Grimm shook me and I cried out, blackness hovering on the edge of my vision at the pain in my torso.
I forced down my nausea and twisted away from him, staggering and then steadying myself on the chasm wall, fighting back a scream when one of the spikes of ice pierced my palm. I focused on the pain, welcoming it, using it to block out the debilitating stench emanating from the door. Breathing heavily through my mouth, I dragged my hair out of my eyes and glared at Grimm.
He ignored me, moving forward to run his hands over the door. ‘It is time, Master.’
A boom sounded from the other side of the door and it made the walls of the chasm shake. Grimm’s eyes rolled back in his head, thin lips parting in a smile, as his body quivered. I turned away, sickened by his gasps of pleasure.
He turned his head and licked his lips. ‘Soon you will long for our Master’s touch, beg to receive it, and then you will be His for eternity.’
‘No,’ I forced the denial out, throat dry, lips cracked. ‘Never.’
He let go of the door and clapped his hands together.
The mist of nether burst into movement, surrounding me, pushing me forward. It forced me to stand in front of the blighted door and I cringed, convinced one touch would taint me forever.
‘Fulfil your destiny. Open the door.’
I shook my head, unable to bring myself to touch it; sure whatever lay on the other side should never be released. But the nether twined itself around my wrists, forming thick ropes that pulled and twisted until my left hand touched my necklace, while my right hand stretched out towards the door.
I struggled against the ropes, whimpering at the pain in my ribs as my hand was inexorably drawn closer to the door. I curled my fingers into my palm, forming a fist. Grimm moved to my side and wrenched my fist open, and nether swarmed around my fingers, splaying them out so that the palm of my hand lay flat against the centre of the door.
The nether seeped away, removing the barrier between flesh and cursed metal.
Cold fire blasted into my hand. I convulsed and slumped to my knees, palm still fused to the door. My other hand clutched my necklace, which started to heat up and, no matter how hard I tried to let go, I couldn’t make my fingers move. The necklace began to pulse, its beat synchronising with the rapid beat of my heart. The cold from the door swept through my right arm, across my chest, and flowed down my left arm. I screamed when it reached my hand and smashed its way into the necklace. The necklace retaliated, blasting the cold fire with a surge of power that flowed like molten lava.
Blinded by the steam that erupted from my skin as the lava fought to dominate the cold fire, I whimpered as the war continued to rage inside my body. The lava sizzled out of my palm and spread over the door. The metal beneath my hand bubbled, boiling my skin along with it. But the cold fought back, fighting to regain dominance, and the melting door froze over.
The steam dissipated and I moaned when I saw my hand, the bones fused together by the lava, still connected to the door. My skin was blackened, peeling away in places to reveal charred flesh.
I no longer felt pain; the lava had burned away my nerve endings, and all for nothing.
The door still stood, locked.
Relief swamped me. It hadn’t worked. Almorthanos was still trapped in Demania; the world spared his evil presence.
I sensed movement beside me and turned to see the Grim Reaper with his scythe raised above his head. He swung it at the centre of the door. A loud clang sounded and it shattered inwards at the same time as my necklace exploded and ripped through my throat.
Flung backwards by the simultaneous explosions, I landed on my back, helpless to do anything but watch as Almorthanos stepped through the ruined doorway. Tall, with black hair and even blacker eyes, clad only in dark pants, he strode over to where Grimm, once more in his human guise, knelt.
Almorthanos patted Grimm on his head. ‘Rise, my faithful servant. You have earned your place at my side.’ He grimaced and twisted around to inspect his back.
Blood seeped out of two large gashes, one on each of his shoulder blades, wounds inflicted thousands of years earlier when Cade had ripped his wings off. Time stood still in Demania so the wounds had never healed
‘Thank you, Master.’ Grimm stood, devotion on his gaunt face, and looked over at me. ‘Shall I heal her?’
Almorthanos pursed fleshy lips as he considered my burned and disfigured body.
‘Not yet. First she must prove her worth.’ He crouched down beside me and took my head in his hands. ‘Will you obey me, child of Davila, accept me as your Master?’
His eyes bored into mine and I felt a pressure in my skull, as if a hand rummaged through my brain, seeking to rearrange it. I sought to wrench my head out of his grasp, but could not move. Attempted to close my eyes and block out his penetrating stare, but my muscles would not respond.
Helpless, frozen, unable to fight him off, I used the only thing I had left to me.
I pitched my will against his. I could not speak my denial of his dominion over me, but I could think it. In my head, I screamed defiance. His eyes narrowed and the pressure in my head grew. It hammered at me, seeking to bash its way through, so strong it obliterated every thought, except for one.
I must not yield.
Almorthanos abruptly released me, and my head slammed into the ground. He staggered as he got to his feet, and Grimm rushed to his side.
‘Master?’
Almorthanos waved him away. ‘Do not fear, Grimm, it is merely the vagaries of time, catching up with this body. Has a new host been selected?’
‘Yes, Master.’
‘Then take me to him so I may once again walk at Malia’s side.’
‘What about her?’
‘Leave her here. She is stubborn, stronger than I had planned for, it will take time to break her spirit. But break it I will.’ He leaned over me, black hair now liberally streaked with grey, lines on his once smooth face, as old age caught up with him.
‘Make no mistake, girl. You will be mine.’ He smiled. ‘Use this time wisely or when next we meet I will not be so pleasant.’
Nether wrapped around him and Grimm, and I watched as they rose out of the chasm, leaving me lying broken and discarded on the ground with only the doorway to Demania to keep me company. I glanced at the door, horrified to think of what else lay beyond it. What other horrors might use it to escape?
Confusion and then relief washed over me. The door was whole, with no sign it had ever been blasted to pieces. The stench remained, not as strong as before, but building up as I lay there, trapped in my broken body.
How long would it be before they came back for me so Almorthanos could fulfil his promise to break my spirit? As nausea gripped my stomach I realised any amount of time was too long. Each second I lay there the door’s emanations grew stronger, flowing over me, penetrating my pores.
If I didn’t get out of there soon, Almorthanos wouldn’t need to break me. The doorway to Demania would do it for him.
28
‘Wake up, Tyler. You must wake up. We need you.’
I came to with a start and instantly retched as the emanations from the door hit me anew. I wanted to sink back into unconsciousness, escape the torment of being this close to Demania.
Pale mist swirled above me, and I welcomed the thought that Grimm had come back to collect me so Almorthanos could batter his way into my head. At least then I might get out of this chasm and away from the soul destroying door.
Faces appeared in the mist, insubstantial and transparent, but none the less familiar. They were the souls of the people that had been stored in my necklace. They floated above me, constantly moving, whirling as one face was replaced by another, until I had seen all of their faces, except one.
Sarah, my former best friend, whose soul I had reaped for a second time after she’d become a Wraith and tried to kill me. Chris had told me that to reap the soul of a Wraith meant they died a final death, no longer able to be reborn into a
new body.
The mist parted, and there she was. Unlike the souls in the mist, she appeared solid, though she hovered a foot off the ground. She knelt in the air beside me.
‘You have to get up, Tyler.’
‘I can’t move,’ I said, surprised at the sound of my own voice. Why could I speak now when I could not during Almorthanos’s attempt to impose his will on me?
‘You have to let go. Your body is holding you back. Release it and you will be free,’ said Sarah, a gentle smile on her face.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Your body is dead, but your soul is not. You can rise out of this place, but first you have to let go.’
‘Will I be like you?’
‘No. My soul is dead. I am part of the Underworld now.’
‘I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.’
‘Shush.’ She stroked my face. ‘It’s all right. You did nothing wrong. I brought this on myself. I let Grimm use my jealousy to turn me against you. Can you forgive me for what I tried to do?’
‘Of course I forgive you. I love you, Sarah.’
‘I love you, too. But you must get out of here. Grimm is sending reapers to kill your family as soon as his Master has a new body. They never intended to honour the bargain they made with you.’
‘I knew they’d betray me, but I took precautions,’ I said, reluctant to name Cade. Grimm had fooled me once with a fake soul. This could be a trick to get me to divulge what I knew, or to break me.
She shook her head. ‘Grimm will do whatever it takes to destroy those you love. You humiliated and weakened him, stopped him from accessing the physical world. He will never forgive or forget. And now his Master is free, together they plan to enslave mankind and wage a war that will destroy the world. You must stop them.’
‘How?’
‘You must break free of your body, rise to the world above.’
‘But I’m dead, and my necklace was destroyed. I won’t be able to do anything.’
‘You are a reaper, and in the world above people are dying. Go to them.’
She made it sound so easy, but I’d never reaped a soul without my necklace before, and it had exploded, ripping my throat out in the blast. How was I supposed to reap a soul without it to guide me?
But the belief shining in Sarah’s eyes meant I had to try.
I closed my eyes, focusing on where my necklace had rested against my collarbones, the place where the soul resided in each and every human being. I still couldn’t move any part of my body but I could feel warmth as my soul responded to my intent. I was a reaper, and it was time to reap.
I lifted free of my body, choking back a cry as I saw myself for the first time. Blackened and broken, patches of bone and singed flesh visible, I was a vision from a nightmare. A light touch on my arm drew me away and I looked over at Sarah.
Her smile was radiant. ‘I knew you could do it,’ she said. She pointed behind me and I glanced over my shoulder and gasped.
Silvery wings, as insubstantial as the rest of my astral form, grew out of my back, each feather shining brightly, pushing the darkness away. I marvelled at them until Sarah tugged on my arm. The wings flexed and then lifted me into the air with gentle sweeps as Sarah drew me with her, out of the chasm. The souls of those I’d reaped eddied in the air around us. We rose higher and higher, into a dense blackness, the only light coming from my wings. Soon the souls fell away and only Sarah and I continued on.
Pinpricks of light appeared above us, filling the black sky, thousands of them, twinkling and shining, the sight of them filling me with joy.
‘What are they?’
‘They are the souls of every living being in Easton,’ said Sarah, hovering beside me, ‘and now you must go to them.’
I looked back at the souls, frowning when one dimmed before it disappeared.
‘Hurry, Tyler,’ said Sarah, as she began to descend into the depths of the Underworld. ‘Time is running out.’
I looked back at the souls, finding the place where the light of one had been extinguished, and saw another soul had begun to dim. I focused on it, on the draw to reap, and felt myself propelled forward. I passed through the black veil separating the Underworld from the physical world, and slipped into the astral plane.
I streaked over Easton, fear gripping me as the soul drew me towards the hockey fields. How much time had passed since I died? Surely Sam and the others were well clear by now? A sickening feeling made a mockery of my attempts to convince myself nothing was wrong. Cade had promised to protect my family. They had to be safe.
I skimmed over the trees bordering the creek that meandered its way around the hockey fields, and skirted the hall.
I entered a warzone.
The car park was filled with the dead and dying. As I watched, two black winged Tr’lirians ripped the wings off one of Cade’s men, tossing them on the ground before stabbing the now mortal man in the chest. They left him to die in the dirt and lifted into the air in search of other prey.
I could see Cade, fighting back-to-back with Killian, warding their foes off with swords. White winged Tr’lirians battled their black winged counterparts in the air above their leader, while men with guns shot at any who came too close. I couldn’t see Malia or Almorthanos, who was presumably in Talaom’s body by now. Grimm was also absent, but it was what I did see that terrified me.
Connor’s car, all four doors open, in the middle of the road leading out of the car park. I zoomed over to it and peered inside. Empty.
I scanned the car park, hovering over the bodies of the fallen, searching for anyone I knew. The hollow below my throat warmed and I allowed it to direct me, praying it was not taking me to reap the soul of someone I loved.
It led me back to the hall and I steeled myself before I floated inside.
I gasped and Sam spun around, a blood stained knife in his hands. ‘Tyler,’ he said, ‘is that you?’
‘Yes, Sam, I’m here,’ I said, tears falling at the sight of Connor, Rhonda and Emily crouched behind him.
Sam’s eyes tracked the tears as they crashed to the ground at my feet. He looked up at where they had come from. ‘Wish I could see you.’
‘Me too,’ I said, smiling through my tears. My smile faded. I’d felt the call of a dying soul, it had led me here. But Sam and the others were the only ones inside the hall. Whose blood was on the knife?
I brushed against Sam as I floated passed him. He shivered and rubbed his arm.
‘No.’ I sank to the ground and stared at where Connor cradled Emily in his arms, while Rhonda held a blood soaked cloth over her chest. Emily’s face was pale, eyes closed, dark lashes fluttering as her life leeched out of her.
‘It was Malia,’ said Sam, as he knelt beside Rhonda. ‘She sent her men after them as soon as you were … gone. They brought them back here and she stabbed Emily. She was going to kill all of us, but Cade showed up and I guess getting away from him mattered more to her than killing us.’
He heaved out a sigh. ‘I’m sorry. I tried to stop her.’
I tore my eyes away from Emily and saw he was also hurt. The front of his shirt was slashed, blood and skin showing through the gap. I moved over to him, concentrating on making my hands solid as I slid the fabric aside so I could inspect his wounds.
Sam sucked in a breath. ‘Cold,’ he said, gritting his teeth as my ghostly fingers roamed over his chest. I let the remnant of his shirt fall back into place, relieved to find his wounds were not serious. But Emily had not been so lucky. I turned away from Sam and touched her chin.
She opened her eyes and gazed up at me.
‘Tyler,’ she said in a voice less than a whisper. ‘You’re beautiful, like an angel.’ She stretched out a hand and ran her fingers over one of my wings, setting a shiver over my astral form. Her hand dropped away as the light in her eyes went out.
I cried, and Sam’s hand stretched out to catch my tears as they fell.
Connor hugged Emily’s body tighter, tears coa
ting his face while Rhonda, eyes red, rubbed his back.
I placed my hand on Emily’s chest, above the wound that had taken her life, and drew forth her soul. It hovered in the air in front of me, the purity of its light simply stunning. I gazed at it in wonder, getting a sense of Emily’s infectious laughter as the light expanded to touch each and every one of us.
Sam, Connor and Rhonda all lifted their heads, and from their expressions I knew they could see it too and were just as amazed as me.
I didn’t want to touch Emily’s soul, to dim her radiant light, and I froze, wondering what I was supposed to do now. I had always placed souls in my necklace, but that had been destroyed.
A wave of reassurance came from Emily’s soul, drawing me in, and I reached out to tap it with one finger, intending to carry it back to the Underworld with me. Maybe Sarah would be able to tell me what to do next, how to send Emily’s soul on for rebirth. No matter what happened, I would make sure Grimm never got his hands on it.
The second I touched Emily’s soul it grew brighter, its light expanding to fill the entire hall. Then it vanished, leaving me with a sense the next journey for Emily had already begun. I hoped her next life treated her better than this one had.
I readied myself for the journey back to the Underworld, where I would be reunited with Sarah once more.
A whirlwind reached out and took hold of me, spinning me every which way. I cried out and Sam shot to his feet.
‘Tyler, what’s wrong?’
I had no breath to answer him, sucked into a maelstrom of darkness that blotted out everything. Pain filled me, as intense as anything I had ever experienced before, shooting into me from every direction, pushing and pulling at me.
The wind released me, and I twitched as the pain subsided. I groaned, fighting to open my eyes, sure this must be an attack from Grimm. I had to get up, draw him away from Sam and the others. I forced my eyes open and confusion sent me into a spin.
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