Page 19 of Fiendish Delights
Hugo shot out another powerful jolt of air magic. The moment I felt it rush from behind me, I conjured up my own burst and combined my power with his.
This time Sophia – or whatever her name was – was prepared for it. She raised one hand in a fist and halted both spells before they could reach her. Then she leapt for Mud’s fallen body once more, grabbing a hank of his thin hair to raise his head before shoving it forcefully down onto the floor again. The crack as his skull fractured was truly sickening.
My right hand reached for Gladys, who had been buzzing violently at my side from the very moment Sophia had revealed her true self. I gripped her hilt tightly as I unsheathed her and she vibrated in response; apparently she was the only one of us who was thrilled by this sudden turn of events.
I brandished the blade in the air, swinging Gladys from side to side as if I knew what I was doing. Sophia raised a single hairless eyebrow. ‘That’s quite some sword. Even for a high elf.’
‘I’m not a high elf.’ I advanced towards her. I’d stabbed Humphrey Bridger and brought him down. How hard could it be to do the same to a fiend?
Sophia didn’t appear even slightly nonplussed. She watched me for a moment then pursed her thin golden lips and flung her hands out, stretching them past the point of Gladys’s blade to smack me in the face.
I recoiled as the force of the blow made my teeth rattle. My hold on Gladys slackened and she clattered to the floor. My mouth was filling with blood and my face felt like I’d been punched in the face by a heavyweight champion. Even my ears were ringing. From Sophia’s expression, she’d done little more than give me a mild tap.
‘Hey! Fiend!’ Hugo called out. ‘Is this what you want?’
Sophia’s attention snapped away from me. I half-turned but blurred vision from the tears caused by her blow made it difficult to focus. I blinked rapidly and wiped my eyes so I could see. When I could, my heartbeat ratcheted up another notch.
Hugo had jumped into the circle and grabbed hold of the scroll. It had partially unravelled in his hands, displaying an inked drawing and a scramble of letters, none of which made any sense.
’Give me it!’ Sophia screamed. ‘It’s mine!’
‘Finders keepers,’ Hugo chanted. He summoned a plume of fire magic and directed it straight at her head. The fire ripped past her, engulfing her in flames.
She only licked her lips, ignoring the searing heat and acrid smell of her own burning flesh. ‘Is that all you’ve got?’
Hester squeaked, her voice muffled in the depths of my pocket. ‘Do something, Daisy! Kill her!’
I bent down and fumbled for Gladys. Sophia was already advancing on Hugo, and I didn’t need to look into her eyes to know that there was murderous intent reflected in their scarlet depths. I felt a chill shudder through me. Hugo looked calm and unruffled but she was going to kill him, I was certain of it. She was prepared to do anything for that damned piece of parchment.
Desperation clawed at me. I finally snagged Gladys’s hilt and snatched her up, then I lunged at Sophia, determined to stab her this time. But yet again Sophia was one step ahead of me.
The fiend didn’t only possess incredible strength, she also had magic. A wall of flame sprang up, extending from the floor to the ceiling and creating a barrier that I couldn’t penetrate.
I wasted no time. While all around us smoke alarms started to scream, I reached for water magic to douse the flames. I threw all the water I could conjure at the fire – but none of it had any effect. Sophia was already reaching for Hugo.
There wasn’t time to think. I held my breath and launched Gladys into the air, using every atom of power I possessed. I included a burst of air magic to give her flight more force and she rocketed forward through the fiery wall as the extra spurt increased her speed. Some of the flames that were licking towards Sophia’s back were caught up in the momentum.
As soon as I saw what was happening, inspiration struck.I jumped to my right and, when Gladys sliced into Sophia’s shoulder before bouncing to the floor again, I concentrated on the dry parchment of the scroll.
It only took a single spark. The scroll burst into flames and Hugo dropped it instantly. Sophia howled, although I didn’t know whether it was from physical pain or emotional agony.
She threw herself to the floor, scrabbling desperately for the burning shreds of paper. ‘No!’ she screamed. ‘No!’
Hugo frowned at me. ‘I had everything under control, Daisy. You didn’t need to do that.’
I wasn’t so sure – and this wasn’t over yet. Gladys was lying beyond the wall of fire; if I was fast, I could leap through it, scoop her up and attack Sophia again. I’d end up badly burned but I reckoned it would be worth it.
I sucked in a deep breath – and then a flicker of movement caught my eye.
‘Mud McAlpine banishes you.’ He’d raised himself to his knees. Blood was streaming from his head and his voice was little more than a whisper, but I could feel the magic vibrating in his voice and his hands. Hugo was right. McAlpine was an incredibly powerful witch – and he wasn’t dead yet, not by a long shot. ‘Mud McAlpine banishes you,’ he repeated.
The walls around us shook and I heard distant screams, probably from residents in the other flats in the building. Mud reached into his pocket and extracted a linen bag no larger than the palm of his hand. He took out a pinch of something and flung it out towards Sophia. ‘Mud McAlpine banishes you,’ he wheezed for a third time.
There was a clap of thunder. My legs gave way and I stumbled to the floor. When I looked up, the wall of flames had gone – and sohad Sophia.
The room might not have made the pages of a glossy interior design magazine before Sophia’s arrival but it was a scene of utter devastation after her departure. The walls were charred and little evidence remained of Mud’s research beyond a few barely legible scraps of paper. The wooden chair was in pieces and there was a scorched line across the floor and the ceiling where Sophia’s wall of flame had been.
On the spot where she had vanished, there was a red stain. It wasn’t blood – I didn’t know what it was. Surveying the damage, I shook my head slowly, still confused by what had happened.
