My sword glowed just as it had when it first appeared to me, flames emanating and licking the air around it. I could feel an unexplainable power surging through me. My hand firmly gripped the hilt, my eyes following Azazel’s every move. My inner courage was matched only by my outer strength. I felt more powerful than I ever had before.
Unbeatable.
“Arna!” I yelled. “Stand down.”
The Watchers continued to battle, wielding their swords.
“Azazel. It’s me you want! Fight me!” I shouted.
At my urging, they stepped back from one another and were instantly distracted by my appearance.
I was now eye-to-eye with them both. Even my sword had increased in size to match my grip and power.
Arna grinned and nodded. He crouched down momentarily and then bolted straight up into the air, flying off into the direction of the ongoing Hybrid conflict.
“Are you ready to admit you have daddy issues?” I asked. “Is that why you’re so angry?”
Azazel gave me an odd look, as if he didn’t understand my humor.
“Daddy issues. You know you’re upset with God, trying to take out his human creation and killing off mortals to get his attention,” I explained off-handedly. Azazel’s blank-faced look told me he still didn’t get it. “If I have to explain it, it’s clearly not funny. Either that, or you’re just an idiot.”
That insult Azazel understood. He flew at me in a rage, sword at the ready.
I blocked his strike, but I hadn’t quite been prepared enough for how strong he was. I stumbled back before I found my balance.
He was beyond powerful, and for a split second, I wondered if I was capable enough to take him on. But that thought disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived once I felt the energy of the sword in my hand, giving me back my confidence.
My bare feet felt the hard ground below. The dirt between my toes and the land around me belonged to the humans. And it reminded me exactly why I was fighting and who I was fighting for.
I whirled my sword around in the palm of my hand, playfully preparing for the fight of my life. Our gazes met, and we squared off. I advanced hard and fast, not allowing Azazel any time to think about how to defend himself.
When struck together, the sound of our swords rang through the Badlands. It was almost musical each time a deadly strike was blocked by the other’s weapon. And our brawl was closer to a dance than a fight; each of us expertly wielded our sword as our footwork moved us in a constant circle.
We continued to battle, both of us evenly matched. I started to think it could go on forever, neither of us making any progress in the conflict.
I heard a commotion below. There was screaming and shouting coming from some of the Hybrids who had found their way to the base of our overlook. I ignored the uproar, swinging and thrusting with my sword, attempting to find the chance I needed to defeat him.
A familiar voice cried out. I didn’t dare look, not wanting to look away from my enemy. Blow after blow, I blocked every move Azazel made, but the noise was becoming a huge distraction. I suddenly realized that the screams were meant to get my attention.
I backed away and glanced down over the ledge.
Dorian was lying on his back directly over the burial site, held down by four of Azazel’s men.
“If you wish to save your friend, you will bring the sword and give up this fight,” shouted the one holding Dorian by his right arm.
“No!” Dorian yelled. “Don’t! I’m dead anyway.”
I looked over at Azazel and back at Dorian. My emotions churned.
They’d already taken Lillith and Sean. And they planned to take Dorian as well.
My confidence quickly waned as I gazed down at the scene. He was going to die anyway and soon. It made sense to leave him and let them kill him. He probably wanted it that way.
To die in battle.
But while it was true that Dorian was destined to die on his own any day, I didn’t have it in me to allow someone I loved to die if I could prevent it.
Azazel seemed to sense my conflict. I could hear him laugh acerbically as I flung out my wings and flew as fast as I could toward the burial site.
I was careful to land a ways away from Dorian and his captors.
“Let him up,” I demanded.
None of his captors moved. But they each had a look of fear in their eyes.
From a distance, I might not have looked so menacing. But up close, my nearly nine foot stature was, I’m sure, quite intimidating.
“Let. Him. Up.” I emphasized each word with a thunderous boom.
They loosened their grip on Dorian and allowed him to stand. But, one of them held a knife to Dorian’s neck. I might have intimidated them, but they weren’t complete cowards. And I was positive that they were far more afraid of Azazel than they were of me.
“Give us the sword,” said one of them.
“No,” I replied defiantly.
The knife tightened against Dorian’s neck.
“Give us the sword. Or he dies.”
“Skyy. No. There’s no point. I’m dead anyway,” Dorian stammered.
His abductors jerked his head back to silence his words.
Dorian continued to mouth no. I knew he was willing to die.
But I wasn’t willing to be the reason why.
“I’m not giving you the sword,” I said. “But you release him, and I’ll open the prison below.”
Dorian’s captors glanced cautiously at one another.
It was clear they didn’t know what to make of my deal.
Azazel was suddenly present, landing on the other end of the burial site. His smile was broad. He looked pleased with himself.
“Do what she says,” he said amiably, motioning toward his men with a nod of his head.
They removed the knife from Dorian’s neck and let go.
Dorian stood there defiantly for a few seconds, glaring at the Hybrids who had captured him. And then, rather than run off, he bravely sauntered over to my side and stood behind me.
The sound of fighting could still be heard all around us. Although the number of Hybrids clashing with Hybrids had dwindled substantially, the war raged on.
“Release my brothers.” Azazel took a few steps toward me. “Keep your vow. We have released your friend as you asked. Now do as you said you would.”
“You can’t do this,” whispered Dorian.
“I have to,” I replied.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t know.”
“We’ll all die.”
“What is it you said?” I asked, raising the sword above my head, holding the hilt tightly with both hands. I turned my head and looked at him as a tear fell down my face. “You have to have faith.”
And with that, I thrust the sword into the dirt.
The earth began to quake beneath our feet. Everyone started to stumble, struggling to stay upright. My eyes scanned my surroundings erratically, watching Hybrids lose their footing and collapse to the earth below. Azazel had opened up his wings and hovered a few feet off the ground, a gratified look etched on his face.
But the ground started to do more than simply shake. Cracks formed in the dirt and rock, quickly growing and stretching from one end of the burial site to the other. The cracks widened, and the earth swallowed itself. Hybrids were sucked into massive sink holes that had opened up from the growing fissures, causing the others to scramble for safety.
The terrain below my feet shifted. My wings stretched out behind me as I prepared to fly away and out of harm’s way. I turned and grabbed Dorian by the waist, my newfound size and strength allowing me to carry him a few yards away just as the ground where we’d stood fell into the earth, leaving a gaping hole.
My feet touched the ground.
The burial site was bereft of dirt and rock. Giant skeletons lay suspended in the void below us, floating as if caught in a force field of some kind, my sword still setting upright in the middle of their bones.
“My brothers!” shouted Azazel. “Your time to awaken and take your rightful place with me has come!” He flew at me, his sword aimed at my chest.
In that same moment, I knocked Dorian down with one of my wings to try and keep him safe and out of danger. I turned and flapped my wings, rising high into the sky.
Azazel followed, and the chase began.
He wanted blood.
My blood.
Now that the portal to the Fallen was opened, the only thing left was to awaken them. And my blood was the only thing that could make that happen.
My newly amassed size didn’t slow me down. In fact, it only seemed to give me the strength to fly faster. I raced through the sky, speeding past valleys and rock formations of the Badlands with Azazel close on my tail. He gained a bit as we rounded an area clumped with trees.
I flapped harder and pulled away.
If he managed to get my wings, I’d be just as vulnerable as Raja had been.
But only my sword could actually kill me. It was the only weapon in existence that could kill a Watcher.
And I was a Watcher.
An idea came to me, and I quickly changed direction, heading straight back for the burial site. I flew low and caught the air current, soaring precariously over the void. With my hand stretched out before me, I snagged my sword from its invisible holding place and landed at the far edge of the giant hole.
Azazel was on me immediately, our swords clashing in the darkness. Fire spit from each of our blades, creating quite a scene and lighting up the night air between us. I held him off, blocking every blow he thrust in my direction. He swung at my head, and I bent back, the blade barely missing my face. I lunged forward and drove my sword at his chest, but his broadsword knocked it to the side.
We battled fiercely, advancing and retreating, thrusting and blocking, our swords echoing into the night each time they connected.
Dorian’s gasp distracted me for a split second.
But that was enough for Azazel to knock the sword from my hand and grab me by the back of my hair. He jerked me back and forced me to my knees. One of his cronies carefully approached my sword, which was lying on the ground, and picked it up. He gingerly carried it to his master, kneeling before him, and lifted it above his head.
Azazel snatched it from the Hybrid’s hands, and the man scampered away in fear.
I was far too angry to be afraid, all the while trying to figure out a way to release myself from Azazel’s grasp. But I was afraid for Dorian. He was pinned face down in the dirt just a few feet away, a foe’s knee in his back holding him there. It seemed he’d been ambushed from behind and used as bait to distract me.
It worked.
My mind raced, trying to find a way out of my predicament. I needed to get away from Azazel and retrieve my sword. But I soon realized I was defenseless and at his mercy.
Azazel said nothing as he held me steadfast, keeping me still. I knew what his plan was. Cut off my head, using my blood to awaken the Fallen.
I wondered what death would be like. For centuries, I had yearned for the end. I thought of nothing more than leaving the world and finding a way out of my perpetual earthly hell. But I had found myself changing my views on life.
Death was no longer something I wanted to face out of fear.
If I was going to die, I wanted to do it with courage.
I stiffened, waiting for the final blow that would end it all for me.