Emily’s eyes widened in admiration. Oh?
“But that’s like thirty percent,” Dad kept going. “And it’s going to leave this cottage utterly defenseless.”
Emily almost pointed out that she was defense enough. But she didn’t want Dad getting sidetracked.
“Which means the roves would have free access inside,” Dad concluded.
“You think the bats are just coming to open up the perimeter, like an advance party of sorts?” Grim images rolled through Emily’s mind. “You’re thinking that the main attack force comes after the bats, and they’ll not meet a defense?”
Dad nodded again. “We’re screwed.”
Emily had been thinking the same thoughts, only her reason for the Alfreds coming in after the bats was that maybe they were still getting their acts together after the fire and needed her occupied while they did so. The bats being an advanced force was a more plausible explanation, and it terrified her even more simply because the main attack force was always bigger and more powerful than the advance force. And if three thousand bat-like beasts were an advanced force, what did the main attack force look like?
3
Emily looked away. She didn’t want to be discouraged before she shifted into her Owl form, spread her wings, and flew up to meet the bats.
“If I take out a thousand, and the perimeter takes out another thousand”—Emily chewed on her chipped fingernail—“we’ll be left with a thousand or less. We could still make it.”
“Even if we’re left with five hundred, we’ll need a miracle to survive this,” Dad reasoned.
Emily didn’t appreciate her father’s tone. He sounded defeated already. I mean, where’s the dad I knew before Mom’s incident? Where’s the Marine operative that would dive into a collapsing building just to save a life?
There was no use judging. Dad had been through a lot recently. She could imagine how traumatic it was spending a year trapped in his own mind, seeing his daughter struggle every day and being unable to help her.
Emily got it. She got that he could be grumpy, shy, and ashamed even. And he’d been strong for her once. He’d stood by and let her fly into danger, and he’d said nothing. Only God knew how much his heart pounded in his chest when she’d left with Joanna and Rina that evening.
If he’d been strong for her once, why did he want to break down on her now? Now, when it was most critical? Everything they’d worked for over the past three days, everything they had planned for the coming days, was hinged on them succeeding this attack. If the Alfreds won tonight, then they were screwed forever.
“Then we better start praying,” Emily snapped. She regretted it as soon as the words lashed out of her mouth. She’d let her anger get the better of her. Now there was a spurned coldness between her and Dad.
She sighed and shut her eyes. She allowed her powers to come to the fore of her mind. Her ability brimmed within her in moments. Her senses heightened; her skin prickled with power. She was moments away from shifting into The Owl. All she needed to do was give in to it, and she would be climbing the winds to meet her attackers.
She turned to her dad. “I know we have a lot to discuss about—”
“Go,” Dad cut her off. “Don’t worry about me. Go.”
“If I don’t make it back—”
“You will.” Dad took her by the shoulders. “Don’t talk like that. You will. I’ll be waiting for you here.”
Emily nodded. “The gun—is it any good?” She eyed her father’s weapon up and down. “Maybe you could take a few of them down before they get here.”
Dad took a look at the weapon and shrugged. “It’s old and rusty. I’ll wager it doesn’t fire. Aunt Anastacia doesn’t really need weapons to defend herself—or for anything, for that matter—so it’s not a surprise she doesn’t have a working gun.”
“Then get inside,” Emily squeaked. “Be safe.”
Dad bit his lip, looking deep into her eyes. For the first time in a long time, they connected as father and daughter. She was reminded of how they used to be before Mom. Emily was Daddy’s little girl. She rarely did anything without her father’s consent. They were best of friends. He was never strict with her, and that’s why Mom was the disciplinarian.
A few months before Mom’s death, he changed. He became more serious. Heavier. They drifted apart. They didn’t fight often. She didn’t throw tantrums, and he didn’t scream at her unnecessarily. They just grew apart. Dad grew cold, and Mom didn’t seem to mind.
It was as though Dad perceived Mom’s demise and needed to distance himself well away from her so he could be objective as a single parent.
It didn’t work well, though, because when Mom was killed, he was cursed and rendered imbecilic. Now, right here and now, as Emily stared into her father’s loving gaze, she saw a promise. A promise that if she made it back, Dad was willing to give their relationship a chance again—to reignite how close they’d been as father and daughter long before. A promise that all would be well if they made it through tonight. A promise that he would always be there to protect her. He might not have special superpowers like she did. He might be human and severely outmatched in this supernatural struggle between good and evil, but he would always be there to stand at her side against all her enemies.
His gun might not be good. But he would find a way to make it work. He would be there, taking down the bats one shot and a time. And when he was out of shots, he would swing at them, again and again and again, until either he was dead, or the bats were dead, and she was free. It was a father’s love for his child. It was Dad’s love for Emily.
And even though Emily didn’t want Dad making unnecessary sacrifices or putting himself in danger’s way, she knew she couldn’t dissuade him. For over a year, she’d been the parent. She’d done things for him that no child should ever have to do for her father. So it would be a tough sell to get him to stand back and let her be the parent once more—to protect him. She would have more luck fighting the rove and defeating him than trying to get Dad to actually back down and sit this one out.
“You know I can’t do that,” Dad reminded her.
Emily sighed. “I know. But please. I need you alive, not dead.”
He just smiled and pulled her in for a tight hug, one that she enjoyed. It reminded her of her childhood. When he was done squeezing her, he broke the embrace. “Now get up there and take them out. I’ll go up to the roof and shoot down as many as I can.”
Dad squeezed her shoulders one more time before slipping back into the night. Emily stood there for a minute, heartbroken. She tried not to cry. She tried not to think of what would happen if the bat horde got to Dad before she could thin them out early enough. She didn’t think Aunt Anastacia’s defenses would keep him safe.
Well, he’s not going to be safe at all if you keep staring at nothing like that, Selena said. Fly, Emily, fly! And give those bastards hell!
Emily was about to run off when Selena used the ‘bastard’ word.
What? Emily thought with a smile. She was already high on adrenaline.
You know what I mean! Selena went on. Make them pay!
Emily leaped onto the ground and took off into the night. She pumped tremendous force into her legs, wondering how she was going to get to the necessary height she needed. She remembered the car parked beside the house. Before she turned away from her approaching foe, she scanned the night.
There were truly thousands of them. She could see them clearly now, from the first ones to the stragglers. They all had their eyes on her and the cottage. Their eyes had a strange orange glow to them, as though they were being controlled from somewhere else—Dad had that same orange glow in his eyes when he was being controlled by Gregory Alfred. Their screeches were closer, louder, and more terrifying.
They had about five minutes before the creatures got to the cottage. If Emily took to the skies now, she could get to them in less than one minute. That meant she’d have about four minutes to destroy a thousand of them.
Could she do it?
Emily swung around, putting her back to the horde and her face to the cottage. She sighted her car parked by the house. She headed for it, already seeing herself jumping off the ground onto the trunk of the car, then onto the roof, and into the air.
She saw Dad break out of a skylight somewhere on the back side of the roof. He carried a different weapon with him and wore a rueful smile on his face, the same one you’d have if you acquired your favorite toy. Emily was no gun expert; however, Dad had traded the rusty old bucket for a state-of-the-art sniper rifle, very similar to the one he’d used in his days as a Marine operative.
He was also dragging a large metal container of magazines and bullets. And then there was a large candle he had with him. A strange-looking red candle with white markings on it.
Dad took one look at her and waved. “Hey, look at what Aunt Anastacia managed to bring me!”
Emily did not have the mental capacity to reply to him and still call forth her Owl form. So she waved back, wondering how Aunt Anastacia was still awake and how she’d brought him top-tier military gear.
Her car was parked not far from the porch. Emily leaped off the ground onto the trunk just as she’d planned. She bounced off onto the roof and then leaped with all her strength into the air.
4
That’s when Emily released. After a moment, her entire body was inundated with an indescribable power. Her body snapped in all different awkward angles as a bright light exploded from her innermost being.
She should have dropped down on the ground like a stone; however, a snap of wind swatted her into the air as she transformed. The transformation process took less than ten seconds. When it was over, Emily shot out of the blast of white light as a fully formed Owl. She let loose a ringing whistle as she tilted up, barely grazing the edge of the cottage’s roof.
She spun several times as the winds carried her higher and higher into the skies. The feeling of the rush of wind through her plume was unquantifiable. She felt like the skies belonged to her—like they were her very subjects.
A newfound power burned away in her chest. Like heat. Or a blazing fire. Pure power. All her fears and concerns vanished. As she swooped around the cottage and headed for the coming swarm, she had only one notion in her thoughts: Kill them all.
Yes, kill them all! boomed a fiery, brash voice in Emily’s mind. It was a new voice, not like Selena. It was fierce. Incendiary. Unafraid. And strangely, it fueled Emily’s rage, feeding her power even more.
Uh, who are you?
I am the fire demon! the voice screamed. Weirdly, it was a male voice this time. Emily wasn’t terrified or anything for having another consciousness in her mind. After spending a few days with Selena, she got used to the idea. But she still wondered where this fire-demon-guy came from.
Uh, Fire Demon, where did you come from, though? Although she was conversing with the fire demon, she had her eyes on the swarm. In forty seconds, she would make contact.
I’ve always been in you, the fire demon said. You just haven’t given me expression. Hey, can we have this conversation later? I’m going to help you destroy the entire horde.
That’s when the conversation got interesting.
Okay then. I’m listening. Can you really help me destroy them all? asked Emily, impressed. There are a lot of them. Like three thousand.
The fire demon let loose a rambunctious laugh, one that startled Emily even in flight. His laughter lasted for longer than necessary, which had Emily wondering if this fire demon wasn’t perhaps a little unhinged. And why did she have to have two consciousnesses within her mind?
The laughter faded away. They should have sent more.
Emily didn’t know what it was about the fire demon’s words and how he talked. Every time he spoke, she felt a burst of courage. Right now, she felt like the three thousand bat creatures of darkness heading toward her were nothing. She felt the fire demon’s power. She felt its very fearlessness course through her blood.
She even felt its rage. For there could be no fire without rage. It was like a drug. It pumped through her veins sending her to Cloud Nine. It got so fierce that Emily was convinced there was no way she was losing this fight. Not when the fire demon was on her team.
She looked ahead. Thirty seconds until first contact.
I suppose you have a plan? Emily questioned. Or are you all bark and no bite?
The fire demon’s seething radiated through her mind. It felt like touching a hot iron; it burned through her, causing her to whistle in panic.
That’s the fire of my rage, the fire demon announced proudly. We’ll use it to destroy the horde.
Emily would have smiled, but she was still shocked by how much power the fire demon wielded over her.
Burn them all! the fire demon screeched as she made contact.
Emily first felt a very powerful desire to throw up. Then she felt more of an acid-reflux reaction that she sometimes got when she’d just finished eating too much pizza. Only this time it was more intense. Then she felt the fire demon slide right into the reins of power, shoving her own consciousness to the back seat.
With dismay, she watched as the fire demon took total control of her Owl form. Before she could complain or do anything about his enthusiasm, a blast of liquid fire erupted out of her beak and swept across the sky in a terrifyingly wide arc.
The result was instantaneous. The bats instantly burned. Their screeches turned to screams of terror. It was so bad that their cries pierced through Emily’s anger and struck her heart. She watched as the fire demon kept the flow of fire, whipping to the left and right to get the ones that were trying to escape his arc. Every bat that approached was incinerated immediately.
Within one minute, Emily watched hundreds of bats turn to ash. The darkness of the night was chased away as the fire demon let loose all hell. Soon, the early birds were cleared and the main assault team of bats approached them.
It was like a dark mass. A horde of terrible things. Even the wind seemed to be in their favor, stirring around them and threatening to turn into a major hurricane.
Hang on, Emily! the fire demon called as they were seconds away from cutting into the midst of the horde.
Emily saw immediately that this was a terrible plan. There were thousands of them tightly packed into the swarm. If they went right into the center, they would never come out. It didn’t matter that they could spew fire. The moment they went into the horde, the bats would tear them apart. Even though they incinerated a hundred, two hundred would retaliate in their wake. It was plain stupid to go straight in, and Emily knew it.
She wasn’t sure the fire demon knew it. All he wanted to do was set everything on fire. He was even a terrible flyer. He didn’t understand aerodynamics; not like Selena. He was the typical rambunctious boy-child. All he wanted to do was smash and crash and bash. And his approach was going to get them all killed. Where the hell was Selena?!
Maybe we should rethink our head-on approach? Emily suggested, completely dismayed by the fire demon’s suicidal plan.
Rethink? the fire demon asked, surprised. Then he let loose another of his maniacal laughs. Baby, you don’t know the half of what I’m capable of! The fire demon didn’t slow his approach, and the bat-like creatures seemed very happy to collide face-first with them.
Emily tried not to panic. She had allowed this entity to take control of her body. Surely, she could take back control. It was her body, after all, wasn’t it? Just how was she going to go about doing this?
No way are you stealing my thunder, Emily, the fire demon muttered into her deepest thoughts. She had forgotten momentarily that the fire demon could hear her thoughts much like Selena could.
Today is a good day to die, right? Wasn’t that your thought? Then he laughed again.
He was mocking her. Yes, Emily had thought those exact words right before the bats came along. Then, before Emily had the mind to scream, the fire demon plowed onward.
Burn! was the last word the fire demon screamed in her mind as they cut into the horde. That’s when things got really intense.
The fire demon slammed the brakes on the speed of The Owl. Then he spread out their wings to full length, exposing every square meter of the massive wingspan of The Owl. It wasn’t the brightest aerodynamic decision to have made, because the moment they did that, they shed fifty percent of their speed.
Not only was the fire demon sending them into the heart of the death-swarm, he was planning on getting them stuck right in the middle, without enough speed for a fast exit.
The Owl’s wings were hard enough to bash hundreds of bats to the sides as it slowed.
Then the fire demon exploded.
That’s the only way Emily could have explained it. Just when the entire horde was about to dive in for the kill, the fire demon straight-up exploded. Fire erupted from The Owl’s sternum. It was a fierce and raging fire that wrapped around The Owl and spread out.
The fire had a force to it. It had purpose. It had intent. It was similar to how Emily had control over the wind. The fire was under the control of the fire demon’s destructive intent. Right before her eyes, the flames spread out in all directions and so fast that not a single bat-like creature escaped.
It was almost beautiful in the way a burning sun was created right there in the thickest and darkest of night skies. Then Emily understood the fire demon’s plan. She was ashamed of herself for doubting him because it was absolutely brilliant.
The Owl hovered there in the air as the entire horde was decimated in the blink of an eye.
5
It was like a rain of fire and death and destruction. The creatures’ screams of pain filled the night as far as the horizon. All around them, they fell as burning cinders. Some burned out before they touched the ground, while others fell and continued to burn. But they all burned.
Controlled by a Fire Demon: The Owl Shifter Chronicles Book Two Page 2