Land of Smoke and Ashes

An All Consuming Darkness

"Yes, we can get back this way. Hold on to me tightly, whatever you do." Marion waited a second for Natalie to loop one arm through her own. Natalie flinched a little at how skinny her mother was, how frail her arm felt. "Shut your eyes, it makes it easier."

Marion closed her fingers around the pendant, and Natalie let her eyes drift shut, feeling relief flood through her.

There was a rumble and a crash from outside, like thunder, and someone shouted. Natalie's eyes snapped open. The others. In her panic she had almost left without saying goodbye to Sam, had nearly done exactly what he was afraid she would do.

Her mother's eyes were open too, she was looking out one of the narrow windows. "Oh gods, it's her."

Her. She could only be talking about one person.

Natalie nudged her mother out of the way, peering out the window. There was a woman standing on the roof, right in the line of the window. She was dressed all in black, and at first Natalie thought the silky wisps that floated around her legs and trailed out behind her were part of her dress. She blinked, and the woman came into clearer focus. It was not the dress, not really. She was wreathed in inky fog. Black veins ran through her skin, up her arms and onto her neck. The blackness seemed to leak out of her, floating in the air like it was weightless, skirting out around her like she was cloaked in it.

Natalie watched, open-mouthed, as the queen drew back her hand, and a thick orb of inky black magic began to form on her palm. Movement across from the woman drew her eye, and Natalie stiffened. Gwen was crouched against the stone tower, the sharp points of her teeth bared. She held a flat black shield in front of her, the red bar of the queen's guard slashed across it in a single solid line. Beside her stood Sam, and both his swords were out. He wasn't shielded though, and Natalie knew if that orb hit him it would be over in a second.

"NO!" The scream tore from her throat before she could stop it. In the split second after several things happened. Her skin flashed hot and cold, and the queen turned, slowly, so slowly. Natalie's mother gripped her arm hard.

Queen Casius' eyes were black.

They were all pupil, so it was hard to see what she was focusing on, but the back of Natalie's neck prickled as the woman's gaze seemed to fasten on hers'. Then there was a shout from outside, a sharp whistle as something cut through the air, and one of Sam's blades seemed to sprout suddenly out of the queen's back. Queen Casius jerked, gave an angry cry and spun around, lifting her arms. The orb on her palm pulsed and grew as she drew her arm back and threw it. Sam dove to one side, and the blackness crashed into the wall where he'd been standing. The stones sizzled and began to sag, like cheap plastic under a flame. Natalie's stomach turned.

"We should go." Her mother caught her arm. "The necklace, we should use it. Now."

Natalie paused, torn. Her mother was right, this was her chance to use the necklace, to take them away and out of danger. Back to where they belonged. They were human, this wasn't there fight. If they left now, taking the necklace with them. There would be no chance of her getting her hands on it. The human world would be safe. If they ran out there now and the queen ended up getting the necklace somehow, then she would doom the human world.

There was a scream from outside, and Natalie's head jerked up. Jewels was pinned against the stones of the tower. The darkness wreathed her, seconds from touching her face. Sam was trying to get to the queen, but every time he drew close enough she would send out another tendril of smoke, and he would be forced back. Queen Cassius was smiling.

"Shit." Natalie snatched the pendant out of her mother's hand. "Those are my friends she's trying to kill. Stay here."

"Natalie Porter."

She turned, surprised at the stern tone in her mother's voice, and found the woman staring at her severely. "I know your father didn't teach you to cuss like that. And if you're going, I'm coming with you."

Natalie stared, open-mouthed, as her mother reached into the folds of her ragged dress, and pulled out what looked like a very long, very sharp metal pick. It was rusted and ragged looking at the end, but it looked like it might do some serious damage.

"You made a shiv?" Natalie squeaked.

Her mother shrugged. "I was in the military. You learn to be resourceful. I was planning to use it on your friend's dad, but the queen will do in a pinch."

Natalie smiled in spite of herself. Her long lost mother had a sense of humor. And apparently years of being imprisoned hadn't dampened it in the slightest.

"Let's go."

They found the way out onto the roof fast enough, but it seemed like eternity. Natalie clutched her mother's arm, trying to move as silently as she could as they crept forward. Outside the night air was crisp and cool, but there was a crackle of electricity in the air, she could feel it on her skin as they stepped outside. The queen was facing away from them, and Natalie pulled out the short dagger Sam had given her earlier, feeling a little ridiculous. What good was a knife against this kind of magic? The queen already had one of Sam's long blade sticking out of her back, and it didn't seem to slow her down. In fact, there was a great deal of black blood leaking down Queen Cassius' back, soaking into her dress. She didn't seem to notice. She was looming over Sam now, brandishing another ball of pulsing magic.

Gwen was slumped against the wall, her eyes rolled back, revealing the whites, and Natalie felt her breath stick in her throat. Inky black veins had begun sprouting on Gwen's neck, crawling down her arms.

"No!"