Between Shadow & Ruin (Fangs & Fae Saga Book 2)

fifty-two.

I picked Odie up, carrying him to the tree line while Val worked on trying to trap Kalial again. Zane rushed over to help her as I sat Odie up against a tree. His heart rate was slow but steady as his breathing calmed. My hands lit up bright as I placed them on his shoulders – I'm not sure what the baby was trying to do, but it woke Odie up. He blinked a couple times before sitting up properly.

"Hey..." I said, half-smiling.

"Momma... I – I got rid of Liam... But Kalial..."

"We know, honey. It's okay. We're going to help you with him. You still have that light magic bomb Mom and Poppa made for you – we're going to have to use that. This is almost over." Odie was blinking rapidly again. "You okay?" He moved his head side to side as if he was trying to see something. He closed each eye one at a time. "Odie?" I asked again.

"I'm... fine. Just one more fight, right?" I nodded as I helped him off the ground. He walked next to me, tall and a little proud of himself. Zane and Val were casting light magic back and forth at Kalial as he rushed around the clearing. I took the jar of light magic from Ella and handed it to Odie. "I'm still not really sure what I'm supposed to do with this..." he said.

"Just open it," Val said. "Take a deep breath and take it in. It won't last long, but it should be enough to help get rid of Kalial!" He nodded, taking a look at me. Odie carefully unscrewed the lid of the jar as he took a deep breath. The light magic slowly flowed out of the jar and surrounded Odie. He glowed for a minute as he absorbed the magic. His hands lit up brightly as he walked closer to Kalial.

Odie held both his hands up in the air and light beamed from them to Kalial's shapeless darkness. Kalial screamed and moved across the clearing. Odie concentrated, reaching out to trap him without even looking at him. Kalial thrashed about, but the shape of the darkness moved, not his position. Odie pulled the darkness towards him, Val, and Zane. His face was stern – I'd never seen him so concentrated.

"This is over Kalial..." Odie said calmly through gritted teeth.

"You may have defeated Liam..." the conjunction of voices said. "I don't know why I expected much out of that child's spirit. He was weak. Just. Like. You."

"Is that why you're scared?" Odie said. Don't antagonize it, Odie... I thought. "While you were in my head... I was in yours. You're weak without a host! You're weak without your 'soldiers'! You still haven't got enough of your spirits in our world to create the chaos that you need to survive! I defeated one darkness; I can get rid of you!" Kalial laughed.

"You are also but a child... How do you expect to get rid of me so easily?" Kalial broke out of Odie's grasp and swirled around Odie, Val, and Zane.

"No!" I yelled out, worried they would be consumed. I held my arms out and a protective barrier of magic surrounded them. Val looked back at me and smiled for a second before she held out her arm and took Odie's hand. Zane grabbed his other hand. They blasted him with the strongest light magic they could muster. Kalial backed off, hanging above them. Odie followed behind Kalial with blasts as he tried to escape, but Kalial kept avoiding his hits.

"Hey, hey!" I said, noticing the twins were waking up. I knelt down to them, kissing their foreheads. "You two okay?" I asked.

"Momma, is Odie okay?" Noah asked.

"He's fine baby... But I know how you two can help him finish this."

"Liz, what –" Chris started.

"Ava why don't you go with Daddy and Noah, you stay with me. We're going to be a team, okay? Ava, you protect Daddy, and he protects you. Noah, you keep me safe, and I keep you safe. Got it? We have each other's backs. Yeah?"