Chapter 20

Nate tried to conjure what little mental energy he had left but he was all tapped out, and his little stunt with the wind spell had damaged his body somehow. His body temperature would flash between extreme hot and cold. As if that wasn’t bad enough he felt like his broken ribs were poking into his lungs making breathing painful.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw something. Nate’s eyes widened as he then looked over at Kiru who was completely focused in his direction so he couldn’t see that Luke had finished setting up the rocket launcher.

“KI-“ Nate tried to yell but a burst of blood spewed from his mouth. Gritting his teeth from the pain Nate gathered his resolve before trying again.

“KIRU, LOOK OUT!”

The rocket fired heading straight towards Kiru who was standing in mid-air. Kiru saw the rocket, he quickly flew up higher avoiding the missile altogether.

The missile flew past getting close to the Humane Society building before it curved upward then pointed towards Kiru again.

Luke shouted some words in a foreign language and suddenly the rocket burst with purple fire, there was a cloud surrounding the missile as it broke through the sound barrier. Nate tried to track it but it was going too fast.

Kiru’s lightning form shimmered and disappeared. As Nate watched all he saw were occasional images of Kiru in mid-air. With Kiru’s concentration on the missile, the diagram binding Anza broke. She fell to her knees then looked up at Nate with a vicious look on her face.

Without mincing any words, she began climbing to her feet before walking over to Nate. Nate tried to get on his feet to run but the damage to his body was too great, he began crawling away on all fours.

Suddenly a loud explosion came from behind propelling Nate forward ten feet before he crashed on the ground rolling to a stop. Nate was defeated, his body in so much pain he couldn’t move even if he wanted to. He was on the verge of blacking out.

Looking over to the side he saw the Humane Society was up in flames as a large portion of the building was demolished, pieces of the building crashing several feet away. “All those lives lost, that’s a direct insult to the council. You will regret this Anza.” Kiru snarled as his image appeared right beside her.

The two began going at it again. Nate felt a brief sense of hope. If Kiru won, maybe he’d look past the fact Nate might be a demon and spare his life? It’d certainly be better than if Anza won and took him away.

His thoughts were disturbed as something began tugging on his shirt. Nate looked over and saw a silver wolf with blue lines all over its body, its muzzle enveloping his shoulder. With a toss of its head Nate was flung into the air and ended up landing on the wolf’s back.

“Hold on tight.” Aiden said as he began to run.

“Aiden, Thank Y-you.” Nate said as his voice choked up.

“Seems like I’m saving your ass often nowadays.” Aiden chuckled as he ran farther and farther away from the Humane Society and the battle between Kiru and Anza.

“Seems like it. How’d you find me anyways?” Nate asked.

“Some prisoners screaming about ghosts showing up at the Humane Society. Thought it was just a coincidence but when I saw lightning and what looked like a battle taking place I thought it’d be best to check it out. You know, in case it was you they were after. Again.”

“Thank you man, you really saved my ass back there.”

“Yep. Back to the apartment?” Aiden asked.

“No. Those dam vampires keep sending ghosts after me and showing up in a portal a few minutes later. It’s like there’s no escaping them.” Nate sighed. He hoped Kiru would end up killing Anza, he wasn’t so worried about Luke or Charlie, they were much weaker.

Suddenly a thought made him gasp out loud. “What is it?” Aiden said growing worried.

“The collar. If Anza wanted to she could blow me up with the click of a button!” Nate remembered the first day he was brought to Black Watch Asylum, how that kid ended up being blown to bits.

“What do we do?!” Aiden shouted.

Nate thought furiously about his options. Kiru said he could take the collar off but Kiru might kill him for being a demon, furthermore he couldn’t risk going to the Humane Society now that Anza knows he was the one behind the massacre.

His next option was to find Jody. Jody had his collar removed, Nate was sure Jody would help him do the same. The only problem was that looking for Jody in this big ass prison was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

“Guess I’ll just have to do it myself.” Nate muttered.

“Didn’t you already try that?” Aiden asked.

Nate had tried to remove the collar before using his mental energy but as soon as he dove into the collar, all the complex mechanics of the collar made it difficult to know what to do. He could just break the collar but he was afraid that would trigger the bomb.

“I don’t see any other option. First we need a place to hole up though.” Nate thought for a few minutes before asking: “Takes us down to the sewers.”

“Are you sure?” Aiden said as his whole body shivered.

“What’s up with you?”

“It’s just… there are rumors about the sewers. There are monsters down there.”

“There are monsters up here.” Nate replied. “Besides, if the ghosts show up there it’ll be easier to dispatch them and then get lost in the sewers before Anza shows up. Even if Anza shows up using the portal she’d never find me down there, it’s like a maze.”

…

Anza was breathing heavily as she glared at the mage standing twenty feet away. She had taken a lot of damage during the battle between her and Kiru but it wasn’t as if Kiru was unscathed. Looking at his pale skin she could tell he didn’t have many spells left before he reached his limit.

“The boy’s not even a student at the Academy yet you insist on protecting him even at the cost of your own life. Why?” She said buying herself some time for recovery.

“You know why, furthermore this has nothing to do with you so why don’t you leave it alone?”

“Leave it alone? Aron Maser, you recognize that last name? M-A-S-E-R.” She spelled, emphasizing each letter. “His family belongs on the top 10 most powerful families in the world. That boy you insist on protecting with your life, Nate, killed him. And that’s just one of the thirty-seven he’s killed, each one of those thirty-seven-slain people belonged to the upper echelon. He’s a demon goddamit, he doesn’t belong on this world.”

“Oh that’s cute. Since when did a vampire ever care for humanity? All your kind ever cared about was keeping their heads down, but to hear you talk about not “belonging” is so ironic. Do you even know the story of your origin? Do you want to know the truth? Do you want to know why Vampires and werewolves are allowed on earth, rather than being banished like every other mythical creature?” Kiru paused as a wide grin appeared on his face. “It’s because your kind were slaughtered like animals and begged Archmagi Evans to spare their race. When Archmagi Evans created the seal separating the world in two, werewolves and vampires were allowed to remain amongst the humans, meanwhile every other vicious creature was banished to the NetherRealm.”

Anza’s nose flared in anger at the insult. Kiru was mixing truth with lies. The vampires and werewolves could remain in the human realm because they were ‘technically’ human. But it was an ongoing joke amongst NetherRealm creatures, that werewolves and vampires begged the archmagi to spare them.

“You want to get under my skin? I’m afraid you’re still centuries too young for that. The only reason why you’re truly angry is because of how far humans have fallen when it comes to magic. Oh, how strong humans used to be when the world was one, so strong that Archmagi Evans, the greatest mage of all time, managed to separate the world in two. Yet now, when those monsters slip through the cracks and invade this world, you human mages can’t even stand up against them.” Anza scoffed. “Is that why you’re so protective over Nate even though know he’s a demon? Are you hoping he’s the answer to the council’s problems?” Anza snickered.

“Bullshit all you want, it doesn’t matter. You’ve interfered with a member of the council, expect a response soon. Good day Ms. Greywall.” Kiru ignored her last barb. With a quick chant he transformed into a stream of lightning that rose to the sky before streaking across the clouds.

Anza blew out a breath in relief as she returned to her human form. She briefly looked at all the devastation surrounding her before turning her glance onto her comrades. Charlie was still on the floor groaning in pain, Luke was walking over towards her, and Amelia was still standing far away from the battle ground.

“Why didn’t you help?” Anza said in a cold voice.

Amelia looked up at her. “Those who study at the Academy swear a binding contract, I can’t attack a Council member. You know that.”

“That doesn’t mean you couldn’t get involved! Why didn’t you help Charlie deal with Nate?!” Anza spat.

Amelia glanced down, breaking eye contact. Anza waited in silence but when Amelia didn’t answer she began walking over. “You need to make it clear, where do your loyalties lie? With me? Or with Nate?”

“… With you.” Amelia said after a brief hesitation.

“If you cross me again Amelia, I will kill you. I don’t care about how long we knew each other, or about our friendship.” Anza hissed before walking past Amelia and heading towards the mansion.

“Luke!” Anza barked.

“Yes Madam?”

“Bring me Nate’s remote, I’ll pop that little shit like a pimple.”

…

As Anza approached the mansion the double doors opened and two men in black suits walked out. These men looked young, maybe late-twenties, but Anza could tell from their aura they were old. The older a vampire was the more strength they had.

“What’re you doing here?” She asked them, glancing back to make sure Luke and Amelia were behind her. Even though she was confident in her prowess she was injured, furthermore Founding guards were powerful.

“The Founding has summoned you to trial. You must plead your case before the Elders.” One of them said in a monotone voice.

Anza grit her teeth. She was expecting a response from the Founding for some time now, ever since the massacre went public she knew she’d be in trouble. But with the mess that happened today… Anza was afraid she’d be disciplined severely.

“I will book a flight then.”

“No need, the elders have already gathered, they’ve provided us with a teleportation scroll to bring you back asap.” The two men stepped forward. At the same time Luke and Amelia took a step forward as well. Anza waved them back, fighting the Founding guards would only bring more trouble.

“Lock Charlie up in the basement, when I return I’ll deal with him. As for Nate… don’t touch him, the Founding might have plans for him.” Anza said looking at Luke and Amelia. Amelia looked down at the mention of Nate. Anza just rolled her eyes and stepped in-between the two guards.

A scroll was opened by one of them, soon after he began speaking in a foreign language. The scroll began to glow as the power gathered. When the guard finished the spell the scroll crumbled to dust and with a flash Anza and the two guards disappeared.

…

Anza was standing in the middle of a courthouse with ‘The shackles of truth’ shackled onto her hands. In front of her there was a crescent shaped table where seven Elders sat facing her. Behind her there were rows of spectators from the various werewolf and vampire clans, all here to bear witness to her sentencing.

“So in summation: A half-ling demon responsible for the massacre of thirty-seven influential humans managed to get away from you. You incite a grudge with the council by fighting with one of their own members. You destroy a building full of humans in a time where the public is demanding answers, and to top it all off one of your inner-circle has sold their soul to a demon. Is that everything?” The Elder sitting in the middle said.

The atmosphere was oppressive. Anza could feel all the shame and disappointment with each fact laid out by the Elder. She could just feel the anger radiating from her family who sat in the crowd behind her.

“Yes, I know I have made many errors. I throw myself at the mercy of the Elders.” Anza said after clearing her throat.

Six elders stared at her as if she was an insignificant bug. Three of the Elders were werewolves, the other three were vampires. The last Elder was a Legacy, like her, yet there was no visible emotion coming from his face.

The Elder sitting in the middle, the Legacy, turned to the others. Instead of speaking the others began turning their heads to each other, as if there was an un-spoken conversation going on amongst them. Anza knew it was a higher levelled ability only capable by the Elders but seeing it in action was disconcerting. If she was going to be talked about she’d much rather hear it.

Finally, after what felt like hours but was only a few minutes the Elder in the middle began speaking. “We’ve found your actions to be lacking, not only do you lack discipline, but you lack the judgement of a true leader causing one of your own inner-circle to sell their soul to a demon. But, your lack of ability doesn’t excuse you from the mess you’ve created. You, Anza Greywall, have three months to correct your mistakes. Otherwise you’ll be buried for a century.”

Anza’s heart began to beat furiously. There was nothing worse than being buried alive. A hundred years buried in the earth with nothing to but your own thoughts and the constant hunger as your body cries out for blood. Many vampires never recovered mentally from such a punishment.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes Elder!”