by Cheree Alsop
The building turned out to be merely broken, crumbling walls so long they faded into the distance. In the middle was a huge hole instead of a door as though the building had been ripped into by some massive, terrible creature I didn’t want to meet.
We followed Briggs inside to find that instead of a ceiling, a swirling canopy of green flames writhed and danced like a bone-melting tornado. Along the walls waited the demons we had heard, only the instant we set foot inside to the building, their horrible sounds had stopped to leave an oppressive, charged silence broken only by the rattle of Professor Briggs’ breath and the tap of his walking stick against the floor.
Dara lay motionless in the middle of the huge room. A circle of green fire surrounded her but didn’t touch her, yet. As we watched, it grew tighter, closing on her inch by deadly inch. It was a trap, a taunting, cruel snare set as a twisted joke by Chutka the Shambler.
It was obvious he expected me to climb through the flames to save the girl I loved. His mocking, dancing, bottomless black eyes watched me from the far end of the room. I didn’t have to look at him to feel his glee that we had followed him into the realm where he ruled. No mercy would be given to us, and just like the shrinking circle of flames that surrounded Dara, our deaths would be the end result of his game of cat and mouse.
I took a step forward.
“Wait,” Briggs said quietly. “I have a plan.”
“Thank goodness,” Vicken replied. “I was afraid to ask Finn. His plans are the worst.”
The professor kept his gaze on the Demon Prince. He spoke quietly so only we could hear. “Vicken, bite Finn. I’ll distract Chutka so that you can inject him with Finn’s blood like you did to the Darkest Warlock to make him vulnerable. Hopefully, if Finn attacks him, he’ll phase into a wolf and they can battle it out while we rescue Dara. Finn’s an Alpha. He should be strong enough to keep Chutka at bay until we escape. With any luck, we can hightail it out of here in one piece.”
Vicken looked from the professor to me. “Finn, what’s your plan?”
As bad as Professor Briggs’ idea had been, I really didn’t have anything better at the moment. I lifted a shoulder. “To go with the professor’s plan.”
Vicken shook his head. “That’s a horrible plan! I’m disappointed in both of you!”
I threw up my hands. “Then come up with a plan of your own for once instead of criticizing mine all the time! If you think you have something better, let’s hear it!”
Vicken looked from me to the professor, then back again. “Fine. We’ll go with Briggs’ plan, but if we all die, I’m blaming you.”
“Fine,” I replied. I held out my arm.
Vicken hesitated with his teeth above my skin. “Are you sure about this?” he asked quietly, all pretense of frustration gone in the place of worry.
I nodded. “It’s worth a shot. He’s weaker with the moonstone. Maybe my blood can give us an edge.”
Vicken let out a breath and sunk his teeth into my skin. My teeth ground together at the pain and a tremor ran across my skin, but I kept my face emotionless. The last thing the vampire needed was guilt after everything he had been through. I couldn’t believe he was even walking, let alone ready to face Chutka in a very, very pathetic shot of us defeating him.
He lifted his head, gave me one last searching look, and then ducked under Professor Briggs’ arm to help him toward Chutka.
“I had to jump through the crack,” I heard Vicken mutter under his breath. “Don’t follow Finn. Now there’s a plan. I really should try that next time. I’ll probably live longer.”
I agreed with him, but I wouldn’t give him the pleasure of hearing it aloud. The last thing Briggs and I needed was to listen to a gloating vampire before we died. And if we didn’t die, he would be impossible to live with.
I wondered how Briggs intended on distracting the Demon Prince so Vicken could get close enough to bite him. Though the demons around the room kept silent, they began to sway from side to side as Vicken and Briggs approached their ruler. The demons surged inward, filling the floor between myself and the others, blocking my path. The smell of pain from the professor would excite them. I could only hope Briggs knew what he was doing.
I kept an eye on them as I made my way toward Dara. The flames were getting a little too close to her for my comfort.
“Has anyone ever told you how much you stink?” Briggs asked the Demon Prince.
A low rumble sounded from Chutka. He leaned against the far wall with one massive, clawed hand on his chest where the moonstone had done its damage. I could hear his labored breathing. Maybe we had a chance after all.
But first, I had to figure out how to get Dara out of danger. The fire was almost to her. I could go through it, but my full attention on the flames would leave us both vulnerable to the demons. If Vicken and Briggs got in trouble, I wouldn’t be able to help them if I was carrying her. I needed help.
With one eye on my friends, I turned my attention to Sparrow.
“Time to try something, little one,” I whispered to her. “Think the other dragons will listen?”
Sparrow licked my chin with her red, forked tongue and flapped her wings to rise into the air. She flew around my head once before using her wings to hover in front of me. I could see how even the short time we had spent apart had changed her. Instead of gawky, spindly legs and wings that appeared too big for her tiny body, she had grown into her limbs and was now a sleek, lithe, graceful creature who appeared at home in the air and in command of her abilities. It made me realize that Professor Seedly had been right about dragons aging quickly; I missed my baby sylph dragon, but was grateful for the poise and readiness that showed in every line of my little friend’s posture.
“Fly away with Dara,” I whispered and pushed to the dragons. “Get her out of here. Keep her safe.”
Sparrow flew near me even as the other dragons soared toward the circle of flames.
I could read the concern in the dragon’s gaze, but shook my head. “I’ll be okay. I need to know you and Dara are safe. Get her as far from the demons as you can. Protect her. Can you do that?”
Sparrow gave a little puff of mint-scented flame that vanished before it reached me. She circled my head one more time, then flew off to join the others.
They hovered above Dara and the green fire uncertainly. I tried to push away the fact that we stood in a windowless, fire-ceilinged, crumbling-walled room filled with demons and Chutka the Shambler. I heard Professor Brigg’s cane tap against the floor as he neared the Demon Prince; at the same time, Brigg’s forcingly jovial words said that he was still toying with the Demon Prince. I doubted it would be long before Chutka tired of the professor’s chatter.
I closed my eyes and pushed at the dragons again. “Fly away with Dara. Get her out of here. Keep her safe. Follow Sparrow.”
“Get away from her,” Chutka growled.
I opened my eyes to see the dragons dart down past the circle of flames. Their tiny claws latched onto Dara’s shirt and pants. Sparrow gave a little huff of command and the dragons rose into the air. Dara’s still form lifted with them.
“Stop them!” Chutka shouted. “Kill her!”
“Don’t you dare hurt my students,” Professor Briggs said.
He threw his walking stick at the Demon Prince. Chutka batted it away. His attention was distracted only for a split second, but it was long enough. Vicken darted forward with his vampire speed and sunk his teeth into the Demon Prince’s huge shoulder. Chutka let out a roar of rage and slapped the vampire away.
Vicken flew into one of the walls. He hit it so hard massive bricks toppled from the top of the wall. When the vampire fell to the ground, the bricks piled on top of him.
“Vicken!” I shouted.
Chutka lunged toward the vampire. It was then that I saw the reason he had been hanging at the back of the long room. His chest had originally been pale and smooth except for the scar where he had taken pieces of his own heart in an attempt to open
the gate; but now that smoothness had been eaten away by pockets of sunken, pitted holes. The holes originated over his heart.
Their pattern was familiar. I realized with a start that it was because the pockets and raised ridges were an exact replica of the moon. Somehow, the sphere that revealed the truth of the mythics had also marked itself on the Demon Prince’s body. It was as though even the moon wanted to remind Chutka that he didn’t belong in our realm.
“Stop the dragons!” Chutka commanded.
The demons leaped into action, but it was too late. The little sylph dragons flapped their wings and lifted Dara well past the reach of the baying, yowling creatures. I could only hope as they carried her through the hole in the doorway that we weren’t too late.
Green fire spilled from between the Demon Prince’s needle-like teeth and onto the floor. It snaked through the bricks towards Vicken. Vampires had no immunity to the fire. Vicken would burn to death where he lay.
The professor stood in Chutka’s path. Hunched over with one hand clutching his bleeding chest and the other a scarred mess from battling the Demon Prince’s subordinate, the warlock looked small and pathetic compared to the towering, massive, hooved prince. Yet when Briggs straightened, the haughtiness in his eyes and the anger on his face made him appear ten times bigger than Chutka.
“Don’t you dare hurt him!” Professor Briggs growled.
“You can’t stop me,” Chutka replied.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Briggs said.
The professor began to chant. Though I didn’t know the words, I recognized them immediately. But instead of setting a shield around Vicken, Briggs enveloped himself and the Demon Prince. The green flames that surrounded Chutka surged past the professor’s feet, but they couldn’t break the barrier of the shield. Trapped, the green flames doubled and raced up the professor’s dark robes. His face twisted in pain, but he continued to chant.
“No!” I shouted.
“You’ll destroy yourself to save him,” Chutka said with a derisive laugh. “But the shield won’t hold when your bones are burning. I’ll kill them all!”
“Leave him alone!” I shouted.
Demons barred my path. Their gleaming teeth and reaching claws would shred me to pieces if their flames didn’t overwhelm me first. As it was, I had to concentrate to remind myself that the flames at my feet had no power over me. If I gave in to the fear, I would lose the battle.
My head jerked up. That was the key. That was how I could stop him.
“Chutka, you already lost.”
The Demon Prince threw me a scornful look. “Your beloved professor is dying. You’re the one who lost.”
I shook my head. “Your heart is damaged; the Demon Knight, the Darkest Warlock, and the Wiccan Enforcer are gone. That must have hurt your pride a bit, not to mention the fact that your hold on my world is slipping.” I lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “This is the end of everything you started, Chutka. You’ve failed.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re wrong.”
But I heard it in his words, the tiny slip, the smallest hint of a weakness. It was fear, and fear was something I could control.
I held up my hands and pushed at Chutka. I might have had no shot before, but my blood flowed through the Demon Prince. A part of him, albeit a small one, was werewolf, and I was the Alpha.
“You lost,” I said. I pushed the thought at him with all my might. One side of me heard Professor Briggs cry out in pain he could no longer stifle. The fire was taking over. I didn’t have much time. “You set out to take over my world and you failed. You will never, ever succeed.”
I glanced down at the demons surrounding me. Channeling my Alpha strength, I lowered a hand to the demons. “Don’t touch me,” I commanded.
The demons backed away, their expressions confused as they looked from their prince back to me, but they lowered their claws. I stepped through the fire. It took all of my strength to keep the pain at bay while pushing at Chutka. If I lost concentration on either front, my feet would burn the way my palm had done, and the Demon Prince would destroy Briggs and Vicken without mercy. My hands shook with the effort as I took careful steps through the demon horde.
“You lost, Chutka. You’re done.”
“You’re wrong,” the Demon Prince protested. But his voice was weak. His clawed hands opened and closed in uncertainty. Though the fire roared around him, he no longer seemed in control of it.
Keeping up the intensity of the push was taking its toll on me and not working fast enough. I switched tactics. I grabbed the memory I wanted and shoved it at Chutka. The memory became our shared reality. I tailored it carefully to avoid giving the Demon Prince any other loved ones he could torment. The darkness swept over me with the memory.
There was a split second between laughter and the sound of the car striking the cement bridge barrier. The car pivoted upward and over the railing. The force of the airbags deploying along with the crash of the car into the water struck so hard I blacked out. I came to at the sensation of icy water flowing past my knees. It took all of my strength to push the door open and force my way out.
The water was so cold it stole my breath and made my muscles seize. Ice floes battered against me. I could barely make out the hood of the car against the dark water. I tried to swim for the shore, but my arms stopped responding to my commands in the icy liquid and my paddling was no longer enough to keep me afloat. I tried to hold onto the car, but my frozen fingers couldn’t find a purchase. Exhaustion stole through my sluggish mind. I knew in that moment that I was going to drowned.
Hopelessness swarmed through my mind as black dots danced in my vision. My head sank beneath the water.
My shoes touched the bottom of the river. My body gave a jerk of protest at the air I wasn’t able to draw in. Panic filled me, but despite my flailing arms, I couldn’t force my way up. My eyes closed against my will and my arms hung suspended in the water. The last bubble of air escaped from my mouth. Darkness filled my mind.
My head jerked up at the realization that I was on my knees in the middle of the demon-filled building. Professor Briggs somehow still kept the shield barrier up despite the fire eating at him. Chutka the Shambler towered over the professor trapped in the shield as well, but in the place of the Demon Prince’s usual hungry, merciless expression I read loss and hopelessness. Something glimmered in his eyes. My breath caught in my throat at the realization that I was seeing true fear. The memory had worked.
I grasped onto it with all of my might. I pushed as I shouted, “The fire will devour you, Chutka. The pain is real. It’s hungry. It wants you. It will destroy you.”
Chutka blinked, then turned his head to look at me. The green flames in the depths of the Demon Prince’s gaze flickered and then wavered between the flames and the gold of a werewolf’s reflective irises. When his eyes met mine, they widened. His nostrils flared, and the fire around him turned from Briggs and raced up his hooves and massive legs to the darkness that shrouded him.
The Demon Prince let out a howl of such pain the demons that filled the room yelped and cowered away from him. When another yell tore from Chutka, the demons scurried from the room in droves. Their fires faded away and left me kneeling in the darkness lit only by the Demon Prince’s flame.
“No!” Chutka yelled.
Finding mortal weakness in the Demon Prince’s flesh, the flames devoured everything in their path. Chutka ducked and twisted, but he couldn’t evade the fire that came from himself. The green flames multiplied with the fuel of his fear until they were so bright I had to shield my gaze with my hand. His shouts rose into shrieks and then stopped entirely. He became a roaring pillar that battered me with its heat. A single pinnacle of white light glowed where the moonstone had taken up residence in his heart. The green and white light warred until every inch of the room was lit up. Then, with a hissing pop, the light vanished completely.
I rose shakily to my feet, but I couldn’t see anything even with my werewo
lf eyesight. Silence filled the air, but it was thick and muffled as though the entire building had been filled with cotton. A sulfurous, burned-flesh smell hung heavy in the room. I had no sense of direction and no way of knowing if I was about to be attacked by Chutka’s demons. A moan sounded in the darkness. I couldn’t tell in the strange silence if it came from Vicken, Professor Briggs, or Chutka the Shambler. With tense muscles and gritted teeth, I made my way toward it.
My fingers brushed rubble. I fell to my knees and scrambled at the massive bricks. Something stirred beneath them.
“Hang on,” I said, hoping Vicken could hear me. “I’ll get you out.”
I reached for a brick and pulled. Something grabbed my hand. I jerked back in surprise.
“Finn?” came Vicken’s weak voice.
I grabbed his hand. “It’s me. Hold on.”
I shoved my shoulder against the top brick. It fell with a muted thud to the side. Straining, I shoved two more away. Reaching down, I searched for Vicken in the darkness. My hand brushed the cloth of his shirt. One hand grabbed mine, then another.
“I’m going to pull,” I told him.
“Do it,” he replied, his voice tight.
I channeled the weak remains of my werewolf strength that had been sapped in my mental assault against Chutka and pulled backwards. Vicken struggled with me. Small gasps of pain sounded from the vampire, but he didn’t let go. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled and I felt as though at any moment a horde of angry demons was about to attack me. I kept working until, inch by inch, we freed Vicken from the rubble.
“Help me stand,” my friend said.
I could smell blood. I didn’t know if it was coming from him or if it was from him biting me. I ducked under his arm and eased him carefully to his feet. A slight intake of breath was the only the sign he gave of his pain. I felt him waver when I stepped back. Without a word, I pulled his arm over my shoulder again. We stood side by side staring into the impenetrable darkness.