Not the Best Family Reunion

     Kalilu growled softly. Reena aimed her staff. Mio’s button eyes darted around, and she stuck close to the others. Kayixu pulled the hood from her head and let the rain soak into her hair.

     The ‘pet shook trash and weeds from its leathery wings, black with lightning strikes across the skin. It stood on all fours, unlike a normal Draik. Spikes ran along the back of its tail down to a dagger-sharp tip. There was a persistent clump of roots wrapped around a hind leg, and Null stared down at them from its back with a feral grin.

      “I activate my Special Move,” said Null. “Gold Eyes Death Dragon!”

     Kay looked at the weapon in her hand. “I’m gonna need a pointy-er knife.”

      “Where’s your lightsaber?” Kalilu asked.

      “The squid-dog broke it.”

      “The wha-”

      “Now this doesn’t seem like a fair fight.”

     All eyes turned to the serpent in the sky. Lightning silhouetted Nixie’s slender form, otherwise hidden in her cloak. In each feathered hand was a dagger, and her tail was clutching a chubby bunny with a coal-dark pelt.

      “Oh, it isn’t,” said Null. “But I’ve never played fair.”

      “No, I meant it’s not fair to you morons.”

      “Not fair to me- I have a Gold Eyes Death Dragon!”

      “Hey, that’s my Gold Eyes Death Dragon!” Leala proclaimed, pointing. “Not yours!”

      “Well, I stole it fair and triangular, so it’s mine now. How are you even still alive? I gave you a nice little tree grave and everything.”

      “Science never dies, Notixu. Not when there’s ethics to be ignored!”

      “Why did you even bring her here?”

      “She made me.”

      “Can we get back to the whole “Climactic Final Battle” thing?” asked Reena.

     Nodding, Null said, “Right. Right. Where were we again?”

      “Rrela, attack!” yelled Leala, spurring her creation into action.

     Rrela’s throat glowed, and a stream of flames erupted from its jaws. The family and their opponents scattered. Leala complained about her assistant going after the wrong targets. Mio dove beneath a clump of undergrowth. Kalilu and Blook jumped aside with Maul. Moo disappeared, Reena took flight, and Rage galloped far from reach.

     The Draik arched its massive wings and took off like a peal of thunder. Leaves rustled and trees bent. Nixie dropped Leala into Kayixu’s arms. She and Reena charged upward.

     Leala clung to Kayixu as the “human” sprinted through the dark. Noise, noise all around! She drew her ears back. Rain pelted them from all angles. Kayixu stumbled and reached out to catch herself. She still lost her balance. They fell into a puddle.

     Kalilu and Blook hurried to anywhere but the creature’s path. The ghostly Petpet kept stealing glances at her as they fled. She had broken memories of him. Bits and pieces that didn’t make any sense. Kalilu shook her head; this was her life. It never made any sense.

     Mio ran far and fast away from the commotion. The Draik’s fire didn’t last long in this storm, and she heard behind her the distant pops and hisses of dying flames. Thimble clung to her for dear life. Her eyes were quite adjusted. She knew her way around a dark and scary place… She’d fled monsters before, after all.

     Reena and Nixie flew around the abomination and her new pet. Nixie whipped through the air and cut Rrela’s side. The blades of her daggers barely grazed those stormy scales. She soared away from snapping jaws as the magic from her weapons ran its course.

     Reena’s silver wings were strong enough to rival even this dragon’s. With Niri on her shoulder, she pulled magic from her veins, through her staff, down to the tip. She brought it down on Rrela’s head with a brilliant flash.

     There was a roar. A massive wing knocked Nixie from the air. Reena dodged a stream of fire. She flew back a few paces. She swung her staff thrice. Three crescents of golden light flew at Rrela.

     Things would only get worse if the monsters got to Faerieland. Faeries were strong to be sure, some of the strongest beings on Neopia, but against this? Many would fight. Many would fail. The city was so densely populated, too. More than a few lives were at stake here.

     Reena turned for just a moment to try and gauge how close they were. One moment too long. The next thing she knew was the dizzying sensation of tumbling from the sky, through the forest canopy, and finally landing on cold, wet ground. Black spots filled her vision. Her body felt like static. It was hard just to breathe.

     Nixie had just gotten her bearings. She hissed at all the filth on her outfit and tried in vain to dust it off. Oh, how these freaks owed her! When this was all over, she was going to make them pay for her much-needed trip to the spa. She gave her winged warrior Hissi wings a quick check. Damaged, but workable. She found one of her daggers and took flight.

     When she saw Rrela, she smiled. It was already lightheaded from Reena’s attacks. Now the pair of tiny cuts along its rib cage were glowing. Expanding. Bigger… Brighter… Nixie counted the seconds.

     One.

     Two.

     The Draik growled. Its wounds were like a pair of massive claw marks.

     Three.

     Four.

     It was clumsy. It was weak.

     Five.

     Six.

     Nixie shielded her eyes.

     Seven.

     Eigh-

     There was an explosion whose shockwaves tore the air apart and knocked her back another hundred feet. Her skull rattled from the noise. She blinked at the falling figure clad in smoke and waited to hear something more than a high-pitched whistle.

     Nixie’s hands shook as she cast a minor healing spell. She coughed. She circled the motionless figure that had flattened trees upon its landing. Something sparkly caught her eye and she dived down to a dark swath of woodland.

     Reena’s staff was half-embedded in the ground. Her clothes were torn to shreds. There was blood in her fur. Her right leg was twisted sickeningly. Chirping frantically on her chest was the spyder, four ruby eyes wide and pleading.

      “Reena?”

     She slithered over to her and listened for a heartbeat. The only sound was falling rain. A horrid chill ran through her and she poured her meager magic reserves into every healing incantation she knew. A soft blue haze covered her clawed fingers. Her heart pounded so harshly that it hurt. A dull pain spreading through her chest…

      “Mmwah…?”

     It took all she had not to collapse, but she managed. Nixie was a lady, after all, and falling to the ground wasn’t all that dignified.

      “You dung-brained, Meepit-licking, stale french fry! Don’t you EVER almost die EVER again!”

     Reena grinned at her with a missing tooth.

      “What kind of sister are you, huh? Almost getting yourself killed like that!”

     Reena half-wheezed and half-chuckled as Niri snuggled up to her.

      “What in the name of toilet water is so funny?”

      “It’s just… I mean…” Her grin was obnoxiously wide. Nixie wanted to slap it right off of her face. “I don’t think it was that serious. Sorry to worry you guys, though.”

      “I-bu-but you weren’t breathing!”

      “Pretty sure I was.”

      “And what would YOU know?”

      “I could hear Niri, so I was at least a little conscious.”

      “But I couldn’t hear your heartbeat!”

      “Didn’t you just blow something up?” She took a few wheezing breaths and said, “Pretty sure that messes with the hearing.”

     Nixie coiled in place and sputtered things that vaguely resembled words. “You little-”

      “Hello?” Mio hopped cautiously into the clearing.

      “Thank goodness! I thought I’d heard you two bickering over here.”

     They caught each other up and Nixie went to check on the aftermath of their fight. Muscles aching, she forced her wings to carry her over to Rrela. It shifted a bit here and there, but the Draik was done and would be done for a while. That’s not what made Nixie’s heart skip a beat.

     Null was nowhere to be seen.

     * * *

     Beneath the cover of an undergrowth blanket was Leala. She was atop a small hill, just tall enough to see the distant pinks and blues and yellows of Faerieland streetlights. The rain was letting up. It was hard not to fall asleep. She listened to Kayixu scrounge the area for any garbage suitable enough to be a makeshift weapon.

      “You’re all going to die.”

     She didn’t care enough about Charka’s words to acknowledge them.

      “So much useless crap out here! Somebody should start a recycling program or something… Ah! Yes!”

     Kayixu wielded the rusty remains of a darkness faerie axe. It was dull and grimy, but better than nothing. A trace of dark magic still ran through it. Leala watched her turn to look for something else.

     A black blur. The axe hit the ground.

     Leala’s fur sparked with fire magic, and she stumbled from her hiding spot. She had to do something! She had to-

      “But what can you do?” purred Charka. “Look at yourself. Look at the state you’ve let yourself fall into. You go after the monster and you’ll surely d-”

      “You have surprised me.”

     Notixu’s voice rang out from everywhere and nowhere at all. Leala clumsily spun in place, but she could hardly keep her ears upright. Her mind was encased in spyderwebs. Her paw ached. In the end, all she could do was sit and listen.

      “It has been a very long time since anything surprised me. Don’t get me wrong; you’re all pathetic in the end. But you’ve proven yourselves interesting after all. You’re... fun, in spite of my previous conclusions. I’ve been starved for fun for longer than you can imagine bun-bun.”

      “So, I’m going to spare you. For now. I want the game to continue. I’ll keep you around. I’ll play. I’ll get my fill. I’ll get another milkshake. Once the game has run its course, though, it’s the end of the line for you! With that in mind…”

      “Make sure you don’t disappoint me.”

To be continued…