by Ciara Graves
“I am.”
“Good, then I suggest you get some sleep. We’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.”
“Doing what?” When he said nothing and only smirked, I knew whatever it was, I wasn’t going to like it. “Fine. I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Fine.”
I gave him a narrow-eyed glare and left the room.
“You going to carry that bloody thing around with you everywhere?” he called as I reached the tunnel entrance.
I’d almost forgotten the shotgun strapped to my back. “Problem with that?”
“No. I’d rather you have a weapon on you.”
Because I was a mortal now. I had nothing else to say and walked back down the long shadowy tunnel until I reached the main cavern.
Doubtful I’d be able to sleep, I wandered toward the cave entrance and found a rock to sit on. As I watched the water cascade over the opening in the rockface, I let my mind wander.
Blood Falls. I’d been there before. It was important. Was it important to Hadariel too? I needed to remember before those abominations reached the falls.
I ducked under Mech’s fist with a smirk that was quickly wiped off my face when his foot caught my ankle and tripped me. I fell forward, throwing my hands out to catch myself. I’d saved my nose but couldn’t move fast enough to avoid another kick that left me gasping.
“Get up,” Mech said calmly, stalking in a tight circle around me. “You think they’re going to give you time to recover? You know they won’t. Now get up.”
The soldier side of Mech was coming out. It was more stern and harsh than I imagined possible. I scrambled to my feet, wiped the sweat from my forehead, and raised my fists. I’d been dragged into the main cavern at the crack of dawn. He said was he wanted to ensure I could hold my own in a fight against evil. I assured him I could.
“You mean what you did at the safe house?” he had asked, no hint of the Mech I’d come to know in his eyes. I’d asked him to put our relationship aside, and he’d done it. “That was luck.”
“The hell it was,” I’d snapped.
“Luck. That’s it. What if you lose the gun? What if you can’t find that anger again?”
“I have plenty.”
“Prove it,” he’d said and shook out his hands. “Show me.”
We’d been sparring for the last few hours. I was tired and every inch of my body was sore. The moves I’d been able to perform with ease as an angel took way too much out of me as a mortal. Luckily, the wounds on my back were mostly healed. Otherwise, I would be on the ground by now telling him I was finished. The skin tugged with every motion I made, but they didn’t ooze blood, and the pain was tolerable.
I leapt back as Mech charged me again and landed two solid hits to his side, right by his kidney. He grunted but didn’t go down. I spun out of his reach and kicked him square in the back. He staggered forward a step then easily came around and knocked me to the hard ground. Again.
“If you can’t beat me, not even once, you’re not coming with us.”
“I can fight,” I argued hotly.
“Then do it already. Or did Hadariel beat you? Is that what this is? Did he break you?”
I knew what he was trying to do. The fury I had for Hadariel was what saved my ass the first time. If I couldn’t find a way to tap into it, I’d be dead. I glared at Mech and watched the indifference he had on his face all morning begin to slip.
“Fight, Lela,” he yelled as he lunged forward to put me in a chokehold.
I battered him hard enough to break free, but then he was right back at it.
“Fight back. Do you want to die, is that it?”
“No,” I shouted, elbowing him in the gut.
“Prove it.”
He managed to get an arm around my neck and cut off my air. The demons and humans who’d been watching us scattered, shifting in and out of my darkening vision. Each one took on the face of Hadariel’s angels. In my ear, Mech’s voice became that of the high general himself. Fear shot through my spine. Frantically, I twisted to get away. He was going to kill me. Hadariel was going to end my life.
“Fight,” Mech’s voice rumbled in my ear, his voice cutting through the terrifying vision. “Fight back.”
Images of my parents struggling to get free flashed in front of me. Then there was Hadariel killing Morael. Hadariel tearing out my wings and casting me out of the Heavens. An impossible heat exploded within me, and the fury I experienced back at the safe house burst free. I rammed my elbows back, into Mech’s gut. His arm loosened and I bellowed in rage as I grabbed his arm and flipped him over my head. Where the strength came from, I had no idea, but didn’t stop to question it.
He groaned as he landed on his back. He never had a chance to get up. I pummeled his face, easily slipping past his defenses. He kicked me off after the fifth strike, but I caught myself and was right back on him. I swung onto his back and wrapped my arm around his neck. I held on, blocking the blows he threw my way to knock me off. He sank to his knees and tapped my arm.
I let up.
He grunted. “Yield.”
I removed my arm, and he coughed hoarsely, sucking in air. I backed away as the red that had clouded my vision cleared. “Shit. Mech. Are you alright?”
“If you can do that every time, you’ll be alright.” He coughed then stood. “Damn, I feel sorry for whatever angel you used to practice fight against.”
“Nathaniel.” I offered him a hand. “He was another commander, like me.”
“How much like you?” He glanced at our hands, which were still joined.
I quickly pulled mine away, putting some distance between us. “Stood up to the generals. Probably the only friend I had up there I could trust.”
“You sure about that?”
I nodded slowly. “I told him about you and what you said. He would’ve followed me out of there if I asked him to. Guess it’s too late now.”
Mech shrugged. “Maybe not. Let’s take a break. You earned it.” He rubbed his throat, then walked out of the main cavern.
Kexan waited for him at the entrance to one of the multiple tunnels leading further back.
I watched them go then sank onto the ground where I stood. I fell back, looking up at the uneven ceiling, tracing the cracks with my eyes.
A withered and decayed hand appeared in my peripheral vision, holding a bottle of water. “Drink this.”
I took it and sat up, wincing with each move. “Thanks.”
Unsteadily, Bobby sank down beside me. “Not every day I get to see someone kick his ass.”
“I’m not sure if he’s as excited about it as you are. It means I get to leave the cave.”
“I hate to tell him, but at some point, everyone’s going to have to leave the cave,” Bobby muttered as he picked up a couple of small rocks. One at a time, he threw them toward the waterfall at the cave’s entrance. They pinged off other stones on their way out. “This war is just going to keep going, until either we’re all dead, or we beat back evil and the angels.”
“Not all the angels,” I said quietly. “There has to be a way to prove to them that Hadariel is the cause of all that’s gone wrong.”
“And if you can’t?”
“If I can’t, then more innocent humans, demons, and angels, alike—on both sides—will pay the price.” I downed the rest of the water and set the bottle aside. Right before Mech and I started sparring this morning, I’d been on the verge of passing out on that rock. I’d jerked myself awake and came face-to-face with the bloody grin of the angel I had killed and mutilated so brutally. He was never going to leave me alone.
None of them were. The dead were going to follow me around like a dark shadow until I made this right. There was too much blood on my hands. They might not leave me alone until I joined them.
“You’re thinking really hard about something.” Bobby nudged me.
“Always doing that.” I stretched my neck and cursed quietly at the pain. Bobby’s brow
shot up. “What? Don’t tell me I can’t curse around you either.”
“Not used to it from an angel. That’s all.”
“But I’m not an angel. Remember? I’m human. Just a human.” I held out my hands in front of my face. I’d never again be filled with the soft, warm glow of holy light. This was who I was. It was about damned time I accepted it.
The rest of the day ended with Mech and I doing the exact same thing we’d done earlier.
Sparring.
I was getting better at understanding my new limitations, and though it was a very uneven fight, he seemed satisfied enough with my abilities to keep myself alive.
The fourth day of being in the caves, I sparred against Kexan and a few other demons.
Mech was dealing with new reports from the scouts on the activities of the abominations. I was eager to hear the news, and as soon as I knocked a third demon out of the ring we’d marked of stones, I hustled down the long tunnel toward the meeting room. Mech was alone when I arrived but seemed far more troubled than when I saw him that morning. He barely peeked up as I entered and glanced at the map on the table.
“Not good news?”
He nodded to the map. “No. There are a few tiny settlements the scouts have found, but they don’t seem to care enough to attack them.”
“Are they following the same paths as before?”
“Yeah, but now they’re moving slower.” He pointed out their current locations. “I’m not sure if they’re headed for the falls anymore.”
The abominations did seem to be taking a more southerly and easterly route than I would have expected. “Damn.”
“The scouts are still on them. As long as we don’t lose sight of them, we’ll be able to cut them off. Hopefully.” He shook his head, slamming his palms on the table. He growled as he stalked away then back again, glaring. “They’ve created an army. They’re joining together and creating strategies, and we have no way of knowing what they’re going to do because we’re spread too thin. We don’t have enough demons to hold them back for much longer.”
I understood his frustrations. “If we could get the angels on our side,” I started, only to be interrupted when he laughed harshly. “What?”
“You still think you’re going to be able to convince them?”
“Yeah, I do. You jackass,” I snapped, cutting his laughter cut off. “My parents couldn’t have been the only ones who suspected something was wrong. If I can get word to Nathaniel, give him the same chance you gave me, we could get them on our side. We could fight the evil together, instead of killing each other like we’ve been doing for years.”
“And what if you contact him and he isn’t who you thought he’d be? Then what?”
“Nathaniel is not like the others.”
“And you know that for sure?” he challenged, his nostrils flaring in anger.
I stood my ground. “I trust Nathaniel with my life.” I glanced at the map again, zeroing in on the falls. The harder I tried to remember, the more those moments slipped deeper into shadow. I had to go there. It was the only way I’d be able to understand why I knew that place and why I was certain that’s where the abominations were headed.
“I’m going out,” I said suddenly. “I’ll be back before the demon lords arrive.”
He rushed to block me. “You’re going where?”
“Out. You’re busy with the scouts, and I need to check out those falls. I’ve been there before, but I can’t remember why. I’ll head over and check them out.”
“You expect me to let you go alone?”
I shrugged. “I’ll ask Bobby to tag along.”
“You think I’m going to let you leave this cave with Bobby? To go traipsing through the mountains when there are abominations wandering around?” he asked, spreading his arms wide.
“Why not? I can handle myself. I’ll make sure I have enough shotgun shells, and luckily for me, abominations run really slow.” I patted his cheek, then ducked under his arm. “Really, I’ll be fine.” I set off down the tunnel, and it only took three seconds for him to catch up to me.
“You’re not leaving this cave.”
“You already said I could.”
“If you were needed,” he argued, trying to get in front of me but the tunnel was too small for him to maneuver. “You’re not going to the falls with Bobby.”
“Fine. I’ll take a few extra demons with me.”
He cursed. “Why do you want to go there right now?”
“Because my gut is telling me to go there.”
We exited the tunnel, and I picked up the pace, aiming for the large alcove where weapons and gear were currently stored. I sifted through a few milk crates and found several boxes of shotgun shells. This time, they were labeled as to which ones had hellfire and which ones didn’t.
Out of all the demons here, only half had access to hellfire. I kept meaning to talk to Mech about that issue. If all angels could access their holy light, there had to be a way to do the same for the demons. One problem at a time.
I picked up a leather bandolier and filled it with shells. All the while, Mech stood only a couple of feet away, watching with varying expressions of annoyance, anger, then worry. The shotgun I’d become attached to was down here already. I slung it onto my back, quickly becoming a habit. Once the bandolier was draped over my chest, I tugged on a pair of thick socks from a box filled with spare clothes, then pulled on a set of heavy, black combat boots. I smiled at Mech then walked right past him.
“I’m going with you.”
“You don’t have to. Bobby will be enough for me.”
“I’ll be what?” Bobby asked.
I patted him on the shoulder.
He’d been standing nearby, talking to Kexan. He gave me a quick onceover and rubbed his hands together. Bits of skin flaked off and fell to the ground. “Who are we killing?”
“Not killing. At least not intentionally. Tell Mech you and I can handle scouting out a location.”
Bobby began to nod, but Mech’s echoing growl stopped him. “I—uh, think I have something I have to go take care of.”
“Chicken.”
“Hey,” Bobby said as he hurried away. “I’d like to keep my head attached.”
“Oh, come on.”
Bobby waved me off, and I hung my head.
Mech sauntered into view. “Guess that leaves you with me.”
“Or I could just go alone.”
His smile turned into a scowl. “Lela, if you walk out that cave with anyone but me, I’ll find you, drag you back, and lock you in a damned room.”
“We’re in a cave, genius. There are no rooms. Besides, you aren’t supposed to be so overprotective remember?”
“I’ll make a room,” he said then motioned his arm toward the entrance of the cave. “As for the over-protectiveness, no matter what you might tell me, that’s not going away anytime soon. Are we going or what?”
I ground my teeth, marching toward the exit. Mech told Kexan where we would be, then followed me. Water from the falls sprayed over us as we walked along the ledge that led out of the cave to more solid ground toward the other side. Two ramshackle buildings had been constructed in our short time here and were in the same warding as the cave entrance.
I started toward the south and away from the buildings. Mech tugged on my arm.
“What? I know where I’m going. I memorized the map.”
“We’re not walking there. It’ll take too long.” He waved his hand, and a fiery portal appeared beside us. “After you.”
The heat from it was scorching, but it didn’t burn me when I tentatively held out my hand. “How does it know where to go?”
“I’ll direct it. It won’t hurt you.”
As soon as I stepped into the portal, it was like Mech was holding me in his arms. Then he was stepping in after me.
Now we stood in a strange soundless void, the only light coming from where we’d left and the bit of greyish haze that made up the sky over the ra
vine.
A second portal opened in front of me.
I stepped out, and the portal closed as soon as Mech was through.
Blood Falls wasn’t as loud as the falls we’d just left behind, but the sound reverberated off the ravine walls. Water ran down into a large pool then branched off into four smaller streams. The banks were squishy mud that I sank into as soon as I took a step. If my boots didn’t get sucked off, I’d count myself lucky.
“The road comes from that way,” I said, pointing out the barely visible switchback trail to our left.
“You think they can even make it down here?”
I heard him, but my eyes were drawn to the pool of water. It had a counterclockwise current which seemed odd. I walked through the mud, going slow as it kept swallowing my boots. When I reached the water’s edge, I raised my foot to take a step into it when Mech stopped me.
“It’s just water.”
“And if it’s not?” he questioned, eyeing the pool suspiciously. “You can’t sense it?”
I looked around, but there was nothing else down here. “No.”
“Evil’s been here,” he said quietly. “Recently. The stench lingers. Guess you can’t pick up on it as much anymore.”
“But there’s nothing here now, so we’re fine.”
“Let me go in the water—damn it, Lela,” he snapped when I tugged myself free and splashed into the pool with both feet.
Ripples spread out around me, and the current was strong enough to feel against my caves. It wanted to pull me right along with it. Nothing else transpired though. The mud washed from my boots, dirtying the water. It was clear enough for me to see straight to the bottom. I scooted my boot along it. Silt rose from the movement. I walked further in, toward the center, but the pool remained the same depth. The water only went up to my knees.
“What is it?” Mech asked, keeping watch from the bank.
“Not sure. There’s something weird about this pool.” I bent over and reached into the water. The coldness bit at my skin, but then I was touching the bottom. I shoved aside the silt and rock excepting to find more. The bottom of the pool, however, was solid stone. The silt only made up an inch or so. “That’s interesting.”