Fresh Starts: On Phantom Wings

Chapter 7, Rise Of the Wendigo

Two creatures came through the door and opened the cage. One grabbed Phantom's chain while the other grabbed Koko's and dragged the two weary beaten spirits to the middle of the creatures' territory. The masked one stood there waiting with a strange deer skull with glowing fangs and a floating leather thing filled with paper. The ground had three circles of runes drawn into the ground reading, transfer the power of one to the body of another.

The creatures said something to the masked one who shook their head. They then turned to Phantom and Koko. "It isss time for you beasts to serve a better purpose. You will thank me if you even keep your mindsss."

The two creatures placed Phantom and Koko into two of the circles. The chains moved and bound the spirits to the ground. The masked one put the strange skull in the third circle before cackling. "Thisss will be so ironic. Spirits used to defeat spirits, or rather monsssters defeating spirits."

The siblings didn't get much time before the masked one started chanting. "Let the devourer of souls come. The shadow which aided in humanity's end." The skull glowed and so did the runes, Phantom could feel something and it seemed Koko did as well.

"Let spirit and monster combine, the power of one to the body of another." Phantom's front incisors and claws lengthened puncturing the cage around his head. Koko was going through similar changes as both siblings tried to cry out, but no sound came.

"Magic they will consume, souls they will drain. The hunger shall never be satisfied."
The siblings wings became claw like and the ends of their tails sharp and skeletal. Their eyes become dark and hollow. They saw souls of the creatures, humans, and hungered for them.

"Curse these soulless beings with the might of the wendigo, bring them into fury with the dark power of the forgotten beast." The siblings' faces became skeletal and the strange skull disappeared. Runes reading the final words of the spell etched themselves into the their backs. Phantom collapsed from the strain on his body, he still felt himself, but there was something different and wrong. He looked over to Koko, and his boney face lit up in horror.

The chains around her broke and shattered as her body transformed into something different. Twisted wood replaced fur as dark mist enveloped Koko. The claw wings grew long and stabbed into the ground like spider legs. Dead leaves hung like spots and her face became like a gaunt wood carving filled with pure rage. A yellow flaming light appeared in her right eyehole. She had become the thing all spirits feared, corrupted.

Phantom bit his chains with his fangs which glowed an eerie blue. Plants started to erupt from the ground, mangling and swallowing people. Humans began to be consumed by wood and foliage, their screams and wails echoed across the area. Phantom focused on the chains as the runes somehow disappeared and Phantom felt something. He ignored the feeling ripped open the cage around his face like a leftover carcass and the chains shattered. He skeletal parts of his body turned to ice and the rest of him like a raging storm ash cloud. He then heard cries from the sky.

Phantom looked up and saw his father, sword in his mouth, along with the other seasonal spirits. But they had come to late. Negaf landed in front of his son as the other three split to look for Bhuta.

"What happened to you and where are your sister and mother?!" Negaf asked panicked and concerned at everything that was happening.

"MoTheR iS iN oNe Of thE sTruCtUres." Phantom growled confused by his voice and in pain from the transformation. He then pointed to Koko with a wing claw.

Negaf's face paled (if possible) and his tail shot up as his ears pulled back. "No no no no no no no no no! Why, why?! Why did this happen?" Negaf panically mewed.

Phantom pointed to the humans with his wing claws. "TheY eArNeD thEiR fAtE."

Negaf nodded in understanding and disdain for the creatures which hurt his family. Then both cats looked towards towards Koko.

She cornered the masked one who held their blade. "DIE!!" She cried and stabbed them through the chest with a claw leg. The masked one laughed as the cloak and mask fell to the ground revealing that there was nothing underneath. The blade tumbled into a nearby river and was washed away. Plant life still consumed the area as structures were torn apart by trees and bodies ripped by foliage. Koko then turned to Phantom and her father before lunging at them.

Negaf couldn't move as Phantom guided by some unknown instinct touched his father and teleported them to a different location. Koko plunged glowing claws into the ground, angered that her prey had escaped.

Bhuta limply ran toward Negaf with the spirits of spring and autumn behind her. They were all horrified upon seeing what had become of Koko.

Then the ground rumbled as a giant paw formed from it emerged and surrounded Koko. "Seal This Area So She Nor Anything Else Can Escape!" Ordered a deep mew which came from the ground itself.

Negaf and his siblings obeyed as they flew above the emerging contorted forest. The ground rippled and gently sucked Bhuta and Phantom and popped them out at a distance from the chaotic wood, both their faces were filled with tears. A light shone from the earth as the seasonal spirits speedily flew around the area. Fog and storms manifested and consumed the forest which stopped expanding. Phantom knew he would never see his sister again, at least the one he knew.