by Karen Swart
Nina was confused, her eyes drifting between her mother and me. “Of course, mother,” she replied.
Well there goes all hope for the Fallen.
Look at how easily they just recruited Nina.
Kali grabbed her under her chin and forced her to look at her. “If you betray us, I will kill you myself,” she threatened.
Nina didn't even flinch, but nodded.
“Good, now that’s settled, shall we have some fun?” Kali giggled, her eyes turning to me.
I could feel my blood dripping down my shoulder towards the ground. I was losing blood at an alarming rate.
Not good.
My eyes never left Kali's. Regardless of what she said, I had been trying to free myself. My shoulder started to tingle.
“Now, what are we going to do with this little problem?” Kali asked with her finger on her chin.
The more I looked at her, and her behavior, the more I couldn't believe that this was the Kali I knew. The Kali that had stuck with me and was by my side through everything.
She moved fast and I screamed from the blow. Looking down, I saw the dagger in my upper leg, blood pooling around the base of it. A very evil laugh brought my focus back to her sadistic face.
“Where is your Chax now, Kas? Where is that warrior you called yourself? You are worthless, but at least you helped us get the relics.” She taunted me.
I needed to stall my death and try to find a way out of this. If I could free myself, I could take them all down on my own.
I reached for my hellhound and transformed as more pain shot through me. But I didn't voice it.
“Oh so sweet, look at her hellhound with her red eyes. Oh please, don't go born on us,” she taunted.
In hellhound form, I tried again. It was difficult. The swords had pierced through my wings as well and trying to use them was impossible. Using my legs, I tried to rip free of the swords, but nothing worked.
“You are trapped, Kas. And soon you will be dead.” Kali amused herself again.
The tingle in my shoulder started to turn into a burning sensation. I looked around me and my eyes drifted over the others, who just stood there, smiling. All except for Nina. She had made her way to my left and stood just behind Arianna.
“Let’s cut off her wings,” Seth suddenly said and I whipped my head to face him.
He was also a big shock. Never did I expect him to betray me like that.
Kali laughed and grabbed a dagger from her side, walking towards my back I started to fight with everything I had inside me. Finally, the swords lifted from the ground.
“Damn it!” Kali yelled, and before I knew it, they were on me, pressing me down.
I roared in pain as two more swords were pressed through my abdomen. I looked down and bit back another scream.
Holy crap! They were going to kill me! No way, I won’t allow it!
I reached down and found my born.
I am going to release her, to hell with it!
Fury spread through me and I embraced it, stepping back to let her handle things. I watched from the back as she roared at the sight of the swords pinning her down. With one jerk, the sword that pierced her left shoulder was jerked out of the ground. With another jerk she freed the other shoulder.
“Hold it down!” Kali yelled again.
Everyone jumped me at the same time. Swords and daggers were pressed into me. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Nina. She stood at the back, anger simmering all over her body. She looked up, towards the back, then removed her swords and nodded.
I roared and head butted Seth full force, causing blood to spurt onto my face. I sank my teeth into Jules and held on. Chaos erupted around me. Screams and roars echoed off the surrounding walls. But I didn't care. I had one of them in my jaws and I wasn't letting go. I eased one hand out of the ground and used it to remove the others weapons. One by one, I started to pull them out while Jules yelled and screamed as my mouth pierced her flesh. With her hands, she tried to pry herself from my grasp. But considering the size of my fangs, it was of no use.
When both my hands and upper body were free, I wrapped my hands around her neck and ripped with all my fury. She was ripped in two and I threw her away. I made quick work of the remaining weapons and looked up, ready to kill more. There was a battle around me. Chax was fighting Seth and Arianna, and when I looked to my right, Nina was fighting Marcus. I searched for one more and found Kali running down through the door. I launched myself up and stormed after her.
She is so dead!
She curved around corners and the more we ventured into wherever we were, the more jagged the walls started to become. I started to gain ground, which she discovered when she looked back. She screamed and transformed to her harpy. Blocked in by what looked like a cave hallway, she had nowhere to go.
When I saw that the hallway was opening up in front of us to a bigger room, I pounced on her and took her to the ground. She struck my nose, but I didn't let go. With a roar, I brought down my fist, slamming it into her skull. She shrieked and tried to punch me back.
“Now you die,” I rumbled.
Grabbing her hair in my hand, I dragged her towards an open space. I looked around and saw that we were indeed in some sort of cave. If it wasn't for my vision, I would have been lost in the darkness. Kali shrieked as hard as she could and tried to get her hair out of my hand. I lifted her into the air to get her face close to mine.
“You forget that it doesn't work on me.” She stopped and hissed at me.
“You can kill me, but you won’t stop him. Soon all of you will be dead!” She pronounced.
I looked at her then. The girl I once knew never really existed. It was an act from the start. Angry at her, I threw her into the cave's wall. She hit it hard and crumpled to the floor.
“Why? Why did you betray everyone like that?” I had to ask.
I needed to know why she would betray her own kind for a demon. She looked up with blood running down her face.
“Because I wanted to. I didn't want to serve my life away for something I didn't give a damn about. When my parents started talking about me going to the Hellhouse, I ran away. That’s when Gluttire found me and offered me a really nice deal. First, to get rid of my parents, that was so easy. Next, was to spy for him and to find him someone strong enough to get the relics. You were so bendable. It was so easy to fool you into the right direction. Everything we planned, you played right into it, even the setup with Max freeing us.” She spit out the blood that flowed into her mouth.
Yeah she was right, I was pretty trusting. But noted, was, not anymore.
“You killed your own parents?” I moved to block her attempt at escaping, and she started to laugh.
“It was so comical. They opened the door and Gluttire and his legion walked right into our house. They didn't even have a chance to ask me why. Idiotically, thinking that I wanted to waste my life away. Why serve when you can lead?” She was proud of herself, gloating about her part in her parents’ murder.
“You know what? There is no hope for you. Clearly you belong in hell with your friends.” I moved fast and she jumped up to defend herself. She kicked me a few times, but I was now double the size I used to be. She didn't have the advantage anymore. I grabbed the feathers in front of her chest and brought my head down fast. The sound of bones breaking rang through the air. My horns pierced her face and lodged themselves there. She started to gurgle. I ripped her face from my horns and threw her against the other wall. With a sickening thud, she landed but did not move. Satisfied that she was down, I decided to kill her and get it over with. I had a few more “friends” to deal with. Only a step or two separated us when I saw something bright beneath her. I jumped back just in time to avoid her swords as they swiped through the air. She stood and readied herself for battle.
I had no idea how she could still see. One of my horns had pierced her right eye, while the other one was blinking away the blood that dripped from the hole above it. I closed my han
ds and realized that I didn’t have my swords. I would need to do this by hand. She launched forward and I ducked, avoiding her swipes. Keeping my eyes on her swords, I grabbed it at the base of her hands. She shrieked and ripped it backwards. The blade sliced open my hands.
Crap, that didn't work.
She attacked me again, but I had no weapons. I didn't have a lot of options but to counter attack. Without warning, my hellhound took over and pushed me back to take control. Two steps from me, my hellhound brought her fist forward and punched the air. Kali went flying back into the roof of the cave and landed hard.
Wow that was pretty cool. I wonder how she did it.
To my amazement, for the first time ever, she answered. “G-force punches. I use the energy in the air and punch it forward towards her.” Holy heck! She could talk! Intrigued, I stayed put.
Slowly, Kali got up and looked at me. I could see the fear shining in her eyes. She turned and tried to make a run for it. Again, my hellhound jumped into the air and brought her fist down onto the cave floor. Walls cracked around us and the ground shook as the force traveled its way to the wall and towards Kali. She stumbled and fell, her sword sliding towards us. Calm and in no hurry, my hellhound walked towards the swords and picked them up. Now we had a weapon. But to my amazement, my hellhound threw the swords back into the cave.
“Why the hell did you do that?” I hammered her.
“We don't need them,” was her reply.
We walked up to Kali and grabbed her. She dangled in the air as we lifted her up, her feet swinging.
“Traitor.,” my hellhound spoke.
Kali, defiant even to the end, lifted her head and smiled. “You’re all going to die.”
With that we had both had enough. Using only our hands, we ripped her into pieces, her blood splashing over us. My hellhound retreated and let me take over once again. I had to say, that was kind of sick and demented. I preferred my swords. A huff came from the back of my mind. Someone stormed into the cave so I turned and prepared for the fight. Chax looked around and saw what was left of Kali. Nina came running and stopped next to him.
“Kasadya?” Chax asked, looking at me.
“I'm Okay. But I am really tired,” I replied as I lost my grip on my hellhound form and transformed back to human. I was more than tired. My blood loss had just kicked in and my vision was blurring. I felt arms grab me and I was lifted up to face Chax.
“I'll get you out of here,” he assured, and he shifted us out. He didn't shift to his house. Instead, we ended up at Maia's place. Chax yelled for her and moments later I saw her running down the hall, her eyes going wide when she saw us. “We need Amon's mate as well,” Chax ordered her. She nodded and closed her eyes as she grabbed her bracelet. Seconds later, a fuming Melissa zeroed in on me.
“I left for a few hours only to find you like this again. Can you not take care of her?!” She screeched at Chax and me.
Their hands were on me as I was pushed onto a bed that I knew all too well. My head rolled to the side and I watched Nina as she stood at the door, her eyes watching their every movement.
“You didn't cave,” I whispered to her.
Her eyes traveled to me and with a smile she said, “A Fallen to the end, Kas.”
With that, I passed out again. This time I was eager to go into the darkness. I hoped the child was waiting for me and I would have another opportunity to look at the battle. I needed to find more answers. I needed to save us.
Chapter 11
I walked around in the darkness, calling out to the child, but quiet was my only answer. A small light flickered in front of me. The darkness receded and the beginning of the battle played out before my eyes. I walked with the hellhounds to take the first line of defense. I turned to look back at the others. Chax nodded to me and turned towards the Fallen.
“We have fought many battles. Some were over quickly, others lasted years. But one thing still remains. We are still here. The Fallen have protected mankind for many years. It is our responsibility, not just to our Sire, but to every soul out there, to protect it for another thousand years. We will not yield, we will not accept evil. Together we stand and fight for the one thing our Sire gave us. We fight for love. If not for our own loved ones, then for His and the ones he love. But we will fight with every ounce of love we still possess. Brothers and Sisters, today we protect earth! Not because we try to make amends for our mistakes. We fight today to tell every evil out there that we are here!”
The Fallen roared. Everyone was prepared to fight to the last breath to protect this world.
Then Chax turned towards me and nodded again. I turned and looked at the hellhounds around me.
“We were created to destroy; within us is something no other can comprehend, except for those of us who live with them. They were made unique, because they are unique. Today we will unleash God’s wrath upon this evil and show it why we were created!” My hellhounds roared to my creed.
I turned to look at the wall, transforming to the hellhound I was meant to be. Rushing forward, I needed to be as close as possible to see every detail. There was a sudden shift in the ground and then a light spilled onto the battle field. Slowly the wall began to break open, revealing millions of demons beyond it. And so it began.
“Flyers!” Chax yelled and I turned to look back at him and the flyers.
Something had changed. They were not just storming forward. Fae and harpies leapt into the air and positioned themselves a few feet in front of the hellhound line. The demon horde was approaching; the ground shook with the sheer force of the feet marching upon it. Just as they reached the hellhound line, Chax yelled again “Release!” The fae and harpies started to throw objects at the demons. The moment the objects hit their target, huge explosions rocked the ground as demons flew all around. Hope sprang into my heart as I watched the scene unfold. I was right about the bombs this time. The demons were being dealt with swiftly. Then my eye caught the demons closing in on the hellhounds, but they had not transformed yet.
“Now!” I yelled and threw four balls at the demons.
They shot up into the air as black smoke permeated the scene around me. But the bombs only worked for a short while. Ballen must have sent every demon on the other side forward, there were just too many, and soon the hand to hand battle began.
Crap! I saw this before. The moment hadn’t been changed. I looked around frantically, desperate to find more clues.
“Nina!” I yelled.
What? Stopping, I looked up at myself. I was nodding to Nina and she was nodding back. With a burst of speed she ran and threw the silver net balls around the Fallen. More accurately, around Chax. My eyes caught movement to my right, and I turned to watch myself storming forward. I knocked the demons back with my new found g punch and tore through them. A few yards away from the hole, my hellhound roared and pushed forward with everything she had. She tackled the demons coming through the hole. When she hit the ground a huge blast went off, sending everyone flying. I stood there, shocked to my core.
The hole was gone; there was no sign of it. But as I looked around there was no sign of me either.
“NO!” A scream filled the air, and I turned to see Chax running to where the hole had once been. He slammed into the invisible wall and pounded his fits against it. The air rippled from the g-force punches he threw. But nothing happened. Michael and Raphael grabbed him and secured him.
“I am sorry, my friend. I am so sorry,” Michael said, his arms pinning him to the spot.
Chax’s eyes were huge and he was more than just pissed off, he was heartbroken. I looked back at the battle and knew. Fate was a funny thing; it creeps up on you, and then bites you on the ass. The rest of the Fallen were swiftly taking care of any stray demons and soon only smoke remained. Chax had calmed down, but still looked at the wall. I stepped over towards him and collapsed on my knees in front of him. He was looking at the wall with so much hope, but there wasn't anyone coming back through that hole. Acting on ins
tinct, I reached and smoothed my hand over his face. His hand came up and tried to grab it, but I was nothing but air.
“Kasadya,” he whispered, his eyes closing in pain.
“Kasadya?” Chax’s voice brought me back to reality.
This time I wasn't surprised. I opened my eyes and his green eyes were there to greet me.
“Hi,” I said, smiling at him. He frowned at me.
“Are you Okay?” he asked hesitantly.
Am I Okay? Hell no, but relieved.
I now knew what my real destiny was. And for once, I didn't have a problem with it. I would gladly offer my life in order to save those that I cared for. And the rest of the world. I smiled at him, my hand reaching out to trace the lines that his frown caused.
“If you frown so much, it’s going to become permanent. You don't want to look like an old man, now do you?” I teased him.
His mouth was hanging open, and then his head snapped backwards.
“Fix her,” he said to someone.
Maia’s blue eyes peered over him, “Kas, how do you feel?”
I laughed at her question.
“I feel super Maia, don't stress,” I replied.
Sitting up, I surveyed the room.
Well now, another room fully packed.
“Hey guys,” I greeted the rest.
“Does she have a concussion or something?” Raphael asked, looking at Maia.
“I don't have a concussion. So what did I miss?” I waved off several pair of hands that tried to help me out of bed, instead raising up on my own.
Looking down, I could see my clothes were covered in blood.