Nephilum

Chapter 24

Every few steps we took toward our friends, we encountered a new demon.

We moved infuriatingly slowly. The more demons we encountered the more I hated them. No matter how many we killed they were still stupid enough to keep trying. Either that or they had insanely strong wills.

"Behind you!" James shouted. I turned just in time to catch a fist to the face. My head jerked to the side from the sudden impact. I blinked a few times and glared at the demon. 

"Was that really necessary?" I questioned.

The demon didn't have time to answer because seconds later the hilt of my knife collided with his skull, emanating a sickening crack. I almost felt bad for the demon. Almost.

We were a couple yards away from Sam and Devin who were slaughtering any demon that got in their way. We arrived just in time to witness Sam get clawed in the cheek by a demon. Blood drew instantly and Sam slammed her blade into the demon with far more force than necessary.

The demon went limp and soon another three were ganging up on her. Sam looked like she was starting to slow down. Devin had about five on him and he was slowing down too.

James shot me an urgent look and mouthed one word. One word that fueled me with anticipation.

Now.

I nodded and closed my eyes. I concentrated on bringing the raging fire inside me to the surface. I opened my eyes and sure enough, I was radiating a bright mix of blue and white.

Exhaustion clung to me like a heavy blanket that I just couldn't get rid of. Deep down, I knew that I would only be able to do this once. It had to be enough.

I took a deep breath and focused on pulling the fire through my skin. It did as I asked and burst out of me in an explosion. I made sure it didn't go anywhere near Sam, Devin, or James.

Terrified screams rang throughout the room and I shuddered. My arms were held out in front of me and were quivering with the effort it took to control the blaze.

The demons pained cries slowly diminished and soon, we were left with a fourth of the demons there was before I started. The flow coming out of me came to an abrupt stop. I tried to push more of it out, but the more I tried, I just became dizzy.

I blinked rapidly as I swayed on my feet. James' arm was immediately wrapped around my shoulders and we all began to run. There was still a good twenty demons or so and they were right on our heels.

At the first intersection, Sam and Devin went left while we ran to the right. I looked back as we ran and saw a couple demons a few feet behind us. Despite my fatigue, I ran faster. Adrenaline was pumping through me and at that point, was the only thing keeping me going.

I dug my feet into the stone floor, trying to make each step take me farther from the demons behind us.

"Don't look back!" James yelled from beside me. We were way past caring who heard us.

I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. I was panting extremely hard.

We ran for what seemed like years before we came to another intersection. "We have to split up!" I yelled to James as it came closer and closer.

"No way!" He yelled back.

I didn't say anything after that, but was silently coming up with my own plan. They wanted me, not him. If we split up, then they would follow me and at least one of us would survive.

As soon as James turned for the left, I turned toward the right. It took him all of half a second to realize what I did.

"Lizzy!" He screamed. He couldn't stop though because a couple demons were still trailing him. More than half the demons broke off to follow me.