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The monstrous bird heard me and turned to look at me.
I gasped and took a step back, cursing at my uselessness. I only just began to learn magic, and nothing I was taught could help me in this moment. Now would've been a good time to have something useful.
The creature came for me next, but I jumped to the left nearly avoiding its claws as it dug into the dirt. I rolled and pulled myself up, minding the wall of fire behind me.
Wait, that's it!
The creature let out a high-pitch shriek that had my ears ringing and lifted itself a few feet off the ground. Remembering my first lesson, I called on my magic buried in my core, forcing it into my palm as fast as it could. Before the beast could try to come at me again, I waved my hand out in front of me, creating a wall of flames that had the beast reeling back. Its distraction to my spell gave Abaddon enough time to strike, pouncing from its right side and knocking it to the ground.
Thankful that I was able to contribute in some way, I wave my hand in the opposite direction to snuff out the flames I conjured. The bird creature managed to pull itself back to the sky, staring down at Abaddon who looked ready for another round. Just as it was about to dive for us again, it was struck from behind by a second hellhound. I gaped in surprise, seeing that we had reinforcements but no clue who it was. The second hellhound used its front paws to pin the creature's wings to the ground, leaving it immobile to move or fly away. The hellhound then opened its mouth revealing the flood of hellfire swirling inside, then brought it down on the creature, biting into its neck.
The creature screeched seconds before its body erupted in deep red flames. The second hellhound backed away watching as the winged creature tried to fly away, but the hellfire quickly began spreading across its body until it dropped back to the ground. Its feathered body burned until the flames died down and all that was left was a pile of ash, and the wolf skull it wore completely burnt and smoking.
I took a long sigh of relief, pressing my hand against my racing heart, willing it to slow down.
"Antonia!" Abaddon shifted back and rushed over to me. His heated hands cupping my face as he inspected me for any signs of injury. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
I shook my head while my hands pressed against his chest, thankful that he was also okay.
"I'm okay," I finally managed to say. "What the hell was that thing, anyway?"
"That was a skullbird," a voice came from behind. That was when I noticed that the other hellhound shifted back into his human skin, revealing himself to be Xaphan. "They're flesh-eating creatures that fly in the dark to hunt for its prey. When it does, it collects the bones from its victims. and would sometimes wear it like a trophy."
That mental image would likely give me nightmares for a while, but now that I knew that the second hellhound was Xaphan, I was grateful we wouldn't have to scour the dark woods any further to find him.
"Thanks for your help," I said.
"You're welcome. Now, would you guys like to explain why you're out here? Especially her?"
Chapter15
Antonia
"What do you mean, why we're here? We've been looking for you," Abaddon retorted, sounding outraged. "What the hell, Xaphan? You just took off like a mad man and thought we wouldn't come looking for you?"
Xaphan rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I expected you guys to come looking for me, but I didn't expect her. Why is she here when she can't protect herself?"
"Hey! I think I did okay back there!" I protested, recalling that I was able to create a wall of fire that helped to keep the skullbird away from me, and distracted long enough for Abaddon to get it.
"You did. I saw the flames." Abaddon beamed. "Nice work, little witch! Helios would be proud of you."
"You guys know you didn't need to send a search party, right? I would've come back on my own once I had time to cool off," Xaphan stated, like it should've been obvious.
"Well, neither of us believed you were in the right frame of mind considering how you were acting before taking off like that. Seriously, Xaphan, what gives? What happened back there?"
"It's none of your business," Xaphan snapped. He turned and was about to walk away but Abaddon ran after him and grabbed him by his shoulder to stop him.
"Hey! Of course it's our business, Xaphan. You're our brother."
Xaphan stilled in place, his body tight with tension. His back was to me so it was hard to tell what his expression was, but from where I stood, I could tell something was eating at him. Something that he didn't want to share.
"Fuck off," Xaphan muttered, shaking Abaddon's hold on him and tried again to walk away.
"Damn it, Xaphan, will you listen to me?" Abaddon made to reach for his wrist, but when he did, Xaphan whirled around and threw a punch that landed squarely on Abaddon's face.
Abaddon reeled back, his hands covering his nose which had blood pooling out of his nostrils. I took a step forward to check on him, but Abaddon held out his hand in my direction ordering me to stop. He shook the dizziness off before baring his teeth in a snarl. "That's it! I've had enough of your bullshit."
Abaddon's body explode in a pool of fire, shifting back into his hellhound form and growling at Xaphan, the ridges of his body glowing red-hot with heat.
