Page 54 of Demanding Discord
“It’s not working.” We could never beat this many entities, even if they could be killed. “Tell me what else you know about tulpas. There must be a way to get rid of them.”
“Their existence is tied to their master. He created them in his mind, using our fears and guilt to design them.”
“So we’re fighting Ruin’s imagination.”
“That is correct.”
A thought wriggled in my mind…something Ash had joked about a few months ago. What had she said? I ground my teeth, willing the memory into full focus, but it was hard to concentrate with a horde of walking dead…undead?...unalive?...looming toward us.
I swiped my machete at the one who looked like Shade. The blade passed through his arm, but it didn’t reform completely. A whisp of smoke lingered around the contact point, vibrating and fading as if it didn’t have enough energy to turn solid.
I gasped as the memory returned. “Servitors.”
Discord frowned. “Was that supposed to be a spell?”
“It’s a being Ash told me about. She said if she ever turned to dark magic, we’d know because she’d create a servitor to organize the library for her. I think she meant a tulpa.”
“How does that piece of information help us now?”
The Mayhem tulpa struck out, slashing his claws against Discord’s face. My demon roared and shoved the entity, opening the circle enough for me to dart through. My coven and the damn centaur followed me toward the pool while Discord’s buddies stayed with him.
“If they’re just part of Ruin’s imagination, that means they aren’t real.”
Discord dodged a punch, shoving his other brother into the wall. “They’re real enough to cause us bodily harm.”
“Only because we believe they can hurt us.” I stood still, my back to the pool, and faced my deepest fears and regrets head-on. My thoughts and emotions only had power over me because I gave it to them. It was time I took it back.
“I’d joked along with my sister and asked her to send the servitor my way when she was done with him. She said it would only work if I truly believed in it.”
Discord snapped his gaze toward me. “Our imagination fuels them too.”
“Bingo. Ash said the moment you stop believing in a thoughtform, it loses its ability to help…or in this case…hurt you.”
The Mr. Beefy tulpa slammed a fist into Discord’s stomach, making him double over. He straightened and threw a punch, but his arm passed right through the spine ripper’s head.
Discord backpedaled three steps before he hit a wall. Six entities surrounded him, black smoke billowing around their feet as the faceless four began to fuse into his brothers’ forms.
“What’s the plan?” he asked
My heart galloped in my chest, and I sucked in a deep breath, centering myself. “Take back your power, stand there, and let them attack. They can’t hurt you if you don’t give them the ability to.”
“Are you sure it will work?”
I straightened my spine and looked the Ash tulpa in the eyes. “I’m betting my life on it.”
Hecate, have mercy. The entities attacked.
20
DISCORD
I tried to do as Cinder instructed, to simply use disbelief to disarm my attackers, but with my powers bound and my confidence crushed, my attempt was futile. My brothers glared at me with venom in their gazes, heavy with accusations and premature triumph.
“Let us see you win a fair fight…without your precious amulet.” Mayhem’s lip curled into a sneer. “You’re not so powerful now, brother.”
Chaos struck, his fist sinking into my gut. I doubled over, and Mayhem landed an uppercut to my chin, whipping my head back, sharp pain exploding down my spine. Their punches certainly felt real enough, so how was I to convince myself they weren’t?
I straightened, my vertebrae cracking as I stretched my neck. “No fight is fair when my powers are bound.”
