Curse of Shadows and Light (31 page)

Chapter 30. Liora

My blood is on fire, churning with an unbridled energy I’ve never experienced before. I feel unlimited powers just waiting to explode from deep within. But my mind is clear – calm, keeping my fury at bay for a moment while I assess the situation. There are at least three hundred Belith down there. The Amazèa demons are front and center, with the Belith leader standing beside them. Kieron, Corrine, and I are up here on some sort of stage with our arms strung up over our heads and death collars around our necks. And one look at each of them tells me the Belith have had a good time torturing us.

But I feel no pain. My mind gathers the information. Blanks are filled in. Questions are answered. Data is filed. Plans are made. Moves are plotted.

Corrine trembles beside me, tears running unchecked down her face. “Corrine, look at me,” I say calmly.

She glances over and frowns. “Le-Liora?” she asks, a confused look in her eyes.

I give her a small smile and nod. “Be strong. Be brave. No one will hurt you unless you let them. Got it?”

She just stares at me, her eyes wide. I turn to Kieron. He looks at me with open astonishment. “Liora?”

“
Protect Corrine. She will need you.”

“
Liora, what’s—?”

They seem to appear from thin air. One second they’re standing in the clearing several dozen yards away, the next, they’re just a few feet in front of us. They’ve obviously sucked the soul of a teleporter. Wonder what other tricks they have up their sleeves.

“
It’s time for us to play with you,” the Amazèa sing.

I give them a smirk. “Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.”

I grip the rope above my head. Streams of electric fire shoot from my fingertips, zapping the bindings and allowing my hands to fall free. In a flash, I whip the enchanted rope like a lasso, and it curls around the neck of the Belith leader. I hold up my other hand to the Amazèa. My arm shakes with the effort, as the energy radiating from my palm momentarily stuns them, then sends them flying off backward into the crowd.

I move confidently, as if in a dream… a dream that somehow I am able to control.

“
We lose our heads, you lose yours!” I scream to the leader, and pull on the rope around his neck. I imagine it being made of the finest wire, sharp enough to slice a diamond. The noose tightens. His eyes bulge, as blood starts to drip down his neck.

“
What’s she doing?” he yells to the stunned Amazèa. “Stop her!” They get up and start to brush themselves off.

“
If I die, you die!” I shout. “Take these off us right now.
Now
!”

The throngs of Belith jostle uneasily, unsure what to do. Many have their weapons poised, ready to attack.

“
Stand down!” their leader shouts to them. “This isn’t part of the deal. I’m not losing my head for this crazy bitch!”

I aim my electric fire at the ropes binding Corrine and Kieron, setting them free as well. A guard standing just below the stage looks up and starts toward us, brandishing his sword. I reach forward, and instantly the blade is in my hand. I give it to Kieron and repeat the process, this time handing the deadly weapon to Corrine.

“
Liora, what—?” She’s obviously terrified, but she takes the sword firmly by the hilt.

The Amazèa are watching all this with fascination, but I notice the Belith leader still has made no move to release us.

“
Here, I’ll make it easy for you!” I yell out. I aim my deadly fire once again. He screams in agony as his hand falls heavily to the ground. I close my eyes and mentally summon the appendage to me, and like the two swords, it flies instantly into my hand.

“
That was for hurting my friends!” I hold the hand to my throat, touching the fingers to the choker. “Now say the spell!”

He clutches his forearm in agony. “You crazy… you bitch! You—”

I focus my eyes on him like a laser. “Say… The… Spell!”

His face suddenly becomes blank, and he chants, “
Solvo signum quod exsisto permissum haud vulnero fio cado absentis quod exsisto solvo
.”

With a soft click, the orange band releases and falls to the ground. I pass the hand to Kieron as I make a large fireball. “Say it again!”

A few seconds later, Kieron’s choker releases, followed by Corrine’s. “Keep an eye out,” I hiss to Kieron.

“
It’s all clear behind us,” he says, scanning the crowd in front of us. One of the benefits of being a Latros Demon— the three-sixty degree vision.

“
What do we do now?” Corrine asks, holding her sword up like a bat. She looks around wide-eyed, her muscles straining under the weight of the heavy blade. I remove my hand from the spinning fireball and place it on her arm. I feel my energy flow into her, and she gives a little cry.

Suddenly, she stands with a renewed strength, wielding the sword as if it were but a feather.

“
You’re free,” the Belith leader yells, still holding his wounded arm. “Now take this thing off my neck!”

I shake my head, and focus my thoughts instead on imagining an invincible shield around the three of us. I can see it perfectly in my mind – an invisible, impenetrable force-field encasing us. I don’t know if it’s actually working, but it
feels
like it is. Guess I’ll soon find out.

“
We’re NOT free!” I shout back at him. “We’re surrounded by hundreds of enemy demons, and the Amazèa! If I take that off you, we’re as good as dead! You’re coming with us!”

“
Liora, what’re you doing?” Kieron asks, as I start to pull on the rope. The huge demon slowly moves closer. One quick tug and his head will be coming off, and it’s obvious none of his followers want that. Demon tribes are notoriously loyal and protective of their leaders. The Belith have no choice but to just stand and watch.

“
I’m taking a hostage,” I reply.

“
But… how are we getting out of here?”

I think about that for a moment. “Good point. I need to find me a teleporter to drain.” Kieron stares at me, dumbfounded.

“
Drain?”

“
I’ll take their energy and use it as my own. And right now the only ones I know who have that power are those two little twats right there—”

My glare lands on the Amazèa, who are watching us, obviously amused. Oh, how badly I want to kill them right now. “Here, hold this.” I hand Kieron the rope.

“
Wait, Liora—”

I take a few steps toward the end of the stage. “What’re you so afraid of?” I taunt them. “Why are you just standing there? Here I am. Come and get me.”

They turn to each other and smile. Then they each slowly raise a hand. Instantly a barrage of enormous fireballs, several times larger than mine, comes hurtling at the stage. Corrine screams and ducks, and Kieron instinctively shields his face with his arm.

But apparently this barrier I’ve created in my mind is somehow working. About five feet before they reach us, the fireballs are deflected and ricochet back into the Belith crowd. Dozens are incinerated on the spot. Another wave of fireballs comes at us, but these also are turned back onto the crowd, zapping even more of them.

Chaos now ensues. Instantly the pit becomes a storm of fireballs and flaming arrows and streams of electric smoke, all directed at us. I feel them hit the shield, but miraculously, they all either ricochet again on the crowd, or fall harmlessly to the ground.

“
Stand down!” the Belith leader screams again. “I said stand down!” But no one seems to be listening. He’s close to us, but obviously not under my protective shield. A huge fiery arrow is sticking out of his leg.

“
Don’t let him die!” I yell to Kieron. “He’s our only leverage!”

Kieron’s face is grim. “How the hell am I supposed to stop that?!” He points to the arsenal being fired at us again. “And why are we not fried to pieces right now?”

I’m trying to expand the protective shield to include the leader when I realize I can’t see the Amazèa anymore. Their tiny bodies are lost amongst the chaos and confusion. Like a bee hive that’s been disturbed, angry Belith are swarming everywhere. I know that taking my attention off them would be fatal.

Another rain of flaming arrows comes at us, followed by more fireballs and streams of electric fire. Again the shield protects us from the assault, but doesn’t completely protect me from feeling the impact.

Then I see them, two tiny bodies rising up above the crowd, holding hands and smiling. They float higher, closer, as my heart pounds wildly.

Kieron spots them, too. “Holy crap!” Still holding the rope in one hand, he raises his sword with the other.

“
What? They can fly?” Corrine screeches, and raises her sword as well.

Suddenly the Amazèa lift their hands, and a moment later the head of the Belith leader is flying off into the crowd. His body immediately turns to ash at Kieron’s feet.

Stunned, for a moment the mob doesn’t move. Then, as one, it suddenly erupts in a torrent of blinding fury… directed at us.

Oh crap.

The huge throng rushes forward, and their impact on my shield actually knocks me back several feet, where I stagger to my knees. I hear Corrine scream. She drops her sword and runs over to me, but all I can see are the two Amazèa demons as they float still closer. Now the Belith have begun to turn their aggressions on the Amazèa, shooting arrows and throwing fireballs, and even knives and swords. But the Amazèa seem to be projecting their own protective shield, and nothing is able to penetrate it.

However, unlike me, they don’t seem to be the slightest bit fazed by the barrage. They smile serenely as countless arrows sail around them, and even giggle when huge fireballs bounce back on the demons who threw them.

But I’m not finding it so easy. My energy is starting to fade, and my body begins to shake and strain. The air is getting hotter. I can barely breathe, and it’s all I can do to keep our barrier intact. For the first time I feel my confidence begin to wane. Tears fill my eyes, and as I wipe them away, I see blood on my hands.

Perhaps the Belith will somehow find a way to kill the two assassins. But that hope is quickly dashed as the Amazèa wave their little hands over the mob, and for a moment the fighting comes to an abrupt halt.

But only for a moment.

As if under a single, silent command, the entire crowd of Belith suddenly turns in unison and stares at us. Then, like conductors of an orchestra, the Amazèa flick their hands again. Instantly, all the weapons in the demonic Belith arsenal are aimed in our direction. I see more swords than I can count. So many fireballs it looks like a blanket of lava. And the cackling of electricity is nearly deafening.

I reach deep inside and gather what remains of my strength. As the Amazèa get closer, I stagger to my feet. I don’t know if I can continue to fend off the Belith… probably not for long. But there’s no way I’m letting these two little monsters win. No way.

I look over at Kieron. He’s building and shooting fireballs, one after the other. But I’m sure he knows they won’t be any more effective than throwing sand against a brick wall. Not with the insane firepower aimed at us.

“
Liora!” Corrine screams.

Immediately Kieron moves to stand in front of her. Good. Right now all my energy needs to be focused on one thing… don’t let them get through this shield!

An eerie silence falls over the crowd… the calm before the storm. Then a tiny voice sings out, “Destroy them!”

I concentrate on keeping the shield intact, as the assault comes fast and furious. The pain I feel is excruciating - like thousands of lashes all over my body. I’m lifted off the floor and slammed back down, again and again, as the shield is attacked without mercy.

I scream. I’m using the last of my strength to keep up the faltering shield, but I feel myself weakening. I dig deeper… desperately seeking the last reserves of power to keep us alive.

I scream again, and the air fills with the sounds of my wail. I lift my arms in the darkness as I drain the last of my energy.