The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga by Taliesin Govannon (top 10 novels of all time .txt) 📗

                I cleared the negative thoughts from my mind and tried again.  This time I visualized not only the house and the grounds, but the people inside… Raina, Jack, even Evelyn.  I felt my caring and devotion for my friends, both old and new, and felt it well up within my chest.

                “Stay away!” I yelled, pushing my hands out in front of me.  A streak of purple light flew from my hands and created a web of light at the edge of the lawn, along the treeline.  Though the visible light faded instantly, I could feel the magick left behind, standing in between my home and the danger approaching.  I smiled.  That’s how you do it, kid! I heard the olive-skinned woman say in my mind.

                I turned around and saw Raina running towards me, Trevor and Evelyn not far behind.  In my sensitive state, I could also 'see' Jack sitting at his computer desk, monitoring the surveillance cameras around the property.

                “So what’s the sitch?” Raina asked me, her hands at the ready to cast.

                “They look like giant spiders.” I said calmly.  “I counted maybe a dozen.”

                “Arak-Hellions.” Evelyn said gravely.  “Somebody’s serious.”

                “Actually, they sound more like Thagnerian snare-beasts..." Trevor began but was interrupted by a thunderous crashing in the trees.

                One that was coming closer.

                Without a word, Trevor and Evelyn spread out in opposite directions, both positioning themselves to face whatever came out of the forest nearest to them.  Raina stayed by my side, hands still ready.

                Directly in front of us, a huge shape came crashing through the trees and hit the invisible barrier head-on.  It was stopped, and seemingly phased, by the encounter.

                It was a vision right out of a nightmare.  It looked like a tarantula the size of a mini-van, only with razor-sharp claws at the end of its legs and fangs big enough for a monster twice it's size.

                Before it could recover from the collision, Vincent exploded from the treeline and landed on it's back.  The giant spider reared back, but Vincent had a firm grip on the hair that covered its body and held fast.

                “Your boyfriend’s back.” Raina deadpanned, though her mouth twitched into a lightening fast smile after she said it.

                I smiled as well as I watched him work.  The beast was obviously strong, and Vincent strained to hold on as he also grabbed at its skin and started pulling bits away.  The thing howled, but it stayed outside of the barrier as they fought.

                “Nice shield.” Raina said.

                “Thank you.” I replied, though neither of us took our eyes off of the scene in front of us.

                Vincent was soon joined by Angelique, who backed out of the forest carrying what looked to be a telephone pole, only jointed and covered with hair.  With a shock, I realized that it was the leg of one of the creatures.  The leg's owner came next, limping out of the forest on seven legs but still plenty dangerous.  She struck it with its own leg, and the giant beast crashed to the ground.  It wasn't as steady as it was before.

                “How many?” Raina asked.

                “They started with a dozen.” I answered as Angelique ripped the head off of the spider that she was battling.  “I have no idea how many are left.”

                Angelique had no more killed one of them when two more, uninjured and ready for battle, emerged from the forest with a crashing of branches and underbrush.  Angelique took one of them and renewed her attack, while the other one charged at the barrier.  It crashed against it like the other had done, falling temporarily in a heap on the ground.  It got up and charged again, this time leaving traces in the energy making up the barrier.

                “That shield isn’t going to last forever.” I said.

                “As long as it lasts until Angelique or Vincent are free…” Raina began, only to be interrupted by another nightmare-creature running out of the woods and against the barrier.  It was also repulsed, but it recovered much more quickly than the others had.

                Suddenly, there were three of them, all racing towards the energy barrier I had constructed.  The shield crackled, sparked, and then collapsed altogether.

                “Good luck!” Raina called, already running towards the battle.  She dashed over to Evelyn, already facing her spider down with a large sword that I hadn’t seen before.  Raina started hitting it with fireball spells, and the creature roared in protest.

                To my right, Trevor was already on the back of one creature, slashing it with a large golden dagger.  That left one creature, one that was coming right for me.

                My mind scrambled for a solution.  I decided to alter another spell to see if it would work.  I pushed with all of my magickal strength, and another bolt of energy flew from my hands.  It slammed into the edge of the creature, knocked it sideways, but didn’t do much more than slow it down.

                I recovered, and then came up with another idea.  I reached out with my senses and pulled instead of pushing, focusing on one of its front legs.

                The giant spider clearly wasn’t ready for this as it’s leg flew out from under it, causing it to skid to the side.  I then reversed the flow and pushed.

                This knocked it down on its side but didn't do much to hurt it.  It flopped on the ground for a second, then started fighting to right itself again.  Scrambling, I thought furiously as to what to do next.  As it grew closer, I started to get truly afraid.

                The things shrieked in protest and lifted into the air.  Confused, I looked and saw Raina standing close by, her hands in the air, guiding the monster who had been charging at me.  Behind her, I could see the mangled corpse of the beast that she had been fighting with