To ashes! Emily concurred.
The fire demon broke away from its return sweep and dived for the mercs. The moment they saw The Owl coming, they didn’t bother to raise their weapons, even though they were armed to the T. They scampered in all directions.
It didn’t matter. The Owl swept in from the right end and unleashed fire until it got to the last person and then directed the flood of fire to the side of the building. The Owl banked around the back of the building, which had remained untouched from the carnage so far.
Emily knew that if they left the house the way it was, it was going to burn all the way to the ground. But she was having none of it. Neither was the fire demon.
Zee took in a deep breath and let loose raging fire all along the length of the building.
The Owl swept around the other side of the building until it came to the front. By now, the Alfred kids were nowhere to be found. The mercs had all been decimated, and the castle was wholly on fire. Nothing could stop the raging fire now, not even magic. The elementals were still letting it rip on the building, and the entire structure came crumbling down.
In the back of her mind, Emily hoped that Marion had somehow made it out.
The Owl climbed to a safe but near distance to the elementals and circled the crumbling castle. This was a victory for them. Their first big win. She could only hope that the Alfred seniors perished in the inferno, for it would save them a lot of stress in fighting the Alfred seniors later and stopping Na-Ma.
The fire demon soon got tired of circling the building and watching the elementals take care of what was left. He slipped back to the background, allowing Emily to take charge of The Owl once again.
Emily kept her eyes peeled for any sign of Aunt Anastacia. Soon, she saw the woman behind her vehicle, waving at Emily. It was a signal for them to leave. It could only mean that Dad and Michael, and hopefully Rina and Joanna, had made it out of the building.
Emily dived for the vehicle. Even though the plan was for her to fly off, she didn’t see any reason to do so. The Alfreds had either escaped from the area or were buried underneath the pile of burning embers. Either way, they weren’t going to spring any surprise attacks on her.
Emily shifted a few feet above ground and landed with grace at a slight trot.
“Get in the car,” Aunt Anastacia called without question.
They both hurried into the car. Aunt Anastacia turned on the ignition and started reversing out of the street. The burning, crumbling building and the billowing pillar of fire and smoke receded before them. The elementals were still very much enraged, smashing into what was left of the mansion.
“What’s going to happen to the elementals?” Emily questioned her magical aunt.
“They’re going to fizzle away as soon as the building is dust and ash.”
“Did they get them?” Emily gasped out the words. Of course, it was a poorly formed sentence; nevertheless, Aunt Anastacia knew what she meant: Rina and Joanna.
She merely nodded. “They were barely conscious when Michael and John found them,” she said sadly. “Rina was far gone, but Joanna was conscious enough for Michael to perform the locator spell.”
“And?”
Aunt Anastacia had already reversed down the street. Now she did a U-turn and headed in the direction they’d come earlier. “They’re at the safe house.”
“So it’s on to the Russo Manor?” Emily’s expression shifted to surprise. The Russo Manor was thrice as large as the Alfred mansion. And it was foreboding.
“Indeed.”
“It might be guarded or booby-trapped or spelled or all three.” Emily didn’t want to renege on the deals she’d made with Aunt Anastacia. However, she wanted to lay it all out, so they could decide if they had enough ammo to go up to the Russo Manor all by themselves.
“Maybe all.” Aunt Anastacia nodded sharply.
“I guess we’re going there after all then.” Emily exhaled and leaned back against her seat.
Her aunt nodded. “We need to press our advantage. The Alfreds took a big hit tonight. If we destroy that nexus, we stand a better chance of winning this war.”
Emily settled back into the posh chair and sucked in a lungful of fresh air. A thought popped into her mind. “If the Alfreds are escaping from the castle, where would they run to? Their only ‘friends’ in town are the Russos. That means—”
“They’re probably headed there now,” Aunt Anastacia finished for her without a hint of fear in her voice.
“You really think so?” Emily asked, just to be clear.
Her aunt nodded. “I’ve always suspected it.”
That’s when Emily realized that Aunt Anastacia was pushing the car to its limit. They were currently over a hundred miles per hour above the town’s speed limit. With no one on the road, and the road being basically straight until it cut right beside the Russo Manor, they were going to be at the house in less than three minutes.
“You think we’ll get there before they do?” Emily bit her lip in anticipation.
“I hope so. If the Alfreds get there and set up shop, we won’t be able to destroy that nexus again. That means when the Alfred seniors wake up and find out what we’ve done, they’ll use the nexus to turn the entire town against us.”
“And we’d be restricted because we won’t be able to fight our friends and neighbors, knowing they’ll probably die,” Emily groaned. She gritted her teeth, realizing they had no other option but to get to the nexus first. The fire demon rumbled within her. Ready to unleash fire.
Aunt Anastacia took one look at her and said, “Hey, this is a stealth mission, okay?”
Emily nodded.
“We slip in, destroy the nexus, and slip out. With no one the wiser. I have a cloaking spell we can use. It’s all the better if the
