Endure (52 page)

Ithreal cursed and turned to me, his face angry and fists clenched. “When will you learn? You are not a god. YOU CANNOT KILL ME!” All his tendrils launched forward, but my own shot out to meet his. We were in the center of a tangled web of magic. Black and white arms struggled inside one another but this time I knew there was no shade of gray.

The magic pooling in my hands became too much to hold. Fire fell from the sky and scalded my back, my eyes igniting the world in red. I pushed the power out with a godly force. I was just a demigod, but I had more than that inside me now. I had Darius’s power and part of Ithreal’s too. I had to be able to kill him. There was no other way.

The sphere spiraled toward him, crackling on the air and illuminating the field like a sun. Ithreal lit up in a flash of white as the power collided with his body. The god screamed and his tendrils withdrew from mine, flailing back behind him. The sphere exploded, swallowing him completely before it vanished. Darkness followed like someone turned off a light. Ithreal was left floating on the air, using all his tendrils to hold him up, but his body looked limp. Quick and rapid breaths spilled from my lips and I felt drained. I had nothing left to give.

Ithreal’s head snapped back and he glared at me, his chest marred with burnt flesh. He grinned. “Is that all?”

My shoulders moved up and down with dramatic flair as I tried to catch my breath. All I could do was shake my head. “No.”

The vanished magic returned with a massive explosion. The rain turned to ice, spikes of it shattering on the ground and cutting through his body. The wind became a torrent of power, knocking over everything in its path. My enemies and my allies all cowered to the ground, trying to avoid the elemental attack. Lightning snapped from the sky in quick succession, multiple strikes hammering into the god. His tendrils gave out and he fell to the ground. The earth shook in the most violent of quakes and pulled itself apart. The break divided us perfectly, splitting good and evil in half. When Ithreal climbed to his feet, his legs wobbled with exhaustion. He stumbled forward, black arms lashing out in random directions.

“You…cannot…kill…me,” he said.

A giant flare of power cut across the earth. Spikes of ice drilled into Ithreal, black blood splattering the ground. The wind caused him to stumble back, and white fire sparked in front of me. It moved like a wave, wakes of heat burning the air and smashing into his chest. The force drove him back over the portal that bubbled around the island of land, his body colliding with the face of the cliff. He hung there for a moment, tendrils pawing at the dirt wall and trying to pull himself up, but it wasn’t enough. The portal’s power was thick and endless, never growing tired. Black arms reached up from the portal and wrapped around his legs, pulling him down. Ithreal fought back, struggling against the force and clinging to the cliff. Slowly, he began to climb toward Rayna, pulling away from the portal’s grasp.

“No!” I screamed.

My white tendrils drifted around me, wrapping around the glass blade. White magic filled it as I channeled my power into the weapon. When the blade was full for pure, glowing power, I threw it forward. The glass blade spiraled through the air. It turned end over end until the tip slid through his back.

There was no humanity left, and the sound that came from his lips was visceral and monstrous. His skin cracked and streaks of light explode from his body. His tendrils hissed in response, and all at once they sucked themselves back into his body. Ithreal was broken, and had only his human-like hands clinging to the cliff. A bolt of lightning arced through the air and hit the cliff. The earth broke away and Ithreal flailed back toward the dark pit below. His screams and body were consumed by darkness and all at once, there was silence.

There were no cheers or angry cries, only the drops of rain crashing to the earth. The world was still, not a breath to be taken. We all stared at the black cloud that churned over the ground, open and hungry. The demon god was not enough to sate it.

I fell to my knees, watching the portal remain alive, its pull as active as ever before. “What...why is it still here?” I gasped.

“Because it isn’t over.” Drake Sellowind stood beside me. His cheeks still streaked with black. He looked exhausted and sad, staring into the darkness.

I should’ve been ready to fight, but I had nothing left. All I could do look up at him, waiting for him to strike.

Drake gazed at me and shook his head. “The portal can only be closed with blood. Either the blood of she who opened it…” My stomach sunk in my chest and the word “no” screamed through my mind. “Or Ithreal’s blood. Without either, it remains open. Ithreal will recharge, fill himself with more of his essence, and he will crawl back out of that pit.”

“But I did!” I screamed the words. “I gave the portal Ithreal’s blood.”

I looked up at the island of land that jutted from the portal. Rayna stood at the top staring over the cliff. Tears ran down her face and I fought back my own that built in my eyes.

“Ithreal’s essence may be inside your father’s body, but the blood that spilled was Riley’s,” Drake said. “In order for Ithreal’s blood to be spilled, his pure form must be present. And while it’s trapped in that dimension, that cannot be done.”

“No,” I whispered, climbing to my feet. I dared to challenge the portal’s wrath by moving forward. Fear was the only thing that carried me in that moment, and my eyes were locked on Rayna, high on the peak above. “No!”

Rayna’s green eyes were glowing with power. The portal craved her, and its black arms reached up the cliff toward her, but its reach was not long enough. It needed her to succumb and give in to its power.

“Don’t you dare, Rayna.”

“I have to,” she yelled, but her voice trembled and faltered. “It’s the only way...”

“You can’t. We’ll find another way. I need you!” We were on completely different levels. Her a hundred feet in the air, and me a hundred feet below, begging her not to go. The world stopped and our eyes locked on one another while my life flashed before my eyes.

The first moment I saw her. Ashes of a fallen vampire floating in the air and an incredible girl standing behind them. Next I saw her fist the moment before it smashed into my nose. Images of the day she saved me in the sanctuary came into my mind. She risked her life to interfere with the goddess’s challenge, and she saved my life. The first time her lips touched mine. The way she rolled her eyes. Her laugh when I said something cocky she didn’t believe. The way her element filled my soul and danced inside me. The first and only night we’d ever been together.

The world came rushing back and her eyes looked more incredible and vibrant than before. I wanted one more second, one more moment, one more touch. Anything. I wouldn’t let her go.

Rayna didn’t say another word. She stared at me, blood staining her face. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her lips moved slowly, whispering the words
I love you
. And then she jumped.

Black and red hair whipped around her face, her body completely still. She didn’t scream, she didn’t cry out, and she didn’t flail. She looked like an angel diving from the heavens. Her face looked calm. She had accepted her fate.

“Rayna!” I screamed, running toward the portal.

A hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. Drake Sellowind shoved me to the ground, keeping me out of reach of from the portal’s grasp.

“I’m sorry, brother, for everything I’ve done.” And then he was gone. He moved with a god’s speed, a blur across the land. His black and golden magic erupted beneath him, rocketing him into the air. He flew over the portal, his black coat flapping behind him. He met
Rayan
mid-fall and wrapped his arms around her. His magic drilled into the cliff and they both jerked to a stop.

The portal screamed, reaching up toward them. Drake held on for dear life, but the portal’s arms had a hold of his legs. The cliff began to break away, dirt and rocks falling into the abyss. Drake screamed, struggling to keep his hold, but Ithreal hadn’t been strong enough, and neither was he.

A crescendo of power built on the air—streaks of black and gold forming between Drake and Rayna. As the energy grew, the air became a static charge and the world fell impossibly silent. Even the portal was void of sound. A thunderous crackle broke the stillness, and the magic between Rayna and the Dark Brother erupted. Rayna’s body flailed across the air, over the portal, and she hit the ground hard, rolling along the earth.

The portal screamed in revolt and something spiraled through the air. The glass blade hit the ground, sticking into the earth. Black tendrils marred with streaks of grey followed the blade and shot out from the portal, clawing at the ground around it. Ithreal’s roar could be heard from deep within the abyss, and one after another, more tendrils crawled out of the hole.

Drake Sellowind looked over his shoulder, his black eyes searching mine. He forced a smiled across his moonlit features and nodded, and then he let go.

His body was gone in an instant, the portal devouring it like a speck of dust in the air. Grayed tendrils clawed at the earth, but then for the first time since it opened, the portal shifted. A wave of golden magic shimmered over the surface, and Ithreal screamed.

The portal churned, smoke rising from the surface as it spiraled up in a cloud of black. It moved around the cliff, rising into the air and twirling like a slow moving cyclone. Strings of gold magic decorated the funnel and power surged outward as the cloud rose. It spun faster and faster, sending rock and debris flying as the sky sucked the portal into the air.

The dark clouds broke apart, drifting in opposite directions. Thunder rolled and lightning flashed inside them until they had dissipated on the air. The night’s sky was upon us again, tiny pinholes shining through the other side of a tranquil backdrop. In the distance, a faint hue of pink, red, and orange pierced the skyline. It was over.

I hadn’t tried to stand up. I stared at the island of land that jutted from the earth, and the image of Drake falling into the portal replayed through my mind. It needed Ithreal’s blood to sate its hunger, and Drake was just that.

Victory should have flourished inside me, but it didn’t. We hadn’t won. We couldn’t call it that. We outlasted our opponent and it came at much too high a cost. Everyone lost something in this fight. They were pieces we’d never get back; ashes belonging to the wind on which they travelled. Ithreal had been banished back to his hellish prison, but this battle had left scars: everlasting reminders of struggle, pain, and life. It would never be forgotten, and the memory of those who fought would never die. They would move on the wind, grow from the soil, burn in the fire, flash from the sky, and rain life over the earth. They would be remembered as those who endured darkness and risked their lives so that others could live. Just like the tree’s memory
 
would live on in me, their memory would become eternal, and each of those warriors would forever be remembered as a Protector.

Epilogue

After the portal closed, the war ended. Ithreal’s Unborn turned to smoke and ash the moment it was gone, and the rest of the demons vanished back through the portals in which they’d come. There was no celebration; too much had been lost. Instead, all our allies returned to their dimensions with the freedom they’d come to fight for.

I honored Drake’s life and his sacrifice with his own private funeral. There was no body, so I buried the glass sword on a hill in Drakar overlooking the market. Blue and red grass surrounded his grave and colorful flowers grew plentifully over the soil. If it wasn’t for him, none of this would’ve happened, but in the end he gave us back what we fought for: the chance to choose, the chance to live, and the chance to love. I was the only one who attended, and I didn’t have much to say. So I told him thank you and I left. I haven’t been back since.

Tiki was welcomed back into the Suriattas clan as a prince, and offered a throne beside the Queen. He respectfully declined and opted to keep his freedom instead. He spent a little time travelling the dimensions, searching for a new purpose, but eventually returned to Earth and to be a part of what was left of our family. He believes for now he’s meant to enjoy the immortality he was blessed with.

Vincent’s first order of business was to claim his spot back at the top of Stonewall’s Underworld. It didn’t take him long, especially when threatening the Protector would come around. I had no intention of helping him in his business, but the rest of the Underworld didn’t know that.

After reclaiming his self-proclaimed throne, he returned to Italy to meet with the Sovereign. He had hoped to finally establish a connection with them and have turned vampires recognized as a part of their culture. He was beaten and turned away with the threat of death should he ever return.

The other Circles came together and worked on rebuilding the Northeastern district, but not in Stonewall. This time they went right to the heart of the state, and now operate out of New York City. Rayna and I were asked to act as elders in the council. We both declined, but occasionally consult with them.

Rayna’s father had been badly hurt in the fight with Ithreal, but he survived. After things had started to settle, she reached out to him. She keeps things simple and has no plans to call him dad, but they’re friends now and that’s a start.

Marcus’s will left Rayna enough money to repair the condo. The other Circles chipped in and gave him an honorable funeral. He was buried in the Stonewall memorial graveyard next to my mother. Rayna and I visit every month to lay fresh flowers, but we think about him daily. I say a prayer for both of them each night and sometimes when I’m alone, I pretend she’s still sitting beside me, holding a book in her hand.