The air was crisp and fresh as the day decended to night. City lights blocked out the sight of the stars in the black sky, leaving an empty void of darkness in the sky. It was 5 minutes till midnight and all was quiet on this street. Tonight was a very special occassion. It was the night The Key would awaken and the countdown to the Promised day would commence.<br/><br/>Maya was sitting on a large firm branch on a tree that was planted next to her target's house. As she checked her watch, she noticed that it was almost time to prepare. As the countdown receded to 2 minutes she crouched on the tree, hand on her sword, as she waited patiently for the spirits to come. She noticed that the air was suddenly colder and her bare fingers felt slightly numbed. Luckily she was wearing some tight dark blue jeans and a black zip up jacket over her green shirt. Her hunting boots were slim and almost looked like normal boots that a mortal girl would wear. She had been instructed to wear such clothing to blend in with modern society.<br/><br/>She found it all very strange. The music, the noises, the colorful lights, basically everything. That was the furthest thing from her mind now though.<br/><br/>'Keep him safe...' Is what they had told her. Simple intructions for such a complicated and tedious mission. Why they chose her of all people was beyond her comprehension. Part of the mission was to persuade the target to side with them, but Maya wasn't exactly a people person.<br/><br/>She shook off the thought as she prepared herself for anything as one minute remained till midnight.<br/><br/>'Dong. Dong. Dong.'<br/><br/>A grandfather clock rung as midnight approached. As the clock struck the twelve counts, Maya watched as the air became chill, to the point where she could see her own breath. She stayed in the tree and watched for anything that would pop out. Her hand was on her sword as she listened for the clock. 'Four', shadows appeared on the ground around the house. 'Five', the shadows started to take shape into 3-dimensional beings. 'Six', noises such as growling and other inhumane sounds could be heard from the shadows. 'Seven', the figures started to grow wings. 'Eight', large shadows started to look like gigantic dogs. 'Nine', the creatures took full form, sniffing around. 'Ten', they spotted the window. 'Eleven', the bat-like spirits flew to the window and started to scratch at the window.<br/><br/>'Twelve'.....now the war begins.