Elena stumbled backward into their familiar chamber in Veylar with her breath ragged and her heart hammering so hard she thought it might tear out of her chest. Damien's hand was still clamped firmly around hers.
Her voice cracked with hysteria as she yanked at him, "Your highness...wha...what was that? What are you planning? What if they come after us...? You can't just—"
He spun around and faced her squarely. His red eyes glowed sharply like lava as his expression remained devoid of emotions. His hands landed firmly on her shoulders, forcing her trembling body still and look at him.
"Elena," his voice dropped low and serious. "We have to get out of here. Now."
Her lips parted, confusion tearing through her chest. "Out? Out of where? How? This is—"
The door exploded before she could finish and a masked figure stormed in. A dark swirl of shadow enveloped his person as we walked in. Its hands and the rest of its body were just bones given a small amount of flesh. The creature's face was masked with a black cloth covering its features that could easily be mistaken for a human's.
Elena stared wide-eyed at it Damien didn't hesitate. He lunged forward with the same ferocity of a beast, slamming his fist into the intruder's chest. The sound was like stone shattering under the impact of something too violent to belong to a man. The masked figure flew across the chamber, crashing into the bedpost and snapping the carved wood, before rolling limply onto the mattress.
"Run," Damien barked. He snatched Elena's hand again, pulling her toward the door.
But more were already coming. Multitude of creatures with the same dark shadows swirling around them, darted at the edges of the hall straight at them
Damien shoved Elena into a side room as the attackers got closer. He slammed the door shut, locking it in one swift motion.
"Stay here!" he roared, then spun back to meet the advancing enemies.
"Damien!" she screamed, throwing herself at the door. She pounded it with both fists, tears stinging her eyes. "Don't you dare leave me. Open this! Damien!" she yelled at the top of her voice not minding her lack of honorifics.
The sound of steel clashing with bones echoed outside the room, filling the air with their noise.
Elena continued screaming and banging the door as the sounds increased their tempo but they were cut off when the door suddenly split in two and flew across the room. Elena staggered backward as another masked figure stepped inside, ducking under the frame.
Its presence turned her blood cold and her body hot.
"Stay away," she whispered hoarsely as her body trembled. The creature continued approaching her one step after the other until she tripped on herself and fell back.
She began to crawl backwards, trying to get away from it and not suddenly rouse it at the same time. It didn't work.
The creature lunged forward, closing the distance in a blink. Its bony fingers wrapped around her legs and pulled her roughly towards itself. It shoved her violently down, pinning her to the floor and its knees crushed into her thighs, locking her in place.
Elena struggled wildly, desperation fueling her being. She clawed at its arms, kicked against its chest, but its strength dwarfed hers immeasurably. Its weight was unbearable and suffocating as if it fed on her energy.
"Get off!" she shrieked, clawing at his bony hands with her nails. Her hands fumbled across the floor, unsure of what to grab, until they brushed against something sharp; a jagged splinter from the broken door. Without thinking, she gripped it tight and drove it upward with every ounce of strength she had.
The shard pierced through the masked creature's eye, drawing a sickening crunch followed by a wet squelch. Hot, dark blood sprayed across her face and the creature staggered back, howling in a guttural, inhuman cry.
When it turned back to her, its mask had already slipped off.
Elena froze in place with the wood in her hand.
The face beneath was a monstrous horror of pale skin stretched thinly across jarring bones with black veins bulging and pulsating from it. Its mouth was hung widely opened and its elongated teeth stood out sharp and uneven. But the worst were its glowing red eyes wild and almost similar to the creatures in the hunt. The only difference was that these ones didn't attack irrationally but with precision as though they were calculating their moves before even doing it.
It snarled, black blood dripping from its ruined eye.
"No..." Elena whispered, terror swallowing her whole.
It lunged again and this time, its hand snapped around her throat. Fingers like hot iron needles squeezed her neck, cutting off her scream. She kicked, scratched and fought with the little strength she could muster, but her energy was ebbing at an alarming rate. Stars filled her vision, turning her face purple from lack of air.
As the creature proceeded to squeezing the last whiff of air from her throat, the mark on her neck pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then it erupted.
A surge of raw energy exploded outward from her body with mad force. The force slammed into the creature with bone-crushing power, sending it flying through the window. Glass shattered, raining down onto the courtyard below as the monster was hurled far away into the evening wind.
Elena collapsed onto the floor, gasping desperately for breath, her hands flying to her now reddened throat. She coughed as her trembling fingers caressed her swollen neck with tears burning her eyes.
Her body shivered violently.
Before she could collect herself, more shadows filled the doorway. Three...four... six masked figures stormed in, their footsteps pounding like war drums.
"No...not again" Elena whimpered, pushing herself backward until her spine hit the wall. "Please, no..."
The first one lunged forward with its mask already removed, revealing the blade sharp fangs scattered all over its mouth.
But before it reached her, a searing beam of silver light shot across the room. It hit the creature square in the chest, sending it straight into the wall of the opposite room. Its body convulsed violently before dissolving into a pool of red liquid.
Elena froze, wide-eyed.
Another light burst cut through the others, dissolving them like paper in fire.
"Elena!" a voice called sharply.
She turned slowly, not sure if she were even breathing again
Seraphine.
She stood in the doorway with her silver hair fluttering as though caught in a stagnant wind. Her eyes glowed a brilliant shade of silver, intense and terrifying, and her arms were stretched forward radiating pure light.
"Se...sera...you're Seraphine" Elena stuttered , unable to believe her own eyes.
Seraphine didn't answer. She stepped forward, unleashing another blast of light that tore through the next wave of creatures storming down the hall. Their bodies melted into liquid followed by their inhuman and hollow screams .
She finally turned to Elena with her face hard and her eyes never softening. She reached out and grabbed Elena's hand in a grip just as fierce as Damien's had been.
"Come," Seraphine ordered with urgency in her tone. "You must get out at once."
Elena stumbled to her feet still shaking like a leaf. "To...to where? What are these th—"
"No time." Seraphine cut her off, shoving her hand forward. A silver portal bloomed into existence, swirling violently with power. Its surface rippled like glassy waters, humming with unknown energy.
Elena stared at it with a face pale with fear and disbelief. "What is—"
"Go!" Seraphine barked at her in a sharp, commanding voice.
The air behind them shifted. Another wave of masked creatures surged forward. Seraphine spun, pulling her sword from her forehead, its blade glowing with divine light. She flew sharply towards them slashing through three of them under a second. Their bodies erupted in red liquid, but more just kept pouring in endless and unrelenting without their masks.
"Elena!" Damien's voice roared suddenly from the doorway. He staggered in, blood splattered across his face, his clothes torn, his body trembling from the fight. His eyes found hers immediately with a crazed look in it. "Elena!" he yelled again.
She ran to him instinctively, throwing herself against his chest. "Damien!." She ran her fingers across his body in a hurry, worry and fear etched all over her face.
"Through the portal! Quickly!" Seraphine yelled, pulling her thoughts back from him as her blade cut through another creature in half.
Elena shook her head frantically. One of the creatures unknowingly snuck behind him and drove its fingers through his abdomen. Damien let out a low, pained growl as he dropped on his knees to the floor, taking Elena with him.
Seraphine snarled in frustration and she immediately sent her sword flying into the creature. It hit it straight in the chest, reducing it to red liquid before returning back to her palm. She shoved her hand forward using her telekinetic force and slammed into Elena, hurling her into the portal's pull.
"No!" Elena screamed, reaching out for Damien but it was too late. She flew sharply into the portal. Her entrance caused the portal to widen and spin even faster than before.
Seraphine's other hand shot out, her telekinesis wrapping around Damien too. With a violent motion, she hurled him into the portal after Elena.
They both vanished into the silvery light but the portal was still wide opened, whirring loudly.
The creatures swarmed, their numbers multiplying greatly. The floor swayed violently beneath their advancing numbers as more and more continued pouring into the room.
Seraphine exhaled slowly, lowering her sword back into her forehead. She placed her hand against her chest, closing her eyes softly. The glow around her intensified to an incredulous degree with each passing second. When she opened them again, they burned white and gold.
A golden halo blazed above her head with an orb of light forming around her body, spinning faster and faster until it hummed with unbearable power.
She slammed her hands down causing the the orb to detonate.
A wave of pure, divine light surged outward, swallowing the entire palace in blinding brilliance. It roared down every hall, consuming every shadow, burning through every masked, unmasked creature. Screams filled the air but were quickly cut short as their bodies dissolved into rivers of red.
The palace quaked, its very stones groaning under the force.
On the highest balcony, Xavriel turned his head sharply, his crimson eyes narrowing into slits. He had felt it alright: the power, the purity...the energy.
He immediately disappeared, curious to find out what had caused such a reaction but by the time he appeared in the chamber, the light was already fading, the room was empty and the floor was slick with liquid remnants of his creatures. The walls still hummed with the divine energy, glowing faintly before dissipating into nothing.
Xavriel's jaw clenched. His hands curled into tight fists, forcing his nails into his skin.
They had gotten away.
"Damn it," he growled with venomou
s anger. "It can't be..." he muttered harshly before swinging his hand and disappearing, leaving a swirl of shadow behind...