Rival Demons

by Sarra Cannon

  She pushed the boundaries of her green haze out a little more, creating more space for our fight Then, she lifted her hands quickly, the green haze stretching from floor to ceiling and all around us, locking us into a bubble together. All outside sounds disappeared, the cries of the crowd silenced in an instant by the new green arena.

  I looked up, taking stock of my new prison. The green barrier extended all around us in a messy circle. I was on my own now.

  "We can't have any of your friends jumping into the fight to save you, now can we?" the hunter said. "Don't look so worried. This won't take long."

  Knowing the fight was about to begin, I willed my nerves to settle. My heart pounded against my ribs. The evil witch moved toward me then, her pointy claws raised, a scream on her rotting lips. I threw my hands out to my side, fire engulfing them. Quickly, I spread the fire in a straight line in front of me, then lifted my hands high into the air, creating a wall of flame so high the witch ran straight into it. I had no idea if she would be able to pass straight through it or not, so I was relieved when she stopped short of the wall.

  She placed her palms together, then slowly opened them, the fire parting like a curtain in the middle. She smiled at me then, an ugly twisted expression that made my insides shiver. I backed away, my wall of fire dying down to nothing.

  The hunter gathered an oozing ball between her hands, its color a kind of electric lime-green. With tense arms, she reared back and threw the ball toward me with perfect aim. I didn't react fast enough, diving out of the way just in time to keep the poisonous ball from hitting me square in the stomach. Instead, it grazed the top of my thigh, burning with a vicious heat.

  I cried out, clutching the spot that was now covered with a glowing, sticky fluid that mixed with blood as it burned through my skin. I tore a piece of cloth from my shirt and wiped as much of the liquid off my wound as I could.

  The hunter laughed and threw another green poison ball toward me. This time, I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of the way fast enough. On instinct, I threw up a shield to block the spell. Unfortunately, the only kind of shield I knew how to create was the one Zara had taught me back in Peachville. The kind that absorbs a piece of the opposing witch's essence.

  The second the poison slammed into the shield, I felt the infinite hollowness of the hunter's existence. An intense sadness filled my heart. Underneath the evil at the surface of her power lay a life stolen just as mine had been. I looked up at this wretched being and realized that at one point, this thing had been a girl, just like me. She'd had hopes and dreams of her own, a life, even people she loved. I couldn't see what it was that had sent her to this world to be turned into this evil creature, but deep down, under the layers of decay and stench, she hated herself.

  I listened to the echo of her power in my mind, and a single word came to my mind.

  Maria.

  Leaving my shield up, I stood and took a step toward her, ignoring the pain in my upper leg. "Maria," I said. "That's your name isn't it?"

  The witch's eyes grew wide as saucers, the ghostly cloud around her body moving faster. "Don't you dare say that name to me," she growled.

  She gathered an invisible power in her hands and angrily threw it toward me, but her anger had affected her aim. The invisible force slammed against the floor several feet in front of me, rolling slowly toward me, bringing up pieces of tile and rock as it rolled. I jumped easily out of the way.

  "I see you," I said, taking a step back, careful not to trip over the debris. "You used to be beautiful with your shiny black curls and bright honey-colored eyes."

  The hunter screamed and flew high into the air. With a vengeance, she barreled down toward me, her fingertips raised, ready to claw my flesh to pieces. I took hold of the edge of a broken tile and with all of my strength, I hurled it toward her. The jagged edge ripped into her arm. A greenish black liquid spewed out from her, and as it fell on the marble below, it made a hissing sound as if it were made of pure acid.

  The hunter fell to the ground, clutching her shoulder. The cut had weakened her.

  While she was distracted, I formed a large fireball between my palms and hurled it at her. She moved out of the way and the fire slammed into a fallen tent behind her. The blue tent burst into flames.

  "Maria," I said again, forming another ball of fire in my hands. "What I can't help wonder is just how a pretty girl like you got assigned to the shadow world. How did you get stuck doing the Order's dirty work? You must have done something that really pissed them off, huh?"

  She snapped her head toward me, saliva dripping from her blackened teeth. "Shut up," she said. "You don't know me, fool. You don't know the first thing about me."

  "That's a lie," I said. I hurled the second fireball toward her, but she flew up into the air, dodging it too easily. A pile of debris on the other side of her caught fire too. With two strong fires blazing, I felt somehow stronger. As if my own power drew force from the flames. "I know exactly who you are. You used to be me. Just a regular girl caught in the Order's web of lies and promises. What did you do to piss them off so bad that they sent you here for all eternity?"

  The hunter began to shake, her anger getting the best of her. I stood on my guard, creating more fire in my hands. The hunter flew around the circle, leaving a trail of greyish green fog behind her. As I reared back to throw the fire toward her, the gas reached my nose, making me gag and cough. I threw the fireball, but it landed several feet from my mark, barely lighting a small banner that had fallen from one of the shops.

  I fell to my knees, coughing. I couldn't catch my breath. The gas surrounded me. My vision went fuzzy, and I began to fall back. Somewhere in the depths of my mind, I realized this was how she planned to end me. If I lost consciousness now, I might as well surrender my life.

  I fought against the effects of the poison gas and reached deep inside to find some ounce of power left within. With it, I created a whirlwind around my body, the air moving slowly, then, as the gas began to clear away, faster and faster.

  The rotting witch narrowed her eyes at me. She thought she'd won already, and was obviously annoyed I was still standing. Well, kneeling, really.

  I felt the warmth of the flickering flames all around me as the fire caught and spread around the dueling circle. I drew strength from that fire, standing despite the pain in my leg and my lungs. I knew I had to end this soon or I would lose my ability to fight back. The hunter had more power than I did. She could wear me down slowly if she wanted to. I had to stop her fast.

  Frantic, I looked around for anything I could use to defeat or injure her. The broken tile had weakened her when it sliced into her flesh, but she'd be ready for it if I tried to throw another one. I looked around, seeing only rocks and broken tile. I looked up and suddenly felt a wave of hope rush through me.

  The black roses carpeted the ceiling, and I knew that just above the roses was the fragile soul stone. The rock could hold a witch's power inside of it. It worked like a buffer between the Underground and the land above it, absorbing any trace of magic before it could pass through. Maybe I could use the stone to draw her power from her body.

  The hunter flew around, another green ball of poison oozing between her fingertips. She was toying with me now, thinking she had the upper hand.

  Carefully, I chose the largest rock I could find from the rubble of the floor and lifted it into the air with a flick of my hand. My eyes searched the debris. When I saw another sizeable stone, I lifted that one as well. Then, a third.

  The hunter's eyes flickered to the three stones I had raised into the air. She laughed.

  "Do you think you can throw these pitiful rocks at me and win?" she asked. She threw the green poison at me, but I quickly maneuvered one of the rocks in its path, the two slamming into each other and falling down to the ground, powerless.

  I chose another rock from the ground and lifted it into the air.

  "No," I said, shaking my head. "These aren't for you."

  F
or good measure, I lifted a fourth stone, then dipped my knees, gathering momentum. With every bit of strength I could find in my magic and my body, I hurled all four rocks straight up toward the ceiling above the hunter.

  Above me, the rocks hit their mark with a loud crack. The soul stone shattered like a mirror. Pieces of black roses mixed with thick, jagged pieces of shiny black stone rained down on top of the hunter. I backed away and quickly used magic to pull pieces of broken tile over my head like an umbrella, careful to not get cut. But when I looked up at the screaming hunter, I saw that she had been cut in over a dozen places. Her essence drained from her like acid.

  Weakened, she tried to stand, but the soul stone had begun to work its magic, pulling the essence of her power from her body. Her power slid through the stones like water, in and out, the grayish green smoke pouring from her.

  I knew I had only a small window, so I turned my attention to the flames burning all around us. I reached deep inside my own soul, extending my power outward to encompass every single flame and flicker in the circle. I fed the flames with my own power, connecting to it in a way that frightened me.

  A stream of pure white energy began to flow from the center of my palms, and I felt the same dark power I'd felt at the portal rise up within me. I panicked, wanting to drop the power, so scared of losing control again. But as I watched the hunter writhing under the influence of the broken soul stone, I knew this was my only chance to defeat her.

  I embraced the new energy, pouring myself into the flames. The red fire turned a bright, hot shade of pure blue. With one huge push, I commanded the flames to engulf the hunter's body. Blue flashed as the flames raced toward the center of the circle, surrounding the hunter in an ocean of fire.

  The hunter screamed, a high-pitched sound that vibrated every inch of my body.

  Then, as the flames sucked the oxygen from her tiny prison, she began to cough and sputter. Then, slowly, she fell to the ground like a withering flower, her black eyes finally closing.

  The Kind of Girl That Rebels Against The System

  I collapsed onto the broken tiles. The hazy boundary that held us in dissipated. Andros and a few demons I didn't recognize ran forward and placed a strange silver contraption over the hunter's hands, feet and mouth. They carried the unconscious witch away quickly, the crowd scattering to keep their distance from her.

  Jackson fell at my feet. He ripped a piece of cloth from the bottom of his shirt and wrapped it around my injured leg.

  I struggled to keep my eyes open. My leg pulsed and burned from the acid of the hunter's blood. I coughed into my hand, a black oily substance peppering my palm.

  "What were you thinking?" Jackson said. He ran his fingers through my hair, letting his thumb brush against my cheek. "You could have gotten killed."

  "But I didn't," I said, attempting a smile.

  "That was really stupid, Harper." His words were angry, but his face was full of love and gratitude. "But it was also really brave and strong. It was difficult to see you through the haze of the barrier, but I saw what you did with the stone. How did you know it would affect her that way?"

  I shook my head. "I'm not sure," I said. "I just guessed, in a way. I mean, I remembered how it pulled Caroline's power from her body, so I thought maybe it would hurt the hunter too."

  Jackson pulled me into his arms. My aching body protested, but I ignored my wounds and hugged him harder.

  "I need to find the Shaman," he said. "We've got to get that poison out of your leg before it festers."

  I nodded. "Want to carry me back to the room first?"

  He smiled. "Of course," he said.

  I put my arms around his neck and he lifted me into the air. A small group of shadow demons stood around the area, some of them picking up the broken tiles and fragments of stone. Others simply stared at me, perhaps not believing what they had just seen. Or maybe they were just shocked to see their future king caring for a human girl.

  I smiled and tucked my face into the warmth of his neck. Maybe I was just destined to be the kind of girl that rebels against the system. It seemed that no matter where I went, in one world or the next, I was always causing some kind of scandal.

  Somehow, I knew my mother would have been so proud.

  This Isn't How I Die

  I slipped in and out of poisoned dreams, waking up several times throughout the night to see Jackson faithfully by my side. He scooted closer to the bed, running his hand gently through my matted hair.

  "How are you feeling?" he asked when I finally woke in the early morning hours.

  "Probably better than I look," I said, joking. I coughed again, more of the black soot covering my palm. "Gross."

  "I've called for the shaman, but several shadow demons were injured by the hunter and she has a duty to help them first."

  I nodded, understanding.

  "Is Sasha okay?"

  He smiled. "She's fine," he said. "She's just a little scared, that's all. But Ourelia stopped by earlier when you were sleeping to say thank you. She said the little girl knew you would save her."

  I laughed, but my lungs screamed in pain. Whatever poisonous gas I had inhaled had really done a number on me.

  A knock on the outer door of the suite sent Jackson straight into the air. He rushed into the outer room. "Thank you so much for coming," he said. "Harper's wound is looking worse."

  The shaman walked toward my room, and I could hear the beads in her hair clicking together as she moved. There was something so beautiful about the sound. In her presence, I immediately felt calm.

  Without a word, she looked over the poison wound in my thigh, then placed her hand against my chest. A warmth spread through my ribs and down into my lungs.

  "You will be fine, child," the shaman said.

  "I know," I said. "This isn't how I die."

  The shaman tilted her head to look at me, then she broke out in a knowing smile. "No, indeed, it is not."

  She rummaged through her medicine bag and pulled out a vial similar to the one she'd used with Mary Anne's tiger wound. Only this time, there was no liquid inside. Instead, the shaman uncorked the vial and laid it at the edge of the wound on my leg. She chanted something low and soft and at her command, the poisonous green ooze dripped into the vial. The burning pain disappeared immediately, leaving only a small burned area on my leg.

  She corked the full bottle and placed it into a special pouch of her bag. Then, she placed a compress of cool herbs onto my leg. I sighed at the soothing power of the woman's medicine.

  "Thank you," I said, coughing.

  She moved her attention to my chest and frowned. She studied me for a moment, then went back into her bag and pulled out a long glass tube that was open at both ends. "This won't be as pleasant," she said apologetically. "Try to just relax."

  Nervous, I made an effort to relax my shoulders and let my body sink down into the soft bed. The shaman placed one end of the tube into my mouth. Then, she placed her palm at the other end, closing her eyes. Chanting, she began to pull her hand back from the tube, as if pulling some energy forth. She repeated this motion over and over again until suddenly, I felt my chest constrict.

  I couldn't breathe or move and panic filled me. My eyes sought the shaman's, hoping she would look to reassure me. But her eyes were closed shut. She continued to pull air from the tube, ripping the very breath from my chest. Gradually, the tube filled with a black and grey smoke that rose from my mouth and escaped into the air of the room.

  Just when I thought I would pass out from not being able to breathe, she removed the tube. I gasped for air, sitting up and clutching my chest. When I calmed down, I realized I hadn't coughed at all. The smoke in the air dissipated quickly, leaving my lungs healed.

  Relieved, I collapsed back onto the bed.

  "Thank you," I said between gulps of fresh air. "I feel much better."

  "Yes," she said, raising one eyebrow. She touched the spot just over my heart. "And your heart is whole again as well
."

  I smiled and looked toward Jackson, who was standing at the door talking to Mary Anne and Essex. "Yes," I said, placing my hand over hers.

  A shock ran through my hand when I touched her, and I pulled away. In that moment, a scene had flashed before my eyes. A man's face. Someone I didn't recognize. He was tall and round. Much older than me with a full silver beard and silver eyes.

  I sat up, blinking. "Who...?" I started, staring at the shaman. "Who was that?"

  She smiled, her eyes teasing me with their sparkle of knowledge. She turned to leave, but I reached out and touched the sleeve of her dress.

  "What is it that you see when you look at me?" I asked.

  She pressed her lips together, not answering at first. Then, she finally nodded and said, "You will know soon enough. You are a very special girl, Harper. Very unique and very powerful. Keep pushing toward your destiny, child, and you will find your true self."

  With that, she turned and left the suite, leaving me with so many unanswered questions.

  Another One of Their Lies

  Shortly after the shaman left, we had another visitor. A courier for the council, requesting that Jackson and I both attend an emergency meeting of the Underground's council.

  I wasn't surprised at the news. All this time I'd been waiting to be included in Jackson and Lea's meetings, and it had finally taken a brush with death to make it happen.

  "Wait, where's Lea?" I asked. "I haven't seen her since I saw you together at the party."

  Jackson frowned and went to knock on her door. "I hadn't even thought of it," he said. "But it's weird that she wasn't there when the hunter appeared."

  "Do you think she was hurt?" Mary Anne asked, her face wrinkled with worry.

  "I don't know," I said. "I hope not."

  Surprisingly, I meant it. Lea wasn't exactly my favorite person in the world, but now that I knew how she felt about Jackson, I kind of understood why she'd never been crazy nice to me. Could I blame her?