Zoe cut her dagger through the air in front of her. The wind moved, curling around and under her–lessening her weight. Zoe took off at a full sprint.
With the wind twisted as it was, Zoe had a strong gale against her back. Her feet barely skimmed against the ground as she moved forwards. An inexperienced observer might have thought she was flying. She thought the same the first time the technique was demonstrated to her.
Ash and dust kicked up around Zoe as she sprinted through the remains of Ylva’s enemies. A twist of her wrist and the gale ceased. She manipulated the wind into curling away from her, especially her eyes and mouth. Zoe didn’t like the idea of breathing in the remains of corpses.
Cold bit through Zoe’s relatively thin suit. It wasn’t that cold of a day, but the air around Ylva’s little ash field sent Zoe into light shivers.
“You should stay inside. It is unsafe.”
“Unless you’ve seen the mastermind behind all this, at your side is probably the safest place.”
“We have seen nothing but minions.” Ylva paused as another landed right next to her.
The creature lashed out at Zoe, but she was far enough away that it didn’t matter. Charcoal colored veins raced across the creature’s skin.
Zoe shivered again. The air temperature dropped several degrees as the creature turned to dust.
“This army will soon be obliterated. It cannot be stopped. A waste of resources. We fail to comprehend the motivations behind this attack.”
“Eva, Juliana, Shalise, and a few other students are missing.”
“A distraction?”
“I saw Juliana and Shalise just after the attack began. I think they ran off to find Eva, who apparently skipped class today with another student.”
Ylva made a small noise of acknowledgment. Even in her tiny form, surrounded on all sides by combat, Ylva managed to project an aura of superiority. She kept her head high as her gaze swept over the remaining demons.
Just her looking at them sent the creatures backing away.
“This travesty will not go unanswered. The Keeper will be interested in the creator of these abominations.”
“Keeper?”
“A direct entity of Void. He punishes those who break His rules.”
“Creating these creatures is against the rules?” Zoe frowned as a thought occurred. “What about Eva’s hands?”
“Given willingly. It is doubtful that so many demons would contract to mutilate themselves in creation of these abominations. Many likely perished. We would not offer Ourself for such a fate.”
“Not many would,” Zoe said as she glanced around. Aside from simple limbs, many of the creatures had more important parts of demons attached to the human parts. Heads and torsos, for the most part. Those demons had died without question.
“We believe false contract–”
The giant wall around the Rickenbacker exploded outwards. Huge chunks of earth pasted a good number of the creatures.
Zoe’s eyes went wide as one boulder careened in their direction. Fueled purely by adrenaline, she created a miniature tornado in an instant to deflect it away.
She winced as the adrenaline settled down. Might have hurt something with that, Zoe thought as her dagger arm slumped to her side.
Genoa and a blood-covered Arachne stood at the entrance to the Rickenbacker. Neither looked happy. Understandable in Genoa’s case, but Zoe would have expected Arachne to be happier about dripping with blood.
It didn’t take them long to notice the ash filled clearing. Without regard to collateral damage, the two started moving.
Zoe couldn’t even see Genoa moving her dagger or glancing around herself as creatures were skewered by spikes erupting from the ground, crushed between slabs of earth, or otherwise decimated.
Arachne was much the same, though creatures actually had to come near her. She only had one leg sprouted from her back and even that one was looking battered and broken. Still, it lashed out and skewered anything that approached either of them.
Working together, they made quick work as they waded through the army.
“Where’s my daughter?” “Where’s my Eva?”
The two glanced at each other before returning their glares to Zoe.
“Eva skipped class along with another student. I’ve not seen them since. Juliana and Shalise disappeared shortly after the attack started. Presumably to find and assist Eva.”
“Juliana wasn’t with Eva?” Oddly enough, Genoa’s glare was aimed at Arachne.
“I only said she was with someone. I didn’t ask for their name.”
Genoa turned and punched Arachne in the face. A crack spread through her carapace from her mouth to her nose.
The spider-demon clenched her fists. For a moment, Zoe thought she was going to return the favor, but her fingers unclenched. She merely smiled. A smile with far too many sharp teeth. Black blood leaked over her white teeth from the part of her mouth that was cracked.
Arachne held a dagger in one of her hands. A light-eating dagger adorned with gems–with bloodstones. She noticed Zoe’s gaze and held the dagger up. “Eva wouldn’t have left this behind. It is… concerning.”
Zoe opened her mouth to respond, but Genoa stepped forwards and cut her off.
“Take me to Nel. Now.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ylva give the faintest of nods.
Zoe reached out, taking Genoa’s hand in her own. With a twitch of her dagger, the two were gone.
The walls of the women’s ward appeared around the two women. Genoa took one look around before she glared at Zoe.
“Why here?” she said through grit teeth.
“I can’t teleport into Ylva’s domain. Let’s hurry.”
Before Genoa could argue or complain, Zoe moved out the front doors. She stopped just at the edge of the inner women’s ward wall as a sound reached her enhanced ears. Carefully, she motioned for Genoa to glance around the corner.
Two groups fought in the pathways between cell blocks. One side was a random assortment of peasants from various eras. Every now and again, Zoe caught the glimpse of more knightly members of that faction. They wore armor and wielded swords as opposed to the peasants’ pitchforks and torches.
The other consisted of black-cloaked mages wielding the white magic of the Elysium Order.
Genoa narrowed her eyes. “Which side is the enemy?”
Chapter 025
Nel huddled in the corner of Devon’s cell house while the two argued out a plan.
A seizure ran through her body. Nel avoided collapsing thanks solely to her already being crouched down. She tried hard to keep her eyes off of all of the demons they had summoned. It wasn’t easy. Her eyes wanted to look.
It’d be worse if she connected to the source. As it was without being connected, she retained some control.
The female was the easiest to look at. Although whatever she was made from was inhuman, nothing about her triggered any sort of negative response. Nel tried to avoid her anyway. From the vague explanation of that demon’s power, it would be nearly impossible to avoid her eyes.
A hazy figure moving through Nel gave her a start. She cupped her hand over her mouth, not wanting to make another noise. The first time it had happened was understandable. To Nel at least, not so much to the others. Shouting out again would only garner more strange looks.
It wasn’t a ghost. It was too real to be a ghost. Her regular eyes couldn’t see a thing, but it was there all the same. The false-ghost moved up to stand next to the masked demon. A few stood around him and several more were scattered around the room.
As far as Nel could tell, neither Eva nor Devon noticed even when the ghosts moved through them.
A small seizure racked Nel’s body again. Just thinking about the first two had her subconsciously send her eyes to look at the third. That one was where all her problems started.
She could see–through her normal eyes no less–a fang filled maw, hard skin coated with black tar, leathery wings, a tail tipped with spikes, lizard-like legs, its beating heart, lungs, the insides of its stomach, and plenty more.