Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

vampire,
     he felt no triumph or sadness. The decayed organ incinerated the moment it hit the
     bubbling cauldron of melted rock.
    But instead of collapsing, lifeless, in Dax’s arms as the vampire should have once
     his heart was destroyed, Mitro’s lips drew back in a parody of a smile, his blackened
     receding gums and jagged, stained teeth snapping together with an ominous clicking
     sound. Triumphant, vile, and still very much alive, the vampire abruptly leaned forward
     and sank his teeth into Dax’s throat.

7
    L ittle by little the sky darkened, a great shadow drawn slowly overhead. A loud rumble
     heralded the continuous shaking of the earth. A dense ash cloud erupted, shooting
     straight into the sky like a voluminous black tower, expanding and churning as it
     rose. Within a matter of minutes the blackness was nearly impenetrable. Rain began
     to fall, a fast flurry of powdery drops.
    Exhausted, mentally and physically, Riley could barely lift her head. Her body felt
     leaden, drained of all strength. She knelt in the dirt, trying to think what to do
     next, but her brain refused to work. She peered at the three men through the veil
     of darkness. They appeared misshapen from head to toe. All three crouched low on the
     ground trying to ride out the never-ending tremors. She realized the drops weren’t
     water at all, but a heavy, powdery ash covering their bodies, blanketing the mountain,
     the trees, every bit of foliage surrounding them, and making it impossible to look
     up.
    Lightning cracked across the sky. Thunder crashed. Electricity crackled around them
     all, sparks dancing around their bodies while halos surrounded their heads. The sound
     of cannonballs exploding hurt her ears and reverberated through her head. The smell
     of sulfur saturated the air.
    Ben pushed himself to his feet, trying for balance when the ground rolled relentlessly.
     “We’ve got to make a run for it. We can’t stay here. We’re too close.” He coughed,
     covering his mouth and nose. Anxiety edged his voice, but he clearly was trying to
     hold it together.
    “Ben,” Jubal said, his voice calm and steady. “You can’t outrun a volcano. It isn’t
     going to help to go charging off. We’re either safe or we’re not.”
    “If we’re lucky, the main blast will be on the other side of the mountain and we’ll
     survive if I can build us a shelter fast enough. Hopefully Miguel and the others are
     out of the danger zone,” Riley tried to assure him, when she wasn’t even certain herself.
    Ben gaped at them, and then exploded with fear and outrage. “A shelter? Are you kidding
     me? That’s a volcano! If we stay here, we’re going to die!”
    “She’s not talking about a tent,” Gary snapped.
    “And if we run, we’re definitely dead,” Jubal added calmly. He turned to Riley. “Riley?
     Can you do it? We really need that shelter, and we really need it now.”
    Riley sat back on her knees and wiped at the ash falling on her face with a weary
     hand, trying to find the strength to call on Mother Earth once more. She closed her
     eyes. She wasn’t certain she could do anything at all to save them. She’d come here
     to stop evil from entering the world, but so far, all she’d done was fail. She’d failed
     to save her mother, failed to keep the evil caged, failed to stop the volcano. Odds
     were she’d fail to save them, too.
    Even though she’d suggested it, the idea that she could build shelter that would withstand
     a volcano did indeed seem as ludicrous as Ben declared. What had she been thinking?
     She took a deep breath and coughed, her chest tight, lungs burning.
    “Riley?” Jubal prodded.
    Fiery streaks of molten rock spewed into the air and hurtled down toward them. Purplish-red
     scoria and fiery stones rained down on them. They covered their heads, the three men
     trying to shield Riley with their bodies. She heard Gary gasp as a stone hit his back.
     Another glanced off a rock near Ben’s head.
    Jubal was right. They would die if they tried to run, and they would die if they stayed
     here without one heck of a volcano-proof shelter. If building one was even remotely
     possible, she had to figure it out immediately.
    Riley covered her mouth and nose to try for a clean breath of air and then once more
     plunged her hands into the soil. There was desperation in her voice as she chanted.
    “Square, cornucopia, spindle, scythe, salt and shield, I call upon Auriel’s might.”
     The