Page 29 of Taming Darkness

So many things are happening around us that I only hear a sickening, slashing sound. I don’t realize what has happened until blood splatters on my face. I blink as Aleera's wings slice another man in half.

A second after the fragments of the man hit the ground, her wings flex. Feathers as sharp as razors and strong as steel fly off her as she turns, coated in blood. One sharp feather slashes my cheek as it passes me. The feather heads in the direction of her mother, while more slice through our enemies.

However, it doesn’t hit Lydia, but the remote that is in her hand when she hits the button. Lycus howls, and I scream as her feather cuts through it.

My eyes widen in horror, moving to Kalen just as he unclips the collar, tossing it aside. I wait for the explosion, but it doesn’t come. Lycus' body crashes into Lydia's, and he tears into her, only to be blasted with magic. The loud ringing of Lydia's magic makes me clutch my ears.

Chapter16

~Darius~

Since Lycus' hearing is far more sensitive than ours, he howls in agony. I can’t look away as his claws tear at his face and ears. Tobias wails at the sound, covering his own. His hearing also heightened.

Although we are in the same situation, in the heat of the moment, I can’t understand where to go or what to do. I need them safe, all of them, but where am I supposed to go first?

Lydia snarls, getting to her feet. She straightens her body and clutches her neck where Lycus’ teeth got her. A sheer look of disgust crosses her face.

Lycus’ cries of agony force his shift, leaving him naked and clutching his head in his hands. Lydia casually walks down the stairs, unfazed by the chaos surrounding her. Aleera stops, seeing the strange look on her mother’s face and how everyone suddenly backs up.

“You dare betray me,” Aleera snarls at her mother. Her lava snakes sliver behind her as she faces her mother. If we had more time on our hands, I would gladly stand aside and admire the beauty of Aleera’s newfound, destructive power as she harnesses the shadows, morphs, and tames the darkness that is now writhing through her.

However, Lydia’s loud, screeching laughter catches my attention. I turn my head in her direction just as she speaks up. “You silly girl, all you had to do was come back with me. None of this was necessary,” Lydia chips back at her.

Although I don’t know what to expect, of all the things, I am more worried about the way Lydia’s mutated monsters are backing away. “Aleera!” I call her name. My voice sends a jolt up her spine as she turns her head briefly in my direction.

Slowly, as if not to be noticed moving, Tobias also backs up, joining me in the center. He keeps clutching Kalen close to him, refusing to let go.

Lycus is still on the stairs, gasping for breaths. Finally, Aleera notices the strangeness of their behavior. She has to understand something is terribly wrong if her mother’s minions back away as if in the presence of a bigger monster. No, the looks on their faces say so much more—this place isn’t just dangerous, it’s deadly, and we are in the epicenter of a trap.

“Your father worked too hard for this to be for nothing,” Lydia spits at Aleera. It takes a brief moment until I notice her mutated Fae lift their hands to the black, inky sky; unleashing their magic. It whips from one to the next like a giant Lasso, creating a powerful barrier of mystical magical energy. The ribbons of power emanating from each one morph as all their elements align, creating a new one, something powerful that charges the air. Then, the next moment, I finally realize what she’s doing—they back away to get to their assigned places. The power hunters don’t try to save their lives. They are changing their positioning.

Lydia gets us right where she needs us, right where she wants us to be. We are standing in a pentagram as the ground shakes. As the power hunters take shape in a star, cutting off any escape, I can see the pentagram that has been created. The ground is shaking, and I can feel the energy of the pentagram all around me. The power hunters are standing in a circle, forming a barrier that surrounds us and creates an inescapable prison with no way out. I can see the fear in my mates' eyes as we all realize what Lydia has done. We are completely trapped. My eyes scan our enemies as each one retrieves something from their pocket. Now, I finally understand why they domed us into this exact location.

They toss the crystals at the ground, letting them shatter before using their magic. They blast the broken crystals, making them grow in size.

Crystalline pillars start to rise from the ground. I don’t risk tearing my eyes away from everything around us. However, the more I watch their actions, the more I wonder how long this had been planned.

A sharp, loud gasp escapes me when I notice Onyx, Lepidolite, Smoky Quartz, Hematite, and finally, Seraphanite crystal. The crystal towers grew larger, surrounding us like skyscrapers. Peering around at the crystal towers, I am amazed and shocked by their beauty. The energy radiating from them is magnificent. The first one that rose to full height is Onyx. Tall and imposing, it can't be missed. The Onyx is a deep black crystal with a glossy sheen. It's almost like staring into an abyss. It is dark and endless.

The Lepidolite is next, it shakes the earth as it takes form in a light green crystal with a vivid sparkle. It also has a range of speckled colors lurking within its depths.

Then the Smoky Quartz, it's a dark brown crystal with a smoky hue that is partially transparent, with the shadow of rainbows forming in its crystalline clutches, revealing the darkness it has absorbed.

Turning, I watch the Hematite shoot up from the ground. This one is a gray crystal with a metallic shine, and lastly, Seraphinite. It gets its name from angels and is a dark gray-green color with a beautiful pattern that resembles feathers.

The crystals grow tall, zapping a barrier from each one. Crystals can’t immobilize general Fae, but Demonic-Fae they can. They can stop us from using magic.

Another gasp passes my lips as I watch each tower light up. Almost no time had passed since the crystal towers appeared around us, but I could already feel how they affected my magic.

I turn to try to warn my mates, and Aleera’s eyes scan her surroundings and she notices them too. She knows, just as well as I do, what is about to happen, and my lips part in shock.

* * *

~Aleera~

As the towers rise, I can feel them drawing my energy, absorbing my dark magic; if I don't suppress it, it would steal it all. But the greed of the crystals doesn’t stop there. It clutches onto the magic of my mates. Pure dark magic, it steals it, draining them of power. Their dark, murky auras pull toward the massive towers, absorbing all darkness from them. Just one issue with that, they are darkness. There is nothing light about them to stop it from absorbing them completely.

Darius turns to look at me. I can feel that he wants to warn me, but when our eyes meet, he knows we are thinking about the same thing. He knows the danger we're all in.

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