EVABELLE

The map of the chosen area for Evabelle's plan lay unfolded on one of the tables in the coiled library. Evabelle's eyes roved over it. "So Lori and Duke are on this, right?"

Shaundee stood at the end of the table, drumming her fingers along the wood. "They'll be sending out a gas leak warning in a few hours. The block should be cleared in time. Myself, along with Amy, Riley, Max, and Gordon will open the pocket. We'll be standing spread out along the border, evenly spaced to keep this thing as steady as possible." She pointed along the circumference of the area. "Because it's such a wide area and it's not as level, we'll be stretched pretty thin. Plus we won't have everyone in the circle."

Aza, who'd been rocking back and forth in the chair next to Evabelle, let the front legs fall forward with a thud. "Why?"

Shaundee stopped tapping her finger and crossed her arms. "Well, even if most people don't have the Sight, what we're planning on doing tonight is not something that would go easily unnoticed. Lori, Thea, Duke, and Gia will also be along the border, but they'll be putting up a bit of a smoke screen. It will be kind of like a temporary illusion field around the block, sort of a similar spell to what protects sanctuaries. It will keep people from seeing anything out of the usual, while also keeping them from coming back or getting close while everything is happening."

Evabelle nodded. "This is great." Hearing all the little pieces coming together filled Evabelle with hope that she might actually not be as insane and reckless as everyone had made her feel when she'd been sharing her plan. "This is the building we'll be making our base, correct?" She pointed at a building almost smack in the middle of the vicinity.

Shaundee nodded. "Yes. It's the tallest building. It's some big fancy business headquarters, and it's the perfect vantage point. It has a large courtyard fountain area below, which is where you're going to want the Annihilators to fall. The ground within our circle will all be the doorway to the oblivion prison. The tops of buildings are not included. So if one is hit and lands on top with you, just push it off and they'll fall right in." She shook her head. "Just make sure you're not the ones falling off." Her eyes shifted to Aza.

Aza put her hands up. "Hey, unless there's a vat of chocolate pudding in that pocket thingy, then I'm good. I'm not jumping unless there's something worthy of me jumping."

Shaundee gave a half-hearted smile as Evabelle side-eyed her friend. "That includes looking heroic, by the way. No bell tower incidents again. The Anahalians are going to have their hands full." Before Aza could respond, Evabelle stood up, returning her attention to Shaundee. "The guns?"

Calandra's mother cleared her throat. "Patrick said he would be sending them as soon as he could. He wants them to be the best that they can be, but..." She trailed off.

Evabelle gave a stiff nod before slipping around the table and heading out of the library. "Great, just let me know when. I know we're not going to get much time, but we should at least take some practice shots." She said without turning.

Things seemed to be running smoothly, and the more they continued to trudge forward, the more Evabelle's brain didn't have to imagine what those monsters were doing to her little brother. For some reason though, she just couldn't stay in one place for too long. She couldn't be with anyone for more than fifteen minutes before she needed a break. She needed to be alone, because she feared she would break face. They would see that her act of confidence was just that. Evabelle was still scared, and she didn't dare say running in blind. Raoul's words stung in her throat. Everyone wasn't sure, but the leader had to be.

The library panel slid closed behind her and she descended the stairs to step right out the front door. The moment that big door swung shut, she bolted. Evabelle pumped her legs into a full on sprint until she crossed over the big grassy plain and around a part of the forested area to the spot that Calandra had given to her for her own little garden. Once reaching the small flowerbed, Evabelle tumbled forward to her knees, breathing hard. Long, loose hair fell in front of her face as she glared down and her hands.

Inhale, exhale. I'm coming Thom. Her eyes closed as she ran through the plan again. Once more it all stopped at the capturing an Annihilator and convincing it to lead them to Etheldreda. How in the world was she supposed to do that? Maybe Etheldreda wasn't even at the base of where the Annihilators were stored and made. Then how? Evabelle needed some kind of way to find that stupid demon.

Calandra had told Evabelle that the fake farmhouse that had once been her sister's fortress, was completely gone. There wasn't a trace of magic to it and that that was quite a feat to cover up. Where the heck would the witch go now that her home was destroyed? Magical creatures would go to mage sanctuaries in times of need or when they had nowhere to go, but a mage would never house a witch and her army. Mages differed on what beings they allowed in, but witches were one thing they all seemed to agree to never let into their homes. Shaundee let in a lot of people that most would not and she was Etheldreda's mother, but the witch girl was obviously not staying at her mother's, but then...what about her father?

Evabelle's eyes opened and her head shot up. She ignored the patch of clavina flowers that Lucis had helped her to plant and shoved herself back up.

She had almost made it before Calandra met her on the lawn just a ways from the door, holding a cardboard box. "Your guns have arrived." The mage said tartly. She plopped them down on the ground and Evabelle glanced inside.

The argent guns looked no different than when she had seen one of them the first time, but now there were four of them. "We only need two." Evabelle murmured.

"Well, he sent four," Calandra snapped, turning away.

"Wait, Calandra!" Evabelle called out. The mage paused, and Evabelle felt a lump form in the back of her throat. This was a very sensitive subject. "Do you know who Etheldreda's father is?"

The wind ruffled the thick wavy hair of the mage as she stood frozen on the steps.

Evabelle swallowed, but held her ground.

"A nobody," Calandra spoke plainly. "My parents were having marital issues, and instead of dealing with it, Shaundee ran away. She met some pathetic warlock at a bar and got herself drunk and the two of them slipped off together. That's all."

"I'm so sorry Calandra," Evabelle shook her head. "But what if there's a chance that that's where Etheldreda is staying. It would make sense, right?"

Calandra's head twitched. "I suppose there is merit to that." She continued her way into the house. "I'll go have a talk with my mother and send Aza out for you to...practice."

Once the mage was gone, Evabelle picked up one of the guns. There was more weight to it she noticed. She lifted it slowly with both hands and aimed it at a tree. Her finger fit snuggly around the trigger as she pulled it back for nothing to happen.

Evabelle blinked and stared at the gun. The was a little latch at the top. She slid it back and the bottom of the gun slid out. A compartment inside the grip fell onto the stone path leading to the Sanctuary with a clang, making Evabelle jump back and almost drop the weapon.

After a moment to let her heart slow, she leaned down a picked up the piece. It was one long empty tube. It was then that it dawned on Evabelle that she had no ammunition. This was the cartridge where the Anahalian feather would go. She peered inside the blank grip and saw very little, but a few gears and metal plates that would somehow compound the feather into the little sleeping needles that could pierce the hide of the Annihilators and send them into unconsciousness in a single shot.

Of course that was the theory.

If Evabelle was going to do practice shots, she was going to need ammo.

The front door swung open again and Aza burst out, slowly followed by Faux. "We got the guns!" The small blonde leapt down the stairs and snatched of the shiny weapons from the box and held it up. "I'm ready to be a secret agent."

"Faux!" Evabelle called out to him.

Aza straightened up. "Excuse me, you're supposed to put your back to mine and pose."

Faux grinned, also leaping from the top step, but stretching his wings out, where Evabelle could see the faint tear in the feathers on the lower part of the wing that the elf had stabbed, so that he glided smoothly to land right in front of Evabelle. "Ah, finally recognizing your subliminal feelings for me, my dear. It took you long enough."

Ignoring both comments, Evabelle replied. "I need one of your feathers."

Faux leaned back. "What?"

"Just a normal feather. Aza and I need to practice with these guns, but we can't do that without a feather."

Faux pulled a face. "Alright fine, but mark my words: someday princess." Then he plucked two feathers and the girls loaded them inside.

Evabelle snapped the unit into place, and raised the argent again. The weight had not changed, which made sense, since it was only a feather heavier. She did her best to aim at a oblong knot in the tree before pulling the trigger again. Once more there was no reaction.

Aza tried hers as well to no effect.

Evabelle stared down at the gun. Why wasn't it working? Her hands started to feel sweaty, but then Aza smacked her own forehead. "Duh, the safety." Then she fiddled with a little knob on the back and slid the top part back, each making a little snick sound. Then the blonde raised her argent and fired. There was a louder click and Aza stumbled back.

"Well it definitely fired something." Faux squinted out ahead of them. "I have no idea where, but it shot."

Evabelle followed her friend's example, and removed the safety and loaded the weapon. She could almost feel the internal components slipping into place under her fingers. Then instead of firing off in some random direction, she again pointed it at the knot. The trigger seemed tighter and more wound, reading to spring. With a click, the gun nearly flew out of her hands, but she held on tight and staggered back at the surprising force.

Faux clapped. "Whoo!"

"Hey, I was the first one to fire," Aza whined.

"Yeah, but it looked like she was actually trying to hit something." Faux replied as Evabelle approached the tree. Her fingers went over the knot and the bark around it, but did not find the fragment of the feather.

"But I didn't," Evabelle spoke up. "I didn't hit what I was aiming for." She looked back at Faux. "Are you sure it's firing?"

The shaggy haired Anahalian nodded. "Yep. Something is definitely coming out of those things."

Evabelle nodded and returned to her original position and fired again, and again, and again. Aza too started aiming at a spot on a tree and followed suit in shooting off more shots. After a few more clicks, Faux raised up his hands. "Don't shoot me." Then he made his way over to the trees to inspect them.

"Hey, come look at this," Faux gestured the girls over.

Evabelle and Aza met him and stared at what he was pointing at. They were almost invisible, but they were there. Long, hair-thin needles, just as Patrick had described, were imbedded all over in the wood. There were not as many as were fired, and to Evabelle's disappointment, there were none in the center of her knot. But there were a few that were at least in the ring.

"It's pretty incredible." Faux put his nose up to one of the strands. He ran his finger along the long edge. "They're cold!" he exclaimed.

"Careful, idiot," Called a voice. "You prick yourself with that, and you'll be out like a light."

The three of them turned and saw the curvy mage had returned to the front door.

"Ah, then I'll just need a beautiful woman to kiss me awake." His eyebrows waggled at her.

"Keep dreaming," Calandra rolled her eyes.

Evabelle couldn't quite place it, but there was something in the woman's tone, or maybe her stance, that gave off a more eased disposition than she'd had lately.

"In all honesty, I'm not sure how this one would work," Faux looked back at the tree, adorned with the clear, glassy toothpicks. "Didn't your uncle say that they had to be munera to actually work?"

Calandra shook her head. "They're obviously more potent if it's munera, but other feathers will work too. They would be weaker, though. I do suggest using munera for this mission, of course."

The fact that she didn't sound snide when bringing up the mission, instantly told Evabelle that something had happened to make the mage feel a bit better.

Calandra's dark eyes fell on Evabelle. "I came out here to tell you that there's someone here to see you."

Surprised, Evabelle glanced at Aza, who shrugged. Who the heck would come to see her? Looking back up at Calandra, she could visibly see the strained lines that Evabelle was worried were going to become permanent, smoothed. That, for some reason, reassured Evabelle further. Knowing, that Calandra was less stressed, having working weapons that they were improving on, the plan and location all set, made Evabelle almost smile. They could do this.

The brunette made her way towards the house, feeling lighter than she had in a long time. However, something faint glowing yellow caught her eye. She glanced over to a shadowed corner along the side of the Sanctuary and saw the big frame and dark hair. Thick arms crossed over his wide chest, animal eyes flickering. Raoul's expression was blank and yet it held all the insecurities and flaws in Evabelle's plan. He was telling her that sure she had the guns and sure you can fire it, but you can barely hit an inert object. Imagine trying to hit a moving target, a flying target. His gaze said: you need me, stupid girl.

Evabelle clenched her teeth and fixed her gaze on Calandra and ran the rest of the way.

* * *

Evabelle nearly cried when she saw him. Tall, thin, and pale as a phantom, Kai stood in the living room, wearing a shimmery lilac tunic with pale gold trim that went all the way up to his throat. She dashed over to him and fell into his open arms. Her nose rubbed against the satin of his princely clothes.

"Evabelle," He murmured in surprise. "I didn't realize I'd be missed so much. It's only been a few days. That's really not that that long."

"It absolutely is!" Evabelle beamed up at him. "I mean there's just so much going on and having you come means so much more than you could ever know." She reluctantly pushed herself back. "Actually, why are you here, not that I'm not happy to see you, obviously."

Kai pulled down his rumbled shirt. "Calandra told me about your plan. I confess she was very worried."

Evabelle nodded. "Yeah, I know, but I just noticed her feeling a little better, actually." Her eyebrows went up. "And now I think I know why."

Kai blinked very quickly. "Me? You think that that has something to do with me?"

"Calandra doesn't let very many people close to her. Even us. She cares about us. She doesn't confide or open up to us a lot. But I've always noticed that you were different to her. She let you stay in the Sanctuary for two whole years, and allowed you to go in any room you liked. She talked to you. You know things about her that I wonder if we'll ever know." Kai cocked his head in confusion. "You were the one who told us that she even had a sister." Evabelle explained. "I know that's not all she's told you. She was a girl, who took in a runaway prince and his little blind sister, not just for fun. I can only imagine all the things that you two have been through together."

Kai turned away at that last statement. The pads of his fingers rubbed against loose material of his pants. "She's done so much for me. So much, that I do not deserve." He closed his eyes. "I owe the world to Calandra."

Evabelle sighed. "Don't we all." She took Kai's hand, easing his fidgeting. " I don't know what the Sanctuary was like before you came, but I have a feeling that Calandra was a lot more on her own. Of course, she helped you because as cold and hard as she may seem, she's not really. But you also helped her. You've helped me, being so gentle and soft. You always know what to say to make me feel a little stronger. And I think it was you who made her feel not so alone." Evabelle sighed. "I think the stress of all the people here, including her mother, has been weighing Calandra down, but now I think I realize that the main reason she's been this way because you weren't here."

Kai's hand twitched in hers. "I don't--"

"Kai, you don't think you deserve the love of others, and you have no idea of how much that hurts those that do love you."

Evabelle quickly released Kai's hand, realizing she'd been holding it for longer than she needed to.

Kai gave a shy chuckle. "I came here to aid you, and off you go trying to build me up, Evabelle." His smile fell again as he put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm here to help you get your brother back."

Evabelle bit her bottom lip, pushing back the tears. Kai was one of the only people who truly understood her. He had his own little sibling that he would do anything for. He knew the aching pain gnawing at her every edge.

It was true that he didn't know about Lucis, and all the bitter confusion mixing into her churned stew of emotional turmoil, but he had still helped by being the man, who did not ignore her, but held her in his arms, letting her know that he loved her and that he was there.

"Have you ever fired a gun, by chance?" Evabelle asked.

Kai shook his head. "And before you ask, I have never been good with the crossbow, or dart-gun, even though the elven soldiers are trained with them. Before I was Turned, I was never much of a fighter. I now have increased agility and strength due to being a vampire, but that is all. I'm sorry about that." His fingers tightened on her shoulder. "But I will do whatever it takes to get us through."

Evabelle nodded. "That's all I needed to hear."

* * *

Evabelle's fingers glided along the cool metal of the argent as Calandra drove to their designated area. It was far, far away from the McCarthy Apartments. Evabelle had made sure of that. Aza, Kai, and Max sat in the back. Behind them Shaundee's car (which Evabelle didn't know existed until then) followed them holding the rest of the mages that weren't already at the site.

The three Anahalians were flying over. It wasn't necessarily dark enough for them to do that, but they kept themselves high, so that they should be thought of as nothing more than distant birds. And Kai wore a dark coat, ducking down away from the dying rays of sunlight.

Evabelle ran over everything for the hundredth time in her whirring mind. The rest of the day had been spent practicing with the argents. Her and Aza's aim was nowhere where it should probably be to be going into this now, but they weren't going to be alone. Kai's aim was also not perfect, but he managed to keep the best hold on the gun when he fired. Faux had decided since his duren-dal was a staff, not the best for this kind of situation, he would use the fourth argent. Lucis and Del had their sword and knives which would hopefully be enough for them to knock out some Annihilators.

The goal was not to kill, if possible. These were Anahalians that needed to be saved. They would have to be injured to be taken down, but unless it was absolutely necessary, they were not to be killed.

Shaundee's car split down another road so she could drop off each of her friends at their designated positions.

Calandra stopped not long afterwards and Max leapt out. "Good luck," He gave the other occupants in the truck a nod.

Aza returned it. "Same to you, Maxy,"

Max tilted his head. "Maxy?"

But Calandra was already pulling away.

The mage drove, unhindered by any of New York's regular traffic, thanks to the gas leak warning, until she pulled into the parking lot of a tall, dark glass plated building.

The four of them hopped out and stared up at their base. Aza whistled. "On top of the world."

Evabelle noticed Calandra pulling something out of the back of her car. "What's that?" She asked, walking over to the woman.

It was another cardboard box. Calandra heaved it up and began walking over to a large statue of a man, raising a hand in welcome. "It's another thing that I don't trust." She placed the crate on the ground and pulled out a metal pyramid covered in strange dark red, crisscrossing lines that seemed to lightly pulse. It looked like some sort of alien technology one would find in a sci-fi movie.

"Again, I'm going to ask, what's that? Specifically." Evabelle narrowed her eyes at the object, a strange sickening feeling bubbling in the pit of her stomach.

"Our lure." Calandra nimbly climbed on the back of the statue and placed it on top of the guy's head. "Come here,"

Warily, Evabelle approached her, staring up at her. "When I say specifically, I mean--"

"Get up here." Calandra interrupted.

Evabelle shook her head, taken aback. "Excuse me?"

Calandra leapt deftly from the stone man and landed gracefully with a sweep of her long green robe. "Go up there. I'll explain in a moment."

It was weird for Calandra to beat around the bush about anything. She was always so upfront and to the point. "Okay," Evabelle reached a hand up and placed it in the crook of the man's arm that was on his waist, then she planted her foot on his calf and propelled herself upward. She eventually found herself on his back like she was getting a piggyback from the giant statue. "I'm up, now what do you want me to do?"

"Put your index finger on the top of the prism."

Evabelle squinted at the object. Being this close to the thing again brought a bizarrely uncomfortable feeling to her chest. She swallowed and reached out a hand, and stared as it started to tremble. It let off an aura that she couldn't explain. It felt cold and just...wrong. But Evabelle did as she had been told and placed her finger on the top only to have a shooting pain stab through the tip making her yelp and almost loose her grip on the big man. She pulled back and held tight to the guy. "What the heck was that?" She blinked down at her finger and saw a bead of blood slipping down into her palm.

"You've just activated the lure." Calandra replied. "You can come down now."

Evabelle released and dropped to a crouch before straightening. "You're not explaining, Calandra."

The mage shrugged and gestured for Evabelle to follow her back toward the building. "Patrick made that thing. He calls it a lure. It sends out a pulse that will lure demonic presences to this area." Calandra turned her head and side-eyed the girl. "You didn't have a plan on how to get the Annihilators to get here, so my uncle came up with this. Hopefully, we won't get more than we can deal with."

Evabelle took a deep breath, once again sensing that tension directed at her. Apparently, Kai showing up wasn't going to fix everything. "Why did it need my blood?"

"It required angel's blood to be turned on. And it takes it to feed it. It will use your blood to release an overflowing angelic wave or something. Demon's naturally despise angels. There's an innate loathing written in their code that gives them an almost uncontrollable impulse to obliterate the angels. It'll be like an overwhelming scent of prey to a desperate starving predator."

Evabelle glanced over her shoulder back at the lure on top of the statue. "Why didn't you just have me do it before putting on the statue? And why put it on the statue? Couldn't we just put it on the ground?"

"The oblivion pocket will cover the span of the ground, but not the tops of non-living objects. I'm not sure on the whole construction of that thing, but Patrick said that it's, in a way, alive. And anything alive on the ground will be sucked in. There may be a few animals that get pulled in, insects shouldn't be affected. I was told to put a several feet of the ground, but not too near to us. We don't want them necessarily streaking straight toward us. But I figure if they decide to dive-bomb this then maybe they'll just accidently fly right in, but I doubt it will be that easy."

The two of them met back with Kai and Aza, the latter of them leaping up and down, waving her arms furiously at the something above them. Evabelle looked up and saw three descending angels from the twilight sky.

"Who's ready for the Anahalian express?" Faux grinned as he landed.

Calandra shook her head. "Just get us up there. The lure is activated, meaning the Annihilators could be coming at anytime. We need to be in position before we send the signal to open the Oblivion pocket."

"Right," Lucis nodded, making Evabelle jump. It felt like it'd been a long time since she'd even heard his voice. But the white winged angel still didn't acknowledge her in any way. He took the mage's hand and swept her up into his arms, making Evabelle flinch. With an enormous flap of his wings he shot back into the sky.

Evabelle tore her gaze away and tried to ease the pressure in her chest. She looked over just in time to see Faux snag Aza and follow Lucis up. But Del was watching his brother too. Slowly, he brought his attention back down to her and without a word he scooped her up and flew into the sky.

The flight was brief, but when Evabelle was placed on the roof, Lucis had already gone back down to grab Kai.

Calandra pulled out a walkie-talkie in her hand from under her robe, at her hip. Aza folded her arms. "I'm telling you, cell phones. We live in a day and age where those things are a necessity. Our lack of them is going to end up being our downfall."

The mage rolled her eyes. "I'm planning on getting a cell plan, but then we decided to full out attack an army of bats." She switched on the walkie-talkie. "We're in position."

A crackling over the line buzzed for a moment before Shaundee's voice cut through. "Excellent! The rest of us are in place too. When the first demon is spotted, we're ready to fire it up!"

"Why not just go for it now?" Aza asked.

"It will drain their energy holding it open like that." Calandra explained. "We're going to want them to have it open for as long as possible. We don't know how long it will take before Annihilators start showing up. It may take a bit of time."

The four that lacked wings now stood near to each corner of the building. Lucis had dropped off Kai and handed one of his munera to the vampire before flying and landing on another building. Evabelle faced the other way, getting tired of her hopes rising only to be shot down every time he didn't look at her.

Faux had also flown to another building, spreading himself out away from Lucis and Del as they had planned. Evabelle didn't see Del from her position, but she figured he'd gone to another area to keep watch. She loaded his dark feather he had passed off to her into the cartridge of her argent and snapped it shut. Taking a deep breath, she spread her stance, placing both hands on her weapon, and waited.

Cool air spun around her head, but Evabelle had braided her hair tightly back. The clouds swirled around each other, and the electricity started to dance across her skin. A storm was building in more ways than one. That could be a problem.

Calandra was drawing a few symbols on the ground with her chalk: basic hiding spells she said. It wouldn't make them invisible, but it would be similar to camouflage. It wouldn't be obvious where they were. Annihilators were blind as far as they could tell and used sound, similar to the animals they were compared to. But scent, smell, and sound would be semi-thrown off by the mages spells.

A frustrated hiss made Evabelle look over her shoulder to surprisingly see Del flying away from Aza, whose hand was reaching out in a way that reminded Evabelle of when Lucis had left her after they had almost kissed.

Evabelle's best friend's hand turned into a fist as she quickly lowered it and shuffled back and forth, trying to appear as if everything was normal.

Evabelle glanced at Kai, who was holding his gun at the ready. He gave her a reassuring nod, and she returned it and went back to keeping her eyes peeled on the dark gray sky.

As the night rose to a full peak stress tightened around Evabelle's core. Where were the blasted things? Calandra pulled out sticks and placed them at each corner, all of them emanating a faint, eerie green glow that would not affect the other spells she had done. Evabelle watched the mage. The beautiful woman was pouring everything into this and it hadn't even started. Could they hold out? Would they even come? Patrick had had to put all his devices together very last minute. Who knew if they really worked?

That wasn't even bringing up the fact that Faux was still not a hundred percent over being stabbed in the side and wing. Aza had a hurt leg and neck from when her and Lucis had been attacked just two days previously.

Then of course there was Lucis himself. The Annihilators had literally broken the arch of his wing along with scoring his shoulder. He shouldn't be flying at all for at least a week, even with healing spells.

Evabelle had done her best to keep her gaze away from him, but it was dragged over to where she had last seen him. He stood on the edge his structure, very much like when he stood at the end of the cliffs, back at Calandra's, before he tipped over the side to fall.

The brunette had not detected any pain besides when they had first come back from Matthew Kendall's. But she had also barely seen him since then. He was there but he wasn't.

Lucis had flown over here and carried up Calandra and Kai to the top of the building. Not once had he shown that there was any kind of problem, but Lucis wouldn't do that. Even if he was ignoring Evabelle for some stupid reason, he was still Lucis in that he would always put everyone before his own trouble.

It was at that moment when Evabelle realized that this might be the worst plan that she could have come up with, but her brother's pale blue eyes still called her name. Even though at the bottom of her heart, she knew this might be the end, she shoved it further down and readied herself as a shadow streaked over the light that still shown through the ever-building clouds.

Evabelle tapped her foot hard enough to get Calandra's attention. The mage crouched down and grabbed the walkie-talkie, switched open the channel, and murmured one word. "Go,"

Evabelle's eyes raced over the area and locked onto another quick movement. She followed its steady flight, realizing it was making its way, a little zigzagged, but still toward them. The green from Calandra's torches flared up light and she got a brief glimpse of the gigantic leather skeletal beast, with its great bald, eyeless head, with mouth cracking opening to reveal hundreds of long needled teeth. As it was about to let out the first screech of the night, Evabelle pulled the trigger and fired.