THE CARRIAGE DOOR OPENED, and bright light streamed in. Salina motioned for me to go first. I exited the carriage and took a few steps forward. An iron gate closed behind me. Just like that, I was in the crucible. I turned to look back at the carriage.
Salina poked her head out and gave me a savage smile. “Bet you wish you had taken advantage of my offer now.” She tapped the side of the carriage, and it moved away.
Man, that demon really didn’t like to hear the word no. It had to be a shock for her to be turned down. I had the feeling that many men and women had fallen for her tricks. It helped that I knew what she was, and that my redhead wouldn’t stand for it. But I could imagine some poor sap that had no idea what she was being easily taken. In fact, unless you were clued in, she would have hit you like a freight train.
I moved forward in what was like a small tunnel until I reached another gate. I could see out into the crucible. The space in front of me reminded me of a jungle. Everything was dark greens with hints of vibrant color. I still had no idea what was going to happen. My dad told me they didn’t announce the games until the start of the match. So that wasn’t a big help, but he had filled me in on a few of their favorites.
As much as I liked the movie Gladiator, I never really wanted to be in the ring. Watching the games sure sounded fun. Cheering for my favorite competitor, hell yeah, I could do that. But the actual fighting to the death for the amusement of others? No thanks. The last time I had fought in an arena, things hadn’t worked out so well. My opponent had cheated and almost killed me. I only survived on pure instinct. After that, my entire life changed again, although this time for the better.
I had the feeling this was going to be just like that except much more brutal. My dad had told me to make sure that I never hesitated, and under no circumstances should any of my opponents be left alive. If the demons sensed any weakness, they would gang up on you for the easy kill. So whatever happened, I had to be ready and I had to be ruthless.
I waited for the door to open, and a voice rang out. “Thank you for coming to today’s games. We have a new opponent fighting in the crucible today, so we thought we would take things easy on him.”
The demons surrounding us all started laughing, and a few of them broke out into wild cheers. None of that boded well for me. The demons had a distorted sense of humor.
“Today we bring you the crucible at its finest. Get ready to experience the sundering.”
Fuck, I knew this one. It was one of the games my dad told me he hoped I didn’t get. During this event, I wouldn’t be allowed to use my magic. My hands reached up instinctively for my swords, but those were gone too. I had to leave them behind. Swords weren’t allowed in the crucible.
A wave of power washed over me, and I fell to my knees. It was as if something heavy was pressing down on me. I couldn’t move; I couldn’t think. The feeling started to subside, but as I stood up, I could tell that my magic had been stripped away. I hadn’t been without it since my awakening, and now I just felt like half a person, that I had been ripped asunder. Now I knew how they named the event.
The door in front of me slid open, and I stepped out into the jungle. I had to find a way to play defense until I figured out what to do. Panic was starting to affect my movements. I took a few deep breaths and shoved those thoughts away. Freaking out wouldn’t help me now. I’d been fighting against one of the best warriors in the world for over a year now. How hard could it be to take down a few demons?
A shriek sounded from overhead, and a demon flew by. Maybe this would be harder than I thought.
CHAPTER 12
JACKSON
I moved into the trees, ducking down to stay out of view from the demons in the sky. The trees and the dense leaves hid me for now, but it wouldn’t last forever. What in the fuck was I going to do? No magic, and I had to go up against demons with claws and sharp teeth. It all seemed a little unfair, but should I have expected anything different from Adramelech? He didn’t want me to win. He needed my dad, and I was trying to take him away.
The first thing I had to do was find or make a weapon of some sort. Staying low, I moved through the crucible, sticking only to areas with heavy foliage to hide me. Already I could hear screams in the distance as the demons tore into each other. If I didn’t get my shit together quickly, those screams would be coming from me.
There wasn’t much here in terms of weapon-making potential. It was not like I had a field survival class to work from or an army field manual sitting around. Finally I said screw it and found a fallen tree with green branches still growing from it. Looking through my options, I found a branch as thick as my wrist and started ripping it free. Several kicks and a few strained arm muscles later, I had it. Quickly I moved down the limb, ripping free the smaller branches and leaves on it. I wouldn’t be able to kill someone with this, but it would hurt, and that might just be enough of a distraction for me to win.
Keeping low with my new weapon in tow, I started moving in a slow circle, heading closer to the center of the crucible with each pass. The cries from the demon in the sky had stopped, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t still circling above me. I made another slow circle around, and then I heard it. Something was rustling in the foliage, getting closer to me. The leaves moved, and some kind of chittering sound accompanied it.
Turning, I faced the approaching threat, making sure to keep a tree at my back in case there was more than one of them. I held my switch at the ready and waited for the demon to reveal itself. The rustling stopped for a moment, and then it burst through the undergrowth.
The demon was a dark red laced with vibrant blue. The only thing I could compare it to was a crab, but not a normal crab. It was one of those freaky ones that had one giant claw and one tiny one. I mean, what in the fuck was up with that? Not only was it slightly mutated but the damn thing had to be six feet tall. That massive claw looked like it might be strong enough to rip me in half.
The demon paused, its eyes scanning the area. When the crab’s beady eyes locked onto me, it rose its giant claw into the air and snapped it open and closed. The thing skittered sideways but kept me firmly planted in front of it. The demon moved back and forth a few times and then lowered the claw. It had measured me and decided I wasn’t a threat. Then it charged toward me, the massive claw rising in the air again. This time it was open, ready to end my life.
I started moving around the tree, keeping the large claw blocked. The crab couldn’t swing it through the tree. At least, I hoped it couldn’t. I lashed out with the branch and hit the creature’s shell. The branch bounced away, but not before the creature let out another one of those chittering noises. If anything, I probably only pissed it off more.
I couldn’t keep circling the tree forever. Eventually another demon would come, and when it did, it was coming for me. Eliminate the weakest adversary first and then you can focus on the real threat. The demon’s smaller claw lashed out. The damn thing had caught me lost in thought, and I wasn’t quick enough to dodge the strike. Pain erupted from my arm as it sliced through the flesh. Thankful my arm hadn’t been in the center of that thing’s strike, or else I would have lost it. Without my magic or swords, I felt out of place and vulnerable.
The pain seemed to bring everything into sharp focus, and I started to wonder if I couldn’t win with this weapon, would I be able to shift? I’d never done it before, and if I shifted back, I’d be too weak to defend myself. It seemed like it was worth a try. I was dead either way if I failed. Harnessing some of that inner strength, I jumped for the next branch up on the tree. I was shocked when my hands closed around it. I didn’t have that kind of vertical, but somehow I had managed to harness some of my beast’s inner power.
As I was patting myself on the back, the giant claw snapped closed, just missing one of my dangling feet. Jesus, I needed my feet. They might not have been pretty, but I was pretty attached to them. I pulled myself higher into the tree and took a deep breath. That had been close, too close. I
n the last thirty seconds, I had almost become the armless, footless boy wonder. Trying to shift for the first time while hiding in a tree didn’t seem like the best game plan, but the alternative wasn’t any better.
I had talked with my mom about the shift before she left, and the thing I got out of it was that it would be painful. She had wanted to be there to help me control it, but a lack of control might actually be just the thing I needed here. The tree shook as the crab started slamming his giant claw into it. Maybe I had been wrong. Maybe that fucking crab could swing his claw through the tree.
The shift wouldn’t come when I called it, and I knew what I had to do. I had to get angry to let the blood lust consume me. Well, I was ready for that. I thought about all that I had given up to be here. I let my best friend down. My girl thought I was cheating with my ex and that I was going to leave her. My mom left me again, and my dad was trapped in hell right alongside of me. If that wasn’t enough, I had a flirty demon that wouldn’t leave me alone and a demon prince that wanted me dead.
What did I want? I wanted to live. I wanted to rip that fucking crab in half and have crab legs for dinner. Something started to shift inside of me. Reaching up, I shoved a finger into the wound on my arm, and the pain erupted across my body. The shift had me now. All I had to do was focus. I could feel the beast calling to me. It wanted to be free. Instead of trying to push it away like I normally did, I invited it in. It came slowly at first, and then emboldened by its success, it rushed forward.
We joined as one, and I felt my body break. It seemed to happen all at once. My spine snapped, and my arms twisted. Pain shot through my legs, and my clothes ripped apart. I tried to hold on to the branch, but another wave of pain lanced through my body, and then I was falling to the ground. I bounced none too softly as I hit, and the pain was unbearable. The chittering noise came again, and the crab sidestepped into view.
When I came to my feet, I realized that the world looked different. Everything was a little more vibrant, and I could track smells almost by sight. The crab moved back and forth, unsure of what to make of the new creature in front of it, its giant claw held in the air as it sized me up.
Something else that was throwing me off was that I was taller now. When I stood to my full height, I had to be nearly ten feet tall. The crab lowered its claw, and I sank into a crouch. Before it could charge, I rose up once again and bellowed into the forest. The howl shook the leaves from the trees all around us and announced to the others that I was here. There would be no hiding from my beast.
The crab rose. It clicked its claws open and closed, unsure of what to do. In the end, it couldn’t let my challenge go unanswered. I didn’t have time to wait for the crab to make the first move. I started running, and it felt awkward for a moment before my instincts kicked in. I was so much faster in this form. The crab couldn’t keep up with my speed as I circled around it. Its claw slammed harmlessly into the ground, and its little claw snapped ineffectively at the space I had just vacated. Finally I had had enough of the game.
Accelerating for three steps brought me behind the crab. I leaped into the air, landing on its back, and plunged my claws through the crab’s spiny carapace. The claws broke through the crab’s shell easily, and it screamed as I ripped them back out. The crab started to buck and swing its giant claw around wildly. I plunged my hand back in and started to shred the demon’s insides. Eventually it fell to the ground. I jumped free of the creature’s back and then turned to face it again. A few small noises were still coming from its mouth.
I rushed forward, and the large claw rose up. I danced around it and then ripped it free of the crab’s body. Spinning around in a circle, I threw the giant claw into the sky. It came down crashing through the trees. I hoped that was enough to get the other demons’ attention. My beast smiled and whispered that it had a better way. I let it take over, and again it howled into the jungle. They would learn soon enough to fear the creature that made that noise.
THERE WAS ONE DEMON LEFT, and the damn thing wouldn’t come to face me. I could feel my strength starting to fade, so I needed to end this quickly. Looking at the sky, I could see the demon making slow circles around the crucible. It was just waiting for me to falter so it could shred my unconscious body. There was no way I was going to let that happen.
Shaking the last few bits of demon gore from my fur, I trotted to the side of the crucible. If the demon wouldn’t come to me, I would have to go to it. I was going to King Kong his ass. The edge of the crucible came into view, and I jumped as high as I could. Slowly I started climbing the iron or steel beams. Hand over hand, I climbed, thinking only of the end goal. Nothing else mattered. I needed to get high enough and entice the demon close enough that I could spring out and grab it.
The beam I was on started to curve inward as I reached the top of the dome. Before long, I was hanging upside down. Three hundred feet of open air between me and the canopy of trees below. The demon was staying far enough away that I wouldn’t be able to reach it. There was no way that I would be able to hang here for long. Already my arms were growing tired. I roared out in challenge, and the demon took the bait. It was too much of an insult for it to bear. The demon couldn’t let a Lycan challenge him in the sky.
The demon flew in quickly. Its razor-sharp claws lashed out, slicing my back as it flew by. I growled in frustration; it was too early for me to spring my trap. I had to make him feel confident first. I felt my back stitching itself together, and after a moment or two, it was like I hadn’t been struck. I followed the demon, taking in its appearance as it looped around for another strike.
This demon could have been Salina’s twin except for the fact that it was male. If it shed the wings and the tail, it would have been the perfect human form. Tall and angular, just muscled enough to draw your eyes in. I wondered how many women had fallen prey to the demon’s charms over the years. Too many judging by the smug expression on the creature’s face as he flew by again, lashing out.
This time when he struck, I pretended to slip. The demon noticed and circled back closer and faster than the last time. It could smell my blood in the air, and it was ready to end this. As the demon circled below me, ready to strike, I placed my feet against the beam. I counted down slowly in my head, and as the demon started its turn, I launched myself down toward it.
I struck the demon in the center of the back, and we were tumbling toward the trees. I rolled around to the front of the demon and wrapped my arms around its waist. The demon’s wings flared out, but the strain was too much. With a cry, his wings snapped upward, and then we crashed into the trees.
Several branches smashed into me on our way down, each one breaking something inside of me. I fared better than the demon. One of his wings was entirely ripped away as we crashed to the ground. I rolled away from him, wincing as one of my ribs cracked back into place. The super-fast healing was cool, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t excruciating.
The demon rose and let out a hiss. It tried to take flight but only then realized one of its wings was missing and the other was broken beyond repair. It turned to me. “You’ve ruined me!” Rage filled his eyes. “A clean death is more than you deserve, abomination.”
The demon charged at me and lashed out with its claws. I hadn’t healed fast enough to dodge the strike, so I let the claws rake down my chest before stepping into the demon and closing my jaws around his throat. I felt the demon try and pull away, but clamped down and then started to rip my head back and forth. The demon couldn’t break my grip, so it started shredding my back with its claws, trying to force me to release it. My strength was fading fast. With everything I had left, I ripped my head back while pushing my claws against his chest.
My teeth came away with a sickening sound. Blood shot into the air as the demon fell to the ground. Cheers erupted from around the crucible. It reminded me of my first battle in the arena, although this time I was too tired to care. I lifted a giant clawed hand up in salute and then fell to my knees. The sh
ift came upon me quickly. I blinked a few times and then slipped into unconsciousness.
CHAPTER 13
ADAM
Jackson had been gone for over a week now. The time seemed to simply fly by. The demons that had breached our world through the portal were still here, and they weren’t done causing havoc on our world yet. As much as I thought about Jackson and what was happening to him, life had turned back toward the normal day to day. I was getting restless in our battles with the demons. We were only finding them in small groups now. Where had they all gone?
At least today was going to be different. It was time for me to help two of my younger members find themselves in the wake of this tragedy. I had a meeting with April and Marcus later. It was time for them to get back out in the field, and I had the perfect job for them. Something easy to get April’s feet wet after her injury. It had taken me a few days of sorting through intel and deciding on a course of action, but I was finally ready to send them back out into the field.
It was amazing how fast her recovery had been from such a devastating injury. Watching her training, I felt as if she was already back to form. All of the healers had told me that her recovery was nothing short of a miracle. If anything, I thought it might have been hard work, pure grit, and a wicked sense of determination. In my humble opinion, she had made her own miracle.
It was funny how we could think so much about one person and their future, but when they were gone, the world kept spinning and we still had to wake up and put one foot in front of the other. The Council had convened two days ago in a closed session. I expected to be hearing from them soon. It had taken them a few days to figure out what had happened at Stillman’s residence, and to confirm that he was truly dead. Now all I could do was wait and see what the fallout would be.
The Rising Darkness (Ascendancy Legacy 5) Page 9