Twilight Wings: A Supernatural Romance/Action

Chapter 12: Clash of the Titans

TESSA'S POV

I stepped back from Solomon's now-human form, hands dripping with his blood. The Melting Maiden had singed his shoulders and upper back, but I cooled them down with some water magic and had finished closing up the wounds with some healing runes. He was going to be okay if he was left alone.

Mr. Tholos, Emma, and I were all in the barn together. Mr. Tholos was just concerned for his friend, and Emma was tagging along to see how healing magic worked so she could try some of her own in a little while.

"Alright, he'll be alright. What now? You said we were going to find the other two members of your N.I.G.H.T. squad. Rick and Iris, or whoever," I said, sitting back and looking at Mr. Tholos.

"Vic and Ingrid. Slick Vic is closer to here. He lives in California. Icy Ingrid is in Montana. We'll get Vic and then head for Ingrid. Vic might be able to get some of his other Highkin buddies to help us too. The Highkin have machines known as skyships, which are basically large ships that can fly. If we can use Vic's then we can get around faster," Mr. Tholos said.

"And we'l head out there tomorrow?" Emma asked.

"Yes. But right now, we need to rest, as it's nearly midnight. I know Solomon has two extra rooms. Tessa, you and Emma can share one, and Jacob and Az wil take the other. I'll sleep in here and watch Solomon. Goodnight," Mr. Tholos said.

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The next day, we ran across a massive abandoned power plant facility. There was a large warehouse in the back of the place, and the power plant machines were in front of it. The entire area was surrounded by barbed wire, but Mr. Tholos easily cut through it with his blades. We proceeded into the facility.

Solomon was the first to go in. He sniffed with his robotic nose, and then gave a nod. We followed after him. The machines loomed over us like ghosts and every now and then, a spark would flare up somehwere, causing me to jump and nearly fall off of Mr. Tholos. Behind me, Emma and Jacob were having the same problem, and they were nearly collapsing off of Jacob's back.

"Ugh, this place really creeps me out, but I'm tired. We should take a break here," Jacob growled.

"Alright...5 minutes," Mr. Tholos said, letting me down.

We all sat down in a circle in the middle of the place. Jacob dug around in the pack and found some wedges of cheese that we ate quickly. We were all pretty enrvous, so after we finished the cheese, we got up to go. Suddenly, there was a loud boom like an explosion, from right behind Emma. I looked behind her, and saw a plume of red fire billowing up into the air.

"What was that!" Jacob cried.

"One of the machines must have gone off and exploded. Come on, let's move before the whole place goes up in flames," Az said, getting up.

There was a clap of thunder from overhead, and rain started to pour down, but it wasn't enough to put out a serious blaze. The fire started to grow bigger, and that's when the Infurno appeared. The fire wasn't an exploding machine, it was a creature: a fire spirit known as an Infurno. The creature looked like a 20-foot tall man made of pure fire. The Infurno stood up, roaring.

"Run! Everyone, go!" Mr. Tholos cried.

I stood up, and started to ge tup, but the Infurno shot a fireball at me. I ducked low, and th efireball slammed into a huge pole right in front of me. The pole toppled over and blocked my path. I turned around. The Infurno was steadily drawing closer, its massive fiery form flickering and steaming in the rain. It let out a second roar, opening its huge mouth that was filled with even more flames.

As the Infurno was about 30 yrds away from me, there was a creaking and groaning from behind me as well. I whirled around, and I saw a second creature standing up behind me. This one looked like a massive, skinny man made of steel, iron, and electricity. The power plant started to roar to life again, and electricity surged through long-dead wires. The electric-steel man reached down and grabbed three wires, ripping them free.

The electric-steel man then started to...grow bigger. Before, it was skinny and spindly, but now, plates of steel were sliding into place all over it. Big rectangular plates slid down over its shoulders, and a massive cylinder plate slid down over its chest like a breastplate. Many litle strips of floppy steel fell down over its waist like a sash or a skirt. Slices of iron fell down over its legs like shinguards and foot armor. Finally, it grew a helmet with two big horns.

I realized what type of creature this was now: a Silvershifter. Silvershifters were creature made of steel, metal, and pure electricity. They could form suits of armor around themselves, and this one was now dressed in the garb of a Japanese samurai. The Silvershifter whirled the electric cords around its head like whips. The cords snapped and crackled with electricity, and I knew that if I was touched by one of them, I would instantly be killed by thousands of volts of electricity.

The Silvershifter also picked up a massive curved sword as well: a Japanese katana (although it was about 7 feet long). I turned to run, but the Silvershifter wasn't interested in me. It was eyeing the Infurno. The Infurno roared, and the two began to circle each other. Metal versus fire, steel on flame. I tried to run out of the way of the battle, but the two creatures charged at each other and I knew that I wasn't going to make it.

"Tessa, grab on!" screamed a voice from behind me.

Jacob was sprinting towards me at an unbelieveable speed, darting around pieces of machinery and leaping over metal components. As he ran by me, I snatched a piece of his fur and hauled myself onto his back. Jacob took off running. He darted around the Infurno's foot, leaped over a hunk of tangled cords, dashed to the side of the Silvershifter's foot, and got out of the battle.

He dashed towards the barbed wire, and at the last minute, he jumped over it and landed with a thud on the grass below. I looked behind us, and saw the Silvershifter and the Infurno still locked in battle, each swinging attacks and dodging blows. The Silvershifter wrapped its cords around the Infurno's neck and pulled the fire creature close, but that wa sall I saw before the rest of the group reached us.

"Alright, let's move! We need to go!" Mr. THolos said, rian running down his smooth armor.

Jacob nodded and we took off, claps of thunder booming overhead as lightning lit up the sky. As the rain soaked into my clothing, I just concentrated on making it away from the battle of the giants behind us.