Minx

Minx

Stupid, Minx thought, gazing down at the knife sticking out of her shoulder. Veins of sickly green poison crept out of the wound like webs. The pain was not her strong suit, and for the second time since coming to this world, it struck her just how much pain and how many injuries Sage had suffered while she’d only been severely injured once.

Her hand in the library when an arrow went through it while she was trying to escape Gretch and the other Hands. It was short-lived - she had the spring water to heal it then. But they’d used that all up now, and by the ashen way Sage was looking at her, she had a feeling there wasn’t anything that could be done.

She could feel the poison leaking into her system, leeching her strength away and, with it, her magic. She tried and failed to call it up, to conjure a vine between Vinciei and Sage, but the roots were silent. Her magic was leaving her.

Anxiety hit her like a freight train. She had no magic. No gift.

She’d only had it for a short time - a blip in time considering how long she’d lived without it. But she understood now how Kade could have been seduced by the prospect of getting his magic back. It had only been seconds, but she was already itching for it.

Vinciei was moving towards Sage, holding something in her hand while pressing her bloody stump to her side. Minx struggled to move, gaping like a fish as she tried to tell Sage to turn around.

Sage’s eyes widened, and then she spun to face Vinciei, but it was too late. Vinciei thrust out, stabbing Sage in the gut. Minx groaned, trying to scream, trying to cry out, but the poison was working fast and her throat was constricting like someone had a rope to it.

Sage looked down at the knife, her eyes widening in surprise, but instead of recoiling, she embraced Vinciei and held her tightly. The air cracked with magic as Sage’s hands glowed over Vinciei’s back.

“No!” Vinciei screamed. No matter how hard she tried to escape, Sage’s bear hug remained firm, trapping Vinciei in her grasp. Vinciei was foaming at the mouth, spittle flying as she fought to get out of her grip. But Sage would not let go.

Minx struggled to breathe, taking short, rapid breaths. As her heart pounded, the poison coursed through her body, its relentless burn leaving no inch untouched. Zaniel approached them, his eyes dark as he bent low and tore Sage off Vinciei. The glint of a golden knife caught her eye.

Vinciei clenched it to her chest, the blade dripping with Sage’s blood.

“Why thank you, my dear.” Zaniel purred and pried the knife from her hand. Vinciei gasped and wheezed, blood bubbling between her lips as she tried to speak. Zaniel hushed her, gently pushing a lock of hair from her pale face. “You did well. I have everything I need now.”

Vinciei’s brows furrowed. She lifted the bloody stump of her missing hand to his face, but he shoved it away.

“No time for that, dear.” With his free hand, he dipped two clawed fingers into her seeping wound. Her mouth opened in shock, but no sound came out. He withdrew his fingers, coated with her blood, and held them over the blade. Two droplets fell onto the blade, mixing with Sage’s.

“I must thank you as well, Blackwood.” He said, drawing his bloody fingers over his arm. Crimson bloomed against the claw marks gathering over his skin. He dipped his arm and let a few drops spill onto the blade. “You saved me the trouble of dealing with this one.”

Sage glared at him from where she’d fallen, one hand over her gut as she watched Zaniel. He moved quick as a snake, his hand shooting out and ripping Vinciei’s throat apart with one movement. Vinciei’s eyes widened into saucers as she clawed at her gaping neck.

Sage groaned, reaching out to Vinciei with a look of desperation.

“What’s this?” Zaniel asked, standing up. “I thought you hated her, Blackwood. You should be kissing my feet - she only has minutes left in this world.”

Zaniel turned from them to face the glowing portal. He approached it, speaking in a low, strange language. Holding the knife in both hands, he held it up to the portal, bowing his head.

Minx felt the magic hit them like a gut punch. It was unlike anything she’d felt before - oily and dark, slithering over her skin and soul like vipers. A shimmering to her right caught her attention - a light was being pulled from Vinciei.

It streamed to Sage’s outstretched hand, embedding itself into her skin just as Vinciei’s eyes went dim. The light died out and Sage let out a howl of despair. Minx wasn’t sure what Sage was trying to do, but whatever it had been, it didn’t sound like she accomplished it.

She cursed herself. She’d been foolish and impulsive to run up to the cave all alone. Omi, that annoying little Demon, barred them from coming up. She said Sage made her promise, and through her tears she held firm. Even when Kade screamed at her to move, she resisted.

But the little Demon was no match for a pissed-off Maiden.

Minx punched through the barrier with her magic and ran up to the cave while Rhea and Wraza tackled Omi. She felt the barrier go back up, but she’d thought by now the others would have made it up.

Minx thought Sage was up to something impulsive and stupid - but it turned out to be the other way this time.

Idiot, Minx thought, her body seizing from the poison. This kind of thing always seemed to work out for Sage, so she thought she could pull a Sage for once. How wrong she’d been.

Hurried footsteps echoed down the cave, and she could have laughed. Too late, she thought. It’s all too late.

The portal changed. The glyphs broke and reformed into new characters, glowing a deep red as the shimmering dark pool glowed, then turned into a sickening sight. Red veins grew over it, giving it the impression of skin. The scent of sulfur and ash blew through the portal, extinguishing the candles and throwing them into darkness.

The only light came from the yellow portal as the surface glowed. The skin portal pulsed, and something pressed against it.

A hand.

Zaniel drew the bloody knife over the sheet of pulsing skin, cutting it in half. Oily black liquid seeped from the cut and just as Minx heard the others enter the cave, a clawed hand emerged from the cut.

Sage threw up a barrier between them and the portal, her sides heaving as she struggled to stand up. Kade cursed behind them, his human skin melting away as demonic magic poured through the portal. Zaniel turned as well, opening his arms as if embracing the change.

“Come forth, father.” He said, his voice thick.

“Minx!” Alec cried. She couldn’t look at him, not when the Demon King’s arm pushed through the cut.

“We need to leave!” Kade growled.

“Leave? Now brother?” Zaniel laughed and a blast of shadows slammed into Sage’s barrier, breaking it. Sage cried out, the force of his power sending her rolling into Minx.

“What’s wrong with her?” Rhea asked, tears in her eyes.

“Poison,” Kade said darkly as he knelt by Sage, pulling her to her feet.

“I didn’t get it,” Sage sobbed. “I tried, but I couldn’t get it.”

Kade shushed her, placing a clawed finger over her lips, “Hush now. We don’t have time for this.” He lifted her into his arms, bridal style, and took a few steps away from the portal.

Zaniel leered at them. “You aren’t going to leave before you get to say hi to father, are you?”

Alec wrapped his arms around her, gently lifting her. Minx winced as pain flared throughout her body. She couldn’t move, she could barely breathe. All she could do was watch as the poison ate away at her. All she could do was watch as her friends tried to escape before the Demon King emerged.

Zaniel cackled and threw up a shadowy barrier behind them. Kade cursed, kicking at it in frustration.

“You got what you wanted.” He roared. “Let us go.”

Zaniel shook his head slowly, his silver horns glinting in the red light as another hand punched through the portal. He reached for a knife, his eyes on Kade and Sage. He needed them dead, or dying, before his father passed through.

Gabriela threw up a shield, her eyes blazing with determination as the knife clanged against it. Zaniel growled and threw his shadows, but Wraza came right up behind her and threw up a wall of fire, burning them away.

Zaniel howled in frustration.

“You won’t get free,” Zaniel hissed. “Stay alive, for now, little brother. But once father emerges, you know what he will do.” His Demon eyes rolled over the Maidens. “He’s going to rip them all to shreds.”

Kade eyed the portal, his eyes blazing red.

Naru and Elinar tried breaking the shadow barrier with their swords but only managed to break them. Wraza and Rhea hit it with everything they had, but still, it wouldn’t budge.

Gabriela’s swollen face appeared before her, her eyes rimmed red as she looked at the knife still lodged in her shoulder.

“Alec-” Gabriela started, her voice cracking.

“I know,” he said, flicking his eyes down at Minx’s face.

They knew. They knew how bad it was.

She was going to die.