“Stop being so dramatic,” Jeremy said harshly. “The world didn’t break in half, great. So we keep living in it.”
“No, Saros, it doesn’t work that way,” Za’in murmured behind them.
Kayla sprang to her feet, both Intercessors engaging, and threw herself between Sebastian and Kittie’s living ghost. She raised her right arm over her head to deflect his weapon while her body twisted so that the Angelic blade on her left could be thrust out deeper. The world disappeared and she wondered for a moment if she had stared too long into the sun. The heat at her back was unbearable, but she forced it through her internal passageways, weakened as they were by the overuse of her Angelic abilities. Still, the humanity in her wouldn’t accept failure, even if it was a sentence from the Divine. There was suddenly bliss in her blindness as she felt Kittie’s radiant light fill her and move vengefully into Sebastian’s Intercessor. Kayla thought of her mother’s cards and how they led her here. She was The Star — she accepted that a long time ago — but this moment, this was her entrance into Dominion, the throwing off of every doubt, every fear, every promise. She would act now as herself, as someone who is part woman and part Angel, the daughter of Michael and Kiera, Sebastian’s student. She was the girl who was in love with Jeremy and admired Asher, who traveled the world with her friends, her new family. She would no longer be a shield or a weapon, not a burden or prize. Her destiny was her choice. She would be free, sometimes in chaos, sometimes in darkness, but never beneath the weight of another’s will, thirsty for his approval, clinging to his judgments.
Dominion, The Two of Wands. She saw that pair in the bones she held in her hands, the two branches of her heritage. The twin rods were the fires she could set with Jeremy, or that sacred union of moving through a human, as an Angel moved through her now. It was the world that came before and the Earth that was now hers.
Sebastian’s Intercessor, that monstrous mass composed of countless Nephilim, burst into splinters and every shard of divine power he possessed, whether it was borrowed, stolen or inherited, was consumed in fire until there was nothing left but a memory of Heaven.
48
Kayla woke beneath the sun’s warmth with the knowledge that the danger hadn’t passed. She had chosen a world of uncertainty. The sound of tears reached her before the wind or the birds, and she rolled to her side, rising up to meet the sorrow without hesitation. They were still in the courtyard of the monastery, and she noticed her friends huddled in two close groups, bent with grief.
She wanted to reach her arms out to them, but she felt far away, separated by a clouded screen. The only thing that was clear was the vision of Sebastian at her feet. He was lying on his stomach, his body twisted, his clothing singed and torn, his bloody hand held tightly to his chest. She could see his tattoos were gone and his scars were now just clean, white lines. For a moment, Kayla wanted only to pierce his heart with a shaft of her own bones, but when she thought of the absence of his Intercessor, of the hollow ache that must be coursing through his being, pity stilled her hand.
“Both you and your Arch must leave this place,” she said quietly.
“Tregenne isn’t my Arch anymore. There is nothing left of that kingdom.”
Kayla stared at him, stunned. “The Anakim…was that all that was left of your army? There was so much that you owned and controlled. Did you let everything go?”
“I never intended to live as some mortal dictator. The last eighteen years were always meant to be a temporary construction. This path ended today. Don’t you see how many others are open?” Sebastian looked up at her with the same expectations as always, as if no Eclipse ever cast a permanent shadow over their relationship.
“Wherever you’re going, you’ll be alone,” she whispered.
“And so will you,” he replied, rising slowly to his feet. “You will start a new life with your human companions, but something will be missing. The excitement, the fire, the tragedy, they were my creations. Without me, there is no Saros. When you realize it was the fallen Arch that fascinated you, not the ordinary Jeremy, then perhaps we will see each other again.”
“I don’t want a purpose beneath your design. I don’t want a love beside your ambition. This ordinary life you fear is going to be mine, and I’m not afraid to find the divine in a world without you.”
He eyed her softly glowing palms before he spoke. “A world without Sebastian Za’in…very well.” His dark eyes met hers one last time before he turned and walked towards the courtyard’s gate.
Kayla watched as he made his way through the marble walkway and then the towering entrance of the monastery, disappearing into a row of cypresses. She turned her head towards where Kittie was once imprisoned, but the only remaining sign of Tregenne’s presence was his spilled blood.
“Asher!” she cried, rushing to the huddled form that lay beside the dark puddle. Kayla sat beside him, cradling his head in her lap. “You’re alive…you’re alive! How could you be so reckless, attacking Tregenne without knowing I had neutralized his Mods? Oh God, Asher, we really did it, and it’s over…”
“I heard what he said to you,” Asher whispered, “and he’s right: it’s never over. But you’re right too. Today the light triumphed. That’s all we can ask for. I was able to fight with Michael one last time, and you…”
“Ssh.” She pulled the crystal shard from his chest, closing the wound with her warm palm.
“…and you have the one you love returned to you, freed of his demon.”
“Asher, I—”
“I know. You could have loved me, but your heart was already his by the time I tried to hold it.” He turned his head and looked out to see Jeremy on his knees, resting heavily against a simple marble bench, his shoulders softly trembling. His hunched back blocked the light that glimmered faintly above the bench. “He needs you now.”
Kayla embraced Asher when he sat up to meet her arms, and when they pulled away, she allowed her eyes to meet his, holding his gaze for a long moment before she stood and made her way to Jeremy’s side. His voice reached her before she crouched beside him.
“Go ahead and yell at me; tell me it’s my fault. I should have listened to you from the beginning, I know…” Jeremy whispered, his fingers grazing Kittie’s cheeks before they fell through the barrier of her skin as her form disappeared into a mass of light. He choked, then pushed himself back from the bench, his voice rising. “No, fuck this! You didn’t die last time. You think I didn’t see what you did back when I was ten, when you fought for me? You grew heads, wings and eyes; you screamed and caught fire. You were death and glory. Are you glad that I didn’t try to figure it out? I didn’t want to. I wanted you to be you again, with me. I’d kill anyone if they tried to unravel your secret and cause you to explode, or take you away. That time was darker than this one, and you made it through, so pull yourself together now. Haven’t you figured out yet that there’s no point in us being apart…?”
Kittie’s familiar form returned, and the little girl smiled at him from her supine position on the bench. “Were those days darker? I remember drawing pictures with you in the dirt and climbing utility poles. We’d eat whatever we could steal, but you’d always go out of your way to find me something jarred in vinegar, even though you never liked slimy things in bottles. I don’t remember darkness. Even now, I can see your arms are free, and I always thought you were cute when you were bleeding. It’s all okay now, Jeremy.”
His tears fell, and he clenched his jaw to stop any weak sounds from escaping.
Kittie was pure light now, rising up from the bench, and it was difficult to distinguish her brilliance from the rays of the sun. What I lost in Heaven you all have returned to me. Each one of you, you helped me to remember, and in each one of you I see… Her light separated into smaller shafts, shimmering defiantly. Hold on to your joy, because you’re the proof…you’re the proof…
The sun was shining, but silence reigned. There was no longer anything in the air they could recognize
as hers.
“Proof of what?” Jeremy finally asked, his voice hoarse.
Kayla squeezed their palms together, her eyes holding his before looking to her fallen comrade, the somber faces of the three pirates that hovered over him, and finally to Asher’s steady gaze. “The darkness has lifted, and we’re still here,” she said softly. “I see the same thing Kittie did. This isn’t a profane world, made in the image of the Fallen. There is something beautiful here, sacred. It’s the home of our light. The divine can’t abandon us; we can only ignore our connection to it. Don’t you see what we meant to her? We’re the proof that God isn’t dead.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’d like to thank everyone that believed in this project from the beginning. Mr. Bayer, you encouraged my creativity, even when it was crude or ridiculous. This story began in your class. Nicole, thank you for being my cheerleader (and for rooting for Jeremy, when no one else did). Thanks to Tiffany, Michelle, Rachel, Mom, Dad, Ray, and Sifu for listening, reading early drafts, and every small favor that made the next steps possible. And, of course, thank you Grant for all the edits, late-night discussions, and critical questions. This little world is real to you too, and I couldn’t ask for a greater declaration of love.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Angelica Clyman was raised on Catholicism and urban legends, fairy tales and 80s movies. Her love for fantasy books and poetry was put on hold while she pursued other passions, but she found her way back to words and stories after following the seemingly disparate paths of the visual arts, academia, yoga, martial arts, business, dance and magick. Angelica is an artist, educator, wife, and mother. Dominion of the Star is her first novel.
Dominion of the Star (Descendants of the Fallen Book 1) Page 42