by Donna Raider
“Call Samson and have them meet you at our home.” Leah directed. “Wait there until you hear from me.”
Invisibly willing herself to her wife’s side, Leah was aghast at the scene she instantly became a part of. Mika was down on one knee. Jezebel and Legion were circling her like a pair of hyenas. They were taunting her, tossing fireballs at her back. Mika wasn’t fighting back. She was bent over as if injured. Leah moved to the front of her wife and gasped as she realized Mika was shielding the twins with her body.
Mika sensed her wife’s presence immediately. About time, she thought.
Fury was not an emotion one would ever want to elicit from the wicked queen, but Legion and Jezebel were about to feel the full brunt of her rage. She knew she couldn’t fight with all her ability if she had to worry about her husband and her babies. She transported Mika and the twins to the mansion then made her presence known to the two emissaries of evil.
“Leah,” Jezebel gasped.
Before either Jezebel or Legion knew what was happening, the Queen transported all three of them to the planet where Mika had taught her to fight.
Jezebel hurled a fireball at her daughter, only to find it sailing back at her, larger and faster. As the old witch dodged the fire, Leah froze her.
Legion manifested a rock monster, ten feet tall. Leah melted it before it could take a step.
Jezebel broke the spell her daughter had cast on her and hurled fireballs one after the other. Leah easily deflected them.
Leah called a raging wind to blow both Legion and Jezebel against the flint walls of the mountain. Both howled in fury as their bodies were crushed against the surface of the cold, hard rock. Bones protruded through their skin.
Leah realized that without the priest, she couldn’t strip her adversaries of their powers. Everything she threw at them, they countered. Just as she was able to thwart everything they tried to do to her.
Jezebel was astounded that her daughter was so strong, so invincible. Perhaps I have chosen the wrong side, the old witch thought.
The battle raged across the desolate planet. As Leah began to tire, her attackers began to work more efficiently as a team. Suddenly, without warning, Jezebel and Legion transported themselves onto her, wrapping their arms and legs around her.
Legion jumped onto her back. He wrapped his legs around her waist and got a choke hold on her neck. Jezebel clung to her front, pressing her oppressive body against the twins. Leah could feel she was falling but couldn’t tell to where.
The stench of Sulphur and brimstone filled her nostrils as she realized they had transported her to the entrance of hell.
“Now we are battling in our territory,” Jezebel leered, releasing her.
“Yes, My Queen,” Legion screeched as he shoved Leah forward calling on a dark demon to attack her.
Leah ducked as the demon sailed past her and disintegrated it.
Jezebel rained fire down on her. Leah surrounded herself with a protective shield she knew wouldn’t hold for long.
Calling on the elements, Leah created a tornado that swept up Jezebel and Legion. It whirled and slammed the pair against everything Leah could find, finally slamming both into the ground with such force, their backs broke.
Jezebel and Legion cursed and wailed, promising Leah a slow and agonizing death.
While Jezebel and Legion were clawing at the ground, struggling to stand, Leah materialized over them. She dropped a huge blade to the hard ground forming a guillotine. She severed the heads of Jezebel and Legion.
She had won. She dropped to her knees and cried. They had won. She had to get back to Mika and her children.
She watched in horror as Jezebel’s head moved to the top of Legion’s shoulders and Legion’s head joined with Jezebel’s body. The body’s stood, grotesquely twisted with bones protruding from the flesh in several places. The living dead, Leah thought.
Without moving a muscle, Leah turned them both to stone and placed them at the gates of hell, but her victory was short lived.
CHAPTER 40 - Burning My Way through Hell
“Well, now that you have done away with your pesky wife and my inept, idiotic servants,” M grinned mischievously, “why don’t you and I get down to some serious negotiating?”
Leah turned with him, watching him slowly move around her as if stalking her. She noticed that they were standing on an island in a sea of fire and brimstone. “What could you possibly have that I would want?” she snarled.
“My, aren’t we uppity,” he snorted. “If it weren’t for that annoying priest, you would have been mine eight years ago.”
Leah arched her eyebrow as if he were insane.
“Remember the night the priest walked into the diner?” M continued. “You were about to destroy the entire town and everyone in it, including yourself. Pretty evil stuff,” he grinned. “She snatched you from my grasp, and the Vile One had worked so hard to get you right where we wanted you.”
“Why? Why me? Her question was almost a sob.
“Why you?” M narrowed his eyes; fire burned in them. “Don’t play with me, Your Majesty. You know how magnificent you are. Your beauty transcends the puny earth you insist on inhabiting.”
“There are many beautiful women on earth,” she countered.
“Ah, yes!” He nodded in agreement. “But none are as evil as you were. It is your former evil actions that bring us to the negotiating table today. You knew what you were doing when you signed the contract with the Vile One. Before the priest, you were depraved and very powerful. You have grown more powerful with each passing day. Unfortunately, you have also grown more virtuous.”
“You haven’t provided me with a true answer,” she pushed. “The universe has several depraved and powerful witches. Why me?”
He glared at her. She could hear the flames in his eyes crackling. He studied her. He knew there was more at play here than just a priest and a witch. He knew he was meddling in something he should stay out of, but his desire for her outweighed everything else.
“I love you,” he said simply.
Her head jerked as if he had slapped her.
“I want you to bear my children.” He hissed. “Not the spawn of some lowly priest.”
“I would rather die,” she growled. “I would die before I would break my wedding vows.” Her emotions caused the flames of hell to rise and cinders to billow and circle her like a funnel.
“Humm, and what about the priest’s children that you are now carrying. “Should they die with you?” M grinned maliciously.
Her eyes darted around, quickly assessing her situation. “Ah, I have found your weakness,” he chuckled. “Let’s be honest. You know I can’t kill you. You’re immortal, but your children are not. The truth is I can only have you if you come to me willingly.”
“That will never happen,” she smiled sardonically.
“Oh, but do hear me out, beautiful one,” he laughed knowingly. “My offer might appeal to you.”
“I doubt it,” she hissed.
“I and all of my minions will leave your family alone for all eternity: your husband, Sara, Adam, and Richie will forever be safe from me and my kind.” He smiled as he saw the look of relief in her eyes.
“In exchange for what?” she growled.
“You come to me of your own free will. You will be my queen and sit at my side ruling the underworld. “You and I will raise the babies you are now carrying. “I promise I will be a good husband and father.”
“And if I refuse?” she said quietly.
“You will spend eternity alone,” a bestial sound escaped his throat. “I will destroy the priest, all your children and the children you are carrying. You will be left to wander the earth searching for the love you have had with the priest, but you won’t find it.”
“What do you want me to do?” she sounded defeated.
He held his hand out to her. “Simply take my hand, dear.”
“What is your name? If I am to take a husband, I should
know his name. Are you the devil?” She eyed him warily.
“Mephistopheles,” his voice echoed off the mountains surrounding them.
“You give me your word, those I love will forever be free of you and your kind,” she reiterated his promise. “That you will not harm my wife.”
“I promise,” he smiled. Holding out his hand, he stepped toward her. “Just take my hand of your own free will and we will be bound for all eternity.”
She bowed her head and prayed one last prayer before stretching out her hand and stepping to him.
“NO!” A scream that shook heaven and hell and everything in between filled the air around them. Mika flew like a kamikaze dive bomber into Mephistopheles, driving him backward, away from Leah, before he could touch her hand. Mika held onto the demon as they plunged into the leaping fires of hell. Leah suddenly found herself standing in the great room of her mansion, surrounded by her family. Everyone was there. Everyone but her wife. She tried to make mental contact with Mika. There was no response.
She screamed in agony as she realized Mika had made the same sacrifice she had been willing to make. She tried to transport back to her and couldn’t. She tried to reach Mika with telepathy and couldn’t. Leah fell to her knees, curling into the fetal position, ignoring the hands that were reaching out to her, trying to sooth her. The keening sound that escaped from her lips terrified everyone.
##
She had no idea how long she had been in her present state. Hours, days, weeks, time stood still. She vaguely remembered her son’s strong arms carrying her to her bedroom. The bedroom she shared with her wife. Where was Mika?
Mika was gone. She had fulfilled the contract Leah had foolishly signed. Mephistopheles had taken Mika. Leah had no desire to live without Mika. She slipped in and out of consciousness, dreaming of her time with Mika, screaming as she watched her plunge into hell with Mephistopheles, trading her soul for Leah and the children.
Leah didn’t care. She wanted to die. Sleep was the best. Mika came to her in dreams. Her smiling face, her gentle touch, her lips on Leah’s: all agonizing memories. The horror of facing each new day without Mika was more than she could bear. The two children she carried would never play horsey with Mommy.
“She should be in the hospital,” Dr. Strand’s face faded in and out of Leah’s consciousness. “We have to do something quickly, or she is going to lose the babies. If we don’t put her on life support, she will die.”
“No,” she choked out. She wanted to die. Life without Mika wasn’t worth living. Everyone left her room. She was alone finally. She just wanted to die in peace. She would not live without her wife. She didn’t care about the babies she was carrying. She didn’t care that others needed her. She didn’t care about anything. Without Mika, she had no reason to live. The biggest curse of all was that she was immortal. She would be forced to face an empty, dreadful life without Mika. She prayed to her God for death.
Leah, I need you. Mika’s thoughts rang in her head.
Was she still dreaming? Was this some heinous nightmare? Darling, I need your help. Again, Mika’s thoughts. I don’t mind dying, but I want to die in your arms.
She was alive! Mika was alive!
Leah stretched out limbs that had been in the fetal position far too long. She rolled to Mika’s side of the bed only to be greeted with cold, stark sheets.
Leah, please!
##
Leah was well versed in intimidation. She had used it all her life; sometimes for evil, sometimes for good. She knew the value of first impressions. She stood and walked to her full-length mirror. She looked pale and pitiful, a scrawny little thing where once an all-powerful queen had stood. Great hunks of hair were missing where she had torn out her raven locks. Deep, bloody scratches crisscrossed her face and breasts, where she had dragged her nails in agony. She had not been able to inflict enough physical pain on herself to stop the aching loneliness from the loss of her wife. Nothing she saw in the mirror would make a powerful impression on anyone.
She showered and fixed her hair. She healed herself. She put on her makeup. She drew herself erect, to her full height, and liked what she saw in the mirror. Without any movement, she clothed herself in her most empowering wicked queen outfit. Gold armor covered her. Her glorious mane of black hair billowed around her. Her breastplate—barely covering her breasts—flowed into golden pants and boots. She didn’t bother with a jacket. She wanted freedom of movement.
She walked out into the back yard of the mansion. Richie, Amber, Samson’s family and Nana ran behind her, concerned that she hadn’t been out of bed in weeks. She summoned a warhorse, white as pure driven snow. Mounting him, she pulled on the reins making the stallion dance on his hind legs. Fire flared from his nostrils and sparks flew from his hoofs wherever they touched the ground. She brandished a lance that was on fire. She was going to get her wife.
“Mom,” Richie cried out, “where can we find you?”
“Burning my way through hell,” she hissed.
Mephistopheles wants to see the Wicked Queen, well, he is going to get more than he ever dreamed. Leah Cross intended to be his worst nightmare.
I am coming, Mika, she answered her wife’s thoughts.
She transported herself and her steed to the gates of hell where the twisted statues of Legion and Jezebel still stood guard. Without so much as the twitch of a facial muscle, she turned them to dust and grinned as the winds scattered their ashes and sent their souls to eternal damnation.
She spurred her steed and charged into the fiery abyss. Souls screamed and begged for mercy all around her. Brimstone and hot molten lava boiled up to block her way. The stench of burning flesh and hair gagged her. The smell of sulfur burned her nostrils as she tore through hell in search of her wife.
Without even a nod, the oceans from the planet Aquaraus emptied into the flaming home of Mephistopheles. Another thought and the entire underworld froze solid. Hell had frozen over.
She drew her stallion up into a full stand on his hind legs and roared, “Bring me, my wife.” It wasn’t the voice of a dainty small-town mayor. It was the voice that fueled nightmares and brought horror stories to life. It caused the ice to crack and the very foundation of hell to shake. Steam shot from the crevices in the ice and lava stalactites crashed into frozen souls below them.
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my domain?” A tall, angular man appeared in front of her fire-breathing steed. In his own way, he was as beautiful as Mika. He had thick black hair, a handsome, swarthy face, a muscular body and wings as black as sin. At nine feet tall, he was eye level with her on the warhorse.
“I am Leah Cross, wife of the Archangel Mika,” she roared. “You have her, and I want her.” Again, purgatory shook and steam shot up from new fissures, as her voice reverberated from the walls of the underworld.
“I have no such soul,” the dark angel said quietly. “And before you speak again, please lower your voice. It is very annoying.”
“Who are you? Some messenger of Mephistopheles,” she lowered her voice slightly. “Where is the coward? Send him to face me himself.”
“Mephistopheles!” The dark angel raised his black brows.
“Don’t pretend he isn’t here,” she roared again. “He took my wife.”
“Mephistopheles,” the dark angel’s voice was low and soft, yet it bounced off every surface of hell, creating an echo that reverberated endlessly, filling the underworld with dread. “Come here.”
“I am here, Master,” Mephistopheles stood before them, his head bowed, afraid to look either of them in the eye.
“Is this the woman you wanted for your wife?”
“Yes, Master,” Mephistopheles mumbled.
The dark angel smiled, surveying Leah. “She is beautiful. She is a very powerful witch. Is she not?”
“Yes, Master.
“My wife,” Leah reared her steed again. “I want my wife!”
“You didn’t tell me she had a wife,” th
e dark angel grinned maliciously at Mephistopheles.
“A priest, Master. No one important,” Mephistopheles shrugged.
“Do you have her?” The dark angel walked closer to Mephistopheles.
“Yes, Master.” Mephistopheles almost whispered as if hoping his answer wouldn’t be heard.
“You have had a soul, unknown to me, hidden in my domain? Produce her!” The dark angel growled at Mephistopheles.
Suddenly Mika appeared on her knees between Leah and the dark angel. She was bound by something Leah couldn’t make out. It looked like strips of human skin. Mika’s hair was almost burned away, and she had deep, oozing gashes all over her body and once beautiful face. She had been subjected to constant flagellation with a cat-o-nine. A deep cut ran from her hairline, across her right eye, and down her cheek.
Leah fought the urge to dismount and run to Mika but knew her advantage was in remaining astride the warhorse.
Mika struggled to her feet. “Remove the link to the souls that bind my hands,” she said softly.
The dark angel nodded, and the restraints fell away.
Mika raised her eyes to lock with the dark angel’s. “So, we meet again, Lucifer.” Her eyes were black and hard as if she could see into the soul of the dark angel.
Lucifer whirled on Mephistopheles. “Fool, what have you done?” He howled. “You have single-handedly brought about the destruction of hell. You have brought a pure soul into our domain.”
Lucifer slowly turned to face Mika. “I had no knowledge of this,” he said honestly, slightly bowing his head in deference to Mika. “Tell me how I can make this right?”
“I will leave Mephistopheles’ punishment to you,” Mika grinned malevolently. “You are much better at divining punishments that suit the crime than I. While my wife is extremely beautiful, the other reason he wanted her was to combine her power with his to rule the underworld. Mephistopheles is a far more serious threat to you than to my God.”
Mika suddenly unfurled her wings and rose to her true height. The pure white light radiating from her was blinding. She was almost too beautiful to behold.
“Mika” Mephistopheles gasped. “You are the Archangel Mika, but you are with an earthly woman.”