CASSIDY’S FRONT WINDOW EXPLODED INWARD, BLOWING glass shards and the stone giant Magnus across the room. He reared up in front of Cassidy, blocking the majority of the sharp rain, but a few sneaked around, sliced her cheek and the exposed flesh of her arms.
Wren came up behind as another explosion rocked the house and caved in the ceiling over Cassidy’s bedroom.
The Earth Knight dropped to one knee and pulled the women in close. Through the contact, Cassidy felt his frustration, his concern, and his joy as he drew on the power on his element.
The ground rumbled. The floor around them cracked and split into a ring around the huddled trio. Jagged rods of limestone shot from the ground at odd angles, creating a protective rock shelter over their heads. Magnus braced himself against the roof of the structure, bolstering it with his earthen strength.
Green fire tore the house apart around them. Chunks of the ceiling bounced off the top of the makeshift shelter and smashed to the floor. Cassidy shuddered with each strike. The rods bowed. The last hit tore off a chunk.
It’s not going to last much longer.
With one arm holding up the limestone, Magnus dug a glowing card out of his back pocket. He held up the glowing picture of a cave entrance in the side of a mountain then to the garage doorway across the room. Raising five fingers, he counted down. Wren grabbed Cassidy’s wrist.
Three…two…one.
The shelter shattered as Magnus released his power. He grabbed Wren’s hand and indicated she should grab Cassidy’s. Linked together, he leaped for the doorway. When they got close, he flicked the card. It expanded, opening onto a dark room with the seal of the Knights on the floor. The big man charged through.
Another blast rocked the house. The sounds of the disaster around Cassidy should have been deafening, but they happened in eerie, surreal silence.
Wren followed Magnus. A hot gust of air ripped Cassidy from Wren’s grasp. Before tumbling away she glimpsed Wren’s horrified expression as the girl reached back through the gateway. Her mouth opened around a scream, but the oppressive silence devoured it.
The garage doorway collapsed under the blow of a mighty shadow arm, taking the gateway down with it.
Cassidy slammed against the back wall and threw her arms over her head as the kitchen exploded. Through the gap between her forearms, she watched her matching appliances crash through newly made holes in the wall and ceiling. The counter top disintegrated. Glass doors and windows shattered.
She cowered under the remains of the bay window and wished for the nightmare to end.
Any minute now, I’ll wake up. The sofa, covered in hungry green flames, smashed against the side wall, its ends stuck on either side of the double wide doorframe. Like dominoes, the interior walls collapsed into each other. The ceiling dipped and wobbled before it caved in on the front half of the house.
A cloud of dust, rock and splinters rolled through the still-standing portion of the house. Amy’s princess pillow tumbled out of the churning mass. It flopped across the floor and bounced off Cassidy’s shoulder on its way through a hole in the wall.
Cassidy coughed. Smoke stung her eyes, filled her lungs.
Can’t anybody see what’s happening? A crystal lamp smashed against the wall beside her head. She screamed, but nothing came out.
Only the shell of the kitchen and living room remained. A tremor shook the back wall and rattled her spine. Gotta get out. On hands and knees, she crawled toward the open doors into the backyard.
A large ball of luminous green splashed down in her living room floor. The force of the impact ejected her out the door and into the pool.
The cool water revived her spirits. She took a deep breath and dove under as heavy bits of stone, wood and rebar splashed into the pool around her. Grabbing the bottom rung of the ladder, she forced herself to stay submerged, dodging debris and watching the destruction through the distortion of the water.
Game time. Focus. Just like in practice.
On the bottom, Cassidy watched the outside wall of the house loom over the edge of the pool. It rocked toward her then away. Oh no. Hand over hand, she pulled herself up and broke the surface. Heavy fallout from the silent explosions fell around her, but she ignored it, too intent on the sway of the wall. It canted, towering directly over her head.
Fall the other way. Fall the other way. The wall toppled. She had just enough time to take a breath and dive before it locked her in.
Trapped, she floundered underwater in the pitch black. Stay calm. Control your heart beat. The words had the desired impact. She stilled her movements and the time between beats increased. Senses locked by the wet cocoon, the slow deep throb of her heart thumped loud in her temples and her chest.
There’s gotta be a gap or a hole. She searched the edge, but met only concrete below the water line. The wall not only covered the pool, it had sunk below the surface. No gaps. No holes. No air.
I’m going to die. She tried on the idea for size. Would it be so bad, giving herself over to the loving embrace of the water? After Amy died, she’d lost her faith and hadn’t looked back. But now, faced with the ultimate question, what did she believe?
Is this the end? When I drink in my last breath, will I just fade to black? No afterlife. No heaven. God, I hope not. I’m not ready for that. What about Amy? Is she waiting for me on the other side linked arm in arm with Mom and Dad? Seems too good to be true, but I’ll take that plan thank you very much.
Another sound, above and beyond the slow thump in her veins, made itself known. What? She thought she detected words on the edge of her hearing. No, not hearing, in her heart or brain or whatever made her Cassidy. She tried to decipher them, but they remained out of reach.
Her chest tightened. Her lungs burned. She pictured the little girl from St. Matthew’s, her own parents, Amy, Wren, Magnus, and lastly Dev.
She wanted to breathe, had to breathe, but to breathe meant to die. She clamped her lips shut and pinched them with her fingers. Almost home, my angel.
Spots swam all around her. Air. She needed air. That strange sound again. No, different this time. Light pierced the gloom.
She opened her mouth.
* * *
Alexander grinned as the wall crashed down over the pool, trapping Cassidy underwater. “Land.” He commanded the dragon. “We will fish her out so I can end this.”
If you leave my back, Alexander, my magic will no longer conceal you.
“Do it.”
Gothrodul banked his wings and glided down.
The neighbors are coming.
“Kill them.”
The dragon angled his descent to pass over the oblivious people and drew in a mighty breath. Before he unleashed his weapon, the whir of an approaching helicopter caught his attention and he veered off, turning away from the house and out to open water.
“Where are you going?” Alexander spun in his perch. “I need to get back there.”
Too much going on. We’ll be seen. You can’t afford that. Not yet.
“We cannot leave this unfinished.”
It is finished. She has been under the water long enough and is probably dead already. What more can you do? Now, let’s get out of here.
Frustrated, Alexander stared down at the covered pool. The helicopter’s spotlight criss-crossed over the wreckage, highlighting yet another disappointment. He wanted to take her life himself, drink in her fear and pain, watch the spark fade from those blue eyes.
“Fine. Take us home. No. Better yet, take us to Ybor.”