Page 84 of Ecliptic

My stomach dropped through the earth as I realized there was nothing left to separate, nothing left to save. Enrin was gone.

We were too late.

A grunt from Rowen snapped my attention back to the battle. He masterfully evaded each strike of the demon’s claws as he grabbed the rope tied to his blade.

At first, I was confused, but I realized he had transformed the blade into a whip-like weapon capable of slicing from a distance.

He brandished the makeshift weapon with ease as he spun the rope in a wheel and hurled the blade through the air. The edge cut the demon’s hide as black blood oozed from its shoulder. Rowen pulled his arm back, and the star-blade returned to him. He spun around, looping the rope around his middle to regain control of the line before sending it flying back to the demon.

The Voro-Kai screeched in pain as Rowen lanced it again. Its ear-splitting wail caused the other two demons to rear in panic.

My eyes flew back to the demon I was holding. It thrashed and snapped its maws at me savagely. Tears streamed down my face as I realized there was nothing I could do. We were too late for these brave warriors who had risked their lives, their souls. Everything. There was no recovery for them, only mercy.

“It’s too late,” I cried out, despair engulfing me. The least I could do was make sure they found peace. Rowen had taught me how to strike vital organs, a lesson that would guide me as I made Enrin’s death as swift as possible.

I thrust my star blade upward, slipping it between the demon’s ribs, angling it toward the heart, or what was left of it.The demon let out a gargled breath, stilled, and then collapsed to the ground.

I only had a moment to register that the Ever-burn blade had worked, that it was a viable weapon against the Voro-Kai. When suddenly, the once-brave warrior erupted into specks of light.

I could only hope the shimmering fragments made their way back to the heavens, where Enrin truly belonged.

The other two Voro-Kai, having witnessed the destruction of its own, erupted into a lethal frenzy. And the larger one cracked Rowen upside the head.

Bile rose up my throat and choked me as the demon grabbed my soul flame’s head and wrenched it to the side.

The beast bared its fangs and lowered them to Rowen’s neck.

Terror engulfed me as ropes of inky drool dripped onto Rowen’s shoulder.

“Over here!” I screamed.

Its head snapped up. “Ours,” it hissed, recognizing me instantly. Erovos had fed it images of my face since its inception. I knew it wanted me.

The demon dropped Rowen and stalked towards me.

I raised my hand to unleash a beam of Light, but someone beat me to it. Maddock had returned to his feet. He was hunched over in pain with his arm outstretched, but he hadn’t hit the beast, only angered it, and the Voro-Kai turned its attention to Madds.

I traveled to the other side of the clearing. “Hey! Over here!” I shouted again, waving my arms.

The demon’s nostrils flared, its eyes darting for me. It thrashed its head in confusion and wailed.

I traveled to another side of the clearing and called out again, wanting to disorient the beast. I stepped back, about to hit it with my Light, when my foot collapsed through a rotten log. I cried out as wood spliced through my calf.

The demon’s eyes locked on mine as it bounded toward me.

I tried to travel, but the pain kept me rooted in place, and I couldn’t pull my foot from the log, the splinters were in too deep. A wetness trickled down my ankle and the beast’s nostrils flared at the scent of my blood, its eyes going wild.

“Keira, watch out!” Rowen roared and threw his whip-like blade in a straight, smooth motion. The blade lodged in the Voro-Kai’s shoulder, and the demon bellowed. With its free hand, it grabbed the rope and pulled with unimaginable force, sending Rowen hurtling through the air.

“Rowen,” I screamed as he was flung from my line of sight.

“Keira, run!” Maddock pleaded through the chaos.

“I’m stuck!” I shouted, desperately trying to pry my foot free, but the more I pulled, the more the jagged wood cut into my skin. Even if I could run, I would never leave them to face the Voro-Kai alone. I’d spent my whole life running, but here, I would stand my ground and fight beside the bravest warriors I’d ever known.

Dyani and Minroe still fought their demon. Minroe, small and nimble as she was, ran and dropped to her knees. She slid between the Voro-Kai’s legs, winding the rope through its ankles. When she emerged from the other side, she threw the rope to her sparring partner. Dyani caught it and ran around the creature in the opposite direction, tangling its legs. And with a swift tug, the beast toppled to the ground.

The bitten roared in frustration as it scented my blood, too, its eyes snapping to mine. Its guttural snarls sent bolts of fear up my spine as it dragged its massive body toward me inch by inch.

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