Welcome back to Hello Charlotte everyone. I hope that you enjoy this chapter, I worked hard on it. Please remember to VOTE and COMMENT, it means a lot to me plus I love chatting with you guys. Also, please remember to click on the video it goes with the chapter. ~XOXO BUTTERBALL~

The song is:Devil by Shinedown

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-Charlotte-

Pain, I couldn't feel anything other than heat and pain. The heat was intense it felt like my body was burning from the inside out as it ripped across my body my limbs began to tingle to the point of stinging. Yet the pain that had settled deep within my body made everything feel like lead, almost like my limbs were weighed down and far away from my body.

I-I shouldn't...feel like this. I shouldn't be able to overheat...why is it so hot...

I wanted to open my eyes but I couldn't almost as though they were glued shut. Yet slowly the ringing in my ears faded to a soft buzz as familiar voices drifted in through the darkness.

A starling growl was the first thing I heard, and if I could of I would have jumped.

Ivo's...pissed...I have to wake up...

"...Are you done? I really don't need a noise complaint."

That's definitely Lawrence.

"I knew it! I fucking knew this was an awful idea...I shouldn't have listened..."

"Well congrats Ivo, you...say I told you so while she's..."

What's wrong with me?

Ivo growled again and faintly I heard something crash and shatter.

"We definitely need to remove it," Lawrence said.

"Yeah but, is it really safer when Charlotte's like this?"

I should have my scale up, right? So why are they even worrying?

"It's either let Ivo remove the damn thing or let it devour her soul. Oh, don't look at me like that Ivo it's the truth. I mean it's pretty bad if you're affected too."

Ivo didn't say anything or if he did I couldn't hear it.

I'm hot...tired...

Before I could drift back into unconsciousness though pain bloomed in my chest, it felt like something was piercing through me, crushing my ribs, lungs and even my heart in a powerful grip.

"Delilah, I need you to hold her down for Ivo," Lawrence instructed.

W-what? N-no, what are you doing?

"I'll try but she might just burn right through the restraints..."

Something hard and rough wrapped around my neck, waist, arms and legs scratching me, choking me and keeping me still.

I opened my mouth, helpless to stop the cry of pain at the abuse. But no sound came out, something thick, warm, and wet clawed up my throat overriding familiar yet awful taste of charcoal that had been building there. The taste of iron sent alarm bells off in my head and my body began twisting.

Stop...please, let me go!

"Delilah, her mouth," Lawrence ordered.

"Okay...just a little more," she whispered.

The same rough material around my neck spread crawling upward across my skin, scraping against my lips as it wrapped around my mouth. And I could faintly feel heat forming in my throat and in my throat is where it stayed.

Pain. Endless, bone-deep, mind-numbing, heart-stopping pain. I could feel warmth gathering in my eyes as I finally managed to open them slightly. The world spun, a fuzzy strange glow covered my vision, as it blurred one thing that stuck out though was a mass of black and red darkness that moved around like a living shadow.

I let out a small rasping whimper and the shadow turned slightly, pure black eyes stared at me, one pale hand reaching out as if to soothe me but then the shadows looked away. If possible the shadows pungled deeper into my chest but as the pain faded all I could feel was cold that seemed to spread from my chest all throughout my body and with it came pure exhaustion. A strangely familiar feeling.

My body had, had enough and it quickly let me know that.

~~~

I slowly opened my eyes letting out a soft groan as my blurry vision adjusted. A low throbbing ache had spread through my body causing my movement to be sluggish and imprecise.

The room was slightly dark, the two lights doing little to illuminate the room. My eyes widened as I frantically looked around for a few moments before I let out a soft sigh.

Wherever I am, I'm definitely not down in that basement. I-I just need to calm down.

Next, to my bedside, I could make out large fuzzy wings, curved horns and black tiger-like stripes on the pale skin of the person's throat.

"At...las," I whispered as I shakily sat up. My limbs shook so much that I could barely support my own weight. I gritted my teeth as my scales came up slowly, and stopped at my upper arms.

I let out a raspy soft chuckle.

It's just like back in that village, when I was drugged out of my mind and could barely move. Ah, how the mighty have fallen.

By the time I managed to maneuver myself to the edge of the bed I was panting softly. I gritted my teeth against the pain and looked down at my feet, it was then that I realized that I was practically naked only dressed in a bra and underwear.

What did they do to me? I remember seeing Eden in shackles with Kessel standing next to her covered in blood. Then that thing appeared, it smelled like danger, like how Ivo smells when he's fighting. I ran away...no Atlas dragged me to safety then he flew fast. But...

I scowled as I tried to recall the rest of what had happened after we got away. Slowly I wrapped the blanket around myself but I froze as I stared at Atlas who continued to sleep. Suddenly it dawned on me and I shuddered.

Scared...I felt scared and I felt helpless...I cried because I was terrified not because I was in pain.

I couldn't help but let out a broken soft chuckle as I staggered to my feet, slowly I made my way downstairs into the quiet abyss that was Talons when it was empty. The only sound echoing through the barely lit room was the soft creak of the floor as I walked across it.

Instantly I headed for the bar grabbing a nearby upside down glass that sat on the counter. I grabbed the first bottle I found, my claws easily popping out the cork as I withdrew my scales.

My hands shook slightly as I poured the liquor into the mug, its familiar rubbing alcohol like smell burning its way through my nose. Without even waiting for the liquid to settle in my mug I took a deep drink nearly gulping it down as I let out a small huff.

A very familiar warmth settled in my stomach leaving a slight burn in my throat, however, the rest of my body remained cold. "I...I can't believe I was scared." I whispered as I leaned forward my shoulders bunching up slightly.

I took another deep drink letting out a sigh as the warmth left behind by the liquor finally began to warm my body. I sniffled slightly as I rubbed at my eyes, and then I froze as I felt wetness there.

For a few moments, I just stared at the tears my eyes slightly wide.

Ah, I'm crying...why am I crying over something silly like this?

I quickly began to wipe at my face, in fact, I was so busy trying to hide my tears that I jumped when the front door slammed open. Ivo staggered into the room with Delilah and Lawrence following close behind.

Lawrence turned on the lights and when he saw me his eye widened a bit. "Amazing, you bounce back fast, considering what happened."

Ivo looked at me instantly and in the light, I could see how bad he looked. There were faint gray half-moons underneath his eyes, his hair that was normally pulled back and out of his face had come slightly loose allowing a few strands to drape down, his eyes had a dull almost glazed look to them. Instead of his usual smirk, he was staring at me with a thin-lipped frown.

"Y...you look sick Ivo. Are you okay?" I asked softly. However, I didn't move from behind the counter because I was nearly one hundred percent sure that the moment I did I would collapse.

Ivo glanced at liquor in my hand before he let out a sigh, but instead of telling me not to drink he plopped down in a chair before laying his head down on top of his arms. Delilah slowly rubbed a hand through his hair without saying anything.

It was Lawrence who finally answered my question. "After that creature tagged you and infected you it started having adverse effects on Ivo. One minute he was talking to Delilah and I then, he just collapsed with these odd black veins spreading from his chest because the Kiree-Kiree Guardian decided to try to dissolve the wall that was around your soul, it nearly got through to," Lawrence explained.

I scowled at him. "But how? I never let that thing touch me and what do you mean it's this town's guardian?" I asked slowly.

Marianne approached Ivo holding a teacup above her head as she let out a soft chattering sound. When Ivo didn't respond she walked over to Delilah and handed it to her before scurrying off again.

Delilah knelt down slightly so that she could look Ivo in the face. It was an odd sight seeing her actually treat Ivo like family. "Ivo, wake up sweetheart and drink this," Delilah told him softly.

Ivo let out a soft moan before he spoke. "I...don't need it, I'm fine," he mumbled.

Lawrence sat down in the chair across from Ivo, he took out a cigarette, lit it then took a deep drag off of it. It was a moment before he spoke, "Ivo, you are young, you're not your father nor are you at his level yet, so drink the fucking medicine! And stop acting like a goddamn burden! You fucking child!" Lawrence snapped.

Ivo slowly raised his head a growl erupting from his throat as he grabbed Lawrence by the front of his shirt. My eyes widened and Delilah stepped forward to break them up but stopped as she stood still biting her lip.

Lawrence grabbed Ivo's wrist and yanked him away with ease. Lawrence released one of his wrists but kept hold of the other one.

"Ivo, your grip is weak enough that I can overpower you. You need to shut your mouth and listen to others for once in your fucking life. How in the hell do you plan on protecting Charlotte when you're not even at half strength?" Lawrence said calmly.

Ivo let out a soft snarl as he sat back down. "I don't need your fucking input," he hissed. "I know...I already fucking know," he whispered in small defeated tone. Hesitantly Delilah placed the teacup in front of him and after a moment of eyeing it he picked it up and drank it quickly.

A gentle smile spread across Lawrence's face as he looked at Ivo. "Vincent and I were really worried when you disappeared, Alyssa wanted to go out looking for you but Vincent told her not to. He trusts your judgment so trust his. Who knows you may even surpass him one day."

Lawrence turned to me as he spoke, "That black tar-like goop touched you more than once correct? From what my files say, the first touch is aimed to tag your soul but its powers didn't exactly agree with Ivo's and it began putting up an awful fight in your body wreaking all kinds of havoc because it kept slamming into the wall. And truthfully having Delilah heal it instead of having Ivo remove it was one of the worst choices you could've made," he explained.

I scowled. "But why? Delilah can heal everything," I reminded him.

Delilah shook her head. "I can heal flesh wounds, mortal wounds, and internal wounds. But I can't heal someone's soul that's out of my capabilities," she informed me softly.

"Basically when Delilah healed you she gave that thing power and nutrients. So it was fed like a tumor and since it was stronger, it started growing and instead of trying to break the wall it tried to consume it soul and all. The Kiree-Kiree guardian is a beast that hunts through grief and sin, it realized it's usual method of hunting wasn't working on you so, the guardian got wiser. The second black tar was it finally trying to consume you but since Vincent helped Ivo reinforce the wall it wasn't getting through. The guardian was definitely pissed off at that," Lawrence explained as he petted Marianne.

"It screamed," I blurted out. I ran a hand through my hair as I guzzled the last of my drink. I let out a satisfied sigh as I looked at Lawrence. "What happened when Atlas brought me here? Everything is really hazy?"

Lawrence let out a chuckle as he shifted in his chair. "Atlas was frantic, the poor boy he kept saying that it was his fault. How he should've watched you more closely because of how reckless you are. I did find out that holding back Ivo is a lot easier when he has a handicap. We had to remove the guardian's tag from you, holding you down wasn't exactly the difficult part. The hard part was making sure Ivo was able to keep hold of his Therion form while he removed the thing. Due to the tag your body actually tried to fight back against Ivo, you started overheating essentially cooking yourself. So I told Ivo to just rip the thing out and if something...unfortunate happened I would take responsibility."

I frowned my hand moving over my chest as I remembered the mass of black and red shadows, its cold touch running through my body like lightning. And even though it had been painful the touch was instantly familiar.

I looked over as Marianne approached me with a medium sized jar in her small hands as she stumbled across the counter. The moment she got closer I jumped back, pain shooting through my whole body as I stared at the small, black tar-like mass in the jar. It was lying on what I assumed was its back with its goopy, vine-like legs up in the air all six of them bent at an unnatural angle.

"T-that thing was in me!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah it was really terrifying honestly," Atlas said as he came down the stairs rubbing his eyes.

"Bird boy is awake Delilah, why don't you go coddle him," Ivo grumbled, he finally lifted his head. As he yawned he began fixing his hair, I couldn't help but notice that while he still looked tired what little color he did have in his skin had come back.

Suddenly Atlas arms wrapped around me and I flinched as he gripped a particularly painful spot. "Charlotte! You're okay!" He exclaimed as he hugged me.

I smiled slightly as I returned the hug.

"I need to go kill that guardian, Lawrence. Its caused enough trouble as it is," Ivo told him.

"No," Lawrence said automatically without even looking at Ivo.

Ivo growled as he narrowed his eyes. "Lawrence, I swear to the gods that if you're saying this because you don't think I can handle it we're going to have a problem."

"Regenerative immortality," Lawrence said calmly yet instantly. A chill ran down my spine at those words.

Ivo flinched as he bit his lip and looked away. Delilah let out a sigh looking fed up with everything. "Lawrence, tell us everything you know about this village and its so-called guardian!" she snapped.

Lawrence let out a sigh as he put out his cigarette. "This village was started by a nature nymph, but from the looks of it, she was already nuts by the time people started to move in. Trees grew sporadically or not at all. Crops would spontaneously wither. After a while from the sound of it she was paranoid that the villagers would turn on her, so she got herself a very fucked up pet. It went wild hunting people but it didn't just hunt those who might hurt her, it targeted criminals, people grieving, that beast went wild. It even killed turned on its master," he explained as he leaned back.

"The creature itself is a child of a revenant and Ammit. Revenants' themselves hunt those who are guilty but they do it a lot differently from Ammit, Ammit devours the souls of the sinful dead. With the guardian though it tries to draw your sin and guilt out using a very interesting power of emotional and psychological manipulation. That's where the masks come in, that thing is mostly blind since it relies on the vision of a revenant, so the mask will fool it if you haven't sinned or don't feel guilty. But if you do the creature will start to take notice like it did when you all first walked in, it wasn't really doing anything other than checking," he said as he picked up Marianne.

"When we entered the village Ivo had control over my body, but that thing tried to yank me out so that I would be back in control," I told Lawrence.

He smirked slightly. "Just because it eats souls doesn't mean its a therion. Think of it like this, you and Ivo's souls are connected and when he's in control the part that is your soul gets forced back while his is pushed to the forefront. Now to the creature it would probably look wrong like there are two souls sharing a space that they shouldn't be. So it tried to pull the correct one to the forefront so that it can judge that one," he explained then looked at Ivo. "Ivo how does Atlas's soul look when Delilah's in control?" he asked.

"There's a clear dividing line through it. One half is pink, the other half is white," Ivo replied instantly.

Delilah's eyes widened a bit. "It can't see the dividing line that therions can."

"Ding ding, ding! You win, Delilah," Lawrence said in an oddly cheerful tone. Delilah glared at him which just caused him to smile.

"But isn't there some type of way to get rid of that creature. Like seal it up or something?" Atlas asked as he walked over to Delilah.

"Ivo...can't devour something with regenerative immortality. Apparently, no Therion can, when they eat something with that ability the creature or person just pops back into existence soul and all. It's basically useless," I explained to him.

"Yep, that's correct Charlotte. Vincent used to just bury people like that alive and go back home. Now he doesn't even deal with them." Lawrence told me cheerfully.

Marianne placed a cup of tea in front of me before she could scamper off again however, I grabbed her. When I did she started chattering at me and moving her hands in what I assumed was sign language.

"Thank you for the tea," I told her with a small smile on my face. Her eyes widened slightly and she managed a strange looking grin before I released her.

"So what do we do?" Atlas asked Lawrence.

"Isn't it obvious? We're leaving, tonight. There's a full moon so there's no doubt that the Aveon foundation will have their werewolves sniffing around. But I already made preparations so that we could leave quickly and easily," Lawrence told us.

Marianne ran up to him and began chattering while holding a small syringe in her hands, which made him smile at her. "That's right Marianne, you'll be doing the usual. So go suit up and check your equipment. I made sure to give you more silver hollow point rounds since you were low. I also cleaned out your silencer for you," he told her as he took the syringe from her.

Then he turned to look at me and Atlas. "Oh yeah, I forgot to say it earlier, but thank you. I know you kids went through a lot to get this. Welcome to the Talons," he said.

I put my head down for a moment letting out a small purr as I shuddered with relief. I felt someone running a hand through my hair and I let small meow.

I heard a gasp then Lawrence spoke. "Holy shit she's adorable, almost like a giant cat...I need ten."

I glanced up to see him suddenly standing on the other side of me with his left hand emitting a gentle glow. Ivo reached over me and grabbed Lawrence's wrist. "Don't you dare! I have trouble dealing with just one of her. If you duplicate her, I swear to the gods I will take your other eye!" He growled.

When Ivo released Lawrence he slowly retracted his hand the glow on it stopping.

I fully straighten myself out as I let out a sigh. In certain places, my muscles screamed at me but I continued to move. "I'm going to go get dressed, where are my clothes?" I asked as I began walking back upstairs.

"They're on the window sill," Ivo answered as he followed me.

As I got dressed Ivo just stood there for a moment then he spoke. "Charlotte, are you okay? You scared the absolute hell out of me. When I collapsed all I could think was did the wall finally break? Is this it? Am I really going to lose her just like that," He told me his tone gentle.

I let out a small humorless chuckle. "I should be asking if you're okay. You looked like death warmed over when you came through that door. I didn't even know a therion could look sick like that," I said as I pulled on my pants.

Ivo sighed. "At the moment I feel okay, I still feel a bit weak and somewhat tired but nothing serious like before. I really thought that I...no I thought that we were going to die. I couldn't understand why Lawrence wouldn't let Delilah heal me until Atlas burst through the door with you. I was honestly ready to kill Atlas, to be honest even if I had to rip his throat out with just my teeth." He whispered.

I smiled at him. "It's a good thing you didn't he saved my life after all," I said as I pulled on my shirt. Suddenly Ivo's arms wrapped around me and I felt him shudder slightly as he tucked my head into his chest. I could hear his heartbeat, as it thumped in a familiar rhythm. I let out a content sigh before I spoke, "Ivo, I'm here you don't have to worry about anything. I'm real, I'm alive," I reassured him softly.

"I know...I just want you to be careful okay? I don't want to lose you," he told me.

I let out a chuckle as I detached myself from him and stepped back a bit. "I don't want to lose you either, why do you think I'm so reckless in the first place? You may be the equivalent of god's nuke but even you have limits," I told him. I stood up on my tip toes and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. I couldn't help but laugh as he stared at me with wide eyes. "Y-you look like a startled owl!" I said in between bouts of laughter.

Ivo looked away a light pink blush spreading over his cheeks. "You don't play fair," he muttered.

I rolled my eyes as I put on my coat. "And me waking up with you cuddling me is?" I asked.

"I just like cuddling you. But you never play fair," he whispered underneath his breath.

I picked up my mask and put it on. "I'll be hiding in the usual place if you sense that something's wrong please tell me," Ivo told me and I just nodded.

When I descended the stairs I saw Marianne playing with Atlas and Delilah while Lawrence smoked another cigarette. He looked up as I approached them with a smile on his face.

"Looks like you're ready to leave," Lawrence said almost gleefully.

I narrowed my eyes at him as my tail flicked out against the floor. "Can we please get the fuck out of this hell hole?" I grumbled.

"Sure thing, the train I prepared isn't that far. In fact, it's right along the outskirts of the village. The ride will take four days at the most," Lawrence informed us as he climbed to his feet.

As he put out the cigarette he smiled slightly. "It's a good luck routine, to make sure that the mission goes well," he said as though he were answering an unasked question.

Marianne leaped across nearby tables, only to crawl onto Lawrence's shoulder. She was dress differently from earlier, instead of a pink and blue dress she was wearing a white harness with pure white pouches on it. Strapped to her back was what looked like a small sniper rifle that was colored white and gray.

"How is Marianne gonna help us?" Atlas asked before I could.

"She'll cover us and provide info on long range targets. Marianne and I have already scoped out the land and we both agreed that with the help of the snow she'd be able to assist us unhindered. In fact, she already went to the trouble of digging the necessary burrows," Lawrence told us as he scratched Marianne under her chin.

Marianne let out a loud chatter sounding incredibly happy and proud.

Once we made sure everyone was ready we exited Talons.

~~~~~

It was dark outside but thanks to the full moon a bright white light shone down illuminating the area. The fresh snow sparkled slightly in the moonlight giving the appearance that the town was covered in fine glitter.

It was quiet, the villagers were simply gone as though they had vanished into thin air. The only sound was the soft crunch of snow as Aveon members patrolled with werewolves in front of them on leashes as though they were Pomeranians instead of the vicious beast they actually were. It was an odd sight, it was almost like watching humans go about their normal lives with their pets.

I shook my head shuddering slightly as I kept pace with the others. Marianne suddenly leaped down and took off in the direction of the forest. "Now we have hidden protection," Lawrence said as he let out a soft chuckle.

As Lawrence led us toward the train, I couldn't help but notice how the werewolves would look at us before being tugged away by the Aveon members.

What's happening here? It's like we're invisible. No, not invisible it's like they don't care.

"There are more werewolves than before," Lawrence muttered as he glanced around.

"Does that have anything to do with what Charlotte and I did?" Atlas asked softly.

Lawrence stopped for a moment and looked around briefly before he continued walking. "It may have something to do with this, but they aren't just patrolling. Despite the way it looks, they're having the wolves look for something."

"Do you think they're looking for the guardian?" Delilah asked.

"Impossible, the Aveon are thorough they would know that the guardian exists before they even thought of building there," Lawrence said.

"They did have alarms down there so that the members would know when it popped up," I informed him.

As we came to the main plaza Lawrence suddenly stopped again and began slowly looking around like he was scanning the air. I frowned sniffing the air as a strange yet familiar smell entered my nose.

"Fire and salt?" I muttered.

Lawrence quickly looked at me, then he looked down at the ground. "Move!" he shouted as the ground beneath us began to glow purple.

I reached out grabbing one of Atlas's wings and yanked him back as a column of purple fire erupted from where he had just been standing, but that meant that I didn't move out of the way. Instantly my scales came up as fire swept of me.

"Charlotte!" Ivo called out as he suddenly appeared, in fact, it was like he was practically forced out of me.

"I'm fine," I said as the fire slowly dissipated. "Fire can't hurt me remember." I reminded him as I tossed the burning mask away.

However, Lawrence was looking forward at something. My eyes widened when I saw what he was staring at, a werewolf a lot bigger than the rest lumbered forward. It was a sleek brown looking wolf about the size of a cow, around its neck was a blue, white and gold dog collar.

"Never thought I'd see Strade under these conditions," Lawrence mumbled as he took out a dagger.

"What's the fucking king of werewolves doing here?" Ivo growled as his therion hand appeared.

Strade straightened up, a moment later he released an ear-shattering howl. Ivo rushed forward but before he could absorb him, Caius appeared in front of Strade causing Ivo's therion hand to clash against his sword.

"You fucking bastard!" Ivo growled.

However, Caius smiled. "I was wondering how long it would take for me to see you in the flesh." He raised his free hand and it shimmered the air distorting around both him and Ivo.

"Ivo move!" I yelled.

Whatever that is it's not good!

Vines whipped out latching onto Ivo as Delilah quickly pulled him back toward us. A second later a sudden explosion of air and purple fire surrounded the area where Ivo had just been.

Lawrence chuckled. "That's some pretty powerful magic he has. This will be fun." He said sounding like he was an excited kid.

An odd thundering thumping sound entered my ears, briefly, I looked back and gasped at what I saw. A practical sea of werewolves was surrounding us.

That howl, he summoned them here. No wonder Ivo tried to shut him up.

"The Therion prince, the infamous Ashen Hawk, and a dragon chimera this is too good to be true," Strade said as his mouth moved awkwardly.

"All of them except Charlotte, the one with the dragon scales need to be disposed of," Caius told him as his hand began to glow. He touched his hand to his sword and grinned as another sword appeared in his hand.

He had a strange look in his eyes as he stared at Ivo. "I want that one."

I didn't know if he was trying to provoke Ivo or what but the moment Ivo moved so did the gathering werewolves. As one leaped toward me I reached out grabbing the beast by its mouth then, I pulled splitting it down the middle.

I can't keep up my scales forever especially when I'm not in the best condition. But Caius is the same type of contract demon as Lawrence it's the magic Ivo might have a problem with though.

The ground rumbled beneath my feet and I leapt into the air as a large tree root rose up skewering many werewolves on the way up. I clung to it noticing how a few of the werewolves would just drop dead where they were standing.

Marianne's actually a good shot...

I looked over toward where Ivo and Caius were.

He's trying to brute force his way through. Not good.

I quickly pushed off the tree root leaping toward Caius, but suddenly the world spun and I briefly felt pain as something collided with me. I felt something similar to needles push across my side and I kicked out with all of my strength a moment before I hit the ground. Strade placed one of his enormous paws on my chest and swiped tearing gigantic holes in my coat and exposing me to the cold.

I gathered my fire quickly and released a blast of it aimed at his face. The blast of fire was a lot larger than I anticipated, however, Strade let out a growl and continued to rip at my coat despite the fact that he was getting burned. So I punched him in his snout which sent him flying, I quickly got to my feet shivering as I glared at him.

"I know how you dragons work, expose you guys to the cold and your body starts shutting down," he chuckled through a mess of blood and broken teeth.

A large cut split open diagonally across my chest passing right throat my scales like it was nothing, blood immediately welled up and began to spill out. I flinched before I glanced over at Ivo to see him holding his chest in the same spot.

While his wound seemed to be healing immediately I knew that mine would take a bit more time.
"You're fighting me little girl I-" Strade gave a choked off noise as a chain wrapped around his throat. I followed it only to see Lawrence grinning like a crazy man as he cut off Strade's oxygen.

"Actually, I'll be dealing with you, you goddamn traitor," Lawrence called out as he yanked Strade back. He jammed his dagger into Strade's side with a look of manic glee on his face.

As a nearby werewolf charged me I grabbed it with ease as I lifted the creature up it thrashed violently and roared.

He may look like Ivo, but he doesn't have his strength.

I threw the werewolf at Caius watching with joy as it slammed into him, I let out a sigh and gritted my teeth as my body screamed at me out of both pain and cold. I ran towards him on all fours digging my claw into the snow and ice to keep traction.

Caius stood up and instantly looked at me he raised one hand there was another blue glow, then a gust of wind erupted from his hand swiping at my skin like cold blades however I didn't stop moving. My distraction was what Ivo apparently needed he reached out knocking Caius's swords away as he gripped his wrist with his normal hand. Ivo raised his therion hand but froze his gaze focusing on what was behind Caius.

I also froze my eyes going wide as I stared at Kessel, or rather a magic project of him.

"You!" Ivo growled.

Kessel smiled as he looked around, his gaze finally landing on me. "Hello, Charlotte and hello Ivo. I didn't anticipate it but I should've known Delilah and my father would be with you too," Kessel said sounding slightly happy. Ivo slashed at the image which distorted it a bit and caused Kessel to frown. "I see that you're as rude as always Ivo."

Ivo let out an animalistic snarl that was full of nothing but pure hatred.

"Lord Kessel, I can do this I promise I-" Caius began but Kessel cut him off.

"That's enough you're done here Caius," Kessel informed him.

Caius's eyes widened. "But sir, I don't need to come back. I said I would bring her to you and I will."

"You misunderstand me Caius, what I mean is that...I've come to the conclusion that you definitely can't fulfill your mission. You are weak willed and incredibly lacking in terms of power so, I no longer have need of you, which means you are officially decommissioned," Kessel told him coldly as he turned to me. "Goodbye Lottie, I can't wait to see you in person." He told me a strange warmth suddenly appearing in his voice as his image disappeared.

Ivo slashed the air where the image of Kessel had been. "Get the fuck back here you monster!" His tone was animalistic, almost barbaric.

"I....should've known...I loved him and I didn't know..." Caius mumbled to himself then
he let out a small chuckle as he put his face in his hands. "I was a fool for thinking I could be happy...especially when we live in a world like this..." he continued to mumble. Very quickly those chuckles turned into loud manic laughter. For a brief moment, I noticed the image of a strange looking woman with black eyes appear behind him, she smirked as she thrust her hand through his chest before disappearing.

Caius let out a choked off gasp then he screamed, a raw guttural sound, as black and red demonic energy burst out of his body, swarming all over him before swirling and coiling around him in a thick smoke like a tornado.

As the tornado quickly collapsed in on itself a large black and red mass emerged walking forward on thick spider-like legs. As the tornado completely disappeared one gigantic eye opened on the mass. The eye was completely black with a single white almost silvery pupil in the middle. It was like looking at a daddy long legs with an eye.

"He's a therion too!" Delilah exclaimed from on top of one of her large tree roots.

"No, he wasn't one until right now," Ivo said more to himself than anyone else. "Still he shouldn't look like that..."

Slowly my scales began to recede as the cold sunk deeper into my bones. Pain echoed throughout my entire body so much that even breathing hurt. The therion that used to be Caius looked around its huge eye landing at me then, it moved I blinked for a second and suddenly it was in front of me but so was Ivo he was holding it at bay with his therion hand.

"Delilah move her! She'll be in the way!" He called out. I felt vines wrap around my body and try to yank me up but one of the therion's legs shot out and tore down the vines along with the tree root that Delilah was on. Thankfully though Atlas swooped down catching her.

"You're not the strongest therion around here you bastard," Ivo hissed as he began to eat it. Instead of the creature becoming mummified like usual however its red and black form was being sucked up like water going down a drain. Eventually, Caius's body fell to the ground, Ivo walked over and picked him up holding his face in his hands. For a brief moment I saw something strange in Ivo's eyes right before crushed Caius head. Blood and pink goop splattered everywhere spraying Ivo.

That...Ivo pitied him?

"I don't pity him because he's dead. I pitied him because...he reminded me of my younger self just then." Ivo said softly as he continued to stare at Caius's body. Then he let out a shuddering sigh. "Finally," Ivo panted as he tossed Caius's body off to the side.

Lawrence walked over to us covered with blood and holding Strade's head in his right hand. "You kids okay?"

"I think so. The wound I did get is almost completely healed," I told him as I staggered to my feet.

Atlas landed next to us and placed Delilah down. "So we did it?" she asked hesitantly.
"That was amazing Ivo! Ivo..." she trailed off staring at him strangely.

Ivo suddenly growled, however, it wasn't his usual growl, it sounded like a rabid dog about to bite someone. My eyes widened as the demonic energy that covered his therion hand spread crawling up and flaring out. It quickly began to cover his body, while some of it lashed out at the area around him.

I fell to my knees as a strange pain quickly spread through my body leaving violent heat in its wake. My scales instantly reappeared crawling up from my fingers as they covered my whole body, but it felt wrong. The scales were leaving a trail of pain and fire as they traveled across my skin. My back burned and stung violently, I screamed arching my back as a strange crunching sound entered my ears. I could feel the bones in my back grind against each other like someone scraping rocks together.

I whimpered loudly as I clenched my hands digging deeply into the snow and into the concrete below it.

I glanced up to see Atlas trying to approach me but Lawrence yanked him back. "Don't fucking touch her! You might make it worse!"

I turned my attention to where Ivo was only to see him lying on the ground as his own demonic energy slowly spread over him. It was almost like it was try to consume him like a parasite.

I let out a gasp as the skin on my back tugged almost like someone was inside me trying to push needles through my skin. Something hot ran across my back and my back arched again before I practically collapsed panting and whimpering. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the tips of large, blood streaked, glistening, purple wings that stretched out laying across the snow.

"That's too much power for him his body can't handle it. It'll drive him insane or worse!" Lawrence yelled as he took out a familiar syringe.

"It's hurting Charlotte too!" Delilah told him frantically.

I have to get that paranormal stabilizer! I only have one chance though.

I took the deepest breath I could and my chest throbbed screaming at me. I dug my feet into the ground behind me then I lunged at Lawrence, he raised his dagger a second too late as I snatched the syringe out of his hand using my mouth. My wings twitched and opened almost automatically, but since I wasn't used to them I plunged straight into the ground, bouncing and then rolling only to land a few feet away. The biting chill of the snow practically sliced through my skin similar to a burn.

Since I knew I wouldn't be able to inject it with the way my skin was now I crushed the syringe between my teeth, allowing the awful tasting drug to slide down my throat. I flinched coughing as glass cut the inside of my mouth.

Darkness began to creep into my vision as everything sounded muffled and underwater. I could feel the snow touching my bare skin as my scales slowly and slightly began to recede. It became harder and harder to breathe as the cold faded into nothing.

Tired...Ivo, don't worry I'm coming...I'll help. So please just wait a bit...

Through the void of nothing I felt something, a dangerous yet familiar chill that curled around my body.  A small smile covered my face as I stared up at the sky with darkness sliding into my vision.

I don't mind if I just cuddle with you for a bit Ivo.

The last thing I heard before I closed my eyes was a loud animalistic scream of pain.