by Ella Summers
It was all over in an instant. And then Darksire was on the floor. The black mist around him faded out.
“He wouldn’t have stopped until he killed you,” Leilani said quietly. She stood over Darksire, unmoving. “I had to do it.”
“Darksire is dead,” Makani said.
Her face twisted with anguish, Leilani dropped to her knees. She held Darksire’s body in her arms, tears pouring down her cheeks.
Naomi went to her, crouching down beside her. She set her hands on Leilani’s arms.
Leilani looked back at her, her eyes red. “I still love him. Even after all that he’s done.”
“And he loved you. I really do believe that he did.”
“Yes, he did.” Leilani’s voice quivered. “But it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t give up his powers, his ambitions. His need to win. He couldn’t shake the darkness.” She wiped her hand across her eyes, sweeping away her tears. “But there’s no time for tears. We need to get to Rane. I couldn’t save Darksire, but we are going to save your babies.”
25
The Trail of Dead Cities
Rane’s house sure had changed a lot in the last few hours. The demon had redecorated again. She was always doing that. Her house had looked different every time Naomi had visited, as though Rane couldn’t help herself; as though she had to change things around, optimizing, always looking for a better setup.
Rane’s place wasn’t a gingerbread palace this time. It was a jungle—and also kind of a house too. A very large house at that.
The living trees made up the walls of her house. Their fat leaves formed the ceiling. There were even strings of magic lights dangling from the canopy like Christmas decorations. Except each ‘light’ was a flower, a bluebell pulsing with magical illumination.
There were no doors in the jungle house. Instead, there were curtains made of hanging, flowering vines. The furniture pieces were all living plants too. The sofas had sprouted out of the ground from very large open flowers. The tables were perfectly-shaped boulders. And the carpet flooring was a grass-and-flower mixture that was softer than the softest carpet Naomi had ever touched.
One of the rock tables prominently featured a colorful platter of perfectly-cut carrots and celery, bread squares, and cheese chunks. The food was arranged in the shape of a heart with a dagger jutting out of it. A thick liquid oozed from the dagger’s edge; it looked like blood but smelled strongly of strawberries.
“Actually, I’d really prefer some ribs,” Naomi quipped.
She really was hungry. That was the consequence of growing two dragons inside of her.
“Honey-glazed ribs,” she amended. After all, she was still a fairy.
A new flower sprouted out of the ground. It quickly grew to table-height. The petals unfolded to reveal a full plate of honey-glazed ribs.
“And maybe a chocolate cheesecake for dessert?” Naomi suggested.
Another flower sprouted. When its petals opened, a huge chocolate cheesecake sat at the center, complete with raspberries on top.
“Oh, perfect. That’s even better.” Every good dessert needed some fruit to go with it. “But maybe we could try it with pineapples instead?”
The raspberries on top of the cheesecake morphed into pineapple shapes, their dark red color fading to bright yellow.
“Stop bossing the food around,” a voice chided her.
Naomi looked around for the source of her admonishment.
The voice spoke again. “And it’s rude to order all this food and not even taste anything.”
Naomi spotted her secret admonisher: a long-haired, snow-white cat nestled in the canopy of branches and leaves that made up the ceiling. The cat hopped down, the bells on its collar jingling as it landed on the grass carpet.
“I know better than to eat food in a demon’s den,” Naomi told the creature.
“But you don’t know better than to order it.”
Naomi gave the cat her most charming smile. “I was curious.”
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you that curiosity killed the cat?”
Naomi chuckled.
The cat rolled its bright blue eyes—a remarkable feat for a cat—then turned into a white butterfly. Like Rane, like the demon’s domain, the demon’s cat could change shape at will.
“Well now that your curiosity has been satisfied, who’s going to eat all this food?” the butterfly demanded, fluttering in front of Naomi.
“How about you?”
“You know, that’s not a bad idea.”
The butterfly shifted into a beautiful white wolf. It trotted over to the ribs and began devouring them. Naomi wondered how long it would take before the wolf’s shiny white coat was stained with honey barbecue sauce.
The curtain of vines jingled, and Rane stepped through the doorway. Today, the demon resembled a twelve-year-old fairy. With long platinum hair coiled into soft bouncy curls and wide blue eyes, the willowy, barefoot fairy was as cute as a button. She wore a long white chiffon dress, a flower crown on her head, and two little white birds on each of her shoulders.
Rane’s eyes panned down to Naomi’s very round baby bump. “It’s almost time.”
Naomi pulled the two daggers from her hip holsters. She handed them to Rane. “Your daggers, delivered fresh out of the ninth circle of hell.”
Smiling, Rane took them. She slid her index finger across one of the blades in a loving caress. She certainly looked happy to see the daggers again.
“We’ve done what you wanted. Now it’s your turn to fulfill your end of the deal,” Naomi reminded her.
“I couldn’t forget our deal if I wanted to. You made it magically-binding with that handshake. You wove a spell into that simple gesture. Sneaky fairy,” Rane chuckled. “I should have seen it coming. You’re a cunning girl.”
“I’m not taking any chances when it comes to my babies.”
Rane didn’t look upset over Naomi’s trick. If anything, she looked delighted that Naomi had been cunning enough to do it.
Makani nodded at Naomi. It was a nod that said, well done.
He looked almost as happy as Rane. He was clearly pleased that Naomi had tricked the demon, that Rane couldn’t slither out of their deal.
“So let’s get this party started,” Rane declared.
The jungle furnishings faded out, and they were all suddenly back in Naomi’s house in San Francisco. Apparently, Naomi wasn’t the only one who could teleport.
The house’s front door was back on its hinges. The window was intact again. The living room was perfectly in order, as though the battle with Darksire had never happened. Even the dark fairy’s body was gone.
“Where is Darksire?” Leilani asked Rane.
“I have use for the dark fairy,” the demon replied cryptically.
“He is dead,” Leilani said, her eyes heavy with emotion. “What possible use can you have for him?”
“A scientific study. Damarion endowed him with unusual magic. I want to see how that affected his original magic.”
Leilani looked like she was going to protest, but instead she closed her mouth. She’d probably decided it wasn’t worth fighting with the demon over a corpse.
“Now then. Let’s get started. You’re probably wondering why I’ve brought you here.” Rane looked at them expectantly.
No one said anything.
“Well, aren’t you a delightful audience,” the demon said drily. “We’re here because even inside a host body, the demons’ power is weaker here on earth. Their wills are weaker. It’s a small edge, but you will need every advantage that you can get.”
Rane waved Naomi over to the sofa. “Lie down.”
Naomi lowered herself onto the sofa. Makani and Leilani moved to stand on either side of her, like they were ready to attack the demon if she tried anything. Honestly, Naomi didn’t know what either Dragon Born mage could do against Rane, but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless.
Standing behind Naomi, Rane set her hands on each side of her head.
“Close your eyes.”
Naomi dug her fingernails into the sofa. The idea of a demon looming over her was sure unsettling.
“We’ll be here the whole time,” Makani told her.
“How cute,” Rane said with a saccharine smile. “Now close your eyes,” she snapped at Naomi.
Swallowing her unease, Naomi did as Rane said.
“I’m going to link your mind to your babies’ minds,” Rane said. “You will need to help them fight off the foreign forces trying to invade their minds. It is a battle of wills. You have to defeat Paladin and Paragon, expelling them before your babies are born. Otherwise, their souls will be forever linked; you won’t be able to kill the demons without killing the children too.”
Naomi’s muscles tensed. “I understand.”
Rane’s hands pressed down harder on Naomi’s forehead. The harder the demon pressed, the less of anything Naomi felt. Her mind was light, floating, detached from her body.
A warm breeze kissed her skin. She opened her eyes to find she was no longer in her house—or at least her mind wasn’t there anymore. She was inside a thick cloud of mist. The warm breeze stirred again, blowing the mist away.
The scene was clearing, but Naomi still couldn’t yet see beyond the mist. It was as though the world around her was still forming. Like it hadn’t been created yet. Dark intentions danced on the wind. Paladin and Paragon were clearly in the driver’s seat of this world.
The demons must have sensed what she was trying to do. They were taking charge of setting the scene; they wanted all the balls in their court. Unlike some fairies, Naomi’s magic wasn’t illusory in nature, or she might have tried to fight the demons’ spells. But as it was, let them waste their magic on scenery. She was saving hers for when it really mattered.
Two tiny dragons appeared on her shoulders. One dragon was bright blue-green, its scales shimmering like aquamarine gems. The other dragon sparkled with the gold fire of a topaz. Her babies.
“I’m here,” she told them, reaching up to stroke their scaled backs.
The mist cleared, and Naomi saw she was standing on a path of daisies. There was no other living soul in sight, nothing but her and her babies and the daisies. On either side of the daisy trail, the broken, decaying husks of city skyscrapers leaned at awkward angles.
Naomi saw a Golden Gate Bridge that had broken in half. Beyond that, stood an Empire State Building with its top cut off. The other half lay in pieces amongst the fusion of the world’s fallen landmarks in this ruined cityscape.
Naomi set down the trail of dead cities with her baby dragons.
“There is evil at the end of this path,” the turquoise dragon whispered.
“The demons are waiting there,” Naomi said. “We need to fight them. We need to force them to leave you alone.”
The topaz dragon’s tiny body quaked. “We’re afraid.”
“I know you are.” Naomi turned her head to smile at him. “But I will be right here with you.”
“Promise?” the turquoise dragon said.
“Of course. I’m not leaving your side. I will be your champion. Your shield. I will protect you. And together, we will force the demons out of you.”
They had reached the end of the trail. The two demons waited there. They were like black shadows, without form or features.
A beastly howl echoed on the wind. Naomi’s dragons scurried down her sides and hid in her skirt pockets. Bright pink magic flared to life on her hands.
“There is no point in fighting us,” the larger shadow taunted Naomi. Something told her he was Paragon. “We will take over your babies’ bodies and then rule all the realms.”
“The earth will burn,” said Paladin, his words ringing with relish. “The people of earth will soon kneel before us like the people of hell do.”
“Well, you’ve just given me many good reasons to fight you.” Adrenaline burned through her body, igniting her magic. The Fairy Dust on her hands burned higher.
“You cannot win,” Paragon said.
“Then why do you look so scared?” Naomi shot back, a smirk curling her lips.
The two shadows closed in on Naomi from both sides, surrounding her.
“You should be honored,” Paladin told her.
“Oh, really?” She unleashed her magic on him, but he evaded, flitting away like a silk ribbon in the wind.
“Yes, you should be. Your sons will rule all the realms,” Paragon declared.
Naomi spun around to blast him too. This time, her spell hit its mark. The demon fell back, smoke steaming off of him. Part of his shadowy form disintegrated. Ha!
“You’d think demons would have figured out by now that we mere mortals don’t appreciate having our free will ripped from us. We don’t want our bodies to be used as hosts so that you can live out your roleplaying fantasies.”
Naomi’s magic hit Paladin, knocking off a chunk of his shadow body too. She pivoted around and blasted Paragon again. The force of her spell knocked the demon into his brother. The collision took off larger pieces of both shadows.
Naomi kept bombarding them with her magic. She felt stronger, bolstered by her children’s power as well as her own. She was unraveling the demons piece by piece. Just a little bit more.
Shrieking, the demons whirled around her, moving like ghosts. They dove through her body. An odd feeling washed over her, like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on her.
Naomi looked down to see water dripping down her legs. Her water had broken. A contraction hit her like an earthquake ripping through her body. The demons’ spell had forced her body into labor. The babies were coming now. She had just run out of time.
26
Paladin and Paragon
“Hold on,” Naomi told her little dragons.
She clutched her belly, wincing as the next contraction tore through her. Were they supposed to hit her so hard from the beginning?
The demons were coming around for another pass. As though they hadn’t supercharged her labor enough already. Naomi blasted Paladin and Paragon with a stream of bright pink Fairy Dust. It shot through the air toward the demons like a flaming ribbon.
The demons split, each one veering off in a different direction, moving like smoke. Naomi’s Fairy Dust ribbon split too, chasing after both demons. Now there were two Fairy Dust ribbons. Each ribbon slammed into a demon, fracturing their shadowy forms further.
“Hold on just a little longer,” Naomi said to her little dragons—and to her tormented body.
The demons spun around, splitting into many more shadowed figures. There were dozens of them now. They’d completely surrounded Naomi. They dove through her again and again without pause. Each time they passed through her, they set off another contraction explosion. She felt like earthquakes were going off inside of her.
Naomi channeled her pain into her magic, using it to hurt the demons who were hurting her. But it was really the love for her babies that kept her going as her body teetered toward the edge of complete and total collapse. Fairy Dust exploded out of her like a firework bursting from her body. The magic shock wave hit all the shadows around her at once. They dissolved, reforming into the two demons.
Paladin and Paragon waved their hands in the air, muttering deep, harsh sounds that might have been words. A dark glow sizzled across Naomi’s skin like black diamonds. She tried to brush it off, but it stuck to her skin like bugs to hot glue. Her Fairy Dust also failed to dislodge the vile spell.
Pain exploded in her, more intense than anything she’d ever felt before. She reached down between her legs. She could feel her baby’s head crowning. A second agonizing explosion dropped her to the ground. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
The demons loomed over her. Their features were coming into focus now. Orange eyes stared out from the darkness like flames burning in the night.
“It’s too late,” Paragon told her.
“There’s no point in fighting this,” said Paladin. “It’s inevitable.”
T
he demons’ hair was visible now, long and waist-length. Except it wasn’t really hair. It was made of bright blue flames, constantly in motion.
“The closer you come to giving birth, the stronger we become,” Paragon said. “The more resistant we are to your magic.”
“The magic that created our young hosts.” Paladin’s laugh grated against Naomi’s eardrums like a ragged razor. “You can’t hurt us anymore, Spirit Warrior.”
Naomi pushed out her hands, blasting the demons with her magic. Nothing happened. Paladin was right. Her magic didn’t work against them anymore. She tried to punch them, but her hands went right through their bodies.
She could see the demons’ skin now. It was as black as the slowly-solidifying smoke billowing around their bodies—and as dark as the black diamond spell crawling over her skin. The demons’ features were taking shape, forming before her eyes. Their noses were long and pronounced, their bodies so thin that they were hardly more than bones. Their hands closed around her arms, and it burned like the fiery pits of hell. The black diamond magic coating her skin caught on fire.
The demons’ were filling out. Their muscles grew bigger, stronger, allowing them to squeeze her harder. The pain was nothing short of excruciating. Black spots danced in front of Naomi’s eyes.
Twin war cries shrieked in her ears, jolting her awake as her heavy eyelids fell. Her two little dragons dove at the demons. Their talons did not pass right through them. As the demons fell back, clutching bleeding wounds, the pain on Naomi eased. It wasn’t enough. She still felt like she was being split open from the inside.
The demons swatted at the little dragons, smacking them aside. The dragons slammed against a building, then spiraled to the ground. They pushed their tiny bodies out of the debris, whimpering in pain. The demons strode over to them, victory thundering with every footstep.