Imperial Celestial ch4

"Master. I have successfully recovered the Imperial as ordered." Maria knelt down on one knee before Alexander.
"So you have." Alexander stepped down from his throne and placed a hand on Maria's head. "You have done well my child."
"Thank you Master." Maria looked from him over to Certo who stood off to himself. The chamber had been magically rebuilt and the monks stood in a circle around them once again.
Alexander moved over to Certo and reached out with an old wrinkled hand with long fingernails the curled into bird-like talons.
"Come now boy. We have a ritual we must perform and we do not want to be interrupted again, do we?"
Certo stepped back and clenched his fists.
"It is inevitable. Please do not make this difficult." Alexander extended his reach even further. Certo glared at the sorcerer and stepped back again. Alexander frowned.
Behind him Certo heard the sound of clothing being ruffled. He turned to see that two of the monks were moving to take hold of him. He grabbed their wrists before they could seize him and spun them around. He twisted their arms and shoved them into Alexander who tossed them away with the flick of a finger.
The other monks closed in on Certo.
"You may be the Imperial." Alexander spoke in a calm voice. "But you are merely a boy. Incapable of harnessing the true power of the Imperial himself. That ability is strictly mine alone.
Certo felt his body temperature rise. His clenched fists then opened up and he curled his fingers into claws. The closer the monks got the more he felt pressure swell up inside of him. All at once he couldn't take the intensity of it and yelled out loud to keep them back. There was a loud roar and a sudden gust of wind blew throughout the chamber. The monks shielded themselves and shrank back a couple steps. Certo's pupils turned to slits and his fangs grew slightly longer and sharper than normal. The freckles on his nose and cheeks turned to scales that glistened in the candlelight.
"Impossible." Maria gasped in astonishment.
"It seems that he has learned to call forth his beast spirit." Alexander stated, still calm.
The monks now had gotten their bearings and closed in on Certo. He hissed and slammed the back of his left talon into one and sent him sprawling across the floor. Three more attacked from the other side. Certo swung as hard as he could and knocked down a large cluster of them. The standing monks paused.
"Seize him you fools! Now!" Alexander bellowed.
Certo bared his fangs as the monks closed in around him. He swung his left talon and ripped through one of the monks. The robe fell in a heap in the middle of the floor. Certo whirled around and ripped through four more monks. Soon the floor was littered with tattered robes. Certo paused and looked around him. He was breathing heavily and sweating hard. Only Alexander remained.  
Still in his berserker rage, he took a step towards the sorcerer. Immediately one of the ripped robes sprang to life and wrapped around his leg. Certo jerked in surprise and tore the cloth from his leg. As soon as the cloth fell another leaped up and latched onto his back. Certo whirled around to try and rip it off but it was at an angle his talons couldn't reach. As he tried to tear that one off another leached on; and then another, and another. Soon Certo was being overwhelmed and weighed down by all the garments attempting to subdue him.
"Master." Maria walked up next to Alexander. "Perhaps now would be a wise time to begin the ceremony while he is unable to move."
"Yes. Perhaps." Alexander was clearly pondering something to himself. "But I am also curious as to how far this boy can extend his powers before reaching his limit."
Certo's eyes turned from being a bright royal blue to blood red. "That will be the biggest mistake you will ever have the chance to make." Certo growled. His blood was burning and his clothes felt tight. There were three loud rips as Certo's shoes shredded and his pants split. His feet changed to talons that resembled his arms and a long whip-like tail sprouted from his spine. The wind swirled around him and with a loud roar, Certo burst free from the robes, turning them into lumpy piles of thread.
Certo turned his gaze to the ceiling and jumped straight up. The monks fled from the rafters as the half-human half-dragon grabbed onto the wooden pylons. Certo swatted a beam and the wood splintered causing the shards to pepper the monks. They cried out and fell hard onto the stone floor and didn't move. The long whipping tail smashed through the rafters and brought the entire ceiling crashing down. The monks were crushed beneath the wood and stone but Alexander and Maria remained untouched by a barrier. The sorcerer waited for the dust to clear. Certo had dug onto a wall to avoid getting hit by most of the falling debris.
"Maria, I want you to test out the boy's power."
"Master?" Maria looked up at him a little uncertain.
"I trust you will not kill him. Now go."
"Y-yes Master." Maria swallowed hard. She stepped out of the barrier and watched as Certo eyed her with killing eyes. She stopped and her hands began to glow green and she fired a bolt of green lightning. Certo dodged and dropped to the floor crushing the stones beneath his feet. The shock-wave shook the floor and Maria stumbled to get her footing.
While she was off balance, Certo thrust his talons forward and blast of wind sent Maria flying back against Alexander's barrier. Maria shook the stars from her head and staggered to her feet. When she looked up Certo towered over her. The girl paused, unsure of what to do. At last she summoned up enough courage to raise her hand and Certo swatter her. Maria screamed and slammed against the far wall. She hit the ground and was berried beneath the crumbling rocks.
Alexander lowered his barrier and Certo looked up at him. "Very well boy. You may fight me next."
Without missing a beat Certo roared and lashed out at Alexander. The sorcerer dodged as the talons whisked past his face. Certo spun around and swung his arm. Alexander dodged again. Certo slashed with his talons again. Alexander jumped back and Certo grabbed him with his tail. He yanked Alexander in towards him and kicked him in the chest as hard as he could. The sorcerer flew backwards and smashed into his throne. He shook his head as he got up and Certo leaped high. Alexander rolled out of the way as Certo plunged his foot into the stone floor. He raked his foot through the stone and sent a shower of jagged stone at Alexander. Alexander threw up a barrier spell and deflected the rocks before firing the barrier. Certo whirled around and slammed his tail into the wall of magic energy, dispelling it.  
Alexander was awestruck at Certo's prowess. As he looked the boy over he noticed that blood dripped from his own talons. No one had touched him yet he was bleeding. That's when the sorcerer felt the drop trickle down his cheek. He reached up and slid his fingers along the side of his face. He was bleeding. Five red lines marked the left side of his face. Certo sighed heavily, sending the wind in the room into a gust that caused the cuts to sting Alexander's face. Not only his however, but the rest of his body burned as well. Alexander looked himself over to find that his garments has been torn and were stained with blood. He had no idea how Certo had done it but he had made him bleed.
An angry frown spread across his face. "Game's over." A pair of black wings burst from beneath his garments and covered the open ceiling. Alexander began to grow in size and feathers sprouted out all over his body. His face extruded into a hooked beak and his forearms turned to eagle claws. He unleashed an ear piercing scream and Certo's cry was drowned out by the noise. He fell to his knees and clutched at his bleeding ears. Alexander snatched Certo up in his talons and  hurled him through the wall. Certo's body bounced across the rocks and slammed up against the wall.
Alexander picked Certo's bruised and bloody body off the floor and proceeded to crush him against the wall. Certo struggled to scream but the air was being squeezed out of his body. At last his red eyes changed back to their normal blue before rolling back into his head. Then he lost consciousness and went limp. Alexander was breathing heavily as he stared hard at Certo.
"To think that this boy actually reached into his power this much without any previous instruction." He paused for a moment. "Perhaps I was mistaken about him. He may be the Cel..." He was interrupted as Kyubi suddenly appeared out of the shadows and cut straight through Alexander's talon that had Certo pinned against the wall.
The black griffin screeched in pain and reared back. Kyubi caught Certo's body before he hit the floor took off running down the hall. The bellowing echoed down the halls as she sprinted in and out of the long corridors. At last she arrived at an open door.
"Here we are." She whispered to herself and set Certo down on the floor. She rushed over to a spell circle in the middle of the room. She rubbed her hands together and then extended her arms out in front of her. She faced her palms down and fire erupted around the circle. As the fire blazed a bolt of lightning snapped across the room, then another. Soon the electric energy was everywhere. After a moment of extreme concentration Kyubi focused the lightning into a a sphere in the middle of the circle. The crackling of bolts hurt her ears but she ignored it. She rushed back to Certo and grabbed him up again. She staggered towards the ball of lightning. The consumption of magical energy was beginning to take a toll on her. If she didn't make it to the center of the circle then there would be no stopping Alexander from taking Certo back and killing her.
An angry roar brought her mind back to high alert. She made it to the cluster of electric energy and extended Certo's now-human hand. The lightning engulfed him and he disappeared in a flash. The floor began to shake as Alexander tore through the halls. Kyubi reached back for the lightning and the flames intensified. The lightning surrounded her and in a brilliant flash, she vanished.