Page 70 of Phoenix Academy: Mayhem

Chapter 18

Two Weeks Later

I prowl through the combat field, eyeing Dani from every side. "Whatever trick you think you have up your sleeve, you can forget about it. I'm onto you."

"Are you?" She smirks, turning to follow my movements as I crouch in the long grass. "Sometimes I wonder, Ari, how you ever managed to hunt for food. Because your footsteps are loud as fuck."

I ignore her, considering what her next steps might be. We've been practicing our combat against each other—a sort of phoenix-battle on difficulty setting, given that neither of us can burn the other with fire, and we've both agreed to leave our guys out of it.

But while Dani has promised not to use her four demons, that doesn't mean she can't summon other demons. And the results of my destruction of the Hellgate have been... interesting.

Needless to say, Grims will never be the same.

Though the threat to phoenix isn't necessarily greater: Headmaster Towers told us that an attack on a satellite campus near Vancouver revealed that some Grims have lost their powers and strength. Others summon unexpected demons when trying to attack, as many of their summoning secrets have shifted. The runes they've known and loved for the past few centuries no longer point in the right direction.

Luckily for Dani, two of the nerdiest researchers this side of the veil are here on campus. Lynx and Auerbach together have figured out most of the changes in summoning rules; they've been helping Dani figure out how to use the Grim side of her powers in battle. Now she has, by my count, at least six new demonic summonings memorized.

The little crab demons with the pinching arms are my least favorite, though the legless dog-like ones that ooze are a pretty close runner up.

"You know," Dani says casually, studying her fingernails like she's bored, "Jared Fisk may be an asshole of a teacher, but he's taught me a few useful things in my time here. Including some tricks of combat."

"Oh?" It's important to keep her talking as I make my way through the grass, my feet bending the stalks in certain directions, forming swooping lines on the ground that won't be visible from far away. "What did he teach you—how to dawdle around and distract your enemies?"

"No." She flashes an impish grin at me. "He taught me to beware of attacks from all directions."

Oh, Hell. She must mean those worm things that burst up from the ground. I leap through the grass, hurrying to finish the lines of the rune I'm drawing with my heavy footfalls—but Dani isn't doing the summoning for the weird worm demons.

Instead she throws her hand up in the air palm-out, and creates a symbol in a flash of black fire against the blue sky. "Valargusé!"

There's a fissure in the air as a portal between this realm and Hell itself flashes open briefly. I feel the veils between our worlds open wide; spirit energy briefly brushes against my face, and the little birds and chipmunks that call this field and its woods home run in fear. The air has a strange, sulphuric scent to it, a premonition of what's to come.

I rush to connect the crescent line of the rune in the grass, desperate to finish my trap for Dani. As I do, though, I keep my eyes on the sky.

Which is how I see them as they swoop into being and scream with bloodlust.

Flying demons. Like bats, but a strange jet black, their wings two feet wide on each side of their undulating bodies and full of holes and tears. Spiraling horns rise from their small black heads, and their eyes glow red as they open fanged mouths to scream in my general direction.

Well, fuck.

On my list of things Dani might do today, "summon demons from the sky" was a pretty low consideration. I don't really think of Hell coming from above, of all places. But of course she's the Black Phoenix. Wherever she wants the demons to come from, they'll come from.

They're fucking fast, too. I duck and roll as the first goes for my scalp. Getting up, I have to leap across the grass to finish my rune, heart beating like a big brass band.

I know that Dani won't let any of these demonic things seriously injury me. But we both know that even if they do, I'll survive—benefits of being a phoenix. The pain still sucks, though.

As I finish the rune, I feel a bit of triumph. Throwing up blue fire to ward away the demons, I spin on my heel, and eye Dani as she stalks towards me—right into my invisible trap.

"Give up now!" I shout to her. "You should beg for mercy."

"Never. You're the one who's going down."

Big words from both of us, but we're sharing a shit-eating grin. Fighting is more fun when you're on equal levels with your opponent. Especially when they're aren't big stakes. I didn't think I would enjoy combat until Dani and I started to face-off in the field together, and I discovered all the ways in which it makes me feel more alive.

"Your loss," I tell her.

Then I raise my hands, the seven immortals bracelet flaring at my wrist, and summon all my strength. "Bind and freeze!"

The grass around us flares with power. Magic makes the green stalks, bent by my feet, glow. It races around in a crescent shape that swoops inward towards Dani—and binds her with its magic. She freezes, unable to move anything except her eyes, and do anything except breathe.

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