Dry, blistering winds rustled the tall grasses of the vast plains. Two figures crunched their way over the arid ground. One walked with a confident gait, his blue wings glowing as he scanned the area in a slow movement of his head. The other, bounded around as he chased yet another bug.
Fleagle spit several times, spewing out the dead bug he had just caught. “Sorry, this is getting boring.”
“We’re not here for your entertainment. We have to find this mythic and see if they’ll help us.”
Fleagle, a dog-man hero, squinted as he looked around. “I don’t see anything.” His ears perked up and his tail wagged as he pointed to a small gathering of trees. “There! Let’s check there!”
Heretic let out a slow breath, controlling what he wanted to do. “You just want to pee on trees you haven’t peed on yet.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Fleagle was already heading that way.
Heretic didn’t follow. He pulled out a small book and looked at it. It described the mythical figure of Anansi, a trickster spirit in local lore. Lord Dragon assured them that one of the mythics took on the role of Anansi. He frowned as the sky grew darker. This made it harder to read the book.
Fleagle came running back, yelping and howling in fear. “GHOSTS! GHOSTS!”
Heretic jumped into a fighting posture as he saw a figure walk by, then another, and another. The sunlight wasn’t covered by clouds, thick darkness had replaced the blue sky. The sun still shone, but it was as though a heavy smoke covered from horizon to horizon. To make it worse, creature’s right out of a horror movie walked around. Ghostly images walked by, some turning their heads to look at him, others ignoring them completely. Some had eight legs, others slithered on serpentine bodies.
“What’s this?” Fleagle was behind Heretic. “Is this that Anasi thing’s doing?”
Before Heretic could answer, his BADGE communicator buzzed. He pulled it out and found an automated alert. Heroes all over the planet were sending out the alarm. “This isn’t Anansi...this is much, much bigger.”
Moments Before:
Krystal Fae flew around the interior extent of the barrier protecting Lord Dragon’s palace. Other heroes moved around on the mountainside or in the air with her. They could see the world going on outside the barrier, unaware of this place or them.
She smiled as Fiero passed her. “Anything to report?”
Fiero shrugged as she continued on her patrol. “Nothing yet.”
Krystal was about to answer when she winced and then became alert.
Fiero returned to her. “Something wrong?”
“I sense magic, Mythic magic.” Krystal slowly scanned with her eyes.
“Jinn?”
“I don’t know. This isn’t as powerful as I would expect from him now, but I wouldn’t put it past him to disguise his power.”
Fiero called out to the other heroes, warning them that something might be coming. People charged their hands, their eyes glowed, and a few grew in size.
“It’s coming from the North East!” Krystal pointed.
Fiero looked and then cocked her head, “I see...something red.”
Krystal squinted and then smiled. “Oh, thank goodness. It’s Santa Claus.”
“I don’t see him,” Fiero stated.
Krystal laughed. “He’s hidden by magic, but I can see him. Don’t worry.”
A red sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer blazed across the skies. Santa guided his famous sleigh with a guest in the seat next to him. He was allowed through the barrier in the same way as the BADGE shuttle. He made a large circle around the inside of the barrier to lower his speed and finally came to a stop near the entrance to the palace.
Krystal and Fiero flew down to meet him. What they found were the other heroes around his sleigh as he cheerfully reached into his gift bag and handed out small presents.
“For you, and you...oh, this one is great, you will love it.” He was in his element.
Cupid, his guest, hopped out of the sleigh. “Enough with the presents.”
Krystal bit her lower lip as she approached the bare-chested hunk. “It’s good to see you again, Cupid.”
He teased with that flirty smile of his. “Always good to see a gorgeous woman.”
She giggled at him...which was not something she did for anyone. Shaking her head, she said, “Wow, I forget how powerful you are.”
“I have that effect on people. Now, Santa, aren’t we here for a job?”
Santa handed one more gift and then said, “Right, right. Enjoy those presents. I...what in heaven’s name?”
The sky turned sickly dark, and distant shrieks of terror rang out. A black fog rolled in and brushed up against the barrier, but did not penetrate it.
Fiero jumped up and flew higher to get a better view. “What is this?”
Krystal and several of the flight-capable heroes joined her and saw the horrible sight. Across the land, as far as they could see, indescribable horrors rose in the fog. These things were demonic, with glowing eyes and terrible snarls on their maws.
“Are they attacking anyone?” Krystal asked.
Fiero spent a moment watching, then shook her head. “I don’t see any active commotion. They are just...walking. Is this another realm entering ours?”
Krystal shuddered. “I’ve never seen a realm like this.”
“We have to inform Lord Dragon at once.” Fiero immediately dropped out of the sky, heading for the Throne room. Krystal was not far behind her.
Chase had tea with Lord Dragon and Quetzalcoatl in the little interior garden. EB came hopping from the garden, a small batch of flowers in his hand.
“Here. They are pretty.” He handed them to Chase.
She gave him a soft smile. He had been consoling her all day. “Thank you.”
“Easter Bunny, please have a seat.” Lord Dragon commanded.
EB came up to the table. “So, when do we begin?”
“When the others get here.” Lord Dragon stated.
Quetzalcoatl asked, “My old friend. Why have you taken on the appearance of a small creature?”
EB smiled. “That is a pretty good story. You see, when we arrived, I was looking for a good identity. You know, not like a god or something. But I wanted to be helpful, just like Lord Dragon said. It seemed hard at first. People didn’t want to tell me about helpful myths. Then I discovered this stuff called chocolate. It is really great, so tasty. Though, you wouldn’t know it by the way they originally made it. Bitter and strong, like coffee, but not like coffee. It was good, but you know, just not great. So I came up with this recipe for it that was the most amazing thing ever. And they loved it. But what do I...” His breathless rambling cut short when it grew dark above them.
All four looked up and saw the sky turn a distinct shade. Quetzalcoatl said, “These are not clouds up there. What is doing this?”
“Can’t you feel that?” Lord Dragon stated.
EB solemnly said, “That is our power. I can sense it too.”
Chased asked, “Is he making his move?”
“I don’t know.” Lord Dragon admitted.
Just then, Fiero and Krystal Fae rushed over to them. Krystal said, “Sir! There are demons all over the place, strange spirit-like things walking around.”
Fiero added, “We don’t know if this is Jinn’s doing.”
Director Nova came in with Quark at his side. “We are getting reports all over the planet. This darkness is everywhere and monsters are being spotted on every continent.”
Lord Dragon said, “He is preparing to make his move.”
Cupid and Santa arrived then, and both bowed in reverence to Lord Dragon. Santa said, “My Lord, you called for us?”
“Yes. And your arrival is advantageous. We must begin right away.” Lord Dragon stood up and held out his hand for Chase. “Come, my dear, it is time.”
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