The Shadows from Beyond

20 ~ Overloaded

The door explodes open, and in comes a group of hellhounds, lead by Magnus and Rainor. They are followed by six other people. But my eyes are locked on Magnus, and the sick look on his face. The twisted glee.

"Ah, there you are," Magnus says, grinning.  "My property should be returned to me, Annika."

I stumble back against the wall, and Magnus laughs. Annika steps between us, making it so I cannot see him. Scarth narrows her eyes, lowering herself into a fighting position once more. Darius growls low in his throat, and Torin glances back at me.

"You good?" he whispers.

I shake my head. And the look of primal fury on his face is enough to chill me to my core, even though it's not directed at me. He turns on Magnus and dark red energy swirls around him, looking a bit more like blood that flows through the air. He lashes out, and I gasp as a sliver of red light slices through one of the hellhounds, cutting the beast in half.

"Back. The. Fuck. Off!" Torin shouts.

"Ooh, nice," says Rainor. "You know, you don't think it's weird that we found her so soon? It's because she's his. She is his property."

"She is no one's property, you fucking psycho!" Annika roars. And then, silver sparks slither around her hands. She raises them, and when the sparks fly, they strike the hellhounds in front of her. One of them explodes — literally explodes. And the second one whimpers, before falling over sideways and dying there.

Annika doesn't stop there, though. She raises her hands, and her silver sparks dance forward, and slice into Rainor. He screams as the silver sparks dance all over his twitching body.

Magnus snaps his fingers, and then, Darius yipes in pain. I just stare in horror as Darius collapses on the floor and whines. Annika whirls on Magnus then.

"You spill our blood, we spill yours," he says.

Valkyrie unfurls her wings and I watch as a pink stream of energy falls from her hands, coiling around her feet. It's a whip. I flinch at it. But she doesn't notice, as she swings the whip out, and it slaps against Rainor and Magnus both.

The other people they entered the room with then turn to shadows and leap up, claws reaching for me. But Scarth and Torin were waiting. They both meet the shadows, and I turn my attention to Dilwyn and River. River raises her hands, and a whirlwind shoots forward, and it meets Magnus, then coils around his face.

I watch as he gasps, his air leaving his lungs. I stare in wide eyed shock as he sinks to his knees. Rainor is freed from his sparked attack, and the demon vanishes into a thin stream of smoke. He's gone, but I hear Valkyrie scream with rage.

Turning my attention back to her, I see a bunch of shadows swirling all around her, the whip gone. And as Valkyrie laid on the floor, her eyes wide as the creatures begin to tear into her skin.

I turn my gaze to Annika and Scarth. They're both fighting the shadows, but then, I see Darius and Torin. Amid the chaos all around, I see them laying broken on the floor. Their blood is pouring out around their bodies.

"No," I whisper. And, forgetting all about Magnus, I run to them.

Torin turns his hazel eyes to me, and I sob. His throat has been cut so deeply that I swear his head is nearly gone. And then, Torin dies, his last breath whooshing out of him. Turning to Darius, I see my werewolf friend, the one who has helped me so much.... dead. He's dead, too.

I scream and scream.

I silently beg the world to stop, to let this chaos end.

But as I kneel there, beside Darius and Torin, something runs up and seizes me from behind.

Another scream is torn from my throat. I turn, and see Magnus, grabbing hold of me. He pulls me back away from them, away from my friends. Towards the door.

I scream once more, and then, I feel Mara. I feel her power rising inside me.

Magnus pulls me toward the door, and I feel him open the portal behind us. I kick and buck, but then, I feel it. My power surges through my body. It is alive, like touching a live wire. But it does not hurt. And as I turn my head, I see him. Magnus. He's still holding me, but I do not balk.

No, instead, I unleash the pent up power inside my body. And then, I collapse. The power swirls and dances around me, an iridescent glow that shatters the windows, and tears its way into Magnus. And as he screams, I smile. As he dies, I grin and laugh. The being that caused me so much pain .... he is dead.

And then, I know no more for a while.