I glanced to my right and saw George charging us, fangs bared and eyes glowing. Marrow, who had only now recovered, flung a spell at the animal, but George jumped over it easily.

Bethany cast a spell at the hound, but before it reached George, a magic shield popped up around him, and the spell bounced off, streaking upward and striking the ceiling. Huge chunks of rock broke free and fell down on us. One struck me behind the ear, making me see stars.

I blinked them away in time to see George drawing close. I fell down as I tried to avoid him, but the hellhound leaped past me, going for Marrow who had been knocked over by the falling rock. But before George reached him, the black phoenix swooped down. It collided with the hound and sent him careening sideways, yelping.

Someone cried out in alarm, and as I got back to my feet, I saw it was Culpepper. He was in full demon mode, green eyes aglow and horns exposed. He aimed a spell at the phoenix, only to have it countered by Bethany. At the same time, Marrow struck Culpepper with a curse I didn’t recognize, but it lifted Culpepper off his feet, spun him like a top, and flung him halfway across the room.

I bashed Marrow in the knee with my foot. His eyes widened in surprise, and he went down, striking the floor with a satisfying smack. I dove for Excalibur still in Marrow’s hands, but one of Bethany’s spells hit me. Gashes appeared on my arms and down my side where the magic struck, slicing through clothes and skin. I screamed and turned on her.

“Come on, little girl,” Bethany taunted. “Give it a try.”

Boom!

A spell struck the ceiling above Bethany, raining down more rocks on top of her, enough that she disappeared beneath them. I had no idea where the spell came from, but then a voice I would’ve recognized anywhere said, “You never did know when to shut up, Beth.”

My mother stood up from behind the tomb.

“Mom!” Relief and joy filled me near to bursting, making me feel weightless.

Moira pointed a hand at me and uttered a spell. I backed up, bracing for the attack, but the magic hit Marrow instead.

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“Get behind the tomb, Destiny,” Moira said as she aimed another spell at Marrow.

I took an automatic step toward her then remembered Selene. I pointed at her. “Ou-agra.” The silver ropes fell away at once, and she bounded to her feet.

“Watch out, Eli!” Selene shouted, and she let fly a befuddlement jinx. I glanced over my shoulder to see the spell strike Paul. He swayed on his feet, and Eli punched him again, sending him reeling.

A shriek echoed above us, and I looked up to see the black phoenix diving toward me. Before I could react, Selene cast a jab jinx at it. The phoenix screeched as the spell grazed its side, the sound more angry than hurt. It veered toward Selene and crashed into her so hard she flew backward, head striking the floor.

“Fligere!” I said, letting off my own jab. This one hit the phoenix in the back. It lurched sideways off Selene and then flew up into the air and away from us.

I raced over to Selene and dropped to my knees beside her. She was unconscious. Three deep, bleeding cuts ran down one side of her face from forehead to chin.

“Stay down, Dusty!”

I looked up in time to see Eli launch a rock into the air, aimed at the black phoenix, which was swooping down toward Selene and me. The rock struck the bird at the base of its left wing. It let out an outraged screech and then spun away, now flying erratically.

Eli sprinted toward me. He picked Selene up and threw her over his shoulder. Then he and I dashed toward the tomb where my mom was keeping Marrow on the defensive. He stood with Excalibur in front of him, deflecting and absorbing each spell.

Eli set Selene down at the base of the tomb, shielding her from most of the danger. I glanced around, on the lookout for the black phoenix.

A few feet away, Bethany had managed to free herself from the rocks. Blood ran down the side of her face from a cut on her forehead. She charged us, arm flung out as she cast another one of those cutting curses at me. Eli jumped in front of the spell, pushing me out of the way. I stumbled sideways, just barely staying on my feet. The spell struck Eli full force. Gashes appeared on his chest through his shredded clothes. The spell knocked him backward, and his head struck the side of a rock as he fell.

I cast a shield spell, deflecting Bethany’s second attack. I needed to stop her before she took us all out. Behind me, my mother was still casting at Marrow. She had to be exhausted.

I raised my hand to throw the binding spell at Bethany, only to have Culpepper beat me to it. Silver ropes wrapped around Bethany from head to toe, and she toppled sideways. Culpepper came running toward us, limping badly on one leg and flinging spells up into the air at the black phoenix, which was trying to get at us. I could tell he was exhausted, too.

I grabbed Eli’s arm and dragged him as near to the base of the tomb as I could. To my relief, he was still conscious, although dazed. Hoping Culpepper could manage against the phoenix, I turned and joined my mother. Side-by-side we took on Marrow.

Although we were keeping him occupied, I understood at once that it was hopeless. There seemed no way to get around the sword’s ability to absorb spells. I even tried flinging rocks at him just like we learned in psionics, but Marrow repulsed them easily.

I tried to puzzle out how the sword could absorb a Nightmare’s magic but The Will couldn’t. Maybe it was the difference between a spell set to run on autopilot and one being actively controlled by a wizard, like the difference between playing a live opponent in a video game instead of the computer. The Will couldn’t deflect Nightmares because it couldn’t intuit magic based on imagination. But Marrow could. He could see, hear, and imagine himself.




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