by Jaye Shields
“Sabin,” Sodor said, “We need to contain these demons first.”
Sabin clenched his fists in anger. Fear for his beloved gnawed at him, but he realized that the Knight was right. “Okay, let’s make it fast.”
• • •
“Now is not the time for phone calls, Sparrow,” Tera chided as she swept out at the demon before her with a dagger. Slicing and dicing, she gutted and decapitated the gross, unidentified demon before her. Sparrow was fully healed, but now entirely too perky for a state of war.
Sparrow grabbed her ringing phone. “It’s your new barista.” Ducking as a flying gargoyle swept down toward her, Sparrow showed the caller ID on the front of her phone to Tera.
For the incoming call image, Sparrow had a picture of a giant black jaguar with glowing gold eyes. “I’m calling in reinforcements.” Hitting the talk button, she ran for cover to take the phone call.
Bringing her attention back to the task at hand, Tera focused on slaying the demons that continued to drop through the portal. With Sabin still in the Realm of the Fog, she had to dispatch as many of the demons as she could on her own. This battle was on a completely different level from her previous struggles to keep Alameda vampire-free.
Thick fog still clung to the circumference of the island. Sabin must have left it to ensure no humans would be able to approach or witness the demonic war taking place. Flying demons and dragons parted the thick clouds, diving down at Tera and the aunts battling for their lives.
Ironically, Tera had been dying for a chance to use the bow that she had made with Artemis, but now, her opportunity had some obvious setbacks. Talk about catch-twenty twos. I finally get to use my bow, but mystical giant dragons seem to have incredibly thick skin, and do indeed breathe fire. She notched a few arrows quickly and let them all rip toward the flying beast.
With a body the size of a buffalo, the dragon had thick scales that shifted color to match the surroundings. Now, the scales were silver, the color of the fog. But thick orange flame lit the fog like fireworks and its heat left beads of sweat on Tera’s skin. Her arrows found their mark, but only seemed to piss off it off. Notching a few more, she aimed for the eyes and released. Two of the three arrows found their mark, the other one just missing dragon’s neck.
The dragon flew through the air and launched a steady stream of flames toward her. She ducked, but Tera feared that once again, she might be barbecued by the flames. This time, no mystical moss from her forest could protect her. Just when the fire was inches away, a thick screen of water splashed in front of her, defeating the attack.
“Woo-hoo! We’ve still got it, sister.” Melissandra gave Morgana an emphatic slap on the shoulder. An orb glowed around them, a protective shield amidst the violence.
“Phew.” Morgana put a hand against her head dramatically. “I’m definitely feeling my age though. That telekinesis with the water sure took it out of me.”
“Less whining, more fighting, dear sister.” Morgana glared before joining in to launch a killing spell at the sinister gargoyle flying nearest to them.
Its flames subdued, the small yet formidable dragon charged through the air toward Tera. Not taking the precious time to thank the aunts for having her back, she leapt into the air to clutch the flying foot. Withdrawing the dagger from its sheath on her thigh, she stabbed it upward into the dragon’s stomach. The skin was thick and the dagger lodged there firmly. Using it to pull herself up, she straddled herself across its back, smiling in triumph before she realized the creature had other plans.
Aiming its nose toward the sky, the dragon’s body went completely vertical. Tera clung for dear life as the animal rolled through the fog acrobatically, trying its best to buck her off. The urge to vomit came and passed. Still, she held on, her knife lodged deep into the thick scales. Using all her might, she brought her stake down hard into the right eye. Unfortunately, the creature threw its massive head back in pain, pitching her off in the process.
Tera landed as softly as possible on the ground near the prison. Luckily, Dryads had a born ability of grace. From the ground where she lay, she spotted Sparrow walking from out of the cover of the prison. Phone still in hand, her best friend never saw the massive winged demon coming at her from above.
“Sparrow!”
Tera jumped up quickly and reached back to her quiver. It was too late. Her friend looked like a tiny angel in the grip of a hellish beast. The creature had a massive body, but instead of muscle and flesh, there were only bones and decay. Just as she was about to release an arrow, she was knocked from her feet by a demon.
“I hate trees.” The voice was low and bubbled menacingly, as if lava filled the demon’s body. The demon jerked her head back, twisting the thick fist full of her mahogany hair painfully. “Die, Dryad.”
The sound of a strong body sounded behind them, and she heard the faint crack of a snapping neck. Tera turned just in time to see her favorite coffee shop vampire, Duncan, dispatch the demon. He acknowledged her, but then he disappeared, teleporting elsewhere. Tera never felt better about the company of a vampire. Looking toward the sky to seek out Sparrow, she drew back her bow, but saw that Duncan had already reached the flying beast. She could trust him to return Sparrow unharmed.
But as the aunts flew to Sparrow’s side, Tera noticed that their orb of safety was flickering, dimming. Their power was too depleted to continue holding the protection spell. Tera fought with a new kind of determination. She would not see any more of her friends hurt.
Slowly, the demons began thinning out, or so it seemed in the dense fog. Tera wove her body across the island, using her own lithe muscle and grace as a deadly weapon.
From above, Tera heard the screech of a falcon, and watched the bird of prey dive down and pluck out a demon’s eyeball. Clearly, Sparrow too has found her niche. But as a streak of fog thinned, Tera saw a demon chasing Melissandra, fear rampant in her eyes. Sparrow also spotted the demon and shot down from the sky, raking her talons across the monster’s face. Tera launched an arrow that struck it in the throat, painful enough to halt the beast in its tracks. This gave Melissandra the opportunity to turn and wrack the demon with an electric killing spell.
From the fog, she heard an animalistic roar, and turned just in time to make out a large jaguar, black as night, leap upon a vampire.
Another of Sparrow’s reinforcements.
Warmth spread through her chest. Two people that she barely knew had so quickly come to their side. This fact propelled her into combat once more. Just then, she saw the portal brighten at the seams. Not more demons, please no more. Duncan was obviously thinking along the same lines, and teleported to the top of the prison to dispatch anything that fell through the portal.
But instead of demons, Sabin and his Knights dropped onto the roof of the prison, accompanied by a strong male with blue skin and hard scales covering the posterior of his body. Tera breathed a sigh of relief.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sabin landed atop the prison with his comrades and immediately sensed a vampire. He reached to snap the neck of the leech but it teleported out of grasp. But the Knights were well-acquainted with taking down disappearing vamps, and they quickly pulled out their astral guns and began firing.
One of Sodor’s bullets stopped mid-air, obviously penetrating deep into its target. Slowly, the vampire began reappearing, blood soaking its midsection. Leaving the vampire to Sodor, Sabin scanned the chaos for his beloved. Tera had done well holding the island. Only a few of the larger demons were left, including a couple winged fellows and a dragon that were seen only as shadows in the fog.
“Sabin! He’s on our side,” Tera shouted through the fray. Sabin turned to where the vampire still fought against the Knights as best as it could while injured.
“Stand down!” His commanding voice boomed. In turn, Rowen placed a hand on Sodor’s shoulder to pull
the Knight back from the fight. Sabin appraised the vampire, seeking any hint of danger from within the creature’s eyes. But the vampire had the same look that he had found lately in his own expression, the peace of someone in love. “We have injured a comrade who can help us win this battle,” Sabin announced.
With that said, Zeth and Pyrrhus leapt off the roof to begin aiding the women. Sodor and Rowen remained with him and the vampire on the roof. “I am Sabin. We need to dig out the astral bullet so that you can heal and regain the ability to teleport.”
Sodor stepped forward all too eagerly and Sabin noticed the mischievous glint in the Knight’s eyes. Although some vampires were allowed to travel within the Portal Realm, the relationship with leech breeds was certainly not warm and fuzzy. “I’ll do it, since I’m the one that shot him,” Sodor volunteered.
In response, the vampire sneered and lifted his chin, standing tall before the equally towering Sodor. “Perhaps I should have the name of the foe whose dirty fingers will be digging into my shoulder.”
“Sodor.” A look of disdain remained on the Knight’s face. “And I’ll have you know that as an immortal Knight of the Fog, I am immune to disease. Unlike some parasitic demons.”
The vampire glared at Sodor, obviously not used to being insulted. “I think I’ll leave the bullet where it is. I’ve had worse lately.”
Sabin placed a firm arm against the vampire before it could leap away. “You need your ability to teleport to be most effective. We have closed off the portal. No more demons will be coming through, but many have escaped to this island. We need to make sure they do not leave. I am most concerned about the dragon that remains.”
The vampire nodded, obviously ready to get back to the battle. “Fine. Start digging.” With that, Sabin and Rowen leapt off the roof to return to the battle while Sodor removed the astral bullet from the vampire.
He immediately found Tera within the fog and went to her. Just as she finished off the last of the remaining gargoyles, he twirled her around to face him. Catching her by surprise, Sabin caught the fist that she threw at him as she turned and used it to pull her gently against his body. Pressing a devoted kiss against her lips, he savored the taste of his love, the feel of her body against his.
“I missed you.” He was startled how low and laced with need his own voice was.
When she smiled, the loud ruckus of battle faded away, leaving only the soft whisper of Tera’s lips returning to caress his own. Sabin felt her pull away, and watched her raise a brow playfully.
“I love you, darling, but we’ve got a battle to win. After all, the girls have been here doing all the work.”
He laughed at his woman’s eloquent teasing. Grabbing her once more, he dipped her for another quick, passionate kiss before returning to battle. “All right my love, let’s finish this.”
“Give me a boost so that I can have a good vantage point from the roof.” Tera said motioning to her quiver.
“I don’t want you so close to the fog ceiling. It would be too easy for the dragon to get a hold of you before anyone ever realized.”
Daggers shot from her eyes. “I held up quite fine while you were away. I’ll get up there myself; I need to help my friends.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry. I can’t help but feel protective of you. I love you.” Reaching down, he cradled Tera’s foot with his palm to heave her upward. “Be safe, Tera.” With that, he used all his strength to propel her body straight up.
• • •
Landing gracefully on the roof, Tera began shooting arrows into the nearest demons unhidden by fog. As she shot, she had an excellent view of her friends, her soldiers in action. Melissandra and Morgana were paired together, binding their strength to zap any demon that neared them. Their power was all but drained, but with the Knights and their new friends, the Wiccans weren’t in immediate danger.
Another screech from a falcon penetrated the sky and she looked up to see Sparrow darting in and out of the fog, slashing talons across the eyes of a massive dragon. It was a peculiar sight — the tiny bird taking on the massive beast. Tera notched three arrows and aimed at the soft underbelly, not wanting to aim anywhere near Sparrow.
The arrows found their mark, but seemed only to mildly annoy the dragon. Sparrow flew acrobatically around the head of the dragon, narrowly averting flame, a successfully distracting the dragon from attacking the others on the ground. Tera watched the others finish off the remaining demons, but something had to be done about the dragon.
Not able to help much with her arrows since now there was only close combat left, she jumped down from the roof. Landing hard on her feet, she quickly ran to the nearest conflict. Zeth was pummeling a demon about twice his height, but seemed to be greatly enjoying the fight. Coming from behind the demon, she thrust her astral stake into its back. Zeth took the opportunity to leap onto the body and rip the head right off in a swift, gory move.
She couldn’t help but cringe. “Don’t you have a sword?”
Zeth barely spared a glance at Tera, as if she were a newbie at combat. “I don’t use my weapons against demons who use their bare hands to kill.”
“Disgusting, but noble. Got it.” Tera noticed a lethal glint in his eyes and she quickly brushed past him to seek out Sabin.
Searching the mêlée, she saw the vampire and the jaguar working together to finish off a couple of demons. Just when she spotted Sabin, a large thud hit the ground not far away.
To her horror, she turned to see Sparrow’s human body lying on the ground. Her soft platinum hair was spread across the dirty ground, and her angelic face was lifeless. Feathers were scattered around her body from when she hit the ground, probably still in bird form. But the impact of the fall had obviously shaken off the enchantment.
How far had she fallen? Tera’s body shook with fear, her legs barely taking her to Sparrow’s side before she collapsed. Tears flooded her eyes.
The aunts were next to appear at Sparrow’s side, both of them in hysterics. “I saw her fall. Oh my God, it was from so high.” The desperate voice came from one of them, but Tera didn’t take her eyes away from Sparrow to find out who.
An anguished cry penetrated the night. “Sparrow! Oh God, Sparrow!”
Rowen and Sodor appeared and swept the aunts into their arms, carting them away to make room for Sabin and Pyrrhus. The aunts struggled, sobbing as the Knights took them from Sparrow. Rowen spoke with calm authority. “Tis for the good of Sparrow. She will be okay. Pyrrhus will see to her now.”
“How can you know?” Morgana struggled within Rowen’s firm grasp and her voice was full of anger and desperation. “How can you know she will be okay? I must go to her.” Rowen’s voice was rough with resolve. “She will heal.”
The Quetzalem appeared next to Sparrow’s lifeless body. The hard blue scales of the dragon-demon softened until his skin was smooth. Pyrrhus picked up Sparrow’s delicate hand, and pressed his thumb to her wrist to feel for a pulse.
Before Pyrrhus could say anything, Duncan spoke from several feet away. “She has a pulse.”
The dragon-demon appeared to have a weight lifted off his shoulders. “Good.” Tera thought she heard his voice break. “She’ll need to be somewhat conscious for this.”
Morgana’s voice screamed from the distance where Rowen held her in his arms still. “Don’t you dare turn her into a vampire!”
“That’s not happening.” Duncan spoke evenly.
Sabin interrupted. “Dragon blood has incredible healing properties. But we don’t want her to choke or suffocate as the blood enters her throat.”
Pyrrhus cradled Sparrow’s limp form in his arms, her back slumped against his chest. Taking out a dagger, the dragon-demon cut a deep gash in his wrist.
Sabin addressed the aunts. “Is there a way you can jog her consciousness?”
Instead of
replying, they began concentrating. Mentally willing Sparrow to open her eyes, all prayed that their efforts would work.
Tera watched the Quetzalem cradle Sparrow against his chest. His golden eyes turned a dark shade of amber and he looked deeply concerned for a young woman he had never met. Rowen also watched from afar, his gaze narrowed, riveted on the lifeless body.
Finally, Sparrow’s eyes opened slowly. Her beautiful blue gaze was covered with a pink haze, bloodshot from the impact of the fall. Her face immediately twisted in pain, as if the consciousness caused the agony of her body to come flooding back to her.
The golden eyes staring down at her became pained as well. Pyrrhus spoke in a soft, calm voice. “I can heal you little one. But you must swallow.”
As the man placed his wrist against Sparrow’s lips, she struggled, her eyes lighting up in fear. Tera’s throat went dry. “It’ll be okay, Sparrow. I love you, Sparrow, hang on.”
Pyrrhus held Sparrow firmly, keeping his wrist against her mouth. His gaze began to soften as she swallowed. From her struggle, and probably from pain, Sparrow once again slipped out of consciousness. But Tera was comforted by the hopeful glint in the demon’s eyes.
“It is probably good that she has fallen back into unconsciousness, because she is in a great deal of pain. She has much healing to do, but it has begun.”
Sabin placed a comforting hand on Tera’s shoulder where she hovered near Sparrow and Pyrrhus. Zeth finally returned to the group, his body covered in blood. “The last have been finished.”
No one said anything, the mood somber instead of victorious. Duncan was the first to break the silence. Beside him, the large black jaguar was crouched on the ground gazing intently at Sparrow, its golden, feline eyes appeared wrought with worry.
“I can mist her to someplace more comfortable. It would be unwise to move her much in her condition.”
Tera nodded. Melissandra and Morgana approached the group. “Take her to Nine Hundred Grand. We’ll be right behind you.”
