back down. But, he thought sadly, what did it matter now anyhow, now that he’d already been disarmed and blown so far off course that his mission was all but impossible to complete?
Above him, the mechanical horses stood in a row, their eyes glowing uniformly again. In the flickering light, he saw that his arm had gone completely daemon. Beneath his shirt, he could feel that some of his chest had too. He focused some magic and slid the human illusion down over the daemon parts again. It was secure now that he was well-rested, but it felt flimsier this time. If he was honest with himself, it had been getting less and less reliable, and he knew it would continue to do so as the end drew near. But he didn’t want to think about that right now. So he didn’t. Instead, he got up, dusted himself off as well as he could, and went to join the girls by the fire.
“Well, look who just woke up,” said Judith. “Morning, sunshine.”
Zo moved over for Asa to sit next to her, but he stood, looking out the dome of magic at the swirling black dust. Something about this storm was odd. Sinister. It set his human heart beating fast and erratic, but he didn’t know why.
“How long has this storm been going on?” he asked.
“Over an hour,” Cassandra was saying, casually twirling a ball of light between her fingers. “It’s very strange, don’t you think?”
“I didn’t think there was this much dust in the world, much less Oklahoma,” said Judith. “Good thing we’re out of it.”
Asa gave the dust one last look and sat down next to Zo.
“I’m hungry,” said Mowse, leaning against Susanah.
“We’re going to have to do something about food soon,” Zo said. “But we can’t go out in that.”
“We’ll just have to wait for it to stop, I guess,” said Olivia. “There’s nothing else we can do.”
Around her, everyone looked grave. But there in the dome, Asa’s pulse quickened. There was a presence in the darkness beyond the magic. Something was out there. Something was coming. He scrambled to his feet.
“N-no,” he stammered. “No, no, no, no, no…”
“What’s wrong?” said Sal. “Asa?”
The girls rose, looking around them, confused. But Asa’s eyes were on the dust outside the dome of magic. Something was moving toward them in the darkness. Something big. And he knew who it was looking for.
Then they saw it: eight feet tall, broad, with empty eye sockets and a wide mouth. All the air went out of Asa’s lungs.
A Sentinel, Dust Soldier, sent by the Sisters, just as he’d been dreading. Sent to take back what Asa had been given, because he had failed. Terror seemed to set his every sinew on fire.
Panic filled the dome like poisonous gas. Everyone rose and clutched at their weapons, palms slick with fear.
“We’re trapped!” Judith said. “We’re trapped in here! What are we going to do?”
“But why is it here?” Olivia asked, coming to stand next to him. “What does it want?”
“Me,” Asa croaked, his mind pulsing with dread. “It wants me. To destroy me, because I’m no longer useful.” He gulped. “I have to go to it. I have to accept my punishment.”
Olivia pulled a knife from her pocket and flicked it open.
“You’re useful to us,” said Olivia. “And if it wants you, it’s gonna have to go through me.”
She looked at the other girls. Gravely, they nodded. And, to Asa’s amazement, they formed a protective circle around him, a circle within a circle, Sal fumbling with her spell components belt, Zo with her guns, Olivia with her knife, the rest with only their bodies. They would do this for me? Asa marveled. For a daemon?
Susanah pushed Mowse into the circle with Asa, and Asa picked her up and held her. Her small body was shaking.
“Are we gonna be okay?” she asked.
“Shhhh,” Asa said. “Just hold on to me, okay?”
They stood, waiting, as it kept up its steady, silent march toward the barrier of the spell, its curved sword dark and wicked-looking even from its sheath. Then it stopped just outside the dome and looked up as though assessing it.
“M-maybe it won’t be able to come inside,” Judith said hopefully, but Asa knew better.
It put up its hands against the barrier, looking for a moment like a great, terrifying mime. Then it broke through the dome as if it was no more than a sheet of rainwater, and like water, the dome closed behind it. It unsheathed