Chapter 25 Back with a Bang

~Kerata~

"Raven, I don't suppose you've seen Duncan, have you?" I leaned against the doorway of the 'media room', where Raven, Dane and Fiona were all watching season five of Doctor Who.

Raven glanced at me, then quickly looked back at the TV. "Nope. I thought he'd be with you. You two seem pretty 'attached' to each other." She smirked, and Fiona giggled a little.

I sniffed, mockingly. "You're just jealous."

Raven crossed her eyes. "Of lizard boy? Heck no!" I couldn't help laughing a little bit at her ridiculous expression.

I wandered around our huge 'house', peeking into every room, and even knocking on the bathroom door. Nothing.

Finally, I climbed up the ramp to the roof, and walked out to the edge of the tower. The wind whipped my blond hair around my face as I peeked over the edge, then drew back quickly, sitting down on a protruding air vent.

For awhile, I just sat, staring off at the lake, watching boats move around like tiny water striders on it's surface. Then, I heard a scree from behind me. I turned and looked around, but there was nothing on the roof. Then I looked up.

Perched on the very top of one of the two giant antennae, sat Duncan. He was staring down at me, an amused expression on his face, his tail curled around the pole beneath him as it swayed back and forth slightly. After a moment, he jumped off, falling most of the way down the side of the huge white metal structure, before opening his wings and gliding down to land next to me. Just before he reached me, light swirled around him, and he landed - as a human - on his feet on the vent next to mine, sliding on the surface a little bit from his momentum and holding his arms out for balance.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Showoff."

He grinned. "What, I can't look good for a pretty lady?"

I could feel myself blushing. He scooted over next to me, the wind ruffling his short brown hair, and reached for my hand. Just before he grasped it, a flash of light caught my eye. Just as we turned to see what it was, a shockwave, followed by a loud BOOM, hit the building, rocking it back and forth. I grabbed Duncan's hand tightly and squeezed as we looked out into the city, toward the north side of town, where a huge fireball was slowly rising into the air.

We turned to each other, looking at one another in shock, then jumped up and raced toward the entrance to the Nest. Just as we reached it, Fiona and Raven burst out of the central hole, flinging themselves upward into the air. I transformed quickly, then realized that I couldn't get down. Our roof was much too high for me to jump down, and there was nowhere for me to run. Suddenly, there was another flash of light, and then a huge shadow crossed my view.

Fiona had gotten bigger. MUCH bigger. She scooped me up in her foreclaws like a toy, clawed hands wrapping all the way around my middle. Duncan let out a squawk of surprise, and I noticed that he had Changed as well.

Fiona flapped her huge wings, their power making the air around me compress with a loud THUD. We shot toward the rising cloud of smoke, which poured from several buildings up the coastline. As we drew closer, I noticed that part of the cloud seemed to be moving oddly. I heard Fiona hiss, and felt a growl shake the air around me. I squinted, and realized that the cloud was not a cloud.

Thousands of grey, insect-like creatures, looking a bit like ants and a bit like lizards and a bit like men. The creatures -no, Shifters- I remembered from the description Fiona had given us, were swarming up and out of what seemed to be a huge gap in the earth. We shot towards them, Fiona breaking into a full roar, her huge wings driving the air around us into a hurricane.

I hung there, legs dangling uselessly, and watched the swarm draw closer and closer. What have we gotten ourselves into?