The Fury's Light

by Hailey Staker

  “Erion was a good friend, a great mentor, and a tremendous warrior,” the Earth Fury stated. “It is never easy saying goodbye, but such is the way of life. Such is our way of life. Erion served dutifully, selflessly, and with honor.”

  Era dotted her eyes with tissues, unable to hold back her tears. EJ was her lover, her confidant, someone she knew would come home every day and would protect her from the evil that hunted Diviners.

  “He was a loving husband, a less than perfect son, and the best friend we all needed in times of crisis,” Wiley said. “He defended Era and Lana with his life when the Darkness so rudely invaded our home.”

  “Wiley…” Dimitri said.

  Era’s sobs grew louder.

  “EJ will be remembered for years to come,” Aiden concluded. “To our brother, may he rest in peace.”

  “Help!” a small dark headed girl being pushed to the ground beneath the weight of another dark headed individual yelled. When Lana looked over, her heart sank into her chest, nauseating her. Getting out of her seat, Rae and Elijah pulled at her wrists but she resisted, walking slowly to the door.

  “Aleana,” she heard faintly. Her pace picked up to a jog until she was next to the boy. She rolled him over, blood smearing her hands. His face held scratches like the ones she’d obtained from the demon in Josephine, bruises stained his eyes and blood ran from his ears, eyes and nose.

  Aiden and Elijah picked her up by her armpits, pulling her away kicking and screaming from Donovan.

  “No, he’s my brother, he needs my help,” Lana yelled, pushing the men off her. She dropped to her knees, pushing on his chest to wake him. She felt his heart beat weakly beneath her palms.

  Elijah pulled her back to her feet again, wrapping his arms around her waist and crunching her ribs when she fought back. “Remember what Josephine said, Lana. Remember what I said.”

  Clara placed a finger to his temple, extracting his last memory for review. She saw demons, vampires, and witches around him, an old gentleman with white hair and dark eyes holding a staff embellished with skulls made of bone and an onyx gemstone at its tip. A horned demon picked him up, throwing him against a wall. Lifting him off the ground, the demon released talons from his fingers, slashing his face from temple to jaw line.

  “You’re a disgrace,” the old man said, pointing his staff at Donovan. The gemstone glowed silver and gold with dark magic. The horned demon took the ring off his hand, placing it in the palm of the Elder. “You better warn the girl. I hope you make it to her before I do.”

  Clara stood, turning to Lana who continued to fight the vampire holding her back. “He’s been communicating with the Dark Elders, but they exiled him. He’s here to warn you that they are coming. They know where we are.”

  Elijah dragged Lana away from the funeral and into the clearing, following Benedict.

  “Well, Dimitri, what is your plan?” Benedict asked.

  “We will take Lana to the club house. Aiden burned it down so they won’t be looking for us to return there. Donovan will be coming with us as well,” Dimitri said.

  “And what if they attack while you are playing around with your tails between your legs?”

  “What do you expect us to do? Stay and fight? You said it yourself, you do not want anything bad to come of this place. This is our chance to lead them away from the Academy. If we do not, all you’ve worked for will have been lost,” Dimitri said.

  “They took away my home, my family. We ran once before, but I’m not going to run this time.”

  “I’m not asking you to, friend. I’m asking you to protect these children while we take care of this problem,” the Emerald said.

  “You won’t get the chance to run,” Donovan said, clutching his stomach. “They’ve already surrounded the place.”

  Lana took advantage of Elijah’s surprise, slipping out of his grip and facing Donovan. “Why are you here? What good are you, warning us about their attack if they’ve already got us cornered?”

  “They told me to come here, Aleana,” Donovan said, Lana grimacing at the way he said her name. “I’m no threat to you, they’ve taken my ring. I’ve never had the privilege of learning how to control my powers without it. It’s the Elders you must worry about now. They know the Darkness in and out, and he’s coming for your power. You of all people are in the most danger.”

  “The prophecy says you have to destroy the Darkness,” Wiley said. “If he’s the Darkness, kill him.”

  “You realize what you’re asking me to do, right?” Lana twirled till she faced the Water Fury.

  “He is not your brother, he is the enemy.” Wiley’s face was so close she felt his breath on her eyelashes.

  “I know you have no reason to trust me. But I know their weaknesses, and I can help you if you let me. You will need it if you are to reach for the Light,” Donovan said. Aiden’s patience had worn thin. He grabbed the bloody man by his neck, pushing his head to the ground.

  “Aiden stop, he has a point,” Dimitri spoke. “If he speaks the truth, if he has no way to access his power, we have an advantage we will desperately need if we are to stand a chance against these Elders. Considering you haven’t taught Lana a single thing, she has no way of even seeing the Light.”

  “I can’t teach someone something when that someone doesn’t want anything to do with this life,” Aiden said, releasing Donovan.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that you have some ill-conceived notion that something bad will happen to me if I do,” Lana said, turning on him. “You have no idea what will happen to me if I produce that big bright light in the sky. You weren’t there!”

  “It doesn’t matter if I was with Arin or not, the point is you don’t stand a chance, no Amethyst has ever stood a chance against the Darkness and you will be no exception to the rule,” Aiden said, his face was inches from her, his eyes dancing with fire. Lana concentrated on what Dimitri said once when he was teaching her how to conjure the elements of the earth.

  She closed her eyes, breathing in and out like Aiden had told her the first day of her training with him, imagined the ball of fire he tossed from hand to hand while she calmed down. She had grabbed the heat, feeling it dance in and out of her fingers. She felt the heat coming to her hands, opening her eyes. A light orange ring played with her iris.

  “I told you, you already know how to make a fire,” Aiden said softly. He drew a circle in the air, telling her to turn around. Each of the training dummies burst into flames, the shadows dancing. The heat retreated the longer she stared at her manifestation.

  “You didn’t tell me I could do this,” Lana sighed.

  Bells rang three times, signifying that intruders had made their way into the infirmary.

  Dimitri left the clearing, Wiley following. Aiden took Lana by the arm, nodding toward Donovan. The three of them followed suit, meeting the other Furies in the study. Benedict waved his hand, placing Elijah, Micah, Rae, and Christine among them in the large library.

  “We need to keep those demons from the hall. If we don’t at least try to protect them, Benedict will never forgive me for bringing us into his home,” Dimitri said.

  “Micah and I can take Donovan to the infirmary. That should distract them long enough for you guys to get outside and lead them away from the Academy,” Elijah said.

  “I didn’t sign up for this, brother. I’m not putting my life on the line for them,” Micah nodded in the direction of the dining room.

  “What about for me?” Lana said, crossing her arms across her chest. Micah stared at her for a moment, surprised at her remark.

  “That’s not fair,” he said. “You know I would.”

  “Well then maybe you should get going. If you don’t, I could lose my life, and then what would you do?” Lana tilted her head to the left, smiling and then turning toward Aiden and the others. Elijah and Micah left the study, heading toward the infirmary with their Dark guest.

  “We’ll head to the barn,” Dimitri said, the
boys nodding in agreement.

  “What about us?” Rae asked.

  “You’re going back to the hall,” Dimitri said. He flicked his hand, the girls disappearing in a green haze that returned them to the hall. Aiden and Lana exchanged glances before he took her hand, the four of them leaving the Academy in search of the barn.

  They landed on the floor of the forest surrounded by thick bushes, cursing under their breath. They’d made it out of the Academy but remained far from their destination, continuing on foot. The moon was blacked out by dark clouds, summoning demons from the underworld. Lana chased after the other Furies who now had weapons in their hands.

  Aiden’s copper sword, Dimitri’s oak staff covered in vines, and Wiley’s trident ripped through sheaths that let out deafening shrieks. Lana’s staff formed in her hands, the amethyst tip pulsing with power. She’d never seen it pulse before, wondering if it was now because of her new ability to conjure fire.

  Horned demons with snake tongues, vampires with gray skin instead of white and witches blocked their path to the barn. They had formed a protective barrier around the grounds of the Academy, forcing the Furies to fight. The three elementals formed a protective semi-circle around Lana, breaking bones and slicing off heads when any Dark creature came near them. They pushed their way toward the barn, breaking through the barrier.

  “That was too easy,” Wiley said, spinning his trident around. He looked toward the Academy, its steeples still intact.

  The ground began to rumble, creating thick gashes in the earth.

  Lana, if you remember anything from your training, it should be to stay balanced. Think of what you’ve seen us do, and try to replicate it. Aiden’s power will be your strongest, yet weakest advantage if you can remember to breathe, Lana heard in her head. The ground rose beneath them, driving them into the air before disappearing, sending them plummeting toward the hard earth.

  Chapter 28

  Lana searched the field for signs of the other Furies, her head pounding after landing hard on the floor of the forest. She found nothing but disturbed soil and demons. Muffled by bark and leaves, the sounds of sword on sword drifted on the wind to her. She knew who was still fighting.

  A red and yellow demon with tusks and horns protruding from its neck formed a club with spikes in its hand, heading toward her. She hopped to her feet, inhaling deeply before pulling a chunk of dirt from the field, hurling it in his direction. It hit the demon in the leg, tripping him. Another creature charged at her from her right, its weapon greeting hers when she lifted it in front of her to block the attack.

  It had scraggly hair, a face full of rotting skin and empty pits for eyes. She wondered how it found her with no vision. The arch of her foot met the creature’s spine, shattering it into pieces. Lana swung the staff above her head, hitting its skull like a baseball. It dissipated into black dust, the soil beneath where it scattered rotting away.

  The tusk and horn demon was on its feet heading toward her. She felt branches and leaves tickle her skin, vines wrapping around her arms. Like spider webs, she released them, each tendril taking a limb from the demon and pulling them in opposite directions until the demon tore in four pieces. With each creature vanquished more dust fell upon the field, and rot took over until she was standing in a graveyard.

  The Furies joined her in the field, heaving from exertion. Blood stained their clothes, weapons from the recent events.

  “Bravo, bravo,” a figure in a black cloak clapped. “Tell me, Aleana, where did you learn to fight like that?”

  The figure released his hood, revealing wrinkled skin, tired and old eyes and a white head of hair. When the man smiled, his teeth were black and rotted away. “Donovan has told me so much about you, my dear. It’s a shame he couldn’t be here to see you all grown up.”

  “Why waste our time talking?” Lana said, twirling her staff in her hand. She pointed the tip toward the ground, its gemstone pulsing a bright lavender color. The man flicked his hands, sending a swirl of darkness toward them. Lana placed her staff to her chest to block the smoke which burned like acid, just like Josephine had burned Kyle.

  She closed her eyes, focusing on the breeze she’d felt when they ran through the forest. She imagined she was back in her living room when the smoke choked her. Without opening her eyes, she felt a strong wind diffuse the acid in the fog, creating a black tornado from the man’s attack. She sent it in his direction, hearing a gasp and imagining him rolling out of its way.

  He charged her, a black skull-encrusted staff forming in his hand. An onyx stone created a sharp arrowhead at its tip. She smelled a strong aroma of decaying garbage as he neared, taking a few steps back to prepare for the blow. When she put her staff up to block the initial attack, it shattered in two, sending her backward, sliding over the rotting soil.

  Aiden’s arms erupted in flames, Lana watching him intently. He placed his palms together, pulled them apart and around in a circle, creating and pushing the fireball between them in the direction of the Elder. It knocked him off his feet, sizzling his skin and catching his robes on fire. Aiden’s sword was in his hand once more, the blade surrounded by a ring of fire.

  The Elder was on his feet quickly, countering Aiden’s every attack. The two fighters swayed and swung, dodged, blocked and rolled out of the way before Lana grabbed the two pieces of her staff. She spun them around in her hands, reinforcing the wood with vines and fire, like Aiden’s blade.

  Aiden dodged a swing but not before the Elder had the chance to conjure another black smoke, forcing it to shroud the Ruby Fury. She saw him stagger backward, dropping his sword. It disappeared, leaving only charred ground beneath. Lana grasped one piece of her staff like a javelin, sending it flying toward the Elder, piercing his right shoulder.

  Next Wiley jumped into the fight, creating a torrential downpour above the Elder. Lana forced her hand to the sky, Lightning striking down all around them. Dimitri was nowhere to be found, leaving Lana to fend against vampires and witches while the other Furies kept their enemy busy. She returned her attention to them, pulling a chunk of soil from the ground, hopping onto it to attain a higher vantage point. The witches, stuck to the ground, fired spell after spell in her direction, from fire bolts to dark fog and lightning bolts, each one being deflected.

  Lana followed EJ’s direction, feeling the surge of electricity in her fingertips. She pointed her palm in the direction of the witches, releasing bolts of electricity from her palms. They erupted in white dust, leaving the vampires as her only other enemy. They sprinted at her, leaping from the ground. She front-flipped off the platform, landing on the ground. She let her knees buckle, rolling on the ground into a standing position, the vampires behind her. They were flown into a tree before they realized she’d jumped off.

  They darted toward her, meeting Elijah and Micah in their way. The vampires, blurs of black and white, threw each other into trees, disappearing into the forest.

  Aleana, you need to get out of here, Lana heard in her head. Donovan was near, making Lana search the tree line for sign of him. She felt heat at her fingertips, feeling the flames engross them, and wrapping around her wrists and up her forearms. She turned in the direction of the Elder who was on his knees, his lips moving uncontrollably.

  He pulled his arms into his chest and then jerked them apart abruptly, sending Wiley into the barn wall to his left. He fixed his black, heartless eyes onto Lana. She pulled her arms back as if getting ready to throw a baseball, followed through with the throw and let two melon-sized fireballs free in the Elder’s direction.

  They threw him off guard but he charged her regardless. She continued to throw ball after ball, chunk of dirt after chunk of dirt until he was close enough to touch. Kneeling, she grabbed a fistful of dirt, standing and raising her hands above her head. A barrier of mud and rock formed above her, forcing the Elder to fight his way through. She closed her eyes, reaching for the dark clouds above. They dissipated from a black veil into dark gray cotton candy puffs,
rumbling low with thunder and lighting the field with bursts of Lightning. She curled her fingers into fists, pulling them down slowly. The clouds let out a lout crack, raining down Lightning and fire all around her barrier.

  Dimitri and Donovan watched the scene unfold while they helped the other Furies out of their graves and into the barn. The Elder, tiring and growing angry, stuck both hands through the rock wall, sending a plague through it that cracked and shattered it. Lana’s eyes locked onto his, the irises a pinwheel of color and surprise.

  He grabbed her by the neck with one hand, thrusting the other hand through her stomach. She could feel her bones breaking when he grabbed hold of her spine. Dimitri and the others had to hold Aiden down as he started to seize, feeling everything being done to Lana, while they watched their Amethyst fade before them.

  “You, much like your brother, are a disgrace to your kind,” the Elder hissed.

  Aleana, let the blackness wash over you. Close your eyes, she heard.

  I see mother, Don.

  Look past her, are you in the tunnel?

  Yes, I can be with her again.

  I need you to reach into the tunnel, Aleana. Reach into the tunnel until you see the light.

  Lana did as he said, reaching past the Elder. She saw a bright light, the silhouette of her mother being over powered by it.

  Don’t let go of it until you can feel it in your hand.

  A small pearl of light touched her palm, forcing Lana to pull it into her. She let it seep into her body, searching for more directions. When Donovan hadn’t answered her plea, she let her instincts fall over her. She opened her eyes, a gold iris staring into a black skull with no eyes and skin melting off the bone. She placed her hands on his body, pushing the power out of her.

  Every bone in her body felt like it was shattering into a million pieces, turning her into gold fragments like when she destroyed a demon. She felt her skin prickle with energy, making the hair stand up and sending shockwaves down her spine.