scorched the scorps using Arcane spells instead of Seraphim channeling. I'd learned the hard way scorps could detect incoming blasts of Brilliance or Murk and dodge them easily.
"You will die as my mother died!" the attacking female said.
I crept up behind the altar, desperate to keep the giant scorp from spotting me. The attacker looked vaguely familiar. Her long, thick hair was black, and something about her face reminded me of someone—I just couldn't put my finger on whom.
"Aerianas," Kassallandra said, her voice betraying no fear. "I thought you were dead."
Vadaemos and Orionas's daughter? That's the chick who seduced Shelton!
Aerianas flashed a manic smile and punched Kassallandra in the face. Blood sprayed from the redhead's nose. Aerianas slapped a silver collar around the other woman's neck and threw her to the ground.
By now, a horde of Daemos, hellhounds, and my group were bearing down on the massive scorp. Aerianas's dark eyes glimmered. She pressed a red gem on a circlet at her throat. Something hummed to life and the static feeling of aether pressed against me. Mom and the others bounced back as they ran into an invisible barrier.
The male ritual leader rose from the ground and tried to grab Aerianas. She flipped the Daemos over her shoulder. Before he hit the ground, she spun and kicked him hard toward the giant scorp. One of the massive claws caught the man and cleaved him in two. A thin, flexible tube shot from the scorp's underside and slurped the remains until there was no trace but a splash of crimson on the ground.
Kassallandra lunged toward Aerianas, but fell to her knees as the collar around her throat flashed. Aerianas raised her hands into the air. "Enjoy your final pain, Kassallandra. It is payment in full for hunting my mother like a dog and killing her. As for killing my father, there is no price you could pay to atone for that."
"I didn't—" Kassallandra couldn't finish her sentence as a black inky pond formed beneath her. Dozens of arms jutted from the tar-like substance, hands grasping at Kassallandra as if trying to pull her into the ground while at the same time throwing her into the air. She screamed in such pain, I had to cover my ears.
Do something, Justin!
I had to act now while Aerianas was preoccupied. Gathering my courage, I dashed forward and dove at the woman. A giant scorp claw batted me. I tumbled through the air and smacked into a blue-tinged shield. I saw Elyssa's horrified face on the other side. She pointed frantically behind me.
I regained some of my wits and rolled away just as a giant jaw claw crushed the stone pavers where I'd been an instant before. On instinct, I shot a searing beam of Brilliance at the creature, but it scuttled aside with horrifying speed for something so large. My attack splashed harmlessly against the shield.
I didn't have a wand or staff with me, but I tried casting an Arcane spell with my hand anyway. A fireball exploded from my fingertip. Searing pain shot up my arm. The scorp threw up a claw. The fireball exploded against the chitin, but seemed to do no damage.
"Anyone have a can of bug spray handy?" I shouted as I backed away from the quickly advancing monster.
"Spawn, Justin!" Elyssa called over Kassallandra's cries of agony. "Use brute force!"
I saw my dad kneeling on the ground, his face dripping with sweat. A crack formed in the ground and rammed into the shield several times. He looked up. "She's running this shield on the mansion's own aether generator. It's too strong for an earth elemental to break through."
"Can it go under it?" I asked.
He shook his head. "The barrier is a bubble."
"Where's the generator?" I asked.
He pointed to a cottage-sized brick building near the garden wall. "It's inside the shield with you."
I flipped backward to avoid another claw smash, turned, and ran to give myself some distance. As I sprinted, I reached inside for my inner demon and let it surge free from its cage. Muscles coiled around