Hot Knights

by Rue Allyn

  “Wow, you two make quite the gruesome couple.” Sparrow’s chipper voice penetrated the fog. Tera finished off another demon that had jumped down from the roof. Despite the war status, she was filled with a fuzzy warmth.

  A vampire teleported behind Sparrow, but as soon as it did, its body seized as if struck by lightning. Tera paused her fighting to behold Morgana and Melissandra fixing a wicked spell on the enemy. The aunts’ hands were crooked and strained, as if so much power coursed through them that the flesh could hardly contain it. The vampire’s body continued to seize and jerk, until finally, its head exploded in a bloody, crimson mess.

  “All is fair in war, sweet Sparrow.” Melissandra patted her hands together in self-gratification.

  Demons still swarmed the island and Tera looked frantically at her mortal family. “Use a protection spell. A serious one,” Tera yelled at them as she and Sabin fought side by side.

  Morgana screamed as she seized another killing spell toward an approaching demon. “I am in agreement, but we can only carry so much power and energy at once.”

  At that moment, the dragon swept down from the fog in a mass of thick silver scales with flames spilling from a fang-laden mouth. Sabin launched a couple of astral bullets to debilitate demons approaching Sparrow. “Hey, girls,” Tera heard him call out to the aunts, “Think you can launch me upward?”

  Tera caught his eye and shook her head nervously. It was too late.

  “Coming right up.”

  “Literally,” Melissandra giggled. With that, the sisters used telekinesis to launch Sabin’s body through the air until his body collided with the dragon.

  “Me, too,” Tera yelled, feeling frantic, unable to see Sabin so high within the fog. The only traces of the dragon and unwanted rider were a bright burst of yellow and orange within the lavender blanketing the dark night sky.

  “I don’t think so, dear.” When a burst of flames came closer to the ground, Morgana and Melissandra focused on manifesting a safety orb around themselves. “Sparrow, protect yourself, too,” they ordered.

  Sparrow closed her eyes to concentrate on creating a safety orb, but she suddenly exploded in a scream that penetrated the night, and echoed off the front of the high prison walls.

  Latched onto Sparrow’s calf was a gargoyle the size of a bulldog. The charbroiled red skin of the gothic creature was nearly as horrifying as the large canines that were currently pulling on her leg like a chew toy.

  A sonic boom shook the ground. The dragon landed nearby in a dead heap. Sabin dropped to the ground near Sparrow and drove his dagger into the gargoyle’s gut. Ripping apart the stomach, the gizzards of the tiny demon seeped out, and her leg was free.

  “Sparrow!” Morgana rushed over with her sister, their eyes lit with fear and concern. “Melissandra, screw our safety orb, let us focus on healing her.”

  “That will take too long. Let’s bandage her up before she bleeds too much.”

  Morgana’s eyes flickered with anger at her sister. “Do you have bandages then?”

  Defeated, Melissandra shook her head. “You’re right, we can do this, we just need to concentrate.”

  When Tera rushed over, a demon right behind her, Sabin decapitated the creature in a swift, easy move.

  “Gosh, I’ve never realized that decapitation skills would one day be on my list of boyfriend must-haves.” Sparrow tried to joke weakly. “Oh here,” she pulled herself up on her elbows to reach behind her back. “I thought this would help. I hope you don’t mind I rifled through your closet.”

  Tera could have cried with happiness when she realized that Sparrow had brought the bow Artemis had helped her make. The quiver was blessed with infinite artillery. “Thanks, hon.” She pressed a calming hand on her friend’s brow as the aunts hovered near Sparrow’s leg. A glow began illuminating the wound.

  “By the way,” Sparrow managed, her voice less pained. “I found some scandalous things in your closet.” She offered a playful wink. “Now go kick some ass.”

  Tera stood, feeling the strength and determination of her own body. Today she would make Artemis proud. Pulling an arrow back proudly, she let it sing toward its enemy. The barb pierced the heart of a vampire. Unlike her wooden stake, the arrow ruptured the heart, and it sank to the ground in a slow decay.

  Smiling, she launched another arrow at a vampire she saw drop from the portal. Motioning with her head to the quiver on her back, she gloated playfully. “Gifted by a Goddess. Guess that counts for something.”

  Just as she was getting cocky, another dragon flew out of the portal. Instead of launching an offensive, Sabin ran toward her and pressed a kiss against her lips quickly and passionately. “I must leave, Tera. I need to seal the portal. I thought the Knights would have by now. I’m not sure what’s going on. Can you hold it down here?” A dangerous concern hung in Sabin’s eyes. His look implied that if she had said no, he would have stayed on the island, never leaving her side even if the dragon made it across the water and began torching the city.

  “I got it here. And thanks to your quick action, Sparrow’s injury is minor and healing as we speak. Go.”

  With that, Sabin pulled her to him once more. A demon approached, but the kiss continued. From the distance, Morgana zapped the demon with a bolt of electricity, bringing the beast to the ground for a moment. The lovers spoke their apologies once more during the brief kiss, letting the truth of their bond ignite heat between their bodies, filling them with power to finish the battle. “I trust you, Sabin.”

  Finally drawing away, Sabin nodded knowingly at Tera. With that, he decapitated the creature that Morgana had zapped, and made his way atop the prison. In a moment, he was gone. Tera was left to fight the battle with Morgana, Melissandra, and a healing Sparrow.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Rowen and Sodor arrived in the portal together to begin what they expected to be a normal shift, but the duo was met with an unforgettable scene of chaos. Near the portal to Alcatraz Island in the Human Realm, a massive hoard of demons were battling each other, struggling to eek through the portal. Zeth was already there, and was quickly subduing many of the creatures, slicing off heads with his astral sword. Clearly, the situation was dire if the Knight was killing instead of incarcerating.

  Not sparing another moment, the two ran toward the fray just as a dragon the size of an elephant flew through the portal. “Hell plane! King Breasal is gonna be pissed,” was all Rowan could say before his body collided in combat with a massive winged demon.

  “Forget Breasal.” Sodor fired his astral gun into the chests of many of the demons. “Sabin’s gonna be pissed. He asked us to hold down the fort for his mini-vacay in the Human Realm and now look what happened.” Sodor ducked as a massive cyclops swung out with a beefy arm. “Man, I always feel bad killing these guys, one eye and all.” But with a swift move, he withdrew his astral sword and shoved it deep into the massive body. Black blood oozed from the yellowish-green, scabby skin of the creature. When the cyclops fell to its knees, the Knight swept out with a beheading arc of the sword.

  Suddenly, fire erupted through the thick fog of the Portal Realm. “Stop the dragon from reaching the portal,” Sodor called out to the Knights.

  But Zeth was already there. Leaping onto the smaller, bull-sized dragon, he plunged his sword down into the monster’s neck. But the dragon bucked and tossed its head in pain and Zeth was thrown.

  A Quetzalem appeared, its wings spread beautifully, thick blue scales exposed, golden eyes blazing. The Quetzalem flew directly in front of the dragon, only to have a roar of flames unleashed upon his body. But because the Quetzalem was a member of the dragon family, it was immune to flames, and landed on the thick neck. Using his own brute strength, the blue-scaled dragon-demon clamped the large mouth shut so that no more brimstone could be unleashed. “Now Knights, send him to the prison.”

  Rowen reached the dragon first, pushing his way through the chaos, and applied the mystical handcuffs. He nodded quickly at the Qu
etzalem, “Thank you.”

  “No worries, you looked like you needed help.” The two warriors from different sides of the battle clasped each other by the arm. “I am Pyrrhus. Thank you for arresting the dragon. I didn’t want my endangered cousin to have to die for Eris’ amusement. The fewer dragons that die today, the better.”

  Comprehension flooded Rowen’s eyes. “You are right—she is surely behind this.” Without time for further discussion, Rowen and the blue-skinned dragon demon fought savagely against the chaotic hoard of demons. But smaller creatures like gargoyles and teleporting vampires easily eeked through the crowd at the portal.

  • • •

  The portal erupted in light as Sabin stepped through from the other side. Immediately engaged in combat, he realized that his order of Knights were already hard at work. Even a Quetzalem demon seemed to be fighting to contain the chaos with them.

  “Rowen!” Sabin bellowed as he dispatched a lesser demon. “Help me seal off this portal!”

  Rowen fought his way through to join him. To seal off the portal, the two of them would need to chant uninterrupted, which meant finding a break from the fighting.

  Holding their strong arms wide so that their two bodies guarded the entrance of the portal, they began to chant as Sodor and Zeth guarded their backs. Shrihalva destrria foghum celibee. The chant repeated over and over. Finally, a purple light illuminated the circumference of the portal as if it was a mystical zipper.

  “It’s shut!” Rowen called.

  “But we must return now, too many demons have escaped. My woman fights them off as we speak. She has with her three Wiccans who also will need protection.”

  “Sabin,” Sodor said, “We need to contain these demons first.”

  Sabin clenched his fists in anger. Fear for his beloved gnawed at him, but he realized that the Knight was right. “Okay, let’s make it fast.”

  • • •

  “Now is not the time for phone calls, Sparrow,” Tera chided as she swept out at the demon before her with a dagger. Slicing and dicing, she gutted and decapitated the gross, unidentified demon before her. Sparrow was fully healed, but now entirely too perky for a state of war.

  Sparrow grabbed her ringing phone. “It’s your new barista.” Ducking as a flying gargoyle swept down toward her, Sparrow showed the caller ID on the front of her phone to Tera.

  For the incoming call image, Sparrow had a picture of a giant black jaguar with glowing gold eyes. “I’m calling in reinforcements.” Hitting the talk button, she ran for cover to take the phone call.

  Bringing her attention back to the task at hand, Tera focused on slaying the demons that continued to drop through the portal. With Sabin still in the Realm of the Fog, she had to dispatch as many of the demons as she could on her own. This battle was on a completely different level from her previous struggles to keep Alameda vampire-free.

  Thick fog still clung to the circumference of the island. Sabin must have left it to ensure no humans would be able to approach or witness the demonic war taking place. Flying demons and dragons parted the thick clouds, diving down at Tera and the aunts battling for their lives.

  Ironically, Tera had been dying for a chance to use the bow that she had made with Artemis, but now, her opportunity had some obvious setbacks. Talk about catch-twenty twos. I finally get to use my bow, but mystical giant dragons seem to have incredibly thick skin, and do indeed breathe fire. She notched a few arrows quickly and let them all rip toward the flying beast.

  With a body the size of a buffalo, the dragon had thick scales that shifted color to match the surroundings. Now, the scales were silver, the color of the fog. But thick orange flame lit the fog like fireworks and its heat left beads of sweat on Tera’s skin. Her arrows found their mark, but only seemed to piss off it off. Notching a few more, she aimed for the eyes and released. Two of the three arrows found their mark, the other one just missing dragon’s neck.

  The dragon flew through the air and launched a steady stream of flames toward her. She ducked, but Tera feared that once again, she might be barbecued by the flames. This time, no mystical moss from her forest could protect her. Just when the fire was inches away, a thick screen of water splashed in front of her, defeating the attack.

  “Woo-hoo! We’ve still got it, sister.” Melissandra gave Morgana an emphatic slap on the shoulder. An orb glowed around them, a protective shield amidst the violence.

  “Phew.” Morgana put a hand against her head dramatically. “I’m definitely feeling my age though. That telekinesis with the water sure took it out of me.”

  “Less whining, more fighting, dear sister.” Morgana glared before joining in to launch a killing spell at the sinister gargoyle flying nearest to them.

  Its flames subdued, the small yet formidable dragon charged through the air toward Tera. Not taking the precious time to thank the aunts for having her back, she leapt into the air to clutch the flying foot. Withdrawing the dagger from its sheath on her thigh, she stabbed it upward into the dragon’s stomach. The skin was thick and the dagger lodged there firmly. Using it to pull herself up, she straddled herself across its back, smiling in triumph before she realized the creature had other plans.

  Aiming its nose toward the sky, the dragon’s body went completely vertical. Tera clung for dear life as the animal rolled through the fog acrobatically, trying its best to buck her off. The urge to vomit came and passed. Still, she held on, her knife lodged deep into the thick scales. Using all her might, she brought her stake down hard into the right eye. Unfortunately, the creature threw its massive head back in pain, pitching her off in the process.

  Tera landed as softly as possible on the ground near the prison. Luckily, Dryads had a born ability of grace. From the ground where she lay, she spotted Sparrow walking from out of the cover of the prison. Phone still in hand, her best friend never saw the massive winged demon coming at her from above.

  “Sparrow!”

  Tera jumped up quickly and reached back to her quiver. It was too late. Her friend looked like a tiny angel in the grip of a hellish beast. The creature had a massive body, but instead of muscle and flesh, there were only bones and decay. Just as she was about to release an arrow, she was knocked from her feet by a demon.

  “I hate trees.” The voice was low and bubbled menacingly, as if lava filled the demon’s body. The demon jerked her head back, twisting the thick fist full of her mahogany hair painfully. “Die, Dryad.”

  The sound of a strong body sounded behind them, and she heard the faint crack of a snapping neck. Tera turned just in time to see her favorite coffee shop vampire, Duncan, dispatch the demon. He acknowledged her, but then he disappeared, teleporting elsewhere. Tera never felt better about the company of a vampire. Looking toward the sky to seek out Sparrow, she drew back her bow, but saw that Duncan had already reached the flying beast. She could trust him to return Sparrow unharmed.

  But as the aunts flew to Sparrow’s side, Tera noticed that their orb of safety was flickering, dimming. Their power was too depleted to continue holding the protection spell. Tera fought with a new kind of determination. She would not see any more of her friends hurt.

  Slowly, the demons began thinning out, or so it seemed in the dense fog. Tera wove her body across the island, using her own lithe muscle and grace as a deadly weapon.

  From above, Tera heard the screech of a falcon, and watched the bird of prey dive down and pluck out a demon’s eyeball. Clearly, Sparrow too has found her niche. But as a streak of fog thinned, Tera saw a demon chasing Melissandra, fear rampant in her eyes. Sparrow also spotted the demon and shot down from the sky, raking her talons across the monster’s face. Tera launched an arrow that struck it in the throat, painful enough to halt the beast in its tracks. This gave Melissandra the opportunity to turn and wrack the demon with an electric killing spell.

  From the fog, she heard an animalistic roar, and turned just in time to make out a large jaguar, black as night, leap upon a vampire.

  Ano
ther of Sparrow’s reinforcements.

  Warmth spread through her chest. Two people that she barely knew had so quickly come to their side. This fact propelled her into combat once more. Just then, she saw the portal brighten at the seams. Not more demons, please no more. Duncan was obviously thinking along the same lines, and teleported to the top of the prison to dispatch anything that fell through the portal.

  But instead of demons, Sabin and his Knights dropped onto the roof of the prison, accompanied by a strong male with blue skin and hard scales covering the posterior of his body. Tera breathed a sigh of relief.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Sabin landed atop the prison with his comrades and immediately sensed a vampire. He reached to snap the neck of the leech but it teleported out of grasp. But the Knights were well-acquainted with taking down disappearing vamps, and they quickly pulled out their astral guns and began firing.

  One of Sodor’s bullets stopped mid-air, obviously penetrating deep into its target. Slowly, the vampire began reappearing, blood soaking its midsection. Leaving the vampire to Sodor, Sabin scanned the chaos for his beloved. Tera had done well holding the island. Only a few of the larger demons were left, including a couple winged fellows and a dragon that were seen only as shadows in the fog.

  “Sabin! He’s on our side,” Tera shouted through the fray. Sabin turned to where the vampire still fought against the Knights as best as it could while injured.

  “Stand down!” His commanding voice boomed. In turn, Rowen placed a hand on Sodor’s shoulder to pull the Knight back from the fight. Sabin appraised the vampire, seeking any hint of danger from within the creature’s eyes. But the vampire had the same look that he had found lately in his own expression, the peace of someone in love. “We have injured a comrade who can help us win this battle,” Sabin announced.