage.

 

“He has to! Then, we can all spend the next week fighting a battle that should only take thirty seconds against our next opponent!”

 

Saphir nods...

 

“Very true, Goku.”

 

Brad makes a few more poses... one, in particular, involves a great deal of spinning, with his axe held close to his body...

 

When he stops spinning, he finds that Saphir, Arrowny, and Justin are all bashing their own heads against the walls... the weapon’s rack... the floor...

 

Brad stands up, glaring at them.

 

“What are you guys doing?”

 

Arrowny stops banging his head against the floor long enough to look up at Brad...

 

“We’re kicking our ASS! DO YOU MIND!?”

 

He goes back to slamming his head against the training mats...

 

Goku steps up beside Brad...

 

“I think I’ll join them.”

 

He then proceeds to punch himself in the face... kick himself in the other leg...

 

Brad shakes his head... and walks toward the stairs. When he reaches the bottom, he sees Crystal, standing at the top, her back to him, banging against the closed door leading to the rest of the house...

 

“BRAD! GET UP!”

 

He shakes his head again...

 

“Crazy curvy humanoid type person... I AM up. I wonder if they’re done kicking their own asses yet... and, you know what? I could really go for some cabbage right now... ah... cabbage.”

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

“Damn it Brad!”

 

Crystal slams her fist against his door again... but there is no sign of movement from within the room.

 

She rushes back down the stairs to check up on the other Warriors. Ryan is free of the Retorak’s death grip... instead, he is laying on the ground, with a massive, rocky foot crushing his chest.

 

Justin and Saphir are having no luck fighting the thing... it just laughs at them as they try to hurt it.

 

With one wide swing, the Retorak knocks both Saphir and Justin back against the wall. It lifts its foot off of Ryan, and kicks him in the side, sending the Protector flying through the air to land on the floor near his fallen friends.

 

“You cannot beat me. Bastian sent me because of that fact.”

 

The Retorak punches out at the nearby entertainment center... sending bits of wood, and video games, DVD’s, and gaming systems crashing to the ground. The demon takes a step forward... and there is a loud CRUNCH as his foot comes down.

 

Arrowny, Justin, Saphir, and Crystal all look on in horror... the Gamecube was crushed under the Retorak’s feet.

 

After the initial shock wears off... Crystal smiles a little bit... and rushes back up to Brad’s room. She takes a deep breath...

 

“Brad! It crushed your Gamecube!”

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

Arrowny, Saphir, Justin, and Goku all straighten up in shock, and stare at Brad... who’s eyes glow with a powerful red anger. The air around him becomes dark, as electricity dances over his skin...

 

Goku just shakes his head...

 

“This thing’s toast!”

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

It doesn’t even take a few seconds for Brad to emerge from his room, fully dressed, holding his axe... and with a severely tired look on his face.

 

He turns to Crystal...

 

“What... do...?”

 

She points toward the stairs.

 

“The thing in the living room... break open its chest!”

 

“Ugh...”

 

He rushes down the stairs, as fast as his tired body will take him. As soon as he steps into the living room, the Retorak turns to face him.

 

“Oh, there’s another one! Good... I will take a great deal of pleasure in tearing your...”

 

It doesn’t get the chance to finish the statement... Brad slams the axe into its chest. Its rocky skin breaks under the pressure... and a great gaping wound opens up.

 

Arrowny rushes forward, and slams his hand into the wound. He winces in pain... as it turns out, the Retorak’s ‘blood’ is rather hot... quite hot in fact... Ryan can feel his skin burning within the demon... but he still manages to concentrate enough to cast a spell...

 

“Blizzard!”

 

The Retorak screams as frost slowly covers its body... it tires to move... to pull Ryan’s arm from its chest... but the ice takes its strength away. Eventually, a thin coating of ice covers its entire body... arms, legs... head... and neck.

 

Ryan pulls his arm violently from its frozen chest. The skin on his forearm is burned red, and starting to peal a little bit. He glances over at Saphir...

 

“Kill it!”

 

Saphir nods... and with a wide swing, takes the Retorak’s head clean off. It falls to the ground with a loud thud...

 

Brad glances at the frozen body... and then back at the other Warriors.

 

“You guys had this much trouble... with THIS THING?!” He points at the body of the Retorak.

 

The other Warriors just glare at him... Arrowny cradling his burnt arm.

 

Brad kneels down... and a single tear comes to the corner of his eye.

 

“My... Gamecube...” He glances over at the other gaming system on the ground... a Playstation2. Brad just shakes his head... “How is it that the Gamecube... the ‘Fisher Price’ of gaming systems... gets crushed... and the fragile little Sony product gets off without a scratch?”

 

Justin glances down at the Playstation2...

 

“Actually... that’s not working now either. The fall broke it. They’ll both have to be replaced.”

 

Arrowny shakes his head...

 

“How could you know that just by looking at it?”

 

Justin shrugs...

 

“I... am a”

 

“A technomage... yeah... I remember... silly question. Why do I even bother asking when I know your answer is gonna be ‘oh, I know because I’m a technomage’? It’s like this catch all excuse as to why you know so much... ‘oh, I’m a technomage, so I know everything’.”

 

Justin glares at him...

 

Brad stands up... and wipes his eyes with the back of his hand...

 

“Okay... first order of business... we get a new Gamecube.... and I guess... we’ll pick up another PS2.

 

Second order... we get some supplies so that I can fix the front wall... and the entertainment stand.

 

Third order... I go back to sleep.

 

... and why do I have this sudden craving for cabbage?”

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

Saphir is disposing of the Retorak... Justin and Brad are off getting new gaming systems, and supplies. Crystal dragged Ryan into the kitchen so that she could look after his arm.

 

“Stop moving around... you’re such a baby. It can’t hurt that much.”

 

Ryan just glares at her...

 

“One... my arm was just burned within the chest of a big demon. Two... it doesn’t hurt... that stuff is just a little cold.”

 

Crystal laughs as she continues to apply some ointment to Ryan’s burns. She’s holding his arm up with her other hand, but he keeps trying to pull it away.

 

“You’re tickling me.”

 

“It’ll only be a few more seconds.”

 

He sits quietly, and, sure enough, it only takes a few seconds for her to finish applying the ointment. She reaches for some cotton bandages, and starts rolling them over his burn.

 

“There... all done.”

 

She secures the bandages with a small strip of tape... but doesn’t let go of his hand...

 

They just stay like that... him sitting in a kitchen chair... her standing in front of him...

 

Then the door opens, and Brad and Justin stomp into the house carrying as many supplies as they can.

 

Arrowny pulls his hand away from Crystal... and jumps up from the chair. When they join the group in the living room, Saphir has come back from disposing of the Retorak’s body.

 

Brad sets the brand new Gamecube and Playstation2 boxes on the floor, and looks at the gaping hole in the wall.

 

“This is gonna take some work.”

 

Arrowny shakes his head.

 

“No time. Just patch it up good enough for tonight. We’ve got a hunt to go on.” Everybody turns to look at him. “Crystal was telling me what she read about the Retorak’s in that book. Seems that they’re very territorial... there’s hardly anything that’ll make them move out of an area once they’ve made a home. Chances are, the one that attacked us was from around here. And, if Bastian sent it, he might be waiting around for it to bring news of our deaths back to him.”

 

Brad raises his hand slowly...

 

“So... we’re hunting Bastian then?”

 

Ryan nods...

 

“As soon as you’re done patching up the wall, we’re going after him.”