The Gauntlet

'Well, this is new.' Violet remarked.

Nightmouth was starting to overtake us from above now too. And every moment felt like an age as we watched with bated breath for it all to come crashing down. I pressed my hands firmly onto the spherical barrier again. 'I need you both to run!'

'Yessir, yessir.' Asher panted.

Violet shook her head while forcing him to lean forward; it wasn't fair; she'd already set off jogging while he continued to mess around. When Violet stretched her arms out for balance, Asher copied her, seemingly not wanting to face her wrath for a second time. They knew what they had to do now, and it was going to be my job to ensure that our barrier somehow remained intact.

Easy.

Corrosive droplets were trickling down on top of us as we moved forward, but fortunately, most of them just seemed to roll off the barrier. All of this distracted us from what lay in front, though; tornadoes, dozens of them, appearing to zigzag past each other repeatedly as if daring us to keep going.

The way the mighty funnels of wind and corrosive rain were able to change direction was terrifying. It was almost like Nightmouth was controlling them somehow.

'Give us a break!' Asher sighed.

Naturally, it didn't, and we found ourselves racing against the clock even as the fog walls continued to close up around us. Not only that, the black rain was causing the ground to billow out steam, and every time the open tear in our barrier passed over such a patch, the scolding hot vapour would assault us.

'It's like it wants us to go this way.'

'It's got to be a trap.' Asher agreed.

I squinted as I tried to see them both.  'What other choice do we have? Please, show me another way.'

There wasn't one. And we all knew it. We were travelling so fast now that turning around would have been impossible anyway. No, it appeared we'd have to stay the course, even if this road was leading us to our deaths.

I felt the grating of sand and stone roll by beneath us. With every bump and crash upon the increasingly uneven ground, the fractures in our sphere seemed to grow larger, looking more and more like the patterns on a spider's web.

Violet held one hand flat above her eyes. 'I see something up ahead.'

Asher huffed. 'Well, I can't see a damned thing, and I'm too tired to bother trying now.'

The pair of them reminded me of little hamsters running around in a plastic ball. The thought nearly gave me a hernia as I fought to hold back a fit of laughter; it took some doing, but after a few seconds of pain, I managed to push it aside. Sure enough, several blurry figures were kneeling next to each other in a line, though that's all I could see from here.

'Slow down! Nightmouth's going to hear us coming.'

'We can't, Jake. There's not enough time.'

As we drew closer, I saw that it was Jasper's family, and my heart skipped a beat. My relief was quickly replaced by horror, though; we were heading straight for them, and they couldn't dodge out of the way.

I took my hands off the barrier wall for a moment to get Violet's attention. And she looked mortified when she noticed. 'You let go!'

'It's not going to matter if we crush Jasper, is it?' It was too late to slow down, and we couldn't dive outside, either. There was only one thing we could do. 'We'll have to settle for a good old plan B.'

'Plan B?' Violet unbent enough to ask.

'Plan B,' I repeated, baring my teeth. 'Both of you grab on to me and channel your energy. Now!'

They didn't hesitate, but I heard Asher scream as he pointed at my face. 'You're eyes are red.'

'Focus!'

A horrible pain ripped through my body as their magic flowed through me. And my eyes were burning, but I could still see; I could see more than I would ever want to. Hundreds of white spectral figures were chasing after us, and I felt sick as I started to recognise some of them. We had found the Protectors.

They looked ghostly, with their black robes presenting as more of a washed-out grey colour now, but no matter what had become of them, it didn't change the fact that they seemed hell-bent on reaching us.

As I pressed against the barrier again, the sphere resealed and seemed to flash purple as it reinforced itself. The rabbit grew in size as well, with its head exploding into a fountain of bright yellow and purple orbs. Even its body was stretching in length to the point where it was nearly as tall as the tower we'd just left. As I looked down, two stubby arms materialised out of nowhere, quickly forming into long scythe-like claws.

Wherever I looked, the entity went. I had complete control. Violet and Asher didn't have to run anymore either; instead, they were gripping onto my arms as glue would stick to a sheet of paper.

The rabbit leapt in the air, spinning around, before slashing at chains of light. Jasper's shackles cracked first and sent the bright stream shooting back up into the overcast sky. Following that were his mother's chains, and then the ones holding who I assumed was his grandmother.

'Mary, get down!' The old lady was too slow to react, though, and the warning from Jasper's mother had come too late as she got swept away into the night by one of Nightmouth's tornadoes.

'Grandma!' Jasper shrieked, moving to charge after her. It was a heartwarming gesture, but one that was futile because Mary's limp body hadn't even landed yet.

The mother grabbed Jasper by the shoulders. 'She's gone.'

'Watch out.' Violet yelled, bringing me back to my senses. I'd misjudged the angle this time and had missed the father's hand by an inch. Sure enough, another shackle of light was flung back into the heavens, and Nightmouth was not happy about it.

I turned slightly at the sound of rumbling thunder; at least that's what I thought it was. Until I found myself gazing up the immense face of a forming tidal wave; Nightmouth had arrived, and at either side of it sat the looming black walls of fog as they waited to close in on us again, much like the jaws of a nutcracker. 

Jasper's grandfather was the only one left in chains, and Nightmouth seemed determined not to let him go. Dozens of tornadoes began lashing down from above, encircling him like bars on a cage.

The older man's face seemed to crumple as he turned towards his family, and with tears welling in his eyes, he smiled grimly. 'Just go; if Nightmouth allows it, I'll see you all again one day.'

'No!' Jasper cried.

Violet had a bewildered look about her. 'Where exactly does he expect us to go?'

'How about that way.' Asher replied with a smirk.

She followed his gaze and pulled a face. 'Away from the giant wave does sound like a good move, smart ass-' 

When she stopped talking, I felt the need to see why. And I couldn't help but grin when I noticed the ghostly vales of the Protectors. They were now circling each wind tunnel with menacing speed while causing the strange weather anomalies to merge or disappear altogether.

We used the distraction to our advantage, and Jasper's grandfather seemed lost for words as he saw us tearing down from above. As we cut him free, Nightmouth let out an ear-splitting roar that brought the wave crashing down even faster. I'd always loved the sound of waves rolling up on the beach, but there wasn't anything enjoyable about this.

Jasper seemed frozen with fright, and his mother was struggling to usher him along; she had to drag him in the end. 'There's nothing more you can do. Go!'

I couldn't fault Jasper's inability to do anything after seeing what had just happened to his grandmother. They were still taking too long to get moving, though, and I could already hear the sizzling of Nightmouth's deathly rain as it smothered everything in its path.

We had no choice but to go on ahead of them, sprinting across the dead tundra with gigantic strides while not even daring to look back. We must have only made it fifty feet when the world around us turned pitch black.