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Instead of letting my emotions control me, I focused on the eerie silence, honing my hearing for anything out of the ordinary. I’d lost sight of Callum and had yet to see signs of anything else.
I was no stranger to darkthings, and they had always been weak to my magic, though the council used me to gather fighters, not fight in the frontlines. Still, I had seen various sizes and shapes of the demons from the Never. This was no different.
We can take on one creature.
The light Mab and I conjured hung above us, lighting only this section of the cavern. My sight wasn’t like theirs, and I squinted trying to make sense out of the various shades of gray haunting my vision.
A set of eyes glowed from inside one of the broken buildings. The silver reflection caused me to grab Mab and push her behind me.
“That’s Callum,” she whispered.
“How can you be sure?”
“All our eyes look like that in the dark . . . oh, but those aren’t.” She pointed past the set of glowing eyes and gripped the back of my shirt, almost hiding in the fabric.
Two balls of eerie yellow flew down from the ceiling. The closer those balls came, the farther I stepped back.
A massive, winged creature landed on the top of one of the old structures. Its talons crushed the stone under its weight. The sinewy wings curled around its body which dripped with writhing shadows. Instinctively, I shielded Mab with my body, not knowing whether we should attack or flee.
A whistle to the far right caught the beast’s attention. When the creature turned its head toward the sound, a fireball blasted its face.
“Now!” Callum screamed as he jumped out of the shadows, fire streaming from his hands.
With a wave of my hands, I created a barrier around myself and Mab. “Go!”
The child ran forward, still clutching her beloved doll in one hand.
The darkthing howled, a loud, haunting noise that grated on my ears. It flapped its wings, lifting off into the air and out of the way of Callum’s fire attacks.
“I can’t see it,” I yelled, running and keeping the shield up.
We made it to the side of one of the buildings, me keeping Mab close. Callum kept his palms facing upwards, flames dancing across his fingers. I searched the darkness above him, below, around, everywhere for those glowing eyes, but nothing.
The fire vanished, removing Callum from my sight.
Focusing on the shield, I kept Mab hidden. If this beast was out there, I didn’t have the capability to see it.
The earth shook, and a pillar of stone rose out of the ground. It was difficult to see anything, but a flash of silver flew from the pillar across to one of the towers.
Callum.
A blast of heat sent me and Mab forward. She fell on her face with a cry, and I twisted my body, keeping the shield tight above us. My head knocked into a rock, dazing me for a minute, causing my shield to flicker.
Mab screamed and a stream of brilliant white light shot out of her hands and directly into the blurring face of the creature. It howled as the light burned into its flesh. It took off into the air, flapping its wings and swirling dust and rock around us.
Sliding to a knee, I strengthened the shield. Part of me wanted to use my magic against the beast, but I couldn’t do that while maintaining the barrier.
“Don’t stop!” I urged Mab on. “I’ll keep you protected.”
Surprisingly brave, the young fae kept one hand aimed at the creature, the other clutched her doll. Her plum skin glowed. A massive, clawed hand, pounded the barrier. I gritted my teeth against the strain, sweat sliding down my back. Where was Callum? With both hands, the creature slammed against the shield. I couldn’t maintain the barrier and also allow Mab’s power to push through at the same time.
“I can’t hold this!” I yelled, hoping Callum would hear.
Fire slashed in an arc, right between the two curled horns of the beast. It howled and fell forward. Snatching Mab to my side, I dropped the shield and rolled with her. The ground slanted and we tumbled down the incline way too fast.
“Kelia!” She slipped from my grasp.
We were sliding too fast, and this side of the cavern rested in pitch black, making it difficult to see where we were falling. I glanced back just to see the fear in Callum’s eyes then a deep resolve as he roared and blasted fireball after fireball into the creature who flapped wildly, trying to rise.
