by Pamela Labud
But Holly was near-by, and at the very moment that Renault enveloped Max she raised her scythe and unleashed her power on her former mentor. Max felt the old man waver under the onslaught, but he didn't fall.
His shock turned anger and he spun to face her.
"How dare you?" He aimed his scythe at her and the full force of his power exploded from it, knocking her back so fiercely that Max was sure she'd not survive the attack.
All hope left him. Her essence winked out and Max was sure he'd lost her.
Before he could act, the world disappeared and he fell into the endless pit of nothingness, an unending void of nonexistence.
But worse than the pain he suffered, the loss of his life, and all he knew, was going into eternity with the knowledge of Holly's defeat.
Max cried out, a muted, empty sound that echoed in his soul before the velvet darkness of eternity swallowed him whole.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Razor clarity sliced through Holly as the old man's fury consumed Max. Despite Renault’s superior power, she managed to keep the tiniest thread of contact with Max. Thankfully, he'd managed to salvage some scrap of himself and it was enough for her to set her anchor on.
That small contact energized her. Was it possible that she could somehow draw energy from him to add to her own and together they could defeat the old Reaper?
As soon as the thought occurred to her, Renault launched his attack.
A wall of energy hit her, knocking her twenty feet backwards, and if for her quick action of rolling into a ball and absorbing the force of the blow, she surely would have been killed.
The very second she landed on her feet, Renault snapped her thread to Max and sent her psyche reeling.
The old Reaper cackled. "Think to outsmart me, girl?"
Despite his bravado, Holly sensed a change in him. Max was right. Reaping had sapped his strength. She didn't know how long his diminished capacity would last, so she needed to act quickly.
"I mean to stop you, no matter what it takes."
"Foolish child. You can't best me. You never could and you certainly can't now. All the empathy in the world won't change the fact that you're a low-level Reaper at best."
Suddenly, a jolt of energy wrapped around her. It was like walking into a warm kitchen after being out in the cold. She instantly absorbed the power and added it to her own.
Max may be beyond the veil, but his last act was to give her his magic. Holly felt her strength renew, her power doubling as she uttered her challenge.
"I'm sorry it has to end this way..."
Holly didn't wait for him to build his power up any more; she launched her assault. The air crackled around her as she drew in the forces of energy — water, air, earth and magnetic energy— all fell to her command. She felt the pinnacle of her life force gather, and in the next instant, she was launching it all at Renault.
Though his power was depleted and he didn’t have time to plan his own attack, he was a tenacious old Reaper. He staggered back as the wave of energy hit, but instead of going down he seemed to absorb some of it. The sheen of madness returned to his eyes and he lifted his arms once again, scythe glowing white-hot in his grasp.
He screamed in a high-pitched frenzied wail. "It's time I send you into the abyss with your lover."
He turned the tide of the battle upon her, striking at her again and again, pummeling her with all his power.
Fortunately, Holly could fend off the blows, but doing so severely limited her ability to shore up her energy for a major strike.
It was true. He had superior power and centuries worth of experience how to wield it. She would have to out-maneuver him or run the risk of him beating her down until fatigue took over and she could no longer fight him. She knew if she let off at all, it would give him time to rebuild his energies.
Near panic from the thought of losing to him, she wracked her brain to find a weakness, one thing that would make it possible to best him.
"What's the matter, girl? Not strong enough? Your magic inadequate to the task? Relinquish your magic to me and I'll give you an easy death..."
It was near impossible to concentrate with his unrelenting attacks and maddening taunts...
That's when it happened. Whether by instinct or another magical force, Holly knew how to defeat him. She could have kicked herself for not realizing it sooner.
Though it was a struggle, Holly started to ease back her assault, bit by bit, still hitting him, but with less and less force.
"Feeling tired, are we?" he asked, laughing at her show of weakness.
"I'll fight you until my last breath," she told him, playing into his delusion. "You'll have to kill me to win. Can you do that, Master Renault? Can you kill another Reaper? One who was your student and your friend?"
His laughter returned, high pitched and maniacal, a brittle, unnerving sound. "Of course. You've always been a disappointment, you know. Your tender heart, your weeping emotional sludge. All the time you were sympathizing with those wretched souls, it only drained you of your life's energies. It made you weak and malleable. If you hadn't taken a fancy to the Immortal, why I daresay a flea could have bested you with no effort at all."
It galled her to think of the Reaper's vitriol. "So, the reason you've lived so long and become so powerful wasn't because of your superior powers at all, but because somewhere down the ages you lost your heart. Instead, you protected your own worthless soul in exchange for their pain."
In the end, there was one part small of himself that Renault had preserved, one small part of his psyche that remained whole and unprotected, leaving him vulnerable.
His pride.
And as everyone knew, pride goeth before the fall.
Renault was about to plummet into a hole the size of his own ego — and it would be deeper than the Grand Canyon.
And Holly was going to push him over the edge.
#
Though he'd been left to guard the front of the manse, Cravens knew the moment his master began to fail. The house shook with the energy blasts exploding within. Dust rose from around the manse and the stone structure groaned with every hit.
"Master," he said, turning to abandon his post at the end of the drive.
"Not so fast, buttface," a woman said behind him.
Spinning around, he saw an ebony-haired Amazon woman standing at the end of the walk. Her copper hair was pulled back and spun into a thick braid that went down to her calves. She had wide eyes the color of jade and moved like a giant tiger, every step smooth and calculated. It was clear that the woman clearly had a deadly edge to her. And, she wasn't alone. She held a blond haired, fair skinned unconscious man upright, his arm draped over her shoulders. He stood only because of her support.
"You are trespassing," he told her. "You need to leave and take that pathetic wretch with you."
"Oh, really?" Her eyes narrowed and her face reddened to the color of charred rust. "I don't think so. This wretch is my boyfriend, and he isn't pathetic. He's dying and your master is the one responsible for his pending demise. I mean to end that selfish lowlife, and if you get in my way, I'll be sending you back to the slimy, hellish pit from which you emerged."
"I doubt that," Craven said. Then, without hesitation, he drew his blade and lunged.
Dropping her charge, she easily twisted out of the path of his sword. Spinning around, she lunged sideways and sent a vicious kick that missed his midsection by mere millimeters
The woman was fast; he'd give her that. But he was determined. A seasoned fighter, he'd crossed blades with many, whether a battle axe or a fencing sword, he was an expert in the field of swordsmanship.
"Foolish creature," the woman said, running toward him, ducking and dodging his every strike. "I am Fiona of the Stryker Clan. You can't best me, Shinigami. Lay down your weapons now or risk facing a Reaper yourself."
Craven ignored her threat. "No chance of that, wolf girl. I've been
bending the iron since before your grandfather was whelped. Turn and run now. Take that rotting carcass with you and I might let you live."
The woman spoke no more but charged him full on, literally running into his blade. So, he struck her, again and again. But, every time the metal cut into her, it was no deeper than a paper cut and disappeared almost immediately.
"I can see your expertise, devil. Tell me, what were your other opponents made of? Tin foil? Tissue paper?" She laughed and came close enough to raise her fist. As she did so, he saw her change, her body shifting into full on wolf-woman. She was at least a foot and a half taller, her slender figure now ripped with muscles, and both her hands morphed into thick, sharp claws.
"Blasted woman," he cursed. "Get away from me."
Even as he shouted, she landed a blow square on his jaw. It was so powerful he heard the bones of his face crack. Not only that, but his body went suddenly limp and he realized she must have broken his neck as well. His vision swam and he felt his body hit the ground with a thud. He even heard the clatter of his blade against the walkway.
"You've killed me," he choked.
"It's called a paralyzing blow. Stay down and you might yet live. It's only a stunner, but if you push yourself too soon, it'll be snap goes the beastie."
The next thing he knew, she turned and retrieved her near-corpse boyfriend. Dragging the body with her, she stepped over him and marched right out of his field of vision. Unable to do anything, he listened while she made the way into the manse until he heard the door creak and then slam shut.
It didn't matter that she'd spared his life. Once his master learned that Cravens had failed, he’d be sent on the Reaper's journey at the earliest opportunity.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Holly knew the moment her victory was eminent. Renault was so intent on ending her, that he drained his strength to the point where his attacks were little more than a flash of light, rather than true psychic energy.
"I beg you, Master Renault, please stop. For your own sake, end this and let the fates take pity on you."
He laughed again, a light, babbling sound and she knew his psyche was now as fragile as a bubble about to pop. "Worried are you, girl? You should be. I'm about to finish you. Any second now..."
Holly could stand no more. The time had come to end the charade and do as she'd promised Max. She had to put down her former mentor once and for all. Despite him Reaping Max and all of those he sent to their demise without even the slightest touch of empathy, she still took no joy in his ending.
No longer a megalomaniacal killer, he was nothing more than a sad, demented creature, victim of his own grand delusions.
She was grateful that while he'd thought it a weakness, Holly had felt the loss of every person she'd ever Reaped.
It was the deep course of her emotions that had given her the ultimate strength.
But loving the Immortal was an entirely different thing.
It was Max's love that made finding her own strength possible, after all. Love, like grief and empathy, was not a weak emotion. When used for good, they far over powered the negative emotions.
Love always reigned over hate.
"This is for you, Max," she said, just before unleashing her power. "I'm sorry, Master Renault. I know you won't be able to forgive me but I've no choice. I know you won't believe it, but I'm doing this so you can find your peace."
Holly met her mentor with her chin up and eyes forward. Drawing a breath, she concentrated on gathering all the energy that she'd buried deep within her soul. Like a summer squall, she drew the power back and then unleashed the electrical current of magic, it's tendrils spreading out like an opening fist.
"You can't beat me," he cried out in rage. "I'm invincible."
He lifted his arms to strike out at her, but the last of his magic had left him. He would never be a threat again, but would likely never regain his sanity, either.
"I believe it was the grief of Reaping that caused your madness, so I'm going to make this as easy on you as possible. I beg you, don't fight it."
Renault raised his fists and roared. "I will oppose you to the end. Surrender to my superiority!"
"End him, Holly. He doesn't deserve to keep breathing after what he's done."
Holly spun around and saw Fiona standing in the doorway. She was holding Matty, barely keeping him upright.
"I'm so sorry," Holly said. The ache of losing Max cutting her deep. "I wish we could have figured out another way."
"Another way? You say that like you had a choice."
"In the end, it wasn't my choice that mattered. It was Max's. He made it possible for me to vanquish Renault once and for all."
Fiona's ire evaporated. She leaned sideways and saw the mumbling old Reaper pacing behind Holly. "Oh, well, I suppose you should get on with it then."
"Thank you," Holly said, as the woman eased her boyfriend to the ground. Then, kneeling, she slipped to the floor, and cradled his head in her lap.
"Ah, my sweet laddie. You were a rose indeed. Of course, ye were a prickly one, to be sure."
Wanting to give the woman privacy, Holly turned back to her former mentor. He'd diminished even more in the last few moments.
"Go to your peace, Georges Renault. You've fought the hard fight. Time to let eternity have its way."
"Yes," he muttered. "I will rule eternity..."
Holly took a deep breath, and focused, drawing up from the depth her magic. In full Reaper mode, she reached out to him.
In the end, it had been no easy thing, Reaping the former master. He fought her, meeting each touch of her powers with a struggle of his own. Knocking her back again and again until it took every bit of her strength to finally get him in position.
"Don't do this, Holly. I'm begging you," he mewled at the end. "I only did as I was compelled to do, you know. You would have done the same."
"You're wrong," Holly said, but there was nothing but sadness in her tone. "It was all too much for you. Death, any death is a loss. By not acknowledging your grief you merely caused it to corrode your soul until the pathways to your humanity were lost."
"No. You're wrong. You don't know what's right. They council is a failure and all of creation is getting out of hand. They need to be put down." He looked up at her, wrapping his arms around his waist, rocking. "I know what you want. So be it. Come rule with me. Together we can... We can..."
His end was near. A slow, gentle ebb and flow into the next realm. It was both a diminishing and a healing. It was her hope that at last, his soul would be restored once he stood on the other side.
"Go in peace, old one. Calm the waters of your soul," she chanted the old words over him.
Then, at the very last of it, when he was no more than a shadow, he finally settled. "You are a good Reaper, Holly Dent. My finest achievement by far..."
Then, like the gentle pop of a soap bubble, he was gone and Holly remained.
What had to be done was finished. Master Renault was gone.
And with him, the last remnants of the insane course of events that had changed her forever. She did the job, but it was Max and his brother who'd paid the price.
And, once again, Holly was alone.
Truly, utterly, alone.
Taking a breath, Holly finally let her emotions loose, hot tears swelled forth and her chest heaved as she sobbed. It was her time to grieve and she didn’t turn away from it. She opened her heart and gave herself to it.
She was so caught up in her emotions that she almost missed the room changing around her. From the dim recesses of the ancient mansion, she was transported to another place. A place of light, of life and death, a place of endings and beginnings.
She didn't know how long the process took, but when she opened her eyes again she was awash in glaring fluorescence. She'd been taken to a warm, inviting place, as though she were standing in a field of daisies, bathed in warm sunlight.
"Hello," a familia
r voice greeted here. "Fancy meeting you here."
"What the...?"
Jumping to her feet, Holly spun around, searching the bright recesses of her new location to find the last person she'd ever expected to see.
#
Max didn't know how much time had passed when existence began to gather around him once again. Like the sun rising over a quiet sea, there was no glorious arrival awaiting him. No separating of the clouds or burst of heavenly light to reveal morning, but rather a slow, lessening of the darkness. It wasn't long before the world came into being around him.
"What the devil?" he muttered, his throat dry and his voice coarse and uneven.
He heard several voices at once and it took a few minutes for the sound to morph into words rather than garbled speech.
"The devil has nothing to do with it, sir."
"How could he even insinuate such a thing," another voice said.
"Extremely rude, if you ask me," said yet another.
"Please," Max called out. "I apologize if I've offended you, um, whoever you are."
After a few more seconds passed, his vision returned. Blinking, he saw them at last. Three beings, more light than form, stood over him. It was hard to tell what sort of beings they were, but as his senses sharpened, it was easy to see that they were two males and one female.
"There he is," one of the men said. "Come back among the living, have we?"
Max shook his head. "Is that what this is?"
The woman coughed. "In a way. Well, not really."
"Where am I, exactly?"
"This is the chamber of the First Guild of Reapers,” the woman said.
Max let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The brief hope that stirred within him suddenly dissipated. "Right. We're back to this, are we? My trial will commence. A thousand years of prison, yadda, yadda, yadda..."
The three looked back and forth between them. Obviously, something wasn't right.
"About that," the woman began. "We have made a decision regarding your fate. Granted it was rushed, but given what's already transpired, we thought it best to make the decision and declare your sentence."