The Guardian

by Elicia Hyder

  “I’d like to say I feel bad for you, but I don’t,” I said.

  “How did you get here if your daughter is on Earth?” Fury asked.

  “The Gate. Once Mihan joined the fallen, we began using it again some. Not enough to draw attention, of course.”

  When the Nulterra Gate was sealed, two angels had been given keys. Abaddon and Mihan. One angel of the fallen. One of Eden. Only, Mihan had joined the dark side.

  “Torman, I’m willing to make you a deal,” I said. “The Father wants me to destroy Nulterra. If you help me do that, then I will set you free and allow you a chance at survival.”

  “Can you even free yourself?” the demon asked, skeptically.

  “I guess we’re about to find out.” I checked the hallway through the window to see if it was clear. Then I sent my killing power through the sword again.

  Swinging with all my might, I slammed the blade into the cell door’s lock. It exploded in a million tiny shards. Everyone, including me, stared at the door in stunned silence.

  “All right. You’ve got a deal,” Torman said. “Get me the hell out of here.”

  I carefully checked that the hallway was clear before crossing it. There seemed to be turmoil in the great hall, and fortunately, it seemed, we’d been forgotten about. I swung the sword at the lock on Torman’s door. It too shattered all over the hall.

  I pulled it open, and he held up his hands. They were chained together, and his feet were shackled to the wall. With a few more powerful swings, I freed him from his restraints. “Start talking. Fast.”

  “Come with me.” He rushed out of his cell, his clothes torn and soiled with blood. We followed him down the hallway away from the room. Other demons hissed and begged from their cells. We ignored them.

  At the end of the hall, Torman checked around the corner. A few guardians armed with swords raced by, and he shoved us all backward against the wall. We waited for them to pass. Then he checked the outer hallway again. “Let’s go.”

  He turned left, away from the way we’d come in. A roar from a crowd at the entrance hall echoed around the chamber. “What’s happening back there?” Fury asked as we ran.

  “If the veil is breaking apart, the demons will try to flee Nulterra. They’ll storm the palace because the only way out is through the spirit line. Its entrance is this way!”

  The four of us ran to the end of the hall.

  “Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” someone yelled behind us.

  I glanced back and saw Etred chasing us.

  “Go!” Reuel said. “I’ll deal with him.”

  “He has a sword,” I said.

  “Go!”

  With a powerful roar, Reuel charged Etred head-on as Fury and I continued with Torman. He took a hard right through a closed door into a room with a long glass wall that looked outside.

  I jogged to it and looked out. Above the palace, light fissured through the orange like electric spiderwebs. Huge chunks broke apart, falling into the burning sea around us, and leaving black holes into the darkness above the Neverworld.

  We were on the back side of the palace, opposite the side Etred and the demons had brought us in through.

  Demons flooded the courtyard, climbed the walls, and ran toward the lower gates.

  Beyond the castle wall, a bridge like the one we’d crossed into the city stretched across the fiery lava. On this one, human souls trudged in a single-file line toward the palace as demons fled past them.

  “If you want to bring Nulterra down, you have to destroy the three sanctonite stones,” Torman said, joining us at the window after locking the door behind us.

  “The Father’s blood stone?”

  “Yes.”

  “What does it do exactly?” Fury asked.

  “The main stone in the center hall powers the cylinder. When the souls in the capsules are destroyed, the cylinder harnesses the energy and deposits it into Nulterra’s core. If the core stops receiving energy, everything crumbles.”

  “Will it crumble on top of us?” Fury asked.

  “The places farthest from the power of the stones will crumble first. It should give us time to get out.”

  “Where are the other two stones?” I asked.

  “One powers the gate to Earth, and the other powers the gate to Eden and the spirit line. To destroy Nulterra, you’ll have to destroy all three.”

  He pointed out the window. “Do you see the bridge? At the end of it is the gate to Eden.”

  “Those demons are trying to use it to escape?” I asked.

  “And they will. While they can’t go to Eden, they can take the spirit line anywhere else. I would destroy that stone first, then the stone over the pit, and finally, the last stone on our way out.”

  There was a heavy pounding on the door. “Nakai!”

  “It’s Reuel.” I ran back to the door and opened it.

  Blood was splattered across his face, and he was panting.

  “Are you all right?”

  He smiled.

  “Etred’s dead?”

  He held up Etred’s sword and his scabbard.

  “Nice work.” I locked the door behind him. Then I filled him in as we rejoined Torman and Fury at the window.

  “Once we destroy the last stone, what will happen to the demons left here?” I asked.

  “They’ll be consumed by the pit.”

  “How do we free my sister?” Fury asked.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know how that’s possible without killing her.”

  Fury’s whole body wilted.

  “Abaddon’s spirit is locked within the blood stone, which is connected with Anya’s bloodstream. To free her from him, you’ll have to destroy the blood stone, but if you do that inside Nulterra, she won’t survive without it.”

  “Even though Anya is an angel?” Fury asked.

  “Her body was made to be mortal. Physically, she’s very much a human. Her spirit would survive, but she’d have to go to Eden before she could even think of returning to Earth in any form.”

  I looked at Fury. “That’s a better option than leaving her here to die with Abaddon.”

  She looked at Reuel with tears in her eyes. He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “He’s right.”

  “I need you to be strong, Allison.” I took hold of her arm and ran my hand over the symbol of the Nulterra key. “I’ll need you to get me out of here.”

  Her back straightened, and she grasped my arm. “I promise, I’ll get you out.”

  I kissed her, then turned back to Torman. “How do I get a soul out of one of these capsules at the pit?”

  His head pulled back. “Why would you want to?”

  “Because there’s an innocent child in there who belongs in Eden. I’m not leaving her behind.”

  He sighed. “Humans. You’re all so sentimental.”

  The ground shook beneath us. Reuel grabbed Torman by the arm. “Tell him. You’re wasting time.”

  “You’ll have to climb it to free her. It’s dangerous. If you fall…” His lips closed.

  “I fall into the pit.” I nodded. “Got it.”

  “We need to hurry. That rumble was them shutting the front gates. We need to get out the back before they close them too.”

  In the pandemonium of everyone running inside, we made it out of the palace without being seen by anyone who knew who we were. Torman led us downstairs and out the back door where the human souls were slowly walking inside as the demons pushed past us, fighting their way toward the bridge.

  “There are so many humans,” I said to Reuel. “We never send this many down at once.”

  A huge chunk of the orange sky crumbled and fell, landing like a bombshell about a hundred yards away from us. It blasted apart the rock terrace surrounding the palace.

  “If one of those hits us, we’re in trouble,” I said, looking up in the black sky beyond the veil.

  Reuel pushed me forward. “Let’s hurry.”

  We crossed
through the palace wall toward the bridge. Frantic demons slammed into us and each other as they raced to escape. A few were knocked into the boiling fire of the pit, their spirits screaming in agony as they were consumed.

  “There’s too much chaos! This isn’t safe!” I shouted over the noise.

  “Go! I’ll hold the demons back!” Reuel shouted, raising his sword as he spun around to fight.

  I grabbed Fury’s hand, and we ran toward the bridge. Reuel held the fleeing demons back. When we reached the bridge, I threw my arm across Fury to stop her. “Osmium.”

  Torman went ahead of us. “She’ll be fine, Archangel! For at least twenty-four hours while the crystal water is still in her system.” He started out across the bridge first. I was still hesitant.

  Fury pulled on my hand. “We’ve come this far. Let’s finish it.” She dragged me out onto the bridge.

  We weaved through the souls coming toward us. Most of them were crying. Several begged us to help them. Then a man coming toward us stopped me dead on the bridge. Recognition blazed in his eyes as clear as my symbol blazed on his chest.

  “Larry Mendez,” I whispered.

  “Who?” Fury asked, stopping beside me as Torman went on.

  “One of the ring leaders of the human trafficking business Sloan and I took down in San Antonio. He was a child rapist. I killed him well over a year ago before I became the Archangel.”

  Another large chunk of the sky landed in the lake, sending a wave of lava toward us. I grabbed Fury and shuffled backward as the wall of fire washed over the bridge. As it spilled back out to the pit, it took the soul of Larry Mendez with it.

  “Warren! Hurry!” Torman shouted.

  The lava hardened on the osmium, and Fury and I ran across it. Torman was stopped near the end of the bridge. I could see another archway on a stone staircase up ahead. A sanctonite stone gleamed above it.

  “What are you waiting for?” I started past them, but Torman grabbed my shirt.

  “Stop!”

  “What?” I asked.

  He pointed to the ground beyond the bridge. There were three-inch holes covering the surface. “Those are helkrymite spikes. If an angel not of Nulterra sets foot on it…” He dragged his finger across his throat. “It’s meant to keep Eden out.”

  So Moloch hadn’t lied about everything.

  “How do we get across it?” I asked.

  “We don’t. Even I have been stripped of my right to pass. The only one who can do it is the girl.” He turned to Fury. “You’ll have to take the sword and destroy the stone.”

  Fury looked terrified.

  I gripped her chin. “You can do this. I know you can.” I held up the sword, letting my power flow through it. When I handed it to her, the flames didn’t go out.

  Her hand steadied as she took it. She started forward, cautiously watching the ground as she passed over the holes.

  When she reached the arch, she stretched the sword over her head, but she wasn’t tall enough to reach it.

  I held my hands toward Fury, and she flinched as I used my power to lift her. I’d levitated people and objects a thousand times, but this was different.

  Everything in me strained against the weight of her small frame against the force of Nulterra. Sweat blistered on my face, and the veins bulged in my neck as I fought to keep her in the air. It was like she weighed a million pounds.

  Fury swung the sword at the stone.

  Nothing happened.

  She swung again.

  Nothing.

  And again.

  Panting, I carefully placed Fury back on the ground and turned to Torman. He was staring slack-jawed at the stone. “I…I don’t know why it isn’t working. The sword should be powerful enough to break the stone.”

  A loud buzzer made Fury jump back.

  “I know that sound,” I said, staring at the stone as it glowed brighter. “It’s the alarm we use when we send a soul from Eden.”

  The archway brightened with energy swirling inside it. Then the light vanished, and a soul stood in its wake.

  Flint.

  “No!” The sword clanged to the ground as Fury’s knees gave way. Flint’s ghostly form caught her and held her as she cried. “What are you doing here?”

  He pulled back to look at her. “I’ve come to help.” Flint picked up the sword and led her back to us.

  “How did you get here?” I asked, my heart heavy with dread over the implications. I had no idea if I could get Flint back out.

  “I volunteered.” He pressed a stone—a memory stone—into my hand. “Cassiel sent you this.”

  I turned the stone over in my hands. “You shouldn’t have come.”

  He put his arm around Fury. “Would you leave your little girl stuck down here?”

  I stared at him.

  “Go on then.” He nodded to the stone. “It must be important.”

  A loud crack through the sky drew all of our attention. We looked up as another chunk dropped from the veil. It crashed right on top of the gate, blasting it apart. I spread my wings to shield us as the sanctonite landed in the rubble.

  “The memory stone, Warren. Hurry!” Torman shouted.

  I closed my fist around the stone, and an image of Cassiel flashed in front of me. She was watching me in the crystal fountain in Zion. “Warren, we don’t have much time. Theta and I have seen inside Nulterra, and she’s had a vision in Celestine of how to get you out.

  “You have to destroy the sanctonite stones. The sword alone will not work. Remember what I told you about nuclear energy. The explosive material has to first be made unstable. The stones need heat to weaken them. Then the sword can destroy them.

  “You must hurry. You’re already out of time, but there’s one more thing.” Cassiel looked worried. “The final stone, the one at the gate to Earth, must be destroyed from the inside. You must get everyone out safely first, or the portal will be closed.” She broke then and cried. “I’m so sorry.”

  The vision faded away. For a moment, I stood there shocked.

  “What did she say?” Torman asked, shaking me.

  I blinked, then tossed the stone into the lava. I looked at Fury, and my heart broke again. “What did she say?” she asked.

  I took a shaky breath. “She said the stones need heat to weaken them.” I pulled her behind me. “Everyone stand back.”

  Aiming my hands at the sanctonite stone on the ground, like a human blowtorch, I blasted it over ten feet away with my fire. The remaining pieces of the veil were incinerated. The crumbled stone of the arch melted into the ground. And the sanctonite stone burned, changing from purple to red, then red to orange, orange to yellow, and finally from yellow to blue.

  There was a loud hiss, and a puff of steam or smoke twisted from its center. “Now.” I looked at Fury. “Now the sword.”

  Flint walked with her. Together, they gripped the hilt, raised the sword above their heads, and drove it through the heart of the stone.

  Light detonated from the center, exploding in every direction. It knocked Fury and Flint back into the stairs, and the three of us took a knee to avoid being blown into the lake of fire.

  The first stone was destroyed.

  Everyone but me cheered. My brain was still spinning on what I’d learned in the memory stone. Fury and Flint had embraced. And when they started back toward us, Flint froze, horrified as he stared behind us.

  I turned, and saw Anya facing off with Reuel at the other end of the bridge.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Flint was right.

  There was nothing I wouldn’t do to save my daughter, including sentencing myself to eternal destruction in Hell. So I understood why he was there. I also understood why he crumpled to the ground at the sight of Anya on that bridge.

  No one had to tell him that she had joined the dark side. It was obvious from the hatred glaring through her eyes.

  I hauled Flint off the ground, and we all walked back across the bridge. Fury tried to explain about Aba
ddon, but it didn’t matter to Flint.

  His child was lost.

  “What are you trying to do?” Anya asked when we reached Reuel.

  “Whatever’s necessary to stop you once and for all.” I raised my sword, so the tip nearly touched her chin.

  Anya laughed. “Do you even know how to use that thing, Warren?”

  Flames surged through the blade. Her laughter faded, and she started backing up. We all followed her until we reached the center of the terrace. I pinned her against one of the large hunks of the darkness veil.

  “You know, if you destroy the three stones, you’ll lose any chance of ever being with your daughter.” She gripped the stone around her neck. “If you destroy those, these die as well.”

  My heart twisted, but I refused to show it. “As long as this place dies with it, I’m OK with that.”

  She visibly swallowed because she knew I meant it. Anya opened her arms wide, arcing her back so that the tip of my sword was aimed straight at her heart. “What are you waiting for then?”

  Flint stepped forward, and Reuel held him back. But it was enough of a distraction for the demon to clap her hands together over her head. A thunderous crack blasted us all backward. Even I slid on my ass halfway across the terrace.

  Stunned, I jumped back up, ready to start swinging. With the full force of Abaddon, Anya hit me again, slamming me sideways into the castle wall.

  Reuel attacked with his sword, but he was overpowered by the Archangel. She hurled him into the side of the fortress like he was nothing at all.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Torman lead Fury and Flint safely behind the gate.

  Conjuring all my killing power, I hurled it at Anya. She deflected it with her fist, something I’ve never seen anyone do before. My left hand shot forward, and I blasted her again, this time with a wall of energy that sent her sailing backward.

  When she regained her footing, she dropped to a knee and slammed her fist against the ground. A wide chasm opened between us, and the lake of fire bubbled up over the rocks. Circling it, I charged her again. Her hands sliced through the air, throwing me to the chasm’s edge.