The Second Premonition

by Tamara Geraeds

  We all start moving again. The ents take larger strides and it’s hard to keep up.

  A few minutes later, we reach Eastside Cemetery. It is surrounded by a high gate with a narrow entrance, so the ents have to lift the mausoleum high to get it through and walk in one by one. For a moment, the net stretches so far I think it’s going to break. Myah covers her mouth as she watches wide-eyed.

  But they manage to get through and we cheer quietly.

  “Tell us where to put it,” Aspa says to Myah.

  She bows and walks up the path to the right.

  As soon as we follow, a shiver runs up my spine.

  “Wait,” I whisper. “Something’s wrong.”

  I barely spoke the last word before a dark creature hits the ent next to me. I can tell by the dark mud dripping from it that it’s a demon. It sinks its sharp legs into the tree’s bark and pushes. The ent sways left and right in an attempt to lose the beast, making the mausoleum tilt to the side.

  One of the other ents takes a step closer to balance it, while Aspa reaches out a branch toward the demon. The ent squeals when the demon leaks black saliva on it.

  I reach for my power core, preparing to freeze it, but Charlie is faster. He runs straight at the monster, firing ball after ball of sticky gel.

  “There’s more of them,” Aspa says. “Put down the cargo.”

  Before they can, demons jump out all around us. They look like stretched versions of the spider demon that took Mom. Long, thin legs support deformed bodies. Heads with four eyes and gaps for noses hang in front of them. They are covered from head to toe in boiling tar. Their long black tongues lick their sharp teeth, while they take the scene in.

  The stench of excrement makes me nauseous. I place my hand over my nose and focus my freezing powers on the earth between us and the monsters. A line of frost forms quickly and I try to build it up into a wall. The demon closest to me tilts its head, as if trying to calculate my danger level.

  Then Myah distracts me by turning into a stunning phoenix and lifting the slipping side of the mausoleum. From the corner of my eye, I see Jeep jumping to her side to assist her.

  The phoenix screeches and lashes out with her beak. Jeep jumps back. “Wow, easy. I’m just trying to help.”

  The demons are becoming restless. They watch our every move intently, every eye in their too wide heads looking in a different direction. They hiss softly and pitch drips on the ice I created, forming smoke in the air.

  “Maël, can you slow them down for a minute?” I whisper from the corner of my mouth.

  She’s in front of me in a flash, aiming her wand at the monsters that howl and leap forward with their mouths wide open. I step back with my hands raised to throw a lightning bolt. Maël doesn’t even flinch. She looks more powerful than I’ve ever seen her. As if it doesn’t cost her any strength to freeze the demons mid-air. Her cape doesn’t move an inch, and the gold is almost blinding. Energy courses through her, making her mass of dark curls sparkle.

  “What is happening?” Aspa asks, carefully putting down the mausoleum with the help of the other trees and Myah.

  I bow. “Dear friend, may I introduce to you, my Shield.” I gesture at the ghosts, forming a line between them and the demons.

  Aspa’s wide eyes tell me that they’ve become visible on cue.

  “You have a Shield?” she asks with her cracking voice. “D’Maeo didn’t tell me you were such a powerful Mage.” Her scrutinizing gaze stops at the old ghost. “Wait, you are part of this Shield?”

  D’Maeo bows ceremoniously. “I am.”

  Aspa looks utterly impressed. “You are a lucky Mage,” she says to me. “Although a heavy burden must rest on your shoulders if you are in need of a Shield.”

  “Oh, well.” I swat her remark away like an annoying fly. “We’ll be okay. What we need to do now is make sure this mausoleum isn’t damaged, and that no one gets hurt by these demons.”

  To my surprise, the head ent bows to me. “We will gladly help you, Mr. Dante.”

  Vicky smothers a giggle and I blush. “Just Dante is fine.”

  I turn to Maël. “How long can you hold them?”

  She closes her eyes for a minute. “I’ve got a few minutes left.”

  “Good. Taylar and D’Maeo, stay here to help Maël if necessary, the rest of you, come with us. We’ll have to make sure there are no more demons or other creatures waiting to attack.” I walk around some tombstones so I can lead the way.

  Vicky, Jeep and Charlie follow, while the ents pick up the mausoleum again. Myah, back in her human form, closes ranks.

  “I love it when you order us around,” Vicky whispers in my ear.

  I try to suppress a grin, but fail, and she kisses me on the cheek.

  “Focus, please,” I whisper back, ignoring the energy spreading through my body.

  We start walking and we all keep an eye on the graves and trees around us.

  Everything is quiet and still.

  “There.” Myah points to an empty spot.

  “One minute left!” Maël calls out.

  I look at the demons, fighting to break free. They won’t hold back once they can move freely again. “Jeep, Charlie, can you join Maël and the others please? And prepare for the fight.”

  Jeep salutes me, materializes next to Maël and gestures wildly. While the ents put the mausoleum in place and Myah thanks them a hundred times, the earth underneath every tombstone in sight starts to move.

  “What is he doing?” Aspa asks, pulling in her roots.

  “Jeep is a necromancer,” I explain. “He is forming an army to help us fight.”

  The tree lays a branch on my shoulder. “I understand. Do not worry, friend. We will stand by your side.”

  “Thank you, Aspa. That means a lot.”

  Myah cracks her knuckles. “I will help, too.”

  Maël’s voice calls out to us. “Ten seconds!”

  I pull out my Morningstar with my right hand and conjure a lightning bolt on my left. “Let’s hit them from behind.”

  Myah turns back into the beautiful red and yellow bird with the long neck. “Gladly,” she says and breathes fire over the gravestones.

  CHAPTER 34

  The second the demons unfreeze, skeletons attack from all sides. Taylar and D’Maeo lash out with their swords, while Maël slams her staff onto a monster’s head. A jet flame sweeps the line of demons and sets their tar covered bodies on fire. But they don’t stop. They don’t fall down screaming in agony. Instead, they dive forward like balls of fire. I unleash my Morningstar to cut off their path, but they just jump over it.

  Myah lands next to me and turns back into herself, her bun slightly smoking. “That didn’t turn out like I imagined.”

  “They’re covered in boiling pitch,” Vicky says. “We should’ve known fire wouldn’t hurt them.”

  I extinguish the bolt in my hand.

  “How about ice?” Charlie asks. He lifts his hands full of gel balls. “Can you freeze these?”

  I glance quickly at the fight before us. D’Maeo is blocking the burning webs the demons are shooting at the ghosts, but the Shield has no choice but to retreat. I’ll have to hurry.

  Closing my eyes, I reach for my core and push as much cold out as I can. I’m not sure if it’s working, until Charlie tells me to keep going. The hissing of extinguished flames reaches my ears. I conjure up more cold.

  “Almost there,” Charlie pants.

  Dizziness hits me and I drop to my knees.

  Vicky catches me before I fall on my face. “That’s enough.”

  I open my eyes when loud cracks echo around me. The ents are storming the monsters, that are now frozen from head to toe.

  I draw in a shaky breath. “Did we do that?”

  Charlie pulls me back on my feet. “We sure did.”

  The demons are still moving. Guttural sounds come out of their open mouths while they try to shake off the col
d gel. But they can’t free themselves fast enough. The ents reach them, pick them up as if they’re no more than dolls, and bite their heads off.

  Charlie and I avert our eyes.

  “That is so gross,” I say.

  “No, it’s awesome,” Vicky gasps. “I like these guys.”

  I shake my head. “Of course you do.”

  A couple of demons are still on the loose, leaving frozen gel everywhere. We move forward to fight them, but Taylar emerges out of nowhere and slices their legs off with one swipe of his sword. The phoenix grabs the heads with her talons and rips them apart before we can even reach them.

  “Wow, we make a great team,” I say, tucking away my athame.

  Myah lands on the path and folds her wings. She watches the demons turn into smoke before she changes back into herself. Then she bows to all of us. “Thank you so much for helping me, and fighting with me.” She pulls back a loose string of hair. A red feather drifts to the ground. “I don’t know why those demons attacked us. I hope it didn’t have anything to do with my family’s mausoleum.”

  “It didn’t,” I assure her.

  She watches me with interest. “You know something you’re not telling me.”

  I hold her gaze. “I do. Don’t worry about it.”

  She laughs. “I won’t. I can see you guys have my back. If only I knew what to watch out for, maybe I wouldn’t need you to fight for me.”

  For a moment, I wonder what harm it could do to tell her. But Vicky nudges me before I can say anything. I swallow my words.

  “Just be nice to other people,” Vicky says.

  Myah grins. “Sure. I can do that.”

  She holds out her hand and I shake it. “Thank you again, Dante. I have a feeling you are not who you say you are, but that’s fine. It was a pleasure to meet you and your friends.”

  “You, too, Myah. Take care.”

  She transforms into her bird form, chirps her goodbyes to us and takes off into the sky.

  Aspa clears her throat. “We have to go, as well. It is already late.”

  I bow and she returns the gesture.

  “I can cast an invisibility spell on you if you want.” I reach for my spell book, but the ent shakes her head.

  “Thank you, but we will be alright. We can turn ourselves into a human form; we just don’t like to. It was a pleasure working with you. If you ever need a favor, just come and see us.”

  I press my hands together. “We will. Thank you all so much. Have a safe trip home.”

  They wave and with no more than a soft whoosh, they stride off.

  The rest of us walk back to Westside Cemetery in thoughtful silence.

  A heavy feeling washes over me when I think of all the things that still need solving. I don’t want to think about Mom or Dad right now, so I focus on someone else instead. “Any idea how we can get Mrs. Delaney’s powers back?” I look at Vicky. “Did you find a spell earlier?”

  “I did, but the person who took her powers has to be in sight for it to work.”

  I sigh. “But we don’t know who took them.”

  Charlie walks to Phoenix’s passenger side. “I’m guessing Paul is a good bet.”

  “So we should just try it on him when we see him?”

  He shrugs. “That might be our best chance.”

  I get in the car. “We should probably try to find Paul.”

  “I know some places where he used to hang out,” Charlie says, lowering himself into the passenger seat.

  “So do I, but I don’t think he’ll be there. That would be too easy. He’s smart enough to stay out of our way.”

  He pulls back his long hair. “Yeah, you’re probably right. So what now?”

  Taylar holds up my tablet. “Hey guys, look at this.”

  Charlie and I turn around, while Jeep unfolds himself from D’Maeo on the back seat. We all lean toward Taylar. On the tablet, Myah Pullus is sitting in front of her computer. Her shoulders are slumped and her head rests in her hands.

  “Looks like she got some bad news,” Vicky observes.

  “I zoomed in on her screen,” Taylar continues. “It shows a bill of several thousand dollars.”

  I slam my hand against my head rest. “Dammit! They’re pushing her to send the emails anyway. They’re forcing her to commit fraud so they can take her soul.”

  “Looks like they learned from their mistakes,” Jeep grumbles.

  “We have to go back, now.” I turn back around and start Phoenix.

  It takes us only a few minutes to reach Myah’s street. I park around the corner in case someone’s still watching her house. When we approach, I’m glad I did.

  “The guards are back,” I whisper to the others.

  “Paul might be among them,” Vicky says.

  Before I can respond, she’s crossing the street. “I’ll go check.”

  I crouch behind a parked car. “D’Maeo, go with her.”

  He nods and follows her.

  I watch them with concern. “Are they invisible?”

  Maël is standing in the middle of the sidewalk, scanning the street and the houses around us. “They are, don’t worry. We should stop Myah from committing fraud.”

  “But we can’t ring the bell or sneak in. Remember what happened to Taylar last time?”

  Taylar draws in a sudden breath. “Oh yes, I’m definitely not doing that again.”

  “Besides,” Jeep adds, “If the guards see us, we’ll have to fight them. There’s no time for that.”

  “He’s right,” Maël says. “We need a quick solution.”

  I reach for my Book of Spells and rip out a page. I scribble down a message as fast as I can without making it unreadable and hold it out to Jeep. “Can you summon a zombie to take this to Myah?”

  “Not without making a lot of racket, but sure.”

  “Great. Do it.”

  He takes my note and starts moving his hands.

  I glance at the tablet that Taylar is still holding. Myah is opening tons of emails. She takes out a piece of paper and wipes her cheeks, before unfolding it.

  “Don’t do it, Myah. Please don’t,” I whisper.

  A skeleton cat jumps between us and halts in front of Jeep. It grabs my note in its mouth and crosses the street in two strides.

  “Hurry,” Taylar says.

  Myah’s lips are moving and she places her fingertips on her computer screen. Red light pulses into the computer and slowly fills the screen.

  The zombie cat has reached the lawn. It jumps from left to right for a moment, before continuing up the rain pipe. It stops next to Myah’s study.

  Jeep gestures frantically, but the cat stays where it is.

  “What’s happening?” I ask, with one eye on Myah’s screen, which is almost fully red now.

  “It won’t jump,” Jeep says. “It’s that damn curse again.”

  He moves his hands and fingers in every direction, but the skeleton cat keeps its paws around the rain pipe.

  I swear and hurry across the street. If they see me, they see me, there’s nothing I can do about that now. On my way to the side of the house, I pick up some small stones.

  The cat is still hanging there, the note in its mouth. I don’t wait for it to move, but throw the rocks against Myah’s window.

  “Come on, stop what you’re doing,” I whisper.

  A triumphant “yes” escapes my mouth when Myah’s face appears. She backs up in surprise when she sees me.

  I point at the window. “Open up.”

  Just as she opens it, the cat finally jumps. It hits the glass of the open window.

  Myah lets out a small cry.

  The zombie cat manages to grab the edge of the window and dangles by one paw.

  I press a finger to my lips when Myah looks down at me.

  “Take the note,” I whisper.

  She reaches around the glass and snatches the note just before the skeleton cat slips
and falls apart on the grass.

  She reads what I wrote. Her lips form the words carefully. Then she lowers the piece of paper and glares at me. “Are you spying on me?”

  I bite my lip. “I’m sorry, I had to.”

  Before I can explain, something heavy hits me in the side. I tumble to the ground. Sharp teeth are inches from my face before I can even take out a weapon. I recognize the head demon, the ugly spider monster that took Mom. It has come to finish me off.

  But the demon doesn’t bite. It pushes off and jumps toward the open window, where Myah is watching in horror.

  “Myah, run!” I yell, scrambling to get up.

  She doesn’t listen. Instead, she changes into her bird form and jumps onto the spider demon. She rips the flesh from its body with her talons and stabs its neck with her sharp beak.

  I run to the rain pipe and start climbing. Taylar and Jeep blink into view below.

  “She sent the emails,” the young white-haired ghost says.

  “I already gathered that,” I call back, hauling myself up further, “seeing that the spider demon is trying to kill her.”

  I frown. “Wait, why aren’t you guys frozen to the spot?”

  Jeep grins. “The curse is lifted.”

  “How?”

  “That was just a matter of killing the right person.” He winks.

  They both disappear and a second later, the thrashing inside the house gets louder.

  Slowly I make my way along the small edge under the windows and pull myself inside.

  Wondering where Vicky and D’Maeo are, I look back toward the street.

  My breath catches in my throat when I see Maël standing in the middle of the road with her staff raised. At least thirty demons covered in tar are slowly closing in on her from all sides.

  CHAPTER 35

  A loud crash makes me whirl my head around. Myah’s computers are on the floor. Smoke billows up from them. I grunt. There goes my plan to make Myah undo her spell on the emails.

  The spider demon has Taylar pinned down with one slender leg, while Jeep blocks its way to Myah, back in her human form.

  “Get away from me,” she yells. “I can fight my own battles.”