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Chapter 25

There was a noise behind Neshae as Dreyfus was backing away.  He looked behind him to see Dreyfus fall in a hole that sealed up after him.  He was alone now and the creatures were closing in.  He had to think of something fast.

One of the woodpeckers swooped down on Neshae.  He wound up his fist like Rayman did and shot it at the bird in midair.  It shrieked and swerved to the side.

While that distracted him, a Wort wrapped itself around him like a snake and attempted to bite off his head.  He held the creature’s head back, but it started to squeeze him.  Soon he would be too weak to hold it back.

Some of the other creatures began closing in, growling and hissing at…the Wort.  The Wort was distracted from its prey and its head pulled away and its grip loosened, but not enough for Neshae to get out of its grasp.  It growled at the others.

Then it hit Neshae.  He was not enough of a meal for all of them, so they were going to fight over him.  And idea formed in his mind and he hoped the creatures understood English.

“Ya’ll are hungry, aren’t ya?” he asked.  They all looked at him, somewhat surprised.  They DID understand him.  He continued, “If you eat me, then you’ll have to wait until Giovanni feeds you again, which could be just one person again.  But if you join me, then I know how you all can get good meals.”

The creatures looked at each other in agreement and the Wort holding Neshae captive let him go.

“Okay.” He said. “This Giovanni guy is gonna take over the worlds.  If he does that, then there will be a lot of creatures completely eliminated.  With the bodies gone and everything.  That means less food for you guys.  So we gotta stop him.  And he’s probably trying to hurt a very good friend of mine, that kid that was in here a minute ago.  We gotta get him and his army of…whatever he’s got.  Are you with me?”

The creatures roared in agreement and moved towards a door.  The strongest ones, mostly Worts, began breaking down the door.  When the wood splintered and the door burst open, the creatures poured out into the hall.

“Let’s go, my Creatures of CHAOS!  Let’s save the worlds!” Neshae cheered and hopped on the back of a Wort.

The army moved unstoppably through the hallways, eating whatever guards happened to be in their way.  It was not long before Neshae heard a familiar cry through one door.

“That’s Dreyfus!” Neshae said.  “Hurry!  Break down this door!”

The Wort rammed against the door and it burst open.  Giovanni had a hold on Dreyfus and had apparently sucked the bones right out of the boy’s legs and was beginning to take a bite out of the rest of him.

“Neshae!” Dreyfus cried.

“You again!” Giovanni said with fury.  “How did you manage to survive?”

“CHARGE!” Neshae shouted and the Wort charged at Giovanni.  The man dropped Dreyfus and stepped to the side, grabbing Neshae as the Wort ran by.

Giovanni’s mask began to get wider and Neshae realized he was about to do the same thing to him as he had done to Dreyfus.  He kicked the man in the head, forcing him to drop him.

“Protect the kid!” Neshae told the Wort as he ran out of the room to lure Giovanni away from Dreyfus.

“You’re not getting away from me THIS time, Neshae!” he heard Giovanni say as he transformed into the beast form and chased the Raymanian.

Neshae was going way too slow for his taste.  He was used to being able to run faster then the beast, but at this pace it would not be long before he was caught.  He had to find the room with the Aeaunce in it.  If the Eye was what helped Giovanni steal their powers, then maybe destroying the Eye would reverse the spell.  Neshae could only hope that he and Dreyfus got their powers back afterwards.

Neshae turned into another hall just as the beast leapt for him.  He landed right where Neshae had been before the turn and continued chasing after him.  But one more leap and he was on Neshae.

Neshae managed to turn around and hold the beast’s jaws away from him, but the claws scratched at him.  And even without that, Giovanni was a lot heavier with Neshae’s vampire strength gone.

But then an idea came to Neshae.  It would take awesome timing and might not even work, but what choice did he have?

In one desperate movement, Neshae rolled just his body and his head out from under Giovanni.  The beast paused in surprise long enough for Neshae’s hands and feet to come back to him and he jumped to his feet and continued running.  He had to find the Aeaunce soon.  There was no way Giovanni was going to fall for that again.

Finally, Neshae found the room where his and Dreyfus’s powers had been taken.  All seven Aeaunce spun in a circle out of the reach of anyone…unless they were limbless.

He could hear Giovanni coming up behind him.  He reached up and grabbed the Eye and turned around just as Giovanni was pouncing on him again.  But instead of Neshae going in the beast’s mouth, the Eye did.  It broke between Giovanni’s teeth and the shattered remains fell to the ground.

Neshae felt himself changing again.  His plan worked!  His fangs came out and black, bat wings sprouted out of his back, somewhat painfully, but felt good compared to loosing them.

Giovanni stepped back.  He roared in agony as the power he had gained was lost.  Neshae laughed almost maniacally as he became a vampire once again and his insanity returned.  His insanity had always been there, but there was a lot less of it without his vampire qualities.  He reached up and took his sword from the spinning circle of Aeaunce.  Summoning the fire blade felt even better.

Giovanni glared at him, then changed back to his human form.  “So you want to sword fight, do you?  I’ll eat you too.  Then I’ll go back and finish off your little friend.”  He slashed at Neshae, who blocked the blow.  But then the slashes became quicker and the man who was good enough to hold off a vampire and a Raymanian in a sword fight at once was beginning to prove to be a match for Neshae.  But Neshae held his ground and tried as hard as he could to take a strike at Giovanni.  All he needed was one open shot and he could end this.

Finally, Giovanni knocked the sword out of Neshae’s hand.  He held the blade touching the exact center of the bull’s eye on the vampire’s shirt.

“Did you think you would win that easily?” Giovanni asked.

“Hey!” cried a voice from behind the vampire hunter.  It was a voice Neshae recognized.

Surprised, Giovanni turned around.  Behind him was Dreyfus, standing on both legs like they had never been half eaten.

“How did you…” Giovanni started.

“I have healing powers.” Dreyfus said before he leapt at Giovanni and bit him.  Neshae pounced for the man’s neck as well.

With one burst of magic, the vampire hunter threw both the vampire and the werefoxdeer off.  They landed on the floor while he stood there for a moment, glaring at them.

“This ends now.” He said, holding a hand out in their direction.

Description
Chapter 25

There was a noise behind Neshae as Dreyfus was backing away.  He looked behind him to see Dreyfus fall in a hole that sealed up after him.  He was alone now and the creatures were closing in.  He had to think of something fast.

One of the woodpeckers swooped down on Neshae.  He wound up his fist like Rayman did and shot it at the bird in midair.  It shrieked and swerved to the side.

While that distracted him, a Wort wrapped itself around him like a snake and attempted to bite off his head.  He held the creature’s head back, but it started to squeeze him.  Soon he would be too weak to hold it back.

Some of the other creatures began closing in, growling and hissing at…the Wort.  The Wort was distracted from its prey and its head pulled away and its grip loosened, but not enough for Neshae to get out of its grasp.  It growled at the others.

Then it hit Neshae.  He was not enough of a meal for all of them, so they were going to fight over him.  And idea formed in his mind and he hoped the creatures understood English.

“Ya’ll are hungry, aren’t ya?” he asked.  They all looked at him, somewhat surprised.  They DID understand him.  He continued, “If you eat me, then you’ll have to wait until Giovanni feeds you again, which could be just one person again.  But if you join me, then I know how you all can get good meals.”

The creatures looked at each other in agreement and the Wort holding Neshae captive let him go.

“Okay.” He said. “This Giovanni guy is gonna take over the worlds.  If he does that, then there will be a lot of creatures completely eliminated.  With the bodies gone and everything.  That means less food for you guys.  So we gotta stop him.  And he’s probably trying to hurt a very good friend of mine, that kid that was in here a minute ago.  We gotta get him and his army of…whatever he’s got.  Are you with me?”

The creatures roared in agreement and moved towards a door.  The strongest ones, mostly Worts, began breaking down the door.  When the wood splintered and the door burst open, the creatures poured out into the hall.

“Let’s go, my Creatures of CHAOS!  Let’s save the worlds!” Neshae cheered and hopped on the back of a Wort.

The army moved unstoppably through the hallways, eating whatever guards happened to be in their way.  It was not long before Neshae heard a familiar cry through one door.

“That’s Dreyfus!” Neshae said.  “Hurry!  Break down this door!”

The Wort rammed against the door and it burst open.  Giovanni had a hold on Dreyfus and had apparently sucked the bones right out of the boy’s legs and was beginning to take a bite out of the rest of him.

“Neshae!” Dreyfus cried.

“You again!” Giovanni said with fury.  “How did you manage to survive?”

“CHARGE!” Neshae shouted and the Wort charged at Giovanni.  The man dropped Dreyfus and stepped to the side, grabbing Neshae as the Wort ran by.

Giovanni’s mask began to get wider and Neshae realized he was about to do the same thing to him as he had done to Dreyfus.  He kicked the man in the head, forcing him to drop him.

“Protect the kid!” Neshae told the Wort as he ran out of the room to lure Giovanni away from Dreyfus.

“You’re not getting away from me THIS time, Neshae!” he heard Giovanni say as he transformed into the beast form and chased the Raymanian.

Neshae was going way too slow for his taste.  He was used to being able to run faster then the beast, but at this pace it would not be long before he was caught.  He had to find the room with the Aeaunce in it.  If the Eye was what helped Giovanni steal their powers, then maybe destroying the Eye would reverse the spell.  Neshae could only hope that he and Dreyfus got their powers back afterwards.

Neshae turned into another hall just as the beast leapt for him.  He landed right where Neshae had been before the turn and continued chasing after him.  But one more leap and he was on Neshae.

Neshae managed to turn around and hold the beast’s jaws away from him, but the claws scratched at him.  And even without that, Giovanni was a lot heavier with Neshae’s vampire strength gone.

But then an idea came to Neshae.  It would take awesome timing and might not even work, but what choice did he have?

In one desperate movement, Neshae rolled just his body and his head out from under Giovanni.  The beast paused in surprise long enough for Neshae’s hands and feet to come back to him and he jumped to his feet and continued running.  He had to find the Aeaunce soon.  There was no way Giovanni was going to fall for that again.

Finally, Neshae found the room where his and Dreyfus’s powers had been taken.  All seven Aeaunce spun in a circle out of the reach of anyone…unless they were limbless.

He could hear Giovanni coming up behind him.  He reached up and grabbed the Eye and turned around just as Giovanni was pouncing on him again.  But instead of Neshae going in the beast’s mouth, the Eye did.  It broke between Giovanni’s teeth and the shattered remains fell to the ground.

Neshae felt himself changing again.  His plan worked!  His fangs came out and black, bat wings sprouted out of his back, somewhat painfully, but felt good compared to loosing them.

Giovanni stepped back.  He roared in agony as the power he had gained was lost.  Neshae laughed almost maniacally as he became a vampire once again and his insanity returned.  His insanity had always been there, but there was a lot less of it without his vampire qualities.  He reached up and took his sword from the spinning circle of Aeaunce.  Summoning the fire blade felt even better.

Giovanni glared at him, then changed back to his human form.  “So you want to sword fight, do you?  I’ll eat you too.  Then I’ll go back and finish off your little friend.”  He slashed at Neshae, who blocked the blow.  But then the slashes became quicker and the man who was good enough to hold off a vampire and a Raymanian in a sword fight at once was beginning to prove to be a match for Neshae.  But Neshae held his ground and tried as hard as he could to take a strike at Giovanni.  All he needed was one open shot and he could end this.

Finally, Giovanni knocked the sword out of Neshae’s hand.  He held the blade touching the exact center of the bull’s eye on the vampire’s shirt.

“Did you think you would win that easily?” Giovanni asked.

“Hey!” cried a voice from behind the vampire hunter.  It was a voice Neshae recognized.

Surprised, Giovanni turned around.  Behind him was Dreyfus, standing on both legs like they had never been half eaten.

“How did you…” Giovanni started.

“I have healing powers.” Dreyfus said before he leapt at Giovanni and bit him.  Neshae pounced for the man’s neck as well.

With one burst of magic, the vampire hunter threw both the vampire and the werefoxdeer off.  They landed on the floor while he stood there for a moment, glaring at them.

“This ends now.” He said, holding a hand out in their direction.