Eternity

by Karen Ann Hopkins

  The storm moved off and the wind died down to a cool breeze. I swallowed and looked at War. He watched his brothers as they sped away. Only when they were gone did he turn around and face us.

  “My brothers are returning to Heaven’s stable. They will not unleash their devastation on this world, but they won’t fight, either. Until our Creator speaks to them, they take the Angels’ lead and stand down.”

  “You stayed,” I said, noticing how close War stood beside Cricket, the back of his hand brushing hers.

  “I have claimed this mare as my own. She has a stubborn nature, and wouldn’t have come with me. So here I stay, until the end comes.”

  Cricket’s cheeks reddened and she looked up at the Horseman. She nodded once at him. I saw a tear glint in the moonlight as it trickled down the side of her face.

  A lump formed in my throat. “You should go with War—you’ll be safe with him in Heaven.”

  The fierce look returned to Crickets face as she met my eyes. “The length of my life means nothing to me. It’s what I do in that life that matters. I will not run away when my herd is in need. You are my herd, Ember, and so are Ivan, Horas, and Angus. I will fight for them alongside you.”

  My sight blurred with tears of my own, and I quickly rubbed them away. Raphael’s gaze passed over each of us. “I will create the loophole, saving you the energy of the task. For you will need every last drop of power you can muster to fight the evil forces that await you. Mark my words, Ember. Samael is more cunning than any of us. If my instinct is correct, he has laid a trap for you.”

  Insepth’s hand closed around mine and he smiled sadly.

  He didn’t have to say anything. I knew what he was thinking—that we were all going to finally die.

  The Fire bubbled up inside of me, wanting to break free. I stroked the flames, promising them that they would soon be unleashed.

  I would stop Sawyer. I had to. Even though it broke my heart.

  Chapter 23

  Ivan

  Tamira rolled to the side as the mace swung down at her. She yelped and tried to scurry out of the ditch, but the monster’s claw caught her haunches, dragging her down.

  I sunk my teeth into the arm of the beast attacking me, tasting its acidic blood in my mouth. The fluid was like poison and I struggled to not swallow it down. Once free, I jumped into the pit where the she-wolf was trapped. Blood dripped into my eyes, burning them, and making it difficult to see. I smelled her fear, and let that instinct guide me.

  I knocked into the red-eyed creature, unbalancing it, but it grabbed the scruff of my neck as it went down. Talons tightened around my throat and I whined. Tamira bit at the hairy, muscled legs, but it swung the mace again, striking her side. She whimpered and fell limply to the ground.

  My heart raced as I tried to see Tamira, kicking with my legs in an attempt to escape. Blood splattered when another wolf was ripped in half by the heads of a Hell hound from above. Howls and human screams mingled as the sun rose slowly on the horizon, brightening the sky from early morning gloom.

  I was so exhausted and my soul was broken. Tamira had fought bravely by my side and now she was down. I’d witnessed friends torn apart and great wolf warriors fall into pools of their own blood. My father had been speared, fighting beside Lord Quintus. They had both fallen.

  My mind clouded from a lack of oxygen.

  When the creature suddenly let go, I blinked, inhaling a gulp of air.

  My mother had leaped onto the Hell beast. She bit into its face, her rumbling growls equaling the wailing noise the monster made. I struggled to rise, only to fall into a heap at the monster’s feet. But my mother’s squeal made my limbs come alive. I clamped onto the beast’s ankle, crunching hard. The seven-foot creature waivered, and then collapsed on top of me. Mother’s jaws closed around its neck and warmth oozed onto me from the kill.

  I sluggishly clawed my way out from under the beast and went to Tamira first. She blinked up at me and whined as she jerked and rose on shaky legs. I nudged her nose with my face and she licked me. Her warm, scratchy tongue felt good, even as we faced death.

  The yelp got my attention, and I loped to my mother. She lay atop the monster she’d killed, and at first, I didn’t understand her pain. But then I saw its claws stuck into her spine. She was paralyzed and bleeding from her wounds.

  I licked her face. Mother, what should I do? I mind spoke to her.

  Her golden eyes shifted, staring at me. Leave this place—get away! Take Tamira and hide deep in the forest. This isn’t your battle. The only reason the Devil’s beasts came here was because of the alliance the wolves made with the Watchers. You are more wolf than man. You might survive if you let go of your human side.

  Her pupils dilated and her mouth trembled. Her chest rose and fell, and then didn’t rise again.

  My heart pounded in my ears and Tamira howled. Another explosion ripped the air, yanking me to my senses. I nudged Tamira to climb on top of the dead creature, and over my mother’s body. She skirted across them quickly, half-jumping, half-limping out of the ditch.

  All around us were corpses and burning grass. The air was heavy with smoke and blood.

  A Hell hound stuck one of its heads through the gray cloud, snapping blood-stained teeth with chunks of flesh hanging from them. Go, Tamira! Flee into the trees!

  I won’t leave you! she said, shrinking behind me, but still holding her ground.

  When the second and third heads appeared in front of us, another hound stepped up from behind. Lutz was almost the same size as the Hell hounds, and had he been there, he might have been able to fight one off, but not two. Tamira and I were like pups to these two monsters. As the hounds closed in, I looked into Tamira’s eyes.

  We die together. That is a good thing, she said.

  My heart filled with incredible sadness at her words.

  Something bumped into me and then one of the hounds’ heads reared back. It whimpered and the head lolled to the side. Blood spurted from the cut to its throat.

  “This way!” Horas called out, slowing just enough so that I could see him. He was covered in blood and his clothes were torn.

  Tamira and I sprinted after him, dodging swinging dogs’ heads and leaping over the bodies of wolves.

  The ground was slick with blood and the rancid scent of death made my head dizzy. I tried not to inhale too deeply as I raced after the Demon.

  Horas stopped suddenly and we nearly ran into him. Dark Angels swooped into the melee, swiping their swords to cut down the fleeing survivors. There were possibly hundreds of the Devil’s soldiers in the air and thousands more on the ground. There was nowhere to go.

  “Damn them!” Horas shouted.

  I panted heavily, pressing into Tamira’s side. The shaking of her body joined my own.

  Horas held out his arms to protect us, but there was nothing he could do as the forces of Hell descended. This wasn’t a battlefield; it was a massacre.

  A Dark Angel paused above us, screaming out a war cry as he raised his black sword and dove for us.

  I couldn’t look away. His face and body was tattooed and his black hair was long and tangled. There was no glow to his body, not like Heaven’s Angels. Where Uriel’s eyes blazed life, this Angel’s eyes were black and empty.

  The fire bolt that struck the Angel spun him in the air and another blast melted his feathers.

  I turned back to see Ember striding into the meadow with Insepth by her side. Cricket was in human form and sitting atop the mighty red stallion, War. My heart jumped to life when Insepth pointed to where several hounds were tearing apart the corpses of more wolves. The ground heaved and shook, opening up and swallowing the monsters.

  “Thank God! They made it!” Horas brushed the top of my head with his hand before he lurched toward our friends.

  I stretched my legs, taking off, and Tamira stayed close.

  Bright orange flames flew from Embers hands, striking the Hell beasts. Even though they seemed impervious to the f
ire, Ember’s flames still pummeled them into the mud. Out of nowhere, a storm gathered overhead, suddenly filling the clearing with lightning and pelting rain. Tamira yipped from the assault, but I ignored the stinging of my open wounds.

  The red horse leaped into the air with Cricket atop him. Wherever he went, wind and lighting struck, destroying hounds and beasts alike.

  We had almost reached Ember and Insepth when I heard the clash of steel and looked up. The brown-winged Angel that Ember had left with days before was darting through the skies, striking down the Dark Angels with a golden spear that shimmered even in the smoke-filled gray sky. His body gave off a glow that made Samael’s Angels look away, shielding their eyes from his onslaught.

  The ground shook again and more of Hell’s beasts fell into the crevices, only to be crushed when Insepth brought the earth together, closing the gaps. Youmi jogged from the other side of the clearing, reaching Ember and Insepth just as we did. He raised his hands and turned the downpour into a twisting funnel of water. When he released the spout, it ravaged the nearest fires, spraying soot and steam into the air.

  Tamira ducked behind Ember and I rushed to the Watcher’s side. Ember paused and pressed her hands into the fur between my ears.

  “I’m so glad you’re alive!” Ember exclaimed. Her eyes darted around. “Where’s Angus?”

  I looked up at Horas, who began searching the smoldering field around us.

  I left wolf form to answer her. “I don’t know—he was with us not long ago,” I said, my heart dropping into my stomach.

  “Is this what you’re looking for?”

  My head jerked in the direction of the brittle voice.

  It was Sawyer. He held Angus in his arms.

  Chapter 24

  Ember

  Sawyer stood in the midst of the gore, holding my precious dog in his arms. I’d dreamt this moment a long time ago, and I choked back a sob that it had become reality.

  Any love I might have had for Sawyer dissolved with his evil smirk. I didn’t care that he’d been corrupted by the Devil. Or that my Sawyer, the one who’d guarded me with his life and loved me with everything he’d had, might still be in that red-eyed body somewhere. I didn’t care about anything at that moment—except vengeance.

  War’s storm destroyed Hell beasts on the ground and Dark Angels in the sky. Insepth directed the earth to swallow up the enemy, and Youmi worked the rain to drive the evil creatures back. But Sawyer remained in place, untouched by the turn of events our arrival had brought. A strange black fire burned at his feet—dark particles. The evil substance that had created Growlers and Cricket, and even the bloated dragon, Sin. Those particles were from the deepest part of Hell, and in pure form they corrupted everything they touched. Thousands of years ago, Watchers had cleaned the taint from the Growlers and I’d done the same thing when I’d changed Cricket, but no one did that for Sawyer. The particles had altered him, making him one of Samael’s soldiers.

  My head throbbed and the world calmed around me. I stared at my former lover and friend. I had no choice but to kill him now. I could never forgive him for what he did to Angus. He had to be punished.

  His smirk deepened as he raised Angus above his head. A three-headed hound slunk toward him, eyeing the prize he held. My eyes widened and the sounds of the raging storm and battle disappeared.

  “A fine treat for my pets,” Sawyer said.

  Fire erupted out of me in a burst like none before, barreling toward Sawyer in a burning ball. His laughter on the wind brought tears streaming down my face. But just before the fire reached him, Raphael dropped out of the sky and grabbed Angus from Sawyer’s hands. The flaming ball struck Sawyer with a blinding explosion that shook the ground and set the nearest trees that weren’t already burning aflame.

  My clothes were in tatters from the eruption of fire out of me and my strength waivered, sending me to my knees. Insepth’s arm was around me and he was saying things, but his words were like a bee buzzing in my head.

  Tears burned my cheeks. Sawyer had killed Angus, and I had killed him. The world, whatever was left of it, was a darker place than ever before. When would it stop—when would the suffering finally be over?

  The dust cleared and I squinted to see the place where Sawyer had stood. There was a roar of something undefined, but deafening. Insepth gripped my shoulder and Tamira whined behind me. Ivan knelt beside me in human form.

  “We should go…” he muttered near my ear.

  “It can’t be!” Horas exclaimed.

  I stood, pulling away from Insepth.

  Samael’s black wings unfurled, exposing an undamaged Sawyer.

  “Really, love, if you’re going to use any element against my soldiers, don’t choose fire. It’s a personal favorite of mine.” He grinned and arched his brows. His lithe form walked on land as well as he soared through the skies. And he was coming with hundreds of fresh Dark Angels taking flight from a newly gaping fissure in the earth. Smoke curled out of the hole, and other things were stirring.

  My heart pounded frantically as I remembered the nightmares I’d had when I’d first gone to live with Ila. Blazing red eyes stared out from the shadows. The growls and hisses of the monsters hammered in my mind. I’d seen distorted faces with bodies that were a horrible blend of human and animal features, and with tails that were covered with flashing scales.

  And then there had been the people. Their wails reached straight to my soul. They were the ones the Devil had imprisoned in Hell. I heard them again, and I was frozen in place. My limbs refused to move.

  Samael drifted like a wraith toward us, with his black soulless, hungry eyes. The push of his power proceeded him, blowing my hair back with hot, putrid wind. I was frozen in place. My eyes watered, but I couldn’t look away. He controlled my Fire, and it receded deep inside of me, afraid of its master.

  Insepth, Youmi, and Ivan were tethered in place, the same as me, but Tamira paced at our backs, and Horas leaped in front of me. “Snap out of it. We can still escape.”

  He was a Demon and it occurred to me that the Devil already had his soul, so there wasn’t much else to do to him, besides kill him. But not us. We had something Samael wanted more than anything—fresh souls.

  A few of the wolves not lucky enough to have already died, yipped and whined as they thrashed on the ground. The Hell beasts from my dreams devoured them as they swept over the field, like rampaging insects.

  Samael’s voice carried across the meadow as he rapidly closed the distance. “It puzzles me your reaction to the death of a dog. I can only imagine the torture you’ll experience when I kill your friends and your family. Especially your brother and his unborn daughter.”

  Tears burned my eyes. The blood and smoke covered hillside was gone, replaced by a burning city. It was a vision I’d seen before. I easily found Timothy and Chloe huddled on the boat. Chloe was crying and clutching her swollen belly.

  No, please no. The picture disappeared and the Devil’s army rose again from the ashes. The drumming noise of their movement exploded in my ears and the stench of Hell choked me. My Fire was still hiding, but my Gaia joined with Water and Air in a flurry of snapping branches in my mind.

  I broke eye contact with Samael, and gazed into Sawyer’s red eyes. He focused on me with pure hatred and I swallowed the lump in my throat. The change in the clouds caught my attention, and I let the swirl of elements fly free.

  Insepth, Youmi, and Ivan woke from their trance just as War streaked down from the sky, his shrill whinny snapping Samael’s glare his way. The horse’s red hair glinted in the grayness and his arched neck and pounding hooves showed his power. Cricket clung to his neck, burying her face in his long mane as the stallion gained speed.

  The elements I’d unleashed raced toward War’s storm in a blurry glow that stretched high into the sky. Their pull made me stumble forward and Insepth caught my arm. Earth, Water, and Air collided with the squall with a sickening roar. The wind snapped to greater force and changed dir
ections, driving into the Devil’s army. Rain poured onto the battlefield in a torrent that made it impossible to see anything except streaking, falling water. Lightning crashed and thunder bellowed. I could hear the wailing screams of the Hell beasts as the hurricane attacked them from all sides. I squinted, trying to see through the deluge. Ivan struggled to stand upright, and I grabbed his arm, pulling him against me and Insepth.

  “This way, Ember!” Horas shouted.

  I followed where he was fixated. There was a circular glow not too far away. In the middle of the brightness, I saw a golden hued mountaintop. A faint, dry wisp of air reached my face, causing uncontrolled tears of relief to stream down my face.

  “Come on!” I urged Ivan and Insepth into a run toward the light. Youmi was a few strides ahead and Tamira, in wolf form, loped along with us.

  Raphael’s wings were draped around the loophole he’d created. His expression was intense and focused.

  “Stop them!” Samael’s voice rang out above the gale.

  I didn’t look back even though the baying of his hounds rose above the storm, and the slapping of many feet pounded the puddles behind us. The hiss of Hell’s fire rose in my ears and its heat seared my back. The Devil’s army broke through the tempest with the explosion of sparks and smoke.

  Insepth clutched my hand tighter and I pumped my legs harder, holding my gaze on the autumn landscape beyond Raphael’s opening.

  Youmi jumped into the glowing ring first, and Ivan and Tamira were right on his heels. As the scent of clay earth and pine needles assailed my senses, I slowed, daring to look over my shoulder.

  Samael’s pitch black wings were fringed in fire and folded into his sides as he rushed at us like a torpedo. Three-headed hounds and Hell beasts chased after him, and running ahead of the grotesque mob was Sawyer. Dark Angels swooped down from the clouds, brandishing gleaming black swords and axes.