Page 37 of The Healing Dragon
Their bodies drop to the ground in what feels like slow motion. Their knees touch the ground before their heads flop forward. The men behind them take a second to process what happened before a blooming red puddle grows beneath them. Anger erupts in growls and renewed energy. Their attempts to break Jesse’s shield triple. We keep getting pushed back until our backs touch the wall behind us.
We hold on for a while longer. My father’s men might be trained, but they are not as powerful as an Oscuro. When I think one of them is tiring out and the amount of attacks thrown our way is going to decrease, another man steps forward and takes over. Waiting out seems to be the only way out of here, but how long will it possibly take?
“I won’t be able to hold forever,” Jesse says.
Sweat is dripping down his chin, and his skin is taking a pale tint. The shield he has formed splinters with each blow. We both stare at it, knowing that any minute now it’s going to fall.
Jesse opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, grumbles from the other side of the shield snap our attention. We watch in horror as the two men with the blades in their heads raise to their feet. If it wasn’t for the look of horror and disgust from the men around them, I would have thought they did this. No, the men instead shout to one another and scurry away from their dead friends.
We all watch as one of the dead men yanks out the blade from his head and turns on his friends. One corpse jumps on asoldier and bashes their skull in two moves. The other one uses magic to fend off attempts by the others to stop them.
“They can use magic,” I say.
“How?” Jesse asks.
“Me.”
The voice is small and shakily like it hasn’t been used in a while. Jesse and I don’t move from our spot against the wall, but we turn to the sound of the voice.
Matias.
“It’s nice to see you again,” Matias says to me as he raises to his feet. “Sorry it took me so long. I was far away from here.” He taps his temple like it’s a place he departed for.
“You did that?” Jesse asks him while pointing at the now three dead men fighting my father’s soldiers.
“I guess I did.” He looks down at his hands like he is also having trouble believing what just happened.
“How?” Jesse looks between Matias and the walking corpses.
“Every time they tried to uncap my magic, and I didn’t die, they thought nothing happened. They were wrong.”
“Wrong?” I ask.
“The book,” he says. “It wants revenge.”
Matias takes his head between his hands and bends down. His face is scrunched up in pain.
“What is wrong now?” Jesse asks.
I look back at the now six dead men finishing the soldiers. They were first hesitant to fight their own fallen men, but they no longer are. Now it is too late, and they are outnumbered.
“It has to stop,” Matias says between clenching teeth.
“I got it from here, buddy,” Jesse tells him, kneeling next to him. “Let go.”
Matias does and the walking bodies drop instantly. Theremaining men take a minute to look around and absorb what had just happened. Jesse doesn’t hesitate to finish them. Black smoke drips down his fingertips and surrounds the few men. They do not notice the smoke enveloping them until they lose their senses.
The Oscuro brothers have always been known for having dark, dangerous magic despite only a very few ever witnessing it. I, myself, have only watched it happen a handful of times over a lifetime. It never ceases to impress me. Magic like theirs is not common.
The smoke cuts their senses one by one until they see, hear, and feel only darkness. Then they become it.
“Oscuro dirt,” a man on the floor says before the smoke completely covers him. His hand waves in the air and from the drills of smoke, a glint of silver shines in the light.
It moves almost faster than possible. Perhaps we did not see it coming. Jesse grunts in pain as the dagger thrown from the smoke hits him in the shoulder.
“Jesse,” I call as his body hits the ground. I lean down over him and see the wound is a slight cut. “Oh, good.”
I place my hand above it and push healing magic into his skin.
