The Soulkeepers

Chapter 44: Battle

Mordechai rolled one hand over the other and formed a ball of orange flame. He hurled it toward Dr. Silva with a hissing sound that made the hair on Jacob's arms stand on end. Gideon crossed his forearms and a purple shield glowed to life in front of him, absorbing the impact of the flames inches from Dr. Silva's face. In response, Dr. Silva circled one hand over the other behind Gideon. She nodded to him to lower the shield and hurled the blue orb that formed between her hands at Mordechai. It hit him in the shoulder and howl escaped his mouth.

Lillian lunged at Turel, her blade sinking into his stomach. The Watcher grabbed the staff and yanked it from his gut, tossing it and her aside like she weighed nothing. She flipped gracefully to the top of a pew, spinning her staff back to fighting position. Gideon's shield just barely stopped Turel's fireball from taking off Lillian's head. Black goop oozed from Turel's stomach but the wound didn't stop him from retaliating. Lillian spun through the air, dodging another ball of energy. She sliced into Turel's collarbone on the way down, landing and jumping again to deliver a tornado kick to his head as she yanked her staff from his flesh.

A red ball whizzed toward Dr. Silva, this one exploding into a swarm of locusts. Gideon blew them away with a gust of his breath.

Turel struck back. The fireball skimmed Lillian's calf and she screamed louder than Jacob had ever heard a human scream. He smelled burning flesh.

The magic the Watchers wielded was more than natural fire. Through the purple flames, he watched the smoky blackness eat the flesh off his mother's calf. This was dark magic.

Gideon held the shield in a dome over Dr. Silva and Lillian as they endured a storm of fire from Mordechai and Turel. The angel reached out and touched Lillian's calf. Her screaming stopped and the open wound healed.

As Jacob saw it, Gideon was the only one who could shield and heal, which left Dr. Silva and Lillian to fight. Only they were smaller and weaker than the Watchers that attacked them. The battle was unbalanced and not in their favor. Auriel was still watching lazily from her perch. In typical Watcher style, she was too self-serving to join the battle until she absolutely had to, but if she changed her mind they were all doomed.

Turel turned toward Jacob and aimed a ball of flame at his head. Jacob ducked but he didn't need to. The purple flames shot up and ate the fireball out of the air. Turel cursed and his yellow eyes searched the boundary of the salt star.

"Pray with me, Jacob," Malini whispered into his ear. Tears streamed down her face. "Please pray with me. I'm so scared."

"Why? What good would it do? We can't waste time, Malini. We have to think of a way to help."

"Please, Jacob, please pray with me."

"I don't ... I can't, Malini. We need a plan. Help me figure out what to do."

"Jacob, listen to me." She grabbed his shoulders and shook. "Look around you. We are going to die unless we get a miracle. I am here, in this hell, because of you. I believe there is a God and I need that comfort right now. The least you can do is give it to me."

Jacob shook his head and grabbed a bottle of water. "The only one here to save us is me, Malini. Stay here. I'm going to try to help."

He stepped through the flames.

Pouring enough water into his hand to form a sharp, jagged star, he hurled the weapon into the side of Mordechai's head. Black ooze drained from the Watcher's temple. The beast turned on him, howling. He poured more water into his hand, willing it sharper and faster than the last.

"You want to play too, maggot?" Turel yelled. Now outside the circle, Jacob could tell Turel was the Watcher from the train.

He released a barrage of sharp discs toward Turel's neck. The distraction allowed Dr. Silva to come out from behind the shield. She hurled blue energy, a storm of electric light, at Mordechai. The Watcher drew a shield, a circle of fire, around himself, absorbing Dr. Silva's sorcery and turning Jacob's weapons to steam.