Chapter 8 Darius #2
She’s scared for them, and doing her best not to detract from their focus by expressing that fear.
Gracie is strong. And she will become more powerful, growing into a witch whose name I believe will mean something in the greater community.
Witches with a knack for spellcrafting are rare.
One in a million. And each time one is born, they change the way we perceive magic in all realms. Puck has explained why the humans don’t hold her in higher regard.
Their memories are too short. Their elders have a chokehold on their knowledge.
Spellcrafting happens so rarely that they mistake the gift.
It’s obvious to me that her silly coven doesn’t understand Gracie’s value to the world.
But we do. And I’ll die to protect it, though I’d much rather live.
“Which way?” Puck asks and watches Luciu.
The warlock starts out of his deep thoughts and turns around. “Oh. Right!”
It’s a test, and I’m not sure Luciu realizes he’s being examined.
He provided us with a range of pictures and sketches of the floor plans that match some I’ve seen before in glimpses of our potential futures.
On the surface, everything seemed accurate.
That he was being honest and helpful. But the truth is, we don’t know.
Puck has known for ages now that the coven wanted Gracie for their own means with no regard for what’s best for her.
Luciu showing up the way he did was highly suspicious, even with my foreknowledge.
“This next part shouldn’t be so bad,” Luciu says. “This floor was designed to confuse people. If you look at the map, we basically have to make a big circle to get to the top of the stairs over here…”
“There isn’t an elevator?” Gracie asks, nose wrinkling.
Luciu shakes his head. “That isn’t a good idea. Yes, there’s an elevator, but I don’t like the risk of them knowing we’re coming and cutting the cords. Plus, the elevators are reserved for the higher-ups. There’s more of a risk that we’d run into the dragon going that way.”
Vyslan scratches his chin. “What I’m understanding is that we need to get through this section of wall and rock to the staircase… Here. Correct?”
Luciu nods and points to the map again, where he has meticulously drawn the best path, even if it looks convoluted, along with notes regarding various traps. “Yes, but if we stick to the path here…”
Vyslan turns in a circle, orienting himself, then starts walking toward the wall Luciu pointed at on the map.
“Uh, Vys?” Luciu’s voice rises in pitch.
I can’t help but grin. Is he going to…?
Vyslan narrows his gaze at the wall and palms his fist.
“What are you doing?” Luciu lurches toward the demon. “Vys!”
It’s too late.
Reaching over, I wrap Gracie in my arms. Isa does this slime thing where their body plumps out and swells up before jiggling back into something closer to their real form, which is a gelatinous ball with little form.
Then Isa surges outward, enveloping Gracie, me, Puck, and Luciu in their squishy body as Vyslan’s fist connects with the stone wall.
But this isn’t just any punch. Behind that considerable figure is a wealth of power I doubt Puck or myself could ever hope to touch.
I suppose I wasn’t lying when I told my twin he wasn’t the most powerful.
I mean, I’ve seen enough to make guesses about who is more powerful.
But this is the first time I’m getting the in-person experience. It’s staggering.
I have to momentarily block Isa’s vision due to the disorienting way things shift around. There’s a slight pressure on my eyes before I remove the block. Isa must have relocated their eyes to just above my head, because it’s much less disorienting looking through them now.
There’s a brilliant flash of light and heat. Isa warbles, and their gelatinous body begins to bubble as they insulate us from the ensuing blast. They’re so big now there’s still feet of space between the exterior and us.
Gracie wiggles at first, but after a moment, we’re all just staring.
Dust and debris cloud the room.
I clutch Gracie a little tighter as the floor begins to rumble.
Luciu flails his arms a few feet from us, and I can’t help but laugh. There’s no talking inside of Isa, though I can breathe just fine. I know what he’s trying to warn the others about. But there’s not enough time to even mental link with Puck to tip him off.
This is going to be interesting.
The ground cracks beneath our feet.
I see the moment Vyslan realizes he fucked up. It’s comical really. He whirls, face slack with shock and panic.
The ground rumbles again, and there’s this shaking as the wall and rock behind him crumbles. And then the floor gives way in one massive lurch. For a single second, we’re all suspended in the air.
And then we fall.
I see Gracie screaming as she scrambles to hold on to me.
I have no idea how this is going to turn out.
But the possibilities flashing before my eyes—or is this the past?
—aren’t so bad. I clutch Gracie and laugh.
It’s so rare that I don’t know how something might go.
There’s this rush of adrenaline as we crash through the floor and down, deep into the bowels of the mountain.
This is certainly a faster way of getting to where we want to go. The vampire’s stronghold is easily fifteen or more levels of a labyrinth that would have taken ages to traverse. And even with Luciu’s knowledge of the place, we’d have been found out.
Above us, Vyslan flails about, held inside the slime. Isa must have grabbed him. The demon is grinning and waving his arms about like this is a swimming pool while Gracie’s body shakes and shudders. It takes me a moment to switch from just watching Vyslan to realizing they’re pointing behind me.
I turn my head, and the rest of me follows the command as Isa shifts us within their body.
Ah, the ground.
That is a problem I’m not sure how to deal with. None of my magical gifts are strong enough. Isa can’t protect us from the impact. I honestly have no idea how we survive this. Only that we do.
Gracie thrusts out her hand. Her mouth is open wide as she shouts just loud enough I can almost hear her voice.
There’s a small flash of light around her fingers.
Some offering to the elements? A sacrifice for the spell?
The power of her words shudders through Isa’s gelatinous body.
We’re maybe thirty feet in the air when an updraft hits with stomach-lurching force.
Isa goes tumbling on the plume of air, rolling off it and onto the wide, flat stone surface below.
The impact causes Isa’s large form to sort of burst then contract back to their smaller form. It’s jarring, but not painful.
Somehow I land on my feet, clutching Gracie to my chest as we half-crouch in the middle of the space. Isa dangles from my shoulders, half slime, half long, furry body. They’re spent. Exhausted. I reach up and pat their wobbling head fondly.
What an amazing experience.
Vyslan, Puck, and Luciu are sprawled unceremoniously across the floor, groaning, amidst the rubble.
“Hey!” a deep voice bellows.
Prickles race up my spine. I whirl, shoving Gracie behind me, and stare at the last being any of us want to deal with.
A half-shifted dragon.
His red scales cover his human-like form while his face is beginning to elongate.
“Isa?” I mutter, uncertain if my familiar can manage another heroic feat.
The dragon shifter rushes toward us, but they only make it ten or so feet before Isa’s body slings out like some sort of slimy yo-yo. The delicate, circular end smacks the dragon upside the temple, and he drops to the ground without so much as a twitch.
Isa trills, the sounds dropping on the register, lower and lower. I think that was the end of their strength.
“You did great, buddy. So good,” I mutter and stroke their rubbery skin. “We can take it from here.”