Page 75 of Midnight Reign
“That was too close,” Ignatius gasps, his face pale.
“It’s not over yet,” Corvus warns, pointing ahead.
I can see now. I’m guessing we all can. It’s gloomy, but it’s better than pitch black.
The passageway continues, but now it’s lined with statues. Ancient warriors, their stone faces grim and watchful.
“I don’t like the look of those,” I mutter.
As if in response to my words, the nearest statue’s eyes begin to glow. With a scraping of stone, it steps off its pedestal, raising a wickedly sharp sword.
“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me,” Ignatius groans.
More statues come to life, moving to block our path. Without our magick, we’re severely outmatched.
“Any ideas?” I ask, backing away slowly.
Zaiah’s eyes are darting around the chamber. “We need to be quicker.”
“Great,” Corvus says.
I snort. “Says the vampire. Take Addy’s hand, and don’t let her go. We’ll cover you, you run.”
It’s a mad idea, but it’s the only one we’ve got. As the first statue lumbers towards us, we split up, each of us picking a target as Corvus prepares to make a beeline down the middle.
I dodge the swing of a stone sword, ducking under the statue’s arm and delivering a solid kick to its knee joint. The stone cracks but doesn’t break. These things are tough.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Corvus sprinting down the centre of the passageway, Addy’s hand clasped tightly in his. The statues turn to pursue them, but we do our best to keep them occupied.
Ignatius has picked up a fallen sword and is using it to parry the blows from two statues at once. Zaiah is darting between the statues, using his djinn-like agility to evade their attacks while leading them on a merry chase.
I spin away from another sword strike, my back hitting the wall. A stone hand clamps down on my shoulder, pinning me in place as another statue raises its weapon towards my head.
Suddenly, a familiar sensation washes over me. My shadows are back.
With a feral grin, I let the darkness flow from my fingertips, wrapping around the statues and pulling them apart. Stone crumbles and shatters as I tear through them.
“Our powers are back!” I shout to the others.
Ignatius whoops with joy as flames erupt from his hands, melting stone warriors into puddles of molten rock. Zaiah’s eyes glow bright white as he gestures, causing statues to crumble into dust.
We fight our way down the passageway, our powers fully restored and tearing through the stone warriors. I use my shadows to crush and shatter them, while Ignatius melts them with his flames and Zaiah crumbles them to dust.
Up ahead, I see Corvus and Addy have reached the end of the corridor. There’s a large circular door blocking their path.
“We need to hurry!” Corvus shouts back to us.
Destroying the remaining statues in a frenzy of shadow, flame, and magick, as the last one crumbles, we sprint to join Corvus and Addy at the door.
“Any ideas how to open this thing?” I ask, eyeing the massive stone circle warily.
The door rumbles and begins to slide open.
“Okay, then…”
As soon as there’s enough space, we squeeze through. The new passageway is narrower, forcing us to go single file again. The air is thick and musty, and I can feel the weight of centuries pressing down on us.
Corvus suddenly holds up a hand, stopping us. “Listen,” he says, his vampire hearing picking up something we can’t.
