Ashes of night, p.14
Ashes of Night, page 14
part #5 of Haunted High Series Series
“I keep my promises,” Chutka said.
His massive, clawed hand reached for me. I waited for the feeling of his claws tearing through my body, but it never came. Instead, his hand shot past me and latched onto someone else.
Dara screamed as she was pulled through the flames. Chutka fell backwards into the crack and pulled the empath after him.
“Dara!” I shouted.
Tears filled Dara’s eyes when she met my gaze. It was the last thing I saw before the Demon Prince pulled her through to the other side. The flames vanished.
I lunged toward the crack, but a hand caught my shirt in a vice-like grip I knew could only come from one person.
I spun to see Vicken, his face pale and chest heaving as he held onto my shoulder.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
“I’ve got to save Dara and Briggs!” I told him. “I can’t leave them there to die!”
He shook his head. “You can’t go through the crack; you’ll never come back!”
“I can’t leave them there!” I said. “I won’t!”
My eyes shifted from the vampire to Alden. The Grim knelt beside my uncle. When he put his hands on Conrad’s chest in an attempt to stop the flow of blood, I saw the name Conrad Justin Roe glowing in blue writing on his forearm.
“He won’t stop,” I said, my voice shaking with rage. “He won’t stop until he destroys everything we care about. If we don’t finish him, this school, my family, your family, the werewolves, and this entire world will be destroyed by Chutka and his demons. I have to go.”
“Hurry!” Lyris called. “We can’t hold it open much longer!”
A glance behind me showed the truth of her statement. Every professor, witch, and warlock at Haunted High chanted. Sweat and strain showed on the pale faces.
“We won’t be able to open it again from this side!” Brack said. His wide gaze showed his emotions when he continued with, “It’s a one-way ticket, Finn. You might not come back.”
“Then I’ll make sure Chutka can’t, either,” I vowed.
I looked at Vicken.
“Running toward trouble?” the vampire asked.
“Always,” I replied.
He nodded. “Let’s go.”
He helped me to my feet and we reached the crack together. The moment we stepped through, the world changed. Sound came from inside of me instead of outside. The internal workings of my body, the push of blood through my veins, the rush of breath in and out of my lungs, and even the sound of my muscles, tendons, and joints created a symphony that was familiar and strange at the same time. I blinked and the noise of my eyelids closing and opening sounded like the flap of a pair of wings.
Every sound signified one very important thing. I was alive in a realm of others who were not.
As soon as the thought solidified, sound returned. I wished it hadn’t.
Thousands of shrieking, screeching, squealing, and yowling voices pushed against my ears. A noise like a giant piece of tape being torn off cardboard sounded. I looked back to see the last glimmer of moonlight vanish. The crack was sealed. Only a faint ripple in the gray light that surrounded us remained to show where it had been.
“Where to?”
Vicken’s voice sounded flat and bizarre. I looked at him. In the dull light, his skin appeared unhealthy and washed out. His yellow eyes were too bright and his teeth glowed faintly. A chill ran down my spine. He truly looked like a monster.
“Your eyes are glowing,” he said warily. “You look feral. Are you alright?”
I nodded, shoving my concerns about him aside. He had followed me into the demon realm to save the girl I loved. Now wasn’t the time to distrust him. “I think it’s this place. It makes my skin prickle. I feel like lightning’s about to strike or something.”
He nodded and ran his hands over his arms in an unsettled gesture I had never seen from him. “It’s creepy. Let’s kill Chutka and get out of here as fast as we can.”
“Deal,” I replied. I gestured in the direction of the demon voices. “I’m guessing we go that way.”
Vicken sighed. “It has to be toward the sound of a million painful deaths, doesn’t it?”
“Of course,” I replied.
Our footsteps thudded dully in my ears. The strange world solidified around us as we walked. Nothing took solid form, but hints of images and forms peeked from the edges of my vision. Outlines of buildings meant that we were on some sort of street. Forms that could have been trees were tipped in spikes instead of leaves. Shorter plants, perhaps flowers once, twisted and writhed as though in pain.
Everywhere I looked, demons ghosted at the edges of my vision. I could feel the presence of hundreds beyond those I could see. As they followed us, their skittering claws and strange spider-like way of walking sent tremors across my skin. There were far more than we had ever faced. Brack’s warning of a one-way ticket echoed in my mind.
“I shouldn’t have let you follow me here,” I said to Vicken.
He glanced at me. “You couldn’t have stopped me.”
I gave him a frank look. The skin around his eyes tightened and he grimaced slightly with each step. I had no doubt his head wound hadn’t healed completely, and the frailty of his form was something I had never seen before.
“I could have.” I shook my head. “I told you on the phone that things were fine. You were supposed to stay home and heal.”
Vicken rolled his eyes. “You saying things are fine is like someone else waving a red flag and shouting that they’re about to dive headfirst into danger. I had to come.”
“So you could be the one to dive headfirst into danger?” I pointed out.
Vicken opened his mouth to argue, then shut it again. When he finally spoke, it was to change the subject. “So what’s your plan?”
I had to admit that it was a pretty good subject change. Given the enormity of what we were about to face, a plan would definitely be a good idea. I went with what I had so far. “Find Briggs, get Dara way from Chutka, then kill him and find a way back home.”
Vicken thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “I suppose that’s a start. How do we find—Finn, look!”
I followed his finger and saw bright flashes of color amongst the gray.
“Sparrow!” I shouted.
The whirlwind of sylph dragons turned as one and shot toward us. Just when I was afraid they were going to attack, the purple and black dragon at the lead surged forward and spun around me in a tight circle. Her tiny tongue licked my cheek and she darted around my neck and arms so fast I couldn’t help laughing.
“I missed you, too!” I told her.
The tiny dragon landed on my hand. I ran a finger down her neck. When I lifted her up, she rubbed against my chin like a cat.
“I was so worried about you!” I said.
She blinked her bright green eyes as her tail lashed from side to side. Her name written across the base of my left wrist tingled.
“Uh, Finn?”
I looked over to see at least a dozen of the dragons perched on Vicken’s shoulders and arms. He appeared terrified to move. An orange and yellow dragon stood on the vampire’s hand and was watching him steadily with bright red eyes.
“Making friends?” I asked.
“Hoping not to be eaten,” Vicken replied.
That made me smile. “You’re a hundred times their size.”
“But there’s more of them,” the vampire pointed out. “They have strength in numbers.”
“So do we, now,” I said.
Vicken shot me an incredulous look. “You think these puny little dragons are going to give us an advantage against Chutka?”
The dragon on Vicken’s hand flicked out its tongue. The vampire winced.
I lifted a shoulder. “I’ll take any help we can get.” I looked down at Sparrow. “Think you can ask your friends to give Vicken a break? He’s scared.”
Vicken gave an almost-believable laugh. “I’m not scared. I’m just practical. Vampires and flying rats don’t get along.”
Sparrow leaped off my hand. The other dragons immediately followed. She blew a small, misty flame at Vicken that vanished before it reached him. He took several wary steps back just the same.
“Flying rats?” I asked as they circled over our heads and proceeded to follow us. “You’ve just offended an entire species.”
Vicken kept his gaze on the dragons as if certain they were about to attack him. “I apologize to rats.”
I fought back a laugh. “You and I get along.”
“That’s circumstantial,” Vicken replied.
“And what do you call this?” I asked. “I’ll take any allies we can get.”
Vicken looked around us. “You have a point.”
I was about to revel in the fact that I had actually won an argument against the vampire when a form lunged from the shadows.
“Vicken, look out!” I shouted.
I rushed in front of the vampire and was about to phase when the form straightened. I stopped short at the sight of Professor Briggs.
Blood coated his dark cloak and robes in several places. By the thick smell of it, I knew the professor was badly injured. Despite that, he brandished his cane like a sword and prepared to strike at us.
“Professor Briggs, it’s us,” I said.
He blinked, looked from me to Vicken, and lowered his cane. “Boys?”
I nodded.
A furrow formed between his eyebrows. “What are you doing here?”
“Saving you,” Vicken said. He glanced at me. “And Dara. Do you know where Chutka took her?”
“I followed them as fast as I could, but I couldn’t keep up.” He put a hand to his chest. I could hear his breath wheezing through his lungs.
“You should wait here,” I told him. “We’ll come get you when we stop Chutka.”
Briggs shook his head. “I won’t let you go alone. You can’t stop him by yourselves.”
“We’re not alone,” I replied. I gestured.
The professor followed my gaze. A smile touched his lips at the sight of the dragons flying above us. “You brought an army.”
I nodded. “Stay here, Professor. We’ve got this.”
He straightened. “I have my own vendetta to settle. Come if you wish, but don’t get in my way.” He limped forward.
Vicken and I exchanged a glance and hurried after him.
Chapter Thirteen
A building of dark, swirling mist solidified in the distance. As we drew closer, the presence of the demons increased. They became bold enough to trail our footsteps and spit fire at our legs. The sylph dragons answered with red, blue, green, and orange fires of their own, swooping and hissing to send the demons back from the trail. One nearly bit my fingers before Sparrow attacked and sent it yelping into the distance. She settled on my shoulder after that. The familiarity of her tiny claws in my shirt calmed my nerves. Even Vicken didn’t appear to mind when the rest of the dragons flew closer to us.
The building turned out to be merely broken, crumbling walls so long they faded into the distance. In the middle was a huge hole instead of a door as though the building had been ripped into by some massive, terrible creature I didn’t want to meet.
We followed Briggs inside to find that instead of a ceiling, a swirling canopy of green flames writhed and danced like a bone-melting tornado. Along the walls waited the demons we had heard, only the instant we set foot inside to the building, their horrible sounds had stopped to leave an oppressive, charged silence broken only by the rattle of Professor Briggs’ breath and the tap of his walking stick against the floor.
Dara lay motionless in the middle of the huge room. A circle of green fire surrounded her but didn’t touch her, yet. As we watched, it grew tighter, closing on her inch by deadly inch. It was a trap, a taunting, cruel snare set as a twisted joke by Chutka the Shambler.
It was obvious he expected me to climb through the flames to save the girl I loved. His mocking, dancing, bottomless black eyes watched me from the far end of the room. I didn’t have to look at him to feel his glee that we had followed him into the realm where he ruled. No mercy would be given to us, and just like the shrinking circle of flames that surrounded Dara, our deaths would be the end result of his game of cat and mouse.
I took a step forward.
“Wait,” Briggs said quietly. “I have a plan.”
“Thank goodness,” Vicken replied. “I was afraid to ask Finn. His plans are the worst.”
The professor kept his gaze on the Demon Prince. He spoke quietly so only we could hear. “Vicken, bite Finn. I’ll distract Chutka so that you can inject him with Finn’s blood like you did to the Darkest Warlock to make him vulnerable. Hopefully, if Finn attacks him, he’ll phase into a wolf and they can battle it out while we rescue Dara. Finn’s an Alpha. He should be strong enough to keep Chutka at bay until we escape. With any luck, we can hightail it out of here in one piece.”
Vicken looked from the professor to me. “Finn, what’s your plan?”
As bad as Professor Briggs’ idea had been, I really didn’t have anything better at the moment. I lifted a shoulder. “To go with the professor’s plan.”
Vicken shook his head. “That’s a horrible plan! I’m disappointed in both of you!”
I threw up my hands. “Then come up with a plan of your own for once instead of criticizing mine all the time! If you think you have something better, let’s hear it!”
Vicken looked from me to the professor, then back again. “Fine. We’ll go with Briggs’ plan, but if we all die, I’m blaming you.”
“Fine,” I replied. I held out my arm.
Vicken hesitated with his teeth above my skin. “Are you sure about this?” he asked quietly, all pretense of frustration gone in the place of worry.
I nodded. “It’s worth a shot. He’s weaker with the moonstone. Maybe my blood can give us an edge.”
Vicken let out a breath and sunk his teeth into my skin. My teeth ground together at the pain and a tremor ran across my skin, but I kept my face emotionless. The last thing the vampire needed was guilt after everything he had been through. I couldn’t believe he was even walking, let alone ready to face Chutka in a very, very pathetic shot of us defeating him.
He lifted his head, gave me one last searching look, and then ducked under Professor Briggs’ arm to help him toward Chutka.
“I had to jump through the crack,” I heard Vicken mutter under his breath. “Don’t follow Finn. Now there’s a plan. I really should try that next time. I’ll probably live longer.”
I agreed with him, but I wouldn’t give him the pleasure of hearing it aloud. The last thing Briggs and I needed was to listen to a gloating vampire before we died. And if we didn’t die, he would be impossible to live with.
I wondered how Briggs intended on distracting the Demon Prince so Vicken could get close enough to bite him. Though the demons around the room kept silent, they began to sway from side to side as Vicken and Briggs approached their ruler. The demons surged inward, filling the floor between myself and the others, blocking my path. The smell of pain from the professor would excite them. I could only hope Briggs knew what he was doing.
I kept an eye on them as I made my way toward Dara. The flames were getting a little too close to her for my comfort.
“Has anyone ever told you how much you stink?” Briggs asked the Demon Prince.
A low rumble sounded from Chutka. He leaned against the far wall with one massive, clawed hand on his chest where the moonstone had done its damage. I could hear his labored breathing. Maybe we had a chance after all.
But first, I had to figure out how to get Dara out of danger. The fire was almost to her. I could go through it, but my full attention on the flames would leave us both vulnerable to the demons. If Vicken and Briggs got in trouble, I wouldn’t be able to help them if I was carrying her. I needed help.
With one eye on my friends, I turned my attention to Sparrow.
“Time to try something, little one,” I whispered to her. “Think the other dragons will listen?”
Sparrow licked my chin with her red, forked tongue and flapped her wings to rise into the air. She flew around my head once before using her wings to hover in front of me. I could see how even the short time we had spent apart had changed her. Instead of gawky, spindly legs and wings that appeared too big for her tiny body, she had grown into her limbs and was now a sleek, lithe, graceful creature who appeared at home in the air and in command of her abilities. It made me realize that Professor Seedly had been right about dragons aging quickly; I missed my baby sylph dragon, but was grateful for the poise and readiness that showed in every line of my little friend’s posture.
“Fly away with Dara,” I whispered and pushed to the dragons. “Get her out of here. Keep her safe.”
Sparrow flew near me even as the other dragons soared toward the circle of flames.
I could read the concern in the dragon’s gaze, but shook my head. “I’ll be okay. I need to know you and Dara are safe. Get her as far from the demons as you can. Protect her. Can you do that?”
Sparrow gave a little puff of mint-scented flame that vanished before it reached me. She circled my head one more time, then flew off to join the others.
They hovered above Dara and the green fire uncertainly. I tried to push away the fact that we stood in a windowless, fire-ceilinged, crumbling-walled room filled with demons and Chutka the Shambler. I heard Professor Brigg’s cane tap against the floor as he neared the Demon Prince; at the same time, Brigg’s forcingly jovial words said that he was still toying with the Demon Prince. I doubted it would be long before Chutka tired of the professor’s chatter.
I closed my eyes and pushed at the dragons again. “Fly away with Dara. Get her out of here. Keep her safe. Follow Sparrow.”
“Get away from her,” Chutka growled.
I opened my eyes to see the dragons dart down past the circle of flames. Their tiny claws latched onto Dara’s shirt and pants. Sparrow gave a little huff of command and the dragons rose into the air. Dara’s still form lifted with them.
“Stop them!” Chutka shouted. “Kill her!”
