Do Unto Others

by Ciara Graves

  I shouted, enraged, pushing against his hoof with everything I had, but it was no use. He brought his claws down and I braced for death.

  Beyond him in the sky, a glimpse of bright, white light appeared. Time seemed to slow as it expanded.

  I frowned, wondering if my mind was somehow working to spare me from whatever pain was about to come my way. But the light grew brighter, until it was blinding to look at.

  Zeraxin’s hand continued its path for my throat when the light shot from the heavens and struck the ground like a meteor.

  Zeraxin was thrown away by the blast, but I stayed right where I was, held by some invisible force. As I hurried to get up, coughing and hacking to get air into my lungs, Zeraxin snarled and spread his wings wide. With a few hard pumps, he was upright again and furious.

  The beam of pure, white light remained on the ground right beside me. I

  A figure appeared at its center.

  Slowly, the light faded enough for me to see. I sank to my knees at the sight.

  Her hair was pulled back in a long braid that hung to her waist. A double-headed ax made of pure holy light was held across her body. There were no more black leather bits of armor or chainmail. Instead, her armor gleamed silver and white, etched with images of the sun, the moon, and the stars.

  The best part was what spread from her back. Two wings with pearly white feathers fluttered gently as she focused on Zeraxin.

  “Lela,” I breathed not willing to believe what I was seeing. This had to be a dream. Or I was dead. That’s what this was. Zeraxin had struck the killing blow, and I was dead.

  But the second Lela’s gaze shifted to mine, I knew it was her.

  “Miss me?” Those vibrant eyes were so full of life, they chased away the pain I had from my recent wounds. The battle that had raged moments ago ebbed until everyone seemed to be staring at this new arrival in all her glory.

  “Commander Lela,” Zeraxin raged. “You are supposed to be dead.”

  Lela’s gaze turned icy as she glowered at him. “That’s High General Lela now.”

  “High General?” he repeated. “That’s… that’s not possible.”

  Lela hefted her double-headed ax and smirked. “What? You thought you were the only one capable of miracles? Here’s another one for you,” she said and aimed her ax at the veil over the source of hellfire and holy light. “I think it’s time we’re back on even ground. Don’t you?”

  “You can’t,” he shouted, his four wings lifting him into the air to attack. An onyx spear appeared in his hands as he launched himself at her.

  Lela hardly flinched at the sight of him coming for her. Her hand grabbed mine and then we were in the air, spiraling away from Zeraxin, landing right beside the stone archways. The zombies who’d been guarding them disintegrated into dust as Lela slammed the handle of her ax into the ground.

  “Lela.” The rest of the words caught in my throat, taken in by the awe-inspiring sight of her. “What… how…” I cleared my throat and tried again. “I don’t understand.”

  “I don’t either, but I’m here, and we’re finishing this. Together.”

  She brought her ax back like a bat, then swung for the veil. I waited for the backlash of power, but pure holy light flowed from the ax and into the veil. Cracks formed until they covered every inch of the shield Hadariel had put in place so long ago. Just when it started to crumble, I reached for Lela, drew her into my arms. Her warm lips met mine, and then she had her arms wrapped around my neck, drawing me in even closer.

  Lela was alive. She wasn’t just an angel, not anymore. She’d been given a gift one I knew she wouldn’t ruin as Hadariel had.

  The Heavens had a new high general. When the last bit of the veil collapsed, hellfire and holy light flooded out. The box that had created the rift shattered with the force of their release.

  I gasped, throwing my head back as fire and light wove together in a twisted rope then drove right into my center. More shocked gasps sounded all around us as demons and angels alike embraced the full force of power we’d been denied for too damned long.

  As I looked into Lela’s eyes, I caught my own eyes reflected at me. They were filled with hellfire, and dancing around the edges of my pupils was a ring of holy light. A sense of completeness replaced the emptiness.

  Zeraxin and his army of evil and Hadariel’s angels were clearly afraid.

  For the first time since this war started, evil was scared. Good. They should be, because we were going to kill them all.

  Chapter 12

  Lela

  I remembered dying. The last image I ever thought I’d see was Mech’s eyes filled with horror as Hadariel stabbed me in the heart. After that, I expected to be nothing. He’d destroyed my soul, but when my eyes had fluttered open, it wasn’t a black void I was in.

  I’d spun around slowly. I was in the Heavens, standing in a room I’d never personally been in, but knew existed. This was the throne room for the high general. Why was I there? I’d walked the full perimeter of the room, wearing a pure white dress that dragged on the floor behind me. There were no doors, no windows, just the room with its soft, white glow.

  “Lela.”

  When the voice sounded, I’d jumped, ready to fight. The person who stood at the other end of the room was me. Or at least it looked like me, only she was made of an ever-flowing stream of holy light and hellfire. Almost like a manifestation of the power that gave us life.

  “You… What is this? Who are you?”

  “I am you. I am all of you,” she replied, but her words were heavy with sadness.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You’re not meant to. None of this was meant to happen, Lela. I intended for you to take your rightful place years from now when you were ready. I’m afraid you must assume the mantle of power much sooner.”

  “Mantle of power?” I shook my head and stumbled away. “You don’t mean—”

  “I do,” she said. “If you choose not to take it, your soul will be at peace, but Tonamech, the others,” she paused, “you will be leaving them to a fate worse than death.” She waved her hand. An image of Mech appeared. He was in the caves, sitting in the icy cold water of the pool. I reached for him.

  His eyes shot open.

  “Mech? Can he… can he see me?”

  She waved her hand again, and the image faded. “If you assume your destiny, they will all see you as the angel you were born to be. Do you accept?”

  The agony in Mech’s eyes struck me to the core. If I didn’t return to him, he’d die. Everyone I knew would join me in death. I squared my shoulders, not sure I understood exactly what I was about to accept, but what choice did I have?

  I nodded as I stepped forward. “I accept.”

  The other me held out her hands. A pure, white light surrounded them. “Then prepare yourself, for your life is about to change.”

  The next thing I remembered was peering down from the Heavens and seeing Mech about to die. I hadn’t even stopped to question the armor that suddenly covered my body, or how easily I’d manifested my battle ax. Time had slowed.

  I flew from the Heavens, using wings far stronger than my old ones, and landed next to Mech.

  Now as he stared back at me, eyes filled with not just hellfire, but holy light, too, any reservations I had about my decision vanished. He cupped my cheek in his palm, fire seeping from his fingers to caress me. His brow furrowed as his lips parted.

  But there’d be time for explanations later.

  Zeraxin was still alive, with Hadariel inside him. The rift was open, and we had a war to end.

  “I will destroy you,” Zeraxin seethed as tainted flames fell from his hands like whips.

  Mech scoffed then held out his right hand. The hellfire and holy light shifted against his palm then expanded into a long, two-handed sword. “Very nice.”

  I brought my ax back to my hands, hellfire scorching the blades. As we stalked toward Zeraxin, his eye twitched, and the face roaming b
eneath his skin howled in anguish. Hadariel might be trapped inside that monster, but he sensed his death was coming.

  Mech and I circled Zeraxin, weapons at the ready.

  Around us, bursts of hellfire and holy light tore through the ranks of evil and the traitorous angels. Their holy light was no use against the pureness I unleashed with my arrival.

  Zeraxin flipped the whips in his hands, then lashed out.

  I ducked and zoomed toward him using my newly returned wings. I slashed at his side with the burning blade of my ax.

  He spun around with a gasp.

  Not giving him any time to recover, Mech charged in, his sword cutting into Zeraxin’s thighs.

  The monster shrieked as Hadariel writhed and howled inside. Black blood oozed from the wounds, but it wasn’t enough to take him down.

  His set of double wings flared, sending a spray of corruption toward us.

  Mech and I threw out a hand at the same time. A shield of hellfire and holy light formed to block us from the acidic splash. The sight of fire swirling with blue light was beautiful to watch. For a split second, I was lost in its magnificence.

  This was how our races should have been all this time. The power we had together was unlike any I’d ever seen before.

  “Looks like you were right after all,” Mech mused.

  Zeraxin took to the sky.

  We let the shield fall.

  “You ready to end this?” I asked.

  Mech’s sword flared with a fresh burst of hellfire. He wrapped an arm around my waist and crushed his lips to mine. Fire and light soared around us, cocooning us in a brilliant explosion of pure power.

  When we parted, our eyes glowing with the love we had for each other.

  Zeraxin hovered yards away, face screwed up in rage. “You will not defeat me,” he ranted. “You are going to die!”

  His wings fell back, and he dove for us.

  Mech and I parted and braced for the assault.

  Zeraxin struck the ground hard enough to create a crater, but we stayed on our feet and met him, attack for attack. The whips had been replaced with a sword and an ax. His movements blurred as his anger drove him, but he never landed a hit.

  We parried and blocked, moving like we had the first time Mech and I fought together. It was like a dance as we stepped in to block the each other’s weak side, then turned to strike at the same time.

  Zeraxin’s furious growls turned to yelps of pain as our blades slashed into his skin, cutting through muscle and tendon. As he tried to take to the air again, Mech brought his sword down and cut through the flesh holding the wings to Zeraxin’s back. They fell to the ground, useless and diseased. He stumbled away, clutching a hand to his right shoulder.

  “No,” he whispered. “No, this is my time to rule. You will not take this from me! This is my world!”

  “No, it’s their world,” I said, motioning to Bryan and the other humans. “It’s always been their world.”

  “You’re pathetic. You both are. They are nothing.”

  Mech raised his sword. “They are everything.” He brought the blade down, and Zeraxin barely blocked it with his own.

  He pushed Zeraxin back further.

  I swung low with my ax, cleaving the beast’s leg at the knee. He toppled over.

  Mech and I stood shoulder to shoulder. Our weapons vanished, and we held out our hands toward the abomination Hadariel brought to life with his hatred.

  Fire and light glowed around our hands, stretching to combine into one beam of energy.

  Zeraxin lunged forward with a snarl, but our power was too great. It slammed into him, freezing him in place. His skin peeled back. He screamed. His face burned becoming a skull, mouth open in a horrendous shriek. He collapsed to his knees, his two remaining wings fighting to get him away.

  It was too late. He burned until there was only a skeletal frame. It fell to the side.

  Standing in Zeraxin’s place was Hadariel.

  The late high general was covered in tainted blood. It ran off him in a flood of evil. He gagged on it, falling to the ground as he glared up at me. He opened his mouth, but he never had the chance to complete a single word.

  Mech’s sword cut his head off mid-word.

  Hadariel’s body crumpled as his head bounced away, eyes wide and staring.

  The rest of the evil that had not been vanquished fled from Dakota, aiming for the rift.

  “Think we can close it?” Mech asked.

  I smiled as my wings fluttered at my back. “You read my mind.”

  I held out my hand for his. Once he took it, I soared into the air, taking him with me. We landed by the rift and were quickly joined by the other demons and angels.

  Remiel’s glowing blue eyes shimmered with tears of joy at the sight of me. Nathaniel beamed. Kexan wiped a hand down his face as if checking to ensure he was really seeing me. Bobby looked like he was about to lose his head.

  “I’ll be damned,” Ilran said as she joined us. “You’re one hell of an angel.”

  Behind her, Bryan, Travis, and so many others looked at me like I couldn’t really be standing there. Nothing good had ever come from this war. Whatever being or power had given me this gift, I’d have to find a way to thank them for letting me save my family.

  Holding onto Mech’s hand, I held out my other for Ilran’s. “Time to finish what he started.”

  Ilran dropped her blade and took my hand. Travis took hold of her other hand. Others, one by one, were linked together around the entire perimeter of the rift. Those who didn’t join the circle kept our backs protected against the swarm of evil still attempting to get to the rift.

  Our bodies glowed with hellfire and holy light, joined together as it always should have been. The ground rumbled. Inch by inch, the rift began to close. The evil that had been charging for it stopped, then rushed the other direction. They could flee, but we’d hunt them all down, eventually. The jagged edges of the earth met with a thunderous boom and a burst of light shot into the sky, parting the dark thunderheads.

  Beyond them was a clear blue sky, the sun a perfect golden circle in the Heavens. Its warmth poured over the wastelands for the first time in years.

  Mech started to talk only to be interrupted by a loud hum that came from the two sources of power. They expanded, and once they settled, a shockwave of energy exploded outward.

  Green grass sprouted out of the ground as far as I could see. Dead tree trunks collapsed and gave way to new trees, shooting out of the ground and stretching to new heights. Their limbs were heavy with emerald leaves that rustled in the wind.

  And the wind.

  I breathed in deeply and had to wipe a tear from my eye. The sweet smell of flowers blooming. The grass in the summertime. All this filled my nose.

  I crouched low, running my hands over the life I never thought I’d see returned to these lands.

  “This is incredible,” Mech whispered beside me. “You did this.”

  “No, we did,” I told him. I straightened and held his face in my hands. “I’m sorry I left you.”

  His familiar growl rumbled through him as he rested his forehead to mine. “I thought I’d lost you forever. How did you come back?”

  “That is a story for another time. Right now, I think we need to take care of a few things.”

  “The other rifts? You think they are sealed?”

  “One way to find out.”

  I pulled away from him, meaning to seek out our closest friends. I was hugged and lifted off my feet as they laughed with joy to have the war ended. Through them, I caught Mech’s smile. His eyes filled with fire and light. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do about the sources of power yet, but Zeraxin was dead and Hadariel with him. The world hadn’t ended after all.

  Chapter 13

  Mech

  “You really want to leave them here?”

  Lela and I shrugged at Bryan’s question. “No point in trying to put them back. I think they belong on the surface. It’s the b
alance between the Heavens and Hell,” I told him. “And this time they’ll be properly watched over by angels, demons, and humans.”

  Bryan frowned. “Us? What can we do to keep them safe?”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Lela said with a laugh. “Humans are very strong, Bryan. Don’t ever forget all you did during the war.”

  “I’ll try not to, High General.”

  Lela’s cheeks reddened, and she sighed. “I’m never going to get used to this.”

  “I think it suits you just fine.”

  The three of us stood around the new location of the sources for hellfire and holy light. They hadn’t returned to their previous place, and we weren’t sure how to get them there safely. After a very lengthy discussion between me, Lela, Ilran, the remaining angel generals, as well as some newly appointed ones, we decided it was best to leave them right where they were. We’d rebuild the archways around them and plant a few gardens. This was meant to be a place of tranquility, and it would be so.

  Bryan tilted his head, then smiled. “They’re back.”

  Lela and I spun around in time to see a large portal expand.

  Kexan exited first, a demon child on his back. Behind him were Bobby and Travis, along with the rest of the children of Hell. The guards came with them.

  Thankfully, Zeraxin and Hadariel hadn’t even realized we’d sent them to a secret pocket realm. Many were orphaned now, but those that had parents raced through the crowds to hug them.

  I wrapped an arm around Lela’s waist and pulled her in close.

  “Still have so many more demons to find,” I said quietly. “And rifts to finish sealing. And evil to hunt.”

  “We’ll see it done, don’t worry.”

  Many of the rifts had sealed, but some had remained wide open, allowing evil to spew out. Once they were sealed now though they stayed that way. Many demons had found their way to Dakota. The rest, we’d set out to find and bring back home. Rebuilding the surface and Hell was going to take months, years probably. Hadariel had wrought so much damage and heartache.