"Then get the hell away from her!" Thora screams and Angelo winces. "Magic is not a thing to play around with!"

"I'm not playing around with it! I want to help her!"

"Well you can't do that if you don't know what your doing!"

"Argh!" Angelo shouts in frustration.

"We need to get out of this mess first!"

"How?! I don't see you having any ideas!"

Thora looks like she's about to burry him alive. Nope not gonna let that happen.

"I think I have an idea..." all eyes turn to me. Including the stupified Azar and Donny. Sheesh...cant a girl with two broken arms get an idea? I turn to Angelo. "Hey, remember when you created that wheelchair for me?"

"Mhmnn.."

"Maybe you could creat a vehicle this time?"

A thoughtful expression appears on his face.

"Can you do it?" I really wish I could hold his hands at this point.

"Hold on, how's this gonna happen? If we drive a car out of here, those things will know immediately and they'll catch up to us in no time" Thora asks.

"When we get into the car, you'll cover us with dust. Angelo will open a part of the shield for us to get out from. When we're out, the dust will follow us making it hard for them see us" I'm literally planning as I'm talking.

"But they'll know. They'll see a line of dust and they'll get suspicious" Thora counters.

"Then the moment we take off, you'll spread the dust in all directions. We just have to stall them long enough"

"Pretty good for a girl with two broken arms" Tatie crosses her hands, looking straight at me.

"Angelo?" I turn to him. "Can you do it?"

"I...I'm not sure-"

The metal shield reveals a big dent followed by a victorious screech.

Angelos brows furrow in concentration as he moves to the center of the shield. His hands move in circles, a large heap of silver piling up at his feet. Within seconds, the heap starts taking the form of a car. A candle of hope burns in my heart.

"Woo! Go little brother!" Donny cheers in his mental state.

With a final huff, the silver blows in all directions making us shield our faces. When we open our eyes, the car sparkles and we all let out a "woah..." it's like a bus, but it's not. It doesn't have a roof. It's big tyres make it look sporty. It has eleven seats in total: two at the front, followed by three rows of three. It's like nothing I've ever seen before.

Another dent appears on the shield and we all wince.

"C'mon people, let's go!" Thora commands.

Luca appears at my side and lifts me up. Mason jumps into the driver's seat. Thora hits Azar and Donny in the head and they drop to the ground, unconcious.

"What the hell!?" I scream.

"They're of no use right now. Besides they could blow our cover" grey eyes glowing, her air lifts them up and into the topless car.

Thora stands on the hood of the car and Mason starts the engine.

"Ready?" Angelo asks, standing up beside me.

Thora nods, and raises her hands. Air surrounds us, bringing up the dust camouflage I envisioned. Angelo makes a motion of grabing and pulling apart something strong. Soon, we see a slit being formed in the shield. It cracks and expands as Angelo pulls harder at it through an invisible contact.

When the crack is wide enough for the car, Mason steps on the gas and we zoom out of the shield. Angelo sits with a loud thud beside me, breathing hard. Thora spreads the wind further and the dust travels in many directions. The car bumps and she stumbles.

"Thora get in the car! Are you trying to kill yourself?!" Mason shouts from the driver's seat.

With an angry grunt, she jumps into the back seat, still spreading the wind. Angry roars are heard behind us and slowly, they recede. Wide smiles spread across our faces.

"Could you clear the dust in front of me now? I'm getting worried we might ride off a cliff" Mason slows down a bit and Thora clears the dust in front of the car. "There's an exit!"

Squinting, I can make out a clearing that leads out of the forest ahead.

A sigh of relief escapes my lips two seconds before we hear a horrifying screech above us.

"The wraiths are still unto us! Step on it!" Thora roars.

The engine roars and the car jerks foward. Sharp talons scrape the side of the car and we all scream as the car goes into a drift. Thora releases all the dust and we all gasp in horror when we catch sight of the horrifying creatures. It's blood shut eyes narrow at us and it comes closer, it's claws barely missing out heads.

Thora let's out a fist shaped gust of wind and it pushes a wraith backward. The other two seem enraged by this and swoop down to us. Luca stands up beside me and rolls his hands, a large machine gun materializes within seconds.

He looks down at me with a smirk. "Might wanna brace yourself..." then his expression turns serious as he aims at one of the wraiths.

Brace myself? Seriously?! Did it slip his mind that I'm unable to move both my arms?!

BOOM!!

My ears ring at the impact. Tendrils of smoke rise from the gun.

"Ugh! I missed!" Luca shouts out in frustration.

The forest comes to an end and we whiz through dry land. There's nothing on the other side. It's like a dessert. I can't make out any houses, cars, nothing.

Meanwhile, the wraiths are still hot on our tail.

BOOM! BOOM!!

Luca keeps blasting his gun at them, but at the last second, they dodge it. Thora circles her arms and a tornado forms behind us. Willing it foward, it takes a hold of a wraith. She spins and spins it then brings it down heavily with a crack. The wraith remains disabled for some seconds before it's shadow rises from it's cripled body and forms two more.

"Oh, you have got to be messing with me!" Luca bellows.

With a painful groan, Angelo gets up and I look at him with concern. "Don't worry, I'll be fine" with one last smirk, he fires a hot silver ball at the wraiths.

The ground shakes. Thora, Luca and Angelo fumble. We all stare in horror as our former nemesis gallops from the forest in our direction; the minotaurs.

"Lord have mercy..." Angelo wispers.

"We're going to die!" Mason cries out and I wish...I just wish I could wack his head right now.

Luca changes his target.

BOOM!

The blast explodes in front of one minotaur. Luca almost smiles, until it emerges from the smoke.

"Ugh!"

Thora gives punches after punches of air. Angelo fires balls of silver non stop. Luca aims and pulls his trigger tirelessly. But thier strengths aren't infinite. I need to help.

A black figure materialises in front of the monsters.

"Don't tell me there's another one!" Luca screams.

The black figure looks like a guy. Stretching out his right hand, a scythe  materializes. He raises his left hand and the minotaurs become immobilized by a dark essence. A single swipe of his scythe and the minotaurs are left in two halves, blood spraying out like a fountain. Within seconds, he's floating in the air in front of the wraiths.

A wraith rushes for him and almost non-chalantly, he flicks his wrist to the side and it follows the motion, landing with a sickening crunch. Black esscence surrounds him, just like my golden essence and Angelos silver. That's when I see it; a hint of purple somewhere in all the black.

The scythe comes down on a wraith and it's body toples to the ground in two. Another wraith charges for him and he raises his left arm. The wraith becomes rigid. His hand forms a choking motion and the life is sucked out out of it before our eyes. The last wraith hesitates, it's wings fidgeting before it makes the wrong decision. He raises his hand once more, this time, balling it into a fist. The wraith scrunches up until it explodes into icky dark red blood.

The dark figure spares us a hooded glance from his position above, his eyes glowing black with a rim of purple, before dissolving into his black esscence once more.

~~~

"AHHHH! STOP! JUST STOP!"

"Come on! I'm just trying to help you!"

"NO! Get away from me!" A burst of gold pushes Tatiana away from me for the third time. What? It's not my fault having two broken arms hurts like hell. She's been trying to heal me for the past hour, but anytime it's time to link my bones, an unbearable pain shoots through my body and I can't help but scream and my magic can't help but protect me. We drove through the dessert-looking place for some time before we found a shelter. It's more like a boulder actually. The hooded guy still haunts my vision though. He keeps popping into my mind every now and then.

"Ugh! That's it!" Tatie shrugs off the dust from her body. "I give UP!" She storms off.

"Goodness me, Maraja! What's your problem!?" Thora shouts out.

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"She's trying to help you and you keep blowing her away! Literally! Do you honestly plan on remaining this way!?"

"Is that so? Well why don't you try bashing your two arms against a stone wall until they shatter! Cause I don't see you making a shield to protect your friends anytime soon!"

"Why you-"

"That's enough ladies" Azar interferes.

"Who're you calling lady?! I'll beat the life out of you!" Her eyes glow and the wind picks up.

"Thora, that's enough!" Lucas voice booms and Thora stiffens. "I get it! We're all pretty shaken up, but that doesn't mean we should kill each other. Let's all just get some rest"

"Whatever.." she flops down on the sand, a scowl on her fair features.

Azar makes his way to Aerwyna. She's seated at a corner, her face hurried in her knees. "Hey...you okay?" Shaking her head vigorously, Azar squats and pulls her close, stroking her hair. "Shhhh...I'm here. Everything's gonna be fine"

I don't get what's been happening to her. It started when we saw the minotaurs. Since then, she's been out ig sorts. Acting dissoriented and crying. I really wish I could help her or at least know what's happening to her. These stupid arms are annoying. Why'd they have to break?! Not to mention Tatie said they're not just broken, but shattered. No wonder it hurts so bad.

"Hey there..." did I ever mention that Angelos hair is glorious? Silky and long like a womans. His shoulder length black hair is blown by the wind, causing it to cover half his face. Wow....breathtaking.

"Heyyy.....you know, you should really pack your hair already"

He gives me a shy smile. Goodness, those dimples.."You doing okay?" He takes a seat beside me.

I heave out a painful sigh. "No.."

"I wish I could say I understand, but I don't. I don't think I've ever broken both my arms before"

A small smile tuggs on my lips. "Of course you haven't"

"Want me to try?" He gestures to my arm. "Maybe it'll be better"

"I don't know, Angelo. As much as I want to get out of this mess, I don't want to go deeper into it. And we don't exactly have our magic completely figured out yet"

"Give me a chance. I'd never hurt you..."

"....okay" I give him a playful smirk. "Don't kill me okay"

"Sure thing..." his eyes come to life. His hands hover over me, but a fearful shriek and a thud steals our attention.

Fear grips my heart when I catch sight of the hooded guy from before. Donny scratches his way away from from the guy. Thora gets to her feet and Luca gets in front of her, raising his hand defensively. Mason steps in front of Donny, facing the guy. His features remain hidden behind his cloak. Dark floating tendrils surround him.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

He doesn't answer. Five seconds of Mason staring into the darkness of his face, and he clutches his head in pain. His eyes screw shut as he screams in pain.

"Mason!"

He drops to his knees, fingers digging into his scull. He shakes his head violently as if fighting off something.

"Mason!" I scream in pure fear.

"What did you do to him!?" Tatiana comes out of nowhere and runs to Mason.

"NO!" Mason screams.

"Answer me, what did you do to him!?" She holds Mason close, tears welling up in her eyes.

The guy tilts his head to the side, studying my brother curiously. Then suddenly, in a flash, his eyes lock with mine. Only his eyes. The glowing darkness in them could've caused me to faint, but a thin line of purple circling the black gives me a beacon of hope.....that is before all my friends disappear. Yes. One second and they're all....gone. Just gone.

I'm left alone with the hooded guy. My eyes scan the surrounding, looking anywhere but at him. Anywhere but his eyes. His face is covered in darkness. Only his eyes...

"Heal yourself..." his voice is but a calm wisper. Like the devil telling you to murder your annoying neighbour.

"What?! What are you talking about? I don't even know you! Where are my friends!?" I can't even get up. The pain in my arms seem to intensify.

"Heal yourself, Maraja"

"Who...how did you know my name?!"

"Heal yourself and I'll answer your questions" he blinks lazily.

"Why.....I don't even know how to!"

"Do it"

Golden specs surround my arms and I close my eyes. I really don't want to feel pain. Concentrating on my arms, I imagine my bones coming back together. My hand throbs a bit, but I don't stop. I concentrate harder.

When I open my eyes, the guy gives me a small nod.

I move a finger. Another finger. My fist. My whole arm. I stand up, feeling as good as new. Woahhh...I just healed myself. My eyes snap to the guy.

"Ask.." is all he says.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Rajani"

"Why did you help us back there?"

He gives a shrug. "I didn't help you, I just felt like killing the impractical beasts"

"Okayyy.....how did you know my name?"

He brings a gloved finger to his face. "I guessed"

"What the....you expect me to believe you just guessed?! Guessed a name that weird and correct on your first attempt?!"

He gives me another shrug. "My powers of precision are rather strong"

I don't know what to think about this guy right now. "Where are my friends?"

He looks around as if searching for something, then frowns. "They should be around here. Maybe they're hidding"

"Stop playing dumb and bring them back. And why can't I see your face? It's creeping me out"

With that, the hood dissapears and I'm left staring. His skin is pale. His jawline is highly defined. His upturned lips look like they could make or break any girls heart. His pointy nose scrunches up in annoyance but I don't care. He looks very much like someone I've seen before, except for the pale skin. I don't think I've ever seen anyones skin so pale, except in movies. His cloak still covers the rest of his body and I frown.

He mutters some thing and the hood reappears.

"No! I'm sorry I stared. Take it off. Please" I have no idea why I'm begging a stranger who made my friend dissapere to leave his face exposed so that I can admire it.

It dissapears once more and he fixes his stare on me.

"So, ummm Rajani"

His eyebrows shoot up at his name. "Hmm?"

"I really need you to bring back my friends"

"Okay.."

The moment the word leaves his mouth, they're there. They just reappeared. They're all in the positions they where before they disappeared.

Azars face becomes red with anger as his eyes blaze a hot red. "Why, you!" He charges at Rajani with full speed and a fire ball in his palm.

Rajani raises his left hand lazily and Azar stops in his tracks. Black tendrils surround Azar and he starts choking. Rajani is not going to let him go....I know.

Azars choking intensifies and Aerywna shakily steps foward, tears streaming down her face. "Stop, please stop....."

Rajani doesn't spare her a glance. Azars eyes beging to flutter close.

"Stop!" Everyone shouts, but he ignores them.

"Rajani" his eyes find mine and a thousand emotions flood into them. "Stop. Please"

He drops his hand and Azar drops to his knees, taking deep breaths. Aerwyna rushes to his side, tears flowing freely. I need to find out what's wrong this girl.

"What was that for?!" Donny screams in anger. "What is wrong with you?!" Rajanis eyes narrow at him and Donny takes a step backward.

"Mavis, you know him?" Luca searches my eyes for answers.

"No, not really. The only thing I know is his name. He told me"

Rajani cocks his head to the side, and Thora tries to hide her face. He raises a thick eyebrow. "Princess.." His voice is chilling.

Thora let's out a groan, and we all turn to her, expectantly.

"Thora. Are you going to tell us what's happening here?" I speak when she makes no attempt to.

She takes slow, short steps toward Rajani. She stops like ten feet away from him, looking cautious. "Maraja, this is Rajani Aslan. Your cousin..." she bites her lip, not wanting to go further. "...son of Griffon."

~~~~~