Page 55 of Tamed By Air (The Nature Hunters Academy 4)

“Did you just think of that all by yourself?” Kimba sounded less worried and more like her usual self.

“I promise, Kimba,” Rory said, her voice full of the urgency that radiated through her body. “I will be fine.”

“Until a demon eats you or you fall into a lake of fire,” Kimba muttered.

“Kimba,” Sepheron called out, and both Rory and Kimba whipped their heads around to look at him. “Go. Trust that your rider will have the protection of your magic.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that to begin with?” Rory narrowed her eyes at the king.

“No protection is absolute. And because Kimba would not want you to go with her, protection or not. Just as you do not want her going into danger.” He sounded much too reasonable. Rory had the urge to stick her tongue out at him but managed to refrain. “You must go,” Sepheron continued. “Your rider broke the power circle. Holding back the demons now will be difficult.”

Kimba turned back toward the gaping dark hole. Rory tried to focus on whatever moved just past the entrance into the underworld. Every now and again, she would catch a glimpse of red. Rory held up her palms and called on the power that was a part of her. She no longer knew if it was her witch magic or the elemental magic she was supposed to have. Lightning danced in her palms, across her fingers, expressing her eagerness to take on whatever threat would come their way.

“We’ve got a woman to save and a devil to defeat,” Rory said. “Let’s get this done so we can get back to roasting each other, pun intended.”

She felt Kimba’s ire through the bond they shared. Though somewhat similar to the one she shared with Aston, the connection with Kimba wasn’t as all-consuming as Rory’s soul bond with her mate. “If you fall off, I’m leaving you.”

“Whatever you say. Quit stalling.” Rory scoffed.

The ten dragons, five on each side, rose into the air around them. Their wings buffeted the air, causing Rory’s hair to whip around her face. She shook her head to get the strands out of her eyes and then released her magic in order to grab onto Kimba’s neck as the dragon suddenly spurred forward.

“Fly as fast and as high as you can,” Kimba told the other warriors. “Obliterate any demon you see. Do not hesitate.”

They plunged into the darkness. Though heat surrounded Rory’s flesh, a bone-deep cold settled inside of her. It was a chill that robbed her of hope, joy, comfort, and peace. Sorrow, despair, and helplessness settled over her like a heavy blanket, threatening to throw her from Kimba’s back. Rory’s physical reaction to the darkness caused her balance to waver.

“DO NOT FALL OFF,” Kimba bellowed at her.

The other dragon warriors began to spew fire from their mouths. Rory almost wished they hadn’t, because the light from the flames allowed her to see exactly what filled the space below them. Demons. Hundreds of them in all shapes and sizes. Some had ragged, leathery wings, while others sported slithery tails with barbed ends. Still others showed gaping jaws that couldn’t close because of their massive, razor-sharp teeth. “Holy dragon eggs.” Rory breathed out as she took in the sight. She heard a mighty roar and glanced over her shoulder to see Ra covered in flames. Surprisingly, he rode on the back of one of the dragons. The flames seemed to be a part of him, moving with him and attacking anything that came too close. The two swords he held also burned furiously. He wielded them with a grace that spoke of hours and hours of practice. Demons leapt at him, and each one came away screaming, missing appendages or sporting oozing slash wounds in their bellies. Some even fell to the ground as ash. He fought with the reckless ferocity of a man with nothing to lose. Rory’s heart clenched painfully for him. His eyes were black, and flames danced within them. His lips drew tight across his face, and his jaw clenched as he cut down another demon.

Kimba suddenly dove toward the ground. Rory turned back to see what would cause the dragon to lose altitude, bringing them nearer to the inhabitants of hell. Her eyes widened when she saw a group of winged demons rising into the air, heading straight for them. Kimba’s jaws opened wide, and flames burst forth. The fire hit the attacking demons, and the front-most denizens of hell liquified in an explosion of goo. The smell of sulfur made Rory gag, and the cocktail of showering body parts and black ichor nearly made her vomit. Realizing she wasn’t doing anyone any good by merely spectating, Rory called on her power and reached for the bond between her and Aston. The bond filled her, giving her magic so much more strength. Rory raised her arms, and lightning flowed down into her palms. She let it dance and crackle from finger to finger like a mini thunderstorm. Then she held her hands in front of her and willed the power outward. It shot toward the oncoming demons. Many spasmed and fell. But still more came. When one demon fell from her magic or Kimba’s fire, it seemed two more rose to take its place.

Rory turned her eyes down and focused on hitting the ones that attempted to lift themselves into the air, stopping them before they could take flight. The sound of the disgusting demon’s screeches was music to her ears.

She faced forward again and saw they were approaching a vast chamber. When they flew into it, Rory looked up and saw that there was no ceiling, at least not one she could see. The empty air seemed to go on forever, and darkness stretched far beyond the illumination provided by the dragons’ fires. Kimba raised her neck and lifted her body back until she flew at a vertical climb. Rory laid her chest flat against the dragon and grabbed onto the scales, squeezing her legs as tightly as possible.

A dragon flew past them, and Rory saw Ra on its back, still wielding his swords of fire, his body continuing to glow like a human torch. As they flew higher, Rory noticed what looked like open-air levels of some humongous subterranean building.The seven levels of hell. She tried to get glimpses of each landscape as they were briefly illuminated from the dragons’ fires, but she wasn’t able to see much other than glowing eyes watching from hidden places.

Demons chased them and dive-bombed the dragons. Rory wasn’t much help in the fight because she couldn’t let go of Kimba. Climbing as they were, she might fall if she tried to get off a spell. “Do you know how far up this thing goes?” Rory asked.

“Why would I know that?” Kimba replied in between roasting a pair of particularly nasty-looking gargoyle-shaped demons.

“You tell me. Every time I turn around, I learn something new about you. I had no idea dragons kept so many secrets.” Rory saw something out of the corner of her eye and ducked just in time to evade a small, winged demon that was rocketing toward her. It zipped over her head, close enough to ruffle her hair. Rory released one of her hands and gripped tighter with the other. She reached out with the freed hand and sent a ball of light after the demon. She willed the power to move faster, and it hit the beast in the back. The demon exploded, and the ashes drifted down into the depths below, which was getting darker and darker the higher they climbed. “Wow, that is incredibly satisfying.”

“Don’t go getting bloodthirsty on me,” Kimba called back. “You’re crazy enough without adding homicidal maniac to your lovely personality traits.”

“Why did I come in here to help save your ass again?” Rory asked dryly.

“Hold on!” Kimba yelled suddenly and then banked left, turning so sharply that Rory slipped to the side. She quickly re-grabbed a scale with her free hand and righted herself on the dragon’s back. Rory saw a rock ceiling above them, maybe fifteen or twenty feet overhead. Kimba flew into the cavernous opening that represented the top level of hell.Does that make it the first level or seventh?But she didn’t have time to give the question much consideration. Demons of all shapes and sizes seemed to erupt out of nowhere. The evil beings flooded the empty landscape of dead trees and desolate ground. Kimba dropped lower until she was roughly only a man’s height above the ground. “What the—” Rory started, but then she saw Kimba’s massive legs thrashing, punting the demons back. With sickening crunches and squelches, they flew in all directions, bouncing against rocks and petrified trees.

The other dragons were doing the same. Two on her left seemed to be making a game out of it. One dragon kicked a few demons into the air and the other one blowtorched them. Rory imagined if they had hands, they’d have been high fiving each other.

The ground came to an abrupt end and opened into another cavity. Again, Kimba dove, though the drop wasn’t very far. The dragon let out an earth-shaking roar as she landed in what looked like a gothic throne room, complete with a very disturbing looking throne. To the right rose a massive wall, and bile rose in Rory’s throat as she realized it was constructed of human bodies. They writhed and wailed, their faces twisted in agony. Some reached out to her with emaciated arms, and Rory found herself leaning away, even though there was no way they could reach her.

“If I’d have known I would be having company, I would have prepared a feast to welcome you,” a smooth, deep male voice said. Rory looked away from the disturbing wall and saw a man standing in front of them. He wore black slacks and a black suit with a silver tie. His face was classically handsome, with piercing dark eyes, a sensual mouth, and defined angles to his jaw and cheekbones. His dark hair was slicked back away from his face, making the angles appear even more prominent.

Rory assumed this must be the infamous Osiris. Just then, the dragon carrying Ra landed next to them. Ra still sported his human roman-candle appearance. He slid from the dragon and headed straight for the lord of the underworld. His swords whipped around in circles as he twisted his wrists. Rory saw no emotion on his face, but the pharaoh’s eyes were filled with rage. The ever-present flames filled them completely.

Osiris turned his attention to the fire elementalist. His lips went up into a smirk, and he watched Ra with a satisfied smugness that made Rory immediately want to rip out his eyeballs. The lord of the underworld had the look of a man who knew something you didn’t, and whatever he knew was sure to destroy you.

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