It exploded in a flash of white and orange, scattering sand and bone. The demons reformed almost instantly, their shapes crackling with elemental fury, flames licking from hollow mouths, water forming into humanoid shapes, only larger.
One lunged straight for Malakai. He dodged backwards, the ropes still binding his hands.
“Break them!” I shouted hysterically.
He looked at me sharply. “You sure?”
“I said,break them!”
The rope shredded like paper and the airshifted.
Faded markings bloomed across Malakai’s arms and neck, pulsing with red light, and when he lifted his hand, the very air rippled. The nearest demon convulsed, its body caught in a web of threads as black blood burst from its chest, dissolving before it hit the ground.
Jaden flinched. “Saints…”
“Keep fighting!” Nate shouted at him.
Eve fired into the fray, bullets whistling through mist as Ashley’s bombs sent shockwaves through the sand. Lionel covered the rear, precise and cold with his sniper.
The ground’s hum beneath us increased, low and deep, and the shadows behind Malakai moved.
A massive figure rose from the earth, built from fractured rock and smoke, its veins glowing with sickly violet light.
“What is that thing!?” Lionel shouted, but none of us knew for certain, we had never seen such magic before.
“Malakai!” I screamed.
He turned, summoning another web of blood, but the creature moved faster, slamming a jagged arm towards him. I threw myself forward, fire roaring from my hands. The flames struck true, but the creaturedrankthem, its body absorbing the heat, before it began pulsating in that violet hue.
A shock of freezing energy ripped through me as the demon’s claws slashed at my side. The world turned white. The wound burned in a way I had never felt. It wasn’t flames, yet it seared, taking my breath away. It was like frostbite, and as though it was sucking all happiness out of me, leaving me cold and trembling.
I stumbled, gasping, my vision blurring.
“Ethalyn!” Malakai’s voice broke through the roar.
He was on his knees beside me, blood magic flaring out in a shield. His crimson glow cut through the shadows, forcing the creatures back. His hands pushed against my side, covered in blood, trembling, as his power pulsed in the air.
“They’re not after you,” Nate shouted, slashing another demon aside. “They’re afterher!”
“Well they’ll still have to go through me,” Malakai snarled, eyes burning brighter. His power surged outwards, red against the grey, holding the line.
I tried to speak, tried to tell him to retreat with everyone, but the world tilted. The wound spread ice through my veins like ink in water.
The last thing I saw was Malakai. Eyes scarlet red as his power erupted, shaking the ground and painting the mist in crimson light.
When I woke again, the world smelled of pine and damp earth.
The sand, blood and smoke were gone, replaced by the hush of the forest night. Firelight flickered against bark, casting long shadows that swayed like ghosts. My body ached, but it was a dull throb now, wrapped in blankets and bandages. How long had I been out? It was already dark again.
I shifted slightly, and someone moved beside me.
Malakai.
He sat close, his arm brushed against mine, posture rigid, eyes lowered. The crimson glow that had burned through him on the battlefield was gone, but it lingered in the memory of his gaze, too bright and too heavy to forget.
“Gods, you’re awake.” I heard Lionel’s voice, rougher than ever. “You scared the hells out of us.”
He crouched down in front of me, his whole face shifting, and relief shining through his usual calm, like light through glass.
