The Breaker (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #2)(83)

“This is the end of you!” yelled the Head with a snarl, as he delved into the depths of his cloak. From within, he pulled out a bottle of black glass. Alex’s eyes widened in horror, knowing the bottle’s purpose. Elias froze too, his starry black eyes glittering with violent rage.

“Did you forget I had this?” the Head sneered, as he ripped the stopper from the top and tipped the contents out onto the palm of his hand. Within, Alex could see the dull red glow of something tiny. It was far smaller than the coiled, glowing essences he had seen stacked like condiments in the antechamber. It was only a section of the larger whole.

“That’s mine!” shouted Elias, lunging toward the Head.

The Head waved his pale hand over the small, glowing ember, and a ripple of pale pink light shot through the shadowy form of Elias’s body. Elias cried out in agony, slivers of his fluid form fading and slithering away from him, back into the darkness. Clawing the threads back into his shifting figure, Elias drew himself up and launched another attack at the Head. Jets of the purest black fired from Elias’s shadowy form, the Head unable to snatch them or push them away. They were made from another energy entirely.

With a sweep of his arm, the Head passed his hand over the small coil of Elias’s essence. Another cry shivered from Elias’s shadowy throat, echoing between the walls and chilling Alex’s blood. It was unearthly and inhuman and made goosebumps prickle along every inch of his skin. It seemed to come from another realm, the scream trembling the fabric of the world around them.

Elias swept backward, gathering up his errant shadows as he leveled a furious gaze at the Head. Alex had never seen rage like it. He was almost sure he saw a red glow burning, replacing the black, galactic irises of Elias’s peculiar eyes.

Elias rallied again, flowing back on the wave of pain. This time, the Head was not as fast. The black mist of Elias’s mysterious energy engulfed the hooded skeleton, blinding him for a moment as Elias swooped in with a rush of shadow and knocked the ember from the Head’s palm. It fell like a marble, bouncing across the flagstones. Elias scurried after the ember, sweeping along the floor until his fluid fingers settled across the tiny red glow. Alex watched with wonder as Elias buried the glowing red marble deep inside the glittering cavern of his chest, where he seemed to store all of his most precious possessions.

“Go!” hissed Elias as he slithered along the floor, a triumphant grin on his strange face. Alex understood. Now nothing stood between Elias and the Head. Without the glowing particle of Elias’s essence, the Head had no further control of the shadow creature. It was the moment Elias had been waiting a long time for, Alex realized, feeling a niggle of confusion in the back of his mind. Had this been the goal all along? The reason for the gifts and the books and the visits? Alex knew it would plague him later, but for now he had other things to worry about.

Alex scrambled to his feet, running to the others, who were doing the same, dragging themselves back up. He paused for a moment to pluck the almost-lost knife from the floor and slide it back into his belt.

The fight, so close to where they stood, intensified between Elias and the Head. All bets were off. Without the Head’s advantage, the two seemed to be more than evenly matched, even with Elias’s less-than-solid form.

Ellabell seemed frozen to the spot by the sight of Elias, her eyes staring at the shadow-creature in abject horror.

“Ellabell! You have to run!” Alex told her, grabbing her hand. She shook her head as if brushing off a trance.

“We can’t leave Aamir,” insisted Jari, just as they were about to break away from the fight.

Of course, Jari was right. They couldn’t just leave Aamir to whatever fate might befall him if left within close proximity to the two superhuman opponents down the corridor.

Running into the foul chamber, a bolt of guilt sliced through Alex. Aamir was still hanging from the manacles, a cold sweat glistening on his sickly, waxy-looking face. Without thinking, knowing their time was precious, Alex reached up with the blade of the knife, watching it sear into life, and severed the golden line on Aamir’s wrist.

A howl of agony erupted from Aamir’s mouth as the line shattered, some of the energy seeping into the skin beneath, making his veins glow amber beneath the coppery outer layer as the rest fell, like iridescent confetti, to the floor. His face twisted and his entire arm glowed a molten gold, the overwhelming pain evident on his half-conscious face. Mid-cry, Aamir collapsed in the manacles, his body completely limp. Alex lifted his fingers to check for a pulse in Aamir’s neck. He was still alive, just unconscious.

With the help of the others, Alex grabbed Aamir and unchained him as Jari and Natalie looped his arms around their necks. Running as fast as they could with their ungainly charge, they ducked out of the chamber and fled toward the Head’s office as the battle raged violently on at the end of the corridor, sparks of black and gold flying against a glistening slick of oily mist.

“What now?” asked Natalie as the sound of the battle ebbed. She looked fearfully to Alex, her face damp with sweat, her eyes panicked.

“We need to barricade ourselves in the Head’s office. I don’t know if Elias will be able to hold the Head off forever, and if he can’t, it’s going to be up to us. We’ll have to make a last stand against him,” said Alex, wiping the moisture from his forehead. The name Elias slipped from his mouth with a comfortable familiarity he hadn’t experienced before, taking him by surprise.