“Trust me,” I rush, turning the sword so the flat side of the blade is against my skin. Flinching from the pain, I drag the sword up, smearing my blood down the blade. Then I grab it and hold it up, feeling power surging inside me.
“Sky above me, earth below me, fire within me,” I say. “Purge the wickedness.” A bright blue light shines from within me, illuminating my blood on the sword. Going on pure adrenaline, I spring forward and take a swing at the closest root-monster. The blade slices into its torso like butter, but I didn’t swing hard enough to cut all the way through.
No. This was supposed to work. I saw it working and now—holy shit.
Fire starts to sizzle inside the root monster, and I pull the blade back, watching smoke pour from the wound. The thing lets out a screech as it falls, collapsing into a pile of ash.
I step back, eyes wide, looking at the smoldering remains of the root-monster. My wonderment is cut short when another rushes at me, popping up from the ground just inches away from my face. I swing the sword up, cutting it right between the legs.
Still lacking the strength to actually cut the thing in half, my blade gets stuck halfway up, where the naval would be if this thing were a person. And again, fire sparks from around the blade. Only a few seconds later, there’s nothing but smoldering ash in front of me.
“Ruby!” I yell, shaking myself. I run forward, grabbing the sword with two hands. Freya and Pandora knock another to the ground, pinning it down for me to stab right in the center of its chest. I wait until the blade starts to spark before yanking it back. I jump over the root-monster right as fire ripples through its body, reducing it to nothing but a charred pile of twigs.
“You…you need my blood,” I pant, holding up my arm. The blood is still dripping, and now that I’m looking at the wound, the pain is starting to register. Ruby’s lips part in shock, but she brings the machete to my skin and drags it across.
I throw out my hand, resting my palm on the blade. “Sky above me, earth below me, fire within me. Purge the wickedness.” The same blue light glows deep inside me, and I stagger back, feeling a little weak. Ruby stares at me, wide-eyed, until a root-monster takes a swing at her.
She counters, bringing the machete up. It slices its vine-covered arm right off, and fire sizzles up, burning the thing to the ground. Another takes its place, and Ruby swings the machete again, blade sinking into the head of another. The blade glows for a millisecond, and then the creature burns from the inside out, with the fire starting where the machete sank in.
I don’t have time to think. The sun is sinking lower in the sky, and the smell of sulfur is getting stronger. Gritting my teeth, I wrap my fingers around the grip of my sword and bring my arms up, slashing my way through a line of root-monsters.
They spark and fall, embers and ash filling the air. Ignoring the pain in my arm, I turn, slicing through another Binx knocked down for me.
“Callie!” Ruby yells and runs toward the house. Two creatures are trying to get into the house. Kristy stands in the doorway, holding her hands up as she recites a protective spell, barring the creatures from entering. They’re too strong. They’re going to break through.
“Scarlet,” I call. “Protect the house!”
The hellhound bounds over, tearing through the root-monsters, and grabs one from the porch, shaking it in her strong jaws as she tears it apart. Ruby jumps up the steps and brings her machete down on the other. I’m there only seconds later, turning, ready to defend my house.
“We need to take cover,” Ruby pants. “We’re outnumbered.”
My chest rises and falls, and nerves tingle along my spine. We are outnumbered. There has to be at least fifty root-monsters, and even with weapons that can actually kill these things, I don’t see how we can cut them down fast enough. More keep coming.
“No,” I say and swing at another. “I’m not running.” I turn, flicking my eyes to Ruby’s. I expect her to throw down the machete and go inside, either running away through the front door or trying to seal the house with magic.
But she nods. “You take the left and I’ll take the right.”
“I’ll have my familiars attack from behind.”
Ruby swallows hard. “Okay. Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” We jump off the porch, going after the closest root-monsters. I cut down two more, turning my head as they fall so I don’t breathe in smoke. Scarlet lunges forward, large paws hitting another creature in the chest. She knocks it to the ground, and I swing at another right behind it.