by L. L. McNeil
That was good enough for Seila. She could get a rough bearing from that. South of London. Near the sea. On an industrial estate. Large shipping containers, empty forklifts, and enormous hangars rose on either side of her. She could smell salt and quarry stone, the dust heavy in the air. So close to the end of the day, Seila would have expected there to be workers and vehicles. But the place was as quiet as a cemetery. There were no workers bustling with activity, no people at all, as far as she could tell.
She could hardly believe how far, and how quickly, Tress had travelled.
She took to the air to get a better look. Seila enjoyed the feeling of being able to stretch her wings after having been cooped up in the car for so long. Tej’s car was far louder than Mathilda, and it had much less room for passengers. After a couple of hours in it, her head rang with the car’s engine, and the fresh air was most welcome—even if it was a freezing cold sea breeze.
She checked their surroundings, listening all the while for the demonic voices. They were still there, laughing and growling at one another as they were prone to do when there were so many in close quarters, but they weren’t too near. The shipping containers had been laid out almost as a maze. Paths led up and around to dead ends, and also circled back. The sea lay beyond, black and flat, like glass. But she doubted the demons would be over the water. They weren’t the best swimmers, and didn’t do well in colder climates.
There was a large warehouse at the far end of the industrial estate, a good half a mile or so away. The voices were loudest by far in that direction. They’d have to navigate through all the shipping containers and construction vehicles to get there, and all the way back to the car, afterwards.
She peered down, trying to judge the width of the space between the containers, and whether or not Tej could bring his car down. In the end, she decided it would be better to leave the car where it was, the better for a swift escape. She would need to work as hard as she could to keep the demons off their tail if they were chased.
She had no reason to believe they wouldn’t be chased, but it was better to plan for that eventuality than assume they wouldn’t and end up trapped.
From the warehouse in the distance, she saw a few shadows slinking into the industrial estate, keeping to the main path through all the shipping containers. They weren’t running, and only seemed to be on a general patrol. Seila had no doubt they had probably heard Tej’s car, but in the low light and from this distance, she couldn’t tell which demons they were.
Seila dropped to the ground, her feathers fanning out to slow her descent at the last minute. ‘Nothing but shipping containers and mobile buildings as far as you can see. Big warehouse at the end.’
Ashante nodded. ‘And at the end? That’s where I feel the demons’ power growing.’
‘Lights are on in the warehouse, and I hear them there, too. That’ll be where they are.’
‘And Lady Tress,’ Ashante sighed. ‘I can’t believe she ran off like that.’
‘She’s royalty,’ Damon said. ‘She’s probably used to doing whatever she wants whenever she wants. She don’t seem the type to need to ask for permission.’
‘No, I don’t suppose she is the type.’ Ashante tucked a curl of hair behind her ear. ‘Seila, you’ve seen where we’re going. Lead the way.’
‘Grab your crossbow, Tej,’ Seila said, taking to the air again. ‘There are a lot of them. But I don’t want to engage until we’ve seen Tress, seen the layout of the warehouse. Might be one entrance, might be two, might be four. And I’ve no idea about numbers.’
‘Hundreds,’ Ashante answered quickly.
‘I saw a few trickling towards us. They might have heard the car and be coming to investigate. Keep off the main path so you don’t walk right into them.’
‘Good plan,’ Damon said.
‘Keep me in sight. Stay to the left as much as you can.’ Seila flapped her wings to power her ascent. ‘If I can deal with them before they reach you, I will. Otherwise prepare to fight.’
She headed off, glancing over her shoulder every few minutes to make sure she didn’t lose them. So long as she could see them, they’d be able to see her. They moved quickly, not quite a run, trying to stay undetected.
Seila led them down a dead end as a Prowler lumbered close. No point in engaging something like that. It would take too much time and energy, and attract far too much attention. She landed atop a shipping container, one hand held out to the others, her other finger to her lips, motioning for silence. She kept still, her breath held, as the Shadow Striker made its way past them without so much as a sniff in their direction.
Seila waited until she was more than certain it had continued off, before taking to the air again and leading the others forward, and along the route the Prowler had taken. She had the awful feeling that those demons would be a permanent thorn in her side.
As they rounded a corner, Seila knew they’d be able to see the warehouse straight ahead. Night had truly fallen, now, plunging them all into inky darkness. Seila summoned her sword, ready. Then movement caught her eye.
‘Blood.’
‘Dragora,’ Seila hissed, giving them as much warning as she could. The damned Blood Thieves careened down from the darkness of the night sky, their wings beating furiously in their haste to attack.
Tej had fired his first crossbow bolt before Seila had even picked a target. His aim was true, and the demon collapsed to the floor in a puddle of blood and smoke. It still left more—all moving too quickly for Seila to properly count. There had to be at least eight or nine of them.
Brandishing her sword, she shot forward, splitting the group of flying demons and sending them scattering in all directions. Another bolt fired, whistled past her ear, but missed its target. Seila twisted around with her sword and brought it to the demon’s body. The tip of her sword caught one of its wings, sending it tumbling away, but not quite knocking it from the sky.
She cursed.
She was clearly out of practice with these.
She left the Dragora and spun around to go for another target that was closer. Bringing her sword up, she cut an arc through the swarm. The speed of the strike caught two of them, their blood pouring out and filling Seila’s nose with the stink of bonfires. A pulse of power rippled through her as her Sieken Blade absorbed their strength. Her vision sharpened, and she saw one of the Blood Thieves dart to her left.
Narrowing her eyes, Seila followed its movement and chased it through the air. It zig-zagged like a hare evading a fox, but she was superior in flight, and much faster. She brought her sword down and cut cleanly through the demon. Smoke burst from the gaping wound as is split in two, it’s dark, sticky, blood covering her sword. Immediately, her Sieken Blade absorbed it. Goosebumps rose along her arms as the power rushed through her, over her, into her.
By the time she span around to face the others, Tej and Damon had already halved their numbers. Damon’s fireballs were far more accurate than even they had been against Gorath’s army, which Seila found rather impressive considering the short amount of time that had passed.
But none of them were in imminent danger, so she focused on bringing down as many of the Dragora as she could reach. She swooped and twirled, chopped, cut, and stabbed. Three more of the Blood Thieves fell to her sword, their power rushing into her. Seila knew she glowed then, her eyes burned with power, her vision sharpened to the point it felt as if the world was in slow motion. It was only a side effect of not hunting for a few days, she knew. But she still enjoyed it.
The final two Dragora charged at her, dodging her blade and slashing at her with their own claws.
Nothing like a Prowler or Marauder, Seila shrugged off their attacks and ignored the blood trickling down her chest. One Dragora span away, avoiding her counter strike, but the second darted in close. It plunged its claws into her throat, wrapped its wings around her neck, and locked on. The tiny demon lowered its head to where blood trailed along her skin, and began to feed.
; ‘Get off!’ She shook in the air, but the demon’s claws held fast to her skin. Seila grabbed it with her free hand, tried to yank it off her, but still, the demon dug in deeper. More blood trickled from its claws, and it was already drinking from her original wound.
‘Seila!’ Damon called up to her.
It didn’t matter. She knew the Dragora had caught her and was now living up to its name.
‘Hold still, I’ll blast it!’ Damon yelled again.
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ She called back. She was damned if she was going to let him throw another fireball at her.
The demon was too high for her to plunge the sword into—her arms simply weren’t long enough. But she could draw the blade along its body. Gripping the hilt, she sliced along the Dragora’s back. The sword drew blood, but not much, the Dragora’s flesh having hardened in the few seconds it had spent feeding. Leave it any longer, and it would clamp on permanently, drain her dry, then fly off in search of its next victim.
She hated demons, but Blood Thieves were one of the worst. ‘Get off me!’ She screamed again, though she knew there wasn’t really much chance of it letting go.
‘It’ll burn, won’t it? Come here!’
Seila hissed at Damon’s suggestion, but time was running out. It would lock itself into her flesh given another minute or two. Right now, she’d rather give her sword back to Tej and let him use that on her, rather than Damon’s still less-controlled-than-she-would-like Elemental fire.
With time running out and nothing left to lose, she dropped to the floor. Everyone’s eyes were on her, the other Dragora dead or fleeing. ‘Tej! Use this.’ She threw her sword to him, hilt-first.
He caught it on reflex then stared at the sword in disbelief. ‘Um…’
‘Quickly! If it clamps down, it’ll never come off!’ Seila said, her voice pitched with fear.
Tej shifted the sword to his other hand and looked up at her. ‘Right. Right. Do I stab it? Peel it off?’
‘Just kill it!’ She hated the idea of her life being in the hands of a human, but she also hadn’t planned on a parasite attaching itself to her. Seila lifted her chin so Tej had a clear view of the damned demon, it’s body fattening with every passing second. She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see Tej taking aim, and trusted in him. He used a crossbow, he had to have steady hands and perfect accuracy.
Seila had no idea what would happen if he stabbed too hard and cut her. She’d never been cut by her own blade before—never been so stupid to—and had no idea if it would kill her with the efficiency it killed demons.
Pain laced through her chest as the demon fed, its claws as deep as they would go, its tail coiled around her upper body, wings clasped together on her back. She sucked in a breath as pain laced through her. The demon’s voice rang in her ears, giddy with its catch, waiting for the slow death that would follow, and the life it would take from her.
She shivered, and her legs buckled.
‘Seila?’
She opened her eyes, her vision blurry. Dark shapes loomed over her and she backed away—realising she’d been laid on the ground.
‘Seila! It’s us!’ It was Damon’s voice.
She blinked several times, willing her vision to clear and the shapes to come into focus.
‘I think the demon took a lot of blood.’ Another voice, to her left. Female.
‘Ashante?’ Seila asked, weak.
‘It is. Damon and Tej, too. We’re all here. Just take it easy.’ Ashante’s voice was calm and soothing.
Seila appreciated her speaking quietly and nodded—only for a new pain to explode in her head.
‘Don’t try to move,’ Ashante added hurriedly.
A little late for that. She clutched at her throbbing head with one hand, tried to will the intense pain away.
‘Those bloody demons,’ Damon said. ‘Hate Dragora. They’ve killed so many people.’
‘I know. Those were what I had to shoot at, back when my uncle...’ Tej trailed off.
Seila closed her eyes and massaged her temple to ease the constant thumping through it. Then she remembered the demon. Her hand dropped to her chest, where several large cuts marked her skin.
‘I helped you heal,’ Ashante said by way of explanation.
Seila took another long moment to think, remember, and get her bearings. ‘My sword?’
Tej stepped forward and held out his arm. ‘Right here.’
Again, Seila needed a few moments for her vision to focus, and Tej’s familiar face came into view. He held out her sword, clean and glinting, ready to fight again. ‘You killed it?’
‘Yeah. Thing screamed so loud I thought it would wake the whole country. Then it was gone in a tonne of black smoke, and you passed out.’
She’d passed out? She’d never passed out. Then again, she’d never been stupid enough to be grabbed by a Dragora before. Seila shifted again, tried to sit up. She was definitely getting soft. ‘How long have I been out?’
Damon scratched his nose. ‘A few minutes.’
‘Any more demons approach?’
He shook his head. ‘Nothing yet.’
Seila hauled herself to her feet and ignored the fact the world span around her. ‘We need to keep moving. There’s a Prowler near.’
Tej groaned. ‘Definitely don’t want one of those to find us.’
Seila agreed. Especially not while she was recovering from a concussion. She tried to walk forward, and stumbled.
Ashante was with her before she could fall. The Enchantress grabbed her by the arm and helped regain her balance. ‘I think you ought to take a minute to rest.’ Ashante brushed down Seila’s clothes unnecessarily. ‘You’re in no state to be walking, let alone fighting or flying.’
Seila gritted her teeth. Nausea raced up inside her, but she swallowed it down. ‘It’s not like I have a choice. Tress might be dead if we don’t keep going.’
There was no arguing with that. Even Ashante didn’t disagree, though she remained by Seila’s side and walked her first few steps with her. Seila didn’t mind. She knew she needed to get on with the mission, and Ashante’s help was needed. What did worry her, however, was the fact that they’d made an awful lot of noise while fighting the Blood Thieves, and no other demons had approached.
Not even the Prowler, which usually couldn’t resist investigating the noise of a battle.
She could still hear the demon’s voices. There were still plenty of them nearby.
After walking a few steps with Ashante, Seila pulled away. She needed to be able to stand on her own if the demons turned their attention to them. She staggered on her first step, and Ashante was right there by her side to keep her from falling.
‘Seila...Can’t we wait five minutes?’ Damon asked, his voice thick with worry.
‘We could, but that would be five minutes longer that Lady Tress is in danger, and she’s been here too long already,’ Ashante replied.
Seila knew the Enchantress was right. Much as she hated to admit it, Lady Tress’s life was more valuable than her own.
She swallowed her pride and continued to walk with Ashante as her guide. Tej took point, walking twenty metres or so ahead, with Damon bringing up the rear. At least it would be less likely that the Prowler—or any other demon—would be able to catch them unawares.
Every step burned, but it did get easier for Seila. By the time the warehouse loomed ahead of them, she could stand without wobbling, and take several steps unassisted. If she were a human, she’d have needed chocolate. Or tea. Or sustenance of some kind.
But she was not human. She was a Phantom.
She needed to kill more demons and absorb more power.
A faint light came from within the warehouse, seeping through the half-open shutter door. During the day, the door would be the main entrance for forklift trucks and heavy machinery. Now, it appeared to be a breeding ground for all the demons Gorath had taken from Fernhampton and the surrounding areas.
Tej saw them first, and ge
stured for them to approach slowly. He was crouched behind an overflowing skip, concrete slabs and metal piping jutting out at random angles from within. It provided a good deal of cover, and Seila was only too keen to reach him.
Damon joined them a few moments later. ‘All clear behind. We’re good.’
Seila nodded, her eyes locked on the warehouse. Through the half-open door, she had a reasonably good view of inside. The lights appeared to have been turned on, illuminating the scene clearly for her.
‘Well, it’s no wonder why no demons came after us,’ Tej said, shifting his weight. ‘Looks like they’re having a bloody cult meeting!’
Seila saw row after row of Lesser Demons congregated on the warehouse floor. Some clambered up the walls or each other, others huddled under vehicles, the stink of their smoke leaking out like poison. Most were Leeches and Stingers—the weakest demons and always the first to follow a more powerful one—but she saw a handful of Marauders as well.
She couldn’t see any Dragora, but they appeared to have killed them all anyway, unless they were hiding in the rafters. The heavy metal shutter didn’t open that high, so she couldn’t see.
But what Seila could see clearly, despite her concussion, was Lady Tress. She stood at the far wall, facing the demons, her axes twirling in her hands. Her face was red and puffy. Either she’d come down with a sudden fever, or she was stressed. ‘Gorath! I’m still waiting for you!’
Her voice echoed through the warehouse and into the night. Seila shook her head.
‘She’s calling Gorath out!’ Damon gasped.
‘Good,’ Seila said.
‘How’s that good?’ Tej’s eyebrows were high in disbelief.
‘Because he isn’t here yet and hasn’t been all night. Now’s our chance.’
Acknowledgement and understanding rippled through them.
‘Tej, Damon, create a diversion. The demons nearest us. I’ll fly in and grab Tress.’ Seila’s wings materialised and she flexed them gently.
‘Are you sure?’ Ashante asked.
