Thank you.Without waiting another moment, Vasilisa poured the hot blue flame along the wound in the earth, running along the opening as she did so. In her other hand was the vial of holy water, and she sprinkled drops of it into the crack. The drops multiplied and became a deluge, raining directly into the long zigzagging fissure.
“Mother Earth, take back this land. Heal the deep laceration with your skills. I invoke the laws older than time. Older than those who would commit such atrocities against all that is good, all that is natural and one with nature.”
She ran around the entire crack a second time, shining the blue flame deep into the portal and shaking drops of holy water from the vial into the fissure so that it rained directly down into the dark abyss.
“I close this wound with your aid. I close this portal between the underworld and this realm with your aid. I seal this portal so it can never be used again by anything foul or unnatural. I call on the properties of nourishment. The sun and moon. Water. The elements. Worms. Every living thing needed to supply and enrich the soil.”
Demons shrieked at her in madness, redoubling their effort to stop her. The Carpathians refused to give ground, fighting them off, sometimes taking on two or three at a time. They were outnumbered, but it didn’t faze them in the least. Afanasiv seemed to be everywhere, keeping a barrier between her and the demons desperate to prevent her from accomplishing her task.
Vasilisa made the run around the large fissure in the ground a third time, pouring the brilliant light into the abyss, along with the drops from the vial as she invoked her mantra. “Mother Earth, I give back to you this scarred region that was taken from you by force. It is precious to you and to us. Let us seal this ground from all who would use it for evil.”
The deep crack was closing from the inside, the seams knitting back together as if it were a terrible wound. Soil poured into the ground from the huge piles scattered around to hide the portal from any who might look into the backyard. Between the light, the soil, nutrients Mother Earth provided, and the water, the jagged scar repaired itself rapidly.
As the portal closed, the demons inside either retreated as fast as they could to the underworld or tried to climb out. Vasilisa had already closed the ground to them. There was no saving themselves by makingtheir way into the realm of the human world. They were trapped. Eventually, there were no more places to hide inside the portal, and the blue flames reached where the demons huddled in the shrinking corners of darkness. They burned in the fierce blue-hot flames.
Vasilisa continued to chant and pour water and light into the scarred wound until it was completely closed, and then she turned to join the ancients in the fight. The demon army was particularly vicious and outnumbered them. The Carpathian fighters were methodical and didn’t waver in spite of the numbers.
Andros loped out of the forest, a large, graceful fighter, flanked by his brothers. She should have known they would come. The land would call out to them. They were Lycan. Royals. Guardians. They were her brothers. Any one of those things would trigger a call to her siblings, but the combination of those events would have them running to join in the battle.
Andros positioned himself in front of his sister, a move that set her teeth on edge, but she accepted that he would always be her older brother. She was the better fighter when it came to killing demons. All of them knew that, although they didn’t understand why. They did readily take any advice she gave to them, and Andros never tried to stop her from going after demons. He seemed to realize it was something she had to do, not to mention he wasn’t so egotistical that he would lose an asset when they needed one.
•••
Skyler found herself feeling sick. Very sick.It feels as if bugs are crawling inside my stomach and eating their way through my skin. It is one of his spells, yet I didn’t see his hands move or his lips, either.
She had to resist wrapping her arms around her middle. There was no stopping the blood draining from her face. As soon as she reported how she was feeling to Razvan, the sensation faded. Barnabas looked shocked. Not only shocked, but admiration mixed with angerflickered in his eyes, telling her Razvan had reversed the spell, and Barnabas felt the bugs eating him from the inside out.
The house began to shake as thunder boomed overhead. Wooden slats were torn from the walls. Beams dropped from the ceiling. Without warning the floor dropped out from under her, and she fell into a hole in the ground. It was extremely deep and narrow, giving her barely enough room for her arms and shoulders. Once down in the hole, she was wedged inside, unable to move. Soil began to pour in on her, burying her alive. She had the sensation of choking to death. Suffocating. Her heart and lungs bursting.
My love, what is wrong?Dimitri was calm. The voice of reason, blowing away the strands of smoke and mirrors.This mage is tricking you. You are a child of Mother Earth. She welcomes you. You are Carpathian. She heals you. His spell is nonsense, born of desperation.
Skyler felt a little silly that she had, for one moment, fallen for the mage’s spell. Already, Razvan had reversed the spell and dropped Barnabas deep into the ground, deeper even than the mage had dropped Skyler. She was already standing back in the sitting room while the soil poured in on Barnabas.
He will come at you hard when he rises,Razvan said.Be warned, he will try to attack you in another form.
Even as Razvan alerted her, dirt and debris spewed into the air like a geyser, and Barnabas rose, taking the shape of a large wolf, the animal rushing straight at her, showing an abundance of teeth. Ivory, Razvan’s partner, materialized in front of Skyler, throwing her fur cape to the ground, releasing the wolves that often rode either on the cape or as tattoos on her back. Simultaneously, she drew her bow with the other hand. Her wolves leapt to meet the mage, going for his vulnerable legs and back, using the strength of their Carpathian teeth to bite through bone, hobbling the animal attacking Skyler.
The wolf screamed in anguish and shifted out from under the weight of the wolves as they crushed his spine. Instantly, Ivory calledto her wolves, and they leapt on her back, becoming part of her skin as she became vapor and then was gone, fading completely from sight.
Barnabas limped across the room, arms folded across his chest. Once more, he looked very calm, which scared Skyler more than anything.
“Obviously, you are not the only one in this room with me. You have help. I could command them to show themselves, but I have a feeling that spell would not work.”
Skyler smiled at him, making certain not to look taunting. She wanted to look as confident as he did. “You’re right. The spell would not work.”
“I am right. You are not alone.”
“Barnabas, I am nowhere near your level of expertise,” Skyler assured him. “You are an incredible mage, and quite frankly, I want nothing to do with you. In fact, your very name scares me. I hope that makes you feel better.”
“Yet the one aiding you conceals himself or herself as if they are a coward.”
She shook her head. “That’s beneath you. You assume they have an ego and will come flying out at such a taunt. There was only one reason for me to stand in front of you like this. You’re intelligent. You figure it out.”
“I do not like riddles.” Barnabas sounded impatient and annoyed.
“It isn’t a riddle. There is reason behind me standing in this room with you even though it is terrifying. You should know the reason if you’re anywhere near as brilliant as I think you are. But being brilliant can also make a person lazy. I’ve noticed really intelligent people often don’t want to put in any time figuring things out.”
Barnabas studied her face for what seemed an eternity. “I often teach classes. I like the discussions that take place, but sometimes I find myself bored. I feel as if some generations refuse to think for themselves. Then along comes a student that is different, one who really thinks. Your mind intrigues me. It would be very satisfying to have you in one of my classes for a semester.”