Ceri continued to step back a moment, for a moment remembering how scared she’d been of that demon cat… horns still made her cringe as she remembered being cut by them. She watched them a moment, her temporary moment of fear briefly keeping the holy blade from being summoned. It required courage… right now Ceri felt like she was a four year old girl again…tied to a post and crying for her mother to tell her what she’d done that was so bad…

The demon sensed this moment of weakness, chuckling as it looked over at Lyre. “My dear boy… you should run” It answered for Ceri, reaching forward with it’s tail to smack the flat side of the blade towards Lyre as if to knock him to the side. It’s eyes didn’t leave Ceri, It simply walked forward, licking it’s lips in anticipation. It didn’t care about Lyre, It only had so much time to eat.

Kay stopped her day dreaming and stared out the window. "Did you hear that Kiryn, it sounds like there is a 3rd person out there with them." She slowly walked over to the window and barely peeped out. "Kiryn... hey there is a really big panther out there, she hissed. "It has horns and everything.... and sword- tails.... I dont think it looks very friendly...." She ducked back out of the window and looked at him for confirmation of her fears.

Lyre was knocked over by the force of the tails but quickly scrambled back to his feet, looking at Ceri. She was frozen with fear. 'I will really regret this later...' he wasn't trying to be heroic or anything like that, it was just the way he was, he reasoned as he backed up a few paces and then launched himself full force at the panther, effectively pushing it away from Ceri, but losing his balance in the process, falling flat on his back.

Kay glanced back out the window and gasped "Lyre is trying to fight that thing, he doesnt even have a weapon. Kiryn we have to do something? That panther is going to kill them."

The demon cat stumbled to the side, looking back towards him with a hiss of pure fury and annoyance. “Interfering brat…. You have always stood in our way…” It growled as it rounded on him, raising it’s bladed tails as if to stab now. It had not cared earlier… but now… now it wanted to kill him. Before it’d just found him amusing, but now he had dared touch it… It began to lower the blade in a swift slash.

Seeing it turn on Lyre broke Ceri from her momentary trance, the blade and armor bursting from her cross to cover her arm and throat as she ran forward. She didn’t pause to she arrived in front of lyre, raising her armored arm just in time so zither’s tale hit it, instead of Lyre.

Ceri’s knees bent from the weight of it’s blow, her icy blue eyes briefly closing as if afraid. “S..stop” She whispered almost to herself as she fended off the blow, the scrap of metal echoing briefly. The demon growled, it’s eyes widening as it saw the holy energy of the blade that withstood it’s blow. “You… you’re ruined!!!” it hissed.

Kay couldnt stand to wait for Kiryn to respond for a moment longer. She started looking through all the cabinets in the kitchen as fast as she could. She came up with a large vegitable knife, measuring about 5 inches long, but it was the biggest knife Lyre seemed to own. She rushed out door and ran straight at the large cat. Its back was turned towards the house, its attention still on Ceri. If I hurry I can get the element of surprise. Kay held her vegitable knife tightly and raised her arm as she ran, ready to plunge it into the animal's back. She reached the panther and stabbed the knife in all the way to its handle. All right, I just killed the monster...... Oh shit. Kay realized that all she had done was piss the silly thing off only now it was facing her, and she was only a foot away from its very large mouth. She froze.

Ceri hissed slightly as pain seared down her arm from the force. She didn’t move a moment until she realized the demon had looked even more furious and turned. Seeing kay she groaned, struck by the sheer stupidity of the move. Hadn’t her sending her inside told her something?

However, Ceri wasn’t the only one watching. Kay had shown courage, self sacrifice, as well as stupidity yes but…. The holy stone flashed on Ceri’s wrist, freezing both Ceri and the demon cat with pain for a moment. White blinding light would fill the area so night would seem brighter then day as the metal and holy stone turned into a long writhing metal dragon.

An ornate dagger with blue stones appeared in its mouth and dropped to Ceri’s feet while the rest of the metal dragon charged towards Kay. It all happened in seconds but each moment was intricate as it wrapped around Kay’s head to form a circlet and soon metal around her arms… a heart in a metal guard around her neck. It would flood Kay’s mind, kays body, filling it with holy power in ways it never could the demon infected Ceri. Small white wings would burst from her back. It would tell her, ‘raise your arms’ and if she did so she would find when the cat demon came too its senses, the light fading to night once more, it’s powerful jaws would clamp on the armor on her forearms rather then her face or torso.

Ceri felt the burning on her arm cease, glancing to see there was nothing there any longer but the sleeve of her coat intact once more. Instantly her eyes went to kay. She knew what had happened, she’d seen it once before from kay’s end, but she couldn’t believe it. A human? The next wielder…was human? The spirit inside the stone was known for it’s mysterious ways but this took the cake….

Kay screamed when the white hot light flooded into her body. Time slowed down. Voices from the hundreds of wielders who had come before her echoed in her head. Hot metal was encasing parts of her body and then cooling almost immediately. Pain shot through her back as, for the first time, wings of the holy emerged from her back. The voices in her mind were all explaining to her what was happening, that she had been chosen by the Holy Blade to be its next wielder, due to her courageousness in the face of fear. They told her how to call the blade for now, and how to use it. They told her to look to Ceri for guidence.
As suddenly as it all had started, it all stopped. Only seconds had passed. One voice now remained inside her mind. It was the voice of the blade. Raise your arms And she did. Instead of the panther taking off her face, its teeth came down on the new metal bands covering Kay's arm. How convenient she thought. The power of the large animals teeth still caused discomfort, but had not drawn any blood. Call forth your blade Kay the voice in her mind told her. She thought really hard and nothing happened. The panther had backed off and was charging for another attack. In despiration Kay screamed "Now would be nice!" to the voice in her head. Suddenly the metal arm band on her left arm began to reshape its self. She now had a nice 9 inch dagger sheather in the metal band. She yanked it free and got it infront of her just in time for it to sever off one of the panthers Paws. Well at least it works better than that veggie knife.... but why am I cursed with short blades. The panther had backed off to form a new strategy, buying Kay some time.
She ran over to Ceri's side. "What do I have to do to kill that thing?"


((Im not sure how long I will give the blade its own voice but for now I am putting its voice in a slightly different color to differentiate it from Kays thoughts.))

Kiryn burst out the door, gilded sword already in his hand. Those violet eyes glowed in the darkness, enabling him to see nearly as well as if in day light. He stopped, watching as Kay was suddenly armored and fighting as if she almost knew what she was doing. Then the demon had backed away from Kay and the human rushed to Ceri's side. Those wings twitched and he leaped from the porch, landing near the demon on light feet with gentle wing beats. His sword was brought down as he landed, cutting into the creatures back and side.

Violet eyes were bright with anger. "These people are under my protection!" Kiryn had jumped back a few steps, and charged forward again. His feet just an inch above the ground as his wings carried him forward and quickly. That sword, this time instead of being brought down was brought up, slashing into the demon's stomach and up it's side and out. Kiryn knew he was only pissing it off, but maybe the injuries would weaken it a bit as well. He moved back a few feet and glanced over at Lyre, then Kay and Ceri. "Are any of you injured?"

"Not physically, but I have a major head ache," Kay said with a grin. "More importantly right now though, I need to know how to use this thing Ceri," Kay brandished the knife in Ceri's direction to make her point.
For now the Panther had backed off and was sitting at the edge of the light cast from Lyre's home, Kay did not know how long that would last. She was afraid it would try and attack again.

Lyre climbed carefully back to his feet. Interfering brat...? yea, that sounded like him. His eyes darted over to Ceri and Kay and a small smile formed. Well, maybe the human wasn't useless. A wielder huh? Maybe he had done some good in bringing her here. The panther was distracted with the other three so Lyre carefully climbed up the nearest tree, sitting down to meditate. Stupid, yes. But he couldn't think of anything better to do, at any rate, he would only get in the way. A sadness clouded his eyes, he would be nothing more than a liability to the group soon, he knew his time wasn't long now. The panther was right. Lyre interfered. That's all he was good at.

“How am I supposed to know?” Was Ceri’s annoyed reply as she came from her deep thought. She was being relatively honest too… It had always worked different with her due to the demon within.. How different she didn’t know. She just knew she couldn’t do as well as she wanted, and that now all she had was the dagger she slowly picked up now. This felt so .. Odd. But she knew better by now then to try and question the blade… it was famous for having mysterious ways yet never seeming wrong.

The demon, meanwhile growled angrily. Looking at it’s missing paw the feline wanted badly to jump into the human girl. It was so angry, but it couldn’t. It’s mistress needed to know… everything. Howling with pain at Kry’s attack it swung it’s body around angrily. With a hiss it opened it’s jaws wide, letting out a large ball of shadow energy at the group. Using this as a distraction it disappeared into the shadows, becoming simple shadow before teleporting away.

Seeing the shadow Ceri growled, knowing it’d hurt kay now as bad as the holy energy hurt her. The elf tackled her out of the way, pinning her beneath her accidentally. The elf quickly scrambled back to her feet as the shadow disappeared from over them. She glanced to look for Kry, having figured he could get out of the way easier then Kay.

His wings flapped and brought him up, those eyes narrowed dangerously as he maneuvered quickly and deftly around and over the large ball of shadow energy that erupted from the foul creature's mouth. That sword was gripped tightly as he pursued the demon. He could not let it escape. It must die. He grit his teeth as he swung his sword at it, missing. Cutting harmlessly through shadows as the demon vanished.

His body trembled with anger. He seethed with anger, his right hand clenched so tightly around the sword hilt his knuckles were nearly as white as pure cream. His left hand was clenched into a tight fist at his side. Nothing..Nothing escaped his blade. His eyes were full of rage, glowing bright now than earlier. Glowing with such fierce emotions. His wings were fully extended behind him and fire almost seemed to erupt around him. Those gossamer wings twitching almost incessantly. "Coward!" He yelled into darkness. He was furious.

Kay lay still on the ground. The strength and energy that the Blade had given to her began to fade as soon as the Panther had disappeared. The dagger in her hand disolved into nothing, the metal around her arms faded too. Only the circlet on her head remained. Suddenly pain ripped through her body, causing her to scream out. The wings that had sprouted earlier were retracting back under her skin. When there was nothing left but the soft skin, and a ripped shirt, Kay still remained on the ground, panting. I better get used to this quick or this whole transformation thing is going to get very inconvenient. Kay slowly rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself into a sitting position. She looked around to make sure all her friends were still safe, and that there were no more demon's nearby. There was one. Her eyes focused on Ceri. And now everything is explained. Besides the fact that Ceri was the last wielder, she also was part demon, the oerfect type of person to train her. No, not part demon. It seems there is just one trapped within her.... I need to memorize what her demon feels like so I dont get confused and attack her on accident. Kay tried to stand up, but was too weak. All the magic had taken a toll on her physically. Plus her shift was almost completely ruined in the back. If she moved around too much, she might lose it all together. She decided that her best option was to just keep sitting there for now, either until she could stand, or until someone else decided they should get back in the house.

Lyre cracked an eye open and glanced down at his friends, it seemed they were done now. He hopped down and made his way to Kay's side. The human girl seemed to be in pain and he doubted she would be able to move much without damaging the rest of her clothes...or what was left of them anyway. He unbuttoned his top with one hand and slipped it off quickly before placing it on Kay's shoulders and picking her up gently, "Why don't we get you inside first?" he asked softly. Ceri and Kry would be fine, they knew how to defend themselves out here, Kay...she was still getting used to her surroundings. And anyway, playing nurse was about the limit of Lyre's capabilities at the moment.

Kay clutched Lyre's top appreciatively. When he picked her up, she realized there was not one part of her body left that didnt hurt. She did not complain about being carried by him either, although she did note that she was making a habit of this... since it was Lyre that had carried her inside that very first night too...

Kiryn was pissed. That sword still clutched tightly in his hand, and he paced back and forth infront of where the demon had vanished. Those eyes still glowed with anger, his entire body emitting nothing but blind rage. For minutes he did nothing but pace and glare. Finally sheathing his sword and turning back towards the dwelling. Those wings still constantly twitching with irritation and anger, but most of the emotion fell from his face.

"It escaped..that is unacceptable.." He frowned deeply at Ceri, though he wasn't blaming her. A sigh passed his lips and he motioned towards the dwelling before entering it. Eyes darting this way and that, looking for Kay and Lyre. He wanted to make sure both of them were alright.

Ceri watched it all in silence a moment, hearing the word coward triggering her inner thought. No… she knew that Zithera would never run for cowardice…no… not that creature. Why.. Why had it left with such anger and su-…. Her mother… but her mother was dead…but… nothing else would keep Zithera from attempting the kill…especially since kay would not likely be strong enough to kill such a powerful demon yet. Not her mother… not her…

Ceri bit her lip, rubbing the mark on her cheek… her mother’s mark… burned into the skin by a powerful spell. For a moment she closed her eyes, still as stone. She then heard Kiryn speak to her again and dropped her hand from her cheek. “Yeah… you have no idea…” She muttered to herself as much as him, putting her hands in her pockets. She then gave him a grin, giving him a shrugg of her shoulders as she masked her emotions per usual.

“Probably for the best though… That was Zithera… an extremely powerful demon… Kay wouldn’t have been able to kill it yet…. She needs to learn to focus her spiritual power first.” Ceri remarked casually, turning and walking into the house after him as she did so. She was staring at the ground now and walked to the wall, leaning her back against it as she continued to stare mindlessly into space.

After tending to any wounds that he saw, Lyre took out some extra clothes from his closet. He looked at them and then to Kay, "These might be a bit loose on you I'm afraid." He murmured before putting them down in front of her, "Call me back when you're done changing."

Kay looked the new clothes over, the pants were knee length and made of a soft cloth material. They were a light brown color. The shirt was a pale green and was made of a similar material. The pants were a bit snug on Kay, but the shirt fit loosely and hung down below her waist, she gathered the extra material together and tied it into a knot in back. The soft material felt good on her back, which was still tender. Instead of calling for Lyre, and bothering him any further, she slowly made her way slowly back into living area. She still felt weak from all the magic that had coursed through her body and she knew it would take a bit of time to get her strength up. She felt hungry. On the way through the kitchen she grabbed another purple fruit and then made her way into the living area where Lyre, Ceri and Kiryn all seemed to have various forms of a serious look on their faces. She sank down onto a pile of pillows and realized that resting had never felt this good in her life.

Ceri glanced over at Kay, hearing her enter. For a moment her eyes were sad, pained by memories instead of the inner demon who was merely watching in delight. The demon choose to withdraw and wait for now… knowing now that Ceri’s mother would come and do her best to help it gain control. It knew what Ceri knew, so knew very well how her mother thought of her as a failure and would do anything to ensure the demons control.

Slowly Ceri managed to smirk through the memories, however, and give Kay a playfully appraising look. “Awww…. Too bad. I was enjoying those short shorts of yours. Now I cant see your long legs at all..” She teased in that near chuckling tone that made it impossible to tell if she meant it or if she simply did it because it bothered Kay.

Kay turned bright red. "Well... um... er... these seemed more practical around here" she finally managed to blurt out. She kept munching on her purple fruit and tried not to make eye contact with Ceri for a bit... she was afraid if she did, then she would blush again....

Lyre glanced at Kay, she looked fine, a little fatigued, but fine. He closed his eyes and leaned heavily against the wall, half shrouded in darkness as he observed his guests. They would have to leave soon, what would he do then?

The blush caused Ceri’s smirk to become even more satisfied, followed by a velvety chuckle. “of course little Emerald, of course.” She teased, adding a random pet name to see if it too would inspire a blush. She couldn’t help but enjoy it, then again… she couldn’t help but be in a bit of a cheerful mood briefly. Her mother could still be dead… the holy stone was not burning her wrist and the demon was asleep.

Of course Ceri knew that meant it was likely preparing something, but it had been a while since it took a rest. The only thing troubling her now was how the blade expected her to teach anything… she was no teacher and there was the demon to consider..

Kay turned redder, but decided to ignore Ceri's remark the best she could. She did however notice Lyre attempting to shrink further back into the shadows. He hasn't seemed himself... When I got here he just seemed tired... but the longer I have stayed the more and more tired he seems, like there is a burden he carries alone... Kay pushed herself off the cusion and walked over to him, offering the 2nd half of fruit that she hadnt eaten on yet. "Eat something and please dont argue,"She told him. "You have been trying to feed all of us, and take care of all of us, and you look like you are dead on your feet. Please rest?"