by Ciara Graves
“Help us,” they chorused over and over.
I smashed my hand to my ear and used my shoulder to try and block the other. I eventually dropped my pathetic weapon and tried in vain to drown out the sound. But it was already inside my mind.
The weight of their presence shoved me to my knees. I snarled, bellowing for them to shut up. The little boy crept closer and closer, that hand turning into one long, sharp talon, ready to gut me. The others crawled down the walls. Their small feet hit the floor, then they surrounded me. The voices grew louder, physically crushing me.
The boy’s feet appeared in my vision. This was not how I pictured dying. As their voices rose, I focused on Lela. I saw her hair and those vibrant eyes as she laughed.
Just as I sensed the boy ready to make his move, another presence pushed back at the demonoids.
“Lela,” I whispered.
The boy paused, but the chanting remained. “What did you say?”
I lifted my head, straining to get out from under the weight of their dark magic. Baring my fangs, my hand shot forward and wrapped around the boy’s neck. “I said, Lela.”
Somehow, she was here in Hell. I sensed her. As much as I wanted to be angry that she’d come, she’d probably just saved my life. Again. The chanting finally ceased, and the horde of evil children hissed as I managed to stand, crushing the boy’s throat.
His legs flailed as he kicked helplessly to get free. Elongated fangs protruded from his mouth now, but he wasn’t going to be the one to kill me. I squeezed until the small bones in his neck cracked and his body stilled. Not taking any chances, I tossed his body into the fire then turned to face the rest of the children.
“I’m getting out of here alive,” I growled. “You can either let me pass, or you can all die. Your choice.”
They took a collective step away, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief. Killing one hadn’t been hard, but in my current physical state, taking on a pack of these little bastards wouldn’t be easy. I moved toward the fifth column, ready to get out of this ruined fortress and track down Lela when one of the freaking things latched onto my back with a shriek. She buried her talon into my shoulder.
I scrambled to get her off. She was too small for me to grab, and I ended up falling flat on my back, crushing her. Snapping the talon off in my shoulder, I left her gasping for air and quickly punched the next one who launched at me.
Another grabbed hold of my leg while two more climbed up my back. One bit down on my neck while the other stabbed me in the side with his talon. I whirled around then crashed into the closest wall. The one on my back let go, but the one with his fangs buried in my neck held on. I grabbed his head, and taking a chunk of skin with him, tore him away. I threw him into one of the braziers, grabbed a wooden timber, and drove it through his chest, pinning him.
The monster at my side backed away to stand with what was left of the group. I stared them down, blood oozing from a multitude of my wounds. They stood between me and my way out. Between me and Lela. They’d all have to die. I’d tear them apart with my bare hands if I had to.
“Come on, you rotten filth,” I shouted.
The demonoid children hissed and shrieked, then charged me as one.
The courtyard finally came into view as I staggered out of the what remained of the fortress. Blood dripped down my face and I spat another mouthful out once I was clear of the rubble. Wiping my mouth on my arm, I glanced around at the amount of destruction Zeraxin managed to bring in so little time.
Not a single building was left untouched. Demon bodies covered the ground. So did several of the enemy, but not enough to stop their attack. Not nearly enough.
Olem and the rest of Hell were lost.
I stumbled forward until my anger gave my legs the strength to hold me upright. My anger turned into a burning hot rage that sprouted two, fiery blades at my hands. I bellowed, drawing the attention of the nearest enemies. Zombies and hellhounds. They’d been digging through a pile of bodies nearby, bodies of demons I knew and cared for when they were alive. Now they were nothing but corpses. The enemy came for me, but they didn’t last long.
Their bodies smoldered in pieces as I stepped over them and onto the next victim. Anything that came my way, I cut it down, showing no mercy. These bastards didn’t deserve mercy. Their deaths were too fast for my liking, but Lela was down here somewhere. Her presence was a beacon that pulled me closer. I had to get to her and ensure she didn’t end up like the others I cared for.
An abomination roared and smashed its heavy, black hammer into the ground a yard away from me. I snarled right back, and the swords in my hands flared brighter. It hefted the hammer onto its shoulder then swung it around, aiming for my head. I ducked under it and slashed at its sides with my swords. They seared through flesh and muscle, cooking them as I went. As its skin oozed corruption, it staggered away from me, screeching.
I ducked again as it brought the hammer around, wildly crashing it into the ground. It snarled, spitting dark bile at my face. I grimaced, wiping at the burning liquid. I lunged forward with both blades. They tore through the muscle at the arm wielding the hammer. The offending limb, along with the weapon, crashed to the ground. It sank to its knees, clutching at the nub. I considered leaving it there to bleed out, but its pathetic keening grated on my nerves.
Combining the swords into one massive two-handed weapon, I cleaved its monstrous head from its shoulders. The horrible noise cut off abruptly. It crashed to the ground, its head rolling away awkwardly.
I continued my bloody charge onward. I left a trail of dismembered and burnt bodies in my wake, trudging through a courtyard stained with the blood of demons. Those stones would never be clean again if we ever made it back to Hell. Another pack of zombies came at me, and I sliced through them, sending a multitude of heads tumbling to the ground. Something punched me in the back of the head, but I was either too numb from my anger to feel it, or it was just that weak of a hit. When I whirled around, another zombie was there with a knife, ready to gut me. I snorted in disgust and ran him through. Another threw itself onto my back, followed by two more.
Their combined weight pushed me forward, and I spun around wildly to knock them free. More piled on, until they had me pinned to the ground. Their fists beat at my back and head. One of them gnawed on my shoulder like it was a piece of meat. Arching my back did nothing. They slammed me right back to the ground. Hellfire built in my hands then stretched up my arms. A growl started in my chest, rumbling like a distant storm. The zombies were too stupid to realize what was about to happen.
Hellfire exploded from my center, and they ran away screaming as it caught their clothes and skin, scorching and consuming them alive. Beginning to feel some of my latest injuries, I watched as the zombies fell into their comrades and caught more of them on fire. They’d continue to burn until they stopped moving.
Demons shouted in panic.
I sniffed the air, searching for which direction to go. I caught a whiff of oranges and stilled. “Lela.”
I took off at a sprint, lunging around zombies and abominations. There were no living demons, not here. When I turned the corner, reaching the main road out of Olem, a group of demons was huddled behind a line of fighters.
Kexan and Bobby stood shoulder to shoulder and to their right was Lela. She pulled the trigger on the shotgun and blasted a zombie. Two more were there to take its place. The demons behind them appeared to be survivors they’d pulled from the rubble. They were backing toward the gate and beyond it was an open portal.
Lela flipped the shotgun around, ready to use it as a bat, but I got there first. I grabbed the first zombie with my burning hands and crushed his skull. The second I grabbed by the collar and yanked him back just as he made ready to lunge forward with a machete. I tore out his throat.
“Mech,” Lela breathed and then she was in my arms. She stood on her toes and kissed me fiercely. “I thought you were dead.”
“Not yet.”
Kexa
n held out his arm and I took it. “Glad to see you alive. We got to go.”
“I know. That the portal out of here?” I nodded behind them.
“Yeah, I don’t know if we got everyone or not,” Lela said, but I shook my head. There was no time to stay. Eyes hardened. She nodded. “Retreat! Pull back to the portal! We’re leaving!” She grabbed my shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want to try and find more?”
I considered it, but the air grew heavy as the presence of evil intensified. I hadn’t yet spotted Zeraxin, but I knew he was here now. My hands fisted at my sides. I’d kill him before this war was over. I gave Lela a gentle shove ahead of me, and as another wave of evil charged for us, we lunged through the portal and out of Hell for what might be the final time.
“Ouch! Damn it, woman,” I snarled as Lela grabbed hold of the talon jutting out of my side.
“If you’d stop your squirming, I’d have it out by now,” she snapped. “Hold still.”
She tugged on the talon again, and I dug my nails into the edge of the table, leaving rivets. She muttered under her breath, but I didn’t catch most of it over the sound of my own growling. Since we’d returned to Dakota, we’d been at each other’s throats. It was mostly because of me and my shitty attitude, but I was pissed she had been in Hell. I almost didn’t make it out, and she had just waltzed right in there like it was nothing. I was more pissed at how many we lost. I kept seeing their faces. Most of Hell was dead.
Those who weren’t dead had been pouring into Dakota for the last hour. Ilran was the only other demon lord to escape. When she’d come through, armor shredded and body just as beaten as mine, all she’d done was shake her head and storm off. Half of her guard had been slaughtered trying to get her out. There was no word from the other seven realms.
“You should be in the damned infirmary,” Lela said again as she continued to work on getting the talon out.
“Save the beds for those who need them.”
“You need it, you dumbass. Or did you forget you have a talon jutting out between your ribs?” She stepped back and cursed. “And another one in your leg. Damn it, Mech. That’s it. Get to the infirmary right now.”
“Just pull them out.”
“One of them is stuck in your ribs, and the other might’ve damaged your tendon.”
I glared as I gripped the one in my leg and yanked. I reached for the one at my side, and with a hard twist, it popped free. I bit my cheek to keep my yell of pain quiet. She looked ready to kill me as she grabbed bandaging and pressed it against my side to stop the bleeding. The wound at my leg wasn’t too bad, so she left it alone.
“There. They’re out. Happy?”
“You expect me to be happy you’re acting like an idiot?”
“What do you expect me to act like? My home is gone.” I slammed my fist onto the table, and a chunk broke off. We were at Town Hall, where the overflow of other demons had come. A few glanced toward me at my outburst but didn’t seem upset by my rage. Those who weren’t pissed were still numb at what we’d just lost. “Hell has fallen. I failed again. Their blood is on my hands.” I tried to move away from her, but she grabbed my arm and stopped me. “Let me go, alright? I need to be alone.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what you need.”
My lip twitched. I glowered. “You have no idea what I’m going through right now. None.” When she refused to let go, I growled louder.
Her brow arched. “Seriously? You think that’s what, going to scare me off? You want to be pissed, then be pissed, Mech. But I’m not going anywhere.” She shoved my shirt up and worked on bandaging the puncture at my ribs. “Stubborn demon.”
Impatiently, I waited for her to finish. The second she stepped back, I was out the door. She shouted for me, but I didn’t stop. The doors crashed into the wall as I threw them open and marched into the crowded streets. Wounded demons were everywhere I looked, each one a reminder of what the enemy stole from us. The rage I’d hoped would dissipate only grew until my pulse pounded in my ears, sounding like a war drum. My whole body burned, and fire came unbidden to my hands. If Lela wasn’t mortal, I might’ve stuck around, but I was too unstable to be around her. She was fragile. One slip and I could seriously hurt her. A child laughed, and I flinched, waiting for a horde of demonoid children to attack me again.
I picked up the pace, weaving through Dakota until I finally came to an abandoned street. I was near the back of the compound, where we stored extra supplies. I stomped from one end of the street to the other, my boots pounding in time with my racing heart.
Repeatedly, I saw Travis disappear as the fortress came down around us. I heard the catapults screaming through the air as they struck my home. Shadows appeared out of the corners of my eye, zombies coming to kill me, or abominations hoping to catch me off guard. My hands twitched, and I told myself there was no evil in Dakota.
A boot scuffed the asphalt, and I whirled around, unleashing a burst of hellfire. Lela jumped to the side, and it shot by her head.
“What are you doing?” I snapped. “Go away.”
“Told you I’m not going anywhere.”
“Lela, get back to Town Hall. You can help them there. You can’t help me,” I said, biting off each word. The rage inside me was too much. It was going to have to come out, but I did not want Lela anywhere near me when it did. “Please. Just go.”
“You really think I’m going to leave you? You do remember what you did for me, right?”
“That was different.”
She rested her hands on her hips, not backing down. “I’d like to know how.”
“You didn’t have a fire that could kill me,” I pointed out as the flames in my hands flared. “Lela—”
“You give all these speeches,” she said, cutting me off, “great speeches about how we’re meant to be together and blah, blah, blah, but the second you need me, actually need me, you try to shove me aside. You’re so hypocritical.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I tried again.
“I trust you, Mech. You should trust yourself.”
I clenched my jaw and took a step back when she came toward me.
“Stay right there.” I thought I knew rage when my mother died and then when Lela was cast from the Heavens, or when Koreth died. But this, this was indescribable. There was no gaining control of my fire.
Lela took another step, then another. I held up my hand to make her stay back, but doubled over as a sharp pain shot through my gut.
“You need to get to the infirmary,” she said sternly. “Bailey can help you.”
“No, she can’t.”
“You lost your home,” she said quietly, those eyes normally cold these days shining with sympathy. “It’s going to hurt, Mech. You’re going to be angry about it, so get angry, but you can’t let those emotions control you.”
The fire spread until it covered my torso. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. You pulled me out of the darkness when I felt myself falling. I can help you through this if you just let me.”
The pain intensified in my gut. The fire rose higher, until I was looking at Lela through a wall of flames. All I felt was anger. I didn’t even sense Lela anymore, even though she stood so near me. I tried to yell at her to back off, but she came closer. Her outstretched hand was the last thing I saw as I fell to my knees. The heat within me turned into a burning inferno and just as it burst free, I yelled, fearing she was going to get caught in the flames. As the fire surrounded me, a hand pushed through it and landed on my shoulder. Another cupped my cheek.
Lela was there kneeling in front of me. Her forehead rested against mine, and she was in the hellfire with me. It rolled over her shoulders and down her back, but she wasn’t burned by it. She was mortal. It should’ve turned her to ash with how out of control it was. Shouts of panic came from behind her, but all I saw was her face and those bright eyes.
“Told you,” she said with a smile. “I’m not going anywhere, Mech. I can take your rage. Just
let it go. Let it all go.”
My head fell to her shoulder as the agony of how many lives were lost in the last couple of hours crashed over me like a tidal wave. My hellfire roared, surrounding us in a swirling storm, sounding like a wild beast rampaging through Dakota. It poured out of me until I thought I’d have no fire left. The whole time, Lela held onto my shoulders and stayed right where she was.
“Lela,” Bobby shouted.
“Stay there, I’m fine,” she called without turning away from me.
Another sharp twist of my gut had me gritting my teeth and clutching at my side. It was like I was being attacked by those damned demonoids all over again. I wanted Lela to get away from me, but my words were lodged behind a fierce snarl. Lela fumbled for my hands and squeezed them hard enough to hurt. Slowly, the flames began to ebb. Little by little, they returned to the source until I could see a crowd had gathered at the end of the street.
“Don’t look at them,” Lela instructed sternly. “Stay focused on me. Only on me. I’ve got you.”
Her words were a balm, and the flames died down even more. The rage I didn’t think I’d get a handle on simmered until I was able to think clearly again. I shook as the last of the flames curled toward us and sank into my hands. Carefully, Lela helped me stand, her gaze flicking worriedly to my side.
“I’m taking you to our apartment, so I can look at the rest of your wounds. No arguing, got it?”
I had the shakes from using so much hellfire and was in no condition to argue. After three steps, I waited to be sick but managed not to vomit. My mind was a freaking mess, and guilt hit me. Ilran had to be feeling just as bad. How was she not coming apart at the seams? Then again, she wasn’t with Bobby, Kexan, and Remiel. They must’ve come running when I unleashed so much hellfire. I glanced at Kexan, and his heavy gaze told me I was not alone in my rage. I was going to ask him where she was, maybe talk to her before Lela took me to the apartment when a crash came from the other end of the street.
