Chapter 91: 90: Star Child: A Keepers Past XVI
"Where are we going?" I shouted as the carriage blazed down the forest trail. The road twisted and turned as we thundered down the path with only the small head lamps on the top of the carriage for light. It didn't light much and there were a few times that we almost crashed because Louie just barely saw the turn or rock or tree in time.
"Fuck if I know! Away from here and hopefully somewhere safe!" Louie shouted back.
"AAAAGGHHHHHH!" Angie screamed from back in the passenger seats.
"Honey!" Louie shouted then turned around and let go of the reigns. I quickly grabbed them then started steering.
"Louie are you trying to kill us all before the baby comes?!" I snapped. Louie opened the small window that divided the driver section and the passenger section of the carriage.
"How's Angie?!" He shouted at Haws.
"In labor! How do you think she is?!" Haws shouted back.
As we turned another bend a golden glint caught my eye as the light from the headlamp swept over the woods. The path straightened out into long pathway through the woods. In the distance the St. Louis Arch was clearly visible thanks to the blinking hazard lights at its peak.
'Fuuuuck! We're heading towards town!' I thought as I glanced up at the Arch. My heart sank when I looked back down at the road and at least a hundred yards ahead saw at least throaty pairs of golden orbs floating in the middle of the road. As we got closer and the light focused more I saw what I was dreading: Thrads.
I pulled Magnus reigns hard to get him to stop and nearly made the whole carriage topple over in the process. Louie flew back into the carriage window them fell onto the seat and jumped up angrily.
"CHASE! WHAT THE HELL!" He roared.
"Thrads!" I yelled back and pointed out the window. Louie looked out the window and his expression turned from anger to terror.
"Reverse! Reverse!" Louie shouted.
"Carriages don't work like that Louie!" I snapped. In order to go back the way we came the carriage would have to make a full u-turn and sadly there wasn't enough room in the road to do that.
Luckily for us it was night, because of the odd mix of a warm blooded creature: the ape. As well as the cold blooded creature: the crocodile. They were sluggish in any temperature below seventy degrees. Thanks to St. Louis being built right on the river the nights were unusually cold even during the summer. The thrads stared at the carriage as they lumbered towards us very similar to a zombie.
"Hand me a gun!" I shouted and held my hand out to Louie.
"I don't have a gun!" Louie shouted. My head snapped to Louie and I looked at him with the most incredulous look I could muster.
"Why do you not have a gun?! You went home to get your wife, why didn't you grab a gun?" I shouted.
"We don't have any guns in the house! We're having a baby! So I got rid of them!" Louie shouted back.
"That is the dumbest shit I have ever heard! What sort of American doesn't have a gun in the house!"
"The kind that doesn't want his kid to turn into a gun crazy fucktard like the ones that beat the shit out of you earlier!" Louie retorted.
A hand snaked through the partition and grabbed Louie by the hair and pulled him back.
"IF YOU TWO FUCKWITS DON'T MOVE THIS GODDDAM CARRIAGE IM GOING TO SHOVE MY FOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASSES THAT YOU'LL BE SHITTING LEATHER FOR A WEEK!" Angie roared then followed with a loud pain filled labor scream. Luckily for Louie Angie let go of his hair.
"Yes ma'am!" I replied meekly then snapped the reigns and spurred Magnus on. He let out a loud hiss then sped towards the lumbering thrads.
"Why are you going towards the thrads!" Louie asked with
"Because your wife is more scary than the thrads!" I barked back. As we neared the thrads the ones in the front stood on their hind left and swung at Magnus but they were way too slow to actually connect. Magnus trampled over them and the carriage bumped and thud as it trampled over the bodies.
I channeled energy into my crystal and sent it after the thrads ahead of us, controlling six at a time and sent them after their brethren. This created a path wide enough for the carriage to get through and I urged Magnus ahead at full speed.
"AAAAARRRRRGGHHHHHHH! AH! AHHHHHH!" Angie screamed from the back seat.
"Was that a contraction?!" Haws asked. I took a quick glance from the road to look back into the passenger section. Angie was laying on the passenger bench with Haws kneeled on the floor next to Angie holding her hand.
"Y-yes!" Angie squealed.
"They shouldn't be that close this soon!" I Louie exclaimed.
"He's right! Your water broke about fifteen minutes ago, we should have a few hours…." Haws explained.
"I've been having contractions for hours, I just didn't want to say anything cause Chase was hurt." Angie said.
"WHAT!" Haws, Louie and I all screeched.
"Sorry!" Angie exclaimed then broke into tears.
"Don't cry Angie. Everything's okay!" Haws said quickly and started rubbing her hand.
"You should have said something babe! You and the baby are more important than Chase!" Louie shouted.
"Hey!" I gripped then slapped Louie on the back if his head. "No Stressing out the pregnant woman!"
"I'm not stressing her out!" Louie snapped.
"YOU'RE STRESSING ME OUT LOUIE!" Angie roared as another contraction hit. Louie pouted like a scolded child and crossed his arms.
"We need to get across the river and find a hospital!" Haws exclaimed.
"We are not taking my wife across that bridge! It's a death trap now with all the thrads!" Louie exclaimed..
"Plus we'd have to go back through those thrads we just past to get to the bridge I think." I added.
A loud roar echoed through the woods to our left and sent ripples through the water. Magnus hissed and neighed loudly as he tried to break free of the reigns and carriage. I channeled energy into my crystal and sent it after Magnus to get him under control.
"What the hell is going on?!" Haws demanded. I managed to get Magnus under control and continue down the road.
"Whatever that roar was spooked Magnus!" Louie yelled. "Is Angie okay?"
"I'm fine!" Angie replied.
'Shit! Don't tell me…' I didn't get a chance to finish that thought when a hulking figure rushed out of the woods about seventy yards in front of us and roared viciously at the moon. Magnus skidded to a stop under my command and Louie flew into the windshield. Haws stuck his head through the partition ready to start yelling when he saw the figure blocking the road.
"FUCK! IT'S THE ASCENDED!" Haws exclaimed.
"Fuck a duck!" I groaned.
"What the hell is the ascended thrad doing here?!" Louie exclaimed. I eyed the ascended in the moonlight.
It was as different from any thrad as a steed was to a human. It's massive arms were basically covered in ropes of muscle and rather than being covered in ape fur like your average thrad it was covered in crocodile scales. Large barbs stuck out of its spine similar starting at the base of its neck and went all the way down its tail.
As the ascended roared at the moon Angie let out a loud scream as another contraction hit. It froze mid roar and turned to look at the carriage, cooking its head to the side as it examined us from afar. As the moonlight bounced off its golden eyes I saw intelligence and reason. It was actively trying to understand what the carriage was and why the noise was coming from it.
"Why isn't it charging us?" Louie asked. Haws stick his head back into the passenger section and tried to calm down Angie.
"It's thinking…" I muttered.
"Lets get out of here Chase! Now!" Louie snapped and snatched the reigns out of my hands then snapped them making Magnus surge forward.
"Louie what the hell?!" I yelled and tried to snatch the reigns back.
"That thrad will bring sluggish like all the other since there is no sunlight!" Louie exclaimed. I tightened my control on Magnus and made turn into the woods through a gap in the trees just barely big enough for the carriage to pass through.
The ascended thrad roared and charged after us, bulldozing through threes to catch up with us. It barreled through the woods after us not showing the same sluggishness as the normal thrads had shown.
"Why the fuck is it so fast?!" Louie exclaimed as he looked out the window.
"It's ascended! It's not like normal thrads!" I yelled back at him.
'I liked it better when he didn't talk much…' I thought as I steered Magnus through the woods.
The thrad roared as it gave chase and ran after us. The ascended tore through the woods quickly gaining on us while we bobbed and weaved around trees. The carriage drove over a patch of rocks and sent the carriage into the air and when it crashed down Haws stuck his head back through the partition.
"What the hell?" He yelled.
"Sorry! Trying not to get eaten!" I yelled back at him. A tree flew over the carriage and embedded into two trees a few yards in front of us. "GET DOWN!"
Haws, Louie, and I all ducked down as Magnus ran under the log. Just barely short enough to pass under unscathed, the top of the carriage could not however and was ripped off as it crashed into the log. Glass, wood, and metal flew. I poked my head up and looked back at Haws and Angie who were now more visible than ever thanks to the partition being snapped to splinters when the roof flew off.
"Angie are you okay?!" Louie, Haws, and I all screamed.
"No I gave a bowling ball trying to claw out of my hoo-ha!" She screamed.
I looked over the back of the carriage and back at the ascended or rather where the thrad should have been. Nothing was following us now.
"Where did the ascended go?" I asked as I looked around the woods. Louie took control of Magnus and navigated him through the woods.
"I think we're heading back towards town." Louie observed. I looked straight ahead and saw the lights and smoke of the town in the distance.
A shadow flew over the carriage and followed by a loud crash as the ascended landed in front of us and roared. Everyone screamed and Magnus turned run around the ascended. The massive evo swung its arm out, shattering tree trunks as it tried to grab the carriage. It just barely missed, we zigged around it and bolted straight towards the lights of the town. The thrad continued to chase us, now closer than ever.
"CHASE CONTROL IT! CHASE CONTROL IT! CHASE CONTROL IT! CHASE FUCKING CONTROL IT!" Louie screamed manically.
"I'm trying! It's not a fucking switch! It takes time!" I yelled back! I sent every after the thrad, wrapping around it and coiling like chains.
The ascended tripped over its feet and crashed into a tree and writhed on the ground as my energy wormed its way into its mind. However I felt my energy thin and weaken the further we got away from it until it finally snapped.
"Fuck! I almost had it!" I snapped. I sat back down and looked ahead. Magnus and the carriage exited the woods to the outskirts of town. Magnus followed the road back towards the town's main street. Why we could see smoke rising in the distance was much clearer now. There was a fire raging in the center of town, the lack of response from fire and rescue or screams in general for that matter told me that the town had been evacuated finally or everyone that was left had been killed or eaten. After what happened to me earlier, either option was fine.
Angie let out yet another painful scream followed by a panicked exclamation from Haws. Louie looked back from driving and saw Haws helping Angie deliver the baby.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Louie roared upon seeing another man in front of his half naked wife.
"I can see a head!" Haws exclaimed. Louie's earlier fury instantly cooled on Haw's announcement.
"Oh my Gods!" Louie screamed as he let go of the reigns again and climbed back to the passenger seat to grab his wife's hand.
Expecting this I had already channeled energy into the steed to take control of it and order to to continue on the path.
"Almost there Angie! You just need to push!" Haws shouted encouragements. Angie breathed quickly and let out a strained scream. A second later the everything went silent as the innocent cries filled the air. I looked back at the passenger seats and saw Haws, now shirtless and wrapping the tiniest baby I've ever seen up. Haws smiled almost reverently as he sawddled the crying newborn but in a instant that smile disappeared and he looked at Louie and Angie worriedly.
"Haws, is something wrong?" Louie asked, panic seeping into his voice. Angie sat up from the passenger bench and held her arm out for her baby.
"N-no…um. You have a boy…a healthy baby boy…" Haws said then moved to hand the baby over to Angie. The second he did I instantly saw what gave Haws pause. There was a diamond shaped crystal on his forehead just between his eyebrows, the baby was a splicer.
Angie and Louie both took one look at the baby boy and tears filled their eyes. I felt my heart lurched and jump into my chest until Louie spoke.
"He's perfect…my son is perfect…" Louie whispered, the tears flowing freely now.
"Our son…" Angie said then placed a soft kissing the boy's forehead and shushed him softly as she rocked him.
Haws and I smiled at the happy family until the pissed off roar of the ascended thrad echoed throughput the night. I looked towards the woods and saw the ascended barreling through a couple trees and skidding onto the road as it gave chase to us.
"Oh come the fuck on! We were just having a happy moment!" I yelled.
The ascended quickly gained on us, now more nimble than before thanks to its fury. It just about reached the back of the carriage when a loud boom rang out the ascended's shoulder flew back causing it trip and fall. Ascended roared and jumped to its feet as another boom echoed through the night and this time knocked it back. A third boom echoed through the night and part of the thrads face exploded. It howled in pain and covered its face then raced into the woods.
"Holy shit!" I exclaimed as glanced back at the rapidly retreating ascended.
"Who did that?!" Haws asked.
"CHASE GAELBOR KINGSTON!" A familiar voice roared from above.
"Oh fuck…" I muttered as I looked up and saw the silhouette of the aivard swooping down. It leveled out and flew beside the carriage, keeping up with Magnus. Seated on its back was Grandma Lulu with the most fearsome scowl I've ever seen on her face and a rifle gripped tightly in her right hand.
"We need to have a little chat…Starlight…" Grandma Lulu said in Torapos.
'I knew that was going to bite me in the ass!'
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Hutexa_The_Djinn
Hutexa_The_Djinn ITS THE RETURN OF EVO-LUTION!!!
Sorry for the ongoing wait buy I hope this extra long chapter and the thrilling story that is to come will soothe any anger for my untimely hiatus. As per my plan you will get four chapters a week and you all will be glad to hear that my dad is going much better now, not 100 percent but much better than he was! Hope everyone had a happy new year and start it off right with some guns, cursing, and massive monsters!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone