by Swart, Karen
I frowned and looked around. The sounds of the demons dying had ceased, and only the retreating sounds of giant paws could be heard.
"Chax, are you alright?" Abby asked, slowly making her way towards me, as if she was afraid I would attack.
Why would she be approaching me with caution?
I looked at Caim and Zurita. My confusion must have been evident on my face, because they too approached slowly, arms raised in surrender. "You’re bleeding," Zurita whispered.
I reached for my face and found it to be wet. As I pulled my hand away from the wetness on my face, I rubbed the crimson liquid between my fingers.
"You’re crying blood," Raven decided to elaborate.
I rubbed at my eyes and found my hands covered with blood. Shocked, I just looked at them, unable to comprehend why this was happening. A hand came to rest on my arm, and my eyes drifted to its owner.
"She is crying, Chax." Abby's eyes carried her sympathy.
"You share a symbolic bond. It must have evolved between your pactrum and the tracking charm," Ben explained.
My heart skipped a beat, and then went completely still. Kasadya just died again. Utter agony erupted within me. I braced my hands on the wall of the chamber to hold myself up. How much can she take? How much more before there is no coming back? I turned, my eyes finding the small entrance.
"We need to get to her now." It was not a request, it was an order.
I moved forward, but froze in place. I need to think rationally, which I was not. I stood their motionless and ran a thousand scenarios through my mind. "Abby, you and Raven will remain here," I ordered.
"What?!" Raven yelled behind me. I turned and pinned her with my eyes.
"If either of you move an inch out of this chamber, I will kill you myself." Her face went pale but she nodded, all her fight leaving her with just one sentence.
Without a word I turned and started to climb the small entrance. The others followed without any protest. It was clear that there would be no negotiation. We reached the path again and stopped to regroup, waiting until the last one joined us where we stood.
"Be careful and stay quiet," I ordered and started the journey deep into evil itself. The path became more rigid and soon we were crawling more than walking. As we reached the end, the path flowed into a huge opening, creating a chamber with an edge. Stopping, I looked down at what lay below. A dark fortress waited us at the bottom. Its walls were rigid and unmoving.
"This is it," Alexia breathed next to me.
"We need to get down," Max continued.
I looked down and assessed the wall of the mountain. It was a straight dive to the bottom. No sign of any leverage whatsoever. He wasn’t dumb. He chose this location. The only way down is to jump and die, or shift. He would know the instant someone approached his fortress.
"Shifting is the only option. And the moment we shift he will know we are here," I explained, looking at all of them.
My words took impact and their faces showed it. This was not going to be a silent approach to surprise our enemy. "Be prepared for anything, and most of all, do not disobey my orders. There is no negotiation about this. If you don’t follow my guidance, you will not survive this." They nodded, understanding that their lives could be but a speck of dust in an instant.
I looked at Alexia and held out my hand. I wanted to give her the option of staying. She had been brave so far, but I would understand if she chose not to continue. With so little power and healing at such a slow pace, it would be advisable for her to stay. She placed her hand in mine without any hesitation, surprising me. I nodded my gratitude and looked towards the fortress, shifting everyone within a second. We landed at the entrance. I didn’t move to draw any weapons and the others followed my lead. We needed to approach this as slowly and carefully as possible. I had an idea about how he had evolved and what powers he had, but charging in with weapons drawn was a sure mistake.
"Holy heck, is that what I think it is?" Nanini uttered next to me. I looked at her and found what she was asking about.
The walls of the fortress were indeed moving. Arms and hands leaped from it, grabbing at the air. A head tried to rise with it. I looked at the rest of the walls. Everywhere hands, arms and heads were emerging from the walls. Black as night, with a shadowy reach. And the souls of evil will build his throne. The words returned to me from a memory.
"Lost souls, damned to the walls of his throne," I explained to her. She was pale, and she backed into Max's arms.
"You mean that those dammed to hell end up on his wall?" Lada asked, stepping away from the masses trying to free themselves from the fortress.
"Indeed." I ended the moment and started to move into the fortress.
It was dark and eerie. Evil and doom illuminated the moving walls. Soft whispers of despair and regret could be heard as we walked onwards. The group stayed away from the walls, afraid that the souls might try to grab them. It was dark and cold, just like death. The place reeked of it. Where the rest of hell was dead, brown, red and hot, this place was the exact opposite. It was the essence of evil. We walked down hallway after hallway, but there was no end to the vast enormity of it. There were a lot of passages and entrances, misleading any visitor. With the aid of the charm, I guided us to where we needed to be.
Finally, we reached a huge entrance, and I knew what waited for us just beyond it. With a deep breath, I lead them into the entrance and into a huge chamber. On our left towards the end of the chamber was a rock-like throne, and mounted against its wall was a chained Kasadya, awake but exhausted. She looked up and blue eyes found mine.
"Chax! Help me please; I am so scared!" Kasadya screamed, tears running down her face.
My heart leaped and I found my body moving on its own, only for my mind to regain control and stop myself. I flung my arm out and stopped the advancing Max on my left.
"What are you doing? She is right there. Let's get her and get the hell out of here!" he barked at me.
"No," I replied and studied the now sobbing Kasadya.
"Chax," she croaked in despair and my heart nearly broke into pieces.
"Have you gone mad?!" Max bellowed at me.
I looked around the empty throne room and studied it. “Would the Kasadya you know ever admit that she was scared?" I asked him, my eyes resting on Kasadya.
"What are you-" He stopped in mid-sentence and looked at her, his eyebrows drawing together.
"Stay behind me a few paces," I instructed them and casually made my way to the throne.
They did as I instructed and formed a line behind me.
I walked slowly, not showing any indication of trying to rescue Kasadya. "Have you fallen so low that you need to use illusions to give you some edge to a situation?" I asked no one.
"Please, Chax," Kasadya begged again. "Take me home."
I ignored her plea, my heart and bond demanding that I save my mate. But that was not my Kasadya.
"I should have destroyed you that day. I should have disobeyed Him. One moment in my life that I wished I was not so obedient," I said, turning around to look at the room. There were two more exits on either side of the throne. As I turned, I notice a third just behind it. He always had an escape plan.
"Chax, please," Kasadya begged again, thrashing against her bonds.
"You are still without honor, still too weak to see beyond your own little existence," I went on, ignoring her.
"You betrayed me!" a male voice bellowed.
I smiled, knowing that even after all these years, he was still predictable.
I turned to find the former archangel who though himself above our Sire, above everyone else. He hadn’t changed at all. He was still lean and tall with black hair cascading down behind his back. Where his eyes were once a bright emerald green, they were completely black now. It was like looking into a mirror without green eyes.
"Holy crap," Nanini breathed behind me.
"Is it me, or does he look like Caim and Chax?" Lada whispered.
"Stay silent," I ordered them.
"Yes, and I would do it again without hesitation. Only this time I would destroy you completely," I taunted him.
It grew even darker in the throne room as his anger surfaced. “Why! I was your brother, created out of your very soul!"
The memory bombarded me. "I grant you a gift, my son, any gift that you want," our Sire said, His hand on my shoulder. I thought about it, wondering what could possibly be needed to complete me. I was indestructible, a force to be reckoned with. I was absolute. What could I possibly want more? And then it found me. "Sire, can I have more of me. More angels created from me," I asked, thrilled at the idea that more of me could turn the fate of everything. "Yes, I could break your soul and use those pieces to create more of you. Only males?" our Sire asked with a smile. Again I thought about it. In our world, there was no difference in power between male and female. "Male and female, Sire," I replied. "Then so be it. I will give you brothers and sisters as a gift," our Sire replied.
To say that was a mistake on my part would be a lie. I turned sideways and my eyes landed on Caim. Memories of our sister followed thousands of other beautiful memories. My eyes traveled back to him. Even of him, there where great memories. Of his first breath, his first battle and his first laughter. No, I had no regret of the gift I had asked all those years ago. My only regret was not acting when I should have.
"Yes, and then you destroyed everything because of your greed. Again, you were too weak to handle the power given to you," I replied, my eyes roaming the throne room looking for Kasadya. The charm indicated that she was here, somewhere in here. She was hidden from my eyes.
"Chax the great, Chax the mighty. Look how you have fallen! You are nothing but another fallen. You preach to me yet you stand in front of me as guilty as I," he continued as he moved towards his throne.
His eyes sparkled with menace and hatred.
"See what you want. But the past cannot be changed; you are what you are." I showed no emotion. And this alone angered him more as the room grew so dark that a normal human would be left blind in it.
Sitting down on his throne, he regarded me and the others, a smile on his face. "A pity. I thought taking your life would have been much more difficult. All the wait just to fight another weak fallen." His laughter bubbled into the room.
"If you think so." My smile was the only movement I made, which angered him even more.
His eyes blazed with fury and abruptly returned to amusement. "I have to say your mate was quite the fight. I believe she had more in her then you will have," he taunted me.
Anger spiked within me and I had to press hard to remain calm. He will pay for it.
"I'm sure she made you bleed a few times. She is a remarkable female," I countered his smug look.
The room grew darker again. “She called your name a few times, begging you to save her. Just before I would drive a dagger through her heart." He waved his hand and the left wall opened to reveal an iron casket.
My eyes didn’t move from it. The charm fixed down on it, burning with power. "Kasadya," I whispered in our bond.
There was no reply, but I could feel her heart. I looked back at him, resolve settling in. I will kill him first and then I will get my mate out of here. He will die slowly, painfully.
He laughed again. “She is such a pretty little thing. Delectable. I wanted to destroy her at first, but then Gluttire told me who she was. Can you imagine the utter pleasure that filled me each time I killed her. I would envision that it was your dying choke that I would hear. Over and over, such pleasure she brought me." He licked his lips as he spoke.
My hand started to tremble from the malevolence rising within me.
"Your failure was of your own making. You were too weak to handle the greatness of divinity. I should have seen it and stopped you. I knew that out of all of them, you would not be able to handle it. And still after all these years, you blame me for your own failure." I dismissed his efforts with a smile.
He leaned forward with an evil smile. Movement to my left caught my attention. The casket opened to reveal Kasadya within it. My blood froze and my heart stopped completely.
A strangled cry sounded behind me, followed with one of the females bursting out in tears.
"Kasadya?" my mental voice croaked out.
Chapter 7
"As I said, she was such a treat," he said with laughter filling his voice.
There was no mistake that my steady posture gave way the moment the casket was opened, the moment I saw her. There was no doubt that my true emotions were visible for all. With sheer shock, I didn’t move, a thankful action. I am sure that his attack would be entwined with me touching her. It was not a casket; it was an iron maiden device. From her back she was pierced with hundreds of spikes, covered from head to toe in her own blood. He was keeping her immobile while we played this game. One spike had pierced straight through her eye. I was grateful that she wasn’t awake to feel this pain. How many times had he placed her in this thing? How many times did she suffer like this? By all that I am, I will not allow her to ever feel pain again. If I have to lock her away and keep her from the rest of the world, then so be it. I would rather have her fighting me, than looking at my mate torn to pieces, pierced and bleeding out. You will pay dearly for this. For the first time in my existence, I hated something.
"Do you remember that day when the creature took your arm? You know, the one that we fought just outside our realm?" I asked, bored as my eyes traveled back to him.
He regarded me for a moment then nodded. "Yes, I do," he replied, not sure where I was heading with this.
My eyes roamed over him, the memory vivid and playing in my mind. Behind him, movement caught my eye yet again. Anger slammed into me. "What the hell are you two doing?" I yelled at Abby and Raven.
Raven just rolled her eyes at me and motioned for me to continue. Abby gave a small smile but didn’t even try to stop.
"Did I not warn you two?! Did I not promise you death?!" I continued on but remained unaffected to him. What he saw was a male thinking of the past. Not a male thinking of a million ways to kill two Apprendos!
The two of them were slowly making their way to Kasadya undetected. Crouching low, they crawled toward her. Raven looked at me and with angry eyes nodded towards him. "Will you keep him busy already!" blasted into my mind. I am going to kill her when we get out of here.
"Do you remember the pain you were in? You begged me to stop it, to end it?" I continued on, the two females’ movements visible to me only in the corner of my eye.
"It was unbearable," he agreed, shaking his head at the memory.
"Do you remember how I held you and braced the pain with you, trying to take it away?" I went on.
The two females were about a meter from Kasadya. I turned my body sideways to ensure that I was able to move swiftly and attack him. "None of you will try to engage him. You will take Kasadya out of here and not look back. Do I make myself clear?" Anger radiated from my mental voice.
"Yes," they replied in union. No hesitation, no females unwilling to listen to me and take my guidance.
"Yes, I do remember. But that was a long time ago, a time when I agree I was too weak. But not anymore. I have evolved into pain itself." His arrogance had no limit.
"I ensure you that what I plan to do to you would be far worse than that day. And unlike that day, I will not try and take the pain from you. I will force more upon you. You think that you have evolved into pain itself? You have not felt pain, not yet. I promise to introduce it to you over and over again." I remained still; not a muscle moved in me.
Raven stood up first, coming face to face with Kasadya. She braced her hands on both Kasadya's arms, ready to rip her out of the spikes. I kept my eyes on him, trapping him with my lethal stare.
"You're about to die, and you threaten me? I see you have lost your mind together with your divinity. A pity, but interesting." He sat back and rubbed his chin, giving me a once over.
>
Raven and Abby were now both trying to pull Kasadya out as silently as possible. Don’t wake up, my love. Please don’t wake up.
"It is not a threat; it's a promise," I corrected him.
His anger rolled into the room. It went pitch dark, and the floor moved with it. A small gasp sounded in the dark and I knew that the time had come. I pulled the sword from behind and embraced my true identity.
"I am Chax, Archangel of Wrath. And you will die this day, traitor!" I said as my fallen body receded and my arch form surged to the surface. The room's light returned and the situation was as I expected, problematic.
He heard Kasadya’s gasp, and was now holding Raven in a death choke. Abby and Kasadya was lying on the floor, unconscious near his feet. We watched each other. Neither of us moved. The only movement was Raven, kicking and biting at him. She shifted into hellhound and he had a hard time keeping his hold on her. Her wings flapped around, trying to hit him.
