Page 123 of Princess of Bael

“I still don’t understand how they’re attacking us through this barrier when we can’t reach them,” I snarled, my swords vibrating with renewed power as the magic inside them battled the invisible enchantment.

That portal they were creating swirled to life, allowing me a glimpse of obsidian flames.

What the fuck?My eyes widened as I realized that wasn’t a portal at all, but a shadow creature. The kneeling female winked up at me as she sprung backward.

The barrier crashed down between us, and the shadow being lunged.

I shot upward on instinct.

Kayla shrieked in response, her shield swirling around us in a blaze of heat to protect us from the flames I’d just taken us through.

My wings hummed with the reminder of what had happened the last time I’d come into contact with fire.

But I pushed through it, launching us into the sky as that shadowy creature rose to follow us.

I shot an arc of power from my swords, sheathing the flames in ice.

“Why the fuck didn’t you do that before?” Kayla demanded, her voice hoarse from the exertion of power.

“Because my runes were otherwise engaged,” I replied, my focus on that smoky figure rising into the sky.

“A warning would have been appreciated,” she grumbled, her arms straining as she hugged me to keep from falling.

“That bitch just unleashed a being from the Shadow realm.” I couldn’t keep the fury from my tone. That creature alone could destroy an entire continent in this world in a matter of hours.

And it appeared to be considering just that.

Already the trees below it were turning to ash as it absorbed the life from its roots, the Succubus-like being a danger to everything in its path.

Dizziness hit my senses once more, the threat to the balance weighing down my plumes and nearly plummeting us to the ground.

Kayla dug her nails into my neck. “Kill it, Ezra. Kill it now.”

Part of me wanted to retort something like,No shit. But a baser part of me took her command and ran with it.

She wasn’t trying to state the obvious; she was trying to keep me in the moment.

And it worked.

I crossed my swords together to create a beam of light that I shot right into the center of the growing beast.

It howled, stirring dark clouds all around us in an attempt to dispel the source of illumination. But my wings outmaneuvered it, my experience and age and power overcoming the soul-destroying demon as I blasted a steady stream of luminescence right into the heart of its being.

Wind roared around us, the creature attempting to fight its fate.

Kayla’s nails bit hard into my neck, grounding me, empowering me, forcing me to concentrate on the task until the shadow exploded into ash to decorate the ruined landscape beneath it.

I didn’t give it a second thought, my mind already returning to the four beings that had managed to conjure the being into existence.

They were right where I’d left them, shieldless now.

The bulky blond one looked straight up at me, his lips moving as he warned the others.

I arrowed us downward toward them, my swords ready to destroy.

“Hang on,” I told Kayla, increasing my speed.

The spiky-haired female on the ground shot to her feet, her arm lifting. A hint of gold winked in the sunlight.