Bare Your Teeth, Wicked Ones

11. The Danger. The Rush.

William

Parents wove tales of Calix Fearworn, every depiction far more fearsome than the last. So few souls saw him that every story painted him differently. He was taller than a house with horns of midnight black and eyes of flames. He walked on crooked legs in a mangled form, skin a grotesque green and eyes milky white. One even claimed Fearworn had no physical body, that darkness constructed his form, a living and breathing essence of shadows. They were wrong.

Calix Fearworn was stunning in every sense of the word. A figure of almost holy beauty, typical fae perfection. His thinly muscular form lay beneath countless draped fabrics, sparkling silver that caught the violet hue of his cat-like eyes. That violet stretched across his iris, save for a single glint of fuchsia within. His white hair would have trailed behind him as he walked if it weren't up in a high ponytail, revealing the sharp lines of his face.

Four Shadowed Disciples stepped clear of the miasma seeping from Calix's form. They were the stuff of nightmares, eyes the deepest black, as if nothing lay beyond but an empty void. The miasma lived within them, a deep purple that snaked through their pale bodies and showed through their skin. Crooked nails thick as blades crept out of the tip of their rotted fingers and pointed teeth barely fit in their too wide mouths. Everything about them screamed wrong and dangerous.

"Fuck me," William whispered, overwhelmed by their presence.

"Not now, darling. I don't enjoy an audience," Nicholas replied because of course he would.

Calix approached. His face remained placate, uncaring even. He stood with grace, hands carefully positioned atop one another at the base of his stomach. His head cocked like a curious deer in the meadow, and yet didn't sit right, as if his neck snapped at the wrong angle.

"You are the one who killed my Creator," he said calmly.

"I am." Nicholas donned his infamous wicked grin. "And you are the fallen Shade, Calix Fearworn. Though I have been hopeful for an audience, I admit that this isn't what I had in mind."

"What you had in mind was a battle on your terms, though even that would not be enough for you to best me." Although Calix's words held confidence, his tone and face showed nothing. He swept a gentle hand towards the miasma as if he called for a pleasant breeze. Instead, three beasts lurched out of the shadows. Two were the sinewy snake monsters from the other evening and the third must have been the perfected version of the flying beasts. A fraction bigger with wings set right along its leathered hide and acid dripping from its wild fangs.

"If you are so confident, why bring so many to fight against us?" Nicholas earned glares from his companions, even Arden. Now was not the time to agitate the bastard they had been chasing for decades.

"I want my book and I will get it," Calix replied simply.

The monsters leapt. The air left William's lungs when Nicholas tackled him out of the way. Surprising, seemingly to both of them, as the fae offered a wide-eyed stare prior to lunging onto his feet. William scurried up, too, clutching a blade far too small in the face of these beats. The monster with wings and two Shadowed Disciples descended upon them. Arden and Charmaine battled against the rest, and Calix watched with calculative attention. The beast hissed acid rain. Nicholas knew to dodge this time. As did William, shuffling behind a nearby tree that abruptly came to life. The limbs snaked around him. He narrowly slipped from their grasp.

A Shadowed Disciple crept forward. His fingers cracked at odd angles, forcing the forest to obey his whims. Branches snapped at William, scratching and beating him. A puddle of acid sizzled a step away. Grabbing a branch, William broke it free and dragged the branch through the hissing liquid. With a wicked swing, he flung the acid in a violent spray. The Shadowed Disciple shrieked when the rain came upon him, eating through his features. William sprinted forward. He stabbed the acid coated branch into the disciple's abdomen. Another scream followed. Acid ate through his clothes and tore at the corrupt skin beneath. He released the branch the moment the Shadowed Disciple grabbed it. The branch came to life, thorns breaking forth that would have shredded his hands.