Unknown Darkness (Dominions Book 2)

Chapter 21: Elle

Elle watched as multiple shadow balls flew at the fairy guards. She did her best to deflect them with magic, but there's only so much she could do with nature from thirty feet up in the air. She bit her lip and helplessly watched as the fairy guards maneuvered the projectiles the Harplies were throwing.

"We can't just play defensive," Elle called to her fairy.

"What will you have me do?" asked the guard.

"Set me down on the ground a good distance from the Plague. Stand watch to make sure I don't need to be swooped out of there."

"As you wish."

The fairy nose-dived. The others called out to her, but Elle ignored them. She knew that when they saw what she was doing they'd follow. The fairy glided her until her feet were about a foot from the ground. He dropped her to the ground and she stuck the landing.

She didn't have time to gather her surroundings before the first shadow ball was slung at her. She somersaulted to the side and watched as five of the Harplies were gliding toward her. They were already forming more projectiles to throw at her.

"So you got an upgrade," she whispered to herself as she lifted the earth around her to form a triangular blockade that the Harplies magic couldn't penetrate. She could still see out of the corners of the structure and saw their bodies glide across the ground. When Elle saw three Harplies standing on either side of her structure.

One, two, three!

She projected her magic at the triangular structure and the stone walls shot out, hitting the surrounding Harplies. One fell to the Earth and Elle lifted her hands above her head and watched as the stone slab lifted into the air. She slammed her hands down in a forceful motion and watched as the stone landed on top of the Harplie.

"Serves you right."

She felt a scaly hand grab her shoulder and she whirled around. She stood face to face with a Harplie. It had a death grip on her shoulder, and the more she struggled to free herself the tighter it became. The eyes that she had never seen on them before began to spread open, and on the inside were ten rows of razor-sharp teeth. It brought its mouth toward Elle and she braced herself for the bite it was about to take out of her face when water engulfed the monster. It whirled around confused before the water froze itself.

Elle ripped her shoulder out of the frozen clasp of the Harplie and raised a satisfied eyebrow as it shattered. She kicked it in the stomach and the monster snapped in half. The frozen corpse turned to dust and Elle turned to Asher and smiled.

"I knew you guys would come!"

"Maybe a bit of a warning next time!" Asher said as Elle and he turned back to back. Five Harplies surrounded them. They had killed two, and the fight started with twenty. "Didn't you guys learn from the last time we fought you guys?" Asher taunted. "It's not too late! You can turn around and we won't have to kick your ass."

"Elouise you're worthless!"

Her mother's voice echoed in her ears. This was not a new trick the Harplies had. She remembered her first encounter with them the night they discovered their alternate identities. They had said the same things to her now that they had said them.

The difference was Elle was stronger now.

She touched the ground and watch a giant beanstalk shoot up from the sky. It impaled the Harplie that was trying to use her relationship with her mother against her. She barely had enough time to dodge a ball of shadow thrown at her from another side as Asher did his best to engulf the Harplie with water.