Magdala threw another concussive and ducked for cover. After the blast shook the house’s second story and rained splinters and dust down on her, there was silence, but when Magdala peeked out from the stairs, she groaned. Again, the blast had barely battered the fiends, and none of them were down for the count. A frustrated wail from downstairs sent shivers up her spine. There, six fiends were tangled up in each other, but, even as they wrestled to get free, they kept their eyes on Magdala. Clutching her last concussive, Magdala curled up on the stairs. Should she throw it downstairs? The blast might destroy the stairs and trap her, but if she wasted another concussive on the upstairs group, she would only gain a little more time.
Downstairs, something ripped. Magdala looked down and her mouth fell open in a wordless scream. Two fiends had torn off their arms and legs and freed the entire group from the tangle. They were disoriented now, but it wouldn’t last, and soon Magdala would have to deal with both groups at the same time. The concussive wasn’t going to work. What had Dwayne done to drive off her lord uncle’s attacker? Her eyes slid down to the lamp’s flickering flame. Well, it would at least be something different. Standing up, she tossed the lamp at the upstairs group, and it landed right in the middle of them and burst, spilling flaming liquid on several of the fiends and setting them alight. Screeching, they scattered, the burning ones spreading the flame around the room.
That left the six downstairs fiends. Pushing past her terror, Magdala took inventory: one cloak, one concussive, her magic, one notebook, four pens, and a number of ingredients for potions. No time though. The first two fiends were climbing the stairs on all fours. Didn’t Taylor mention that these things were dumb? Magdala unclasped her cloak, emptied its pockets on the stairs, and threw it on top of the fiends. The heavy cloth caught the first two fiends, and they flailed and fell down the stairs, catching their fellows on the way down. When the ball of fiends and cloak hit the landing, Magdala sagged to the floor and watched them struggle to get free. Coughing from the smoke, she gathered her things. Now that she had some time, she could use the concussive to-
A crack snapped Magdala’s line of thought. Her heart still in her throat, she peeked upstairs and groaned. The unlit fiends had somehow corralled their flaming brethren into the center of the room and created a moaning wailing bonfire that was setting the floor and ceiling on fire. Magdala didn’t have long if she didn’t want this to be her grave.
But maybe she should just let it happen. What was she thinking, trying to do something like her mother? Why did- Magdala cut off the last question and focused on what she had again. One concussive, her magic, one notebook… She smiled. That was enough. She tore a page out of her notebook, uncorked the concussive, and hunted around for a piece of wood, but when her cloak ripped open downstairs and six fiends spilled out, her heart sank again. She was out of time. Recorking the concussive, she paused before throwing it. Again, she had two choices: throw the concussive downstairs and possibly trap herself or throw it upstairs and buy only a little time. It was the same choice as before but with the addition of a burning building. If she’d just had more time…
“Cups.” She made her choice and raised the concussive.
“Maggie!” A shot rang out and, downstairs, a fiend’s head exploded.
Admaeus Speaks 
One thought on “Chapter 6: Xa-rui-shei-oshi, Panther’s Pelt”