Darkness Rising (Dark Angels 2)

I stepped forward, closer to the edge of the fields, until there was only the thinnest of veils between this world and my own. Viewed from here, the book— like everything else—was a shadow without substance or weight, but the words unseen on Earth glowed like fire when viewed from the gray fields.

The keys wear the veils of an ax, a dagger, and a shield, respectively. The first was sent to the west of Melbourne, to where the wild—

Something hit me hard, knocking me sideways, away from the book. I staggered, trying to regain my balance, vaguely aware of screaming—high, harsh screaming. I twisted around and saw the Dušan and a serpent coiling around each other, each creature’s teeth tearing into the flesh of the other. Then another serpent appeared, coiling past my Dušan to lunge at me. I threw myself sideways and drew Amaya. She didn’t scream, but she spluttered and hissed, the sound so ferocious it reverberated through the shadows of the gray fields.

White fangs slashed at me. I swung Amaya, her purple fire dripping like venom. The blade hit the serpent’s oversized teeth, slicing through them as easily as a hot knife through butter. Liquid gushed, thick and yellow, stinking to high heaven and stinging like acid. I swore and jumped back as it lunged at me again, this time attempting to use its head as a battering ram. I ducked under the blow, twisted around, and brought Amaya down as hard as I could just behind the serpent’s neck. It felt like I was hitting stone. The force of the blow reverberated up my arm and made my teeth ache. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the blade hissed and burned, her fire crawling across the serpent’s back like a living thing. And as the creature coiled its body around to face me again, Amaya began to burrow down, into flesh and then bone. The serpent screamed—a high pitched, almost human scream—and began to flop and twist its body, trying to shake Amaya off. It pulled me off my feet, throwing me around like a rag doll, but Amaya kept her grip. She kept slicing into flesh—a demon sword with blood on her mind and murder in her heart.

Then she was through, and the serpent’s head dropped clear of its body. As Amaya’s hissing became victorious, I hit the ground and rolled clear of the dying serpent, coming to my feet, demon sword at the ready once more.

But the gray fields were suddenly still. Quiet.

My Dušan pulled free of the coiled form and swirled around me once more, her purple scales battered and bloody looking. I wondered suddenly if they could die, and hoped not. I had a feeling I was going to need her more often as the years wore on.

I took a deep breath that did nothing to ease the tension still coiling through me and looked around for Azriel. He was standing where I’d left him, in a sea of broken, twisting bodies.

He looked up and said, “Did you read the book?”

“No.” I sheathed Amaya and stepped across the snake’s still-twitching body. “A serpent hit me before I could get full directions.”

“Then get them now.”

A horn rang across the silence—a long, haunting note that oddly filled me with fear. I bit my lip, my gaze searching through the shadows of the gray fields, seeing little. No ghosts, no reapers other than Azriel, nothing that seemed out of place. And yet, something was.

“Hurry,” Azriel said. “The Aedh hunt the gray fields. They are coming this way.”

I swore and stepped closer to the edge of the fields. The book came into view, but whatever magic had allowed me to view the words had dissipated.

The page was completely empty.

Chapter Twelve

I SWORE AGAIN. VEHEMENTLY.

Azriel was beside me in an instant, his heat and tension washing across me, leaving me breathless. “There is a problem?”

I flung a hand toward the book. “The words are gone. I didn’t get the full directions for the key.”

“That is unfortunate, but there is nothing we can do about it now.” His voice held an edge that was part anger and part frustration. “The Raziq grow near. You must leave this place.”

“What about the book?”

“It is safer to keep it where it is than retain it in the fields at the moment. The Raziq are as restricted by the magic of the coven site as we are. That is not the case here.” His gaze met mine. “Go.”

I hesitated, and saw the annoyance flash through his expression. And he had every right to feel that way. Hesitation was stupid. There was nothing I could do against the force of the Raziq, not in this place and not in my own world. Staying here was only putting him in greater danger.

I pulled free of the fields and stepped back into my flesh. For several minutes I did nothing more than sit there, regaining my equilibrium.

After a few minutes, the awareness of my surroundings returned. The air was hot enough to burn my skin and it was filled with shouting—Tao and Ilianna, in trouble.

Fear surged again and I opened my eyes. The clearing was in flames. Everything burned—the trees, the ground, even the air itself seemed to be on fire.

I blinked, positive that I was imagining it, that my vision was faulty, but it didn’t help. The world was on fire.

The elementals.

I scrambled to my feet and twisted around, looking for Ilianna and Tao. I saw Ilianna first—she was running backward, intermittently yelling abuse and flipping the contents of two small bottles at the elemental that trundled after her. Given the way the creature’s fiery form reacted to the spray, I knew it had to be holy water. It kept the creature at a respectful distance, but she didn’t have an endless supply and would need help soon.

I swept my gaze past her. Tao was on the opposite side of the circle, his body ablaze as he stood his ground, going toe-to-toe with a second elemental, battling fire with fire. His fire didn’t seem to be having much effect on the creature, but at least the elemental’s fire didn’t seem to be hurting him. Which was something to be thankful for.