Demon Day

by Penelope Fletcher

  Amelia tipped her head back and screamed. She bunched her fore and hind paws together, short, sharp rumblings breaking from her throat. Nimah looked fierce beside her swaying from side to side her fingers curled into claws. The shifter twins took one glance at each other, back at the male cougar, and leapt forward toward their Alpha.

  Lex darted behind them – a white streak of death. Ro followed a moment later.

  The demons launched themselves on the outer line of Clerics, determined to fight and protect me.

  A Cleric drifted too close to the shadows and was yanked back into the darkness. He did not appear again.

  I was appalled by it – them - all of them protecting me. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around?

  Even as I fretted for the safety of those who fought for me, it was the fairy darting between the Clerics on Sanctuary roof that captured my total and immediate attention.

  Men draped in red cloaks were flung screaming from the rooftop by a blur of black and silver to land hard on the concrete with a sickening crunch, twitching before they were still.

  He leaped down and landed protectively in front of the others.

  Breandan.

  I opened my mouth to call to him but magic thickened the air and was practically shoved down my throat. It was disgusting, vile, and I retched. I wasn’t the only one affected. Ana’s hand covered her mouth and clutched her stomach.

  Unable to take hold of me the magic swirled away.

  The Disciples freaked, batting their clothes and clawing at their faces. In eerie synchronicity they fell silent and still. At some hidden signal as one they stepped forward, small knives, and batons unhooked from their belts. Their faces were vacant, like the personalities that animated them weren’t there anymore.

  “Gods help us,” I breathed.

  “The spell,” Ana supplied helpfully. “At least we know what all that black magic was about now.”

  I darted looks from the Disciples, to the Clerics, over the demons, then back to Ana. I set my jaw. Truthfully, from the moment I saw the Disciples standing on the outskirts of the courtyard I’d decided what I was doing to do. I rocked back on my heels.

  “Oh, thank the gods. You’re going to stay out of harm’s way.” Ana sounded beyond relived. “Would you like to try meditating with me to prepare for Breandan’s touch? In some futures that helps–” Her eyes became unfocused. “Aw, Rae. Really?”

  Grabbing her hand, I dragged her with me back a few paces so we were against the wall to stop anything coming up behind us.

  Crouching down I took my worry out on my lip. I wasn’t going to dive into the fight and make a nuisance of myself, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t help another way. “I’m going to save them, Ana. I know I am.”

  She pointed at the Disciple nearest to us who tried slashing at Nimah with a stubby blade. “Rae, face facts. They’re here to kill us,” she argued.

  The shifter-girl took him down with one heavy backhand and moved on.

  I scrunched up my nose and shook my head. “Black magic aside, I think they’re in over their heads. They don’t understand what is really happening. I just need to show them we’re not the enemy they’ve been told we are.”

  Nimah ran back up to us then in two swift moves yanked off her tunic and pushed down her trousers.

  I flushed and focused on her face.

  Buck naked and quivering she motioned to me forcefully. “I knew your sappy ‘don’t hurt any Disciples’ plan was stupid,” she hissed. “Look at Meila’s coat. She’s been sliced a dozen times trying to maim instead of kill.”

  I winced as said cougar grabbed one half of a Cleric as her Alpha grabbed the other and they both yanked. Blood spurted like a fountain.

  “Please refrain from taking limbs,” I added.

  She glared at me.

  “Why have you taken your clothes off?” Ana asked curiously with pink cheeks.

  Nimah slid her a sly look. “Melia’s going to Change back to human to spare her energy. She’s too injured to carry on much longer. She’ll need clothes, and I’m going to shift and take her place.” Her voice took a smoother tone. “Ana, will your magic be enough to get the young humans to back down?”

  The white-witch smiled at her and felt the air with her palms. “The magic here is strong – a powerful dark. We’ll be lucky if they survive this, being pulled in two directions at once would be strenuous even for a fairy mind.” She looked at me expectantly. “Is there any chance the bond has eased a bit?”

  I closed my eyes and bit my lips. “No,” I breathed and touched a hand to my lips thinking of his.

  “Well aren’t you a whole bowl of crazy,” Nimah muttered.

  I glowered at her, but my attention came back to what Ana said. “This spell. Something isn’t right about it. Only the Disciples have been affected, but it hasn’t ensnared me, Lex, or Ro, and we’re Disciples too.”

  “You’re not human, sworn to none but yourself, and those old ties have broken. And your friend reeks of weeds and black magics meaning he can only be a Vo–”

  Her gaze slipped out of focus. Flinching, she stared at the ground by my feet in horror. She came back to herself. Ana rammed herself into me and sent us tumbling down. Nimah was already on all fours. I landed hard on my back, crushing a wingtip beneath me and feeling my tail become trapped under my shoulder blade, and I yelped.

  Three wicked sharp daggers sliced the air overhead.

  Wide eyed I stared up at the night sky. Then cricked my head to see down the length of my body. I spotted the Cleric who’d almost stabbed me, and tried not to feel satisfaction as Amelia’s maw clamped around his neck and ripped into his jugular as her front paws dug into his chest.

  I turned to Ana who trembled. “So close,” she whispered.

  Death no longer scared me. I had prayed for it, and so now I viewed it as a friend I had yet to meet. My voice was calm as I said, “You were saying?”

  She shot me a hard look and breathed out slowly. “The spell is targeting Disciples loyal to the Sect.”

  I stood and scanned over the carnage before me.

  Nimah dragged Ana up by the arm then looked over to where Amelia was limping away from the fight with her Alpha hovering by her protectively, taking down anyone who got too close.

  “I have to go,” Nimah threw over her shoulder running off toward them.

  Ana and I measured each other silently.

  “It’s a spell, you’re a witch. Break it,” I said.

  “I don’t think I have the kind of power,” Ana countered.

  Scowling, I spotted Zoe from the corner of my eye, purple hair and blue eyes wild, clambering her way across the bodies of Clerics to get me. “Using my magic right now would be dangerous and you know it, Ana, so no.”

  “You are the fairy Priestess, Rae. No one is your match for raw power. You just have to focus.” She paused, wavered at the dark expression on my face. Her eyes flicked to Zoe and impatience twisted her lips.

  “Well, I’m about to be busy so can you please do it?”

  “I’ll need time to focus my energies. This will take everything I have,” she grumped with the air of a martyr.

  I nodded sharply, not once taking my eyes of Zoe. It was amazing. My eyes were on her, my ears were on Ana, but my other sense had stretched out across Sanctuary courtyard.

  I could feel everyone I cared about. There was the stubborn spark of Maeve, wounded, but whole, and a bubbly fizz of gold that was Alec close beside her. A blank spot indicated Lex, and a pleasant buzz tinged with darkness close by that was Ro. I could even feel the shifter twins, identical bright spots of determination, and Byron, the sheen of orange surrounding and protecting them. A brilliant white light blazed a trail in the centre indicating none other than my brother, Conall. Runt was a smear of warm brown darting here and there. My attention lingered on the heavy cloud of pulsing darkness that was Tomas, but I pushed it away. Dearer than the dark was the blush of silver, a shimmer that weaved through the ma
sses, and encircled all. I could sense others; the hazy, clouded and confused consciousnesses of Clerics and Disciples, but none as dear as the demons that fought them. My extra sense gave me the peace of mind to focus all my energies on the one in front of me.

  Ana knelt down and turned her face to the sky. She raised her palms upward and chanted something.

  Pulling a rusted dagger from the waistband of her jeans, Zoe smiled cruelly making her face somewhat animated, but the smile did not meet her eyes. They had a glazed look. She felt wrong. I bared my teeth at her in warning, hissed when she stepped closer.

  Ana’s voice got louder, “Purge the dark and hold to the light!”

  Zoe twitched.

  All the Disciples twitched, and their eyes wobbled as if someone had conked them on the back of their heads. The brief interlude passed and they fought on.

  Shaking it off Zoe started after me again.

  “Ana?” I barked over my shoulder.

  “Not strong enough,” she panted. “I’ll try again.”

  Zoe lunged for me, wild and uncoordinated. It was too easy. I smashed my fist into her face and she dropped like a stone. Shuddering as I did, I dragged her limp body over to where Ana knelt.

  “Keep an eye on her,” I ordered and spun round at the sound of boot falls coming closer on the concrete.

  Before I could step away Ana grabbed my ankle. “It’s not a spell,” she breathed. She let go of me and thumbed back Zoe’s eyelid. Her pupils were contracted to pin pricks. “Look at her eyes. It’s a hex. He’s hexed the entire Temple. I think I can break it.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “He?” I asked sharply.

  She shot me a cool look. “Give me time, Rae.”

  Holding Zoe’s arms down with her knees, she leaned up and slid a knife from inside her boot. She pulled herbs, bones, and runes from a pouch about her waist and set them on the ground beside her. Lifting Zoe’s hand, she pricked her with a blade and squeezed some of her blood out.

  A Cleric ran at us and I skipped to block him from where Ana dealt with Zoe.

  The Cleric swiped his baton at my head and I dropped and rolled. The entire length of the steel sparked and crackled with electricity.

  One brush of that on my skin and it was over for me.

  He lunged again and missed. I spun, kicked his leg out from beneath him, and as his weight shifted abruptly I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down so he smacked his head on the cold ground.

  Another three spotted us and broke away from the main fight.

  “For god’s sake, Ana,” I screeched. “Hurry up.”

  The girl saw our attackers and started flinging rather than placing the herbs together. “I call on the powers of light and creation….” Ana’s voice rang strong across the sounds of death and violence.

  I pushed off the ground with my leading foot to propel me into the air. My hind leg rotated round to the front and lashed forward. My heel impacted the wall of a chest and I used it as a platform to push, twirl and throw my body like a battering ram into my other attacker. We landed hard, him on his back. Hands of steel yanked me upright and constricted around my chest. My wings were squished awkwardly onto my back and I yelped. A fist slammed into the side of my head and I swear I saw stars. A streak of white flashed past and I heard a crack. I was free. I turned but the Cleric was already dropping like a stone as I staggered rubbing my head, the world going wonky. I turned to thank Lex but she was already gone. A blade that was on target to impale my chest missed by inches, and a slash drew blood from my shoulder to inner elbow. I sucked in a gasp of air through my teeth at the sting. Bringing my knee up to connect with the soft flesh between his legs, the Cleric crumpled in agony.

  Again, I went to thank Lex, but the words died on my lips. She was dominating two Clerics. Gripping a bloody clump of hair ripped from the root in one hand, her other arm was elegantly positioned across her chest for balance – perfectly composed and preening like a deadly bird. Her lifted leg hypo extended and cracked back to front, smashing one oncoming Cleric with enough force to make his feet leave the floor. It caught another on the return journey. She jumped and landed with him, her on top. Dazed he tried to stand but her weight kept him down. I watched with horror as she prowled over him, legs, and arms moving like a spider, snuffling his chest before she reared back and darted forward to snap his neck. Then she buried her teeth into his cheek and tore into his flesh.

  I retched and fell to my knees. “I didn’t see,” I whispered. “I didn’t see it.”

  Breathing in deeply, I gagged mid inhale and dry heaved until I had to press my eyes closed.

  “…. And find me the darkness that binds these people.” Ana’s voice was calm, steady as she worked her incantation. “Show it to me and dispel it from this place. By my power, by my right….”

  Slightly off to the side the fight was shifting. The Clerics were losing.

  I sought out Breandan. When I found him I gasped aloud and trembled. The speed, the strength was incredible. He danced his forms with a face of death. Four already lay broken at his feet. He stepped aside and thrust the heel of his palm up, smashing a nose. Spurts of blood accompanied the sound of bone breaking. The Cleric fell, dead before he hit the floor. With no time between, he closed the gap between him and another. He could have been embracing a lover as his arms wrapped around his enemy. His hands found purchase and a quick twist shifted the Cleric off centre and he flung the man through a wall across the courtyard. The last Cleric standing nearby feinted for a few moments and Breandan drew himself up to his full height. Power hummed from his being and the air crackled. Face dark and withdrawn he was the scariest thing I’d ever seen. The Cleric fled. A flicker of annoyance crossed Breandan’s face and the Cleric was plucked up by an unseen force and slammed head first into a building before being dumped unceremoniously on the floor.

  Just as I had looked for him he looked for me. His eyes followed the stream of blood down my side, dripping off my fingertips and his languid body stiffened. His eyes snapped to my face.

  I reached out to him but an unexpected tug pulled me in the other direction. My eyes skipped over the courtyard and there in the centre was Cleric Tu. He stood on the platform by the cage and shouted for the Disciples to keep pushing forward. Had he not realized they were out of control? Was he that blinded by hate he could not see the true evil afoot?

  Around his neck hung the key – my amulets.

  Following the hum of power I ignored those who rolled around me, crashed down in front of me. Ignoring Breandan’s yell I leapt up onto the barricade, jumped past all the hands reaching for me to land in front of him, snarling.

  I ripped the key from around his neck. “This belongs to me.”

  I was positively ready to tear him apart. I was not bloodthirsty, it was not in my nature, but some people had it coming.

  I jumped on him.

  He rolled with me and kicked me off. I took the blow to my stomach and slammed against a wall. It stung, but I barely registered how odd that was, for a wall to sting. I was focused, my eyes never leaving the Cleric.

  Twisting so I was on my stomach, I surged up onto my feet and fisted my hands. I hissed at him, watching as he stood slowly, smiling. I narrowed my eyes. Not the reaction I was expecting. I retied the amulets around my neck, happy at how they sighed and readjusted their ripples of power to cover me. Yet, the ripples felt unstable, and they faltered, leaving me wide open. I had no time to dwell on this worrisome oddity for Cleric Tu kept his steady walk. I shifted from side to side, ready for him. When I had been stuck in the forsaken white room, I had dreamed of this moment, a time when I would be free to beat him into submission. No. I did not want to kill him; I was beyond that, superior to such crude thinking. I wanted him to kneel and look up at me with terror and reverence. For him to see that I was his better and to hear him acknowledge he was wrong about my kind. He took a final step then stopped.

  Smirking, he pressed his hand to a pane of glass and stepped into t
he cage as the door slid down and locked us in.

  I straightened fully, my heart crashing in my chest. I was in a box. A small box cut off from everything and everyone.

  No, no, no!

  I needed to get out. I wanted out.

  I spun and launched myself at the wall I had been thrown into. I beat at it, ignoring the blood that smeared the glass as I did. The edges of my palms bled and sizzled.

  Wordless with rage, my scream was a wail. I pummeled the glass. I needed to get out, free of this place. It was a box and I needed to be free. The air was sucked away. My throat was tight and sweat popped out on my brow to trickle down my neck. Chest heaving I sank to my knees and scrambled to scratch out a hole at the bottom. The solid wood crumbled under my talons, but the deeper I dug the more glass I saw.

  Panicked I kept up this frantic burrowing until Breandan slammed into the other side of the cage. He splayed his hand on the glass and spoke. I could not hear him; it was quiet apart from the deep breaths of the monster behind me.

  Calm.

  The feeling was an instruction. Hell no. Hell. No. I would not – could not – be calm in here. Tears streamed down my face, blurring everything as I blubbered.

  He punched the glass, catching me off guard. He tilted his head, his expression fierce and resolute. He speared me with his eyes, lifted his chin. I knew what he was saying; crying would not help. Writhing on the floor keening and begging to be set free would not help. I needed to pick myself up and fight.

  Hiccupping, I sucked it up. My bottom lip trembled but I controlled the fear, repressed it until it was a bubble of pain low in my chest. I could become a hysterical mess after, when I was safe and out of sight.

  Breandan’s eyes darted over my shoulder and his face went white.

  I stiffened and turned slowly.

  Cleric Tu stood legs apart and face twisted in disgust. His crimson blazer was spattered in blood and singed at the edges. One of the black tails was missing and an entire sleeve had been ripped off, revealing a slashed arm.