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Monsters, ghouls, and demons…they were real. Not merely myths or the imaginings of a maddened mind.
Brigid could feel them closing in. Seeping out of the darkness and adding their hissing voices to the continuous rumbling roar.
Within moments, the men were ready. Brigid and Annie handed them the pistols, daggers and swords and were each pulled effortlessly onto the unicorns behind Lord Larkin and Sai.
“To the woods straight ahead,” she commanded.
“On the other side is Moray Firth. The Master is weakest near water. We will take the battle to them there.”
But before they could reach the forest, they had to pass the castle itself, which was easier said than done.
For, yellow and red eyes glowed evilly through the dark of the fog. Followed by the baring of dozens of mouths full of sharp, jagged teeth.
The monsters were here.
~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~
“Aim to wound!” Brigid shouted as the bloodbath began.
“Don’t kill them! They are servants and laborers of Castle Mar. They’ve been turned against their will!”
Ben had already leapt off the unicorn to wield his sword more effectively. It was too heavy and long to use with just one hand. He had to use both hands.
Annie managed to stay on, clutching the animal’s long mane desperately. At least she didn’t need to steer it, for it knew what to do to combat the monsters that came at its legs, rearing, stomping and kicking with ruthless precision.
“We’re surrounded!” Ben yelled, cutting a swathe through the once-human creatures.
It was difficult to pull back from executing lethal blows. He’d already shot the one pistol he was given, wounding a monster in the shoulder. He used his sword more to keep them at bay than to attack, but they didn’t fear the blade, didn’t seem to feel pain when they were wounded and bled.
“If you can work your magic and turn them back, now would be a fucking good time!”
Brigid closed her eyes and held out her arms, palms out. Her frizzy hair wove around her freely in a nebulous halo. A glow emanated from within her chest, until it brightened her face like the sun, traveling to the very tips of her fingers.
But when the glow touched the creatures closest to them, they stayed as they were. Brigid’s magic wasn’t enough to change them.
“I have an idea!” Annie called out.
“Cover me!”
They hadn’t had time to make torches out of the lanterns for her, but she got one open and exposed the candle flame within.
She held out her palm, and before Ben’s astonished eyes, the flame leapt from the candle to her hand.
One flame became two, and two became four. They multiplied until her whole hand was filled with small, dancing flames that shot higher and higher, like fiery daggers coming straight out of her skin.
Ben had never witnessed Annie’s powers first hand. He knew that she was a fire witch, but she had never shown him her tricks, and didn’t seem to want to talk about it much. When they spent time together, they tried to be “normal” teenagers. Minimal talk of Pure and Dark Ones’ politics, dragon training or fire witching.
Ben whooped with jubilation when Annie threw her fire daggers at the monsters that surrounded them.
When the flames touched them, they flared even bigger, brighter, making the creatures stagger back and shield their eyes.
While the fire’s burn made them hiss and retreat, it didn’t seem to do lethal damage. The creatures quickly realized this and looked poised to advance upon the foursome once more, but the brightness from the flames kept them back.
Annie held more fire in both her palms now and hurled them at the pack of pursuers that surrounded them. Ben leapt onto the unicorn’s back behind Annie and spurred the animal forward, cutting a path toward the woods. Sai and Brigid kept right alongside them.
Annie windmilled her arms in an elaborate pattern and muttered something foreign beneath her breath. Suddenly, the fire spread from her hands to encapsulate all four of them on their unicorn steeds, until they were ringed by protective flames.
Together, they raced through the woods, the human-turned creatures falling behind on foot.
