Chapter thirty-one—The Help
I gasped at the golden blood on my hand. Suddenly, as if in a visionary flashback, I remembered the golden blood of my mother’s blood on the knife of which Malistaire slashed her throat with.
Nikki was trembling, and I knew only slightly about what she felt. The searing pain was in my arm, as if there was a knife stuck into by bone.
“Nikki, stop moving so I can heal you.” My hands shook, as I forced her on her stomach. She cried out in pain as the new position of her back made her bleed even more. ‘I’m so sorry, Nikki, and I know this hurts. I need your full back to heal all if it. Just wait, Nikki, and the pain will go away.” I begged.
Suddenly, three different growls came out from behind me. I turned, now aware, that I’m in danger.
A Hellhound stood behind me, with three heads. It bore fire for eyes, black needle teeth, and as big as a small elephant. I gulped, and suddenly, my necklace fell off. No, was pulled off.
Now, truly afraid, I had first thought that without the amulet, that I was not protected enough. However, my fear died the tiniest bit when I looked down, and instead of a citrine amulet, there was a golden sword.
The amulet had been pulled off my neck by the weight of the sword. Quickly, I picked it up, and it seemed to fit into my grasp. I gasped at the beauty of the sword, but then watched the Hellhound warily. It stepped over to me, baring its sharp teeth in hunger.
I held the sword towards the beast, both hands on the sword. I’ve never fought with a sword before, but it was probably like a sharp wand. Right..?
I stood before Nikki, protecting her. Immediately, the Hellhound lunged at me, and knocked me down with its power. It was like being hit by a horse. It was on top of me, breathing into my face with the breath of a dragon. It burned my face, but there was no fire. I felt some of my hair singe. Its claws dug into my chest.
My sword was crushed between me and the beast, his red fur rippling in the coldness of the sword. I held the sword to the Hellhound’s throat, making it hard to crush my head with its three jaws. It was like holding back a five hundred weight boulder every time it threw its jaws at me. I felt hot blood pouring over my chest, while the beast slashed itself with my sword as I held it back away from me.
My hands sweaty and bloody with the blade digging into my hand, my sword slipped. Now, with nothing between the Hellhound and I, it lunged at my throat.
Then, suddenly, a large burst of light hit the side of the Hellhound, knocking it off of me, and into the wall. I heard a crack, but it did not stop. Instead of running back at me to tear my throat out, it jumped over me and roared with its three heads.
“Laura, get Mary out of the way!” Someone yelled. It sounded familiar.
Somebody grabbed me with a large grip, and I, suddenly awoken from shock, stood up suddenly. I gripped my sword with my uninjured hand, and rushed to Nikki; ignoring the person whom attempted to bring me out of the battle.
Nikki was wide awake, grimacing in pain. I didn’t expect her to be unconscious, considering that it was only her back. However, she was losing a lot of blood.
Thank the Fates that I was experienced in Life magic. Thank myself for doing it. I put both my hands on her back, aware of the blood and the pain she was feeling.
I closed my eyes, and began whispering incantations that I’ve learned with Moolinda Wu. Concentrating on the elements of Nature, I breathed in and out. Almost meditating, I felt my hands vibrate, and Nikki sigh in relief.
I opened my eyes to see my hands glowing, bright and shimmering gold. I moved my hands away from Nikki, and my hands died out slowly. However, they still vibrated slightly. I helped Nikki up, and she brushed herself off, as though doing so would help clean off the blood stained on her clothes.
Nikki looked up, past me, and gaped. “Mary, look!”
I turned around, and gasped. There were was an amazing amount of people in the room, some still porting in with blue smoke. Matt, Sierra, and Rowan were the three people I had recognized. Everyone else, however, I knew not.
“Are you okay?” A girl with brown curly hair and chocolate eyes asked me, bending over to gain her breath. I saw a scrape along her cheekbone.
“Yeah. We both are.” I glanced at Nikki, and she nodded. Then, I looked back at the girl. “Are you Laura?”
She nodded. “Indeed.”
I moved my eyes eagerly around the scene. I noticed that three more Hellhounds had occurred, and they were all fighting ferociously.
Two girls, one with long blonde hair, and the other with white blonde hair were fighting a Hellhound in the corner. They slashed their wands, and blood spurted out of the Hellhounds as it screamed.
Matt and a girl with golden hair were fighting another hound and three other girls fighting the third. I noticed there were a lot of females in the room.
“Who are these people?” I asked, but I already had a feeling of who they were.
“The Order. Not the whole Order, of course, but most of it.” Laura replied.
I nodded, but I had no time to waste. And neither did Nikki. Nikki grabbed my arm, and led me away from Laura, to a barred door.
“This is the way upstairs.” Nikki told me, studying the bars. She touched one of them, and the bars glowed red. Fortunately, Nikki moved her hands away fast enough for it not to burn her.
“Gee, Nikki, be careful. Don’t get hurt again.” I warned. I rolled up my sleeves, and gripped my wand tightly. “I think I know how to open it.”
I thought back to when I was Richard, and remembering home, I felt a pang to my heart. I ignored it. I remember back in the Haunted Cave
I stepped backwards, avoiding a puddle of contents of a body, which I did not need to know was there. I grimaced in disgust.
I pointed my wand at the door, and squeezed my eyes closed tightly. Tightly holding the wand, I whipped it, makes a huge-bending-metal sound, then a large crash. Everybody glanced over at my mess of fire and burning metal, and continued fighting, unable to stop us. Nikki and I stepped over the fire and its contents of metal, and wandered off into the cold darkness.
It felt like we were walking through a cave. There was little light, and we slowed our pace down when we saw shadows. We glanced at each other to see if we both saw it, and the answer was correct.
Nikki and I peeked in. Surprise hit us like a rock. Instead of two people as we were expecting, we found one. A Krok. The one with the horse hair, with a woman’s ancient garments and ugly complexion.
Where was the S.A.
I felt as if I knew the answer, but I didn’t want to think it. I didn’t want it to happen. After all we’ve gone through?
Krokopatra was turned around, trying to do something. I saw the book- The Krokonomicon. It looked as though it was an ordinary book. However, then again, things don’t have to be beautiful to be magical.
I stepped out of the corner, my footstep echoing out in the room. Krokopatra froze, but did not turn around. I turned and glanced at Nikki, and she, terrified, walked out next to me. Evidently she did not expect me to walk out.
“Step back from the book, Krokopatra.” My voice was so hard and powerful, it surprised me. I’ve never been one to speak without fear.
Krokopatra turned around, eyes level with us. Her eyes were deep velvet, the color of the purple tulips my mother loved. My heart ached. However, she had no kindness in her eyes, and I breathed deeply. There must be some way to defeat her, without killing her. Nikki and I weren’t capable of killing anything else today. It was as though it was against our nature, despite our legendary mission.
I was blindfolded, but now I could see. I knew the S.A.
But whatever Nikki saw, it was true.
The S.A.
Were us.
