The Cerulean Countess

Isrina tossed in her sleeping bag with a nightmare of three demonic sisters surrounding Shien's body and drinking his blood. Each one was of a different element: earth, ice, and death.

"Isrina!" Oreic shook her awake. "You there? Wake up!"

"Shien!" Isrina screamed.

She saw her unconscious son leaning on a bookshelf.

"Thank God!" Isrina hugged Shien. "My Little Chickadee!"

Oreic summoned his flaming saxophone bo staff. "We need to get out of here!"

"There's too many of them!" Rahim ran to the group with Naphthien, turning back to fire his shotgun behind him. "They found us! Wake up!"

"Huh?" Niode rubbed his eyes, gazing at the window. "It's still dark though."

As Oreic dragged Niode and his family up, Naphthien thrashed her two chains and claw whips behind the group.

"What's happening?" Niode panicked as he held his daughter.

"W-what are those?" Tetsuyin squinted her eyes at the blurry figures.

"Stealth hounds, very dangerous. We need to get out!" Master Oreic helped Isrina carry Shien.

"Nani? Nani?" Lansen waddled about until Nashura threw the trash bird into Tetsuyin's arms.

Naphthien swung a chain claw behind Tetsuyin as Rahim used his specter goggles to detect the enemies. Mivangeline's mother screamed as Naphthien's claw strangled the stealth hound from biting her leg. Oreic and Nashura led Isrina and the Shuruukos across the maze of bookshelves as Nashura's parents protected them from behind.

"Enbu Fenix! Burn away all unrighteousness!" Oreic played his saxophone to summon his phoenix to light up the dark hallways.

The phoenix flapped its blazing wings to blow the stealth hounds away in flames.

"Let's move!" Oreic instructed. "There's a stairway across this floor!"

The gang rushed through the library for the stairs as Master Oreic and the Murhavs protected them from the savage wolves.

"Stay alive, Niode!" Rahim threw a shuriken at the stealth hound before it could chomp on Niode. "If you die, we can never get to Choro Emplexion!"

"We can lose them at the stairs!" Oreic kicked a stealth hound away.

The group heard booming engines that made the floor rumble. They saw a red-eyed gunship shaped like a hammerhead shark, grinning with its metal teeth at the windows. The two mounted laser cannons on the hammer-shaped head faced the gang.

"Hammerhead gunship!" Oreic pushed everyone into the stairway. "Don't stop!"

The shark-shaped aircraft fired while Master Oreic repelled the fire with his bo staff.

"I don't like this!" Tetsuyin screamed with the roaring explosions. "Why is this happening to us?"

"I'm sorry, Tetsuyin," Isrina scrambled down the stairs with the group. "I'm sorry you had to see all of this!"

As the group rushed down the circling stairs, the gunship hovered down with its rectangular eyes watching them through the windows. Naphthien swung her chain claw at the gunship's right eye. The gunship roared as Naphthien yanked her claw to pluck the machine's eye off. The one-eyed hammerhead flew away and activated its fin missile launchers. It fired a swarm of missiles to dismantle the library. The group screamed as the stairs crumbled to the lobby.

"Ow!" Niode used his body to shield his wife, daughter, and trash buddy from the rubble. "What did I get myself into?"

"My Little Chickadee!" Isrina clutched onto her son.

"That gunship's looking for us," Rahim peeked outside to spot the hammerhead hovering above the library ruins. "Let's escape in the opposite direction."

The group ran through the dark hallway full of bookshelves, tattered furniture, and a circular receptionist desk.

"Good," Rahim loaded his shotgun as he analyzed the lobby with his specter goggles. "No stealth hounds here. Hope it stays that way."

Three sisters. Earth, ice, and death. Isrina carried Shien. Why were they drinking Shien's blood?

She accidentally dropped Shien, but Oreic caught him.

"I can take it from here," Oreic smiled.

Isrina sighed. "Thanks."

Master Oreic was an uncle figure to Shien and his friends, watching them for years. He vowed to protect Shien and the UICA families' children from the Federation. Isrina smiled at the Vultau master but looked down with a frown.

"You alright?" Oreic's Vulpi ears twitched.

"I-I had a bad dream."

"Goodness, I never liked those. What's bothering you?"

"I saw-"

Oreic suddenly ran in front of the group, stopping them from walking out of the library's front doors.

"What is it, Master Oreic?" Rahim looked around to see if there were any stealth hounds.

"Do you feel that?"

A snowy wind blew through the building cracks and doors onto everyone's skin. Their hearts felt as if they dropped cold. The air around them turned misty white and blue. The families felt goosebumps numbing their entire bodies.

Niode struggled to keep Mivangeline in his arms. "W-why is it so cold now? It's still summer."

"N-no way," Rahim chattered his teeth. "I-I haven't felt this cold since... Sychrom Takoizu."

"Who... is that?" Nashura asked.

Isrina huffed. "A powerful Shin-Kaminari who was Amitonyx's right-hand man. He mastered the Sanskrit arts of ice, the Panthereal Shiva."

"But your husband killed Sychrom!" Rahim gasped. "U-unless... Oh, no."

"Someone's out there!" Oreic pointed.

The group shivered, looking outside the front doors of the library. There were ravaged hotels, hospitals, and restaurants outside in the nighttime as the misty winter wind howled. A girl stood on the tattered streets, facing the gang in the cold mist. She was wearing a blue yukata that matched her blue hair styled in a bun. Blue quartz crystals erupted from the street around the mysterious girl. The entire group huddled together, afraid.

"K-Kyrinna, Sychrom's daughter," Rahim held his wife and daughter with trembling hands. "T-the Cerulean Countess!"

"I-I can feel one emotion from her," Oreic felt his Vulpi ears and tail frozen by the cold. "Anger towards you, Isrina."

The Cerulean Countess glared at Isrina, ready to make the Niangs suffer for her father's death.