Page 23 of Fortune Academy: Year Three
Sparks formed at my fingertips, turning to blue flame before blossoming into a proper fireball that I lofted into my palm as my dark talons took shape to hold the flame steady. “Hell yeah,” I said with a grin.
Now “The Claw” didn’t feel so lame. The Claw… on Fire? Yeah, this girl was going to do some damage.
A group of witch spirits closed in on us, swooping around the Demonspawn to make their strike. Luc fueled a shield around himself and Jess, sending the spirits pinging off as Jess screamed at him to stop. I ignored them, launching my fireball as Dante moved in a blur to slash at the phantoms. Screams filled the air as the flames consumed the spirits, spreading through a small section of the group and sending their remains drifting as ash to the cavern floor.
“Your left!” Hendrik yelled as he summoned a spear that glittered like pure onyx. He didn’t need blood and suffering to perform magic anymore. He had our connection and my power ran through him, giving him all the suffering and darkness he needed.
I twisted as he thrust and skewered a Demonspawn that moved in on my side, nearly missing me with its claws.
The creature screeched as black blood shot onto the ground. It didn’t represent Luc’s underlings, looking less human and more… monster. Scrawny limbs and a mouth full of jagged teeth made it look like the very thing of evil I always feared I’d become.
But that wasn’t me. I was no longer a creature lost to the bowels of Hell. That was a life still locked away in my mind before I’d embraced my true heritage as a tribrid.
Logan shifted, bones cracking as he seamlessly took on his wolf form. It made me so happy that he no longer had to suffer the pain of his transformation, but my heart tightened when another wave of Demonspawn crowded him and he mercilessly tore through them, all teeth and snarl.
Just like I expected my Virtues to understand that I could take care of myself, I had to trust them to stay alive.
Fueled by all the power running through me, I summoned another fireball, this time with both hands as another wave of witch spirits came crashing down on us. The sounds of battle and screams of the wounded and dying drowned out any room for thought. I launched my attack and wiped out an entire section of the dusty hags just as they blocked out the ceiling, sending ash raining down over my head.
“Yes!” Luc shouted, laughing as he stretched his wings. “Spectacular!”
I glowered at the bastard as I spit soot out of my mouth. He’d get his due once we survived this.
The ground trembled with a steady beat and I snapped my attention back to the portal.
“What’s that?” I asked over the roar of the battle all around us.
“Nothing good,” Orion said as he swung his massive arm, taking out three Demonspawn with one swoop.
Two red eyes peered through the portal, followed by a set of two more.
A snout came through, then teeth, and finally the three heads of the guard dog of Hell made his appearance with all three of them holding a massive bone in their jaws.
“Logan!” I shouted. I couldn’t see my wolf, but I felt him with my bond somewhere in the mass of the Demonspawn. “I hope you are alive, because Cerberus came to play!”
I got this, Princess,came the smug reply in my head.
Cocky ass wolf.
Cerberus dropped the bone and one of the heads released a howl that made me cover my ears. “Shit! That’s loud.”
All of the Demonspawn around us broke into chaos as the witch spirits giggled with manic laughter.
If Hell was always like this, then this was one crown I didn’t want. My mom could keep it.
A silver wolf flashed in the sea of black, heading straight for the terrifying three-headed dog. Cerberus jumped and stuck his butt in the air, wagging his massive tail.
Now I’ve seen everything.
Logan barked and jumped over the bone as a wave of Demonspawn and witch spirits trailed behind him. Cerberus took the cue and lifted the bone, sending it flying with a wide arch of its neck. A wave of Demonspawn went down like bowling pins.
“More!” Luc shouted with hysterical laughter, clapping his hands as Jess sank to her knees, defeated as she stared at me and mouthed “I’m sorry.” She wound her finger around her ear and pointed at the demon leader.
I smirked. Yeah, well if I had been stuck in this place for centuries, I’d be bat-wing-shit crazy too.
Cerberus chased after Logan, bulldozing down massive hoards of the Demonspawn until the creatures decided to go for the retreat. They ran toward the black portal while the witch spirits hissed and ventured back into the red glow of the pit. I saw why when Cerberus dropped his bone to snap at them, eating a mouthful of screeching phantoms like a snack.
Orion, Hendrik, Dante, and Kaito formed a circle around me as we watched Logan and Cerberus play. Once I realized the danger was gone, I took a moment to appreciate how incredible my Virtues really were. The portal shimmered when the last of the Demonspawn entered it, then puffed into a pile of ash.
