Chapter 10

The bottom of the ravine was getting closer to her head, and Ru braced herself for impact, realizing no matter how she landed, it was going to hurt. Just before the top layer of leaves and other debris careened into her face, she felt two sets of hands on her. One from above had ahold of her legs; the other, from below, took her by the shoulders.

“Did you really think I’d let you fall?” Ivy asked as she and Lyric righted Ru and set her boots downs on the ground.

As Ru formulated a response, a line of shadows cut through the darkness, making the places on the ground before the three girls where the shadows fell even more inky black than the rest of the ravine. Having extinguished her light as she was falling, Ru was tempted to relight it, but looking up to the precipice of the ravine across from her, she realized she didn’t need to. Despite the darkness and their black clothing, Nat and his ranks of Reapers were visible.

“Oh, good, you brought them to me, Ru. Just as we’d discussed.” A wicked smile spread across his handsome face as his left eye crinkled.

“What?” Lyric asked, turning to look at Ru in shock.

“Shut up, Nat,” Ru replied, shaking her head, dismissing his ridiculous statement, although Lyric seemed to think it might be true, at least for a moment. As if she’d agree to trick her teammates into meeting him there. “Why don’t you and your little friends scurry back down your hidey hole so I can shut you all up in there together for the rest of all time, hmm?”

“Now why would you want me to do that?” he asked, his black robe billowing out behind him, despite the fact that Ru felt no breeze. “Everyone knows if I disappeared, you’d miss me. Don’t they Cutter?”

Ru turned to see Rider and Cutter screeching to a halt at the edge of the ravine just behind them. “I’d be willing to find out,” he replied, his hands in front of him but no light illuminating them yet.

Surveying the forces before her, Ru realized that there had to be at least fifteen Reapers besides Nat. None of them looked anything less than ruthless, either. Some of them carried their scythes, others had swords or other weapons. All of them wore black robes but beneath, they had on what appeared to be some sort of black armor. Even Nat wore it, and he looked both amused and confident. To his left, another familiar face smirked down at her. “Raven,” Ru muttered. She’d never met the woman in her Reaper form, but she had eaten lunch with her once, when she was disguised as Kyle’s sister, Jessie. Remembering that day brought a wave of foolishness back to Ru, and a burning in her gut she knew she needed to ignore. It was the power of her light she’d need to call upon if they were to win this battle.

“Listen, Rune, there are only five of you. You are greatly outnumbered. Not to mention, as I’m sure Cutter told you, the second you start messing with the portal opening, creatures far more sinister than any of us will begin to make their way out, not only in self-preservation but in an attempt to stop you. You should walk away before you do something you regret.”

“Nat,” Ru said, taking a step forward and wishing they were on even ground, “I am going to close that portal. So if you need to run in and grab a change of clothes or a picture of your dear old dad, best do it now.”

The snarky look still on his face, he began to laugh. “That’s funny, Ru. We’re going to have so much fun together once you realize you’ve been fighting on the wrong side this whole time. That is, if you survive the battle.”

“I wouldn’t be too worried about that,” Ru replied, calling up the blue light within her and illuminating her left hand. “May as well get on with it.”

“Rune, you do insist on looking foolish, don’t you?”

His words cut her in a place that was bruised and battered, one that had only recently begun to heal. Not only did his latest ruse have her feeling less than intelligent, but for her entire life her adoptive mother had reminded her several times a day how foolish, stupid, worthless, and unworthy she was. The flicker in his green eyes let her know he was aware of how his words affected her, and a hint of smile seemed to make his eyes glow even more vibrantly.

Ru was done with games. Without another word, she sent a blast of light out of her palm directed precisely at Nat’s head. He raised his own hand just in time to counter it with a stream of black, the same type of power Ru had expelled herself only about an hour earlier. The two streams of energy hung in the air between them for a few moments before Ru raised her other hand. Only this time, she aimed at Raven, who seemed unprepared. The woman went flying backward at least ten feet into a tree, her black hair standing up with static electricity much the way an angry bird would raise its plume.

As Raven staggered to her feet, combat broke out around Ru. Gusts of wind whirled up from Lyric’s hands, Ivy began to send in her vines, and the ground beneath the Reapers’ feet shook, causing several of them to lose their footing and tumble to the ground. Beams of light from the other two Keepers on the ravine began to illuminate the night sky.

Ru knew she had to disengage from Nat so that she could concentrate on the portal. She tried using the power out of both hands, but it wasn’t enough to fight him off, particularly when he raised his other hand as well. They were in a standoff, and she needed to break free if she was going to finish her mission. “Cutter!” she shouted once she saw him knock another tall Reaper back into the trees, freeing him up.

Without answering, Cutter turned and shot a concentrated beam of blue light directly at Nat. In order to fend him off, Nat had to release Ru. The second his black energy disengaged from her hands, Ru pulled her own light back in and began to approach the portal. Around her, gusts of wind whirled, vines sprang up, and the ground continued to shake. The sounds of engaged mortal enemies desecrated the silence of the forest, but Ru didn’t give pause to assess the situation as she quickly moved into position. Cutter would hold Nat off as long as he could, but she would only have a few minutes before he would find a way to break free.

The closer she got to the portal, the more clearly she could see exactly what the opening looked like. It wasn’t round at all, more like a slit surrounded by shimmering darkness. It was small, and she assumed it must be more like the marking of a new plane rather than a doorway. Otherwise, she had no idea how someone as tall as Nat would ever make his way through.

She didn’t have time to contemplate any of that, however. Raising both hands, she took a deep breath and tried to remember the incantation Rider had taught her. She began to recite the first words as a steady stream of blue light flooded the area in front of her. “In nomine domini….”

“Ru! Watch out!” Lyric’s voice echoed through the ravine.

Before she could even finish the first phrase, a blast of hot air hit her, sending her careening into the small space beneath the overhang. Her head connected with the rock, hard, and she felt a warm trickle of blood streaming down her face.

She turned to see Raven approaching, fast, a triumphant look on her face. Her hair hadn’t recovered from the shock of earlier, and her outfit was also set askew, but her eyes were wild.

Ru jumped to her feet. “I don’t have time for this shit,” she mumbled.

“That’s right, Ruin. Payback is hell!” Raven raised her hands again, as if she was about to send Ru reeling into the rocks once more.

With a sigh, Ru quickly opened both palms, sending a quick blast of blue light at Raven. For some reason, this shot seemed power packed, and Raven went flying backward again. This time, she was sucked up into one of Lyric’s twisters, which, though thin, was several stories high. Ru imagined she might come shooting out the top at some point, but for now, the Reaper was out of her hair. She gave a quick nod of thanks to Lyric, for the warning and her assistance, and then returned her attention to the portal.

The rocks she’d recently become intimate with were right next to the opening, and as Ru regrouped, she sensed a disturbance in the portal. Ru shifted her position so that she was looking at the portal head on. While she felt something approaching, she couldn’t see anything. Taking a step forward, she leaned in, wondering what it might be as she’d never felt anything like this before.

“Ru! Get out of the way!” This warning cry was unlike any she’d heard before, and as a blast of warm air hit her from behind, she realized that was because it had come from Nat. Rather than sending her into the wall as his associate had, he lifted her off of her feet and placed her down on the edge of the top of the ravine so that she was staring down at the spot where she had been standing. Less than five seconds later, the opening to the portal began to shift and expand, and Ru watched in horror as a massive black bull sprang forth, charging right through the spot where she’d been standing. It rushed through the ravine, tearing up the ground as it sprinted past Lyric and almost collided with Ivy who jumped back just in time. Its tail swung around, catching the Keeper in the side, and Ru realized there were barbs on the end of it. Blood spurted out of Ivy’s side as she fell to the ground. Clearly, this was no ordinary bull.

“Ivy!” Lyric yelled, abandoning the fight she was engaged in and rushing over to her friend.

“I’m okay,” Ivy shouted back, somehow managing to regain her footing even though she was still bleeding.

“What the hell is that thing?” Ru asked as the bull continued to charge through the ravine. But there was no time for an answer because the portal began to shift again. This time, Ru readied her hands, and as another black shape began to crawl out, she illuminated the monster with blue light.

The beast slowed but didn’t stop, so Ru increased her concentration. She couldn’t quite make out what it was but it looked like some sort of a bird’s head on a very large body. It struggled against the energy she was pouring into it, gaining entrance into their world one inch at a time.

“The incantation!” Rider yelled as he attempted to fight off one of the Reapers and evade the bull. “It’s a demon, Ru! Send it back to Hell!”