On the ground is one of the men that ran away from me earlier. It doesn’t take a genius to see why there were able to stop him as there as a nice pool of blood right below his knee.
I kneel down to him, noticing his blood shot eyes as I remove the duct tape gag.
“Looks like you messed with the wrong people,” I say with my knife in hand. “Tell me why you’re here.”
His head jerks around as he watches the three of us carefully, finally settling his gaze on me. “My boss came to send you a message.”
“Seems like he dropped the ball on that. Perhaps you would like to deliver it.”
He shakes his head as he wiggles on the ground trying to get away, screaming out when I grab his injured leg.
“Here’s how it’s going to work,” I say, placing my knife up to his good knee. “You are going to tell me the message, or you are going to have a matching set.”
He struggles on the ground for a moment before he opens his mouth. “Your lady friend is challenging Michael later today.”
“Where?”
At first he doesn’t want to answer, but his tune quickly changes as I press the edge of my knife against his leg. “Downtown,” he says. “Solider field.”
“Can you get me directions?” I ask, looking over at Shelby.
“My dad can. He used to have season tickets.”
- 12 -
I pull up to the curb at Solder Field sometime after midnight. Part of me wishes I could have gotten here sooner, but it was difficult to navigate the streets downtown with all the abandoned cars. I only hope I beat Michael to the punch.
When I approach the front entrance I know I’m in the right place as there is a big hole melted in the turnstiles leading into the stadium. On the floor, leading through doorway to the seats is a trail of scorched concrete allowing the paint to curl around on the edges of the char. Entering the seating area I see Sara standing where I believe the 50 yard line would be if the grass wasn’t so tall.
“Sara!” I yell, running as fast as I dare down the isle to avoid falling on the concrete stairs. As I come out from under higher levels and into the open air the sky lets loose, sending a torrent of rain. A stray bolt of lightning on the easy side of the stadium nearly sends me back, but I continue down to the field without skipping a beat.
“That’s quite far enough,” Balthazel says, standing up from the edge of the field as I approach. “This confrontation must go on.”
“Like hell it does!” I yell, grabbing my sword. I rush at the demon at full speed, leaping over the guardrail and onto the field when I get close. He just laughs and pulls out a blade of his own.
Ignoring the demon, I run directly for Sara. I make it ten steps before a large gust of wind knocks me on my ass, sending me nearly twenty yards down field.
“I told you, no interruptions!” He stomps his feet on the ground causing a bolt of lighting to strike the nearby goal post. It was close enough to feel the heat off it, but was otherwise harmless.
Very well. If he is in such a hurry to die, I feel the need to help him out.
Blade at my side, I charge at the demon hoping he gives me an opening to strike. He doesn’t, however, as he creates a sheet of ice on the ground that causes me to slide on past.
“Too afraid to fight me straight up?” I ask, picking myself off the ground.
“Just because you are stupid enough to fight me without your powers doesn’t mean I’m going to do the same.” He lets out a blood curdling laugh that echoes through the empty stadium.
When I turn to face him again, the sky opens up even more, drenching me and an area of the stadium nearly ten yards around me leaving him, and Sara, dry.
From here I do the first sensible thing I could think of and pull my demon killing knife off of my waist. I may not be able to get close enough to stab him with the sword, but I’ll at least stand a better chance if I have two ways to kill him.
No sooner than I’m about to toss my knife, I notice a man walking on the upper deck on the south side of the stadium. From here he looks tall with a head of long blond hair. I can’t say who the man is, but I’d bet everything it’s Michael.
“You dare challenge me, Israfil?” the man says, leaping off of the upper level down onto the field. “I’ll gladly send you back to hell!”
I make a move to run into the field to stop him, but slip on the patch of ice still under my feet. Balthazel laughs, wagging his finger at me like a parent would a kid who tried to sneak a cookie.
This demon is really pissing me off.
I rush forward, attention firmly on Balthazel even as the grass in the center of the field ignites. As I get close I throw my knife at him followed by a swing of my sword at his head. He dodges the first blow easily, but I end up slicing off an ear with the sword.
“You still want to dance?” I say, squaring off once again. He only smiles before sending a bolt of lighting my way I only dodge by jumping out of the way at the last possible second.
As I get to my feet, I see Sara locked up with Michael in the middle of the stadium. I notice the white sleeveless shirt he has on go up in flames before Balthazel sends another warning shot into the goalpost.
I sigh before turning to face him once more.
With a yell that reverberates through the stadium, I run at the demon one last time. For the first time I can see the fear in his eyes as I get close. By the time I’m nearly five yards away he takes a step back, sending another bolt of electricity at my head. I corkscrew jump to my right before latching onto the blade of my knife a short distance away. I hit the ground hard, yet fling my wrist at the demon. One moment later you can tell he was not prepared for the move as the blade lodges into his left eye.
Balthazel screams in pain and then collapses to his knees on the grass field. As I approach, he pulls the blade out of his head, discarding it onto the ground. He looks up at me, with his one remaining eye right in time to see the tip of my angel blade go into the other. From there I keep pushing on it until the sword bursts through the back of his head.
With the demon dead, I pull the sword out of his head allowing the body to fall to the ground. I don’t bother to collect that soul though. It can play in purgatory with all the other tortured souls.
“Sara!” I say, finally turning my full attention to her battle.
I pull my knife to my hand before running at the battle at full speed. As I get close, however, the grass ignites once more. Without a clear path I stop for a moment to watch the battle unfold.
My heart drops when I notice Sara take a vicious backhand to the cheek, but get surprised shortly after when she returns the favor with a kick to the groin. I know it’s not her doing the fighting, but seeing her body handle an angel has me in awe. It is short lived, however, as I have to leap back to avoid being caught in the raging inferno spreading across the field.
I look around, trying to find a way through the fire when I come up with an idea. I rush toward the end of the field where the locker rooms are located, hoping I choose the right one. The Rising happened early in the football season, so it reasons to believe that some of the players may have left their belongings inside as they worried about finding their missing loved ones.
My wishes come true when I round a corner and see a pair of cleats. To the uninformed, you may assume that football cleats are made of hard plastic. To the naked eye, they can be. But there are players that will use a pair that has a steel tip on the end that helps dig into the loose ground. On artificial turf, they may opt to use something more forgiving. But for the often icy Soldier Field, you want something that can penetrate the ground a bit.
I luck out and find a pair with steel tips after the second locker. Unfortunately, they are two sizes too big. But in my position I don’t have time to be choosy, so I slip of my shoes and place the bulky cleats on my feet.
Armed with some new kicks, I run back to the field. As I walk through the entryway I can see that Michal has gained the upper hand since I’ve been
gone as Sara is backed to wall on the edge of the field. I watch her take another vicious backhand seconds before I reach the fire.
“NO!” I shout, focusing on pulling the steel tipped cleats. Thanks to my powers, I clear the wall of flame by nearly five feet before bringing myself safely to the ground.
At this point, Sara is on the ground, no longer arrogant or as smooth of a fighter as she once was. The moment I hear her cries I know the asshole left her to deal with the rest.
“It ends,” Michael says, pulling his angel blade out of the sheath on his back. It is a large sword, easily six feet tall, that shines with a piercing white light. He lifts the blade over his head, preparing to bring it down into her skull.
With my own blade out, I run forward once again, putting every ounce of energy I have into the quickest sprint of my life. I reach their side right in time to get my sword in the way to parry the blow.
“What is the meaning of this?” Michal says, his eyes full of rage.
“She was possessed,” I say. “You removed the demon. Now let her go.”
Michael laughs, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. “She will never be free until she is dead.”
“You can change that. You can exorcise Israfil from her body!”
“Why would I want to do that?” he says. “So he can possess another?” He takes a few steps back, bringing his sword to bear in front of him. “No. He will die here today.”
With my blades at the ready, I stand in front of the injured Sara. “You’ll have to go through me.”
Michael laughs again. “In a hurry to die?”
“If that’s what it takes.”
“So be it,” Michael says, swinging his blade at me with an underhanded motion.
I picked one hell of a time to pick a fight with an angel.
Swinging my sword to the side, I parry the blow before going for a counterattack he easily dodges.
“Not bad, Demontouched. Ezekiel taught you well.”
Angered at hearing the name, I move in for a strike just to take a fist in the nose which causes my eyes to water up immediately.
“Don’t be angry, little one. You will be with him soon.”
I wipe the tears from my eyes in time to see him swinging his blade at a wide arc, giving me no time to react. My heart sinks as my body awaits the feel of the blade as it cuts me in two.
“Back off of him!” Sara shouts, creating a barrier of flame in front of me. Michael, seeing the threat stopped his swing in time to avoid the fire.
“As you see, Demontouched. Your friend is long gone.”
“Oh no, I’m here Michael,” she says. “With a little help.”
I let a smile reach my lips knowing she is back in my corner. With any luck she can keep Israfil in check long enough to finish this fight, then I can draw him out.
Michael, backs up to keep both of us in front of him, though runs out of room when his back hits the wall.
“Very well,” he says, slamming the hilt of his blade on the top of the wall. The force of the blow splits the sword in two equal halves, which he wields in each hand with a smile.
I launch at the angel with a thrust to his gut. The blow misses its mark but aided by a blast of flame from Sara, Michael is unable to counterattack.
For the next few minutes our fight continues much like this, with either side gaining a definite advantage. Michael is good. Much better than any being I’ve ever fought. I need to end this quick though. One of us can keep this dance up for much longer than the other.
With a last ditch effort, Michael takes a swing at Sara, giving me an opening. I swing my sword in a wide arc at the angel, putting a nice deep gash in his abdomen. My victory is short lived, however, when I notice Sara’s body on the ground pinned to the ground with one of his swords through her shoulder. She is crying out on the ground as Michael holds his his innards in his vessel, thanks to my deep cut.
“It’s over,” I say, kicking his remaining sword away. “Nobody has to die here today.”
There are very few things that can really push me over the edge, but Michael tests my patience with another booming laugh.
“It’s too late for her.”
The moment I look down at her on the ground, her eyes roll back into her head as she convulses on the charred ground.
“Save her!” I shout though I really want to finish him off.
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Because you are an angel,” I say. “You were sent here to protect us.”
Michael laughs once more causing me to grip the hilt of my sword even tighter.
“I was sent to kill my brothers that left the heavens, not to protect your pathetic kind.”
My anger gets the best of me and I give him a power induced backhand, thanks to the knife in my hand.
“Do it now or…!”
“Or what?” he says. “You’ll kill me?”
At this point it is taking every ounce of my being to keep from thrusting the blade of my sword through this asshole’s chest. Lord knows he deserves it by now. If I had a way to save Sara on my own, I would do it without a second thought. It pisses me off to need someone like this.
Michael shifts off of his knees, opting to sit his ass on the ground before opening his mouth once again.
“I will make you a deal, Demontouched.”
“I thought you weren’t happy with my last one.”
“I wasn’t. But you did it for the love of another.” He coughs for a few moments before talking again. “I will remove the blade and heal her completely in one condition.”
“Name it.”
“I remove Israfil.”
“Done!” I say, letting a smile reach my lips.
“And Einuir.”
The moment I hear that name, my knees buckle causing my stomach to drop with it. It’ll hard enough to close the portal with my powers. We won’t stand a chance if I don’t have them.
But when I notice her body stop moving, I know the decision I have to make.
“Done,” I say, lowering my head. The tears start shortly after. He doesn’t even give me the dignity to watch him bring her back, instead causing me to black out as he rips away part of my being.
Part of my soul.
- 13 -
When I finally wake up I find myself in the back of my Expedition, lying next to Sara. I roll over and caress her face with my hand, but she doesn’t move. Whatever Michael did to her, I only hope it didn’t kill her. I know I wasn’t able to save everyone I tried it on.
Stepping out of the car, I have to shield my eyes from the bright morning sun. Once my eyes adjust I take a look at my surroundings to see I’m parked in the middle of the highway. Which highway is another question though I’d guess I’m still close to Chicago considering the size of the surrounding buildings.
“Where are we?” Sara asks, causing me to rush to her side in the back of the ride.
“Safe now,” I say.
She looks up at me with a smile before allowing me to help her out of the back.
“I don’t want to freak you out, but you haven’t been with us for a while now.”
She nods her head. “The last thing I remember is you cutting me free.”
“Good,” I say. “Because the demon who possessed you did horrible things.”
I see a tear form in the corner of her eye I wipe away before allowing any more to flow.
“It wasn’t your fault,” I say.
She looks up at me, struggling to smile.
“It wasn’t. You didn’t ask for him to take over.”
“But I wore the amulet even though you warned me not to.”
“Not the same.” I say, pacing a few steps. “You couldn’t have known what they had planned.”
I know deep down she may have gone anyways. Nal was in a position of wanting to help the survivors and needed someone with some firepower to help. With me laid up with a broken leg, she took up the mantle and hit the streets. She only did what any self
respecting human being would have in her position.
I take that back.
Most of them would have run far and hard the other way.
That’s that makes her special.
I bend over and lift her chin with my finger. “We need to go back now,” I say. “Nal and the others are in danger and need my help.”
She nods her head before standing up. “Our help.”
I smile. “I’d prefer it that way, but I wasn’t going to volunteer you without asking.”
We both get in the car and I tear down the road. While I may no longer have my powers, I still have my life. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to give them that without a fight.
I look over at Sara when we cross through Springfield and smile. If today is the day I’m going to die, I couldn’t ask for better company.
Continued in Risen
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Sacrifice: The Demontouched Saga (Book 5) Page 6
