“How do you know they put anything in here with us? Maybe we’re meant to kill each other.” His voice circled me, and I tried to follow the source.
“Works for me, I’m all about killing you. But I’m still willing to put money on the icky-bad theory, say, fifty bucks? Hey, how fried did that dragon leave you? Original recipe or extra crispy?”
An annoyed hiss sounded in the shadows, and I knew I’d hit a nerve. Another flash of light and a crackle of energy behind me alerted me when he took a second swing at my shield. Still no damage. If the darkness didn’t attack him soon, it was going to be a really long test.
“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter. Even if the monster out there in the dark doesn’t get you, the Silverleafs will. They’ve got extra excruciating plans for you and all your fanged friends.”
Dorian’s stinging retort was interrupted by a loud roar that shook the ground and echoed off the walls. I paused, blinking in surprise, and then slowly lifted the cigarette to my mouth and inhaled a long drag. “Ooh, that sounds bad.”
“Cat, I think your daddy owes you fifty bucks.” Lex chuckled.
I doubted it could be another dragon lurking in the dark. The council wouldn’t pull the same trick twice. Puffing away at my cigarette, I listened intently for a clue as to what was going on outside the safety of my shields. The low drone of chanting indicated that my father was casting some sort of spell, and the awful stench of necromancer magic wafted toward me.
“You smell that?” Lex asked me, his voice low.
A new scent wove its way through the smoke and necromancy, surrounding me from all sides. I wrinkled my nose in disgust as I sniffed the air, and it took me a moment to identify the unfamiliar and unpleasant aroma.
“Yeah. Sulfur.” It’s not magic, but instead it’s a smell that clings to summoners who delve too deeply into their art, desiring faster, more potent power. The mark of demonic taint. This changed the game-I’d never tested my shields against such concentrated evil, and there was an excellent chance they wouldn’t hold against a demon. What the hell was wrong with the Council, anyway? Letting demons loose in Faerie, had they completely lost their minds?
“We’re going to need some light to work with,” Lex informed me.
“Right.” Dropping the butt of my cigarette, I ground it out beneath my boot and wiped my hands on the legs of my cargo pants. Rummaging through my pockets as the gloom pressed in around me, I found my box of matches and struck one against the side of the box. A tiny flame leapt to life, and I held it aloft above my head.
“Light of life, of right, and pure,
Push back the night, let good endure.
Burn bright for everyone to see,
As I will, so mote it be!”
A sphere of pure white light swelled from the tiny match and then hovered like a spotlight above our heads, illuminating the entire room. My father stood several feet away, two skeletons at his side. It was obvious he’d raised them with some components he’d carried with him, they couldn’t have been native to the area. Their bones were bright white, as though bleached, and they swayed back and forth with soft creaking sounds as the bones rubbed together. Awaiting their orders, no doubt. Disgusting.
A trio of oily shadows loomed behind them, gliding forward, and I screamed in reflex. The demons hadn’t taken a form, and really hadn’t needed to while concealed in the dark. Realizing they had an audience, the creatures began to form arms and legs, heads and necks popping up out of their torsos like macabre toasters. My stomach flip-flopped and I turned away from the sight, only to discover half a dozen shadowy figures forming behind me.
Lex charged the demons, stabbing his spear through the closest one. There were a lot of them, and I knew I had only a few moments before one got past the guardian. I needed extra help if I was going to stand a chance against them. With shaking hands I fumbled through my pockets, grabbing a pouch of salt and a flask of water. Pouring the salt and water into my cupped left palm, I drew my rapier and sliced the blade through the mix. Blood welled as I broke the skin and it stung so badly my eyes watered, but I coated the entire length of the blade with the combination of blood, water and salt. Heart pounding, I held the sword before me and attempted something I’d never done before: I invoked a goddess of battle.
“I call the Morrigan, great Raven of Battle,
Bringer of Death,
Guide now my hands, my blade, and my breath.
Let my weapon be blessed, let it strike true,
Bring an end to the shadows, their evil undo.
Your daughter invokes you, your favor be won,
Heed now my call, let my will be done!”
My breath hitched in my throat for an anxious second, and then power slammed into me so hard and fast I staggered and nearly fell. The blade of my rapier glowed with mystical fire, and I heard the screeching caw of a raven echo around me, strident above the noises of battle. I tightened my grip on the rapier’s hilt, let my shields fall away, and charged the nearest demon with a bellowing battle cry.
As I’d been trained to do against vampires, I stabbed for the heart of the torso, but the oily shadow seemed oblivious to the hit. Demons can’t be killed, only banished back to their realm, and that required words in addition to weapons.
“Go to hell!” I shouted, drawing my blade down through the torso with all my strength. The edges of the cut hissed and smoked, and finally the demon dissolved into icky black ooze that puddled tar-like on the ground. I turned toward the next demon and was struck hard in the shoulder, knocking me several steps back as I struggled to regain my balance. I caught a glimpse of my father battling his demon, and one of his skeletal minions clattered to the ground in a useless pile of brittle bones.
Lunging forward, I stabbed at the shadow, missing it as it danced out of the way. The dark figure continued to improve itself as time passed, looking more and more human in shape and form. It eluded my attacks, swiping at me and managing to catch me soundly across the jaw once. Black, unseeing eyes formed in its face, and fangs in its mouth. Vampire, the old fear shivered down my spine, and the demon took the opportunity to sweep my feet out from under me. I hit the ground hard, and my breath whooshed out of me in a painful rush. The rapier fell from my grasp as my top hat tumbled from my head. Unable to move fast enough I stared up at the monster as it leapt on top of me. It snapped its fangs at my face like a rabid dog and I struggled to push it off.
I shoved my injured palm against its face and grunted, “Get out.” The demon’s greasy flesh smoldered and smoked as the last one’s had. Pushing hard, my hand sunk into its skin, almost burning through its skull.
“Say goodbye,” I said. The demon began to collapse, and I rolled out from under it, scraping the disgusting ooze off the front of my clothes. Lex struggled with three demons off to my left, and I glanced around to see how my father fared in his fight, but I only spotted a second pile of bones with an oil slick next to it.
“Goodbye,” Dorian said from behind me. Before I could react I felt the blade of his dagger stab through the small of my back, all the way to the hilt. “I had hoped you would be a greater challenge than your mother. How disappointing.”
I would’ve screamed if I hadn’t been so surprised. He withdrew the blade, which hurt as much coming out as it had going in, and I collapsed face forward into the dirt. For a moment I lay stunned, unmoving, and then a sharp kick to my side rolled me over onto my back. I stared up into the face of my father as he knelt down and buried his blade deep into my stomach, a pathetic gurgle my only reply. As he looked down at me I could see myself in his face-the brown of his eyes, the arch of his brow. There were no happy memories associated with the face of my father, no dimly remembered holidays or birthday parties. I knew he never loved me. There was no sorrow there, no pity. No mercy.