Heart of a rogue

Chapter 36

Agatha's voice was strained, raw with the memory of the horror that had unfolded before her eyes. Her children, her precious children, hanging like broken dolls, their small, mangled bodies twisting in the air, their faces contorted in pain and fear. The vision replayed in her mind, relentless and vivid, and with a shriek of anguish, she snapped.

Vines shot up from the ground, thick and furious, like serpents unleashed from the earth itself. They whipped through the air, latching onto Alani, Abel, and Declan with brutal force. The three of them struggled, their movements frantic as the vines coiled tighter, squeezing like a boa constrictor, drawing gasps of pain from their lips. Joshua, Lucille, Leo, Ariadne, and Erzulie managed to dodge, rolling to the sides just in time to avoid being snared, but the clearing erupted into chaos.

Agatha's voice rose to a fever pitch, her eyes wide with madness. "There is no forgiveness!" she screamed, her voice splintering like glass. "There is no peace!"

She lunged forward, her entire form shifting, contorting. The ground trembled beneath her, and she began to change. Vines grew from her back, twisting around her limbs like grotesque wings. A crown of thorns formed atop her head, cruel and jagged, digging into her scalp, blood trickling down her forehead like a dark, twisted halo. Her body elongated, her skin turning a sickly green-gray, covered in sharp thorns and thick brambles. Her eyes glowed an unnatural red, filled with a hatred that seemed to pierce through the very air around them.

I  sprang forward, determination burning in my gaze. "Agatha!" I shouted, my voice fierce. "This isn't you! You have to stop!"

Ariadne's voice cut through the din, sharp and panicked. "Lucille, get back!" she cried, her hands outstretched as if to pull Lucille back by force.

"Lucille, no!" Leo shouted, fear lacing his words as he watched her approach Agatha's monstrous form. "Get away from her!"

I hesitated, caught between the desperate need to help and the warnings of those around her. She took a step back, but her foot slipped on the loose earth, sending her tumbling to the ground.

Agatha's twisted eyes flickered with recognition, her face contorting into a deranged smile. "An eye for an eye," she snarled, her voice dripping with venom. "Leo took my children... I will take the love of his life."

She smiled deviously, ''his spirit bond...'' Her words cut through the air like a blade. A vine snapped out from her arm, a dark, writhing mass aimed straight for my chest.

Erzulie darted forward, her fingers tracing an intricate pattern in the air as she whispered an incantation, but before she could complete it, vines burst from the ground, wrapping around her legs and arms, yanking her to the earth with a force that knocked the breath from her lungs. Even Ariadne, swift and agile, was caught by a thick mass of thorns that lashed out from the earth, pulling her back as she tried to get closer.

My eyes widened as the vine hurtled towards me, my body frozen for a moment. I tried to scramble back, but the earth beneath me was too slick, too unstable.

Declan was growling while fighting the vines, trying to get to me too. But the vines were holding on too tight. He was tearing into them, but more returned and clamped onto him. 

Leo's heart pounded in his chest. He knew he had to act. With a guttural growl, he summoned his spirit form. His body began to shimmer, breaking apart into tendrils of black smoke that twisted and writhed in the air. Within seconds, he had transformed into a massive wolf made of dark, ethereal smoke, his eyes glowing a fierce, bright green.

With a mighty leap, Leo launched himself forward, his spirit form moving faster than the wind itself. He surged ahead, just as the vine shot toward me. He reached me in time, his smoke form wrapping around me like a protective cloak. The vine struck, but instead of piercing flesh, it passed through his smoky essence, unable to find purchase. The impact sent a wave of dark energy rippling through the clearing, but Leo's spirit form held firm. Protecting me.