I wasn’t sure why there were creatures other than Nesmyr being held captive but I didn’t have time to speculate it. I quickly planned my course of action, took a deep breath and pulled my stake out of its holster. When I sensed the rest of the Lovac taking out their stakes I started running. The other Lovac followed.
We had completely caught the Zhulik off guard. Lucas had been speaking about something serious when I came running into the middle of his little ritual. Once the Zhulik started to understand what was happening, all hell broke loose.
Zhulik came running after me, trying to tackle me to the ground but I was easily able to dodge them. My power was in control but no matter how badly it wanted me to stay and kill the Zhulik coming directly after me I forced myself to run to Lucas.
I could see a bit of panic and a bit of amusement in his eyes when he saw me coming for him. He hadn't moved from his spot or stopped talking. He was planning on finishing his ritual one way or another.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs to his podium he stopped speaking. I started running up the stairs to try to stop him from completing what he was doing but I knew it was already too late. A cloud of red smoke had started to form in the middle of the staircase, blocking Lucas from my view. It was growing and would consume me if I didn't stop running.
Fortunately, the red smoke was not going to harm me. I ran into it head first and nothing happened. Unfortunately, when it cleared up, Kamila was standing in front of Lucas, blocking my path.
I paused immediately when I saw her. I was halfway up the stairs when she appeared through the smoke and looked out on what was happening below her. When she spotted me halfway up the stairs she snarled. She looked at Lucas, who nodded at the demon woman and she lunged at me.
I tried my hardest to dodge her attack but she morphed into that red smoke and entangled me in it. I had tried to jump off the stairs but I was suddenly embraced in the thick cloud of smoke and being dragged up to the top of the podium.
When I was at the top of the stairs, the smoke thinned and Kamila appeared again but I was still trapped. Lucas was standing in front of me, red eyes trying to burn a hole through my head.
"Hello, my child," he said. His voice was rough and had a chill to it that gave me goose bumps. He was standing so close to me that I could smell the blood on his breath.
When I didn't answer him he continued speaking.
"You're so young and yet you're already so wise. You're perfect for my little games."
My curiosity got the best of me. "What games?"
He looked amused. "Didn't you wonder why a Zhulik as old and powerful as myself would be stupid enough to impregnate a psychic human and let her live? I'm sure you were told that only young Zhulik do that."
"It might have crossed my mind," I said, trying my hardest not to sound too interested. The truth was that this thought had crossed my mind multiple times.
"Well, I've been alive for thousands of years and after all the killings and all the power I've taken, I seem to have grown bored with life. I considered ending it all but then I decided to have some fun before my time is up. That's when I met your mother. A beautiful woman and the strongest psychic powers I had ever seen in a human. I thought it would be fun to create a being with her and see what kind of powers it ended up with. I wanted a child that actually stood a chance at beating me. I must say, I waited eighteen years for this and I am highly disappointed."
"I could take you down in a heartbeat if you didn't have a demon slave."
Kamila looked offended. She glared at me, snarled and lunged at my throat with her claws. Just before she made contact, Lucas intervened and pulled the demon away from me. The whole time I could feel the grip of the smoke loosening.
"This exquisite being," Lucas said, "Is a demoness and a queen. Her name is Kamila and we are going to rule this world together."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, while I was waiting for you to become old enough to challenge me, I started thinking of other ways to have fun with life. I started thinking that it might be fun to try to take over the world. Starting with the Nesmyr and Lovac and moving on to other magical creatures and then humans. I knew I couldn't do it on my own, so I made a deal with Kamila. She would sacrifice some of her lesser demons to make my army of Zhulik more powerful and in return I would kidnap creatures for her to feed on. Not just any kind of creatures though."
"What do you mean?"
This time Kamila spoke. She sauntered up to me, her auburn hair following around her, almost touching to floor. "Dimidium," she spoke with a strange accent. "The light in their blood makes them so much more delectable."
My eyes widened in understanding. These two were the reason that Lovac hadn't found their Dimidiums in such a long time. They were kidnapping creatures that were meant to be with Lovac and killing them before a Lovac could actually find them. That’s why there were more than just Nesmyr being kidnapped. They’re all Dimidiums.
"How do you know they're actually Dimidiums?" I asked, hoping they were lying.
"Oh that's easy," Kamila hissed. "Every magical creature gives off their own unique aura. Demons from my plane have a better ability to see and feel them than those that live here. I've been practicing and enhancing my ability to do this for quite some time. I've learned that if two people have identical auras, then they are meant for each other. I started Lovac spying and finding their Dimidium before they could. I soon became addicted to the taste of Dimidiums. It's a shame they're so rare."
"Once I learned that Kamila could do this I sought her help," Lucas said. "She agreed but only if I could capture every Dimidium she led me to. Since she is only able to cross over to our world on certain days, she would have more time to feed if we did the Dimidium capturing for her."
"You're both sick," I said.
"Well, my dear, that's what happens when you give yourself over to the darkness. You could join us if you gave yourself over to it too." He smiled at me, a menacing smile that gave me goose bumps again.
I glared at him. "Never." I was trying to sound brave but I was actually terrified. Lucas and Kamila were powerful and they could kill me at any minute. I wasn't ready to die. I needed to find some way to get out of the smoke binds and take Lucas down.
"That's a shame," Lucas said, interrupting my thoughts. "I shouldn't have expected you to say yes, though. There hasn't been a Lovac that's accepted the darkness in years. I always thought it was a better option than going insane and dying but who am I to speak for them."
"I don’t know how anyone could think that was a better option."
"Most Lovac have been brainwashed into thinking that way, but at least we're still alive and enjoy life. We just look at it differently than you do."
"In a sick, twisted way."
"It's still better than being dead, my dear."
"Not to me."
"Well, then. It sounds like you want to die. Shall we let our little games begin then? I'm sure it won't take long before you're killed."
"I have one more question," I said, trying to distract them long enough to get out of the smoke binds before they released me.
"Hmm?" was all Lucas said, looking bored.
"Why did you kill my mom?"
Lucas and Kamila both laughed at this. "She was in the way. She was never supposed to survive in the first place. We could have started our little games so much sooner if she hadn’t kept you hidden all of these years. When I found out she had been in a car crash, I didn’t have the time to take advantage of the situation so I sent Kamila. It’s a shame. I would have loved to see the look on your face when her heart stopped beating. Kamila assures me it was priceless."
My blood was boiling now. My mother was dead because she protected me and I would make these creatures pay. I started to writhe in the smoke bonds and Lucas looked intrigued.
"It looks like you’re ready for our little games to begin. This won’t take long."
"You have no idea what I can do," I spa
t. I was giving myself completely into my power and the smoke was having a hard time containing me. I didn’t have to wait long for it to disappear completely, though.
"You're right, I don't, but I can't wait to see. Kamila, let her go."
The demon hesitated only long enough for me to take a deep breath and focus all of my concentration on my power. Once the smoke restraints were off of me I lunged at Lucas. I still had my stake in my hand and I aimed for his heart.
Unfortunately, I was blocked by Kamila. Apparently, we weren't going to play these "games" very fairly and Kamila was going to assist Lucas in this fight. I had an excellent power but I didn't know if it was good enough to defeat both of them.
After a few minutes of sparring back and forth, I discovered that Kamila was actually the weaker of the two. Thorkell had been right about her lack of fighting skills and being distracted while using magic.
I tried to take advantage of her distraction but as I leaped for her, Lucas shoved me out of the way. I fell backwards down the long staircase and landed with a loud thud at the bottom. The impact had been so hard, it knocked the wind out of me.
I was frozen on the ground in front of the stair case, gasping for air, when someone knelt beside me and shook my arm.
"Avery," I heard a male voice say. "Avery, you have to get up. They're coming this way. We can take them down together."
After a second of trying to clear my head and catch my breath, I realized it was Felix that was talking to me. When I started to move and tried to get up, he literally pulled me to my feet. I was still woozy and I almost fell back to the ground but Felix held me in place until the worst of the dizziness passed.
By this time, Kamila and Lucas were nearly on top of us. I only had seconds to try to relay my plan to Felix.
"The demon is the weaker one. We need to go after her when she starts to use her power. Once she's taken care of, Lucas shouldn't be too hard for the both of us to handle."
Felix nodded in response; that was all he had time for. Kamila and Lucas were in full attack mode and heading towards us. I didn't hesitate to start attacking back and soon the four of us were a blur of motion.
Lucas was so much faster than the Zhulik I had attacked the night before. My energy was also weakening faster, despite the help from the fairy elixir and the blood. Felix had immediately gone after Kamila, which distracted her from using her magic. Once Felix realized our plan wouldn’t work if Kamila was fighting, he knocked her down and turned his attention towards Lucas.
Kamila shrieked when we both tried to tackle Lucas to the ground and froze to concentrate on a trail of smoke to attack us. Felix and I almost missed our opportunity to kill her when Lucas tried to drag us to the ground with him. I punched Lucas in the side of the head with as much force as I could to try to keep him down while we went after Kamila. Once he hit the ground, Felix and I both lunged at the demon and we all went crashing into the ground.
Kamila struggled with more force than I knew she had. We almost lost our grip on her but she suddenly went very still. I thought we had killed her just by holding her down but the vacant look in her eyes wasn't that of death but of concentration. She was casting some sort of spell.
"Now," Felix yelled at me to snap me out of my thoughts.
I chastised myself for hesitating to consider why she had frozen, instead of taking advantage of the situation and killing her. I made sure I had a firm grip on my stake and quickly plunged it into her chest before she could complete her magic.
She screamed. It was so loud that Felix and I both had to cover our ears. I looked around the room and all of the fighting stopped for a brief moment. The scream was just long enough to distract everyone. Both sides tried to take advantage and in the next moment I witnessed over a dozen bodies, Lovac and Zhulik alike, fall to the ground.
I didn’t know if they were all dead but I was so stunned, I almost didn't feel the tingling of my power increase immensely. I spun around just in time to see Lucas jump back on his feet. He had been down on the ground for mere seconds but it felt like hours had just past.
Lucas didn't come after us immediately. Instead, he glared at the spot on the ground where Kamila had been. I glanced down and saw that she had disintegrated into a pile of ash and red smoke. I expected the smoke to disappear quickly but instead it grew before my eyes.
Felix and I both jumped back from the growing smoke and watched as it formed what looked like a door. I kept one eye on Lucas the whole time and saw a dark smile grow on his face. It looked like Kamila actually did have time to complete her magic and I knew that whatever was behind this door was not good.
"Felix, we have to kill Lucas now and get out of here. Something is coming out of that door that I don't think we'll be able to handle."
Felix looked at me and nodded. We turned to Lucas but he had stopped staring at the door and was now glaring at us. His teeth were bared and he was quietly growling. Killing Kamila had brought out the animal in him.
I was terrified of this monster. If I had thought I was afraid of him before, this was no comparison. I wanted to turn around right now and run out of this cavern and back home. I wanted to go back to Wyoming and live in my little house with my mom for the rest of my life.
Thinking of my mom was the only reason I didn't run way. There was no going back to my old life. I may have killed Kamila for her but I needed to kill Lucas for her, too. If it wasn't for him, she would still be alive. She wouldn't have had me but she would have been able to live a happier, fuller life.
I let my power take over completely then. My only influence was willing myself to drive my stake through his heart. I ran for Lucas and we slammed into each other. We were trying to take each other down to the ground but at this moment we were evenly matched.
I wondered why Felix wasn't helping me when I glanced over to see him gaping at the door of smoke. I tried to turn just enough to see the door but Lucas kept pulling my attention away from it.
Every punch he threw I was able to dodge and every attempt I made at trying to kick his feet out from underneath him failed. We were both in a fight to the death and neither one of us wanted to give up. I could feel us both weakening and I knew the end was coming soon for one of us.
Just when I thought I was going to be the one who ended up dead he glanced over my shoulder to look at the demon door. I took advantage of his distraction and slammed my foot into his right knee. I heard a loud snap and he roared in agony.
He fell backward onto the ground and glared up at me. I could see the pain in his features but I could also see his hatred for me in them. I took one step towards him to try to finish the job when he started to laugh. It was the kind of laugh that only insane people made.
"You may think you've won but the battle has only just begun," he said as he pointed to the door behind me.
Chapter 26
I hesitated to turn around, not wanting to take my eyes off of the Zhulik but I decided he wouldn't be able to move very fast with a broken knee. I slowly turned around and froze. My mouth slowly opened and my stunned expression matched Felix's.
The door had opened up and on the other side was a world full of red. The ground was an orange-red, the sky was darker red. There were no plants or water to be seen. There were pools of flames and lava all around. And heading in our direction was a group of hundreds of demons. In fact, they were only a few yards from walking through the door into our world.
They all had armor on and a weapon in hand. Their expressions were excited. They wanted a battle. The only thing that snapped me out of my stunned state was a tiny drop of sweat dripping into my eyes. I blinked the stinging away and that's when I jumped into action.
I ran up to Felix, shaking him a few times to pull him out of his shock. When he finally realized where he was we rushed over to the door to try to figure out how to close it.
"What are we supposed to do?" I asked, panic filling my voice.
"I have no idea. I rarely deal with demons and I don't unde
rstand how their magic works."
I looked around for something to throw at the door and found a sword from a fallen Zhulik a few feet away. I picked it up and started swinging at the smoke that formed the door. The image on the other side faltered slightly but wouldn't disappear.
The demons were nearly at the door now and my panic was rising. That's when I looked down at the pile of ashes where the smoke was coming out of. Some of the demons on the other side were smart and lunged through the portal seconds before I kicked the pile of ashes to break apart the spell.
The smoky door closed and we were left with five demons who had managed to get through. I took a second to look around the cavern to see if there were any Lovac available to help. It looked like a good majority of the Zhulik were dead and most of the Lovac were fighting in pairs now to take out the rest. I met eyes with a few of them and motioned for them to come help with our newest problem. The ones that could break away made their way towards us.
During my assessment of the cavern I noticed that all of the blood from the fallen Zhulik and Lovac was trailing down to the center of the cavern where it was slightly sunken in. The pool of blood from my nightmare was forming. I also noticed that the group of Dimidiums that had been kneeling there were gone now.
I panicked and looked around the cavern to make sure they weren't being kidnapped by some of the remaining Zhulik, when I saw the group of Lovac in charge of protecting them moving slowly toward the door of the cavern, with all of the Dimidiums trailing behind them.
Then the world froze. I hadn't meant to take such a long time gazing around the cavern before focusing on the demons but I had to make sure the Dimidiums were okay. I had paused to count them and that's when my eyes landed on a male Nesmyr around my age. He was muscular and tall, with wavy blonde hair tied into a ponytail behind his head. He was trying not to look frightened but there was panic in his crystal blue eyes. Despite his dirty appearance from being locked up, he was the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. I had thought Felix was handsome but at that moment, this Nesmyr made Felix look average.
Avenging Amethyst (Immortal Eyes) Page 17
