through the sky. They surrounded the nearest soul stealer, smothering and weaving around and over and under until there was nothing left.
It took seconds, and it was beautiful, like watching light conquer darkness. But there were so many. “We need help!” Scout screamed. She couldn’t get to Trey. She couldn’t save him. The soul stealers were going to take him away, just like they had everyone else she loved.
“ If I were you, I ’ d pray that the soul stealers kill him instead of taking his soul. ” Ashra had apparently heard Scout’s thoughts, and her voice was grim. “ It ’ s better that way. ”
Scout wanted to pass out. She felt the world sway, saw blackness creep in on the edges of her vision. But she fought it. She had to hold on. If she blacked out now, they would all die. Lil Bit . From somewhere deep down where Scout didn’t even realize she had, she pulled strength and courage. For Lil Bit, she could do it. For Lil Bit, she had to do it.
“ Good girl , ” Ashra yelled as she darted through the sky, weaving around soul stealers. Occasionally her immense stretch of fiery wings would catch a soul stealer and ignite it in flames, but the demons were terrifyingly fast and dodged out of the way, except for the few unlucky ones. Scout forced her mind to focus, watched where Ashra was attacking and swung the scepter toward the creature in front of her. Even as it screamed and disintegrated into bloody ash, Ashra moved on, dragging the flames through the sky to the next demon in her sights. Scout followed, but there were so many, so many that they were blocking out the sun...
“ Those aren ’ t soul stealers, Princess. ” Ashra said, sounding breathless even in Scout’s head.
Scout risked a look up, and wanted to shriek in relief. The sky was full of unicorns, huge black foreboding unicorns. And leading them was Havik with Iros on his back, practically glowing in the darkness. Iros shot his scepter into the midst of soul stealers, but where Scout’s light was weak and separate of Ashra’s, his bound with Havik’s and seemed to explode across the sky, taking out many monsters at once.
“ That ’ s what happens when you bond , ” Ashra whispered in Scout’s mind.
With an explosion of fire and mist, Trey and Torz soared free of the soul stealers, bloody but alive. Trey leaned backward, holding his scepter like a rifle against his collarbone while Torz shot his flames forward, but somehow the magics still found each other, winding together before smothering the soul stealer to the side of them. Scout looked up at the hordes of rider-less unicorns above her. They only had one strand of fire from their horns, no scepter help, and it took them much longer to kill a single soul stealer.
“ Are you done looking around yet? They could use our help! ” Ashra snapped, and Scout jerked forward, swinging her scepter around.
“How do we bond? How do we become powerful like Iros?” Scout yelled.
“ You can ’ t force it. It just happens. And I don ’ t bond. ” Ashra’s voice was distant, which seemed beyond wrong in a situation where they were fighting together for their lives.
“Well awesome. If you don’t bond, then how do we kill these things like Iros and Havik?”
She distinctly heard Ashra chuckle. “ We move faster. ” Her wings surged upward and she shot forward, leaving flames in her mist, circling the soul stealers and trapping them in the wake. Scout shrieked once and then clamped her teeth shut tight, focused instead on swinging her scepter to keep up with Ashra. Her arms ached and shook, but she couldn’t stop, couldn’t lower her arms or they would die. And dying might mean an end of pain, physical and emotional, but it also meant that Lil Bit would be trapped with these monsters forever, and Scout couldn’t let that happen. She didn’t realize she was screaming in rage until her throat started to burn, and it wasn’t until then that she realized she was also sobbing,
It took seconds, and it was beautiful, like watching light conquer darkness. But there were so many. “We need help!” Scout screamed. She couldn’t get to Trey. She couldn’t save him. The soul stealers were going to take him away, just like they had everyone else she loved.
“ If I were you, I ’ d pray that the soul stealers kill him instead of taking his soul. ” Ashra had apparently heard Scout’s thoughts, and her voice was grim. “ It ’ s better that way. ”
Scout wanted to pass out. She felt the world sway, saw blackness creep in on the edges of her vision. But she fought it. She had to hold on. If she blacked out now, they would all die. Lil Bit . From somewhere deep down where Scout didn’t even realize she had, she pulled strength and courage. For Lil Bit, she could do it. For Lil Bit, she had to do it.
“ Good girl , ” Ashra yelled as she darted through the sky, weaving around soul stealers. Occasionally her immense stretch of fiery wings would catch a soul stealer and ignite it in flames, but the demons were terrifyingly fast and dodged out of the way, except for the few unlucky ones. Scout forced her mind to focus, watched where Ashra was attacking and swung the scepter toward the creature in front of her. Even as it screamed and disintegrated into bloody ash, Ashra moved on, dragging the flames through the sky to the next demon in her sights. Scout followed, but there were so many, so many that they were blocking out the sun...
“ Those aren ’ t soul stealers, Princess. ” Ashra said, sounding breathless even in Scout’s head.
Scout risked a look up, and wanted to shriek in relief. The sky was full of unicorns, huge black foreboding unicorns. And leading them was Havik with Iros on his back, practically glowing in the darkness. Iros shot his scepter into the midst of soul stealers, but where Scout’s light was weak and separate of Ashra’s, his bound with Havik’s and seemed to explode across the sky, taking out many monsters at once.
“ That ’ s what happens when you bond , ” Ashra whispered in Scout’s mind.
With an explosion of fire and mist, Trey and Torz soared free of the soul stealers, bloody but alive. Trey leaned backward, holding his scepter like a rifle against his collarbone while Torz shot his flames forward, but somehow the magics still found each other, winding together before smothering the soul stealer to the side of them. Scout looked up at the hordes of rider-less unicorns above her. They only had one strand of fire from their horns, no scepter help, and it took them much longer to kill a single soul stealer.
“ Are you done looking around yet? They could use our help! ” Ashra snapped, and Scout jerked forward, swinging her scepter around.
“How do we bond? How do we become powerful like Iros?” Scout yelled.
“ You can ’ t force it. It just happens. And I don ’ t bond. ” Ashra’s voice was distant, which seemed beyond wrong in a situation where they were fighting together for their lives.
“Well awesome. If you don’t bond, then how do we kill these things like Iros and Havik?”
She distinctly heard Ashra chuckle. “ We move faster. ” Her wings surged upward and she shot forward, leaving flames in her mist, circling the soul stealers and trapping them in the wake. Scout shrieked once and then clamped her teeth shut tight, focused instead on swinging her scepter to keep up with Ashra. Her arms ached and shook, but she couldn’t stop, couldn’t lower her arms or they would die. And dying might mean an end of pain, physical and emotional, but it also meant that Lil Bit would be trapped with these monsters forever, and Scout couldn’t let that happen. She didn’t realize she was screaming in rage until her throat started to burn, and it wasn’t until then that she realized she was also sobbing,
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