Usual Warning: What is not mine, is not mine.

The Way Of The Melody

Chapter 10 – The Musical Weapon

Enagi-Khiole did not show signs of fear, even as the lobby they were in started to shake. The logical thing, it seemed, was to attend to the message sphere. The shaking subsided as Enagi-Khiole turned the crank to power it up. The ball’s glow turned to a pink. A shimmering image of a Pavonian woman appeared. “Among those who mastered the magic of music, song can become a weapon. Only those worthy may have it!”

“Right,” sneered Jemma, “another one of those mystical types. Yes, we have another sod test and it isn’t maths or chemistry!”

“These tests are very necessary, e’Xenia! The choir must sing in unison, or it is no longer a choir.”

“Woah, she’s talking to you,” said Alex, “aren’t these supposed to be recordings?”

“You have an understanding of the Enagi technology of the Message Sphere, yet you do not. But that is not relevant, it is in another key. The Enagi of the Melody will face me, somewhere within this hotel. You will face me when you are ready, when you have proven that you are. Then shall the music be heard.” The energized ball flew off the pedestal, and bounced along to a door that it crashed through, while a strange tune was sung by it.

“Ooo, ooo!” pointed Miglo, before shouting something that Enagi-Khiole translated as “follow the bouncing ball.”

“You have to be feckin’ kiddin’. Follow the bouncing ball? Is this some cartoon sing-along?” commented Seamus. “And where’s the subtitles?”

“I don’t know,” replied Enagi-Khiole, “but we have to go there!”

“Go there,” repeated Miglo, while pointing that way. Enagi-Khiole repeated it in both English and Pavonian. Miglo smiled.

“Hannah, you wait here,” instructed Enagi-Khiole. The Awu nodded in acknowledgement.

The way led through a long passageway. A door busted open in front of them. Through it ran a pair of girls who appeared to be around thirteen years old. They were human, and they wore unusual outfits. The outfits were made of two layers, the outer layer resembling a white nightgown, but with a hood and drawstrings, and one girl had cat ears and a cat tail on her gown, the other had rabbit ears and a rabbit tail, as well as wings. The inner gowns were pink for Rabbit-ears and black for Cat-ears. The hair that peaked through their hoods matched their inner-gown colors. Cat-ears also wore a spherical bell on her neck. She shook a tambourine, and the two began to sing.

“Awu awu, awu awu, we have a message for you, Awu awu, awu awu, we have a message for you. The magic forces the music inside a ball that can be thrown, but when it shatters all the music inside will be blown, the secret is know by but a few and that way it may remain, the wrong person who presses after the secret surely shall be slain. Awu awu, awu, awu, this is our message to you! Say what you want to say, your total conduct will end up saying it all!”

“Like, you look like someone from some Japanese cartoon,” commented Alex. “Who are you?”

“We mean no harm,” added Enagi-Khiole.

“We gave a message for you!” shouted the two in unison, before they ran off.

“Lunatics, the lot of them!” snapped Seamus.

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In the Guviala Technology Center, on Route 11, next to the town of Guviala, in the kingdom of Zyga, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Greek soldiers were stationed in a large hangar-like room, guarding multiple enormous yellow devices with tubing and wires. Every few moments, they would march a part of a perimeter around the devices. A door opened, and in walked a pair of people in lab coats.

“Here they are,” said one of them, a human man with a beard and glasses. A nametag identified him as Dr. Dimitri Palastroukos. “Cyclotrons, specially configured to for use in extreme radiation therapy. Advancements in the past couple of decades mean that all tumor-based cancers are quickly treatable. To put it quickly, if it’s a tumor, it’s gone. Two of them will be installed in the Attewa-Kilmeara medical centre. Pavonia will have a galaxy-class hospital, Ooya.”

“That’s very impressive,” said the other one, a female Ya’a Naomi (resembling a cross between a human and a raccoon) identified as Dr. Ooya Selala. “I never cease being amazed.”

“Contact between the different worlds mean we’ve all been able to perfect each other’s technology. I imagine the great thinkers among the Pavonians will have their own contributions in deep time. The only problem with these devices is they can be as deadly to us as to tumors.”

“How?”

“They work by rapid acceleration of particles. A so called ‘slow laser’ could be developed using neutrons or mesons instead of the usual coherent light, and such weapons are infinitely more dangerous. So until they are installed and enough safeguards are put in, they are guarded here.”

“How many are they?”

“There are precisely eighty-four guards stationed here, ma’am!” answered one of the Italian soldiers. The soldiers moved a quarter of the way around again.

“I cannot wait for the ceremony, they will-”

A loud alarm wailed. The soldiers immediately checked their weapons, and looked around in their designated directions. Bright lights flashed. The two guests ran behind a cabinet and watched. A piece of wall blew up behind them. They turned around.

Phil Theerich stood with a smirk on his face, with Al standing next to him. A group of armed and armored Ghorkhas stood with them.

“You must have some mistake,” said Ooya, panicking, “We don’t have any cows here!”

“That’s alright,” replied Phil. “We don’t need any cows. We’re not here to rustle cattle. We’re here for a cyclotron.” Al and Phil pushed the scientists out of the way, before pushing down the cabinet. The soldiers had their guns ready and aimed. Al rushed forward, while the others provided covering fire. The soldiers tried shooting Al, but the bullets and lasers would not slow him down, they’d only make white blood splash. Al chose one soldier, and put his right hand on his head. The soldier swore in Spanish, as Al twisted the soldier’s head and unscrewed it as though it were a lightbulb. The other soldiers were quickly mowed down by the Ghorkhas.

“Time to claim our prize,” announced Phil. A large orange and yellow vehicle resembling a cross between a crane, a tow-truck and a forklift came in. The Ghorkhas worked to detach one of the cyclotrons, so that it could be taken. Al activated his communications unit.

“Yeah, we got the cyclotron. I get it, project Dorotea, yes? Ok, I’m coo’ with that!” He turned towards everyone else. “Bring this shit back to base!”

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Fortissimo passed torches that cast strange flickering light. “Where has that bloody ball gotten to?” asked Jemma.

Through a large double door, they came to an enormous circular room. In the middle of the room was a large spinning device that resembled a Leslie speaker, and atop that, was the glowing pink sphere.

A cacophony of various female voices saying “ding” many times, and the word, not an imitation of a bell ringing, greeted their ears. Then they saw it. Around the devices walked a long endless line of Pavonian girls. The girls were all in dark blue leotards. Enagi-Khiole wondered where they were from, as it was nothing she ever saw a Pavonian girl wear. Their hair was all in dark colors, but their kulae and koronae came in different colors. They slowly walked around the room, in a deliberate manner, and they all moved in unison. The speaker device spoke, chanting the word “Ding” eight times, always in pairs, as “ding-ding.” After that was chanted, the girls repeated the chanting, in the same general manner, while circumambulating the devices. They held their hands in front of them, palms downward, and moving them so one was higher than the other, the higher palm corresponding to what leg was back.

“There it is,” said Jemma. “I’ll get it!”

“Wait!” warned the voice of Areia. Jemma ran towards a gap in the circle, but was thrown backwards with an electric shock.

“Crikey, this circle’s electrified!”

“Look,” pointed Enagi-Khiole. In the circle of moving girls were gaps. On the ground, blue sparkles flashed in the gaps between the girls.

“I’m going,” said Alex. She walked into the next gap, but after she took a step, she was rudely given a shove out, and felt a tingling sensation. The girls replaced their “ding-ding” with “sing-sing” for one set of dings.

“Listen, we have to go into the gaps, and do as they do, with our feet, hands, and voices,” suggested Enagi-Khiole. She explained the meaning in Pavonian for the benefit of Miglo. She led, holding the staff in one of her hands, while ensuring to otherwise mimic all of the movements, while Miglo, Seamus, Alex, and Jemma followed. They continued, while Alex and Seamus really hated the test. After walking around for the second time, Alex was the first to notice a cube-shaped crystal on the other side of the devices. She kicked it, and the speaker stopped spinning. The girls stopped moving. They shook for a bit, before collapsing. Their bodies glowed a bright blue, before they evaporated. The sphere began to speak.

“They were not real children. The test continues. Another movement lies ahead, so presto to it!” The ball took off again. The group pressed after the ball through another door. The ball was still quicker than them. Another door opened, with the girl in the rabbit-eared nightgowns returning. This time, she was playing a large red drum. She banged on its sides with sticks.

“Your challenge shall keep on going, and going, and going,” she warned. “As I play my drum that is red.” Something echoed through Seamus’ mind. A red drum. Something sounded wrong. After heading for another door, the drummer’s final warning was “You better RUN!” With that, the door slammed shut behind her, and a loud accordion tune reverberated through the hallways. The group saw a strange ethereal dog-like creature following them, with a multi-color halo shining in all directions around it. Screaming and running ensued. They came to a spiral staircase, which instinct told them to ascend. The music died down as they did so. As soon as the last of them reached the top, a large door slammed behind them. They admired the room. Torches lined the walls, and an octagonal chandelier hung from the ceiling. Lining the walls were benches.

“Whoever designed this hotel is a tosser who should be shot,” was Jemma’s assessment. “I mean it hates us!” Just then, a glowing ball fell from the ceiling. A humming came from it. Seamus ran up to it. It exploded, with the sound of music, and threw him backwards.

“A musical grenade?” he asked, bewildered.

Miglo leapt up and down. He stamped on a piece of floor, and it gave way, revealing a hole. He walked around, revealing more holes. One of the holes opened itself without him touching it, and a large rat-like creature leapt onto him and pinned him. Samus whipped out his pistol and shot it. Miglo rose to his feet, and said a few words Seamus took for thanks. The door to the next room was shut. Next to it was a note. Enagi-Khiole read it.

“This is the eleventh day. Mom went out two times, and came back. Now she went out a third time. She hasn’t been back. I don’t know what’s wrong. Where is everybody going? Does everybody hate me? I don’t want to run out of food, but I don’t want to go out, in case…it…kills us.” The sound of a thunderclap echoed from outside.

Everyone tried the door. Then Enagi-Khiole held up her musical saw. “¡Puerto Abierto!” she sung. The door was flung open. On the other side, they faced an enormous Ene symbol. “This must be a chapel,” she decided. The center of the badly lit room had a large statue of a Pavonian woman with a myriad of robes, and long hair. On her forehead was the Ene symbol. The robes, hair, and feathers were not carved like her body was, it were made of different materials. Cushions lining one part of the floor, and another message ball mounted on a staff, were the only other features in the room.

Alex had the honor of spinning the crank this time. When it was charged up, the sphere showed an image of two Pavonian children, one male, the other, female, both of them with reddish hair and metallic-colored kulae. The girl was in a saiayöta and the boy in just a lele, both were dirty. Food marks were visible on the boy’s chest, as well. Their hair was messy. Frantic yelling escaped their mouths. They tried to take turns talking, but soon degenerated into incoherent yelling.

“Funny winged ladies,” said Genifa, translating as best she could, “they said something about them, and asked Ene to save them from the funny winged ladies, and the...” The recording abruptly ended.

They walked through another door, down a hallway, and into an open door, that led to a bedroom, that was barely lit at all. Enagi-Khiole spread her kula and inundated the room with light from her ocelli. A large six-poster bed (as it had more than four posts) lay at one end, like an elongated throne. A turquoise Ene symbol was above the head-board. A large alcove could be seen to the right, but what was in it could not be seen. Enagi-Khiole carefully moved forward, with her staff at the ready. Strange violin-like music wafted through the air. She moved backwards, and it faded out. The others walked around, but nothing seemed to happen. As Enagi-Khiole moved, however, the music did become louder. She looked around the corner, revealing what she thought was an alcove was an entire section of the room. But there was an accompanying flash of light. Torches lit up, and glowing balls appeared in different places in the room. They regularly pulsed with energy. Faint semi-transparent versions of the same thing were wafting around the room. They hesitantly moved forward. The music became even more intense, and the room started to shake.

“Don’t touch those balls,” warned the spirit of Areia. “They are weapons.”

Cautiously they moved, but the ground began to tilt randomly. And the balls moved about. A loud chord sounded, and the more “solid” balls became semi-transparent, and flitted about, whereas the semi-transparent ones solidified, and ceased their darting. Miglo rushed to one of the walls, and climbed up. The others sighed, as that was the perfect way to avoid all of the orbs.

Enagi-Khiole approached the corner she wanted to look around. Just as she looked the other way, she came close to one of the balls. It detonated with sonic energy, and she was flung onto the bed. The room shook, and Miglo came crashing through the canopy and landed on Enagi-Khiole’s lap.

“I wish I had me camera,” joked Seamus. “Oh FECK!” He leapt aside as another of the spheres detonated. He touched one of the semi-transparent ones. The room was shaking even more, and brightly-colored lights were flashing. Loud music resembling 60’s or 70’s era rock pulsated through the room, accompanied by wailing-like sounds.

“Genifa, stop this,” pleaded Alex. She ran to the bed, but ran into one of the mines, and was musically struck. She had a bloody nose. Enagi-Khiole rolled out of the bed, and looked past the corner. There was yet another of the orb-message devices. This one had a circular rack with multiple orbs. Next to it was a door. She headed towards it, but a skeleton appeared, and blocked her way. Skeletons appeared elsewhere in the room as well. One came to drag Miglo off the bed. He kicked it in the head, and it collapsed. Another one came to Jemma, but she grabbed it, and power-slammed it against one of the bed posts.

Seamus saw three skeletons. “Come here, you eejits!” They complied, but ran into one of the mines, which was solid. It detonated with a sonic explosion, and reduced them to piles of bones.

Enagi-Khiole yelled, and twirled her staff around, knocking down the skeletons. She reached the device. All of the sound-bombs blew up, causing small pieces of ceiling to fall, and the bed to fall apart. Miglo emerged from the wreckage with a smile on his face. The skeletons all fell apart, and the music and lights faded into nothing. Next to the spheres was a bloody dagger. The spheres were connected to a large wheel that had a lever in the middle of it. In total, there were eleven different spheres. Enagi-Khiole pulled on the lever, and the spheres rotated. The spheres were in different colors. The sphere on the pillar was green. The crank was wound up, and the sphere began to play. It showed the two children, their clothing now dirtier, and visible cuts on them, screaming. Everyone covered their ears for the last scream.

“Try a different globe,” suggested Jemmas. “There isn’t an Easy Listening, is there? After that scream, no Heavy Metal, please!”

“It doesn’t say anything on them,” replied Enagi-Khiole, as she pushed the lever and landed on a yellow sphere. She cranked it. This time it showed scenes from the hotel, while calm music played. At the end, a voice in Pavonian said “Have a nice sleep, and the next day is better.”

“No way, they, like, had commercials back then?” asked Alex. The next sphere was orange. It was cranked, and the mysterious children in nightgowns returned, along with a third one, wearing a similar outfit, but this one more tree-kangaroo like. That one, who turned out to be male, spoke. “I hope we didn’t record over anything…important. The Enagi of the Melody is close, very close, to where she must go.”

“The battle awaits,” said the two girls. They sang without discernable lyrics. “THAT IS OUR MESSAGE FOR YOU!” concluded all three. The message ended.

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“You’re certain that she should live?” asked Mu’urese.

“Yes,” replied Anansi, “because now there is another variable in play. They fight, then whoever wins, will be purged by us. The trick of the sensei is to teach enough so the student knows, but not enough so that the student can use your knowledge against you.” He held up a crystal that had a green glow. “And I made sure to pry this. We can always use more power.”

“So what do you know about it?”

“Nothing, but I figured that would be your speciality, Ma’am! All that I know is that it is a Tza crystal.”

“Fine, give it to me.” He did so. “This feels so…alive, you have done well. You may return to your quarters.”

Anansi, however, did not intend to rest. He intended to train. Rumor had it he seldom, if ever, rested completely.

“I feel better,” came a voice. In walked Toni, clad only in a brown lele, and his kula fully spread. Mu’urese rose from her chair to hug him. They embraced tightly.

“Have you been able to walk up and down the Annaconda Staircase yet?”

“Yes my love! I did that an hour ago.”

“You’re recovering well. Since you can walk that staircase well enough, you are also…” she added, as she drifted into silence. She gently kissed him on the cheek.

“It’s been too long.”

“I know, ranai!” She began softly singing to him. The two held hands, and left the monitor room.

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The next choice was a light blue sphere. When she started it, it just started to glow.

“Is this a blank sphere?” asked Jemma. Then someone appeared. It was someone of Loviatar’s race, a Succubus. She had light pink hair, and only wore a multi-colored loincloth. She held up her hands, and started to chant. Electricity surrounded the crank, and it was continuously moving, as though being spun.

“Oh no,” said Enagi-Khiole.

“Shalai hunu makal. Look into my eyes. Wawafela scharakaka, lar tikal-hai, yuwar doo-ha-ha yo-ho-ho, the master Abbadon will rule all, below him, the Sisters, below him, all the pathetic warriors who worshiped Ene. Abbadon is the true lord. Fololo schumunu!” said the succubus. Both Seamus and Miglo stood still, and breathed funnily.

“Shit, they’re in a trance,” said Alex, “she’s doing voodoo or something!”

“DIE!” screamed Miglo.

Without warning, he grabbed Jemma from behind, flipped over her and threw her across the room.

“What’s going on?” screamed Alex.

Enagi-Khiole reached for the handle, but received a shock. She heard a clicking noise.

“Stay away from me lady’s machine,” cautioned Seamus, as he pointed a Magnum at her. “I’ll blow your feckin’ head off! You’re out of options all to die, you get.” She ducked as he fired a warning shot.

Alex and Miglo were exchanging punches and kicks. Miglo made animal-like noises as he attacked and dodged. He bit into Alex’s right arm, and she retaliated by banging his head against the wall, making him release her.

Enagi-Khiole zigzagged towards Seamus, while he aimed at her. With a swift blow, the gun was knocked out of his hands. He grabbed at her, but she stopped the hands with her staff. He kicked her backwards, but she held onto her staff as she fell backwards. He dove at her, with two elbows to the stomach. A shrill scream escaped her lungs, as pain rippled through her. He took the staff and held it against her throat. She flailed about on the ground like a fisherman’s catch in a bucket.

Miglo was expertly fighting off both of the females, while yelling at them. Jemma kicked while Alex punched, but he caught both their limbs at once, and howled in delight. “This will hurt me more than it hurts you,” advised Jemma, before striking Miglo in the solar-plexus with her right hand. He yelped before falling onto the ground.

Seamus was surprised with a pair of raised knees from Enagi-Khiole, followed by an eye-rake. She kicked him in the side, and dodged a swing from the staff he was holdinig. When she resumed standing up, Seamus grinned.

“Aself you could fight, I’ve got your staff!” told Seamus. “Not like it would do you any good, the sphere is protected from magic!”

“I still have this,” she said as she took her Musical Saw out from its pouch with her right hand.

“And I have your shee shillelagh, which does you no good anyways!”

“¡Páselo a mis manos!” she sung as she waved the saw, and pointed it at the ground, at his pistol. The rainbow musical magic, or was that magical music, grabbed the pistol and took it to her left hand. She aimed it at him.

“Go ahead, shoot! You’re too feckin’ soft, child!”

“I won’t!”

“Stop your chitterin’, rip, and do it!”

She put her saw away and aimed the gun. At the last moment she spun around, and fired several times at the sphere. With the second bullet it bounced out of its holder. The electricity around the crank dissipated, and the image of the Succubus faded.

Miglo yelled a string of profanities, followed by other words. Enagi-Khiole explained, and then explained what happened to him.

“Genifa,” began Seamus, “I think we should exchange weapons. You’re no markswoman, and I’m less an Enagi!”

Jemma checked a pink sphere. It showed the Enagi.

“Beyond the door you see is where the final test will be, where the song shall be sung. The Enagi will take on a fight, and learn the full power of the musical weapon, what the e’Xenia in this group would call bombs or grenades. Remember, the choir must sing in harmony, or it is not a choir!” It faded, then the ball energized and leapt off, and head through the door, that opened just to let it through and closed again.

“She’s good,” said Jemma, “but how does she know about us? I thought she’s been dead for centuries or something?”

“Yes, but no, but yes, but no,” said the voice of Areia.

“Who are you, Vicky Pollard?”

“Just go through the door, all of you!” she instructed, exasperated. Enagi-Khiole opened the door, and the group went through it. When the last one of them, Miglo, was through, the door slammed shut behind them.

Large racks lined the walls. Higher up were windows. The voice of Areia said they were for storing clothing and bedding, and that was what lay on some of them. Torches lit up around the room. Another musical bomb appeared in midair, and detonated rather loudly, while the torches died down. They relit, showing a Pavonian woman standing there. She looked like the one in the spheres.

She had cream-colored skin, golden eyes, and auburn-colored hair. Her kula and korona were orange and purple. A strange glow surrounded her, and her skin and clothing sparkled. Honey-colored markings were on her arms and forehead. She wore a sky-blue knee-length dress with a serrated hem and silver accents. “You have all come, because it is time to learn an Enagi secret. But you all must be worthy. The Enagi will fight!” All of her emerald-colored ocelli opened as she spread her kula. Some of them flashed red and purple patterns. “This is the finale!”

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A long distance away, in the town of Gyelmiot, the winds were blowing heavily. A sign pointed to the nearby airbase that was in use by the Alpha Bloody Vultures 58th division, which were joint Belgian, Senegalese, Malian, Doholand, Haitian, and Polish air forces. An airman drove out of the base in a Huvee. The man, Pierre, a Belgian lieutenant, had just finished his shift, and wanted to grab a late night snack at one of the few places open 24 hours. He didn’t like the choices offered in the on-base vending machines. And having someone to talk to was always nice, especially with what had happened. Several people in the town had gone missing, and there were even several people at his base who had gone AWOL. He parked on the side of the street and walked over to his favorite place for a snack before heading home.

Officially known as the Moog on Flower, with “Moog” referring to a four-headed bulldog-like creature, not a brand of keyboard, this café like place was commonly known as Fisi’s, after the proprietor, Fisixi’ona. A newly-installed neon sign flashed the word “Open” in several languages. That night, however, that light was the only one working. No light came through the glass door. It seemed odd, as the place was usually the best lit building on the street at that time of night. Also, usually when he stepped near, the door would open, and the proprietress would come out to greet him personally. The door slowly creaked open by itself, before slamming just as he came to it. He returned to his vehicle, and took out a flashlight and a gun from the glove compartment. The door was slightly ajar. He shone the flashlight inside, and pushed open the door. There was blood on the checker-tiled floor. And the usual pleasant smells of cooked food were missing, replaced by a rather fetid smell. Great, he thought, I’m in some kind of murder mystery. He then worried for “Fisi.” But he didn’t have to worry for that much longer. Loud, rapid footsteps heralded her arrival. He was surprised that she did not put on the light. He saw her. She was of the Ya’a Naomi race. She wore a loose dress, which was decorated with beads, showing that she was a Diha, a woman of the Doho people. Also, unlike the Naomians (who were also a Ya’a Naomi culture), she kept her tail completely hidden inside the dress.

“Bonjour, Fisi,” he greeted. She didn’t say anything. “Is something wrong?” He then noticed that she had several teeth sticking out of her mouth, and her eyes had a purple glow.

“Nothing is wrong,” she replied, in a slow voice. There were more footsteps. A man Pierre recognized as a Senegalese corporal came and flipped a light switch, before pointing a gun at Pierre. It was a man who had gone AWOL. Two other men appeared, one looking Polish, the other, African. They too had guns. One of them wore sunglasses, but the ones who did not had visible purple eyes. “Now, put your hands up, it’s time.”

“What are you doing, Fisi? I only came for a snack!”

“Here’s your snack!” Fisi returned with a plate with something moving on it. Pierre took a closer look and almost vomited. It looked like an oversized earthworm, except that it was completely white, and had several small tentacle-like appendages on it. “Now eat this!”

“I’m not that hungry!”

“You don’t have a choice!” She shoved the plate towards his face. “EAT!”

“May I have a fork?”

“No. You will eat it whole. Put him against a wall and feed him!” Three pairs of hands grabbed him, and threw him onto a chair. They secured him and the chair up against a wall. Fisi came over, holding the creature. It wiggled and made chirping noises. The man in sunglasses held his mouth open, while Fisi dropped the creature onto it. The Senegalese man forced his head back, and stuffed the creature down his throat.

“Bon apetit!” Pain surged through him as the thing made its way into his stomach. He felt like vomiting, but couldn’t, and a stinging sensation lined his entire throat. His vision became blurry, and he lost his balance. He slumped onto the floor, and darkness overcame him.

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The mysterious Enagi made a musical grenade appear in her left hand, and threw it towards Enagi-Khiole, who avoided it. It exploded and made part of the racks collapse. She threw another one in a seemingly random direction, except that it exploded in front of Seamus, and the force propelled him against a rack, splintering it.

“You eejit, I’m not Genifa!”

“I know, but you are part of her choir,” was the Enagi’s response. “You are in the Enega!”

Miglo climbed one of the racks, hoping to get higher, but it wobbled once he was high enough. He leapt off, and hoped to land on the Enagi, only to have her teleport out of the way before he struck the ground with a thud and crashed into a couple of posts that were holding some old clothing.

Jemma and Alex moved to get behind her, and ran forward in hopes of stopping her. They were certain they had her.

Without warning, she leapt, and spun around, hitting them both with a cross-kick.

“You lack the harmony!” she sung.

Enagi-Khiole instinctively leapt to the side, and sung “Harmony Punch”, while punching, and hitting the other Enagi, who was caught off guard. She stumbled backwards.

“You ZONA!” screamed the Enagi, calling her a whore, before teleporting across the room. She sung a low note, and another musical grenade appeared in her hands. Bright lights shown from Enagi-Khiole’s kula towards the Enagi with the grenade. “I can not see, it’s too bright.” A smile formed on the face of the Enagi of the Melody. “But I can still throw!” With that, the orb left her hands, and corkscrewed towards Seamus.

Seamus grabbed a plank that was part of a rack, and swung it at the orb. The musical weapon was thrusted back, towards the Enagi who launched it. It spun through the air, before detonating in front of the mysterious Enagi, hurtling her backwards. She landed upside down, her dress nearly sliding down, but stopped by her kula. Alex and Jemma walked over to her. The mysterious Enagi surprised both of them by slapping her hands onto the ground, and attacking them with an upside-down spinning kick. She was back on her feet before they could retaliate. She held up her hands. With bright light, a staff appeared in them. Its polished wood had a strange reflection, and the silver orb at one end flashed blue.

“For the coda, only the Enagi shall fight. The rest will not interfere,” she informed. “I am Sonia, Enagi of Sound!” Across the room, the mysterious children in the strange gowns appeared, and sat, enraptured.

“And I am…”

“Yes, I know who you are, Enagi-Khiole. You will relearn ancient knowledge, magic, and technology of the Enagi of the Way of the Melody. But you will have to prove that you are worthy. Everybody can make words to music, but not everybody can sing!”

“I am,” retorted Enagi-Khiole, as she tightened the grip on her own staff.

Sonia twirled her staff like a cheer-leader’s baton, while leaping side to side. Without any warning, she struck from the side, striking Enagi-Khiole in the stomach. She grimaced in pain. “Don’t stand there in pain, fight me!”

Enagi-Khiole swung a couple of times, only to miss with a vibrating whoosh noise.

“You must pay attention to the rhythm!” She swung, but this time Enagi-Khiole skirted the blow, and swung back. “You are better than I thought, but not good enough!” Another blow came, only to be blocked. A low swing was the retaliation, but Sonia jumped over it. A few more blows were exchanged. The children cheered loudly every time Sonia scored a hit.

Miglo shouted something. Sonia surprised Enagi-Khiole with a sucker-punch to the breasts, followed by a swing of the staff to the head. Enagi-Khiole went down.

“I paid attention to your friend’s suggestion, you did not!” The staff was lifted to the air, ready to wallop Enagi-Khiole where she lay. It was blocked by Enagi-Khiole’s staff, and glanced back, smacking her smartly in the face. Enagi-Khiole used her legs to trip Sonia and bring her to the ground.

“Remember the match last week on the telly,” shouted Jemma.

“She’s an Enagi, not a wrestler,” intoned the voice of Areia.

Enagi-Khiole paid attention to Jemma, though, and leveraged herself onto Sonia, and forced her kula down, before holding it tightly shut, in a move that Genifa did not see in any televised match, but improvised. Sonia let out a shriek. Bright light filled the room.

“You passed,” she coughed. “Let me go, you must be taught…”

Enagi-Khiole suddenly reverted back to Genifa, and felt compelled to release her hold and stand up. Sonia did likewise.

“I was Sonia, an Enagi. The spirits of a few Enagi will teach you the Way of the Melody, and the forgotten techniques, technology, and magic.” She held her staff in front of her. “Cross my staff with yours, and all will be revealed!” With slight hesitation, Genifa did. Energy sparked between the pearl on Sonia’s staff, and the crystal on Genifa’s staff. “All that I know, you shall know!” She then sang three notes, being an F, the B-flat above that, and then the F above that. The sound of many female voices singing in unison filled the room. The room shook with the sound. Electricity arced around the two women. Light came out of the occeli of Sonia, into the occeli of Genifa. Wind picked up their hair and their dresses. Bright purple light filled the room. Strange sensations flooded through Genifa, and her hands and feet involuntarily twitched, and her heart raced like a jackhammer. More sound filled the room, and everything vibrated. The windows all shattered simultaneously. Sonia started to disappear, and appeared to be absorbed into Genifa’s staff. Red and honey-colored patterns briefly appeared on Genifa’s skin.

A mix of Sonia’s, Areia’s, and Genifa’s voice instructed everybody to approach her. They all did. A staff appeared in Seamus’ hands.

“A shillelagh?” he asked, before he smiled.

“And this time, the other one who shall receive a gift is Alexandria. With the power of song, you can deliver a musical explosion in your punches!”

“No way, you’re the greatest!” she beamed.

“The others shall receive gifts, but not yet. Now I, Sonia, become one with Areia in Genifa’s staff. May the magic of the music protect you!”

Genifa collapsed onto the floor. They all rushed closer. She slowly rose back up.

“I’m alright, really. I just can’t believe what happened.”

“You must believe it,” sung the mysterious ones in nightgowns. “Now what we had to do is done, and now we shall leave!” With a loud pop, they disappeared.

-----------------------

The sky above the hotel was filling with clouds. Clouds that had a strange yellow glow.

The group exited the hotel, along with Hannah.

“Oh no,” said Genifa, looking at the sky. A small wind picked up.

“Well, at least it’s not raining,” said Jemma.

“I wish it was,” was Genifa’s reply. The clouds had a more pronounced glow, and were visibly moving. “If there’s rain, there is never that yellow glow. When you have wind, and clouds, and no rain, that is when things are scary.”

Miglo leapt around while squealing and yelling. He pointed up. “Fouda-Jona, Fouda-Jona! AWU!”

“Fouda-Jona?” asked Seamus.

“Yellow lighting,” said Genifa.

“No, great, it’s a feckin’ ion storm, and we’re out here. This is the fist one I’ve seen with me own eyes. We best be getting to the van.”

“Ion storm?” asked Genifa.

“As opposed to just a thunder storm, which is all we have on earth. It comes with rain…”

“Yes, and it is better if it does!” The wind picked up even more, and Genifa’s hair, and her saia and saiayöta were fluttering in the howling wind. “This fouda-jona, or ‘ion storm’, is very dangerous. They say they were left by the Reifentom when he left!”

A bolt of yellow lightning arced directly in front of them. Clumps of earth were thrown up, and an unusual echo made its presence known. A low humming noise could be faintly heard from the clouds. More lightning flashes went off at different distances.

“Van!” pointed Miglo, seeing the Fortevan first. Several things emerged from the ground. They were the serpentine clawed creatures. A rainbow of lightning sparked from them in different directions. Sometime a flash of yellow lightning would arc between a pair of them. Some of these creatures were between them and the van. Hannah growled at them. The eyes in the creatures flashed, and Hannah ceased her growl, whimpering.

“They’re safe, right?” asked Jemma, half-sarcastically.

“Only when there isn’t any lightning,” reminded Genifa. “And now…” Another bolt came down directly at one of the creatures. It and its comrades started to glow. They chirped at each other. “Yes, stay away, and…move slowly. Don’t make any sudden movements. When there’s lightning, they are not the same animal at all. The vakikapis could kill us all!”

“When I joined the Gardai, I never thought I’d be dealing with this shite,” mused Seamus. “Weird creatures and yellow lightning wasn’t taught at the academy! Oh well, at least I’m not running from fire, and Al isn’t here,” the others looked at him, “Al with the purple eyes I mean, I should be thankful for that, I guess. It’s hard to when they’re this close to killing us!”

They were in trouble.

To be continued…

Author’s Notes: Well, it’s about time, eh? Anyways, things have gotten a little too interesting. And if you’re wondering, what they’re facing now is a combination of something from a Finnish children’s book series, and something from a real-time strategy game that was released in late 1999. How will they get out of this?