I heard screaming. At first, I wondered who it was coming from, but then I realized the howls of anguish came from me.
Dorian rushed at Raja with even more fury than before.
But I couldn’t move. I stood frozen as I stared down at Sean’s lifeless body on the dirt beside Lillith.
He’d been the best friend I’d ever had.
His last words demonstrated his unfailing belief that I could do anything. He truly believed I was some kind of superhero, someone who had the ability to save humanity from evil. Sean had more faith in me than I’d ever had in myself. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that faith made me a better person.
Just knowing him had made me a better person.
Raja had swiftly pulled the sabre out of Sean’s chest and kicked him over with his foot like he was nothing more than a rag doll before he went back up against Dorian. The image would be forever engrained in my mind.
My greatest fear had been realized. Someone I actually cared about, someone who was able to put up with my shit on a daily basis, and someone I considered my best friend, was dead.
And it was all my fault.
Sean should have never come along. I told myself that because he wanted to come, it had been the right thing to do. But things were rarely that simple. I should have told him no. I should have told him it was too dangerous. I should have told him to stay behind and live a long, boring life.
But instead, I’d been selfish. I had wanted him with me for no other reason than that I was comfortable with him.
And I’d been scared.
I was still scared, at that moment, more than ever.
A voice emerged inside my head. At first, I was unable to make it out; it sounded like someone shouting at me from a distance. But as it grew closer, I was finally able to understand the words.
“Skyy. Can you hear me?”
“Lillith?”
It couldn’t be. I glanced over and gazed at her body lying on the ground next to Sean.
“I don’t have much time,” she said. “But there are things to say.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to. I just need you to hear me. When I walked around inside Sean’s mind, I discovered some things about him that I think you need to know.”
My emotions were churning.
“The day he met you, he didn’t take a wrong turn. He’d been driving around for hours looking for a secluded place to kill himself. Gladys was tucked under the passenger seat. When he saw your trailer, he was going to turn his car around and keep driving. And then he saw you. Got to know you. And he began to live. You gave him purpose in his lonely life. You were his real life superhero, and his reason to go on. So, don’t ever think for a minute that his death is on your head or that it’s your fault. It’s not. His life was your doing; his death was his.”
A tear found its way down the side of my nose.
Lillith’s voice was gone, but her words remained.
Sean, like Lillith, died a hero’s death, just like the superheroes in one of his comics.
Suddenly, I felt strange. My entire body began to tingle, causing a bit of lightheadedness.
Raja and Dorian stopped, both staring in my direction, their mouths agape.
“What the—” sputtered Raja, stumbling backward.
Dorian’s eyes grew large as he, too, staggered back.
I felt warm, as if the sun was shining. But this particular warmth seemed to emanate from the inside. My hands felt hot, and as I glanced down to see what could be causing the sudden warmth, I noticed my skin had begun to glow.
It was subtle at first, a slight whitish light growing quickly into a bright yellow radiance that seemed to blind everyone who looked my way.
The Hybrids on both sides dropped their weapons and covered their eyes in an effort to shield themselves from whatever was happening to me. Even Dorian was helpless against the bright glow encompassing my body.
However, it didn’t seem to affect Raja’s vision whatsoever. Although he looked perplexingly at my sudden radiance, he rushed directly at me, determined to end our fight.
But I felt stronger than I ever had before.
Raja was fast, but I found myself faster, able to predict his every move. At times, it almost seemed like he was moving in slow motion. He grew increasingly frustrated at my ability to stop his every swing and thrust. Dorian jumped out of the way as I pressed Raja back, trapping him against a rock formation.
I stretched my wings behind me as far as they could go. They began to flap, slowly at first, and then gradually beat faster. The gale kicked up by the force of my wings was nearly as strong as a hurricane, knocking Raja off his feet and the sabre from his hand.
He looked up just as the end of my sword pierced him at the base of his throat.
His eyes looked to me for mercy, but I had none to give. He’d been on the wrong side of the war, and I’d won the battle.
He gurgled, choked, and then went silent, his eyes open wide with fear.
I yanked the sword out from his neck and kicked him over with my foot, just as he had so indiscriminately disposed of Sean.
The glow left my body, and I dropped to my knees.
I stared at Raja’s lifeless body and spit in his direction.
Dorian fell to my side and threw his arms around me to keep me from falling over. His arms held me tight, and we kneeled there quietly, holding one another when we heard a throat clear.
We both turned and witnessed Rami and Arna towering over Lillith’s body.
“We have to take her, Dorian. I’m sorry,” said Arna.
Dorian nodded, waving them on to do whatever it was they were going to do, and then he turned away.
Rami lifted Lillith by her shoulders, his face showing sorrow at the death of someone he once cared for as he and Arna, grabbing her feet, led the way over to a group of Hybrids stacking dead bodies to prepare for a large pyre.
I glanced around the battle scene. Skirmishes were still happening, but the numbers had dwindled substantially.
“The sword,” said Dorian, grasping me by the wrist, lifting my hand up.
I stared at it in wonder. Something so small and seemingly insignificant had caused an awful lot of destruction.
But its job wasn’t over yet.
I pushed myself up off the ground and looked over at where Azazel stood, frowning at the sudden turn of events.
The Spear of Azazel, my sword, was the only thing keeping him from taking over the world and destroying mankind. And it was my job to ensure he never got that chance.