The first wave hit hard.
A column of flame tore out of the mist like a serpent, hissing towards us. Lionel dropped to one knee and fired through the fog, clean and precise, scattering the fire apart with a bullet that roared like thunder. The quartz bullets burrowed deep into the creature, causing the flames to die and rain down as ash. Another fire elemental appeared and Faelin answered with a sharp flick of her fingers, slicing the embers sideways with a gust of wind before they could complete their form.
Ice came next.
A jagged sheet burst from the ground, aiming straight formy chest—
Only to shatter midair as something wet and crimson lashed across it, steaming it into liquid that dripped onto the ground.
Blood.
Not mine, Malakai’s.
His magic threads cracked through the mist like whips, gleaming dark and alive. They coiled around me, not enough to restrain, but enough to protect.
A shapeshifter lunged through the fog, wearing my face twisted into a feral snarl. I barely got my sword up before the creature was knocked back so hard its bones cracked.
Malakai yanked his threads back and clicked his tongue.
“You’re too close,” he mused, stepping between me and the creature. “That’smyspot.”
His voice was low. Calm, yet murderous.
Another demon, this one molten like living magma, lunged at us.
Malakai didn’t even look at it.
He flicked a hand and the demon exploded into ash, flames sizzling desperately in the grey sand before being choked.
“Show off,” I muttered, moving to his flank.
His lip curled, half-smirk, half-threat. “Keep hiding behind me and I’ll take it as a compliment.”
Before I could retort, a copy of Lionel materialized ahead, rifle raised, eyes empty.
“Oh, hells no,” Lionel muttered, lining up a shot. “I’m the original. Sit back down, fraud.”
He fired.
Two figures looking like Lionel dropped, their bodies becoming piles of ash instead of black ichor.
“Was that the right one?” Nate whispered sarcastically.
“Who cares,” Ashley yelled somewhere to the right.
“I care!” Jaden added quickly. “One demon in the group is enough, thank you.”
The group chuckled lightly.
“Everyone duck!” Ashley shouted.
We dove as one.
Her explosion lit up the fog like sunrise, but it quickly faded as the light was swallowed again.
Shadows shifted, too many.
“Group up!” Lionel barked.
