A Glow of Stars & Dusk by Eve L. Mitchell

There’sa scene in Lord of the Rings where the dead swarm the battleground and basically wipe out the enemy. In the book, it’s described beautifully; in the movie, it’s absolutely epic to see it on the big screen, and as you watch it, you’re internally crowing with glee at all the bad guys getting their comeuppance.

What I summoned was nothing like that scene of long-awaited retribution and liberation for the dead.

No. I summoned…well…I summoned demons. Dead ones.

Hound started to whine and look around as he sensed them in the night a lot sooner than the demon GuardI was in the company of.

Suddenly Sam stilled and dropped me to my feet as he peered down at me. “What have you done?” he asked me softly right before the first swarm hit. And swarm was the best way to describe them.

Terror clawed at my throat as hell was unleashed on the six demons. I literally unleashed hell. Creatures of the night swamped them. They burst out of the earth, appearing suddenly from the shadows, and dropped from the sky like ravenous birds. All shapes, all sizes, all manner of the dead. The six Guards fought them, but how do you kill what’s already dead?

Der called out in the language they spoke amongst themselves, and I heard the answering grunts and shouts. Hound wasn’t fighting; instead, his red eyes watched me, and I felt so guilty under the judgement that the hellhound was looking at me with.

“You don’t understand,” I whispered to the hound.

Suddenly Zel was in front of me, and his fury had me turning and running away from him. A hand grabbed my long blonde hair, and I was jerked backwards before he turned me and grabbed my throat. My feet were dangling off the ground as he lifted me, and I met angry blue eyes. “Make it stop.”

“Go to hell,” I bit out as I struggled futilely.

“Fucking witch,” Zel growled as he turned to his companions. They were all fighting, but I saw Der was limping, and I felt a pang of guilt. “Nis pustuali zut prohivere sa!”

I saw Sam look at us before he barked a command. Suddenly Chaz was in front of me, and for the first time, I felt fear of this demon. His hand raised, and he brushed my forehead. “Samnim pytherissum.”

I went limp in Zel’s grip as Chaz’s sleeping spell rendered me unconscious.

* * *

I was lyingon wet grass, and I was sore. I was also insanely hot, and as I peeked between half-closed lids, I saw the giant paw of Hound. I’m sleeping beside a hellhound. If I wasn’t scared of the wrath of six demons, I may have laughed.

“She’s awake.”

Sighing, I sat up and looked at the demons glaring at me. Four pairs of eyes scrutinised my every movement as I rose to my feet. They were around a small fire, and not one of them looked friendly. Well, I did set an army of dead demons on them. I trudged forward reluctantly. “Still got my arm, I see.” Nothing. Yeah, lighthearted humour was perhaps not the way to go. “Where are they?”

“Do you mean your dead army?” Pen asked me casually. Of the four in front of me, he looked least pissed off.

“Um, yeah. And Chaz?” I looked around and back at the four. “And…Sam?”

“We thought it best not to have Sam here when you woke,” Der grumbled as he rubbed his leg.

I nodded as I pursed my lips together. Shit, he was going to kill me. “And Chaz?”

“Why did you do it?” Ros asked me as he stirred the fire.

“I was defending myself.”

“From?” Pen asked as he leaned forward.

“You!” My cry was unnaturally loud in the silence of the night. “My God! You abduct me, you’re all demons, I was buried alive, monsters with shark’s teeth tried to eat me, and then your fucking dickhead leader tries to gag me and threatens to kill me.” My arms flung in the air in distress. “I mean come on, what the hell did you think I was going to do when he spoke to me like that?”

They stared back at me impassively. Zel’s eyes were narrowed in anger, but the other three didn’t look as pissed off. Or maybe I was delusional?

“You had a tantrum?” Pen asked doubtfully after a moment.

“No, I didn’t have a tantrum,” I snapped defensively even as I realised that I did. I had a big old cry baby tantrum. Fuck.

“She had a tantrum.” Ros nodded as he glanced at the others. “Shit, girl, next time just ask for a hug or something.” He stood and walked over to Hound, who instantly snarled at him. “She sleeps beside it, and it won’t let me anywhere near it,” he muttered as he crouched down in front of the hellhound. “Witch, come tame this beast, it’s hurt.”

“Hurt?” I spun and hurried over to Hound. “Where are you hurt?” I asked it as I checked his legs and back. The hellhound growled at me, and I swatted his nose. “Stop that, you’re just being grumpy,” I muttered as I lifted his foreleg. I saw the three claw marks oozing blood. “Oh no!” I cried softly. “Ros.” I held Hound’s leg as Ros inched closer to inspect.

“Okay, I have a salve,” he said after he inspected it. “You’re going to have to put it on him, witch.”

“Star,” I corrected softly.

“Star’s what your friends call you,” Ros snorted. “You summoned an army of the dead to kill me; witch is fine.”

“Well, you threatened to kill me first,” I mumbled as I stroked Hound’s leg. The hellhound fixed disdainful red eyes on me. “Don’t you start,” I warned it.

Minutes later, a tin was thrust in my face. “A thin coat is all he needs.”

I nodded to acknowledge the instruction, and then I gently and very, very carefully applied the salve to the hellhound’s leg. Hound watched me the whole time through narrowed eyes, and once or twice his fangs bared in protest. I have never been so nervous in my whole life. When I was finished, I was covered in a thin layer of sweat.

Hound stood and tested his leg. With a condescending snort, he turned his back on me and walked off into the darkness.

“You’re welcome,” I huffed at his retreating back as I twisted the lid back on the salve. Turning back to the others, I faltered when I met Sam’s baleful glare. “Oh goody, you’re back,” I snarked even as my stomach dropped in fear.

“Did she say anything?” Sam asked the others as his gaze held mine.

“Had a tantrum,” Ros answered as he dug through a pack. I had no idea where the pack came from.

“A tantrum?” Sam asked evenly, and Zel snorted in contempt. “You had a tantrum?”

“I did not have a tantrum.” You totally did, I corrected myself.

“She is merely a child,” Zel bit out angrily. “She cannot do this.”

“Do what? What do you even need me for?”

“We need to move,” Sam said as he turned to the others. “Chaz is scouting ahead; Ros, go east.” Sam looked to the sky. “Night is almost over, we need to be quick.”

“Do you burn in the daylight?” I asked stupidly, and five pairs of eyes stared at me. “Sometimes, I’m as surprised as you are with the things I say,” I rushed out defensively.

“And you wonder why we wanted to gag you,” Zel muttered as he bent to pick up a pack.

“I say stupid things, okay, so hang me.” I backed up a step at the speed at which Zel’s head snapped up in interest. “Not literally, arsehole. I mean, sometimes I say things without thinking and I know that, so okay, I know you don’t burn in the daylight, but what about the things chasing us? Do they? Is that why there was a fog when they attacked me?”

“Nothing is chasing us,” Pen reminded me wryly with a gleam in his brown eyes.

“Har de har har, comedian. Honestly, my sides are splitting at your wit.”

“Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit,” Der chimed in.

“Whoever says that is a snowflake,” I scoffed. “Sarcasm kicks arse, and those that don’t get it are too stupid to understand it.”

“You done?” Sam asked me as he materialised beside me. I gulped at his huge presence towering over me, especially with Hound coming up behind him. I nodded as I shut my mouth. “Well, thank fuck for that.” Bending, he put me over his shoulder.

“Why can’t I ride Hound?” The hellhound looked at me as if he wanted to eat me for the suggestion, a low warning rumble sounding loud in his chest. “Or you can let me ride piggyback?” I averted my eyes from the growling demon dog and fixed my stare on Sam’s back.

“You tried to kill me and my Guard. You travel like this, or you don’t travel at all.” Sam’s hand rested across the back of my thighs. “Choose.”

They would totally drop me here to die, I had no doubt. “Fine.” I tried to move, but he held me tight. “It’s just all the blood rushes to my head,” I muttered.

“So that’s your excuse?” Sam asked quietly as he turned us and we began to travel. I ignored him as I was jostled gently in rhythm with his stride.

“Why is it called travelling? Why isn’t it just called walking?”

“She never shuts up,” Zel protested. “Did we drop the gag?”

“You’re a complete dick, you know that, don’t you?” I snapped as I tried to rise to glare at wherever he was, but Sam’s arm tightened on my body, restricting my movement.

“I need eyes north,” Sam said, his voice low. “Go, get some peace.”

I heard the grunt, and I fumed internally. “You mean me? Peace from me?”

“I do.”

“You sought me out,” I reminded him. “I was minding my own business, in my home, in my own country, doing nothing wrong. You came for me.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Did you just humour me?”

“Are you part harpy?” Der asked curiously.

“Harpies exist?” I asked fearfully, trying to look up into the sky.

“She knows nothing,” Pen said to Sam quietly. “This will not be easy.”

“I know,” Sam answered. “We need to go back to her source.”

“What source?” I asked. No one answered. “Sam? Pen? What source?”

“We should have kept the gag,” Der mumbled, and I heard the answering murmurs of agreement.

I snapped my mouth shut before I asked the next question. Arseholes. They were all arseholes. Sometime later, I was almost sleeping when I was moved off of Sam’s shoulder. He caught his arms around me and held me to his chest. “What’s wrong?” I asked as I looked around cautiously.

“Dead arm.” He shifted me in his arms and kept walking. “Go back to sleep.”

“I’m awake now,” I said quietly as I looked up at him, taking in his sombre profile.

Dark green eyes flicked to mine, and his mouth hooked up, showing the dimple. “I was afraid of that.”

I smiled despite myself. “Dick.” I looked around and saw it was just me, Sam and Pen. “Where are the others?”

“Scouting and watching our backs.”

I laid my head against his chest. “I can walk if you’re tired.”

“Look at the trees,” Sam instructed me.

I did and my fingers clenched into fists. The trees were moving rapidly past us. I looked at Sam’s feet, but they looked to be normal. “How?”

“Demon,” Sam answered easily.

“Are you moving that fast?” I asked, ignoring his standard answer of deflection.

“Or are we standing still and the world is moving too fast?” Pen asked me with a twinkle in his eye, and I saw Sam shoot him a look of amusement.

“The world is always moving,” I answered as I stared at our surroundings. “How fast are we moving?”

“Speed is relative.”

“Relative to what?” I asked incredulously. “This is so odd. Yet oddly amazing.” I watched the scenery blur past us, and after a while, I felt almost seasick.

“Your powers have been bound,” Pen said suddenly. “Who and when?”

“I really think you need to let this go,” I told him, my head resting against Sam’s chest again. “My powers, as you call them, are not bound. I’m a clairvoyant.”

“Clairvoyancy is having inner sight,” Pen mused. “But you have more than that. You summon the dead.”

“I haven’t summoned them like that before.”

“Your summoning tonight was your first?” Sam glanced down at me in question.

“Um, no.” I rubbed my eyes. “If you come to me for a reading.” I saw their looks of confusion and explained. “A spiritual reading to know your future or talk to a loved one, I can usually channel the dead person to pass on a message or assurance. I give peace.”

“To who?” Pen grunted. “You summon a soul from a slumber, you give them no peace.”

Hurt welled inside me. “I don’t force them.”

“Those dead you summoned tonight were not at peace,” Sam corrected me. “You took them from their eternal rest on a whim.”

“It was hardly a whim, Sam.” I tried to move in his arms, but he held me tight. “I’m hardly a grave robber.”

“That’s exactly what you are,” Pen mused. “I don’t dispute that there may be some restless spirits waiting, but the majority of the ones you summon, they are at rest.”

“No.” My whisper was choked as tears welled in my eyes. “The dead are always waiting around for me, do you know how many times I send them away? I don’t call all of them.”

“You’re a necromancer,” Sam said bluntly. “You wield their souls and spirits for your own use and not theirs.”

“No.” I shook my head. Were they trying to scare me? “I help them move on.”

“A soul leaves a body before the body is even cold,” Pen told me. “Do you know what reapers are?”

“Yes.” I nodded. I knew the term, but I didn’t believe they existed.

“A reaper knows the moment a soul is being set free. They collect them, and they move them beyond the veil.” Pen glanced at me to ensure I was listening. “A reaper doesn’t miss collecting a soul.”

“I’ve seen the dead all my life,” I argued. “All my life. Your reapers miss some.”

“No,” Sam’s quiet voice interrupted me again. “You’re seeing their…reflection almost. Their imprint is still within your world, held in their loved ones and their friends’ memories. What you see is a shadow of what once was.” He frowned as he thought about it. “When you call to that imprint, your pull is so strong, you are bringing them back through the veil.”

“And disturbing their eternal rest,” Pen added. “You use their souls for your own goals, your own gain. Necromancer is what you are, witch.” Pen looked at me speculatively. “More too, but more what, I don’t know yet, but I know you’re going to have to learn fast.”

“I didn’t know I was disturbing them, I thought they were restless,” I told them both. “Are you sure it’s me that’s calling them?” I looked up at Sam pleadingly, ready for him to tell me they were lying as some form of punishment.

He frowned as he looked down at me, and I saw a flash of pity in his eyes before he curtly nodded. “You may not know you’ve been doing it, you may be unaware of the fact you’re pulling them to you, but you are. Another sign your powers are bound.” Sam looked to Pen who nodded in agreement. “You’ll understand when you are free of your bonds,” Sam told me quietly.

If he thought he was comforting me with that last comment, he was wrong. I closed my eyes in despair and let the tears fall. I thought back to yesterday when all I had to worry about was the fact that my weekend was going to be dull, but instead my world was suddenly demons, harpies, Scavengers and reapers, and despite it all, it seemed I was the biggest monster of them all.