Chapter 15 #2
The world is suddenly chaotic in every way, in every direction. I call a personal shield, thankful to see Sebastian, Mica, and Izzy have as well.
Rowan seems to be in her element. She’s got her hands up and shadow magic is snapping outward like a whip. It catches the creature coming at her mid-leap, slamming it into a stone. The impact cracks its skull, black ichor spraying across moss. “One for me. Are we keeping score?”
Asher has his compound bow up and is letting off bolts like a modern-day Robin Hood. “Damned skippy, Ro. How else will we know who gets the hero cookie after?”
“Six for me!” Mica calls out. She’s got her hands up and is commanding five blades through the air. With her metal affinity, she doesn’t even need to throw them, she can maneuver them with her powers.
“Six? I call bullshit. How’d you get—” Asher turns just in time to see the blades spear straight through a demon’s skull and then the neck of the one standing behind him. “Oh, that’s how. Cool trick.”
I step into the path of what looks like a man, but stands nearly eight feet tall. It’s hunched, its spine ridged with jagged bone spurs that jut through leathery black skin. Its chest is too broad, arms too long, the claws at the end of them curved like butcher’s hooks.
But the worst part is its mouth.
It splits open from chin to ear in a grotesque hinge, revealing layers of serrated teeth stacked like a shark’s.
“Wow, you really got cracked with the ugly stick, didn’t you?” I raise my hands to engage, my heart racing.
It sucks in a wheezy breath and stops in its tracks. Then, it shudders and practically runs away from me.
My mind fritzes on that, and I’m about to find another opponent when the fight expands beyond the rise of the standing stones.
It’s impossible to keep track of everyone.
Wylder's earth magic surges down by the trees.
The ground buckles, roots bursting upward to snare demons mid-charge. Vines wrap around legs, arms, necks—squeezing until things snap.
I throw spirit fire at a lizard thing as it slithers over the rise of the stones and heads for the trees. It bursts into a whoosh of blue flame and turns on me.
I ready for the retaliation, but the moment it sees me standing there with fire magic crackling around my hands, it stops dead and runs the other way.
“What is actually happening right now?”
Tharuzel’s laughter echoes in my mind. They know not to harm what is mine.
Seriously? Without time to be horrified about that right now, I rush back into the fray. As quickly as we’re taking demons down, more are pouring through the stones in an endless tide of snapping jaws and grasping claws.
The air reeks of sulfur and rot.
My lungs burn with every breath.
"There are too many!" Rowan’s shadow magic flares as she whips another demon into oblivion. She’s got a nasty cut on her head, the burgundy stripes in her hair no longer only hair dye.
We’re kicking ass one-on-one, but everyone is getting tired.
In another few minutes, they’ll be exhausted.
Then, the tide will turn against us.
Clara is down and crumpled at the base of a stone with Izzy and a black bear between her and the freakishly tall demon that wouldn’t fight me.
I call spirit fire to my palms and throw two fireballs at his back. He goes up like a blue bonfire and melts into a black ooze on the clearing floor.
Sebastian appears beside me, breathing hard. He’s got one bloody hand clutched over his belly and I’m really hoping his insides are staying firmly inside. "We need to end this."
"I know. We have to close the breach.”
“I’ll watch your back.”
“You won’t have to. I’m off-limits. No one will fight me.”
Sebastian’s confusion doesn’t last long before it morphs into something darker. “You’re not his, Poppy. He holds no power over you.”
But sadly, he sorta does.
Not willing to give that mental mind-spin too much power, I study the standing stones and the crimson light pouring from their runes.
How do I undo what Tharuzel has done?
“His magic corrupted the intention of the stones, and turned them into a demon conduit. How do I undo that?”
"Figure it out." Sebastian spins away to intercept another wave. “Orion, help Izzy!”
I grit my teeth, my hands trembling as I reach for the power of the ley lines again, forcing my consciousness deeper into the earth's magical arteries.
The magic fights me this time—it's angry, poisoned.
Tharuzel's corruption has infected everything, turning the clean flow of my family’s power into something vicious and unpredictable.
It burns as it flows through me, leaving a taste of ash and despair in my mouth.
Still, beneath the layers of corruption and chaos, I feel the Hallowind anchors.
These aren't just any ley line connections.
They are the generational spells my ancestors wove into these very stones, threads of power passed down through bloodline and ritual, strengthened by decades of careful tending.
My great-great-grandmother's protective wards. My grandmother's blessing circles. My mother's healing enchantments. All of them sleeping inside the stone.
I pour every ounce of intention into the connection, letting my fear and love and stubborn determination flow down through the magical channels.
Please help me heal the stones.
The silence stretches, and for one terrible heartbeat, I think they can't hear me. That the corruption has severed those ancient bonds forever.
Then warmth floods my chest, spreading outward like sunlight breaking through storm clouds.
Not my magic. Theirs. Ours. The Hallowind witches who came before me, their power a pooled resource for our bloodline to use in our workings.
Thank you. Help me heal the stones and end this.