Page 51 of Commanding Flame and Shield
She placed her hand on his chest, and more light enveloped him. Her voice came out in sobs, “Come on, dammit! Don’t you die on me, Bash. Don’t you even think about it!”
Bash remained limp, and Fae grew more frantic in her attempts to heal him.
But Aren and Ally were circling back, and I stayed glued to her side, pulling my attention from Fae and the fading Sebastian.
The threat wasn’t gone yet. They were still on high alert.
“Still no name?” Aren said under his breath, and she shook her head again. In their minds, I realized they could summon the demon if they had a name. A desperate cry ripped through the air, and we turned to see Fae, frantically powering Bash’s fading heart, her desperation palpable. Alec knelt at her side, placing his hands on either side of Sebastian’s’ bloodied face, and he breathed out light, trying to heal his mind as she made effort to revive the body. Alvara gasped, and I turned to her as she folded over her knees, clutching her temples. She sobbed as she pressed there, and agony rippled through my own head. Dark talons began to claw at my mind, and I locked my shield up, expanding it to cover Alvara and the others. She released her hold on her mind and gasped for air.
The meaty sound of a blade running through muscle and bone ran chills down my spine.
I turned around as Alvara’s blood curdling scream rang out Aren’s name. She dove forward to catch his colossal frame as he fell to his knees, eyes wide in shock, hands grasping at the blood-soaked blade sticking from his chest as it smoothly pulled back out.
Looming behind them, was the stuff of nightmares. A cloaked skeletal figure with obsidian saucer sized eyes.
The cloaked and crowned demon.
TWENTY
BURN
ALVARA
“Aren!!” The scream tore from me, and I lunged for him. My head still recoiling from the attack, as though the creature had taken a mallet to it. The weight of Aren’s frame brought us both to the ground, as the sword slid backwards out of his body.
“No!!” The scream was unified among us. No. It couldn’t be. In three hundred years, I had never seen Aren struck, let alone lanced.Impaled. I summoned my strength, looped my hands under Aren’s great, muscled arms, and pulled him away from the towering demon as it raised its blade to strike again. My Commander was nearly silent, releasing only a small grunt as I heaved him out of the way, his eyes staring down in shock at the rapid crimson blooming across his white shirt.
The others all rushed forward towards the demon in the cloak. His eyes were void of soul, and his lips pulled back to reveal razor sharp points to rows of teeth, all stained red with blood. I pried into his mind, my head burning in agony as I slammed the attack towards him. He had drained Sky dry to steal her life force. To take her power. I recoiled from my hold as Alec collided with the creature, only to be thrown to the ground like a rag doll.
Aren wordlessly clawed at his chest, and my attention turned back to him, his hot blood pooling against my lap. I tore his shirt apart and my eyes burned—the flesh where the blade had been was charred. Poison.
“Saraya!!!!” I screamed. “Saraya!!!”
She appeared in a moment, a mess of red hair fanned out around her shoulders, and her eyes instantly filled with tears. “No!” She cried, shock thickly lacing her voice. She dove for the ground by my side, pulling Aren’s great body forward onto her chest, light erupting from her hands and heart, to spin long glowing cords around his body. Binding them together. Her glistening chocolate eyes found mine, “Grayshell,” she whispered.
I nodded and released my hold on him, frantically shoving his weight off my legs so I could stand. “I’ll cover you!”
The others were all between us and the demon, shields held high. Only August’s horrified eyes met mine, as he glanced over his shoulder. “Hold the shield!” I demanded, and power surged out from around him like a forcefield, knocking the demon back a few steps, and sizzling through the shadows. The shield began to crackle with August’s electric charge, and I turned back to Saraya and commanded, “Go!”
They vanished.
My eyes lingered for a moment on the smeared pool of blood where Aren had been, my heart tearing through my chest, pounding with frantic desperation to follow. But the demon was advancing, and August had revealed his strength, painting an enormous target on his back. August seemed to know my fear, because he turned his attention back to the demon king as it moved forward, its own shield sparking against August’s, and shaking violently as it collided with the wall of energy our team had conjured.
I forced my way between Fae and August, and cast my shield, knocking the thing backwards. Stepping between my family and the threat, I let my anger course through my veins, pouring out into my fingers. Alec believed my temper was a weakness, but Aren had always told me my strength was planted there. Aren. Deep sickness twisted in my stomach and furious energy poured out of me.
A snarl tore from my lips, and my teeth bared as I pushed forward. An eerie green glow burst across the demon’s face, casting darker shadows under its eyes. My soul was surging. August stepped forward by my side, eyes also glowing a vibrant green. His nerves had been replaced with a vibrating rage, and the demon narrowed its onyx eyes.
Slowly, straining against our energy, the thing looked from August to me, and back again, inclining its head slightly to the side. “Impossible,” he growled. Terror unmistakably filled its dark eyes. The word gnawed at my core as I surveyed him. Frustration rose in my chest as I futilely fought to reach back into its mind. Then August was there, in my mind.
I’ll hold your shield! Go! Move!
My eyes blinked, and then his strength surged through me, my muscles bracing for an explosion.
I released my shield, and August’s took up its place, electricity crackling through the air, sparking like tiny bursts of lightning. The demon shot a panicked glance at August and roared the word, this time like an epithet, “IMPOSSIBLE!”
I stepped forward, feet heavy, as they pushed through the demon’s barrier. Throwing my hands up, a wall of fire erupted between us. Stronger than I’d ever cast, my outrage like kerosene, I cocked my head to the side before snarling and advancing again.
The flames grew, encircling the entire hallway. Raging oranges and reds, even flashes of blue, the wall of fire seared the demon’s fingertips, and it hissed as it shoved back against the crackling force field.
