Don't go into the woods

Michael was walking down an empty road through the woods, paying close attention to movements or sounds in his surroundings. He knew there were killers out here somewhere. Earlier he’d discovered two dead bodies, and a third one barely alive. He’d healed him with his blood before listening to his description of the perpetrators that had done this. He'd told him that demons were behind the murders, so instead of calling the police, he decided to take matters in his own hands. There was no reason to put human lives at risk.

Swiftly he heard someone behind him, and when he turned around his eyes landed on a person aiming at him. “Would you mind?” he said calmly, nodding once at the gun, to make the person lower it. but the demon just glared at him with the usual hatred. “Yes I would,” she answered, showing him her black demon eyes. Michael didn’t move, instead he made his aura glow up more strongly, hoping that the demon would back down to the light. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and a sharp bullet burned its way into his shoulder. He groaned at the pain, feeling his anger grow as he removed the bullet so the wound could heal. The demon ran quickly, but Michael wasn’t in a rush. Instead he walked with a normal pace in the same direction. At some point he discovered a bunker hidden away in the woods and narrowed his eyes as he looked upon it. He couldn’t hear anybody, but he had a bad feeling about the place. He then walked up to the door. “Hello?” he said, listening for any movement behind it. If nobody would answer, he’d force the door open to investigate the place further.

Demons. She sneered by the scent, and she could slowly feel the well known anger boil in her veins. They were always the problem. Demons. In a few cases she had seen past the hatred, but since three of her people were missing. She knew something bad has happened. Tatia left her territory, as always she was well-armed. Then she walked, knowing if she kept going she would find answers along the way. It was as she walked she heard a gun firing from afar. Tatia was an excellent tracker and started figuring out were the sound came from. It seemed like trouble was that way, and maybe she would even find what she was looking for. She barely saw Simon these days, maybe they were just missing each other - not knowing what to think or feel anymore. Tatia wasn't good with emotions, Simon knew that - but she tried, and in the end she hoped it was enough. Tatia kept walking, as if nothing could stop her. She was completely stuck in her hunting state and it was the wolf's time to shine.

A noise in the woods made her change her direction and she moved deeper into the forest. Tatia could smell the demon. She then stopped and turned her head to the side, a strange scent got her attention and she walked slowly closer. Then another smell hit her senses, blood. It was from an angel, she had learned to tell the difference between species a long time ago. The bunker seemed to draw her attention more than the smell of blood, so she walked closer. There was something inside, she was sure of it. Tatia walked over and opened up the door. Her red eyes started glowing, making her wolf aware that danger could be forced upon them anytime soon. Tatia closed the door behind her carefully and walked a a few steps ahead. The sound of heartbeats made her stop, trying to count - but a voice from behind the door she just had walked through made her turn around. Unwanted attention was not what she needed, so she walked over to the door and opened it. She placed a finger in front of her lips and gave him a serious stare. Then she looked over at his shoulder. He had been the angel she had smelled from earlier.
"What do you think you are doing?" She hissed in a low hoarse voice. Her face was serious and she blinked letting her red colored eyes turn back into their natural green-blue color.

He almost pulled down the door handle, when someone opened it. He quickly grabbed his blade inside of the jacket, anticipating a demon, but when he looked into her eyes, he quickly discovered that she was something else. He breathed out and let go of the blade, letting it stay inside of the jacket. Her red eyes indicated that she was some sort of alpha, but he couldn’t be sure. He had met many hybrids and strange species throughout his life. “Hunting demons,” he answered bluntly, and had a feeling that he had gotten closer now. He was a bit annoyed to have stumbled into her, until he realized that perhaps she could prove to be useful. “I wanted to check out this bunker in my search, but perhaps you can spare me the time and tell me what’s inside?” he asked, looking past her shoulder at the long corridor ahead. After all, she had just opened the door from the inside. “The demons killed two near the northern lake, so it is of grave importance that I find them, because they will continue to kill until I do so,” he continued as he returned his eyes to her. The one guy had only given him a detailed description of one of the demons, as it was the one hurting him. It was a black-haired, short and muscular demon, with dark eyes and a red shirt underneath a leather jacket, that's why he hadn't thought to chase the female demon. He couldn't be sure she had anything to do with the murders.

Despite, wasting her time standing here chatting with the angel- all Tatia's senses was out in case of the people deeper inside the bunker heard them. She snorted by hus respond, as he looked past her, her eyes didn't move from him.
"Demons," she replied not going into detail. "I haven't walked more than few steps down, seems like they all are down on the lower level," she explained and narrowed her eyes a little. Tatia didn't know a lot of angels who were out to kill demons. Then again, she didn't know many angels. It was first when he mentioned two people had been killed by these demons, that she her expression face went from natural to angry. It was almost like you could see the fire light inside her eyes - but her anger wasn't towards the angel. Tatia took a deep breath and have him a nod.
"If you want their blood you can have it, but the kill is mine," she looked hostile before turning her back to him and grabbed one of the daggers she had in her belt. "Are you coming?" She looked over her shoulder back at him.

Spending most of your life in an arena, as not only a prisnor, but a warrior forced to fight for entertainment to survive. She had learned a few tricks about hiding and finding people. She knew what she was doing. Tatia moved alongside the bunker walls, and was careful were she placed her feet. One would almost wonder if she had been in here before. Tatia walked deeper in, till they reached the stairs who would take them to the lower level. She closed her eyes for a second to count heartbeats, it was harder than she thought. The bunker most be bigger than she first thought. But demons in the forest was never a good sign.
"There is at least a handful of them. I hope you know how to fight with that blade," she grabbed the cold metal from the slim stairs before crawling down. She jumped on the last step and looked around. Tatia walked closer to a door, and looked at a big room. It could fit thousands. Maybe it had even been used in a war sometime. It was almost like a circle around the big hall. Voices echoed from the center of the circle, making her heart jump for a second. Tatia took a deep breath in, as the room reminded her of a room in the arena - but now wasn't the time not to push though. So she pushed through and looked back at the angel.

He was a bit disappointed when she said she’d only walked a few steps in, but it quickly disappeared as she told him that she’d sensed people on the lower level. It seemed that he’d finally found their hideout and that was all that mattered. He raised a brow when she said she wanted to be the one killing them. He assumed that meant she knew the people who had been killed. “We’ll see,” he just replied, not caring much for her wish. He hadn’t really imagined her to go with him, but it seemed like she was set on hunting them as well, and help was always appreciated. He followed her into the bunker, treading carefully as she did, not wanting to be the one to blow their cover. He scoffed quietly at her comment. “Please,” he whispered slightly offended as he looked at her. He’d fought for centuries, so he was more worried about her abilities than his own.

In the lower level he watched her as she checked out a room, before grabbing his blade as he knew that a fight was near. He looked at her, making sure she was ready to go in, before he kicked the door open, making it fly across the big room, crashing into a table. “My bad,” he said with a shrug, before the cold eyes looked around at the demons, then stopping at the guy with the red shirt. The demons all got up from their seats, hissing angrily at the unwanted guests. One of them threw two sharp knives at them and Michael put up his free hand to manifest a wall of light that would block the attack. It seemed that these demons thought they’d claimed new territory, but he was sure him and the stranger would be able to take it away from them rather quickly. The demons then started to run towards them, some turning into their demonic forms. The whole room turned into chaos and darkness. When he got a chance to glance at the stranger, he noticed that she handled fighting surprisingly well. They slashed a few wounds into him, but they quickly vanished. It was first when someone cast a glass of holy fire that Michael started yelling because of the  pain, looking up at the ceiling. When it wore off, he felt the rage burning stronger, spiking the closest demon in the heart. He watched the life disappear from his eyes before he dragged the blade out and he fell to the floor.

As he grabbed his blade, Tatia pulled out her sword in a almost elegant movement. In her other hand she had a tight grip on a dagger. The angel gave him a nod when he looked at her, and he kicked in the door, which made her chuckle a little to herself. Tatia followed him and looked around. The red color in her eyes returned as she wolf became aware of the fight. One threw knives at them and she was almost about to avoid it when the angel seemed to be able to block it with his hand. Tatia frowned a bit, but now wasn't the time to ask questions. As the demons started running towards them, she made a shift movement with the hand she held the dagger and threw it. The daggers aim was for ones throat, and she never really missed when she aimed. It was like a switch for her, and she was back to fight as if her life depended on it. It wouldn't be the first time. Her whole life had been about survival, and demons always seemed to try destroying her happiness even before the seeds had been planted. Then glass of holy fire shattered on the floor and she watched the flames, as the angel seemed effected by it. Tatia swung her sword and spun around, by spiking the nearest demon and pulled the sword back. Then she moved to the fire and like the dragon she was she just stepped in it. She turned around when the angel fell to the ground. She absorbed the fire and breathed out. She took a look around the last standing demons that moved closer to her. She took a deep breath in. Fire healed her. Tatia clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes a little to analyse the demons movements.

Then she ran into the battle, and despite the cuts they pierced in her skin. She kept going. Her blood dripped on the bunker floor, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter how their blood started to paint her flesh. Finally she got a hold of the last one. Slashing his throat with her last dagger. She watched him fall to the ground before turning around. She walked over to the angel and held her hand out for him to take. It wasn't something she usually did. But he could fight and she respected people with that type of willpower.
"Something tells me this is just the first part of the gang. I say we search this place, maybe they left some informations behind," she suggested and kept her eyes at him. "I'm Tatia," she never really presented herself. It was rare she found people she actually thought she would like, usually she stayed away from strangers. There was something about him, he reminded her of someone - she just couldn't put her finger to it yet.

The fire was still lingering underneath his skin, weakening him. He watched her go through the fire, narrowing his eyes slightly as he wondered what creature she was. He’d put up a shield of light around him so nobody could harm him while his body healed. He’d need to find the rest of their molotovs and destroy them before they could hurt other angels. It wasn't long before she took down the last demon. It was obvious that she’d done it many times before. He removed the shield and looked up into her eyes when she held out her hand, not that he needed it but he appreciated her gesture. “Thanks,” he said and got up to his feet. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” he said, looking around the room, then down at the blood and bodies surrounding them. The only demon gang he’d run into before was in Southside, but he hadn’t been able to find enough information about their whereabouts to take them down. He dried off the blade in someone’s shirt, before he put it back underneath his jacket. “I’m Michael,” he introduced as he returned his eyes to her. “Why were you out here on your own, Tatia?” he then asked, thinking that perhaps she lived in the woods. He continued deeper into the room, opening a cabinet to look through the documents for anything relevant. He then discovered a line in the wall, and pushed the cabinet aside to reveal a safe hidden in the wall. He grabbed the handle and forced it open with his strength, destroying the wall in the progress. Inside of it was a golden key and a formal document. “I think I found something,” he said, putting the key inside of his pocket before he studied the document. “It’s a plan… seems like they thought this was a good place to run their illegal business,” he commented and folded the document in his hands. It didn’t state what the key was for, but hopefully he’d found out sooner or later. “Do you hear anyone else in here?” he asked, walking closer to her. “You’re some kind of werewolf or shapeshifter, right?”

Tatia looked around them and breathed out. There was something about the rush, it wasn't because she loved killing - far from it. But the feeling of realising she was still breathing after, maybe it had found its way to be addicting after so many years. His question made her look back at him, before following him into one of the rooms. "I live in the woods, but as you might have guessed - I don't like sitting around and do nothing," she walked into a room next to them. She looked around but there wasn't any trace of anything useful. At least not in that room. The sound of the wall being destroyed made her return to Michael. Tatia frowned as he found a key and a document. She listened to him reading about the plan.  His question made her look around seeing if she could hear anyone. But right now it was silent.
"No sounds, for now. But we are a bit isolated in here. See the walls? They are soundprof. So we should get out of here before they return, our blood will only make us a target down here," they were both bleeding and if there were blooddemons among the others. "I'm a shapeshifter yes, nicely observed," she gave him a smirk that lasted for a few seconds. Then she walked out of the room. Tatia didn't like being down here. The fear of being trapped and having to fight her way out was weighing down on her shoulders. Tatia looked to the other side from the big hall and narrowed her eyes before moving closer. There was a metal door. She took a grab of the door and opened it. The smell would have made most people throw up. Flesh and blood. The room was cold. "This is a slaughter house as well. They keep their food in there," she closed the door and shook her head.

"We should move out," she was about to go to the big hall with all the dead bodies. She walked over them and looked around. Then she stopped and lifted up a hand for him to stop moving. "We are being watched," she whispered  and narrowed her eyes.

“That makes two of us,” he said, looking through some more documents. He felt guilty every time he did nothing because there were always things to be hunted or people he could help. He looked up at her as she said they were targets down here. He’d assumed there were more demons than the one’s they’d encountered, but he hadn’t thought much about their blood attracting them. He was sure he’d be fine, but still decided to go along with her. “Have you had a lot of trouble with demons in the woods before?” he asked as he followed her out of the room. He moved his arm up to cover his nose as they discovered the slaughter house. “Jesus Christ,” he said as he looked around the room. It reminded him of places he’d seen before where they’d hook human flesh up. It was absolutely disgusting. He turned around as she closed the door, trying to shut out the thoughts. He continued into the big hall, stopping at the notion of her hand. He frowned a bit at her whisper, looking around them to see if he could spot anyone.

“What a mess you’ve created,” a sinister voice sounded from the shadows before a man appeared in front of them. He shook his head slightly as he looked at all the dead bodies, before stopping his gaze at the angel. Michael lifted his chin as he looked back at him. He assumed he was a demon of higher rank, but it was hard to tell. “You must be Michael, I heard you were in town...” he said thoughtfully, knowing that he seemed to recognize his face from somewhere. “And a shapeshifter?” he said a bit more surprised, as his eyes landed on the woman beside of him. “What do you want?” he asked, stepping a bit closer to the demon. “Revenge… but not now… some day, we will come for you and make you both regret this,” he said in a slow manner before he disappeared into a shadow and everything went silent. Michael stepped forward where he stood, looking around to see if he was still near. He wasn't the first demon to want to kill him, and he was certainly not the last, but it did worry him to think about what he was going to do to Tatia, or anyone else close to them. "Let's get out," he then said before continuing towards the exit.

"The only kind of people I have is with demons in the woods," she replied with a direct clear voice. It was true. In her entire life, demons had been the main struggle. Not saying every demons were bad. Most just had the bad habit of being so. Tatia looked around in the big hall, trying to figure out who was watching them. Every muscle in her body tensed in awareness of a potentiel attack. Her eyes looked steady around, careful not to miss anything.

A voice made her turn around, seeing the shadows form a man who appeared in front of them. She snarled and an anger once again grew in her chest. However, the demon seemed to be way more interested in who the angel next to her was, or at least what he was doing. Tatia narrowed her eyes and looked at the demon. She wanted to stab his surprised eyes out. But before she could say anything, the angel had spoken.  
"I would love you see you try," she replied as he went away in the shadow. Tatia wasn't afraid of fighting for her life anymore. There was no such a thing as relaxing or taking a break. She was in a constant fight.  "At least he was stupid enough to show himself. I got his scent," he breathed out and looked over at Michael. "If he is ever near again, I will be able to track him," she added and gave him a nod when he suggested they should go out. Tatia followed him outside and breathed in the fresh air.  
"What will you do now?" She asked and crossed her arms a little.

He nodded when she said she only had trouble with demons. He understood better than anyone what they were capable of. If they weren’t out to make deals for souls, they’d just create chaos and evil for the fun of it. “He’s just saying that because he knows he can’t defeat us,” he said. If he could on his own then he would have started a fight. “Besides, revenge isn’t worth much if you end up dead,” he continued as he looked at Tatia with a crooked smile. It was a good thing that she got his scent. “Great… we will probably need to track him before he gets his people to track us,” he said. He knew that he was serious in his threat and that they both were in danger until they eliminated him.

They continued through the bunker until they reached the exit. He took a deep breath of fresh air as they reached the forest again, looking around to make sure they were alone before he returned his attention to Tatia. “I’m going to go home and research as much as I can about this gang,” he replied. He knew that they couldn’t track the demon now since he’d probably made sure to hide in the shadows after their encounter. “Goodbye Tatia,” he said as he tipped his head, giving her a small smile before he grew out his wings and ascended into the sky
___________________________
One week later. Unkown Location.

He slowly opened his eyes, feeling nauseated and dizzy. In front of him was an empty stone wall, and as he looked around he realized that there were no windows, just a dilapidated room with a small ceiling lamp. He wanted to place his hand on his head at the immense headache, but his hands were tied up behind him against a post. He lid up the room while he used his supernatural strength to get free, but it was in vain. The handcuffs were sealed with a form of dark magic to prevent any strength to break them. However, magic like that usually wore off with time. Then he looked over his shoulder and noticed another person sitting on the floor with her hands tied up. “Hey,” he said in a hoarse voice. She wasn’t facing him, but he already assumed it was the woman he met in the woods a week ago. He hadn't worked with anyone else while he'd been in Gaia. He closed his eyes as he tried to think back on what had happened, but the only thing he remembered was walking out from a restaurant and getting something shoved in his face that must've made him black out, because now he was here. “Are you alright?” he asked. They’d probably taken her in the same way, but he couldn’t be sure if she’d suffered any other injuries.

Tatia gasped for air as she woke up. The pain was trying to effect her, but she pushed it down. It didn't take her long to get a hold of what type of situation she was in. Her hands were tied and she couldn't get out of them the easy way. Then she noticed the scent from last week. Tatia took a deep breath in before forcing herself to sit up and she breathed out. She was bleeding from the right side of her forehead, clearly it had taken some effort on knocking her out. All the time in the arena had made her muscle memory knowing how to respond to different types of knock outs. "Bloody hell," she mumbled to herself and tried to see if she could break free from the chains. No luck. Tatia looked over her shoulder and looked Michael in the eyes.
"I'm fine- It's not my first time," she breathed out. Tatia looked around them to get a clear picture about the space they were in. It was magic. She could work with that. If she could extract enough of her dragon energy, she was immune to the elements of magic. But the fear of a full transformation kept her from doing so. Tatia took a deep breath in. Tatia had been through worse than this, she wasn't afraid of what to come. She knew she could handle it.
"How about you? Are you fine?" She allowed herself to ask. Tatia took a deep breath in, remaining calm was a specialty. However, she wasn't ready to go back to captivity. She had lived most of her life as a puppet controlled by vicious demons, who only wanted her to fight for her right to live. It had made her cold, and she could still feel that in her bones.  "How long till  the magic wears of?" She asked. Her blood was boiling in the name of what she would do to the demons who had put them here.

Michael narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at her. Not her first time? “As in, you’ve been captured by demons before?” he asked with a confused expression. She had mentioned being in trouble with them, but it seemed like there was a lot more to it that he hadn’t gotten to know about. He looked back towards the wall, sighing slightly while he thought about everything he’d researched about these demons. “I’m fine,” he replied as she returned the question. “Maybe an hour,” he answered, although he couldn’t be sure. It all depended on how powerful the caster of the dark magic was. A few moments passed before a high-pitch noise broke the silence, then a bright flash made him flinch and close his eyes. The next moment he was sitting in a chair with his hands tied to the armrest by the same magical chains. His eyes quickly landed on Tatia beside of him in another chair, before he looked around the room. It looked like a factory of some sort. Then he noticed a shadow nearing them, before it finally appeared as a tall man.

“Remember me?” he said as he looked at his two captives with a smirk on his face. “I thought about this for a long time… what could possible avenge the many demons you slaughtered?” he said before he looked at a table with different torture objects, then at the mechanical saws right above them. “So I listened to the shadows… to all the cruel things they wanted to do to you,” he said menacingly, before he walked over to a table. “You should have never walked into that bunker,” he added with an angry tone, before he picked up a knife and a goblet. Then he turned around and approached Tatia. He looked at her face with his black demon eyes before giving her a cut from her elbow and down her arm. “Shh…” he said as he collected the blood into his cup, and when he had enough, he placed the goblet at a place that he’d set up for the witch’s blood ritual. It was one of the conditions for getting help with sealing their chains with dark magic. He then walked back with another goblet to do the same to Michael, however the wound quickly closed, not giving him nearly enough blood. “When I get out of these chains… you’re going to regret that,” he said with a cold look in his eyes. The demon just laughed as he was confident that the magic would last long enough for him to do plenty of harm. “Don't underestimate me, archangel,” he said before he cut deeper into his arm once again to gather more of his blood. Resisting the urge to do something worse, as he needed this for the witch. When he was done, he walked back to the table and draw a sigil on the wood using the blood.

Michael looked at Tatia to his side. “I’m really sorry about this,” he said in a low voice while the demon was occupied. He didn’t mean for her to be dragged into his mess. Even though she’d chosen to go along herself, he felt like he should have done more to protect her and avoid this situation.

"Many more times than I like to admit," she breathed out. Tatia didn't like it any bit, but she was so used to this treatment that it almost seemed like it was everyday work. Her facial expression didn't change at all. The bright flash made her close her eyes, only to have a change of setting. A witch who loved to use his abilities to torment people, she had met one like that before - that was the reason she was what she was today. Tatia remained quite. People who didn't know her, could easily think it was because she was scared - but fear was the last thing there would leave her system. The demon showed up, and she lifted a brow slowly. "Oh, don't you have anything better to do?" she then opened her mouth. He walked closer to her and her eyes didn't move from him. The knife cut her skin, but her eyes didn't flinch, like if she was numb to the pain. But Tatia faked a small sigh as if it was hurting her. Letting him know she couldn't feel a thing, could make her a target. And she wasn't up for that. Tatia snarled at the demon, and fought a battle no not loose her temper. All she would need would be a little fire. The demon walked over to Michael to give him the same treatment. Tatia barely listened to their argumentes and threats.

As the demon walked to the table, she looked over at Michael as he talked to her. Tatia snorted a bit and shook her head. "Don't be. The peaceful life has never been given to me anyways," she took a deep breath in and looked over at the demon, "I'm used to this," her voice sounded almost breathless. It wasn't like she was happy about it, there was just no other way around it.  
"One thing I didn't tell you about me... and as our friend over there is gonna figure out soon is.. that I'm not just any shapeshifter. I'm a dragon," she looked back at Michael. "Magic and dragons - aren't in sync. He might have help from a witch, but the witch isn't here - which means, the magic won't be able to hold me for long," she blinked a few times. Her eye color changed, but not to the red color from her wolf. But to an golden lizard type of eye. Tatia still didn't control her dragon shape very well, but this room was huge. She could fit in it, but would she be able to change back?  "But Michael? If I die in this battle. I want you to burn my body, okay?" She didn't say it as a question. Tatia knew she could return from the dead, even through it only had happened once when Wade killed her.

She confirmed that she’d been capture before, making him believe that they had more in common than he’d originally thought. When this was all over, he’d like to get to know more of her story, but for now he just nodded and remained silent.

The demon smiled maliciously at her comment. “This is what I call fun, shapeshifter… I wouldn’t trade it for anything else,” he replied her. He had no problem hurting others, in fact, he enjoyed it. Besides, these two had done plenty of harm to his kind. It only spiked his motivation to hurt them. He heard their vague voices behind him, but he was too focused on his work to care. As he was done writing, he started to read ancient words from an old book.
Michael looked at her for a long moment as she said the peaceful life wasn’t given to her - again it was something he related to. “Good,” he said. If she was used to this, then it was a lot easier for them to get out and he was slightly more assured about her making it. He raised a surprised brow when she revealed that she was a dragon. “You’re… a dragon?” he said, clearly in disbelief. Dragons didn’t belong in this world and even if they, somehow, made it into this world, they were extremely rare. His expression changed slightly as he noticed her eyes change color, realizing that she was probably telling the truth. “Alright…” he said before he turned his gaze to the demon, to see if he understood the language he was speaking. He looked back at her when she asked him to burn her body. He wasn’t going to let her die, but he knew that he couldn’t promise her that, so he just nodded to show her that he understood the request.

The demon finally turned around to look at his two victims, continuing the ancient words. When he was done, two shadows appeared, creeping around the walls before they approached Michael and Tatia. The shadow on Michael’s side cut through his chest with its sharp claws, cutting a deep wound that made him scream in pain, then it was his arms and his legs, before they scratched him across the face. The demon just stood there, cynically watching how his shadows ripped them to pieces, before he held up a hand and made them stop. Michael spit out some blood on the floor before he looked at the demon with emotionless eyes. He didn’t say anything, but the rage was clear to sense. He groaned as he pulled the chains upwards, trying to break them but the dark magic still held him down. The whole room was filled with darkness, making him want nothing but to escape.
The demon then went over to a control panel to turn on the saws above their heads, both slowly working their way down towards them. “Tatia... I’d like you to make a choice,” he said as he walked over to her with a small panel, a lever that would either stop hers or his blade, not giving her an option in between. “You decide whether the angel or you feel the cut of the blade,” he said calmly before he handed it to her, glancing up at the saw as it got closer by every second. “All you need to do is turn off one of them… this one is yours,” he said as he pointed to the one side where she could pull the lever, before looking at Tatia.

She closed her eyes. Letting the shadow do its worse. She controlled her pain. Pain was an illusion, or at least she had tricked her mind to that mindset. Tatia opened her eyes as the she heard the saws upon their heads. She moved her blue-green eyes up and then looked back at the demon. "Is that supposed to frighten me?" She asked and lifted her brow a little. However, the demon gave her a choice. Tatia frowned in confusion of what was about to happen. He handed her the lever, controlling her fate. Or his fate. Tatia took a deep breath in. The fight was all that she was. The killing. Betray and fighting. Her life was a never ending circle of that.
"You demons. Always here for a show," she whispered and snorted at the demon. "Oso gonplei nou ste odon," Tatia hissed. She spoke a language not from this world, but it didn't matter to them. But it did to her. Taia needed it to remind her of who she really was. Frustration and anger ran through her veins. The saw came closer by every second. The magic in her chains were beginning to wear off. He didn't know that. Tatia wasn't going to let him die, at least she knew - that she could come back to life. Be reborn in the flames if anyone let her body touch fire just by a second. The discovery of that ability had changed how she looked at life. At everything. She was cursed now, but that didn't mean that she was giving up easy.
"I'm not playing your silly little game.. coward," she hissed. It was time to overcome her fear. It was time for that change she was so afraid of. The sounds of bones cracking echoed in the big room. She still had a spark of fire. Maybe there was a little bit of hope yet. Tatia took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, then she breathed out - but it wasn't air that came out of her mouth. It was fire. She sat herself on flames. And high cracks sounded as she bursted up in flames. But the flames grew bigger. And the larger and wilder they grew, something else did. The saw above her head fell to the ground as it tried to cut through the scales. Out of the flames a dragon showed. The dragon growled and turned its face to the demon before it opened its mouth and lighted the poor creature up like a bonfire.

Smoke breathed out its mouth as the yellow lizard eyes searched the room. It hit its tail and pushed the saw above Michael away, the sound make its head turn to look at the angel. The deadly look roamed over the beast. Tatia barely controlled herself in this shape, the beast was much harder to contain. She blankly starred at the angel, as if every move could be the course of his death.

Michael looked up at the sound of the mechanical saws, then at Tatia when she spoke to the demon. She was good at masking any fear or pain, sounding confident in her speech. The demon just chuckled at her answer. He only saw it as a challenge. He’d have to do much more to frighten her, no doubt about that. She refused to play his game. “That’s a shame… I guess you’ll both have to die then,” he shrugged and walked away with the control panel to put it down on the table. The sound of bones cracking made him turn around. He realized what was happening with Tatia, that she was trying to shapeshift. “No,” he said. This wasn’t supposed to happen. The witch had promised him at least two more hours. Had their power outdone the magic? He felt the heat from the flames she breathed out. “What is this?” he asked, slightly fearing the unknown. What kind of creature was she? His gaze shifted over to Michael, noticing how his holy aura had grown stronger. “NO! We had a deal!” he yelled, clearly frustrated with the witch who'd helped him. Then he called his shadows back, desperate of weakening them until he figured out a better plan. He picked up one of his blades, thinking that he needed to stab them, but the flames grew stronger and bigger, making him step back to not get burned by it.

A dragon appeared from the flames, making the demon walk backwards while his shadows continued to slash her. As soon as the flames hit him, he vanished into dark smoke and disappeared. Michael tried everything to battle the dark magic and free himself before the blade got nearer. The moment he felt the saw cut into his shoulder, the dragon pushed it away. Seconds later the magic wore off, so he broke the chains and stood up from his seat. He briefly adjusted his sleeves around his wrists before he looked at the dragon. He saw the wild look in her eyes, making him turn to face her with a calm gaze. “Thank you,” he said, before he looked around the room. It seemed that the demon was gone - and his shadows with him. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, before he stepped towards a large garage door, clicking a button that opened it automatically. He stepped out into an empty parking lot. There was nothing but fields around the building, making it seem like they were in the middle of nowhere. He didn’t know if Tatia could turn back into her human form yet, but either way he wasn’t going to leave her - even if it meant that he’d get attacked. He looked down at the road ahead of them, knowing that they needed to follow it until they found a street sign. Only then they would get an idea of where they were.

The dragon wanted to just eat him for lunch, enjoy the pure taste of flesh and blood. But he didn't fear it. The human inside was screaming for him to be careful, mostly because she feared herself. Then she remembered that she had to be brave. So her ability kicked in and told her she could outrun whatever was holding her back and watched him walk out. It took some time but she got the dragon back and transformed into her human form. Tatia fell on the cold floor before getting up. Tatia walked outside the large door and ran a hand through her darkbrown hair. Being a shapeshifter from another time, she had never been one to feel embarrassed about her body. It had never been wrong in a pack to transform together. They were in it with nature. However, adjusting to this world - she also knew people had become very offensive and self critical.  
"Can I borrow your coat?" She then asked and looked at Michael.


// en smule kort, sorry <33

He was pretty sure that the demon was gone after witnessing the dragon attack him, but Michael would still try to track him, just in case. He needed to know that he wasn’t going to bother them anymore. He felt like this had been his fault, that he could’ve done something to prevent it. He turned around at the sound of Tatia’s voice, quickly changing his expression as he looked at her. He knew that it was natural for shapeshifters and werewolves to see each other like this, but he quickly felt himself blush. “Of course,” he said, immediately taking off his jacket and handing it to her, then looking up at the now burning building. “We’re far from Gaia,” he said, looking into the night before he started walking towards the road, wanting to get as far away from here as possible. “So a dragon? What kind of shapeshifter are you?” he asked, looking to her by his side for a moment before he looked ahead of him. Whatever had just happened wasn’t anything special, seeing that he got himself in fights every week and whenever he wasn’t, he tried to take his mind off it all.

They reached a bigger road, a sign saying School Rd, but there were many of those. He lifted his hand into a wave as a car passed by. It was an older guy and when he stopped, it seemed like he’d help them. The guy rolled down the window, “Hey, you need a lift?” he asked, mostly looking at Tatia since the coat barely covered her body, revealing her bare legs. Michael just looked at him for a long moment without answering him, manifesting and channeling electricity through the stranger’s body so he’d pass out. “I’m sorry,” he said, before he opened the door, grabbed the guy and pulled him out. Luckily it was so dark he hadn’t gotten a good look of their faces or their bloody clothes, but if he did, he wouldn’t have given them a lift and he'd probably called the cops. This was easier. “Let’s go,” he said, looking at Tatia before he got in the driver’s seat himself and drove off. He adjusted the rearview mirror a bit, before he looked at her. “Can you check if there’s a map in the glove compartment?” he asked, seeing that none of them had a phone on them.

The further away they got from the burning building, the more peaceful everything else seemed. The cold winter air felt refreshing as opposed to the fire, but even without his jacket his body kept warm from the adrenaline. “You don’t say,” he scoffed before he took a deep breath in. A dragon was probably the strongest creature a shapeshifter could turn into. He looked back at her with a pondering look as she revealed some people had made her into who she was now. He had heard of cruel experiments on species, so-called scientist trying to create new and more powerful soldiers. He figured she’d escaped from them eventually, seeing that they probably wanted her for their own selfish needs. “Are these psychos after you?” he asked in a serious tone, hoping that it wasn't the case.

Michael looked to her side as she questioned what England was, realizing how isolated her life had been until now. Then he looked back at the dark road ahead of him. “So… you’ve lived in the woods your whole life?” he asked, honestly a bit surprised, but it was the most reasonable explanation – either that or memory loss. He chuckled lightly when she said she didn’t trust the map, reminding him of the many times he’d returned to earth and discovered new inventions. “I guess we’ll just wing it,” he said. He still needed time to regain his strength, hence the reason for him driving the car in the first place and she probably needed to rest as well. He didn’t mind, despite everything that they’d been through, it was nice to have some company for a change. “United Kingdom is a small fraction of this world… I highly recommend that you visit other nations,” he adviced, going back to the first thing she said. However, he also understood that most shapeshifters were pack animals and rarely travelled on their own.

He scoffed briefly by her comment. “Yeah,” he said. Michael had countless of enemies dying to get their hands on him. It was simply the cost of living the life he did. He nodded slowly as she explained where she grew up, looking into the dark night ahead of them. “Cain? As in the one who murdered his brother?” he asked, of course knowing about the first human murderer, and that he resided in this part of the world. As she mentioned the big birds in the sky, a faint smiled appeared on his lips. “Uh-yeah mechanical birds, ships, portals… or by knowing someone like me,” he said, glancing at her when he mentioned himself. However, it would surely drain him if he tried to teleport them away, so it had seemed like the better option to drive until he’d fully recovered from the beatings.

He looked at her for a moment as she stated something that he hadn’t met many who knew what felt like. It was one of the reasons he was on his own to begin with because he couldn’t exactly share those thoughts or experiences with anyone. Michael always had to keep on fighting, it wasn’t an option for him, and even if he did get to be free from his obligations, he'd still fail to live a normal life. It simply wasn't in the cards for him. There'd always people to save and monsters to kill. “I haven't met many who understood that,” he said. It was of course God who'd given him the mission to fight evil and kill supernatural monsters, but still, many of his siblings didn't understand why he couldn't live a life like theirs.

He saw a sign with Oxford on it, following the road down to that as he knew his brother owned a mansion there that was warded against demons. He parked the car in its driveway, before he walked out of the car and opened her door. "We should be safe here," he stated as he walked towards the front door and unlocked it. Michael had lived here on occasion when he worked cases nearby, and he knew that his brother was on vacation for the time being, so he didn't think he minded them seeking refuge there. "So, how long have you lived in the forest near Gaia?" he asked as he'd entered the living room, leaning halfway against the back of one of the couches as he looked at her.

He hadn’t meant it like that, after all, he’d done bad things to his brothers as well, but it had been the easiest way to recognize whether she talked of the Cain he knew. Besides, he believed that Cain had a good reason behind the murder, despite the way it was depicted in the Bible. He smiled faintly as she stated that nowhere was safe, however, this was as close as people like them got to safety.
He nodded as she revealed having lived there since the Muertos were created in Gaia. He lowered his chin slightly as she started to explain something about an arena. He’d heard of that, albeit first when it was too late. It was clear to him that she’d been one of the soldiers fighting for her life, being viewed as nothing but entertainment for others. It explained why she’d wanted the demons out of the forest. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, following her gaze out the window. Michael had been trapped many times, and unholy creatures had toyed with him for as long as they’d existed, so he understood the pain she’d endured. “And now? Do you live in the forest with your pack?” he asked, returning his eyes to her after she’d explained that she’d burned the place down and saved her people.