De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 38

“Run!” Cleo shouted as her spell flew to the roof next to them.

Faylen pushed her magic into her body, strengthening her muscles, as she raced toward Naomi and Lilly. She threw an arm around each of them as she heard laughter overhead as they dove into one of the shanty buildings.

They landed just as blades of Wind Magic tore through the ground, turning the open space into a field of dust.

Laughter echoed above as bits of earth clattered back to the ground. As the dust settled, Faylen saw five of the small pixies hovering in the air above Piper and a dark mist that was reforming into Cleo.

“You risked everything to kill Blackthorn and fucked it up!” the pixies laughed in unison. “You’re lucky Victor sent me to get you. Otherwise, you’d be dead right now!”

Cleo held out both her arms, six dark balls of Death Magic forming around each hand before they flew out at the pixies. The five pixies tried to flee the spell as they laughed.

“Oh, it got me!” one said dramatically.

As the ball of Death Magic collided with the pixie, she burst into a green light that destroyed Cleo’s spell. Faylen pulled on her Earth Magic and sent a spike through one of them as well.

They’re copies made from Wind Magic!

“Blackthorn, I’m just here for the spiddy spider. Not your banshee ass,” one of the pixies said, stopping in its fleeing.

A ball of Death Magic struck this pixie, and she burst into a green light like the first.

“Though if you really want to play,” another copy of the pixie laughed as Wind Magic gathered around her. “Then let’s play rough!”

Blades of Wind Magic shot toward Cleo, missing her as she vanished into the mist and slicing the building behind her in two.

“She’s breaking free!” Lilly growled.

Faylen looked to see Piper using her Ice dagger to cut the vines free that had been constraining her. Their gaze met for a second before the drider pushed herself off the ground and started to run.

“Shit!” Faylen swore, sending Earth Spikes at her.

Piper ducked into the alleyway before the attack landed, and one of the pixies flew after her.

Faylen locked eyes with Cleo and saw her grimace at the fleeing Piper. Then she gave a subtle nod before bringing her focus back to Councilwoman Scarlet.

“Follow me,” Faylen said to Lilly and Naomi.

Together they rushed from the building for the alleyway, hearing the clash between the two Councilwomen behind them.

Faylen heard screaming as they rounded the corner of the alley into the slums. Piper ran down the street, firing her Light Magic lasers at the pixie with little regard for who got in the way. Several corpses littered the path that the drider had taken.

The corpse of the beggar came into view as they pursued, and Faylen gritted her teeth. The lamia had died with her hand shielding the small bowl that held the few bills.

“I’ll take care of the pixie,” Faylen growled as she pushed her Fire Magic into her Iron Claws. “You two stop the drider!”

The dark iron covering her hands started to glow red-hot and magic surged in her leg muscles as she sprinted to catch up to the two Council members.

The pixie turned toward her, releasing several slashes of Wind Magic before she could close the gap between them. Faylen stomped the ground hard, raising a pillar of stone to block the attack. The stone shattered, and she felt one of the slashes cut into her shoulder, smelling her own blood.

Despite the distance still between them, she retaliated by throwing a punch with her Iron Claw that was glowing red hot. A bang roared out through the street as the glowing iron encasing her hand exploded with flames, as shards shot toward the pixie.

This was a spell she had perfected against the death slimes while training under Silver. An advanced form of her Iron Claw that sacrificed the metal encasing her hand for a powerful blast of Fire Magic and iron shards at her enemy. A spell she called Molten Burst.

The flames and iron ripped through the pixie as she stuck her tongue out at Faylen before vanishing to a wisp of Wind Magic. She should have figured this was another copy.

“I will kill you! I swear I will kill you and that bansh—”

The muffled cursing of Piper drew Faylen away from where Councilwoman Scarlet had been. She saw Lilly and Naomi standing over the drider, her clothing covered in frost as plant vines wrapped tightly around her. A clump of vines was even acting as a gag to contain the stream of curses she no doubt wanted to scream as she glared at them.

“Fay, catch!” Lilly said, throwing one of the potions from her belt.

Faylen caught it and downed the contents. Not even a second later, the cut on her shoulder started healing.

“You have her dagger?” Faylen asked, not wanting the drider to cut her way free again with Ice Magic.

Naomi lifted the weapon.

“I have it,” she said.

Faylen nodded.

“Get her to District 114,” she commanded. “I’m going back to help Cleo.”

She started running toward the sound of fighting as she pulled on her Earth and Fire Magic to reform her Iron Claws. She even pushed the spell to create the magic armor over vital areas on her body for extra protection.

Flashes of green and black flickered in the air just above the roofs of buildings as the two powerful women hurled spells at each other.

Turning a corner, she arrived at the fight. Cleo stood wearing tattered clothing as Death Magic covered her hands. Three pixies flew around her, throwing slashes of Wind Magic. Cleo retaliated with a strike of Death Magic, and a pixie vanished in a burst of Wind Magic, just for another one to fly down from the sky and take its place.

This many copies, she must be close by to control them.

She looked at Cleo’s fight and knew it was pointless to join her. They needed to find and take out the real Scarlet. Faylen’s claws dug into the side of the building as she climbed up to the roof. Once there, she scanned the district’s slums and scented the air.

She kept searching as she heard Cleo clashing with the copies not far. Then the wind shifted and she caught a faint scent three buildings over. Running, she jumped across the rooftop to the next building, the scent growing stronger. She saw nothing on the roof of the third building, but she knew the little bitch was there.

As Faylen landed on the third building’s roof, she pushed her Fire Magic out and around her until the whole roof was ablaze. Screaming greeted her ears before a blast of Wind Magic extinguished her fire.

“You mangy mutt!” Scarlet yelled as a green light circled her.

Wind Magic exploded from the pixie, demolishing the building Faylen was standing on. She felt blades slash against her skin as she fell, landing on the rubble of the building.

She tried to stand, blood dripping from dozens of cuts on her body, only to collapse back to the ground when one of her legs refused to move.

She cut the tendon!

The pixie glared down at her from above, as if insulted that Faylen was still alive after her attack. The only reason she probably had survived was because she pushed her Iron Claw spell to cover more than just her hands.

“Poor, injured puppy,” Scarlet said, her voice dripping with sadistic amusement. “Don’t worry, I’ll make the pain go away.”

She held out her hand, grinning, as Wind Magic gathered around it.

Faylen watched as six balls of Death Magic converged on the pixie, whatever spell she was trying to cast fizzling out as Cleo’s Willow-o’-Wisp spell tore her apart. Unlike the other pixies that burst into wisps of Wind Magic, this Scarlet just fell to the ground in bloody pieces.

“You were always an annoying bitch,” Cleo panted as she looked at Scarlet’s corpse. Her eyes widened as she saw Faylen, and hurried toward her.

“Shit! Hold on,” she exclaimed upon seeing her injuries.

Faylen groaned as Cleo helped her up and handed her a healing potion. Faylen downed the contents and felt the bleeding stop.

“Second one today,” Faylen said, dropping the vial to the ground.

Cleo supported her as they walked past the bloody paste that was Scarlet’s corpse.

“Her copies suddenly vanished, and I heard the building being destroyed,” Cleo stated before looking at her. “I don’t think I would have found the real Scarlet if you hadn’t attacked her. The little bitch likes to hide and fight with her copies.”

“Naomi and Lilly have Piper and are taking her to the portal,” Faylen said.

Cleo’s lips thinned.

“Good. Let’s get home before this District’s boss arrives,” she said, shifting back to Silver as a heavy fog hid them.

***

The gangs led them to one of the greenhouses once they returned to District 114, where Lilly and Naomi were waiting for them with the drider. Councilwoman Piper knelt in the center of the room, her eyes locked on the cement floor as vines kept her restrained.

Piper ignored Faylen when she entered, but glared at Silver when the rabbitkin followed behind her. Once the door was shut, Silver dropped her disguise and returned to Cleo as drider’s glare shifted to a sneer.

“So, you escaped that annoying pest,” Piper said.

“Scarlet’s dead,” Cleo answered.

Piper’s eyes widened for a moment before she scoffed.

“You were always good at killing. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” Piper said as she mockingly tried to bow. “My liege.”

Cleo frowned.

“It was wrong what I did to you and others back on Vas. I make no excuse for my actions,” she said, her voice full of remorse. “The stain of the Nightmare Queen is something I will live with for the rest of my days.”

Piper roared with laughter.

“Such a burden! You get to live with it!” she cackled. “I should never have trusted Destry to kill you. I thought I could keep my hands clean by letting your own vassals end you. I even had a laugh imagining you waking up in that iron safe, slowly wasting away as time moved on and you sapped away your magic to buy another day of life.”

A savage grin graced the drider’s face.

“I should have done it myself, then there would have been no mistakes, no drugs, and no safe. I would have just pried your heart out with a cold iron bar. I bet Destry could have got Sero to make me a lovely little trinket from it,” Piper laughed.

Naomi shifted uncomfortably, her eyes going to the magic dagger Piper had that now rested on a folding table.

“So you admit you were involved with Destry’s reagent operation?” Faylen growled.

The drider smiled.

“The fox approached me about joining her little group, said she needed reagents. I was already pulling the strings on your vassals at the time to try to turn them against you. Once you were gone, I told Destry what the fox wanted and promised him our support to one day claim a seat on the Council,” Piper chuckled. “A little lie. Destry would never have survived long as a member, but it certainly motivated him.”

Cleo swore.

“The fox is former-councilwoman Hitomi, isn’t it?” she asked.

Piper just wore a shit eating grin. Behind her, Faylen saw Naomi start to tremble as she stared at the dagger, and a knot formed in her gut.

“Who is the dagger made from?” Faylen asked, her gaze still locked on Naomi.

Piper snorted.

“I tell you a monster like Hitomi is our leader, and you’re concerned about a magical weapon?” she laughed.

Faylen saw Cleo turn in the corner of her eye to look at Naomi.

“Answer her!” Cleo demanded.

Piper cackled again.

“The last gift from Destry to me. A dagger forged from the heart of the matriarch of an ice salamander clan that—”

Torrent sliced through Piper’s neck before she could finish, her head rolling across the floor of the greenhouse. Tears streaked Naomi’s face as she started to sob, her sword falling from her hand to join Piper’s head on the ground.

Faylen arrived at her first, wrapping the salamander in a hug. Naomi clung tightly to her, sobbing against her neck.

“I want Ash back,” she whimpered.