Night Guardian

Chapter 3, Part 1

"Gil, NOOOO!"  Nicholas screamed.

The three of them just stood there while Minax licked his lips and advanced slowly towards them. "It seems as if your leader has given in to despair," he chortled. "Which one of you is next?"

Nicholas screamed, rage flowing through his veins. He conjured his own weapon and threw it into the beast's other eye. Minax roared again, stumbling around blindly, and crashed to the earth. The others surrounded him, ready to attack for a final time.

------

"Michael and Kayla stood there watching at the window, panicking, as they saw Gil be swallowed whole. "I can't sense his energy anywhere...oh my god. Noooo..." Michael began to despair. "I have to get down there!" He stood up, ignoring the pain, gathering all his strength. "Stay here," he turned to Kayla, "I don't know what this will do to me, but I can't watch my friends die. I love you." He looked her in the eyes, holding her face. They hugged, and she followed Michael down the stairs. His rage seemed to fuel his movements, for now. It seemed as if all sickness was gone to the untrained eye. Kayla watched him fly through the front door, heading to where his companions were.

NICHOLAS

Nicholas resisted the urge to sink to his knees and give up. The man who was like a father figure to he and Michael was now dead. Even though Minax was down and injured, he still wouldn't die. His face was already re-forming.  Minax stood slowly, menacingly. He eyed Nicholas. "I will make your demise a painful one." he wheezed.  As he started to crawl towards them all, a horrible ripping sound was heard, and the edge of a white blade sliced through Minax's gut. He wailed and fell down again, as Gil emerged from the vortex, covered in filth.

This time, Nicholas did fall to his knees, amazed. He placed his hands on his forehead in disbelief. "You're alive!"

"Of course I am. We've been doing it all wrong Nick. If you cannot beat something from the outside, you must go within and destroy its source. By the way, because Minax is no more, I think Michael may be cured finally. He's managed to make it outside, and is standing right behind you."

They all turned to see Michael standing there, wide-eyed.

"Well, this was...interesting," Minerva said.

They all started when the corpse of Minax began to glow. It dissolved, and the spirit of a small wolf emerged, wagging its tail. It woofed at them, and bowed gratefully, before turning and trotting off into the foggy darkness.

They all just stared at each other. 

____

Back in the Mansion, the group gathered around the large table and ate to their heart's content (with the exception of Michael, who couldn't stomach much food at the moment). The battle had made everyone voraciously hungry, and in need of a shower. "You all are welcome to stay if you wish," Michael said, "I feel as if we're going to be seeing a lot more of each other very soon. This isn't over yet. We still have to find Carlos."

One by one, they chose a room to sleep in and dropped off to bed. Kayla and Michael were the only ones awake, and they were sitting on a couch in front of an empty fireplace.     She stood and took his hand to help him up. They headed up the stairs to his room. "When do you suppose you'll regain your full strength?" Kayla asked."Maybe a couple of days. Carlos used a majority of his power to create this curse, but what he didn't realize, is that he is a part of it. Destroying one of it's biggest components, Minax, would weaken him further. Not to mention, the concoction you all made helped to draw it out of my body, and I was able to beat it." He stopped on the top step, thinking for a moment."What?" Kayla asked.

"I just remembered that today is my birthday, I hardly celebrate now." He replied, and continued onward. Kayla kind of felt bad; he'd told her while they were together when his birthday was, and she him, but with the recent chaos she'd forgotten about it, too.

"Well, happy birthday, Michael. I guess today's victory is your present."

"And...you."

The way he said that made her heart rate increase. She just realized that technically, she was homeless at the moment and living with her boyfriend. Everything went by so quickly, yet she had never felt this comfortable in her life.

"I'll be in the bathroom, the bed's all yours for now," he kissed her and went to go take a shower. Kayla plopped down on the King sized mattress, still amazed at how plush and soft it was. She also remembered that she left all of her things at her house, where the spirits destroyed everything, and wanted to cry. She'd worked so hard on all those paintings, and now they were probably completely ruined.

A while later, Michael came out of the bathroom to see her looking sad, still sitting at the edge of the bed.  "What's wrong love?"

"I just realized...my art, everything in my house was destroyed by Minax and those demons. All the art I was working on, the present for my mother...I have to start all over again."

"Oh!  forgot to tell you that I went and retrieved the items myself. They were a bit damaged, but it's nothing that can't be corrected.  I also recovered your clothes and shoes, so there's no need to worry Kay." He said with a smile. "All of your things are in the room down the hall---oof!"

She attacked him with kisses, and they toppled onto the bed together.

"Kayla..."

She didn't even give him a chance to speak. What started as kisses of gratitude quickly became filled with all the tension that had been building for months. He moaned into her mouth as she straddled him. Kayla started leaving wet kisses on his jawline and neck, unbuttoning his shirt and kissing as she went downward, and he suddenly felt lightheaded.

Really lightheaded.

"Kalya...stop. I'm not strong enough for this tonight. I want to be with you when I'm fully recovered, and I want our first time to be special."

She sat up, pouting a bit. Michael thought she had the cutest pout in the world. "You're so irresistible baby," she whined, "and I'm hormonal as hell right now."

"I want you just as bad...but I want to make sure I have all my energy for what I plan to do with you." His voice lowered dangerously, and Kayla practically soiled her underwear.  "Let's cool down and get some sleep. There's a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Come here." He patted the bed beside him, and she laid her head on his chest. Michael wrapped his arms around her after she pulled the covers over them both.

"I love you, go to sleep." He whispered, rubbing her back in circles.

"Night. I love you too."