“You coward! At least die with some dignity. Instead, you run like a scared little rabbit. How the mighty Destroyer quakes in the face of death,” he mocked.
He lunged to his left and swung his sword to keep her from heading toward the lower cliff leading to the mountain range. He slashed two more times until she was forced to back up toward the ledge. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the empty air a few feet behind her and felt the unstable ground beneath her feet. Jumping into the falls or standing her ground were her only choices.
She shook her head and faced Demyan. “I was exonerated of murdering Farouk because it was an accident. When I deserve to die I shall stare into my executioner’s eyes and accept my fate, but I have not earned a death sentence. It’s true that I have made mistakes, but I was doing my job. You have no right to judge me. You are a warrior and your job is to follow orders. No one gave you the order to kill me, so you are in the wrong. I will not go quietly if your intention is to murder me,” she said, squaring her shoulders. She stared into Demyan’s brown eyes and showed him no fear; instead, she showed him her rage over being sentenced to an unsanctioned beheading.
“You will die a liar and a coward,” he shouted. He raised his glowing sword above his head and prepared to strike her down. “Now, I will finally avenge the death of my fallen brother, an angel whom was far better than you!”
Seeing the sword raised in the air and the determination in Demyan’s eyes, she knew she would die. She was being falsely accused by someone who didn’t understand the truth. If only she could remember what happened, she might be able to plead her case and save her neck. Whatever had happened that day in the forest with Farouk, she truly believed that he had done something terrible to her.
She refused to close her eyes and die a coward’s death. Instead, she embraced her anger and fury. She didn’t deserve to die like this. In a last ditch effort, she pulled off her ring, the only thing aside from the bonds strong enough to contain her power. As her ring fell to the ground, she watched the blade cut through the air aimed directly at her head. She wondered if it would hurt as much as she expected. Her last thoughts were of Farouk and his lust-filled gaze.
In a blinding flash, she saw herself in the demolished forest on the outskirts of the village. She could feel Farouk’s hot breath on her neck and his dry lips on her skin. Pure rage, black and sinister, clouded her vision and overtook her senses. She remembered what Farouk had done to deserve his punishment.
Farouk was furious that she had tried to destroy the mortal village. He was glowering at her as Demyan walked away to get permission to escort her back to Heaven. A few moments passed in silence as they sneered at each other. Without warning, his expression shifted into something else, though she could not understand why his mood had changed so dramatically. She could not place Farouk’s strange expression at first, until she remembered how a few of the men had looked at her in her white dress. They had said foul things to her, things that should not be said to a lady.
The angels often told her that she was beautiful, but she never paid them any attention. Loving someone beyond fatherly or brotherly love was not appealing to her. As the Keeper of Desire, she often wondered what would happen if a male took an interest in her. Would her power try to destroy him if she felt his desire too strongly? Unwilling to punish a lover, she did her best to discount any handsome features that passed her eyes.
Farouk, however, seemed very interested in her torn white dress, despite the gruesome burn on her leg. The dress was the same one worn by all the female angels, so he was not interested in the design, but rather the flesh that it revealed. To her chagrin, she realized that he was having impure thoughts about her.
Unsure how to handle his irksome gaze, she stared off into the partially demolished forest. She tried in vain not to fidget and acknowledge her unease due to his candid lust.
“Trust me; this will not hurt, as long as you do not struggle. I do not have much time, so let us be quick about it,” he purred.
Her eyes widened as he caught her off guard and snatched her arm to pull her close. She stumbled over a branch and fell toward him. He pulled her against his chest and placed his dry lips against hers. Trying to break free from his horrid mouth, she twisted her body this way and that to escape. Farouk tipped her off balance and she felt her body falling to the ground. His hard body quickly covered hers, pinning her underneath him. She tried to scream for help, but his hand clamped down over her mouth.
“Do not scream, or I will make sure this hurts,” he growled in her ear.
His free hand latched onto her breast and squeezed her roughly. She had never been touched in such a manner, and was stunned by his roughness. Her bound hands were stuck between her body and his, so she was unable to push him away. With the blasted bonds reducing her strength to nothing, she was helpless to fight back. Tears sprang to her eyes as she tried to turn her face away from his. Harshly grabbing her chin, he jerked her head back and plunged his tongue into her mouth.
“You taste so sweet for someone so evil,” he murmured against her mouth.
He held her face tightly and pulled her dress to her knees.
She wanted to summon her father to stop this attack, but she could not catch her breath. She had never been disrespected like this before and she began to panic. Her emotions roiled inside of her and her anger and outrage mixed with her fear of what he would do to her. How could this be happening?
As he pushed her knees apart with his and tugged at the sash around his waist, she knew she had only a few moments before he had his way with her. She could already feel his hardness against her thigh. Unable to move or fight, she felt trapped and alone. Closing her eyes, she did the only thing she could think of and embraced her rage.
Raising her hands to Demyan’s Celestial Sword coming down toward her neck, her anger from being unjustly sentenced to death fueled the rage and fear she had felt in Farouk’s grasp and it became a tangible force. Her power exploded outward in every direction toppling trees along the mountainside and pushing the water out of the river, creating a large wave that gushed over the other side of the cliff. Demyan was thrown back twenty feet from her; his sword lay dormant a few feet away.
Relieved to feel her power at her disposal once more, she pushed it throughout her aching body and healed every injured muscle, every exhausted cell, until she was at her full strength. Walking with purpose, she went to Demyan and glared at his shocked face.
“You believe that Farouk was an honorable angel, but you are wrong,” she said in a deadly voice, the voice of the Destroyer. “You believe that I am the villain of the story you created to quell your guilt over leaving your friend alone with me. I assure you that I am not the villain. You cannot be that ignorant of the truth. You hesitated when Farouk tried to send you away. I would like to believe that hesitation was because you were concerned for my safety instead of his, but I do not know what you were thinking.”
Demyan’s eyes were wide with shock. “You are bound. You should not be able to access your power,” he stammered.
Anjali smiled cruelly. “You were warned that I would not be easy to kill, warrior,” she replied coldly.
“You can’t have it both ways, Anjali. You can’t tell me that you are innocent of killing Farouk and still deny that you used your power that day. Do you still deny killing Farouk?” he said as his hand felt around for his sword though his eyes never left hers.
She crouched down in front of him and sneered at him. “Do you know what Farouk tried to do to me? Do you know what his intentions toward me were? The moment you were gone, he pushed me to the ground and pinned me beneath him,” she hissed.
“No. Farouk would not have done that,” he said dismissively.
“I was defenseless against him. My hands where stuck between us and there were no weapons nearby. I wanted to scream for help, but everyone was too far away to hear me. I had never known the touch of a man before, so I didn’t completely understand what he was doing at
first. My power had been bound, so I didn’t understand the desirous look in his eyes. Had I known his plans, I would have run for the woods, but you left me without a way to protect myself. I had no way to save myself, except for one. I used my anger and fear to fight back. Thankfully, I was able to connect to the part of me that wants to punish the wicked, just as I did now. The force of my rage threw Farouk off me long enough to get to my feet. I admit that my power was out of my control, as too often happens, but I never wanted to kill him. Punish him, yes, but not kill him. The storm was fed by my rage and the wind lifted the debris from the shattered trees and swirled it around me. Regrettably, the shards hit Farouk in the heart. When I realized what had happened, my shock caused the storm to end as quickly as it began and my power was once again bound. My need to punish my attacker protected me, but sadly, ended his life. I am sorry that he’s dead, but in truth, had he not died he would have been imprisoned in the Hall of Shadows for eternity,” she said angrily. She could still feel his hands on her body.
The wind began to gather strength as she remembered how afraid and alone she had felt in Farouk’s grasp. She wanted to tear the skin from her body to remove the sensation of him laying on top of her. Tears streaked down her face when she thought about her pleas for help falling upon his deaf ears. He had enjoyed hurting her and scaring her.
Demyan looked away when he saw her crying.
“You knew what he was capable of, didn’t you? Were the other warriors hiding Farouk’s indiscretions?” she asked coldly.
He opened his mouth to speak but he stopped himself. He tried again, but settled on a subtle head nod. “He had received numerous warnings for misconduct, though to my knowledge he never attacked a woman. There were times when I witnessed another side to him that I didn’t want to see. You’re right; I created a better version of him in my head to assuage my guilt. I did hesitate in leaving him alone with you, but I was more afraid that he would hit you or turn his sword upon you in a fit of rage. I swear that I never believed him capable of attacking you in that way,” he said as his body trembled.
Wiping the tears from her face, she nodded. She believed that he was telling the truth. She took a deep breath and let go of her rage. Her power was pulled back into her body so quickly that she rocked back on her heels to keep from falling over.
“You need to release me. There is no reason for this to continue,” she said as she held out her wrists for him to open the bonds.
He looked at the bonds from the corner of his eye and clenched his jaw. He seemed to struggle with the decision, but finally let out a breath and motioned for her to move closer.
Closing her eyes, she allowed all the tension to be released from her body. In a moment, she would be free from this nightmare. She could go to the nearest hotel, take a bath, and order room service for the next three days after she reunited with her Nachtghuls and Predznak.
She felt Demyan press his finger to the bonds and she gasped in relief. She made a mental note to find her ring quickly so that she didn’t have another fearsome display of power. She tried to move her arms, but they were still tied together. Frantically, she opened her eyes to see the dreaded glow of the bonds.
“What’s wrong? Why haven’t you released me?” she said, afraid that she was being double-crossed.
Demyan shrugged and pressed his finger to the flat area in the middle of the bonds that would grant her freedom, but nothing happened. The bonds refused to dim or open its clasp.
“No. This is a trick. There has to be something wrong. Try again!” she shouted as a hysterical laughter bubbled up into her throat.
Demyan frowned and tried multiple times to release her. “I’ve never seen this happen. They don’t freeze up and they don’t malfunction. I have no reason for their failure to open,” he said. He shook the bonds and did everything short of ripping them off her wrists.
She began to shake uncontrollably. Was fate truly this cruel?
“I’ll summon help. Someone must be able to open these,” he said sympathetically.
The reason for her torment came to her so fast she almost fell over. She placed her hands on his arms and shook her head emphatically. “NO! Don’t summon anyone. There is only one reason why you can’t unlock these bonds. They know you’ve gone rogue and have declared you an enemy of Heaven. It’s the only explanation for your inability to open the lock,” she said as her throat closed up. Technically, she could force Demyan to summon help and leave this stupid island, but he would immediately be taken into custody and sentenced to death once they knew the full scope of his traitorous acts.
He paled when he heard her claim that he was a Rogue. “Oh Heaven above, what have I done?” he asked. The gravity of the situation hit him hard and he doubled over on his knees and rocked himself. “They must have found your Predznak.”
“What did you do to them? You said that they weren’t coming for me. What happened?” she sneered.
He avoided looking at her but she could see his fear. He finally glanced at her and sighed. “I found Alazar, Tristan and your werewolf at that farmhouse. I ambushed them and attacked them. They are alive, but they will want revenge. I know I have no right to ask for mercy, but I suppose it won’t matter once I’ve been sentenced to life in the Hall of Shadows,” he said softly, his voice filled with regret.
“What was Alazar doing there?” she asked, hopeful that he was searching for her.
“He was helping to search for you. He figured out that Haydn had taken you,” he shrugged.
Relief spread through her heart when she thought about Alazar searching for her. It gave her hope that he would return to her with a renewed sense of purpose. No matter what, Alazar would find her.
“I will grant you mercy for attacking my angels and werewolf; however, you will have to deal with them separately. You’d better pray that Alazar forgives you or you won’t have to worry about the Hall of Shadows,” she said grimly.
He began to shake when he realized that he would have to face Death and beg for mercy.
“You need to get out of here. The Höllenhund will find you and haul you off to the Hall of Mercy. If they allow Alazar or Tristan to interrogate you, they’ll find out what happened here. In all honesty, I’m not sure how I feel about any of this. I certainly don’t want you to die, but there needs to be some kind of punishment,” she shrugged, trying to sort out her emotions. By all rights, she could call for his banishment or his imprisonment. He had crossed multiple lines, lines that Celestial Warriors clung to in order to maintain their honor.
He stared at her, trying to figure out if she was joking about allowing him to run. “You want me to leave? You won’t follow me?” he asked, shocked by her statement.
She sighed and wiped the sweat from her face. “Right about now I’m in no condition to follow anyone. I respectfully reserve the right to hunt your ass at a later date, when I’m not trapped in these,” she said holding up the fucking bonds. “I’m happy that my power renewed my energy and healed all my wounds, but it won’t last. I need to get off this island, but I can’t be seen with you; otherwise, they won’t interrogate you, they will simply remove your head. You need to go before Vaughn finds you. The warriors don’t believe that Vaughn is capable of restraining them, but I’ve seen him handle his own against a Germanic god. In reality, he’s the bogeyman for Rogues and monsters and he’s coming for you. It won’t take him long to figure out where you are if Alazar and Tristan are free,” she said, trying to shake Demyan out of his terrified state.
He finally nodded at her warning. “Vaughn was once one of us. He was a heroic warrior. We belittle him because we hate the fact that he abandoned us to rot away in Hell,” he said quietly. He looked all around him to make sure he wasn’t already being hunted before he disappeared from the island.
She noticed that he had left his sword behind. She wasn’t sure if he had done it intentionally or if he had forgotten it in his panic. She glared at it and stuck her middle finger at it. The damned things
had caused her more trouble over the years.
She took a deep breath and assessed the damage she had caused. She had no idea why her memories had finally come back to her, but she was relieved to know the truth. She still couldn’t comprehend how she had accessed her power, but she wasn’t able to reproduce the conditions that led to her doing the impossible. She grabbed her ring from the ground and shoved it back on her finger.
Looking around, she couldn’t see anything in the dark. She thought about climbing down the mountain and searching for Haydn and Viktor until she saw something bright in the distance. She stared out into the night and jumped when she saw a flash of light. Lightning arced across the sky and illuminated the thick clouds above. The storm was a few miles off shore and had nothing to do with her power this time. Sadly, it had everything to do with her bad luck.
She walked to the edge of the cliff and peered off into the darkness below. Jumping was still out of the question but remaining on the high ground would get her electrocuted. She had to find a way down and locate shelter before the storm hit.
“Are you okay?” Viktor shouted from behind her.
She closed her eyes and smiled. He had found her.
“How did you get here so fast?” she asked as she turned to see him climbing over the edge of the mountain.
“It’s a lot easier to hike without you dragging me down,” he winked. “I assumed that you had something to do with the giant bomb that rocked the island. It may have made me run a little faster. Now that I’m here, it’s time to get to safety. There’s been a storm brewing all evening. The air pressure has been rising and the temperature is dropping, which means we need to go,” he said waving for her to come along.
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