Half-Bloods R • 2 : Growing Shadows

C • 27 : City on Fire, Veil on Fire

Elizabeth ran, her feet barely tapping against the sidewalk and the rising sun blazing in the sky behind her, creating a tower of light taller than any skyscraper. Christopher jogged behind her, his metal feet in his running shoes slamming against the concrete as he concentrated on the world around him. He was in a little too much pain today, she could tell, but she knew that he wouldn't admit it until it brought him to his knees.

She slowed to a stop and waited for him to catch up, a hand on her hip and another in her thick navy blue jacket as her cyborg friend paced toward her. She sneered at him, Demi had tied his hair back, and the new look didn't necessarily suit him. When he paused next to her, breathing hard, she flicked the tiny ponytail.

"Hair stub!" She laughed.

"Just wait till Demi gets to your hair," he huffed.

"Yeah yeah," she pulled her phone out of the lower pocket of her black shorts and checked the time, a quarter past seven.

She stuffed her phone into her pocket and snapped it closed. She pulled a handful of chocolate squares out of her jacket, handed one to Christopher, then unwrapped the rest and stuffed them in her mouth.

She ran in place for a few seconds before continuing their morning run, and Christopher followed. They took a right onto a busy street, filled with people and slow-moving cars.

Suddenly, Elizabeth was slammed down to the ground, and pale hand covered in runes on her throat, and an even paler rune-covered arm aimed back at the civilians along the sidewalk.

Christopher and nearly everyone in the crowd stopped dead in their tracks. Holding her down was Arva, the possessed body stared at her with one milky eye and one sickly green eye. A horrid stink rose into the air, the smell of malice mixed in with sweat and sewage, the disgusting orange liquid seeping out of her massive burn wound, and her eyes. There were even dried malice stains on her lips. A mass of blisters had taken form along her neck and face, and pus even leaked out of a few.

"Wish I could've killed Demi first," Arva rasped. "But you two will have to do."

Elizabeth grabbed Arva and kneed her in the crotch, causing her to only flinch and tighten her grip.

Arva gave a disgusting grin, that was far creepier than how she used to smile. "That won't work anymore, I burned them off."

Elizabeth punched the false agent off and activated her veil-marks as she staggered to her feet. Arva launched a fireball as she was knocked aside, Elizabeth caught it with her magic only to be punched down and have another fireball launched at the first. The fire spread out in an instant, tossing the Chimeras away like ragdolls and burning civilians who were too close, cars flipped over and within moments, the streets were in a state of panic.

People were on fire, corpses were burning, screams filled the streets, and above it all was Arva cackling at her newest worst creation. Christopher surged forward and punched, only to have his fist quickly guided down, and Arva's knee strike him just below his chest. He spasmed to the ground, struggling to breathe, yet grasping at her feet in a rare moment of stubbornness.

Screw it, I can't waste time!

She unleashed the magic within herself, power coursing through her veil-marks, making her veins glow dimly and her marks brighter than ever. She felt the power of all her brethren and ancestors flowing through her. The violet of her eyes grew brighter, the lavender of her hair spread up, and false veil-marks spread up her arms, glowing just as brightly as the real ones.

Then, with only a twitch of her finger, the concrete ripped upward and formed a prison around Arva, Elizabeth focused and imagined turning the air within it to water, and the water to acid. She felt her breath become heavy as she focused on her spell, she hadn't tried this since her battle with Audrey, and she hadn't noticed then, but this much power made her body ache.

Christopher stood next to her, having finally caught his breath, and readied himself to keep fighting.

Fiery cracks formed in the concrete, and seconds later, the prison shattered apart. Arva stood, her clothes tearing apart, her bare skin on fire, malice oozing from her wounds. Elizabeth snapped her fingers and the shards of concrete stopped midair and transformed into steel spikes aimed at Arva.

She pointed at Arva, and the spikes rocketed forward.

"Bring it on!" Arva screamed as runes formed over the false agent's mouth, a hot glow forming in her throat.

The spikes stabbed Arva through as she spat out blue flames that scorched the air.

"What the hell?" Christopher whispered.

Arva walked towards them, her arms limp and barely attached to her body, blood and malice drained from the holes in her gut and chest. Elizabeth resisted the urge to throw up, Arva shouldn't even be able to move, she should be dead after an attack like that, but she wasn't. Was it her fourth ability keeping her alive? It had to be, and she couldn't be more sure when she saw Arva's heart reform in the hole in her chest.

"What the hell are we supposed to do if she doesn't die?" Elizabeth asked as the holes in Arva's arms and gut closed up.

Arva laughed. "I win, you stupid, bit"-

A figure appeared behind her and swung a spiked metal club into the back of her head, while simultaneously stabbing a long blade through her heart.

Arva fell over, revealing a woman in black body armor, a white cloak over her shoulders. She was beautiful, maybe even more beautiful than Demi. She stood strong with two thick legs, one delicate hand on her hip, while the other held a spiked club. The rest of her body was hidden beneath her cloak, but her aura glowed strong, maybe stronger than Villin's. Her eyes were round, one blue and the other red, and her lips were full. And yet, as Elizabeth stared at the woman, she could tell that there was nothing normal, beautiful, or natural about her. Her very aura was disgusting and sickly as if it were an old disease.

The woman smirked at the two as she picked up Arva's limp, dead body and hauled it over her should, staining the white of her cloak scarlet. "You've gotten stronger," the woman said.

"I'm guessing you're the one Demi was telling us about, one blue eye, one red," Elizabeth scowled.

"Aw, she remembered me," she smiled.

Elizabeth smelled salt in the air, Christopher was ready to fight with everything he had. Elizabeth gripped her fists and rushed forward. One less agent, one less problem.

"First plague, blood," at her words, Arva's body tore open, and a wall of blood formed between Elizabeth and the woman, then the wall splashed down onto the ground. "It's a shame I couldn't take Arva here back to the Order in one piece, isn't it? Oh well, I'll see you later darlings."

The woman, as quickly as she appeared, was gone, leaving a million questions in Elizabeth and many more in Christopher.