Meryle, Zakara, and Michael were running, fast. Beating down the dirt, gravel-ridden path that had been carved out in ancient days by traveling nomads, Meryle secretly wished she was someone else, somewhere else. This was too much.
With a kick and a hop, Meryle came to a halt. Zakara and Klaus darted past her and skidded to a stop as a beam of light appeared in her hand. "You were right, Zakara. We can't worry about danger now. We need to contact the others."
She fired the blue magic into the sky. After reaching a height of 500 feet, it exploded in the shape of a beautiful butterfly.
~
Half a mile ahead, around a sharp bend in the trench, the other three hunters stared at a large metal door. Dovev was running his hands over it, looking for a weakness, when it began to creak. He stepped back, toward Sybil and Trigger, as the huge metal frame swung open to reveal yet another of the night's surprises.
A mammoth creature stood in the center of the doorway, almost blotting out the torchlight with his body, with a stern expression on his face. Electricity crackled from a small metal rod poking out of his head, and his eyes gleamed a magnificent blood red. This creature was at least two heads taller than the mustached chicken theif Trigger may have remembered as "Burke."
~
Deep within the echoing walls of the stone keep, a shrill laughter bounced from floor to ceiling.
"As if they thought they could accomplish anything," the voice cackled, grinning at the three hunters as their images flickered on a strange, reflective surface in the room.
Another figure stood to his left. It was shirtless, and had a cross-shaped scar on its left eye. "Your serum wasn't good enough. After they shocked me, I faded away."
"Electricity will do that to a man. A high enough voltage of it, I mean," the cackle responded. "Don't worry. Cro-Magnum will handle them. He's a body-builder's dream."