by K. T. Tomb
She threw Shala hard into the ground. Shala felt the bones in her left arm shatter as she let out a scream of pain.
Maliah IL Eve delivered a roundhouse kick to Sulina’s head, which knocked her off balance then she punched Sulina continuously in the throat, the gut, and the chest. Her attack slowed the evil one and she was able to push Sulina backward with her barrage. The sisters regrouped as Lila IL Eve attended to Shala’s arm. Maliah was relentless with her assault as her own knuckles bled with the force she used. Sulina’s mouth started to bleed, as she tried in vain to dodge or block. Another blow to the head. One more to the gut. No other Daughter could get close; now it was Maliah who was the blur. She would not be satisfied until Sulina was dead.
Sulina was on the ground. Maliah continued her attack. She forgot about one thing: Sulina’s tail. The tail came up from behind Maliah and quickly wrapped around her throat. The tail lifted Maliah high into the air, which gave Sulina a chance to get up. She saw the helicopter heading toward the trees. She smiled and launched the helpless Maliah toward the chopper with her tail.
Maliah flailed around in the air as she screamed. Knight looked in the direction of the bloodcurdling sound and saw the Daughter headed straight for him. What he saw next would stay with him the rest of his life. Maliah’s body hit the main blade, which instantly shredded her to pieces. The front glass of the helicopter was spattered with her blood.
The pilot lost control as he got close to the ledges. Knight waited until the helicopter tilted close to the mountain and did the best he could to anticipate where he would land if he jumped. There was no longer an “if” as he swung himself over to the closest ledge. It was the ledge with the Tree of Knowledge on it. His feet hit first and he rolled up to the tree, striking it so hard that it rattled his teeth and caused his cracked ribs to rebel.
The pilot had to swerve the helicopter away from the mountain.
“I don’t have a choice, Mr. Konstantin. If I don’t try to get us out of here now, we may not get another chance.”
“Out of here?” Alexey asked, even though he knew the answer.
The pilot sighed.
“We must leave Eden.”
Alexey’s adventure was over and he sighed his consent.
“Do it.” At least I will get out alive.
***
Knight looked up at the tree he lay under. He saw the helicopter disappear into the sky. He looked over at the other tree, where Mother Daughter was on her knees, trying to stay alert.
“Mother Daughter?” Knight asked, already knowing the answer.
Myora looked at him. She was tired and hurt and her Daughters were dying in front of her.
“Mr. Knight. You are under the Tree of Knowledge. I would advise against partaking of its fruit.”
She pointed to Sulina.
“It doesn’t work well with some people.”
Knight nodded.
“Listen. You need to be with your Daughters. I can protect the trees.”
Myora showed surprise for the first time in a while.
“Do you think you can protect the trees?”
He pointed to his chest.
“Chosen One? I’ve got this. Help your Daughters save Eden. Help Jess… ima. That’s what I’m here for, right?”
“Be good to Jessima, Evan Knight. You need to treat her as you would a queen. After all, she is Biblical royalty. You have my blessing, Chosen One. God bless you. It is an honor having met you.”
Knight smiled. Before he had a chance to say anything in return, Myora IL Eve stood up straight, nodded at Knight, and allowed herself to fall off the ledge.
“No!” Knight shouted. “I didn’t… know…”
He realized by her look that her mission was almost over.
What the hell is she doing?
There were only four Daughters left alive, including Shala, Calisto, Madeira, and Jess. All circled Sulina cautiously, examining their opponent for any weakness they might exploit. Sulina showed that she was worn from battle, but she still had enough energy to dispatch the last of the Daughters if they were foolish enough to attack her. All were breathing hard.
Shala was the first to act. She aimed a high knee kick to Sulina’s head, which knocked her back a few steps. Sulina responded by grabbing Shala’s throat with her tail and squeezing.
Calisto attacked next, only to be backhanded before she could connect with Sulina’s grisly form. The tail tightened around Shala’s throat as tears ran down the Daughter’s face. She looked at Jess and mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.”
It was at that time that Mother Daughter reached the ground of Eden. Her feet touched down lightly. As soon as she had both feet on the ground, a light emanated from her feet and ran along the ground until it connected with Calisto, Jess, and Madeira’s feet. The light engulfed their entire being. It failed to reach Shala, because she was not on the ground. The light avoided Sulina, who grew even angrier at the appearance of a sister who just wouldn’t die.
The light consumed Myora as well. Sulina threw Shala on the ground and turned her attention toward her sister.
“Not this time, bitch!” She rushed the Mother Daughter. The Daughters couldn’t move while surrounded by the light. “Mother!” cried Jess.
Sulina picked up speed as she lowered her head and aimed straight for Myora. At the last moment with her chiseled teeth bared, she leaped at her as a jungle predator would leap upon its prey.
As soon as Sulina bit into Myora’s neck, the Mother Daughter exploded into a blinding flash of light. A pure light that none of them had ever seen. When Myora exploded, her light spread quickly throughout all of Eden. The trees that had been charred and burned away by Alexey were renewed. Everything that was dead was given life again. Each Daughter that had died rose up, surrounded by the light of their Mother Daughter and the light of their Father.
Once all of the dead stood again, the tattoos on their backs started to come to life. Falcon and eagle alike, the wings on the tattoos grew and became real. They stretched out at least ten feet. Mother Daughter appeared in pure white light with a full wingspan as well. Ellisia flew out of the mountain and landed next to her Mother. The four remaining Daughters looked on in awe. Shala picked herself up off the ground and looked at the white glow that surrounded her sisters. Where were hers?
Glowing, but fading with intensity, Myora IL Eve went to the four Daughters one final time.
“Take care of Eden, my children. It is time for you who survive to take up the mantle and bring new life to her.”
She winked at Jess. All of the fallen Daughters spread their wings and flew into the heavens as the sky opened up to reveal an eternal light. As soon as the last one was through, the sky closed.
Sulina was furious.
“No! Myora! You can’t do that to me! I can still win!”
She looked up at Knight and the two trees. Knight looked down at her. “Here we go,” he muttered nervously. He had no idea how he was going to face her after seeing what short work she had made of the more than formidable Daughters of Eve.
Sulina dug her hands into the mountainside and propelled herself upward. She reached the ledge with Knight on it. He was standing in front of the tree.
“You’re not getting this tree! I have your number!”
“Foolish mortal,” Sulina responded. “That’s not the tree I’m after.”
Knight could only watch as she jumped to the ledge with the Tree of Life on it. He had to get the other ledge; something he hadn’t considered while he was watching the scene play out below him. He tried to judge the distance and determined that he could probably make it. If he was wrong… well… You can’t be wrong, he told himself.
He backed up to the farthest side of the ledge, filled his lungs with air and emptied them again. Here goes nothing. He sprinted for all he was worth, coming to the edge and launched himself toward the other ledge where Sulina had landed. Though he twisted his body and pumped his legs in the air to propel him further, he still came up short of l
anding on the other ledge. With every ounce of determination in him, he reached out for the ledge and caught himself, first with one hand and then finally bringing the other up alongside it.
Fortunately for him, Sulina had already focused her attention on the Tree of Life and had not seen him make the leap. As quietly as he was able, he pulled himself up onto the ledge, swallowed the thick lump in his throat and called out to her.
“Hey!” he yelled. “I’m still in this and I’m here to discuss your future, or lack thereof.”
Sulina turned to see Knight facing her.
“You and those four whelps are the only things stopping me from getting what I have earned the right to receive! Of the whole lot, you’re the least of them. You’re nothing!”
“I beg to differ,” Knight replied. “I’m the Chosen One, bitch!”
Knight gave Sulina a swift, solid kick to the head, followed by a left jab to the throat. She was caught off guard and stumbled backward. He kicked her again and knocked out one of her teeth. There was a trickle of blood from her mouth. He tried to push his elbow into her throat, but she countered with her tail. The tail grabbed his leg and threw him into the Tree of Life, but he rolled away from it, recovering quicker than Sulina expected.
Knight knew this day would come from the moment he found out from Jess who the Mother Daughter thought he was. Along the way, he had doubted whether he would live up to what it all represented. He had doubted his ability to be the Chosen One. He had doubted whether he even belonged in Eden with all of those warriors, but as that moment arrived and rejoined his attack on Sulina, none of that mattered. He didn’t care who or what he was. Nothing mattered except for the fact that he had seen powerful, righteous warriors fall to that smelly bitch and he was the only one left standing to face her. He knew that, Chosen One or not, he was there and it was his time. He was going to prove who Evan Knight really was.
He kicked Sulina in the back and she whipped her tail around at him. He avoided it the best he could and punched her in the back of her head as hard as he could. The tail lashed out wildly, which told him that he was hurting her. She crawled over to the tree while Knight hung on. Her tail cut his face and shoulders several times as he kept up his assault on the Fallens’ leader.
She grabbed the tree trunk with both hands and held on tightly, letting her tail do all of the damage to Knight. When the tail was finally able to get a grip around Knight’s neck, Sulina laughed as it started to constrict, cutting off his oxygen.
Is this how it ends? His thoughts began to question. Is it my destiny to die this way?
He was okay with dying in defense of Eden and in defense of the Tree of Life. What he wasn’t okay with was that if he lost this fight, then the bitch from hell would be free to hurt or kill his beloved Jess. That thought brought out the last ounce of his determination and with it an idea.
Her tail!
That was it. He had to try to get that blasted tail out of the way. He gasped as the tail tightened. He positioned himself closer to where her tail was connected to the body. His eyes teared and his breathing was almost non-existent. He had just enough energy for one last shot. He knew exactly what he had to do. He leaned closer to her, while trying not to inhale her stench and trying to stay conscious. Without further hesitation, he bit down with all of his might on her tail. He bit down a few inches away from where it was connected.
If she hadn’t had her tail wrapped around his neck, he would have thrown up. It was the vilest thing he had ever done… and he wasn’t finished. He bit down further and further as he could hear her wails and screams of pain. His mission wasn’t over yet. It was like biting through a tire that had been placed in an outhouse for several weeks. He closed his eyes, encouraged by what felt like a slight relaxation of the tail’s grip and bit harder than he ever had in his life.
With all of his strength and determination, he dug in deeper. Either he would give in or the tail would.
Blood squirted into his mouth as the pressure eased on his neck some more and then finally, the tail fell away, lifeless, as one last tug pulled it free from Sulina’s body. The severed tail fell from his mouth as he vomited on the ledge, not caring that he was defenseless. Evan’s ears filled with the sound of her bloodcurdling screams. It sounded like several injured animals and demons were screaming in unison. Sulina staggered on her feet as the detached tail writhed like a decapitated snake at her feet.
Knight knew he wasn’t finished. Still weak from the vomiting and the fight, he stood up, hoping that the fabled second wind would come. He had to used up nearly every ounce of strength and it took what energy remained to stand. Sulina looked at him with a look of pure hatred and fury, not realizing where she stood. Knight let out one last heavy breath as he rushed forward and rammed his head into her gut, pushing her over the ledge. His momentum took him with her.
Knight felt a slight breeze as he tumbled through the air. His thoughts shifted to the inevitable stop that he would make once he hit the ground. He had done all that he had the strength to do and he prayed that it had been enough as he closed his eyes and braced for the impact.
The stop wasn’t what he thought it would be. He blinked several times and saw that Jess had caught him before he hit the ground. She smiled through the tears that rolled down her cheeks. Evan forced a smile.
“Please put me down. This is a little embarrassing.”
She placed him down, gently leaning his back against the side of the mountain.
“I love you, Evan Knight,” Jess said as she kissed his cheek.
“You’ve got a lot of guts to kiss anything that’s been that close to hell,” he replied.
The three remaining Daughters surrounded Sulina’s lifeless body. Blood still squirted from the tail stub.
Knight took a moment to catch his breath, glad that it was all over with, but as he gathered himself confusion began to take over his thoughts.
“Wait a minute. Something isn’t right.”
“What’s not right, my love?” Jess responded. “You beat her; she’s dead. It’s over.”
He tried to sit up.
“Then why did I paint what I did? You didn’t use the flaming sword to defeat the evil one. In fact, I haven’t even seen the damn thing yet.”
A cold chill went up Jess’ spine as she realized that what Evan said was true. What he had painted was part of the prophecy. Where she came from, prophecies were always fulfilled.
“Sisters!” she cried out.
The warning came a little too late.
Sulina’s body was no longer lifeless; it was shaking uncontrollably. Jess stood up, as her sisters slowly backed away. The skin on Sulina’s body was ripping apart. It looked like she was molting. As her body was pushed away, the sisters could see that a large, writhing snake-like creature had formed from whatever was inside of Sulina. The mouth formed quickly and its forked tongue flicked repeatedly. The snake’s colors were black and red, the eyes were yellow.
The snake grew rapidly from 6 feet to over 40 feet in less than a minute. Its powerful tail swiped Calisto, Madeira, and Shala back into the forest with one motion. Jess ran toward the snake as it coiled. She jumped up, only to be smacked down. The snake grew even bigger and was about 80 feet long as the head rose up, reaching toward the Tree of Life on the ledge above.
“Still you go after our trees?” Jess queried as she attempted to punch and kick the body of the snake to no avail. It was like hitting solid rock.
The snake rose up even higher until it towered above the ledge and above the Tree of Life. It opened its huge mouth, intent on lowering it over the tree in an attempted to swallow it whole. Jess clambered up the snake’s back, trying to keep her balance as she slipped and slid on its thick scales. Just as the snake was about to clamp its jaws around the Tree of Life, Jess made it to the head. She grabbed the corner of the mouth and used her body weight to drag the mouth away from the tree. As the snake’s jaws closed, she let go and fell to the ground. She twisted her ankle in
the fall. The snake’s momentum caused it to sway away from the Tree of Life and toward the Tree of Knowledge. When the mighty jaws of the snake finally closed, they had engulfed the entire Tree of Knowledge.
“No!” shouted Jess, on deaf ears.
As soon as the tree disappeared from view a bright red, orange, and yellow light appeared between the two ledges. It flickered as something familiar took shape. The flaming sword materialized and levitated in midair above a very narrow ledge.
“Never mind my last comment,” Knight said. “Be careful, Jess. Know that I love you.”
“I love you, Evan Knight. You have fulfilled your destiny. Now it is my turn,” she said. She wished she was as confident as she sounded.
The snake was writhing in pain from swallowing the Tree of Knowledge. At the same time, it tried to bite at the flaming sword to no avail. Every time it got close to it, the sword would pulsate and cause it to draw away in fear.
Jess had only one way up to the sword. It was the same way she used when she moved the snake’s head away from the Tree of Life. She had to protect the tree at all cost. Every time she approached the snake, it swatted at her with its tail. It was in agony and struck out blindly. After the first couple of times, she ran back to Knight.
“Evan Knight, I can’t do it. I can’t get to the sword. I have failed my sisters, you, Mother Daughter, and Eden.”
She started to cry as Knight comforted her.
“You haven’t failed anyone. You just have to get it before the snake consumes everything in Eden. Think about your task, Jess.”
Evan watched her as she buried her face in her hands.
“Listen carefully,” Knight said. “You need to go up the snake’s back to get the sword. You can’t do that, because it’s a little nuts after eating the Tree of Knowledge. You have to use what you can to get to the sword. It’s simple physics.”
She smiled and then grimaced.
“I know what I have to do. Thank you, Evan Knight. You really are the Chosen One.”
She sighed and ran toward the snake. She gritted her teeth with each step on the twisted ankle. She looked up at the sword and then the snake’s tail. She jumped up and into the path of it. It swatted her into the mountain about 40 feet away from the sword. She held her side and ran back to the snake, checking the location of the sword again. She jumped up toward the tail and it hit her into the mountain again. This time, she ended up at the base of the ledge. Her ears were ringing and she had a cut on her forehead.