Page 71 of Midnight Reign
We sprint towards the exit, dodging falling debris and lashing shadow tendrils. Ignatius throws fireballs behind us, trying to slow the creature’s advance, but it’s relentless.
“The exit’s blocked!” Corvus shouts as we reach the base of the slide we came down on.
Zaiah’s eyes glow brighter. “I’ve got this,” he says, his voice strained with concentration. The air in front of us shimmers, and suddenly, a portal appears. “Get in.”
We don’t hesitate, diving for the portal one by one. Before I reach it, I feel a tendril of pure, undiluted evil wrap around my ankle. I cry out as it tries to pull me back.
“Addy!” Corvus reaches through the portal, grabbing my arms.
For a moment, I’m suspended between two worlds - the ancient, angry darkness behind me and the safety of the pocket dimension Zaiah has created.
The tendril of darkness tightens around my ankle, its icy touch sending chills through my body. I can feel it trying to pull me back away from the safety of Zaiah’s portal.
“Don’t let go!” I cry out to Corvus, gripping his arms with all my strength.
“Never,” he grunts, his muscles straining as he fights against the force dragging me back.
Zephyr joins him, grabbing my hand in a grip that crunches my finger bones together.
Suddenly, I feel a surge of power come from nowhere.Let go, little bitch.
“Like fuck!” I scream.
Not of them, you idiot. Of your control. Let me take over.
I’m dragged backwards, and my hand slips free from Corvus. I don’t have time to mess about. “Do it!”
I let her power flow through me, feeling it course through my veins like liquid fire. With a primal scream, I kick back at the shadow creature, my foot connecting with solid darkness.
There’s a shriek of pain, and the tendril releases me. Zephyr yanks me forward, and we tumble through the portal together into the safety of the pocket dimension. We can see the evil entity raging on the other side, but it can’t get to us.
“Give me back my control.”
Do I have to?
“Do you want to get home or not? Because you can’t do the ritual, so shut the fuck up and give me my body back.”
She heaves a sigh but fades into the background again. “That’s right, cuntface. Who’s in charge here?”
Not fucking you, that’s for sure.
Her wry tone hits home, but I brush it aside. “Okay, so what now?”
We all take a moment to catch our breath, looking around at the strange pocket dimension Zaiah has created. It’s a swirling mass of colours and shapes, constantly shifting and changing.
“Nice work,” Ignatius says to Zaiah, clapping him on the back. “Where exactly are we?”
Zaiah shrugs. “It’s a sort of in-between space. We’re safe here for now, but we can’t stay long. It’s not stable.”
I nod, still shaken from the close call. “So how do we get past that thing and back to MistHallow?”
“We wait for it to fuck off,” he says. “I can’t create a portal out of here. If I could, we could’ve used one to get in.” He shrugs as if that were obvious, but I guess it is when he puts it like that.
“Great, so we are sitting ducks?”
“Yep.”
“We need her, don’t we?”
