by K R Leikvoll
"Danny. Her father was a leatherworker. She taught me what he taught her," he said solemnly. Danny... I could tell saying her name was painful for him. I clenched my teeth nervously and stood up.
"Thank you, Kirin," I said softly. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him into a hug. I expected him to be stiff in return. Instead, I could feel him running his fingers through my hair.
"You're welcome. Now let's get the scroll and get the hell out of here."
Chapter Twenty
Naturally, walking through the northern wilderness was a challenge. I knew that there was going to be snow, but it slipped my mind that my clothing was garbage for the environment I was in. It was probably a good thing Kirin almost died for his cloak because it was indeed saving our lives like he said.
The north was filled with identical trees and mountains in all directions. With the snow, it was sometimes hard to tell where we were. We were a day behind schedule because Kirin and Varnoc had to spend the entire afternoon arguing about which path would be the fastest. It didn’t really matter what path we took; each way was covered in slick ice. The temperature difference from the Ashlands to Himmel alone was extreme. It would drop so much at night that they had to finally agree to build a small fire.
Kirin and I had to use the same method as the Ashlands to sleep so we wouldn't freeze. As uncomfortable and as awkward as it was, a lot of nights we fell asleep in each other's arms, huddling for warmth. I think it helped him realize that I wasn't mad at him. It gave me stomach aches to be so close to him. I knew that I was starting to fall down a deep hole of feels, and I hated it. I tried to deny it to myself more. I tried to tell myself that he was an asshole, but ultimately, I was aware that it was going to be a lot harder than that to stop how I was feeling. I couldn't accept it. I mean he was pretty open still about grieving over the death of his wife and that happened forever ago. He had been pretty distant since the whole kiss thing, too... maybe he realized he felt nothing himself.
Luckily, we only ran into a few demons, but with three people it was easier to kill them in a timely manner. I hadn't needed to sacrifice because the ring was cooperating more and I had been able to assist with barriers. It was a good thing; I didn't want to do a whole lot of sacrificing with Varnoc's critical eyes on us. When I allowed Kirin to sacrifice with my blood, he almost lost his shit. He complained about it being heresy that the Divinus (regardless of being the Nephilim) should never share their holy blood, especially with a demon. Notably, a demon wielding a shard of the Essentia which was created to destroy my ring. I got his point of view, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Speaking of the Essentia, it had become apparent to me that we were completely boned if someone killed Kirin. According to Varnoc, if only three out of the four shards were reunited, they could summon a Void Lord (specifically Nakarius), but a lesser form. All four pieces and it would be the real deal—full strength. It was keeping Lazarus from being quick to call on him without Famine. He told us that Nakarius would never summon himself with only three pieces; he intended to return in full. There was no reason not to be unstoppable. So basically, Kirin was the only thing keeping that monster from destroying the world.
Himmel, Kirin told me, was a pivotal location. Supposedly Eve had done a lot of running around on the mountains with Danielle and... ugh, Lydris. That was back before he killed her. We were getting close to that spot; I knew it was going to be hard on Kirin. He was kind enough to warn me of the possibility of having a lot of visions because of the energy. He was right, and it ended up being worse than watching my sort-of father get murdered by my guardian "angel."
It happened as I was waking up on the second-to-last night of our trek. I had brief, nonsense visions when I was passed out frequently during those days, but that time the sensation woke me from my sleep. I wrestled my way out of Kirin's arms, dizzy as hell. I could barely see my world was spinning so out of control. Kirin stirred from his sleep. He put his hand on my shoulder as I tried not to hurl from the vertigo.
"Are you okay, Val?" he whispered. I couldn't respond. I held my head in my hands trying to ground myself. "Come back to sleep," I heard him murmur tiredly.
The déja vu was starting to take me. I tried to stand up, but the sensation kept me rooted to the ground. Kirin grabbed my arm and started talking; I couldn't hear what he was saying. Everything was turning black.
The empty space was familiar. It always made me a little uneasy, but I knew it was important to grit my teeth and get it over with. I waited for the shimmering piece of starlight to greet me. As usual, I crushed it in my hands and patiently stood by, waiting for my surroundings to change.
And they did change. Rapidly. I was slightly disoriented when I solidified in front of the giant obsidian castle in a far-off land. I almost fell behind because I wanted to look for James. I had to rush through the obsidian threshold before the door slammed shut in my face.
Eve, completely distraught, was running through the hallway so fast I was struggling to keep up with her. The entire palace was made out of the same sharp, black stone as the outside. All of the furniture and rooms we passed were far more luxurious than anything I had seen on Praetis so far. Everything was in different shades of black; some kind of super goth lived there.
Eve's tears were literal pieces of light that flew into the air as she ran. We were nearing a monstrous doorway. Before she opened it, she held the ring out to the hallway. With a glimmer, a flat barrier cut the hallway in half, blocking everything outside of the doorway from entering. Eve held her arms out to the air. A silver staff radiating stars formed in return, spinning light waves around her like a cosmic dance. With a shaking hand, she threw open the doors. I slowly followed her into the titan sized throne room.
Loud, slow clapping echoed through the giant stone hall. My eyes followed skulls of all different sizes to a throne, composed wholly of bones. Perched at the top was a man with his legs propped up, drinking wine. My heart dropped—no, my very being was unnerved. I recognized him. He wore razor-sharp black armor. He had black hair. He had glowing black and red eyes... he was the being from eternity.
"I really never thought you so dense, Divinus," he called down from his throne. "For a while, it almost seemed like you had a plan!"
I was going to have a panic attack. His voice was the same voice that had whispered in my ears.
"This is the plan, Vince," Eve said, gesturing to the open space around her. "Just you and me now."
Vince... oh my god, the being was Vince. The first demon, the Traitor King, Mr. Bad Guy Vince. My brain was on fire. Why in the world would I be seeing and hearing the first demon around me? My mind wandered to the thoughts of Lazarus. How Varnoc spoke of her love for him... how she acted like I had been her past lover when she was torturing me. No... no, no, no! I was slowly putting the pieces together. The picture they painted was grim.
Vince laughed wickedly on top of his throne.
"I didn’t think it was going to be this simple," he said, shaking his head. He finished off his wine and dropped the glass—letting it shatter on the ground below—and began making his way toward us. Shadows trailed off his very being.
"Your slaughter of this world ends now, demon king!" Eve yelled. She smashed her staff on the ground. The ceiling above us disappeared and turned into the night sky. Cascades of light fell from the darkness and crashed into the ground attempting to pierce Vince's shadows.
"So if you defeat me, will you still have the strength to kill James that sits just beyond your little bubble? And Lazarus? Raven? Looks to me like you ran in with absolutely no way out," Vince taunted. He moved around the comets leisurely as if they were no trouble at all.
His form turned into shadows and coalesced behind her. Eve tried to use a barrier, but Vince was faster than the ring. He picked Eve up by her neck and flung her as hard as he could into the obsidian ground. The force was so much that her body left a shattered impression in the stone on impact. He let out a sinister, pleased laug
h. The shadows started to form in his hands like a dagger.
"Then again," he said, his eyes lighting up with excitement, "What chance did you have of defeating me?"
Vince attempted to slash at her, but a barrier larger than I had ever been able to produce caused him to rebound across the room. It gave Eve enough time to climb to her feet with her staff. Vince ran at her again, impossibly fast, but she was ready. As he was about to cut her throat, a hole ripped through reality in front of him. It looked like some sort of crazy silver mirror lacking any reflection. He slipped through the hole and appeared on the other side of the room back where he started again. Eve took advantage of the distance and created a shimmering wall that cut the room in half. She summoned more comets with her staff as she slowly became less and less visible. By the time Vince reached the wall, Eve was gone, though I could tell from the silver blood on the floor which way she was going.
Vince tried to pierce the barrier with slashes, but they were reflected. He resorted to using black flames eerily similar to the fire I was able to conjure. He burned the barrier, fire flowing from his hands, dissolving it into starlight. His form dispersed into shadows that traveled across the room toward the throne.
Eve appeared as he reformed in front of her. Much like the shard of light I had used to kill the plaguebearer, Eve sliced at the shadows with the light. She caught him on the side of his arm, leaving herself open. Vince's other arm came at her in an uppercut, knocking her directly under the chin. It sent her flying into the ground.
"Pathetic," Vince said as he casually walked over to her. "Your grief has made you stupid and weak."
The ground around Eve was wet with blood. The sight of it excited Vince even more. He dug his clawed armored hands into her pale shoulders and knocked her head against the ground. I could do nothing but watch in horror. I still ran to them even though I knew I was unable to help her.
Eve was defeated after the last head smash, but Vince kept going. He allowed the shadows to cover her body, constricting her into unnatural positions. Each time his hand touched her, she would let out screams of tortured agony. It was the worst sound I had ever heard in my life. Vince finally couldn't resist the urge to tear into her neck. Eve's silver blood flowed down his face and his armor. When his lips touched her, she wailed as though he was burning her alive.
The main entrance to the throne room burst open. I recognized two of the three beings that entered. One was James, hurt from the comet, but still standing. The next was Lazarus, who held the head of some poor victim. The third was a thin man with messy black hair dressed in elegant charcoal and purple robes. His face was covered in white paint to resemble a skull. They ran as a group to the side of Vince and Eve.
Vince had stopped drinking her blood in exchange for torturing her with his touch. He was eagerly watching her wounds heal so he could continue hurting her on a fresh pallet. I wasn't sure how Eve was still conscious. She was begging him over and over to stop. Vince shook his head no and continued.
Lazarus bounced to his side, beaming with her fanged smile. She laughed and cackled every time my mother convulsed in pain. James and the other man, however, exchanged worried looks. Vince hit her a few more times before she finally stopped screaming. His hand started tearing at her silver dress made of stars.
James cleared his throat.
"Master," he said gently as if he was worried about upsetting Vince. He didn't turn to face them until he had completely ripped off her clothes. When he finished that task, his body turned to shadows and appeared practically on top of James. He was half a head shorter than him, but his presence made James take a step back.
"Problem?" Vince asked with fury in his eyes. They flickered to the other man knowingly. They both shook their heads no and stared at the floor. "That’s what I thought. Lazarus, take my new toy away. We are going to have some fun."
Lazarus' smile faded with his words. I could see her holding back something she wanted to say. She glanced disgustedly at my naked, broken mother. With reluctance, she grabbed Eve by her hair and started dragging her almost unconscious body toward a doorway to the east. The vision was starting to fade.
Before everything disappeared entirely, Vince turned in my direction. The last thing I saw was his gaze, piercing me.
Everything became ten times harder to comprehend when I came back to reality. When my consciousness beamed back into my body, I could hear myself screaming. I couldn't stop it either. My voice was wailing, "Stop! Stop!"
Kirin's hand was placed firmly over my mouth, and I was restrained in his lap. Varnoc was crouched in front helping hold me still. I shuddered as whatever was controlling my body started to die down. I could feel the ring buzzing like crazy on my finger.
"Shh, Val, it’s okay," Kirin cooed in my ear. I was finally able to bring myself to stop and tried to catch my breath. The cold air cut my lungs.
I had forgotten we were on some icy peak in the wilderness. The fire had been snuffed out and we were huddling in a shallow cave. We could see the tower of Light's Peak in the distance. I relaxed my tensed body and took another deep breath.
"Valentine?" Kirin said unsteadily, forcing me to look at him. My body was still shaking, but I was becoming more aware that I was in control. I forced myself out of his arms and onto my feet. I weakly began to pace back and forth with my hands on my head.
I had pieced it together in my mind, and I was horrified with the conclusion I had come to. I nearly started having a full-blown panic attack when I realized that if what I thought was true... would Kirin hate me? Would they think I'm a traitor? Would they think I'm like him?
It led to even more questions. Vince must've raped my mother and somehow James rescued me. James had killed Jack; he was a full demon. Why would he save me as an infant? Why would he take me to Earth? Why would he help Eve?
I crouched down to the snow and started crying again. I saw Vince around me because he was a part of me... and not just in the genetic way. His essence had to be as present as the essence of the Divinus. What if he started trying to take control? What if he was waiting for the right moment to take over? Would I kill the people I care about?
Kirin tried to pull me back into the cave.
"Get your hands off me! Leave me alone!" I yelled, horrified. I wanted to prod Vince out of my head. I wanted to tell that motherfucker to get out. I didn't want to hurt people I cared about. I was not going to be a monster like him! That wasn't something Kirin needed to see!
I started trying to walk further into the blizzard, but Kirin grabbed me around the waist and carried me back to the cave. He threw me down, and I knocked my head on the rock wall of our shelter. I didn't care; I tried to get back up to leave again. He sat down on his knees and held my shoulders so tightly that it reminded me of when we first met.
"Valentine, I need you to calm down," he said significantly softer than he was being physically. "What happened?"
I didn't know what to say. It was going to open a bad can of worms, considering I hadn't told him that I had been seeing Vince that whole fucking time. That just made me look ten times guiltier. My brain was having trouble coming up with something to say. Everything was so hard to comprehend, I couldn't think.
"I…" I started and stopped. I was watching the snow fall over his shoulder, completely lost. I couldn't tell him right then. I had to think of a way to break it to him the right way. Someplace definitely not in front of Varnoc. I was terrified what Kirin’s reaction would be without the other demon’s presence.
His hand grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him.
"Tell me what happened," Kirin commanded. I was still mute. Varnoc crouched down in front of me on my right.
"Val, please just tell us," he said slightly nicer than Kirin. I was holding my throat. It was hard to breathe.
"A vision," I started. Kirin and Varnoc had a "duh" look on their face and waited for me to continue. "I don't want to talk about it.”
Kirin was staring at me with an intense g
lare. "You are going to talk about it. Start," he snapped, finally losing his temper.
"I had to watch my mom die, okay?” I yelled in his face. At least in some regard I wasn't lying. Kirin's face instantly softened and he let go of me.
"How?" he responded, unable to stop himself.
"She ran in alone," was all I could say. I didn't want to utter Vince's name in case I gave away my secret in my eyes. Kirin stood up and walked away. I don't think he really wanted the details. I wasn't sure how close he was to my mom, but it was safe to assume they were at least friends.
I climbed to my feet and followed Kirin. Without giving it a second thought, I hugged him as hard as I could. It wasn't for him; it was for me. I needed a hug, and I wasn't about to ask the satyr for one. Kirin needed it, too. His arms folded around me tightly, holding me against his chest.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "You shouldn't have had to see that."
"Why didn't she wait?" I asked more to myself than to Kirin.
"It was her fate, Valentine. She was destined to bring you here," he replied softly. He was the only person that could call me my full name without making me irritated. I buried my face into his chest to avoid the cold.
"I can't sleep... let's just…" I looked to Light's Peak. Maybe that stupid scroll would shed some light on my life; some kind of paper epiphany.
"Are you sure you don't want to rest?"
I shook my head. I wanted to get that shit done and over with.
Varnoc had awkwardly joined the conversation. "We may have to fight. There's a hundred possibilities. Lazarus could be down there herself! Are you sure you are ready for that?" he asked behind me. I reluctantly let go of Kirin and turned around.
I have no clue how, maybe it was my emotions, but shadows seeped from my hands.
"If she is, I'll kill her myself!" I said furiously. The thought of that stupid bitch! I was weak when she captured me. If she appeared, I wouldn't hold back. To hell with the flames of sacrifice. I would cross that bridge after I melted her to ashes.