Hells Magic (The Armistice Book 1)

by Leslie Vatenar

  Madil remained in shock.

  “I’ve just helped you by not spreading this fire in your nightclub. I did my part of the deal. The flower!” Jayden said as he approached Madil, who was recoiling in shock and panic.

  He was breathing hard; his eyes were going back and forth between Jayden and where his guards were standing a few seconds earlier.

  I couldn’t judge him. I also was in shock. It was the most… I didn’t have the words because I’d never seen anything like this. Few manipulated an element, let alone with such power and efficiency. These flames were as impressive as they were terrifying.

  There hadn’t been the slightest ash!

  “But… What the… How?”

  In front of Jayden’s fierce expression, Madil swallowed. He stooped down and put his hand to his desk. Before he could reach the handle, a powerful gust of wind shoved him against the office window.

  “It’s in the drawer. The flower is in the drawer!” he cried in panic.

  Jayden opened the drawer himself and withdrew a metal box. He opened it and grabbed a necklace. He examined it then handed it to me. A wonderful light pink stone served as a pendant for the gold necklace. In this stone was a tiny flower with three white petals. I put the necklace around my neck.

  “It was a pleasure to do business with you, Madil,” Jayden said with a delighted smile.

  Suddenly, an immense explosion rang out.

  CHAPTER 9

  Jayden looked at the dance floor through the window.

  “Either the Hells soldiers have discovered a passion for dance or we’re in trouble.”

  “I’m betting on dance.”

  “Me too.” Jayden nodded.

  “We’re in trouble,” Liam said as he ran toward us breathless.

  “Do we have a way out?” Jayden asked.

  “Yes. But we have to move fast, they’re encircling the building.”

  “The Hells soldiers?” Madil cried, still pressed against the window, turning his head to look at his nightclub. “Don’t leave me here! Set me free!” he yelled as we were about to leave.

  “You’ll owe me one,” Jayden said.

  “Yes, whatever you want.”

  Jayden released him and a few seconds later a grenade crossed the glass and landed in the office. I created a force field that protected us all, just before it exploded.

  “Run!” Jayden said before launching into the broken glass where the grenade had been thrown.

  “We’ll go through the back door,” Liam shouted over the mess, taking my hand.

  People were screaming and bombs were exploding in the nightclub.

  We went through a corridor then through a door leading to the outside where there were a dozen soldiers, armed with their lethal swords of fire. Each of them wore red-and-black armor, black boots that came over their kneecaps, and black helmets that only showed their eyes.

  The moon shone high in the sky, surrounded by its faithful stars, but it wasn’t the only one to shine that night. The soldiers’ red eyes were terrifying in the darkness of the night. They were encircling us. Their fierce gaze made me shudder.

  The earth shook. The ground opened as hand bones emerged from these holes. Attached to arms. And then bodies.

  Seconds later, a dozen skeletons moved in front of us. I looked at Liam, who had his eyes closed and his eyebrows drawn down as he was deep in concentration. Necromancer’s magic in all its glory. Or darkness.

  The skeletons attacked the soldiers without further ado. I assumed it was better to fight fire with fire in this case. I called my magic; I felt it grow in me like a balloon that was inflating. Within seconds, I was ready. Pure energy ran through my arm and I directed it at the Hells soldiers in front of me. I unleashed all my power. The blast struck three of them in the chest and sent a few meters away with a vast hole in the stomach.

  Unfortunately, their death was temporary, and they would soon come back to life. I used my powers to ward off two other soldiers who were coming at me. I sent a ball of pure energy at two others, causing the same damage as for the first three.

  I turned to Liam, who was killing a soldier. He thrust his hand into the chest of the soldier, who cried out in pain and rage, before tearing his heart out. Liam shook his bloodied hand—as if it might help—before turning to his skeletons.

  An unprecedented massacre stood before me. Dismembered bodies lay all around me. The skeletons had shredded them.

  I witnessed four skeletons killing the last soldier standing. Each of them grabbed his arms and legs before spreading him out. His organs spilled to the ground and his black blood gushed.

  The deadly creatures turned to Liam.

  “Thanks, guys.”

  The skeletons nodded. One of them seemed to smile, but his skeletal jaw fell to the ground in front of an amused Liam. He picked it up and handed it to its owner with a hand salute.

  The ground opened in the same way as the first time and they sank into the ground, or rather into the Hells, from where they originally came.

  “I’ll definitely have nightmares after that.”

  A sword of fire went through Liam’s belly. A cry of horror left me as he fell to the ground and the Hells soldier prepared to fling his sword at me. I used a force field to counter the attack before releasing a powerful energy beam. When he fell to the ground, I turned to Liam. “Liam! Liam!”

  Kneeling, he held with one hand the bloodied sword. Then he withdrew it from his body. He cried out briefly before the sound turned into silence, the excruciating pain only perceptible on his facial expression.

  An abundant amount of blood flowed from his mouth and stomach. My heart tightened. What could I do? What could I do? I helped him lie on the floor and placed an unnecessary hand on the gaping wound. To prevent the flow of his blood I would need much more than both my hands.

  “Liam, hold on.”

  He had his eyes closed, and he wasn’t moving. I was shaking like a leaf, trying in vain to think of a solution. I tried a desperate approach, tried to heal him with the same power that healed me. I couldn’t control that power. It was barely enough to heal me, and in case of a big injury, it was useless to me. That’s why it was even more difficult for me to heal others. I mastered pure magical energy, but healing others wasn’t part of the package.

  I inherited this little ability from my mother, who was also a mage. Her powers revolved around healing and protection. My energy powers came from my mage father. Both were exceptional security guards, an incredible duo.

  I held on to my hope and focused, using the maximum amount of my power to heal the wound. Liam was pale in front of me; his breathing was slow and weak. Come on! Please!

  Tears flowed down my cheeks as the distress grew every second in me. But I didn’t give up. Even when I saw his breathing stop, I continued. I put my energy, my power, my faith, my will, and my determination into it.

  The blood stopped flowing. The wound closed little by little, slowly but surely. My heart missed a beat. It was working! I was healing him.

  Unfortunately, his breathing had hardly picked up, and I was worried about it. I didn’t stop, but I felt the exhaustion win me over. My eyelids were heavy and my strength was leaving me. I understood what I was doing. A mage could take the vital energy of a human to gain strength. Well, I was giving all of mine to Liam. But when I saw his wound close and his breathing resume, a wave of relief and joy stronger than anything I had experienced so far seized me.

  He blinked before he opened his eyes a few seconds later. He stared at me, saying nothing, raising up on his elbows to look at his wound closing. He frowned. Then he turned his head toward me, his eyes wide like saucers. I smiled at him showing him all my teeth and took him into my arms.

  “Liam, you’re alive!”

  He hugged me. “How did you do that? Katy! Thank you very much!”

  “We have to get out of here. The Hells soldiers will come back to life in no time. Where’s
Jay?”

  “Still inside.”

  “That’s a bad sign.”

  I got up. “I’ll get him. Take the car and meet us at the front of the building.”

  Liam nodded, staring at his old wound, totally out of it.

  He had almost died, and we’d only faced a dozen soldiers. The further I went the more I worried.

  I ran to the front door, praying that Jayden would be okay. My legs were still weak, and I stumbled several times.

  The ground collapsed under my feet and I fell heavily. The pain in my back spread into my head, which had hit the ground at the same time. I almost lost consciousness because of the shock from my fall. My eyesight was blurry. I felt kicks on my arm and stomach. I heard piercing cries of panic.

  I realized that I was on the ground and that I was being trampled by the people at the nightclub who were trying in vain to escape. I looked around me and I saw that it was a lost cause. The Hells soldiers attacked everyone, cutting off the heads and limbs of all those who crossed their path. Every fire sword was deadly.

  I got up. Four soldiers noticed me right away. Two filaments of magical energy entwined my arms, which I raised in their direction. I released the energetic bolt before they had time to wield their swords. Uncontrollable spasms shook their bodies.

  Seconds later, I saw a shadow pass by me. I turned around brandishing my right arm, still full of energy. I saw Jayden hit a soldier, whose face caught fire. He grabbed the soldier’s sword before turning and stabbing another soldier behind him.

  A third soldier wielded his sword. Jayden leaned backward, and the sword slashed the air where his upper body was a few seconds earlier. He punched him in the stomach and the soldier was hurled against a wall. A bus at full speed could have hit him and the effect would have been the same. Jayden held his palm open in front of him and the deadly flames flew toward his enemy, whose howls of pain filled the air. He disintegrated and disappeared from the face of the earth.

  I shuddered in front of the scene. It had unfolded with supernatural speed. Jayden took my arm and dragged me with him. I tried to think of something other than, That same hand just made a Hells soldier disappear from the face of the earth.

  My heart was drumming in my chest, in rhythm with our fast steps. I didn’t want to see, but I was slowing us down because my foot was bumping on the bodies on the ground. Twice Jayden had to catch me, and I realized that I had to look or I’d slow us down.

  I looked at my feet. Every second I had to step over a body covered in blood. Sometimes they were Hells soldiers, but other times they were supernaturals or humans. Their wide eyes accused me of their death. I’d led the Hells soldiers to this place, to them, when they were innocent and young. I saw a young woman, her beautiful blonde hair bathed in her blood; her throat was slit. She couldn’t have been older than twenty-one.

  I was screaming inside me. We ran and yet each body left a clear and indelible mark on my heart. Jayden swung toward me. He scooped me up in his arms.

  “Don’t look! Don’t look!” He plunged my head into his neck, shielding me from this massacre.

  Another one.

  I heard sirens and cars. The fresh air of the night gave me chills. I heard the sound of a door opening and Jayden put me in the back of the car. He went to the front, sat behind the wheel, and started the car. And we hit the road.

  The only pleasant news was that another event like this shouldn’t happen again. These Hells soldiers had found us, but no one else would find us again thanks to the necklace I had around my neck. I collapsed on the back seat, exhausted.

  CHAPTER 10

  I woke up because of a thud and thumping noise that resonated in the house. I’d fallen asleep on a cozy bed. I removed the blanket that covered my body and walked to the living room on tiptoe. It was dark, and my eyes took some time to adjust to the lack of brightness. I approached the noise, which was getting louder and eventually became deafening.

  The living room was empty.

  “Liam?”

  No answer.

  I stood on something liquid and looked down to see what it was. In the dark it was difficult to identify it, but the first thought that came to me was, Blood.

  Drops traced a path to the kitchen where I went. The noise attuned to the beating of my heart. The closer I got the more I felt it wasn’t the right thing to do. Yet something attracted me, intrigued me.

  I got closer to the closed door. I turned the handle and pushed the door. Its creek betrayed my presence. But as I opened this door, a stream of fresh air froze my blood. I shuddered violently. I was willing to bet that my dread was as responsible as the draft.

  I stepped into the kitchen, and the thumping noise stopped. I eyed the room. The drops of blood stopped right at the entrance to the room, which was empty.

  A huge thunderclap rang out and a lightning bolt passed through the window and entered the room. I started, shielding my eyes from the blinding flash. The thumping came back infinitely stronger. I opened my eyes and found myself in front of Craid, who was holding Alice by the neck.

  Blood was pouring from her mouth. She had a deep gash that ran through the entire right side of her face. She wore a bloodstained white dress, and her eyes were filled with pain and terror.

  Craid had short black hair. A six o’clock shadow obscured his round face. His eyes were as black as his T-shirt. A brown jacket covered his swollen belly.

  I felt dead inside; I couldn’t feel my heart beating, I couldn’t feel anything. I was just seeing my friend tortured by a psychopath. He smashed her head on the kitchen counter and the sound echoed deep in my soul.

  She wasn’t screaming; her eyes were wide open as she suffered. Her white dress reached just above her knees, and I noticed that blood was also flowing down her thigh. I tried to move, to run toward her, to save her, but I couldn’t.

  I tried to scream, to beg, but no sound came out of my mouth. The pain, the sadness, the helplessness were unbearable. I’d rather have died than watch my best friend get slaughtered, standing up and doing nothing.

  After an umpteenth encounter between Alice’s face and the counter, after yet another deafening pounding, Craid lifted Alice. Then he dropped her lifeless body.

  During the few seconds before her body hit the ground, I had time to see the disfigured and blood-covered face of the most beautiful woman I knew. I had lost her; I had lost my best friend.

  A bolt of lightning illuminated the diabolical smile of the son of a bitch. I felt so much hatred for this man that it destroyed me from the inside. I wanted to smash his head against the counter.

  His face changed. His proud expression morphed into… tenderness.

  “Hate led me to become who I am today. I became a son of a bitch, as you say so well, because I felt hatred. So, just a piece of advice, don’t feel it.”

  “Monster!” I yelled.

  He looked at his blood-covered hands then laid his eyes blazing with fury and hatred on me.

  “It’s her fault,” he accused, pointing to Alice’s body at his feet. “She’ll pay for all this. When it comes to you, it would be a lot easier to turn yourself in to me. It would save you a lot of suffering.”

  “In your dreams.”

  “No, we’re in yours,” he said with a smirk. “Is that your last word?”

  “I won’t give myself up,” I replied through gritted teeth.

  “Then let me show you a brief glimpse of what awaits you once my soldiers have found you.”

  His expression became murderous. I turned and ran into the living room. Running out of breath, I got out of the house.

  Even the moon hadn’t shown up. Everything was dark, I couldn’t see in front of me, but I was running. Like after the Armistice attack, I was running with the devil hot on my tail.

  I heard a high-pitched hiss that gave me goose bumps. The gravel bruised my bare feet. I looked behind me, but there was nothing but black. Still that intense black that fol
lowed me everywhere. When I turned to look in front of me, I saw a line of red eyes and I stopped.

  My vision miraculously cleared up, and I saw an army of Hells soldiers. They were all motionless, fire swords in hand. Craid appeared before them. He raised his arm in the air, and the soldiers raised their swords to the sky. One last smile, one last thrill.

  I was preparing for war, my magic loaded. Intense anger distorted Craid’s features, and a moment later, his guards attacked.

  Their footsteps pounded the ground and they were in front of me in seconds. I unleashed my powers toward them. A shock wave of pure energy left my body. The first line of attack collapsed. My hands released flashes of energy toward the soldiers and they fell to the ground.

  A sword stabbed me in the back and I lost my concentration. I could no longer avoid their deadly swords. On my shoulder, my face, my back. My entire body was bleeding from the deep gashes made by the cursed swords.

  I curled up on myself. Then I felt the blinding pain. I lost. I’d die. Fiery blood was pouring all over my body; exhaustion crashed over me and I screamed at the top of my lungs.

  CHAPTER 11

  I awoke with a start and a shrill, heart-rending cry. Tears dripped down my cheeks as my body was wracked with an onslaught of sobs and tears. I was struggling to breathe, and my heart was pounding in my chest.

  I hid under the blanket, squeezing it against me. I felt like I had experienced the scene at the Armistice a second time. And it was more difficult. Alice’s bloodied face seemed tattooed on the inside of my eyelids. My mind was crumbling. I didn’t know how to handle this. Beyond my sobs, and over the blanket, I felt something touch me and I started.

  “Katy, it’s me, Liam. It’s okay. Calm down,” I heard.

  He gently stroked my arm. But my tears redoubled. Nothing was okay. I was terrified. Terrified to see Craid again. Terrified of having to face him again, even accompanied by two supernaturals. One of which also frightened me. And I was terrified I would never see my best friend again.