Authors: Penelope Fletcher
Be still.
Chapter Six
Eyes wide I spun looking for the
source of the noise. I knew his voice, his presence, but had never
felt him so strongly in my mind before.
A screaming Cleric fell from the sky,
and hit the floor in the centre of the courtyard with a loud thump,
arms and legs sprawled. This in itself would have caused a stunned
reaction, but since Conall was crouched on his chest as he’d rode
the Cleric to the dirt like a sled created some uproar.
Broad chest bare his dark hair flowed
across his shoulders. His brawny legs were covered with dark
leather plates engraved with leaves, and a think strap of leather
latched his sword to his back.
A Cleric half mad with rage bounded
toward him and a small ball of fire appeared in Conall’s hand. He
sent it at the man with a wide throwing motion and it collided with
his face in a shower of sparks and blood. Conall calmly unsheathed
his sword and sounded an ululating wail to the sky. Then he set his
legs apart and braced himself.
The wall of Clerics roared in fury and
surged forward.
A swirl of fiery hair and green limbs
dropped down to stand behind my brother. Maeve, with a bow in hand,
dressed in amour sleeker and darker than Conall’s, hissed at the
line of Clerics. She notched her bow and sent and arrow flying in
one smooth fluent move, ducking as a tazer probe went flying
overhead from a Clerics gun even as her arrow impaled
him.
A panther with long white whiskers
leapt down beside her, and brushed his boxy head and ebony flank
across the back of her calves.
A massive male cougar, his entire body
rippling with muscle under mottled yellow-gold fur, followed him.
The were-cat – missing one eye – had fluffy tufts sticking out of
his pointed ears, and his mouth opened wide to release a loud
string of enraged growls.
Amelia tipped her head back and
screamed. She bunched her fore and hind paws together, short, sharp
rumblings breaking from her throat. Nimah looked fierce beside her
swaying from side to side her fingers curled into claws. The
shifter twins took one glance at each other, back at the male
cougar, and leapt forward toward their Alpha.
Lex darted behind them – a white
streak of death. Ro followed a moment later.
The demons launched themselves on the
outer line of Clerics, determined to fight and protect
me.
A Cleric drifted too close to the
shadows and was yanked back into the darkness. He did not appear
again.
I was appalled by it – them - all of
them protecting me. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way
around?
Even as I fretted for the safety of
those who fought for me, it was the fairy darting between the
Clerics on Sanctuary roof that captured my total and immediate
attention.
Men draped in red cloaks were flung
screaming from the rooftop by a blur of black and silver to land
hard on the concrete with a sickening crunch, twitching before they
were still.
He leaped down and landed protectively
in front of the others.
Breandan.
I opened my mouth to call to him but
magic thickened the air and was practically shoved down my throat.
It was disgusting, vile, and I retched. I wasn’t the only one
affected. Ana’s hand covered her mouth and clutched her
stomach.
Unable to take hold of me the magic
swirled away.
The Disciples freaked, batting their
clothes and clawing at their faces. In eerie synchronicity they
fell silent and still. At some hidden signal as one they stepped
forward, small knives, and batons unhooked from their belts. Their
faces were vacant, like the personalities that animated them
weren’t there anymore.
“
Gods help us,” I
breathed.
“
The spell,” Ana supplied
helpfully. “At least we know what all that black magic was about
now.”
I darted looks from the Disciples, to
the Clerics, over the demons, then back to Ana. I set my jaw.
Truthfully, from the moment I saw the Disciples standing on the
outskirts of the courtyard I’d decided what I was doing to do. I
rocked back on my heels.
“
Oh, thank the gods. You’re
going to stay out of harm’s way.” Ana sounded beyond relived.
“Would you like to try meditating with me to prepare for Breandan’s
touch? In some futures that helps–” Her eyes became unfocused. “Aw,
Rae. Really?”
Grabbing her hand, I dragged her with
me back a few paces so we were against the wall to stop anything
coming up behind us.
Crouching down I took my worry out on
my lip. I wasn’t going to dive into the fight and make a nuisance
of myself, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t help another way. “I’m
going to save them, Ana. I know I am.”
She pointed at the Disciple nearest to
us who tried slashing at Nimah with a stubby blade. “Rae, face
facts. They’re here to kill us,” she argued.
The shifter-girl took him down with
one heavy backhand and moved on.
I scrunched up my nose and shook my
head. “Black magic aside, I think they’re in over their heads. They
don’t understand what is really happening. I just need to show them
we’re not the enemy they’ve been told we are.”
Nimah ran back up to us then in two
swift moves yanked off her tunic and pushed down her
trousers.
I flushed and focused on her
face.
Buck naked and quivering she motioned
to me forcefully. “I knew your sappy ‘don’t hurt any Disciples’
plan was stupid,” she hissed. “Look at Meila’s coat. She’s been
sliced a dozen times trying to maim instead of kill.”
I winced as said cougar grabbed one
half of a Cleric as her Alpha grabbed the other and they both
yanked. Blood spurted like a fountain.
“
Please refrain from taking
limbs,” I added.
She glared at me.
“
Why have you taken your
clothes off?” Ana asked curiously with pink cheeks.
Nimah slid her a sly look. “Melia’s
going to Change back to human to spare her energy. She’s too
injured to carry on much longer. She’ll need clothes, and I’m going
to shift and take her place.” Her voice took a smoother tone. “Ana,
will your magic be enough to get the young humans to back
down?”
The white-witch smiled at her and felt
the air with her palms. “The magic here is strong – a powerful
dark. We’ll be lucky if they survive this, being pulled in two
directions at once would be strenuous even for a fairy mind.” She
looked at me expectantly. “Is there any chance the bond has eased a
bit?”
I closed my eyes and bit my lips.
“No,” I breathed and touched a hand to my lips thinking of
his.
“
Well aren’t you a whole
bowl of crazy,” Nimah muttered.
I glowered at her, but my attention
came back to what Ana said. “This spell. Something isn’t right
about it. Only the Disciples have been affected, but it hasn’t
ensnared me, Lex, or Ro, and we’re Disciples too.”
“
You’re not human, sworn to
none but yourself, and those old ties have broken. And your friend
reeks of weeds and black magics meaning he can only be a
Vo–”
Her gaze slipped out of focus.
Flinching, she stared at the ground by my feet in horror. She came
back to herself. Ana rammed herself into me and sent us tumbling
down. Nimah was already on all fours. I landed hard on my back,
crushing a wingtip beneath me and feeling my tail become trapped
under my shoulder blade, and I yelped.
Three wicked sharp daggers sliced the
air overhead.
Wide eyed I stared up at the night
sky. Then cricked my head to see down the length of my body. I
spotted the Cleric who’d almost stabbed me, and tried not to feel
satisfaction as Amelia’s maw clamped around his neck and ripped
into his jugular as her front paws dug into his chest.
I turned to Ana who trembled. “So
close,” she whispered.
Death no longer scared me. I had
prayed for it, and so now I viewed it as a friend I had yet to
meet. My voice was calm as I said, “You were saying?”
She shot me a hard look and breathed
out slowly. “The spell is targeting Disciples loyal to the
Sect.”
I stood and scanned over the carnage
before me.
Nimah dragged Ana up by the arm then
looked over to where Amelia was limping away from the fight with
her Alpha hovering by her protectively, taking down anyone who got
too close.
“
I have to go,” Nimah threw
over her shoulder running off toward them.
Ana and I measured each other
silently.
“
It’s a spell, you’re a
witch. Break it,” I said.
“
I don’t think I have the
kind of power,” Ana countered.
Scowling, I spotted Zoe from the
corner of my eye, purple hair and blue eyes wild, clambering her
way across the bodies of Clerics to get me. “Using my magic right
now would be dangerous and you know it, Ana, so no.”
“
You are the fairy
Priestess, Rae. No one is your match for raw power. You just have
to focus.” She paused, wavered at the dark expression on my face.
Her eyes flicked to Zoe and impatience twisted her lips.
“
Well, I’m about to be busy
so can you please do it?”
“
I’ll need time to focus my
energies. This will take everything I have,” she grumped with the
air of a martyr.
I nodded sharply, not once taking my
eyes of Zoe. It was amazing. My eyes were on her, my ears were on
Ana, but my other sense had stretched out across Sanctuary
courtyard.
I could feel everyone I cared about.
There was the stubborn spark of Maeve, wounded, but whole, and a
bubbly fizz of gold that was Alec close beside her. A blank spot
indicated Lex, and a pleasant buzz tinged with darkness close by
that was Ro. I could even feel the shifter twins, identical bright
spots of determination, and Byron, the sheen of orange surrounding
and protecting them. A brilliant white light blazed a trail in the
centre indicating none other than my brother, Conall. Runt was a
smear of warm brown darting here and there. My attention lingered
on the heavy cloud of pulsing darkness that was Tomas, but I pushed
it away. Dearer than the dark was the blush of silver, a shimmer
that weaved through the masses, and encircled all. I could sense
others; the hazy, clouded and confused consciousnesses of Clerics
and Disciples, but none as dear as the demons that fought them. My
extra sense gave me the peace of mind to focus all my energies on
the one in front of me.
Ana knelt down and turned her face to
the sky. She raised her palms upward and chanted
something.
Pulling a rusted dagger
from the waistband of her jeans, Zoe smiled cruelly making her face
somewhat animated, but the smile did not meet her eyes. They had a
glazed look. She
felt
wrong. I bared my teeth at her in warning, hissed when she
stepped closer.
Ana’s voice got louder, “Purge the
dark and hold to the light!”
Zoe twitched.
All the Disciples twitched, and their
eyes wobbled as if someone had conked them on the back of their
heads. The brief interlude passed and they fought on.
Shaking it off Zoe started after me
again.
“
Ana?” I barked over my
shoulder.
“
Not strong enough,” she
panted. “I’ll try again.”
Zoe lunged for me, wild and
uncoordinated. It was too easy. I smashed my fist into her face and
she dropped like a stone. Shuddering as I did, I dragged her limp
body over to where Ana knelt.
“
Keep an eye on her,” I
ordered and spun round at the sound of boot falls coming closer on
the concrete.
Before I could step away Ana grabbed
my ankle. “It’s not a spell,” she breathed. She let go of me and
thumbed back Zoe’s eyelid. Her pupils were contracted to pin
pricks. “Look at her eyes. It’s a hex. He’s hexed the entire
Temple. I think I can break it.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “He?” I
asked sharply.
She shot me a cool look. “Give me
time, Rae.”
Holding Zoe’s arms down with her
knees, she leaned up and slid a knife from inside her boot. She
pulled herbs, bones, and runes from a pouch about her waist and set
them on the ground beside her. Lifting Zoe’s hand, she pricked her
with a blade and squeezed some of her blood out.
A Cleric ran at us and I skipped to
block him from where Ana dealt with Zoe.
The Cleric swiped his baton at my head
and I dropped and rolled. The entire length of the steel sparked
and crackled with electricity.
One brush of that on my skin and it
was over for me.
He lunged again and missed. I spun,
kicked his leg out from beneath him, and as his weight shifted
abruptly I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down so he smacked
his head on the cold ground.
Another three spotted us and broke
away from the main fight.
“
For god’s sake, Ana,” I
screeched. “Hurry up.”