by Lynn Landes
Blood
Covenant
Lynn Landes
Book 3 of the Covenant Series
By:
Lynn Landes
Published by:
Landes Publishing
Edited by:
Shane Landes
Cover art by:
Fiona Jayde Media
http://fionajaydemedia.com/
This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, and events portrayed in this novel are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Lynn Landes
http://followlynnsthread.wordpress.com/
All rights reserved.
Other titles by Lynn Landes:
The Angel's Covenant
Covenant Breakers
Fae Queen
Shadow King
Serenity's Song
Arctic Moon
Secret Friends
Index of Chapters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Epilogue
Author Bio
Chapter 1
With trembling hands Elina rolls the ancient scroll up, securing it once again with the red ribbon. She slips the scroll into her duffel bag and looks around the room, it’s time to leave.
When the tremor starts, Elina runs for the front door and watches as the archangel Malach lands in the front yard. He stands in full armor with his large blue wings spread out behind him. Silver sword in hand, his emerald eyes connect with hers.
“The years of peace have ended, Keeper. Raphaim has freed all of the Fallen from the scroll.”
“What does that mean, Malach?” she asks with a sick feeling in her stomach.
“It means the Battles of Annihilation, have begun, Elina. You must go now!” He urges.
Elina flinches as the earth around them detonates. A group of fallen angels rises out of the dust with death in their eyes.
The leader, Kane sneers at them as he advances. Fully armored he is hungry for Malach’s blood. Twenty more angels, with demons too many to count spread out, effectively cutting off any chance of their escape. Malach and Elina are completely surrounded.
“Elina, you must go now. Trust me to handle this!” Malach tells her as he calls for help. “BROTHERS! Help me protect the Keeper!!!”
Ignoring Malach, she builds her power and draws her sword. She points it at Kane, “You are beginning to get on my nerves, demon!”
Kane laughs advancing while spreading his large black and red wings. “The Keeper is mine!” he roars and they attack from every side.
Malach unleashes his power and the first wave is blown backwards from their feet.
Kane looks to attack from the sky leaping straight up, his intention is to separate the two.
Elina does not take her eyes from Kane. When he leaps up she ports away, landing behind the line of fallen angels. She slices through the demons around her, severing heads from their bodies. A quick look around and she ports away again, dropping behind another group to thin the ranks of demons surrounding them.
Kane watches from the air, circling and stalking his prize.
Malach growls in frustration when Elina leaves and goes to follow her lead, but he is stunned when one of his own lands in front of him.
“Kas?” he protests looking at the angel. With sorrow in his heart, he knows the others will not be coming. Simeon, Uriel, Michael, are they all turned? How many have fallen?
“ELINA! LEAVE NOW!!!”
He deflects Kas’s attack with a shower of sparks as their swords meet.
With a look she snaps to Malach’s mind, “Busy now, talk later!” For every demon she strikes down, two more take its place. Elina protects herself within a shield of shimmering light and glances at Malach. She watches in awe for a fraction of a second, he is magnificent in his glory.
Her heart weeps as he fights his brothers, but he is true to his resolve. The demons are advancing on him from every direction and terror fills her heart as she starts to fight her way back to him. She knows even an archangel can only fight so many. Her dome of protection flashes with impacts as the demons attack it with everything they have.
Kane is waiting, watching for a sign of weakness. Elina begins to fight her way back toward Malach and that is when he understands, she cares for Malach! With an evil smile, he dives straight for Malach, targeting his large blue wings. Swooping down, he slices half of Malach’s wing off and laughs as his scream of agony echoes through the woods.
Elina’s power fails as she sees the beautiful blue wing fall to the ground.
“NOOOO!!!” She screams as Malach’s blood splatters on the earth beneath his feet.
Infuriated, she directs all of her power outward and pushes it towards the demons surrounding them. Screams and howls follow the fire as they are reduced to ashes in an instant. Elina rushes towards Malach and grabs him as he drops to his knees.
“Elina, you have to go, now!! There are too many! Trust me!” He pleads with her as she struggles to hold him up.
“No! I won’t leave you, Malach! I can’t! You don’t understand…” she begs for understanding, openly crying now.
“So sweet isn’t it brothers?” Kane says landing hard behind them.
Looking over Malach’s shoulder at the corrupted angel she smells his spilled blood, tasting the metallic scent of it on the air and rage fills her soul.
Behind Elina, Malach glances up and his shocked eyes find Nameed’s. “No!” he whispers. Gone is the brother he once knew, in his place stands a fallen angel. They land with heavy thuds and surround the pair on the ground, twenty five fallen angels sent to hell by Malach when they betrayed heaven.
Free now, they vibrate with hatred. Revenge is the gift they were promised and they have come to claim it. Elina jumps striking out at Kane, lashing at him with a whip manifested of pure hatred!
He screams as she strikes at his face. The energy whip slashes down across his face opening a deep, ragged gash and exploding his eye in a gush of blood and fluid.
She smiles at his scream of pain, until she hears Malach’s voice in her heart.
“I’m sorry, Elina. I failed you!” Malach tells her.
In an instant, she is surrounded by his light. He uses the last of his strength to protect her. Determined that she not watch him die, he pushes with all of his power and sends her tumbling through space and time. The last sound he hears is her scream reverberating through his soul.
Chapter 2
She is tumbling and spinning and her screams blend with his as she fights with all of her str
ength to return to Malach’s side. To protect him, or die trying. Even wounded his strength could not be overcome. He surrounded her, stripping her of all of her power, and sent her where she would not be found.
Elina is falling and the minute she hits the water below, all her breath is stolen from her body. Caught in the river’s grasp, she fights the current and swims toward shore before passing out on the shallow rocks.
The sound of birds calling to each other echoes in her ears and she struggles to open her eyes. Squinting against the glare of the sun, she slowly opens her eyes and every bone in her body hurts. A soft wind blows across her damp body, and she pushes up and bites back a scream. Her arm! Pain, radiates from the elbow to the hand and her fingers feel numb. Black and blue bruises are apparent, but nothing protrudes through the skin.
“Malach!!” She calls, but he does not respond. “Malach,” she whispers and struggles not to cry. Elina is sitting on the edge of a river surrounded by woods but she does not know where she is. Confusion, fear, and pain cloud her mind as she struggles to stand. The birds are noisy and she blocks out the sound of their music and concentrates again, “Malach!”
No response, closing her eyes, she concentrates, picturing Polly’s house where she last saw Malach. Elina feels the sensation of air moving around her as she ports. Slowly she opens her eyes and is horrified by what has become of Polly’s home.
Fear causes her to fall to her knees. The house is gone, in its place a burnt out wreck of what once was a beautiful home. It almost looks as though everything has grown over, aged by time. Elina struggles back to her feet and stumbles toward the house.
Quaking she picks up a blackened burnt board and immediately sees flame!
The vision is so strong she can hear the crackling, popping, sound of wood being devoured by fire, but it is the stench that turns her stomach.
Elina hears a sound and she turns toward it and watches as her Uncle Ronnie comes running, screaming for Ruby. He begins to tear at boards with his bare hands, trying in vain to dig his wife out from beneath the rubble. He ignores the pain as he finds her pale hand, for he is desperate to save her!
“Ruuuby!” he screams, over and over again as he tosses the scorching boards away. With every piece he moves, more fall in. He turns a tear stained face behind him looking straight through Elina, and relief fills his bloodshot eyes.
“Malach! Help me free them! Ruby and Polly are inside! I can’t hear them anymore,” he begs turning back to pull more boards free. Fear fills his heart when he hears a growl behind him. He slowly turns and stares in shock at the monstrous look in Malach’s black eyes. With a flick of his spiked tail, he pierces Ronnie through his heart. Wide eyed Ronnie stares down at his bleeding chest, and back up at Malach,
“Betrayer!” he says with his last breath.
Malach roars, ripping his tail free, he drops the body on the ground and shifts back to his true form. Raphaim! He walks towards the broken old man with a smile.
“You are the first old man. Next, her brother. I will destroy everyone she holds dear. Let’s see how she likes losing her family!” he says, kicking the body, enraged that she took Varena and his baby daughter, Alexandria from him.
Elina drops to the ground desperate to protect her Uncle, but all she finds is empty dirt as the vision leaves her. She screams dropping the board. “NO, NO, NO! This can’t be real!” Elina stands looking around, she is cold wet and hurting.
“Find shelter, Elina!” Cradling her arm, she takes a step and begins to walk towards the road. If you can call it that. It is barely recognizable through the tall grass and weeds. She swipes her hand across her cheek, smearing the tears and dirt. But where to go? Polly would go to the reservation if she needed help. Maybe she will find help there too?
With a sigh, she pools her power and closes her eyes porting to the community center. Elina is shocked when she opens her eyes. The brick building that Polly helped build, stands in ruins. Windows are broken and parts of the roof have caved in.
A hand painted sign says: Death Ahead in red letters. Elina builds her power, savoring the feel of it inside of her. She feels death here and she is in no condition to fight.
The community center was built on the outskirts of the reservation. It was a source of pride and they took care of it. It was not like this yesterday! As she looks around, she notices the cars abandoned in the streets, some with broken windows, but no people. Elina listens and hears… nothing. Not the sound of cars running, children playing or people talking. Nothing, just emptiness.
Sick to her stomach, she decides to get a closer look and as she takes a step, a piece of paper blows up and sticks to her leg. She bends and picks it up. It is handwritten and reads:
The End of Days has come
Are you ready to be judged?
They are coming for you, next.
Pray for forgiveness and bring your offerings
“Yeah, though she walks through the valley of the shadow of death,” a whispered voice says in her ear.
Elina spins, ready to fight, but no one is there.
“Hello?” Elina calls out. Only the sound of her trembling voice echoes back. Enough games, she thinks. Desperate for answers she hurries around the building, hoping to find someone. She listens and moves cautiously, but finds only desperation. The building needs to be condemned.
“Do you fear no evil, Human?” The whisper asks again.
Elina knows she is not alone, time to draw them out.
“No demon, for my God is with me!” Elina yells out. A hissing sound from behind with a sharp shove sends her sprawling forward on her knees. She falls to her hands and pain shoots up her injured arm and into her shoulder. Nauseous from the pain, Elina looks up just as the demons step out of the shadows. She stands up, dusting the grit from her hands and readies to fight.
These demons seep in from every shadow, under cars and through broken windows. One steps towards her holding a human bone in his hand. He licks it and smiles at her revulsion. His red eyes stare into hers and he whispers, “Do you fear evil now, human?”
“No! Demon.” Slowly she turns and says loudly for all to hear, “For his rod,” as a rod appears in her left hand, “And his Staff,” a staff appears in her right hand, “They comfort me!” She smiles and pours her power into the weapons.
Shock registers on the leader and then he smiles through rotted teeth. “Keeper! Where have you been hiding? Seize her!!!”
They pour forth and Elina prays as she spins, striking them in bright flashes of light as her weapons pass their unholy flesh.
Holy light erupts from her body, pain and power surge through her broken arm, healing it and burning the demons closest to her.
They come in another wave and she continues turning, like a dancer, except this time she brings her hands together and fires a surge of power. The demons are blown back and fragmented, leaving the leader to face his fate.
In a blind rage the leader leaps at her back, hoping to catch her from behind. Elina pins him with her eyes and swings her staff; slamming him to the dusty earth, careful not to kill him. Elina knows she doesn’t have much time before more come, drawn by her power.
“Tell me what is going on here! Where are all the humans?” she demands.
He smiles into the eyes of the Keeper, revealing sharp black teeth. “Why do you care now Keeper? My master is coming and you will not stand a chance…”
Elina swings her rod and his left arm explodes, leaving a bloody smoking stump. His scream resounds across the plains. She waits until his scream slows to a whimper, “Where is everyone!?” she demands again.
Out of breath, his voice squeaks, “All of your kind have been destroyed, captured or gone into hiding, like you!” The ground begins to rumble and Elina knows she is out of time. He begins to laugh at her fear.
“Ahhhh, yes. There it is, that precious fear.” He starts to struggle under her hold and his arm begins to regrow! Elina is stunned. He is growing stronger because of her fear
.
She steps back and raises her rod and staff melding them together. She forms a cross in the air and swings them down together, piercing the demon through the abdomen. He screams as he is pinned to the earth. She bends down and says, “HE prepares a table for me in front of my enemies’ demon, and tell your master that I dwell in the house of the Lord!”
Elina ignores the screams for help and pictures the only place she can think of, Hunter’s house. Her powers are weak because of the battle and injuries. She can’t port very far in this condition. Elina prays, “Father, help me please.” She moves through the air and pictures herself on the road leading to Hunter’s home.
The moment her feet touch the earth her knees threaten to buckle. Taking a deep breath Elina quickly moves to the cover of some heavy brush. The gravel driveway connects to the road and curves back to the left before coming to the house.
Elina is unable to see the house through the dense brush. The driveway is covered as well in grass and weeds, it looks like no one has been here in a while.
Silence surrounds her and she listens for any sounds of humanity as she pushes her way through the deep weeds. She prays that any snakes in the area will have moved on, it probably would not be a good idea to scream right now.
A giggle almost escapes, causing Elina to cover her mouth. She is dirty, hungry, exhausted and on the verge of hysteria.
“No,” she tells herself! “Hold it together, you are a Keeper. You are prepared for anything… except oblivion.”
The quiet closes in and she strains to hear any sounds of life. Nothing. Not the sound of children playing, cars driving, dogs barking, or people. He said everyone had gone into hiding, from what? She wonders as she moves closer to the house.
