Demon's Dream (23 page)

The Guardian wolf had elicited a response from Mel he had not given credence to in eons. For her, he looked at the world with slightly softer eyes. The total humiliation or death of his sibling just wasn’t something he could accomplish because of the feelings she evoked within him.

Mel grabbed Jes by the throat and growled as he pulled him close to his face, his warm breath against Jes’ skin. “You have gone too far this time, Jes. I was young when you pulled Nokomis away from me, when I was blamed for your misdeeds. Not this time.”

“Yes, this time, Azamel. This time and the past as well as the future. You will always lose to me. You were the favorite once, got every fucking thing you ever wanted. Everything came easily to you but as long as I am able, you will never win if I can stop it.”

Jes pushed Mel hard enough to make him stumble and release Jes’ throat. It was the split second Jes needed to get away and flash to Clarissa, who was still so embroiled in an epic hand to hand battle with Astaria she didn’t notice his appearance. Within the blink of an eye, Jes grabbed Clarissa from behind and with one neat stroke of his blade, sliced clean through her jugular. Jes knew Azamel desperately wanted her and he would do whatever it took to ensure Mel lost everything that mattered to him.

Jes’ warrior’s cry of triumph echoed across the terrain, alerting Azamel who looked up as the blade sliced through Clarissa’s soft skin. Time seem suspended as he watched the blade move as if in slow motion. Their eyes met and the shock, horror and pain in her eyes mirrored his.

“
No! No! No!”
Mel’s agonized cry spread over the landscape like a cold blanket. His head moved to Jes and the smug smile on his face spurred him into motion. Clarissa’s body hardly met the ground before Azamel grabbed Jes and slammed his head repeatedly against the hard earth.

“Why? You needed her to find the stone. Why?”

“So you would never have her. It’s worth losing the power the gem would provide just to make sure you would never be happy,” Jes snarled.

The others of the pantheon eventually stopped their fighting and watched as brother turned against brother with a fury which emblazoned a trail of past hatreds, betrayals and the newest loss.

With Herculean effort, he dropped Jes to the ground the moment he passed out. The bastard could thank the Gods Mel didn’t kill him. He ran to Clarissa, stumbled and slid next to her still jerking body. His hands circle her throat trying in vain to stop the bleeding. Why now?

How could this happen? She was the Guardian! She was strong, powerful. She had grown with her abilities and managed to keep Jes and the others back, fighting to stay alive while she took on her responsibility. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t let her die!

A single tear escaped from the corner of her left eye as she looked at him. With the descent of that single drop down her cheek, her life force finally left her body with one last breath. His movements stilled as he looked at her now limp form, his hands releasing her severed neck. Still on his knees, he closed her lids with his blood stained fingers as the words he never said were lodged in his throat. She would never hear them, she would never know. He raised his arms and released a cry of such pain that the ground shook from it. Only when his throat was hoarse did he stop and the silence which then descended portrayed the true horror of what transpired there.

Chapter Twenty-Four

With Clarissa’s death and no one to inherit the responsibility of protecting the stone, the Gem of Avarice appeared in both parts on either side of the her prone body. The stone which had been implanted in the blade’s handle suddenly arose free from its gilded cage, while the other floated waiting for the dagger piece to join it. As the two pieces moved, they fused together into one piece with a blinding flash, only to fall onto Clarissa’s chest.

Archanidou immediately appeared next to her body and several of her arachnid minions swarmed around the upper body of Clarissa, grabbing at the stone. Before any of the others could even move, the spiders spun a web and pulled on it.

The Gods and Goddess all stood there amazed, shocked, doing nothing more than observing the surprising turn of events. A creaking sound then as the stone was splintered a loud crack, which shattered and erupted through the stunned stillness accompanied by another blinding light and the deep, rich boom of what sounded like an intense thunder clap.

When everything settled milliseconds later, both Clarissa’s body and Archanidou were gone, the stone lay in a dusty pile, pulverized into a fine dust, all potential power disintegrated with it.

Jes pushed Mel off of him and rushed to the yellowish, red dust that remained- all that was left of the Gem of Avarice. He scooped up the dust only to let is sift falling through his fingers. He cried out, “How could you? All of it for nothing! Nothing!”

The others watched, saddened at the turn of events, the loss of a chance of ultimate power or absolute change. The deprivation of the ability to make a difference, even though it was the incorrect solution was debilitating for some. Slowly, the others returned to their homes. There was nothing left to fight for. Gene and Nana would later discuss the punishments which would be served to Jes and his accomplices.

Mel and Nana were the last to leave. There was nothing left of Clarissa, other than a small pool of her blood which seeped into the ground.

“Go home, son. You did all you could.”

“I didn’t do enough.” Mel looked up at him with a haunted look in his eyes. “I never told her how I truly felt. I never told her I loved her.”

“Deep down, she knew.”

“What am I supposed to do now?”

“What you have always done. You will continue your duties. You will bury yourself in your work and you will remember a young wolf who died trying to do what was right and got farther in accomplishing her duty than any would have expected because of the training you gave her. Most of all, you will remember the time you had with her and remember there is good in this world worth saving. If nothing else, for her because that was the legacy she left behind.”

On the cliff of the nearby hills, Coyote watched the entire scene play out. The stone was lost forever. Clarissa gone from this plane of existence. Grumbling, Coyote mumbled to himself, “Looks like plan A failed, time to turn to plan B. I’m not done yet.” He dematerialized from the war ravaged land to return home.

Chapter Twenty-Five

It had been three days since Clarissa was killed and Archanidou had taken her body off the battlefield. Mel had not left his office. Shara had never seen him so despondent in all the centuries she had been with him. Coyote had appeared to relate to her the events shortly after Mel returned and stormed into his office telling her he was to be disturbed for no one or anything. No exceptions, especially if she knew what was good for her continued existence. She tried to bring him his sustenance and he refused to even allow her in his presence. She was aware he had neither slept nor eaten and she was becoming concerned.

Archanidou and Nana appeared in the reception chamber. They stood in front of the massive fireplace that was currently burning low, casting deeper shadows on the flanking gargoyle skeletons giving it an even greater eerie appearance. The abode was gloomy and the disposition of its owner appeared to permeate through his realm to make it more so.

Shara entered the room and greeted the two beings, “Greetings, Archanidou, Nana. I’m sorry but Azamel is not accepting visitors at this time. I can inform him you were here and he can contact you when he is ready to see you.”

“Sorry, Shara. You will need to have him come to us or we’ll go to him. Either way, we’ll see him now.”

“Really, Sir. He gave strict orders to not be disturbed. I cannot go against them.”

“I understand,” Nana replied soothingly. “However, this is extremely important and we won’t be denied. If you fear for your own safety in approaching him then point the way and we will take the brunt of his ire.”

“If I point the way, I’m in just as much trouble if not more so than if I summoned him myself.” She sighed, resigned. “I’ll let him know but if he refuses then you must leave him in peace.”

“Tell him we’ll not depart until he has seen us. If it takes an hour or a century, we will wait.”

Shara frowned but nodded. “I will inform him of this.”

“Shara?” Archanidou spoke up quietly. “Inform him that we bring good tidings and it will be worth his while to see us.”

Shara hesitated a moment longer then inclined her head slightly. “I will relate that to him as well. Although, I suggest you sit and relax, for I fear it will be an extremely long wait.”

Without further ado, Shara departed the reception area and made her way down the stone corridors to Azamel’s office. She paused outside the door. For the first time in longer than she could remember, she didn’t want to be here.

Coyote had planned on getting the stone and taking a higher position within the hierarchy of the council. However, with the Gem of Avarice smashed into nothing more than a fine dust, his dreams of improving his situation were crushed as well and so were hers. Coyote had promised to love and take care of her once he had achieved his new position. Without it, there was no hope for them, for she was Mel’s servant and couldn’t leave the Nether Realm without Azamel’s express directives to do so.

It wasn’t that she was in love with Coyote, or that she didn’t love Azamel as much as she did. She had her own reasons for wanting to leave, prior to Clarissa’s demise. It had hurt her to see him actually content with the Guardian wolf. It annoyed her that Clarissa could give him something she had been unable to, touch something within him which had been locked away so tight she wondered if he even had the capacity to care anymore. She agreed to aid Coyote, led him on only for the sake of not having to endure seeing Mel and Clarissa together.

Since his return three days ago, she truly regretted her decisions. She actually wished Clarissa was alive so he would act more normal and not this brooding, dispirited shell of a man he had become. She looked at the door before she slowly pushed it a crack open to make her announcement. She remained in the hall, speaking through the cracked door, “I’m deeply sorry to disturb you, Sir. I know you didn’t wish to be disturbed under any circumstances, however, Nana and Archanidou insisted on seeing you immediately and to have me tell you they will search you out if you don’t go to them.”

At first, there was no sound or movement from within the chamber and Shara wondered if he were even there. Then concern began to form and she worried he might be ill from lack of sustenance or proper rest. She was about to push the door open more to check on him further when he yanked the door open wide with a disheveled appearance and a snarled look upon his face. She immediately bowed, keeping her head low and backed up. “I’m sorry.”

Mel only growled at her before he strode purposefully down the hall to the reception area, anger in every thunderous step. He turned the corner and entered the room, only to come to a dead stop. His mouth fell ajar as he starred in disbelief.

Archanidou smiled at him, though she was talking to her companions.

“See. I told you he would come. I told you he would be surprised.”

No one moved or said anything as Mel took in what he saw, his face unable to maintain his normal stoicism as emotions flickered over his features. Finally, he clamped his mouth shut and focused on Nana.

“Is this a cruel trick?”