Now, Manila

The attacks began as soon as they left the protective range of Lilah’s wards.

Eron got a mouthful of slimy tentacle as a fog monster wrapped it around his head. He bulled forward and bit down. Speed, strength and superhuman bite force got him free at the cost of tasting foul meat and liquid.

He couldn’t understand how a fog-made copy of whatever horrible monster that was had a taste.

He shook his head free of the torn tentacle and frantically spat out the remains.

His legs pumped as he pulled the truck behind him.

More monsters appeared out of the fog in front of him.

All he could do was lower his shoulder and keep moving.

Claws and teeth tore his clothing and left shallow slices on his super-tough skin.

Massive paws bludgeoned him.

He barely dodged a hoof the size of his torso as it kicked out from what seemed to be nothing.

The thick chains went slack for a moment as the hoof struck the side of the truck.

Madalena cursed Eron from the driver’s seat as she frantically struggled to keep the truck from spinning out of control. She had to be careful to keep her strength under control lest she break the steering wheel.

“Are you trying to throw me off!” Cherry hissed.

The silver-haired woman stood in the truck bed. The fingers of her left hand were dug deep into the roof while she fired of dark bolts of magic into the fog.

“I will if you don’t watch those pointy fingers of yours!” Madalena snapped.

“Well, drive better so I don’t have to hold on so tight! Don’t think I don’t know that you’d take the opportunity to get rid of m—” Cherry glanced to her right. She ducked just in time to avoid an enormous crab-like claw as it scythed out of the fog. She cursed. She couldn’t survive decapitation.

Three dog-like monsters leapt out of the fog.

Cherry grinned.

Those she could deal with.

She spread her fingers out wide and speared each monster as they snapped misshapen, teeth-filled maws.

Not even close.

She retracted her fingers and reshaped them back to normal from the long, blade-like forms to have a taste of the monster blood.

Awful, but useful in replenishing what she was expending.

She made sure to thoroughly clean all traces.

“Jesus! You are a disgusting monster!” Madalena snarled.

“What?” Cherry said.

“I can hear you slurping from in here!”

“You should be thanking me, you graceless cow,” Cherry said mildly. “I’m keeping the monsters from tearing you to pieces.”

“The two of you need to stop and focus!” Eron bellowed. “Shi—”

An overturned jeepney was on its side in the middle of the road.

No time or space to go around.

Eron plowed into it sending the rusted vehicle careening to one side into the ruins of a building.

“Ouch.”

He missed not really feeling pain.

Monsters assaulted them every step of the way south to the sanctuary.

Two-thirds of the group were bloodied, battered and tired by the time they finally skidded to a stop right next to the faintly glowing sigil on the side of the building.

The hotel driveway was clear aside from a small shuttle at the other end, just as Eron had left it from the last time he had been here.

“It’s weakening,” Cherry said.

“No it isn’t.” Madalena had to punch the dented truck door off to get out. “It’s still lit up. That means it’s working and in case you didn’t notice the fog is keeping its distance,” she scowled at Cherry.

“Who’s the magical one here?” Cherry scoffed. She turned to Eron, who had just unwrapped the chains from his body to join the two women. “That sigil is the main one right?”

Eron nodded.

“Well, I can sense the magic in it weakening, which means—”

“The lesser ones might already be out,” Eron said.

“Does that mean the fog might already be in the hotel?” Madalena rushed to the entrance.

“Wait!” Eron chased after her. “They’ll know to stay close to the main sigil,” he pulled her back to take the lead, “still we’d better hurry.”

The hotel lobby was already occupied.

Relief.

Their people had gathered and from the looks of the packs and bags they had with them were ready to go.

“We followed the drill just like you said,” a middle-aged man said with obvious relief as soon as he saw Eron.

“What happened?” Eron said.

“The fog got in from the back of the hotel and above, but most of us don’t stay too far away from the main sigil out front, so…” the man looked away.

“Most?” Eron did a quick head count.

There were only eight people.

From young to old.

A disparate mix of survivors.

Two missing.

Young men. The fighters in the group.

“A few of us were too slow. Noy and Junior gave them time.”

Eron fixed the faces of the brave young men into his memories.

Two more gone.

His responsibility and failure.

Eron took a deep breath. “Alright, obviously it isn’t safe here. So, we’re getting you out of here. It’s not going to be a fun ride, but I promise we’ll do everything we can to keep you safe.”

A loud crash from outside interrupted him.

Followed by the ear-wrenching sound of metal being torn.

Something big and heavy crashed through the lobby’s wide window.

People screamed as a dark shadow descended on them.

Madalena threw herself in front of the people.

Cherry’s suddenly long fingers pulled the two smallest children to her.

Eron was faster.

He leapt in front of the object and caught it. He was surprised to find himself holding an engine.

Realization hit him a split-second later.

His stomach sank.

The engine cracked the tile as it hit the floor.

Numbly, Eron walked to the window, Madalena a few steps behind.

Their truck was an unrecognizable heap.

It was surrounded by the shades of their family.

One stood a top the broken heap.

“Vern, how could you?” Madalena whispered.

A look of pain and shame flashed across the young man’s face, but it hardened. “I’m not really happy to see you here, cousin. You shouldn’t be around him.”

“Run, Maddie,” another of the shades pleaded. “It’s too late for Eron and the others, but i—” she struggled, but it seemed that she couldn’t bring herself to continue.

“Auntie…” Madalena’s eyes began to water as her voice wavered.

“I think the fog means to take me and the people, but you may be free to go,” Eron said.

“Or it’s a trick meant to get you out on your own when you run away,” Cherry’s voice whispered in Madalena’s ear.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Madalena’s voice firmed. “I don’t want to fight you, but I will!”

“None us wants to fight you, Maddie,” Vern said. “Only a few of us actually wants to fight him,” he jabbed a finger at Eron, “I definitely do.”

“Perfect, we can deal then. I’ll stay and fight. You let everyone else go,” Eron said.

“What?” Madalena hissed.

“You’ll have to push, one of the others can drive and Cherry will keep the monsters off your backs,” Eron whispered.

“With what? Our truck is gone.”

“Why don’t the two of you back away from the window?”

A pair of delicate hands caressed the backs of Eron’s and Madalena’s necks.

They both flinched, but did as asked.

Eron shook his head. “What was that all about, Cherry?” he stared into the impossibly beautiful woman’s eyes before remembering to fix his gaze on her forehead.

“You’re so in a rush to punch fists,” Cherry shook her head, sending her luscious hair cascading around her like a shining waterfall.

Madalena made the sign of the cross.

To which Cherry rolled her eyes.

“The sigil is still glowing. The shades are keeping their distance,” Cherry explained.

“I told the Doc to get Lilah to drop her connection no longer than fifteen minutes from when we left,” Eron said. “That’s assuming she can even hold it that long. It could drop at any moment.”

“We’ve got two, maybe three minutes left,” Madalena checked her watch.

Eron made a quick decision.

“Here’s our plan.”

“I should just leave you all,” Cherry said.

Madalena shot her a venomous look. “Go ahead. We don’t need you. Besides, you’ll finally be where you belong after the fog takes you.”

“You mean with the rest of your family?” Cherry smiled sweetly.

“Just shut up and do it!” Madalena snapped. She noticed the looks the other people were giving them, so she lowered her voice. “Are you sure you can do this right?”

Cherry extended her right index finger, lengthening and sharpening it. “The wall might as well be butter, but… I don’t know much about magic. It’s more of an instinctual thing with my Class.”

“Hurry it up!” Madalena urged. She chanced a quick look out the window. Eron was taking a beating to buy them time for this desperate gambit.

“I have to be careful. I have no idea if this will even work. For all we know the sigil’s magic will go out once I cut the piece out of the wall.”

“Just do it! It could go die at any moment and we need to cover as much road as possible before that happens.”

“We won’t get far.” Cherry’s face was a mask of concentration as she traced a rough circle around the area marked by the sigil on the other side of the wall. Her innate sense of magic-related things guided her hand. “Get ready to catch it.”

Cherry completed the cut and pulled.

Madalena carefully caught the chunk of wall. She turned it around and to their great relief the sigil still glowed, if weakly.

“Alright, people. Let’s go. Everyone follow me.” Madalena held the sigil like a shield as she rushed out of the hotel lobby and into the driveway.

A shade of a relative noticed them and moved to intercept.

When he got within five feet he suddenly stopped. “You better hurry, Maddie. I can feel that weakening by the second,” he said.

Madalena urged the people into the shuttle before thrusting the sigil-bearing chunk of wall inside after them. “You know the way right?”

“Y— Y— Yeah. I think so,” the unlucky designated driver said.

“It’s fine, I’ll yell out directions if he gets lost, but you won’t get lost, right?” Cherry flashed the poor man a sharp-toothed smile before climbing up to the shuttle’s roof. “I’m going to need a lot to drink after this,” she sighed beneath her breath.

“I’ll be pushing. Just hit the brakes if you want me to slow down or stop,” Madalena said.

She hurried to the rear of the vehicle.

This was going to be impossible.

She couldn’t see and she wasn’t as strong as Eron. There was no way she was going to be able to move the shuttle as fast he would’ve. It meant that the sigil’s ability to keep the fog at bay would definitely run out before they got to safety. With her pushing she wouldn’t be able to do much to help defend the people from the eventual attacks.

That meant their lives depended on Cherry.

Madalena doubted that the aswang had the power and the will. It was more likely that Cherry would flee as soon as her life was in danger.

She cursed herself for agreeing to Eron’s plan.

One last glance back saw Eron’s face being ground into the asphalt by her sweet auntie… no, not her auntie, only a ghost created by the fog to torment her.

Still.

The look on her auntie’s face, had Madalena thinking.

There was anguish.

Real.

It reminded Madalena of when her uncle had passed away in the pre-spires days.

Her auntie had been inconsolable for months.

Madalena saw emotion akin to that.

“What are you waiting for?” Cherry hissed. “The sigil is weakening!”

Madalena tore her gaze away as her auntie pulled Eron’s head back so one of her cousins could punt him in the face. “Damn it!” she leaned into the back of the shuttle and pushed.

Eron lost a tooth.

He was about to lose another but he pushed himself up off the ground and twenty feet into the air with a desperate burst of strength.

His cousin’s second kicked whiffed

His aunt’s knee was dislodged from his spine.

He was free.

And now that he could see Madalena pushing the shuttle down the street at what looked to be a respectable pace he no longer had to play punching bag for his numerous relatives.

“Nice try, nephew, but they won’t get far. The girl’s magic is about to stop working.”

“A chance is better than no chance,” Eron spat a glob of blood, “I’ve learned that.”

“It’s good that you try so hard, so selflessly for others. Your father would be proud.”

Eron thought for a moment. If he recalled correctly this aunt was his dad’s cousin. He felt a little guilty that he didn’t really know the Philippine branch of his family tree. “I’m sorry, Aunt, but he’d be disappointed if he knew what you guys have been doing. I mean, if this is really ‘you’ and not some fog-made copy.”

Tears glistened in the shade’s eyes and made Eron feel bad.

“You might be right,” his aunt began, “I can’t say everything I’d want to say… but I feel,” she tapped her chest, “it hurts me to do this. To you, to innocent people. And I remember,” she tapped her head, “I remember the only time that I met you. You were two or three. It’s been so long,” she smiled sadly. “I think you got carsick on the drive up. The roads were twisty. I was so excited to finally meet you and your brothers that I couldn’t wait and I took you from your Kuya Calmin as soon as the van door slid open. I guess I was too excited and spun you around too fast. You promptly vomited all over the two of us.”

Eron choked. “I— I’ve been told that story so many times.”

“I don’t know what I truly am. Maybe you’re right and I’m just the sad remains of that woman, but if I feel and remember…”

“Then there isn’t that much of a distinction,” Eron sighed. “I’m sorry, Tita Rosalita… but that doesn’t change anything. I won’t let the fog take more people.”

“I know and that fills me with hope even if the rest of us have none. Fight your hardest because we have to.”

Eron heard footsteps.

He ducked.

A leg whipped the hair on his head.

He lashed out with a clumsy sweep.

A body hit the ground with a thud.

“Vernardo, you dick,” Eron said.

Eron’s cousin launched himself from the ground like a missile.

A hard head slammed into Eron’s face.

The crunch of his nose watered Eron’s eyes, as another tooth went flying.

Vern wasn’t on Eron’s level physically, but without his true power, Eron was far from invulnerable. They could hurt him.

“Fuck you, man!” Vern punched Eron in the gut. “You should’ve come here as soon as you learned how to fly. Could’ve helped fight the fog. Could’ve saved everyone from this hell!”

Vern grabbed the back of Eron’s neck and pulled down.

Eron crossed his arms.

The impact of Vern’s knee jarred him like a rattle.

“But no, all you Americans think you’re so much better than us,” Vern aimed another knee.

Eron slammed his arms down on the crooks of Vern’s elbows while pulling his head back.

The knee grazed his forehead.

Eron swung blindly to create space. He needed to clear the tears from his eyes. “You’ve got it all wrong!” he spat.

“Man, you didn’t even recognize most of us!” Vern snapped Eron’s head back with a one. Then hit him with a two as his head snapped back.

The twice struck broken nose sent throbbing waves of pain through Eron.

He jumped back to gain space and crashed through the hotel wall.

He wiped at his eyes frantically while he continued to scramble back. He could feel his relatives closing in.

Another wall stopped him just as he cleared the last of his tears.

Just in time to see Vern’s incoming fist.

Eron slipped his head to the side.

Vern was trapped elbow-deep in the lobby wall.

Eron punched him in the stomach. Then in the side of the head.

Vern wobbled a moment, but recovered quickly. He ripped his arm free in a shower of splinters that had Eron reflexively turning his head away.

A mistake.

Two quick, accurate punches landed on the side of Eron’s head.

He swung back. Only to hit air.

Another punch landed on his ribs.

Followed by one to side of his lower back.

He grunted with the pain. He hoped that he wouldn’t end up pissing blood later. Assuming he managed to get out of this.

Eron turned and threw his fists in a blur of sheer speed and power, rather than proper technique.

It was telling that Vern managed to bob and weave his way through them untouched, before angling to Eron’s left to land a few more blows before shuffling around Eron’s back to disengage.

“Fuck, you suck. Garbage technique. I’d have laid you out if you weren’t so much tougher,” Vern smirked.

Eron grunted.

His cousin wasn’t wrong. He had neglected to develop his fighting skills. The problem had been that there wasn’t any human-sized or shaped opponent that presented any sort of threat in a fist-fighting way when he had his full power. The only things that had been a threat were monsters and other worst things that didn’t fight as a person did.

Sure, he had punched and kicked and kneed many of those things, but he had also been mostly invulnerable and had heat vision, amongst a small, but powerful selection of abilities to rely on.

The fog had shown him the error of his ways.

He had resolved months ago to work on his fighting skills and perhaps start carrying weapons, just in case.

But that was for the future.

First, he needed to keep his relatives occupied long enough for the shuttle to drive back to the main sanctuary.

Then and only then could he run away.

“Well, Vern,” Eron began. “You—”

“It’s Vernardo to you!” Vern snapped.

“Do you have to be so petty? I was going to complement you.” Eron eyed his other relatives as they appeared out of the fog, but kept their distance. He noticed that his Tita Rosalita stood in the back with a sad look on her face. He also noticed that several faces were missing. “Wait— where are Tito Carlos, Tito Novy and Tita Lu?”

Vern opened his mouth then shut it abruptly.

Eron eyed him. “Don’t tell me they’re going to jump me from behind. Tita Rosalita?”

His aunt just stared at him.

“No help? I really felt like we made a connection back there,” he gave a gap-toothed smile.

“It’s too late for that, for us,” Tita Rosalita shook her head.

“Maybe… maybe not. We live in a world of powers and magic now. I’ve seen some things out there,” Eron shrugged. “There’s always a chance. No matter how small or unlikely.”

“Shut up!” Vern snapped. “You want to know where they are? They’re busy.”

“Wait? I’m a lesser priority?”

Vern sneered.

Eron decided that could be good news or bad news.

Those three were the strongest from both sides of his family.

If they were needed elsewhere to deal with someone or something stronger than him…

“A chance!” Eron smiled. He raised his fists. “I’ve had enough of a break. Let’s continue.”

Vern entered into range behind a probing jab. He caught Eron flinching and landed a straight to the stomach.

Eron had learned enough to keep his core tight and the punch didn’t get through hard muscle. He countered with a hook.

Vern ducked it and landed his own hook to Eron’s ribs.

That one hurt.

The two cousins traded blows while the rest of their relatives kept their distance, content to watch.

Eron was at a skill disadvantage.

For every punch he landed on Vern, he took three or four in return.

What he did have was an edge in strength, speed and durability.

It was like a heavyweight fighting a welterweight.

Vern couldn’t take the exchanges forever. He slowed as each rare hit he took sapped his stamina and concentration.

Eron caught Vern flat-footed and cracked him with a punch to the temple.

Vern’s legs wobbled and he did a funny dance right before he dropped to the floor.

Eron advanced on his cousin.

Vern was still corporeal. One good kick and he’d dissipate back into the fog.

Eron tried not to think of it as killing Vern. Which it really wasn’t, since the shades kept coming back.

“Sorry about this,” Eron raised his foot and stomped down.

Only for a red-colored forcefield to take the blow.

It shattered, but it had provided enough of a deflection to send Eron’s boot crushing the floor tiles rather than Vern’s head.

“Oh, now you jump in,” Eron huffed as Vern rolled away and vanished back into the fog.

The rest of Eron’s relatives moved in.

One generated sharp forcefields along her arms and legs. She whirled around Eron like a rabid squirrel, slicing his already tattered clothes and adding dozens of paper cut-like slashes all over his body.

He threw his arm out and felt a satisfying crunch that turned his relative back into mist.

He didn’t have time to feel guilty or celebrate as another landed on him from above.

This one tried to crush Eron into the floor with a flat, rectangular forcefield generated from his hand.

The relatives on his mom’s side of the family didn’t have a significant amount of super strength. It was easy enough for Eron to throw this one off.

The man crashed into the ceiling and also vanished into mist.

Eron rolled just in time to avoid a spiked ball of glowing light bigger than his head slam down into the floor.

The ball continued to roll after him so he punched it with all his might.

A loud scream echoed through the lobby before abruptly stopping.

Eron winced as he shook his hand.

That had hurt.

Eron regarded the dozen or so remaining shades of his once family advancing on him from all direction.

How much time had he wasted?

A few minutes?

More?

How far had the shuttle traveled in that time?

Had they been able to fight off the fog monsters without him?

Too many unknowns.

Stay or go?

The shades outnumbered him, but they weren’t individually strong compared to him.

It had always been one of the three missing uncles and aunt that had always given him trouble or outright beat him up.

They weren’t present.

Eron decided.

“I’m really sorry about this,” he shrugged.

He attacked and held nothing back.

The shades of his family did the same.

Whether it was by their own will or whatever in the fog that had captured or copied them. They fought with a viciousness and determination that didn’t fit their kindly and average appearances.

One even tried to rip Eron’s ear off with her teeth.

While another sought to tear his most valuable possessions with a claw-like forcefield around her hand.

Sweet, old Tita Rosalita dropped kicked him in the spine.

In turn, he grabbed her around the ankles and used her to bludgeon the others back into mist.

Not his finest moment and one he wouldn’t ever tell another soul.

In the end only one person remained.

Bloodied, bruised and missing teeth, Eron stood, half-naked, in a devastated hotel lobby surrounded by the unnatural silence of the gray fog.

Wearily, he headed back the way he had come.

His one hope was that he wouldn’t come across a broken and empty shuttle on the road back to sanctuary.