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I see Quinn, the unknowing traitor, sprinting toward me. “Zoe!” I’m not sure if she’s going to kill me or save me. We’ve been friends since grade school; I’m hoping for the latter. It’s not her fault that she got sucked into Aiden’s web of lies. This is his fault and no one else’s. She’s surrounded by demons, but she’s fending them off with her sword, slashing her way to me. “Zoe,” she screams again. I shout to Shay to let him know where I’m heading. He’s fighting multiple attacks and nods. A pathway is cut between my school friend and myself. Shay follows, a few steps behind.
Bodies fly in every direction. As Quinn slices through the melee, black demon blood drips from her weapon. She shoves past angels and fairies.
I think she’s going to make it to me after all. But then a blade protrudes through her chest. A demon has stabbed her from behind. She staggers the last couple of feet as I close the distance to her.
“I’m sorry, Zoe.” Her hand presses against her ribs, trying to stop the flow of blood. “I didn’t know for sure who he was.” She coughs and falls to the ground beside me. “I tried to stop him,” she sputters. Blood leaks from the side of her mouth. “But there is something you should know.” I lean in; her voice is barely audible. “Tell my son that I love him. He loves you very much.”
“What? Say that again.” I shake her shoulder. “Quinn, say it again!”
“Make him happy until his dying days. I won’t be around on earth to watch him grow old with you. But I will be watching from the heavens.”
“Who are you?” Tears fall down my face. “Quinn? What have you done with Quinn?”
“I’m ... Shay’s ... father.”
“How?”
“Disguise ... power of combined angels.” His form flickers between a man and a girl’s as his breathing sputters. “Watch out for Morgan.” He takes a final breath, his body remains that of a ghost-like man and disappears from the battlefield.
I can’t tell Shay but I must. What did he mean a disguise? Could Archangels mutate into Ordinaries? Was she/he helping us all along? He used Quinn to get close to Aiden. Gabriel had to have suspected who Aiden really was.
My soul hurts as I come to realize that Shay’s father is dead. He’ll never be able to see his son again. Well, his spirit is not really dead, but his form won’t be able to be on earth any more. Shay will miss him. I’ll miss him. If he’s gone, then does that mean that Quinn is really dead, too?
And Morgan? I can’t ask her because she’s already dead. Gabriel must not have known that before he died.
I can’t linger on that too much longer.
“Zoe? Are you hurt?” Shay kneels besides me. “Was that Quinn? I saw her fall.” I nod. “Where did she go?”
“She’s gone.” I wipe my face and stand. “I’ll tell you later. Right now, we must finish this before anyone else dies.”
I don’t have time to answer Shay’s question. A demon swings an axe toward my head. I duck as Shay leaps away.
Pivoting my sword, I block the axe again, but the she-demon is strong. The handle stops my blade, and it slides up and locks against the heel of the edge. She brings my body forward. I scramble for a dagger that’s strapped to my leg. Her hand shoots out and swats it from my fingers. She shoves me to the ground and stomps on my right wing.
I scream as I thrash about. My eyes sting, and my vision blurs with white dots. She frees the axe and slams it down on my other wing. Bones crack. The pain is intense. I’m on the verge of blacking out. My eyes shut as I try to block out the pain.
She hovers above me and is about to swing her axe into my chest.
This is the end. This is how I’m going to die.
No.
My Light blasts out, tripping her off balance.
I see movement in the corner of my eye. A silver light swings in my direction and the she-demon falls. Her head is cut off by Shay’s blade.
He reaches for me. “Can you stand?” he asks.
My cut wing droops and blood streams out. “I think so, but I need to fix them. I’m trying to, but they aren’t healing fast enough.” I lean into him.
“It’ll take time since that axe was dipped in Hell Fire. You were a good fighter as a human before you got wings. You’ll have to be more careful from now on.”
“Okay.” I try flapping my wings, but the slightest movement makes me flinch, and I cry out in agony.
“Use your Light and not your strength. And I’ll be by your side to protect you.” He turns me to face him. “Promise me, Zoe, that you’ll be careful.”
“I will.” My wings disappear. I can still feel them pressed against my back, like phantom limbs.
“I’ll hold you to that.” He grabs my hand and tugs me behind him.
Shay stays closer to me; he makes his wings disappear. We battle back to back, taking on opponents.
It seems like all of Hell has been emptied, and its inhabitants are here fighting on this field. Things I’ve never seen before. Ghostly beasts, the size of lions, dart between their masters. Their barks and howls send chills down my spine. These must be the famous Hell Hounds. I’m not sure if I see them now since I became an angel or if I could always see their true forms. I guess it doesn’t really matter, though. Two are bounding toward us.
“Ready, Zoe?” Shay asks as he nods to the approaching hounds. “You see them, right?”
“Oh, yeah, the dogs coming straight for us?” I raise my sword. “Yep, I see them.”
“They’re just like everything else. These are immortal animals. Don’t hold back.”
“How do we kill them?” I shout. “Do we run?”
“No, we’ll make our stand here. They don’t die but like the Marqs, they’ll return to Hell.”
The snarling beasts chew up the ground, and they’re before us within a couple of beats. Their massive paws pound into the ground, dirt flying. Large teeth line their jaws as drool drips from their mouths.
We don’t fight back to back because they separate us. Their giant front paws swipe at us from all directions. I flatten myself to the ground, barely missing my head being taken off. Shay narrowly dodges a mouth as teeth clamp shut where he stood a second ago. With barely enough time to raise our swords before claws strike at us again, all we can do is tuck, evade, and roll. I manage to graze one in the shoulder. Even though they are ghost-like, they are not. My blade hisses upon contact. The hound shrieks in agony.
“I thought our swords would go straight through them,” I call out. Shay notices and nods. He follows my lead and slashes at the animals. But his sword doesn’t touch them. The air around them breaks apart their form and melds back together. “It’s all you, Zoe. They must only react to Seraph Swords.”
Shay does what he can to separate the monstrosities, so I can return them to Hell. We run around, trying to get only one to follow me. I run directly at the one chasing Shay. At the last minute, he leaps out of the way.
The hound is tall enough that I only come to its shoulder. Dropping and sliding on the ground, I raise my sword and carve into the underbelly of the beast. Its bellows shake the ground around me. Or maybe that was its partner.
Good thing my dad liked baseball and taught me to slide into bases. The body disappears, leaving me one less to defeat.
I doubt I can use the same tactic again.
“Shay, give me your sword. I have an idea.”
He doesn’t flinch. On our next pass, he tosses me his blade. I catch it midair and twirl each sword in my hands. Calling my Light, I infuse his Nephilim Sword, hoping that my inspiration works.
I stop in my tracks and turn to face a ginormous mouth, ready to eat me. Brandishing both swords, I dart forward, stopping the animal. It knows what the blade does. Using mine, I swing in an upward motion causing the beast to rear onto its hind legs, my Light pulsing. Shay’s sword connects with a paw and cuts it off. The hound limps on tripod legs. My Light transferred my power into both.
Loud howls send chills to my wings. But I don’t stop my onslaught from the dual swords, both acting as my own. They are swinging, whirling, and slicing anything in the vicinity. Some are hitting flesh because more cries fill the air. The injured body is still here. I keep spinning the blades.
I pant and wish Shay could help me, but he’s found his own battle. He’s in a fistfight with some Knights who wandered into the area.
Taking a breath, I reach deep inside and my Light flares. I slam it into the hound’s face. It blinks, and I rush forward, arcing my blade down across its neck. It disappears.
My breathing is labored. I’m about spent. I need a break. We’ve been fighting for what seems like hours. I don’t know how long it really has been. Glancing out over the area, everyone seems to be still fighting someone. It’s not over yet.