Chapter 22

  Meredith in Hell

  A torrent of hellfire erupted upwards and spiraled around Meredith, eliciting a stifling wave of heat. She dropped the letter in shock as the flames engulfed her and obscured her vision. Meredith’s stomach leaped to her chest as she felt the sudden sensation of falling. Then her boots settled upon a surface, and the flames abruptly flickered out of existence.

  The witch found herself standing in a well-furnished room with high vaulted ceilings. Velvet chairs, cushions, and couches were scattered amongst the solid slab of immaculate marble floor. Desks, tables, chests, and wardrobes lined the tan brick walls while elaborate paintings in gold frames and shelved baubles adorned them.

  Before Meredith, a massive stained-glass window stretched up to the arched ceiling. It depicted a ferocious devil and glimmered with red, flickering light from beyond it. Sweat began to bead from her forehead from the dreadful, unbearable heat. Meredith was in hell. The weight of it settled on her chest. Deep in her soul, she knew she was past the point of no return.

  “Look who decided to pop in.” A lavish drawl emanated from behind her.

  Meredith’s nervousness transformed into a hot ball of anger in the pit of her stomach as she turned to see Wallace striding towards her in his human form. He was dressed in purple clothes lined with gold threading. Beyond him, strung up within a mass of black, spiked infernal chains, was Grandma. A red cloth was lashed across her mouth. Meredith couldn’t read the expression on her face. Was it shock? Outrage? Fear?

  Meredith drew her wand as Wallace stopped before her, his hands held out wide.

  “I see a wand.” He sighed. “But no toad! Surely you’ve been taught to read, young witch. Or perhaps it’s your comprehension that needs work.”

  “What have you done to my Grandma?” Meredith snarled ferociously.

  “Ethel has been less than cooperative but is more or less unharmed.” Wallace emphasized his nonchalance with a tilting of his head and a shrug.

  “Let her go,” Meredith bellowed.

  “No toad, no grandmother. That’s the deal, illiterate witch,” Wallace’s brows furrowed. “Don’t think you can best me, girl. Bring me the toad, or your grandmother will suffer every single moment until you do.

  “Trust me, I’ve had a millennium to hone my torture techniques. The only reason I’ve stayed my hand thus far is because of mere patience, which is quickly growing thin. She owes me anyway for killing half my assets. Feisty bitch.”

  Grandma’s muffled snarls echoed from behind Wallace. He grinned, then snapped his fingers. The chains encompassing Grandma crackled with red lances of energy. They rattled and scraped as the elder witch writhed in pain, and her muffled screams rose in pitch.

  “Stop!” Meredith cried out. She instinctively drew from the power gem in her pocket and thrust her wand towards Wallace.

  ‘Magnis Tarna!’

  A massive, translucent force rippled through the air and smashed into Wallace. The devil was ripped off his feet and sent careening backward. Nearby furniture flung away from the blast. Meredith was momentarily stunned; she hadn’t expected such a vicious force. Wallace tumbled to his feet and righted himself.

  “Impudent witch!” Wallace bellowed with rage. He strode towards her again. Behind him, the energy crackling through the infernal chain dissipated, and Grandma huffed as her head slumped to the side. Rage bubbled up within Meredith at the sight. She didn’t know how she was going to free Grandma, but she’d figure it out after she beat Wallace within an inch of his life.

  As Wallace neared Meredith, an inferno of hell fire rippled around him, then shot outward.

  Acting as a conduit for Thomas’s power gem, she conjured a thin, faint purple ward that encircled her. Her shield shimmered as hellfire licked across it as the flames shot past. They quickly died down to reveal Wallace in all his devilish glory. The red-skinned fiend stood taller and more muscular. His body stretched his clothes, and his black, mottled horns curved from the top of his forehead.

  Meredith expelled her ward and blasted at Wallace as he lunged forward, claws outstretched. She sent him stumbling backward. But Wallace remained upright. He lunged toward her again and again, and Meredith thwarted him each time. However, Wallace drew closer and closer.

  When he was just a few feet away, the fiend drew his arm back, a massive ball of hellfire crackling to life in his hand. With a vicious snarl, Wallace hurled it straight at Meredith.

  With a swift swish of her wand, she conjured another ward. The fireball smashed into the shield and exploded. The force ripped through Meredith and sent her staggering backward. Her ward shimmered but held firm. Flames wrapped around it, obscuring Meredith’s vision. She was surprised, and confidence welled up within her. She was actually holding her own against the devil!

  Meredith ceased her magic as the hellfire receded. She glanced around; Wallace was nowhere to be found! Her warning ring buzzed on her finger. A whooshing sound emanated from above her.

  CRACK!

  Meredith instinctively zipped away with a small flash of electricity. She lurched across the room at a dizzying speed, settling a few yards away. Meredith watched Wallace dive where she had stood a moment ago and slam his fist into the floor, cracking the marble.

  Meredith grinned. Proud she had mastered her minor teleportation technique.

  The confident witch flicked her wand upward, sending the loose, cracked marble flinging into Wallace’s face, simply to piss him off.

  The devil growled in annoyance. He stood and reared his head back before thrusting forward. A stream of hellfire spewed from his open maw towards Meredith.

  She calmly stood her ground, cast her wand forward, and transfigured the approaching flames into large, pink bubbles. They floated lazily in the air before popping out of existence.

  Wallace clamped his jaw shut.

  “You must think you’re awfully cute,” he growled.

  “Just give me back my grandma, and I’ll stop toying with you,” Meredith smirked, self-assurance slowly building within her. She was having a much easier time than in the cave, though that had been three-on-one.

  Wallace lunged at her again. Meredith zipped away. The pair battled furiously—Wallace with fire and claws, Meredith with spells and wards. Back and forth they went, attempting to snuff the other out. The young witch’s ring buzzed incessantly as she dodged or blocked Wallace’s fiery attempts.

  Meanwhile, the devil withstood everything Meredith threw at him. Her blasts did nothing more than push Wallace away and fling his paintings and bookshelves off the walls. She tried everything she could think of. Meredith blasted him with lightning, showered him with frost, launched his broken furniture into him, and lashed at him with lances of energy, but still, Wallace endured.

  The devil lunged after her over and over, spitting and throwing fire, but Meredith managed to zip away and counter. He was quick, and Meredith didn’t have time to think, but she felt the vast amount of power within Thomas’ gem slowly trickle away. She knew she needed to do something, but what? She needed a moment to think!

  Meredith shot across the room and, with a twirl of her wand, whipped the nearby battered and scorched furniture into a whirling tornado of wreckage that engulfed Wallace. The ruined tables, chairs, books, and paintings battered against the devil, breaking into smaller debris. The enraged devil snarled and reeled as his belongings smashed into him.

  “Are you ready to give me my Grandma back now?” Meredith asked coolly. “Give her back, and I’ll stop trashing your place.”

  “This isn’t over yet, girl!” Wallace roared.

  Another towering inferno erupted from the devil. The debris encapsulating him burned to ashes and billowed across the floor. The blaze spun about Wallace, turning into a flaming, whirling tornado. It came crashing towards Meredith. She leaped backward as more fiery twisters formed around her, swirling across the floor.

  The witch took a deep breath, mustered her strength, and summoned a colossal gale, snuffing the flames out.

  Though she was a little breathless, Meredith had never felt so powerful. But she had no idea how to free Grandma! Think, Meredith, think!

  “Mere parlor tricks!” Wallace spat. With a flap of his wings, Wallace leaped upward and then launched towards her.

  Meredith zipped away and turned. Just as Wallace was about to collide with the floor, she transfigured it into a deep, muddy pit. The devil splashed into the muck. Meredith summoned a swath of thick, thorny vines out of the mud. They arched upward and wrapped around the devil, cutting into his wing’s thin membrane and ensnaring him.

  “Have you had enough?” Meredith asked flatly as she stepped before the captured devil, leering down her wand at him.

  Inwardly, she was excited. Things were going so well! She almost couldn’t believe it. She knew Wallace would be a hassle to fight, but it was surprisingly easy, and her power gem was nowhere near close to being tapped out.

  Wallace gazed up at his captor. He didn’t speak. Then, his face slowly contorted into incredulity as he began to laugh hysterically. Meredith stared at him, confused and apprehensive, as her warning ring buzzed.

  She felt something wrap around her ankle. Meredith glanced down just as Wallace’s tail tightened around her boot.

  “What the—”

  Wallace grinned, then summoned a massive wall of fire. Meredith reared back.

  CRACK!

  Meredith lay sprawled on the floor, away from the towering inferno. She looked up. Meredith had emerged just before Grandma’s cocoon of infernal chains. The elder witch gazed at Meredith with worry etched across her face.

  “Don’t worry, Grandma!” Meredith said as she rose to her feet. “I’ll get you out of there!”

  She turned and strode confidently toward Wallace; his inferno dissipated. The vines surrounding him had been burned away, and the mud beneath him was baked into hard, blackened chunks. Wallace stood up, ripped his feet out of the hole, and stomped toward Meredith.

  “That was a close one, wasn’t it, little witch?” Wallace grinned.

  “I’m still here, aren’t I?” Meredith replied, brows furrowed.

  It had been a close one. She would have to be more careful. If she couldn’t get Wallace to free Grandma, she had to figure out a way to break her out. She hadn’t exactly come to hell with a thorough plan. What could she do? Would she have to kill Wallace? Could she?

  “You have one more chance to fetch me that toad,” Wallace growled. “Otherwise, I’ll have to start being serious.”

  Meredith frowned. Surely, he hadn’t been toying with her. She had seen his grimaces and anger. Was it a bluff? Regardless, Meredith knew she wouldn’t sacrifice Thomas.

  “Big talk from someone bleeding and bruised.” Meredith stopped a healthy distance away. “Give me back my grandma, and we can be done with this.”

  Wallace halted, closed his eyes, then sighed. Meredith wondered what he was up to.

  “Your overconfidence will be your undoing, mortal!” Wallace reared his head back again.

  A thick black smog emerged from his throat. Wallace twisted and spewed the grimy smoke around, obscuring him; it took mere moments to fill the parlor completely. Meredith coughed as she tried to use spells to dissipate the smoke, but nothing worked. Even the wind she summoned fell uselessly against it. The ring on her finger vibrated incessantly. Meredith couldn’t see anything past her nose; she couldn’t use her teleportation spell!

  The ring grew hot. She heard the scuffle of nails on marble behind her. Before she could turn, a massive force knocked her forward, and ten dagger-like claws sank deep into the sides of her rib cage.

  Meredith shrieked in pain as her bones cracked. She grasped at her torso but only felt Wallace’s claws dig deeper into her flesh. The fiend bellowed in laughter as he lifted Meredith off her feet. She writhed in agony and scrambled uselessly as he held her aloft like a trophy.

  Meredith stared up at the arched ceiling, anguish contorting her face. Her tears fell freely as she breathlessly gasped in pain.

  “Not so tough now!” The devil jeered. “You had your chance! Flounder all you want, little fish. You’ll enter the void soon enough! And when you do, I’ll be waiting to eat your soul!”

  Meredith could barely think through the pain that lanced through her torso. Hell, she could hardly breathe with the claws piercing her lungs. With enormous effort, she ignored the sinister laughter and vicious shakes and focused on the power gem. With a strained yell, Meredith cried, “Fyra Lunai Velra!”

  White flames engulfed her. Wallace screeched and dropped the flaming witch as the pearly fire burned his claws. Meredith flopped onto the floor in a crumpled mess. Dark, warm blood pooled underneath her and soaked her robe as she strained to focus on her spell. Wallace retreated into the black smog, thrashing, with his bloody claws ablaze in white flame. The fire surrounding her ate away at the supernatural haze as it drifted near. The flames slowly dissipated as Meredith’s focus waned.

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  Meredith’s breathing was labored, and her vision began to blur and darken. The witch felt a heavy relaxation coming over her, but she knew she couldn’t give up.

  ‘I refuse to die!’ Meredith thought.

  She managed to flop onto her back and struggled to draw her wand from her forehead to her naval. Meredith was barely coherent but still sensed a sizable difference in the gem’s vast store of power as it divided in half to create Meredith’s clone.

  The clone sloughed away from her and immediately began to weave healing spells on her wounds. Meredith could still hear Wallace screeching and cursing in pain. She created another clone. She felt a considerable decrease in the power gem. Meredith knew she needed to be careful, but as sluggish as she felt, her body still buzzed from her own stores of magic. Meredith felt foolish for needing to use the lunar flame and clone spells, and her confidence wavered. They were supposed to be used as a last resort.

  The second clone exuviated off her and stood guard. The trio remained within the dissipating hell-smog, the guarding clone vigilant and waiting for the devil to reveal himself.

  Meredith’s vision became sharp again, and her innards itched as her bodily tissues and bones rapidly stitched themselves together. She began to feel better despite the strange discomfort. Through the retreating smoke, Meredith stole a glance toward Grandma. The horror on her face pained Meredith, but she gave her a reassuring smile in return.

  Meredith heard the steady beat of flapping wings and saw Wallace just beneath the vaulted ceiling. He dove at her, but her guard clone intercepted him with a ward; it wasn’t strong enough. He struck the translucent force field and glanced off it as it broke. Wallace awkwardly crashed into the guarding clone. The pair tumbled into the smog and disappeared. Meredith could hear the ensuing battle.

  As her wounds healed, Meredith sat up and cast healing spells on herself, quickening the process and increasing the strange tickling sensation. The smog slowly cleared and revealed the hazy flashes of light from magic and hellfire beyond. As Meredith continued to recover, a thought struck her. She drew her wand down again, and ten clones split off from her. The power gem’s energy dwindled, but she had plenty of her own power left.

  Meredith stood, completely healed. The smog had mostly settled. Wallace and the guard clone continued their battle, his hands awash in his own hell-flame. Meredith ordered her eleven other clones to surround the devil. They encircled Wallace and began casting a multitude of spells at him. Flashes of lightning battered the fiend, and he reeled as whips of glowing magic lashed across his red skin. Lances of pure energy struck Wallace, staggering him. A flurry of pointed ice pelted him as an invisible force continuously crashed into him. Wallace bellowed with rage as the clone’s spells continuously thrashed him.

  Meredith turned away from the chaotic onslaught and trotted towards Grandma. If her clones could hold Wallace off, she could figure out how to free Grandma.

  A wave of heat crashed into her back. The force knocked her sprawling to the floor. She glanced back to see Wallace, still in the center of her clone’s encirclement, wrapped in a blaze of billowing hellfire. Multiple pillars of flame emerged from the inferno surrounding him, taking the form of long-necked dragons. The fiery hydra careened its six heads toward Meredith’s clones. Some were able to protect themselves or dodge, others were snapped up in flaming maws and disintegrated.

  Meredith watched helplessly as her clones perished before her. It was a sight like no other to watch oneself perish and hear one’s own death throes. It deeply unsettled Meredith. The surviving clones continued to fire spells at Wallace.

  ‘This is starting to seem too big for me,’ Meredith thought. She shook her head and thrust the thought from her mind. ‘No! I can do this!’ She stood up with renewed confidence and vigor. ‘But this isn’t working!’

  “To me!” Meredith cried out.

  CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

  The remaining clones turned and zipped towards Meredith. Two were snapped up by the infernal hydra. As soon as the remaining four laid hands on her, Meredith absorbed them. A massive surge of power coursed through her. She held it within her body instead of replenishing the power gem. The sudden influx of energy, coupled with her own untapped store, made her body shudder.

  Wrapped in his blaze, Wallace stepped towards Meredith, the inferno moving with him. The hydra heads snapped at Meredith, but she blocked them with reflective wards that sent them glancing away. She blasted him, but he barely faltered. The flaming hydra acted as a protective shield, like Meredith’s lunar flame shield!

  Over and over, she rhythmically foiled Wallace’s attacks as she slowly backed away from the onslaught. All the while, she desperately racked her brain for some spell that would give her the upper hand. She ignored the power gem; it only held a small trickle of its original power. Meredith’s own magical stores slowly began to deplete as the battle continued.

  Between blocking attacks, Meredith zipped across the parlor and transfigured some singed wreckage into a spear of water. She sent it hurtling towards Wallace, but it fizzled into harmless steam when it reached his surrounding vortex. The devil turned and strode toward Meredith, his flaming hydra snapping eagerly. She tried to turn the flames into bubbles again, but nothing happened. The magically empowered hellfire was stronger than Meredith’s transfiguration spell.

  She wondered if she could copy Wallace’s hydra or if it was worth the risk. Meredith had controlled her lunar flames to an extent before. She had no other ideas. She racked her brain—hoping her incantation was correct— focused her intention, then yelled, “Fyra Lunai Veldryn!”

  All six of the devil’s flaming hydra heads careened towards Meredith. She exploded in a massive, white-flamed blaze, pushing the hellfire back. Three long-necked, draconic heads emerged above Meredith. She felt an enormous depletion of her energy stores but maintained her focus and fed the spell. She didn’t necessarily know how to control the hydra heads and was miffed that she could only produce three to match Wallace’s six.

  One of Wallace’s draconic heads lunged towards Meredith. She instinctively flinched, and her own hydra heads burst forth, intercepting it. A mixed burst of orange and white flames erupted from their clash, the force crashing into Meredith. That was it! She merely had to focus her intention to control the blaze!

  Meredith attacked Wallace, fiery hydra against fiery hydra. The blazing maws snapped at each other and beat against the base of the flame shields where Meredith and Wallace resided. The hydra heads whipped and flailed, and every forceful crash between them painfully reverberated through Meredith. She had trouble controlling three at a time and was quickly overwhelmed by Wallace’s. Yet he failed to penetrate her defenses. To Meredith’s dismay, her lunar fire did not eat away at Wallace’s hellfire. What would it take to beat this fiend?

  CRACK!

  Meredith rushed past Wallace, her flames ripping through space with her. She landed behind him and beat at his flames, to no avail. The devil turned and retaliated with a sickening grin stretched across his face.

  Again and again, Meredith and Wallace smashed their flames against each other. The warmness of her spell, coupled with the hell heat, made the sweat sizzle off Meredith’s exposed skin. The lunar flames rapidly consumed her magic. She felt emptier and didn’t know how long she could keep up the fight. Her breathing became ragged as her body began to tire from the prolonged strain of maintaining the spell. Every hot breath only compounded her exhaustion.

  Meredith’s resolve wavered as each blow shook her to her core, leaving her nauseous and dizzy. Wallace’s six hydra heads reared back in unison, then slammed into the base of her protective flames. A deafening explosion of white and orange fire reverberated through her body and consumed her vision. The witch’s strength faltered, her focus unraveled, and her lunar flames flickered out of existence. The force of the blast hurled her backward, sending her tumbling across the floor in a blur of pain and disorientation.

  Meredith quickly got to her feet, dizzy and drained, but held her wand at the ready. Wallace stepped forward and sent another hydra head careening toward her. Meredith blocked the attack with a ward just in time, but the impact slid her backward.

  Wallace stepped closer. Glee erupted across his face as all six hydra heads reared back again.

  “Shit!” Meredith exclaimed. She had to do something!

  In a desperate ploy, Meredith slashed her wand upwards, shattering a wide swath of the arched ceiling above Wallace. Light from the deep orange sky flooded in as massive chunks of stone plummeted to the floor, crushing Wallace beneath the rubble and extinguishing his flames.

  Dust billowed as the debris settled; bits of stone tumbled off the heap. Silence followed, broken only by the distant crackle of hellfire and the haunting moans of tortured souls and mindless beasts. Meredith braced her hands on her knees, gasping for breath, her entire body trembling with exhaustion.

  “Please be dead,” Meredith sighed.

  The rubble jostled.

  “Damn it,” Meredith grumbled.

  A red glow emanated from within the pile.

  Panic erupted within Meredith as she prepared herself.

  Flames erupted from the rubble, blasting debris in every direction. Meredith instinctively summoned a ward, shielding herself from the jagged stones. But the flames didn’t relent—they surged against her barrier, pressing her backward with relentless force.

  Her arms trembled as her strength ebbed, the ward flickering under the assault. Through the roaring inferno, Wallace’s dark silhouette emerged, standing resolute at its core.

  The hellfire grew fiercer, battering Meredith’s defenses. Her ward rippled, its once-solid surface shimmering as it threatened to give way. Desperation gripped her chest, and anger burned hot in her veins. She clenched her jaw, willing herself to hold on, even as her body screamed in protest.

  “Fyra Lunai Velra!” Meredith roared as white flames enveloped her. She thrust her hands forward, unleashing the inferno against Wallace, her blaze colliding with his unyielding hellfire. Meredith poured her rage and magic into the flames, feeding them, growing them as they surged higher, licking at the ruined ceiling. The flickering cacophony roared against Wallace’s rippling hellfire, burning away at the wreckage strewn across the parlor. From a distance, Grandma winced and shied away from the intense heat. Meredith’s heart ached for her.

  A sharp, searing pain lanced through Meredith’s stomach. Her body felt light as her flames devoured the last reserves of her magic and calories. She glimpsed Wallace’s straining silhouette through the maelstrom, his dark form wavering under the onslaught.

  Confidence surged within her, mingling with raw hatred. The witch bellowed, pouring every ounce of rage and power into the flames, forcing them to grow, to consume, despite the incredible strain. Her vision blurry, Meredith strode forward, slowly encroaching upon the fiend, driving his hellfire back. She could do it! She could beat Wallace! She just had to keep going!

  Her magic rapidly depleted with every step. Gasping for breath, Meredith drew upon the vestiges of her power gem. Pain wracked her body, but she pressed on.

  Wallace’s flames wavered, then recoiled. She could see it—her fire was overtaking his! She roared with pride, each step a monumental victory. The gap closed between them. If she could just hold on a little longer, if she could engulf him completely…

  Wallace crouched, his wings spread wide, and Meredith’s warning ring vibrated on her finger.

  The fiend dove forward, enveloped in hellfire. His claws pierced Meredith’s lunar flames as he ripped through the blaze and streaked toward her. Stunning fear erupted through Meredith.

  “Shit!” She cried out. “Selkar Myrin!

  Meredith flung her wand upwards. A massive wall of rock burst from the floor, separating the two. Meredith’s lunar flames flickered as her concentration slipped.

  Wallace, veiled in flickering hellfire, exploded through the barrier, scattering shards of stone. His arm pulled back for a devastating strike.

  Meredith’s heart leaped into her throat as she flinched back, her mind racing for an escape. She turned to teleport away, but she was too slow. The devil’s massive, clawed fist slammed into her side with bone-shaking force. Pain erupted through Meredith, and she felt something crack.

  FWOOM!

  An intensely painful blue light seared Meredith’s vision, blinding her as she hurtled through the air, weightless. The floor rushed up to meet her. She tumbled across the cracked marble until she finally came to a skittering halt on her side.

  Dazed and woozy, Meredith blinked rapidly, trying to clear the painful spots from her eyes. Her pulse roared in her ringing ears as she scrambled to gather her wits. Shaking, the witch pushed herself onto her knees as her vision and hearing slowly returned.

  Something was wrong. The familiar presence of Thomas’ power gem was…gone! A jolt of panic surged through her as she thrust her hand toward her pocket, and…there was no pocket, only tatters. The gem’s explosion skewered the bottom half of her robe. Meredith ignored it. Where was Wallace?

  The dazed witch staggered upright. Pain shot down her leg, then numbness. She tottered backward, her back bumping into something brittle that crunched beneath her weight. Her hip ached where Wallace had struck. Was it broken? Meredith wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter; she had to keep fighting!

  As her focus sharpened, Meredith realized she was against the floor-to-ceiling stained glass window at the far side of the room—jagged cracks laced through the vibrant panes, fractured during the chaos of their battle. Light poured through the broken sections, casting scattered, distorted patterns across the debris-strewn floor.

  Meredith’s ring buzzed. She glanced upwards just as a claw clasped around her head. Wallace and Meredith crashed through the window and tumbled onto the balcony. Wallace clambered to his feet amidst the falling glass, clutching the dazed witch, and yanked her upwards. The poor girl’s legs clattered against the wrought iron railing as he thrust her over the precipice.

  His massive claw awkwardly grasped Meredith’s neck and face, with a finger splayed upwards near her eye and the base of his hand holding her up by her jaw. Meredith stared into Wallace’s cut, bruised, and gloating face from his burnt, outstretched arm. Her ragged gasps whistled past her smooshed lips as she struggled to wriggle her fingers under Wallace’s hand, but he only tightened his grip. Meredith scrambled and kicked defiantly, her toes barely skimming the devil’s chest.

  “Ah, ah, ah!” Wallace tutted. “All I have to do is let go, and you’ll fall into hell, where you’ll spend eternity.” Meredith froze.

  The devil grinned as stained glass crashed to the floor behind him. Meredith couldn’t see anything past him; she couldn’t use her teleportation spell if she couldn’t see where she was going! She wished she had learned how to teleport properly.

  Sweat poured down her face; it was significantly hotter outside. The deep orange sky matched the tan brick encompassing Wallace’s home.

  “My, how fun this has been,” Wallace glowered. “I should have known you were using a power gem. How else could you have kept up with me?” He sneered at her, then said, “The fires of hell await you, my dear, and all its sordid, sinful creatures! Unless, of course, you give me the toad!”

  “No!” Meredith struggled to gasp.

  “Of course.” Wallace smiled sardonically, then tapped his ear inquisitively. “Shush! Do you hear that?”

  Meredith listened. The flickering of distant flames, agonized wails, and something unnatural reached her ears.

  “Do you hear the moans of the damned and the beasts that feed on them? Do you hear their screams echoing through hell? Look!”

  Wallace ripped Meredith around and held her aloft.

  “Look at your future!”

  Untold horrors stretched across the mountainous, flaming hellscape, vast and incomprehensible. The hot, miserable air was alive with the wails of the damned. Meredith’s eyes glazed over, unfocused, the edges of reality crumbling as a cold numbness spread through her body. Her body grew slack within Wallace’s grasp. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move—her mind spiraled, peeling away from reality to retreat from the unholy terror no mortal had any right to witness.

  Suddenly, Meredith was facing Wallace again as he whipped her back around. She dangled limply, dazed, and devoid of almost all thought and emotion. She felt utterly hollow.

  “Oh, little witch,” Wallace growled with a fang-filled grin. “As exciting as this has been, everything must come to an end. I should kill you now for wrecking my home!

  ”But I can’t help but play with my food. Maybe I should enslave you so you can repair what you’ve destroyed, then you’ll retrieve the toad for me! Yes, that seems fitting! Sell your soul to me!”

  His words fell on deaf ears. Meredith snapped back to reality as Wallace’s claw erupted in hellfire, searing her neck and face.

  “AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” Meredith screamed and writhed in agony as her skin melted—the searing pain shot through her body.

  Her wails grew raspy and harsh as she scratched, kicked, and clawed at Wallace to no avail. Her vision—blurred from tears—began to tunnel as the pain overwhelmed her senses. It was too much! She didn’t care if she fell into hell; she just wanted the pain to stop!

  Meredith mustered the effort to summon her lunar flames. The white inferno erupted around her but couldn’t penetrate Wallace’s hellfire. Her flames flickered out as her anguish eclipsed her focus.

  “Nice try!” Wallace laughed. “Your flames are no match for mine! Now, give me your soul! Do it, and the pain will stop!”

  Meredith continued to thrash uselessly.

  “SAY IT!”

  ‘Help me!’ She thought as Wallace’s claw seeped into her skin. ‘Somebody help me!’

  She knew she could not give him her soul; she’d rather die! But the pain was too much for her to bear!

  Somehow, through the stinging, rippling pain, she remembered the ring Thomas had given her. She thumbed at it desperately, but nothing happened. Wallace continued to burn her relentlessly.

  Desperate and barely coherent, Meredith swiftly thrust her arm forward and jammed her wand into Wallace’s eye.

  “GRAAAAAAAGH!” Wallace snarled, rearing back with the wand firmly planted in his head.

  The devil released her and clutched at his face, howling. Meredith’s stomach lurched as she fell, the hot air whipping past her.

  The exhausted witch gazed upward at the strange orange sky as she descended into hell, her curly locks billowing above her. The balcony swiftly grew distant as the tower of tan bricks whizzed past. Hell grew hotter and hotter. The finality of Meredith’s last moments fell upon her, settling on her chest like a boulder, pushing her deeper into hell.

  The poor witch was racked with hopelessness. She tried to ignore the pain coursing through her face and make peace with her end, but despair tore at her heart. Meredith’s tears swept off her lids and twinkled above her before quickly evaporating.

  ‘I don’t want to die.’ Meredith choked back a sob. ‘I’m sorry Grandma! I’m sorry I failed!’

  A flash of green emitted from high above. A dark streak blitzed toward Meredith and settled in her hand.

  “Broom!” Meredith exclaimed, shocked. She gripped the handle and veered herself upwards, spinning herself atop her steed.

  Meredith launched herself away from the unimaginable horrors that existed within the surrounding hellscape.

  “Thank you,” she murmured breathlessly, grasping her broom with shaky hands. It vibrated beneath her fingers.

  “How did you—” Meredith reached the balcony. Beyond the writhing devil and shattered window stood a small group. Meredith drifted past Wallace, plucking her wand from his eye. She ignored the ichor dripping from it—and his wails—and gently alighted before them.