I swatted the air in front of my face. “Marinette,” I called. “I see you’ve finally recovered from the last black spell we gave you. Your henchman here is claiming you are both extremely powerful, but we drove you away fairly easily. You’re not looking too incredibly fierce to me now.”
The bokor started to laugh and it sent the hairs on the back of my neck straight upward. I glanced at Marcy. Dammit, we were missing something big here. She shrugged and said, “I have no idea what’s going on, but I don’t like it either. Something’s off.”
“You wanted me here, Marinette, so I’m here. Let’s finish this,” I called. “Or are you too weak?”
Hot air wafted by my face, prickling my skin. I created you… now I will take back what’s mine.
It took me a moment to process what was about to happen, but when I did, I shouted to Marcy, “She’s going to try and get—” All at once, dank air infiltrated every part of me, pouring through my nose, my ears, my eyes, pushing into me with relentless strength and energy.
She was inside me, devouring me in an instant. And I fell to my knees.
I heard Marcy yell, “Grab a spell! Grab a spell!”
Mindlessly I jammed my hand into the pouch and grabbed the last three spells. I drew them out, but instead of throwing them to the ground, I took one deep breath and smashed the bags against my body, saying all the words. The spells were crafted for me, with my blood, so I assumed they wouldn’t render me unconscious or do anything overly nefarious.
There was a crushing noise as they all exploded, making my eardrums ring, but I managed to keep myself steady. Then suddenly the smoky, spell-filled air around me went totally still.
I coughed and wiggled my fingers, swishing away the cloud of mingled aftereffects. I couldn’t feel the loa in my body. The air in front of me was muddy brown. “Marcy, what happened?” I called.
She came up behind me. “Well, you successfully froze, stunned, and protected yourself against the loa. Can you feel her in the air? Was she doing what I thought she was doing?”
“She was inside me. I don’t sense her right now, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“Wait,” Marcy said. “If you froze her with that spell, then we should try and do something more, and we only have a few minutes at best.”
“What do you have in mind?” I glanced through the haze and spotted the bokor on the ground. “She looks asleep.” I raised my eyebrows at Marcy. “Or is she dead? That would be the better scenario.”
“She’s asleep or stunned, or both. But that was all me. I hit her with another combo. I have no idea which one worked, or if they both did. But it doesn’t matter, we need to hurry and deal with the loa first. She’s the bigger fish we need to fry in this dead swamp.” Marcy waved her fingers in front of me and magic brushed by my face. It made a crinkling sound, like a potato chip bag being rustled, and the air around me started to pop and crackle.
I stood, brushing myself off. “What are you doing?”
“No, stay still. I’m exploding all the air particles around you. If the loa was in your body, and you successfully shot her out and froze the air around you, then maybe we can get rid of her by exploding the particles around you.”
“Good thinking,” I said. “Hit close to the ground too. Maybe some of her ghostly particles landed in the dirt.”
Marcy aimed downward. As she did, I backed away slowly. “I’m going to check on Naomi and Danny.” Marcy nodded as she kept her focus aimed at the place where I’d just been standing. I rounded the altar and gasped. I kneeled immediately, plunging my hands into Danny’s fur, trying to ignore when it came away in tufts in my hands. “It’s going to be okay,” I murmured in his ear. “I promise you.”
He whined at me from his position lying over Naomi’s back. He had nudged her away from the altar and had draped his body over hers, protecting her. She still hadn’t woken. But he was clearly in distress, the curse eating away at his insides.
“Danny. I need you to roll off of her.” He growled at my instruction. “I know you don’t want to leave her, but I have to examine her for injury. She should’ve woken up by now.” He grudgingly let me maneuver him away, but I settled him as close to her as I could. “It’s going to be okay.” I stroked his fur while searching Naomi’s body. “We’re going to eliminate the threat, and once we do, we’ll get you both out of here.”
He lifted his snout and snapped his jaws. Then he shook his head. “I don’t care if you don’t believe me.” I turned to address him. “That’s the way it’s going to be. Everyone is getting out of here in one piece. All of us. Now, let me see what’s wrong with your mate.” I got down on my knees and hovered over her. There was nothing outwardly wrong with her that I could detect. “Naomi.” I shook her lightly. “I need you to wake up.”
No response.
I placed my hands on her abdomen and sent a trickle of power in, searching for what was wrong. I was so focused on my task, I didn’t hear Marcy approach.
“What’s that mark on her shoulder?” she asked as she leaned down and peeled a piece of Naomi’s dress back to expose a sickle-shaped mark that appeared to be inflamed and pulsing.
“I’m not entirely sure, but I think that’s the mark she got when she fought Selene,” I said. “Once she woke from her torture in the cave, it was there. I remember seeing it. But now it looks angry. Do you know what it is?”
Marcy knelt down beside me and said, “It’s called a flora.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means Selene marked her. She placed some concentrated magic into her body to use at will. They are rare, and hard to craft properly. They’re meant to do one thing very well, and they are very hard to break. This one looks like it was used to knock her out—like a sleeping spell? But that’s just a guess. Was she unconscious when you found her in Selene’s lair?”
“Yes, she was out cold,” I answered, panic edging my voice. “Please tell me we can break this magical flora on our own.”