“Oh, hi there,” Travis responded, obviously startled. “Are you alone?” He looked around as if an adult would appear next.
“Help me.”
“Are you hurt?” Emma asked, taking a step toward the girl, but I grabbed Emma’s arm and yanked her against my chest.
I said in a calm, even voice. “Travis, walk slowly toward me and the portal.”
He looked back and forth between me and the little girl but did as I said. He was learning to trust me.
“Help me,” the girl cried out as soon as Travis began to retreat. She threw out her hands as if in anguish but didn’t move from her spot. Her nails were broken, black dirt caked under them.
Emma flinched against my chest, still watching the little girl. “What is it?”
“It’s aShe,” I said, quietly. “Shes were once little girls who brutally murdered someone close to them, like childhood friends, or their families.”
The She pulled out a gray balloon from her back, like a magic trick. It had a smiley face drawn on it, one eye bigger than the other, giving it a manic look.
“Occasionally one will cross over from the Stygian. They lure people by asking for help before ripping their entrails out and feasting on them.”
Travis’s voice shook as he finally reached my side, still watching the girl. “What is it about this Stygian place and babies and children?” He shivered.
The She moved the balloon to and fro, giggling as it glided through the air.
“The Stygian loves to subvert the innocent. Now we must go. She doesn’t look it, but the She are incredibly fast. On the count of three, we jump into the portal. I’ll go last.”
“Are you going to leave me behind to have my entrails ripped out?” Emma asked in a bitter tone.
“Of course not.” I gripped her shoulders more firmly. “I would never let anything happen to you. Now, on the count of three. One, two, three.”
We turned around but stopped short, when we faced another She standing just to the side of the portal. Her fingers dipped into the portal, as if she were testing the temperature of a pool. Panic seized me. A black eye peeked out from beneath the sheath of hair, darting back and forth between each of us. I sensed more than saw her smile.
“Help us.”
“Help us.”
“Help us.”
I turned my head and suddenly found there weren’t just two Shes. Thirty of them stepped out from behind the trees.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Gods,” I whispered, before throwing up the holy triangle, “Luminatos treahgo eearhovotas.” I said it quickly, so the energy burst was short and weaker than if I had taken my time, but it blasted the She in the face enough that it stumbled back and away from the portal. The rest leapt into action. Some had dropped into a distorted crabwalk and scurried across the pine needle covered ground. Others ran straight for us. I grabbed Travis by the lapel and threw him into the portal. He yelped as he disappeared.
Just as I turned to throw another power blast at a She, I saw out of the corner of my eye the She I had just blasted recovered and was climbing into the portal. “No,” I dove for the portal.
“Calan,” Emma screamed and I stopped in my tracks. Three She had dug their dirty long fingernails into her legs, tearing away at fabric, pulling her away. I whipped out my broadsword and swung. One head rolled away. With another few chops, two hands dropped to the ground. The She reared back, but I couldn’t stop them for long. I grabbed Emma and threw her into the portal, following behind.
I hit the ground on my feet, but Emma coughed hard, having fallen flat onto her chest on the antique tile floor. Looking up at the portal, I watched two more She scramble in.
"What is this?” A familiar voice boomed. Master Ylang had been sitting in one of the red tufted chairs facing the massive fireplace, and for a moment I wondered if I could maneuver the She into the fire. I didn’t want a bunch of She enveloped in flames running around, so I reconsidered the idea.
“Stay back, Master.” I cried out while looking for Travis. I knew I should close the portal but I had to protect the Propheros. I found him on the ground, wrestling a She who screeched and clawed over him. But he had her by the wrists, keeping her at bay.
“Little help,” he managed to get out. Sweat dripped down his Temples as he tried to hold the She back. She giggled wildly, like she was about to tickle him. More like tickle his liver after tearing him apart.
I ran forward. With a lunge, I sliced the She’s head off, then pivoted, assumed my holy position, and closed the portal. Yet five of the She scurried about on the walls like spiders, two of them bleating for help while the other three laughed their heads off. Feeding my faith, I chanted and directed my light to two of them in a powerful wave. They squirmed, their laughter reaching the pitch of hyenas. They were rooted in this world more firmly than was right. As I continued to wear them away, I sensed movement from the corner of my eye.
“Help him,” Emma cried to Master Ylang who remained unmoved by her pleas. She didn’t understand that it was my place to protect my Masters and she was doing me a disservice by begging him to intervene.
