“You must remain quiet. Do not remind him that you’re here!” the guard insisted.
Evangeline stared at the door the male had left through. Finally she gave the guard her attention, her head slowly turning to him. “Who is he?” she asked, clearly shaken.
“You don’t know who he is?” the guard asked incredulously.
Evangeline allowed one of the tears she’d been holding back to track its way down her face. “I don’t even know who I am,” she confessed.
The guard seemed to take pity on her, and moved closer to her. “He is the lord of the underworld. The Dark One.”
Evangeline’s eyes grew wide. “Surely you are mistaken!” she gasped.
“Not at all.”
“But… he’s so beautiful!” Evangeline whispered in disbelief.
“Do you truly think he could sway all the souls he does if he was hideous to look upon? He is temptation embodied, Evangeline. And you must stop calling out. You must stop bringing attention to yourself. He gets distracted — forgets you’re here when he plays with the others. Allow him to forget, you are safer that way.”
Evangeline was looking at her curiously. “You said a name. You called me Evangeline. That’s me. I remember! I’m Evangeline! You know me!” Evangeline stepped toward the guard.
The guard’s deep blue eyes reflected the sadness he felt. “I did. Once. But now, I’m here, and I watch over you. Please, stop making my job so difficult. Is it not enough that I’m forced to take your place in his bed this night?!” the guard hissed. He turned his back on Evangeline and pulled the door opened to leave Evangeline alone again. He paused in the doorway, looking back over his shoulder at Evangeline. “Your love does want to save you. You are correct about that. And your memory… it has been intentionally tampered with. Do not blame yourself for that. You were not broken until you were brought here.” Then he was gone, pulling the door closed behind himself.
Evangeline listened to the click of the key in the lock, securing her inside her cell. She wrapped her arms around herself and wandered over to her cot. She slid up onto it and lay there, murmuring into the empty space. “My love wants to save me, not hurt me.”
But she couldn’t for the life of her remember her love. When she tried, she saw only a purple mist swirling in her mind. ~
Lore watched from above, a smile on his face despite the memory he looked down on. The reason? His Evangeline remembered his words, and they comforted her. True, she didn’t remember him at the moment, but she remembered the idea of him, and she knew he was coming for her. And she was strong! She’d stood up for herself.
He rose to his feet and reached into his pocket for the fire crystal. He looked around his feet, turning this way and that, while he patted his trouser pockets. He’d lost the damn thing. He started to retrace his steps, kicking the fog as he went, but the sound of whispering in the distance caught his attention. He stopped moving, became perfectly still, and cocked his head, listening, trying to determine exactly where it came from.
He grinned, raised his head, and started off in the direction of the whisper. As he walked, looking for the fog to clear, so he could look down on the whisper he was hearing, he thought of the last memory. He thought of the guard doing his best to protect Evangeline. His words came to him suddenly. The guard had told Evangeline she wasn’t broken. Her memory had intentionally been scattered. “She’s not lost herself at my hand!” he said aloud.
“All of this is at your hand!” Acaelo screamed at him.
Lore didn’t step back at all. Acaelo had materialized directly in front of him, so angry spittle was flying toward Lore’s face as he spoke. “I take full responsibility for all my shortcomings. But this,” he waved his hand to indicate the place he was stuck in and all the memories he’d witnessed, “this is at your hand.”
“You brought it…” Acaelo began to shout, but Lore interrupted him.
“I brought it all on myself! Myself! Not them! I brought it on myself! You wish to punish me? To make a misery of all I am? Then do it! I will not even resist you! But these are innocents! You have committed atrocities that others would have perished for eons ago! How dare you speak to me about my actions?!”
“You stole my mate!” Acaelo screamed.
“If she’d have been your mate, she’d not have even considered me! Nothing I could have done would have taken her from your side! You knew full well, she was not your mate! She was your female, most certainly. And I was wrong. I deserve to be punished for that. But she was not your mate! And you need to stop! Don’t you think it’s enough? Don’t you think we’ve all, every one of us, you included, suffered enough?”
Acaelo, his mind twisted with hatred and jealousy, his heart long ago shriveled and turned to stone, stood glaring at Lore. His shattered sanity searching for the proper punishment, the final blow to remove this blight from existence once and for all.
Lore took Acaelo’s silence for denial.
“Ask her! Go on! Ask her if she was truly your mate.”
“I cannot!” Acaelo finally screamed. “She is no longer!”
Lore was stunned. The words he planned to say leaving him. “You killed her? Because I seduced her, you killed her?” he asked disbelievingly. “She was human. She was not at fault. I was. She stood no chance against my advances; I took advantage of that. She was not at fault!”
“Death was too good for the worthless trollop! She could not stay true to me! Me! I am all! I am everything and all — you included will bow to my will! She turned her attentions to you! She had me and turned to you!” he screamed so loudly that the fogs shifted, the surface that supported them shook, and the thunder sounded in echo all around them.
Lore stepped forward, prepared to sacrifice himself to take this male, this completely unhinged, insane, and dangerous male out of every equation from this day forward. He knew he was little more than human now. He knew he’d been stripped of all his powers by this male, the male who used to be his brother, and by his jaunts into Hell to free Evangeline. But it didn’t matter. He had to try to stop him from destroying all life in all realms because that was surely where Acaelo was headed. No one and no thing would be safe as long as this warped male believed himself the overseer, be all and end all of all realms, all life, all of existence. Lore knew he’d not survive, but he hoped that if his sister and his brother learned of his demise — and surely they would — once he was gone, they’d figure out that nature remained intact. And they’d have to surely see that his brother now held all his powers along with his own. They’d struggle to gather his former powers from his brother and distribute them as best they could to keep all things in balance. But surely, they’d contain this mad male before all was lost.
Lore let out a guttural snarl and launched himself toward Acaelo. Acaelo smiled evilly, his secret hope for Lore to attack him so that he could end his life justifiably, finally coming to fruition. He raised his hands, gathered his silver mists, sparkling dangerously with Lore’s own purple tinted energy, and threw them toward Lore as he descended on Acaelo.
Lore winced, preparing for the energy to shoot through his body, but did not stop his attack. He fell to his hands and knees, barely catching himself as the murky haze of fog surrounded him, obscuring all but his head and shoulders. There was a roar around him, the noise so great that he instinctively raised both hands and pressed them against his ears lest he go deaf from the unmeasurable din. He looked down at himself, realizing he had not a mark on him — then, he quickly spun to face Acaelo, sure that he’d be upon him momentarily. It took a moment for his eyes to focus and fully absorb the gravity of all that was taking place. But when he realized what was occurring, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
The fog was no longer white. It was swirls of deep midnight blue, swirls of pale green, and swirls of pale purple twisting with slight silver fingers of light woven through it. The insufferable noise berating him was a result of a great battle. His brother — Terrus, and his sister — Lucitari, wer
e battling Acaelo. Acaelo was trying to battle them in return, throwing everything he had at them. Even the spheres of energy that he’d stolen from Lore, when stripping the majority of his powers, were being tossed at Lucitari and Terrus. But he was losing. And each time he’d toss Lore’s lethal shots of energy, now mixed with his own, in her general direction, his daughter, his Danae — now Lily, would step forward and raise her small hand to intercept it, absorbing the energy into her own body.
He watched in shock. He couldn’t believe it. Carnage stood over Lily, his scythe at the ready. The scythe and Carnage, himself, glowing with a slight purple laced with silver, and green and blue swirling hues were covering Lily from any additional attack Acaelo might think to launch. But they needn’t have worried. Lily was as powerful as any of them. And now, she was absorbing every bit of energy that Acaelo tossed her way.
Lore hurried to get to his feet and help in any way he could, but Carnage glanced over his shoulder at Lore and snarled one word. “Staaaayy!” His face was contorted in anger, his attention immediately went right back to completely focusing on Lily.
Lore knew he shouldn’t interfere — he was as weak as a human — but he couldn’t just remain on his rear in the swirling colored fog while his siblings and Lily fought his battle. He rose to his feet and rushed to Carnage’s side.
“Baaaack!” Carnage ordered.
Lily turned to see what her Papa was ordering back in case she needed to blast someone else and found Lore standing behind her. She grinned and held her hand out to him. Lore, open-mouthed and stunned to see little Lily standing against Acaelo with Terrus and Lucitari, slowly reached his hand out to take Lily’s. As soon as he took her hand, his body started contorting, his head was thrown back, his torso was jerking, and he fell to his knees with an anguished cry on his lips. But Lily held on, refusing to let go.
The battle raged all around them, Lucitari and Terrus beginning to get the better of Acaelo. They were intentionally trying to draw his ire, luring him into releasing as much energy as they could make him release. And each time he attacked them with that energy, they and Lily would absorb it into themselves. Lily was taking the brunt of his energies. If she happened to miss one of his blasts, either Lucitari or Terrus would volley it back to him so that he’d absorb it and try to attack them again. Lily was essentially taking his strength, making herself stronger, leaving him empty.
And now, Lore was on his knees, receiving all the energy that Lily was able to force into him. He remained where he was, his body convulsing. The energy that he’d lost, and some he’d never had, were being forced back into his body, into his very essence.
Finally, Lily let go of him and turned her attention back to her aunt and uncle who’d called her name to step forward with them. They were advancing on Acaelo, their intention to usurp all his strengths, all his powers, all his energy.
Lily stepped forward to take her place beside them, with Carnage tight on her back, his scythe held out in front of both himself and Lily.
Acaelo was furious. His body was afire with all the lightning strikes and energy surges his traitorous siblings relentlessly attacked him with. And his strength was waning quickly. Every single attack he initiated, that damned brat parlayed to her own benefit! Absorbing his energies into herself.
He turned away from them, attempting to gather his mists and run from their onslaught to fight another day. But Lily darted between Lucitari and Terrus, intent on getting all his strengths so that he could never hurt her Uncle Lore again. Carnage let out an enraged roar as Lily darted away. But he need not have worried. Lore, rising to his feet having recovered from the sudden forcing of energies into him from Lily, gathered his mists, now purple and silver, and was instantly on Acaelo.
Lily stopped halfway there, realizing that Uncle Lore was once again himself, and she need not protect the people she loved from this bad man herself. Lucitari swept forward and gathered Lily to her before retreating and returning her to Carnage.
As soon as Carnage had her in his grasp, Lucitari, along with Terrus, went to Lore’s side, and together the three of them drained Acaelo of every bit of energy, power, strength, and life he’d ever had.
The noise dying down around them was an indication of the vanquishing of the evilness that had become their brother. It was at once a sad day and a peaceful day. It was, after all, an end to a long torturous reign. One they each welcomed.
Carnage realized that Acaelo was no more. He’d been absorbed by the three Ancients standing before him. Carnage looked down at the little girl tugging on his trousers. He smiled down at her, cupping the back of her head with his huge hand. Four, he reminded himself — four ancients. Though she was made of Gargoyle and human, it was the magics of ancients mixed with his and Carolena’s blood and bone that made her the unique child she was.
He held his hand out for Lily to take, and she slipped her hand into his. He led her over to the others. As soon as they stood beside them, Lore grabbed Carnage and pulled him in for a hug.
Lore looked as though he was going to try to speak, but couldn’t find the words. He just shook his head while holding onto Carnage and looking him in the eye.
Carnage smiled and patted his back.
Then Lore looked down at Lily, and she held her hands out for him to lift her into his arms. Lore grabbed her and held her to him tightly. “I love you, Lily.”
“I love you, too, Uncle Lore,” she said.
“How do you feel? Do you need to release more energy into me?” Lore asked.
Lily shook her head. “No. I’m okay.”
“What about you two?” Lore asked, turning to Lucitari and Terrus. Both had very slender, sparkling silver streaks in their hair and throughout their mists.
“We’re fine. We’re balanced. The three of us. Lily makes up the rest, the overage that would have been too much for any of us to take. As she’s able to accept more energies, we’ll pass the excess we’ve absorbed from Acaelo to her. Until then, with each of us carrying what we have now, and Lily with the amount she’s been able to accept, the forces that were Acaelo will be kept alive between us all. The pure parts of him, the good that he once was, will live on in each of us,” Lucitari said softly.
“We had no choice,” Terrus said. “He’d have eventually destroyed each of us and all, as we know it.”
Lucitari nodded, smiling sadly.
Lore, still holding Lily, feeling the immense amount of energy pulsing through her, though she seemed completely oblivious to it, realized what could have become of Lily had they been wrong in what she was capable of.
“If she’d not been able to force any of Acaelo’s energy into me, what would you have done then?” Lore asked, knowing they could have seriously wounded her or worse, had she not been able to do all they asked of her.
Terrus held out his hand, and from only a few feet away, the fire crystal lifted out of the fog and raced directly toward him. It slapped itself safely into his hand, and he held it out to Lore. “Our plan was to trap whatever energies we were unable to absorb in the crystals.”
“But she’s stronger than we gave her credit for. She handled all that came her way, only considering letting any of it go when you grabbed her hand. She’ll be stronger than all of us one day.”
Carnage looked at his daughter proudly, nestled safely in Lore’s arms. He winked at her, scrunching his nose right after. His way of saying, ‘I love you’.
“She’s as brave as her father,” Lucitari said, conviction in her voice. “You should be very proud of your girl, Carnage.”
“Am!” he answered forcefully, looking at her lovingly.
Chapter 20
Carolena sat on her back deck in her favorite chair, surrounded by those she loved and who loved her. They milled about, sharing lunch, laughing, telling stories, doing all they could to distract her and to give the appearance of just another lazy afternoon filled with good food and friends.
Carolena rocked that chair as though she were riding a ho
rse, and it would carry her away to the places her mind now wandered. The look on her face was tense, her eyes sharp, darting from Boon, where he crawled and played with Destroy and Shane on the blanket they’d laid out for him, to Enthrall, who would incline his head as though to say, ‘It’s going to be fine’.
She tried not to look closer at Enthrall. His face was strained as well. She knew that he was trying to put on a brave face for her benefit, but was, in fact, as worried as she was.
Rowan came out of the house, her hands carrying a tray with glasses on it and a pitcher of lemonade. “Anybody want some lemonade?” she asked.
“Me!” Shane called, jumping to his feet.
“I do!” Felicity said from her place on the cushioned chair Enthrall had brought outside for her. She smiled down into the face of her son, quietly sleeping in her arms.
“Here, Lici, let me take Zeke for a while. You relax and have your lemonade,” Enthrall said, taking Zeke into his arms and looking down at the sleeping child. His face said it all. He was completely head over heels in love with his baby boy.
“Thank you,” Lici said, accepting a glass from Rowan as soon as Enthrall had taken the baby.
Enthrall walked over and took a seat on the blanket near where Boon, Shane, and Destroy played. Boon immediately took notice and crawled over to where Enthrall sat. Boon grinned as he braced himself with a small hand on Enthrall’s knee, while pulling himself up to his knees to get a better look at the baby.
“You see?” Enthrall asked Boon, pulling the soft flannel blanket back from Zeke’s face, so Boon could better see him. “He’s going to be your buddy one day.”
Boon grinned and leaned toward Zeke, where Enthrall held him out to him, so he could see. Boon leaned toward Zeke, drooling, open-mouthed.
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