Endure

by M. R. Merrick

  Sweat gathered on my palm as I pulled a silver blade from my sheath. I stopped beside him, raising my arms high in the air. Adjusting my two-handed grip on the leather handle, I whispered the word “goodbye” and stared down at him. He looked at peace. The black veins had faded around his eyes, and his dirty blond hair stuck to his forehead. He wasn’t in there. He couldn’t be.

  Riley’s eyes flickered back to life and my pulse exploded. I drove the blade downward as his arms moved with demonic speed, grabbing my wrists and stopping me inches from his chest. Madness consumed his face and a dark growl stormed up from his throat, but I was more powerful.

  The gods inside me were bound to my soul. I was stronger, and power charged my veins with inhuman force. I channeled fire into my hands. It ignited over my wrists, searing his hands, but instead of screaming, his growl intensified. His arms trembled and the blade shook as it inched closer. As the blade neared, I felt his heartbeat slowing, ready to fade into nothingness.

  Tendrils slithered along the pavement and rose into the air, smashing into me with violent pulses. Fire exploded all around me, swallowing my body in a flash of heat. His power hissed, disappearing on the air like a candle that couldn’t hold a flame. The veins beneath his skin bulged and his cheeks turned red, blistering from the heat. His skin cracked, blood running down his face as he tried to call more power, but it failed to come to life. Spiderwebs of black threaded through his blood, trying to find a place to escape, but there was nowhere to go.

  The blade stopped shaking as the tip touched his chest. Riley’s eyes were wide with panic and adrenaline surged inside me. This was the end. An untapped source of energy surged through me and I gave an overpowering downward thrust. Riley screamed as the dagger plunged into his chest, splitting the skin like a grape. He called his demonic energy once again, but this time it broke him.

  Riley’s demonic scream was visceral and soul shattering. The skin on his hands and arms split, gushes of blood rushing out. When his grip broke, the blade slid deep into his chest with ease. His eyelids fluttered open and closed and a gurgling sound came from his throat. I wrenched the blade, twisting inside him when hands gripped each of my shoulders and threw me backward. Rock and concrete fell over me as I hit the wall and fell to the ground. Darius and Drake stood across from me, crouching over my father. They pulled the blade from his chest, a trickle of blood dripping off the edge.

  “I told you I’d stop you,” I said. I wanted to climb to my feet but my knees were weak. I wasn’t sure if I could stand. I’d just driven a silver blade into Riley’s chest. One I was sure had pierced his heart. I had done it. I killed my father. “This war, this battle, it’s over.”

  Riley lay limp on the floor, his body vibrating against the concrete. Black and red blood ran from the edge of his mouth and had smeared his face.

  Drake kept his back to me. “Do you honestly believe the answer would be only a silver blade away? He is not a demon, nor is he human—he’s nearly a demigod. I thought I would be the one to bind the soul pieces to him, but it seems fitting that you’ve done that for me...brother.”

  Darius twirled the silver blade in his hand and his eyes devoured me like a half-starved beast. He licked his lips and insanity filled his eyes. He looked like he was about to have his deepest craving sated. “We always knew you were a part of this, Chase. I never realized just how helpful you would turn out to be.”

  The concrete felt cold against my back and I forced myself to stand. Riley still wasn’t moving and Darius’s intense stare had managed to crawl under my skin, infecting my soul with an uneasy feeling.

  “I didn’t help you,” I said, but panic had already fused to my chest.

  “The Protector had his way to bind the souls, and Ithreal had his own. Of course, Ithreal’s was simpler—a failsafe if you will,” Drake said. “With his life stolen, so shall he be rebirthed, with the united powers of my blood.”

  I shook my head and stared at Riley’s lifeless eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, he gasped for air. Riley’s eyes were a hazy grey, searching the world around him. His lips moved but no words came out, and other than his head that rocked side to side, his body did not move.

  “In the next few hours, after much pain, he will rise again and all three of Ithreal’s soul pieces will have merged with his own. He will be a true vessel for Father.” Drake stepped toward me and glanced back at his brother. “Pick him up.”

  Darius grumbled but didn’t argue. He threw Riley over his shoulder with ease and disappeared through the entrance.

  “You were right about one thing, Chase. The battle is over. If you continue with your plan, you will decimate clans throughout all the Underworlds. You were not willing to sacrifice one of your friends, yet you will sacrifice thousands of warriors?” Drake sounded confused and sad. He stared at me, his dark orbs searching my own. He reached out and touched my shoulder, his cold hand gripping it tightly. “Those warriors cannot win this fight. You cannot win this fight. Join us, brother, and spare yourself and everyone else a lot of unnecessary pain. If you refuse, be warned that a massive scale of death will reside on your shoulders. That burden will grow heavier with time, and right now, time is all you have.”

  I shook my head. There were no words left to respond with. I’d made my move, taken action, and the sense of victory had been stripped.

  “Suit yourself. Don’t say I didn’t try, Chase. I’ve done all I can.” Drake turned and left through the broken entrance.

  The effort I’d conjured to stand was gone. I pressed my back against the half-broken wall and slid to the floor. Concrete dust floated on the air and the silence rang in my ears.

  The surprise of the unfolding events had faded. In fact, I was hardly surprised at all anymore. Instead, anger boiled inside me. The Dark Brothers knew everything that was going to happen. Most of it they had planned themselves. But the ritual, the binding of the souls, how do I stop all this? The gods had withheld that from me for long enough. This was a one-sided battle I was fighting and I was fighting it for them. I had the right to know what they knew. I deserved to know how to stop all this.

  When I’d completed the rite, new abilities, thoughts, and memories floated inside my mind. Riley had pieced together his own memory and I could to the same. I lay against the wall, searching those memories, desperate for answers. Although I didn’t find what I had gone in search of, I did find something new. I found the power to summon Elyas. She was my link to the gods. What I said to her, I said to them. One way or the other, I would get answers.

  Chapter 30

  I’d managed to find a half-clean shirt in a pile of clothes from my room and I pulled a gray hoodie over my head. With the front doors to the warehouse gone, the cold air rushed through the building, flakes of snow falling over the room. The sun had risen, but it did little to warm the chill that crystalized inside me. I walked through the broken wood and past cracked walls toward the backroom.

  The room was small and without windows, a single light bulb casting a glow through the dank room. The Claw was in here somewhere, masked by Rayna’s power and protected by a spirit of the Fade. Even with my increased power I couldn’t sense it.

  I stood in the center of the room with both eyes closed. I reached inside my soul, not for the elements that coiled inside, but in search of Elyas. I sifted through the different vibrations, looking for the one I needed. As I neared it, the smell of a summer breeze filled my senses. I moved toward it, letting it waft around me in warmth until I could grab hold of the power. With my energy wrapped around it, I channeled it upward and into the room.

  The breeze tickled my neck as it came through the room in small bursts. The warmth unraveled around me and manifested in front of me. I kept my eyes closed, trying to cling to the fading sensation for a moment. With what seemed like an unwinnable battle coming, I didn’t know if I’d ever get the chance to feel this again.

  “Good to see you, Protector,” Elyas’s voice moved on the breeze. Her voice fi
lled me and existed everywhere.

  “We need to talk.” All the comfort I’d felt had faded to the background. I was angry and frustrated, even with effort it was hard to hide in my tone.

  “You want answers and you have more questions.” Elyas half shrugged and moved around the room. Her opalescent glow cast a faint blue light over the room.

  “I’ve always wanted answers and you’ve always refused me. Enough is enough. If you don’t tell me what I am supposed to do, I can’t win, and if I can’t win, you die.”

  “If you don’t win, we will all die. But fear not, Protector, the gods have granted you the strength to succeed.”

  “Well, the Brothers don’t seem to think so and at this point, I’m not so sure either.” My knuckles popped and I realized I’d been clenching my fists. I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath, calling the water element to sooth me. “I killed him. Riley was out there, dead on the floor. And now I’m being told that was needed for Ithreal’s souls to be bound. Why are the gods keeping things from me?”

  “The knowledge you seek is inside you. It is knowledge only for the Protector. We were unable to share it with you until you had completed the rite. You can feel it now, floating within. Memories that are not your own yet are very much a part of you.”

  She was right; I did feel it. Knowledge of worlds and demons I’d never seen. It existed like a living thing. It was almost visceral, but it wasn’t what I needed.

  “There are thousands of memories and lifetimes and thoughts inside me, but I’ve only had them for a few days. I can’t just sift through them all and hope for the pieces of information I want. It’s jumbled, like somebody dumped an encyclopedia inside my mind.” I focused on the thoughts inside me. I saw monsters I’d never known, and yet I had the knowledge to kill them. I knew of dimensions that once existed and prospered with beauty, now lost to Ithreal’s wrath. The memory of all those people being slaughtered made me shudder.

  “They are there nonetheless, and it is up to you to find them.”

  “No!” I yelled and it came out even angrier than I had meant it. Elyas’s eyes became wide and startled. “No,” I said quieter. “I’m trying here, Elyas. I’ve been trying since the beginning. You and the gods are supposed to be on my side yet you abandon me.”

  “The gods have never, and will never, abandon you. Difficulty and frustration are not our intention, Protector. This is simply our way.”

  “Well, your way sucks.”

  I looked up at the ceiling, glaring with the thought that all the gods could see me right now. I hoped they could. I wanted them to know just what I thought of them. I ignored Elyas and continued reaching deeper into the lost memories that had been merged with my own.

  The war between Ithreal and Serephina unfolded in my mind. I saw the first hunters rushing into battle, armed with fire, water, air, earth, and lightning. They tore into the demon hoards and black blood rained from the sky.

  Serephina and the other gods sat in a circle of white marble thrones. A cloud floated in the middle, broadcasting the war below. Each of the gods sat in their human-like forms, looking pleased with the results. While the battle raged on, Elyas appeared. The gods surrounded her, working together and uniting their powers to form the Protector. Flashes of color and magic filled the room and swirled around the soul piece. One at a time the gods penetrated her pale glow, giving new life and power to her energy.

  “United power, blessed only to one, the Protector is born of our rising sun.” Serephina’s words were smothered in lust.

  “He will be the savior, for us and for them.” Nathaniel’s voice was gruff and confident, he was skinnier than I had expected, but his muscles were defined. Long shaggy hair dangled over his shoulders, and his green gaze was fierce.

  “For all the worlds, and all the creatures, it will be he who defends.” This from a different woman. Her long black hair shimmered with flakes of silver and gold. Her eyes had a purple glow that screamed of the fire that lived inside her. I didn’t know her name at first, but I knew her magic. I could feel it inside me, churning among the others. As I felt it, her name came to the forefront of my thoughts. Genevieve.

  The other gods repeated the same words and as Elyas absorbed the final streaks of magic, it was over. Serephina pushed her back down to earth, bound to the sanctuary beneath the tree and left to wait for the chosen one.

  Elyas moved closer and stared up at me with a gentle smile, and for the first time I could see Serephina in her eyes.

  “He remembers,” she said.

  I searched her face and shook my head. “Oh, I remember all right. I remember the war, I remember the gods creating the Protector, and I remember the death of thousands of people.” I turned away from her, tears welling in my eyes. “I can feel their pain, their loss…their death. All of them suffered because of your oaths. You gods are foolish and cruel.”

  Elyas covered her mouth. The words seemed to hurt her and a tear trailed down her cheek, sending faint sparks of light into the room.

  “Is she in there right now? Is Serephina listening, looking back at me?”

  “My goddess sees and hears all.”

  “Good, then tell her to listen up like the coward she is. That they all are.” I stared straight into her bright blue eyes, but I wouldn’t succumb to their comfort and power. I was no longer the human weakened by such spells. I was the monster they’d created. “You sit on your thrones, watching from above. You’ve always been there, safe and out of harm’s way. You watched while the other gods were destroyed beneath Ithreal’s wrath. You claimed you were bound by oath, but that’s a lie. You watched because you knew what was coming. You knew Ithreal would come for each of you and rather than work together to defeat him, you hoped the other gods would do it for you. And when they died, you found good in it. You could use their bits and pieces that became lost in the Fade to add to the Protector’s power, because you were not willing to sacrifice any more of your own.”

  Elyas stood frozen, her eyes focused and unmoving. Her hand had fallen from her mouth, and she looked insulted.

  “Yes, I remember. You didn’t defeat Ithreal because of the oaths. I remember time and time again when each of you broke those oaths for your own advancement. You didn’t destroy Ithreal because he did the dirty work for you, didn’t he, Serephina? You liked being the most powerful, but you wanted to be seen as a gracious and loving god. As long as Ithreal took the other gods out and syphoned their power for his own, you didn’t have to. You figured one day you’d destroy Ithreal, be seen as the hero, and all that power would be yours! Is that what I am to you? Am I your funnel? Now you want me to destroy him so I can give the power to you!”

  The room shifted and quaked. Cracks formed in the concrete, spiraling up through the ceiling. Angry winds rushed through, carrying the scent of fruit and desire. A light blinded my vision and I was torn into the air, my body shimmering as I broke through the ceiling like a ghost sucked into the sky. The air turned cold and bits of wind and ice cut into me. I flailed and tumbled until I hit a white marble floor.

  Dots sparkled and faded in my vision and I crawled to my feet, the pain of the impact leaving as quickly as it had come. I stood on a white stone platform and a chaise lounger sat across the room adorned in purple velvet with golden trim. Standing behind it was Serephina, and as pure and beautiful as she was, she looked angry.

  “After everything I’ve given you, you dare speak in such a manner?” Her voice came from everywhere and instead of lust and desire, her words cut me with terror and pain. I felt the warm trickle of blood move down my back, but the skin folded and stretched, closing the wound.

  “Given me? You’ve done nothing but take: from me, the other gods, and all the people down there.” I couldn’t reciprocate the same anger she carried in her voice. It had stung and I felt off balance. Her power warped around me but I didn’t succumb. I fought back and kept my eyes focused.

  The light blue gown that left her shoulders bare shimmered as
she floated over the stone. Adrenaline had been unleashed into my veins, anticipating a fight, but she never struck out. With each step she took to close the distance between us, I felt her anger fade.

  I couldn’t move, my legs rooted to the floor as she leaned in. Her lips touched my ear, her breath tickling my skin and filling me with her sweet scent. I fought against her magic but she overpowered me. My muscles eased and I hated her for it.

  “Chase, my sweet, let’s not be angry with one another.” Her eyes stared into mine and I wanted them to swallow me whole. I wanted to touch her, feel her touch me, and be one with the goddess. The tips of her fingers ran through my hair and down the side of my face, long nails sending chills down my neck. She leaned closer, her hand sliding down my neck. Her skin was silk along my body. My feet wouldn’t work when I tried to step back. Her hand slid lower, slipping under my shirt. Her nails dragged across my stomach and then my hip. Warmth and magic exuded from her touch and she pushed herself along me. Her hips rocked against me and her lips moved over my face. She whispered words I couldn’t understand, her lips almost touching mine. I screamed inside my head, trying to move away. I remembered her touch and her wrath. A kiss would make me fall to my knees and beg for forgiveness. I wasn’t the one who needed forgiveness. I didn’t want her love or her power. I channeled magic from deep inside and fought the spell she’d pushed over me. Her irresistible presence pressed back, and as she tried to close the distance between our lips, I manage to turn away

  Her lips were warm and soft like the petals of a flower against my cheek. Her eyelashes tickled the side of my face and she paused. “You turn from my kiss?” she whispered. “You challenge my power?” She seemed offended instead of angry.

  I kept my eyes closed, using the water element to help regain my bearings. When the weight of her magic broke, I tore my feet from the ground and shuffled across the room.

  “You think using your powers against me is the answer? You’ve already used me as your pawn. You’re using me right now to fight your battle. You’re too scared to face Ithreal yourself so you sent me instead.”