Page 118 of Live Like Legends

“You should have really listened to the boy, hmm.” The Son of Hell’s tattooed hand was engulfed in a circle of red and black flames. He casually moved the power he had between his fingers as if he had all the time in the world to taunt us.

A large, very bright, stream of light flew at Dimitri, knocking him off his feet. When the light had retreated, I blinked, realizing that that level of power came from Maurice. His hands were in front of him as he stood in front of Ariel’s dead body. “You will leave!”

Dimitri huffed, getting up and readjusting the suit jacket he wore. He let out a low laugh before thrusting his hand forward, aiming his dark power at Maurice. The red magic flew fast, molding itself to a sharp point.

Maurice readied himself to fight back, but a sharp blade came in front of him. The magic pinging off the silver, flying into the air. A sizzling sound surrounded us, but all I could focus on was the intense breathing coming from Nick.

He held his sword tight as he protected his father. Dimitri laughed again, pure amusement playing in his eyes. “Ah, showing off are we? A solid attempt, but misguided. That heart of yours will be quite a delicacy to the hellhounds.”

The portal shuddered and moved behind him, but then shadows wafted out of it. Some of them were large and some were around my height. The darkness scattered over the benches and around our feet. The shadows lifted and grew, forming people and weapons for them to fight with. Dimitri’s guards hustled out of the portal, flanking him on all sides.

“It’s a shame you had to ask for Lucifer’s help in all this. Too helpless to do it yourself?” Elise taunted, growling right back at the hellhound’s that threatened her and Axel. Garrett and Leah stood next to her, hands already filling with their magic.

“Lucifer!?” Reese questioned, his voice rising just a fraction.

Dimitri cocked his head towards Elise, raising his eyebrows. She never let her grey eyes leave him. “We both know you don’t hold the power to establish this much!”

“Perhaps not, but he did give me the okay to destroy all of you and we wouldn’t want to let him down, now would we?” He blinked innocently at her.

I eyed the shadow demons and their holds on their weapons. I scanned the hellhounds and their vibrating need to strike. Morgan shook next to me, her fear easily identifiable.

She jumped, startled when I spoke to her. “You have a choice. You can run inside The Skies and wait until this is all over, no matter the outcome or you can fight with us. You want to prove something to yourself and actually show that you deserve that applause that you somehow think you’re owed? Then I suggest you choose the latter.”

“Kill them all, but leave that one…” Dimitri nodded over to me. “To me.”

The descent upon us was quick. Reese got his bow out, notching an arrow and began releasing them in perfect succession. They struck a few of Dimitri’s guards causing them to collapse around him.

Beetee shifted quickly, her black scales lined in pink shimmering even though the sky was darkened. Her large body slithered through the grass while her tail whipped around, knocking down shadow demons as she moved. She reared back, opening her mouth and hissing before collecting some of the guards that tried to fight her in her mouth.

I gave Morgan one last look before I forgot about the mild pain in my leg and charged towards Dimitri. He threw his deep red tendrils that held sharp points at me, but I dodged them. A flaming ball of red fire was sent my way, I crouched to the ground, feeling the heat right over my head. Dimitri continued to aim for me, but I managed to entrap one of his reddish black flames into my own shadows, harboring it in my hand and throwing it back at him.

It hit his shoulder, causing him to stagger back. He righted himself but I threw another one and he was pushed back again. I could have sworn steam bellowed from his ears as he threw his hand out and I felt a cinch at my wrists and throat. I was flipped over and thrown onto my back as he dragged me along the grass. He burned my wrists, the pain causing my fingers to tense up and the heat at my throat was enough to make breathing hard.

I looked over to see Nick and his father fighting back to back. Maurice had so much power now, it was mesmerizing to see. His hands glowed with an overwhelming amount of light that he nearly caused the guards to combust into microscopic light particles. Maurice took one by the neck, his eyes bulging out and light streaming out of them as he twirled him around. He stopped, letting his son finish them off.

A guard came up behind Nick, raising his sword to slash at his back, but an arrow came sailing down, hitting him directly in the back of his skull. Reese flapped his wings, readying his next arrow and letting it fly at a demon that was running for Leah and Garrett.

The two Enchanters rallied behind Beetee, catching all the demons that she had missed. A guard hit Garrett’s side, causing him to keel over, but Leah moved around him. Blue sparks came from her fingers as she pressed her fingertips into the guards eyes, causing her to let out a scream. Garrett ran past his wife, creating dark blue magic that formed over his fist and punched a guard in the stomach, sending him flying towards the trees.

Natalia and Zane kept demons from running into the The Skies and attempted to keep angels from harm's way, but the damage was already being done. Not as much as Dimitri likely hoped, but there were angels littering the ground. Blood soaked the grass and wails of pain were filling the open space. Natalia let out streams of her magic towards demons that headed for the sky, trying to move past and overtake the castle-like structure.

Zane held his arm out, ramming his forearm into the throat of a demon that tried to pass him, while also grabbing another by the throat. Natalia forced tree branches to extend and entrap unsuspecting guards, holding them so tight against the tree trunks that she would close their airways and break their ribs.

Dimitri raised me up by his magic, forcing me to look at him. “I have missed you dearly.” His eyes changed from their normal green to the black whorls of emptiness. He flung me towards the forest. My body moved fast and the wind felt harsh against my skin. I let out a loud groan as my back hit a tree trunk, the bark ripping at my scalp as my head collided as well. The trees around me trembled with the impact I’d made. I fell to the ground, landing on my shoulder and hearing something that sounded a lot like dislocation.

Dimitri moved faster than I anticipated and I had barely gotten up when he hovered over me. “You come with me and you won’t have to worry about Lilith. Lucifer made sure she wasn’t a problem for either of us anymore.” He winked at me and I sneered at him barely flinching at the idea that Lucifer had killedLilith. I had wanted to end her but Dimitri would be my prize in the end. She wasn’t worth my efforts. “Simply being here for this short period of time has made you lackluster. I plan to change that.” He reached down to stroke my head, but I grabbed his wrist and slid closer to the ground, kicking upwards towards his stomach.

I let my shadows grow in my hand and I released ribbons of them over to his hunched over body, wrapping him up. I let light litter my palm next and threw it over to him, sending him sailing towards a mass of bushes. The light traveled along the shadows causing more of an explosion than I had anticipated.

He didn’t come back up immediately, but my head swung around when I heard a whimper. I saw Axel holding one of the hellhounds by the throat, swinging it around like a chew toy. Elise had somehow gotten onto the other hellhound's back and was plunging her tail into its body, causing the creature to stumble around, stepping on multiple shadow demons. Nick and Reese were both flying now, fighting like it was an art form with the way they weaved around each other and knew when to block and let the other have the final strike.

A shadow demon charged at Leah from behind, but to my surprise Morgan stunned it with her own light magic, giving Garrett the chance to kill it. Maurice was surrounded by another set of demons, but he blasted sparks of lights from his hand, letting it travel through each and every demon until they all were connected by his power and then he released a massive light explosion. There was a pop that sounded when each of the demons exploded, one by one.

The wind picked up and the startling heat that hit my neck was something I’d only felt when I was in Hell. The smell of brimstone was heady and the bush that Dimitri had been thrown in rustled.

“You think you can fight as you always have andwin, pretty girl?” Dimitri’s voice was harsh, as if he was losing that usual calmness he always showcased. The ground shook again and this time it nearly knocked me off my feet. I heard a crack and right between my feet a jagged line formed in the grass. All of my friends, the people I’d come to care so much for, continued to fight, but were aware of the shift.

The crack grew bigger and lengthened, moving past me. I noticed more cracks around me and smoke puffed out of the openings.

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