“We have to enact The Power,” Dobrov yelled. “We have to do it now.”
We had one chance.
Lough stepped forward to hold off the demons until Dobrov and Ulrik could reach us. I grabbed Vanni and dragged her to the rock with me.
I concentrated on my ring, trying to create a shield of earth and water. Fire was out; the demons loved fire too well and would just ram through it. But earth and water dampened fire and would buy us a few extra seconds.
“Quick, enact The Power,” Lough cried, pushing back at the demons with nothing more than air and a dream. He was stepping backward, not looking where he was going as he fought to get his back against the rock.
The demons fanned out so that they were coming at us not just from one direction, but from four, three sides and above.
From somewhere nearby I heard a howling and saw hundreds of pairs of eyes burning in the darkness. Hellhounds had joined their Knight brethren to attack us.
But Dobrov and Ulrik had almost made it to my side. A few more steps and I would be able to reach out and touch them, and we could enact The Power.
Before I could grab hold of my teammates, though, Dobrov stumbled. Ulrik was forced to slow down and catch him under the elbow, steadying the Cruor and hauling him forward. Even that tiny pause was too much of an opening for the demons. With a wrenching scream the creatures of Knight pounced.
Lough saw the danger immediately. He grabbed Dobrov, who was closer to him, and hauled him up against me. Now that I held Vanni in my left hand and Dobrov in my right all we needed was the pixie.
Lough’s shield, and mine, were holding. The demons in the air and from each side were just out of reach of Ulrik. A few more steps and he would clasp Lough’s hand.
But it was not to be. With just the two of us we couldn’t defend against all the demons and hellhounds, and in order to fight off the demons we had forgone defending against the hellhounds. Dobrov, who was just regaining his wits after his mad dash, had started to try, but it wasn’t enough.
One demon, massive, black, and powerful, raced forward and leaped into the air, aiming for Ulrik. The pixie didn’t see the danger. So intent was he on reaching the safety of the rock, he didn’t notice the great black beast coming until the hellhound had slammed into his much smaller frame.
With a desperate last cry of despair I watched the pixie Starter severed in two, until he wasn’t able to cry any longer. One large snap of the hellhound’s jaw was enough to decapitate him.
Pixie blood is green. I had never looked at it before, and in the woods Ulrik’s oozing neck looked black, like someone had taken a pen and colored the top of his shoulders haphazardly. But it was no pen, it was Ulrik’s blood, dripping away into the ground.
His eyes were massive and unseeing as his head flew off, smacking with a dull splat into one of the nearby trees and then hitting the ground and rolling. By the time it stopped, the lower part of his head was covered in leaves and pine needles.
His body, without brain or blood to support him, crumbled quickly. In a heap on the ground he looked like a pile of clothes left on the floor, his body now so small it was barely visible. The next hellhound dug his front paws into what remained of Ulrik and used the pixie’s soft flesh to propel himself forward, launching right in the direction of Vanni’s and my clasped hands.
The fallen angel was terrified. At first she had screamed when Ulrik died, now she just shook so violently that her back was slamming into the rock face.
We didn’t have time to cry. The demons were on us. I pushed Vanni next to Dobrov, because if she stayed on the outside she was going to get killed.
“I hope you got as good with that suffocation trick as Dacer said you did,” Lough yelled. I hadn’t realized the two of them had talked about it, but now was not the time to ask. Ring first, I ordered the air around the nearest demon to kill. Some demons’ eyes were red while others had black eyes and gaping mouths, so it was hard to tell exactly where this particular demon’s head was.
“I don’t know if this will work,” I yelled back, as Lough created another tightly woven dream. If he could put enough power between him and the oncoming Knights of Darkness he wouldn’t have to fight them, which was good, because dream givers were pretty useless in as one on one fighters.
The nearest demon to me dropped dead, disappearing in a poof of black smoke.
“One down,” I cried gleefully.
“Only about eight hundred to go,” Dobrov cried.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the vampire shoot forward, sinking razor sharp teeth into the Demon of Burning in front of him. Like at the Demonstration, he had suddenly grown bigger and stronger. If Dobrov had been all vampire that might have killed him, but with more darkness power than the average vampire his body was protected against the poison of the demon touch. Instead, he ripped out what passed for the demon’s throat before he shot back to his place between Vanni and Lough. He shot out a second time, and then a third. Each time he destroyed a demon.
“Now we can’t use the Power of Five,” Dobrov panted between a couple of his killing leaps. His red ring was blazing and I watched his features transform. Since he was only half vampire he looked strange when using his powers. His skin got whiter and his chin jutted out further. His eyes matched the color of his skin.
The problem with killing one demon was that when one fell, two more replaced it. I suffocated one, two, three, I lost count, but the supply was never-ending.
“What do we do without the Power of Five?” Lough called.
I couldn’t afford to look at him, so busy was I with trying to snuff demons, but I could tell his voice was getting tired.
My mind raced. We needed to protect ourselves or destroy more demons at once.
Deciding quickly, I called to all the air around us. I couldn’t suffocate demons en masse, because it would have required too much concentration to guide the air, but the basic principle that the demons hated air still stood. I called it toward me, planning to use it like a hammer and slam the demons back.
With a great woosh the air came in answer to my call. Unlike every other time I had ever used my power, I didn’t feel depleted, I felt stronger than ever. The deep resources of power that were such a part of me coursed out to mix with the wind and rush forward. Parts of me felt the air hit the demons and push them back. Once, twice, again and again I hammered at them, creating a space between us and the attackers. One hellhound got through, his jaws grazing my arm as Dobrov lunged to destroy it. I barely felt the nick to my skin, and Vanni, who had somewhat come to her senses, quickly stepped forward to heal the wound.
We were winning.
Not for long.
Air wasn’t turning out to be a great defense against demons, even hard air in the form of a hammer. Demons weren’t bright, but they were powerful and they didn’t care if they died.
The next hellhound that came at me hit me. Not quick enough to defend myself, I lost control of my power and fell with a muffled cry, the hellhound on top of me. The hellhound sharp teeth sank into my shoulder and I screamed and screamed. I felt the holes tear and the pain well, burning out everything else from my mind.
This is it, I thought faintly. After all that, I have failed. I would never again see Dacer or Keller, Sip and Lisabelle. I pushed at the hellhound’s giant body, but he only took a firmer hold. In a few seconds I would black out.
Then something surprising happened. The hellhound released my shoulder and let out a great howl, crumbling on top of me as if shot by an arrow. At first I didn’t move, but very quickly I couldn’t stand the heavy body or the stench on me, so I started to push him off. The hound was too big for me to move, so I just ended up sliding out from under him.
Everything around us had stopped. Standing in front of us, with her back to us, was Professor Lambros. The small pixie’s green ring was blazing power around us, casting a much stronger light than Vanni’s feeble healing had. The cast of light was so bright that the demons were shrink
ing away.
She was protecting us, having killed the hellhound that was mauling me. I took a great gulp of air. My lungs hurt from screaming, but it felt good to breathe again. Breaking away from her defense, Professor Lambros ran over to us. Now we stood side by side.
“We can enact the Power of Five now,” she panted, and the realization hit me that Professor Lambros was a pixie, exactly what we needed to complete the circle. I didn’t hesitate. I reached out and grabbed Vanni’s and Lambros’s hands, and Lough and Dobrov joined in. Instantly our rings sparked and shone, holding more light than all five of us could have summoned separately. I heard my essence, that quality that made me distinctively elemental, sing at the realization that our most ancient defense was coming to life, burning away any hope the demons had of killing us—or me.
“Hold on,” Professor Lambros yelled. The air had started to fill with a high-pitched whirl, unlike anything I had ever heard before. Not knowing if it was the demons or our combined powers, I concentrated on feeding my magic into our midst. Blue, red, silver, white, and green combined and solidified, creating the most beautiful of rainbows. Even as our magics combined they darted away again. Much like Dobrov leaping to kill the demons, our magic pushed out at our attackers.
The demons scattered.
I staggered back, spent. Releasing my professor’s and Vanni’s hands I fell to my knees, weak with exhaustion.
Lough was looking around wide-eyed.
“Damn,” he said. “We did it. And WHAT are you doing here?” he demanded of Professor Lambros.
She glared at him. “Do not question a professor. You don’t think we would really just let you all go out in the woods alone, do you?” she barked. “We have to keep you safe.”
“You did a great job with that,” said Dobrov dryly, pointing at Ulrik’s mangled form.
Professor Lambros flinched, but her eyes were steely as she said to Dobrov. “Don’t talk to me like that. We all take risks. We are paranormals. It couldn’t be helped. Get your stuff. You’ve been through enough. We are going home.”
“But the night is only half over,” said Lough. “The demons are retreating.”
“You want to risk your life for another few hours?” Professor Lambros demanded. “We might not be so lucky a second time.”
Grumbling, Lough started to pick up our gear from around the rock. Vanni, standing next to me, looked at my wound. “Let me help you with that,” she said, her voice so soft I had to lean in to hear.
“I’m fine,” I said. “It’s just a flesh wound.”
Vanni grinned crookedly. Somehow, all of a sudden she looked older, more mature. Not surprisingly, since she had just stared at death and it had a demon’s face.
“Exactly,” she said. “I can handle those.”
If I hadn’t been so tired I would have laughed at her feeble joke. As it was I let her tend to my wounds while I studied Dobrov. He was small and staring at the ground again. All semester I had known he was smart, if not capable like his sister, but now I looked at him with a newfound respect. He had saved us again and again tonight and he didn’t even look tired.
In the aftermath of battle, I started to wonder if Dobrov was Public’s Shadow.
Quietly, we all gathered our gear. Once Vanni was done I grabbed my stuff, and tried not to look at Ulrik.
Professor Lambros was already at the edge of the clearing, holding her ring in front of her for protection. I watched in slow motion as she bent down to pick her bag up off the ground, and out of the shadowy trees sprang a black figure, a Demon of Knight by its size. Professor Lambros wasn’t paying attention. Maybe even if she had been she wouldn’t have lived, since Demons of Knight were big and rare and incredibly deadly. The demon pulled a black spear back over its shoulder, and in one perfectly fluid motion he plunged it into Professor Lambros’ chest. She didn’t have time to scream, there was just a slight look of surprise on her green face. Because the demon held onto the spear, she didn’t crumble to the ground. Instead, she stayed upright as the demon came within inches of her face.
But the demon, if it could see, wasn’t looking at her. Its head was turned in our direction as the four of us stood there, too shocked to move.
With a guttural cry the demon launched into the air, quickly blending in with the night so that it looked like the small pixie was suspended in the air. Then both the demon and the body disappeared into the night.
Chapter Thirty-Two
As I watched the demon disappear, something strange happened. Among the trees I saw a shadow moving quickly away. I knew the other demons were gone. The Power of Five had scared them away, so whatever was still in the woods was either an animal or a paranormal, and I was willing to bet I knew which it was.
Without hesitating I raced forward. Lough cried out after me, but I ignored him. I knew my teammates, the ones still living, would worry, but I couldn’t help it. I had to chase the Shadow. I wasn’t going to let him escape again.
But running through the woods was slow going. Branches and trees loomed before me and I was forced to slow down and dodge around the great hulks of downed trees. The condition of my body didn’t help, either. I was exhausted, and each step took more effort than the last.
Up ahead, the Shadow didn’t look like he was faring much better. His stumbling movements made me wonder if he was injured.
“STOP,” I cried. “You can’t get away now!”
I put my last bit of energy into my legs for a burst of speed.
I was gaining on him and he was slowly and visibly losing the energy to keep going. With a prickle of fear I realized I might catch him . . . and I had spent all my power.
At least now I knew the Shadow wasn’t Dobrov, despite the leathery appearance of skin I had seen that time in Astra.
“STOP,” I cried again. Up ahead I could see a clearing. I thought that if I could get just a little closer before the Shadow ran through it, I would be able see his face. Redoubling my efforts I pushed ahead, ignoring reaching branches and the scratches to my arms and cheeks. Keller could heal them later, and my heart soared at the thought. The demons had retreated and Keller was still waiting . . . pity I had decided to chase after the Shadow. I just had to hope that if something happened to me my friends—and my boyfriend—would understand.
There was the clearing. And the moonlight. And dressed all in black was a familiar face.
Jenkins.
I skidded to a halt, unwilling to challenge the professor. Even as I caught a glimpse of his face I realized I was in trouble.
“Jenkins,” I breathed. Yes, he’d been a suspect, vaguely, and until then none of the paranormals I had ever suspected of crimes had ended up being the ones who committed them, but I was still surprised. He was Risper’s oldest friend, after all, and Risper was likely to be in a lot of trouble for letting him onto campus to terrorize us.
“Uh oh,” I muttered. Jenkins had given up running away from me and was now hobbling toward me. He looked ill. Not in the same way that the Valedication children did, more like he was melting from the inside out.
He lifted a hand, but instead of the beautiful man I had known, I saw an ugly and disfigured creature. Only the face remained.
“You dare to chase after me?” he yelled. “You want to attack a professor? Fine. Come on. Let’s see what you’ve got, little elemental, but I warn you, at the end of this you will be dead and my secret will be safe.”
Having reached the edge of the clearing, I decided that attack was the best defense. Even with his hobble I knew I couldn’t outrun him; I was too tired. So I walked forward toward the demented professor of A History of Death.
“It’s too bad,” I said, putting on my best Lisabelle airs. “You were a good professor.”
Jenkins threw back his head and and laughed. It sounded more like a gurgle.
“Thanks, little elemental,” he said, his face sagging strangely, as if there was some sort of gel between his skin and his bones and it was flowing away. “I always wa
nted to be a professor. I got through a lot of the training for it. Before the accident. After that everything changed.”
His eyes had a far off look to them, like he was remembering a better time.
“What accident?” I asked, carefully keeping my distance as he started to circle me. There was no mention of an accident when he introduced himself. He was holding what looked like a large club, but his arms were now so thin I wasn’t sure he could lift it. He was a husk of the man who had strutted around all semester, all grace and strength and confidence.
Jenkins gave a hoarse laugh. “Do you not see what is happening to me? Do you not understand what it means?”
He could see in my face that I didn’t. “Ah, well, I will explain it to you before I kill you. Oh, yes, you must die. No one can know that I am looking for the Mirror Arcane. It’s a sad truth that medicine is expensive. I ran out of money and was forced to use . . . more creative methods to make a living. For years I have acted as a mercenary to the highest bidder.”
“You mean killing innocent paranormals?” I asked coldly.
Jenkins looked genuinely offended. He halted about five feet from me, club still in hand. I stopped as well, trying to bide my time.
“No,” he said. “I have never killed anyone. I merely steal.”
“Steal what?” I asked, my eyes frantically searching the clearing for anything I could use as a weapon.
“Whatever I can sell to the demons,” Jenkins said quietly. “You might as well stop looking around. I know I appear tired, but I assure you, I have enough energy to accomplish year death.”
“That’s good to know,” I said sarcastically. “You sell stuff to the demons in exchange for money?”
“Yes,” said Jenkins. “My medicine is expensive, very expensive. It keeps me moderately healthy and normal looking. There are not many jobs I could have that would help me earn enough to pay my expenses, or individuals wealthy enough to pay me, but the demons’ pockets are limitless. You do not even remotely comprehend how powerful they are. These silly paranormals think they know, but it is just the tip of a very large and very dangerous iceberg.
Elemental Shining (Paranormal Public Series) Page 25
