Legacy of the Blood (The Threshold Trilogy) (48 page)

“No!”

She
could not allow a demon to escape.

Before
Adesina had a chance to do anything about the disappearance of Cha-sak, a
hulking figure stepped up to the Threshold and began to push against the
magical barrier.

It
was vastly different from Cha-sak, and yet it exuded the same evil intent.

It
was a sickly grey color, and it looked as though it had no skin. Its four arms
were masses of exposed muscles, as were its two legs. Its face looked like a
mask of bone, and a number of jagged spikes protruded.

The
Threshold appeared to be an open doorway, but the barrier that kept the two
worlds apart was only weakened—cracked very slightly. The barrier seemed to
work like a sieve, trapping larger forces of magic first. A demon such as
Cha-sak was too powerful to escape on his own, but a lesser demon could slip
through with enough effort.

Adesina
and Ravi both experienced a sinking feeling as they watched the mass of muscle
and bone push its way past the light of the Threshold.

The
demon roared in challenge, and Adesina raised her Blood Sword in response.

Adesina
had never faced any opponent like this before. She was accustomed to fighting
humans, and she wasn’t sure how to adapt her fighting style for this situation.
She connected to her
vyala
, feeling the warmth and vitality of the magic
fill her entire being. Then she opened herself completely to Ravi, throwing
wide the doors of their Joining.

All
of this took mere seconds, but that was all the time they had to prepare.

The
demon charged forward, uttering an ear-splitting bellow. Adesina broke to the
left and Ravi broke to the right. Through Ravi’s vision she could see the demon
swipe a clawed hand at her back, and she dove and rolled to avoid the blow.

Adesina
sprang to her feet, but not in enough time to dodge the demon’s following
strike.

Ravi
used their shared
vyala
to harden her skin against the razor-sharp
talons of the demon, but the force of the attack knocked Adesina against the
wall.

She
was momentarily dazed and gasping for breath. The demon towered over her, but
the expected blow never came.

Ravi
darted forward and sank his teeth into the thigh of the demon, using his
powerful jaw to tear at the grey flesh.

The
demon shrieked in pain and turned away from Adesina, giving her time to dart
out of danger.

Adesina
and Ravi both felt a surge of satisfaction at seeing their enemy hobbled, but
the feeling soon faded. The muscles of the demon’s leg quivered and shifted,
mending itself as if the injury had never occurred.

Adesina
cursed quietly and adjusted her grip on her sword. Perhaps if she moved quickly
enough the monster would not have time to heal.

She
dashed forward with the intent of severing the demon’s hamstrings, and Ravi
automatically positioned himself on the opposite side to flank their enemy. The
demon gave a defiant howl, and Adesina felt it connecting to its own form of
vyala
.

A
dark energy pulsed outward, throwing Adesina and Ravi back from their attack.

The
L’avan queen’s vision swirled a gold and dark blue as she called forth her own
power. She wove a spell of protection around herself and Ravi, holding onto it
tightly in the corner of her mind so that it would not weaken.

Ravi
harried the demon, drawing its attention away from Adesina. He tore at the
demon’s legs with his teeth and his claws, moving quickly and gracefully.

The
demon raised its two upper arms and black fire burst into flame in each hand.
It brought down its arms with all the strength it could muster, but Ravi threw
up a magical shield that took the brunt of the blow.

The
black fire shattered like glass, and the shards flew in all directions.

Adesina
instinctively brought up her Blood Sword in a defensive stance, and an
unexpected aura of gold flickered to life in the blade. The shards of fire that
fell in her direction appeared to be absorbed by the magical glow.

The
shards that flew elsewhere remained active. They set fire to the stone, and the
flames slowly began to grow.

Several
fiery fragments landed in a circle around Ravi, trapping him where he stood.

Adesina
did not feel any heat through her Joining with her guardian. Instead, the black
flames gave off an icy blast that penetrated to the heart.

Ravi
tried to transport himself away from danger, but the fire repressed his ability
to use
vyala
.

I
cannot jump over it,
he thought frantically.
My legs would be injured beyond repair.

The
demon purred with feral delight, and it reached forward to crush its prey.

Adesina’s
vyala
flared orange, and she threw out her free hand in a forceful
gesture towards her enemy. The wave of magic sent the demon flying backward,
and Adesina sprinted to Ravi before the beast could regain its footing.

The
young L’avan woman tried to use her
vyala
to put out the black flames
that surrounded Ravi, but nothing worked. The demonic spell seemed to exist
outside of the normal laws of nature.

“I
cannot put it out,” she said in panic.

“Can
you lift me over it?” the Rashad asked desperately.

She
tried to reach through the fiery barrier with her
vyala
, but it was as
though the black flames consumed the magic.

Adesina
shook her head. “It did not work!”

From
across the cave, the demon rose to its feet and bellowed in rage. It lowered
its horned head and began to charge.

A
sudden idea came into Adesina’s mind, and she acted on it without further
consideration. She raised her Blood Sword high above her head and brought it
down on the black fire that surrounded her guardian.

The
golden light flared around the blade, and the icy flames winked out of
existence.

Adesina
stared at her sword in amazement. The intricate etchings along the blade
continued to glow, even when the aura around the sword began to fade.

Had
her weapon always possessed such power, or was it the proximity to the
Threshold that changed it?

“Ma’eve!”

The
demon was still charging, and Adesina had to dive out of the way.

She
was not fast enough to avoid contact.

The
tip of one of the jagged spikes on the demon’s mask of bone caught her leg,
slicing the flesh of her calf in spite of the protective spell she had woven
earlier.

A
burning pain shot up her leg and through her back, paralyzing her almost
instantly. Her heart began to race in an unsteady pattern, and the burning
sensation started to spread.

Heal!

The
thought came almost unbidden, but it was obeyed by her
vyala
without her
taking any direct action. Adesina’s vision flared to a yellow tint, and her
power began to purge the poison from her system.

Her
body was immobile while it healed, which left her in a precarious position.
Ravi tried to draw the attention of the demon, but to no avail. The monster
could see that Adesina was injured, and it renewed its attack on her.

Adesina
split her
vyala
so that she could defend herself. This slowed her healing,
but she knew it would ultimately save her life.

She
altered the gravity surrounding the demon, making its movements heavy and slow.
The beast redoubled its efforts, exerting its full strength to reach her.

Just
before it came within range of her, Adesina reversed the pull of gravity—making
the demon lighter than normal. The demon had no time to adjust its movements,
and it flew over Adesina’s head and into the cavern wall behind.

Allow
me to help heal you, Ma’eve.

Ravi
channeled some of his life force into Adesina, which quickened her healing even
without the aid of
vyala
. With the magic already working, it became a
wave of regenerating power that swept out all traces of the demon’s venom.

Normally,
Adesina would have protested such reckless use of Ravi’s
vyala
, but she
had no time to argue.

The
demon was on its feet once more, and it was berserk with rage.

It
raised all four arms and gave an ear-shattering howl. Sickly green balls of
light began to form in each hand, and the demon hurled them in Adesina and
Ravi’s direction. The first few attacks missed by a wide margin, but the
destructive power was enough to throw off Adesina’s balance.

She
dodged behind one of the few outcroppings of rock in the cave, but it only took
three balls of exploding light before she had to find new cover.

She
was running out of places to hide, and she wasn’t certain she could face the
bombardment directly.

A
thought came to Adesina, and she chided herself for forgetting one of the
fundamental teachings of the Shimat.

Use
your surroundings.

As
she darted through the cavern to avoid the barrage of demonic attacks, she used
her
vyala
to scan her environment. She sensed that Ravi began to do the
same, and together they found the one feature that would help them to win this
fight.

There!

In
the far corner, against the wall of the cave, a section of the stone ceiling
was riddled with cracks. With some help, they could cause the entire area to
collapse.

Now
they just had to maneuver the demon to the right position.

Ravi
immediately began to execute a series of swift assaults and rapid retreats. His
intent was to enrage the demon rather than to injure it.

Adesina
did her best to remain out of the demon’s notice. She studied the cracked
ceiling meticulously and placed her magic with precision. If she made a mistake
in her calculations, the entire room could cave in.

The
demon bellowed with growing frustration and threw its mighty fists against the
ground, causing the floor to quake.

Adesina’s
heart skipped a beat.

If
the demon continued to do that, the ceiling would collapse prematurely.

Ravi
pretended to stumble, and the demon rushed forward to smash its aggravating
foe.

Adesina
waited until she felt Ravi transport himself across the room, then she
activated the web of
vyala
she had put into place. There was a brief
glint of light, and a deafening crack reverberated through the cavern.

Several
enormous boulders dropped from the ceiling onto the lower half of the demon. It
howled in pain, but Adesina could see that it was still alive. They had only
immobilized their enemy temporarily.

The
young L’avan queen was disappointed to see so little damage done to the demon.
She was growing increasingly weary, and it appeared that this was a battle that
they could not win.

How
could one defeat an enemy that had the ability to regenerate?

She
longed to rest in the forests of Pevothem, where
vyala
flowed freely
between the earth and those that lived there.

Suddenly,
a warm glow infused Adesina’s body, expanding her senses and invigorating her
vyala
.
She felt more refreshed than she had since stepping foot on the land of Zonne.
It was as though…

She
evaluated herself more carefully. Had her
vyala
been replenished?

It
had to be impossible. After all, Ravi had said that Zonne was land that had
died from a lack of natural
vyala
. There was nothing from which she
could draw power to replenish her own.

And
yet, it was clear that Adesina’s magic was growing.

Her
eyes turned once more to the glowing blade of her Blood Sword, and she began to
understand.

The
weapon must serve as some sort of repository for her
vyala
. She had been
sharing energy with it for weeks, and now it served as a well from which she
could draw.

Adesina
opened herself up to her Blood Sword and the flow of energy increased. However,
something even more extraordinary began to happen.

Her
mind blossomed, filling with hidden instincts and knowledge that she had never
supposed was there. It was not like joining minds with another being, but
rather, it was like connecting with… herself.

The
demon’s outraged cries increased as it struggled to push away the boulders that
had fallen on its lower body. It was only a matter of time until the demon was
able to heal itself and renew its attacks.

Adesina
was almost too distracted to notice the growing danger, but Ravi was not.

We
must act quickly, Ma’eve, or it will be too late.

“Brace
yourself, my friend,” she said softly to her guardian.

Within
her mind, she reached out to Ravi’s
vyala
and drew it to her own. Then
she did the same with the
vyala
stored in her Blood Sword. Her power
swirled and expanded, creating palpable energy that whipped around her body.

She
held out her sword—which shone with intense light—and pointed it at the twisted
form of the demon.

“Fly,
Falcon.”

It
was as if the weapon had been waiting for the command.

The
blade burst into magical flames that took the form of a falcon. The fire flew
forward with astonishing speed and consumed the creature of darkness.

It
happened so quickly, and yet, every minute detail was burned into Adesina’s
sight.

The
demon shrieked and held up all four arms in an effort to ward off the attack.
The fiery falcon expanded in size, covering the monster and the rocks that held
it in place. There was a blinding flash of light, and the entire area was destroyed.

All
that remained was a blacked hole in the wall of the cavern.