The horrifying creature swung its claws at Luz again, scoring deep furrows in the throne's dais where she had been standing. She threw herself off the raised platform, trusting her wooden owl to pull her to safety. She twisted, throwing a leg over the staff, and glanced back over her shoulder. The golem sprang after her—moving far faster than she'd expected—and caught her in mid-air. Luz cried out in pain as the hooked blades sank deep into her back as the creature grappled her from her staff. They fell toward the white marble below, arms and legs tangled, and its right shoulder blistered and bulged, fluid bursting out to ripple into a third bladed arm. The new limb pulled back to slash down at her throat. She panicked and pressed her palm against the figure's chest, summoning an explosive burst of flame. The purple oozing creature blew apart, splashing against the throne, the ceiling, and the walls around her as she fell heavily to the floor.
"Aaah-ha, shiiiit," Luz sucked in a pained breath through clenched teeth as she rolled onto her side, pushing herself to one knee. Maybe this calls for a retreat? She briefly considered, and as the thought crossed her mind, a rapid multitude of clanging footsteps marched up the stairs from the entrance to the throne room. Luz glanced over her shoulder to see the armored knights from earlier rapidly filling the far end of the room, blocking the exit and the balcony doorways with their shining spears and swords. "Dammit," She hissed.
Odalia gave a mocking laugh, and Luz looked up to see her ice-and-vines prison riven by the spindly oozing creature. The brown-haired girl watched the golem reforming beside the green-haired woman; all the far-flung clumps and gobbets were flowing back together in thick, cloying tendrils like the black mass of wisps from earlier. It stared down at her, so unnaturally still, dripping slowly as the human-like mouth drifted up its body to rest in its proper place, its four eyes blinking at different intervals. One of the right eyes lazily slid upward to sit atop its head, and several more blinked open across its torso. It opened its mouth to take a deep, chest-expanding breath. Luz gasped and spun her staff to raise a bright purple bubble-like shield around herself.
The creature opened its borrowed mouth far too wide and screamed. The white marble floor around Luz shattered and her shield rippled like a flag in a windstorm as she groaned in pain, her eyes clenched shut as she endured the onslaught of sound. The air between her and the creature vibrated, the world outside her bubble echoing a high-pitched squeal of distortion and static. It was almost as bad as Eda's whistle flashlight the night before. Her shield barely held, and the golem's scream ended after an eternity. Luz breathed quick mouthfuls of air, still on one knee, holding herself upright with her staff. When she opened her eyes, she saw the Queen's knights surrounding her bubble, spears at the ready. The Queen and her creature stood in front of the throne, leering down at her.
Luz shook her head, clearing her ears and the fog from her mind, "You love being in control," she looked up at Odalia, accusing, challenging, "You need it, don't you? Like a drug." The woman raised her chin and sneered. Luz grinned, "Time for some Clawthorne family chaos." She leaned her head against her staff and whispered, "Keep the bubble up for me as long as you can, okay, little friend?" The wooden owl gave a soft hoot as she touched the floor, creating a chair shaped out of vines. She sat down and closed her eyes, feeling for her real body, subtly adjusting the vines and her posture to closely match the outside world.
"Stop her!" Odalia snarled, "Whatever she's doing!" and the creature sprang from the throne to splash against the purple bubble around the brown-haired girl. The golem reformed then clawed and bit at the magic shield, scrabbling with its hooked blades against the buzzing shell beneath it. It shrieked and slashed, its wild swings scoring the marble around the shield, its semi-solid fluid boiling away wherever it touched the glowing bubble for too long. Luz ignored the creature slamming its face into the barrier above her, unhinging its jaw to loosen its terrible scream down at its seated prey. She breathed out, long and slow, and—
YOU ARE READING
The Siren at the Museum (The Girl Who Sang #1)
FanfictionA chance meeting on the subway is the best thing that's happened to Luz in practically forever. She has so many questions about her new friend 'Azura', like "who were those men chasing you?" and "why can't you say anything?" The reviews are in: ...
