Chapter 23

  Meredith And The Reinforcements

  Meredith tenderly sidled off her steed, favoring her uninjured leg and using her floating broom as support. The deep, scorching pain in her face seemed to sting and pulsate, but she dared not touch it. Tears freely rolled down and stung her burn.

  Before her, amongst the scattered and burnt wreckage of Wallace’s home, stood Victor, taller, his face more angled, and his horns thicker and longer. His adolescent clothes fit tight against his muscled body. In one hand sat Thomas; the other was wrapped around the long shaft of a bejeweled steel warhammer.

  Three older wizards were beside Victor. They were garbed in similar dull blue cloaks, one with a crown of white hair around his head, another with a bald dome and white goatee, and the other with wispy white hair and a long beard. Two large panthers stepped from behind them.

  “Cici? Mama Cat? Victor?” Meredith panted, stunned. She barely recognized them. “What are you doing here? How are you…Who are these men?”

  Cici sauntered beside Meredith and rubbed against her leg; his new weight shifted her slightly.

  “Reinforcements,” Victor replied.

  “We’re Ethel’s boyfriends,” the goateed man stated.

  “We’ll explain everything later,” Thomas said from atop Victor’s hand. “Are you ok?”

  “I think so,” Meredith huffed breathlessly. “I think I did it!”

  “Did what?” Thomas asked.

  “Beat him!” Meredith exclaimed. “I think I beat Wallace! I got his other eye! Now we just need to get Gra—"

  “Gather yourself; here he comes!” Thomas interjected.

  Meredith turned to see Wallace stumble back inside from the balcony, clutching his bleeding orifice while his prosthetic eye stared blankly forward. His feet crunched the fallen glass.

  “It’s not over until one of us is dead, little witch,” the devil hissed.

  “More guests.” An aggravated snarl escaped his lips, then he paused and sniffed. “Ah! A most welcome surprise, Thomas! So, you’ve decided to surrender yourself to me at last! All it took was a little torture.”

  “Not quite,” Thomas croaked. “We’re here for Ethel. Release her, and we will be on our way.”

  “I may be blind, but I can still sense you. I am more than a match for all of you,” Wallace growled. “Nobody is leaving here alive unless I get what I want! I’m being gracious. Surrender yourself, toad, and I’ll let the others leave.”

  “We all know the risk of coming here,” Thomas replied. He turned to Meredith. “Get your Grandmother so we can get out of here; we’ll cover you!”

  “Oh no, you don’t!” Wallace bellowed. Tendrils of flame burst forth from his fingertips. The three older wizards leaped past Meredith and projected massive, shimmering wards. The fire lapped against the shimmering shields.

  “Go now!” Thomas croaked.

  Meredith vaulted onto her broom and flew the short distance to Grandma. Her warning ring buzzed.

  As she neared the tangled mess of infernal chains, a fiery tendril emerged in the corner of her vision. It ripped past the wards and lashed toward her. Meredith yanked hard, veering sharply, but she wasn’t fast enough. The flame struck with a searing hiss, slicing through the broom’s shaft, snapping it in half, and grazing Meredith’s midsection.

  Meredith, now weightless, smacked into the floor, pain exploding in her injured hip. Her smoldering robe extinguished as she tumbled across the rough surface, stopping just beneath the dangling chains that held Grandma aloft. The broken halves of her broom clattered against the fractured, scorched marble.

  “Broom!” Meredith’s voice cracked as she cried out, her face twisting in pain.

  It lay in singed pieces, quivering slightly.

  “Damn it!” Her heart sank, a swell of anger and sorrow threatened to overwhelm her as she scrambled to her trusted steed.

  Her fingers trembled as she gathered the splintered broom, the pieces faintly quivering in her hands. Meredith stuffed the remains in her bag with grim determination. There was no time to mourn.

  Meredith turned her gaze to Grandma, encased in her cruel, metal prison, the chains creaking as they gently swayed. Gritting her teeth, the witch painfully managed to get to her feet.

  ‘Focus!’ Meredith told herself. She thought for a moment. How could she free Grandma? Her lunar flames could burn through almost anything, and she had changed the intention of her spell before; perhaps she could do it again!

  The exhausted witch absorbed the paltry power from Thomas’ ring. It was but a small sip of water in a scorching desert. It would have to be enough.

  Explosions echoed throughout the devil’s parlor. She needed to hurry, and it was her only idea. Meredith summoned the lunar flames, enveloping her body. She concentrated and directed the flickering blaze off herself and onto the infernal chains as the elder witch looked on.

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  Meredith could feel her power decrease, and her focus threatening to slip. Her body trembled under the strain. Her face, hip, and stomach ached, but she kept pushing. The infernal chains remained intact.

  ‘Come on,’ Meredith thought as she continued siphoning the dregs of her power into her spell. She didn’t understand. Why wasn’t it working? She wished she would’ve come up with a plan earlier.

  Meredith glanced past Grandma. Beyond the elder wizard’s massive wards, Wallace reared his head back and released a blood-curdling, high-pitched shriek. Meredith’s vision blurred as it reverberated throughout the parlor. It felt like a dagger had been shoved into her ears. She covered them with her hands, struggling to maintain her lunar flames, which slowly receded. Her allies froze, also covering their ears in pain. Their wards dissipated.

  Meredith returned her focus to Grandma, empowering the inferno burning away at the infernal chains. She had to hurry! The screech ended, and beyond Grandma, the harsh sounds of battle, waves of fire, and errant spells filled the devil’s lair. Meredith hazarded another glance past the Grandma. Her cult of boyfriends weaved spells and crashed massive bolts of energy into Wallace. The devil reeled and responded with a stream of fire from his mouth. Victor charged past the flames and sent his warhammer crashing up into the blinded devil’s jaw. Wallace’s flaming maw snapped shut as he stumbled backward. He spun and whipped the tip of his forked tail at Victor.

  SNAP!

  Victor’s sternum exploded in blood as he was sent hurtling backward, the force tearing his shirt and skin. The tiefling tumbled across the floor. He clutched at his chest, grimacing in, as he slowly slid to a stop. Victor lay there, his blood slowly pooling within the cracked marble.

  Worry racked Meredith, but she couldn’t help. She needed to get Grandma free! The infernal chains began to creak within her lunar flames.

  Wallace flapped his tattered wings and launched himself high into the air. He reared his arm back, summoned a massive fireball in his claw, and launched it at the three elder magicians. They flitted away—quite nimbly for old men—but the fireball exploded against the floor, ripping them off their feet and dousing them in flames. They tumbled onto their backs awkwardly, groaning as they struck the cracked marble. The men struggled to their feet. Wallace dove toward them.

  Meredith could barely stand to watch the poor souls.

  Cici and Mama Cat leaped upwards and snagged Wallace’s legs. The tangled mass furiously kicked, bit, clawed, hissed, snarled, and growled as they crashed to the floor, tumbling across the splintered marble. They scrambled and flailed until Wallace pinned the cats down by their throats. He ripped them up off the floor, holding them aloft with outstretched arms, and bashed them together before flinging the dazed cats across the parlor.

  Meredith gasped as they skidded across the floor. Her heart felt like lead in her chest as the cats slid to a stop, limp. Somebody help them! Meredith frantically glanced around. Everyone was down. She needed to free Grandma—and quickly! The chains grew red as Meredith eked the last of her power into her spell. She began to feel weak.

  VWOOSH!

  A pinkish blast of energy crashed into Wallace, enveloping his torso and staggering him sideways. It subsided, and Meredith and Wallace both turned, searching for the source.

  Thomas sat alone among the wreckage.

  “Ha! You’ve got some fight in you, too, toad?” Wallace cackled as he stepped towards him.

  Thomas waited, unblinking, as the devil raised his massive foot and stomped down. The toad teleported in a wisp of purple haze, reappearing behind Wallace as his foot smashed into the floor. The third eye atop Thomas’ head glowed and smashed another beam of energy into Wallace’s back, sending him stumbling forward. The fiend turned and lunged toward the toad, but again, Thomas evaded Wallace and teleported away. Over and over, the pair traipsed through the devil’s wrecked home, fire and blasts of energy splashing across the parlor.

  ‘Come on, hurry up!’ Meredith thought as she turned back to Grandma. The infernal chains slowly burned black and brittle. She hoped Thomas could hold Wallace off long enough.

  THUMP!

  A small mass whipped past Meredith’s head. She ripped around; Thomas’ broken body tumbled across the floor.

  “One more loose end to take care of.”

  Terror gripped Meredith’s heart, and her body began to tremble as an unnatural chill snaked up her spine. She slowly turned her head and peered past the nest of blackening chains.

  The bloody, tattered devil stood within the hellish glow spilling through the shattered window and the gaping hole in the ceiling. Wallace turned slightly, tilting his head toward her, his gleaming fangs bare in a twisted, mocking smile. His empty eyelids stretched back in glee.

  Meredith’s heart thundered in her chest, each pulse shaking her weakened body. She had never felt so utterly, devastatingly alone, or powerless. She maintained the white inferno despite every instinct begging her to run. How had it come to this? How could Wallace still be standing after everything? Meredith glanced up at Grandma.

  She stared back with determined fury.

  Meredith’s tension eased slightly. She found solace in Grandma’s confidence. Terrified, Meredith renewed her focus and determination.

  Wallace turned and strode towards her, his heavy footsteps slow and deliberate. He crushed the shattered floor beneath him, a thudding, crunching death knoll echoing against the broken walls.

  “I can sense you, little witch,” Wallace snarled; tongues of hellfire flickered from his eye sockets, licking across his forehead.

  “Shitshitshitshit,” Meredith mumbled. She mustered every ounce of magic she could, dredging the rapidly waning pools of her power.

  Her lunar flames began to fade and sputter.

  “I can hear the terror in your voice.” Wallace neared.

  ‘Come on!’ Meredith pleaded. ‘Work!’

  “Poor little Meredith,” he continued. “Your allies have fallen, and you’re growing weaker. I should kill you now. It would be too easy, but I won’t. I’ll make you pay for everything you’ve done; you’ll be my soul slave for all eternity!

  “But let’s have some fun first. I can’t help myself. What would hell be without a little torture?”

  The devil laughed. Flames licked out of his punctured skin.

  “Your heart rate increases with every step I take,” he continued. “Your fear is delicious! I love it!”

  CHINK!

  A chunk of scorched, molten metal flung away from the unholy nest, rattling against the floor. The devil faltered, stunned as the links began to disintegrate.

  “Yes!” Meredith squeaked.

  The weakened chains groaned under the mounting pressure, their strained links pulling away one by one. They ripped away from the steel cocoon with a sharp, echoing snap.

  Wallace bound forward, panicked.

  Sweat beaded down Meredith’s furrowed brow as he neared. She strained, dizzy with weakness and terror. She could do it! She just needed a little more!

  THOOM!

  Blinding arcs of electricity lanced outward, rending the infernal chains apart. Meredith was thrown backward, her flames dissipating as bits of molten metal clattered past her.

  A sharp hiss escaped her lips as she landed, wincing as the jagged wreckage dug into her back. She groaned as she weakly lifted her head, her vision slowly returning.

  Grandma stood before her, wand in hand, surrounded by dancing, crackling electricity. She ripped the cloth from her mouth.

  Wallace froze, his twisted smile growing slack.

  “Are you okay?” Grandma asked, sparing Meredith a glance, both fierce and concerned.

  “Kick his ass, Grandma,” Meredith rasped with a weak smile. Her head lolled back, the world spinning away as her vision faded.