The Ouiums Journey: Hell Broke Loose (book 1)

Chapter 17

We looked around, exhausted from the fight with the demonic army, ready to pass out at any given moment. But the fact remained: it was war, and wars take much more energy to win.

One quick look at Skylar showed how he was the most exhausted; while we could siphon energy from the world, he could only use the magic inside himself. That glance made me worry about Skylar. He may have been seriously injured.

I strolled to Skylar, took hold of his face and cradled it in my hands and kissed his forehead gently. "Skylar, I know how hard this is for you." I took a deep breath and did my best to focus. "What do you need?"

Skylar chuckled and held my hands in his and said, "You looked like a hulking action man back there. I'm only glad to see you haven't lost your soft touch while doing that."

We all started laughing in unison, although Estelle and Kaspar's laughs were a little awkward. Skylar and I took a moment to study their expressions, but the only conclusion we got to is that they were as exhausted as we are.

Excellent, all of us witches fighting together instead of against one another. I wish this was more common in this world.

Estelle and Kaspar were not as strong as me, so using so much magic power in a short space of time could be draining.

I dug into Skylar's pocket and took the same oil he used to apply on his chest for pain relief. He smiled but was too worn to say anything. I smiled and put my finger on his lips, telling him to hush without words and start rubbing the oil down his neck and onto his chest through the battle-torn shirt.

We all turned to look at her and saw the blood slowly dripping from her hand. In pure instinct, I walked towards her, but she shooed me away with her other hand and said, "Don't pity me. I've handled more creeps in the last year than you have handled in the last twenty. Besides, I like the taste of battle."

A cheap joke that no one laughed from, not a giggle or a smirk, and I assumed we were all thinking the same. In the short time, we battled here and only killed a handful of demons, ending up as exhausted and drained as we were and bleeding from the inside out; what was going to happen in a real battle?

"This is bad," I hear Kaspar whisper in a muffled voice.

If I let that fire which we'd had only a moment ago die out, I didn't want to think about what would happen next. Looking at all we've been through. It finally struck me.

"I have a plan so listen up." I grab everyone's attention in a blink of an eye. "Can anyone tell me what our biggest weakness is?"

My question must have appeared strange as they look at each other baffled, narrowing their brows to focus on my question.

"We're divided. The covens, I mean. I just figured it out myself; it's a question of numbers. It was always a question of numbers. Each of the covens has their own set of rules, and they limit the number of witches able to join, and if Akin comes at them with even half of his army, he can easily annihilate them."

Yes, it is all starting to click. It makes sense.

I took a moment to breathe while looking at their expressions, to see if they follow the same lines of thought I have, but their faces are stone.

"The rules were probably set because of the use of different magic, or the use and absorption methods, but all of them shun Ouiums, who can be remarkably helpful in this war."

"But the covens are not fully aware of the threat we have here. They don't even know that there is an enemy we are fighting against," Skylar interjected, and I could hear the depression creeping into his voice.