“There is no hiding from a creature that does not rely on sight or sound. It is bound to souls, drawn to them, and in the end, it is through the tether of the spirit that it claims its victims.”
— Faelyn Sylsalor, “Demons and Their Curses: Volume 1,” page 200
The mist churned around Emily as she ran. It hadn’t been this dense when they’d started the hunt, Emily was sure of it. Now it pressed close, scattering the flame of her dagger. The light only made the fog glow, blinding her further.
It was torturous, but she couldn’t give up, no matter how hard the pain in her ribs flared. Something was broken in there, maybe several somethings. Yet strangely, she could feel her magic pooling around the injury, warm and sluggish. It was too slow. A broken finger had taken her a week once; this would take days, if she lived that long. Mina could shrug off anything, heal in seconds. Emily had no such gift. She only had stubbornness and the refusal to lie down.
Distant, muffled by the fog, the Sandman’s shrieks rose again. Henrik’s deep bellow answered. Metal rang on something that wasn’t metal. They’d found it. They were holding it. That bought her time, but not much.
Where would Violet go? The town was empty; she could be anywhere. Was she with the others already? Had the Sandman found her first? Emily staggered into a crossroads and stopped, bending forward, one hand braced on her thigh while the other pressed against her screaming ribs, carful to not let the flaming dagger press against her. Sweat soaked her clothes, slid down her spine, pooled under her arms, and trickled along her neck. The ghouls hadn’t drained her like this. Then again, the ghouls hadn’t thrown her through windows and slammed her into pavement.
The plaza…
Emily jerked upright, spinning in place. It was a voice she had just heard? From where? “Mina?” she called.
The plaza…
Her pulse hammered in her temples. The dagger in her hand suddenly weighed a ton.
The plaza…
“Okay!” Emily shouted into the empty air, half-hysterical. “I’m going!” She bolted onward. Something tugged at her, an invisible thread, guiding her turns through alleys she could barely see. The fog parted just enough to let her pass, then closed behind her like a curtain. Kasia’s fountain emerged from the haze ahead. Emily skidded to a halt on the slick stones of the plaza. “Violet?” she called, then remembered. Violet couldn’t speak. She tried anyway. “Violet!”
A soft scuff of shoes on stone came from behind the old wooden watchtower. Emily whirled, dagger raised. Violet’s small figure stepped out of the shadows between the tower and a shuttered flower shop, wide-eyed. Relief crashed over Emily so hard her knees nearly buckled.
“Violet.” She hurried toward her. “You alright?”
Violet nodded, then pointed at her.
“No, I’m not,” she chuckled wearily.
Behind you.
Emily spun. The fog split apart as the Sandman erupted from it. “Shit—!” She seized Violet’s arm and yanked her sideways. The monster’s talons whistled through the space where they’d stood, close enough that Emily felt the wind of them. She slashed upward with her dagger as the creature overshot, carving a searing line across its forearm. Sand hissed into glass mid-air and rained down in brittle shards.
The Sandman landed lightly, roared, then melted back into the fog before she could press the attack.
Emily stumbled backward, dragging Violet with her until the girl’s thighs met the fountain’s stone rim. She planted herself in front, dagger raised, flames flaring brighter with her surge of adrenaline.
Her heart slammed against broken ribs. Breath came in short, painful gasps. Sweat stung her eyes. “Stay behind me,” she ordered, voice low and fierce.
Violet’s hand tightened around hers.
“I can do this,” Emily whispered to herself. “I can do this.” She scanned the swirling mist.
The Sandman’s guttural cries echoed from every direction at once.
Your left…
Emily whipped around as the creature tore through the mist like a blade through silk. She ducked low, carving a searing arc across its midsection as she pulled Violet with her. Sand hissed out of the wound, crystallizing mid-spill. The monster shrieked and slashed blindly; Emily hauled Violet aside, the talons whistling past her ear close enough to stir her hair. She surged upward in the same motion, driving her flaming blade deep into the Sandman’s outstretched arm. More sand poured like blood from the gash. The creature wrenched away with a howl of agony and melted back into the fog.
Emily staggered as pain exploded in her chest. Fuck this thing, she thought to herself.
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Above you…
Emily threw herself sideways, dragging Violet. The Sandman plummeted into the plaza, cracking the stone beneath it. Her dagger fell from her grip as another sharp pain struck her. She cried. Tears welled in her eyes. It hurt so much. She wanted the pain to just go away.
The Sandman lunged.
Fire erupted from Emily’s palm. The heat drove the creature back a step; it recoiled with a furious, guttural shriek before vanishing once more into the mist. Emily staggered to her feet, clutching her ribs, eyes darting for her weapon. The light from her flaming dagger was reflecting off one of the protruding crystals in the ground, scattering light around them in a faint dome.
The Sandman charged again from the darkness.
Emily pulled Violet into the bubble with her. The monster skidded too late, one taloned foot crossing into the brightest heart of the refracted glow. It jerked back as though burned, squawking in rage, pacing just beyond the light’s edge but refusing to step inside again. It feared the light. Truly feared it.
Emily got an idea. High above, along the eaves of the old wooden watchtower, oil lanterns swung gently, their dim flames barely cutting the mist. Not enough on their own. But they could be. A fierce grin split Emily’s sweat-streaked face. Magic surged to her fingertips, and she unleashed a roaring fireball skyward. It struck the lanterns in a thunderous bloom of flame. Oil splashed, wood caught, and within seconds, the entire tower erupted into a blazing inferno.
The fire raced upward, licking the cavern ceiling. The light from the flames reflected through the crystals and exploded through the plaza like the birth of a new sun. Orange and red and blinding white refracted in a thousand directions, turning the fog itself into a churning sea of molten colors. The Sandman convulsed, shrieking as the radiance bathed it. Its shadowy form withered and sizzled. It couldn’t move.
“Step back, Violet.”
Power flooded through her, more than she’d ever channeled. Her skin began to crack as fire swirled around her. With a pained cry, she sent forth a pillar of hot flames to swallow the Sandman whole. Amidst the fire, the air crackled, bolts of energy shot violently and eratically, striking around Emily like lightning. The creature thrashed inside the inferno, its corrupted sand superheating. Its final scream rose and shattered as its entire body flash-vitrified into flawless, translucent glass, trapped forever in a pose of twisted agony.
Emily’s knees buckled. The spell released her all at once, leaving her trembling and gasping on the stone. She stared at the frozen monster, chest heaving. She had done it. She had killed the Sandman! A weary, incredulous smile broke across her face.
Then the smile faltered.
The fire was devouring the wooden watchtower like a swarm of starving termites. The supports groaned and snapped, shooting out embers. It was coming down.
Run…
Mina sliced through the orange haze. One moment,t Emily was staring at the collapsing tower, the next an iron-strong hand clamped around her arm and wrenched her backward. Violet’s small fingers barely brushed Emily’s sleeve before Mina hauled them both clear.
The watchtower folded inward. The beams snapped, and flames belched skyward in a pillar of searing heat. Burning debris rained down as the tower collapsed onto the plaza. The crash shook the air, scattering a hail of embers and smoke. All of Serenity Gardens bled infernal red.
Emily’s legs gave out. She fell to her knees, gasping, her body trembling violently. Violet collapsed beside her, though she wasn’t shaking. She was watching Emily, her mask tilted slightly in concern.
Knights poured from side streets. Stone barriers thrust up from the earth around the bonfire. Some of the knights summoned mounds of soil to hurl onto the flames in a desperate attempt to smother them.
“What the hell happened?” Henrik bellowed, sprinting toward the blaze, halberd still in hand.
Emily forced her head up and managed to lift a trembling hand toward the inferno. “…I got it,” she rasped.
Henrik stared, and though Emily couldn’t see the expression behind the visor of his helm, she knew he wasn’t too happy about how she disposed of the monster. “Right,” he muttered. “Of course you did.” Without another word, he turned and charged toward the fire line and started barking commands to the knights.
Mina glared at the knight, then crouched beside Emily, steadying her. “You two alright?”
Violet nodded.
Emily couldn’t find the words. Her palms glowed faintly, skin split in glowing fissures like cooling lava. When she looked back at Violet, the girl was signing something to Mina.
“Go,” she said to her.
Violet sprang up and darted into the lingering mist.
Emily watched her go, confused. She opened her mouth to ask, then Mina slid one arm beneath her knees, the other behind her back, and lifted. Pain exploded across Emily’s ribs. “Ahh—shit, that hurts!”
“I know,” Mina said quietly. “Just breathe. In through the nose.”
They moved swiftly through the streets, following the small, masked girl ahead. Violet led them back the way Emily had come, straight to the blood-slick trail glistening on the cobblestones. Karaline was still alive. She had dragged her upper body a dozen yards, leaving behind a thick, dark smear to mark her path. Now she lay beside her own severed lower half, pale and sweat-slick, but grinning fiercely as Violet skidded to her knees beside her.
“I’m fine, lass,” Karaline panted. “I’ll be alright—just hurry the fuck up. As much as I enjoy starin’ at me own arse from this angle, I’d rather be attached to it.”
Violet’s hands were already moving. She made a series of complex, flowing gestures that wove patterns in the air.
Emily, cradled in Mina’s arms, stared in silence.
Thin purple threads blossomed from Violet’s fingertips. They lengthened until Violet flung her wrists upward. The threads snapped taut against something invisible high above, anchoring like a puppeteer’s lines. Then, they sank into Karaline’s torn flesh. Her body jerked violently. Muscle and bone twitched as the threads hooked deep. With a sharp pull from Violet, Karaline’s upper torso lifted upright. Her lower half rose too, drawn by unseen force until spine met spine with a sickening, wet crack.
“AAAAUGGHH!” Karaline’s scream echoed off the cavern walls. Purple mist poured from every seam. Threads wove flesh back together. When it was done, Karaline slumped forward and clawed at her freshly mended abdomen. “Fuckin’ hell,” she hissed between ragged breaths. “Forgot how much that shite hurts.”
Violet flicked her wrists and the threads dissolved.
Karaline dropped the last foot to the ground. She rolled her shoulders, cracked her neck, and stood as if she’d never been torn in two.
Mina snorted. “You alive?”
Karaline shot her a withering glare. “What the fuck d’ye think?”
Emily’s mind couldn’t hold it all. The edges of her vision darkened. “I—I don’t understand—”
Karaline chuckled, low and tired. “Aye. I bet ye don’t.”
“She hit her head,” Mina said. “Possible concussion. Definitely broken ribs.”
“Hell,” Karaline muttered, eyeing Emily with something like respect. “I’m surprised the lass is still breathin’.”
Emily swallowed. Everything felt far away and muffled. “…What’s going on?” she whispered.
Karaline’s smirk softened. “I owe ye some explainin’, that’s for certain.”
“Later. She’s done enough tonight. She needs rest.”
Emily tried to focus on their faces. They were all looking at her now, as if waiting for her to finally break.
Rest.
The word sank into her like warm water.
Maybe… maybe she could just close her eyes. Emily let her head fall against Mina’s shoulder, and the world faded to black.
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