Chapter 46: Chapter 46
The demons were up again, too, and the battles picked up where they had left off. Everyone else was engaged, which left Ru to face this Goliath all by herself.
“Kill it! Kill it!” Rider shouted at her as streaks of blue wrapped around the snake’s midsection. He seemed to be closing in on his prey, and Ru tried not to let the sight distract her. He was right. It would be best to take out the giant before he was fully formed.
With a deep breath, Ru drew upon all of the strength she had inside of her and aimed her blue light at the giant. It was difficult to figure out where to aim since he was only out of the portal up to his shins. Still, she hoped it would be enough. Perhaps it was because of his size, but she felt the need to shout even louder this time as she recited the incantation almost word for word along with Rider who was also sending the snake into oblivion. “Infernus et perdere faciam te in nomine Domini!”
This time, Ru didn’t feel as confident. It seemed like there should be a different incantation for something so large. Surprisingly, it worked right away, and Ru found herself gazing at an empty, though distant portal. She decided to close the expanse some before she recited the incantation that would blow the portal since her strength wasn’t quite what it was before.
As she began to run forward, something odd caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Rider was free now and had turned his attention to the demon Ivy was battling, which she almost had under control. However, Ru saw the bird-like monster Lyric was fighting burst into a black cloud and dissipate. At first, Ru thought perhaps Lyric had used an incantation she didn’t know to send him on, but then Lyric turned toward Rider. A gust of wind sent him flying through the air, crashing into a tree, hard. Lyric began to advance toward him, her hands raised, her face an angry scowl.
“What the…” Ru began. Lyric was attacking Rider! What was happening? How could she turn on him in the middle of a battle like that? Lyric had always been completely loyal. What she was seeing made no sense. But then, it was certainly happening.
“Ru! Help!” Ivy screamed. “Help Lyric!”
“Help Lyric?” Ru echoed. Did Ivy want her to attack Rider as well? Then, Ru remembered another demon Windy had told her about. In fact, there were several of them. “Jumper!” She took off running in Lyric’s direction, throwing herself between Rider and the form of her friend. She wasn’t sure if this was Jarwu or one of his cohorts, but it didn’t matter. She needed to break Lyric free before the body snatcher did any more damage.
Lyric sent a brisk breeze in the direction of a branch hanging directly over Ru’s and Rider’s heads. She looked up right in time to see it falling. Ru threw herself over Rider’s unconscious body, hoping to protect him, but as the tips of the branches snarled her hair, the branch seemed to suspend in midair. She looked up to see another vine wrapped around it, securing it to the tree so that it couldn’t fall the rest of the way. “Thank you, Ivy!” Ru shouted, climbing back to her feet.
Ivy didn’t have a chance to answer. The distraction from her own battle had cost her, and she stumbled backward. Luckily, Cutter was free now and was hurrying to her side. Ru turned back to face Lyric whose hands were raised again. This time, it was different, however. As Ru studied her friend’s face, she could see the struggle there. Lyric was fighting for control of her own body.
Ru raised her hands and aimed the blue light at Lyric’s midsection, praying she didn’t hurt her friend in the process. “In nomine Dei patris ego mittam te!”
Lyric let out a shriek of pain that sent birds soaring through the forest in all directions as she folded in half and dropped to her knees. The black cloud formed back above her head, and Ru wasted no time disposing of the jumper once and for all. “Infernus et perdere faciam te in nomine Domini!” Before the demon even had a chance to reform, Ru sent him back to Hell in a flash of light.
Lyric didn’t get up right away, and Ru was torn between running to her and dropping back to the ground behind her to check on Rider. “Lyric!” she shouted. Her friend’s hand reached out and waved at her, as if she was telling her to go on, which made Ru’s decision only slightly easier. She could see that Cutter and Ivy were making headway again on the remaining demon who resembled a tree himself, with branch-like horns on top of his head and elongated arms and legs that ended with long, stiff tentacles.
Ru spun around and dropped to her knees. “Rider?” She smoothed back his hair and patted his cheek. “Rider?” Are you okay?”
He made a slight moaning noise. Ru was relieved to hear that he was at least alive. She slipped her backpack off and grabbed her water bottle. Taking the cap off, she poured some over his head and managed to slip a few drops into his mouth before he began to sputter.
“I’ll help him. You go,” Lyric said, her hand on Ru’s shoulder.
Ru looked back to see the pink-haired Keeper grimacing, and it looked like she’d actually crawled over. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Lyric managed, taking a seat next to Rider. “They’re not done yet. Giant only delayed….”
She couldn’t seem to get all of the message out, but Ru realized what she was saying. Sending the giant through the portal had been poor planning on Azrael’s part, or whoever had orchestrated this ambush, because he had clogged up the exit. But now, it wouldn’t be long before more enemy forces could get through.
Ru leaned over and kissed Rider’s temple and then pressed her lips to Lyric’s head as well before she stood. Leaving her backpack behind, she took a deep breath and headed back toward the portal.
Lyric’s prediction was right. Ru hadn’t made it ten feet before the feeling that something was coming tugged on her insides. While this didn’t seem large, like the giant, it seemed menacing. As the portal began to vibrate again, Ru raised her hands, prepared to close it once and for all. Out of nowhere, a burst of black smoke hit her in the side, knocking her backward into the trunk of a tree. She had no idea where it had come from, but as she fought to regain her footing, trying her best to ignore the pain in her shoulder, she realized she was too late. Once again, the sight in front of her was incomprehensible.