See How She Falls (22 page)

“Do
you know that for sure?”

“No,
but I still hope," she replied honestly.

“We
need to get moving. The longer I dwell on this, the more I feel the pull of the
darkness. Everything in me is crying to submit.” I pulled away, trying to get
my thoughts under control.

“Then
move we must. I will go gather everyone.”

“Is
it far?” I looked out into the swamp wondering just what sort of journey
awaited us.

“No,
not even a mile away. We will be there soon.” 

“Onward
to destiny, then," I mumbled.

“Don’t
jump in the swamp while I’m gone!” My aunt shouted as she moved back into the
house to gather everyone.

“Would
you really jump?” Conall’s voice sounded from my elbow.

“It’s
tempting.”

“You’re
much more than I ever thought you would be, Izzy. I see now what my mother saw
in you. I can’t imagine how hard this is. I want you to know that I will be
there for him, the same way he was there for me. He helped me out of the
darkness when Cait died. I won’t turn my back on him," Conall swore to me,
and I could feel the binding of his words. He’d given me an oath.

I
threw my arms around Conall, hugging him tightly. My pirate-patched friend. He
knew exactly the right words to say.

“I
hope that you and Sena find the sort of happiness that I had with Kennan. It
would be a shame for that sort of love to just blink out of existence," I
said between tears.

“Well,
I don’t think anyone will ever have the kind of love the two of you have, but I
will try.” Conall’s voice seemed strained, as if he were holding back.

“We
are ready," Eleanor said, causing me to jump away from Conall.

I
quickly dried my eyes, erasing any of the emotions I’d been fighting. Kennan
didn’t need to see how scared I was. He needed me to be strong.

“Then
let’s go fight some demon.” I moved in line behind one of the Order’s Guardians
on the boardwalk. 

Chapter
Twenty Seven
 

We
moved through the swamp, unspeaking. The weight of what we were about to face
settled down on us like a lead blanket. There was no escaping what would come.
I just hoped that whatever we faced, I would be the only one to die.

Glancing
back on the people walking behind me, I was surprised. We truly had an army
marching into battle. There were at least twenty Guardians, all wearing new
marks. Scattered amongst the behemoths were several Seers. I worried for them.
Surely, they would be in danger, yet they still came. Eleanor and Mona walked
along silently in the back of the group.

I
wondered how much further it would be. Even with the runes being blocked, I
still felt the pull on my energy. Just as the thought crossed my mind, the
cypress trees parted to reveal the church I’d been seeing for months. My breath
caught in my throat as I took it in. I knew, the end would be here today. I had
no more days. Where Cait had been given an extra one, I would not.

“It’s
coming," I whispered.

“What
is coming?” The Guardian ahead of me asked.

“The
darkness. Don’t you feel it?”  I questioned as the dread multiplied inside
of me.

“I
don’t feel anything.” The unnamed Guardian supplied.

“We
don’t have much time!” I shouted to the group, breaking into a run, heading for
the chapel.

I
reached the edge of the cemetery and looked up to the thunderheads forming
overhead. I knew that the battle raged on above me. I’d seen it more times than
I could count. The end was here, my grand finale. I looked back to Kennan, who
stood far off in the distance. “I love you," I whispered, hoping that the
wind would carry my promise to him. My last chance to tell him how I truly
felt. Time had run out.

A
clap of thunder resounded, shaking the earth as it echoed repeatedly in the
distance. The church shook, causing rubble to fall to the earth. I looked
wide-eyed at the Guardians around me. As one, they whispered a word, something
I’d never heard. Within a second, it happened, they began to transform. Some of
them shifted into the great berserkers, some into wolves, some turned into
creatures that seemed made of fire. All around me monsters reigned, only these
monsters were there to help me. I couldn’t lose heart now. The time had come.

The
thunder clapped anew, ripping a tear in the fabric of the corporeal plane,
revealing Sonneillon. He pulled his monstrous form through the tear, leaving it
shredded in his wake. What other manner of beast would be able to make it
through? Was he truly the only demon we would face? I stood, frozen to the
ground as Emmanuel emerged behind him.

As
the demon stepped through onto our plane the world seemed to quake. As if the
very fabric of our world knew that the existence of such a being would be its
demise. With each step Sonneillon took, the world became blackened. Nothing
could live in the presence of such hatred, nothing could survive. The blackened
earth spanned out beneath him, reminding me of the man I’d seen in my vision.
Veins of darkness seemed to snake out from him as he stepped, seeking out a
weakness that could be exploited. Just before the demon fully emerged, movement
in the corner of my eye distracted me.

Aberto
moved to intercept Emmanuel, engaging him in a battle that could have no
winner. Emmanuel had been Aberto’s brother, the way that Conall and Ian were
Kennan’s. I couldn’t imagine them having to fight. Yet, I couldn’t imagine them
turning their backs on the world the way Emmanuel had.

“You
will not succeed!” Aberto shouted, as his arms glowed brightly.

“I
already have," Emmanuel choked out as Aberto threw him to the ground.

Aberto
stood over him, a flaming sword in hand, “This is the end.”

“I’ve
done what I set out to do. Know this, I was not alone," Emmanuel choked
out as Aberto plunged the flaming sword deep in his chest. With a flash of
light, Emmanuel faded from my sight. I hoped that whatever judgment awaited him
would be merciless.

Uriel
had said he served a purpose. I still could not understand how bringing this
demon to our plane could be of any good to anyone. Nothing made sense. An earth
shattering roar shook me from my thoughts.

Sonneillon
had made it through to our plane. He was so much more than I’d envisioned. He
towered above us, his dark skin lit from within by some unholy flame.
Bottomless pits of eternal flame shone from his face as he opened his maw to
roar once more. An ancient fear, buried deep in my soul, awoke. Everything in
me shouted for me to run, to hide from the demon, or submit to his will.

Hate
churned within me, endless pain tore through my soul as the sound of a thousand
men screaming filled my ears. The world was on fire, and I was powerless to
calm the flames. The world would burn, of that I was sure. As the demon
approached me, the darkness spread, snaking around me with relentless
precision. I couldn’t breathe as the weight of the lives that would be lost
crashed in upon me. The screams erupted in my ears, a chorus of metal grating
upon metal, an eternity of pain endured in the pits of hell.

“Izzy,
move!” my aunt shouted as the beast lumbered towards me.

Conall
jumped to intercept, tearing deeply into the demon’s flesh. It did little to
slow him down. I knew that I had to run, that I needed to avoid the demon. I
remembered Uriel’s words; that I would know what to do when the time came. He’d
been wrong. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I couldn’t think straight
as the fear coursed through my veins. How could I have been so naïve? I
couldn’t defeat this thing. I couldn’t stop the darkness.

Frozen,
I stood. The hate snaking about me, making it impossible for me to move.
Visions flashed behind my eyes. Countless cities burning, black eyed men
chasing down those that had yet to be taken. The world would end, the hate was
too strong.

“Izzy!”
Kennan’s voice shouted, the only thing that could break through the fog. I
began to run as the demon approached. I still didn’t know what to do. I fought
back the voices that screamed in my head. I had to focus.

Ten
Guardians surrounded the demon, holding it back. They pressed it towards the
tear between the planes. Pushing the beast back toward the opening, a glimmer
of hope formed in my heart. If we could get it back through to the other plane,
then it could end without any one dying. Just as my hope appeared, it was
dashed to smithereens. In that instant, Sonneillon bellowed, a great flame
rising from his gut as he threw the Guardians from him as though they were mere
flies to be swatted away.

The
Guardians tumbled to the sides, only to be replaced by more. The minutes passed
slowly, an endless futile assault against the demon. Nothing could slow it
down. Still, it moved in my direction. I waited for inspiration, to know what I
should do. Nothing came. I was useless.

Fear
snaked through me, freezing me once more. The visions multiplied, brother
killing brother, destruction, pain, fear, hatred. Everything good in this world
disappeared as the demon made its way slowly towards me. His advance was
unhindered by the attacks of the Guardians. I swallowed back the fear, I had to
move. I knew a sacrifice was required, but I knew not what I needed to do. I
slowly moved one foot after another towards the beast. Praying that some sort
of divine inspiration would make its way through the cacophony in my head.

“Izzy,
NO!” I heard Kennan shout as the demon closed the distance between us. Kennan
threw himself in the demon’s path. Fighting it back as it moved closer towards
me. The demon picked Kennan up as though he were a ragdoll and ripped him in
two, throwing the pieces to the side as though he were nothing.

The
world stopped as I stared in abject horror. Time seemed to slow as the pieces
of the man I loved drifted to the ground, taking my heart with him. My entire
world, all that mattered, dropped to the ground like so much refuse. Kennan
wasn’t supposed to die. Kennan was supposed to live, to survive this hell. I
was the one that should’ve died. Never Kennan. Not him. Shock rooted me in
place as the pieces finally hit the ground, speeding time up with their impact.

His
body lay discarded on the ground as if he were nothing more than an obstacle in
the demon’s way. The man I loved couldn’t be gone. This couldn’t be real. He
was supposed to
live
.

“He’s
not supposed to die," I whispered as tears began to stream down my face.

A
high keening sound erupted from my lungs as I felt myself begin to pull apart.
Pain ripped through my limbs as everything that had been taken from me rushed
to the surface. I let the anger I’d been trying so hard to repress take me
over. I didn’t want to live. Not in a world where he did not exist. I let the
blue fired engulf me as I moved toward the demon. The pain of the burning
buoyed me as I resolved myself to end it all.

Sonneillon
stopped in his tracks. His voice echoed in my head, shredding through my
defenses. “You could not even protect the man you loved. How do you expect to
defeat me? You were never strong enough.”

I
moved towards him as the fire grew inside of me, ripping away the person I’d
been. I could feel the world slipping away as I moved toward the demon. He was
right, I wasn’t strong enough to protect Kennan. But I was strong enough to do
this, to end everything so that he could never again return. As the pain grew
to an apex, I reached out for the demon. I would never let him take someone
away again. The loss I felt exploded within me, and I vowed to never let this
happen again. I would end this.

Wrapping
my arms around the demon, I could feel the world begin to fade.

Uriel’s
voice telling me that I would know what must be done.

Aberto’s
conversation with Kennan on the porch.

My
childhood.

My
family.

Everyone
I loved.

Every
step of my life had led me to this moment. Every single person I’d loved and
lost, every battle I’d fought, every single second culminated in this moment.

I
looked up into the demon’s face and something I saw there shocked me. It wasn’t
the demon staring back, but someone entirely different. Emmanuel had been
right. He wasn’t alone. Staring back at me from the demon’s eyes were the
Council members. The people sworn to protect this world from the darkness had
been behind it all along. Damali and Francesca smiled grimly from its eyes,
promising that more would come.

Nothing
was ever as it seemed in this broken world. I let go of it, of every bit of
hate I felt. I let go, and I let the fire consume me.

A
blinding light ripped out through the graveyard. I stood there holding out my
arms as my mortal shell ripped apart, taking with it the demon. Nothing could
exist inside of the fire, nothing could survive. My love, my anger, my hope,
and my fear all joined together in that blinding fire. It would end, and with
it went my life. Nothing made sense. Everything was lost.