Page 70 of Oleander
“I’ve got three on my side!” I shout over the sound of my own heartbeat whooshing in my ears.
“Four!” Skyler replies just as loudly. “Fuck!This is crazy!” He curses at the amount of hellhounds we’re up against. This is way more than the three or four we thought we’d be facing.
Before I can reassure him, a small one lunges for my leg as if trying to prove itself, but I slash my sword downward and slice its head off in one go. Black blood spurts out like a fountain. It thumps to the ground, rolling away, and the body falls over next. The other hellhounds begin to yip and jump in excitement, growling and taunting us aggressively over their fallen comrade. There’s no time to be disgusted, even though my stomach churns at the sight.
“Six left!” I call out as the giant body and decapitated head disintegrate into a pile of sulfuric ashes. My kill sends a rush of confidence through me, and Skyler feels it, too.
“We got this, O!” he yells with conviction. “Outsiders stick together!”
“Together!” I shout in a war cry as the two hellhounds left on my side attack in unison. Luckily, they’re too dumb to be coordinated, so I easily wound one, and it retreats, limping into the forest and yelping. The last hound joins Skyler’s, and now it’s five against two.
Skyler uses his Air magic to keep them back, but one slips through, going for a bite out of his side.
I spin around, slashing at its hindleg and stopping the assault before he gets closer than three feet away.
“Fucker!” I shout, sounding like Skyler. I guess he’s rubbing off.
“Hell yeah! Let’s do this!” Skyler kicks one in the muzzle with his boot and stabs the shoulder of another. Two more jump out of the woods, and Skyler throws a bolt of electricity at them, but we’re starting to become overrun. There are too many, and we’re already exhausted. I’m worried we won’t be able to kill them all.
I have to do something. Think!
Flashes of a dark, burning nothingness obscure my vision, and I swipe out blindly at whatever’s in front of me.
I didn’t tell Skyler, but the spirit of the dead not only left a bone-deep chill behind, but it leftthoughts, too.Memories?I’m not even sure. All I know is that these images aredark, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out where they’re from.
The Underworld.
No cities, no flowers, no happiness. Just crumbling buildings, decrepit castles, and giant demons flying through the air, singing everything below. The forests burn with hellfire, hiding all sorts of evil creatures like these beasts.
The side effects of being possessed have shaken me, but I’m going to use them to our advantage right now. As much as I wish I could deny it, I now have some sort of connection to the Underworld after absorbing a small amount of the ghoul’s magic and, unfortunately, its thoughts. I pIan to use that to our benefit.To survive.
I squeeze my eyes shut tightly, trusting Skyler’s magic and his abilities with a sword to keep me protected. I imagine the vile place that haunts my mind and touch the rune on my neck with the very purposeful intention of opening a portal to the Underworld.
“Ander, hurry!I can’t hold them off much longer!” Skyler’s grunts and the clanging of teeth and claws against iron have panic shooting through me. Impatience crawls along my skin, my nerves jittery and my limbs restless, but Ihaveto concentrate.
As depleted as I am, I call every ounce of magic I can muster and filter it into opening this portal.
Our lives depend on it.
My eyes pop open, and a glowing orange circle appears in front of us. It begins to swirl and whoosh as it gets larger and larger, tearing a giant, angry hole into our realm. It’s not the usual purple-blue of the human realm,no. This portal is an angry orange-red, and the edges are smoldering.
Skyler wastes no time and uses his Air magic to lift the smallest hellhound left into the air and fling it into the swirling red portal. It clips the edge, instantly igniting and screeching terribly as it flies into the Underworld on fire.
I slash at another beast as it attacks, slitting its throat in one swipe. The hellhound staggers, thick black blood oozing out of its neck as it drops to the ground. It doesn’t take long, promptly erupting into a bright blue flame and becoming a pile of ashes.
“Ahh!” Skyler shouts, staggering back and clutching at his side.
“Sky!” I shout in terror. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah. I’m fine,” he claims, slashing out aimlessly and weakly. He doesn’t let go of his ribcage. Did he pull something?
Was he scratched?
Fear seizes my heart, and I step in front of him, slaying the hellhound. “Sky! Are you okay?!” I repeat, needing an answerrightnow.
“I’m fine!” he shouts, but I feel no less reassured than thirty seconds ago, especially seeing the pallor of his skin reflecting in the moonlight and the strain in his features.
I let it go as Sky holds his hands out in front of him, forming a ball of air the size of a truck and shoving it at the five remaining hellhounds with a loud scream.
