Cecilia screamed, letting loose the full blast of her howl. Sarah’s hair and gown billowed away from her, and she grabbed her ears, sinking to her knees in agony.
Then, sparkling light coating her body, Cecilia burst into fog and disappeared from sight.
“Cecilia!” Mike cried out, lunging forward with a potted plant he had grabbed from the edge of the porch. He hit Sarah in the face with it, shattering the pot and scattering soil and dead plant chunks everywhere. She slashed at his legs, the knife slicing through the fabric of his pants and biting into his leg.
“Fuck!” Mike fell, doing his best to tuck and roll and failing miserably. His legs splayed out sideways and he ended up rolling off of the front steps and tumbling face down onto the cobblestones below. He smashed his nose into the walkway, immediately tasting blood.
Sarah grabbed him by the hair and lifted his head back while shoving a knee in his back to hold him in place. He saw the flash of metal before his eyes, the knife coming for the exposed flesh of his neck. Mike closed his eyes, unable to process what was about to happen.
There was a whoosh of air, followed by the sound of flesh smacking stone, and the weight was off of him. Mike’s face smashed into the ground once more, a result of his attempts to resist Sarah’s pull. Rolling on one side, he saw that Abella had Sarah airborne, her talons around Sarah’s back. Sarah was hollering at the gargoyle and slashing at her with her knife. Surprisingly, blue blood flowed from Abella’s wounds. Attempting to keep the upper hand, Abella dove into the soft dirt of the yard, flattening Sarah beneath her.
“Abella!” Mike stood up, wiping blood off his face. Running toward the pair, he was caught off guard by the blast of light that knocked Abella off of Sarah. The gargoyle flew through the air and crashed into the railing of the porch.
“Is that the best you have?” Sarah asked, aiming her wand at Mike. Her lips moved soundlessly, the air around them saturated with magic. Mike wanted to run, but all he could see was Abella’s crumpled form on the porch. He had to get to her.
Cecilia reappeared right behind Sarah, her torso a bloody mess and her face a mask of anger. Mike saw her chest expanding, and covered his ears.
The scream made his ears ring, even through his hands. Sarah flinched, and the resultant blast of light from her wand spiraled across the yard like a firework, crossing the tall stone wall and striking a large tree in the neighbor’s yard. For just a second, the thirty-five foot tree glowed blue before exploding into a hot mess of sparks and wood.
Sarah stabbed at the banshee with her knife, but Cecilia had faded from sight. Raising the wand once more, Sarah’s lips twisted into the beginnings of her next spell.
Not wasting any time, Mike sprinted for the side of the house. Green sparks scattered all around him, exploding into the stone wall as he rounded the corner.
When he reached the door to the garage, he frantically fumbled with the latch and lifted the door just enough that he could roll under it. As he did, he caught a glimpse of Sarah’s slender legs as she turned the corner of the house. He jumped to his feet and ducked around the boxes, but was caught from behind by the blast of energy that crumpled in the door, scattering boxes and books in every direction.
This was it. He was done for. Heart pounding, he listened as Sarah stepped into the garage.
“Where the fuck are you?” Sarah asked.
Shifting slightly, Mike realized that he was hidden beneath a large portion of the garage door, a narrow gap allowing him to see his attacker. Sarah’s wand glowed at a hiss from her mouth, a sickly green color that she cast across the mess she had made. Breathing out gently, he held perfectly still.
With a wave of her wand, she sent tiny blasts through the garage, scattering papers everywhere.
Mike flinched, biting down on his lip to keep quiet. He was trapped.
“Fine. Keep hiding. A few more minutes of your bullshit is fine by me.” Sarah was carefully stepping over debris, her feet occasionally slipping on paper. Her eyes scanned the dark recesses of the garage, and Mike was relieved to see that she was more interested in the back where Tink’s staircase was.
Tink. He hoped the goblin was in the house. If she had gone down to her lair, there was nothing he could do to help her.
“You found it, didn’t you?” Sarah blasted a rather lumpy pile of books. “I bet you did. That’s why you are running. Not because you are scared, but so that you can use it against me.”
Mike had no idea what she was going on about, but he prayed inwardly that she would head for the stairs in the back.
“That’s right. That’s how you defeated the succubus, probably turned her into a pile of dust. Even an amateur like you would be capable of such a feat.” The wand was in one hand, but she held the dagger in the other. Her eyes were now on the back wall. Satisfaction crossed her face, and Mike guessed that she could now see the staircase. “I wonder where you could be hiding?” Crackling energy surrounded her body, and she disappeared from view. Footsteps on concrete revealed that she was going down below.
Mike had to move fast. He quietly slid out from beneath the door, then promptly slipped on a small piece of cardboard, crashing into the ground. Scrambling to his feet, he then bolted through the side door, slamming it shut in time for it to be blasted off its hinges, catching him from behind and blowing him across the garden.
Expecting a face full of rocks, Mike belly flopped into a large wave of water that was
