Welcome Back to London Part IV

Barry woke up in a dark place in his cat form, his head throbbing from the dark pulse of power he had felt earlier. There was no light for his feline eyes to detect nor was there any presence that his mystic radar could lock onto. He heard a ground from the ground beside him and Barry recognised Quentin’s voice.

“Quentin? What happened?” he asked the eagle.

Quentin rose from his place on the cobblestone floor, he too was in his beast form but he still looked better than Barry felt.

“We were hit by an attack from the manticore,” replied the bird, then he flexed his wing and yelled out, “and it seems like my wing is broken.”

“There’s no mana in here,” Barry noticed, “that means we’re on our own.”

Quentin walked over to Barry and looked around. They were in a box of some sort, made entirely out of dark grey cobblestone and there were no windows nor holes that either of the two could see. Barry tried to use his collar to contact Sam but to no avail, his head was so full of static that he doubted that he would even hear her if the signal went through. Quentin tried the same thing with the ring on his leg but the talisman didn’t have enough power to reach anyone.

“Maybe if I transform,” said Quentin, “I might be able to break through wall.”

“We can’t transform,” said Barry matter-of-factly.

“You can’t transform,” corrected Quentin, “I still have the authority to transform in desperate situations without the need of my partner’s permission.”

Quentin closed his eye and a pale blue hue appeared around his body but it faded within moments, leaving the eagle exhausted from the attempt.

“Told you, “said Barry as he watched Quentin pace around the room, “this place is radiating Shadow energy and it cancels out our own, remember?”

Quentin scoffed and continued to pace. Barry laid down and tried to concentrate through the static in his mind, sending out a call to the one person he knew would hear it.

***

Sam hit the brakes hard and they skidded to a halt outside the concealed entrance to the GSA. The dragon and Hector had sat quietly in the car, the latter’s motorbike being crushed by the monster battle and had been sent in for repairs, while Sam had been working frantically to get them to the Academy.

When Alexander had heard the news, he instructed them to come back to the GSA then await further orders while he and the other Seekers try to locate Barry and Quentin.

“May I speak now?” asked Hector when Sam slumped her head against the wheel, “there’s no use in crying about it. Barry and Quentin are okay as long as the cat doesn’t do anything stupid.”
Sam suddenly gripped him by the shirt and held him close so she could whisper, “If anything happens to Barry I will personally bind you onto the nearest train track and leave you there.”

“How is this my fault?” asked Hector, trying to remove Sam’s clutched fingers from his shirt, “you two were too slow and I didn’t want the creature to escape. I had to move in quickly.”

“You’re both in the wrong,” said a voice in the back seat, startling Hector, who forgot about the gargoyle in the back seat and had not expected it to speak.

“If both of you had been more patient with your attacks then you would have seen what that manticore really was and would’ve been more prepared. Even from the back of this blasted vehicle I could tell that it wasn’t the ancient monster.”

Sam looked at the gargoyle and growled, “What do you mean, ‘it wasn’t the ancient monster’?”

“That thing can speak?” asked Hector, “Where did you find it?”
“Doesn’t matter, Drake what was that thing?”

“First off, that’s not my name and secondly, it was a hamrammr, a powerful shapeshifter who can take the form of whatever animal it has consumed. They are immensely powerful but lack mana of their own, thus why they take it from other creatures.”

“How did you know it was a hamrammr?” asked Hector.

“In my hatchling days, I was trained to see the mana of other living creatures, including monsters. I have encountered manticores before and I noticed that this one’s energy seemed misshapen, as if someone had taken pieces of other creature’s energies and stitched them together. Some hamrammr can maintain the powers and form from any creatures they’ve eaten in the past but the transformation would take an extreme amount of their own life force, causing them to have to hunt for more.”

Sam suddenly went rigid and a smile made its way onto her face.

“What?” asked Hector and the gargoyle at the same time.

“I think I know how to track it,” said Sam and she quickly took out her phone, activated the communication glyph on it then watched as a familiar panther’s face appeared on the screen.

“What do you need?” asked Archie, ready to help.

“A list of magical creatures’ energy signatures that were in a half a kilometre radius of us in the past thirty minutes.”

“Anything in particular?”

“What other creatures did the hamrammr absorb?” asked Sam, turning to the gargoyle.

The reptile closed his eyes in concentration then said, “A gryphon, a Nemean lion, a sphinx and a large mixture of regular animals. Apologises but that’s all I can remember sensing.”

“It’s more than enough mate,” replied Archie, “those creatures you just mentioned were within your radius and they seemed to be conjugated in one place. The same energy signature is present by Waterloo Station, a couple of minutes away but it’s underground so I can’t get anything specific.”

“That’s perfect, thanks Archie,” said Sam and she started the car’s engine.

“Your Seeker seems to be rather confidant of his abilities,” said Hector, his arms folded, “Our superiors won’t believe this and we were given our orders.”
“If you want to get out then get out,” said Sam, unlocking the car door, “but if you want to save your partner then shut it, buckle up and be ready for the battle ahead.”
Hector said nothing and Sam drove away from the shop, towards the statin where they hoped Barry and Quentin would be.

Several minutes later the three of them were walking inside the Underground along the train tracks. Hector had cast a glamour so that no one had noticed them while they had travelled through the station because the gargoyle had threatened to destroy the inside of Sam car if he was forced to stay in there a second time. Archie’s tracker led them to a part of the tunnel that had the word ‘Shush’ graphited in big blue letters outlined with a lime green colour.

“The signal originates a few metres in front of you,” said Archie through Sam’s phone, “I’m barely *zzzch* getting *zzzch* through. Good luck-*zzzch*

“Your phone won’t get a signal from down here,” said Hector, flexing his fingers through his gloves, “even if it is magically enhanced.”

Sam said nothing and summoned her gauntlets. They heard a train somewhere off in the distance and acted quickly. Sam punch through the wall, revealing a hidden passageway leading to a dark corridor. They ran inside just as the train came whistling past, then walked down the corridor until they reached a damp room filled with old animal carcasses along with some human skeletons. The only light came from Sam and Hector talismans on their gauntlets and gloves respectively.

“Dear god,” said Hector, covering his nose with one hand, “That smell is just awful!”

Sam kept trekking forwards and used her magic to brighten the light coming from her gauntlets, directing them like a torch beam around the room until the light landed on a black cat and a bald eagle laying on the ground just ahead of them.

“Barry!” Sam cried but when she tried to ran forwards the gargoyle tackled her, sending them both to the ground.

“What’d you do that for?” demanded Sam.

“There’s a shadow barrier around them,” said the reptile, “it’s how the hamrammr gets its prey. It drains them of their energy then feasts on their bodies. We have to get rid of the barrier before we can do anything to help them.”

“Then let’s cease with the small talk and free them already,” said Hector and he flicked his hands. A thin trail of silver flickered for a moment in the air before Hector made a grasping and pulling motion with his hands. Small cracks began to appear in the air in front of them and they could hear a large beast growling in the distance.

Sam concentrated and an energy field appeared around her gauntlets. She then struck the cracks with all her strength until a black cube suddenly appeared in front of them for moment before shattering into pieces. Sam and Hector rushed to their partners, who each groaned as their power began to return to them.

“We need to get out of here now!” said the gargoyle rushing back through the corridor with the humans in tow. They made it to the train tunnel but this time they turned away from the station and into the intersection between the different train lines in the underground, a good place to fight a powerful creature.

***

“It’s here!”

A large, wolf like creature appeared from the tunnel, covered in a dark haze and it amber eyes glowing with a primal hunger. I watched as it walked toward us slowly, its claws scraping against the concrete floor. I took a step forward but the humans moved ahead of me, the male flexing his fingers while the female pounded her fists together.

“Barry and Quentin still need more time to recover,” said Sam before I could argue, “You just make sure that they don’t get hurt while we deal with this.”

The hamrammr ran forwards, transforming into a large lion. The girl leapt to meet it head on, smashing into its head with her fist and sending a small shockwave out in all directions. The lion roared then swiped at the girl, who blocked and dodge its attacks.

“As usual,” said the boy with a grin on his face, “no finesse at all. Only brute strength and no tactics.”
The hamrammr turned into the manticore again and sent spikes in our direction but the boy merely flicked a finger and the spikes suddenly met an invisible wall of force that sent them hurtling back to their owner. I looked at the boy’s magic and saw that he seemed to be surrounded by hundreds of tiny strings made up of his orange aura. As he moved the strings responded and acted as a shield between us and the rocks while Sam landed blow after blow against the manticore. The beast changed shape again into a giant crocodile with giant spikes running along its back to the tip of its tail. The reptile flung several spikes towards them but Hector used his threads to slice them into pieces before they reached Bartholomew and Quinten.

“This will be over soon,” said Hector and his threads glowed orange before wrapping the creature up in a tight cocoon. The threads withstood the beast’s attacks and soon there was silence in the tunnel.

“Well that was easy,” said Sam, retracted her gauntlets back into the symbols on her arms.

Suddenly a black fog burst from the cocoon and knocked Sam off her feet and against one of the stone pillars. When Hector tried to swipe at it using his threads the fog transformed back into the lion and the threads bounced off its skin without leaving so much as a dent in the fur.

I tried to help, to summon any magic or even transform back into my old self but there was a very powerful spell blocking me. When I adjusted my vision to see magic I saw a golden haze covering me, binding my powers in this form. I realised that this was the girl’s aura, the magic around her home must have affected me when I transformed thus trapping me in this blasted body until she released me.

I ran towards her while the boy battled the Nemean lion and I lightly batted her head with mine to wake her up. Her aura had protected her from most of the damage from the hamrammr’s attack but she was still dazed.

“Human,” I said, “Sam wake up. You must release me from you spell.”

Her eyes fluttered open but they were unfocused and I doubted she could even form a proper sentence let alone dispel her magic. I placed my paws on her body and tried channelling my magic through them. Bartholomew said that using magic in this form would take time and practice, neither of which I had in abundance but I knew that he was right. I saw how the girl’s magic worked and I knew how to slip my own powers through the cracks until a pale red light shone around my body and it ignited a golden glow around her own form. She stirred then lifted herself up onto her knees, breathing heavily.

“You have to release me,” I said undeterred by the sounds of battle behind me.

“What?” she said, by the Ancient Beings this one was slow.

“Your magic is holding me back,” I explained, “you need to release me or else we will all die!”

The human male called Hector came flying towards us and landed in a heap next me but I ignored him, my gaze firmly fixed on the girl.

“It’s either now,” I said, “or you get to watch your cat get consumed. What is your choice human?!”

“I…I,” she said, “I release you?”
“You have to mean it. You must command your spell to dissipate.”
The girl stood up and raised a small amber crystal, pointing it at me.

“I release you from my magic,” she said, her now voice free of all doubt and uncertainty, “and I command you to defeat the hamrammr! Protect your Anchor and serve the Guardians’ cause!”

I felt the magic lift and I transformed. Long tendrils of magic came pouring through the tunnels and enveloped my form as I changed. My legs grew longer and dark steel greaves covered them, sliding together like giant plates fitting into their slots. My forelegs transformed back into my arms and they were soon enclosed in plated gauntlets as well as a thin metal that covered my arms like a second skin. My left arm was covered in metal plates that were spiked at the end while my right arm was merely covered in a thin metal sheen. My lower torso was also covered in this metal but a thick chest plate formed over my upper torso and connected with plated steel that ran down my lower torso to connect with the greaves on my legs. No helmet materialised on my head nor did any armour cover my tail or my wings but I was fine with that, it was better that they be free anyway.

I stood proud and ready for battle, my new armour gleaming in the dimly lit tunnel and my fiery aura shone brightly, drawing the monster’s attention away from my comrades.

“Let’s do this,” I said, my voice bold and clear. I charged, hitting the Nemean lion hard in the chest with my fist, so hard in fact that the lion’s chest actually concaved in before it slammed into the wall. My fists were engulfed in my aura and I sprinted forward, delivering blow after blow onto the lion’s maw, chest and throat, never letting up.

The hamrammr barely had a moment to concentrate let alone change its shape and I was not about to give it any time to do so. My aura increased my strength and speed, allowing me to land punches and kicks strong enough to break through solid steel. I couldn’t fly, no room to spread my wings, not that they would work properly anyway, but I fixed that problem by upper-cutting the beast through the ceiling and into the street above. My aura covered my legs then I jumped through the hole in the roof and landed beside the hamrammr just as it changed shape into a manticore again. It fired its spikes at me but I simply shielded my head with my armoured arms while I advanced forward then grabbed it by the throat and threw it down the road at the stone beach by the river. The manticore landed on its side and rolled at closer to the river before getting up with a snarl. It changed into a gryphon and tried to fly away but I leapt forwards and grabbed its tail, swinging it once around my head before sending it slamming into the ground. While it was down I instinctively reached for my weapons but they weren’t on my belt and I left an opening for the beast to hit me with its claws, leaving several deep grooves in the metal on my chest. As the grooves closed the hamrammr backhanded me into the wall of the Thames then fired several spikes in my direction that I just barely dodged.

My magic was weakening and I knew the beast could feel it but I could still fight using the mana around me. I stood straight, my hands together as if in prayer, then closed my eyes and concentrated, feeling the life force of every human, every animal and every plant nearby, adding their strength to my own. Mana ran through the veins of everything living and I summoned it towards me, cupping my hands together in front of me as I took a fighting stance.

“Ancient Beings who created all,” I began, “aid my fight and protect me as I in turn will protect our world to the best of my powers. Let your mana be my blade as I defend this life and all of those in it!”

I opened my eyes and grasped the weapon in front me, a silver short staff with two long curved blades protruding from either ends of the rod. I spun the weapon in my hand then took a stance as the hamrammr charged forwards, now in the shape of a humanoid monster with long laws for hands and several long, spiked tentacles. The creature flung out its limbs and I could feel it draining the life force of every living thing around us, increasing its power. I threw my weapon and it spun through the air, cutting of each limb that it came by. I gathered some of my aura into a sphere in my palms then fired it at the beast, knocking it backwards and closer to the river. My weapon returned to my hand and I leapt into the air, slicing through its limbs as I fell in an arc towards the hamrammr’s body but it knocked me away before I could reach it. As I fell through the air I felt somebody catch me, I turned to see the cheerful face of Bartholomew, dressed in white armour similar to mine, and flapping his great white birdlike wings through the air.

“Wow you’re heavy,” he panted, “Sorry we’re late but you left us with quite a mess to clean up back there. Now let’s get this thing before we all run out of mana.”

He set me down on the bank of the Thames and then drew his bladed tonfa while the anthropomorphic eagle, I suspect this was the one they called Quentin, came down on the hamrammr with his staff but was quickly forced to retreat when the creature swiped at him with its tentacles. I noticed that he held one of his arms close to his body, as if it were injured.

“Our weapons can’t penetrate the creature’s skin,” noted the bird when it landed next to us, “we need a plan.”

“I have a plan,” said Bartholomew, “let’s beat it until it’s down.”
When he tried to charge forwards I grabbed his tail and dragged him back saying, “That won’t work. I have been trying for most of the day and this beast will only grow stronger as the night crawls nearer.”

“Here’s a plan,” said Quentin, “I’ll use the water to hold the creature while Barry shoots a lightning bolt at it, forcing the beast to transform into a creature that could handle electricity then you stab it with your blades.”

I nodded and we moved quickly. The eagle’s weapon disappeared into his wrist then he raised his hands and a fist of water came forth from the Thames, grabbing the hamrammr and lifting it off the ground. Bartholomew fired a lightning bolt at it and the hamrammr changed into a long furry creature, resembling a yellow furred fox, that didn’t seem fazed by the electric shock. I charged forwards and red runes appeared on my blade, summoning red flames and increasing my energies, then I swung the weapon in a deadly arc, slicing the hamrammr in half. Both halves burned on the bank and I collapsed to my knees in exhaustion, my new weapon dispersing into thin air.

Well done young master

The voice came from the burning head of the hamrammr, like a whisper in my mind.

Your brother will be pleased, he awaits your return

“Gabriel?” I asked, “He’s alive?”

The canine said nothing and dissolved into ash, leaving me with more questions than I cared for as well as a few new bruises. A quick jab of pain coursed through my chest and I could feel my wounds from earlier had been aggravated during the battle, probably slowing their healing by quite a bit. Bartholomew and Quentin walked over to me and the panther tried to place his hand on my back but I shrugged him off as I got to my feet.

“I’m just making sure that you’re okay,” he said, “Come on, let’s go home.”

“I can get around without your help,” I snarled, spreading my wings to fly but the pain intensified and I was forced back to my knees. Bartholomew helped me up then he and Quentin flew me over to where the two humans were, standing next to the red automobile that the girl drove. They laid me on the back seat and I felt us moving through London, away from the charred remains of the beast.

I opened my eyes to find that I was still in the car but I wasn’t by the river anymore. Instead I was someplace in the city that I couldn’t identify and the humans were outside with their companions, they seemed to be arguing about something.

I didn’t really care much about what they were saying but when I reached for the door handle I fell forward onto the car floor! I was back in this stupid four-legged form! The girl must have done this to me, some form of revenge no doubt but for what? For calling her human girl? No, that wasn’t it but I could see her magic was around me again, binding my powers to this form and denying me full use of my abilities. My fall must have alerted the humans because they opened the door and said, “Come out, we need to talk to you.”

I stepped out of the car and looked up at the humans. The eagle was perched on its master’s arm while the cat stood on the girl’s shoulders. I hated being looked down upon but I swallowed my pride continued to stare right back at them, hoping my dislike of them didn’t show.

“I know you don’t like us,” said the girl, (rats) “but you have some explaining to do. How did you do that?”

“You’re going to have to be more specific,” I said calmly, my eyes scanning for a gap in their defences to make my escape.

“How about your trail of destruction around Waterloo?” said the male human, “Or how you summoned mystic armour from across town and syphoned the mana of every living creature in London?”

I shrugged, knowing that they could do nothing to force me to reveal my secrets. Now that my powers were back I could finally heal and search for the remaining gargoyles. I tried transforming again but the same pressure applied itself around my body and I leaned forward a bit, blinking the spots from my eyes.

“What have you done to me?” I demanded of the human girl, rounding on her with my fangs bared.

“I did nothing,” said the girl kneeling, “back in the cave you seemed to think that it was my fault you couldn’t transform, but that might not be the case.”

“What do you mean?” I snarled.

“She means, that we think you’re some type of Guardian,” said Quentin, “and you have accepted Sam as your Anchor.”

“My what?”

“We’ll explain later,” said Sam, standing up, “I think it’s time you met my uncle.”

They ushered me back into the car and drove me to the girl’s dwelling but not before the boy and the eagle got out halfway and left us. He must live somewhere nearby but he did not elaborate on his destination however he did wave goodbye to the girl before leaving. I sat quietly in the back until we got to the building. Bartholomew had explained that this was the girl’s “apartment” and that they lived and worked together under the guise of owner and pet. I found this to be remarkably humorous as any self-respecting sentient life form should never consider themselves to be a “pet” to anyone.

We stood outside her dwelling but just before we entered I sensed an intense magical power and I growled. No time to wait for the girl’s permission, I tried transforming again but I only succeeded in dizzying myself even more while she opened the door. I lunged forwards but a man’s foot materialised at the doorway my head collided with it and I landed on the floor with the human’s foot pressing against my chest, pinning me to the floor.

“Drake, meet uncle Alex. Uncle Alex meet Drake, our resident dragon.”

“I’m not a dragon,” I managed, still dazed from my clash with the human’s foot, “and my name is definitely not Drake.”

The man leaned on his foot, increasing the weight on my chest and restricting my breathing.

“Well mate, you do look like a dragon,” he said calmly, “and Drake seems like a perfectly good name for you.”
“Get off me,” I gasped, clawing at his leg, “I demand that you let me go.”

“Or what gecko?”

That did it. My aura burst into life and suddenly I was back in my old body, my armour on and red flames bursting from my form. I gripped the man with my tail and hurled him backwards but he simply flipped over and landed perfectly on the couch, as if he had been sitting there the whole time.

“Nobody calls me that,” I roared, getting to my feet but before I could advance towards my enemy I heard a choking sound. I turned to see Bartholomew in his panther form, but without his armour and in his normal clothing, supporting the human girl. Her nose was bleeding and she was coughing up what looked like blood.

My rage extinguished and I fell to one knee then tried to reach out a hand to help her but Bartholomew slapped it away, his own aura flickering into life around him.

“Stay away from her,” he growled, his feline ears folded back and his muzzle contorted into a snarl.

I ignored him and placed my hand on Sam’s head, allowing my magic to flow through her. My aura flowed from my body and around hers, repairing the internal damage she felt. Her golden glow returned and I felt myself shift back into the four-legged beast as before but this time there wasn’t any immense pressure forcing me to do so, just a soft nudging feeling.

“Just as I thought,” said the man they called Alex, “he chose you as his Anchor Sam but he is strong enough to consume your aura if you try to suppress his transformations.”

“But she wasn’t there when he changed the first time,” said Bartholomew, “We just left the apartment and he suddenly transformed.”

“She didn’t have to be,” said Alexander, “the moment Sam chose to use her magic to save him last night she somehow bound his weakened spirit to hers, like she does with yours, and the spell around this place temporarily allowed him access to his original form until he left with you. The thing is, our reptilian friend’s power may be stronger than we’d care to believe so it’s best if he stays this way.”

 Alexander picked Sam up and carried her to the couch with Bartholomew and myself just behind him in our beast forms. Barry jumped onto the couch and laid down on Sam’s lap while I sat on the floor and quietly watched the hooded human in the red jersey. When he removed the hood I saw two black canine ears poking from the top of his dark hair and I could have sworn that his blue eyes flickered an amber colour.

“What are you,” I demanded but when he turned his dark gaze on me I quickly added, “sir?”

“I am one of the Celestial Mages, known as Canis. We are some of the few people that possess a strong magical affinity and we name ourselves after the constellations as they give us our power.”

My eyes widened as I immediately remembered the mages he was referring to.

“You are part of the Zodiac,” I said, surprised.
“Not important,” replied the human, brushing away my comment, “but let’s focus on the giant reptile in the room, shall we? First off, what are you?”

“I am a gargoyle,” I stated simply.

“Okay then, where did you get those wounds on your chest and arm?”

“During a fight against harpies.”
“When?”

“November twenty-seventh.”

They all looked at one another in concern.

“What?” I demanded, “It was only a couple of days ago.”
“It’s the first of November now,” said Alexander.

“So I missed a couple of months,” I said, “That’s not uncommon amongst my kind. A battle like that would have drained me and probably kept me out of commission.”

“Drake,” said the female human Sam, “what year is it?”

I looked at her with disgust, “What, don’t you think I don’t know what the date is too?”
“Humour us,” commanded Alexander.

“Fine, it has been around a year since the fight so it must be 1915. Happy now?”
Bartholomew’s hackles raised and Sam’s eyes widened in shock while Alexander nodded as if I had just confirmed something he already knew.

“You humans are starting to get on my nerves,” I growled, “What is it that you are hiding from me?”

“The date today is November first,” said Alexander, “2016. You have been out of commission for over one hundred years.”

I was shocked. I expected my recovery to take a long time, a month or two, maybe a year but an entire century? That meant that all my friends, my loved ones, Gabriel, they were all gone. I was alone, and powerless in a world that I no longer recognised.