by Shane Morgan
25
Why do people keep putting me to sleep?
When I opened my eyes again, I had on a black dress, was confined to a stone structure, and my hands and ankles were bound.
I scanned my surroundings. It was a large circular room made from rocks with demons positioned at each corner, and others kept watch.
Ren, Zariah, and Rahel stood in the middle, talking.
My mother glimpsed me over the demon master’s shoulder and smiled.
He spun around with a broad grin on his face. “Sleeping beauty.” He walked over and brushed my forehead.
I wiggled my head, disgusted by his touch.
Ren slanted and pointed up.
There was no ceiling. My body was perfectly aligned beneath the alluring full moon.
Looking back at me, he whispered, “Once it is midnight and the moon has turned red, your heart will be covered in black. Your blood will flow into the ground, Calissa, and you will breathe life into our ancient one.”
“Never!” I spat.
He chuckled and straightened from my side, shouting to the room, “Begin the ritual.”
The demons in the corners of the room started chanting like the ones outside.
I squirmed and pulled at my restraints.
Kyle entered then, shooting me a conceited grin as he headed toward the demon master.
Ren smirked. “You’ll be in my son’s bed at the end of this, and you’ll give us plenty of little demon offspring.”
“Ugh!” No way in hell would I become a breeding machine for those evil bastards.
As demon lifeforce seeped into the crevices of the ground one after the other, another would take their place and continue the chants.
Oh shit! My heart pounded faster. I didn’t have much time left.
But the more I struggled and yanked at the restraints, my skin hurt like it was on the brink of tearing.
“Don’t fight, my daughter. This is your destiny.”
“She makes her own destiny!” roared from above us.
Everyone looked up and grunted at the sight of gargoyles flying through the sky.
Hope flooded my chest. Tears welled my eyes.
They came for me.
Lars came to rescue me. The feeling of being valued didn’t die with Shari and Mrs. Crawley. I mattered to the gargoyles.
I was important to someone.
Lars dropped down into the room. Sarayas, Ezio, and many more guardians came down as well.
Ren eyed me over his shoulder and laughed. “Of course, he’s tied himself to you. No wonder he was able to find you.”
The gargoyles readied their weapons and took on fighting stances.
“Well, don’t just stand there,” Ren snapped at the remaining demons in the corners. “Kill them!” He clutched Kyle and Rahel’s arms before they charged as well, grunting, “Not you. Stay close.”
Sarayas drove her sword into the first demon that attacked. Ezio and Lars took on two each, while the other gargoyles faced the rest.
Rahel paced about, impatient, and wanting to get in the fight.
The guardians took down the demons without a struggle. They were no match for Lars and the others.
But my stomach twisted as more demons burst into the room. Too many for the gargoyles.
Lars and the guardians formed a tight circle, ready to fight until the end if needed.
The demons charged for them.
“Hold it!” Ren commanded before the fighting ensued. “As fun as this is, I have more pressing issues.” He swayed his hand over the ground where the gargoyles stood, and suddenly, a large steel cage rose from beneath, trapping them inside. “Stick around, will you?”
“No!” I screamed.
Ezio slashed at the cage.
The iron flickered like electricity and drove him back. He crumpled to one knee, shaking.
“Demon steel. It’ll weaken us,” he rasped out. “We’re trapped.”
Ren laughed in his triumph. “Silly, gargoyles.”
“I’ll destroy you!” Lars growled, striking at the steel even though it hurt him.
“I really don’t understand why,” Ren joked. “You should be focusing on the one who helped us get through your barrier.”
Someone helped them. It wasn’t my doing?
“Lies!” Sarayas roared. “A gargoyle would never help you kill their own.”
Ren only laughed. “Foolish gargoyles. It’s ridiculous how you haven’t realized all this time that a demon is more trustworthy than your own.”
Waving a hand in disinterest, he nodded to Zariah.
She walked closer to me, then shouted to the demons, “Continue the ritual!”
A few of them hurried to the corners of the room and began chanting.
The others stood waiting to replace them once they turned to ash, all sacrificing themselves to Tarekt.
As the fire blazed from the cracks, the gargoyles touched their heads and crumpled to their knees.
I cried, “Stop it! What are you doing to them?”
“Reminding them who is stronger,” Rahel snickered. She pulled out a knife from inside her jacket, the same one she’d used to stab Shari.
Ren touched her shoulder. “Relax, my favorite. At midnight, we will have some fun with your gargoyle friends. By then, they’ll be too weak to fight back.”
“Demon scum!” Sarayas sputtered amid her agony.
Rahel pointed the blade toward her. “I’m starting with you.”
She cackled with her master. I turned my head and peered up at Zariah, standing at my side.
“Please stop this,” I pleaded softly. “Like Shari, I know deep inside, you’re still there. You’re still my mother. You once loved my father and dreamed of a life with him, and me.” I was starting to sweat. Even my voice sounded exhausted.
Zariah eyed me intensely. Perhaps I was getting through. I went on. “Bejo would want you to protect me. You’re my mother. I know you don’t want this for me. Fight the demon controlling you.”
Her forehead creased.
Ren bellowed her name, and she flinched out of it.
“Step aside now, my darling. Allow the darkness to do the rest.” He gestured for her to come to him.
Zariah looked at me, lingered a moment, and then turned and hurried to Ren’s side obediently.
“The moon...it’s changing color...” Ezio moaned out. They were still in misery from the chants.
I glanced up at the sky. The moon was starting to turn red. Almost time now.
“Calissa…” Lars struck the cage, falling weaker once again. “Look only at me and remain strong.”
Rahel laughed. “Persistent guardian.”
“It is pointless, Lars,” Ren jeered. “You cannot stop the inevitable.”
Lars ignored them and continued trying. “Must... save...her.”
His words sent my mind back to the sacred pool and the blue-eyed elder.
No one can save you, she’d said.
I will save myself.
A rumble erupted around us, followed by several more fiery cracks opening in the ground. One opened near the stone structure I was confined to, and I felt the desire to look down at it.
“No!” Lars shouted. “Calissa, do not look into the fire. You must fight.”
“Silence!” Ren yelled. He waved a hand at the cage and rattled the circle containing the gargoyles. They groaned in agony.
My head felt woozy. All I could hear were demon chants urging me to join in. The strange words fell from my lips mindlessly. I didn’t even know what I was saying.
“Stop...Calissa,” Sarayas implored, voice breaking up in her pain. “You mustn’t.”
I ignored her and continued the chants. A dark cloud in my mind swelled and fought to overcome the rest of me.
“Yes,” the demon master cheered. “Give in to the dark, Calissa. Give in to me.”
Rahel readied the blade in her hand and took a step forward. Ren grasped her arm. “Not too deep now, favorite.
Remember, I’m giving her to my son.”
“Of course,” Rahel answered, a devious smirk on her face as she resumed walking toward me. My mother shadowed her.
Reaching me, Rahel lifted my dress and exposed my thighs. I felt hypnotized, uncaring. Another part of me knew what was happening and screamed for me to snap out of it. But that side couldn’t fight.
I felt too weak.
Rahel hovered the blade above my right thigh, ready to slice into my skin. “Tell me when, mast—ohh!”
I stopped chanting as a dagger ripped through her chest. Her mouth fell open in disbelief when fire engulfed the area and spread to the rest of her body.
The demon burned to ash, the dagger vanishing with her. Then I saw it was Zariah who had done this.
Her black eyes had turned to a chocolate brown like mine. She seemed more aware. More human.
“No!” Ren barked. “What have you done?”
Zariah tried to undo my restraints, but Ren waved his hand and lifted her body into the air before she could succeed.
She kicked about and struggled to break free.
It was no use. He was too powerful.
Ren’s eyes burned flaming red with wrath. He growled, “I don’t know how you managed to free your soul, but you will not ruin my plans!”
My mother fought for air and grasped at her throat. She gurgled. Her eyes bulged.
I managed to tear myself out of the trance completely and cried for him to stop. “Let her go, you bastard!”
Ignoring me, he shouted to Kyle, “Finish it!”
The demon bartender ran over to me and picked up Rahel’s blade from the ground.
“Quickly!” Ren barked, still holding my mother in the air. “Spill her blood onto the ground. Raise the beast!”
“No!” I fidgeted my legs, so he’d have a hard time cutting me. Then focused all my energy on driving him back. A force I never knew I possessed gushed from my body and sent Kyle flying backward to the steel cage.
He cried out in agony as Lars’s spear ripped through his chest before he could escape.
Kyle’s body painfully engulfed into flames, burning to ash.
“No!” Ren’s guttural wail echoed all around us.
Irate, he waved his other hand toward the cage. The guardians hunched over and groaned in pain.
Gawd.
While he was distracted, I refocused the same energy to free myself. The chains unlocked. I jumped up from the stone structure and pulled at my mother swaying in the air.
Ren snapped around to me. “Oh no, you don’t.” He yanked her out of my reach and sent her sailing toward the stone wall.
Air gushed from my lungs as I watched my mother’s neck snap. Life left her body, and she went up into a ball of fire.
Rage shot through my veins the same time tears streamed down my face.
“You monster!” I screamed and dashed toward Ren.
The demons who were chanting stopped and cut me off, making me halt. They stood between Ren and me.
He huffed a short laugh. “You freed your mother’s soul and got my son killed. Yet, as troublesome as you are, I am still so excited by your determination and growing strength.”
“And I’m going to use it to destroy you.” I focused all my energy on the demons in my way. They pulled out blades. Killing me wasn’t an issue since they needed to spill my blood for Tarekt.
I wouldn’t make it easy for them.
“Restrain her,” Ren ordered.
But I threw back the demons with an incredible force just as they rushed toward me.
Ren gasped, watching them plummet to the ground hard, going unconscious.
With Lars and the others trapped in the cage, it was only Ren and me.
I lunged for him. He pushed me back with ease, then a wave of electricity circulated through my body as he raised both hands. It was crippling.
“You cannot stop me, Calissa. I’m stronger than you. I am the master of this realm and soon, the entire mortal world. Join me instead.”
“Never!” I screamed. I clenched my fists and tried to fight against his evil force. “You. Won’t. Win.”
“Oh, yes, I will.” Like a ragdoll, he pulled me through the air to him and clutched my neck.
“Calissa!” Lars shouted, fear in his voice.
“I’m going to make you mine,” Ren fumed conceitedly.
“Never.” Trembling, I directed my energy at the cage. The steel bent in one area, creating an opening for the gargoyles to get out.
Though weakened, Lars started toward me.
“Uh-uh.” Ren grunted, “One more step, guardian, and I’ll snap the neck of your beloved.”
“Kill him, Lars!” I croaked, clawing at Ren’s hand.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” He tightened his grip, making me cough. “I’m unstoppable.”
“Calissa!” Lars yelled. “Release her, you monster.”
The demons regained consciousness and rose from the ground, rushing for the guardians. Sarayas, Ezio, and the others fought them off. Lars stayed focused on Ren and me.
“I said, stay back.” Ren waved a hand and shook the entire room. Rocks fell from above, hitting one of the guardians. She yelped and staggered back, but still managed to kill a demon as it came at her. Once they were dealt with, the gargoyles steered their gazes back to Ren.
As they moved toward him, more demons entered, but so did other gargoyles.
The battle continued inside.
Ren appeared agitated. I could tell he was already planning an escape should his plan to wake Tarekt fail.
He morphed his face into its actual form—the ugliest monster of them all. “So much trouble. And for what? I told you, Calissa, you cannot fight the inevitable. I made you who you are!”
Ren took out his blade.
I screamed as he sliced my arm, causing pain to ricochet through me.
“No.” Lars flew over to us.
Ren waved him aside with hardly any effort, and Lars hit the ground with a terrible thud. He struggled to rise.
The demon master released me and started for the scorching crack in the ground by the stone structure.
“Stop him!” Sarayas yelled. She defeated a demon, and with Ezio, tried to go after Ren, but he raised his hand and drove them back.
“None of you will stop this! I’ve waited too long.”
The wound on my hand healed. I got up and concentrated hard on Ren’s legs. My head hammered as I used all the strength I could muster. He froze in the spot then slithered to the ground.
“What…is…this…” Ren struggled to move but couldn’t.
I hurried to him and attempted to wrestle away the blade that had my blood. He forced me back with his power, but I fought against it and clung to his body for dear life.
Eyes flared red, he shouted, “Fine then!” I gasped as indescribable pain erupted in my stomach. When I looked down, I saw that he’d driven the blade into me.
“Calissa!” Lars cried. He flew over and held me from behind, trying to pull me away.
Ren made to retrieve the blade, but I clasped my hand over his. Ezio’s side attack distracted him. He had to remove his hand to wave the gargoyle back.
I used the opportunity to yank the blade from my stomach. When Ren turned, I jabbed it deep into his chest until only the hilt was visible.
His jaw dropped. His red eyes expanded as flames started to envelop the area.
“Impossible,” he muttered. “You...”
I rasped out, “Human. Demon. Gargoyle… You bastard.”
Cries bellowed all around us as his entire being went up into flames. It floated into the air and burned to a large capsule of ash.
The blade slowly fell.
Sarayas caught it in time before it hit the ground. My blood was still on it.
The fight between the other gargoyles and demons subsided. The demons had lost their master and were left in disarray. Some managed to form dark shadows and escaped, while others were cau
ght by guardians and destroyed.
Lars picked me up into his arms.
My stomach wasn’t healing. My body was turning cold instead.
We can’t stay inside.
“You…have to take me out of here…” I whimpered in pain. “My blood could still…wake the beast.”
He nodded and carried me out of the large stone room, soaring into the dark night. He landed shortly on a hill. I peered up at his pale face, shone brightly in the light of the moon, which was no longer red.
Sarayas, Ezio, and the other guardians joined us after. They gave us space.
Lars brushed aside my curls with his trembling hand. Tears spilled from his sad eyes and dotted my face. “You cannot leave. There is so much I still want to share with you. So much...”
I stroked his beautiful face. “You’ve already given me more than I could ever imagine. More love than I’ve ever felt. Thank you for opening my eyes…my heart. I love you, Lars.”
“No...please...do not leave me, Calissa. Stay. I beg you.”
“Forgive me. I love you…” I could no longer remain conscious. My vision turned hazy, barely seeing the gloomy faces of Ezio and Sarayas, and the man I loved. I wasn’t ready to leave.
Please, God, if you’re listening, let me stay here with him.
26
Endless white consumed me. I was no longer in Lars’s arms but alone in a mist. A towering pale figure stood ahead, waiting for me.
“Who are you?” I asked.
My voice echoed in the emptiness surrounding us.
The gargoyle spun and smiled at me. “Hello, my daughter.”
“Bejo?” I felt a sense of familiarity. A connection. Tears ran down my face. “Is it really you?”
He stepped closer and regarded me lovingly. I could see a resemblance to him.
Without another thought, I sprang into his arms, hugging him tightly while sobbing. “Dad...”
I felt covered in great affection.
“I’m very proud of you, Calissa.”
“You are?” I laughed through my tears, and he wiped my cheeks when I eased back to look at him.
“Yes, you stopped Ren. Only you could do that. And you freed your mother. Something I’d failed to do.”
