What if it led to an army of monsters? I had the Spear of Destiny, but I couldn’t even stand.
I took a deep breath and heard an echoing gasp from the entrance to the room.
“What the hell are you doing?” Claire demanded, dropping a tray of cups. I heard Roland shouting and boots pounding up the stairs.
Then I felt magic blooming behind me and glanced over Cain’s shoulder to see Roland staring at Cain murderously. Crimson power crackled around his fists. “Release her, now, Cain!” he warned menacingly. “If the Spear exits that door, the protection vanishes, and we will all die. I won’t let you do that.”
Claire stared at us, torn between attacking Cain and saving me, like I was the innocent victim in all of this. Then Roland made the decision for everyone and hurled power at us.
“Go, Cain!” I screamed, slamming the tip of my Spear into the center of the Silver Door as Cain dove for it.
The Silver Door exploded into splintered shards, and monstrous roars suddenly boomed through the opening like we really had just opened the Gates to Hell.
Roland’s blast missed us by less than a heartbeat as we crossed the threshold, and I heard Claire wailing in horror. “What have you done? You’ve killed us all!” What felt like a waterfall of warm oil washed over me, cleansing me of…
Something. I couldn’t remember what.
The sound of rushing wind and a demonic laughter filled my ears. I was falling and decided I may as well have a scream. But I fell for longer than I could hold my scream. As I was getting ready for a second scream, I realized I wasn’t alone.
Cain was beside me, but he wasn’t screaming. He looked asleep.
Knowing we were about to die, I tried to remember something pleasant about my life. All sorts of memories came to mind—some happy, many terrifying or sad. But the strangest thing of all was…
I had no idea why I was falling.
And why was Cain falling with me?
Chapter 32
I waited for the moment I would splatter onto cold rocks like a Picasso impersonation, but we began hitting clouds. Frigid, wet clouds. They slowed our descent more than they should have, and we abruptly landed on a patch of cold stone no harder than if we had tripped over our shoelaces.
The laughter had grown increasingly louder as we fell, and I scanned our surroundings in a frantic motion, trying to gauge the threat. I saw that we were on a spit of rock hanging in midair—a bridge of sorts—with no other land in sight.
Cain lay motionless ahead of me; even when I poked his rear with the butt of my Spear, he did not move. I risked a glance down at him, fearing I had used him to break my fall and killed him.
I hissed to find his back a wash of raw, burned flesh—still smoking in places. What the hell?
I poked him harder, seeing that he was breathing. “Get up, Cain. You have to get up,” I pleaded, growing increasingly panicked as I swept our surroundings.
Because it was familiar in a strange way. We were on a bridge. A long, thin bridge of stone hanging in midair. We were smack-dab in the center. Well, kind of. The bridge was evenly bisected by a thin line of dark and light. Half of the bridge extended off towards the light, revealing a blue sky and a white throne where the bridge became a circular island of sorts.
The other half of the bridge stretched off into a dark sky, ultimately leading to a black throne on another dark island. Cain lay on the illuminated side of the line, and I was seated on the dark side of the line.
The black throne closest to me was not empty. The occupant was the source of the laughter. I struggled to flip Cain over and was relieved to find that my legs were functional again.
I hesitated at such a bizarre thought. Of course they were functional. Had I hit my head in my fall? Why wouldn’t my legs have worked? I shook off the thought and began shaking Cain. He opened his eyes with a gasping groan, sitting up straight. He gritted his teeth at the obvious pain, but he had his priorities straight. They scanned the bridge like a predator until he found the source of the laughter.
His eyes narrowed, and he struggled to his feet. I helped him, using my Spear to help support his bulk. We faced the creature from the center of the bridge, our boots halfway between light and dark. And I knew him.
Samael began to clap as he descended from the black throne, his laughter fading to an amused chuckle. “Well, well, well, look at what the cat dragged in…” he mused, his cloven hooves grinding down upon the stone bridge at the base of his throne. I could hear a faint tinkling of metal as he moved. Almost like chainmail.
I remembered meeting another Demon named Amira in this exact place before. She had taunted me mercilessly, trying to get me to use the Spear of Destiny against her. But each step I had taken closer to the dark throne had weakened the Spear, and each step closer to the light throne had strengthened it. The two bands of black that marked where the Spear had been broken into thirds were slightly brighter than I remember, but somehow also darker.
I tried to step back, knowing that the Spear still wasn’t fully repaired, and that we just might need its power to survive the next few minutes against the Greater Demon.
Samael approached, white teeth emerging from his black visage. “Go ahead. You’re going to need it at full strength in a few moments,” he said politely. “I don’t need to deceive you. Not this close to the end of your miserable existence.”
I began shuffling back, feeling the Spear of Destiny growing stronger with each step, the fractures rebuilding infinitesimally. Not approaching its original strength, but much stronger than it had been moments ago. Something had happened to it recently, breaking it further, but I couldn’t recall what that was.
My mind felt so fuzzy.
But my strength was alive and well. I could feel my muscles twitching in anticipation, ready for a fight. And I could feel the Silvers in my blood, snarling to be let loose.
I studied Samael as he continued his approach, forcing us into a corner—into the light where the white throne sat. He was just a ten-foot-tall figure in black, with a cloak trailing him for about another ten feet, like an ebony bridal gown’s train. The only features I could make out were his white teeth, his fiery red eyes, and the strange clinking sound.
He finally reached the line demarking the light and grunted. Then he stepped over it.
Smoke lifted from his hooves and I heard him grinding his teeth, but he kept advancing, more of him entering the light, and more of him smoking as a result. I had never actually seen him before, but I knew him deep in my soul. His very presence was a declaration of his name, no matter what body he possessed.
I stared in disbelief, understanding that the light was torturing him and that he also didn’t care. I also noticed that his flesh was made of tarnished silver coins, and his hair and beard were made of scored, tarnished silver chains—the source of the clinking sound. But despite the texture of his skin, his features were…beautiful. Stunningly cruel, but perfect in every way.
His upper body was bare and not as heavily muscled as I would have thought. He was lean and emaciated, but his skin was also flawless, and I got the sense that he was hungry—that he hadn’t eaten in a while and would flesh out easily once he fed.
His lower body was that of a goat, ending in cloven hooves the size of my head, and entirely covered in fur made of more chains. His cloak seemed made of patched leather, and I suddenly felt queasy, thinking they were about the right size for scalps.
Human scalps.
Cain began to snarl defiantly, holding out his bone dagger before him in warning. “Leave her alone. You want a fight, I’m right here, Samantha.”
Samael rolled his eyes—I’m not sure how I knew, since they were simply orbs of red fire—and continued his advance. “You are already destined to join my brothers in Hell, Cain. Unfortunately, you won’t be seeing Abel anytime soon. He got a free pass upstairs.”
Cain laughed loudly, straightening his shoulders to shake my arm off and step between us. “You think I don’t k
now that, Samantha?” he scoffed. “That I haven’t thought about that every single day since I killed him?”
Samael shrugged, not seeming even remotely annoyed at Cain’s nickname for him. Then he glanced over his shoulder, back at the black throne. Lightning flared in the distance, and a steady, rumbling growl reached our ears, revealing roiling clouds as if something was approaching through the sky. The lightning flashed again, and I caught a faint silhouette of a massive figure on a throne, his wings flared out high above his shoulders as if stretching his arms above his head after a long nap.
He made Samael look tiny. To look so large from so far away…I shuddered in horror. I also recognized him. I had seen him twice before while fighting against his minions. This Demon had been a silhouette in their eyes as I watched them take their last breaths after killing them.
I frowned at that thought.
Last Breath…
Samael turned back to us, grinning wide. “He grants your wish, Cain. Thank him, for soon you will serve him.” Samael met my eyes for a moment. “I’ll deal with you in a moment, girl. Don’t worry. I have something special in store for the one who set me free,” he purred, his chain beard swinging and clinking as he laughed.
“What do you want, Samael?” I demanded. “Cain is nothing to you. I think you’re here for something long, hard, and eager to say hello. But we’ll start with just the tip.”
He grinned back. “Naturally,” he admitted. “I can practically taste your hatred, White Rose. It makes this next part so much sweeter.”
“Come get it, then,” I taunted, tugging Cain back beside me.
Samael sighed. “You do not wield even half the power you will need to confront me, Daughter of Solomon. Let alone enough to actually defeat me. Run along, gather some more. I can be patient. Take as much power as you want from the world. Whenever you are content, we will meet. You have but to call out my name.” He continued to advance, looking amused at our defiance. I hadn’t realized we had continued stepping back, my Spear growing stronger with each step.
But his words froze my bones. Was he that arrogant? Or was he telling the truth? I could sense his raw power. It was enough to make my skin feel tight, almost forcing me back.
“You lie,” I snarled, gripping my Spear tighter.
Samael paused. Then he blinked a few times. Finally, he sighed. “Have at it, then, White Rose. I will not move. Do your worst and see for yourself.” He lifted his arms and waited.
“I don’t see any Doors, Callie…” Cain muttered under his breath. I frowned suddenly.
Doors. This was a challenge.
Icy fingers suddenly danced across my scalp at the realization.
We weren’t here to fight Samael. This wasn’t real. Or, at least, it wasn’t my true purpose. I was on a Quest to find Solomon’s Temple. And this asshole was in my way. Maybe I could kill two birds with one stone…
“We just need to stall him long enough to find it,” I whispered back.
“That might be a problem. I don’t think he was exaggerating about his strength.”
“I can hear you, in case you were wondering,” Samael said with a chuckle. “And I want you to find the Doors, Callie. How else would you get the strength to stand against me someday? The strength to avenge Cain’s death?”
We both tensed, expecting an attack, but nothing happened.
Samael grinned. “I’m a Demon of my word. I’ll let you have the first punch.”
I shared a long look with Cain. Then I scanned the bridge for Doors. There weren’t any. Without another word, I drew deep on my wizard’s magic, calling up every drop I could muster. Then I fueled it with white light, something I seemed to recall hearing that most wizards couldn’t do. Something related to my ties to Heaven—whether through blood or happenstance, I didn’t know. Or couldn’t remember. I thought I remembered one other person who could do it…
I waved away the irrelevant thought. Regardless, the white tint made for a stronger punch in the magical arena.
I hit Samael with everything I had—one great concussive blast to his forehead with a condensed vortex of power the size of a dime. Cain groaned as I let the power go, almost knocked from his feet. The release of so much power made me wobble on my own feet, seeing stars and feeling as if I was about to vomit. It was all I could to do continue clutching the Spear and not drop to my knees, panting.
My magic hit Samael directly. He didn’t even try to block or deflect it.
His beard clinked slightly, and he may have blinked.
Samael stared back at me, nonplussed, his smile stretching wider. “My—”
He had been too busy gloating to notice the Spear of Destiny screaming towards his face.
But he had good reflexes. He batted it away like a pesky fly, frowning at it in annoyance. But all I heard was the echoing splintering sound. Not a final snap of breaking entirely, but the more torturous creaking noise. The broken Spear went flying off the bridge—into the infinite sky. I grabbed Cain by the sleeve and leapt off the bridge, my wings of ice and stone chips erupting from my back on instinct. I tucked them close, increasing my speed as we shot down after the Spear. I managed to grasp it and unfurled my wings, halting my descent and sweeping us back up to rise above the opposite side of the bridge than we had plummeted from.
Something snatched at my wing, shattering it with a squeeze before hurling us into the white throne. I felt multiple bones break, and my wings crunch upon impact. Blood oozed from my lips and my vision wavered to show a stunned Cain at the base of the throne, barely able to see straight as he struggled to regain his feet.
I held the Spear in my hand but gasped to find that it was nearly broken into thirds, the wood bowing alarmingly at the weak junctures so that it was no longer perfectly straight, barely able to even support its own structure. Dropping it may have been strong enough to destroy it for good.
And…I was sitting on the white throne, where it should have been at its strongest. I shambled to my feet, falling down the steps to check on Cain, my broken wing trailing behind me, flaring with throbs of agony as it bumped each step. I gritted my teeth, my eyes watering against the pain as I helped Cain to his feet. He stared back woozily, then noticed something behind me.
“The Door,” he whispered eagerly.
“You are free to go, White Rose,” Samael growled. “Tuck your broken wings between your legs and run through your precious Door with your broken Spear. I’m afraid Cain won’t be joining you. I need you properly motivated to fight me down the road, Callie. I don’t want you running and hiding from me when I come calling. Not a second time,” he added, chuckling.
“No…” I whispered, shaking my head defiantly. Then I grabbed Cain’s sleeve. “You can’t have him. If he stays, I stay.”
Samael frowned. “Then you both die,” he explained, sounding annoyed.
“Just go, Callie,” Cain growled, jerking free of my grip.
I snatched back on, harder this time. “No! I’m not leaving you with him!” I hissed.
“Are you certain?” Samael asked, staring directly at me.
I ignored Cain’s protests, answering Samael with a resolute nod. “Yes.”
Samael let out an annoyed breath. “Oh, well. It probably wouldn’t have even been a good fight anyway. I’m just romanticizing it. Perhaps I’ll just kill you instead, leaving Cain to eternally wander this place alone, reliving the moment he lost his second sibling.”
Then, in an absent, almost dismissive gesture, Samael lashed out with a black trident of inky obsidian that was about a mile long. I hadn’t even seen him holding it. I snapped my eyes shut, accepting my fate, knowing I could never dodge it in time. I heard the thud of impact.
But…I felt nothing.
I opened my eyes to see that something obstructed my view. Cain stared at me, his eyes wide. Three barbed points stuck from out of his chest, only inches away from piercing the both of us. He coughed up blood and fell to his knees.
“Idiot,” Samael murmu
red absently.
I gasped, following my brother down to the ground. I was screaming in horror, slapping at his shoulders, hitting him, punching him. “What have you done?” I shrieked at him, sobbing over Samael’s laughter. This wasn’t fair. Wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.
Cain gasped in pain, struggling to draw enough air from his torn lungs to speak. “I thought I’d hold the Door open for you…Sis,” he rasped. He shoved his bone dagger into my hands weakly. “Take it.” Then he coughed up more blood as Samael jerked the trident back from his torso.
Cain weaved back and forth for a moment and finally lifted his hands to my shoulders to support himself. He managed a smile through bloody teeth as I wept, gripping the broken Spear in one fist and Cain’s bone dagger in the other, ready to hurl them both at Samael the moment my brother died.
Cain squeezed my shoulders weakly, drawing my attention. “You tried to warn me…that sisters are the worst. You were wrong…” he said, smiling weakly. “Brothers are the worst. Get out of my room, brat.”
And he shoved me.
The motion was so unexpected that I toppled right through the Door behind me, cursing and screaming as I dropped my weapons in an attempt to snatch onto the frame with my bloody fingers—anything to keep me beside Cain for one moment longer, to at least see his eyes close for the last time.
But all I heard was Samael taunting me. “I’ll be seeing you soon, White Rose…”
I wished I could have told Cain that I didn’t have much longer to live myself, because my vision was already tunneling. I had broken something in my head when I struck the throne.
Something important…
Chapter 33
I landed in a pool of boiling water and instantly screamed as my head went completely under, the water scalding not only my flesh, but my open wounds. My sensory receptors exploded with pins and needles and my skin twitched and burned with both fire and ice, tugging and pulling as the conflicting sensations raced from my toes to my ears. My eyes shot open at the unexpected shock, and then they too caught fire as if flushed with acid.
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