The Last Celestial

Moon is Rising Part II

Forty strong men and women line up in a perfect form of circle. Their backs touched the stone cold walls as they stood straight, waiting for the Scorpio's bane to rise from the relic that holds its powers inside.

During the night, the relic turns dark, as the venom of Scorpio awakens, the dark liquid drips out slowly. As if it's crawling and slithering from its case. But during the day when the sun is out, it shines bright gold. The rhinestones and rare crystals emphasize its beauty.

The contrast of day and night. The sun and the moon. It affects how potent the venom can be. Tris, one of the Keepers who specializes in defense, gives the signal --- the spotter when the venom oozes out of the relic.

She closed her eyes and recited an incantation to activate the armor they are wearing. "Pusiausvyrinė." She opened her eyes and began again. "išleidimas ir plitimas!"

The dark armor they were wearing slowly spread across their body. The carved incantations on the leather cloth lit up into gold, reacting to Tris' incantation. Tris' eyes remained close, concentrating as she said it repeatedly until everyone's armor was glowing.

Once it was gray and dark blue, replicating the color of the night sky --- the color of the armor glowed into gold and white, almost replicating the rays of the sun.

All of them stood in position when the liquid from the relic gushed out, and all of them tensed as they witnessed a three foot scorpion formed on the ground and its sting was up and was ready to attack.

Only half of them were able to take and grab a shield. The process of creating metal strong enough to resist the effect of the poison was challenging, and the materials are scarce.

Not everything can be handed out to them. But everyone was prepared for the hell that is about to come.

It was the beginning of a long night, as two more of the liquid scorpions emerged from the relic. Its poisonous telson was ready to attack. It curved upward, with a final segment called a telson at the end. The telson is where the venom is produced. At the tip of the telson is a sharp needle-like structure called the aculeus.

"Steady!" Lucas shouted as the three scorpions hissed, as it circled around, looking for a way out. Their job is to keep the venom at bay, and not let the scorpions out even if the consequence is losing their lives if they've been stung.

Amani hissed when a scorpion's tail almost touched his face, he was pushed back --- almost landing on Conner's back. The two of them tripped and almost lost balance when the scorpion strikes again.

"Use your shield, Damn it!" Khallessie shouted as she threw her own shield to the two fumbling men.

Connor caught the shield, then thanked her for the kindness. He and Amani immediately pushed the creature back to the middle --- almost near to the relic. But then it dissolved itself into liquid, making the two men flinch and jump to avoid it.

"Careful!" Zayebi hollered.

It was chaos, pure chaos as the forty men and women tried to fight off the scorpions. It only got stronger as the moon gives it more power. This was an everyday routine for them, until the last day of November came. Just like when the time of Sagittarius approaches, the Scorpion's bane nulls and quiets down.

Phing and Elly were side by side as they teamed up with Tris and Lazedi. Both men and women were gritting their teeth while holding their ground as the scorpion's needle banged against their shields. If it weren't for the armor they were wearing, their skins would've dissolved minutes ago.

Cause' as the scorpion's tail hits the shield, droplets of its poison splashed on their armors and the ground. Their head was also protected, as they were wearing armor made by processed tree barks that grew from the forest --- specifically the area where trees glowed during the night.

"Elly!" Tris hollered when she noticed that the scorpion's tale almost touched his face. "Look out!"

Immediately, Elly dodged then rolled away, making sure that he covered his face with his forearm. The armor may give him protection from the droplets of venom, but once he's hit directly, then the result will still be fatal and can lead to his untimely death.

Elly, looked at Tris then smiled at her. "Thank you." He said with a smile before coming back to help the three.

The night is still long, and not even an hour has passed.

They were all still battling against the bane's monsters. All of them remained focused, relentlessly fighting and doing their best.

Until Phing took the shield from Tris and Elly, throwing it on the side --- hitting Halley in the face, making her lose consciousness.

"Halley!" Gandy screamed as he picked up his teammate. He then looked at Phing, obviously taken back and pissed off with what had happened. "Phing! Are you crazy, why did you do that?!"

Phing chuckled upon hearing the name. His laughter echoed around the stone walls, making the others who were busy fending off the scorpions look at him for a brief moment. Lazedi immediately took the shield from Gandy and apologized.

"What is wrong with you, Phing?!" Elly screamed. He grabbed Phing by the collar, pulling the thick leather until and dragged his friend towards the edge of the room. He pinned Phing against the wall, his back slamming against the cold stone, making a strong sound.

"You almost killed a Keeper! You almost killed Tris, Lazedi, Halley and I!" Elly screamed out loud that the veins on his neck showed. His ears and cheeks were red. And his grip on Phing's armor was so tight that Phing was having trouble breathing. "You almost killed your family! We are all family, Phing! This is not like you! This is not you! Why are you so reckless, what the hell has gotten into, Phing!?"

Phing remained expressionless, only staring at Elly's face. And then, he began to laugh, throwing Elly's off.

"Oh, humans..." Phing said, his eyes staring directly at Elly's. "...you and the others, how typical… If only you know how priceless your spiteful reaction was…" He grabbed Elly's wrist, digging his nails deep on the skin, making the other man wince. He pushed Elly away, making him trip and fall on the cold hard ground.

Almost immediately, Elly stood up and was ready to fight Phing, his best friend.

But then a putrid, disgusting, gut wrenching smell surrounded all of them, making the Keeper's hurl and heave.

Phing closed his eyes from the familiar scent. The scent of decaying bodies mixed with tar. It seemed like Sphinox had her fill on the way to the catacombs. He laughed out loud, as the Keepers began to panic. The brown eyes he used to have returned to its natural color. The jet black eyes that his creator gave him.

The scorpions already killed a few Keepers, as they got distracted by the scent while some were simply too tired to fight.

"Ah... Sphinox. She finally came..." He laughed as he looked down at Elly whose face became pale. He thought of different ways how he'll show his true nature to Elly, and this... this was the perfect time. He slowly pulled away the flesh that was covering his face, letting out growls and blood curdling screams as the skin was being ripped out.

"Phing..." Elly whispered as he stared at the man in front of him. "You---you're not Phing, aren't you..."

The man pulled away the last layer of brown-caramel like skin from his face, throwing it somewhere. He smiled then looked down. Revealing those rows of teeth, dark eyes and his skin that is made from tar and coal.

He looked like a demon.

"Where's Phing?!" Elly screamed loudly as the creature approached him. "What did you do to him?! What did you do to my friend?!"

The creature did not speak, instead he smiled and bent down until he was at the same level as Elly. "Phing... Phing... Phing..." He said with a menacing tone on his voice. "If you could only imagine how tired I am of hearing that name."

The Keepers who were standing near the gate looked behind them when they heard a loud thumping sound against the stone door. Soon the sound became louder and louder until the inner walls of the room began to shake and tremble.

Mina and Sesly were so distracted by all the commotion that they forgot about the bane. The scorpion behind them pierced their skin, the needle of the scorpion touched their flesh, rendering them lifeless.

Soon enough the stone gates fell on the ground. An eight foot monster appeared in front of them. The beast was wearing a kabuki mask stained with blood, and on its hand, was a dismembered head of a Keeper. Anukis, a member of the barrier and defense team.

All the Keepers went silent, before they picked themselves up and realized the trouble that they were facing. The moon was still rising and now two monsters appeared in front of them.

"This one is strong enough to get through the barrier and kill the defense team." Connor said aloud, fear was evident in his eyes, yet he tried to remain still and did his best to calm himself. He noticed that a lot of the Keepers were scared.

There's this unruly thought that they're all going to die that night.

Lucas agreed and stood his ground as well. "Three scorpions, a beast and a wolf in sheep's clothing..." He looked at Elly and the man who used to be Phing. "We, the Keepers, will not let you succeed."

Sphinox growled, she looked down at one of the Keepers who was frozen in place. She grabbed Lazedi by the neck, then began to devour her slowly.

"Tonight..." Golind spoke, as he looked down on Elly. "...we will feast."