Extinction (The Divine Book 7)

by M. R. Forbes

  "Then let us-"

  I hit her with my power. All of it with one blow. It pummelled into her, enough to knock her over, to send her sliding backward across the salt nearly a quarter of a mile. It wasn't meant to hurt her, not yet. It was meant to send a message.

  She wasn't immune to my power anymore.

  She returned to her feet, taking to the air and launching toward me like a bullet. I could feel the onrush of displacing air as she charged, and I gathered my power again, throwing it out like a net. I wrapped her up in it, turning and throwing her away from me. She shot aside again, tumbling end over end before regaining herself.

  I drew Uriel's blade, holding it in front of me, waiting for her to strike again.

  I didn't wait long. She swooped in, the speed of it breaking the sound barrier and causing a thunderous clap as she arrived. I pushed myself up and back, reaching the sky, closing the distance with her.

  We were both airborne, locked in melee. Her wings served to both hold her aloft and make rapid strikes against me, while I held tight with my power, bringing it to bear to keep my skyward while parrying her attacks and looking for an opening.

  Her left wing came in at my neck, and I slapped it aside while her right targeted my gut. I blocked that one too, caught by surprise as her fist came in, nearly hitting me in the nose. I faded from this realm to avoid it, becoming vapor just long enough to avoid the blow. She crinkled her eyebrows in surprise anger, flipping backward and coming to rest on the plains once more.

  I followed behind, landing a few feet away.

  "You put yourself at a severe disadvantage, letting me reach Gervais. I took Rebecca's power." I blinked from the mortal realm to that one for a moment. I didn't seem to be able to remain there to take advantage of the time difference, but it was still useful enough.

  "Did I?" she asked.

  I heard the rumble in the distance and realized my mistake.

  I pushed out my power, circling it around me as a dozen missiles honed in on me, fired by the Nicht Creidem forces she had rallied. I had been so busy watching the Divine, I had neglected her allies in the fight, as well as the firepower they had to bear. Explosions rocked off my Divine shield, the force of it threatening my concentration. I found the beacon attached to my arm, planted there during the skyward duel and threw it to the ground. Then I teleported, crossing to the other side of the Flats in an instant.

  I saw the helicopters in the distance, an entire squadron of them approaching with Nicht Creidem on board.

  The missiles had been little more than a distraction, what could they do?

  I turned as Sarah swooped down on me, taking advantage of that distraction, barely getting my blade up in time to knock aside an approaching wing. She stepped up her assault, coming in faster and more furious than I could believe. I used my power to leap backward, keeping time with her offensive as the choppers continued closing in.

  There was no respite from her assault. No time to do anything but defend. I ducked and jerked, blocked and dodged, in awe of her Divine energy while at the same time fearing that for all I had collected, it still wasn't enough. She continued coming, relentless in her pursuit, even as I began teleporting across the field.

  She was fast, so fast, her wings carrying her to my new location within seconds, forcing me back into defense without a break. Her demonic side made her a natural born killer, a predator, a huntress.

  The Nicht Creidem drew nearer, the choppers circling us. I could see the pilots watching us fight, ready to move at a moment's notice. What were they doing here? They couldn't shoot at me again without risking Sarah.

  At least, that was what I thought before the bullet hit me.

  It came as a single crack from one of the choppers. I saw the muzzle flash, and a moment later something big and heavy hit me in the chest, blasting right through me and causing flesh and bone to explode away. I cried out, falling back, losing my balance at the sniper's ambush. I fell to the ground as Sarah landed on top of me, her wings sweeping forward for the kill.

  No. I wasn't going to go like that. I pushed just hard enough to slide away from her wings, rolling through the air to my feet and facing her again, throwing out my power in a massive shield that put the Nicht Creidem outside of the fight. I pushed more of the power to my wound, knitting my shell back together in an instant.

  I raised my blade in front of me and looked at Sarah. Her eyes were red. Evil. Whatever she had seen, whatever logic she thought she was following, it had fallen by the wayside. Her desire to destroy had overcome all of it. It had turned her into the creature that Gervais had always wanted her to be. The one that he knew could cause the entire world to burn.

  And that's what she would do if I fell to her. She would destroy the Divine, and in her fury she would destroy humankind as well. It didn't matter if I knew how to stop her without killing her. I knew by her face that I had to stop her any way I could.

  "Do you even know who you are anymore?" I asked, feeling nothing but sorry for her. She hadn't chosen any of this.

  "A monster," she replied. "We are both monsters."

  She came at me again, a blur of wings and hands and feet, integrating her other appendages into the assault. I did the same, using every move Josette had ever known, circling her within the globe of protection I had created, doing everything I could to keep that shield up and prevent another unwelcome surprise.

  We moved back and forth, around and around in our deadly dance, so quickly that the salt at our feet began to swirl around behind us, pressing up against my barrier and leaving us like a scene in a massive snowglobe. We twirled and lunged, pounced and retreated, in a ritual too fast for human eyes to follow, releasing so much Divine power it seemed to me that the world would break.

  And then, finally, came that singular instance where everything came together, the point where the most balanced battle in the universe reached its final, almost predictable end.

  I don't know how long we had been at it for. I know the sun was up when we started, and down when it was finished. I know the Nicht Creidem had long since landed their choppers before they ran out of fuel and crashed. I know that it happened when I stepped an inch too far to the right in blocking one of her attacks, leaving a micro-millisecond opening on my left side. Her wing slashed into my gut, piercing through and holding. I cried out in pain, and at the same time used the situation to drop the energy shield, sending a cascade of salt around us that distracted her just long enough. I drove Uriel's blade into her stomach, even as she caught my arm with her other wing, impaling me and holding me, joining us together in a distorted lover's dance.

  I know the Nicht Creidem started shooting then, no longer concerned with who they hit once they saw the position we were in.

  I know that I closed my eyes, and in one of my last throes of power carried us across the country, to the middle of Central Park, where a light snow was falling.

  I know we stood there together, looking into one another's eyes as I began pulling her power away from her, and pushing what remained back. The blade began to glow green, and I howled in agony, biting, searing, endless agony, as I took away the stain that had covered her since the day she had been conceived, the Divine power of a union that was never meant to be, and never should have been.

  I don't know how long that lasted either. For me, it felt like a millennia or more. It was infinite, endless, painful and at the same time exhilarating. It was as if all I had ever done was suddenly given purpose, and at the same time, my purpose was completely erased.

  And then it was over.

  Sarah's wings vanished, shrinking to nothing as her Divine power was removed. The redness of her eyes faded as well, leaving them a very plain, very human brown.

  I fell to my knees in front of her, hardly able to contain the power I had absorbed. It was almost as much as I had held in the Box. Almost as much as the Beast had controlled. It left me feeling drunk and angry and joyful and sad.

  I don't know if there was a bett
er or worse feeling in existence.

  Fifty-Three

  I stared up at her, and she stared back at me. Like Rebecca, her eyes ran with tears. Were they were joyful or sad?

  "You're going to destroy it," she said, her voice meek. "You're going to destroy the world. Why do so many have to die? Why do the Divine get to decide?"

  "Because that is the way He wants it," I replied. "That is the way He designed it. Right, wrong, it doesn't matter. If we want to continue, if we want to go on, we have to play by those rules."

  "It isn't fair."

  "Maybe. Maybe not. I guess we'll see."

  "I'm cold," she said, shivering in her light tank top, low cut in the back to leave the wings she no longer had room to move.

  I took off my coat, passing it to her. "Here."

  She smiled. "Thank you. What happens now?"

  "I thought you were the one with the visions."

  "In the dreams, I always defeated you."

  "Then why didn't you now?"

  She shrugged. "I guess you wanted it more than I did."

  Or maybe on a subconscious level, she hadn't wanted to win.

  I got to my feet. "I'm going to take you home."

  "To France?"

  "No, to my apartment. Things are different now, Sarah. You're different. Do you believe in second chances?"

  She nodded. "And third. I have to, or I'll fall apart."

  I knew what she meant. I put my hand on her shoulder and transported us there.

  "I'm sorry I killed Dante," she said, still crying.

  "I know," I replied.

  I brought her over to my couch. I could still smell Alyx in the room, and the thought of her made me both happy and sad. She had found what she was looking for, at least.

  "Here, sit."

  She did, grabbing one of the pillows and holding it close to her.

  "I killed Brian, too," she said, the tears really starting to come.

  I kneeled down in front of her and wiped a strand of hair from her face. "It's okay. Just sit back and relax."

  "How am I supposed to live with this?" she asked, sounding as weak and pitiful as I had ever seen anything.

  "You aren't," I replied.

  I put my hand to her forehead.

  I always had the power to make people forget and it was stronger now. So much stronger.

  "Go to sleep for a while," I said to her, once it was done.

  She closed her eyes, and I shifted her with the power, laying her out on the couch and putting a blanket over her.

  I left her there, returning to the park. I needed time to absorb everything. The power, the implications. I needed time to think.

  I found a bench facing the lake, now lightly frozen over. I took a seat, staring out at it. I let my mind wander. I knew what I had to do. I knew that it was almost time.

  Almost.

  Something was missing.

  I could feel it in my soul. An emptiness that I hadn't noticed before. A black hole that no amount of power could fill.

  I leaned my head back, looking to the sky for answers. Not that I expected any to come from there.

  Two hours passed. I didn't move. I didn't breathe. I just sat, letting the power settle, letting myself come to terms with all that I already knew. My journey had come to an end. My story was nearly written. It would be over soon. On one hand, I was ready. On the other, I didn't want it to happen.

  No man was ever meant to hold the power I was holding. It was true when I had taken it from the Beast, and it was true now. Only this time, there was no keeping some. There was no going back. There was only me, the universe, and God.

  I felt her presence even as she descended, coming down from the Heavens in a flash of light. I wasn't surprised they had sent someone to urge me along. I was surprised they had sent her.

  "Landon," Josette said, appearing in front of the bench. She was still in her older form, beautiful in her simplicity.

  "Josette," I replied.

  "Can I sit?"

  "Of course."

  She came and sat beside me.

  "I did it," I said.

  "I know. Thank you."

  "You don't have to thank me."

  "Even so."

  "I'm glad you came."

  "So am I."

  I turned to face her, looking into her eyes. There was a light there. A peacefulness. In an instant, I felt the black hole in my soul begin to resolve into something wonderful.

  "How are things going in Heaven?"

  "Settled, now. You proved He still cares."

  "I did?"

  "Yes. Does that surprise you?"

  "Shouldn't it? He went through a lot of trouble to save humanity."

  "Exactly."

  I smiled. She smiled back. We sat together in silence for a little while, enjoying one another's company.

  "I know I can't keep it," I said at last.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Isn't that why they sent you? To make sure I do what I have to do?"

  "Not exactly."

  "Why then?" I asked, confused.

  "Landon, I. I prayed to Him. I asked Him to allow me to come."

  "You did? Why?"

  "Do you still have the sword?"

  It was resting against the bench beside me. I looked at her. "You aren't suggesting?"

  "I prayed to Him. I asked for time to spend with my daughter. With my family. He granted my request." She stared hard into my eyes. "Use the sword on me, Landon."

  "Josette," I started to say in protest.

  "The answer to my prayers, Landon. Please."

  I nodded solemnly. We both stood, and I sank only the very tip of the blade into her. She smiled as I pulled the Divine energy out and replaced it, her smile only growing bigger as she became mortal once more.

  "Thank you," she said.

  I nodded. "You're welcome."

  "Now, Landon, break the sword. Shatter it into dust and spread it to the stars. Let it carry the power you have claimed with it. Set it all free to the universe."

  I didn't question. I simply did as she asked, using my power to pulverize the blade, and turn it into glowing, silvery dust. I held it with my power, gathering it close, swirling it around me and pushing the power out into it with finality. It turned around me, glowing brighter and brighter as more of the energy joined with it and it began floating toward the sky.

  I don't know how long it took. An hour? Two? As the power fled I began to feel colder and colder, my energy fleeing with it.

  I was shivering as the last of the dust began to drift into the air, vanishing into the night. I looked at Josette. She was shivering too.

  "I didn't die," I said, surprised but not surprised.

  "No," she replied.

  "I'm mortal again, aren't I?"

  "Yes."

  "So are you."

  "Yes."

  I felt a lump in my throat. I pushed it down. There was no reason to be nervous.

  "Josette," I said.

  She smiled as if she already knew what I was going to say.

  "Yes?"

  "I know this is going to sound strange, considering everything that just happened but... will you marry me?"

  "Yes."

  I moved to her, taking her in a solid, loving embrace. We kissed once, a simple kiss.

  "I love you," she said.

  "I love you, too."

  How many people ever got to spend the rest of their life with someone whose soul had literally been one with theirs?

  "It's cold," she said.

  "Yeah, I'm cold, too. Let's go home." She looked at me sideways, and I smiled. We weren't married yet, and she was still a former angel. "I have two apartments."

  She smiled in return, blushing beautifully. "Then yes, let us go home."

  We started walking through the park, holding hands. It was cold, but we would live.

  "So, what happens now?" I asked.

  "Life goes on," she replied. "As it always has."

  "Not
as it always has," I said, gripping her hand a little tighter. "Better than that."

  Let Heaven and Hell have their war. The world would keep turning, and the balance would always turn with it. Maybe one day a long, long time in the future, humankind would need someone to fight for them again. But not now, and definitely not me.

  I was going home.

  THE END.

  Author's Note

  Balance was the first novel I wrote and self-published, and so I have a special place in my heart for the book and the series. Like with many things, it means ending Landon's adventures it is a bittersweet occasion. I am incredibly grateful for the experience I have had writing these books. Balance was the novel that launched my career.

  Of course, a book can't be a success without the readers. I don't know what percentage of you have been following me and the series since Balance was my sole entry on Amazon, and who have stuck it out over the three years it's taken me to write the seven novels in this series. I can't thank you enough for taking this journey both with Landon and with me. You're the foundation on which a lifelong passion was expressed and a career was born and raised.

  As are all of you who have reached this page, who are reading this note, and who are having your own reaction to the end of Landon's adventures. I couldn't have done it without you.

  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

  Cheers,

  Michael

  More Books By M.R. Forbes:

  http://www.amazon.com/author/mrforbes

  Man of War (Rebellion)

  http://amzn.to/1KWlyrW

  In the year 2280, an alien fleet attacked the Earth.

  Their weapons were unstoppable, their defenses unbreakable.

  Our technology was inferior, our militaries overwhelmed.

  Only one starship escaped before civilization fell.

  Earth was lost.

  It was never forgotten.

  Fifty-two years have passed.

  A message from home has been received.

  The time to fight for what is ours has come.