The scariest demon is the one with the face of an angel.

Dust choked my throat as we hit the floor below with a bone-jarring thud.

“Ugh—!” The air was knocked out of my lungs, but I kept my grip on Lira, curling around her to take the worst of the impact. She was still breathing. That’s all that mattered.

I staggered to my feet, coughing, ribs screaming, ears ringing.

“Get your bearings,” Callen’s voice snapped in my head. “You don’t have long before she follows you down.”

We were in a storage room. Broken crates and toppled shelves made a crooked maze around us. Smoke from the burning floor above poured down making it difficult to see.

Then, a loud thunk hit the floor somewhere nearby.

“Aaaash…” Eliorynna’s voice floated down, echoing. “Where are yoooou?”

Ah Dammit.

I swallowed hard and moved, crouching low, shoving Lira behind the largest overturned shelf I could find.

“I know you’re here,” she sang softly. “Don’t make me tear this whole place apart!”

“She’s hunting you,” Callen said grimly. “Keep moving. Use the shelves for cover.”

Thanks, Callen.

That was sarcasm by the way.

The first beam sliced through two shelves at once, spraying splinters in front of where we were hiding. We had to move but doing so would alert her to our location. On the other hand if we didn’t, we would surely get blasted at some point.

What a dilemma.

I picked a piece of splinter and threw it to the far side of the room. A simple strategy to turn her attention and then strike from behind.

As soon as it landed, I moved ready to strike — but I met face to face with the demon herself.

“You didn’t think I’d fall for that, did you?” She smirked.

Her eyes glowed — and I froze.

****

While I was sweating bullets, Verra and Ariyanna were having struggles of their own.

Rhennmar clapped her hands together — the entire chamber vibrated. The golden stairs broke apart, rearranging themselves into spiraling shapes that hovered in the air.

“Move!” Ariyanna shouted.

Verra dove again, barely clearing the gap as one of the stairs snapped like a whip, slamming into the spot where she’d just been standing. She landed in a crouch, her staff raised.

“You can’t keep running forever!” Rhennmar’s voice echoed from everywhere at once, amplified by the chamber itself. “Just give up sister…..you cannot best me.”

Ariyanna’s runes flared around her arms and chest, burning bright enough to cast shadows. “Then I guess I’ll just have to keep getting better!”

She slammed her palms together —sweat-bubbles filled the chamber with a scalding mist. The heat warped the air, making the golden stairs hiss.

But Rhennmar only laughed. “I know all your tricks sister.”

Her fingers blurred through a string of hand signs. The mist condensed instantly, crystallizing into hundreds of tiny needles of ice. They spun midair then rained down at them in a glittering storm.

“Incederio!” Verra spun her staff, raising a barrier of violet fire. 

The needles hissed as they struck — but there were too many. One sliced through her shoulder, another struck Ariyanna’s thigh and she went down on one knee.

“Verra!” Ariyanna hissed, pulling the needle out. Blood flowed from her leg.

“We’re not winning this one,” she said clenching her teeth.

Verra’s jaw tightened. “We can’t give up yet.”

“You don’t have to!”

That voice came from above.

A burst of wind blew through the chamber, scattering the remaining needles before they could strike. The air cleared just as a figure drooped from the highest stair, landing between them and Rhennmar with a dull thud.

“You….” Rhennmar’s grin faltered for the first time. “You were supposed to be elsewhere.”

“Yeah,” Thomlin said, rolling his shoulders dramatically. “I was. But between you and the other mess going on upstairs, I had to pick which fire to put out first.”

He gave Ariyanna a bombastic side eye. “Congratulations… you won the coin toss.”

Ariyanna managed a smirk despite her pain. “Took you long enough, old man.”

“You’re interfering,” Rhennmar said, golden sparks dancing across her fingers.

“It’s a part of my charm,” Thomlin said, cracking his neck, then spun his staff once before planting it against the floor.

“Water Art, First wave ….Ripple of Nothingness.”

The shards of ice scattered across the ground quivered, then dissolved into spheres of water, rising slowly and filling the chamber.

Rhennmar’s eyes narrowed.

“You might want to get serious now,” he said, taking a step forward. “I want to hurry this along. I still one more student to rescue.”

The golden stairs shot forward molding into spears.

Thomlin barely moved— just shifted his weight, staff flashing once. The first spear shattered. The second split into two pieces with a quick pivot. By the time the third came, he wasn’t dodging at all — he stepped into its path, snapping his wrist. A wall of water formed in front of him and the stair struck it, slowing as though hitting mud, before dropping harmlessly to the floor.

“You can shape elements instantly,” Rhennmar observed. “Impressive…but not enough.”

Her eyes glowed like lightning bolts.

Water spheres shot forward all at once, slicing through the air like whips. Rhennmar twisted aside in a flash, to the side then quickly appeared in front of him ready to strike with a palm of lightning but Thomlin was already gone from where he’d been standing.

He reappeared at Rhennmar’s flank and whipped the staff. She barely had time to raise her arm before the blow connected; the impact flew her back, a shockwave booming through the chamber.

“Get out,” Thomlin said without looking.

“What?” Ariyanna shouted over the ringing in her ears.

“I said move!”

His staff glowed faintly, runes crawling up the wood.

“Follow the corridor back to where we separated. Find Ash and Lira, they are in trouble.”

Verra grabbed Ariyanna’s wrist, dragging her back. “I agree with him. Let’s go!”

Rhennmar had just emerged from her fall when she saw them leave. “Run while you can! You can’t hide from me forever sister!”

Ariyanna didn’t answer — but glanced over her shoulder one last time, catching a glimpse of Thomlin’s staff glowing as he rushed Rhennmar again.

****

I swung instinctively, but Eliorynna caught the sword with her bare hand which was red hot. I got a glimpse of her reflection from her hands and could see blood spilling from her eyes as she grinned.

“You’re so much fun,” she whispered — then fired point-blank.

I barely yanked the sword back between us before the blast threw me backward, smashing through a shelf. All I could was the ringing in my ear, my vision blurring.

“Up, Ash!” Callen’s voice brought me back.

I rolled just as another beam missed me.

“You need to get back in the open air!’ he urged. “It’s too cramped and too dark here. She has the advantage.”

“I’m all ears if you have suggestion or a flying ability I don’t know about."

“Ash!” Lira’s voice came from behind me — weak but awake.

“Stay down!” I shouted, twisting as another beam scorched past my ear, burning the air itself.

Just what I needed. More complications.

“What….where am I?” she groaned.

“Shh,” I moved to close her mouth.

She removed my hand slowly. “What are you doing to me?”

“Huh? Nothing…” I whispered. “Eliorynna is hunting us.”

She touched the back of her head and winced. “Ow…she fucking hit me.”

“Yeah, yeah be quiet.”

The shelves behind us exploded as another beam hit, spraying splinters and flame.

Lira flinched and instinctively reached for my sleeve.

“That was close,” she whispered. “What’s the plan?”

“Don’t have one yet,” I said peering from behind the shelf.

“Ah, idiot…” she said holding my arm and sitting upright. “Seriously hiding behind furniture. I have to do everything…”

Eliorynna’s voice rang out again, closer this time. “Where are you hiding, Ash?”

“That bitch is stronger than both of us and if we stay here any longer, we’re dead.”