Page 40 of The Dark Rises
I store the anger away for later.
Cormal opens the door to the stairs and points up. Silently, we follow him in single file all the way to the roof. Once we’re at the top, he points to a metal shed nestled into one of the corners.
Made of flimsy corrugated metal, this structure is tiny. Five feet long, eight feet wide. The screech of metal makes me wince, and I see Kavi motion for his men to fan out over the roof.
Cormal steps in first, then motions for Meri to join him. I move in closer but hesitate at the doorway. There’s an underlying current here. Like a predator, it waits.
“Be careful,” I whisper harshly. “There’s something wrong with this place.”
Meri snorts. “There’s a lot wrong with this place.”
For the first time, I hear a hint of fear in her voice. This place frightens her. My anger at Leandra increases for making her live in this hellhole.
Cormal sends his magic out. It streams across the walls of the shed without interruption. “I don’t feel anything.”
Frustrated, I step farther into the room and send my magic to probe the same walls. Alarm bells ring violently in my head, and I instinctively clamp my hands across my ears to stop the sound. Excruciating pain drives me to my knees, but I silently tell Cormal to get her the hell out of here.
For a second, he tilts his head in confusion.
Does he not hear it? I look from him to Meri. Neither of them are holding their heads. I push the word out through clenched teeth. “Attack.”
Cormal immediately moves in front of Meri and orders her to make her way to the door. “Out. Now.”
The words are barely out of his mouth when the room shifts and a gigantic monster peels itself from the walls. Cormal’s the closest. It grabs him and flings him back and forth like a rag doll. Meri jumps forward to help him. Hairless beasts erupt from the monster and begin stalking her.
Dark magic leaves Cormal’s hands and wraps around the grotesque beast, but it dissipates the second it lands on its target.
Cormal curses and shouts something unintelligible to Kavi.
Meri cuts off a large piece of the shed with her magic, lights it on fire, then swings at the smaller beasts, but it doesn’t deter them.
Callyx crams his body into the small space and starts swearing. “Fucking hell, it’s a shade.” Pulling his sword, he raises it high and slashes down and across the creature, but the sword passes straight through its now transparent body. He rears back. “This sword is infused with Lucifer’s magic and should easily kill a shade.”
Meri screams and slashes at the clawed hand on her arm. “Not if Leandra created it.” Faery fire erupts from her hand and turns the creature to ash. She stares at her arm in wonder. “I did it.”
Callyx steps in to take care of the other two. Apparently, the sword works on these beasts, easily cutting them down.
“Watch out!” I yell, lurching to my feet.
I shove Meri back, then step into her spot. Brutal strength wraps around my body and squeezes. Dark Fae power flows out of me and into the creature, but instead of killing it, the damn thing grows bigger.
“Fuck!” I roar when it cracks a couple of my ribs.
I release the faery fire inside me and it singes the fur on its arms but doesn’t turn it to ash. Astonished, I stare up at the creature. “Shade. Phantom. Whatever the hell it is, the usual rules don’t apply.” Jerking my arms out from under his, I grab him around the waist and throw him against the shed.
It doesn’t faze him.
Cormal jumps on its back and plunges his fingers into its eye sockets. Magic as dark as sludge slides into the empty spaces, filling them up.
With a roar, it stumbles backward, blindly swiping at Cormal. One of its claws happens to catch on his neck, almost decapitating him. He falls to the floor in a heap.
Meri screams and screams. Before either Callyx or I can stop her, she throws herself at the monster and begins slashing at him with all her strength. Deep gashes appear across its chest as it roars and shakes in agony. Relentless in her attack, she continues to shred the outer layer until a cavity opens.
The monster stumbles again, and she shoves forward, plunging her hand into the dark hole and removing a black, withered heart. I still. Phantoms don’t have hearts, and I’m willing to bet shades don’t either.
She drops it to the ground and turns it to ash. The monster falls and begins fading into the shadows, but not before it sends a pulse of magic out into the night. A warning to its maker.
I move forward to help Cormal, but Meri turns her head and snarls at me. Freezing, I stare in horror at the sight before me. Her eyes are gone. Replaced with white sockets and the faint image of a skull. She points a bony finger at me, stripped of its flesh and muscles, and opens her mouth. Dread pours into me, filling me from head to toe. This is why Denir and Leandra are after Meri.
