Magic Undying (Dragon's Gift: The Seeker #1)(59)

The demon threw me off him. I skidded on the floor, then clambered to my feet. My injuries were slowing me down, so I took on my Phantom form. I charged the Ubilaz demon, who lashed out at me with his massive claws. They sailed right through my Phantom shoulder.

I turned corporeal and landed a blow to the demon’s neck. Blood spurted, spraying me in the face as he stumbled and fell. I leapt for him, delivering a killing blow into his back.

He shuddered as I pulled my blade out, but he did not fall.

Though he bled, he didn’t move like he was wounded. He spun as fast as a snake and swiped out with his claws. I returned to my Phantom form just in time. His claws sailed through my belly. Before he could swipe again, I turned corporeal and landed another blow to his chest, deep enough that it should’ve killed him.

Still, he stood.

He wouldn’t die. He couldn’t die.

But I couldn’t stop. If I stopped, he would run. So I turned corporeal to stab him again. This time, I was too weak and too slow. He slashed me on the arm, sending pain radiating through me, then plowed a massive fist into to my stomach.

I stumbled backward as the breath whooshed out of me, adopting my Phantom form once more. The demon lurched toward me. I danced away.

There had to be something I could do! I had unknown death powers. According to seers, I was death. That had to be good for something. My head spun. I was so weak from blood loss that I was about to go to my knees.

I willed the demon to die, knowing it was hopeless.

A shriek sounded from behind me. Familiar.

A half-second later, the Phantom dragon swept into the room on gossamer wings. A sense of recognition slammed into me. What had before been a slight sense of knowing was now overwhelming. As if repeated contact had forged a bond between us.

Or reminded me of a bond.

I didn’t know who or what the dragon was, but it was important to me.

The blue dragon whirled, its transparent blue wings carrying it toward the demon and myself. When the dragon’s claws sank into the demon’s back, instinct propelled me forward, a driving force I couldn’t ignore.

While in my Phantom form, I grabbed the demon’s shirt and yanked him toward me. At the same time, the dragon pulled backward, heaving its massive wings.

The demon’s body went with the dragon, but its soul stayed with me.

It was a wispy, pale thing that sent electric ice shooting up my arms. I threw it aside as hard as I could. It flew through the air as mist before disappearing entirely.

I stumbled back, horror carving a hole in my chest, then fell to my knees, no longer strong enough to stand.

What the hell had just happened?

On the other side of the cavern, the dragon dropped the demon’s body. When it crashed to the ground, it lay still.

Dead.

My gaze glued to the dragon as a thousand questions pinwheeled inside my head. The graceful beast whirled on the air, approaching me as a formless cloud.

When it stopped in front of me, it coalesced into the shape of a woman wearing a long, simple dress. She knelt in front of me as I struggled to stay upright on my knees.

She was a Phantom like me, though she looked ageless and strange. Her magic felt ancient, though she didn’t look it. And though her face was familiar, I couldn’t place it. I wanted to say she was my mother, but I was certain she was not. She was like nothing I’d ever seen before.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I am Draka.” Her voice sounded like the dull roar of waves. Her words were stilted, as if language—any language other than shrieks and roars—was unfamiliar to her. “I followed you from the Underworld.”

“What—?” I asked.

I started to ask what she was when she spoke.

“They call you the Demise,” she said. “But they are wrong. You must make them wrong. You are the Guardian.”

No way. “Of what?”

“Life and Death. That”—she gestured to the body of the demon behind her—“was no coincidence. It has begun. When you entered the Underworld, it all began. The demon was your first task.”

“Task?” I had a hundred questions, but shock made them come out one word at a time. I swayed.

Draka appeared to search for words, as if they were just out of reach. Finally, her mouth opened. “Protecting. Guarding. You must use your gifts. When they come, learn them. Use them. It is your inheritance. Your legacy.”

“What legacy? Tell me more!”

“You have a role to play. Some want you to play it, others do not. But you must all the same.” Her form wavered, turning blurry at the edges. As if she couldn’t hold her human form. “I must go.”

“No!” Frustration roared within me. “You can’t.”

But she shimmered and turned to blue smoke, then into a dragon once more. With a swoosh of air, she took off, gracefully swooping for the exit. Woozy from blood loss, I fell to my butt, turning to watch her fly out of the cavern.

Through darkened vision, I caught sight of Roarke, staring at me while I was in my Phantom form. My head spun and I collapsed. Maybe from blood loss, maybe from the shock of seeing him. I tilted my head so I could see him clearly.

Blood flowed from wounds dotting his chest and arms. His wings hung a little lower.

Behind him, Cass and Nix staggered in, supporting each other. Aidan prowled in as a griffin, playing guard at the rear.