They were both about seven feet tall, and yet they seemed to condense imperceptibly to fit through the shattered doorway they came through. The skin stretched over their muscles was a deep shade of blue, almost black in the erratic lighting of the destroyed room. Each of them was carrying a massive broadsword strapped across their backs and one had Aleksander’s staff in his hand. But the most chilling thing about the two monstrous creatures watching Aleksander with smiles on their faces was not their color. It was their faces.
Or rather, his face, and his brother’s, colored blue and fitted onto someone else.
It was a terrible fear that spread through Aiden’s limbs at the thought of fighting something that looked like him. There was nothing to be done for it though. Alex was still laid out in the wreckage of a pool table, stunned by his flight through the steel door. Making a quick, sure decision, Aiden took a deep, calming breath, and then he unleashed, kicking the ground and flying sideways through the room.
Within seconds, the only sounds in the room were the blurring and heating of air atoms as Aiden pushed himself to his highest limits, spinning knife after knife out of the holsters on his chest as he flew sideways through the air, nearly forty of the deadly weapons slicing paths through the air toward the dark Twins standing in the door.
Not even looking up as he landed, Aiden immediately rolled to the side and drew out the small metal box he had hidden under his shirt, opening it and shoving his hand into it, screaming in agony as he did. There was no other way to win this battle, and there was no way Aiden would lose, even if it meant losing his life.
As the knives traced paths through the air, the dark Aleksander easily dodged them, his companion being less lucky as several of the knives pinned him to the wall through quite a few of his vital organs. Shaking his head in disgust, Dankin, as the dark Aleksander look-alike was truly called, ripped some of the knives out of the wall and aimed them straight at Aleksander’s head, throwing them with a might few could match in this world.
And they stopped dead in the air, caught in a gigantic red hand that seemed made from blood. Faster than the eye could follow, the hand slammed into Dankin where he stood, throwing him back through the air into the room where his lord, the Drammon, lay waiting.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?! KILL THEM ALREADY!!”, Screamed the frantic Drammon, afraid that his ultimate bodyguards would fail him this time. He knew that they were very rare, these two being the only ones born within the United States
Shaking his head, Dankin leapt to his feet, stretching his neck quickly as he watched for his opponent to enter through the door.
“You’ve fucked up for the last time.” came the unearthly voice of Aiden, his normal bass rumble laced with a chilling alto echo, making every word seem to hang in the air. Suddenly, the lights began to flicker, and that was when the newest of the monstrosities showed it’s face.
Aiden must have gained at least one hundred pounds of muscle in the last few seconds, and his skin had begun to glow a ruddy red color, akin to drying blood. In his hand was held a gigantic battle hammer, and his eyes were glowing a ghastly green under the dying fluorescence of the lights. His mouth was unnaturally wide in a grimace of ecstatic pain, and every inch of his skin seemed to writhe in unholy movement, as if there were demons trapped beneath the surface. The teeth in his mouth had been replaced by grotesque fangs, and the drool dripping from his jaws steamed and burned holes in the floor.
Dankin beheld this sight, and held his ground, having no other choice in the matter, since his blood oath to the Drammon held him in service until death. Raising his broadsword, he saluted his enemy in the style of the knights of yore and let loose a scream of pride, fury, and fear, launching himself forward toward the apparition before him. Leaping into the air, he brought down his blade in a mighty over-handed slash.
And his blade was brought to a sudden halt on the haft of his enemy’s hammer. With a grunt, Aiden pushed him back and brought his hammer around in a blow that would have crushed Dankin’s leg’s if it had connected. Leaping up, Dankin barely missed being ripped in half by the blow, bringing his sword around to the open side of the apparition and slashing for his unprotected ribs, hoping to win in a single slash.
Bringing around the hammer faster than should have been possible, Aiden parried the blow and knocked him back, letting loose a mighty cry as he slammed his hammer down over Dankin’s head. Rolling, Dankin managed to escape the brunt of the blow, or so he thought. With a scream of anguish, he felt the hammer slamming his arm into the floor and knew he was done for. Faster than he could think, he saw the hammer come around and his world exploded.
The Drammon watched his last guardian be slammed into a pulpy mess on the wall, his hopes destroyed and his will broken. Looking up into the face of the red-skinned beast before him, he barely had time to mutter his last prayers before his world disappeared in a haze of pain.
Panting, Aiden stood still, his body locked as his will and the one that had entered him vied for control, each thinking this body theirs by right, the victor determined by which could force his will upon the whole body. Chasing the other will through his neural pathways, he slammed it around, roughing it up and hoping to scare it off before it did any more damage. Seeing an opportunity, he pushed it out through a cavity, sealing the wound with his last strength before his will gave in and his body collapsed, slowly reverting to the form it was used to.
Shaking his head, Aleksander stood, looking around at the carnage in the room. There were bodies everywhere, and as he stood up woozily, he watched a red-skinned apparition sink to the floor unconscious, knowing that it was probably his brother. Stumbling into the Drammon’s quarters, he set to work, clearing out everything that they would use and grabbing the punctured Ever for further study of his bodily systems and powers. Within hours, he was ready to go, and started transferring things out to the car. Grabbing his brother last, Aleks sighed and phoned in a “Spic N Span”, which was code for a nasty cleanup crew, driving off before anyone wondered why he had an unconscious man and several bags in his sports car.
Getting onto the highway, Aleks leaned back and relaxed, knowing the ride home would be short and he would be able to soak out all his aches within hours, just in time for his date later that night.
