Why hadn’t she listened to Damien?
This creature was so far beyond anything she’d ever imagined. She felt like a little girl. A terrified little girl, facing a hungry bear.
She would be devoured and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.
Chapter 21
A surge of dark power drew Damien’s attention back to the ground. Jen stood a few feet away from the demon, staring at it and not moving.
Its power had overwhelmed her.
Damien had read about that in his studies, but never imagined it happening to his sister, strong as she was.
The demon raised a claw.
Damien drew out half his remaining power and conjured a golden serpent. His construct wrapped around the demon, binding it in place.
He let out a breath. He’d made it in time.
The demon’s corruption was rotting his construct by the second. He needed to finish it, but didn’t want his sister to feel like he’d saved her. She needed to be part of its defeat to regain some of her confidence.
“Jen!”
She shook herself and looked up at him. Damien dragged his finger across his throat and pointed at the demon. Jen looked at the bound monster and nodded.
She leapt.
All her power flowed into her arms and back as she swung her sword at the demon’s neck. Its head shot up into the air and Jen rolled clear.
The serpent snapped the head out of the air and Damien detonated it, sending the power into the sky instead of outwards into the clearing. A great pillar of golden light consumed the demon so nothing of it remained.
Damien sighed. He sensed no other sources of corruption outside the lair.
It looked like they’d won.
Thank heaven for that. He only had a third of his power left.
Jen knelt a little ways away from the shallow crater that marked the demon’s grave. He landed beside her, taking a moment to shift the flow of his soul force so half went to replenishing his core rather than the usual trickle. “You okay?”
She stood, sheathed her sword, and nodded. “It didn’t hit me. Damn, that thing was strong. I know Dad’s killed a demon or two, but I can’t see how he managed it. I couldn’t do much more than scratch the thing.”
“For one thing, Dad’s got more soul force than you. Not a lot.” He raised his hands when she glared at him. “He’s also got Lizzy, which doubles his strength. She can also send her power through the blade so it cuts better than normal steel. Those are huge advantages.”
She didn’t seem convinced, but screams, growing closer by the second, ended the conversation. Rhys burst into the clearing, Talon slung over his shoulder. The younger man was clutching his leg and screaming with each breath.
“What happened?” Jen rushed over to check on her subordinate.
Rhys lowered Talon to the ground. “One of the goblins got through his guard and jabbed him in the leg. Didn’t look like much of a blow, but the spear pierced him deep. He fell screaming on the spot. I killed the little bugger, but I couldn’t do anything for Talon.”
Jen tore the cloth away from the wound. The goblin had stabbed Talon in the lower thigh, six inches above his left knee. Black lines ran out from a raw, red wound. Talon gritted his teeth, trying to hold in the screams.
He managed it for a couple of seconds.
Jen put a hand on his forehead. “Talon, you have to focus on healing.”
He thrashed and gasped. “Can’t. Hurts, so much pain.”
Edward and Alec emerged from the woods and rushed over. While Rhys filled them in Jen led Damien off to the side. “Can you heal him?”
Damien shook his head. Despite his considerable skills, healing was the one thing he couldn’t do. His soul force was too dense for such fine work. “I’d be more likely to blow his leg off than cure him. There’s one thing I can try, but I make no promises. The corruption’s deep in his flesh.”
“He’s dying. Do whatever you can.”
Damien nodded and knelt beside the thrashing Talon. He put his hand above Talon’s wound and sent his soul force into the injured man’s body, blocking the flow of pain from his injury to his brain. Talon went still and lay back. He sighed. “The pain’s gone.”
“It’s not gone,” Damien said. “I blocked it so you can concentrate. Now focus on healing. The corruption is still spreading. Purge the darkness first, don’t worry about the wound.”
Talon closed his eyes. Soul force flowed from his core down to his leg. His muscles shrank as he pulled every drop of power and sent it to battle the corruption in his leg. The dark lines drew back ever so slowly.
Over the course of three minutes Talon purged the corruption and partly closed his wound. He fell back, covered in sweat, every speck of excess soul force used up.
“You’ve cleansed the wound. I’m going to restore the link between your leg and brain. Brace yourself.”
Damien removed his barrier and Talon winced, but didn’t thrash or scream. A little blood oozed out of the remaining gash, clean and red, with no sign of infection. Rhys dug a healer’s kit out of his satchel and set to work binding the injury.
Damien started to get up, but Talon grabbed his sleeve. “Thanks. You saved my life. You were right. That goblin’s spear went through my iron skin like it was nothing. I’ve never felt such pain.”
“Save your strength.” He patted Talon’s hand. “You’ve still got healing to do.”
Jen turned to Edward and Alec. “Get a stretcher built. He won’t be walking anywhere for a while.”
Damien left them to their work and walked through the late afternoon shadows toward the goblin’s lair. That demon hadn’t appeared from nowhere. He needed to search the lair for a clue as to its origin.
He hadn’t taken three steps when Jen grabbed his wrist. “Where are you going?”
“To have a look around.” He nodded toward the lair entrance.
“I’ll come with you. The guys have things under
