Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

far, he had no inkling she was on his trail.
    “Keep working, Riley,” Jubal said. “We’ll explain as much as we can to Ben.”
    Riley was grateful. She had to shut out everything, even the terrible urgency of the
     moment. She had to find a complete calm and focus if she had any chance at all against
     so great an evil. She gestured to the men as she stood, inviting them inside the circle
     of protection just constructed. Even if she was defeated, hopefully she could make
     this small space safe enough to shield the others.
    She walked the circle, envisioning the brightest light she could imagine, holding
     the black-handled, double-edged athame high. As the circle gained depth, Riley drew
     the quarters, setting the towers. She called to the elements. Air to the East. Fire
     to the South. Water to the West. Lastly, she whispered to the North, calling on Earth.
     Mother Earth. She forced her mind to concentrate on protections and block out the
     men moving around her.
    Kneeling in the middle of the circle, she plunged her hands deep into the earth, focusing
     wholly on binding the evil. She struck fast and hard, using every ounce of strength
     she possessed.
    “I bind thee darkness from doing harm.
    To myself and those whom you would charm
    I bind thee darkness to be free
    As I lock thee away for none to see.”
    Reaction was instantaneous. Shock. Fear. Rage. Insects poured through the ground and
     raced at the circle, surrounding them, clicking and chirping aggressively. Bats flew
     at them from every side, but none penetrated that sacred circle. A heavy, oppressive
     malevolence pressed in on them. Lightning forked across the sky, a long howling bolt,
     sizzling and crackling through the night to slam to earth just feet from the circle.
     Next came a series of fireballs pounding down like a meteor strike as evil fought
     back.
    Ben started to run, but Gary and Jubal both caught at him, holding him motionless.
    “Don’t leave the circle. This is the only safe place right now,” Gary warned.
    “And don’t draw attention to yourself,” Jubal added in a whisper. “It’s fighting for
     its life. Either she can hold it inside the volcano or it will be loose on the world,
     and you saw just a little of what it can do from a distance. You don’t want that creature
     interested in you.”
    Riley ignored them, barely aware of their presence. Without warning something moved
     against her throat, inside her body. Fangs ripped at her. Burning acid choked her. Claws wrapped in pure hatred
     raked at her. This was the creature who had murdered her mother, and it was fully
     aware of her now, and centering its attention on her.
    She refused to allow loathing into her mind. This was her duty, her job. There could
     be no malice—she couldn’t give him a way to enter her mind. Illusion was his game,
     but she was stronger.
    Riley refused to give in to the need to touch her throat, to feel if the blood pouring
     out was real or not. She whispered another soft chant to chain the evil entity inside.
    “I draw upon thee light, surround me with your might
    Set this evil in the ground, keep me safe from that which seeks to harm
    Find the sender, track him back, let the darkness return his attack
    Let the fuse be short burning bright, let his evil fall short this night.”
    The evil entity pushed back hard, striking again and again at her throat. Raw. Burning.
     Torn open. Her breath barely pushed through her shredded vocal cords, the gaping jugular
     pouring out blood, soaking her clothing, splashing into the ground.
    “Find him. Bind him. Hold evil chained.
    Forged in fire. Hewn in rock.”
    The earth whispered to her. Assured and comforted her. Riley kept her hands buried
     deep in the soil, fingers curled into tight fists, holding that evil thing captured,
     refusing to let loose, no matter how he struggled, twisted and turned, no matter how
     he stabbed at her, trying to tear out her insides. Pain burst through her like a star,
     and she knew if she looked down she would see that her stomach had ripped open, her
     lifeblood pouring out onto the ground.
    “I call upon spirit and earth. Create a cocoon from which there is no birth.
    Fit this space with black crystalline, to encompass this evil, to hold and bind.”
    Arabejila. Emni hän ku köd alte. Tõdak a ho caóasz engemko, kutenken caóasz engemko
     a jälleen. Andak a irgalomet terád it.
    The voice filled her mind. Turned her blood to ice. Riley forced her