Black Winged Angel. Amy Blankenship

nails scraped the ground and the body of the corpse as though she were touching a lover.

      Kyou growled when the corpse began to twitch, making the hell hag whip her head up to glare at him with those horrible eyes. A storm of power seemed to descend on him as invisible wind whipped around his clothes and hair. The air around him crackled and translucent golden wings emerged from his back, curling around him almost protectively as he surged forward.

      He flew past the coffin, catching the witch around the neck in the crook of his elbow and slammed her through the wall on the other side. Stone and mortar fell as they broke through the other side. He sat straddled across her stomach with a hand around her shriveled throat.

      â€œYou would dare to send those filthy things into my city?!” Kyou roared in her face as she screeched and clawed at him.

      The hell hag couldn’t get in a good hit in because Kyou’s translucent wings were still curled around him, preventing such an attack. She abruptly flickered with power and her form changed from that of a withered old hag into a vision of beauty. Her voice became soft and supple as her grisly hair straitened, turning white as the purest of snow.

      â€œYou do not have the power to stop me guardian,” she whispered as she laid her fingers on his cheek. “So much like him… yet so different,” she mused just as her claws dug into his face.

      Kyou was stunned when a bright flash exploded right in front of him and he was thrown backwards through the hole they had created and into the opposite wall of the crypt. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he allowed his rage to consume him. This demon was powerful and he needed to finish her off before the underlings that she was controlling killed more of the innocent humans.

      He pushed himself from the wall to attack just as bony hands broke through the brick behind him. They wrapped around his chest and pulled him through with such force, Kyou actually found himself breathless.

      He was suddenly surrounded by ghouls… their meaty hands pulling him away from the witch, who just laughed as she watched her underlings do her bidding. Just before the ghouls pulled him out of sight, Kyou saw mist rising up out of the floor, surrounding her and swirling eerily. A man appeared within the fog right in front of her. His long black hair fluttered as he turned on the ghouls coming toward him and let lose a string of fire from his palm that set them ablaze.

      Darious turned his head to stare straight into the eyes of the hell hag. Seeing the fear leap into her blood red eyes, he let a satisfied smirk pull at his lips. She hissed at him and tried to flee, only to stop dead in her tracks when a black hole appeared below her feet… ensnaring her within a demon trap.

      â€œNot so fast bitch,” Darious’s voice was so dark it made the already cool temperature within the mausoleum plummet several degrees.

      Very slowly, the witch turned around to glare at him with a hideous twist to her lips. “I remember you,” she hissed with false bravado as she morphed back into her true form. “You wore the chains… we took turns with the whips… such a pleasure it was to see the masters rip your wings from your back….”

      Her words were cut short and she screeched when magma suddenly rose up from the void beneath her feet, forming chains… snapping into place around her ankles and wrists, burning the flesh where they touched.

      His eyes turned crimson at the reminder. “It took more than just you and your sisters to keep me chained, but I’ll give you a gift… the same gift the demons gave me. These chains have a nickname… they are called Eternity. You won’t be alone in the dark for long.” He gave her a sinister smile, “Your sisters will be joining you soon.” With that, the bonds tightened and began dragging her down into the pit.

      â€œYou will not live!” the hell hag screamed while fighting the pull of the chains. “Our master will see you torn apart and decimated the same way you did to us upon your escape… you will never be rid of us.”

      Darious stood back watching with cold eyes as the witch continued her descent. She spit a number of curses at him, which made Darious feel amusement. Even when he showed them their own defeat, these demons would never be silent.

      The witch’s screams rose in volume when clawed hands reached up from the void and clutched at her form. She continued to fight until the very last moment even when the void reached up to her ears.

      She abruptly tilted her head back and smirked at him, “If He can’t reclaim you then He will reclaim the bitch who set you free!”

      â€œHe?” Darious whispered as he watched until she sank into the void, her screams finally silenced. There had been no one in the pit except demons so who was the witch calling He?

      As the void sealed over the demon, his thoughts darkened remembering the hell hags. They and many other demons had struck him as he’d cried out for someone to save him… but no one ever came. Demons and their lies… no one had set him free.

      He still remembered the pain of his wings being removed… pulled… yanked from the flesh of his back. That pain had been nothing compared to the agony of the chains they had wrapped him in. Now they will know how it had felt… physically and mentally. They will scream for someone to free them, but none will answer.

      Kyou had remained silent once he shook off the remaining ghouls. No more had come through the tunnels they’d created, which meant Kotaro and Suki had handled the ones on their end. With any luck, the ghouls would merely vanish into nothingness before the flames died out. It would be their job to return the dead to their proper resting places once the proverbial dust settled.

      Now Kyou stood still, watching the man’s expressions change from rage to pain and then… sadness. Wraiths flew all around him, as if trying to attack, but they could not and would not touch him. Kyou took a step forward… recognizing the power he had felt earlier that day in his office.

      The man raised his head but didn’t even glance in Kyou’s direction before he vanished without a trace. The air rippled and sizzled… sending out purifying energy, washing over everything before the cemetery fell into a peace he was sure it hadn’t felt in many years.

      Kyou’s golden eyes glowed in the darkness as he listened to the voices of the other guardians through the com-link.

      Chapter 4 “Officially Freaked Out”

      â€œForget barbeque,” Suki exclaimed. “I’m going for deep fried.”

      Kotaro’s eyes went humorously wide when Suki lifted the flamethrower in his direction. She pulled the trigger and set the closest three ghouls aflame.

      All of the ghouls… even the ones the flames hadn’t reached yet, suddenly broke out in a chorus of inhuman screaming before they all burst into flames. Suki and Kotaro could only watch with confusion, as they all seemed to melt, leaving only partially intact skeletons behind. The basement was filled with loud clatter when the bones hit the ground.

      Suki giggled unable to control herself, “Tastes just like chicken.”

      Kotaro gave her a weak smile but he wondered why the ghouls suddenly, for lack of a better phrase, dropped dead.

      â€œI don’t know about you, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth,” Kotaro managed before he dropped down on his butt.

      Suki turned off the flamethrower and gingerly walked past Yohji to reach Kotaro’s side.

      â€œThink you can walk out of here?” she asked sympathetically.

      Kotaro nodded and, with Suki’s help, regained his footing and the two walked over to Yohji’s unconscious form. They got the detective hoisted up between them and very slowly climbed the steep staircase. Once at the top, they maneuvered their way through the rest of the haunted house, thankfully not running into any more animated corpses. They finally found the back