Kasadya Hellhound Twisted

by Swart, Karen

  I finished off and got dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then sat down at the edge of my bed. I wondered if his parents told him before he met his end, did they give him the heads up before then? A soft knock sounded at my door, but I chose to ignore it. I knew it was Max; I didn’t need to open the door to find out. Even more, I knew he wanted to tell me a lame story about how that would never happen to me.

  I heard him sigh, turn, and walk down the hall. I might as well end that, too. Starting something only to end up dead wouldn’t make things better. He would try the same thing as the girl and try to talk me out of it, only to see my head sliced off by Chax. Hell yeah, that’s the way to check out in this world. It’s no wonder there is only a handful of hellhounds in this world. Who the hell would want to bear a child only to know he or she would be put down like a dog one day?

  Hell, and humans think that their kids had it worse, try and tell your child on his seventeenth birthday to find his charm or die very soon. My father was lucky, very freaking lucky if you ask me. I might not have been here in the first place. Now, thinking about it, that might have been better; I would rather choose a non-existence before a death like that.

  Get a hold of yourself, Kas, my subconscious said to me. You’re a fighter. If you go, you go out glorious. Yeah, that might be a good end, a final moment fit for a warrior. So I decided then to end my little adventure here in Exsilium. I am going to help Kali get that freaking charm off, then go straight to Ballen and start killing each and every one of them.

  Just imagining that was awesome. Me in my born form taking out one prince at a time, now that sounds more like it. No Chax or Max around to give me grief, no worries about Kali or another one of my team. Just get into Hell, go hellhound born, and enjoy every moment of it.

  My mind more at ease with my final moment in this life, I climbed into bed and drifted into that empty dark space where sometimes—very few—I lived a normal life and loved it.

  Chapter 16

  The day started as usual with someone banging on my door for me to get up. I got up, took a shower, and got my gear on. Might as well wear them constantly now, the moment that charm drops of her neck and she is safe, I am going to start with Ballen and never stop again.

  I walked down the stairs, avoided most of the gang in the living room and went to the kitchen. I found Chax there having a coffee. For a moment I froze, fear gripping me, but I pushed it away. I got out my big girl panties, and strode to the fridge ignoring him flat. I could feel those murderous eyes of his on me, but didn’t give a damn. Opening the fridge I grabbed a juice, closed it, and walked to the exit. I was in no mood for him or any of the others.

  I was going outside until they wanted to do their usual crap like training or something. I had reached the door when from behind me I heard, “I am sorry you had to witness that, Kasadya. But it is the only way to prevent innocent lives being taken.”

  Without turning, I smiled. “Yeah, I just bet it gets you down. You know, having to murder all of us,” I sneered and walked away. Eat on that the next time you go after one of us, you ass.

  Max came into the hallway and stopped, looking at me. “Kas, are you okay?” he asked, swallowing a lump that ended up in his throat.

  I smiled, and walked past him to the front door. “I’m just peachy, Max,” I replied, walking outside. The air was so fresh and crisp; I sucked in a huge lung full of it. Mmm, so peaceful. I walked to a great spot under a tree and planted my butt on the grass, listening to the birds and wind dancing outside.

  I gulped down the juice, tasting the various flavours of the fruit. “So, last night was hectic,” Kali said, coming to sit next to me. I smiled at her and turned to watch a small finch, coming to sit in the branch across from me.

  “Yip,” I replied without looking back at her.

  “So, I know you don’t like pestering, but are you okay?” she asked nervously. I looked at her.

  “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” I stated as if nothing last night had gotten to me.

  “You looked shocked, and heartbroken about all of it,” she continued on.

  I gulped down my juice and looked at the bird again. “Was, got over it,” I answered, not really into this crap at the moment, and if she knew me she would stop there. Luckily for her, she stopped and bit into an apple, no more pestering me about crap I had no control over.

  “Tomorrow morning, we go and take care of your death charm. By tomorrow night I want everything over with,” I stated, looking at her.

  She smiled and shook her head. “I know you too well, Kas. What’s going on?” she asked, turning her full body to me.

  Yeah, we knew a lot about each other, really great for a girl, but also sucks in moments like these. “I am not going to die like that, Kali. I won’t accept a death like that,” I reinforced my answer.

  Her eyes grew big as my answer dawned on her, she knew me so well. I hoped that this life is kind to her when I leave. That she and Ryan become mates and have a good life, if you can say that about a fallen’s life. But I pray that her life would find some peace when I am gone. “I understand, Kas. I don’t want that for you either,” she said after coming to grips with it.

  We sat there for a little while longer, before Caim came to call us for the day’s activities. Gathered in the lounge, we waited for Chax to give his orders. He was looking at me most of the time, but I had my back to him and everyone else. Looking outside I listened to his orders, and wondered if he even had some small regret about killing the hellhound.

  “Today you will spend the afternoon with your Custos. Make good use of this time, and listen well,” he declared. I smiled thinking how my last day here would be spent with him on my ass. Yip, that’s my life. “Some feedback from Amon regarding the three demons. The first one is completely human now and the other two are showing the same development. A great victory for this war,” he continued on. Well at least that was a good thing, too bad I wouldn’t be here to help turn more.

  “And what of our blood test?” Max asked.

  “They are the same as Kasadya, your blood could heal them, too,” Chax stated and I felt my heart release on that statement. So Max and Ryan could go on with it, with them there would be a cure they could use in this war. Well, that is until they go hellhound themselves.

  “What will happen to the first demon now that he is cured?” Lada asked.

  “The archangels will assist him into the human world,” Chax replied. I felt a shift in the room and new voices greeted. My mother among them, still I just looked outside, I didn’t want to see her face. To me this morning was our goodbye. A hand came to rest on my shoulder.

  “We will never give up on you,” she whispered at me. I turned and looked at her, her eyes still red from crying. Mrs. Perfect was losing her touch.

  “Don’t waste your time, and I won’t be dying like that,” I answered her back. She looked at me questioningly and then nodded. Turning around, she collected Ryan and shifted out. Soon it was just me, Abby, and Chax. “We will train somewhere else, Caim and Nanini are training outside.” I nodded and braced myself for his forced shift. We shifted to a beach, looking around it was the same beach we went to when I came to Exsilium.

  Chax didn’t look at me anymore; he was holding his cross and closing his eyes. Another fallen shifted in next to us, a male with brown hair and dark eyes. “This is Aedon, and he will assist us today with elemental magic,” Chax introduced the new guy. I nodded at him and Abby followed suit. “Abby, you will avoid his lightning, and Kasadya you must try and defuse his lightning with your wings. I believe Nanini explained it to you,” he said, his eyes coming to rest on me. I nodded but didn’t look away.

  I wanted him to see me, to know that I would never forgive him for last night. “Aedon, you may take over,” Chax indicated and stepped back from us. I looked at the new male waiting for his attack, but he surprised me.

  “Kas, when you see my bolts coming at you, don’t try and block them. Look at them and t
hen infuse with them. It’s like taking the bolt into your body and there you let it disintegrate,” Aedon explained to me. I nodded and transformed to hellhound, stretching my wings in the sea air.

  I stepped back a few paces to get some space in between me and him, Abby also went fallen and was hovering above me to the right. I saw a surprised expression on Chax’s and the other males faces. My wings were stretching behind me and I could feel that they were taking up a lot of space. They looked at each other for a moment and then Chax nodded to him. The fae transformed to grey and the first bolt came straight at me. Okay, so this is the part where I take it into my body. Opening my wings, I prepared for it as it travelled through the air towards me. When it reached me I didn’t block, rather I opened myself to it, and using my wings folded it inside them. Opening up my wings again I didn’t disintegrate it like instructed, on the contrary, I had full control off it now and sent it back to its owner. Aedon jumped out of the way just in time. Shocked, he looked at me.

  I smiled and nodded at him, there goes my training session. “Stop,” Chax said, walking to stand next to Aedon, his eyes resting on me. It would seem that he was surprised, too. So I take it that wasn’t supposed to happen then. He looked at Abby. “Abby, go over there and continue with Aedon. Kasadya needs some more training,” he said to her. Now that last word was supposed to make me feel unsettled, but this time I just looked at him with a smile.

  He held his cross again, calling someone else. Dagon shifted in next, greeting me with a nod. Chax had a few words with him and I saw the surprise in his face when Chax must have mentioned what I had done. Chax then stepped away from him and Dagon changed to his orange form. “Are you ready, Kas?” he asked. I smiled, nodded, and opened up my wings.

  His fire bomb came at me fast, and the moment it reached me I did the same thing. Closing my wings around it, I opened it up and sent it back to him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t expecting that, and his own bomb hit him full force. He flew back a few steps, landing on his back. I looked at Chax, challenging him to bring it on. He grabbed his cross again, and another fae shifted in. The female didn’t even have to talk to Chax, apparently he’d already told her. She transformed instantly and I watched as roots sprang out of the ground coming for me.

  Hesitant, I took a step back and watched as they travelled towards me. Well, here goes nothing. I lifted my wings as high as I possibly could, and let the roots wrap around my body. I closed my wings around me. My wings brushed against them and they let go, moving up to my wings and clinging to them. I opened up again, and now watched the same roots, shooting from me towards the fae. She called up more roots to block mine, but I flapped my wings and the roots were under ground, jumping up just at her feet and wrapping her in her own little problem.

  Satisfied, I crossed my arms in front of me and looked at Chax again. Dagon went over to help the fae free herself from her own roots. I just stood and watched. This is kinda funny, I mean your own creation turning on you. Next one to shift in was Nanini’s mother, and now that I saw her face, Nanini looked just like her. Small and petite, the female stood looking at me, and then she moved her hand over the mass of water on our left.

  A tunnel of water was now scooping up from the sea, and turning towards me. Oh crap I am going to get wet today. I braced myself again and as the first drop splashed me, I wrapped my wings around it and sent it back double time. Where she created a tunnel, I created what looked like a tidal wave. But I dropped it before her, the water rushing over her feet. Shocked, she looked at me then at Chax. Chax was walking over to them and the four of them got into a heated debate. Arms were flying around, except for Chax, and from the sound of their voices, they weren’t happy about this.

  I was getting bored, so I turned to watch Abby’s training. She was flying around, trying to avoid the bolts coming at her. From what I could see she already had two burns from them. Poor girl, she really wasn’t good at this. Her eyes were huge and she was flying around like a mad thing. “Kasadya, we need to talk,” Chax said behind me. I sighed and turned to face him.

  “About?” I challenged him.

  He scowled at me.“How did you manipulate the fae’s assaults?”

  “I just did it. Have no idea how, but I just did,” I replied.

  He stared at me, saying nothing, and I was looking right back at him. He won’t scare me, no freaking way. Finally he nodded and went back to the fae. After explaining to them what I’d said, they shifted out leaving me alone with him, well except for Abby and Aedon in the back. He walked towards me, his eyes intent. “Let’s see how you do with g-force punches,” he stated while transforming into a vampire. He moved with his super speed, but to me it looked like normal speed.

  He reached me and sent out his fist, I just stepped back one step and watched as he crashed into the sand. Oh glorious day, Chax de Luca is eating sand. Furious, he jumped up and shook the sand off his face. I was standing in a casual stance, looking at him. He stormed again, this time his fist travelled to my face. In control, I leaned back just enough for him to miss me, and he flew over me, his face hitting the sand again. “Well, are you going to hit me today?” I asked bored with his attempts.

  He got back up, and rather than make a fool of himself he walked over to me, and as he stopped in front of me, swung for my face. I barely missed it, and kicked him in the stomach, sending him back. “I won’t be that easy to kill, Chax, that you can be sure of,” I sneered at him with each step I took toward him.

  “You seem in control today, Kasadya, what changed?” Chax asked also coming towards me.

  “I reminded myself that there is no such thing as happily ever after,” I replied as I ducked from his punch. The force of it was so strong that it whipped the wind towards my face. I turned to my left and swung out my wing, again he went backwards. On his knees he looked up at me. I was not advancing to him anymore; instead I waited for him to get up again.

  “Happiness is what you make of it, Kasadya,” he said, trying to change my mind. But I already knew the truth; I already saw it with my own eyes.

  “Now, Chax, we both know that you will be there to make sure it never happens, right?” I asked sarcastically. I could see the hurt in his face, but I didn’t care. Not once did he stop and try to see the hurt and confusion in the hellhound’s eyes, no he went straight for the kill.

  “I had no choice,” he replied, standing up.

  I shook my head and smiled at him. “Yeah, that’s what everyone’s been telling me. Don’t worry, I’ll make it easy on you when the time comes,” I answered, straightening my shoulders and rolling them.

  Instead of continuing on with his training, we had stopped and were standing there looking at each other. Silently we promised each other that should such a moment come, not one of us was going to stand down to the other. He turned and walked towards Abby and Aedon, transforming back to normal on his way there. I turned back toward the sea and looked at the waves crashing in at the shoreline. The wind was whipping around me, so I closed my eyes and opened up my wings. Instantly they grabbed at the wind and I could feel myself being picked up from the ground. This is pretty cool, I thought to myself. Feeling the wind travel into my wings and then turning inside them unable to escape.

  “Return home, we are done for today,” Chax commanded in my mind, spoiling my moment. I sighed and returned back to normal; one last look to behold the sea in its glory. I closed my eyes, and with a last intake of breath, I shifted back to Chax’s house landing on the gateway. I found Abby, looking totally wasted, sitting on the porch with a bottle of water. Looking around I found no Chax, which was good because I’d had enough of him for a while.

  “I really suck at this,” Abby said as I approached her. Curious, I sat down next to her.

  “You’re getting better, Abby, it takes time to develop your fallen body and techniques,” I encouraged her.

  She looked at me with her bangs hanging over her face. “Thanks for trying, Kas, but I am still just as lame as the day I
started. I will most likely die in my first real battle.” She pulled herself down. It was hard trying to defend that, from what I had seen she really wasn’t a fighter, her brains are her best asset. Maybe Chax will see that and rather keep her in Exsilium.

  My silence made her feel even worse so she dropped her head and looked down at her shoes. “You know, I am really good at fighting, but I suck at making plans and getting it done right. I have messed up so many times that it’s a miracle I haven’t destroyed Earth or Exsilium,” I tried to give her some encouragement.

  She smiled at that. “Yeah, I heard about a few of them from Max. But he sees it in another version, he says you make mistakes, but that in time they turn out to be okay,” she replied, a small laugh escaping. I started to laugh with her. That’s Max, trying to create a Picasso from a first grader’s painting.