The House of Grey- Volume 6 (20 page)

Cyann Harrison was dead.
 

Tears came, totally uncontrolled.
 

“No!” he screamed again. “No, no, no, no, no! This can’t be happening.
t
his isn’t happening. You said that you’d follow me. You said that you would be there for me. How can you follow if you aren’t here? Dammit Cyann, ANSWER ME!”

The tears streamed down Monson’s face. As they began to pool on her lifeless body, he realized that he was crying tears of pure silver.
 

“Please...,” he pleaded. “Answer me…please.”

The suffocating pain in his chest became unbearable.
h
is grandfather, then Molly, now Cyann...gone. They were all gone. How was he going to go on? How would he deal with the pain?

Destroy them.
 

The demand  came with the cool breath of the wind.
 

Destroy all who harm you.
 

Monson pushed away silver tears as he tried to comprehend the words of the disembodied voice.

a
man in shredded clothes with unruly black hair and wild silver eyes greeted him when he finally looked up. All other spectators stood frozen in time. Was it real? Was it make-believe? He did not know.
 

“What would you have me do, young master?”
 

Monson stared into the wild silver eyes. He wanted it to end. He wanted it all to go away. The pain of yet another loss, the sadness of another failure, the loneliness...the loneliness of her absence. He just wanted it all to end. He was at his breaking point, the place where he had nothing left.

Pain, loss, sadness and loneliness, mixed and coagulated with purified rage. It was then that a single thought remained.

“What do I want you to do? Gi, I want you to destroy them.
I
want you to destroy EVERY… LAST… ONE…OF…THEM.”

 
Gi smiled as he offered his hand to Monson.
 

Monson Grey stood slowly as he let Cyann Harrison gently slide to the ground. Clad in his scarlet Kei shroud, Aaron Gibson brought a Magi Blade forward. He walked purposefully towards Monson, casting spells at the members of H.U.M.A.N.E. as he neared.

“Shall I leave you a remembrance of your failure, young Hero?”
 

Gibson lazily slashed his blade, hitting nothing but air. “What in the—?”
 

Monson appeared behind him, but it was not the Monson they all knew. This Monson had a very different countenance. Silver Kei gushed out of him, spilling almost tangible power from every pore. The silver Kei saturated every extremity, from hand to foot to head. Eyes void of any iris or pupil rippled with liquid silver that pulsed more brightly with every passing moment.
 

“The girl caused the Keeper to awaken.
n
ow I shall be forced to kill you. Oh, my master will not be pleased.”
 

Gibson’s own Kei shroud uncorked, more of the scarlet power pouring out of him. He attacked Monson, thrusting his golden blade directly at his chest. Monson did not attempt to dodge it.
 

“Monson!” called Taris, Casey and Artorius. “No!”

Monson Grey batted away the blade with a swipe of his hand, causing all to exclaim in astonishment. Before Gibson could react, Monson had one hand clamped around his throat.
 

“Oh, foolish man. Do you know the consequences of waking a giant?”
 

Gibson tried to answer through Monson’s iron grip. Monson laughed loudly, his voice deep and cruel.

“Most do not, as few live through the experience. How unfortunate for you.”
 

He thrust Gibson out in front of him before he cocked back his elbow and tossed him into the air. Half a second later, a ball of semi-solid silver Kei rushed up and struck Gibson. The ball exploded in a show of silver and red sparks and when they faded, Aaron Gibson was nowhere to be found.
 

“Ha ha ha ha HA!” bellowed Monson. “Yes! Let there be more! More, I tell you! Let us see the limit!”
 

The silver being jumped into the air, releasing Kei in strobes of light. The silver Kei fanned out from him, reducing to ash anything in its path, the destruction accompanied by maniacal laughter.
 

“What’s happening?” called Casey from behind an artificial barrier barely erected in time by Mr. Gatt and Brian. Members of H.U.M.A.N.E. and all of Monson’s friends huddled behind the wall.
 

“The initial gate of his pathway has been opened and the Keeper awakened,” Brian answered as he held fast to the wall of earth and ice.
b
oth he and Mr. Gatt continued to feed yellow-hued Kei into the structure.

“OK—like we know what that means?” Casey addressed the older men. “How do we stop it? Dying before I take over the world would be a bleamin’ shame.”
 

Brian shook his head. “There is no way to stop him. Not now–not without hurting him and possibly getting hurt in return.”

“There isn’t a way to stop him from going all crazy?” Taris moved closer to make
herself
heard. “There has got to be a way to save him.
t
here just
has
to be.”
 

A voice screamed out from behind them. “This is exactly what happened at Baroty Bridge!
t
he only person who knows how to stop it is Marques Grey!”
 

Damion Peterson forced his way to the front of the crowd and placed his hands on the barrier that Mr. Gatt and Brian held up. Instantly, green Kei fed into the construct of the spell.

Casey and Artorius opened their mouths to protest, but Taris stopped them. “Not now–we have to stop Monson before he kills himself and all of us.”
 

The two boys glanced quickly at one another and then nodded, albeit reluctantly. “OK, Mr. Diamond, can you fix this or what?”

“I told you—the only person who can fix this is Marques Grey!” yelled Damion. The noise around them swelled to deafening levels. “He is the only one who knows the spell that can forcibly detach the person from the Gate, and that’s the only way to stop Monson without hurting–”

“Holy crap!” exclaimed Kylie. “Guys, you are not going to believe this, but someone is walking out on the field.”

Off in the distance a person was walking calmly across the field. None of them could make out the person’s identity as he or she walked through the destructive veil of silver Kei. All of those behind the barrier attempted to do what they could to warn this newcomer away.
 

“Stop!” yelled out Casey, Artorius and Kylie at the same time. “You’ll be killed if you get—”
 

The words died in their throats as they watched a blast of the silver Kei ravage the ground where that person had been.
 

“And another one bites the dust.” Casey sat down hard. “Why on earth would you be out walking in the middle of this?”

“Don’t kill them off quite yet, Case. Look.” Artorius pointed to the place of impact where the person had been standing.
 

Unbelievable as it was, once the debris had settled, they were able to see the individual still walking calmly towards Monson Grey.
 

“No...,” Brian began in utter disbelief.
 

“It is impossible,” finished Mr. Gatt in equal wonder.
 

A women glowing like a twilit star floated ethereally towards the body of Cyann Harrison. Her hair, eyes and dress shimmered the color of liquid platinum.
s
he seemed to walk on air as she moved with a gazelle-like grace. She was not beauty but rather perfection; perfection personified.
 

“Who…who is that?” asked several voices at once. The woman closed in on Cyann’s lifeless body and reached down, touching her with motherly affection. Two bodies that could not be more different. One glowed with godly radiance and the other was ravaged by war. The silver-haired maiden embraced Cyann and at once started to glow all the more brightly. The brightness grew so that no eyes could see what was happening. When the light dimmed, the maiden was gone and Cyann Harrison stood alone, her face obscured by her hair–hair that was no longer raven black, but…silver! All who watched let out an audible gasp.
 

Beams of destructive energy continued to blitz the area, destroying what little semblance of a stadium was left. The silver-haired Cyann gracefully weaved in and out of the destruction seemingly unconcerned.
 

“We must stop this!” shouted Brian to Mr. Gatt. “We cannot allow any more casualties.”
 

“We do not have the strength to withstand a Kei release like that,” replied Mr. Gatt. “But if we leave, who will protect those left behind?”
 

Artorius interrupted before they could discuss the matter any further. “Hey you two, I think you’re missing something rather important.”
 

Cyann was now kneeling at the side of the most unlikely of people. Christopher Baroty was sitting up, mouth moving vigorously despite his pale, gaunt face.
 
She listened intently as Baroty spoke.

Kylie was first to see the danger. “Cyann, watch out above you! A beam! You’re–”
 

The warning came too late. One massive beam of silver energy bulls-eyed randomly right where she knelt. The ground incinerated right before their eyes, taking all that had been there with it. They group-groaned and collectively lamented another loss. First Cyann, and now this silver-haired lookalike. Most looked away, preparing
themselves
to further weather the storm that was Monson Grey.
 

“No flipping way!” yelled Casey. “Hey guys—check it out.”

He pointed. Cyann was now in midair, parallel to Monson. But while Monson was floating, she was actually flying! She hung in the air on angel wings spanning more than eight feet across. Monson growled and snarled at the silver-haired angel. In one grand gesture, he spun in a circle, rising higher into the air while ceasing the magic beam assault. The change indicated a shift in his focus as he turned his attention on the girl flying towards him. Monson thrust out an arm, palm aimed right at Cyann.
 

“He’s going to attack her.” Mr. Gatt gestured to Brian. “He is about to attack her. We have to stop him before—”
 

A single report alerted them to the discharge of a weapon.
t
he source only became apparent when Mr. Gatt, Brian, Artorius and the others peaked out from behind their barrier. Taris Green was pointing one of the shiny hand cannons upwards and had apparently shot at Monson. He glared down at her, reaching back to strike.
 

“Everyone take cover!” called out Mr. Gatt.

At the exact moment Monson prepared to strike, Cyann was upon him. She touched him gently, her hand caressing his face. His pupil-less eyes grew wide as a stream of freshly scripted runes trailing behind her circled them again and again until one last explosion of Kei forced the others watching to take cover.

“What’s happening to them?” called Casey over the noise. “What is she doing?”

“She’s casting a spell,” replied Mr. Gatt. “A very complex spell. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Another earth tremor and the raining of dirt and debris announced the crash-landing of both Cyann and Monson. The group of friends looked out just in time to see the stream of runes fill the freshly created hole in the ground.

The silence was unnerving after so much commotion, but eventually Monson’s friends, manservant and teacher emerged from behind their artificial barrier, albeit slowly. Mr. Gatt and Brian seemed to be having difficulty moving.
 

“We will be fine,” said Brian as he shooed away Artorius, who had moved in to prop him up. “We just need a good rest and time to recuperate.”

Mr. Gatt nodded his agreement. “Come, let us go and collect our charge.”
 

The small, exhausted group made their way over to the small crater, picking up their pace as moaning became audible. Casey sprinted to the edge and looked down into the hole. His face turned ashen.

Artorius and Taris ran up to him, calling to him as they neared.

“Case! What’s going on? Is he—”

Artorius peered over the edge, but then instantly turned away, his eyes shut tightly.

Mr. Gatt and Brian were right behind them, having stopped just short of the hole. Mr. Gatt turned to Brian. “The enchantment has fully reformed. We must get down there now.”

They effortlessly
half-jumped, half-ran to where Monson and Cyann lay in a heap at the very center of the crater. Neither was moving.
“Monson!” Mr. Gatt called out as Casey, Artorius, Kylie and Taris approached. He pointed at Cyann and addressed Brian. “Check her. I will attend to our charge.”

They disentangled the two teenagers then
each felt
for a pulse.