by Linsey Hall
"That's the castle's way of protecting us, isn't it?" I asked.
Arach nodded. "I heard what you said about Dante Alighieri. About how he betrayed the Protectorate. I didn't realize that he put the stone down here, but if a foreign object of great power was placed in the cavern, then the natural magic of this place would've ignited, enclosed around the object. Dante wouldn’t have realized that, though. It is dragon lore.”
Wow, that was amazing. The castle was like a living thing, protecting us the way that we protected it.
"You’re a dragon," Bree said. "Can you help us?"
"I can. At least, I can try. Step aside."
We did as she asked, watching in awe as she shifted into the form of a true dragon. Magic swirled around her as her humanoid form grew and morphed. A moment later, a dragon stood in her place. Pale white and transparent, she was the size of a small house, with a graceful neck and powerful claws. She leaned forward, stretching out her neck and blasting her fire at the stone. The flame glowed a brilliant blue, and the stone began to melt away.
I stepped back, the heat almost more than I could bear. Awe filled my chest as I watched her.
"I don't know how the Fates expected to get to that stone without Arach," Rowan said.
"I'm sure they had a way." I no longer doubted the Fates. They could accomplish whatever they set out to do. To defeat them, we would have to be at our best.
Deep within Arach's flame, something glowed bright. She stepped back, cutting off her fire. A tiny black cave had formed, and the stone sat within, glowing brightly.
I hurried forward, entering the warm cave.
"Careful, that stone could be hot," Lachlan said.
I touched it carefully with a fingertip, and he was right. Blazing hot.
Maybe I didn't even need to pick it up. All I needed to do was destroy it. I wasn’t sure yet how I would do that, but I had an idea.
I dug into my pocket and removed my half of the stone, then placed it against the broken side of the other stone. They fused together, flashing a bright white light.
The light confirmed that my idea might work. I stepped back. "I think I might know how to destroy the stone."
I called upon the magic within me, focusing on the light power that Sulis had given me. The light was good, and the stone was evil. Hopefully one could destroy the other. I directed my magic at the stone, giving it all that I had.
The white light glowed out of me, shooting toward the stone and making it shine a brilliant white.
The air vibrated with dark magic, and something burst from the stone.
A shadowy demon! The figure was about my size, but semitransparent and gray. Massive horns rose from its head, and it charged me.
The Doomsday Stone was fighting back. Somehow, it’d been imbued with a protective charm that made demons burst from it.
Bree intercepted the demon who hurtled toward me, swinging her sword for its neck. The blade collided, and the demon exploded in a poof of dust.
Another demon burst out of the stone, and another. My friends engaged the attackers as I kept sending my light into the stone. Cass destroyed one demon with a fire ball, while Rowan hit another with her dagger. Lachlan used his sword, slicing through the middle of a demon with such speed that I could barely see the blade.
I suddenly understood why I’d felt compelled to ask them to come with me.
“Keep going!” Lachlan shouted. “We’ve got your back.”
As they fought, I reached deep for every ounce of magic that was in my soul. It poured out of me, stronger than ever. Only the light could destroy the Doomsday Stone.
I just had to be strong enough.
It took everything that I had to stay on my feet as I poured my power into the stone. I kept going until I could see nothing but the bright white glow of Sulis’s light of life. I could hear the fighting around me, but saw none of it. It shot toward the stone, bowling out of me like a freight train. An explosion blasted from the cave, and we were thrown back. I skidded against the dirt, colliding with my friends.
When the rubble settled, I rose to my feet, my heart thundering. We were lucky that the whole place hadn’t come down around us.
I'd blown a hole in the side of the cave that was the size of a car. There was no stone within the cave, and all the demons were gone. There was no stone anywhere, in fact.
I turned to everyone else. "I think we did it."
"You destroyed the Doomsday Stone." Arach's voice echoed with authority. "I can feel that it is no longer here."
We’d done it. The spell would never be permanent. But we still needed to defeat the Fates and save our friends. The battle was raging outside, and the demon forces were strong.
"Let's go finish this fight," I said.
We sprinted out of the cavern, climbing stairs as fast as we could and racing through the library. The sound of battle greeted us as we ran outside. All of our forces were gathered near the castle wall, launching an attack against the demons outside.
We sprinted toward them, climbing up onto the wall. I joined Connor, the potion maker from Magic’s Bend. He was hurling potion bombs at the demons at the base of the wall. All around, Protectorate members fired arrows and potion bombs at the enemy. The few who had any magic left used it, but there weren't many.
There were hundreds of demons outside the wall. Dozens of them slammed huge battering rams into the castle wall, shaking it beneath our feet.
I scanned the crowd for the Fates, finally spotting them near the back. They were surrounded by their demon warriors, a bodyguard troop of hundreds.
"We need to figure out how to get to them." I frowned. But how? Their troops would destroy us before we even got close. “If I can get close, I can destroy them with my light.”
“We can try launching an attack from the sky." Bree looked up. "But there are enough of them that control fire and ice that we would be in trouble."
"No, we have to take out most of the demons, or cause a big enough distraction that we can get to the Fates without them attacking us.” Lachlan inspected the demon hordes, looking for a weakness.
"I think I have something that might help." Connor dug into his sack of potions and pulled out a rock. "It's a special bomb. It uses the energy of the earth to disrupt the ground and make it explode upward."
Another super magical object disguised as a rock. I could use less of these in my life.
"I can disrupt the ground.” Why hadn’t I thought about that?
"Can you disrupt an area the size of a football field?" Connor asked.
“No, that's a bit big." Even with Lachlan's help, I couldn't manage that. “Your rock can do that?”
Connor grinned. “Yep. This will take out a lot of those demons, but we haven't been able to use it yet because we can’t deploy it."
"How do we deploy it?" Lachlan asked.
"You need to put it on the ground and give it at least ten seconds in order for the stone’s roots to make a connection with the earth. But you can't throw it or the magic will be disrupted. You have to place it down gently.” He shrugged. “It’s a work in progress and finicky, but I think it will do what you want.”
"I know how to deliver the stone," Rowan said.
I looked at her. "The buggy?"
"Exactly."
"I like how you think," Bree said. "I'll help clear the way."
"Excellent. We’ll deliver the stone right to the middle of them and then get out before it detonates." I looked at Connor. "How long do we have before that happens?”
"Not more than thirty seconds."
I turned to my sisters. "We'll have to be fast."
Connor gave me the stone. "My aim is good. I’ll try to clear the path in front of the buggy. Everyone on the wall will. We’ll distract them while you put the bomb in place.”
"Thank you."
We sprinted from the wall, heading toward the buggy that Rowen had left parked in the middle of the castle grounds. Cade joined us, sprinting to catch up.
Del and Nix followed, leaping into the middle seats of the Buggy.
"You're headed out into the demons, right?" Del asked.
"Yep." I took the front platform along with Lachlan, and Cass joined us.
"Excellent," Nix said. "Right into the action."
Rowan stepped on the gas, and the buggy leapt forward.
She drove straight for the gate, and shouted for it to open.
Hans’s head peeked out from the gatehouse, and his wide eyes met ours. “I’ve got it!”
He scrambled to open the gate and pressed his hand to the heavy wood. The magic ignited and the gate disappeared. Rowan drove through, out into the open countryside. She took a left, gunning for the crowd of demons.
As we neared, I began to throw fire at the demons. The blasts lit them up like fireworks, and I threw as many as I could.
"I'm more useful from the ground." Lachlan pulled me close and gave me one fast kiss, then leapt off the buggy. He transformed into a lion before he hit the ground.
Cade followed him, shifting into the form of a huge gray wolf.
Del leapt out of the buggy and adopted her phantom form. She danced through the demons, her transparent blue body shimmering light. She turned corporeal long enough to slice off demon heads and disembowel anyone who got in her way.
They led the way, bowling through the demons and clearing the path. I caught sight of the Cats of Catastrophe rampaging through the demons. I hadn't realized they'd gotten outside the castle walls, but they clearly wanted to be in the middle of the fight.
“Get ready to clear out soon, cats!” I shouted.
Muffin meowed, indicating that he had heard me.
Next to me, Cass joined me in throwing fire at the demons. Her fireballs could take out six at a time.
Nix fired her bow and arrow faster than I had ever seen anyone use the weapon. Her aim was spectacular. Bree fought from the sky, sending lightning streaking down toward the demons. Thunder cracked in the air, a deafening soundtrack to the battle.
Once we reached the middle of the mass of demons, I dug into my pocket and pulled out Connor’s bomb. "I'll hang off the back and lay it down.” I looked at Cass. “Can you cover me with a massive fire wall so no demons can see me?”
She grinned. “On it.”
"Be careful!” Rowan slowed the buggy as I climbed over the back seat.
Cass joined me on the back platform, raising her hands and creating a massive wall of fire at the back of the buggy. It gave me about ten feet of space to work in secret. I slipped over the railing and hung off, carefully putting the stone on the ground.
Cass’s flame was hot and fierce, but it hid me from the eye of the demons. When the fire stopped, they probably wouldn’t even notice the little rock on the ground.
I hauled myself back up onto the buggy, and Cass cut the flame.
"Go!” I shouted.
Rowan stepped on the gas, and the buggy surged forward. The demons closed in to fill the gap we’d left behind, but none of them seemed to notice the little rock on the ground. I prayed that none of them would kick it.
As we sped away from the bomb, Rowan veered the buggy left and right, picking up our friends, who still fought amongst the hordes.
I caught sight of Muffin, flying above the massive demons and gouging out their eyes with his claws. "Muffin! Get out of here, and take the other cats. Now!"
He didn't need to be told twice. That cat knew when trouble was about to go down.
The cats raced off the battlefield, jumping from demon head to demon head like they were springboards, making record time.
I watched the horde of demons anxiously, waiting for the blast to go off.
When it came, it threw me backward on the platform. I slammed into the metal bars, and the buggy skidded to the side when Rowan lost control.
We slowed to a halt.
When I stood, the battlefield around us was chaos. Demon bodies were littered everywhere. A circle of demons remained around the perimeter, but they looked as disoriented as I felt. There were at least two hundred of them left, maybe three hundred. Toward the far side of the circle of demons, the Fates were rising to their feet. The blast had killed many of the demons around them, but they were too strong to be taken out by an explosion alone.
My friends leapt out of the buggy and charged the demons who stood in a massive circle. Protectorate members used ropes to rappel down the sides of the castle walls, then they streamed toward the demons. Connor must have told them my plan to destroy the Fates, and they were distracting the demons.
The battle erupted, my friends holding off the demons and giving me a chance to confront the Fates. The battle formed an arena of death, and I would be the main show.
I couldn't waste a single moment.
They just needed to keep the demons away long enough for me to attack the Fates. I looked up at the sky, imagining myself turning into the Battle Crow.
The transformation was instantaneous. One moment I was standing, and the next I was in the air. I flew toward the sky as my friends’ exclamations of shock echoed in my ears.
I flew straight for the Fates, determined to end this once and for all. I just needed to get in position, close enough to use my light power against them. It had killed the other Fate, and it would work against these two.
They saw me coming, and rage twisted their faces. Their armor gleamed in the light. Together, they hurled their sonic booms at me. I dived right, avoiding the masses of magic that would have thrown me out of the sky.
I swept down to attack, but they threw their sonic booms again. This time I wasn't so lucky. The edge of one of the booms hit me in the wing, and I tumbled in the sky, barely righting myself before plowing into the ground.
I flew upward, catching sight of Bree. She hovered in the sky, her silver wings glinting. "I'll take the one on the left and hold her off while you finish the other."
"Squawk!" Crap. I’d forgotten I couldn't talk in this form. But she seemed to get the message.
Bree’s lightning struck toward the Fate on the left, and I flew toward the one on the right. All around, battle raged as my friends held off the demon attack, keeping them from throwing fire and magic to take me out of the sky.
As I approached, the Fate shouted curses at me, something ancient and foreign. But she wouldn't win this. I was the Morrigan, goddess of battle and fate. Or I had her powers, at least. I was on the side of right, and I would win.
I dodged her sonic booms, calling upon the magic within me. It blasted from me as a white light, fiercer than it had ever been. When I was in my Battle Crow form, my magic seemed stronger.
The light exploded in the air, hitting the Fate square in the chest. I poured it into her, forcing the goodness and light and hope toward evil. She shrieked in rage, then disappeared in a poof of dust.
I darted away, flying around the side in order to attack the last standing Fate. All around, the battle raged.
My friends kept the demons away from us, giving us time to fight. Bree sent lightning at the last Fate, all the while trying to dodge her sonic booms. I flew toward her, getting into position.
A fire ball slammed into my back from behind, pain igniting. One of the demons must've slipped through. I whirled on the air, and dived low, stabbing him through the eye with my beak.
Gross.
Instinct had driven me in my Battle Crow form, but human-me did not like the taste of eyeballs and brains. I tried to spit, vowing never to do that again, and flew high into the air, heading toward Bree.
The Fate turned her attention away from Bree and faced me, throwing her sonic boom. I dodged left, then right. But the third sonic boom hit me in in the leg, upsetting my balance on the air.
Pain flared as I tumbled through the air, heading toward the ground. I slammed into it, agony streaking through me.
Through bleary vision, I caught sight of the Fate racing toward me, her hands raised and rage on her face. I struggled to rise, to get back into the air, but she wa
s so fast. If she hit me dead-on with another sonic boom, I could be dead.
“Hey!” Rowan’s shriek came from behind the Fate. My gaze went toward her just in time to see her fire an arrow at the Fate.
The Fate turned, distracted from delivering a killing blow in my direction. The arrow slammed into her arm, and she howled.
I used the time to push off into the sky, flying high.
“Up here!” Bree shouted, distracting the Fate from Rowan.
She turned to look at Bree, so fast she was hard to see. She had to be the strongest one, and rage was fueling her movements. If someone had killed my sisters, I'd stop at nothing to get them in return.
Bree sent a crack of lightning directly toward the Fate. This time, the bolt shot straight into her. She shook and fell backward.
She was up seconds later, but Bree’s lightning had given me just enough time to call upon my magic. I reached deep inside myself and let the light fill me, then pushed it outward toward the Fate.
More and more, I gave her everything I had. Hope and goodness and joy and life. Everything that she wasn’t.
But I was running low. Even though I was stronger in this form, I’d used so much already.
I gasped, weakness invading my muscles, but kept pouring more magic toward the Fate.
I'd have to give her everything I had.
So I did.
I knew instinctively that it could kill me, but I did it.
I forced more magic into her, wringing it out of my very soul.
I envisioned why I was fighting. The faces of my friends, sisters, Lachlan. I couldn't let her win.
Finally, she shrieked and disappeared in a poof of dust. It was the last thing I heard before I fell from the sky.
16
“Ana! Ana, wake up!” Strong hands shook my shoulders, and my eyes fluttered open.
The sounds of the battle had died down, so it took me a moment to realize why I was outside. Then it hit me. I looked down at my hand.
The tattoo was gone.
I looked up at Lachlan. “So we won?”
He pulled me close and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “We won.”