Bitesize 5.5

Bitesize 5.5

The smile on Crowley's face was evident.
"Well well. The thorns in my side, revealed at last." he crowed as Ed felt himself pulled ever closer.
"And who's this behind you now? The Gatekeeper? Excellent."
Ed didn't need to see behind him to know that Max too was now dutifully walking towards Crowley. Then he heard a noise. The scuff of claws on stone. He couldn't move his gaze away from Crowley but he knew it had to be Grace.
"Leclair!" Crowley's command was forceful, factual, no fear in his voice.
Grace entered Ed's peripheral vision in a blur. She barrelled into Crowley but the old mage seemingly had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. Just like Raddick he became insubstantial and Grace passed clean through him. Her momentum kept her going straight into the clutches of Leclair. Ed hadn't gotten a good look at him before but now, compared to Grace, he could see just how big the Frenchman was. He'd look abnormal next to a bodybuilder. He reminded Ed of the wrestler Andre the Giant in stature, at if not over seven feet tall but with the muscles of a young Schwarzenegger. Grace's bulk slamming into him did little to faze him. He took just a step back as Grace regained her footing. He reached out a hand to grab Grace's neck, her jaws snapping shut just millimetres from his face. Ed could see the muscles in his arm tighten as he squeezed but Grace was no human. In her wolf form she was the T-alpha. A primal animal that had survived countless dangers over the centuries. She lashed out with a hind leg, scoring a deep clawmark along Leclair's stomach and planting the foot against him to push herself backward as his grip weakened. Leclair clutched his stomach with his left hand and pulled back his right. His punch connected with Grace's skull, sending her reeling backwards. Her foot slipped and she tumbled to the floor.
"Enough of that." said Crowley, and Ed felt his gaze pulled away from the fight. His eyes connected with Crowley's pupils and locked themselves in place.
"Gatekeeper." said Crowley, talking past Ed to Maximilian.
"Yes?" Max sounded calm.
"There is rope over there. Bind the woman."
Minutes passed and all Ed could see was Crowley's ink black pupils swirling in front of his vision. Sounds reached his ears. Sounds of Katia struggling as Max tied her hands and feet. Sounds of Grace and Leclair, growls and grunts, as they fought one another. None of this seemed to bother Crowley.
"And now him."
Ed felt his wrists grabbed and pulled behind his back. Rope was wound around them, pulling them tightly together. The rope was coarse and tight and made his hands feel numb. Max moved on and bound his feet together too. When he was done, the German came to stand by his master's side. Despite the distance, Ed felt Crowley push him, not with his hands, but with his mind. He toppled backward, unable to prevent himself falling and landed heavily on the floor. The weight of his falling body landed on his tied wrists and he felt a sharp pain shoot up his arms. The eye contact with Crowley was broken and writhed, trying to push himself into a position where he could observe. He wriggled onto his side and shifted his legs and neck until he could see the scene.

Katia was bound in a similar fashion to himself. She glared angrily at her captor but he paid her no attention. Max was knelt before Crowley, the old man's hands on his head, thumbs placed at his temples. Crowley was chanting something, strange syllables like nothing Ed had ever heard before. Not just another language, completely alien sounds. Ed doubted he could replicate such noises with his mouth if he wanted to. Behind them all, Fredericq knelt, still manacled as Grace and Leclair fought on.
The Frenchman had the upper hand now. Grace looked decidedly groggy as the brute landed another punch to her skull. He followed through like a boxer, with a swift uppercut that battered her jaws together and lifted her clean off her feet. As she hit the floor Leclair jumped at her, pinning her elbows down with his knees and holding her head in his hands. Grace struggled, kicking out her hind legs but she couldn't dislodge the titan. Leclair released her, just long enough to smash his fist into her head once more. Caught between the blow and the floor, Grace's head bounced accompanied by a sickening thud. All resistance left her as she passed out. Ed's heart sank. He'd hoped all along that if Grace could take down Leclair then they might have stood a chance. Now that chance faded along with her consciousness. All he could do now was watch as Crowley performed the ritual to awaken Max's onigawa...