Malevolenci

by Sunshine Somerville

  For some reason, an early conversation she’d had with Lexi popped into her mind. Lexi had noted how working with magicians and warriors to fight monsters must be new and exciting for Esme. Lexi had suggested that Esme would tire of it after a while, just as she had. That was why Lexi opted for the police life – it felt more normal.

  I couldn’t have known back then how this would all pile up on me. Or how quickly this work would wear me out. Or how much I’d crave a normal life… A life where I was free to stay home at night with my dog and loving boyfriend. A life where I didn’t know I was made in the image of a goddess who fought the vengeful gods who created us.

  She glared at the rift again.

  No, this isn’t old hat. This feels horrible in a whole new way.

  Taking a deep breath, Esme lifted her drawing hand and began the termino spell. She shot a swirling ring of magic over the smoking rift, then a line across its middle, then more lines and more curving swirls. She couldn’t help but think she was adding to the scene’s graffiti. Soon the crackling symbol was finished, and she began spinning her hands to blur the termino. The whole symbol crackled and sucked the rift into itself, and for the hundredth time Esme watched as a rift collapsed and disappeared.

  The moonlight overhead seemed brighter now without the smoke blotting the sky above, but Esme only used the light to look around tensely, expectantly.

  The nausea hit first. Then she felt as if her entire body lifted off the ground. The wave of vertigo was completely disorienting, but a second later her equilibrium returned and she felt herself solidly on the ground again.

  “Move!”

  Owen grabbed her before she knew what was happening, then shoved her hard so she staggered several yards before regaining her balance enough to turn.

  Bony spikes slammed into the dirt where she’d stood, and Esme stumbled back farther. She looked up to see an enormous bentaforx wing yank itself free of the dirt. With a great downward thrust, the wing beat the air.

  “Fire!” Loukas screamed from somewhere on the far side.

  Cavali all around lit up the night with gunfire, and Esme collected herself enough to shoot a lightning spell up at the demonic monster emerging from the rift overhead. It was the biggest bentaforx she’d ever seen – and she’d seen more than her fair share. The rift that had opened overhead was as wide as a football field, and still the great beast struggled to squeeze its wings through. The cavali shots struck flesh in a few places, and black blood showered those who stood directly below.

  Esme herself hurried away, and as she changed her angle she saw the bentaforx’s tail whip down to strike.

  “Get clear!”

  But it was too late for three cavali in the spiked tail’s path. Their last gunshots sprayed the dirt as their bodies were pierced and lifted from the dirt. More cavali jumped away, firing up at the monster. The bentaforx ignored them, squeezed out of the rift, and flapped its wings to land on top of the ruined building. Huge chunks of rubble broke loose under the monster’s weight, and dust flew into the air.

  “Esme, close the rift!”

  She looked over as Owen hurried back to her. He fired at the bentaforx, but the creature ignored him and stomped the ruins as it tried to secure its footing. A few more cavali shots pierced its vulnerable wings, but the demon folded them in and whipped its tail in retaliation.

  Esme got to work and lifted her castorca to draw the termino. Before she could get a solid line, however, a flock of chiroptorx dove straight at her. Esme had just enough time to light up her castorca and slam her hand against her thigh, igniting the scarred barrio symbol on her leg. A rippling shield of magic rose around her, and the leading chiroptorx slammed into the shield and bounced off, its bat-thin wings sizzling.

  Owen fired into the flock, and Esme watched in horror as the beasts turned as one and swirled around him. Loukas saw the king’s predicament and ran to fire at the chiroptorx, and Max and Dax did the same from their position. Piper flew through the air and shot off fairy spells at the chiroptorx from above, and burst after burst of light dropped the demons. But still there were hundreds.

  No, thought Esme as she watched from her barrio cocoon. I thought the demons weren’t going after Owen because… Oh, shit! Do the malevolenci now know I’m the last alterni endi? They’d know there’s no reason to keep the king alive if there aren’t any more origini anyway! They have no fear of resetting the cycle!

  “Owen, down!”

  Hoping he heard her, Esme stretched her castorcas and flicked her fingers, creating a fire spell that shot at the chiroptorx circling Owen. A section of the flock caught ablaze, and in their frantic flapping they ignited those around them. The demons broke apart as they tumbled. Loukas and the others fired at any left airborne, and soon the whole flock dropped dead.

  Owen rose from the ground in the center of the carnage and wasted no time before jumping over the chiroptorx carcasses and running toward the main battleground. “Loukas, support our men on the left! My team, go right!”

  Esme left the others to their assignments and ran with him back to where the cavali confronted the bentaforx. The giant monster swung its tail to keep the cavali back, but it was now up on its hind legs, swinging its serpentine head in search. As Esme approached, she saw the demon’s red eyes narrow on her.

  “Ticka-ticka-ticka. Kich! Alt…er…ni. En…di! Alt…erni. En…di!”

  Ignoring the pounding shots of the cavali against its scales, the bentaforx turned toward Esme and Owen. The monster stretched its neck, opened its wings, and roared into the night sky.

  “Concentrate on the wings!” Loukas shouted.

  Gunshots spattered into the open wings, creating holes that dripped black blood over the ruined building. Esme held her castorcas ready, expecting the bentaforx to lunge, but instead the demon flapped once, hard, to jump over them. Esme and Owen shot spells at the terrifying beast as it soared over them, and a second later it landed with a ground-shaking thud on their far side. Then the bentaforx whirled around, and Esme and Owen ducked to avoid the sweeping tail as it turned.

  Esme glanced up.

  I should close the rift. Are the malevolenci up there, watching? How many bentaforx can they possibly have made? And this one is huge!

  Owen looked at her. “Well, at least now we know a malevolenci died to create this thing.”

  “Yes, very comforting.” Esme adjusted a ring of her castorcas. “Cover me. I’ve gotta close the rift.”

  “On it.”

  Esme looked skyward and lifted her castorca to drawn the termino again. She’d only made three curving lines before she heard a sound that distracted her, and she looked over at the bentaforx in alarm.

  The giant demon was chewing where a wing met its body. The wing snapped free, and the bentaforx twisted so that the falling wing fell spikes first into the ground to Esme’s left. She jumped back in surprise as the wing pierced the dirt and created a ghastly wall between her and the cavali. A second later, the bentaforx amputated its other wing. This one slammed into the ground to the right of Owen, and they found themselves cut off from their team. The crumbling ruin was to their back, further pinning them.

  Shit.

  The wingless bentaforx opened its mouth and exhaled a cloud of noxious gas that rolled overhead. Esme quickly lifted her castorcas and spun her hands, creating whirlwinds that kept the gas from settling around them. But this also distracted her from continuing the termino, and she couldn’t see the rift clearly through the gas.

  Shit, shit, shit.

  Owen reloaded his weapon and fired at the towering bentaforx. “Any ideas?”

  They heard the cavali shouting and firing from the far sides of the wings, but the bentaforx held its glare on king and alterni. With another roar, it pulled its tail to point down the space between its wings where they were trapped.

  “Watch out!” shouted Owen.

  With incredible speed, the spiked tail shot toward them. Esme and Owen dove in opposite directions as the sp
ike jabbed between them, and Esme slammed into the disgusting wing barrier on her side. She turned back in time to see the enormous scales of the tail up close before the spike struck the piles of building rubble on the far end of their confines. Bricks and dirt flew as the bentaforx shook the tail free.

  Esme coughed and raised an arm to cover her face. The gas was settling. Quickly, she lifted her castorcas and started spinning whirlwinds again, but she coughed as the gas burned her lungs and made her eyes water.

  Then the tail lurched toward her, and Esme fell to the ground and lay as flat as she could. The tail bumped into the wing behind her. Then the bentaforx pulled its tail back and thrashed it into the wing on Owen’s side.

  Esme coughed and stayed flat as the tail crashed into her side again. “Owen! You okay?”

  His only response was coughing. The gas around them made it hard to see farther than the ground in front of her face. Her eyes watered, further blurring her vision. She felt a whoosh of wind as the tail flew over her again. It thumped into the wing before whipping back the other way.

  What can I do? I could barrio myself, but Owen…

  Her entire body jumped off the dirt as something slammed into the ground right by her head. The quick movement caused the gas to swirl clear, and Esme’s crying eyes widened in horror as the giant tail’s spike jabbed the dirt inches from her face. The spike pulled free and rose into the air again, and Esme scrambled to leap forward. The spike stabbed where she’d lain, and Esme coughed and flopped against the wing as the spike lifted out of sight into the smoke.

  Oh, shit.

  Esme froze.

  Right beside her, she heard a tearing sound and looked in confusion at the wing she leaned against. At the same time, the wing tore apart and a cavali’s hand reached through to grab her. Esme was yanked through the hole, and she fell back into fresh air. A thud drew her attention back through the hole, where the spike had jabbed the ground she’d sat upon a second earlier. Dirt shot through the hole as the tail lifted free again.

  Esme sucked in air and scrambled back from the hole as gas wafted out. The same cavali hand helped her to her feet, and she turned to see Tank looking down at her. Esme tried to be useful and waved her castorcas at the hole, creating a shockwave that pushed the gas back. She looked around and saw cavali backing up now that she was retrieved, and gunfire erupted in the night as they hurried along the wing to shoot the bentaforx.

  She looked up at Tank. “Is anyone getting Owen out?”

  “Don’t know! Piper flew overhead and spotted you, and that was the last I heard!” He turned left and pointed toward the crumbling building. “Come on! We’ll be able to see if we climb up there!”

  Esme ran with him through the dark and climbed up a pile of bricks and cement. Gunfire and bentaforx roars filled the air behind them. Smoke from the rift above flaked down like volcanic ash, making it hard to see.

  Once they reached a solid vantage point, Esme turned with Tank to peer down between the wings. The space was too shadowed to see anything right away, so Esme spun her castorcas to create a whirlwind that sucked up the gas. She tossed the whirlwind away to a safe distance, then looked anxiously to find Owen.

  He lay on the ground, not moving.

  At the far end of the wing’s narrow alley, the bentaforx was also able to see now. Gunshots ricocheted off its scales, but it ignored the cavali on either side and narrowed its red eyes at Owen.

  Esme’s heart leapt to her throat. On instinct, she spun her castorcas against the ground to create a whirlwind and lift herself into the air. Esme flew from the rubble down to the space between the wings, and as soon as her feet touched the ground she started running toward Owen.

  The demon lifted its tail, the spike catching the moonlight.

  Esme thought back on all the alterni endi spells she knew.

  Boone’s wall spell!

  She slid to a stop, braced herself with her legs, and faced the bentaforx. Holding her palms open and facing the bentaforx, she gathered all the magic her vibrating hands could stand. When her castorcas glowed with magic, she swept her hands apart and spread a rippling wave of magic that widened to stretch across the space between the downed wings. It stopped right where she’d intended – between Owen and the bentaforx. With an upward swipe of her hands, she extended the wall of magic upward to stand like an actual wall.

  The bentaforx’s tail swung but sparked off the magical wall, and it pulled its tail back with an angry roar.

  Esme kept her palms aloft and shot reinforcing magic into the gigantic wall, and with each burst she braced herself from sliding backward. She looked where Owen still lay on the ground. There was no way to get to him and hold the wall at the same time. The cavali kept up fire from the far ends of the wings, but the bentaforx ignored them. It continued to batter the sparking wall with its tail, its flicking tongue, and an occasional jab from its head.

  I can’t hold this forever.

  The bentaforx roared and raked its horns against the wall. Sparks flew into the sky, and a line of broken magic was now scratched into the wall.

  Esme shot another burst of magic to heal the scratch.

  How can I–

  Suddenly something dropped from the rift high overhead. Esme knew she couldn’t drop her castorcas to shoot a different spell at this new attacker, but she forgot about fighting when she saw it was a person falling. The cloaked stranger fell toward the bentaforx’s side of Esme’s wall shield and landed on the demon’s tail. Esme couldn’t see the person clearly, but he stabbed a knife between the scales, and the bentaforx delayed attacking Owen and pulled its tail back sharply. The stranger’s cloak whipped in the wind as he clung to the knife to keep hold. When the tail neared the bentaforx’s body, the stranger launched through the air toward the demon’s chest.

  “Cease fire! Cease fire!” Loukas shouted from somewhere to the left.

  Esme forced herself to hold her focus and keep up her wall to protect Owen, and her eyes widened when she saw moonlight shine on a castorca the stranger was wearing. A second later, he landed on the bentaforx’s long neck and stabbed the knife into a fleshy space between scales. The bentaforx reeled back, and the stranger made a fist, gathered bright magic in the castorca, and punched down into the bentaforx.

  The strength of the magical punch created ripples in the bentaforx’s chest, and the towering demon staggered back. The cloaked stranger did a backflip off the demon, twisting through the air and creating a whirlwind to slow the landing. As soon as his boots touched ground, the stranger lifted the castorca again. A burst of flame shot at the demon and hit it in its bleeding wound, catching the flesh on fire. The demon roared in pain and anger as the fire spread under the scales.

  Above, another bentaforx roared.

  Oh, shit.

  Esme had to lower her wall spell and change focus to the rift. Quickly, she raised her castorca and drew sparking magical lines over the enormous opening. The bentaforx deep inside the rift roared again, but Esme focused and finished the termino symbol, then waved her arms over her head to destroy the rift.

  The rift collapsed into the termino, and Esme panted for air and shook out her arms.

  She immediately looked back down the space between the wings. The bentaforx at the end lay in a pile of burning monster, and cavali hurried to make sure the demon was dead.

  Then she saw Owen beginning to stir on the ground. He drew himself up onto his elbows. Though his back was to Esme, she knew he was looking at the flaming bentaforx corpse.

  “Owen!” Esme ran forward, still panting for breath.

  He’s okay! Thank–

  The cloaked stranger was also running toward Owen from the other direction. The fire behind the stranger obscured any features from Esme at this distance, but the person stopped at Owen’s side and knelt to check him.

  Esme arrived and wasn’t sure what to do, but she held her castorcas ready. She couldn’t see the kneeling stranger with the cloak blocking her view, but she saw Owen’s exp
ression in the firelight. He was staring in shock.

  Owen closed his gaping mouth and asked, “Esme?”

  She took another step forward, her castorca ready. “Yeah?”

  The stranger finally turned and looked at Esme, and the hand with the castorca reached up to remove the hood. It was not a man, as Esme first thought. It was a woman – a woman with long brown hair that brushed against her all-too-recognizable face.

  Esme took a shaky step back.

  Her origini smiled. “I think he was talking to me.”

  Dear Reader

  Thank you for reading Malevolenci!

  If you have a moment, please post a review.

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  If you’d like to continue reading The Alt-World Chronicles, SHOP HERE

  About the Author

  Sunshine Somerville is from the beachy side of Michigan. She has a degree in English Literature and self-published her first book at the ripe old age of nine. Currently, she lives in Missouri with her husband, who moved there for work and seemed to think Sunshine should go with him.

  The Kota Series is a Science Fantasy epic based on childhood obsessions with X-Men, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, and A Wrinkle in Time.

  The Alt-World Chronicles is Sunshine’s new Urban Fantasy series, inspired by a recurring weird dream and a brainstorming session in the shower.

  A Fairly Fairy Tale is Sunshine’s first MG Fantasy book. She got the idea from her family’s crest, which portrays a dragon shooting flames from both ends, and from a little girl whose second favorite word is farts.

  www.SunshineSomerville.com

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