Chapter 7

As the girl said, the vent emptied out into a rarely used hall. The hall was long, but unlike the others it was filled with cobwebs and dust. Damion quietly and with caution exited the hidden vent. Venturing slowly down the dark and musky walkway. 

 At the end, the hall teed off in two directions. There was a low glow from a light on one side. "Well if I were a bad guy, that is probably where I would keep my prisoner." He said lowly to himself. Using large boxes and some small display shelves to hide, Damion made his way. As he creeped closer to the glowing light he could hear voices. Most likely guards, Damion ducked behind an out of place bookshelf and peeked around. 

 "One, two, three, four. Oh great." Damion lowered his head whispering to himself. "Four giant Angels and one lowly human. Thanks whoever you are? What the fuck am I supposed to do now? You could have at least given me a way to defeat the idiots guarding her." Damion once again peeked out. He looked around for anything he might be able to use against them that wouldn't raise alarm. 

 While he was contemplating whether or not this was a suicide mission, a loud crash came from the opposite hall. "Shit they are going to come right by here!" He thought. Damion tucked as close as he could to the corner. 

 "What the hell was that?!" Yelled one Angel. 

 "I don't know idiot! Go look!" With a loud smack to the head three of the Angels ran by. Closing his eyes and hoping to stay out of sight Damion stayed as still as possible. Thankfully he managed to remain out of sight as the last of three Angels flew by him. 

 "That leaves just the one." He took a breath and readied himself to fight. 

 "Yeah, so how are going to beat him, get the keys and get the girl out of here?" The sudden small voice surprised Damion and he almost lost his balance. He looked around, but couldn't find anyone there. "I know you have that flame magic, but honestly if you're loud you will be found by the other three dingbats." 

 "Where are you?" Damion whispered. "Right here moron. Look down." Afraid of what he would see Damion slowly, with a deep breath, looked towards the ground. There he saw a small mouse-like creature with horns. Damion knelt down. "There is no way a mouse is talking to me. I think maybe my fear has started to make me lose my mind." Damion poked the horns on the top of its head. "Besides what kind of mouse has horns? That has to be the dumbest thing my mind could have made." 

 The mouse then proceeded to bite Damion on the finger. "That is very rude. I sir am not a figment or hallucination. I am a very powerful familiar." The mouse said sternly. "So how do you plan on getting the keys and defeating that Angel." Damion stood there a minute. He then noticed a large mace they carry into battles. Above the mace was a window that goes out to the lawn. 

 "I have a plan, but we are going to need to be fast." Damion crouched over to the window and grabbed the mace. He walked back over to his hiding spot. "Now I just need a distraction." 

 "Well how are you going to do that?" Damion looked at the familiar with a mischievous grin. The poor mouse started to flee, but was caught and thrown out in front of the unholy guard. "What the hell are you doing here?" 

 "Funny story." The familiar chuckled nervously. The Angel startled and reached forward to grab the small mouse. "No no." He scurried past where Damion was hiding. With all his might he swung the weapon and layed the Angel out. Damion quickly grabbed the keys. "Let's go!" Damion whispered. With that he ran to open the doors. He jerked it open and saw Lacy sitting in the bed. 

 Lacy jumped up clearly scared it might be the Unholy. "How did you get here?" She asked with relief. 

 "It's a long story which I will gladly tell you as soon as we are out of here and safe!" Damion said with a hurry. 

 "Not to be a bother, but it sounds like the three stooges are on their way back." The familiar stated, running up onto Damion's shoulder. Lacy screamed and Damion quickly covered her mouth. "Can you please freak out later?" Lacy growled and yanked Damion's hand from her mouth. Before she could voice her rebuttal, Damion yanked her out of the room and towards the small window which, to his relief was unlocked. 

 The three escaped onto the lawn and towards the forest that the surrounded the mansion. Still pulling on Lacy, Damion ran as fast as he could. Behind them he could hear yelling that the prisoners had escaped, as well as the chaos of readying everything they could to hunt them down. 

 "You know I used to hate the fact that the Demons and Angels were stripped of most of their powers, however right now I am so very grateful." The passenger on Damion's shoulder spoke. "You and me both mouse." Damion said much out of breath. 

 "My name isn't mouse. The name is Reginald." He spat back. "You could have at least asked my name you know. That is bad manners." Damion rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Well forgive me for not thinking about formalities while I was trying to stay alive!" 

 "Both of you shut up and run faster." At this they both looked ahead and noticed that Lacy was now in the lead. Still trying to run in and out of trees Damion heard a loud growl behind them. "How do Angels have control of Hellhounds?!" He panicked. We need to pick up the pace he thought to himself, but how? Just then Reginald leaped off the back of Damion and started to transform in mid-air. His body twisted and turned. His colors darkened from brown to black as his legs started forming hooves. 

 "You can transform?!" "There are a lot of things I can do, but for now get on!" Damion jumped onto Reginald who was now a large black stallion. Reginald galloped towards Lacy, who was still running. "Lacy grab hold." Damion yelled and reached out for her hand. 

 "Where did this come from?" She Questioned. Reginald turned his head and winked at her. "What?! He can transform?!" 

 As they ran a few Hellhounds had caught up to them. "Shit they are on us!" screamed Damion. 

 "Cover your mouths!" Reginald then said a strange word and all of the sudden a silver mist appeared behind them. "That will throw them off. The crystals block their senses temporarily." 

 "Reginald you brilliant beast!" Damion said with excitement. 

 The voices and hounds started to fade in the background. The three rode for hours. Taking creeks and staying in the trees. Reginald was so wildly fast that had lost their pursuers. 

 "Reginald, where are we going?" Damion asked weary, hungry and ready for sleep. "There is an old city that has kind of been forgotten. The wilderness has taken it over and there are a few underground tunnels that are hidden. We can rest there for the night." 

 "So what exactly is a familiar?" Asked Damion. 

 " Well if you look in old stories from the humans long ago, they say we were pets that aided witches and wizards.That isn't true. Humans lied. Familiars are spirit guides. We exist between the human world and the spiritual world. Long ago, humans had learned how to track us down and they enslaved our kind. I hated them for a long time. When the war first started many of us fought with the Unholy. We wanted revenge for our comrades, but we quickly learned that the Angels where no better. When they were stripped of their strength and spiritual powers they learned they could harvest ours from our blood. They used us in making amulets and weapons. Some used Charms to gain the abilities we possessed. In the end we were betrayed by the Unholy as well." 

 "I'm sorry for the past wrongs of our people Reginald." Damion said stoking his mane to show his sympathy. "Thank you. You are a very kind child." 

 "How could people be so cruel? We were no different from the Unholy." Lacy said. 

 "Beings of all kinds seek power girl. There is no species of being that can say they do not." Lacy dropped her head. After that the three travelled in silence. 

 Damion spaced out. Lost in thought he was brought too by Lacy's voice. "Wow it's beautiful. It looks like it is painted red." Lacy gawked at the field of flowers in awe. "These were called Indian Paintbrushes by the ones who used to live here." Reginald said as he walked through the field. They walked past an old, decayed sign that just said Lind the rest of the sign was rusted too much to see. "Just beyond those trees there is an underground tunnel system. It is hard to see unless you know where to look. The last inhabitants called it the Underground Railroad. I honestly have no idea why since it is not a railroad at all." 

 Reginald walked a couple of miles into the tree line and stopped at an array of berry bushes." Alright off you go." With that Damion and Lacy hopped off and Reginald changed into another form. This time he took form of a beast with long golden hair and floppy ears. "This way." He said and gestured for the two to follow. They got onto their bellies and crawled through. As they kept inching forward they noticed the area becoming a damp, mossy mud. It started to open up. As it did the two stood up and dusted off. "They really built this place? It's huge." Damion said as he took in the sights that surrounded them. 

 The further they ventured in the wider and more sturdy it became. Solid pillars made of both stone and wood supported the ceiling and walls. Each engraved with depictions of the recent wars between the Unholy and The Demons. Damion stopped for one in particular caught his eye. On it was carved a great Demon with a shield hovering over the humans to protect them from the Angels. He recognized both depicted on the pillar. "This is Azier and Gabriel?" Damion said. 

 Lacy walked over to the pillar to see what Damion saw. "Is Gabriel holding a child?" Damion looked over. Indeed, there was Gabriel with a baby in his arms. "It's weird." Damion said. 

 "Often the Unholy would take children to raise for their armies." Reginald said. 

 Damion couldn't help but stare. He knew that already, but this felt different. In the picture it looked like Gabriel was protecting the child. "There is no way. Gabriel is a heartless killer" Damion thought to himself. He then proceeded further in. 

 "Why is there a house down here?" Damion stopped and looked at where Lacy was pointing. There was a small window and door attached to a wall. Lacy went up and attempted to wipe off the dust so she could see inside. Damion walked up next to her to have a look as well. The two peered inside with no luck. It was hard to see inside given that both the tunnels, even though there was power, and the house were very dark. "Yes this is where we will be staying tonight." stated Reginald as he just pushed the door open with his paw. He then walked in like he had lived there forever. Reginald then shifted into a small monkey and approached an oil lantern. 

 "Reginald was this your home?" Asked Damion cautiously. "Not mine. It once belonged to my previous captor. A human girl. She bound me by accident. I had come upon her while she was crying. She was young, alone and scared. Her mother and father had built this place during the start of the war, but were killed by the Unholy when they went hunting. It was meant to keep her safe. When she was reading she happened upon a book. She didn't know what it was, but I did. Before I could stop her, she read the incantation. After that I could only be released by her death. Don't get me wrong, she was a kind sweet girl. The incantation allowed both of to share each others thoughts. It also made us share the pain. It helped me know when she was hurting and most of the time the pain was mild." Reginald looked as if he was going to cry. 

 "What happened to her?" Lacy asked. 

 "I was outside and somehow I got caught by one of the unholy scouts. They tortured me so much. Almost bleeding me dry. As they did this I could feel her agony." Reginald chocked up. "All I could do was sit there while she slowly passed away. It was my fault she suffered so much." 

 Lacy and Damion sat in silence as the small being tried to hold back tears from the memory he had locked inside. "Anyways, Let me show you were you will be staying." Reginald led the two humans to a large room with a bed. "It will be safer if you two stayed together. Embarrassed, Lacy voiced her aggravation. "I can't sleep in a bed with a boy! That just won't happen." She huffed and turned to grab a blanket. She shoved it into Damion's arms. " I don't care if there is a war going on, or how unsafe it is! You will sleep on the couch." 

 Damion stood dumbfounded. He simply couldn't understand what the fuss was. Why does it matter if they slept together? He and Azier slept together all the time. Infact it was much warmer when he did. He had always felt safe with the giant body next to him. As Damion stared lost in thought his stomach decided to remind him how hungry he was. "Is there anything I can cook?" He asked the spirit. 

 Both the spirit and the girl looked at Damion in surprise. "Honestly I didn't think a simpleton like you could cook." Reginald started to walk to the food prep area. "I have vegetables, but my supplies don't go further than that." 

 "First, yes I can cook. I cooked for Azier when I was at the Demon camp. Second, I will show you what I can do with whatever you have you just sit down and watch!" Damion rolled up his sleeves and started to prepare a vegetable stew. When he was done he proudly slapped the bowls down in front of his new found comrades. 

 They looked at each other and then the food. "After you." The familiar pointed. Lacy took a gulp and then picked up the spoon. "Here goes nothing." Damion rolled his eyes. 

 "The food is fine!" Damion snapped. Lacy took the spoon to her mouth and took a bite. "Well you're not dead. I suppose that is good." The monkey chuckled. 

 "Damion this is absolutely amazing!" Lacy exclaimed as she gobbled down what was left in her bowl. 

 "Yes I do agree. The food you prepared is passible." Reginald said as he ate the stew. 

 Damion sat down and joined them for the meal. He mssed eating with someone he liked. His mind trailing back to the many meals he shared with Azier. "I miss him." He thought. 

 After they ate, they all sat around and visited. Lacy told Reginald the story of how Damion saved her. She also told a little of her family history. Apparently, she was kidnapped by the Unholy when she was six. The one who kidnapped her used her as a maid until she was of age. At seventeen she had escaped that captor, but when she returned home her parents and two older siblings had been killed. That is when Gabriel had picked her up and taken her to the village they were in up until the escape. 

 "I keep thinking this, but Gabriel is a bit strange right?" Damion stated. 

 "How do you mean?" Questioned Lacy. 

 "I mean his actions. Like how in the picture, he looked like he was protecting the baby. How he could have tortured me until I did what he wanted, or he could of just killed Lacy. I mean he already knew who hid you away. So why?" Damion sat back and scratched his head. 

 "Damion there is no way Gabriel has even a sliver of kindness. He was just trying to harm you 'cause he wanted you to trust him. He doesn't give any thought other than to what he wants." Lacy huffed. 

 "I suppose you're right." Damion sighed. 

 "Well I am tired. If you two would excuse me, I am going to go to sleep." Lacy went the room and shut the door. 

 Damion sat on the couch a little longer thinking about what they just discussed. His thoughts were interrupted by the pounce of something on the blanket he was now covered in. "If you keep furrowing your brows like that you will get wrinkles early." Chuckled a now calico colored cat. Reginald curled into a ball on Damion's lap and fell to sleep. 

 "I just get this strange feeling there is something off about Gabriel." With that last thought Damion fell into a deep sleep.