People running away screaming from danger and monsters. That was normal. Almost to be expected really. Most people valued their lives and anything strange and different was to be killed or run away from. It was survival 101. Something that didn’t need to be taught.
But this was different.
As the massive demon made its way through the city, its steps sent silent rumbles through the city. People were running away to the sides of the streets, to the tops of buildings, to see the demon better. They bowed to it, cheered to it, and spread their arms. They were celebrating its arrival.
And more than that they begged to be assimilated. To be taken by the demon as it clasped its hand down on the buildings. It swept away dozens of people in a single go. There were no screams as they disappeared into the body of the demon. People were so enamored that they didn’t notice a smaller one making its way through the city.
A grey skinned creature that stood taller than most humans. Short curved horns protruded from its head, with a smooth face and a single upturned red void of a mouth in a savage smile. It had sharp red plating over its fingers and thick hooves for feet. Behind its head were a pair of tendrils one the same color, the other a rotted green. They wrapped together forming something like a shovel.
It hopped forward from the ground to the rooftops around them and didn’t pay mind to the people it passed by or landed on. It flipped forward and perched atop a former coliseum. The stands were empty now and it was easy to see the patch of destruction wrought by the larger demon’s path.
The demon hopped down from its tendril and landed on its feet. But it looked toward its creator. “Good reconnaissance Trouble Maker,” Ryza said looking at the undead demon. Once upon a time, this demon cursed her and very nearly separated her from her mates forever. But since coming back she found it, killed it, and made it her personal familiar.
She felt a nervous nudge against her hand and glanced down at Grey. The large wolf refused to leave her side. “It’s funny how nostalgia for one’s home can have you seeing something like this. This is more than a calamity,” she said brushing her fingers through his fur slowly.
The wolf looked at her expectantly and nodded as if understanding exactly what she was saying. Despite the chaos around them, she felt very calm. “Before you I had a rat. A friend who had been with me for years. I talked to him all the time. But it was time to put him down. Move on. But then I met you. And you remind me of Shriek in small important ways.” He licked her hand and barked softly before pressing his nose against her palm. She laughed then and nodded, “He enjoyed doing that as well.”
He padded around slowly and fell into step with her as she started running through the chaos. “I am a 289 year old necromancer. I had many companions during those centuries. Animals, people, living and dead. And yet somehow, you’ve beaten out most of them. And I bet you don’t appreciate just how monumental that is.”
She stepped down from the scaffolding, the wolf, and the demon zombie dropped down beside her. “That thing is on par with The First. Truly beyond this small town. This isn’t just a calamity. This will be a massacre. As fascinating as seeing a proper old one in the flesh is, I’d rather not be in danger of being consumed by one.”
She started to look for a way out of the city, preferably the way she came, when her demon turned. It let out a hiss and Ryza glanced at it then followed where it was looking. She felt the sudden burst of energy in her bones and it was familiar. “I know that magic. Come Trouble Maker.”
She turned, her fur flowing and suddenly she stood taller. Shaking she started running, her powerful arms and legs carrying her across the rooftops. As she darted through the city with her demon and wolf hot behind her, she realized that she was working her way toward the castle.
As she got closer, she could hear voices. Enhanced hearing had its perks. She walked forward slowly and the demon crouched. A long time ago the eerie grin on its face haunted her memories, haunted her dreams. But she made the monsters that haunted her into her own personal weapon.
Shifting back into her human form she stared at the assembled. With a quick glance, she could see a couple of children. Well teenagers but they were children to her. A family resemblance that was hard to miss. She could smell the demons on the air from the other two. It was the last one that truly got her attention. She sniffed the air once and her eyes widened.
“Alison? So you’re what I sensed. But what are you doing here? Then again you always seem to find a way to get yourself into trouble.”
She started to stand when she felt the ripple of magic pass over her. A blast of bright white light followed by it quickly being engulfed by a portal of black. “That magic. It can’t be.”
“How?” Sofie took a step back slowly her eyes shaking. “How are you here?”
“You three were easier to trick than I thought,” Daze said walking forward slowly and spun the pocket watch around until it landed in his hand. “So eager to prove yourselves. To have your own tales.”
Sofie shook her head again and tried to thrust her hand forward. Tried to blow him away with the light but he swatted it away with an easy shield of black. The white glow of her eyes started to flicker revealing the yellow. The fear. “The dream? Headmaster Sehren seeing us off?”
“All me.”
“What?” Silva looked at him like her heart was breaking entirely. Daze turned around slowly and his visage changed slowly and she stared at her headmaster. The man she’d looked up to for years and been her mentor. “That not right.”
“You saw and understood what you wanted to see,” Daze said simply.
“No. No!”
“I didn’t expect you to be such a driving force but I can see why you’ve become one of my brother’s favorite students. You’re just like him.”
Silva screamed and thrust her hands forward. Her eyes glowed for the barest of a moment and her arms shook but she couldn’t conjure a proper spell. The magic wouldn’t answer her call and she looked at the cuffs. She screamed at them and sank to the ground.
Sofie glared the light in her eyes flickering. She shouted and thrust her hands forward trying to cast that magic again. It came at her call shooting from her hands in a solid beam of white light. But it struck his chest and then nothing happened. He looked down watching the fading sparks.
“A burst of faerie magic at the end. Impressive. Where’s your dragon?” he asked nonchalantly.
“Far away from this and far away from you,” she said defiantly and was glad her voice didn’t waver. She could feel Emeralda at the corner of her mind, poking at the window of her mind. But she the window shut tightly. She didn’t want her to be anywhere near here.
“Good. That makes things easier,” he started walking toward her and she crawled backward.
A wall of ice manifested separating the two as Alison stood up panting. Penny’s influence was even greater, the black veins covering half of her face but Alison was the one in control. “We don’t know who you are but get away from her.”
He looked at her and nodded slowly, “A demon and a mage merged together. And merged differently than what I created. Fascinating.”
Daze swung his arm and the black sword manifested, shattering the ice. He watched as the shards floated around him then darted like lances. His sword was a blur blocking and breaking each lance until they were nothing more than mist. Jumping backward he swung his free hand at her, black lightning firing at her.
Eyes widening, she brought up walls of ice to protect herself but the black energy pierced each wall before striking her in the chest. Lifted off the ground she rolled backward her chest hissing with smoke. “Nice thinking Penny.”
“This is not an opponent we can win against,” the demon said as Alison started to stand up.
“We can’t abandon them.”
She started to raise her hand, magic on her fingertips. And then she wasn’t moving anymore. She stood frozen on the spot as did everyone else around them. There was an echo of peaceful silence over them. Not the forced silence of the demon but the natural kind that real stillness brought.
Taking a slow deep breath, Daze turned around and this time he saw Sofie on the ground. She too was frozen just like everyone and everything else. Bringing his sword forward he saw the glow of the gems inside of it, looking at the empty slots before raising it above his head.
Before he could bring it down, it was stopped by a ribcage of bone appearing over the girl. He widened his eyes surprised and then glanced to the side as he watched the demon attack at his side. Before it could get close the demon’s leg was grabbed by a shadowy hand. The hand squeezed but the demon wriggled free and slid away.
Stepping back Daze pulled his sword away and put some distance between himself and the bones. He watched as Ryza walked forward lowering her hands and the bones fading with it. Her feral eyes narrowed onto Daze and she growled as her demon landed beside her. “Keep them safe Grey,” she ordered and the wolf stood in front of them. “Hunting children now Daze?”
“Come now Shina. Even you can sense the potential in them,” he turned his sword slowly and rested it against his shoulder.
“I can, which means keeping her away from you is definitely the smartest thing to do.”
He laughed and gave a short nod, “The path to godhood is rife with trials. Besting a specter from my own past seems to be on that list.”
“Your grudge is really lasting beyond generations,” she said. “And what would you do once you achieve godhood? What happens after you destroy the Sanctum?”
“Why suddenly so concerned with my ambitions Shina?”
“Call it a courtesy to an old friend.”
He stared at her for a long moment and then shook his head, “I don’t think so this time Shina. Maybe the next time our paths cross.”
His eyes glowed and there was that pulse of magic again. The demon and Ryza both froze on the spot, Ryza in mid retort to him. The way that people froze when he stopped time was always an interesting thing. Like a snapshot of reality that stayed that way forever. He looked at Ryza for a moment longer but then walked toward Sofie again.
“Wait.”
He paused and looked back toward Silva. She had raised her head slowly and glared at him. She was bathed in the same golden glow as before. “Right. My brother’s meddling lets you keep your agency even here. What do you want child?”
“Don’t take my sister.”
He raised an eyebrow, “You aren’t in a position to make demands.”
“I’m not demanding. I’m bargaining.”
“You don’t have many things to offer.”
“I can offer myself.”
He chuckled softly and finally turned to face her. “Okay. Let’s pursue this train of thought for a moment. What can you offer that your sister, the dragon rider, cannot?”
She took a deep breath and her eyes shifted slowly to red as she looked at him defiantly. “My sister and I are both faeries. But more than that my sister missed the dragon gene. She may be a dragon’s partner but I,” she glared her red eyes bleeding to her draconic ones and the scales around her face forming. “I am a dragon.”
“I remember child. You and your brother were key to helping your father when I first came to retrieve the sword,” he said thinking back to the few days he spent at the castle. “So, you’re offering your life in exchange for your sisters?”
“Yes,” she nodded as the dragon faded and her eyes struggled to remain blue. “I’m a more powerful spellcaster. I’ve got dragon and faerie genes in my blood. I’m better than her in every way.”
“You realize you’re forfeiting potentially your life.”
“It’s better than Sofia losing hers.”
“And here I thought you hated your sister.”
“I don’t hate her. I just,” she scowled. “I don’t have to explain it to you.”
“As someone who doesn’t see eye to eye with his brother, I’m curious. And maybe your answer is going to help me decide if I take you up on your offer.”
She looked at him confused, trying to read this strange man but she couldn’t. She was too drained to think straight. The blue left her eyes settling on yellow as she said, “As much as I want to blame my sister. As much as I want to hate her I won’t. Not anymore. Whatever my problems, they’re mine. Not hers. But I’m her older sister and I need to act like it. And that starts with protecting her from you.”
They stared at one another for a long moment, Daze’s unreadable face and Silva’s exhausted one. He stood and turned his sword around holding it above his head. When he brought it down, she flinched but didn’t feel pain. She looked down and saw that her shackles fell around her in a pile. Her wrist had been heavily bruised and were discolored.
And she felt her magic. Felt it like a small trickle of water refilling a pool. She snapped her fingers and a pitiful spark manifested in front of her. It wasn’t what she was used to but it was a start. Rubbing her wrists slowly she looked at him as he put the sword against his back and it disappeared.
“Great Daze is here. This fight is going to be such a pain for us,” Julie said startling Silva. Julie took a step forward ready to attack but frowned. She recognized the stillness around her and stared at Daze. “You did your time stop bullshit didn’t you?”
“Yes Julie,” he said.
“I hate that stuff,” they made a face and the mask and metal faded away again revealing her normal features.
Silva jumped again when she heard a loud boom at her side. Looking quickly, she saw Invictus stamp the ground hard enough to shake it. They did it again and again as the mask started to crack on their face. After another stomp, the ground shattered entirely as did the mask. Panting with his eyes narrowed, Miles looked at each of them.
“Welcome back Miles,” Daze said softly.
Miles nodded blankly trying to catch his breath, “Invictus is difficult to keep under control when they first wake up. But once they calm down its easier to take back the reigns.” He looked past Daze to the frozen demon in the distance. “Were we the only ones released from the time stop?”
“Yes. The cult was more productive than I gave them credit for,” he said marveling at it. Turning to look at the demon he coughed into his hand and stumbled forward. Grunting he forced himself back to his feet. “To physically call one of them here is impressive. They’ve gone above and beyond my expectations.”
“Yeah real honor students,” Julie shook her head. “Aren’t they just doing what you taught them to?”
“I haven’t instructed the cult in many years. They’ve become their own entity. Perhaps too unpredictable of one.”
Julie looked at the other demon and Ryza. “Who’s this?”
“An old acquaintance of mine. But she’s of no consequence. Ignore her,” he started walking again. “Come you three. We’re leaving. And we’re taking that with us.” He nodded toward the demon. “I’ll need a little extra help moving it.”
“He gets here and starts ordering us around,” Julie shook her head. “Wait. Three?”
“He means me,” Silva said shakily as she stood. Miles’s eyes widened quickly and Silva glanced at him with blue eyes and started walking.
“What do we have to do to move the demon?” Silva asked.
“That eager to get to work?” Daze raised his eyebrow.
She stopped for a moment and looked at her brother on the ground bleeding from his neck wound. Her sister was frozen against the ground her face wracked with fear. Staring at the two of them she hid her pain behind her hair. “The sooner we get this thing out of here the sooner we leave and my sister and brother are far away from you.”
Daze nodded fighting another cough, “Let’s get to work then. We have places to be very soon.”
As the two of them walked away Julie and Miles watched their backs. Miles looked at Julie for a long moment and then at Sofie and Sefirin. He could still taste the blood on his mouth even though the mask was gone. Spitting he turned back to his fellow guardian.
“She’s just a kid,” Miles said softly. “I wanted to help her. And now this.”
Julie sighed, “His cult has been taking in men, women, and kids since this started. We’ve got no ground to stand on. Not really.”
“I know,” he said and he growled under his breath.
“You thought you’d be able to help her escape the moment the ritual failed.” Julie squeezed his shoulder lightly. “Regina would’ve done the same. Hell Badou would do the same. We know. But Regina isn’t here anymore. And Badou has his mission. We have to do what we have to do.”
“Is this how we save Noria?” Miles asked finally. “By just letting this stuff happen?”
“We don’t know. Probably not. But that’s for Badou to figure out. And until our king is safe we have to keep doing as we’re told. Now come on Miles. We got work to do.”
The Harlequin Library 