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I stood on the roof of the jail where I had first met Leviathan, with Julia’s hand still clasped in mine, although the grip she had now bordered on painful. Leviathan growled at the chaos spread before us and I kept my hand on his head, trading a glance with him.
The war over the building population of souls raged. Angels and demons cut each other down, sometimes maiming a lost soul in the process. I scanned the melee until my gaze landed on three very familiar faces, two of which beat off advances from both angels and demons alike and one sandwiched between them, protected by their diligence.
The moment I removed my hand from Leviathan’s head, he changed into his natural form. I pulled my blade out of the sheath and it transformed into a blood-encrusted scythe meant for destruction. When I glanced toward Ben, Danny and Lazarus, they gave me a nod. The last pair of eyes I met offered me a smile of support and I squeezed her hand, glad she was at my side.
“Ready?” I asked and received nods from my cohorts.
The fighting continued below us and I slammed the butt of the scythe on the concrete under my feet, sending a sound wave like rolling thunder over the landscape. Everything stopped and all eyes turned toward us.
Some eyes widened, others narrowed in recognition, but no one made a move.
The air behind me shifted, and I chanced a look over my shoulder. Black shrouded figures spread out behind me as far as the eye could see. Not one reaper took me up on my offer of freedom and I faced forward, humbled by my followers and unnerved by the fact that I might lose some of them in this standoff.
I released Julia’s hand and jumped to the ground, landing on my feet. Leviathan landed next to me, his weight rumbling the dirt under our feet. His tail wrapped around my waist and he lifted me onto his back, giving me a view of the killing fields.
I clenched my jaw, tempering the urge to send another tidal wave over the plains to scrub it clean. If I did that, not only would I wipe out the angels and demons, but I would also decimate the innocent souls dropped into the middle of the scuffle.
“Stand down,” I ordered and the crowd parted, giving us a direct path to where my parents surrounded Noah. A group of determined demons flanked one side and angels the other and neither one of my parents looked in my direction, but Noah did, and his gaze set my blood boiling.
Fear rolled off my best friend and it didn’t settle at the sight of Leviathan and me, or the sea of reapers following me. If anything, it seemed to heighten and his head started shaking, his mouth forming the word ‘no’ and I pulled Leviathan to a stop.
Something beyond them flashed and on instinct, I moved, turning my body sideways as something sharp sailed past me. My eyes widened and I shouted a warning, but it wasn’t fast enough. The blade hit Julia in the chest, knocking her on her back on the building.
I turned toward the origin and rage filled every crevice of my form. Blonde hair blew in the breeze and a sadistic smile met my gaze. The bitch was back and she launched another sharp dagger, this time in my direction.
I roared, manipulating the air into a storm wall in front of me, sending it towards her with the vengeance of a tornado. The knife swept up in the storm winds along with anyone in its path, save three.
My parents grabbed Noah and started running in my direction, but they didn’t get far before the legion of angels and demons descended. I dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch in front of Leviathan and uttering a war cry. This time when I charged, my army charged with me.
The scythe in my hands seemed to grow a life of its own and I wielded it with expert efficiency, striking down angel and demon alike, and sparing the innocent souls. I carried my fury with me, putting aside any other emotion for later, after we rid this dimension of angels and demons and I had my revenge against Fate.
Blood drenched the ground and I kept moving toward the center, where Noah was, and where I knew Fate wasn’t far. It wasn’t until a silver blade struck down a demon on my right that I glanced at the weapon’s owner.
I stopped for a moment and Julia smiled at me. “I’m going to need a new smartphone.” She tapped her pocket where the dagger had hit and relief swept through me.
“Watch my back,” I said and she nodded.
I glanced at Leviathan, who had already gone into destroy mode, slicing anything in his path and I concentrated, falling back into my own battle zone.
I wasn’t alone in my battle cluster, besides Julia, both Ben and Danny flanked us, wielding their scythes against all that attacked as well. At my silent direction a group of reapers surrounded Julia, keeping her safe.
I don’t know how many we decimated but by the time I got to where my parents were, a great deal of the winged beings had fled back to heaven, taking a few souls with them.
My father ducked under a swing and I stopped, meeting his gaze. Beyond him stood Fate with a blade to Noah’s throat. The fighting died down and all eyes turned to this standoff.
“Seems you need someone to step into the role of Fate,” she said with a knowing smile.
“I beg to differ,” Julia stepped to my side from behind the wall of reapers assigned to protect her.
The bitch’s smile faltered.
“Then I want your job.” She said leveling a glare in my direction just before silver flashed through the air.
Danny dove in front of me and the knife pierced his flesh.
Fate’s expression fell as she stared at her handiwork. Her little brother lay gasping at my feet and Julia’s smartphone made a somber ding. Ben dropped to his knees next to his brother, pulling him into a hug and turning a deadly glare in her direction.
“How could you,” he whispered, rocking his brother into oblivion.
The knife pressed to Noah’s neck moved, dropping a fraction. Just enough for Noah to turn into the inside of her elbow and drop her to the ground. He stumbled toward me and I reached out, grabbing a handful of his shirt before anyone had a chance to yank him back into the danger zone.
Fate climbed to her feet, brandishing another knife and it was Julia who stepped forward into the ring. She held her sword like a warrior princess and the fierceness in her glare gave me pause. My Julia was not someone to screw with, and Fate was about to learn that first hand.
Fate lunged forward and the tip of the dagger scraped on metal. Julia spun away, swinging the sword in a graceful and deadly arc. The blade whistled through air and a blanket of silence fell over the dimension.
The ominous ding clanged from Julia’s pocket as Fate’s head rolled across the blood-ridden sand.