The four of us traversed through the woods. Silver held a map before him, scanning the surroundings for the entrance to Ne'Mallia's lair. She had been gracious enough to leave us a location. I couldn't help but feel it had been done to tease us. She thought she was more powerful than us. She thought she could defeat us with ease. It made my blood boil.
I thought of Sam for a moment. My poor sister back at Delta Ace, dying for this bitch. I couldn't wait to watch Ne'Mallia's lights fade out. I wanted to watch it happen. I wanted her to feel all the pain for what she had done to Sam.
There was a crack nearby that made us all pause. It sounded like a branch breaking as if someone was watching us approach.
I heard Miles yelp before I realized what was going on. Immediately, I scrambled after him, reaching for his hands to try and stop whatever was pulling him away from us. I managed to trip over something, and Miles was yanked down a hole in the earth.
Again, I was fucking up.
I threw my head back towards Silver and Lala, standing there dumbfounded. I got up, gesturing towards the hole.
"Silver," Lala rushed forward.
"I've got it," he ran. "Aperta!"
The hole in the ground widened. We flew down into the cavern below. Darkness dissipated in the dim light of the morning. I turned my back towards Lala's and Silver's, scanning the surrounding room for Miles. The dark cavern was complex to make anything out of. Then I found Miles dangling upside down from the ceiling. Inky black arms suspended him.
A fog started to stream from below him—the cave filled with it.
"I was hoping you would take my bait," a head rose from the ground.
Ne'Mallia surfaced from the stone. Standing before us, it was clear she had changed. Two more sets of eyes graced her face, one vertical and below her eyes—the other on her cheeks. Black ink ran down the sides of her arms, wrapping itself around her hands.
"This is who you replaced me with?" She pointed to Miles hanging above her. "It's pathetic."
"So that's where you got the demon ink from?" Lala practically growled.
Ne'Mallia smirked. "No, it's mine."
Two demons peeled from the walls behind us. Silver tensed, letting me know he was watching them. I made eye contact with Miles. He shook his head at me. So he thought he could get himself down. All right.
"I told you to leave us alone," Lala took a step forward.
"Why would I listen to a no-good assassin such as yourself?" she tilted her head. "You're terrible at your job."
"Why did you do this?" Lala roared.
"Because I had my heart stolen from me by Silver. I wanted him. He left me for that farm bitch. You could have had a princess, Silver. You could have ruled with me."
Silver turned towards Ne'Mallia. "You left me!"
"Because you wouldn't bend to my will!"
She had opened her hands, making for an attack. Lala appeared before her, swinging her chains for an attack. Miles turned to stone, clearly too heavy for the demon's arms anymore. He joined Lala in attacking Ne'Mallia.
I turned towards the demons. They refused to come close to the light. We either had to go to them or make them come out here. Silver shouted a spell, pulling one of them towards us. I unsheathed my sickles, running and lobbing the demon's head off.
The other one wouldn't be moved so quickly. It slipped back into the wall.
Only to appear at my feet. It attempted to swipe me off my footing, but I brought forth my ghost power. It went straight through me.
So did Miles. He crashed into the wall behind me, the stone surface fading from his body as he attempted to regain his composure. I dashed towards Ne'Mallia, dodging both black tendrils and her mummy wrappings in the process. I ditched my ghost mode in enough time to swing for her neck.
My move was blocked by a metal neckpiece that surrounded her and dripped onto her shoulders. I would grumble curses if I could speak, but they floated through my head as I calculated another attack. It caused her to recoil, the eye on her cheek meeting my own.
I attempted to fly forward, aiming my sickle at her feet. I tried to swipe her off-balance, but instead, I was hit in the gut by a black tendril. It tossed me backward, towards the ceiling.
~*~
I landed next to Rodam, muttering a healing spell, as I had just done for Miles, who was fending off the demon. Rodam rushed towards Miles instead, going to help out. I faced towards my ex-girlfriend, flames echoing off in my rage.
Lala was doing well enough on her own. She had managed to pin Ne'Mallia's arm in a chain. Somehow, Ne'Mallia was still commanding the magic tendrils with her hand. It was dead. Of course the nerves could pass through even though her arm was punctured.
I thought through my list of spells.
"Oppugnatio," I hissed, bringing forth a swarm of hornets.
Lala had her chains as well as magic-based attacks. The best I could do was back her up with distractions.
The hornets flew forth, buzzing around Ne'Mallia's head, stinging and occupying the two sets of eyes on her face that weren't hers. Ne'Mallia's eyes remained on Lala, countering chain attacks on her right.
I dodged out of the way of a lop-sided bandage attack. I touched Lala's chain. I summoned fire with a word.
Ne'Mallia screeched as fire shot through her arm. Lala took this chance to tap her parasol twice on the ground, summoning forth a spirit in a funerary mask shaped like a black dog.
Ne'Mallia ripped the chain from the ground, swinging it and its flames toward the two of us. Lala stumbled to her knees, reeling in pain from the chain being removed.
"Behind you!" Miles yelled.
Rodam flew past me, thrown by Miles, who stood next to a stone statue of the demon. I wasn't sure how they did it, but I couldn't care now.
I watched as both Rodam and this spirit flooded Ne'Mallia with attacks of weapons. The ghost held a sacrificial knife in his hands, doing his best to work with Rodam and their attacks. Rodam subdued the chain from Ne'Mallia's hands.
"Lala?" I knelt next to her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Lala said through gritted teeth.
"I don't want you to fight if you're injured. I can fix you," I offered.
"Fine," she huffed.
I grabbed her shoulders, muttering the same healing spell I had used for Rodam and Miles. Lala shot a chain towards Miles, throwing him at Ne'Mallia as well.
Now it was four of us on this one girl. She hadn't anticipated that, I'm sure. Otherwise, she wouldn't have made such an extensive display of trying to get us all here.
Ne'Mallia started to shake off the close-range attackers. Rodam stumbled onto his back. Miles shouted something as he swung down a stone fist. Lala yelled as she shot several chains forward.
I reached forth, shouting the spell as loud as my voice could carry. I felt the magic expel, but blinding pain soon took over. I collapsed to my knees, blood pouring all over me.
Shock took over. The phantom of my arm was still there, fingers wriggling. However, my arm was gone, severed clean halfway up my bicep.
Inky black tendrils surrounded Ne'Mallia's feet, hoisting her up above us.
"You stay down," she directed to me.
I focused on breathing, keeping my mind honed in on how my chest moved. It proved not to be enough, as mercury-colored blood poured from the wound.
The world faded to black.
~*~
"Miles!" I yelled. "Go to Silver!"
Miles scanned the area before rushing to where our leader lay. I had managed to hit Ne'Mallia through the midsection, but as she rose on her demon tendrils, I could feel my magic pulling.
I was reeling, calculating. She was above us now, clearly going to focus on using the tendrils and bandages to harm us. We had to make sure she couldn't.
"Rodam!" I yelled, pointing. He nodded in response.
I focused my aim on the ceiling. I shot as many chains as possible through the rocky roof above us. I pulled them back, watching as they crumbled.
Miles reached a hand over me, shielding me from the onslaught of rubble. Ne'Mallia shrieked as the light hit her. Rodam sliced down one of her legs, rendering those bandages useless.
Miles had used his stone body to protect Silver, who was bleeding profusely. We had to end this quickly so we could cauterize the wound or heal it or something.
One of the demon tendrils lashed out to smack Rodam away before it scorched in the sunlight. I rushed upward on my wings, looking for any spot to make the last blow.
Below the floating head above Ne'Mallia's, the sign of her Pharroh Gift in use, there was a space where I could shoot a chain into her skull. I pulled my magic, doing just that.
Ne'Mallia froze. All her magic crumbled around her as she fell to the ground. I landed safely on my feet before her.
Rodam stood next to me, wobbling.
"You thought we were weak," I said, drawing her eyes to me. "Without you breaking us apart, we had grown stronger together. So thank you for that."
Her mouth sputtered blood outwards as she attempted to say something.
"I don't care that you thought Silver was stolen from you," I continued. "You sunk that ship yourself. As a matter of fact, Silver and Sam are perfect for each other, despite how I may feel about that either."
Rodam met my eyes. I forced my focus away. I didn't want him to hear me admitting it.
"I hope wherever you go, you rot," I said.
The light faded. Ne'Mallia's eyes lost their focus. Black ash floated around us as the extra eyes disappeared from her face. We had conquered both Ne'Mallia and her demon.
Rodam ran towards Miles.
"Silver," I exhaled, hurrying to his side as well.
I worked quickly to recall a flame spell. Rodam lent me his sickle. I cauterized the wound, summoning a nice whine from Silver, who remained unconscious.
"We need to get him back to Delta Ace as quickly as possible," I glanced between the two boys beside me. "Are both of you able to move, even if it means we travel through the night?"
Rodam nodded without hesitation, Signaling.
"I can carry him," Miles agreed. "I am fine. Rodam says he wants to make sure this saved Sam as well."
"All right," I stood. "Let's hurry home."
~*~
I sat up in the infirmary. It was dark.
"You're awake," a calm, monotone voice washed over me.
"Yes," I found Staella, the healer, sitting in the corner of the room.
"I am going to assess your vitals," she stood. "It is nice to have you back, Sam."