Witches

Cedric let out a small squeak, hoping no one heard it. Then he pulled out his pocket mirror, causing the witches to recoil slightly.
"You get the hell away from us!" He said, appearing calm on the outside, although he could feel his legs shaking.

The witches just cackled again, although they could not attack because of the mirror. Instead they raised their arms, sending a flurry of huge, fanged bats at the group.

Kane conjured a fireball and sent it flying towards the bats before diving out of the way

Zeke almost wretched at the transformation of the witches.

I wanted to tap that! He thought, annoyed with himself.

"Ladies. I don't mean to sound rude, but do you really want to die that easily?" He spoke as he drew his sword from his right and his pistol from his left. Without looking he fired a shot, normal bullets wouldn't have pierced the barriers that the witches had placed, but the arcane bullets he used ripped through the magic and the bats easily. The bullet found its target and buried itself in the brain of one of the witches. Her body slumped to the floor.

"We only need 1 alive...right?" Zeke asked Cedric.

"Yeap, just the smart ass one that lead us in here." He said, an evil grin on his face.
Cedric, punched one of the bats, trying to keep the mirror steady in his other hand. Karina also pulled out a pocket mirror and her staff, using the blade on one end to stab bats against the wall.
"Shit, I can't believe I forgot my gun." He said to himself, forgetting his fear while defending himself from the oncoming bats.

Kane stood and removed the mirror once more, opening it. he drew a dagger with his left hand, keeping the blade pointing downwards and spun, driving the blade into the eye of another bat, piercing the brain, he continued like this, slowly closing the distance between him and the remaining witches

Cedric kicked another bat against the wall, where it fell unconcious.
"Hey can I borrow that?" He asked Karina, who gave him a weird look, but passed over her staff.
Cedric, beat away a few more bats, noticing the witches were concentrating on Kane and Alix, he threw the staff at the ugliest one with red hair, which went right through her chest, cause her to scream with pain.
"Thanks... Need me to go fetch it?" He asked, but Karina shook her head and rushed fowards, pulling the staff out of the witch before retreating a few feet.

Kane passed over the witch that had just been impaled and slit her throat for good measure, he then leaped into the air, taking out another bat as he did so, and landed in front of the remaining witch, crouching slightly to give Alix a clear shot, his mirror pointed directly at the witch.

Zeke answered for them, the shots he fired echoed through the house. The witch screamed and fell to the floor, blood leaking from the now shattered achilles' tendons. The bats disappeared almost instantly.

"There, she won't be moving anywhere."

He looked up at the others, his gun smoking from the barrel.

"Wow, you guys are bad at this." He smiled jokingly.

The last witch spat at them angrily, then threw a gold object at them, which landed near Kane's feet. It was a gold coin with the Athames seal on it.
"Fine, take the damn coin, but get out of my house!"

After she spoke, there was a gust of wind that started pushing the group out of the house.
Cedric didn't need encouragement, he backed out of the house as slowly as he dared, until he was waiting for the others outside, feeling very dizzy.

Kane backed out the door, a slight smile on his face, and came to a stop next to Cedric "You alright?"

Eliza turned and bowed to Rowan and the Devil, speaking the same words she had spoken for many others. They were within the ritual hall where banners with the Guardians seal hung form the wall and paintings of High Masters graced the walls. A single chink of light beamed down upon an old golden sword.

"I, Eliza Gray, High Master of he Guardians do look down upon this Guardian. He has served the Light well and I commend him to the Light as a Master in his turn." She turned to the Dweller and said "Do you, Dweller-Upon-The-Horizon acknowledge this man's talent and widow and recommend him as Master to our holy service?" The Dweller said loudly "I do!" Eliza took the sword up from where it stuck tip down in the ground and said "Kneel, Rowan." and he obediently knelt. "With the power of the Light I name thee Master of the Guardians of Light." as she tapped his left shoulder magical energy poured into Rowan making him glow with golden radiance. "I give thee power to protect the mortal world, serve the Light and make your own decisions over right and wrong. You are judge, jury and executioner." with that she touched his other shoulder and the light faded and he was left with a white badge in his hand, it was of white gold with the great seal of the Guardians embossed on it. "Stand, Master Rowan." and he stood, and she bowed his head and kissed his brow lightly and tuned to the Devil "As parent of this new Master do you observe the rites and agree upon our decision." the Devil nodded and said "I do." Eliza nodded and said "Then I hold thee, Rowan, as Master in your own right. In the traditions of our ancestors you will sit silent vigil in the church above until down tomorrow. Watch us well, Rowan. Our lives are in your hands." Rowan bowed and turned to leave the room. Eliza turned to the Devil and said "It is good you came to see your son's destiny unfold." the Devil nodded and said "His destiny is still open to him, and though he does not yet know it the love he thought had died still burns within him." Eliza nodded and walked out of the ritual hall and up the stairs towards the main landing and towards the lounge area. The Devil walked with her.

Once inside she sat in a large armchair near the small fire. Eliza used a casual spell to brighten the flames and turned to see the Devil sit beside her in another chair. "Don't you have souls to steal, Lucy?" The Devil chuckled and said "No, Eliza, I can wait. And look at you using your little pet name for me. I told you, you still have a heart." Eliza looked into the fire and stretched her feet out to warm them. "There is something you need to know, Eliza. Since you made love to my son again." Eliza rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You used to be careful, even if you acted like lust crazed teenagers out of a pulp romance." Eliza remembered those days but said "Go on?" "Dear you aren't young anymore but you are young enough to still be fertile." Eliza drummed her fingers on her chair arms as she uncrossed her arms. The Devil waited a beat then said "Are you deaf, Eliza. I'm trying to tell you your pregnant!" Eliza stopped drumming her fingers and instinctively held her hands over her stomach "Wh...what?" she whimpered suddenly afraid. "You didn't use protection last time dear, your still as fertile as a new field. It was going to happen. And I am not angry, perhaps this will bring you and my son together again." Eliza whimpered and let suddenly very ashamed of herself, I'm going to have a baby? she thought not knowing whether to be happy or sad. "If you don't want it I could suggest.." started the Devil but Eliza snapped back "No! I do not kill children before they are born! I will raise this child to be the best it can be." and the determination showed in her voice. The Devil shook her head and said "I will not tell Rowan though I wish to. His vigil will be strange tonight. Waiting for Cedric to return." Then the Devil vanished in a cracking burst of magic I'm pregnant... she thought again trying to imagine herself a mother....

"Fine, did you get the coin?" He replied, as the others came stumbling out aswell. The door slammed shut on them.

Kane held the coin up between two fingers "Yup...can we burn the house?"

Cedric laughed weakly. "No, we got what we needed, this is a dead end."
He started walking, scratching the top of his head lazily.
"You guys can teleport back if you want, but I'm taking the train." He said, already out of the gate.

Kane nodded a bit "I'll go with you" he quickly jogged after Ced

Zeke walked outside the house, his black coat billowing because of the unnatural wind. He was surprised that Cedric hadn't accounted for the witches magic. Especially being a master.

"Cedric... When we get this sorted can I talk with you in private?"

He didn't feel like being sick again, so he opted to take the train with the others, especially as he needed to talk with others.

"Why wait." He yelled back grumpily, as he increased his pace until he reached the station. He said nothing as he bought a return ticket, then sat on a bench, stretching his arms.

"Fine. I know you're a master and all, but don't you think you shoulda been more prepared for the witches?"
Zeke bought a ticket and sat down opposite Cedric.

"High Master, and like how?" He asked bluntly.

"Again, not meaning to be disrespectful here, I am merely a guardian after all. But I studied the tomes and scriptures of the creatures that we have to deal with. And I would expect that a High Master such as yourself would have known that witches are most susceptible to ranged weaponry...Yet nobody had any ranged weapons on their person."

Zeke paused, wondering if he'd overstepped his bounds. He decided if he had, then he might as well go all the way.

"I just think that there should have been more preperation."

"Probably, I just forgot to grab my gun this morning." He mumbled, a scowl on his face as the tran finally pulled into the station.

Karina, once again, followed silently behind the pair of guardians. She didn't say a word, she was too tired to even think of a conversation starter.

This lack of sleep is starting to get to me. Its like every time I close my eyes I wanna fall asleep.

"Okay. I get it. Don't annoy High Masters." Zeke almost spat. The fact that he was being ignored once again, especially when he had an input into something that could have gone much worse than it did.

He turned to look at the others who had remained silent, Karina looked almost ill. He slowed down and spoke to her. "You need to get some sleep. We all do I think." He smiled, hoping to instill some cheeriness in the otherwise gloomy atmosphere.

Alix, after that, was now holding a hip flask. Among his other tenancies, drinking was known for making him way way more brutal and ill tempered. He kept two flasks, one was a canteen that never emptied, the other was a flask, nobody was quite sure of what it was full of, however it doesn't seem to be doing his temper much good.

Kane bought his ticket, keeping his eyes on the ground, and waited to board the train

Cedric walked slowly back to the Sanctuary, his head down and his hair covering his face most of the way. When he got down the trapdoor he started heading towards his room, but was distracted when he saw Eliza sitting alone in the Lounge.
"Whats up?" He said miserably, leaning against the arch of the doorway.

Kane activated his communicator and broadcasted to everyone "I'm going to go pass out in my room for acouple hours. If ya' need me:feel free to wake me up." He then trudged to his room, his energy draining as the adrenaline and excitement wore off, flopped onto his bed, and promptly passed out.

Eliza turned to him and said "It.....well come in and close the door behind you." Cedric turned and shut the door and walked over to stand in front of Eliza "Whats wrong?" he said with the most concerned tone, something Cedric never did. Eliza wiped an errant tear from her eye and said "I am going to tell you something..." she said trying not to cry "And you must promise never to speak of it to anyone else." Cedric kneeled down and looked her in the eyes and said "Whatever you need, chief, thats what I'll do now spill." Eliza hung her head shamefully and mumbled under her breath "I'm pregnant." Cedric put a hand to his ear and said "Didn't catch that?" she shouted back to him "I'm Pregnant, dammit!" Cedric fell back words a bit and got up, sat down on the chair beside her and said "What happened? Who is the father?" but Eliza had already burst into tears. "Oh, dammit Eliza calm down." Eliza turned to him with puffy red eyes streaming and said "What the hell do you know! Nothing! I have feelings you know!" Cedric hung his head, shook it and said "Listen, you've been here since I could remember. You were always a hard ass on everyone, worked us hard. Its unlike you to suddenly start having feelings and go out and get laid." Eliza curled up in the chair pulling her knees to her chin and sobbed "Dammit, Eliza pull your self together! You're 300 years old you can take this. Now who is the father?" he repeated and Eliza said blubbering "R-r-Rowan." she heard Cedric curse several times under his breath and said "He was your apprentice!!" "HE IS MASTER NOW AND I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW I STILL LOVE HIM!" Eliza snapped "And I trust you will tell no one, this is my secret and I trust you enough to keep it. We are High Masters, we can keep secrets right?" Cedric stood up and said "Look, Eliza I really do care about this but you know me, food and sleep first world-saving later. Besides, you'll make an awesome mom." he then walked towards the door and said "Try to get some sleep. You look dead on your feet." Eliza was used to waking early but mornings were hell to her, and she did notice she felt tired to her core. As Cedric closed the door she got up and walked out and walked numbly up the stairs past the landing where the guardians slept and up to where the Master and High master suites were.

Her room was large, a big four poster bed with crimson silk curtains. A large lovely roaring fire warmed the room and Eliza threw off her coat, shoes, heavy pants wool sweater and threw them all aside. All she had left on was her thin pants and shirt and her stockings. Her pants and shirt clung to her skin, caked with sweat room fighting. She needed a bath. The private master's bath room was just outside her door so she crossed with a fresh set of gray clothes and entered, looking modestly around to make sure no one was near before peeling the sweaty clothes off and dipping into the large 5 foot by 5 foot pool of lukewarm water. Conveniently placed herbal soaps lay on the side and the water was deep enough to stand up to her shoulders in. She hated doing this, washing in the masters bath. She felt like someone would come in at any moment. Most gave her the bath to herself. She washed fast and dried herself faster. Dressed herself in loose gray pants and shirt and walked across the carpet into her room and shut the door. It was covered with a lush scarlet carped with a black diamond pattern. There was a painting above the mantelpiece of the Five High Masters of the Light standing in judgement over the Vampire Lord, from long ago. Now the tale of how teh Guardians defeated the ampires was told by older Guardians to new recruits as a fairy tale. The walls were panneled with mahogany and the mantel was made from granite. Her sword, Amore, glittered in the orange light of the fire. The red ruby in it's hilt glowed in the light of the fire. She clambered up onto her bed, covered in soft red and black Egyptian cotton sheets and blood red velvet pillows She reached over to her nightstand picked up her reading glasses and the novel she was reading and began reading.

Cedric wandered around the Sanctuary, feeling emotionally drained but not wanting to go to sleep yet.
First witches.. Now this? He thought.
He remembered the one thing that cheered him up, and decided to go to the library.
Sure enough the Dweller was near the back of the shelves, reading through cursed books. Cedric took one look at the Dweller's squid face and tiny glasses, and snorted with laughter.
"You find my appearance amusing Cedric?" The Dweller asked, clearly used to the laughter by now.
"How do they even stay there?" He said, the smile quickly vanishing from his face.
"My high intellegence keeps them balanced." The Dweller replied, going back to his books.
"Oh..." Cedric walked away, but paused at the door. "Wait.... Oh that's just mean." He said, finally getting the insult.

He looked at his pocket watch, 1:07pm. "Uhh." He sighed and went to his room.
The room itself was bare, he never felt like decorating it. The wooden walls and floor were enough. Just a single bed with blue bedcovers, and spare clothes strewn on the floor. He saw his gun lying under the bed where he had left it this morning.
"Whoops." He said simply. He stood there for almost 5 minutes, thinking.
Damn. He said, and wandered away again.

He searched the Sanctuary, till he found Zeke walking down one of the corridors.
"Hey." He said, causing Zeke to stop.
"Look, you were right, about me not being prepared. So..."
Cedric had never been good at apologies, so he just lowered his eyes and walked away towards the exit. He decided all he needed was a drink.

thegamermn:

OOC!

sky14kemea:

thegamermn:

OOC!

OOC