Angie Fox - ADS 03 - A Tale of Two Demon Slayers

Dyonne’s face had gone deathly pale.

“Look, if you’re not ready—” I began.

“What? Would you quit?” Dyonne demanded.

Good point.

“Got all I need right here,” she said, patting the lump in her pocket. “Let’s go.”

I kept an eye on Dyonne as we continued across the grass. At the far side of the house, the lawn gave way to a rocky warning track about five feet wide. On the other side, sheer black cliffs dropped down into the dark blue waters of the Aegean Sea. We could hear the waves pounding below.

“We like to work at the edge of the cliffs,” Diana said. The wind tangled her dark hair about her face as she drew a line in the rusty soil with her toe. “Oh who am I kidding? We don’t like it. I sure don’t. But it beats the alternative.”

Dyonne gave a wry grin as she looked out at the water, but I didn’t miss the way her hands lingered over her stomach. “The way things have been going, it’s better for us to practice our magic over the open sea.”

“Let me know if I can do anything to help,” I said, wary and more than a little fascinated. They had grown up in a world I never knew existed. Magic portals? No problem. Levitation? All in a day’s work. It still blew me away.

I was still getting used to the idea of a ghost who liked to play Scrabble.

Diana drew a gleaming aquamarine stone from her pocket. It was beautiful, radiant. I was heartened to see how the stone responded to Diana’s touch.

It hadn’t been half as energized when Amara and Talos tried to use it.

“Can I see it?” I asked.

“Sure, Lizzie.”

It felt heavy and solid in my hand. And I didn’t miss how it lost its radiance the minute it left Diana.

“Show me what you’ve got,” I said, trying to lighten the mood as I returned the stone.

“Okay…well, remember, this is basic,” Diana said, holding her Skye stone out in front of her. It sparkled in the morning sun. “Talos wants us to weave clouds.”

“No kidding.” I had to see this.

The sun hung low over the sea, spending sparkling waves across the water.

Diana spread her feet wide, like a volleyball player getting ready to defend. “It’s kind of like weaving wards.”

“Only clouds won’t implode if we weave wrong,” added Dyonne.

“Are you going to do a pattern?” I asked, trying to picture a giant loom in the sky.

“We’ll start with an X ,” Dyonne said.

“Ready?” Diana asked.

Her sister nodded.

Diana and Dyonne braced themselves, holding their Skye stones in front of them like offerings to the gods.

They were the last of their kind, the two remaining women of the Helios clan. But they were not alone. I could see it in the way they stood, in the murmured words they used to call to their ancestors. It sounded like some form of ancient Greek, the low, thick syllables blending to form a harmony of strength and love for the family they were trying so desperately to protect.

I’d always understood why Dimitri worked so hard to save them. Now I knew why the clan itself had to go on. This place, these people could not disappear. We needed them and their kind, just like we needed the biker witches and other countless magical creatures who wove their love and strength across the world. Only together could we defeat the forces of darkness.

I squeezed my hands into fists and rooted for them. Not just because they could protect us, and not because we desperately needed to know what had happened last night. I wanted to see them succeed because of who they were. Since I’d become a demon slayer, I’d focused so much on the evil that I’d almost forgotten about the good. We had the right—no, the responsibility—to not only survive, but thrive, live, reach our potential.

Together, we could do it.

It was at that moment, when I truly believed in the possibility of total victory, that a blaze of light shone down from the heavens. Diana held her stone aloft and trailed a thin cloud across the sky. Dyonne wove a similar cloud to intercept Diana’s. I held my breath and watched the two lines cross.

The clash blinded me. I turned away, pulling my sunglasses down, wrapping my hands around the sides. I saw orange beneath my closed lids and felt the raw heat of it on my back.

The door of the house slammed open. I squinted and saw Amara storm across the lawn, her feet bare.

“Even out the energy!” she hollered. “It’s pulsing. Stop the pulsing.” She ducked as a particularly bright surge slammed down from the sky. “No. Wait,” she said, hands cupping her eyes, running again. “Cut it! Cut it! You’re going to get zapped!”

The stones blazed and darkened in the sisters’ outstretched hands.

“I got it!” Dyonne hollered, struggling to control the fire in her hands.

“No!” Amara dashed straight past me, standing in front of Dyonne and Diana with her back to the cliffs. “You’re stuttering it,” she said. “Push it out like a stream. Don’t let it pulse. You can do this.”

I found myself opening up, willing for them to push through, to own the power that was theirs already.

The sea rose and churned as Amara clenched her body tight, willing the sisters on.

Diana fought as the stone began to flicker rapidly in her hands. With a shriek, she collapsed to the ground.

“Di!” Amara rushed to her.

Dyonne’s stone flickered and died. “Diana!” She dropped her stone.

“What’s wrong with her?” Dyonne dropped to her knees at next to Diana. “What did it do to her?”

“Let’s get her inside.” Amara gathered Diana against her. I took the other side, and together we carried her home.

Talos frowned. “The magic was weak and uneven.”

“Well, sorry,” Diana muttered from under the ice packs piled on her forehead.

Dimitri thought for a moment, worried. “If they’re not ready, they’re not ready.”

Diana cracked her eyes open.

“Um, hello? We’re in the room,” Dyonne said from her sister’s bedside.

“We can do this,” Diana said, her voice surprisingly strong given the massive headache she suffered. It had to hurt to open her eyes, much less talk.

“Tomorrow,” I said, effectively ending the argument.

Darned if the sisters didn’t take me at my word.

The next morning, we marched back out to the training grounds, with Dyonne and Diana in the lead.

“No weaving today,” Dimitri announced. “Let’s start with something simpler. Just create a cloud or two,” he directed them. “Here. Over the cliffs.”

I tried to hide my surprise.

Sure. Just create a few clouds. No big whoop.

But I wasn’t about to question. This wasn’t about me. We were here for Dyonne and Diana.

It had to be intimidating for them to stand in the same place where they’d failed so miserably, but Dimitri’s sisters were nothing if not stubborn. I liked that.

Talos joined us as well. He lingered on the edges, apart from the group. Amara stood next to me. For the first time, I didn’t mind having her around.

“Your dog is chasing bees, Lizzie,” she said, her dark eyes focused on the water.

I glanced over to Pirate, dancing in circles behind us, leaping at the buzzing insects.

“Don’t worry. He never catches them.”

“I heard that!” Pirate said, before flipping over backward into the grass.

The exercise had begun well enough, with a few wispy clouds gathering over our small party. I resisted the urge to cheer. Dyonne and Diana stood deathly still, arms held out in front of them as they focused everything they had on drawing out the clouds.

“Harness it,” Dimitri warned.

Amara stiffened next to me. “You’re uneven again. Draw it out.”

Diana’s stone began to flicker.