As much as Luke entertained the notion of running away to his mommy and letting every man fend for himself, he realized he couldn't be so cowardly. Besides the fact that he didn't even know who his mother was, he managed to muster up enough courage to use his whip to wrap it around Nil, without hurting him. He yanked Nil towards him, unraveling him like a yo-yo.

He could see why that other candidate that was chosen before him, the Dawn SGA student Pepe, returned from the Garden Run in a coma. One bonk from that Chuchunya's ax and if you didn't die, you went under.

Luke had Nil in his hands. Sirius was still lost beneath the mounds of snow. The wind stopped howling and the Chuchunyas looked like they had a sudden migraine as blasts of wind swept over them.

As fast as they stumbled backwards in a daze, they caught themselves and shook off the minor dizziness.

The Chuchunyas started to speak, but it sounded so unnatural for them. Each word sounded like a hippo trying to sing the alphabet. "Last time you resisted our brother."

Another spoke, "We know now to weaken you before attempting possession."

"And with the descendant of light submerged..."

"We cannot be expelled."

Victor aimed a slingshot of thick clear liquid. Luke knew it was holy water, or Nujeg as the demons called it. He took aim and one of the Chuchunyas smashed the pellet like a baseball with his ax. The pellet exploded and coated the ax with liquid holy water, but it missed landing on the furry creature. The creature smiled exposing fangs that would make Dracula jealous.

Then Victor started to convulse. His body shook and eventually his eyes turned icy blue. Victor spoke with an echo. "Your teammate didn't put up much of a fight."

Luke was surrounded by five Chuchunyas and a possessed teammate. Not only that, he had lost Sirius and was restricted to keeping Nil safe. Luke had to face the impossible, and all after just escaping the Phantom Cat.

"Soon, the child you clutch will be corrupted and I will take him," said the Chuchunya who destroyed the holy water pellet with his ax. Luke could tell this guy was the head honcho.

"Why wait? He's defenseless now!" shouted another Chuchunya who suddenly became dazed again and fell to the ground to take a nap.

"Wait you fool!" the lead demon spoke from within a Chuchunya.

But it was too late. The low-ranking demon who left its host tried to infiltrate Nil. Luke felt a blast of wind enter into Nil's body. Nil shrieked like a car alarm on the highest frequency and it scared Luke. That cry was anywhere from natural. Then there was a blast of air that was expelled from Nil's body and then poof like a fluffy explosion. Nil's shrieking stopped.

"Idiot," the lead demon shook his head. "The child cannot be altered while he stares at Gonjá."

Clearly one of the demons got more than he bargained for. Now he was reduced to stale air and that lowered the amount of enemies Luke had to worry about back down to five—four hideous Chuchunyas and a loose cannon Victor.

Luke needed help, and in order to help himself with this situation, he needed to buy himself some time. "Why are you demons so persistent? Can you not get anyone to like you without trying to steal their bodies?" His right hand grew hot, a flame billowing on the inside, fire coursing through his veins. What he was about to do would be even more difficult to pull off in the icy environment around him.

But he had no choice.

"We only want to borrow your pathetic bodies momentarily," the lead demon spoke. "Once it has served its use, we'll leave you to be killed by your own kind."

"What are you talking about?" Luke's palm was like a match low on lighter fluid. He was trying to spark a flame, but he simply needed more juice, and for that he needed more time. Some nicer weather would help too. Gosh, he really wished Sirius hadn't been knocked out early. Last time he spoke a word—what was it? It was from a language he had never heard before, but whatever it was, it commanded the demon to leave Tejero when he was possessed.

Sadly, Luke knew he wouldn't be able to pull off that stunt, even if he remembered what the word was—because he simply didn't have the authority to do such a thing.

The creature laughed. It was a mix between a hyena's laugh and a smoker's cackle. "Do you think I'm stupid? You're stalling to heat yourself up. You know fire will be your only weapon in these parts, but its contrary to the environment you're in. You're lighting a match underwater. And as much as I enjoy seeing you be stupid, I would enjoy it more if I was seeing it through your own eyes."

Luke barely missed becoming sliced ham by an inch as the carbon-ice axe slammed down on the mound of snow next to him, sending up the powdery stuff like glitter. It would've looked cool if Luke didn't know what was waiting for him once the snow dissipated.

Three Chuchunyas were left after the snow disappeared. But what happened with the other one?

Luke was suddenly dragged a couple of inches below the snow by two hairy hands. The hands released its grip on him and reappearing like a rabbit from a hole was the missing Chuchunya.

Luke tried wiggling his feet loose. His legs were starting to become numb from the compact snow filling in every crevice, which made it difficult to pull his legs free.

Each of the Chuchunyas picked up a piece of ice from the ground. In their hands they looked like pebbles, but they felt a whole lot like chunky stones as they smashed against Luke's body and face. Blood was trickling down his forehead where one of the rocks smashed against him. He started to see blurry.

Then, a blast of wind charged towards him and Luke knew what was going to happen next. He knew he'd feel like he was drowning on air, then he'd have to put up a large mental battle to expel the demon that was trying to possess him.

"You're mine!" whispered the wind.

Suddenly the blast of wind was rebuffed in front of him, as if he slammed into an invisible wall. Luke wasn't sure if this was a part of the possession, but then the demon seemed just as confused as he retreated back into his Iumenti.

"Who dares intervene in an alteration by Lord Ose?"

The demon, Ose, looked around at the other Chuchunya, but the others looked just as lost. Victor was still under the direct influence of a demon who now had its hands around Nil.

The other Chuchunyas looked around at each other with accusing glances, but no one spoke. Then Victor stumbled and lost control of Nil. He fell to the ground, catching himself with his knees and clutching his head as if he just got hit with a bowling ball.

"Can't believe they would dare possess me," Victor muttered in a stupor.

Ose addressed his entourage. "Idiots, one of you is playing tricks on us. I swear when I find out who..."

He couldn't finish his sentence because suddenly a small torrent of wind exploded from the Chuchunya Ose was occupying.

The three remaining Chuchunyas backed up and looked down at Ose. "You alright Lord Ose?" One of them asked.

Suddenly, Luke felt someone wrap something around his waist and hoist him above the snow. Luke was back on his feet, and he didn't waste any time to react. He electrified his whip and snapped at one of the Chuchunyas whose hair rose like a million white rocket ships. Then he wrapped the whip around the legs of another and used all the strength he could muster to pull and throw the already weakened Chuchunya off balance, where he fell like a tree.

"Who...ah forget this," Ose said taking after command of one of the sleeping Chuchunyas. "I don't know how you're doing this, but clearly we haven't weakened you sufficiently."

Luke didn't even know what was going on, let alone if he was responsible for pulling himself up like a turnip from the ground and pushing these demons from their host bodies. But he'll take the invisible assist anytime. Victor was back on his feet and launched a volley of pellets that contained the holy water necessary to drive out two of the other Aeria from their Chuchunyas. The Aeria screamed and the wind started to pick up again with a howl.

"Stand your ground Aeria," Ose spoke through the last Chuchunya standing. "We need these bodies to infiltrate the Garden."

Luke cracked his electrified whip at Ose, drawing blue blood from the creature he occupied. Ose growled and turned to Luke. He then threw his axe like a tomahawk and it split the air so quickly, Luke knew even if he jumped aside, the raging wind attacking him from all angles would restrict his momentum. He stared down a blade that sought to split Luke's face open like a pistachio.

In other words, Luke was SOL.