Hunted

“Did you learn anything, Llyr?” Remy asked.

Bran nodded. “There’s a something inside the cloud. The cloud and the lightning are just covers.”

“The cowards. I say let’s just nuke them,” Sykes said, bouncing the alpha energy balls as he would basketballs. Kim was ready too, stance wide, hands open and extended. The air above her palms churned so fast it distorted the images seen through it.

“If we do it from here, we’ll give away the location of the island and the portal,” Remy said.

“So let’s use maneuvers 24a followed by 35d from Battle Strategies II,” Bran said.

Remy scowled, then nodded. “It might just work.”

“Whoa, slow down,” Sykes interrupted. “What in Tartarus are 24a and 35d?”

“Create a decoy and lure away from target then attack,” Izzy said absentmindedly while adjusting the arrows on her crossbow. “Seriously, do you ever read Battle Strategies?”

“No, Miss Judgmental.” Sykes made a face. “I believe in learning from experience.” He glared at Bran. “Next time just say ‘the move we pulled in the Bayou’. So how are we going to do this? We’re in the middle of the freakin’ ocean.”

“I’ll create islands of icebergs,” Bran said.

“I’ll cover them with rocks and sand for traction,” Remy added.

“And I’ll move them around and create confusion, so the demons won’t pinpoint our exact location,” Kim threw over her shoulder. Her wind tunnel had picked up moisture from the air and was now visible.

“That’s right,” Bran added. “We’ll teleport from island to island as we attack.”

“Great.” The energy balls fizzled out and Sykes rubbed his hands. “Get moving, pronto. Lil got lucky but we haven’t kicked serious demon butts in weeks. I need my fix.”

“What can we do to help?” a man asked from behind us and we turned. The Security Guardians were back from leading the students to the portal. They were five of them, two women and three men, all packing daggers.

“Guard the portal,” Bran said. “If they get past us, leave and seal the portal from your side.”

“You can’t do that,” Kim snapped. “It’s the only portal left.”

“This is the standard protocol, Kim,” Remy said impatiently.

“Go,” Bran ordered the Security Guardians, then made eye contact with me. “Distract the demons.”

“Got it.” My lightning bolts didn’t originate from my fingers like most demons, or above my palm like Sykes’ energy balls—I willed them with my mind. With the shield and glamour on, the demons wouldn’t be able to pinpoint my location.

I turned to face my target. Focusing, I took a deep breath, drew strength from within, and let the demon have it. Lightning bolts appeared around the white mass west of us and blasted it from all directions. It rocked, rose higher then suddenly dipped.

Bran grinned when our gazes met. He always got a kick out of watching me fight, until the demons got too close and his protective instinct took over.

“You’d better leave,” I told him. “I don’t know how long I can fool them.”

“How are we going to do this?” Remy asked, sounding doubtful.

“From underwater. Don’t worry, I have your back.” The two waded past the shallow stretch of the beach and dove in.

In the sky, the other demon changed directions and went to the rescue of the first one, ribbons of lightning criss-crossing the sky as they returned fire with fire. I caught the second one unaware, cutting across its path.

“Tartarus pit! We have a third one,” Sykes said.

Chaos followed as the demonic clouds moved left and right. The new arrival kept teleporting and reappearing in different parts of the sky.

“How long can you keep this up?” Izzy asked in a worried voice, a hand on her forehead as she shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun.

“Not long.” A dull ache was quickly building on my temples. My vision blurred and dizziness washed over me, all signs that I was overusing my powers. I grasped the hilt of the Kris Dagger. A surge of raw energy pulsed through me, replenishing my psi energy. The headache disappeared along with the dizziness, and my vision cleared.

“It won’t be long before they realize there’s no one out there,” Kim warned.

“They just did,” Izzy said in a worried voice as the annoying third one shot downward and into the ocean. She angled her crossbow. “That one must have spotted Remy and Bran.”

My stomach dipped. I scanned for Remy and Bran, found their psi and pinged them. “They are okay.”

How is it going? Bran asked.

There’s a demon in the water. Watch your back. Flares appeared from the corner of my eyes as alpha energy balls materialized above Sykes’ palms again. The wind picked up behind me as Kim’s wind tunnel grew bigger.

We’ve created four. One more to—

A sharp tug on my psi energy cut off our communication. I tried to block it, but a link was already formed. The pressure in my head shot up, forcing me to stop attacking the demons in the air. Shouts came from the others but I couldn’t make sense of their words. My skull felt like a nut in a nutcracker, white-hot pain seared across my head.

I opened my mouth to tell the others what was happening to me, but my mouth couldn’t open. My arms grew heavy and my breathing became shallow as though someone cut off my air supply. Everything became blurry then white. Finally, darkness crept in and chased away the light.

The clang of metal hitting metal pierced the air and mixed with screams, hisses, and screeches. Thuds shook the ground, each like a slap at my psyche.

I tried to move and search for the sources of these sounds, but my body stayed frozen. My arms and mind were at odds too. I tried to reach for my dagger with little result. Frustration roiled through me. My toes curled and sank in the sand, the only proof that I was standing at the beach, that all of this was real. My eyes moved too, thank goodness.

Still, I couldn’t tell where I was or whether the others were with me or not. The shadows pressed heavy on my senses. After months of drawing strength from energies around me, I was being sucked into a hole where nothing existed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see a single energy. My fear of darkness returned.

I closed my eyes, resorting to my old way of sensing things. Nothing.

Sighing, I opened my eyes and searched through the darkness for hope, anything. I opened my mouth to call to the others, but either the din swallowed the sound or I couldn’t produce any. Maybe I didn’t even open my mouth.

A movement appeared from the corner of my eyes then something shiny reflected light as it sliced the air. More appeared, the sound of metal against metal growing louder. Squinting, I studied them and realization dawned. There were weapons, swords and daggers thrusting and slicing. A battle raged around me and all I could do was watch, helpless and confused.

Bran? Remy? Sykes? Izzy? Kim? What’s going on? Can you guys hear me?

Once again, my telepathic questions went unanswered. I squinted, trying to see if my friends were among the fighters, but I couldn’t see faces, just silhouettes against a starless sky. Who’s out there? Where am I?

My senses threatened to explode from the echoes of pain and death. Bodies fell from the sky. Something sticky dripped on my arms, my head and face. Blood. Even in the darkness, I knew it. I smelled it. Swallowing, I tried to move again. Somebody help me, I screamed.

Tiny flakes fluttered down from the sky and fell on my head and on top of the bodies on the ground. No, not snowflakes. Feathers. Downy ones and larger ones, like the ones covering Bran’s wings. Guardians were being slaughtered.

Bran? Remy? I called to them again and again, but it was useless.

They are here and you must stop them, a woman’s voice, faint but sweet, broke