Young Writers Society

The glowing eyes were incredibly unsettling; they reminded him far too much of the Goa'uld. It seemed fitting when his opponent shared the name of one of them. He ran through the options. Detonations and Infernos were always good in a pinch, but they were standing in a small corridor. It would both destroy the house and Auryon's body. Worse, it might hurt Raiden, Peter and the unfamiliar woman. He couldn't risk it.

So what was he supposed to do!?

"I'm good, or as good as I could be in a situation like this," he managed to get out, quickly glancing back at Raiden. "I think we should all run right now. Auryon - the woman with the dagger - has been taken over by a bloodthirsty demon named Apophis. Running is probably the best thing we can do right now."

"Now, now, Leo, that's not very nice," she laughs, that maniacal smile dancing across her lips.

James had pulled Laurel out of the way as the bird - no, Leo - and Auryon (Adophis?) burst out of the room.

Laurel let out a quiet, startled "aaa," as she slowly backed away from the girl with the glowing eyes. James reached for his gun, but Laurel grabbed his hand, urging him to run like the man told them to.

He glanced down the hall, looking at the unexplored doors. Surely one of them had one of their four markings on them, and if that were the case, they could run in and try to shut Auryon out.

"Let's go then," he hissed, turning with Laurel, her running ahead of him.

She leaps forward with lightning speed, body lengthening and changing. In moments it's a golden serpent that's a good foot and a half in width striking at them with her fangs unhinged and jaw open - Auryon is gone, a massive serpent-demon in her place.

Raiden leapt over the snakes head. He landed, and began running, quickly catching up to Laurel and Peter
"I hope he'll be alright," Raiden mumbled to himself, hoping Leo would get away in time. He was a demon or something, though, so he should be able to hold himself in a fight.

"All right," said Adamina slowly. "And now there's a . . . book that is somehow locked." She ran cautious fingers over her own symbol, but nothing happened. She glanced at Edwin's hand briefly before adding, "These are our symbols, but what about this rose? None of the people I met earlier had this mark."

"But what purpose does this book serve? Do you think it will tell us the way out of here?" Edwin's eyes searched hers.

"It is the most likely option. We had better find this person soon."

He somehow managed to jump back in time and avoid Apophis' sudden attack.

If only he had thought of checking the planes when they first met! He could have seen something like this, and carefully avoided Auryon and her demonic counterpart. Now he was left dealing with a gigantic snake. Even if he could fight against his foe, this part of the house would be unavoidably damaged.

He sighed. What other choice did he have?

An Inferno sprung to life at his fingertips. With speed and a surprising amount of accuracy, he shot it at the ground near Apophis. Flames burst from the floor. He couldn't kill her. Not when Auryon was somewhere deep inside. But a distraction was good enough. Apophis would likely figure out a way to get rid of the flames, so the destruction to the house would be minimal.

He turned and raced after the others.

Laurel didn't look back. She had her eyes locked on her brother's symbol seen just a short distance away, on a door. In a matter of only two seconds, James saw it too, rushed ahead of her, slapped his hand on the door and pushed it open. Laurel spilled in behind him. Though no words were spoken to the others, the unspoken instructions were to follow. And hurry.

Raiden saw the two run into a room. He briefly wondered if it'd be a good idea to act as a distraction for the giant snake thing, by running straight past the door and carrying on until he found one of his own doors. He immediately decided against it, noticing the door was still open, he figured it was okay to hop in behind them. With a rapid change of direction, he slid into the room.

He nearly ran past the open door, only to skid to a sudden halt when he noticed it. It had been stupid of him to not think of it sooner. As long as they closed the door behind them, Apophis couldn't enter.

They would be safe.

He darted into the room, slamming it closed behind him. He didn't know where Mina or Edwin were, but all he could do was hope that Apophis didn't find them. He let out a sigh and rested his back against the door. That had been too close for comfort.

Apophis rears up as the flames appear in front of her and then leaps through them, pursuing Leo and ignoring the burns on her body - after so long in Hell fire means little to her, though it does singe her scales notably. The door shudders under the force of her massive coiled body slamming it into it. Shortly after, two white fangs pierce the wood above him, dripping with amber venom.

He jumped away from the door before the venom could touch his skin. He shuddered at the thought of what might have happened if it had; his essence's reactions to foreign substances was wildly unpredictable, and poisons only meant to paralyze could create searing pain.

He looked back at the others. "Please tell me you have weapons."

James pulled out his gun, cocking it. "I don't think this will do much against...that," he muttered, staring at the two giant fangs lodged in the door.

From the other side of the room, Laurel came running over, a sword and an axe in each hand. James did a double take at his sister. "Where-"

"On the wall, over there," Laurel pointed to a spot on the wall where some weapons hung. As they finally got a look around the room, it appeared they were in a training room (one that looked eerily familiar to James, not that it mattered at the moment). James took the sword, and watched at Laurel steadied the axe in her hands. Though he didn't say anything, Laurel could tell from the look on his face that it was an odd sight for him.

"I'm better with just my fists," she mumbled. His face remained the same. "I learned a few things while you were gone, okay?" She whispered defensively, causing him to shake his head and return his attention to the giant snake likely to break through the door if it wasn't going to hold.

"Well - get your weapons!" Laurel said with an urging not of her head from Raiden and Leo to the weapons hanging on the wall.

The door shudders under a second impact, a third, a fourth; it's not going to last much longer. Bang, bang, bang, bang...silence. Not a movement, not a sound. No more fangs or scales or wood breaking. Just abrupt silence.

Raiden ran over and took a pair of knives off the wall. He stood next to the others, holding the knives with practiced ease. He gulped as the sounds stopped. He was scared the massive snake was charging up a mega-attack or something.