One Breath

by Cheyenne McCray

  Why was Darkwolf now fighting him? Balor ground his teeth. Why had Darkwolf kept the eye and attempted to hide it from him? How was Darkwolf able to block his mind from Balor’s intrusion? How had Darkwolf grown so strong?

  Balor growled and the tips of his fingers crackled with his magic. None of this would matter. Darkwolf would be the first being he murdered once he had retrieved his eye.

  Even over the stench of raw sewage, Balor smelled salt water.

  He was nearing Darkwolf.

  11

  Sydney took a deep breath and shivered. It was so dark around the warehouse it made her skin crawl. An electrical pole stood off to the side of the dock, the light shining from it quickly devoured by the darkness.

  Conlan and the other three D’Danann had flown to their posts at the top of the warehouse. Mackenzie, Silver, and Alyssa stood behind Sydney, while Chaos was at her side, another shadow in the night. All were prepared for whatever happened next—at least Sydney hoped they were.

  They faced the pier and the mostly calm bay. Gentle swells rolled in, making soft slapping sounds against the rocky shore. A low mist hovered above the water, and the chill air caused Sydney to shiver again.

  The smell of fish and brine was strong, mixed with the smell of pitch from the pilings that held up the pier. At first the fishy odor caused her heart to pound—what if the smell was from the Fomorii? But their rotten-fish stench was far worse and enough to clog a person’s senses.

  The last of the evening’s sunlight had vanished not long before they arrived. Since they were all wearing black, they easily melted into the darkness.

  The witches could have pulled glamours, making them disappear from sight, but glamours worked only on humans. Otherworldly beings could easily see through the magic.

  Sydney’s feet began to ache from standing so long. Her injured arm throbbed, so she reached into her jacket pocket to wrap her hand around the lodestone. Instantly the pain lessened, and she relaxed a bit.

  The city’s nighttime clamor was far enough away that the dock was fairly quiet. Around the dock were stacks of old boxes and a shipping truck.

  The sudden appearance of two people startled Sydney into taking a step back.

  Her foot landed on Mackenzie’s, causing the witch to hiss through her teeth, probably from pain.

  Chaos gave a soft growl.

  Darkwolf and the demon-woman had arrived via Darkwolf’s ability to transfer himself and others to various places. Sydney wondered if it was the eye that gave him that talent.

  The pair stood just outside the light so that Sydney could barely make out their faces.

  Sydney almost crawled out of her skin when four men strode from the darkness, as if they had just crept out from beneath the pier.

  She squinted as they walked into the light. The tall, imposing figures were dressed like warriors of old, with shoulder and breastplates. Quivers of arrows were slung over their shoulders, and swords hung from their belts.

  Then Sydney realized what truly made them different. The four men had bluish-gray skin.

  They were Drow. Dark Elves.

  Slowly Darkwolf and Elizabeth-Junga walked toward the Drow, who met them halfway.

  The shrouded eye against Darkwolf’s chest glowed from the purple magic wrapped around it. Low voices carried from the six people—beings—standing on the pier.

  “Where is your king?” Darkwolf said in a voice filled with anger. “Only he can take it from me.”

  “We were ordered to bring the eye to him,” one of the Dark Elves said.

  Darkwolf stood still for a moment, his face appearing both angry and indecisive.

  “The eye must go with you,” Darkwolf said at last with a heavy sigh. “It can’t remain in this world. Somehow, the eye must be destroyed, and the only place I can think of is Otherworld.”

  Sydney’s heart beat faster. If what she was hearing could be believed, Darkwolf was attempting to keep the eye from Balor—and trying to destroy it.

  But were the Dark Elves to be trusted? They were neutral beings who chose whatever cause was most beneficial to them. Who was to say they wouldn’t turn the eye over to Balor in exchange for something they wanted? Or was there some way for them to use it to their advantage?

  Darkwolf brought his hands to his neck and picked up the chain. He started to bring the chain over his head and—stopped.

  Sydney frowned and glanced over her shoulder at her teammates. She gave a nod, the signal to get ready to charge Darkwolf and the Drow.

  With narrowed eyes, Sydney paused to watch Darkwolf.

  His hands trembled. His jaw tensed, and it looked like he was breaking into a sweat as his whole body began to shake. His muscles strained against his T-shirt.

  Darkwolf dropped to one knee, releasing the chain and bracing one palm on the ground. “Fuck!” he shouted. “I can’t get the goddamn thing off!”

  “Then come with us to Otherworld,” one of the Dark Elves said in a commanding voice.

  Darkwolf looked up at the demon-woman, who took a step back. “I cannot go,” Elizabeth-Junga said with her head raised, her voice clear and strong. “My kind has been banished from Otherworld.”

  Darkwolf hung his head and closed his eyes, his hand on the ground clenched into a fist.

  That’s when she saw it. The tiniest bit of crimson leaked through the magic-shrouded eye Darkwolf wore.

  Balor was near!

  Her witch’s senses told her that it was true.

  “Now!” she cried in mind-speak to Conlan. “Balor is close. We’ve got to get the eye now! ”

  It took only moments, but in the faint light, four figures came to land quietly, surrounding Darkwolf and the Drow. The witches charged forward, their footsteps loud in the night.

  The warlock jerked his head up. Before he had the chance to throw up a shield, Sydney flung a rope of magic around him, pinning his arms to his sides, as he had so recently done to her.

  Only she had Chaos, too. The Doberman slammed into Darkwolf with his front paws, forcing him to the ground. He growled at the warlock, his face close to Darkwolf’s neck.

  The D’Danann had drawn their swords and advanced on the Drow and the demon-woman.

  “We have no quarrel with you, D’Danann,” one of the Drow said.

  “Over the eye, we do.” Conlan raised his sword, ready to behead Darkwolf.

  Sydney’s gut churned. This was no demon that would turn into silt when his head was taken off. This was a man, warlock or no.

  “Stop!” Sydney raised her hand. “You can’t kill him. The Paranormal Special Forces have enough on him to put him in prison for a long time.”

  Conlan made a low growling sound and didn’t change his stance. When Sydney pushed down on his arm, he finally lowered his sword.

  “Shit!” Darkwolf’s face twisted as if he was in excruciating pain. He looked down at the eye, which was growing brighter red beneath the purple shroud. “Balor is here. You have to free me or he’s going to get his fucking eye.”

  A burst of flames came from out of the darkness.

  It slammed into one of the Dark Elves.

  He cried out—

  Then vanished into sparkles of obsidian.

  Sydney whipped her head in the direction the flames had come from. “Duck!” she cried as another blast of fire shot toward them. Sydney flattened herself to the ground.

  The fire seared a path straight over her head. It hit the old shipping truck and consumed it in flames. The smell of burning paint, plastic, and upholstery caused Sydney to choke.

  As Sydney maintained a tight hold on Darkwolf with her magic, and Chaos kept him pinned to the ground, Silver threw up a spellshield around the D’Danann, Drow, witches, and Darkwolf.

  Alyssa and Mackenzie added their powers to Silver’s, making the spellshield glitter in a rainbow of colors.

  More fire shot through the night. Only this time it slammed into the shield. Sydney felt the power and the heat of the blast and almost fell wh
en she rose from her prone position to her knees.

  “Our shield!” Silver cried. “I don’t know if we can hold him.”

  The D’Danann stood with swords at the ready. The remaining three Dark Elves had drawn their bows and nocked their arrows. Elizabeth, the demon-woman, narrowed her eyes as she flexed and unflexed her hands, her fingers shifting to blue claws and back.

  Sydney’s whole body trembled, but she maintained her magical hold on Darkwolf. She stared into the darkness in the direction the blasts of fire were coming from.

  An imposing figure appeared in the pale glow of the dock’s only light.

  A being she had seen only once before.

  Balor.

  The Underworld god’s muscles bunched and flexed as he strode toward them. He wore only a loincloth, showing his powerful swimmer’s physique. If he’d been a man, he might have been considered handsome—if it weren’t for the single eye at the middle of his forehead. Or rather the eye socket.

  The god raised his hand, and more fire blasted from his palm and slammed against the shield. Alyssa dropped to her knees and cried out even as she kept her hands raised, trying to support the shield with her magic.

  “Hold!” Silver shouted. “Dear Anu, I don’t know if we can take another hit.”

  Conlan started to charge forward, but Sydney shouted to him. “Don’t try to leave. It will compromise the integrity of the shield.”

  “Release me, witch,” Darkwolf shouted at Sydney. “Can’t you see he’ll get the eye if you don’t let me go? Your shields won’t hold him. You need my powers to help you.”

  Sydney paused.

  Chaos growled.

  Dear Ancestors, do I dare?

  “We’re running out of time,” Darkwolf said as another blast of fire slammed into the shield.

  Sydney took a deep breath. Something inside her told her it was the right thing to do. Maybe it was Anu, the Ancestors, or the Elementals. Whatever—whoever—it was, she knew it was right.

  “Get off him, Chaos,” she said to her familiar.

  The Doberman gave her a look that said, What—are you crazy?

  But Sydney withdrew her magical ropes and set Darkwolf free.

  In one lunge he pushed himself to his feet. He flung his own shield of purple magic into the air and it melded with the witches’ magic.

  “My eye,” came a dark and terrible voice. “Give me my eye and I will let you live.”

  “Like that would ever happen,” Mackenzie said as she gritted her teeth and focused her magic on the shield.

  Now that she had freed Darkwolf, Sydney was able to lend her power to the spellshield.

  Another blast of fire slammed into the shield and then another. The witches cried out and Darkwolf staggered. The eye at his throat grew a brighter shade of red, and the purple that had shrouded it vanished.

  “Do away with your magic and let us fight him,” Conlan shouted.

  The witches looked at one another. This time Mackenzie dropped to her knees and cried out when the next blast hit the shield.

  Sydney’s eyes met Conlan’s, but she said, loud enough for everyone, “On the count of three.”

  “One.” Their magic took another hit from Balor’s flames.

  “Two.” The following burst almost obliterated the shield.

  “Three!”

  Everyone dove out of the path of the next bolt of fire, and Chaos yelped. It hit hard enough that it looked like a small meteorite had blasted a hole in the ground.

  Blood churning, Conlan growled and clenched his sword as he spread his wings. The other D’Danann took to the air the same time he did. They circled Balor, dodging the bursts of fire he shot into the air at them.

  At the same time, with his other hand, Balor blasted fire at the Dark Elves. The Drow were quick and lithe as they dodged the magic while shooting their arrows at the blind god.

  Clearly, Balor’s senses were keen. Even though he didn’t have sight, his hearing was acute, his reactions swift.

  The arrows bounced off Balor as if his skin were made of body armor like that the witches wore. Even though the arrows did not pierce his skin, they seemed to anger Balor more.

  He roared and hit one of the Dark Elves in the shoulder with his magic, causing the Drow warrior to shout. He stumbled back, his arm loosely hanging from his shoulder. He lost his grip on his bow.

  The witches surrounded Balor and at the same moment spun their magic ropes around the god.

  He flung them off as if they were made of water.

  “No, Chaos!” Sydney shouted as the Doberman charged Balor.

  The god was so consumed with fighting the Drow and the D’Danann that he didn’t notice Sydney’s familiar until the dog’s jaws sank into his thigh.

  Balor shouted and swung his fist at Chaos. The Doberman dodged the blow. Snarling, the familiar attacked again.

  Heat burned in Conlan’s body. He took the opportunity to dive, his sword pointed directly where the god’s heart should be.

  A fraction of a moment before Conlan’s sword would have pierced Balor’s flesh, the god batted Conlan aside with his hand as if he were a mere bird rather than a D’Danann warrior.

  The power of Balor’s strike drove Conlan backward and sent pain searing through his shoulder. He ground his teeth against the pain and dove for Balor again.

  If Balor took possession of his eye, they would all be dead the moment he inserted it into its socket and looked at them. Such was the power of his eye: he could slay with a single glance.

  Memories of fighting Balor and the Fomorii centuries ago churned through Conlan’s mind. When the sun god Lugh had shot Balor’s eye out, it had incapacitated him long enough for all the gods to combine forces and send Balor and his bitch of a wife away.

  Even without his eye, Balor had apparently grown in strength in many ways during the two millennia he had been relegated to the farthest reaches of Underworld.

  Conlan and the other three D’Danann dove at Balor again. As they drove their swords at him from four different directions, Balor formed a shield over his head.

  The moment Conlan’s blade hit the shield, an electrical shock jolted his body and the power of the rebound flung him at least twenty feet from the god.

  Hawk, Cael, and Darian each fared much the same. The next time they came closer to Balor, their swords ready, but they hovered just above his shield. The god took one slow step after another, getting closer and closer to Darkwolf.

  The Drow continued to fire their arrows at Balor, but his shield deflected them. The witches attempted to use spellfire, but the shield absorbed their magic. Chaos lunged again, but he gave a loud yelp when he came in contact with the god’s magic.

  Even though they couldn’t touch Balor, he was able to use his flames. Mackenzie’s shirt smoked from where fire grazed her back, fortunately over the body armor. Cael’s arm was burned, and Conlan felt as if his arm had been dislocated from Balor’s blow.

  Nothing they did worked against Balor, and with every step he was getting closer to Darkwolf.

  Conlan narrowed his gaze as he popped his shoulder back into place. Pain from the dislocation vanished.

  Darkwolf stood calmly behind the fray, his attention focused completely on Balor. The demon-woman stood at his side, still in her human form but not appearing as calm as the warlock.

  Junga’s features tensed, and he saw glimpses of the demon beneath the woman’s skin. Her form wavered in and out, and he could tell she wanted to fight—but, like the rest of them, her attack would no doubt be just as ineffective.

  The eye at Darkwolf’s throat became a deeper crimson, and Conlan’s gut tightened. The warlock was going to turn over the eye.

  Just as Conlan started toward Darkwolf, the warlock held up one of his hands.

  Red light shot from the eye at the same time purple exploded from the warlock’s palm. The two magics twisted together and arrowed through Balor’s shield and slammed into the god.

  Balor shouted as he was dri
ven backward by the power of his own eye and Darkwolf’s sorcery. Before Balor could regain his footing, more magic blasted the god.

  A third stream of red and purple magic shot toward Balor, but this time it was met by the god’s magic.

  The two magics slammed together with enough force to cause the ground to rock. Mackenzie fell on her ass and Alyssa dropped to her knees.

  When the magics met, Darkwolf stumbled backward. But determination shone on his face. His stream of magic continued to battle Balor’s.

  Darkwolf wrapped his free hand around the eye. A crimson glow encased his entire body.

  Red magic exploded from Darkwolf toward Balor. The power of it obliterated the stream of magic coming from the god.

  Darkwolf’s magic slammed into Balor. He stumbled back and roared.

  The god vanished.

  For a moment everyone on the ground went completely still. The D’Danann hovered in the air with slow beats of their wings.

  All that could be heard was the crackle of the flames burning the truck and the lap of water against the shore. The stench of the fire overcame every other smell.

  “Is he gone?” Sydney broke the silence and looked at Darkwolf. “Are we really rid of him?”

  Darkwolf had not let go of the eye, which continued to bleed crimson light between his fingers, but his body was no longer glowing.

  “For now Balor is gone, yes.” Darkwolf’s voice was hoarse. “Permanently? I don’t think so.”

  “Turn over the eye.” Sydney held out her hand. “It has to be destroyed.”

  One of the Drow warriors stepped forward and frowned. “He was unable to remove it earlier.”

  “As if I would turn it over to you, witch,” Darkwolf growled at Sydney.

  “Allow me.” Hawk scowled, raised his sword, and approached the warlock. “It will be easy enough to take it once we remove your head.”

  “No!” This time it was Silver holding her husband back. “The Paranormal Special Forces can take care of him.”

  Chaos bared his teeth at Darkwolf and growled. Apparently he agreed with Hawk.

  Hawk kept his sword raised. “How could you feel any pity for this—this piece of dragon shit after all he has done to you and your Coven sisters and to all the innocents he has slaughtered?”