Stormbound...Finale

(Merry Christmas and happy Hannukah to those who celebrate those holidays!)

The creature toppled backwards, its arms outstretched and rigid, the gently wriggling child in its left claw slipping out and beginning her own fall down the steep slope of the levee embankment...

The distance between us seemed too vast, the trajectory of the fall far too uncertain, but nevertheless, I launched into motion, trying to intercept the child before she hit the ground...

A moment of hope seemed to flower as a bright, fiery form swooped in from high above, it’s own talons extended as it descended like a meteor towards the falling child, only to be thwarted by a burst of crackling lightning from the robed figure that blasted the Phoenix from it’s course and sent it fluttering and trailing smoke to the ground...

Ravyn’s inarticulate scream of pain and rage was accompanied by a blast of fire so powerful that it blinded me as I tried to follow the trajectory of the falling child...That flash was exceeded only by the responding blast of lightning that cut off Ravyn’s voice in mid-cry...

Once my eyes locked onto the form of the small, swaddled child again, I realized that there was no way I would be able to reach her before she hit the pavement below...unless I found another way...

In one smooth motion, I sheathed Herlinda and began gathering every shadow I could from the surrounding area. Still running at a breakneck speed, I wove the tendrils of darkness into a small portal just large enough for me to dive through and transport myself to the open air where I would be able to intercept the falling baby before she hit...

I hung, ever so briefly in mid air, the momentum from my initial leap carrying me forward, arms outstretched...

The baby plopped ever-so-gently into my hands, a reception so spectacular and perfect that it would have surely made the hi-lite reel of any sports show in the nation, had there been a camera around to record the event...

After bringing her in close, I gathered more darkness to myself and created another portal just large enough for the two of us to slip through...

I tucked and rolled as we landed on the floor of the Professor’s den, crashing into a tall, overloaded bookshelf that rained its contents onto my back. Luckily, I was positioned to shield her fragile form from the falling books...

As I sat there momentarily, I had the briefest of chances to look at the face and into the eyes of my daughter. Despite all that had just happened, the terrible winds, the scary trolls, the lashing rain, the strange journeys, her face lit into a smile as I looked down at her, marvelling at her dark caramel complexion, her strands of wet, curly black hair, and her enormous, absorbing brown eyes...eyes that seemed simultaneously full of love, strength and curiosity...

The Professor stormed into his den, cursing, baseball bat in his meaty grip, “I don’t know who the fuck you are, but you’re going to regret this...”

I turned to look at him, baby Alexa still in my arms, books scattered about us. His face turned ashen as he realized who I was and that I was carrying a baby...

Before he could fully recover and articulate words, I was up and moving towards him. “Jim, I need to take Alexa here and get her to Cerrydwen or the Frau immediately. Ravyn’s in terrible danger and I need to get back to her.”

The bat fell from his limp fingers, clattering to the floor as I stepped up to him with the wet, squirming child. “But..but...but I don’t know what to do with one of these...”

He took her into his arms even as he protested, her wetness immediately staining onto his T-shirt...

“I know...but if I don’t get back down there, Ravyn is going to die. Can you get Alexa to safety? I need to know...”

He nodded, seeing my resolve, sensing the urgency with which I was speaking...

I drew Herlinda as I stepped past him, gathered what shadows were around and stepped through the portal into the fray again...

Arriving back at the scene of the fight, I was met by a blast of wind and water that forced me to shift my posture to regain my balance, Herlinda was in my right hand this time. I was standing next to the crushed car that had served as my soft landing, next to the smouldering, dissolving body of the troll I had slain...

The robed figure was no longer up on the levee, which was where I was looking at first. Instead, it was standing close to where Ravyn had been fighting the dragon-like creatures, of which only charred husks remained. It was standing, staff in one hand, Diego in the other over the battered, apparently unconscious form of Ravyn, Diego’s blade poised by her throat. The fallen Phoenix lay just beyond them, charred and battered itself, but still struggling to rise and protect her mistress. The robed figure, however, was paying the giant fallen bird no attention, it was turned to face in my direction, like it knew I would be coming back...

The storm seemed to go silent as we faced each other, not twenty paces apart...

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Rusty, Rusty,” a familiar voice tsked, “Have you forgotten an old friend so quickly?” The wind somehow chose this moment to catch the hood of the robe, revealing the crazed eyes and face of the man I knew only as El Diablito. He let loose that familiar, hated cackle as his face became visible.

“Why are you doing this? What is that child to you?”

“That child of yours is everything, Rusty. Whoever controls her, controls so much more than you can possibly imagine!”

“Drake must have put you up to this! Why do you still work with that bastard? Don’t you know it’s over yet? He’s finished, the Omega Project is done, damn you!”

He threw his head back in peals of hysterical laughter before replying. “No Rusty, the Project has only now truly begun. It has been even more wildly successful than we had hoped it would be. You continue to show us new possibilities every day...and that child of yours will change this and many other worlds forever, Rusty. But such change needs to be carefully managed. Are you and your friends,” he motioned towards Ravyn with the butt of his staff, Diego was already poised above her chest, “ready to manage the situation? No, I didn’t think so.”

Motioning towards Ravyn’s form with my free hand, “Let her go, you’re not going to get the child, now or ever.”

“Why shouldn’t I just kill her now? I’ve defeated her, her powers are rightfully mine to take.”

“No. Touch her again, and you will be destroyed. That much I promise. No power under your command, or that you can ever acquire by harming her, will stop me from killing you right here, right now and consuming your soul and all of your memories.” The tenor of my voice had changed with this last. I don’t remember even thinking of adding that last phrase, but something deep and dark inside me had risen to take control. It, whatever it was, continued to speak through my mouth. “Your very existence will be erased, Little Devil, and I will be the stronger for it.”

His face went ashen, he stepped back, suddenly unsure of what he was facing.

Dark energies seeped from my body, causing me to grow in size. The raging hurricane itself seemed to retreat before the...thing...that I had become. “Put the blade down and flee while you still can.”

His jaw worked up and down, like he was trying to say something, but nothing came out.

They were suddenly coming closer to me, but I couldn’t sense any movement of my legs. Ir was as if I was being Willed forward, or they were being drawn to me.

He dropped the blade as he tried to move backwards. As he did so, the Phoenix lifted it’s massive head and snapped at him, catching the staff and the hand holding it in its beak. With a horrible snapping sound, the staff and his forearm were shattered simultaneously. He screamed in pain as he held up the spurting stump of his forearm. The crazed look overcame his pain and his fear of me, and with a word of command he vanished, except for the remnants of his staff and the pieces of his arm that hung from the beak of the battered, but now satisfied Phoenix...