Witches, Warlocks and Soulswords ch 5

Pete growled under his breath and pulled--again--at his chains. His wrist had chafed and was growing increasingly painful. Really, honestly and truly he didn’t care.

Rick had long since gone quiet, trying to hold the soulsword in place. Pete sighed. Nothing to take his mind off Kitty. He hoped she was okay. Only one way to make sure; he had to get out of here. Looking around again he saw no guards, and so quickly reached over to the lining on his shirt. They had searched him well, but he still knew some tricks that he hadn’t learned from Black Air. Slowly he felt around until the hard line of something reached his fingers, then brought his shirt up to his mouth and ripped it slightly with his teeth. Out of the seam fell a tiny needle of metal. He grinned and started picking the chains.

***

Pete crept around the corner, hearing voices already drawing near. They, however, didn’t know he’d escaped yet. Let them round the corner and they would. Thinking quickly, Pete turned to the computer terminal, abandoning his original plan. He pulled up the Internet, then the e-mail program and swiftly typed in Frost’s address.

“Sending where we are. Need help. Call Excalibur.

Pete.”

He glanced over his shoulder, where he could hear footsteps and laughter, and then quickly hit “send.” Just as the guards rounded the corner he stepped out of sight, into the shadows.

***

“Okay, so it’s a giant beast,” Brian said slowly, watching the thing that towered over them. “Are we all going to die now?”

Kurt cleared his throat, gone suddenly dry. “It’s not attacking.”

The monster took that moment to prove him wrong. Human and mutant and farie bodies alike went flying as the boat was suddenly no more, buried beneath the giant’s mouth.

Kurt was the last to surface, his blue fur getting wet and trying to drag him down. “Swim for shore!” he managed to sputter before ducking under water and following his own advice. A minute later the Beast blocked his path, one large eye watching him. Underwater still, Kurt screamed. He surfaced, watching as the Creature followed suit. Megan was riding on top of it’s head, looking flabbergasted that she was up there.

“Heeellllllllllllp!!” she cried as it ducked back under water.

Brian dove down after her, trying his best to “fly” through the liquid. Water wasn’t like air though, and he was having a bit of trouble.

“Aarroff!” a wolfish Rahne woofed as she was suddenly dragged under. Kurt looked around, the last person still up. “Oh dear,” he sighed as the Monster re-surfaced, laden now with various members of Excalibur.

“KURT!” Brian shouted, stuck on his back to the Creature’s neck, “WE NEED SOME HELP HERE!”

Kurt gulped as it started toward him. “So do I!”

***

Lockheed watched out the window, waiting for his Kitty to return. She’d said she would. She’d promised. And she never, ever broke a promise. He sighed. Looked like he’d have to save the day again.

***

Frost chewed on her fingernail as she looked at her mother who was currently bedridden due to the drain on the Field. She switched from chewing her nails to biting her lip, then walked into the office. “Computer,” she said, her voice younger then her sixteen years, “any mail?”

“Yes,” the robotic voice said stiffly.

“Read.”

“’Sending where we are. Need help. Call Excalibur.

Pete.’ Return-path BA.org.--”

“Enough. Find Excalibur,” she said, sitting down in a swivel chair excitedly and downloading the coordinates from the message.

“Found.”

She paused. She knew her mom’s new updated program was fast, but that was a little astonishing.

“Where?”

“Outside the fourth parameter. Danger: Lochy is playing.”

Frost uttered a word that would’ve made Pete proud, and started conjuring a teleport spell.

***

Kurt almost drowned as he dived back into the water, the Monster close on his heels. “HELLLLP!” he gurgled as the thing opened it’s mouth wide, ready to swallow him. The next thing he knew, the Creature was withdrawing, leaving the water so suddenly that it created a backwash that took Kurt along too.

He resurfaced closer to the beach, though not by much.

“LOCHY!” a young girl was screaming, standing on the sand. “LET THEM GO!”

Kurt took a deep breath, his lungs very grateful, and watched as each member of the team fell from somewhere on the Beast into the water.

“That was bad, Lochy! Bad, bad, bad! What have I told you about playing with tourists?? No wonder everyone thinks this place is doomed!” the young woman screamed as she helped Megan out of the water.

Kurt looked up at “Lochy,” watching as it hung it’s head in sorrow. Taking another deep breath, he started swimming in to shore.

“I’m really sorry about that,” the young girl said, shaking her head as her short, white hair bounced. “He usually doesn’t do that--really!”

Kurt looked into her purple eyes, to tired to be angry. Swimming was hard work. “Who are you?” he asked, panting still as he sat on the sand.

She turned from helping Rahne in, the last person, and smiled. “Um, I’m Frostbite. But everyone calls me Frost.”

Kurt sighed. Finally. After all that. The search was FINALLY over.

***

Lockheed tiptoed past the room where the witch sat, plotting the demise of everything people held dear. Then he tiptoed past where Margali sat, until finally he reached the front door. He flapped his wings, gripped the handle with both hands, and pulled. The door popped open with a blast of fresh air, and Lockheed flew out.

***

Amanda picked the phone up on the third ring, popping three Asprin into her mouth as she did so.

“’Manda, we’ve found Frost. She has the location of Pete, and Kitty’s probably there too. You want to fly down?” said Kurt’s voice.

“Sure,” she said after a minute, wondering if her mom would be okay here. “I’ll be down soon.”

She hung up and walked slowly into the infirmary, where her mother still lay, convalescing. “I have to go, but I’ll be back soon. You need anything?”

Margali nodded. “Lock the door on your way out?”

Amanda smiled. “Sure, mom. I’ll be back later,” she said, walking out of the room.

Margali laid back with a sigh. Blessed silence. Moira was still in her lab, and the others were gone. Fifteen minutes later the air crackled and split, sending the stench of death and destruction into the room. Margali’s eyes flew open, and she stared into the evil face of Belasco.

“Hello, dear,” he said, his voice like silk. “I understand you lost something. Something I want.” He crooked a finger and she floated up and toward him, until she was no more then six inches from his face. “I also understand you’re going down the winding way, and soon will have no power to stop me from doing just what I want with your body and soul.”

Her eyes widened even farther then before. “What do you want?” she said, her voice a whisper.

“The soulsword. I want it now. And I don’t care what you have to do to get it.”

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