I groan in response, turning onto my side as I use every last ounce of strength to squeeze her hand and send currents of energy through her. “It knows you’re stronger when I’m around,” I croak. “Stay close.”
“I’m not leaving your side,” Aurora declares as she swoops in to press her lips to mine, filling my parched airways with enough life to keep me conscious to watch her rise to the full extent of her courage, spreading out her fingers in front of her with all her might as she wields her magic against the demon.
The ghastly creature attempted to lunge at her, but she was able to fling bursts of amethyst lightning at the demon. It squeals in protest as it fights to dodge her attacks as it comes charging forward, floating across the snow-covered ground.
But Aurora is a quick thinker and calculates every one of the demon’s moves as she walks boldly forward, firing magic bolts at the spirit that it’s forced to dodge before shooting a ball of concentrated light in front of the demon. The ball glows with light that illuminates the field and overpowers the radiant moonlight from the sky, then it explodes just as the demon attempts to leap over it.
The demon whimpers and squeals as it’s knocked over by the impact, throwing up a mouthful of black, slimy substance from its battered lip. I gasp in awe of Aurora’s immense power, stronger than anything I’ve witnessed before. With the demon momentarily paralyzed, Aurora was able to coil another ball of lilac light between her palms, gathering all her power into the translucent sphere.
“Gah!” Aurora yells out before spinning the ball in the demon’s direction, the magic sphere spearing into its face with such force that it sends it tumbling away before crashing into a tree to the sound of cracking ribs. Aurora is panting as she stares after the spirit that somehow lost its spirit nature and became a full-fledged physical being that bleeds from where it’s been injured.
Big black eyes stare frightfully at Aurora as the hairless dog whines and scrambles to its feet, this time imprinting the snow as it disappears behind a tree. Whatever havoc it had planned is thwarted since Aurora’s powers were majestic enough to hurt it, and it runs off, leaving behind trails of footprints in the snow.
Aurora turns to me, a heaving sigh escaping her lips, and dropping her shoulders. Without warning, she wheezes and collapses to the ground.
“Aurora!” I yelp, my throat dry from all the blood I’m losing. She manages to lift her head slightly, her eyes disoriented and unfocused from the exhaustion that has her confounded, to the cold, icy ground.
Mustering every last ounce of strength I can find, I pull myself forward using my stronger arm, trying to get to Aurora. She extends her arm out, wiggling her fingers toward me until I’m close enough to place my hand over hers. When our palms connect, I’m mentally whisked off into a chasm of bright amethyst light that would be blinding to my real eyes. My breath catches as I tumble down a long, narrow passageway that finally blackens before flashing a set of silver eyes into the vision.
When I’m sprung back to reality, I’m met with Aurora’s glowing depths of purple fixed blankly at me.
“The stranger will come when our child is born,” Aurora proclaims in the same deep voice she used when she had her first psychic vision. “She will help us fight the demon again.”
Aurora breathes out deeply just as her eyes return to their usual color, her eyelids heavy as she hangs on to consciousness. Our eyes meet for a brief, knowing second, in which we both acknowledge the psychic vision she just had before we allow unconsciousness to draw us into its dark abyss.
Chapter 26 - Aurora
It’s as if my soul reconnects with my body, the energy whispering into every corner of my being and sending gentle tingles of awareness into every nerve ending. Air that flows into my throat comes rolling back up and escapes my lips like a sigh that sends a gust of wind over my face to part my eyelids.
Above me are rows of white steel rods that hold up gray polyester in a structure that resembles a tent. Frowning, my eyes follow the steel rods that taper to one side until they land on a familiar face.
He’s smiling at me warmly, knowingly, as he reaches out and lifts my hand from where it rests on my belly.
“Hello, beautiful,” he whispers, lifting my hand to his lips to press a warm kiss on my knuckles. “I’m glad you finally decided to wake up.”
“How…how long was I out for?” I ask with a frown, noticing that my sleeve matches the pale blue jacket Elias is wearing.
“You were out for two days,” he says with a sigh. “We both were. I only just woke up myself. But Rissa assured me that we’re both healing well. And since we’re here together, we’re able to heal each other.”
A faint smile traces my lips as I let my eyes wander to my belly, covered in a white sheet.
“And the baby?” I ask cautiously, to which Elias responds by laying a flattened palm on the mound.
“The baby is well,” he tittered. “We have nothing to worry about for now. The demon was injured quite badly, and I doubtit will be back for some time. All you need to do is rest and take care of yourself and the baby. And…”
When Elias’s voice tapers off, I turn to face him, finding him grimacing apologetically.
“What is it, Elias?”
Elias goes on to explain that since the clinic burned down, they’d set up a makeshift infirmary in the tent for patients like us who needed to recover from the attack.
“The only problem is that there isn’t much privacy here,” Elias continues, chuckling nervously. “The pack members have been gathering outside, wanting to visit as soon as we both opened our eyes.”
“B-both?” I murmur, confused by the single word.
Elias nods. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll let them in.”
Nodding confusedly, I watch as Elias flinches when he gets to his feet, then takes slow, calculated steps toward one corner of the tent. He was badly injured during the fight with the demon, but he seems to be recovering now, even if it’s slowly.
