A Darker Shade of Sorcery - - (leveled readers .txt) 📗

class="calibre1">He looked dead.

“NO!”

Evan’s mind exploded with emotion.

Because of him all this had happened.

Because of him Emi and Elijah lay at his feet unconscious, possibly worse.

Because of him Jed might be dead. Because of him many more Venators could’ve died at any time since the invasion.

Even as Evan hacked around him savagely, his mind fighting madness, Sintian was dragged to the floor beside him.

A dark mist began to emerge.

Evan felt that strange sensation he’d felt before. The mist he thought he’d just imagined was back. But yet, he had been mad with anger and desperation those times too, this had to be a figment of his imagination.

The clotting blackness rolled and surged.

Evan was numb to it all, yet some part of him felt connected with the mist now circling the corridor. His sword clattered out of limp hands and he sagged against the wall near Jed.

A dozen demons came for him, unaware of the nefarious mist rising above them.

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Evan didn’t say a word, he didn’t even move, but suddenly the shadow-fog rushed to devour the unsuspecting demons.

Amidst screams more horrible than any he'd ever heard, the sound of bones snapping echoed off the walls. The demon’s bodies wilted, formless as the horrific sorcery sucked out their very souls.

Evan shut his eyes tight, not wanting to witness the scene anymore. Is this my fault too?

“You,” he heard a venomous hiss.

He opened his eyes to see Sintian struggling to his feet, spitting blood.

The black mist had vanished without a trace.

“That- was demon magic,” Sintian rasped, panic-stricken.

“What-no-I didn’t...” Evan fought against all that had happened tonight. It was the worst nightmare anyone had ever had to endure. It just couldn’t be real.

Sintian was backing away from him, a mask of terror painted on his face.

“What are you?” he breathed.

Evan frowned at him, “What? I’m like you-”

“You are nothing like me,” Sintian choked. “You’re not right, you’re not human.”

“Of course I am,” Evan shouted.

“No human can wield demon magic,” Sintian’s eyes were consumed by fear.

“You’re one of them.”

Evan couldn’t believe he’d choose a time like now to play a sick joke like this.

Sintian really was disturbed.

Evan slid to the floor. He was so drained he could hardly move. I was drained of magic before the black mist appeared, wasn’t I? So it couldn’t possibly have been me?

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He attempted to crawl over to Jed, hoping against hope he wasn’t dead. To his relief he felt a pulse, very weak, but there.

His relief increased when Cera sprinted into view.

Her eyes were alight with a manic fire and her whole body heaved as she panted.

“Evan, thank Rueda. I've been looking everywhere for you. Come with me quick, I know a way out of here.”

He was so tired, his surroundings were spinning and he felt like he was going to black out at any second.

“Cera, wait…we can't leave the others behind.”

“Just trust me, Evan,” she said desperately, “it's not far, nothing will happen to them.”

She pulled him up and dragged him down the hallway as Sintian followed.

“Cera,” Evan slurred, “we need to tell Tarensen, make sure everyone's okay. What if the demons take Jed and the others, someone needs to help them.”

“Everything will be okay.” Cera steered him down another passage.

“Where are we going?” Sintian demanded.

“Here, this is it,” Cera announced, stopping outside a green door.

They entered a chamber with huge windows on every wall. Even as Evan noticed the hole smashed into one of the walls, a huge shape lunged towards him.

No! Not again. He couldn’t take anymore.

The demon, a blue giant with the head of a hyena, was the biggest and most grotesque thing Evan had seen yet.

“Kurrlan sends his greetings, he will reward his Arok,” the demon rasped, his throat not used to human speech.

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With one careless swat he sent Sintian rolling across the floor, unconscious, then moved towards Evan.

He had nothing left. He tried to stand before the demon got to him but it was hopeless. He saw the black mist curling around his ankles once again.

Arok paused, the eyes in his hyena-head widening in fear. Unlike the other demons, he appeared to recognise the mist.

Evan didn't want to use that terrible sorcery again, but he knew it was his only chance of destroying his giant foe.

He looked round to tell Cera to run, but she was nowhere in sight.

Good, at least she's safe. But I have to make sure they’re all safe.

Emillia, Elijah and Sintian were out cold, he remembered Jed, blood pooling around his head as he lay, possibly dying.

Then he saw Brooke. Over Arok's shoulder, through the crater in the wall, he saw her sprinting across one of Veneseron's bridges as demons chased her. Not her too!

He could stop this, make the army go away, he just had to sacrifice himself. Who knew what else was happening around the Fortress? So many lives were in danger, so many lives may have already been taken.

“Wait!” he shouted as Arok advanced tentatively.

“I'll come with you, no struggle, if you promise you'll call off the attack. I don't want anyone else to get hurt. Please, do what you want with me, just leave everyone else alone.”

If the demons were called off now they might not catch Brooke in time. He had to surrender himself before they caught her, before Jed died, before the demons killed anyone, if they hadn’t already.

“You, come with me? ...No demon magic?” Arok cocked his head.

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Evan realised the demon was right, the black mist had disappeared.

“Yes, just take me, call off all the others, Yes?”

Arok merely nodded, before flinging Evan over his shoulder and jumping back out of the huge wound in the castle and into the night.

*

Brooke screamed in revulsion as the rotted hand smothered her.

“BROOKE!” She heard the shout in the distance, but then steel blossomed inches to the left of her ear, embedding itself in the zombie’s face. The zombie toppled off the bridge with a groan. Brooke looked down to see Lok throwing another dagger, this one striking the demon behind her.

“Hold on!” she heard him cry as he stared wildly about for a route to take him to her.

Brooke could hardly stay put, there was still two demons on her tail and more pouring out of Castle-Coterie across the bridge.

She kept running, diving into Dragonrock Keep, leaping over the stunned demon before it could stand.

She could feel her magic dwindling and her breath came in ragged, sharp gasps.

She looked at her forearm, expecting to see a terrible wound it stung so badly, but there wasn’t a mark.

This was the third time this had happened, something odd was going on.

Brooke ran the only way she could, up. Up stone staircases and slanting corridors, below her the demons gathered. She climbed the castle until she was on the top floor,

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soon there’d be nowhere else to go. A countless multitude of monsters stalked her now, longing to feast.

Panic crashed over Brooke in waves, she was at a dead end. She could hear them just behind her, their excitement increasing to a feverish pitch now they knew she couldn’t escape.

Frantically, Brooke attempted the only thing that might work. Using a fire spell, she burned a hole through the ceiling, then cast an enchantment upon herself so she could jump high enough to seize an edge of the ruined rock and pull herself up onto the battlements.

It was dangerous Brooke knew, but if she didn’t keep moving they’d rip her to pieces. She had never been so scared in her life, and had never felt so alone. She was sure Lok wouldn’t be able to find her in time, and no one else would either.

Brooke attempted to reseal the hole in the roof, but before she could the first of her demon followers was scrabbling his way through. Her sorcery was drained, so she assaulted the abominations with her sword. Over and over again she hacked at the many grotesque bodies until her arms gave out and she could hack no more.

Brooke fell back and slumped to the floor, utterly beaten.

The demons came on relentlessly, shrieking with abysmal mirth as they surged towards her.

She backed away on her hands until she reached the edge of the battlements. The drop below was terrifying, but it would be a better death than the one facing her.

The demons had climbed to the roof now, over a dozen of them, all grinning maliciously; those with mouths at least.

One gave a barked command and they all leapt towards her.

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What she thought would be the last scream she ever made was drowned out by the demons’ own cries as a blazing orange torrent rushed over them. An inferno smashed into the pack of monsters from above, smouldering them to ruin.

As Daggenite landed on the roof, Arantay bounded from his dragon and hurried towards her. Tears of relief ran down her face as Arantay lifted her to her feet, hugging her tightly.

She sagged in his arms, drained, physically and emotionally.

Brooke wanted to stay there forever, but all too soon Arantay laid her down by Daggenite’s magnificent head.

“Ssssh.” He hushed his velvet voice as she tried to speak, “rest here, Daggenite will protect you.”

Daggenite’s yellow eyes gazed into Arantay’s and Brooke knew the dragon understood the Elfpire perfectly.

Brooke tried to ask him where he was going, but without another word he’d gone.

*

Arantay leaped from the castle battlements, like a ghostly spectre as he hung mid-air, illuminated by the moons, then he was falling, plummeting towards the earth two hundred feet below.

He landed lithely, before moving across the Veneseron fields faster than any human could.

It had been his job to guard the forest from an attack like this, but he’d left his post.

He’d felt a need to make sure Brooke was safe. As soon as he saw the first demon

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from atop Daggenite he had flown, not through the forest to find the source of the attack, but to scour the Fortress to look for her.

It had been a selfish and foolish error and he berated himself as he ran, although he was relieved to have found her when he did, a moment later and the demons would've had her.

His tainted blood pumped through his veins and the fields were replaced by the forest as he ran. Demons whooshed past, but he paid them no heed. To stop this he had to cut off the gateway allowing them access to Veneseron.

As he moved fear shot through his body. The demons appeared in more abundance as he neared his home, where his family had always resided peacefully.

Arantay could not let the demons invade their home. He could not let them harm his mother, his father, even Falawn.

It had previously been indistinguishable through the heavy