by Trina Bates
Bringing my sword up once again, I take on a Witch. Her blasts of purple flames shooting forward in and endless stream. Luckily, The Blade of Oblivion takes the brunt of it all and soaks up the magic being thrown at me making it easy to walk through and slide the cold steel easily through the soft flesh of her abdomen. Her dull eyes wide in fear and then they flutter closed as she too falls to the ground.
I look over and appreciate for a split second the way that Ebbin moves his swords seamlessly through the air, taking out two Others in in a single swing of each arm, and then readying himself for the next attack. He’s naked and no longer in Rigar’s form, which threw me off for a moment, but seeing his blood soaked body and the way his muscles clench with each movement, my mouth goes dry and my thighs get slick.
“Tamper that shit down!” Merrick bellows and before I can look at him, a small waif of a thing jumps up with two daggers alighted with white fire, aimed right at me I barely miss her attack and jump out of the way turning and watching impressed at the perfect roll she takes when she lands and then turns back to me already rushing for another onslaught.
My blade alights with the brilliant blue flames and I know that if she gets too close to me I will be unable to make a move with how small and fast she is. I have to get away. Pushing my wings as hard as I can, I lift into the air and rise above her, dipping down right as she passes beneath me and cutting her from groin to chin. The gurgles and cries that fall from her mouth will haunt me for the rest of my days but I have no time to think on that now. There’s still too many Conclave members, and not enough of us.
A dull thunk and then a groan alert me to someone behind me when I land back on the ground, and when I turn I see the fear filled eyes of some kind of Fae, pleading with me, but the whizz of an arrow and then the same dull sound hits again and the man's body falls forward. Two arrows sticking out of his back, I look up and Alyria is there with her bow raises ready to loose another arrow. I quickly move out of her way knowing there’s someone trying to come at me from the back again and whip my sword out right as her arrow is set free and together with the blow another Fae falls to the ground with his neck nearly cut off and an arrow in his eye.
“Mira!” I hear to my left and when I turn, it’s not soon enough. The longsword of the large man with literal fire in his eyes gleams back at me with sickening pride as he pushes the blade into my arm further. I cry out and let my flames take over. They race over his own weapon and onto him, turning him into nothing more than ash from his bones. The fire licks back to me, caressing my skin and melting the metal that’s protruding from my arm. Thankfully, it’s my left arm, but the pain is still there. I grind my teeth trying to keep from crying out further and turn back. The numbers of the Conclave are dying out but we are all bloodied and beaten. There’s no time to dwell on any of that. I ready myself once again and rush forward, my sights set on another hound that is stalking too close to Kigiree, who is already fighting off two other Hellhounds.
Kigiree! Behind you!” I scream as I fly over his head to take on the two that he was battling before. I hate to take his kill, but seeing his bloodied back and his torn leg, he’s not going to win against two or even three. He swings his large black clad body around snaps the neck of the Hellhound. I let loose my fire once more and watch for only a moment as they burn.
-Thank you. I am of no use, the wounds are too great and one was laced with some kind of poison. I need to shift back for Rhydian to rid himself of the amount. I’m sorry, Mira.- Kigiree tells me, his voice weak and my fear rises another notch at hearing it.
-Go, don't’ push yourself. Find Grun and have him help you. Please hurry!- I scream into his mind and follow behind him for only a moment until I know he’s safe and then hear him call on Grun.
I look for my father in the mess of bodies and battles still going on. He’s standing to the side leaning on the side of the giant barn with his arms crossed as he stares down at his fingernails. Smug fuck.
I stalk towards him with each step garnering more hatred for the man. “Alastor!” I shout getting his attention.
“Daughter, what a pleasure. Shall we duel at high noon like the movies the mortals so enjoy to make? Do we go at with with swords, there are no guns left, or fists. The first to make contact...dies,” he shrugs and straightens himself from the wall.
-You die now!- Joltune’s words fill my mind right before I see the massive black body of the lion beast barrel into the side of my father. His teeth tear into his neck and when Joltune pulls away so does an entire shoulder and half of my father’s neck.
“Get away! He can kill you with a touch!” I cry out racing faster trying to get there before my father can turn on Joltune and Jeremy.
Joltune drops the arm and shoulder and pushes his feet back as fast as he can, right before my father can do anything. His mangled body falls to the ground in a heap and he lays here panting with revulsion seeping off of him and then the horror hits us all at the same time. He knows this is his end.
“Ah, ah, ah, this is mine,” Apollyon surprises us all winking into the fray and right in front of me before I can lay my outstretched hand on Alastor to finish him off.
“You son of a bitch! You are too late to the party! This should have been done, Polly! Do you know what we’ve gone through to get here? We made a deal, did all of the hard work when you should have ended this days ago! No, he’s mine and the fucking deal is off!” I scream putting my hand on his shoulder and letting my flames race over him. His skin starts to burn but he only winks at me and then turns back to my father.
Seeing him in such a state, I almost feel sorry for him. He’s pissed himself and the panic wafting in the air around as he stammers out words, none of us can understand hits the three of us. I have to take a step back and let go of Polly’s arm from the harshness of it. I want nothing more than to end my father myself, but I can’t go up against the Devil himself. There’s no way.
“You were a naughty, naughty Demon while I was away. Let’s see how you like the true death.”
“No!” Is all that falls from Alastor’s lips before his head is taken clean off with light tug from the Devil and then my father is no more. His body turns to red ash and melts through the snow beneath.
My horror, panic, and awe leave me speechless and unable to speak. I drop to the ground, the world around me all but forgotten and stare at the red ash that was once the man that gave me life, ruined worlds and realms alike and tormented my every waking breath when I found out who he was. This road, so long and filled with so many emotions, done. Ended with nothing more than a light, fucking tug. My kill, Joltune’s kill. The deal could have ended but we were duped. Bloodied, exhausted, and filled with grief, Apollyon took it all away from us in the blink of an eye.
I don’t know how long I sit there staring at the ground, I know the voices around me are trying to rouse me from this strange state I’m in, but I can’t seem to bring myself back from the brink of this breakdown. Someone lifts me up, my sword falling from my hands, and Alyria comes into view though I stare right through her.
“Envision where it is you need to go and I will take you there,” she says and it washes over me, but I can’t seem to think of anything other than the fact everything we just did, was for nothing.
Holding onto what little sanity I have left, I think of my little girl, and my mate. They’re both waiting for me and one is still in pain from whatever my father did. I need to get to them and try to hold myself together. With that, we’re all whisked away and brought to the familiar place with large trees shading our way when Alyria pulls us all away from the place that is now forever tainted in my mind.
Mira:
I don’t know what happened to the rest of the Conclave members, I know the story will be gruesome and I’ll hear it soon enough, but right now, I simply want to hold my baby. I’m set on my feet gently, though I still have a haze clouding my mind, I’m more here, than before.
“Love, he’s gone and that’s what
really matters,” Merrick whispers lightly into my ear.
I get it, I do. It just doesn’t make anything easier. I close my eyes and try to will away the dark thoughts that will no doubt only anger me once again.
“So what if it ended up the way it did. The Conclave members are either gone, or in the wind. There’s no way it’s going to come back on us when we were the ones in the right,” Ebbin says and is cut off before he can finish.
“They went against the orders of their Puissant, and aligned themselves with his biggest enemy. There’s nothing there that is going to sway any of us into any kind of trouble. Let’s go get our little girl and figure out where we are going to go from here. I don’t think any of the homes that we’ve stayed at thus far are smart. Not right now,” Rhydian says sadly. I know how much he loves our little city, but we have too much to still do and he’s right, we need a home to be able to do it.
I open my eyes and look at all of them, really look. They’re all covered in dried blood. Their clothes are sodden and dirty and they look utterly exhausted. Seeing Jeremy shifted and clothed, I watch with a smile as he and Cynide quickly become fast friends. He chases her around playfully through the trees and Alyria and Grun are holding fast to one another like the lovers they are that haven't seen each other in a millennia. But the one thing that they all share, that we collectively share, is a weight on our shoulders. What we did isn’t going to leave us anytime soon. So much death, of our own people for no real reason other than small minded beings following blindly behind a delusional and hate filled man all because they either feared him, or believed in his vision of what his world, could and should be.
“We can’t change what has already taken place, but we can make sure it never happens again. I know about your debt to the Devil, but that will come later. Do not let the grievances you hold inside of you take over. Calm your frantic hearts and go heal in this new world, this safe world that you helped make happen. Be proud of your accomplishments and your minds will quickly forget about the hardships. I love you all, you are all apart of me, but it’s time for my mate and I to go do the same. We need to learn what it is like to live once again and enjoy all that we have. Thanks to you, my daughter of neutrality,” Alyria says walking to me and hugging me tightly.
Her words calm the raging storm I hold her tight for a few moments before she pulls away and another set of arms is there, waiting to hug me just as tight. Grun.
“I will see you soon. No matter where you go, I will be there in a matter of moments if you are in need. I, too, love you, little Valkyrie,” Grun says bringing tears to my eyes.
I love them all so much, and even though this isn’t goodbye, it feels like now that everything is done, nothing will be the same again and I won’t have the comfort of knowing they are there with me, like I’ve had for these last few months. I grew in so many ways because of them and I don’t want to stop.
“I love you all too. I can feel you as well and if you are ever in need, I will be there in the blink of an eye too. Stay safe and go have some fun,” I tell him with a sniffle and then wink at him knowing where his mind had already gone before the words could leave my mouth.
“Jeremy, Cynide! Get over here!” I shout at the two mongols and laugh as they bound back together.
Alyria and Grun say their goodbyes and are gone in a blink the next moment. I wrap my arms around myself, my armor in the way so before we head to the giant house, I take it all off and inhale a deep relaxing breath to clear myself. I drop the armor on the ground, right at my feet, and look up to the guys.
“Before we go in, do you want me to take you back to the loft to get a change of clothes? Wipe down maybe. I know I need it. And Jeremy, you need to get your butt home. I don’t want that momma of yours coming after me,” I say with a laugh that stunted. I know she would and she has every right. What if something had happened to him? I don’t even want to think about those things.
“Nah, she knew I was going to go. Didn’t know everything that was going on, but she knew it was the right thing and gave me her blessing along with a way too long lecture and a promise to build her a new deck since she was letting me go,” he laughs and rubs the back of his neck.
“Yeah, I want to wash off all of this shit before I see anyone. Let alone holding my smooshy face,” Ebbin quips and I look at him with a questioning stare wondering where the hell that nickname even came from.
He shrugs his shoulders and takes my hand and then everyone else follows suit. I teleport us all back to the apartment and rush off with my armor that was at my feet in hand and go put it in the safe. I grab some clothes from my bag and go into the kitchen after that and sponge bathe myself while the others do the same. Jeremy though, he stands awkwardly to my left, leaning on the island counter and crosses his big arms.
“What’s up, kid?” I ask him with a side glance.
“What was all of that, Mira? How did everything get like this? One day you come in to the shop, give me a little grief and then nothing. Nada from you even on the Link,” he says quietly and I can feel his angst and the pain from it all flowing off of him in waves. I had no idea that Ebbin and I meant so much to him. We’ve always had a soft spot for him, but he’s a teenager that likes games. I didn’t think it went further than that, and now, obviously knowing it does, I feel like a complete asshole.
Blowing out a breath, I start at the beginning but try to rush my way through our entire story.
“So, the day I saw you was the start of it all. That morning I found out I was pregnant. But I had a romp with a few other guys… the ones you’ve since met. It turns out they are all, Others. Me and Ebbin soon found out we are too and then it came to find out what the baby was… She’s and Other like her dad, Rhydian.” With that his eyes go wide and he stands a little straighter. I guess it does already sound a little crazy to me too. “So, with me being a dual blood. Half Valkyrie, and have Death Demon we soon found out that my dad, the piece of shit you almost killed was the big bad in Hell. Like, he was the not so formal ruler while the Devil took a vacation of sorts. He likes to breed with powerful Others, from many different realms, kill the mother for her powers as well as his own kids. So, in a nutshell, I had to manifest my demon half before I could do anything, and my Valkyrie half came on my birthday. They ascend at a certain age and it just gets weirder from there. So anyway, for me to ascend, I had to figure out how to get to my ancestors realm. Once there, I did all of that but Rhett, trying to find something for me to get my nasty powers in check, he was inadvertently thrust into Hell where I first met my father and then that’s when the fun started. He tried to take me but before he could touch me, he took my mother.”
“Wait! Mom?! You found both of your parents?!” he exclaims and I can’t tell if it’s from the anger he carries, or the sheer shock of it all.
I put the towel down and raise both of my hands out in front of me trying to get him to wait, and let me finish.
“Different story, another time.” I laugh and go on with the short version of what’s bee my life. “Okay, so he took my mother, Siv. We got a bunch of people together and went to Hell to rescue her. After that, it’s been a non stop battle to try and figure out a way to kill him. The only way we knew how to do that, was, well… Call on the Devil himself. I made a deal and that’s who you got to see in action when the man that turned to dust, was killed. That was my father and his killer, the Devil… now you’re all caught up. Oh wait! So with the Conclave coming in, my father enlisted them and that's what you came in on.” I exhale with a shaky laugh and have to hold back another that’s trying to force its way out from the look on his face.
“I think I need a little time to process all of that, and then get back to you. I think I’m about to shit myself knowing I was inches away from the Devil. That’s… wow, nope. I will see you later, I… I gotta go,” he says shakily and abruptly turns, gently shutting the door behind him as I stare dumbfounded at the closed door.
“Okaaaaaay,” I whisper and s
hake my head at that. I know I threw a lot on him, and I know it’s got to be really, frightening knowing you were that close to one of the most hated beings in all of the realms, but I wasn’t expecting him to go like that. I hope me not going after him doesn’t offend, but I’m in dire need of feeding and holding my girl.
“What was that all about?” Rhydian asks coming up behind me and sliding his arms around my waist.
“I think I broke him. He wanted to know where we’ve been and what started all of this crazy. I gave him the cliff notes version and when I got to Apollyon, he just kind of… broke. Left super quick,” I tell him with a shrug and then bend down to pull on my jeans and throw a light sweater over my head.
Turning, all three of my men are there and their sucked in lips tell me they think his reaction is hilarious but I don’t. I feel bad.
“Come on, you jerks. We need to go get our little girl and figure out where we're going to stay,” I say with my hands raised and feel Cynide wind herself around my legs.
“Actually, I think I have an idea about that if you all want to hear it?” Merrick asks and we all turn to look at him.
“What are you thinking? We can’t chance any of our places right now. Even if we are in the clear with any faction of the Conclave’s, I don’t want to chance it,” Rhydian replies to him and I stare back and forth at them both wondering what we’re going to do and what Merrick has up his sleeve.
A huge smile pulls at the corner of Merricks lips and then he rubs his hands together. “You remember that piece of property I had bought through the shell companies a few years back?” he asks Rhydian pointedly who nods his head with a confused look on his face. “Well, it’s not in any of our names, but one of the offshoot companies my father has that doesn’t even tie back to him. I had a cabin built on it when we first got it since we were all going to have to be there when they broke ground for whatever we decided to put there. It’s perfect, by the ocean and secluded far enough of way from others that we won’t be bothered. I can call in and have it ready for us within a few hours,” Merrick finishes with a proud smile.