The Portal

"To your left!" Theo yelled.

Zenith flung his shield up just in time. The Tyrannosaurus' massive jaws slammed against solid crystal, breaking a few teeth out of their sockets.

Too early to celebrate. Because the Ichthyosaurus came zipping across the arena as if swimming through the air, aiming its sword-like beak directly at Zenith's back. 'Insane, this is insane – ' but Theo couldn't waste time trying to make sense of it.

Instead, he cast a speed spell. As dawn light surged beneath him, Zenith dove out of the Ichthyosaurus' way.

The Ichthyosaurus crashed into the Tyrannosaurus with an ear-splitting clatter, sending bones flying everywhere, but Theo knew he hadn't won yet. Sure enough, the white-haired demon woman clapped her hands and the skeletons began reassembling as if they'd never broken at all.

Flames arced through the darkness – Ryllis, fending off a charging triceratops. Behind her, Sam stood atop an elemental diagram with her fists clenched, Jin clinging to her leg.

A telltale hiss of metal. A chakram whirled across the arena, heading straight for Sam.

Theo's heart stopped. He opened his mouth, ready to shout her name –

But Zenith was already there. He landed in front of Sam, shield extended. The chakram struck the shield with a grinding shriek and a shower of sparks before rocketing back toward Lyura, leaving behind an alarmingly deep gash.

"You – " Theo rounded on Lyura, who was riding away on a pterodactyl's back.

Lyura stuck out her tongue. The pterodactyl flapped its wings, carrying her higher, but Zenith had already given chase. Theo helped him along with a speed spell, only for the Diplodocus to stomp in his way.

Zenith sliced through the Diplodocus' neck in one stroke, sending the huge bones crashing to the floor. But the dinosaur had already bought Lyura enough time to retreat to the top of the arena, where she could launch her chakrams however she pleased.

'We're not going to lose,' Theo told himself fiercely. 'Not here, not now.'

He reached for Zenith's Levia, relieved by its unyielding edge. It flashed in acknowledgment, flooding his body with a wave of pure light, and he knew Zenith had already caught on to his intention.

Time to end this quickly. An elemental spell would take out both demons.

Just as Theo gathered his Levia, the ground started rumbling. He lurched, startled out of his concentration.

Something...was spreading across the floor. Something so dark it sucked away whatever traces of light remained in the arena. As it came closer, Theo saw lines and intricate symbols, twisting and writhing like snakes or centipedes.

The Levia throbbed in his bones, pounded inside his skull. A horrible icy pressure flooded his mouth with the taste of metal, crushing his chest until he could no longer breathe.

Just what was this Levia? He'd never felt anything like it before….

~*~

"Lady Meg! Lady Meg!"

Somewhere nearby, Lodo was bellowing her name. His Levia sparked through her veins, blazing with panic.

She had to answer him, tell him she was all right, even if she wasn't. The demon's knives had caught her arms, pinning her against a display case as if she were a specimen herself. Strangely, she felt no pain. Only a mad, rushing desperation.

But even that was drowned out by the Levia thickening the air. Strange dark symbols squirmed before her eyes, filling every empty space in the arena. The Ghost and Phantom copies had vanished; she had no idea where any of the demons were.

Distant flashes of green light suggested Ryan and Avia were still trying to fight. Meg needed to free herself, join them, help them –

But beneath this crushing Levia, she couldn't twitch so much as a finger. Whatever was happening, she had the dim sense it was the Infernal Legion's true objective.

And she could do nothing to stop it.

~*~

Gritting her teeth, Darian struggled to lift her head. The onslaught of Levia mercilessly pushed her down, but she didn't stop trying.

Beneath her, the spell circle's symbols burned liked ice. Everywhere they touched, they sapped away her strength. But she had the feeling this wasn't the spell's true purpose, merely a side effect of its overpowering Levia.

Through squinting eyes, she made out the Ensons in the cage. They remained perfectly still even as the spell engulfed them, their faces blank. Thralls.

"What – what are you doing?" she choked out. Her voice almost vanished beneath the roaring Levia.

But Greisen heard. "I am bringing you home, my prince."

Home? Images flashed through Darian's head. A sky full of stars. Drifting medusids. Deep, craggy canyons. Smiling faces, so familiar they made her heart ache.

No. She couldn't get distracted. 'I have a mission to fulfill – ' and right now, she needed to survive.

Then she felt something beneath the crushing Levia, and it made her start. Another Levia, but one she'd sensed before.

Though the heavy dark Levia almost swallowed it completely, she'd never mistake it anywhere. As she stared in horror, she saw orange light begin to flicker around the Ensons, crawling across their bodies like flames.

Soon, they had become blazing orange silhouettes. But their Levia wasn't flowing freely – no, it was being channeled, directed. It leaked away beneath them, coursing down the dark lines of the spell before vanishing within its depths, and as it did she felt the spell's power pulse harder and stronger.

All at once, she understood.

"You're opening a portal," she said.

Greisen nodded, smug and gloating. "You finally understand, Prince Darian."

Insane, this was completely insane – what kind of spell – but she shouldn't have underestimated the Infernal Legion.

Normally, only the strongest wizards could open portals to Tielos. But rather than bother with the arduous process of forming contracts and gaining strength battle by battle, the Infernal Legion intended to steal all their power at once.

The combined Levia from three Enson wizards just might be enough to tear open the fabric separating the worlds.

Of course, there was little chance the wizards would survive the process. Nausea gripped Darian's throat. She didn't like the Ensons one iota, but even they didn't deserve this fate.

And she most definitely could not return to Tielos yet.

Move! She had to move! Snarling from the effort, Darian planted her fists into the floor and tried to use the leverage to rise. Her muscles trembled like limp strings. So weak, so powerless.

'But I won't give up. I will never give up!'

The Levia deepened, slamming into her shoulders like fists of iron. Darian choked, sputtered, gasped. If she fell down now, she knew she would never get up again.

A new sound rose beneath the dull roar – higher, sharper. Like fabric tearing.

Even if she couldn't move her head, she could move her eyes. She rolled them as far up as she could manage, straining against the sockets of her skull.

When she finally saw it, she almost wished she hadn't. The planetarium dome was splitting in two.

Inch by inch the gap spread wider, as if it was being pulled open by a diabolically patient giant. The stars twisted and distorted. Beyond them, Darian made out a swirling mess of strange colors.

Her heart slammed. It was working.

She had to get up. Had to stop it. Furious, she flailed as hard as she could. In the heavy air, she felt like she was swimming through molasses. Ahead of her, the Ensons blazed like a sickening parody of the sun.

Greisen's voice drifted from above. "Aren't you excited to return home?"

Darian didn't bother answering. She flailed harder, gasping for breath, but the sky didn't stop stretching open.

Suddenly a fount of jet-black darkness erupted a few feet to her left. Its chill blasted in her face, freezing her breath.

It wasn't the only one. More burst from the diagram, one after another, all arcing toward the widening portal. Raw Levia, she realized with a jolt of horror. The Levia of whoever had created this diagram, combined with that of all three Ensons.

If it had reached this point –

A sharp gasp from ahead. For the first time, the overwhelming Levia flickered. It was brief, but it gave Darian enough of a reprieve to rise to her knees.

Just in time to see the orange light fizzle out around Oliver. His parents were still aglow, but he had returned to normal, revealing his bloodless face and huge eyes.

He glanced wildly around, then let out a scream when he saw his parents. "What – what's happening? Mom! Dad!"

Screaming louder, he tried grabbing at them, but the Levia engulfing them blasted him backward. He slammed into the bars with a piteous wail.

The floor rumbled beneath Darian. The lines and symbols fractured, shattering like bits of black glass. Then one by one, the columns of raw Levia sputtered out of existence, until only a few drifting sparks remained.

"What?" Greisen roared. "What in the name of the Demon Prince is going on?"

"Help!" Oliver screamed, slamming his fists into the bars. "Help me! Mommy! Daddy! Gratiano! Somebody, anybody! HELP!"

His shrieks hurt Darian's ears, but some bizarre part of her almost welcomed them. At least it meant he was no longer enthralled. But why?

A click of heels from behind. A drift of rose perfume.

Applause echoed across the arena, slow and satisfied. With it came a voice as smooth as silk.

"At last, the star makes his entrance."