The Owl hovered there in the air as the entire horde was decimated in the blink of an eye.
5
It was like a rain of fire and death and destruction. The creatures’ screams of pain filled the night as far as the horizon. All around them, they fell as burning cinders. Some burned out before they touched the ground, while others fell and continued to burn. But they all burned.
Emily’s heart filled with dread. Even though these creatures had come to slay her. Even though they were creatures of darkness. Even though it was her or them. Even though Dad’s, Aunt Anastacia’s, and Michael’s lives had just been saved, Emily felt a terrible dread split her heart for what she saw.
Nothing deserved to die in the way the creatures had all been wiped out. Not one of them escaped the lava-breath of the fire demon. Not one. They all perished in the worst way ever: burned slowly to nothing, their shrieks of horror lasting until their final moments.
Emily watched from behind the scenes, so to speak. All the while, the fire demon laughed with immense glee. He enjoyed the sight. Emily could tell because she felt the excitement coursing through her plume. The fire demon lived for death and destruction. He lived to see things burn. He cared not about gray areas. All he needed was a target, and he was ready to unleash hell.
Emily was afraid of herself. She was afraid of what she could do. Because she knew that even though the fire demon was in control, the blame would fall on her. She would be deemed responsible. Yeah, sure, these creatures were coming to kill her. But what if they had been humans?
A thought struck her heart, which caused a chill to run into her scaly talons. What if it had been the Alfreds? It wasn’t the very thought that terrified Emily. It was the fact that the fire demon had heard her thought, and that the thought had formed into something of a target in his mind.
Suddenly, his horrendous laughter, and the rain of burning creatures all around, ceased. His mind was set on Emily’s image of a burning castle-like mansion in town. Not just the mansion, but her image of the Alfreds—the visual that had been burned into her mind the moment Aunt Anastacia had shown her images of Joanna and Rina’s capture.
No, Emily warned. Not now! She didn’t know what else to say. She knew the fire demon was not interested in anything she had to say. In fact, if they weren’t stuck together in the same body, she might even have been one of the fire demon’s targets!
They have our friends, the fire demon said. He hadn’t moved yet. He was still flapping their wings, exhausting all her energy, and keeping them hovering on the same level at about three thousand feet in the air. It was foolish to keep flapping. Emily knew the amount of energy it took to keep The Owl afloat in one spot—Selena had taught her never to do it. Specifically, Selena had said to always use soaring momentum, not powered flight. That was why Emily focused on becoming proficient in commanding the winds.
Powered flight was only to be used in dire circumstances, when magic failed for some reason, or when she was indoors without enough wind.
But the fire demon knew nothing of this, apparently, because he kept flapping their wings. Emily was already feeling the strain in her joints. Even if they went to the Alfreds’ mansion right then, they’d be too tired to put up a good fight.
They are my friends, first of all—not ours, Emily pointed out, and we have a plan. We can’t take on five evil roves all by ourselves.
The fire demon laughed. You haven’t met me.
Uh, yes, I have. Duh! Emily replied angrily. And while I’m impressed with you for making a bonfire out of the horde of monster-bats, we aren’t going to face powerless creatures. We’re facing roves!
Great, people worthy of my wrath!
Emily could tell the fire demon was drunk on power. How was she going to take back the reins?
Look! Emily snapped, her anger boiling. I am The Owl! You are but a servant to me. I beseech you to take a chill pill and step back! We are not going to the Alfreds’! We will stay here, where it’s safe. We’ll go with the plan, and we’ll win this. My way!
There was silence.
Emily was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the fire demon again erupted into laughter.
You’re such a wuss! This was all he said before he stopped flapping their wings and folded them in. The result was instant. They dropped out of the sky like a rock. The fire demon twisted midair so they were facing the ash-ridden ground. Emily could see Dad standing on the roof, looking out at her.
She could see the confusion on his face. He was probably wondering what she was doing out there, flapping in the distance. Also wondering why she hadn’t yet returned. Only she had no way to tell him she was no longer in control.
Emily felt like screaming, but she was in some sort of mental prison. She could feel everything, especially her desire to escape. Yet, she was bound to where she was by invisible chains. She was conscious of the fire demon’s smell—like brimstone and smoke and fire. He sat comfortably at the helm, controlling her body.
They had gathered a ton of speed by now. At about a hundred yards away from smashing into the ground, the fire demon spread out their wings. The air caught on their feathers, and immediately, The Owl’s downward spiral was suddenly turned into a soaring flight forward.
The Owl did a few
