HYBRID (Now a draft)

Eight

Max lay on the floor, unable to breath. The hooded  figure pressed the knife closer. Long black robes spilled to the floor. Three more  black figures appeared. 

"Step down, Twyla." A strong voice said.  A girl that looked about fifteen or sixteen appeared. She was tall and slender and beautiful. Long black hair billowed down her shoulders. She wore a long dress and an armored top.  The three figures parted to let the girl pass. She was clearly the leader.

Twyla let go of Max. He coughed to catch his breath.

"Don't harm him just yet." " Jay , Scotch." She gestured with her long fingers. Two of the figures immediately grabbed Max by the shoulders.

"Hey!"

The leader didn't respond to his protest. Instead she unsheathed a long thin silver needle that appeared wickedly sharp. It ran the length of her entire arm. There was a large round jewel at the end of the silver hilt. Then she plucked a small vial from her pouch. She unclogged it and poured the contents onto the floor. 

The room vanished entirely and took the form of a large clearing. The floor was now gritty dirt. Wind blew. The man was not far from them. Aunt Pearl wasn't either. She looked clearly confused. The man was not. He stopped running in a straight line and headed for Aunt pearl.

The leader girl pulled out another shorter needle as max struggled against his captors that held an iron grip on him. " Let me go!" Max shouted. " I have to help my Aunt! He's going to kill her!" The tiny figure named Twyla sped toward him and glared into his eyes. Her eyes were gold and hypnotizing. A dizziness slammed into him and he suddenly couldn't speak. It was like he had lost the ability to talk. Twyla resumed her post , standing right to the leader while another stood to her left. Max was held behind them.

The leader paid no heed to him and held both needles in separate gloved hands. She raised both arms high above her head  and collided two needles in rapid speed. The moment the metal met, a shrill musical note sounded. Giant sound waves burst forth. The ground rumbled beneath max's feet. The black figures didn't even falter.

The waves shot directly toward the man and he was knocked sprawled to the ground. He growled and spat at the ground.

The leader spoke first. "Still preying on innocent humans, Murg?" Her voice was taunting.

Murg got on his feet. His hood still shadowed his face. He spat on the floor. "Go back to your castle, princess." His hand reached in his coat and pulled out two rocks. He flung one at the girl and the other at Aunt Pearl.

The rocks spun in midair and expanded into giant nets. Aunt Pearl was instantly captured. The leader girl swung her needle in a graceful arc and cut the net neatly in half.

Murg grumbled . He flung a handful of paint balls at her. She moved with lighting speed and popped all seven of them with quick thrusts of her needles. He threw darts. She buzzed them out. She ducked and turned. Her movement as swift as a flowing river.With each twirl she came closer to Murg until finally she was within an arm's reach and she sliced Murg's body in half  in a wide arc.

Max was still dazed but was so shocked that he paled a shade whiter. Murg was not human at all. The section his body was chopped in half was a complete solid gray. His body  parts were slowly crumbling into dust.

Murg screamed in anger. " End this interfering of yours ,Princess!  Foolish girl! You will pay for this!" He shook a knuckle furiously at the girl before it disintegrated. Then he cackled. "Forget something, princess?" Aunt Pearl lay in the net unmoving, as if all the fight had gone out of her. She wasn't struggling. Her expression somber, eyes staring straight ahead.

Max wanted to scream, call her name. But he couldn't. He was paralyzed. He could only watch helplessly as Aunt Pearl sunk into the ground with the net. The leader started then stopped.

Murg had crumbled entirely into dust leaving a beeping sphere. 

" Assemble Pentagon Sequence!" The leader shouted. The black figures holding Max shoved him forward. The four hooded and their leader quickly formed a human pentagon. They held hands . They started glowing.

The world around them exploded in a fiery haze of red and gold. Tendrils of red and orange curled at them. Heat threatened to fry them. But they were unharmed. Max gaped at them. Their eyes were all closed,obviously concentrating.

He felt a sudden rush of relaxation,then sadness, then anxiety. Aunt Pearl was kidnapped. How was he going to save her? This girl didn't even try! A strange feeling of emptiness formed in his chest. It was cold even if he was in the fire.

Suddenly the figures' glowing dimmed. The figures' eyes flew open and they gasped. The fire was still burning. One of them screamed. The glowing sputtered out.

Max's eyes widened as their robes caught on fire. His agony increased. He felt his energy draining from his body. He wasn't going to die like this! His energy dipped and went away and stretched into a swirling vortex that sucked everything in its wake. He tugged away at the heat, draining its source. 

The last thing he remembered was the fire dying out abruptly, and everything went black.