“I don’t like it,” Gavin muttered.
As I started to step forward again, I heard a low growl from Nygard and shifted my eyes to him. Ears alert, he twisted to look behind us as his fur puffed out making him look twice as big. I spun around, seeing shadowy shapes creeping up on the back of the group.
“Behind you!” I screamed as a yiaiwa started to grab Yoshi.
The rest of the group whirled around. Before the yiaiwa made contact, Yoshi dropped to the path and rolled away as Astrid cast an illusion spell. In the blink of an eye, two duplicates of all of us filled the space between our group and the attack force.
Bob and Lucca turned back to face the front, standing guard in front of me while I readied a blast aimed at the threat.
“Everyone down,” I called out and hoped that all of the real team responded as their doppelgangers still wandered in the path.
“In front, Gilly,” Dig called out. I looked back over my shoulder to see more of the shades in front of us. I hesitated, uncertain which way to go first.
“Take care of the back ones.” Gavin charged forward as he yelled. “I’ll help Bob.”
I nodded and moved to fill his spot in the column. Reaching with my left hand to touch Nygard’s head, I released my power. Blue white light streaked like a bolt of flash lighting into the middle of the yiaiwas. Shrieks like the screams of eagles rose from the creatures as they shot to the sky, vanishing into the woods.
From behind me, I heard sizzling sounds of flares and words of an incantation. More shrieks burst from the front group. I spotted another one in the back as a yiaiwa tried to fly toward me and sent another pinpoint of power into it.
From one side, I noticed streaks of red as bolts of electrical energy hit two more of the yiaiwa. I glimpsed the satisfied look on Orielle’s face as her newly-learned magic seemed to work well on this plane.
Along the edges of the path, I saw that Elly had sent thorny vines along the side to stop the tree off-shoots trying to grab for anyone at the edge. If I didn’t know better, I would have said that the little weeds looked happy piercing the thick roots.
Warily, I scanned the dark skies looking for any movement to indicate the opposition had come back or were lingering there. Nothing. At least, nothing I could see.
I turned back to face the front where Bob unleashed another fireball at a shade advancing on him. I watched one try to grab Lucca, saw the Italian cross his arms over his chest, wave one arm out, and the yiaiwa bounced off as if it had hit a trampoline. Repel spell in action. A grim smile touched my lips.
Glancing back over my shoulder, I called out, “Yoshi and Jade, keep an eye out behind us in case they come back. Everyone else, watch the edges of the path for any movement.”
Cara suddenly screeched out a high note, a sound so off-key I couldn’t even tell what she was aiming to hit. What the heck, I wondered, then saw the movement as a pair of shades, almost on top of Bob, jerked back and retreated into the darkness.
“Sound waves,” I muttered. “Sound waves bother them.”
I marched to the rear, grabbed Cara’s wrist, and pulled her to the front. “You’re our secret weapon, Cara. They don’t like your voice, so sing loud and high.”
With a nervous nod, Cara started singing a church hymn I didn’t recognize. I watched the yiaiwas trying to regroup, their movements jerky. I tapped Bob’s shoulder and pointed to them. He nodded and shot a fireball into them.
I slipped to the back again, peering into the darkness trying to discern any movement. Shaking my head, I sent a blast that direction illuminating the area enough to see two more shades hanging behind us, but also appearing agitated. A more precise bolt sent them flying. But I noticed one seemed more damaged than the other as it flew erratically, then disappeared.
I started to turn, and a yiaiwa appeared in front of me, less than an arm’s length. Gasping, I jumped backward feeling Astrid’s spirit force almost on my shoulders. Faster than I, the creature lunged for me, an appendage forming to penetrate my soul. I shuddered, already too familiar with the debilitating cold touch, and I raised my hand, ready to let loose with a light blast. The yiaiwa hit me first—and repelled back as if something had slammed into it.
Gavin’s shield spell! It worked.
I threw my blast in an open-handed thrust that plowed into the yiaiwa. Shrieking and tattered, it started to lift to the sky when a fireball collided with it, and the creature vanished.
Going back to the front, I saw that Bob and Gavin had handled the small squad there. While most were gone, two motionless shapes lay on the ground, gaping red wounds oozing an oily-looking liquid. Lucca guided a light as we moved closer to investigate.
“They look dead,” Lucca said.
I nodded. “I didn’t think we could kill them.” Excitement grew in me as I thought we might have managed to do it, but I was afraid to believe.
As we studied them, waiting for any sign of life, the skins withered and turned to dust, leaving only stains on the dirt from their oily ichors.
Returning to the path, I motioned the group to resume the hike while my other hand unconsciously rubbed Nygard’s ears as we walked. Feeling the cat relax, I heaved a sigh of relief. But part of me thought it was too easy. The yiaiwa hadn’t fought that much.
Cara changed songs to an off-key rendition of “Ave Maria.” Wishing for earplugs, I dropped back a little and kept shifting my gaze from right to left and up, waiting for the next ambush. As we walked, I wondered if we’d actually killed the yiaiwa or if we only destroyed the shell. Worse, if the souls within had been stolen, had I obliterated them also?
“It’s not your fault,” Gavin said as he moved beside me. “Those souls were lost long before now.”
How did he know what I was thinking?
“Beyond retrieving?” I asked.
He nodded, his mouth a grim line. “Destroyed by the soul eaters.”
“The shield works. Did you see the one bounce off it?”
“Uh huh. Just don’t get dependent on it,” Gavin answered.
Stepping around a stone in the path, I frowned at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, don’t get careless and expect it to always save you. It’s just a shield. Something stronger than that yiaiwa may come along that can go right through it.”
“Like Belphegor.”
“Exactly.”
A fair warning, and it made me pause. We could barely stop the yiaiwas. Could we stop Belphegor? I knew we couldn’t kill him, but could we force him back to his underworld and seal it? I had to believe it was possible or I wouldn’t have been chosen to try. But was I leading everyone with me into a fatal confrontation?
Chapter 30
I LOOKED BACK AT MY team, a nervous-looking group after their first encounter with the enemy. Cara stopped singing as I motioned a halt. Toward the back, I noticed Sandy’s overly-big eyes while her mouth turned down in worry. Next to her, Jade tried to calm her.
“Is everyone okay?” I called out.
Heads nodded, except for Sandy and Hamish, who shook theirs negatively. A couple of people answered, “Fine.” But I sensed the nervousness in the group.
“Does anyone want to bail now?” I waited, caught Sandy glance at Jade, who shook her head. Nervous, but determined, not one of the team deserted. My heart swelled with pride and gratitude.
I resumed walking forward with Bob and Digby leading the way. Darting looks around each side and in front of us, I trusted the guys at the back to mind the rear guard.
“Look up!” Elly called out, and I shifted my eyes to the air.
Off to the left, a rainbow-colored cloud of light had shot into the air like a rocket, leaving puffs and streaks streaming against the darkening sky.
“Janna,” I breathed out, pointing to it. “That way.”
Behind me, I listened to the scrabbling noises of feet shuffling through dried leaves or something worse. It reminded me of rats scurrying across a tiled floor. Our enemy could probably hear us b
efore they saw us.
“Quieter,” I admonished, and the sound muted at once.
Lucca’s light gave enough glow to illuminate about a yard ahead of us. Uneasy, I walked a little quicker, not liking the darkness that surrounded us like a tunnel, black on both sides where anyone or anything could hide. I noticed Gavin’s eyes shifting from one side to the other.
“Do you see any better as a spirit?” I asked even though I knew that I didn’t.
“Not really,” he answered, his shoulders lifting in a shrug. “I can make out the suggestion of shapes but nothing in detail. If something moves, I might detect it.”
“Too bad. You wouldn’t happen to have a spell that could enhance Lucca’s glow ball, would you?”
“’Fraid not, chica.”
I shrugged and continued walking, my left hand touching Nygard. If the yiaiwa or something else threatened us, the cat would detect it before any of us did.
In silence, I led our little group wherever the path took us. I could feel the tension as we walked steadily ahead for what must have been a half-mile before the trail turned about twenty-five degrees to the left. Nygard’s ears flicked, and I felt the muscles in his back tense as he came to alert.
I raised my hand and slowed the group to a halt. “Something’s ahead,” I whispered to Lucca and Bob. Digby moved in closer to stand just behind Lucca.
“I’ll scout ahead,” he offered.
I shook my head. “No, Dig. It’s too risky. If there are any shades there, you’re defenseless.”
“I will go with him,” Lucca said. “I can defend both of us. The two of us, we can creep quietly.”
“Right, mate,” Digby added. “We’ll just scope it out and see what’s ahead. No dangerous moves. Promise.”
Before I could object more, the two of them slipped ahead, Lucca’s light blinking out as they went.
The rest of the group huddled close while we waited. I counted heads, aware that my team had shrunk by two.
“What happened to Sandy and Hamish?” I asked.
“They both left,” Jade answered. “Sandy was afraid, and she’s not a fighter. That last battle left her on edge and feeling inadequate. After she broke the connection, Hamish did the same.”
A little disappointed they didn’t say anything to me, I nodded. Then I felt Nygard start to pull forward as a low growl rumbled from his throat. I turned and followed him.
“Trouble ahead,” I said to Bob and Gavin as I steeled myself for the attack. Had Lucca and Digby run into an ambush ahead? I picked up the pace to try to catch up with them as I listened for any sounds of conflict.
A couple of moments later, Digby came back into view and Lucca followed a couple of heartbeats later. He ran sideways, with his attention focused behind him, and his hands ready to propel a repelling blow to anything that came too close.
“There’s a group about fifty feet ahead,” Digby told me in a low voice. “They didn’t see us, but Lucca wanted to be sure we didn’t miss a scout.”
“How many?” Gavin asked as he moved to stand just behind me.
“Fourteen, I think. We couldn’t see too clearly. They’re guarding an entrance into a cave.”
“The portal,” I said. “It has to be.”
I pulled everyone together, then Lucca and Digby filled us in on what we could expect ahead. Utilizing the talents we had in the group, we came up with a plan.
Confident the cave would lead to the portal, my mood lifted at the thought of saving Janna’s soul. If the rainbow burst had come from Janna, then her spirit survived, and Belphegor was using her as bait. He wanted me although I couldn’t see where my power against the yiaiwa was so great that I proved that much of a threat to him. The combined power of this group, though...
We might be enough.
Just before we came to the end of the path, before the first hint of the danger ahead revealed itself, Gavin leaned close and whispered, “Be careful, chica. Nygard is your weak spot as well as your strength.”
As he said it, the cat turned his intense blue eyes to me and gave a low growl. I knew Nygard’s physical form was with Ferris. I also knew that if Ferris was touching Nygard, he could see what the cat saw although not in cat vision, but in what we humans saw. So, was that growl a reinforced warning from Ferris via Ny?
At my signal, Lucca cast a light ball ahead while Yoshi summoned a fog that settled over us, hiding our positions from the yiaiwa. Astrid began casting a duplication spell and repeated it to create two sets of duplicate illusions of all of us.
Bob and I stepped forward, fireball and energy blasts primed and ready to throw. I wanted the first strike. I could barely see them just before we stepped out of the fog. They formed a semi-circle across the cave entrance and looked equally as ready for confrontation as we were.
As Nygard leaned against me, his energy flowed into mine as I spread my hands and flung a pair of flash blasts into the middle of the yiaiwa.
Two of the dark spirits shot skyward as the blasts tore into the line. Bob’s fireballs caught three more to the left of my attack. The hardest I’d ever managed a blast, it shredded two of the yiaiwas that dropped to the ground with a murky red liquid oozing like molten lava from them. Another two were damaged enough that they popped out, streaming in tatters for the sky. Bob’s fireballs destroyed both of his targets, their remains burning as if they’d landed on oil.
But that only took care of one-third of the yiaiwas. They were on the attack now. Nygard crouched beside me, ready to spring at the pair rushing us. I started to hold him back, but Gavin’s words echoed in my mind. The cat was my weakness; I had my own battles to fight. I had to let him help even though fears of a repeat of the last time ran through my mind.
In that moment of hesitation, Nygard leaped over the closest yiaiwa to attack it from behind. He, too, remembered the debilitating cold these creatures used. At the same time, I flung a pinpoint blast at the one nearest to me.
With a dart, the yiaiwa jerked to one side allowing the blast to continue into the cavern wall and pointing out the problem with a small-stream cast. I started to fling an open palm, but the creature was on me before I could launch it. It bowled me down, its appendages reaching to penetrate my soul. As before, it couldn’t break through the shield spell giving me a chance to fight back.
I twisted under the deceptive mass of the yiaiwa’s body, aware of the weight it carried. For something that could fly and vanish almost instantly, it felt more substantial than anything else on this spirit plane. I brought my knee up into its form, feeling resistance, but not able to shove it away from me.
I heard a yowl of anger just before Nygard, all claws extended, plowed into the back of the yiaiwa. Shrieking as my cat shredded it to pieces, long tatters of its exterior skin, for want of a better word, fell to the ground. It rose up, ragged strips trailing from it. Coming to my aid, Bob shot a fireball at it, and Gavin called up a spell that combined with the flames making them burn white hot.
I held my breath as the combination magic hit the yiaiwa dead on and it burst into a mass of flames. As much as we wanted to cheer, three more remained and came toward us now.
“To me,” I called to Nygard, and the cat leaped, landing on my shoulders and wrapping around me like a cloak.
Bob took the left while Gavin focused on the right one. The center yiaiwa was mine. And it came for me, shooting like a rocket toward my body. Shield or no, the creature frightened me as I braced myself, gathering my energy for a broad blast. I felt a hand on my shoulder and glanced to the side enough to see Pernika, the quiet Indian girl, standing beside me, eyes closed and focused on augmenting my cast. As I felt the energy flowing into me from both Pernika and Nygard, a sense of calm confidence settled. I drew in a deep breath and released the most powerful blast I could muster.
At that moment, I could hear the chant coming from Yoshi behind me as he summoned power from his ancestors while Cara let out a high wavering G note that distracted the yiaiwa. We were a strange band of
warriors, I concluded as I released the blast then yelled, “Scatter!”
Pernika broke away instantly, dropping and rolling away from me while I whirled toward Gavin’s position and urged Nygard to retreat to the rear. If the yiaiwa made it through and hit me, I didn’t want my cat anywhere near us.
As I dashed to the right, I watched the blast catch the yiaiwa in spite of its attempt to evade. The creature exploded with bits and pieces flying; the red ichor burning like a fireball in the air.
Gavin’s opponent took a beating from his magic, sustaining enough damage that it withdrew, shrieking loudly, and vanished. Bob’s fireball had set the other yiaiwa ablaze, and it went down, defeated and destroyed.
I backed up a little and surveyed the area as best I could. Lucca’s light bobbed around illuminating small sections at a time. I didn’t see any more threats to us. I found that worrying. I turned to Gavin. “Did we overestimate our enemy? Or do you think a big force is inside waiting for us?”
“Could be a trap,” he agreed as he shifted toward the entrance. “I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more of them. The ones facing us didn’t appear to be as strong as we’ve encountered before. I think Belphegor sent out his pawns, his expendables.”
I nodded. “We destroyed a few although that wasn’t simple. I agree, they weren’t his best squads. Now, we need a light before we go into that cave system ‘cause I want to know what we’re facing.”
As I said this, Jade half-floated next to me and said, “I can go in. I can see in the dark and can be invisible and soundless to them.”
“You can be invisible?” Why hadn’t she mentioned this sooner?
“I’m the only true spirit here, and I’ve been across long enough to learn how to go transparent when I wish. It’s how I’ve evaded those monsters for so long.”
A Song of Redemption Page 32
