It’s an Icaral demon. My screams turn to sobs of terror as I catch a glimpse of a dagger in its hand.
I raise my palms in supplication, a silent, desperate plea for mercy as I begin to grow faint.
The demon scuttles forward with surprising quickness and agility and grabs my wrist so hard, its long fingernails dig into my skin, piercing my flesh. I let out a muffled cry.
It holds tight onto me, its soulless eyes widening in shock. “It is She! It truly is the Black Witch!”
“Then do not hesitate!” snarls the creature restraining me. “Kill it, Vestus! Kill it before it can become like Her!”
My knees buckle as the creature called Vestus pulls his dagger back and raises it above his head. Thunder smashes against the sky.
“History will now be rewritten, Black Witch!” Vestus shrieks. “The Prophecy will be shattered, and the Icaral will live! You will die, and we will rise!”
Everything seems to happen in slow motion. The creature’s hand jerks backward to ready his attack, but then a longer blade bursts through the creature’s chest. A fountain of blood spurts out, covering me, and I’m falling, falling, the creature behind me also falling away, freeing me. I slam into the cold, hard ground, aware of the overwhelming, ferrous smell of blood.
And then a soldier is before me.
Lukas!
He pulls his sword out of the Icaral and pushes the creature forward, dead, its head slamming onto the stone tile inches from me with a sickening crack.
I whirl around just in time to see one of my aunt’s guards dragging off the second Icaral, this one taller and more muscular than the other, but bloodied and unconscious. Thunder cracks loudly as the wind strengthens and pushes my blood-soaked clothing flat against my skin.
A movement beyond my aunt’s guard catches my eye—just a small glimpse in a dark alley beyond the plaza, beyond the road.
Another Icaral looks at me for a split second, then disappears from sight.
A strong hand grabs my arm. I jump in fright and whirl around to see Lukas shouting something at me. I close my eyes tight and jerk my head from side to side, desperate to pull myself together, to focus. I open my eyes as all the sound around me rushes back in with a roar, like a dam opened.
“There’s another one!” I cry to Lukas, pointing toward the alleyway.
Lukas pulls out his wand and aims it in that direction. A burst of blue-green lightning spears from his wand’s tip and explodes into the alley. It incinerates the walls of the buildings on either side with a crackling boom that sends a sharp pain through my ears.
Lukas yells to the guards as four other Mages run toward us, their wands drawn, their cloaks edged with rows of silver lines.
Lukas calls out orders, and all of the Mages run off in the direction of the alley.
“Are you hurt?” Lukas shouts at me as the heavens open up and the rain pours down, the water mixing with the blood of the Icarals, forming dark, violent puddles. I nod, and Lukas pulls me to my feet. He braces me with a strong arm around my waist, his other hand still gripping his blood-stained sword. I grip my throbbing wrist as he guides me across the plaza.
Lightning flashes around us as we quickly make our way toward the cathedral. Soldiers fan out over the plaza, and a small crowd of Gardnerians, including my aunt and Echo Flood, look out from the open cathedral doors with horrified faces.
Marcus Vogel stands amongst them, the calm eye of the hurricane.
And the bird, the white bird, sits above the doorway in a hollowed-out, sheltered crevice, as still as the artwork adorning the cathedral.
Watching me.
* * *
Lukas paces back and forth across the room like a caged animal, glancing over at me every so often, his jaw set tight, face ruddy, his brow furrowed with angry impatience. Like me, he’s soaked through with rain and blood, his sword sheathed and hanging at his side. His pacing is interrupted when one of my aunt’s guards comes in to speak with him, the two of them talking so low I can’t make out what they’re saying. Lukas’s hand is on his hip as he speaks to the man, both of them tense, the guard taking a subordinate stance as Lukas gives him a series of orders. The guard nods and leaves with a look of serious purpose.
I’m sitting on a wooden chair in Priest Vogel’s cathedral sanctuary, shivering uncontrollably, feeling dazed and frightened, surrounded by black-robed priests.
Vogel is looming over me, holding outstretched hands above my head, his eyes firmly closed as he intones a prayer in the Ancient Tongue. An image of dark Icaral wings and lifeless trees flashes behind my eyes and sends a vicious chill through me.
The priest to the left of Vogel swings a gold ball filled with incense from a long chain. Pungent smoke wafts from holes in the sphere, burning my nose, my stomach clenching with nausea.
Even though they’re closed, I can feel Vogel’s eyes.
Echo sits next to me and holds my hand tight.
“What’s he doing?” I ask, still in shock. This can’t be real. I’m trapped in a nightmare. None of this can be real.
“Shhh, Elloren,” she whispers kindly. She gives my hand a squeeze of solidarity. “You have looked into the eyes of an Icaral. To do this is to pollute your soul. Priest Vogel is exorcizing the stain.”
My wrist burns where the Icaral dug its claws into my flesh.
“I want my uncle,” I whimper, tears starting to fall. I feel lost among all these unfamiliar people, and frightened by the need for ritual purification.
And I’m scared of Vogel.
My aunt stands in the doorway with two more priests, old men with snow-white hair. They speak in hushed tones, their expressions grave.
I drop my face into my hands and begin to sob. My shivering gets worse as Priest Vogel drones on and on, rattling me with his remote chanting of prayers and the sense of his dark void swirling around me. I cry as the chanting falls away and the dark void subsides, only half aware of Lukas asking for a moment alone with me.
The room grows quiet.
“Elloren. Look at me.”
I jump at the sound of Lukas’s stern voice and the feel of his strong hand gripping my arm. I straighten and pull my tear-soaked hands from my eyes.
He’s down on one knee, his head level with mine, eyes full of fire. “Stop it.”
His harsh tone stuns me into astonished silence.
I choke back my tears as anger at his treatment wells up within me. Wasn’t he right there? Didn’t he see those...things? A dark fury takes root, replacing my fear with steel-cold anger.
“That’s better!” Lukas snarls as I glare at him with as much hatred as I can muster. “You are not weak!”
“How
