Fragmented Dreams

Chapter 40: Battle at the Crescent Club

"Sweet merciful Jesus," Thompson whispered, his arms shaking slightly.

Zachary was huge, much larger than Mr. Burke. Even hunched over he was at least seven feet tall with broad shoulders ending in sharp spikes. His arms were long, his fingers now pointed into wicked-looking claws. His skin had changed from its pale, sunburnt glow into black iridescent scales. All around him a layer of smoke flowed around his body, ever-changing, pulsing, and rippling. What was most horrifying was his face, now elongated, his teeth seemed overly crowded and much too sharp for his mouth. Zachary stared at us with his silver eyes, grinning as he surveyed us.

Slowly he began lumbering towards us, his black smoke trailing behind him as he walked. He glanced at me before settling his sites on the detectives, raising his claws to attack.

Azar wasted no time, grabbing me and rushing for the exit. I heard the screams of the detectives and the hailstorm of bullets as they attempted to defend themselves. Zachary roared as he crashed into them and the silence that followed was chilling. I clung to Azar, burying my face in his coat when suddenly he stumbled and we went crashing into the floor.

"Azar!" I cried, still clinging to him. The Fire Elemental cursed and rolled over, looking down at his leg. The wraith had reached out with his smoke, the shadow wrapping around Azar's leg, yanking him back to the middle of the room.

"Don't leave just yet," Zachary growled, his voice much deeper.

"Diana keep going!" Azar commanded, pulling his hand into a fist. A small white flame emerged from his hand and I watched as the Fire Elemental reached down to engulf his own leg in the fire. The wraith's shadow shriveled and retreated under the bright white heat of Azar's flames. Zachary growled angrily as he was forced to pull back, his attention now locked on the Azar.

I scrambled to get to my feet but didn't want to leave Azar by himself. He was up and running at Zachary, his ghostly-white flames concentrated on his right arm. Azar stopped just before his opponent, sending a blast of fire forward as Zachary leaped away, avoiding it narrowly. Azar took this moment to dive for his staff, rolling next to it and picking it up in one fluid movement. I had stopped to watch in awe of how graceful he looked.

Azar glared over at me. "I told you to run!"

"B-but-"

I screamed as a large table flew over my head, crashing into the hallway leading to the back offices. Zachary was attempting to block off one of my exits. Another table flew near me and I dashed towards the bar, nearly tripping over the body of the man Zachary had stabbed earlier.

"Hey ugly! Leave her alone," Azar taunted, slamming his staff into the ground.

Zachary leered at the Fire Elemental, glancing down at his arm. His flames were flickering, now covering only his fist.

"What's wrong? Run out of magic so soon?" Zachary observed, chuckling as he spoke.

"More than enough to burn your ass to cinders."

"We'll see," the wraith replied.

The two jumped forward to clash again, Azar fairing much better now that he had his weapon. I saw Zachary grimace whenever the staff made contact, but it still didn't appear to be doing that much damage. I wondered if it was my blood that made him harder to injure, as I recalled the Fire Elemental boasting he could kill wraiths with little difficulty. I held my breath as I watched the pair clash, wishing desperately that I could help.

Help, yes Diana you idiot. Call for help.

I stuck my hand into my jacket pocket, reaching for my cell phone. I hoped that my previous fall hadn't broken the screen or even worse, perhaps the battery had finally gone dead on me. I pulled out my phone to see a precious 10% battery life and nearly cried out in joy. My eyes flicked up to the action, Azar still circling the Zachary wraith, his flames growing ever dimmer. I was betting that if we didn't have some sort of magic attack for the final blow, like Casimir's sword, then we would have no luck defeating this wraith by ourselves.