The First Encounter

Creatures Guard the Castle

Penny, Quentin, and Jane were crouched down behind the bushes observing the outside of the castle.

"Mike has to be in there." Jane said. " We already looked everywhere else. This is the only place left."

"Lets just hope he hasn't done anything to stupid that we can't reverse." Quentin said to Jane.

"It's to late," Penny whispered locking his eyes on the front doors of the castle. "Do you see those statues by the entrance? There not really statues they are called guard demons and I bet you Jane, that your brother is their master."

Jane squinted her eyes to see is she could get a better look at the demons. "What do they usually do?" She murmured to Penny.

"Guard demons obey whatever their master says but their main job is to kill. If your brother knows we're here to stop him than he probably gave them orders to kill us on-site."

Everyone grew silent for a moment trying to think of a plan that would help get them inside the castle. There was only a limited amount of bushes to hide behind and if they tried to get closer the guard demons would be able to see them out in the open.

"There's a back entrance. If we can find a way to sneak past the demon than we might have a chance. The only thing is I think the door is blocked off but we can still give it a try."

Penny looked at Jane. "It won't work. Think of the guard demons as guard dogs or you can compare them to a hellhound. They could sense us, by the time we try to get to the next bush and even if we cloak ourselves they will catch our scents. I think we should just attack them straight on and try to rush through the door."

"You can't be serious!" Jane screeched. "Quentin tell him we're going to go around the back..."

"He's right baby," Quentin said staring at Jane. " We don't have the time. Your brother wants to try to destroy the school and he already has a head start by taking control of Fillory. I promise I wont let anything happen to you." Giving Jane a quick kiss on the lips. "Okay?" He said while cradling her face.

"Okay." She breathed out while closing her eyes. "What's the plan of attack?"

" Well there is three of us and only two of them. Our best bet is to actually do the cloaking spell. Penny before you yell and say my plan is stupid... just listen. "Quentin said as he turned his face to Penny. "We'll have the cloaking spell around us and we all go in different directions. Penny you can transport to different areas to throw off your scent." Turning his head towards Jane. "Baby I'm going to need you to try to slow down time because I believe that the guard demons are going to be fast. While you both do that I'll hit them with battle magic. Does that sound like a good plan?"

"Well it's better than nothing." Penny replied as Jane rolled her eyes. "I just wish that Alice and Julia were here. They know more spells than we do and let's face it; the cloaks will hold up for about two minutes. " Penny continued.

"Mike had to have them brought to the castle. They're probably locked away in a cell, knocked out. We're going to get them out." Jane promised.

"We'll save them Jane. We're not going to leave our friends behind. On a count to three we're going to head straight towards the door." Quentin said, "One, two, three."

Quentin and his friends made a break for it. Penny was bouncing off into different locations and shooting lightening from is palms to try to slow down one of the demons but every time he hit it, it just bounced right off like nothing happened. Jane was trying her best to concentrate on making sure the guard demons were running slower but it was difficult because she had to run around herself so they wouldn't catch her. It felt like hours and everyone was out of breath but in reality a minute only ticked by. When two minutes passed, the cloaks came down and now they were visible for the demons to see.

Noticing how exhausted Jane looked Quentin started running towards her. Throwing missiles at the demon that was almost twenty feet away from her. Even with the missiles firing rapidly it didn't leave a scratch on the demon. The demon was now two feet away from her and Quentin couldn't do anything.

"Penny!! Grab Jane!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Penny glanced towards Jane and seen that the demon was about to bite her. He closed his eyes and transported to where she was, grabbed her and moved her towards Quentin.

"We don't have time for this. They aren't even affected with any battle magic that we used. We need to come up with a different plan now!" Penny blew out trying to catch his breath. "Screw it, the new plan is to get you two in the castle and I'll distracted them."

Without giving Quentin and Jane a chance to speak, Penny grabbed them by the arm and transported them in front of the castle door. "Hurry up and get inside!" He yelled pushing them into the castle as the demons were circling back around the field.

The doors slammed shut while Quentin and Jane tried to open them to help their friend but the door wouldn't open, they were now locked in. Catching their breath they headed down the hallway towards an open door that lead to a ballroom.

"It's about time you both showed up. I thought you weren't going to make it." Mike snickered and he strode towards his sister. "Would you like to know a little secret?" He asked.

"Mike whatever you've done, please just stop. You don't have to do this." Jane tried to say to her brother.

"There is no stopping now baby sis." He mocked, "The secret is that there are no demons outside." He moved his hands up and down while mumbling words under his breath. Soon a cloud of smoke appeared and showed Penny fighting the two demons. " It's a glamour. It's all a trick. Pay close attention to what is about to happen Jane." With the snap of his fingers the two demons transformed into Alice and Julia. "You were fighting your friends all along." Mike replied laughing coldly.

Quentin couldn't believe his eyes. Alice had Penny by the neck and Julia came right in from of him and used some kind of spell that cut him in half. Alice through Penny on the ground like he was a rag doll. Jane fell to her knees and stared at the cloud of smoke until it went away while Quentin was standing speechless. Penny was dead. Murdered by two of his best friends because of Mike.

"You're the devil." Quentin spit out, "We came here to try to save you but there is nothing to save. You are heartless, ruthless, a fucking murderer!!" He yelled.

Quentin went on full attack mode saying whatever battle spell he had in him. Sparks, fires and lightening were crashed all around the room. They were going blow for blow matching each other attacks with a counter attack. Jane had crawled in the corner trying to gather up her thoughts. Trying to remember when he brother became a monster. Trying to remember when he became some sort of beast but nothing came to mind. The sounds from the attack were getting louder but when Jane looked up everything became in slow motion.

Quentin didn't notice that someone was lurking in the shadows. They came out right when Mike through a protection shield up and the stranger mumbled something that sent Quentin flying to the other side of the room. You could the bones snap when his body hit the floor. Jane ran over to his still body shook him, yelled at him, and than cried for him because she new that he was gone. Blinking her eyes to clear her tears she noticed a small box on the ground. When she opened it, she tried not to cry at the ring see was looking at. Quentin was going to propose to Jane. She leaned and pressed a light kiss on his lips. "I promise nothing will happen to you." She whispered.

She turned to see her brother, a monster laughing with the stranger. He started walking towards her with a smile on his face. "Awe, did I kill your lover boy?"

Jane stared at him with emotionless eyes and said, "No."

"No?" Mike questioned, "What do you mean no. I can see that your boyfriend is dead. He is not breathing. I killed him!"

"No, you didn't. There is still time." Jane whispered.