Alpha Goddess

by Amalie Howard

  “Of course I dare,” her mouth mocked. “You rule here because I allow it. You think because you and Azrath have some scheme to change the balance of things that I will stand by and let you destroy everything I have built? I am Serjana, goddess of all the realms, and you forget your place, demon.”

  Sera raised her right hand to Kyle’s chest. Ra’al bowed mockingly, his eyes burning. “As my lady wishes,” he said. “The boy is in safe health. As for the Trimurtas, I fear that I must provoke Lady Serjana’s wrath. He belongs to Azrath.”

  “Cease your games, Ra’al. I grow tired of them. Give me the boy and the Trimurtas in exchange for your son’s life.”

  Ra’al chuckled. “I believe the saying is ‘an eye for an eye’ is it not? And it appears that you only have one eye to bargain with.”

  “Take Dev,” Kyle whispered through his teeth.

  “I can’t leave Nate there,” Sera whispered back, her lips barely moving. “Or you.”

  “I’ll find Nate.”

  Her fingers dug into his collarbone. “How?”

  “Do you trust me, Sera?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, despite the ugly niggling thought that she was putting her trust and her brother’s safety into a boy whose demon side had gotten the better of him one too many times before. Sera stared at him, hesitating. “You promise you’ll get him?”

  “Yes. Get Dev out. It’s what you came here to do.”

  Sera thought about Nate. He’d looked so peaceful, so vulnerable. She’d told him she would always protect him, and now when it mattered most, she had to leave him. But her hands were tied—she didn’t have a choice. She nodded to Ra’al.

  “Agreed. I’ll take the Trimurtas.”

  “So dutiful, Lady Serjana. It’s almost too easy to read you.” He waved his arm. “Go, claim your prize.”

  “Remember your promise,” she said softly to Kyle as hellfyre stormed around her body like a tornado, its fiery arms lifting her off the ground.

  She sped swiftly toward Dev and hovered in front of him. She almost cried aloud. Long lines of dried blood caked his face, and there were deep cuts along his neck and shoulders as if sharp talons had hooked into his body and then dragged him. There was a raw chunk of flesh gouged out of his side. The wound was covered in writhing maggots. Sera gagged and looked away.

  “Dev, it’s Sera. Can you hear me?” He didn’t answer. He was barely alive.

  She glanced back at where Kyle stood, his face unreadable. She didn’t dare look at Ra’al, but could feel the malevolence of his stare.

  Sera loosened Dev’s restraints one at a time and held him close, the weight of him heavier than she’d expected. His unique scent curled faintly around her, the smell of spice and marigold, and Sera almost wept.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kyle shift and pull the black sword out. Ra’al said something to him, and she could see his revolted expression. She whirled and spun toward him, her pace far slower, watching as he dispatched the two demons standing next to him with a howl of fury. Three more advanced his way. Ra’al snarled, his face a mask of rage, and leapt off the rock.

  “What’s the matter?” she gasped, almost crashing into Kyle. Dev slumped against her side like a dead weight.

  “Change of plans.” Kyle swung the sword in a low arc, his body twisting fluidly as a demon with the head of a jackal spun toward them. Blood spurted from the wounds of the two demons at his feet.

  “What are you doing? Are you crazy? It’s us against thousands.” Even as she spoke, shrieks of wrath echoed within the cavern in a thunderous deafening wave.

  “You were dead no matter what, there was no way he was going to let either of you go. And we die together, right?” he shouted, gripping Dev’s left arm and throwing it over his shoulder. “Move!” They scrambled back through the doorway they had come through into the room full of stars.

  “What do you mean?” Sera said. “Where are we going?”

  Kyle held Mordas in front of them, its blade taking on a scarlet sheen from the blood it had consumed. They edged toward a back corner of the room. “It was all a game, all of it. You’re a prize, nothing more, Sera,” Kyle said. “Just like me. We’re getting Nate and we’re getting the hell out of here. No pun intended.”

  “What did he say to you?”

  “Later. Grab him.” He leaned Dev down against Sera and jumped in front of them both, swinging Mordas with all the strength he could muster.

  The demons shied back, waiting, and then the room quieted as Ra’al took center stage. He eyed his son with slitted obsidian eyes, holding a gigantic spear in one muscled forearm. He bared his teeth and roared, the sound horrific. Kyle stood his ground, hefting the sword in both hands. Ra’al noticed and laughed.

  “You think you can wield my own blade against me?” he taunted, twirling the spear like a baton. “Mordas only knows one master.”

  “That master is me,” Kyle gritted back.

  “The blade only obeys a Demon Lord, Kalias.” Ra’al’s words were like barbs. For a second Kyle faltered, his grip going slack, but then he tightened it again.

  “Is that not what I am? The son of a Demon Lord?” he shot back. He thrust the blade in a high arc, crashing into Ra’al’s spear as he brought it down, and then back again on the underside. The weapons crashed again, and Sera could see the ripple of force up Kyle’s arm. She’d never seen him so strong—every part of him was feeding on the dark energy surrounding them. He glanced back at her. “Portal. Now!”

  Ducking to avoid the spear, which was moving at lightning speed toward his head, Kyle crouched and spun the sword toward Ra’al’s chest on the diagonal, throwing his body across the floor to where Sera and Dev stood. Ra’al stared in delayed shock at the black line of blood, his lips curling in a snarl as he leaped toward Kyle.

  Sera gripped Dev against her left side and drew the runes on the wall with her right palm just as Kyle crashed into them from behind, sending the three of them hurtling through the portal. The last thing she saw was Ra’al’s face and the tip of his spear following behind them. Her mouth opened in a scream as she was sucked through. The portal spun shut behind them, snapping the head of the weapon mid-strike.

  Looking into Ra’al’s soulless black eyes was like looking into the face of death.

  DEKAIAS

  Where are we?” Kyle gasped, standing woozily, Mordas at the ready. They were in a sumptuous room, with velvet couches and long elegant drapes across wide windows. Elaborate gold-framed paintings adorned the fabric-covered walls. It was like the inside of a chalet from the fourteenth century. He looked around and said, “We’re in the first.”

  “Kyle. You’re hurt,” Sera blurted.

  Kyle glanced down at the severed head of Ra’al’s spear gouging into his shoulder and dug it out with Mordas’s point. It stung like a hive of bees, and he gnashed his teeth. The spearhead clattered to the floor and transformed into a mound of black writhing maggots.

  “What the hell is that?” Sera cried, as Kyle crushed them under his boot.

  “Demon magic, I expect,” he said, grimacing and rubbing his shoulder. Despite his accelerated healing, the wound burned and seeing the maggots only made him feel like some of them were now burrowing deep into his flesh. He rubbed his shoulder harder as if to banish the phantom sensation. Sera shot him a look, but he forced a smile to his lips. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Practically healed already.”

  She stared at him, frowning. “We have to go. Ra’al can travel the hell dimensions, too. He must have known that we would come here for Nate.” She checked Dev, who was still unconscious.

  Kyle squatted next to her, peering at Dev’s wan face. “We have a little time. Ra’al has to go through all six to get here.”

  Sera look startled. “What do you mean?”

  “The seventh is the lowest dimension of Xibalba. Ra’al must portal through each of the other six to get here. That’s probably the reason Nate’s being held here. Any portal to Azrath’s
nether-realm could only be from the first dimension. It’s the law of the Dark Realms.”

  “But I can portal in and out,” Sera said.

  “Those laws don’t apply to you because you made them, or a past incarnation of you did, for the Trimurtas. You did it to preserve balance within Xibalba.”

  “How do you know all of this?”

  “I … I don’t know.” Kyle felt confused. He had no idea how he knew that she had made those laws, but it was simply there in his head. Just as he’d known that they were in the first dimension. He cleared his throat and wiped Mordas’s blade on a nearby drape, then tucked it into the scabbard on his back. “Let’s go. Dekaias will no doubt know we are here.” He glanced at Dev and hoisted him up between them. “How’s he doing?”

  “Not sure.” They both stared at the unconscious boy between them. His clothes were ripped and discolored by blood, the gaping wounds beneath festering. His lips moved soundlessly. His brown hair was matted, his skin sallow. “I did this,” Sera whispered. “I did this to him.”

  “Sera—”

  “No, he came to the Mortal Realm for me and took this vulnerable form, for me.”

  “That was his choice, Sera. He’s done this before. He knew the risks.”

  “And now he’ll die, and Nate—” Her voice choked, her knees buckling.

  “Sera, focus! Don’t fall apart now!” Kyle said fiercely, staring hard into her eyes. “We are going to find Nate and get us all out of here. It’ll be hard enough with him unconscious.” Dev stirred, startling them both.

  “Dev?” Sera said softly. He groaned, then opened his eyes, squinting against the muted purple light. “Dev, it’s OK, we’ve got you.”

  “Where am I?” he murmured and reached a hand up to Sera’s face. She grasped it and clasped it to her cheek, kissing his fingers.

  “You’re safe for now, but we’re still in Xibalba.” She pressed her forehead to Dev’s, hugging him tightly. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

  Kyle looked away, unable to contain the wild rush of jealousy surging through him. He forced it back, knowing the thing inside of him would be only too happy to feed on any negativity, and he was vulnerable enough already.

  “We need to move,” he growled, surprised at the rough edge of his voice. He moved to the door, ignoring the troubled look Sera sent him, and peered outside. He focused his energy and expanded it into the house. Strangely, he couldn’t sense a thing. “No one’s in this house.” Kyle walked back to where Sera knelt next to Dev. “Can you walk?” he asked Dev gruffly.

  Dev pulled himself to his feet, his knees buckling at the last moment and tumbling into Kyle. Kyle grabbed Dev’s arms and stared into the deep golden brown eyes that lanced right through him. In that millisecond, it was as if Dev saw everything hidden inside of him.

  “Thanks,” Dev gasped, straightening himself, and the moment was gone.

  “Here, let me help,” Sera said as she moved to support his shoulder.

  “You shouldn’t be here, Sera. Ra’al wants you, not me.” He coughed and blood flecked his lips. “You need to leave now.”

  “I can’t, Dev. Nate’s here. I won’t leave him. And you’re here so that Azrath can challenge the power of the Trimurtas.” Dev stared at her with a strained expression. “Don’t talk, just conserve your strength,” she told him.

  The trio made their way down a wide curving marble staircase, the opulence of the lower floors matching those of the room they’d arrived in. Gold fixtures adorned everything, from the stair railings to the chandelier. It was overwhelming in an oppressive way—one that took beauty to an ugly extreme.

  Kyle opened the door and dappled sunlight flooded in. It wasn’t warm, just an illusion of sunlight. The long cobbled street was deserted, dark buildings flanking its sides.

  “Let’s go,” he said, nodding to Sera and Dev. He sent his energy forward and just as quickly pulled it back as a lone figure trotted up the street to meet them. “Stay behind me,” he warned and pulled Mordas out of its sheath.

  A young girl about ten years old approached. Her skin was like cream, and long yellow ringlets framed a heart-shaped face with eyes the color of the sky. She wore a muslin summer dress with a wreath woven through her curls.

  “My Lord Dekaias bids me to welcome you,” she said in a musical voice.

  “That’s far enough,” Kyle told her.

  She smiled and Kyle could see a black gaping hole where her teeth should have been. “Whatever Prince Kalias wishes,” she said bowing.

  Kyle could feel Dev’s stare and cringed. “Where’s the boy?”

  The girl let out a merry laugh. “The boy is well. Shall we?” She turned and Sera’s gasp was audible. The girl’s scalp had been peeled away from her skull, exposing bits of bone and flesh beneath it. Teeth marks crusted with black rings ran the length of her white neck, disappearing into the back of her dress. Kyle slid back to squeeze Sera’s arm. Her face was pale, and Dev’s was rigid.

  “She’s so … young,” Sera whispered.

  “It’s a demon, Sera. What you see is not a little girl,” Kyle said in a dead voice.

  As if the creature had heard them, she turned and skipped back in their direction, stopping short when Kyle raised Mordas in warning.

  “Vanity,” she said, “has its price at any age, and beauty, after all, is only skin deep.” She giggled, and Kyle caught a sour unwashed smell on her breath.

  “Where are we going?” he demanded.

  The demon danced forward, her grin wide and macabre. “The banquet has already started. Hurry or you’ll miss it.”

  “Nate!” Sera gasped. Her eyes were wide, panicked. Kyle wrapped her fingers in his. “Kyle, Dekaias is evil. I’ve seen what he does …” She trailed off in horrified silence, staring at the marks on the girl’s flesh.

  “It doesn’t hurt,” the demon sang, grinning. “It’s like a kiss. A demon kiss.” She giggled again, a child’s laugh made more sickening by its gruesome source.

  “Move away,” Kyle warned the demon again. He waited until she was far ahead of them then he turned to Sera and Dev. “We’ll get Nate. I promised, remember? Don’t worry.”

  “It’s a trap,” Dev said softly.

  “I don’t care. I’m not leaving Nate.” Sera glared at her companions. “Or either of you. We find Nate and then I portal us out of here. Deal?”

  “Kyle, you must help her to see reason,” Dev urged. “They want her. We are nothing to them. They need her because of what she can do, for her ability to move between the Realms. Surely you can see that. This ploy of Dekaias’s is working, because we are walking straight into it.” A fit of coughing overtook him. He spat a mouthful of bright red blood to the ground.

  Inside, Kyle knew Dev was right, but he couldn’t say no to the pleading expression on Sera’s face. “We’ll fight them if we have to,” he said through clenched teeth.

  Dev shook his head. “This isn’t about you and me, Kyle,” he said.

  “No, you’re right. It’s about her.”

  They followed the demon to the end of the road and up a grassy knoll covered with wildflowers. The scene appeared idyllic, but Kyle knew that it was an elaborate farce. He could smell something ugly beneath the mask of beauty, something that reeked and whispered of death and decay. Sera scrambled ahead of them, following the demon, who had already disappeared over the top of the hill.

  “Sera, no. Wait.” Kyle sprinted up the hill, Dev limping behind them, and almost crashed into her.

  What lay before them was something out of a fairytale. All manner of creatures danced on the impossibly green grass around a circular stone structure. An endless ocean stretched behind them, its white curling waves crashing against the rocks beyond the clearing.

  “Do you see Nate?” Sera gasped, breathless.

  Kyle looked and saw Nate’s blond head laying on a stone tablet in the middle of the circle with Dekaias sitting on a velvet chaise to his left. He was attended to by what looked like golden cherubs
. “Yes, he’s just over there.”

  Sera started down the hill, but Dev stalled her descent, a hand on her arm. “Sera, wait. You can’t just waltz down there. There are hundreds of demons. Don’t be seduced by what seems like a harmless garden. Don’t forget for one second where we are. We are in the Dark Realms.”

  Her body shook beneath his fingers and her eyes were like chips of ice. “Every second we wait,” she hissed, “that monster gets one inch closer to my brother.” She removed Dev’s fingers from her arm. “You know what I am capable of, don’t you, Devendra?” Dev’s eyes widened at her words.

  “Sera, Dev’s right—” Kyle began, hand outstretched. She glared at him and let his hand fall. He’d never seen such a look on her face, not even when she’d been her angriest. It was a cold rage, almost inhuman. But he recognized it, too, deep inside himself. His body twitched again, the heat inside like a rising tide. He took a deep breath, shoving it back.

  Kyle pulled out twin silver blades from his boot and handed them to Dev. “It’s not much, I know, but it’s all I’ve got. These probably won’t kill them, but it’ll keep them away for a while if any get too close.” Dev nodded in thanks.

  Flanking Sera, they walked down the hill, demons clearing a path around them, and then closing in behind as they got nearer to the stones. A line of demons blocked their entry to where Nate lay, motionless, on a stone altar. Dekaias had disappeared.

  “Dekaias,” Sera shouted, her tone venomous. “I will give you one chance to release my brother.”

  A lazy echoing laugh surrounded them. “Why so rude, my lady? Surely I am deserving of some small measure of courtesy for keeping this delicious morsel whole.”

  “If you’ve touched him in any way, I will revisit it upon you a hundred times! Show yourself, Dekaias!”

  “I’m not stupid, Sera. Can I call you Sera? So much more friendly than Lady Serjana. I know of your power, and of course that of the young prince who so cleverly outsmarted our father.” Another laugh pierced the heavy silence and Kyle trembled slightly. “He was not pleased but quite proud at the same time.” The voice continued, its tone arrogant and cunning. “How are you, my brother? Strange that it’s taken this long for us to meet. I do relish the moment when we are finally face to face.”