Page 30 of Bound By Fire and Magic
“Quick, get the orange orb. We need to do this before it regenerates.” Kirin moved around the back, and she raced toward the orange orb where it hovered near the wall.
The head rolled at her like a huge bowling ball with eyes, letting out an eerie keen.
Just another second. Almost there.
With her gaze on the approaching head, she blindly reached for the orb. Its heat singed her fingertips. As she pulled her hand back, the head smashed into the orb, exploding it. The force knocked her on her butt several feet away, banging her head against the floor. Black spots floated in front of her eyes. Or were they bits of tulpa, ready to re-form into killer cockroaches?
“Elle!”
She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. I’m fine. Just have to clear the rock band out of my brain.
“Elle!” His voice sounded far away. Very far away. But wait. If he was all right, he would be kneeling beside her. That’s how he was. Because he cared about her.
She pushed back the pounding pain and tried to sit up. The whole building swayed. Through hazy vision, she saw the Kirin and the tulpa dancing.
Huh?
She blinked, refocusing. No, Kirin was trying to get around it to her. The tulpa, its head now regenerated, mirrored his steps and blocked his every move.
“I’m okay,” she managed. Now if I can only get up.
No cockroaches, at least. The severed head was gone. Incinerated. Along with the orange orb. They were so screwed.
“Stay there,” she said. “We’re exactly where we want to be, on either side of it.” She called the blue orb to her. Not orange, but it was all she had.
The tulpa swung a hammering blow at Kirin, who ducked. Unfortunately, he couldn’t duck low enough and took the brunt of it on his side. He fell but staggered up again.
“Positive emotions,” she reminded him.
“Damned hard when all I want to do is”—he forced a smile—”love you. Make you safe.”
“Me, too. Hold those feelings and let’s do this.” She readied the orb, infusing as much magick into it as she could muster. He drew in the deepest breath, and she counted, “One. Two. Three!”
He expelled a stream of red sparks through his fangs, aimed at the tulpa’s head. It stumbled, once again thrown off by their emotions. All they needed to do was hold them for just a few seconds. She started to throw the orb, but something knocked her from behind and sent her to the floor.
She turned to see the culprit: a piece of the tulpa. While she was distracted with that, the tulpa grabbed her and tossed her down its throat. She spun, going headfirst into its interior. As she moved through the dark, thick essence pulsing around her, she saw a man’s face. Vague features, as Kirin had said, indistinguishable in the inky blackness. She reached out but couldn’t touch him.
A blue glow tried to penetrate the dark. Her orb had followed her in! She called it to her.
Through the outer membrane of the tulpa, she could see Kirin. Even in Dragon form, he looked sick with worry. He couldn’t see her, just as she hadn’t been able to see the man trapped inside. Except Kirin’s eyes zoned in on something. The orb. He must be able to see the glow.
Her blue orb wasn’t strong enough to kill the tulpa, but maybe she could send it up to blow its head off again. She needed Kirin to use his Dragon magick at the same time. He rushed at the tulpa, but the creature knocked him back. Kirin stilled for a moment as he readied for another attack.
She made the orb blink. One. Two. Three. He paused. She did it again, and he nodded in understanding. She only hoped he understood that they had to do it all at once: the orb, his deepest breath, and the emotions. They had been thwarted before, but they couldn’t afford to fail this time. She had to push aside all of her fear and uncertainty and focus only on things that would weaken the tulpa.
She brought up warm memories of her mother and made the orb blink once.
Elle remembered a time her father had hugged her, a rare occurrence, and made the orb blink twice.
She thought about lying in Kirin’s arms, feeling loved and cherished. As the orb blinked three times, it changed color. It was turning…orange?
After the third blink, she hefted it upward as Kirin’s flames rushed out in a huge plume. The tulpa’s hands went to its head as it exploded. Now that it was weakened, the flames took hold and quickly enveloped the tulpa. It started weaving and spinning.
Groping through the black, she latched onto an arm and leaned against the side of the tulpa. Kirin said the man had pushed him out. She threw herself against the membrane. No give.
Uh oh. What if they were still inside when the tulpa died?
It lurched toward the wall. On one side, she saw Kirin smashing into the tulpa. On the other, the wall coming fast. They hit with such force that the wall bowed outward. She lost her grip on the man.
