Clara went back inside and shut the door to the balcony. She clamped Tamer’s arm, waking him up. They were in great danger.

A hand grabbed her wrist, twisted it and pushed her off balance. She fell on her knees and winced.

Tamer sat up, confusion crossing his face. Muttering a curse, he freed her. “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I thought you were—”

“Never mind that. They’re coming for us!” She pointed at the window. “A whole lot of them!”

He threw the covers away and strode to the balcony. His knuckles were white as he gripped the railing. “How many do you see?”

“I’m not sure but I’d say between fifty to one hundred. My God, why would they send an army?” she said, her voice sounding weaker than she would have liked.

He closed the door, stood over the nightstand and wore his weapon gear. Clara put on her boots and a coat, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. She picked up her bag but Tamer stopped her.

“No, leave them. We’re not running away,” Tamer said. “We’re going to fight them.”

 “Are you mad? We can’t defeat them!”

He took her hand and led her out of the room, past the hallway and into an empty bar. They saw the tavern master cleaning the bar top and mumbling to himself. The man stopped his task and raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Barricade the doors and windows. The village is under attack,” Tamer said.

They were out of the tavern before she could see the man’s reaction. She wrenched her hand from Tamer’s and stopped walking. They couldn’t take out a whole army. They had to retreat. It would draw them away from the village, leaving it safe.

“What do you think you’re doing, Tamer?”

Frowning, he said, “I know what you’re thinking. They are after the seal but they won’t leave until this village is destroyed. No warlord would send an army just to hunt down two people.”

Who could be so cruel as to obliterate a simple village? Who would want to doom the fate of millions of lives by unleashing the unspeakable army of Ghilan? Whoever was behind the attacks was someone so vile and despicable that Clara was repulsed by the thought of it.

 “Do you see that bell?” Tamer pointed at a large bell perched above a tower. “I need you to ring it. We have to alert the villagers to stay indoors. The men will come out to aid us.”

“I’ll go,” she said.

“Wait.” He pinned her with his stare. “Whatever you did to spark off your magic, you must do that again. With your power, we can defeat them.”

A lump grew in her throat. She nodded and took off into the streets. Her leg ached but she endured it. Heavy clouds glided over the sky, preventing the stars from shedding their light. In the stillness of the night, the wind growled like a dying beast.

As she dragged her aching foot, she thought about the two times she had released her magic, the events in the plains and in the sanctuary of the seal speeding through her mind in fractured pieces.

Both times, I had a strong desire to do something. To protect. To destroy.

She stopped and ducked behind a stack of crates. A few feet from her, a figure clothed in a dark cloak hissed. A guttural cry reverberated in the air.

Bones cracked.

Flesh sizzled.

Clara rushed across and peered from a building. In the center of the street was a pale creature with the head and torso of a man, and the hands and legs of a spider. The cloak had been reduced to pieces of tattered rags that hang over its transformed body. Its eyes were midnight black, its mouth a vertical slit with sharp fangs protruding out of its lips. The creature brought its hands together in tapping noises, long pincers covered in black platings meeting at the sharp ends.

The invading army has breached the walls.

The lump in her throat dissolved.  She limped past the subsequent building and on to the next, using the shadows to stay out of sight. The mutated creatures would tear the town apart if no one fought them off. Innocent blood would be spilled and families would be broken. She wouldn’t let that happen. Not if she could stop it.

And both times I was angry.

She felt warmth spreading from the core of her chest and when she looked down, white pulsing currents covered her hands like gloves made of light. She fisted her palms and the light faded.

Clara pressed the door hinge and entered the tower before climbing the stairs all the way to the top. She clutched the rope tied to the clapper and pulled it left to right.

The bell rang, sending off echoing chimes that disrupted the illusive silence. Up the tower, the village was in full view. She spotted several mutated creatures in the alleyways and even more jumping over the walls that marked the territory of the village. Tamer was running towards the gate, scimitars blazing with black fire, a trail of dead spider freaks behind him.

Clara rushed down the stairs and headed for the gate, pain flaring along her foot. She passed little cottages with men standing outside, spears in hand, their faces stamped with bemusement. She didn’t have time to explain.

Pattering footsteps resounded.

She looked to her left and saw one of the transfigured beings leaping forward, limbs spread out in a death's embrace. She leapt back. Her ankle protested with a burst of pain and she snarled. The creature hissed, sharp teeth snapping.

A throbbing ball of light emerged from her hand, transforming into a crystal projective. She released it. It shot off to its target. The humanoid fell, blood dripping from the hole in its chest.  

Spears hurtled through the air, arrows rained down from the sky, men shouted orders and desperate screams saturated the village.

More creatures blocked her path when she reached close to the gate. Clara knelt down and lowered her hands to the ground. Dust particles rose up. A white coating diverged, creeping over the shadows, climbing on to the spider-human hybrids. Cries of pain joined the battle orchestra and all around her, glassy sculptures littered the road in a macabre parade.

It’s not glass. It’s crystal, she thought, touching a cone that budded out of the body of a hybrid.

Pressing on, she stopped at the gate. The area was littered with burnt corpses and in the middle was Tamer, punching and kicking, stabbing and slicing, blocking and attacking. He moved with the grace of a swordsman and the agility of a dancer.  When he span, all she could see was the glow of fire, the glint of metal, the flash of fabric and the spray of blood. And when he stilled, more bodies fell.

“We can hold them off if we protect the wall,” Clara said, eyeing ten feet of concrete that separated them from the horde of monsters. It was hardly a defence barrier for the creatures could climb over it. “I can reinforce it.”

“Right,” he said. “I’ll watch your back.”

He bent his knees, one foot ahead of the other and hands raised to shoulder level in a fighting stance. When two of the dark beings climbed over the wall, Tamer moved.

Clara placed her hands over the wall. A thick crystal layer formed over the surface, spreading upwards and downwards, right and left. Swords clashed behind her and pincers snapped. She willed her magic to surge into her fingertips and the crystalline layer branched further.

It’s not enough. I need more power.

The heady sensation prickled her skin as she exploited more magic. The casing surged on until the entire wall that circled the village was fortified in crystal. Spikes grew up, lengthening the height of the wall to thirty feet and trapping any foolish creature that tried to cross the border.

She eased back and wobbled on her feet. Fatigue numbed the pain in her ankle. White splotches streaked her vision and sounds became an echo. She massaged her temple and blinked.

 “Do you hear that voice?” Tamer asked.

She heard mumbled words in the distance, something about “foolish humans” and “invincible army”.

Loud hissing noises came from the shadows of an alley. Clara tried to draw out her magic but the effort felt taxing. Objects moved in circles and the white dots dimmed her vision.

“Keep her safe. I’m going after their leader.” He ran into the dark passage, flickering out of view before she could ask who he was talking to.

Someone stepped in front of her. A hybrid creature jumped down from the roof of a house and pounced. Gunshots blared out. The figure turned to her and she recognized his face.

Rai wriggled his eyebrows and smirked. “Hello, Clara. Did you miss me?”

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Sneak Peek of Chapter 18: The Spider's Dance

Eryx grabbed Tamer’s shirt by the collar and shook him. “Listen, ahki. You’ve been gone for one whole year and we don’t know what you’ve been up to. I’m sorry if I’m being harsh but you better start talking.”

Tamer scowled at Eryx, a shadow of anger and betrayal darkening his face. They didn’t trust him. His own brothers doubted his actions. Eryx’s grip stiffened, the fabric leaving a mark on his neck but he neither flinched nor spoke.

Rai pried Eryx off of him and pushed him back so that he was standing between the two men. “Don’t piss him off, Tamer.” He pointed at the Zamari with his thumb. “He’s not stable right now. Just tell us the truth.”

He glanced at Clara and saw sadness in her green eyes. Placing his right hand over his left shoulder, Tamer bent his upper body in a stiff bow and stood straight.

“My true name,” he said. “My true name is…”