Chapter 59

“If we have time,” Eloise said, “I can get my chalk out and do a Banishing spell. Get Asmodeus out of the city.”

The sound of the demon grinding bones between its teeth could be heard from several streets over, and it was awful.

“I don’t think we have time,” Alastair said, out of breath and glancing behind them. The townspeople were still following in their wake, though they now kept a respectful distance. “I mean. I don’t know. It’s pretty bad. Amaryllis, do we have time?”

“Absolutely not. Turn here. It’s a mess up ahead, plus, your familiar’s heading our way. We can lose it in this next set of alleyways.”

“Sorry!” Eloise said, wringing her hands while she ran. “Sorry, guys!”

Alastair’s wall of flame momentarily dimmed, and a scrawny man took the opportunity to slash at him with a knife.

Alastair cried out, barely avoiding being gored. He waved his wand, and disarmed the man with a heady gust of wind.

“Why are they acting this way?” he asked. “The townspeople’ve been weird all year but not like this. And we helped them out in Brusklyn. They’re acting almost like… the undead.”

The clamor behind them became louder.

“I think that’s it,” Alastair said slowly, the pieces clicking into place. He’d watched the city curdle all year—the boarded shops, the hollow looks, the slow slide from hard times into something worse. This was where it had been heading. “They’re acting like the undead. They’re enchanted. Cursed.”

“Cursed,” Sebastian agreed, wiping his forehead with his sleeve. He’d been mixing up potions on the fly as he fast-walked. “By Gold and the Night Coven. Hup!”

He threw an explosive orb over Alastair’s wall of fire and into the throng of pursuers. The scrawny man and the rest scattered.

“Cursed,” Alastair said thoughtfully, mulling this over. “By Gold and the Night Coven.”

“Who else? They’ve been trying all year to cause as much unrest as possible. They don’t seem to care who gets hurt or killed in the process. Why should this be any different? It’s the pinnacle of their twisted scheme.”

“Scheme to do what?” Alastair said, exasperated. “Take over the school by burning it down?”

“Maybe.”

“Seems inefficient.”

But he was stuck on the words “hurt or killed,” thinking of the students they’d left back at Emberstone to guard the castle.

Please let them still be alive.

“You know how many chances we had to kill that bloke?” Dwayne said, talking about Marcus Gold, no doubt.

“We should have wiped that smug look off his face,” Vin said.

“Incoming!” Amaryllis shouted, ducking just as a brick flew over her head and clattered on the sidewalk. “Eloise, your demon’s just around the corner. It keeps flying over the buildings.”

“Can we avoid it?” Alastair asked, wincing. He wanted nothing more than to avoid Eloise’s familiar.

“No. We need to go straight through to get to Ozelius. Bunch of undead on the street, though, that might distract it.”

“I’m going to fix this!” Eloise said, not sounding particularly confident. “I’m going to get Asmodeus under control. Watch.”

Her hands shook as she pulled out her pieces of white chalk. Right on cue, as if its giant, pointed ears were burning, Asmodeus descended into the street in front of them, wiping its shadowy lips.

“THANK YOU. THIS BE EXCITING!”

“How many people have you eaten?” Eloise demanded.

Asmodeus shrugged, looking bored. “NOT ENOUGH. ME STILL HUNGRY.”

“You were supposed to go only for the undead!”

“SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT.”

“I did!”

“ME SORRY. ME DON’T LISTEN GOOD WHEN ME HUNGRY. YUM. LIVING…”

And like that, Asmodeus was back to chowing down on living, breathing townspeople.

Eloise knelt and started drawing as the demon drifted over the flames and grabbed the scrawny man who’d attacked Alastair by the arm. He shrieked with terror as Asmodeus shoved him down its throat whole, and grew quiet when the demon bit down with a crunch. Eloise’s hands shook as she etched a complex series of runes around her casting circle, her fingers moving with a speed born from desperation.

Alastair recognized the spell: Binding of an Infernal Spirit. It required calm and undisturbed concentration—luxuries Eloise didn’t have.

With the circle completed, she stepped into its center and began chanting the incantation. Asmodeus stopped its rampage and snarled.

“I WOULD NO BOTHER. NOT GOING TO WORK. I SEE YOU CASTING. ME MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU.”

When she didn’t stop, the demon started eating people again. Eloise’s voice grew increasingly strained as she shouted to be heard over the sound of screams—the spell was working. The air around her crackled with glowing gold energy as the binding took form.

Sensing the magic at play, Asmodeus returned its attention to her. Its red eyes burned with rage as it floated toward the casting circle. Alastair waved his wand and sent out a jet of fire. The demon leaped back, hissing.

“ME EAT YOU TOO. ME LOVE IT. ME LOOK FORWARD TO IT.”

Eloise kept chanting, and now, the runes on the circle began to glow with a dull yellow light. As the spell took hold, Asmodeus roared its fury, trying to spin out of range of her casting when a shimmering barrier of crimson enveloped the creature as the binding took hold. The demon’s actions slowed, its movements becoming more sluggish as the magical chains of the spell tightened around its limbs. Asmodeus glared at them as Eloise forced the summoned creature toward the ground.

“THIS MEAN. ME JUST HUNGRY!”

“You’re not listening,” Eloise said as she collapsed to her knees, exhausted but relieved; Alastair kept a watchful eye on Asmodeus. He didn’t trust the demon, and he wasn’t sure he trusted her binding, either. The creature was clearly too strong for her.

“No more killing living people, got it?”

Asmodeus looked down at the chains binding its arms and legs and nodded. “ME STILL EAT DEAD THINGS?”

“As many as you want, big guy,” Eloise said. “Now go! Make a way!”

Asmodeus bounded off, shaking the earth and causing more bricks to tumble to the street.

“Please never bring that thing up again once we’re done here,” he said. “Find something else to Summon, maybe. Something harmless.”

Still on her knees, she gave him a rueful look. “Yeah. I messed this one up. Maybe an army of salamanders.”

“No!” Alastair cried, but she laughed.

“This isn’t funny,” Vin said.

“Let’s move,” Amaryllis said. “We’re getting close.”

Alastair sent a fresh outpouring of magical will into his wall of fire and they were on the move again, weaving their way through the narrow alleys.

Suddenly, Amaryllis stopped. “Huge group of undead up ahead. Lots of them.”

“Can they be avoided?” Alastair asked.

Her hands moved quickly as she scried. “No. Not if we want to get to the house.”

He sighed. Of course not. “No way but to go through, then.”

When they turned the next corner they saw them. A grotesque horde of half-rotted corpses shambled toward them, hungry for blood. The little band of mages spread out as much as they could in the narrow street, preparing for battle.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it’s taken without the author’s consent. Report it.

Alastair went first. Flames erupted from his wand as he started to cast, turning the nearest group of undead into ashes. Then, he stretched his wand upward toward the heavens, and created a swirling vortex that swept the corpses off their feet.

Meanwhile, Sebastian kept going with his vials of alchemical tinctures. He threw glass orbs into the fray, and they exploded with brilliant flashes of light and searing heat that disintegrated both zombies and skeletons where they stood.

Amaryllis’ eyes were still closed. “Get that one,” she said, gesturing toward a particularly tall skeleton. “It’s—some kind of leader to them, or something.”

Alastair obediently cast his wand forward. But nothing happened.

“I’m getting weaker,” he admitted.

“Alastair, you need—”

With a deafening roar, one of the Rock brothers—Vin, Alastair thought, though it was all a blur—darted forward, unarmed. He dove into the small cluster of undead. At first, they reacted with shock and confusion, as if they didn’t know what to do.

“Vin!” Dwayne called and rushed in after.

They were a flurry of fists and feet, kicking and punching. “You guys go! We’ll buy time!”

The sounds of the undead attacking and being attacked was almost too much to handle. Alastair tried to cast fire again, and even though he was able to conjure a fireball, he was worried he’d kill one or both of the twins in the doing.

“Go!” one of them shouted.

“If we cut a swath through here,” Amaryllis said, eyes still closed, “we should be able to push them back some.”

Alastair looked back toward Eloise just as a loud boom sounded and Asmodeus landed beside them.

“Go!” Eloise told it, pointing at the throng of beasts encircling the Rock brothers. “Go, eat the undead.”

“ME NO LIKE THEM! THEY TASTES BAD.”

“Eat them. Our bond demands you obey me.”

“NO.”

Eloise’s brow furrowed with concentration as she started to chant an incantation. Magical chains formed again, and with each one, Asmodeus strained against them. The ground quaked and the air grew heavy with the weight of demonic power. Sweat poured down her face as she fought to reinforce the Binding wards.

“Do you—” Alastair said, moving toward her to see if she needed help, but she threw an arm out to stop him.

“Stay back!” she shouted. “Follow Amaryllis.”

“Eloise,” Sebastian said.

“Please!”

The horde pressed relentlessly forward, and Alastair could no longer see Vin or Dwayne. Their numbers grew as other beasts sensed living blood and came to join them. The onslaught seemed endless. Alastair and Sebastian carved temporary paths through the throng, but each victory was fleeting. Amaryllis’ instructions were growing more desperate as the undead gushed toward them.

“This is going badly,” Sebastian said, eerily calm as he threw another vial of explosives into the crowd. “Do we retreat?”