After the cave dark of the dank sub-basement, the kitchen was a sudden assault of light and smell. Every light was on, reflecting off the gleaming granite counters and stainless steel appliances. The coppery scent of fresh blood mixed with hot spices and fried onions. Dirty pots and pans beside the sink with steaming water still running was proof that Crow Boy had taken the elves off guard. The fight had spilled to the other side of the kitchen where he leaped and kicked and spun, fending off Nattie and three males armed with butcher knives. Shouts of “the yamabushi is loose” rang deeper within the house and Louise could hear reinforcements racing toward the kitchen. Crow Boy was about to be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
Louise put the flour bag on the granite counter and quickly sketched a disperse spell onto the wrapper.
Nattie snatched up one of the kitchen chairs and swung it hard at Crow Boy. It caught him mid-leap and smashed him down to the floor. The elves leapt to pin the boy to the floor.
“Don’t kill him,” one of the males warned. “We need him breathing.”
“Breathing, yes.” Nattie stomped down on Crow Boy’s left leg and there was a sickening crack. “In one piece, no. Give me that knife.”
Louise gave the flour bag a hard shove, sending it skidding across the polished stone. She shouted the trigger word. The bag exploded as all the particles blossomed in all directions like instant dry blizzard.
In the whiteout, Nattie cursed loudly. “Oh, shit! The wood sprites!”
Flour was drifting down. When it settled it would be useless. Louise needed a spark to cause a dust explosion!
Jillian screamed as Celine suddenly caught her from behind.
“I’ve got one of them!” Celine cried. “The other one is here…”
“Let her go!” Louise snatched up a skillet from the sink and swung as hard as she could at the female’s knee. The elf screamed and lunged toward her. Louise backhanded with the skillet like a tennis racket. There was a satisfying “clang” as the stainless steel pan connected with Celine’s face.
Celine lost her grip on Jillian. Louise caught her twin by the wrist and dragged her away from the elf. Celine staggered backwards, glaring at Louise as blood seeped from her mouth.
“You little breeding bitch,” the elf snarled and picked up a meat cleaver. “We only need one of you.”
Joy reared up on Jillian’s shoulder. Her mane flared out and the baby dragon breathed a blast of fire at Celine’s face.
Celine’s scream was drowned out by a massive fireball as the flour hazing the air exploded.
Louise felt the explosion quake the floor under her feet but the flames rushed past, a swirl of orange and reds, not touching the twins.
“Mine, stupid poopy face, all mine!” Joy stood on Jillian’s shoulder, mane bristling, muttering in anger as the firestorm raged around them.
The entire kitchen was on fire. Flames crawled up the walls and raced across the ceiling. The stove erupted in a secondary blast.
“We have to get out of here!” Jillian cried.
Celine seemed dead, curled into a tight ball of burnt flesh. Her body, though, reminded Louise that Crow Boy was somewhere in the kitchen.
“We need to find Crow Boy first!”
They found him halfway across the room, crawling toward them instead of toward the blown open door.
“I was afraid you would be trapped.” He coughed as they got him up. Using his wings and a hand on either of their shoulders, he managed to balance and then half hop, half fly toward the door.
“That was stupid!” Louise cried. “There were dozens of ways we could have gotten out of there without them even knowing we were free. Next time, wait until we tell you what to do.”
He grimaced in pain. “I sincerely hope there isn’t a next time.”
The three of them couldn’t fit through the shattered doorway at the same time, so Louise stepped through first. It took her outside the protection of Joy’s shields and the sudden flare of intense heat and thick smoke made her stumble forward, coughing.
She saw the gunman just as he saw her. She stared unbelieving as he raised his rifle and took aim at her.
But then the male fell over, twitching.
“Hooyah!” Chuck Norris squeaked as she fist-pumped. “Taser is in the mouse!”
“Chuck!”
Chuck waved her tiny hands. “I totally saved you!”
Louise scooped up the mouse robot. “Yes, you did. Thank you.”
* * *
The detached garage had obviously been built to hold horse carriages. It was a massive, dimly lit building with heavy timbers supporting its barnlike roof. It housed a dozen sleek modern cars. The light of the growing house fire flickered through celestial windows over the bay doors. From deep pools of darkness, the light gleamed off polished chrome in pinpoints like demonic eyes.