Blue Flames

Chapter 76

Rami raised his hand, the immortals resumed their chanting, feeding more magic and blood to the spell.

The demon lord and Rami stepped back from the gate. Monsters filed through. Dressed in similar but less impressive armor, helmeted heads and armed with swords, machetes, maces, hammers and all kinds of medieval weapons. Some demons were short, some were tall. Some of them sprouted horns on their helmets. Some had long, protruding heads like those of an animal. Others had bat-like wings.

One by one, monsters stepped into our world, reeking of strange magic and moving like seasoned warriors.

"We're so screwed," I whispered when the seventh monster stepped through. As the immortals chanted, the gate grew wider and clearer.

"Something's coming," Noah mumbled.

I looked at him. The wolf's head was cocked to the side, his eyes closed and a frown crunching his eyebrows.

"What do you-"

An earthquake shook the ground. I waited for it to end, thinking it was like the previous ones. But it stretched for several minutes, gaining in intensity until my chair moved from its original spot. Hope unfurled.

The ceiling cracked.

Chunks of stone exploded upward. It was as if someone had punched the ceiling from the inside. It disappeared in a shower of debris and rocks, revealing the beautiful night sky.

The blinding white stream that was the gate stretched up into the sky like a beacon, at least a hundred feet tall.

More monsters piled in from the gate. The immortals moved, forming a protective circle around the spell, the people feeding it and the demons.

The ground kept shaking.

The demon lord and Rami stepped forward, Rami primed his magic, his eyes glowing silver, and the demon lord put on his helmet and pulled his sword. The wide blade glowed a bright green before erupting in emerald flames. A sword of green fire.

The demon lord bellowed, and his people answered his battle cry with one of their own, pulling their weapons and readying their magic.

Darkness approached.

It tasted of power and rage, of vengeance and death. It tasted of Arthur.

A shadow crossed the sky above us and fell right in front of me in a crouch. Power punched the ground, sending stones and debris flying around, creating a small crater around him. Arthur.

I would recognize that broad back anywhere.

He straightened. His white t-shirt smudged with dirt, his feet shoulder width apart and his hair a mess.

The immortals in the vicinity all stood straighter, their weapons raised and their faces slapped by fear. He was one man, but at that moment, with his magic roaring like a vengeful dragon, they might as well be faced with an army.

"Too late, lord Arthur. It is done," Rami said, his voice drowning the hum of the chanting.

"It will not be done until you are begging by my feet," Arthur said, his voice impossibly cold.

"What will one man do?" Rami sneered.

Arthur flicked his hand. Rami flew to the side. He crashed into several of his men and they all hit the wall, sending stones out. Someone shot a dart toward Arthur. He plucked it inches from his chest, crushed it with his fist and threw it aside.

A blood chilling laugh echoed through the night. It came from the demon lord, tucked in the middle of the protective circle of immortals. "Bazbell's progeny. I did not expect to see family so soon after coming here."