The Rose Wall
an excerpt

Lily dropped the stick she had used to bludgeon the girl, horrified that she had actually hit her on one hand but also sickly pleased with results. She had enjoyed it at the time, savored the feel of the stick hitting her head and dull thud the impact had made. She wiped her hands on her skirt; they felt dirty, like they would never be clean again. But it was better that she had done as opposed to Mari; she was not trying to kill the girl. She stepped over the prone body and out through the hedge. Mari followed closely. The demon stood several feet away, his arms raised to the sky as if he was praying. But Lily knew that he was gathering energy untainted by the nature magics surrounding his old prison. All around them grew a crackling, dark energy which sparked and leapt from his hands until the night sky was lit by it. Joshua began to laugh and the laugh echoed and grew until Lily slapped her hands over her ears to dull the roaring of it but she could still feel it vibrating in her teeth and chest. Finally the laughter stopped and Joshua walked over to them, still standing in the shadow of the hedge, still within the circle of magic. “Well, my beauties, what a wonderful night, don’t you agree?”, as the wind screamed around him in a true northland blizzard. And then he held out hands still pulsing with magic and both she and Mari placed their hands in his and were led free of the spell of the roses.