Chapter Twenty Seven
Stand Together

 

Emily looked up at Leah and Sarah. Last time he’d seen one of these things, the two of them had made short work of it. To his dismay, Leah did not seem to be raising her wand the way she had that time. “Kill it!” Emily squeaked as Emily hid behind Jenna’s leg. Memories of that time began flooding back. Almost dying. Almost being eaten. The monstrous being began to run towards them, its many legs and claws digging gashes into the concrete like it was mud. 

“She can’t!” Sarah replied quickly. “It uses too much. She’d only get one shot at this, and it’s moving too much.” Emily looked at the thing again. Its erratic movements were hard to predict. Much as Emily hated to admit it, he could see the logic in that. If she missed, then she’d likely be out of magic, and so would the area around it. But maybe Jenna could? “And nobody else can craft a spell like that,” Sarah added, reading his mind (or his expression). “Leah can focus her spells better than anyone here.”

Emily tried to steady his breathing, but he found his body moving of its own accord, trying to get back, tugging at his hindbrain to make itself scarce. Run, every fibre of his being seemed to yell. Just run. It was only because none of the others were moving to get away that Emily didn’t, and he didn’t get why. 

“Shield!” Jacob yelled. Dennis’ wizard was taking charge of the situation, hand on his glasses. Benjamin, with Ferret Simon in the cap of his hoodie, raised his staff, and Jenna her arm with the bracelet. A shimmering wall, kaleidoscopic wall of colours that looked like a cracked mirror appeared in the air between them and the monster. Every time one of the heavy raindrops hit the shield, it flickered briefly in various colours. Against his better judgement, Emily stayed close to Jenna. He knew she needed him close by in order to use her magic best and not run out, but he still didn’t know what else he could do. He could barely lift himself safely using telekinesis, let alone get someone out of danger. 

Then thinking stopped, because the creature slammed into the shield with all the noise of two trains colliding. The noise was deafening, and everyone except Jacob flinched and dropped back. He had a hand pressed to his glasses to keep them in place, and for a brief moment Emily couldn’t help but think of superhero comics he’d read the one time someone from class had brought one to school. It would have looked almost silly, if he wasn’t busy saving their lives. Shards of the shield scattered around them and dissolved into liquid light before disappearing entirely. The monster reeled for a moment, clearly not expecting the wall of solid energy that had appeared before it. 

It seemed like Leah had deliberately waited. Emily saw Sarah floating around her like she had that first time. The first time he’d seen that particular feat, it had seemed so graceful, like a fox swimming in the air around her mage, but now he noticed that Sarah was frantically repositioning herself so that she didn’t get in Leah’s way while also trying to keep her in a good position. Leah, relying on Sarah’s help, extended her wand, and then brought it down in a swift motion. With a clap of thunder, the monster’s head jerked downwards and slammed into the concrete. He didn’t want to jinx it by asking if it was over, but the creature lay down motionless, face down in the rain. 

Sarah and Leah started to slowly drift downwards. “Careful,” Simon said. “If you don’t see it die it’s not dead.” Emily looked at him in shock. He’d never expected to hear him say something so… dark. “What?” he asked. “It’s movie rules, man.” 

“What kind of stuff do you watch?!” 

“Any! Have you never seen a Disney movie?”

“What the hell is a Dis—” Emily started when the creature’s hand shot out and proved Simon right. Everyone jumped to attention, but it didn’t reach for any of them. It grabbed a nearby car and chucked it almost casually at Leah while it pulled itself upright with an unnatural groan. Every noise it made sounded wrong. Like bubbling tar and creaking wood if those could get angry. Leah swiftly sliced the air in front of her with her wand, and the car burst in half with a flash of light. At least, it seemed like that was what had happened for a second. In practice, the car being cut in half meant the air was suddenly full of debris. 

Sarah took cover behind Leah, who raised her hands to shield herself from the various wrappers, coins and papers that had accumulated inside the vehicle. And whether or not the creature had planned for a distraction like that, it took full advantage. In a blur of grey, it snatched her out of the air. 

Sarah screamed. Jenna immediately raised her hands and a wave of pure force slammed into the creature, but it didn’t drop its prey. Leah, dazed from the sudden attack, hung limply from its massive hand. Her wand had dropped somewhere to the ground. 

“Try to avoid hitting her,” Benjamin said, “and keep that thing distracted. I’m going to try to make it drop her.” He looked at Jacob. “If Sarah doesn’t catch her, you try to, okay?” Only needing a few nods in response, he ran to the side with Simon clinging to the inside of his coat, and raised his staff. Okay, so they had to keep the thing distracted. The street was covered in rubble now, so at least Emily could make himself a little useful. He didn’t have a lot of strength, but he had precision. He started to pick up rocks and pebbles, and flung them at the creature’s eyes with everything he had. That wasn’t hurting it, but at least he could do this for a while and it was clearly putting the thing off-balance somewhat. Jenna kept blasting the thing with walls of force, and Jacob was carefully circling around the other side to catch Leah if it came to that. The creature swiped at Sarah, who shot swiftly through the air in stuttering, panicked motions.

“Over here!” Jenna yelled, waving her free arm. “This way!” A part of him wanted to tell her to keep it down, but he also knew this was necessary to keep Leah out of harm. It was just a matter of time before the creature slammed her into something, and he didn’t want to think of what would happen then. The monster started to move towards them, its many limbs moving to protect its head from Jenna’s incessant attacks. It raised a hand, and for a flash, Emily saw Leah, now fully awake, struggling against the creature’s grip. 

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And he hadn’t been the only one. He heard a shout from the side Benjamin was on, and there was a red streak that moved through the air like a ripple in a glass. Time froze for a moment, and then Leah, and the hand she’d been caught in, was in freefall. She screamed, but stopped moving after a second. He saw Jacob jump onto a car, not taking his eyes off of her, and Sarah flying towards them both as he safely lowered her towards him. 

Not that there was a lot of time, because the thing was already trying to advance towards them again, more than a little annoyed at the loss of its prey and a limb, no matter how many it had to spare. But now everyone was firing everything they had at it. Well, not Benjamin. He could see magic flowing through the air, and a lot of it was going through Simon and into him. Whatever he’d done to cut the thing’s hand off had used a lot of magic, and he clearly needed to recharge. 

Emily looked around. A lot of magic in the area had been used, he noticed. They’d have to end this quickly, or they’d be in trouble. He told Jenna as much, and she nodded. “Okay,” she said over their mental connection. “I’ll try to use more small, focused attacks. We’ve got it on the back foot.” She was right. The monster, while it kept trying to move in their direction, kept stumbling and having to regain its footing. All they needed was something to end it. He looked over at Leah. She was running down the street, trying not to fall in the pouring rain while looking in the gutter. Emily saw her grab something and hold it up triumphantly. He jumped up at Jenna and drew her attention to it. 

“She has her wand back!” he projected to her. “We need to get over to the others!” They both ran over in her direction. Not only was Leah more experienced with magic, but he was pretty sure she also had a larger magical reserve than any of the others, and able to focus it better than anyone else, although he didn’t know why. If she was able to get an attack off, that would probably end things right here. With the monster still reeling from the various attacks, it shouldn’t be hard for her to hit it dead-center. 

Benjamin kept causing small explosions by the creature’s head, which kept it distracted, and everyone grouped up as best they could in the pouring rain. Emily kept an eye on Dennis, specifically, but he was being braver than Emily would’ve expected, and stayed by his Wizard’s side. 

“How are you holding up?” Emily asked him. He barked. His fur was wet and clung to his small frame, but the adrenalin was clearly keeping him going. Good. Emily made a mental note to praise him on staying so calm this entire time. He had no idea how he himself was managing to do it and Emily was years older than the young Malamute. “Leah!” he yelled, trying to be audible over the pouring rain, the explosions, and its roars. She looked around for a second, and then down at Emily. 

“What?!” 

“Whatever that big attack of yours is, do you have enough power for it?” Emily asked. She looked at him for a second, and then nodded. “I need you and Sarah to go up again. It’ll probably see you as a threat and attack you,” he reasoned, “but the others will keep you shielded. Can you get that attack off at it? I think everyone together can keep it still, and I don’t think we can afford to really stretch this out for much longer.”

She seemed to think about this for a moment, and then nodded again. “Just don’t let it throw more cars at me,” she said, and then made eye contact with the others. If the monster attacked again, they would likely be able to pull up a shield now that they were together. Jacob put a hand on Jenna’s shoulder. With the rain coming down as hard as it did, running in rivers down the street, it was hard to hear or see each other clearly. With Sarah’s help, Leah began to float up again. She clearly needed a few seconds to ready whatever spell she wanted to use. 

“Careful!” Simon yelled, and Benjamin quickly created a series of explosions, buying the others enough time to shield the floating witch from the monster’s next attack. With everyone on the same page, they were able to keep the thing from attacking her, especially now that it was targeting her as the biggest threat. 

“Now!” Emily yelled. Benjamin, Jacob and Jenna all released a burst of as much energy as they had left at the creature’s head. It held up a gigantic arm, which was blown aside by the first attack. The second glanced. The third hit it right in the face. Staggering backwards, it groaned loudly, and sluggishly swayed on its feet. Emily looked up at Leah. It was now or never. 

Carefully, Leah raised her wand and pointed it at the Spirit. He could practically feel the air crackling, the metallic, pungent smell of ozone and crisp air. The rain stopped, raindrops suspended in mid air vibrating with energy. The whole world held its breath. 

Then the building to Leah’s right unfurled, blossomed, like a flower in fast-forward, and brick and mortar showered the street as the rain resumed. Leah’s shot went wide, and something struck her hard enough to make her bounce off the pavement. Sarah was thrown aside, and Jacob only barely managed to shield Dennis, Jenna and himself from falling debris. 

When Emily came to his senses, he realized in horror that in front of them, shaking off chunks of wreckage, was a second, much larger one of the creatures, its many beady, little eyes locking onto Emily, before it released an ear-piercing scream and charged at them.