For just one second Pamphrock betrays a startled expression, but he turns stern as his mouth starts moving and he gives orders to the slayer beside him. A second later a stark realisation hits me. Most of the slayers here are human and Theodore’s headed this way with all that chaos mist. Those two factors are not going to bode well for us.
The slayers all get into formation, marching towards Theodore and his group. But before they even get close to him the mist descends. The slayers are all kitted out with their modified fire extinguishers, yet even the blast of them isn’t enough for this amount of chaos. It’s far too concentrated now. It’s almost like it’s somehow evolved to become stronger.
The mist battles past the spray and seeps into the slayers’ bodies. Immediately they drop the extinguishers and begin pulling out their weapons to turn on one another.
Suddenly, Ethan is by my side, taking hold of my hand. Close by are Gabriel and Alvie, who are chanting a spell I don’t recognise. By the frustrated expressions on their faces, I’d say the spell they’re trying to cast isn’t working. They need Rita.
Emilia watches this new turn of events from her window with a satisfied smile on her face. Only a second later I see her smile falter, and I follow her eyes to where Pamphrock and two other dhamphirs are fighting their way through the infected slayers. What on earth is he thinking? There’s no hope of him taking down Theodore in his current state of power. The sorcerer is practically pulsating with energy, ready to wipe out anyone who gets in his way.
Ethan pulls me behind him when a slayer tries to attack us, his eyes crazed. I’m about to move toward the slayer to push out the mist; unfortunately, Ethan snaps his neck before I even have the chance. Shocked, I try to let go of his hand, but he holds on tight.
Gazing down at me, he says, “This is a battle. There are going to be casualties, my love, so get used to it.”
I gulp and try to find Pamphrock again amongst the fighting slayers. So many of them have already killed their very own comrades because their bodies have been taken over. Their actions are not their own. Pamphrock wields a bow and arrow identical to the one Finn normally uses, and, standing amidst his own men slaughtering one another, he aims it directly at Theodore’s head.
Seeing the attempt on his life before it happens, Theodore steps forward with his arms outstretched.
“Come on then, Governor. Take your best shot.”
Pamphrock lets loose the arrow and it sails through the air toward Theodore’s skull. In my mind I’m thinking, is this it? Could this be the blow that kills Theodore? The momentary hope is shattered when, seemingly with just the power of his eyes, Theodore causes the arrow to disintegrate mid-flight. It falls to the ground as dust.
Theodore’s hand shoots out, as though he’s throwing an invisible rope. Something happens to Pamphrock directly after. He clutches at his throat like he’s choking and Theodore’s laughter echoes around the street. Finn and Wolf rush to Pamphrock’s assistance, but just before they get to him Theodore fists his hand and Pamphrock’s body flies up into the air. It reminds me of the trick he used with Rita in the church.
Pamphrock struggles and gasps for breath in mid-air, while Theodore and his group watch on, smug in their victory. I can’t let this happen. If Pamphrock dies then the only halfway decent leader in this city will be gone, leaving Theodore and Whitfield to battle it out. And neither of those two are a good option when it comes down to who should be holding the power in Tribane.
Ethan seems to come to the same conclusion, because he doesn’t hold me back when I start running; he runs right along with me. The next thing I know he scoops me up and throws me onto his back like he did last night. Now going at vampire speed, we reach the spot where Pamphrock is floating in mere seconds.
I need to think of something. I’m the granddaughter of a sorcerer. I can do this. With that thought, the book comes into my head again, the one Rita referred to as the “All Knowing Tome”. I hold tight onto Ethan’s neck as the pages flick and then stop on the information I need. It tells me that in order to kill a sorcerer, he must be decapitated and his body burned. I whisper this information quickly to Ethan.
“There’s no way to do it,” Ethan grits, his jaw tight with tension. “He’d have us up in the air just like Pamphrock before we got within feet of him.”
“There has to be some way,” I say desperately, looking up at Pamphrock who’s losing the struggle against Theodore’s magic.
My attention is drawn away when an unusual crackling noise fills my ears over the din of the battling slayers. I turn around and am immediately struck with the image of purple fire lighting a blaze down the empty end of the street. Fear pulses through me, because that’s not the only thing my eyes are drawn to. Within the purple fire is Rita. Only she doesn’t look like the Rita I know.
Her short hair fizzles with electricity and it absently shoots from her fingertips like lightening, bouncing off the ground as she walks with purpose. Her eyes are black and purple, the same as they’d been after Noreen died. She’s wearing her long, lacy black dress and no shoes.
I don’t know how she got all the way here, since we’re a good distance from Finn’s house. Did she walk? I can’t imagine her going unnoticed looking like this. Then again, the humans are hardly in their right minds at the moment.
She’s come to our rescue, my heart rejoices. She might look like a dazzling horror come true, but that should only work to our advantage if we want to scare Theodore off. It’s as though her grief has caused her magic to mutate, and the powerful witch she once was is even more so now. When Alvie sees her he almost faints.
“Rita!” he shouts, but she doesn’t even look his way as she passes him by. Okay, that was weird.
I climb down off Ethan’s back and rush to her, but I can’t get by the fire.
“We need your help,” I call in panic. “Theodore is going to kill Pamphrock.”
My words get absolutely no reaction out of her. I try to reach out, but the purple fire singes my skin. She stops for a second to look at me, and her black eyes go right through me. All I can see in them is darkness. In this moment I’m glued to the spot, because she looks absolutely magnificent, like she’s finally come into her own, yet at the same time she is the most terrifying thing I have ever set my eyes on.
She turns away then and continues to stride past me. I gape at her in shock as a feeling of dread claims my stomach. She walks through the carnage, and some of the slayers even stop fighting to watch her go by. It certainly says something for how fascinatingly scary she looks that even half crazed humans are stalling their madness just to stare at her.
She continues walking until she reaches Theodore and he holds his arms out to her.
“Daughter,” he trills, “you’ve finally decided to join us.”
She stops beside him as he takes her into his embrace. Oh, God, please no.
“This can’t be happening,” I breathe. I’m so scared that I hardly hear my own words as they leave my mouth.