Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
We flew far above the trees on my broom. Auggie clung to me much harder than I would have liked. It might have been cute under less dire circumstances.
We were far too high for the demon-hounds to reach us, even if they could climb trees. Thankfully, they didn’t have much of a head start, and they left a rather clear path, bulky things that they were, so we knew we were on the right track as we zipped through the sky.
The knot in my stomach twisted as I noted the shadows to the east parting.
A red glow bled from the horizon. It wasn’t the sun—it was lava.
It was pretty in a way, but the closer we drew, the lighter it became, until the forest had fallen away in favor of the black husks of trees, long dead.
Rocks turned molten. The temperature spiked in the air around us, causing sweat to bead on my forehead.
I glanced back uneasily at Auggie. I was putting him in unnecessary danger by bringing him along, but I had the feeling that he would have followed after us on his own if I’d left without him.
This option was safer than that, at least. And I didn’t exactly trust the people of Kingsbury.
No, it was better to have him where I could keep an eye on him.
“I think it’s safe to say we’re close to the Ember King’s home,” I said.
In the distance, a spire cut into the sky like an obsidian dagger. It glistened in an ominous, warm light that glowed from below.
“There!” Narcissa said, and beneath us a group of seven demon-hounds bounded across the rocks. I could just make out Freya on the back of the one in the middle.
I dove and the hound in front howled a warning. The hounds clustered closer to Freya, protectively. I descended to a few feet overhead.
The demon-hounds had ink-black coats and eyes that blazed a startling yellow.
Their jaws were full of three-inch teeth, sharp, meant for rending flesh from bone.
Their paws ended in equally-long nails, serrated.
As I hovered above the pack, contemplating a course of action, the pointed ears atop the one closest to me flattened, and it swiveled its head in my direction.
It crouched low and the reverberating growl in its throat grew, as its comrades stopped and turned to assess me.
One detached from the group to charge me, jaws snapping.
I quickly lifted higher into the sky to avoid its teeth, but it surprised me by leaping well into the air, forcing me to quickly course-correct out of its reach.
When the beast returned to the ground, I noticed drool escape its mouth, glowing a molten orange.
When a drop hit the ground, it suddenly flared into a fire, which fizzled out amid the black grass a moment later.
“I was hoping they wouldn’t actually resemble hounds,” Narcissa said, landing on the broom in front of me and sitting on her haunches. She gazed down at the demon-hound glaring up at us. “That’s a lot of teeth for such an empty-headed creature.”
I nodded slowly. “For once, we’re in agreement.”
“Shall I make a nuisance of myself?”
I smiled. “If we can scatter them, it would make it much easier to rescue our friend.”
With a chuckle, Narcissa leapt gracefully into the air and skimmed over the heads of the demon-hounds, who roared and turned to follow their new prey.
She opened her little cat mouth and spewed a spray of fire, creating a wall of flames between me and the hounds in pursuit of her.
Then she launched herself at the hounds, continuing to breathe fire, completely engulfing the beasts.
The beasts, however, seemed unaffected by the fire. If anything, the flames only served to make them angrier. They leapt into the air in an attempt to snatch Narcissa from the sky.
Narcissa easily dodged them, and led them away from me once more.
“Are you all right?” I shouted down to Freya.
Freya met my eyes in the gulf between us, and I noted that her wrists were encased in rock, stuck to the back of the demon-hound. “Do I look all right to you? Tell your familiar to watch the fire. It’s getting rather warm down here.”
I grabbed a fistful of basilisk scales and the bristles of a Lonomia caterpillar. I blew them in Freya’s direction. “Libera a malo.” The rock encircling her wrists crumbled as my orb lost a small amount of energy.
“Thanks for the assist,” she said brightly, yanking a sword from her back. She struck at the bonds still holding her feet firm. With any luck, she would be out in a moment.
“Callum!” Auggie warned.
I whipped my head up just in time to narrowly dodge a hound that had leapt for me.
I couldn’t stop myself from tumbling to the ground, however.
Auggie was thrown clear and landed with a grunt nearby.
I rolled with my broom several times and heard an ominous crack!
I came to a stop and found my broomstick had snapped in half.
I stared down at my broom numbly. The demon-hounds stopped all at once.
That wasn’t good.
“Aha!” Freya shouted, leaping from the hellhound’s back with a flourish that had all of the hellhounds pausing and taking notice.
The nearest one to her took the brunt of a sword to the side of its head as she armed her free hands with more weapons from the sheaths on her back, grinning jovially, as if she was about to have more fun than she had in a while.
“Not so brave now that I’m free, are you?
” She swung her axe toward another hellhound at her back.
I picked up the remnants of the broom, unable to feel it respond to me anymore.
The magic in it was cold and dead. My parents had helped me craft it—no small feat.
I’d wanted them to be proud of the witch I’d become, but if they were around, they would only see a soulless creature incapable of living up to their legacy.
I cursed, throwing the broom aside. My hands curled to fists at my side. Now I would have to continue my quest without my broom. There was no way I could make another from scratch easily, not on the road. I was far too inadequate to do that.
I felt something shift at my side and found Therese peeking out from the pocket of my pack. “You all right in there?” I asked. She glanced around briefly and, clearly not liking what she saw, slid back inside.
The leg of one of the hellhounds landed at my feet, and I stepped back to avoid the fiery blood, then kicked it aside as Freya laughed ahead, taking on three of the beasts at once. She made it look so easy.
Auggie placed a hand on my back. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” I shrugged him off. “Let’s help Freya so we can end this.” The demon-hounds were mostly focused on Freya, one missing a hind leg, while one was still being harassed by Narcissa. The odds weren’t terrible. I paused. But I only saw six of the beasts. Where was the other one?
Then its jaw fastened itself into my side.
My mouth went dry from pain.
Auggie was staring back at me with horror, mouth drawn into a comical O. His lips were really very pretty. Perhaps if I concentrated on them, I wouldn’t be so overwhelmed by the feeling of lava bubbling in my side.
I regarded the demon-hound, meeting its cold yellow eyes. My hand fumbled beneath the holds of my cloak, but my mind was being drawn so completely into the pain burning me from the inside out, there was no longer room for rational thought.
This was how I died. For a pretty human boy who didn’t even like me.
“Get. Off.”
I blinked as the needles retracted from my side. It still felt like worms made of lava were wriggling in the wound, but the pain had lessened just enough for me to be able to comprehend what was going on around me.
Auggie slammed his metal rod into the side of the demon-hound’s face.
Again. And again. There were already two of the darts from Auggie’s weapon in its side, but they hadn’t been as effective as he’d hoped if he was resorting to bludgeoning the creature.
It was the most foolish thing I had ever seen.
It was very Auggie.
And then Auggie reached into his pocket and threw salt into the demon-hound’s face. Immediately, it howled in pain and retreated, batting desperately at its face.
Of course. The demon-hounds wouldn’t cross a salt barrier. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Some green witch I was turning out to be.
Auggie turned to me and immediately pushed aside my cloak, lifting my shirt to get a good look at my wound. The hiss he issued was not promising. I could see steam rising from the bite, the aroma of my own cooked flesh smelling unsettlingly delicious.
I stumbled to the ground and Auggie followed my descent.
“The good news is the wound is cauterized,” Auggie offered.
“I don’t want to hear the bad news,” I hissed. I craned my neck for a look. My whole side was blackened, with cracks of angry red flesh oozing blood. The teeth marks themselves were such a fiery red, they seemed to be lit from within.
“I’m sorry. This is …” He looked away, tears gathering in his eyes. “This is all my fault. I should have listened to you. We never should have come.”
“Yes, you really should have,” I grunted, trying to sit up.
The pain was so blinding that I slumped back down, panting.
The pain was going to send me into shock if I didn’t do something about it soon.
I licked my lips, suddenly very dry, trying to think.
In my cloak, I had a potion that could help.
Turmeric and devil’s claw, enhanced with a Pegasus feather.
It was even premade, waiting in a bottle for me to consume.
But just moving my arm on that side of my body sent a jolt of pain up my body so excruciating that I would rather lie still.
“What can I do?” Auggie asked, watching me with wide eyes.
“I …” I closed my eyes against a wave of pain. “In my cloak, third pocket down on the far right. Reach in and … and you’ll find some glass jars. I need the fourth bottle within the pocket, on the left.”
He stared at me. “What?”