I was now standing inside the circle.
Chapter Six
Godric’s spirit surged out, exploding like a bomb. His agony hit me full in the face. The fury was like wildfire, pushing everywhere, into everything, burning me with its white-hot rage. It was packed so tightly into every fraction of spirit that remained in him that he couldn’t contain it.
“Eve!” Alex’s cry cut through the shrill ringing in my ears, and desperately he tried to push us back - to fling me behind him so that he could protect me.
Too late, I realized I'd made another mistake. The dark cloud that had been Godric’s soul hadn’t been condensed in the middle of the circle like a typical spirit might. Instead, it was spread out like fog, covering every inch of the clearing. And packed tight to breaking point, it had flexed, and pushed out through the break in the barrier.
The break that I’d created.
I felt a white-hot tendril of his spirit touch my skin, and slink past me as I moved back behind the barrier. “No. No!” I screamed, the panic overwhelming me. “Alex! He’s getting out!”
Nimue’s face was white. She grimaced and braced herself. Slowly, she began to whirl her arms around, tugging at the air as if trying to wrap her arms around an invisible rope. “His soul is too scattered,” she shouted. “I can’t keep a hold of it!”
Malach, next to her, flexed his arms, forcing the invisible shield out further than before. But it was too late.
The pulsing, low-vibrating entity inside the circle registered the hole in the barrier and slithered through, like mercury through water.
“He’s escaping!” Zel shouted.
Abruptly, the fog condensed inside the circle; rushing in, forming a man-like shape, with long, sinewy arms and a cloaked head. The malevolence and violence condensed with him, the power and energy was staggering.
“He’s still in here,” Nate grunted, holding his arms out and straining. “Hold him!”
Zel flexed his arms again, blocking the spirit in the circle once more.
I felt another burning-hot touch, like hot oil flowing past me. The feel of it made me sick to the souls of my feet. “He’s getting past! Alex,” I screamed. “I can feel him!”
Alex looked over towards the center of the clearing, where the ghost of Godric had fully formed. He was as still as a statue; his yellow eyes burning out from underneath the dark cowl of his hood.
“He’s still there,” Alex said to himself, tucking me behind his broad shoulders and backing us away. “The barrier is still up. We’re safe, but we need to leave. We need to leave, now.” He kept his eyes fixed on the figure in the clearing, unwilling to take his attention off the danger; the stock-still body, the burning eyes.
I felt the force hit before I saw him move. Suddenly, his body disintegrated; and then it was everywhere. The fog hit out, extending well past the barriers that my friends had set. It lifted up like smoke on the breeze and smashed back to the ground with enormous power, cracking the earth in two, and throwing us all off our feet. A fissure opened up in the middle of the clearing, a deep crack which caused the earth to groan as if in pain.
The barrier was gone. Godric was loose.
Alex was on his feet in a heartbeat, and had me swept up in his arms, wrapping me in bands of muscle. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“No,” I said desperately. “You have to help catch Godric!”
“Nimue will get him,” Alex said abruptly. “It’s what she’s good at. We have to go!”
He swept me up into an embrace, and suddenly we were flying through the jungle. The wind whipped my hair back and stung my eyes; I narrowed them so I could still see. I felt Alex’s heart pump in his chest, in fear rather than exertion.
This had all gone so wrong.
The sounds of destruction behind us didn’t seem to quieten as we got further away. Instead, it got louder, to the point where the chaos was drowning out even the sound of my terrified short breaths.
I glanced over Alex’s shoulder as he ran. Trees were ripped up and shaken loose, the earth torn up. I saw a giant gum tossed in the air like it was a matchstick; I heard the booming shout of Malach, calling Nimue’s name. After one second more of running, Alex slowed.
“What is it?” I asked.
“He’s following us,” he muttered, his eyes narrowed. “The others are trying to hold him back, but he’s ripping up everything to get to you. We should have thought of this.”
“We can’t go back to Revelations! He’ll destroy it!”
Alex huffed out a laugh. “That’s the last thing you have to worry about.”
“Alex…” I pleaded, shaking in his arms.
With a vicious snarl of resignation, he stopped in his tracks. He lowered me to the ground, turning his back on me, facing the forest and the terrifying sound of destruction that followed us. In another second, Nate was standing with him, both of them shielding me from the oncoming ghost.
A tree flew towards us; so fast I barely saw it coming. Alex punched it away with his fist like it was nothing. There was a furious rumbling that shook the ground underneath us, and I braced myself on the tree behind me. Arms outstretched, hands curved into claws, the boys both crouched and waited for Godric to approach.
I saw him come. His spirit was still fog. It spread out through the trees, searching, then suddenly it would condense into a more solid, tangible human shape, ripping up trees and tossing enormous rocks in the air like they were pebbles. A giant boulder sailed towards us again; I yelped in fear, but Nate shoulder-charged it, scattering it into dust.
There was a warrior shout, and I looked up to see Nimue flinging herself through the trees like Tarzan; her beautiful lithe figure spinning gracefully and powerfully towards Godric. With a great leap, she flew through the air. She spread her arms, pushing out invisible threads of energy from her palms, whirling it around like a lasso, aiming for the spirit of Godric. At the last minute he dissolved again, his spirit spread out too far to capture. The fog filled the jungle, the horror and malevolence that Godric was made up of made me dizzy with fear. Suddenly, he was solid again, and he struck out at Nimue with an almighty crack.
She screamed as she took the blow. Her body spun uncontrollably through the jungle and out of sight.
“Nimue!” Malach roared. In a blink of an eye, he was out of sight, and in the next second, I spotted him between a gap in the trees, cradling Nimue’s body tenderly.
“She’s okay,” Nate murmured to Alex, still crouched steadily in front of me. “She just opened her eyes. She’s hurt, though. He’s using his pain and rage as a weapon, and she just got the full blast of it.”
I heard Malach's roar of rage above everything else; above the trembling of the earth and above the grinding screech of the trees that were being ripped apart. His voice echoed through the jungle; powerful, vengeful.
Godric came towards me. Condensed into man-form again, he searched for me, looking for the cause of his pain, attracted to the agony like a magnet.
I should have realized this. I should have thought about it before. In blinding panic, I backed into the tree behind me. There was nowhere to run. Godric was going to rip through the two men in front of me, men that I loved, then he was going to smash me apart. My heart stopped; my vision narrowed. Time slowed down.
Malach shot across towards Godric in a blinding flash, like a deadly lightning strike, his pewter wings outstretched. I felt the force of the mighty archangel bending reality to his will. I felt Malach pluck the energy waves from around himself like they were strings floating in the breeze. He wrapped them around his arms, dragging them in together to create a rope of pure power while he sailed through the air, towards his prey, roaring in furious vengeance.
The ghost of Godric turned and lashed back towards Malach, but he was now wrapped in the invisible forces that the archangel had summoned. Malach twisted his hands, his tendons and veins bulging. Godric’s spirit squeezed into greater density; his foggy ghost was almost black now. He howled;
the inhuman sound vibrated up my spine like electricity.
Zel appeared beside Godric suddenly, his hands outstretched; he whirled them around in an arc, surrounding the ghost completely. Flames erupted from a circle in the air. The portal opened. With a final, furious roar, Malach pushed the soul of Godric back into the Hell dimension.
There was silence. All I could hear was the ragged sound of my own breath in my ears.
“Please,” I mumbled, stammering. “Please tell me that’s the worst soul you’ve ever seen.”
“That’s the worst soul I’ve ever seen,” Nate replied automatically. I glanced at him; the cold determination left his eyes as I watched them, turning gentle, loving warm-brown.
Alex caught me as I staggered trying to take a step. “Woman,” he murmured to me, holding me close. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, still unsteady, not trusting my voice.
“It was the worst soul I’ve ever seen.” Zel, uncharacteristically subdued, moved to join us. “It was definitely the most focused. It zoned in on you like a three-year-old eyeing up a bag of skittles.”
“We should have guessed something like this would happen,” Alex muttered darkly. “I never thought for a second Godric would get passed us.”
“He tricked us,” Zel said petulantly. “I thought he was still right in the center of the circle, but some of his soul had been slithering around the edges, looking for a hole.”
“He found it too. It was our fault. We were standing too close,” I said, my voice wobbling.
Zel shrugged. “He’s gone now. Back to Hell. He’ll be rattling around there, bouncing off other souls.”
My heart, having taken a battering, stuttered at Zel's words. “He’s just one soul,” I breathed out. “There are billions and billions of souls that are going to erupt out of Hell when I give birth,” I whispered, my voice strained. “Nothing will survive.”
Alex stroked my back, trying to soothe me. “Not all of them will be like him.”
“A lot of them will be. It would only take a few spirits like him to destroy everything.”
“We’ll come up with a plan, I promise,” Nate held my wild gaze, trying to soothe me.
“This was the plan! I felt like this was the right thing to do!”
My eyes fell to the forest floor. The splintered remains of torn-up trees littered the undergrowth. I lifted my gaze and saw that Godric had cut a clean swathe through the jungle.
“I thought it was right," I whispered, my eyes roaming over the mangled forest in front of me. "I thought that we were going to free Godric's spirit. In my gut, I truly felt like it was the right thing to do. All it’s done is shown me exactly what is going to happen,” my voice broke, and suddenly I was weeping.
“Maybe that’s why I felt like I needed to call his spirit," I went on, my voice choked. "The universe is showing me exactly what’s going to happen once I have my baby.”
“It’s not going to happen, Eve,” Alex held me gently, smoothing my hair back, kissing my head, his voice sure. “I’m going to protect you, no matter what.”
“You can’t protect me.”
“I will,” he replied, his voice fierce.
“I will too,” Nate covered Alex’s hands with his own, cocooning me in two sets of powerful, reassuring arms. “With my life, if I have to.”
“I just don’t understand.” My voice, hoarse from screaming, was little more than a whisper now. “I thought that this was going to give me answers. I felt it in my gut,” I rubbed my belly, feeling the gentle warmth inside.
My love. My whole world - my future - was growing inside me, almost ready to come out, and it would mean the end of everything. “But all it’s told me is that the whole world is going to be destroyed,” I breathed out. “I know that now. Maybe I just needed to face it.”
“Eve, no. We are going to live," Alex said fiercely. "Our baby is going to live. I’m as sure of that as I am about everything - about you, about the path, about all of humanity. I know it, Eve.”
I had no words left. I let Alex and Nate hold me, our little family together, and I tried to allow the love I felt for them chase away the chill in my bones.
We were a family, the three of us. Brothers, lovers, and friends. I soaked it all in, feeling the love growl like a beast within us, fierce and determined. If anything, I was going to appreciate the love while I could.
Through a gap in the trees, I watched as Malach carried Nimue gently through the forest. He held her close against his bare chest, treating her body as if it were as precious and breakable as a spun glass. They gazed at each other, ignoring us, disregarding the destroyed forest around them, with wonder and unfathomable pain in their eyes.
A tiny flicker of hope flared back to life in my chest. Maybe this whole thing hadn’t been in vain after all.
Chapter Seven
“Eve.”
I picked at my salad glumly, deep in thought. There was a whole cherry tomato sitting to the side of my plate. I moved my fork over it, and brought it down roughly, squishing it flat. It made a pffff sound as it deflated. Luckily, there was no one else in the little tea room. They would have thought I farted.
The tomato spilled its red juices all over the plate, like a mini murdered human spilling blood and gore.
That’s what it’s going to be like, I thought to myself. That’s what’s going to happen to the whole world. Squashed like an overripe tomato.
“Eve!” Clover’s voice cut through the fog in my head. She was standing at the door to the break room, holding it open with her hip. I hadn’t even noticed her open the door. “I’ve been calling your name for like two minutes now,” she said, frowning. “You’re staring at your plate like it’s a disgusting pile of garbage. What is wrong with you?”
I forced a smile. “Pre-baby blues.”
“That isn’t a thing,” she replied, tossing her rich brown waves back.
“Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not. Post-baby blues, maybe, because of the crazy rush of hormones and the overwhelming crush of responsibility that new motherhood brings.”
“When did you become an expert on motherhood?”
“I read a lot,” she lied airily. I glared at her. “Okay, I learned a lot from Grey’s Anatomy. Whatever. But I know that pre-baby blues aren’t a thing. Right now, you’re meant to be sore, and tired, and grumpy at worst, and nervous. Scared too, probably,” she cocked her head. “Considering how hideously painful childbirth is going to be. But you’re not meant to be depressed.”
“I’m not depressed.” I tried to lift my tone, but failed miserably.
“You are.” Clover eyed me carefully, flicking her gaze all around my body. “You’ve been moping around the desk for a few days now.” Her assessing eyes turned sympathetic. “What’s going on?”
I took a deep breath. There was obviously no way I could tell her that she was going to die soon, so I forced a smile on my face. “I guess I am nervous about what’s going to happen when I have the baby,” I said truthfully. “Between Alex and Nate. Sure, things are good now, but what happens when the baby comes out with Nate’s nose?”
Clover tilted her head to the side. “Are you sure that’s it?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“Well then,” she sighed, “that is a problem. But it’s not like you can do anything about it now. What’s done is done,” she said breezily, waving her hands. “The world isn’t going to end.”
“Right,” I muttered, looking back down at my plate.
“Eve.” Her voice was sharp. I glanced up. “Please tell me what’s going on?”
I sighed. “Clover, I’m allowed to be mopey. I’m barely out of my teens, I’m pregnant, and I’m not sure who the father is.” I met her stare frankly. “It’s a lot of pressure.”
Clover's face settled into sympathetic lines. “It’s just that you’re always so optimistic,” she replied quietly. “You’re always such a warrior. You take whatever life throws at you, and
you just throw it right back. Which is why I’m worried about you. This is not you,” she said, waving a hand up and down my body.
“This is the worst I’ve ever had it.”
“Now that is just absolutely not true, and we both know it.”
“Maybe this is the straw that broke the camel’s back. Maybe I’ve taken one too many punches.”
“Look, Eve,” she shuffled further into the break room, keeping the door open with her toe so she could hear if anyone approached the desk. We weren't allowed to leave it unmanned. “I think I know what it is,” she said.
I looked up sharply. “You do?”
She nodded. “Yes, and I understand. Before, when it was just you, you only had you to worry about. It’s probably easier being a survivor when you only have to worry about yourself.”
Clover's eyebrows dropped, she frowned. “You’re worried about your curse, aren’t you?”
“M-My what?”
“How weirdos keep attacking you. You’re worried that the curse will transfer to your baby.”
“Uh… I….”
“It’s natural!” she exclaimed. “You’ve had the worst luck, Eve. Of course you’d worry about your baby. But honey, I honestly don’t think you have to worry.”
“You don’t?”
“I feel it right here,” she stabbed herself in the heart with her index finger. “Your baby is going to be a curse breaker.”
“Curse breaker?”
“Think about it,” she gushed, her eyes bright. “You haven’t been attacked since you got pregnant, have you?”
“Not that you know about,” I muttered under my breath.
“What?”
“Nothing. No, Clover. No, a human has not tried to kill me since I got pregnant.”
“See?” She grinned madly. “That baby is going to break your streak of bad luck, I just know it. That little bump,” she pointed towards my belly, “is the rainbow after your storm. It’s the rose at the end of your stem of thorns.”
Revelations: The Last War Page 7