Page 101 of Malcolm

“Eliza, she—” Sabina shook her head. “I think she went after his lordship. She said she was going to finishthiswhatever that means.” She opened her hand, revealing a silver coin. “Lanias latched on to her and left me with this.”

Malcolm felt his heart squeeze. “What?” He grabbed her arms, “Why didn’t you say anything earlier.”

Sabina winced, and he felt a heavy hand land on his shoulder and felt the bite of Raijin’s grip.

“Release her,” he said calmly.

Quickly letting her go, Malcolm took a step back. “I’m sorry.”

“I-It’s all right.” Sabina held out her palm once again. “This should take you to them.” She grabbed his hand and dropped it into it. “You have to save them, and bring them back.”

Malcolm looked into her sincere gaze gripping it. “Got it.” He turned to the others. “Who’s coming with me?”

Castian, Oye, and Alek stepped forward. Caspian spoke up first, “I couldn’t see myself not going; I need to kill a few more people.” He glanced down at Oye. “I’m sure my love feels the same.”

Oye grinned, punching her other hand. “You know it.”

Alek rolled his neck; his clothes were splattered with blood while his platinum hair was still immaculate. “Lanias is reason enough for me to go.”

Malcolm nodded and held out his fist. “Well, let's go and end this.”

The three placed their hands atop his, and a bright green-black light swirled up, swallowing them whole and out of sight.

Sabina felt Raijin come up behind her. “I don’t know why, but I feel weird watching them go.”

He leaned down and pressed his lips to her cheek. “Everything will be fine. They’ll rescue your sister and your friend.”

Sabina wanted to believe Raijin, she truly did, but something told her they wouldn’t be that lucky this time around.

“All right, my love birds,” Tiller said with a clap of his hands, “it’s time to clean up after ourselves.” He motioned to the destroyed surroundings. “And let’s hurry before the council comes because we’ve filled this area with enough magical energy to shut down the entire state.”

Sacrifice

Lanias

At present…

Legolas was a demon.

No, he was worse than a demon; his power was overwhelming. She pressed a hand to her side, wincing as she felt it heal. Eliza was currently kneeling behind Lanias, her body barely able to hold up under the violent Magic of Legolas. Lanias herself didn’t know how much longer she could last; herpower was strong, but against Legolas, it was like a drop in the bucket.

“This is your way of fighting back?” Legolas scorned as he stared Lanias down. Her body felt like it was being ripped apart. “Just you, a piss ant on the power scale.”

“An ant?” she repeated, shaking her head as she looked back at him. “I thought you were looking for a powerful witch,” she said from within the barbed wire created by her magic that surrounded them.

Scoffing, his grin widened into something filled with arrogance and cruelty. “Powerful toyourkind but for me, you’re merely a tool to further my goal.”

“Goal, and what goal is that?” Lanias inquired as she counted backward from twenty. The Jackals should be close if she’d done everything right. Her Magic transport marker should get them here pretty soon. “Killing innocent children and adding misery to an already fucked up world. How exactly is that some great goal?”

He laughed. “Oh, that, my dear, was nothing more than a game. No, my goal has always been one thing, and that is to return home.” His voice grew heavy with disdain: “My own kind tossed me and the others here, imprisoned us in this waste of a realm, and left us to crawl amongst the worms known as humans.”

His Lordship lifted his arm and pointed to a large structure with two large stone wings. An angel sat in the center, holding a staff that was pointed to the sky. “But I refused to bend to their will. I will not spend one more eternity here on this godforsaken planet.”

“It was all a game?” Lanias whispered, her body trembling as she fought against the anti-Magic swirling around her. Her skin started to leak black smoke. The image of dead bodies appearedin her mind’s eyes, stacks of broken witches she’d seen at too young an age.

“A game. You destroyed the lives of so many women and children for amusement!” She screamed; her hands tightening into fists.

“Of course,” Legos said, smirking. “What else was I to do with so much time on my hands,” he said, his voice smooth. “As your god, you ants should be pleased. I gave you purpose.”

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