Desolate (Desolation)

by Ali Cross

“We will be watching,” Aaron said in my mind.

  “We will be with you,” Lucy said.

  I rose to my full height, nodded at first to Heimdall, and then Fahria. With my blade raised high, I ran onto the Bifrost.

  chapter forty-seven

  Michael

  Fahria’s sisters plunged to Earth and dove into the gathering of dark creatures that covered the hillside near the Door. Fahria and I wished to meet with The Hallowed first, to better ascertain the shape of the battle. I led her around the cemetery to the back of the cathedral, and opened the door to the basement hallway. When we entered the room where The Hallowed met, Fahria stood in the doorway but would not cross the threshold.

  Cornelius looked up from his desk but did not lift his head from his hands. Longinus leaned against the wall. I did not know what he thought of seeing me there, nor of the Valkyrie who stood behind me, but Cornelius’ eyes grew wide and he stood from his chair.

  “Lady,” he whispered, bowing his head low.

  Fahria bowed her head in response, but said nothing.

  “Do you know each other?” I asked, referring to Fahria and Cornelius, but it was Longinus who spoke from directly beside me—I hadn’t even heard him move.

  “I know you,” Longinus said. He stepped past me, never taking his eyes from Fahria’s face. He fell to one knee at her feet, a fist over his heart.

  “Please, rise,” Fahria said, a blush rising to her cheeks. The Valkyrie had always been unflappable—and I had known her a very long time. This Fahria, blushing, flustered—was new to me.

  “Lady, I am not worthy to stand before you,” Longinus said, talking to Fahria’s boots.

  She bent then, and placed her hand on Longinus’ cheek. She drew his gaze upward and when their eyes met, she smiled. She traced her fingers downward, then lingered on the white crisscrossed scar around Longinus’ neck.

  “I remember when you received this,” she said so quietly her voice barely formed the words. I backed up until my backside came into contact with Cornelius’ desk, suddenly feeling as though I intruded on a very private meeting.

  “If I am not mistaken,” Cornelius whispered. “She is the warrior lady who gave Longinus his life—time and again, I believe.” I looked at Cornelius questioningly. “He has spoken of it in passing over the years—though I learn most from the words he speaks in his dreams.

  “As you know, the Valkyrie accompany the greatest of Midgard’s warriors directly to Valhalla. Time and again Longinus died in battle, under the worthiest of circumstances. But of course, he was forbidden to enter the great halls of eternal rest. Instead, she gave him back his life. Many, many times.”

  We watched them in silence, observing the great care and tenderness shared between them. When Fahria finally straightened, and successfully drew Longinus to his feet, I stepped forward.

  Fahria stood tall, her hand on the hilt of the sword at her side. Longinus stood straighter than I’d ever seen him. His whole countenance seemed aglow with strength and determination.

  “Let us fight,” he said.

  chapter forty-eight

  Michael

  We exited the cathedral and found James and Miri arguing outside the door.

  Before I’d had even a moment to take in the scene, Miri had thrown herself into my embrace and wrapped her arms around my neck. Immediately, the tears claimed her.

  “What is it?” I asked, stroking her back and sending a questioning look to James. He shook his head and looked at his boots.

  “She—” James shook his head again, obviously failing to find the words he felt would explain the emotions that hung in the air like heavy rainclouds. “It’s Desi,” he said.

  “She’s with Lucifer again. She—she’s in charge of an army,” Miri said in a high, choked voice.

  James looked up then, looked at all of us. “I know it looks bad. But she’s not beyond reaching—ya know? We can’t just give up on her.”

  Before he’d finished speaking, I had stepped forward and placed my hand on his shoulder. I knew what he and Desi had been to each other. I knew they had only clung to one another in a desperate attempt to deny the good in them. I knew this, and so I held no animosity for this boy.

  “You see true,” I said.

  I stepped past James and turned to the group. “I am glad you are all here,” I said, indicating Miri, who now stood next to Cornelius, and James who had crossed his arms and stood apart. “There is something you must know.”

  I made sure Miri looked at me before I continued.

  “You may not know, but the first time Desi and I met on the beach—the time when I was,” I choked on the words, had to take a moment to swallow my pride and try again. “When she and I, as Loki’s tool, first fought, I nicked her with my blade.”

  Miri gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. James’ complexion grew darker.

  “For days before she rescued me—and I pierced her with the spear—Loki whispered to her, luring her to him. He worked through the creature you know as Eleon. And when I—” I swallowed, unwilling to show anymore weakness. “When I speared her, it allowed Loki’s poison to spread. The devil has invaded Desi’s soul. He has wrapped his spirit around the piece of Asgard that lives there. But she is not lost to us.” I paused, letting my words work their way through the barrier of sorrow Miri had erected around her heart. “She wears a ring that makes such a thing possible.

  “I understand you know this ring,” I said to Longinus.

  He bowed his head. “I do. King Solomon thought he could use the good genii only, but found the evil genii were also bound to the ring.”

  I nodded, indicating he should continue.

  Longinus looked at Miri and James. “The genii are the goddess Hel’s own children. Good or bad, they are all the same—all serve their own selfish whims and that of their queen’s.”

  “Loki has bound the ring,” I added. “I do not know what this means—whether Helena is working with him or no, it is uncertain. But this I do know:” I let my Halo gradually take form behind me. Cornelius’s eyes grew bright and James and Miri looked at me in awe.

  With great care I drew my blade and watched while its shining surface took on the look of gold as it reflected my spirit.

  “Desolation will not be harmed.” I took the time to look in each face. To read in their eyes their understanding of my promise. “She is to be stripped of the ring—but that is all. Am I understood?”

  Everyone nodded, but Miri cried.

  My heart broke for this child of heaven, and I stepped forward while allowing my Halo to take on its full glory. Gone were the others. Gone was the cathedral, the cemetery, all of it. There was only Miri and me. I took her hands in mine and met her gaze.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but she fell into my arms before I voiced my thoughts.

  “I’m sorry,” she choked out between her sobs. “But—I’ve lost so much.”

  And oh, I knew it.

  With the tip of my fingers under her chin I begged her to look at me. Her eyes shone like blue diamonds in a pool of tears.

  “Your mother is with Odin now. She is in Asgard, a place of great beauty and peace.”

  Miri’s tears renewed.

  After a moment, I uttered the words I hoped with all my heart were true. “And Desi is not lost yet. She is, only if we let her go. Only if we give up on her.”

  Oh, Odin. Let it be true.

  Miri pulled out of my arms and swiped at her cheeks. At last she nodded. “I’m ready.”

  And so I withdrew my Halo, but kept my sword.

  The others came back into view, and I found all of them with the courageous look of determination on their faces and weapons—gifts from Fahria judging by their appearance—in their hands.

  “Let’s kick some demon ass.” James broke into a run, straight across the parking lot, straight to the cemetery, with Miri, Cornelius and Longinus following. Fahria waited a beat, looking at me, before she disappeared in a flash of light.

>   Their courage, their fierce love for their friend, for my beloved, threatened to disarm me. I will free you, my love.

  I took to the sky, every thought only for her.

  chapter forty-nine

  Michael

  I circled above the fray where Shadow fell upon Valkyrie, and humans fought, some with, some against the dark and vicious genii. The genii had the look of chiseled granite, and they moved like animated stone-creatures. Even Longinus struggled against them, their rock-like skin resistant to the weapons he used against them.

  All around me, sparks, whisps of light and dark, filled the air like a tornado and far more deadly.

  I spotted Desi standing on the crypt, overlooking the battle. Loki stood beside her. He looked up and smiled. He saw me. He knew my purpose.

  He spread his arms in welcome.

  I have never been one to delay the inevitable, so I steeled myself against what was to come and flew to meet him.

  In the seconds it took me to descend, Desi had abandoned her human form and embraced the black and brutal guise of a demon. Her Shadow stretched up and away, her wings beat a maelstrom of wind. It broke my heart to see her thus, because I knew this darkness didn’t define her, even though she wished it did.

  Loki wore the robes of a prince. I had a moment of memory, a glimpse of how it used to be when he and I were friends. A time before his pride and greed got the better of him.

  But that Gardian was long gone. Perhaps he no longer existed at all. Though, if I had learned anything through this ordeal, it was that hope was the one commodity I could never afford to trade. Even when the situation seemed impossible, there was always hope that things could change. And things can change in a heartbeat.

  I alighted beside my former prince and the love of my heart. My feet had barely touched the surface before she was on me, wielding the spear she had used to save me—the same weapon that had given Loki access to her heart. I ducked in time, her swing making a whooshing sound as it caught the air where my head had been a millisecond before.

  I turned toward her, the beating of my heart and Loki’s laughter the only sounds I heard. Everything else fell away—the fighting on the ground, the sound of the Valkyrie’s battle cries, the sound of James’ shouts and Cornelius’ prayers.

  I lunged upward with my sword, but she spun away from me, the razor-sharp edge of her wing catching me in the chin. I hissed as my skin sliced open, but I had no time to block every blow—I knew my love and her ability in a fight. I would have many more injuries before this thing was over.

  As she finished her spin, drawing her spear back so could lunge at me; I sliced my blade through her right wing. She cried out in pain and anger, deciding at the last second to take her staff sideways—knocking me in my ear—rather than lunging forward like I expected.

  I reached out and grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her to me, trapping her staff between us, the tip of my blade poised beneath her chin. I searched her face, her eyes, for my love, but she was not there. Loki had buried her spirit so deeply beneath his chains that all that stared back at me was the dark and empty eyes of a demon.

  She had her left hand clasped around the shaft of her spear, near her shoulder, inches from my face. I saw the ring there, a nothing-looking sort of thing. Big and ugly, it did not belong on the hand of my beloved.

  “Oh, my love,” I whispered. In that moment of weakness she lifted her left elbow as if she’d strike me with it, but while I prepared to meet her blow she spun to her right, shoving her right elbow into my face instead. She kicked up and spun in the air, landing with the staff lying across her arm, ready to attack again. I stumbled back from the blow to my face, my ears ringing.

  “I am not your love,” she said in the thick, sibilant voice of a demon.

  “Oh, you once were,” Loki injected, laughter coating his voice. He’d conjured a throne on which to sit, ankle over knee, goblet in hand.

  While Desi looked at him, I thrust all doubt from my mind and threw myself into the air.

  I landed at her back, slashing at her wings. She screamed and crumpled beneath my blows, rolling away across the rooftop until she had enough room to jump to her feet. She drew in her Shadow and I did the same until we stood. Just her. Just me.

  She whipped her spear in front of her, spinning it like a wheel. Turn after turn, the sound of the wood whipping the air whooshing all around us. I watched her eyes. She watched mine. She had always been a diligent fighter, always excelled at outwitting her opponent.

  Without warning her spinning stopped and she thrust the spear at me, its deadly tip aimed directly for my heart. Absent of thought, I swung wide with my blade and cut off the tip of the spear—disconnecting the spearhead that Longinus had guarded for more than two centuries, and removing the deadliest part of the weapon.

  I did not for once think this made my victory sure. Desi still had many skills at her disposal.

  With a fierce cry, she thrust the staff into my sternum, knocking the wind out of me. I stumbled back, hand clasped to my chest while I gasped for breath. She came at me with relentless determination, forcing me to back up, to come closer and closer to the edge of the roof.

  I knew it, and yet I continued to shuffle backward while I fought for air.

  Desi tapped me again with the butt of her staff. Continued to walk me to the edge of the roof. And when I finally stumbled over, I heard Loki clap his hands.

  I landed hard on my back, staring up at the evening sky, lights dancing before my eyes. Desi jumped from the roof and stood looking down on me. Her staff rested quietly on her arm. I didn’t kid myself that she recognized me now—I saw nothing of the girl I loved in her expression. I grasped the hilt of my sword, grateful it had not been knocked out of my hand during my fall, and considered what my next move should be.

  Miri stumbled into my line of sight. I stiffened, afraid she would come into Desi’s purview—but it was my own reaction that gave her away. Desi smiled and toed me with her boot, making certain I looked at her. Made eye contact with her. Knew her intentions.

  “Miri!” Desi called. She stepped between Miri and a pale-skinned girl with sharpened teeth and black lips, a knife held low in her hand.

  “Back off, Vamp-Girl,” Desi said, spinning her staff in front of her in warning.

  Vamp-Girl blinked in confusion. “But—”

  Desi smacked her on the side of her head with the staff and the girl collapsed to the ground. And then she laughed.

  “Desi,” Miri said as Desi turned toward her. Miri fell into her arms. “I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m so sorry. It’s just—it’s just . . .”

  Desi looked at me over Miri’s shoulder. “Shh. It’s okay,” she soothed in her normal voice.

  I climbed slowly to my feet, wary, ready to leap into action.

  “None of that matters anymore,” Desi said.

  I knew the moment before she acted what Desi planned to do. I sprang into motion, fear for Miri’s life spurring me to act faster than I thought I could.

  Desi stepped back, her hands rising to the side of Miri’s head. She grinned at me. I lunged forward as Desi began to put pressure on Miri’s skull.

  I was out of time.

  I dove between them, shoved Miri to the ground and Desi against the crypt. The stone trembled behind her, some of it crumbled to dust. My beloved laughed, the dark, three-toned sound of a demon, a Shadow.

  “What’s going on?” Miri screamed from behind me.

  “She is not herself,” I said so quietly I doubted Miri heard. I did not let my gaze leave Desi’s face. I paced between her and Miri, trying to catch my breath. But it was not to be.

  Desi embraced her Shadow and back-fisted me, sending me flying fifteen feet to her right. Ignoring the pain, I was on my feet seconds after hitting the ground, but I was too far away, I’d taken too long—Desi had the hand of her Shadow wrapped around Miri’s throat. Miri’s feet scrabbled in the dirt, her hands clasped at her neck.

  “Desi
!” But I felt so far away. As I ran, I looked for the others, for Fahria or one of her sisters, but there was no one—they were all engaged elsewhere.

  And then Desi stumbled back, her Shadow gone, her eyes wide with fright.

  I skidded to a stop. Saw what Desi saw.

  There in the dirt, her hands at her throat and gasping for breath, sat Lucy.

  “You can’t be here,” Desi whispered. “It can’t be you.” She took another step backward. “I killed you.”

  Miri-who-was-now-Lucy climbed to her feet and moved toward Desi. “Oh, baby. How many times do I gotta tell you? You didn’t kill me. Evil killed me. And you are not evil.”

  Desi had backed all the way to the wall. I inched my way closer.

  “I am evil,” she said.

  She clenched her hands into fists at her side. Open. Close. I drew nearer, my focus on her left hand. I only needed to slip the ring from her finger.

  “No, baby. You’re not evil. You never have been—no matter what your daddy said.” Lucy now stood a few feet away from Desi. I could feel the war in Desi’s heart, feel the way she longed to believe in Lucy’s words.

  She turned her face in my direction and there, there, I saw her presence in her eyes.

  “Michael?”

  “Yes, my love.” I stepped closer. One more step and her wrist would be within my grasp. “I am here.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m so cold,” she said. “What’s happening to me?”

  “It is the ring, my love. Take it off.”

  “Take it off, baby. That’s all you need to do.”

  Desi’s eyes, wild and wide, flew from me to Lucy and back again. She held her hand out in front of her, splayed her fingers wide. With trembling fingers she reached to remove the ring.

  “Remove it, and you will die,” Loki said from behind Lucy. He drew his robe wide behind him and it sliced through Lucy’s spirit, separating her from Miri. In a flash of light Lucy was gone and Miri had fallen to the ground, still, and unmoving.

  chapter fifty