by J E Mueller
“There’s got to be a good reason we’re missing, I’m sure of it,” Jareth replied. His voice sounded less than convincing.
“What do you really believe?” Rosalie asked.
Jareth let out a sigh and shook his head. He opened his mouth to talk and then closed it a few times before finally tossing his pack aside. “Whatever I believe doesn't matter. I’m on your side.” He pulled out his sword and turned around, ready to defend himself.
I could feel the barrier shattering around us. The disruption of magic caused such a ripple in the energy around us even a non-magic user could have felt it.
Carefully looking around, Jareth took in the energies around him. “I think I realize exactly what you meant by fool now.”
“It’s a little late, but I’m glad you understand.” Rosalie smirked, sword gripped tightly in her hands.
“Something about being outside of the barrier brought the foes to the party a little early and very much uninvited.” Jareth rolled his eyes. “Well, that’s that, I suppose.”
“Say you’ll stick to this fight no matter what, love,” Rosalie replied. The lack of anything appearing right away was setting everyone on edge.
“Life or death, or is it life and death now?” He smirked. “I’ll see this through straight through to the end for you.”
“Perfect.” She smiled and raised her sword just in time to block a blade coming down at her. The fight had begun.
It was surprising to see it was an angel attacking her. With a motion of his arm, he threw a pulse of magic at us. The shockwave pushed us back and almost knocked Rosalie and Jareth over. I supposed this was likely the angel Lee was referring to as Zander, but before I could ask, I was distracted by the number of ghosts slowly appearing.
“Key,” Danni called. She turned just in time for Danni to blast her with her own shockwave of strange purple and green magic. Key stumbled back for a moment before looking around surprised.
“Why are they so blurry?” Key asked.
I wasn’t sure what exactly Danni had done, but it was clear that Key could now see the spirits as well as us.
“You need to concentrate solely on them to see them better. Not worth the time. If they attack, attack back, otherwise I’d just leave them be,” Danni replied.
If she could turn on such a gift, was there a way to reverse it? Would it matter? I turned back to the fight at hand, noting that Lee and Emmyth had joined the other two and were still having a difficult time keeping up. Damn these creatures for being so much more powerful. Would we even stand a chance?
Leaving Key and Danni behind, I dashed toward the battle. With my speed, I was able to sneak up from behind and force the angel to turn to block, making it almost impossible for him to block the shots from the rest of the group. He tried to send another blast of magic at us, but Key had managed to erect a shield in front of the others. I wasn’t so lucky.
Being blasted back hurt terribly. The force of the wave sent me back several feet, and I hit my head. I tried to shake off the pain and noticed the angel in front of me. The others were momentarily blocked and protected by the shield making me an easy target. He thrust his sword at me and I quickly rolled away. The thing was huge. I couldn’t quite tell if it was a broadsword or something similar, but there was no way he should have been using this two-handed weapon with a single hand.
Again, he struck at me and I dodged again and again, before finally being able to get up. I tried to dash away but he was quickly in front of me, causing me to dodge once more and turn back. Why did he have to be faster? Nothing else was ever faster until these last couple of weeks. I could either block or dodge and try and run, but it wasn’t much use. I had to keep reassuring myself that I could make this work, but my heart beat faster and faster, trying to explode from my ribs as I barely managed to block another swing.
I tried to run once more but he was ready for that and was already swinging before I could react. Another blade clashed with his instead of mine and I was relieved to see Marella pushing him back.
“This isn’t your fight, child,” she told me sternly.
I wasn’t going to argue with her. I was too in over my head and dashed far enough out of the way to get my bearings again.
I saw that while Key had put up a shield for the others, she was still over with Danni, Lliam, and the other Blessed spirits. They were slowly taking down a group of restless spirits, but were not in over their heads just yet. I turned to the others and my heart sank. They were facing down Beleth. Lee had said something about defeating the angel first before the others showed. That was obviously out of the window. What could be done now? I felt fighting the demon was going to cause the same exact set of problems I was just facing.
I made the decision to rush over to Danni. “What do we need to do next?”
Danni finished sending off the spirit she had subdued. “Once we have Romulus hostage we can move on with everything.”
“How can you even hold a spirit hostage?” I asked, exasperated.
“Stabbing it with one of our proper blades without actually having the gift,” Danni replied simply.
“So, Key seeing them doesn't technically count?” I was surprised.
“Different spell, different magic. She can see them and hear them, but has none of the gifts attached to it,” Danni explained.
“Perfect, but until then what?” I asked, desperate for some form of control over this situation. I had no idea how she had gotten all this information. Her past lives were busier and more informative than mine.
She looked at me and laughed for a moment. “Stay alive so you can complete this mission.”
I was surprised by her answer. “I think that’s more your role. We can’t do this without you.”
“The gates are closed. If I die, I can still guide this mission as long as you’re alive. Go help the others. We’re going to need their help here soon,” Danni replied, shooing me off and stepping back into the fray.
I felt like I was missing a key piece of this puzzle. Of course, I wanted to stay alive. Death did not sound or look fun, but why was I so important to this? Knowing no answers would come at this moment, I went back to the others and joined in the more direct fight with the demon.
Of course, the moment I joined the fight, I knew Beleth recognized me. But there was a terrible plan already forming in my mind. Once he was able to turn his full attention to me, I dashed over to the angel. Marella was clearly angry to see me back, and even less excited to see who was on my heels.
“Only one being gets the honor of taking me down, but neither of you have the skill,” I taunted both of them.
The angel turned and looked appalled to see who this supposed competition was. A long series of angry words erupted from his mouth. Sadly, all were in a language I couldn’t understand.
The demon grunted and said something much longer in return. The mix of half words and growls made it sound menacing, but it was impossible to tell what it meant.
“Well, good job kid, they’re trying to decide if they should kill one another first or you,” Marella mumbled to me. “I think you’ll be much safer if you were temporarily not here.”
A blast of magic hit me before I could comprehend her words. For a moment it felt as if I was hanging in darkness, and then, suddenly I hit the ground hard. I was still in a forest but I couldn’t tell where. I sent my magic out, trying to find someone or something that would at least give me my bearings, but I couldn’t sense anyone.
I knew my reach wasn’t incredible, but it wasn’t too terrible. Where could I be that there was literally no one close by? I picked a direction and ran for a few minutes and tried again. Nothing. So I kept going in the same direction for a few more minutes. Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
I crumpled to the ground. This didn’t make any sense to me. It might be risky, but since no one was around I decided to access my spirit form. Something felt off, but I ignored it a
nd tried to access the spirit realm. No matter how hard I tried though, I couldn’t. It dawned on me that Marella didn’t just move me out of sight but had actually sent me somewhere completely different from my own world.
Taking advantage of my spirit form, I let myself float above the treetops. Forest stretched out as far as I could see in all directions. The sky was very light, but despite a lack of clouds, I couldn’t find the sun.
There was no telling what time of day it was or how long I would be here, so I explored. Miles and miles of trees finally gave way to a giant lake and a connecting river. Following that eventually led me to a small beach with crystal clear water. The further out it went, the quicker the water darkened before it was pitch black instead of clear. I could only wonder what caused that. I followed it for a few miles before I was met with another beach. The water was black all the way up to the shore here. What an odd place…
But it was peaceful, or so it seemed to me. There weren’t many animals that I could see. Some birds and deer here and there, but that seemed to be about it. I’m sure there had to be more to this place.
Finally, I returned to my body. The sky was starting to turn gray and as the light lessened, a sense of dread struck me. I couldn’t quite explain it, but I knew I wasn’t where I needed to be. That didn’t help me know where I should be. Anywhere but here, my gut screamed.
Listening to the feeling, I moved on. The first direction I chose felt wrong and something inside me screamed to head for the lake. Where had Marella sent me? Somehow this place must be safer, but what was I about to get myself into?
A gripping urge to climb took hold of me and I scaled one of the taller nearby trees. Darkness was rapidly overtaking the sky and weird clicks could be heard in the distance. The sounds were coming from deeper within the forest. I could hear my heart beating loudly in my ears, and I tried to calm my breathing. Whatever was out there would likely not see me if I just kept quiet and still. That shouldn’t be too difficult. I hoped.
Waiting was always the worst part of anything. I could hear the clicking sounds getting closer, and spreading out. It was getting harder and harder to see now, and I realized I might be stuck in this very spot until dawn or at least until Marella arrived. I had one too many questions for her after this small adventure…
Finally, as the sounds got too close for comfort, a snap of a twig drew my attention to what looked like floating glowing eyes. I was sure the creature wasn’t just a pair of eyes, but that was all I could see. Varying specs of red and gold eyes slowly passed beneath me, and as they moved they made those odd clicking noises. I wondered if it was from moving or if that was how they communicated with each other.
As the numbers became less and less I felt a weight on the branch next to me and screamed.
Marella hushed me and the sounds of a hissing forest came to life. The creatures who had heard me quickly rounded on the tree.
“Oh, these creatures have lasted,” Marella said with a mixture of amusement and annoyance in her voice. She hissed back at them, the sound echoing more than it naturally should have.
They all stopped. Silence filled the air and for a few short moments, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. The clicking resumed and slowly they continued back on their journey - one by one they left the tree.
“What are they?” I asked softly, not wanting to draw their attention again.
“Failed spawn. There was a level between me and the lesser demons, and these are them. I’m surprised they haven’t faded from existence yet.” Marella watched them go for a moment before adding, “They only have one desire, and that is to kill. Anything they come in contact with they will rip to shreds… and more gruesome things, but those details aren’t necessary.”
Her wanting to avoid saying anything more made me very concerned. “Does anything else live here?” I asked instead.
“Plenty,” she replied. “There are creatures of the lake and shapeshifters. Only the fittest can survive here.”
“Then how was this a safe place to send me?” I asked, surprised.
Marella laughed sweetly. “The shifters don’t harm others and have tended to make their job culling the numbers of the failed spawn. The lake creatures… well, I was certain you’d avoid the black water, so no harm there.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong. Everything from earlier came crashing back to me. “What happened to everyone? What’s going on?”
“Come,” Marella replied, placing her hand on my shoulder.
Suddenly we were back in the forest of my home. It hadn’t looked like much time passed at all. The angel seemed to be dead on the ground, and the demon wasn’t moving either. The Mad King, Romulus, was being held in a barrier by the Blessed ghosts, a dagger through his chest.
“What happened?” I was stunned and demanded to know everything.
I moved my attention from the ridiculous supernatural situation I was witnessing to find my friends. Jareth was on the ground, not moving. Lydia wasn’t far from him, but the steady rise and fall of her chest reassured me she was at least alive. Emmyth was hunched against a tree, bloodied and beaten. Rosalie was only a foot away from him. I couldn’t tell if either of them were okay or not. Both Key and Lee were missing. Danni was l5ying on the ground, but moving.
Marella shook her head. “There’s too much to do.” She tugged my arm, dragging me over to Danni and the hole she had dug earlier.
“Perfect, you made it back,” Danni said to Marella. Danni had a gash in her head that was still bleeding, but she seemed to be ignoring the pain. She continued whatever she was doing, too busy to do more than give us a glance.
Seeing that Danni was fine, I made my way over to Lydia. She looked terrible but managed to lift her head slightly as I got closer. Grumbling, she lowered her head back to the ground.
“Can you heal her?” I pleaded, looking desperately at Marella before rushing to Lydia.
Lydia could barely open her eyes, but she looked happy to see me. “You did survive,” she said, relieved.
“Of course. Who else is going to save your butt?” I replied and helped her to sit up.
“I still think, there was a lot of saving your butt going on here.” Lydia laughed, which quickly turned into a strained cough.
Sighing, Marella went and kneeled down at her side. “A demon healing a Blessed warrior? Her mind might implode.”
“Less talk, more heals.” Lydia grumbled at her.
I sat next to her. “What happened here?”
Lydia groaned but forced herself to sit up, only to fall back over on me. “Ugh, it was something…”
“It’s hard to heal a moving target,” Marella chastised her.
“Fine… fine….” Lydia kept her head in my lap. “Where were you?”
“Another realm. It wasn’t exciting, now tell me, what happened?” I begged her.
Lydia smirked, already starting to look much better. “I saw Marella blast you with magic, and you were gone. I thought she sent you away, but I couldn’t sense you. Anywhere! By the time I reached her to demand answers, all she would say was that you were safe, and then shoved me aside. Of course it was to spare me from being skewered, but that’s besides the point.
“The targets had realized that you were gone and for a moment blamed one another, and then both seemed to blame Marella, and quickly blamed us too. I had barely gotten my footing back when I had to dive out of the way, roll, and bounce back up to get back into the action. Rosalie was already in the fight. I had forgotten how good she was at blocking and being able to turn attacks on someone. She could almost hold her own, even against these much stronger foes.
“Almost! These guys were the real deal, so she needed help, which I was more than glad to provide. Same with Jareth. He quickly got into things, but even with our forces, and having Emmyth and Lee to back things up, we were still not gaining any ground.
“That’s when Zander stabbed Jareth. The wound was way too big to survive. Did you see that blade? Rosalie, I didn’t
even know what to do. It was like a switch turned on inside and she just lost it. Her attacks were harder, her hits so much more precise. She not only made Zander step back, but also pulled up a shield.
“And she broke it.
“I have never heard of such a thing being possible, but I guess when your love falls and the adrenaline kicks in that there are many odd advantages at your side. She so had this angel on the run, but bam! Beleth came and swooped in. Of course, we all jumped right back into the fray but the most we could do was keep Beleth away from her. Zander… Well, she did finally nail a great hit on him and with Marella’s aid subdued him.
“That’s when Beleth got the better of Emmyth and me. Emmyth was closest and took the brunt of the hit. We were both hit a ways back. My head was spinning but I managed to crawl over to him and get him healed enough so that he could heal me. Once I was ready to go and got him back on his feet we joined back in.
“As we were rushing back to the fight, I noticed Key was heavily fighting the air. Pretty sure that was about when Romulus made his debut, but with Danni right there at her side, I didn’t think I had to worry much. That girl didn’t look like much when we met her, but damn, as soon as that Creator knowledge set in, she’s a machine. She knew exactly what she was doing. I left them at it.
“Beleth and that dang weapon. We were nearly there and another swipe of that magic knocked me off my feet, which was oddly perfect timing since several lesser minions showed up and the one that appeared in front of me also got hit with the blast, so instead of a surprise I was ready for combat when I bounced back up.
“The fight was finally starting to go well. You wouldn’t believe the hits Rosalie was landing. She actually had Beleth on the run with Marella backing her up. We all tried getting in there, but with the lesser demons, it wasn’t happening.
“Then I heard a scream and spun around to see Key crying, but not upset. It was too weird to figure out and I had to get back to the demon stabbing. A few moments later Key joined our fight. Lee enchanted her blade and with her added shields the lesser demons were gone in no time.
