Heritage

by Rebecca Walton

  Bending the bar that was still in my hands, I flung it at two of them who were now making their way over to me. Wounded, they threw fire balls at me as I approached them, Grinning I diverted their fire balls back at them, and they simmered away. Stopping before I attacked another, I heard clapping and saw my friends being held up by other demons. Turning towards the clapping, I saw him, the boy from earlier at college who was still dressed in his Fred Perry jumper.

  He walked to Alex and lifted her chin with his finger. Before I could get to him I was held back by two exceptionally strong demons. I tried to fight the urge to kick myself for not seeing this coming.

  “Funny isn’t it Adabelle?” He smirked but did not turn towards me, he just stayed staring at Alex. I could see her pain as she tried to disappear, but the metal pole that was wrapped around her stomach stopped her.

  “Get off her!” I yelled, but he carried on as if I hadn’t spoken.

  “Funny, that I could trap you and your friend here isn’t it.” Letting go of her chin he stared at me with his cold black eyes. I felt my body tense as my eyes turned. I could feel my eyes burn as the magic travelled through my body.

  “Yeah it’s Fricking Hilarious. I’ll make you a deal...”

  “A deal? “He interrupted. He was now sitting on a sofa looking bored and uninterested in the whole thing.

  “Yes. You let me and my friends go, and I won’t hurt you,” I smiled as he looked up and laughed a deep chilling laugh.

  Standing once more, he walked towards me, caressing my cheek with his finger. I could almost feel the anger and disgust ooze from my skin. He searched my face before he dropped his hand and gave me a sneer, before taking his place back on the sofa. Josh let out a loud growl from his canine form and Lorias lifted a hand and shifted it in Josh’s direction, throwing him against the wall. With a thud, he crashed to the floor as Alex shouted his name and struggled against the demons keeping her in place. As Josh lay unconscious Lorias winked at me, and my anger began to boil over, but I knew I had to keep my cool.

  “I’m just curious how would you hurt me?” He smirked.

  “Just let dumb and dumber here let me go and I’ll show you. Someone needs to knock some sense into your ego. ” I knew I should not have said the last part, but I could not control my anger as I glanced at Josh’s human form lying lifeless on the floor.

  “See that’s your problem, too involved in how other people are,” He sneered.

  “If you just reached deep inside and become the evil being we all know you are, maybe we could then come to some arrangement.”

  “Bite me!”I snarled. Kicking the demon holding me in the crotch, I placed out my palm and created a fist in front of the other demon that was holding me, and he cowered to the ground.

  “Elle, Catch,” Alex yelled shimmering from her demon as he was distracted by my escape. Grasping the bag she had threw, I pulled out the gun and aimed it at Lorias’s head. He was still sitting on the sofa not phased by the fact I was standing in front of him pointing a deaf ray at his head. He shimmered and reappeared an inch from me, his hot breath on my face angered me more. He was too close for comfort, and it made me feel sick. He let out a sigh, and his breath brushed my face.

  “You are a charming young thing aren’t you,” He smirked. My stomach started to churn as the thought of him made me want to vomit. I let out a laugh and kneed him in his groin. Smirking I lifted his chin with the gun as he cowered on the ground. Checking around me, as I had thought, Alex had dealt with the other demons and was now standing over Josh.

  “Not so funny now is it,” I sneered.

  “You know you’re going to lose everything and everyone that ever meant anything to you!” He threatened.

  “You're, not in the right situation to be making threats arsehole,” I taunted pushing the gun into his forehead. He smirked and I felt someone behind me, turning too slowly, she knocked the gun out of my hand. Head butting me, I fell to the ground, as she grasped my head in her hands. Tutting, Lorias knelt down in front of me.

  “You know you are not as smart as you look,” He jeered. “Nor are your friends,” He gestured to Alex who had yet again been caught by a demon.

  “If your mother could see you now.”

  “SILENCE! Lorias,” I heard him shout, but I couldn’t see where he was. He appeared from the shadows, and I could see all the demons apart from the ones holding us hostage, were bowing to him. I couldn’t make out what he looked like as he made his way towards the opening in the alley. I saw his eyes first, they were a piercing dark blue, and as he approached us I could see that he was gorgeous. Most demons were decent looking it was part of their charm so that they were more attractive to humans, but this one was different. Trying to take my gaze from him I glanced at Alex who seemed to be too concerned about her brother to have noticed the new arrival.

  He put a hand on Lorias shoulder and separated us, from the closeness of us I could feel my heart beating overtime. He ran his hand through his dark brown hair and continued to walk Lorias to his seating place.

  “Let her go Lexis.” As he spoke he looked at me, and I could have sworn I saw a glint of amusement in his eyes.

  “Let her go?” Lexis questioned pulling my head.

  “Did I stutter!” He yelled making her jump. She released her grip on me, and I shot up and straightened myself out. He turned to Lorias and began to whisper in his ear. I listened carefully, but they were speaking so quietly that not even my extra hearing could pick up anything. Whilst they were talking, I managed to kick one of the demons behind me before fly kicking another, knocking him into the wall behind me. Racing to Alex, who had managed to break free whilst the demons had been distracted by me. We both ran to Josh and grasped an arm each.

  “Elle you have to get us out of here,” She gasped. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I felt the wind circle around us and opened my eyes to see that we had orbed back to Gracia. I let out a sigh of relief as Alex burst into sobs bending over Josh’s body. Bending down beside her, I checked his pulse and other injuries.

  “He’s fine Alex, he’s just been knocked out,” I explained, trying to console her as she leaned over him.

  “Get off you twit!” Josh whispered as he began to stir under us. He sat up and groaned as the movement hurt his head.

  “Where are we?” He asked as he stood up and rubbed his head. I didn’t have a clue where we were, I just knew that we were somewhere in Gracia as that was what I was thinking of when I orbed. We were standing in a park with over grown roses and a pond filled with frogs and ducks. It was beautiful, each side of the path we were standing on were over grown flowers from roses to sunflowers. The sun was blazing above our heads, I had to shield my eyes as I watched a flock of geese fly above.

  “Maybe we should just follow the path around and see where it leads,” Josh suggested.

  “You sure you will be ok? Maybe we should sit here for a while,” I edged towards him, and he laughed.

  “I’ll be fine, stop worrying. Let’s go,” He chuckled again and started walking down the path as I and Alex followed him.

  The path seemed to stretch for miles as we admired the plants and wildlife that was going on around us, every so often we would stop and watch some of them. It wasn’t long before we reached a small cottage that looked like something out of a fairytale. Advancing towards the stoned built house, before we could reach the door, it opened with a creak and standing three feet from the floor, was an elf. Dressed in a fancy suit and tie with his thinning hair combed back, he looked as if he had come back from a prom or a classy engagement.

  “Hello there. I’m Cedric, How may I be of service to you,” He greeted in a deep voice, looking from one face to the other.

  “Hi, do you mind telling us where we are?” Josh asked politely.

  “Lost are you, well you are in the land of Icarus,” He replied straightening his tie.

  “Come in and sit down, I’ll fetch us a Cuppa,” He ushered us inside and le
d us into a tiny room that consisted of a tree stump and four little chairs. The roof was so small we had to duck to enter. Ushering us to take a seat on the floor, he went out and came back with four small cups of tea and a tiny plate of biscuits.

  “Sorry but did you say Icarus?” I asked trying to think if I’ve ever heard of such a place.

  “Yes dear, the beautiful land of Icarus, where the flowers never die, and the water is always clean, and the sun always shines,” He spoke the words as if they were a mantra that he repeated to himself every day. He placed the teapot on the tree stump and took a seat.

  “But I’ve never heard of Icarus, ever, and I’ve been everywhere in Gracia.” Confused I sipped my drink of tea to be polite and was followed by Josh and Alex.

  “Well my dear, the reason for that is we are not in Gracia. This is a different realm.” He moved about in his seat for some time before speaking again.

  “This realm has never been inhabited by any evil creature or good. How did you get here? We aren’t on a map,” He snickered at his non joke.

  “I orbed,” I replied

  “Well that is odd. I’ve never known of such a thing to happen,” he muttered shaking his little head.

  This was strange, how did I orb to somewhere that I did not even know existed. I finished the remainder of my tea as I tried to take In my confusion. I could feel my friend’s eyes on me.

  “This can’t be good at all, can’t be good,” he mumbled, continuing to shake his head.

  “How do we get back?” Alex asked, I could hear the confusion in her voice, and I was glad I wasn’t the only one confused.

  “There is no exit my dear,” Cedric replied casually. Alex rose from her seat, banging her head on the ceiling.

  “No, exit! Then excuse me, how did you get here?” She asked, rubbing her head.

  “I was born here. You will have to go the way you came,” He replied getting up from his seat and pointing in the direction of the door.

  “I think he wants us to leave,” Josh mocked sarcastically and headed to the now open door. We all proceeded to the door and had just made it out before Cedric slammed it behind us.

  “What a peculiar little elf he was, So what now?” Josh asked as we started walking back up the path we came from. I stopped for a moment, processing what the hell we were going to do next. I did not have the strength to orb us all back again as it took too much energy. Then again Alex and Josh had to know where they were and where they were heading in order to orb. It seemed like I was the only ticket back home. No pressure then I thought as I began walking again.

  “Well I suppose we could try finding out where we are exactly,” I proposed.

  They both stopped and looked at me with there are you kidding expressions. It’s cute, they both look the same when they did it, they were not twins, they had been born two years apart, but they had similar features. Certain looks they did were exactly the same; this one was one of them.

  “Come on guys I’m knackered. This orbing has taken all my energy, I don’t think I could do it again, I’m sorry,” I sighed and took a look at their worn out faces. The battle had taken a bit out of all of us, and I knew that we all wanted the same thing, to be back at home.

  “Fine, come here and take a hand,” I sighed.

  “No Elle its fine, we can find another way out,” argued Alex, carrying on walking down the path. I walked to Josh and grasping his hand I led him to Alex. When I had them both, I closed my eyes and thought of home. Feeling the familiar rush of wind, I opened my eyes and recognised my garden.

  The castle in front of us was my house, but half of my dad’s people lived in there including Alex and Josh’s family. It was ten times bigger than Buckingham palace and even at the age of eighteen I still hadn’t been in half the rooms.

  “Home,” Alex sighed. I began to walk to the door, after three steps I stumbled and felt the soft grass as my body hit it, I was exhausted. I’d used too much energy and needed to go to bed.

  “Elle!” Alex shouted as she tried to catch me.

  “Are you ok, I knew we shouldn’t have orbed, Josh help me get her inside.”

  “I’m fine honestly, just give me a minute,” I gasped trying to get my breath back.

  “You two go inside, I’m going to sit here for a while,” I sighed lying back on the grass to look at the stars. I had almost forgotten it was about one o’clock in the morning. The sunlight in Icarus had set my eyes off balance, so the sudden darkness left me woozy. Josh’s heavy weight landed beside me.

  “I’ll stay here Alex, you go find someone to help Miss Orbatron over here,” Josh taunted. Alex let out a slight giggle before walking off into the direction of the entrance gates.

  “Orbatron ay? How long have you been waiting to say that,” I mocked.

  “Just about an hour,” He let out a deep laugh and rolled onto his side facing me.

  “You look tired, maybe I should carry you in or something,” He tested.

  I mimicked his position and gave him a reassuring smile.

  “I’m fine, honestly, and you wouldn’t be able to carry me,” I mocked. Moonlight lit the side of his face making his skin glow, highlighting his jaw line and his glittering green eyes. The scar he received from a demon last April, lay from the corner of his right eye and travelled into his hairline. The jobs that my dad gave us were always dangerous, and someone was bound to get hurt. That was one of the reasons that I disliked being a witch.

  “What?” He asked bringing me out of my trance.

  “Nothing I was just thinking.”

  “About what?” He asked turning onto his side to face me again. Looking into his eyes I could see why all the girls in Gracia fancied him. His hair covered one of his eyes, and you could always see him with his hand in his golden curls, shifting it so that he could see. Over the years, his boyish looks had turned into handsome features.

  “Ok you’re freaking me out now E!” He complained.

  “Sorry, let’s go inside, I’m feeling better now,” I smiled, getting up. Grabbing Josh’s stretched out hand I pulled him up, and we headed for the direction of the castle.

  As we reached the gates two guards appeared in suits, they nodded their head in my direction and opened the gates for us to pass.

  “Here come the men in black….” I heard Josh sang as we passed through the gates and continued through the court yard. With further nods from the guards, we made our way into the entrance hall.

  “Well it is about time, I was getting worried.”

  “Dad!” I yelled running into my father’s open arms. Taking in the smell of his aftershave I reluctantly pulled away.

  “So how’s my girl doing? I hear you have a new power.” He asked positioning me so that he could take a better look.

  “Yes, I can orb other people now,” I mumbled.

  “How was the hunt? Did you smite the demon?” He beamed.

  “No, there was some distraction your highness,” Josh answered.

  “Excuse me Josh, Do you mind if I have a private word with my daughter,” He gestured Josh to the door. As he left he gave me a cocky ‘have fun’ look.

  I heard his footsteps as he came to stand next to me, he let out a sigh, and I could see his reflection in the frame of the painting I was looking at. I looked very much like my father, he had blue eyes like mine and his short brown hair was a shade lighter than mine. Placing a hand on my shoulder he sighed again.

  “One day you will realise how special you are,” He praised.

  “I know I’m different dad,” I muttered taking my eyes off the painting to glance at him. “I’m not ashamed of who I am.”

  “Different?”

  “Yes, I’m a soldier right? One of your men”

  “You are my daughter, and no matter what happens, you are my main concern. I love you, and the main part of you is the powerful angel that I know you will one day become.” He avoided my question.

  “But what if...”

  “Child, there are n
o buts. One day all of this will be yours whether you want it or not. This is part of who you are. A demon hunter and with that title comes immense responsibility and also serious risks.”

  Kissing me on the forehead he gave me a hug and left the way Josh did. For a minute or two I stared at the painting. I watched as the children danced in the field next to their house, without a care in the world. Lucky things I mumbled as I turned towards the door.

  “Oh Elle!” she shrilled as I was pulled into a hug.

  “How are you?” Emerald chattered as she straightened me out. Taking my hand in hers she led me to the kitchen.

  She smiled at me, gesturing for me to sit on the stone seat that was directly facing the stove, in which she was now occupied bustling pots and pans around.

  “So what has been going on down there?” She asked over the noise. She spoke with the normal tone she had when speaking about humans.

  “Nothing much,” I mumbled. The banging of pots stopped, and she turned to face me, her bright green eyes seemed to be searching my soul.

  “What?” I questioned chewing my lip.

  “You can’t fool me child, I’ve known you since you were a baby. Even then when you said you didn’t pull down that curtain rail during your Ethan’s knighting ceremony. I knew it was you, you can’t lie to me. Of course, I didn’t tell your father he would have gone mad but even so …..”