Adelaide came into view behind Dominic. She wore a long white dress with a gold belt and held a jewel encrusted Enchanter's staff. The look of defeat on Adelaide's face made Victoria's stomach churn. She had no doubt been buying them time to come up with a plan. Victoria had nothing. Adelaide surely knew there was nothing they could do – not without being killed in the process. So what was she doing?
Adelaide walked to the middle of the circle. Dominic was an arm's length away from her and she wasn't making any attempts to strike him. Something was off. She seemed calm and concentrated - which worried Victoria.
Rosaline kept fidgeting, which is what she always did when she agitated. She grew paler by the second. She seemed have forgotten about her injury which she had since wrapped a piece of her torn clothing around. It had staunched the bleeding but for how long until the effects of the poison would kick in?
"We can't let her go through with this" Rosaline said. "She's not thinking straight. She's probably entranced by an illusion".
Of course Adelaide didn't have the dazed look or the glazed eyes that a person would normally have under an illusion – but she was definitely different. A person could be talked out an illusion but what could they do? Adelaide didn't listen to anybody. Victoria felt like she hardly saw Adelaide anymore. She'd been spending so much time with...
"Kiyan you have to talk her out of it" Victoria said.
Kiyan looked surprised but also alert as if he was waiting to be given a task. Kiyan had proved useful and, as much as Victoria hated to admit it: he was the most expendable. He nodded and made his way over to the pentagram swiftly. Adelaide didn't stop him just gaped in shock.
"You can't do this" Kiyan said. "You'll kill millions of people and you won't be able to control the demon. You'll die trying".
"I know" Adelaide smiled sadly. "You have to get out the pentagram".
Dominic sauntered over to the pentagram. "Isn't this nice? Adelaide's found someone just as pathetic as she is"
"Don't do it. I know this isn't what you want" Kiyan said.
Adelaide couldn't even look at him. She just stared at the ground, probably hoping it would spilt down the middle so she could jump down the gap. Dominic stood there tapping his foot. His followers seemed to have sensed his impatience because two of them advanced towards Kiyan. Dominic held up his hand and they stopped.
"What Adelaide wants is to save her own skin instead of saving millions of others. Selfish isn't it?" Dominic said.
Kiyan turned and gave Dominic the coldest look. Even Victoria was impressed.
"I wasn't talking to you" Kiyan said.
Even Victoria gasped. Dominic laughed, and shook his head.
"Your meek attempts at heroism amuse me. Unfortunately we don't have time for charades. Have him killed" Dominic said to his followers.
One gesture, one flick of the wrist was all it took to end someone's life. Victoria realised she'd had that power before. The thought didn't sit well with her. Victoria also noticed something else. The sprinkle of dust that fell from his hand. The way his followers were mostly dormant until Dominic made them spring into action with a gesture...
The followers dragged Kiyan out of the circle and quickly disarmed him. Kiyan did try to fight back but his movements were sloppy and unprofessional. They put him in a kneeling position and raised a machete in the air. Adelaide just stood there, a single tear ran down her face. Then she blinked and the fire blazed in her eyes once again. She ran forward and her staff collided with the machete mid-swing. The machete was no match for an Enchanter's staff made with sanguis angelorum. It snapped in half and the wielder growled. But not long before Adelaide whacked him over the head.
Victoria was at least 20 feet away from the circle and even she could hear the crack of the man's skull as the staff collided with it. Adelaide leaned over, and at first Victoria thought she was going to kiss Kiyan, but she whispered something to him. Whatever it was it was enough to make Kiyan scuttle over to the spectator's seats.
Adelaide raised her staff and then white bubbles started to form around where the Falcons were sitting. The bubbles formed together to create a dome of white light. Like a protection spell its glow was unearthly. Victoria could feel the warmth radiate of it.
"How heroic" Dominic laughed.
Adelaide looked him straight in the eye. As if she was a matched opponent to him – not a slave.
Adelaide swung her staff and spun round in a dance that both terrified and mystified Victoria. Her dress fluttered in the wind; it matched the elegance of her billowing hair. If it were not for the black smoke gathering at her feet; she would've looked graceful. Adelaide crouched to the ground and bowed her head as if praying for their very souls. She then raised the staff, still in the crouched position. Bright light shot out of her staff and tore a hole in ground.
Black sludge formed in a puddle and rose into the sky, moulding into a cocoon. It broke apart to revel a devilish monstrosity with huge bat wings. Every inch of it dripped blood and its back had images of misery and torture branded onto it. Victoria always thought if you were to see a demon in real life you would die of shock. But here it was. The most unnerving thing about it was its staff that was hooked on both sides and spikes covered it. When Adelaide moved her staff, so did the demon.
"Adelaide..." Dominic said.
"What? This is what you ordered, right?" Adelaide said. "Abaddon the destroyer, angel of the abyss and the king of a plague of locusts".
Dominic backed away slowly, the look of absolute fear was plain on his face. Adelaide dropped to her knees, her eyes were completely glazed over but they were focussed on Dominic.
"Don't you see?" Adelaide said. "There won't be a world to rule over. It will all be destroyed and all that will remain is ash and dust".
"But you could contain it" Dominic said slowly, his voice shaking. "This is what needs to be done".
Adelaide gave him a twisted smile. Then she swung her staff in the direction of the warehouse. As did Abaddon. The warehouse roof caved in and the whole building collapsed in a matter of seconds. The ground beneath cracked and splintered from the sheer force of the demon. Victoria half hoped the ground would split open and they would all fall to their deaths.
Adelaide turned to face the demon looking like a mouse about to be trampled on. She began to chant. Magic spells were never said out loud. It was not only pointless but dangerous.
"Angels in the kingdom up above, with all thy wisdom and thy glory. Protect me as I walk through the valley of death" Adelaide said.
Victoria had not been to a temple in years, but she knew the Prayer of the Guardians when she heard it. Usually people said it when they thought they were going to die and hoped the angels heard it and took pity on them.
Everyone stared at the demon in horror. You couldn't kill a demon, only send them back to the underworld. And the only way to do that was to sever its connections to earth.
Victoria was sure the demon could not hurt Adelaide as long as she was in its circle. Still, Victoria could not fathom how Adelaide could face it. Abaddon was a 10 feet mass of blood and sulphur. Its face seemed to be constantly morphing into something new, each face more grotesque than the last. The putrid smell was nauseating, like burning flesh and petrol.
Adelaide twirled her staff and raised it in the air, creating a ripple in the air. A cocoon of plasma wrapped its way around Abaddon. The demon made a noise that sounded like an animal's shriek combined with a human's scream. The ground shook with such a force, Victoria thought her teeth would fall out. Adelaide backed out the circle's protection. She didn't look terrified, she looked electrified.
She held her staff out in front of her, her head bowed and her eyes closed. White light formed around the demon that soon dissipated when Abaddon broke out of its cocoon. Its huge bat wings spread out it rose in the air. The only thing stopping it was the manacles binding it to the one place. It swung its tail and hit Adelaide. She fell looking dazed but the protection spell around her meant there wasn't too much damage. The protection spell.
"We can't stop it as long as we are in the protection spell" Victoria said.
Her comment was met with horrified expressions.
"We can't fight that" Rosaline shrieked. "It's not from our world".
"We're not even Enchanters" Maxwell pointed out.
"No but out weapons are enchanted with magic" Victoria reasoned. "We can't just stand here and do nothing".
Nobody moved. Victoria sighed. If they respected her as much as she hoped they did, they would follow her hell. Why should this be any different? Victoria charged forward and took a swipe at the demon. Rosaline came up behind her and so did the rest of the Falcons.
"Adelaide, how long will this protection spell last?" Victoria said.
"Not long" Adelaide said. "It wouldn't matter. You can't fight it. It will only make matters worse".
"Perhaps we should wait for the AIA" Nicholas suggested.
"I'm tired of waiting for the AIA. We don't have time" Victoria said.
Adelaide nodded and threw up another protection spell.
Victoria ran forward and stabbed the demon's spiked tale. The ice fractals formed up its back. Abaddon shook it off with ease. It swiped for Rosaline, who leaped backwards. Just missing the razor sharp claw. She lost her balance. Not long before she jumped up again. Nicholas's arm swooped down, his morning star colliding with the claw. A chunk of its hand fell off. It quickly grew back. How where they supposed to fight something that regenerated that quickly?
Victoria searched for an answer. Everyone was locked in battle. Hitting the demon aimlessly. Because no knew what would work. Even Adelaide was just circling Abaddon throwing a variant of different spells at it. Who would know about demons? If only Raymond was still here...
Victoria gazed around her and spotted Dominic sneaking away. She sprinted after him, her anger rising with every step. When he saw her coming, he drew out his rapier. Victoria moved to block his swing. When he brought his rapier down, it made crackling sound and snapped in half.
"Are you really that cowardly you're running away? This is your mess. Now fix it" Victoria said.
Dominic's smile was ferocious. "That is the most dangerous demon that has ever been summoned. You cannot destroy it".
Victoria lunged forward. Dominic turned out the way. Victoria spun around. Dominic grabbed her wrist and turned it until it cracked. A stinging pain shot up her right arm. The sword fell out her grasp. Dominic snatched it up with one quick motion. Kicking the right side of his face, Victoria snatched her sword back. With one hand pinned against Dominic's throat, the other brought the sword down on Dominic's left ear. A choked scream tore from his throat.
"I'll ask again, how do we get rid of that creature?" Victoria said, keeping her voice steady.
Dominic's face contorted in pain as he tried to scramble free.
"You might be able...if you shoot an arrow through its heart...that-that might destroy its earthly avatar".
Victoria let him go and ran towards Kiyan. He shot with surprising accuracy. But it didn't seem to have any effect.
"Kiyan, you need to shoot it right through the heart" Victoria said.
"It needs to be enchanted with both fire and black magic" Dominic said shouted coming up behind her. It didn't seem to bother him that half his ear was missing.
"That's impossible" Victoria said.
"No it's not" Adelaide said.
Kiyan handed Adelaide his last arrow. The tip of the arrow glowed black. It seemed to thrum with fire but stronger. Adelaide gave the arrow back to Kiyan.
"Make it count" she said.
Kiyan nocked the arrow and drew his arm back. The arrow hurled towards Abaddon with tremendous speed. It hit home. In the middle of the demon's chest. The demon shrieked a sound that pierced the air and resonated through the ground. Victoria collapsed from the shock. The whole earth seemed to be rattling. Her vision was blurry but she was sure the demon was on fire. It throw its staff in the air. The staff exploded into a million locusts.
Rosaline came into her view and helped her to her feet. Victoria still shrank back from the locusts.
"It's only a couple of bugs right?" Rosaline said.
Victoria nodded and swallowed down the nausea and the memories that floated to the surface.
Rosaline drew a ring of fire with her dagger. It spread out and engulfed the swarming bugs. Out of the corner of her eye Victoria noticed Nicholas struggling against the bugs. She shook off her panic and trampled every disgusting bug she came into contact with. Until she reached Nicholas, she didn't realize how close she was to the demon. Not until its arm swopped round and knocked her to the ground.
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