I didn't have to wonder for long. The creature hurried forward, charging at us.
I recoiled into the chair. Though I had one free arm, the tree throne's restraints were growing thicker to compensate. I was stuck good. There was nowhere for me to go.
But the creature passed me over. It ran straight through the circle, right over my head, and descended on Luc's bloodied body. Matilda was forced to jump back to avoid it, leaving Luc exposed.
I strained against the throne's restraints, wanting to leap up and protect him.
However, the creature didn't attack him. Instead, it crouched over him, its many arms bracing against the floor, forming something like a cage around him. It screamed again and gnashed its shard-teeth at Matilda like it was warming her to stay back.
It was protecting him.
"I thought that might draw you out," Matilda said to the monster, wiping Luc's blood off her hand. She was eerily calm despite facing down something from a nightmare. "You're a Malix, aren't you?"
The creature just screamed in her face.
Malix? I wondered. What the hell is a Malix?
The spirit in me twinged, reacting to the strange word. It knew what it meant.
Matilda didn't bother to explain. Instead, she raised her hand into the air, and a burst of light shot out of her fingertips, arcing through the room. It must've been some kind of signal because suddenly the room was very full. In the blink of an eye, the room was thick with people. Everywhere I looked was another blue-cloaked stranger, poised and ready to do battle against this strange being.
The creature was not pleased to see the new company. It reared up and lashed out with several of its arms, sweeping through the crowd. More than a few of the blue-cloaks went soaring through the air, landing hard against the wall and floor. Some got up, some didn't. But with every one struck down, it seemed like two more pushed forward to take their place. They advanced on the monster, fearless.
"Take it alive," Matilda called to her army, rising above the crowd on a platform that was growing out the ground. "Take them both alive!"
Alive? Luc was still alive? Even in the middle of this seething hell, my heart swelled. I tried to see him through the crowd, but there was just too much in the way.
"And get her out of here," Matilda said, her words filled with venom.
I snapped my gaze to Matilda.
She was shooting a glare right through me. Her forceful gaze pierced like an arrow, driving straight to my core, pinning me to the throne. The spirit inside me winced, too, like they had been hit. Maybe that's exactly what Matilda meant to do—hurt them.
"What are you going to do with him?" I shouted at her. "Don't kill him!"
Matilda kept up her glare. "I'll do whatever is needed."
"No, you can't—"
But Matilda was already turning away, refocusing on the battle. I gasped as her gaze released me.
And as she commanded, two blue-cloaks approached, ready to carry me away. They took hold of my arms and yanked me up out of the seat. The throne's branches retreated, finally freeing me. My escorts pulled me to my feet and began to drag me across the room. I tried my best to struggle, but they held tight, dodging the battling forces as we went.
The battle was going better than I expected. Whatever had happened to the creature—the Beast, or the Malix, or whatever it was actually called—it had become much stronger. But The Gathered had numbers. Even if the creature managed to land a good blow, they had enough people to maintain the assault. The sea of blue-cloaks worked together to restrain the creature, binding its many arms with the greenery that was now growing from every surface in the room.
I struggled against the grip of my escorts. For the first time, I wanted the Beast to win. I wanted anything if it meant that Luc would be safe.
But it was losing.
I fought against my guard's hold on me, but it was no use. Help me, dammit! I shouted at the spirit inside me. I can't leave him here!
Allow me, came a voice from inside.
Before I had a chance to ask questions, I felt myself go limp, unable to move. My escorts stumbled to carry the sudden dead-weight of my body.
And then, just like that, I was a passenger in my own body. It was like one of those horrible dreams where you float over yourself, unable to do anything but watch.
And so I watched my body move. I watched my arms wrench free of the blue-cloaks grip. And I watched a burst of force emanate out from me, pushing the crowd back.
Matilda was looking at me again. The Beast, Malix, whatever, was subdued now. It was sprawled on the ground, pressed down by many crisscrossed branches and vines. With the room less hectic, she had been able to see our little commotion in the corner.
I wanted to stretch to see if I could see anything of Luc over the crowd, but my body wasn't responding to my commands.
"Let him go!" came the stranger's voice, through me.
Matilda's mouth hung open like she was shocked... or offended. She shook her head, almost exasperated. "You know I can't do that."
"There's another way... A way to fix this without him dying!"
"Is that what you believed?" Matilda said and then gave a shrill cackle. "But that didn't exactly work out for you, did it? You bit off more than you could chew."
I watched as my teeth ground together and my brows folded into a fierce glare. And though it was my own face contorted into this foreign expression of hatred, it looked nothing like me. It was not me.
The blue-cloaks, no longer distracted by the Beast, were turning to look at us. They were starting to close in. I watched myself glance between the new enemies advancing from every side. We couldn't fight them all. If the Beast was no match for them, we certainly weren't.
"I'll be back for him," the stranger's voice hissed through my lips.
"It doesn't matter," Matilda said. "He'll be dead before then."
"We'll see about that."
The blue-cloaks lunged for us.
Another force emanated from my body, pushing back the crowd just a little, just enough. The stranger in me cursed and then spread our arms—my arms—wide. A shadow opened up beneath our feet—my feet—and we slipped down, out of sight.
🔮
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