The vampires were vicious fighters and we were glad to have them. I watched as Todd and his two buddies and two members of the lost Tuttle Council that had gone missing on the mountain held their own, despite their weakened conditions. The others had stayed back with Elise, incapable of fighting.
A blur of movement caught my eye and I watched the elder vampire, Morei, take out a Demon wolf twice his size with his teeth and claws in a mist of red. I forced myself to watch. He was crazy old, but I guessed that not all rumors about vampires were false. The one about the elder vampires being more dangerous was definitely true. My heart rallied for just a moment when I saw Thomas and the others running down the hill to join.
But an explosion of light in the center brought a reality check. It wasn’t enough. They outnumbered us in reality by better than 2:1. And that didn’t take Will Bennett into consideration. My bolts were lethal, but I would have given anything to be able to reach Bennett with one of them; but he was too far away.
I notched another, grinding my teeth in frustration. A tiny dark blur of movement far right caught my attention and I realized Fern was there. But she wasn’t attacking the wolves, instead she was staying low and moving through the ranks. I realized she was trying to reach the middle and Will Bennett. I groaned in mounting panic. Was she insane? She was no match for a Class B Sorcerer. None of us were.
A second movement on the opposite end of the field snagged my attention and I realized Nicholas was approaching as well from the other side. Like Fern, he was avoiding the fight and going around it, working his way to the center. My heart in my chest, I jumped to my feet, a bolt notched and my finger on the trigger.
He’d kill them both if I didn’t do something. Fern's fingers continued to spin and I could see the flash of her grey eyes from my position on the bluff as they heated.
I started down the hill as fast as my wobbly legs could carry me, the terror of knowledge robbing my strength even as the magic inside me roared to the surface, lending my feet speed. I had to get closer. Just one shot was all I needed. I was nearly to the bottom of the hill when I realized Will Bennett had spotted Fern’s movement in his direction. A slow smile of sinful delight spread across his face as his attention shifted in her direction along with the angle of his hands as he turned.
He was saying something I couldn’t make out. But Fern must have heard him as her lips moved with whatever she said back.
I screamed as his hands lifted. “Stop, Fern... go back!” I lifted my bow and swore. I was still too far away, even with the flare of fire that sparked along the length of my bow.
I watched the scene play out in slow motion as Will’s hands lifted and the ball of fire grew into a lethal ball of white energy that twisted and twined in his hands, veins of orange streaking that evil sphere. He gave a triumphant cry and thrust his hands out, the sphere flying from his hands. Fern stopped her forward movement and took a knee, hands straight out in front of her to brace for impact. Her own much smaller ball of cobalt fire seemed to become larger and fainter at the same time as it formed a bubble around her slight form.
It was no match against the darker sorcerer’s magic. The impact was brutal. An explosion of light and the repercussion of energy that reflected in waves as it bounced off Fern’s shield and shivered over the valley. For a moment all fighting ceased as everyone lost their footing and tumbled to the ground, the shock moving through every one of us. The pain of it, even from such a distance, made me moan as I tried to regain my feet.
I tried to comprehend what Fern had been thinking. I desperately looked for the small tortured form of her body, anywhere on the field. My eyes swung back to Will Bennett, standing tall and satisfied. His eyes met mine across the distance and he smiled with cruel pleasure.
The rage that flooded me was instant, my skin a mad crawling itch that burned as it moved over my shoulders. In horror I watched the back of my hands as the stiff hairs there flattened and expanded into a patch of shimmery brown scales. My hands clutched my bow and I knew my magic was thrumming through me, begging for release. I remembered what Nick had told me during magical weapons class about my bow. Had that only been a few weeks ago? It seemed like a lifetime.
Was my bow an extension of my powers? I brought it around in an arc of motion and took aim, dead center of his smiling mouth. More scales erupted along my wrist and arms. I could feel the brutal sting. I thumbed the trigger, a scream bubbling up from my throat that felt impossibly hot as I let the flaming bolt fly, the arc of my orange fire shivering the full length as it flew true.
I saw the moment his eyes widened and his smile vanished and mine began. It was short-lived. In a flash of movement his hand rose in a whirl of movement too fast to follow as he deflected its course at the last moment. But not before it sliced a thick furrow along the side of his cheek, flaying it open. He slapped a hand over the wound, his eyes widening in surprise—and fury.
I had his attention. He pulled his hand away and looked at the smear of red and then his eyes were on me and his hands were moving; gathering, forming another ball of light identical to what had hit Fern. Only I was no witch of Fern’s caliber. I wasn’t sure what I was. I steeled myself for the impact as I ran and notched another bolt, zig zagging between wolves and vampires and a flash of light hair that might have been Sirris. Closer, I had to get closer. But I’d never make it in time and a Sorcerer of his abilities wouldn’t miss.
I was within fifty yards when I stopped and pulled a knee. I was out of time and options. Even as I pulled my bow around to take aim, he sent the orb of energy winging my way. If it hit me I was dead. I made a slight adjustment and fired.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The explosion slammed into me as the orb exploded and a blast of energy hit me in a wave of fractured light.
A sensation of flying and then pain as I landed and knew nothing more.
I came to quick enough, my head feeling like someone was working it over with a meat tenderizer. I moaned, pushing myself up on my elbows and opening my eyes.
Colossal mistake.
The lance of agony that shot through my eyeballs was brutal. “Shit, damn and hellfire,” I moaned.
The second time I lifted my lids slow and focused on the surrounding crazy. I couldn’t have been out long. The battle was still in full swing. We were still losing.
I wanted to know why I was still alive. Somehow, Will had missed a direct hit.
My eyes drifted across the field and froze on the spectacle before me. Will Bennett was no longer looking in my direction. Instead, he had both hands extended before him, a beam of white light spinning in a straight line to where it ended, blocked by a glittery thin beam of blue. Nicholas was taking on Will Bennett. He must have known he was no match for the more powerful Sorcerer, but he did it anyway. He was trying to buy us time, and I knew what for.
Before I was aware of what I was even about I was up and running. But it wasn’t for the portal like Nick wanted. Oh no, you don’t get to play the martyr with your life, Nicholas Seul! Instead, I ran straight for Will Bennett.
He saw me coming, but he could do nothing about it. He turned back to Nick. I watched the beam of white crawl with maddening speed along the line of blue, overcoming it too fast. I knew it would kill him when it reached him.
I had to move quicker. I was less than fifteen yards away when I dropped and pulled my bow around and took aim, the power shivering over my shoulders and down my arm keeping up with the rage that shivered through me. Yards separated that thin beam of sputtering white from Nick’s shaking hands. I was out of time.
My finger was grazing the trigger when Will Bennett’s second-in-command, Gareth, and Jorta, plowed into me from the side. The impact and the weight of them on top of me when we landed amid a tangle of legs and arms and claws made me see stars as I struggled to draw a breath. The blinding explosion of white light told me it was already too late.
“Nicholas!” I screamed, something I hadn’t even known was there shattering inside
of me as I clawed my way free, suffering a glancing blow to my cheek from a flying hairy fist for my troubles as I struggled to my feet.
My eyes flew to where he’d been. I blinked. He was still there and still standing, though I wasn’t sure for how long. I followed his line of sight. Will Bennett still stood on the knoll, but he was no longer smiling.
His attention was on the advancing army led by Lucas Seul and Marcus Tannon. He held a hand to his shoulder where a thin trickle of blood soaked the cloth dark.
They weren’t supposed to be there at all. They were waiting on the other side of that portal with Jerry Waverly, waiting for us to emerge victorious and save the day. Only that hadn’t happened.
My eyes fell to Lucas Seul and I was reminded that before he was the headmaster of Rule 9 Academy, or the Mayor of Drae Hallow; he was foremost a damned fine Class B Sorcerer. I’d heard he was good, but I’d never seen him in action. Then again, nobody had ever tried to kill his only son.
The stiff breeze that had been teasing us all day rose in a tornado of air as the sky darkened in seconds. The whirling winds captured and made the bottom of his robes billow and twist as he moved his hands in an intricate pattern that was pure grace. His light grey eyes glittered with feverish heat as he spoke words I couldn’t hear from the distance. He sent bolt after bolt arcing in Will Bennett’s direction as the other Sorcerer tried to recover and fight back. Each was a direct hit, but none of them lethal. It was a vicious attack and born of the rage I imagined he felt. He wanted Will Bennett to feel his pain and the pain of every defenseless victim he’d claimed.
But Will Bennett wasn’t finished. Even as the thin spires of light drew blood everyplace they touched, Will moved his hands again, creating a plate-sized disk that grew and expanded into a shimmery clear shield that he held in front of him. Lucas Seul’s bolts of light bounced off the clear wall and sputtered like firecrackers over the ground. Maintaining the shield with one hand, Will Bennett used his other to weave a different spell. I held my breath as without warning he brought both arms around in front, hands coming together in a clap that echoed across the valley even as a dozen spinning orbs the size of ping-pong balls spun off the tips of his fingers towards Lucas Seul.
Lucas turned sideways, hand snapping a long fluttery rope of light that spun and twisted in front of him. He used it much like a whip to blast the rotating disks into puffs of smoke as they came within reach. He was an excellent shot. Most sputtered and exploded on contact. But a few got through, gouging painful burns along his arms and shoulders.
As they fought, I made my way across the battlefield to Nicholas. He had fallen to his knees, exhaustion playing in fine lines across his face. I bent close and reached out to touch his pale face. He was way too cold to be healthy. His eyes struggled to focus on the ensuing battle, but those beautiful blue eyes were fading to a smokey gray even as I looked.
Warmer; he needed warmth. Without a word, I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight. Heat, give me heat.
It was inside me; I knew it. I just needed to call it out. I felt the pull that started as a warm whisper, feathering over my body and expanding along my limbs and into his. I felt the cold leave his core, replaced with the rush of warmth until he began to move and then to struggle.
I had called something that didn’t wish to be contained and now I fought to hold it back, this living thing that wanted out. Whatever it was, I knew that giving in to its whimsy would be unbelievably bad for all of us.
Arms trembling, my mind was screaming. Turn it off! I pulled my fire in with a twist as he thrust me back and away, banging at his smoking clothes. He was pissed.
“What the hell are you trying to do, Cross, fry me? What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking I was saving your life.” I screamed back. Irrationally angry and relieved and so many emotions I couldn’t name them all. He was standing, wasn’t he?
I turned away, my eyes smarting, which made me angry all over again. His hand on my shoulder made me jerk.
“Thank you Sadie.” I said nothing. I gave a sharp nod.
We both turned back to Will Bennett and Lucas Seul. We were just in time to watch a stand-off between the two battling Sorcerer’s. Lucas’ light blue beam of fire met with the white light of Will’s. The two beams had crossed between them in the middle, but as we watched Lucas pushed forward. This time round, it was Will that was losing.
He must have realized he couldn’t win against the powerful Sorcerer. They were well matched, but Will had been battling much of the afternoon and his energy was fading fast. His face was purple with rage, the sweat of exhaustion beading along his brow and wet on his throat.
“You think this is the end, Mayor. It’s not,” he screamed. “There are other Magicals out there that believe as I do. It’s time for us to take our place where we belong, at the top of the food chain, not dangling from the bottom. Our time is coming and you can’t stop it... you can’t stop me.”
His words should have warned me. While he’d been talking he had used his free hand beneath the cover of that glittering white light. He had weaved and formed another portal. With a sudden snarl of laughter, he pivoted to the side and pulled his energy with him. Lucas Seul’s own blast shot beyond them both and we watched in shock as it hit the Demon wolf that was advancing on Sirris dead center of his furred back. He disintegrated into a puff of smoke and hair before Lucas could pull it back.
It was too late. As we watched, Will Bennett spun the portal wide and with one last look of disdain at us all, stepped through and disappeared with a pop of orange sparks.
With Will Bennett gone and the addition of the Guard and Lucas Seul, the tide of the fight turned almost at once. Within a matter of minutes the fight went out of the Demon wolves, who were no longer under the controlling influence of their master. The battle came to a halt as the Demon wolves stood on the field and looked around in confusion. Giat and Dae took over, gathering the surviving wolves together. They turned to leave with their wounded. At the last moment, Giat turned in my direction and his eyes met mine across the bloodied field. He gave a nod and tipped a hand in my direction. That was all, and they were gone.
The vampires' numbers had been decimated by more than half. Only eight of the original twenty remained. But the vampire King had survived, as had Jorta and Ab’et.
Ab’et paused beside Jorta and Elise, who had joined them on the field. He stared out over the field where too many vampire and Demon wolf alike hadn’t made it. His silver eyes fell on me and I met his without flinching.
“It is done.” It was all he said.
Elise smiled and surprised me when she reached out and gave me a hug. “Sadie is a pretty girl’s middle name.” She murmured. I smiled back at her. Sadie the vampire. It could work.
Thomas and Sirris moved up beside me and we watched the vamps gather their own wounded and leave the way they’d come.
“We did it, Sadie, we made it. Todd and the captives are safe,” Thomas said. But he wasn’t smiling. We remembered the member of our small group that hadn’t made it. Fern had given her life to save them and preserve Drae Hallow.
I moved down the hill to the other side towards Nicholas, his father, and the rest of the guard. We still had to go back. I presumed that Jerry waited for us on the other side of the portal with the bomb that would seal it shut.
We were near the spot where Fern had disappeared when we heard a sharp moan from one of the fallen wolves. They had left one of their wounded behind. My first instinct was to kick him in the head, but I had to remind myself that they’d been victims as much as any of us, controlled by a monster with no remorse nor pity.
We wandered closer. I couldn’t fathom how he could still be alive. Half the side of his head was missing. I leaned in as he mumbled.
“Ge...rrr...uf...me!” I blinked. A sudden agitated chittering joined in and the wolf shuddered. I took a hasty step back in astonishment before I could stop myself. That was when I realized the wolf wasn�
�t moving at all. What was trapped beneath it was. With a grunt of recognition, Thomas bent down and grabbed the burly arm of the dead wolf and pulled. Together we moved him aside to reveal Fern’s compact form. She was covered in ash from head to toe. Her cheeks were nothing but a dull sooty smear. But her eyes blinked up at me, disgruntled and unforgiving. Peeking out from her shirt was Kit. The Weis Pup’s eyes jumped, round and confused in her catlike face. She gave a shudder nose to tail and the smokey residue that covered them both puffed into the air, scattering the grey powder everywhere.
“Don’t just stand there, help me up. What’s with you people. Haven’t you ever seen a charred witch before?” she grumbled.
Thomas reached down and lifted her to her feet in one swing. It might have been faster than her recovering brain could handle as she tottered, off balance for several long seconds.
With a grimace of disgust, she leaned out and snagged Thomas’ arm for support. “Walk. We can talk as we move and you can fill me in on everything that came after he blew me to kingdom come.”
I looked at her as she limped along. “You cast a shield spell. It saved your life.” I added. She glared at me, her mood for the day long shot.
“Well, obviously it saved my life, didn’t it?”
I snapped my mouth shut. Idle chat was out.
“Will escaped again through another portal. He almost killed Nick. Lucas and the guard came and saved us all.”
Fern grunted. But something moved behind her eyes that might have been speculation. “We’ll get him. Or he’ll get us, eventually. I’ll be sticking firm in the former's camp.”
We reached the others. Nick looked at his father. Under better circumstances I might have been amused by the startling similarity between father and son. They both looked like they’d rode to hell and back in a handbasket. Their hair stood up in sharp spikes and thin lines of exhaustion bracketed thin faces drawn tight. Lucas Seul looked at his son with hungry eyes, though I doubted Nick saw. His eyes were busy taking in the troops and everyone else as they gathered.
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