Scholomance 9 by Logan Jacobs (inspirational books to read txt) 📗

and the other men stood in blind terror as their counterparts succumbed to a slow and painful death.

“What in heaven’s name are the rest of you waiting for?” the elder goddess screeched when no one budged an inch. “Attack them! Spill their blood and stain the clouds!”

We stood guard, and it took a long moment before the other men seemed to find their footing and courage to charge. I smiled and didn’t hesitate before I blasted spell after spell at them, and I didn’t even have to give the command before Alexander flew over the clouds and began to tear into the eyes of Samara’s men. They shouted in pain as tears of blood ran down their pale marble faces, but then, the sky rumbled, and when I glanced up, the white clouds parted to reveal a stream of serpens quickly descending upon us. To my horror, I realized there were dozens of them, enough to wipe us all out.

“We have them now!” the elder named Aron bellowed with satisfaction. “Prepare to meet your dear fires of hell!”

Rage and fear seared through my veins, and when I glanced at Samara’s perfect face, a smile crept upon her lips, and she cackled with laughter until her shoulders shook. Her eyes sparkled with thirst, and her smile was taunting me.

Once again, the elder goddess thought she had the upper hand, but I was prepared to prove her wrong. As the serpens drew closer and a fire burned in their throats, I looked up into their eyes. Their snake-like orbs matched the bloodlust in their mistress’ smile, and I knew they were about to spout a cloud of flames in our direction. There was this determined fierceness in their feral faces and a wild longing to see us dead, but they had no idea what kind of power I had in my heart.

“Do it!” Samara cried out. “Burn them allllllll!”

One of her giant loyal beasts flew quicker and lower than the others, and when it opened its jaws to spew a massive cloud of fire at me, I raised my hand high above me.

I quickly pictured a watery dome, the same kind Vanessa would often create to protect us, but only more magnificent. Then I willed that wall to form around my women with all my might, and before the flames from Samara’s serpen could burn any witch, a giant dome of water and ice formed around us. It quickly stopped the fire right in its tracks, and not only did it protect us, but it also ricocheted the attack and exploded it in the serpens’ faces.

“Yes, master!” Morgana screamed with pride. “Well done!”

“Look at them burn!” Akira cackled in pure joy.

I grinned as the fire continued to consume the serpens, and when their white scales turned into charcoal, Samara’s face fell and twisted into a mask of fury. The elder goddess’ men took giant steps back, and they shielded their eyes as the serpens wailed in terror and pain and then tossed back their long necks. My smile widened as the fire spread across the beasts’ broad chests and up to their snouts until their magnificent bodies turned black and raw, and the smell of their putrid burning flesh filled the air.

“Keep going, Cole!” Vanessa encouraged. “Burn them all!”

“Cooooole!” Samara wailed as her pets shriveled into black ash. “You will pay for this! Attack them! Kill them now! But bring me Cole alive!”

Even after she uttered the command, it looked like her soldiers were too hesitant to keep fighting. They just stood there and stared at us while we remained inside our protective dome, and when I saw the terrified glint in their eyes, that was when I knew they feared for their lives. Samara didn’t give one fuck about them, and they now knew it.

The elder goddess gripped the sides of her throne as her stormy eyes glistened with fury, and her rosy lips formed a tight line as she waited for her minions to obey her bidding.

“You heard our queen, attack!” one elder with gold hair and green eyes shouted, but his voice quivered with fear. “Use your swords and all the power flowing through your bodies! Let’s rid the world of these witches once and for all.”

None of the other men budged an inch, and I grinned as the blond elder solely ran toward the dome. Not one of his men shared the same fighting spirit, and rightly so because when the spirited soldier tried to penetrate through the transparent wall with the tip of his sword, a burst of light coursed through his weapon and lit up his entire body like his veins were made of lightning. His frame trembled, and his eyes glowed a violent shade of red before his skin melted from his bones and turned into a puddle of blood, piss, and gore.

His counterparts swiftly turned a couple of shades paler, and no one dared to approach us. I stared at each one of them, and I knew I longed for more death and destruction. So, while we remained inside the sphere of ice, lightning, and water, I closed my eyes and took a long deep breath.

I pictured countless lost souls dwelling down below, and I thought of all those who longed to see the elders die gruesome and terrible deaths. All that vengeance coursed through my veins and penetrated my heart. My lungs were heavy, my heart swelled, and my voice came out like an echo when I spoke.

“Mente nostra, et Tenebrae Vos vires animumque meum corpus,” I recited with my hands raised high in the air. “Concipiamus conceit cupio… facite praecepta mea et facit ea!”

Suddenly, there was a loud roar, and the clouds quickly began to shift color. The fluffy dove white clouds were now a deep shade of hellish red, and the sky was as black as midnight. Samara’s face was