Athene
The city was silent as well as the cars that lined in front of us as we tried to look for other ways to travel home fast and safe.
"Tinny, you really froze everyone," Lulu said as she lowered the car window and threw an old receipt at the nearest car. The paper hit the dog's face but just like what Lulu said, it's somehow frozen without the ice and snow. Pa always knew that this day would come. But we never thought that it would be… big.
"Are we heading home to check on your Ma?" Lulu asked as I safely got us out of the road and parked my car in front of an available parking space.
"I guess we have to," I said as I got out and quickly went to the other side to open the door for Lulu.
She jumped on the pavement and headed towards the nearest frozen person we could find. She pinched the cheeks of a little girl who is holding a lollipop in her hand and stared at her mother's gray eyes.
"You did a pretty good job on making them frozen," She said and slowly raised her hands.
"But, I wonder, why am I not frozen like them?"
I lowered m head and began to divert my gaze on the sidewalk. Everybody was frozen but something in the air tells me that we should hide. I stared at the bracelet that Myrtle gave me; it's giving off that same blood-like color. I immediately grabbed Lulu and we sprinted towards a tall row of buildings.
"Tinny, what's going on? Why are we running?"
"We need to hide," I said as I raised my bracelet.
Lulu's eyes widened with fear and she quickly grabbed my sleeve and we ran like wild horses.
"Tinny, you better explain everything after we found a safe place to hide,"
We stop in the middle of the road, five blocks away from Myrtle's apartment when I heard the screams of the very monsters who tried to hurt us back then. I immediately took off my bracelet and slipped it on Lulu's wrist.
"Lulu, in here,"
I said as I pulled her inside a bakery. We crouched down on the floor as I begin to write the jot down a few words on a crumpled receipt. The roaring sound was starting to grow louder as I shove the receipt down on Lulu's pocket.
"Listen carefully, head to 9th avenue and go up the 11th building on the left. Head up to apartment number 020 on the sixth floor, show the bracelet and the note to a lady named Myrtle,"
Lulu gripped my sleeve even tighter.
"Wait, how are you so sure that they're not—"
I immediately covered her mouth when we heard loud footsteps heading towards our hiding place. None of us didn't dare to move until the heavy footsteps passed by our temporary sanctuary.
"I am sure of it," I whispered as I hugged her real tight.
I slowly rose from where we hid and slowly went out of the bakery. The monster must've traced my scent all the way from home. I have to give Lulu enough time to get to Myrtle safely.
I continued to walk on the silent road until I heard the footsteps heading in my direction. I didn't look back as I started to sprint as fast as I could to outrun them. I sharply ran to the left and headed straight to the bridge. The monsters' heavy footsteps made the ground shook and I have to maintain my balance or else I'll stumble.
But the "skadus" weren't the only creatures that were chasing me, even the air was cold until I noticed a huge shadow hovering above me. I looked up and froze as I stared at the huge hybrid of a man and a gray bird. I forced my feet to run until I reached the end of the bridge. I quickly found my car and immediately jumped in and drove as fast as I could. I hope Lulu arrived there safely.
Neo
What felt like an eternity has passed suddenly came to an end when I heard someone pounding loudly at the door. I slowly moved my muscles until I fully regain control of my body. Even though my body is still stiff from the effects of the spell, I moved to open the door only and a petite marfach and her fear greeted me.
"Mr. Bealdor?" she said before she fainted.
I swiftly caught her and slammed the door shut and carried her to the living room. Myrtle was nowhere to be found, she must be in her room. I tore off the concealment necklace that Lucan gave me and quickly kicked the door to Myrtle's bedroom. Her lovely figure was frozen in time as well, and fear is also visible in her eyes. She was holding a card in her left hand and seemed to try to warn me about Athene.
I cupped her face and stared into her ice-blue eyes.
Myrtle, Myrtle, wake up… Athene is in trouble, isn't she?
Her eyes shone as she slowly tried to regain control of her own body. Her voice was soft at first until I can finally hear her loud and clear.
You need to find her; she's being chased by the monsters the Vashtas sent.
I quickly left her room and armed myself. I still remembered what Myrtle suggested, an armor to protect myself from harm, but it will only get in the way of my shape-shifting.
I was about to head out when I heard the soft whisper of prayers from her friend.
I knelt down in front of her and whispered back inside her head. She opened her eyes and gave me a piece of paper. It was crumpled and had weird marfach characters but Myrtle taught enough letters to read and analyze the content of the message.
Save her… Please…
She whispered. I flipped the paper and saw the map that Athene must've sketched before they got separated. I stared at what seems to be an outline of mountains and of the sea.
Where is she? I asked her
She whispered Athene's exact location before she fell asleep.
"You better help her, Lord Neo, I'll take care of her friend," Myrtle said while rubbing her head, she must've used her remaining powers to free herself from Athene's spell.
She opened the windows of her apartment and jumped out before I transformed into a griffin. I glided into the air and moved in the direction where the miasma is heavier. From above I can clearly see the murky footprints that the skadus left. I followed their tracks until it stopped in the middle of a bridge. I looked up in the sky and noticed that the sun was high in the sky; someone must be casting a protection spell on them. Skadus are only powerful in the dark, they can't move swiftly in daylight unless someone is casting a protection spell on them, making them capable of at least using half of their abilities.
I quickly followed the trail of black feathers and gray ones that floated in the water until I found the empty vehicle that Athene must've used. I transformed back to my form and began my search. The vehicle was ramshackle; the windows were broken and the door was pried open. There were huge gray feathers on the car seat and an abandoned shoe on the shotgun seat, she must've escaped through the window and left her shoe. Athene's scent is in the air but somehow I couldn't distinguish it from another murky scent and blood.
Athene, Athene, where are you?
I quickly transformed into one of the animals I watched from a channel called cheetah and began to follow Athene's scent. When I finally found her, I don't know how am I going to react. The body of a huge gray bird was on top of her. Bright red blood oozed from underneath the bird. I could only roar as I transformed back to my original form and lifted the dead carcass and threw it off the sea cliff. It tumbled on the rocks until it created a huge splashing sound underneath.
I quickly checked her pulse and almost cried when I felt that her heart is still beating. I began to exam her bloodied body for injuries, the weight from my shoulders seemed to have lightened when I didn't found any mortal wounds.
Athene, Athene… Can you hear me? Athene…
She's still unresponsive to my voice. I touched her hand and noticed the mark on her palm. I could only smile as I lifted her and transformed back to a griffin when I heard her moaning softly from pain.
Neo…
I slowly whispered words of encouragement to her as we flew all the way back to Myrtle's apartment.