Horizon, Soul Guardians Book 3 (23 page)

Kara looked over to Gabriel. He hadn’t
moved from his spot, as he clung to a nearby bench for support.
With his jaw set, the big archangel looked determined to die
without fear—to die the true death.

And then it hit her. She knew what she
was supposed to do.

Kara pushed away from her mother
gently and rushed over to the dagger. She picked it up. The flames
spilled around her hand and arm, but she felt only a slight
tingling sensation. She gripped it firmly in her hand. It felt
light and natural.

Asmodeus’s face twisted. He laughed
out loud. “What’s this? Wait a minute, Zadkiel … my daughter wishes
to do me more harm, don’t you, Kara.”

Kara ignored him. Instead, she walked
calmly over to where her father stood, looking elegant even in his
ruin red suit. The blade hung by her side.

“
That blade cannot hurt me,
silly girl. Don’t you get it? I am eternal. Nothing can harm me,
ever again.”

Kara stood before the demon lord. She
sensed the dagger’s power in her right hand. The golden flames
tickled her skin. She thought of David. She remembered his
beautiful blue eyes—her best friend—her mentor. She remembered his
soft lips on hers when they had kissed the first time—she had been
in love with him since then. She remembered how amazing it had felt
to be held in his strong arms—his face had evaporated into
nothingness in front of her. She would never see him
again.

Asmodeus giggled like a schoolboy.
“This day is proving to be better than I’d anticipated. My daughter
… trying to kill me … once again.” The demon lord clapped his hands
excitedly.

With no expression on her face, Kara
locked her eyes with her father’s.

“
You’re wrong. This blade
is not for you, dear father. It’s for me—”

Kara drove the dagger into her chest.
She heard her mother scream.

She focused on Asmodeus. Her elemental
power, the dagger’s power, and her angel essence combined. She felt
the three sources combine into one unimaginable power. She ignored
the excruciating pain and focused only on Asmodeus. He needed to
die.

She felt a burning sensation, then the
smell of burnt flesh. She looked down at her body. Her angel skin
was slipping off her, into a puddle on the floor. She was melting
away like a wax figure. Soon, her entire skin was gone. Only a
shell of bright golden light remained. Kara knew she was dying,
like David. She knew she didn’t have much time before her body
dissolved completely.

She focused all her energy on
Asmodeus. She raised her arms in the air. Golden light blasted
through her hands and hit her demon father.

He staggered backwards,
surprised.

“
What’s this?” His body was
consumed in a golden fire. He waved his hands frantically. Kara
heard the crackling of fire. Asmodeus screamed and ran blindly
around the chamber, desperately trying to put out the flames. His
loud screeching echoed throughout the chamber, and then he was
still. Only the flames moved as they danced in and around his body.
Kara could see to the other side of the chamber through large gaps
in his body. He tipped over and hit the floor. His flaming body
exploded into a puff of black dust. Small particles hung in the air
for a moment and then disappeared into nothing.

Kara felt her life force leaving her
body. She managed to walk over to the spot where David had died and
collapsed to the ground.

She can hear her mother’s soft voice
calling out to her. But she cannot see her. She tries to answer,
but her mouth will not move. The sweet sound of her mother’s voice
wraps around her. Kara is glad her mother is finally safe. The
Legion is safe. Horizon is safe. She has done her duty.

She knows that she is ready, and she
lets herself go.

Chapter 19

A penthouse in the
stars

A
soft breeze smells of pine trees and earth. The soft murmur
of people talking flows around like leaves caught in breeze.
Bottles clank together, and the clatter of metal hitting metal
reverberates. Something heavy scrapes the floor, dripping liquid
splashes, and then a loud thud, as though a door had been
closed.

Kara opened her eyes. Blurred shapes
moved around her. She blinked. After a moment, her eyesight
returned. She looked around. Red light spilled from a window above,
casting a warm glow around the round room. Kara recognized the room
immediately. She was in Raphael’s healing chamber. With some
effort, Kara sat up and inspected herself. She was dressed in a
pair of comfortable white linen pajamas, like the kind from an
expensive hotel. Why was she here and wearing pajamas? Suddenly the
memories came flooding in.

David. Asmodeus. The inferno
blade.

She peeled away at some buttons and
examined her chest. No signs of any puncture wounds. It had never
happened—it had all been a terrible dream. A red haired woman was
sitting calmly in a chair nearby, Camael, the archangel who had
been hurt by Asmodeus. Raphael was still tending to Camael’s
wounds. It wasn’t a dream.

David really was dead.

“
Kara!” Raphael rushed
over. She took Kara’s hand in hers and squeezed it affectionately.
“I was so worried. I—I wasn’t sure I could heal you—but I did!” She
looked at Kara’s puzzled face. “You had just enough life force in
you for me to bring you back. I can’t explain it—maybe it has
something to do with your
elemental
part, but I’m just glad it worked.”

Kara looked into her blazing green
eyes. She tried to smile, but her face was numb. She couldn’t even
bring herself to thank the woman. She didn’t feel so excited to be
back. Not without David. She sensed Raphael reading her thoughts.
Abashed, Kara lowered her eyes and stared at her hands.

“
Listen to me, Kara.”
Raphael brushed a lock of hair behind Kara’s ear. Her eyes were
kind. “I loved David, too, and I miss him terribly. But we can’t
change what happened.” She cupped Kara’s face into her large hands.
“Kara. You saved us. You saved the Legion. We would all be gone if
it hadn’t been for your courage and quick thinking. I know if David
were here now, he would be so proud of you. I am proud of you. We
all are. So is your mother.”

“
M—my mother. She’s okay,
right?” She vaguely remembered her mother’s voice calling out to
her before she passed out. Kara prayed that nothing had happened to
her.

“
Yes,” said Raphael, “your
mother is fine. She and Gabriel brought you to me.”

The image of Gabriel’s body covered in
wounds rose in Kara’s mind. “So … what happened after I blacked
out? Where are the demons now?”

“
Gone. After they saw their
master killed, they ran away like scared little rats. They crawled
back to the Netherworld—where they belong.”

“
What about
Zadkiel?”

The archangel let out a loud sigh.
“Unfortunately, the traitorous Zadkiel escaped. Gabriel said that
Zadkiel ran as soon as he saw his master die, just like a true
coward. Who knows into what hole he’s crawled.” Kara could think of
one.

“
So, Horizon is slowly
picking up the pieces and mending itself,” continued Raphael. “We
still have lots to do, but eventually we’ll get there. Horizon will
be just as beautiful as before. And soon all the GAs will be back
at work saving mortals. You’ll be back at your old job before you
know it.”

Kara couldn’t speak. The words
wouldn’t come out. They burned at the back of her throat. She just
shook her head that she understood.

The archangel shrugged. “Let’s get you
changed. The Chief is expecting you, Kara. He’s very excited about
you visiting him.”At that, Kara lifted her eyes.

“
Yes,” continued the
archangel. “He wants to have a chat with you. I’m guessing that he
wants a full account of what happened. He’s very thorough … make
sure you tell him everything. Don’t leave anything out.” Kara
nodded that she wouldn’t.

Kara stared at her recently polished
boots—they were so shiny they looked wet. The elevator’s gentle
sway made her move slightly from left to right. The elevator’s
operator, an excessively large toothed baboon by the name of 3B52,
had survived the attacks—he couldn’t shut up about it. He tried
relentlessly to get her to talk, but she only heard muffles and
stared at the floor.

Ding
. The elevator doors slid open. Kara peered out. White light
blinded her vision. It was like stepping into the sun. She heard a
clang behind her, and she knew the elevator had departed. Kara
walked further into the light, and when it dispersed she was in a
giant penthouse sort of apartment.

The room was elegantly furnished with
plush carpets and soft looking sofas and armchairs. Twenty-foot
high windows ran the length of the room on all four sides. A black
sky glinting with crystals shone behind the glass, and Kara thought
they looked strangely like stars. She felt heat on the side of her
head. She turned around and covered her eyes. Incredibly, Kara was
staring at the sun. She ran towards the closest window. She pressed
her forehead against the glass and peered out into outer
space.

The large apartment floated in a
galaxy of millions of stars, dust, and gas. She recognized the ring
around Saturn, and guessed that the largest planet was Jupiter. The
tiny planet that was undoubtedly Earth, floated in the blackness.
Even from here Kara could see the soft white clouds wrapped around
the blue planet—so this was how astronauts saw outer space. It was
more beautiful than she could have ever imagined. Streaks of purple
and pink painted the black sky, like a modern canvas.

Someone cleared his throat.

Kara turned and gazed into the face of
an elderly man. He stood in the middle of the living room between a
large sofa and chairs filled with fluffy pillows. The square coffee
table beside him was fitted with plates of food and a variety of
drinks. The man was of medium height with a round face, pink
cheeks, and small sparkling eyes. His white hair brushed his
shoulders. A thick beard draped over his large belly. He wore a
white kimono with gold stars stitched into the fabric and tied
around the waist with a golden belt. Kara thought he looked a lot
like Santa Clause. She almost smiled.

The Chief wrinkled his face in a large
grin. “Welcome, Kara. I’ve been expecting you.”

The hair on the back of her neck rose.
She had heard that voice before. She studied the man more closely,
tried to figure where she had heard the voice.

“
Come. Have a seat here
with me.” The Chief gestured to the large beige sofa beside
him.

Kara let herself fall into the soft
cushions. She got a good look at all the food. A variety of plates
were filled with fries, fried chicken, dill pickles, onion rings,
hotdogs, pizza, chips, jelly beans, and bottles of soft
drinks.

The Chief grabbed a plate from the
coffee table and placed it in front of Kara. “Onion ring? They’re
very good, you know. Very crispy. Here try one—”

Kara shook her head and stared at the
plate covered in crispy onion rings. She guessed by the size of the
Chief’s belly that he could actually eat like a mortal. But how
could he?

“
No, not really,” said the
Chief, as though he read her mind. “I don’t need food like mortals,
but I do enjoy eating from time to time. I can actually taste them.
They taste exactly like real food. I rather enjoy eating, you know.
Keeps me occupied. You sure you don’t want any?”

Kara shook her head again. At last,
she recognized the voice. She stared wild-eyed at the
man.

“
Legan! You’re the prisoner
from Tartarus!”

The Chief’s shoulders shook as he
laughed gently. He stuffed three onion rings into his mouth and set
the plate down. “Yes. That was me,” he said through a mouthful of
food.

“
So . . . does this mean
you knew what would happen? You knew what Asmodeus was planning all
along.”

“
Yes.”

Kara stared at him blankly. “I don’t
understand. If you knew what he was going to do, then why didn’t
you stop Zadkiel yourself? Or Asmodeus? Why did you let all those
mortals and angels die?”

Sadness passed in the Chief’s blue
eyes. He was silent for a while. Finally, he spoke. “I wish it were
that simple, Kara. But unfortunately it’s not. I can impersonate a
character here and there … but I cannot change the course of
events. What is meant to happen—will happen. The universe always
finds a way. I simply pushed you in the right
direction.”

“
But why me? I’m not even a
real angel. I’m tainted with demon. I’m a freak.”

The Chief reached over and put two
onion rings in his mouth. He wiped the grease from his beard with a
white cloth and grabbed a large jar filled with candy.

“
Jelly bean?”

Kara shook her head. “No, thank
you.”

The Chief set the jar on the table.
“Asmodeus thought he had created an evil weapon to do his bidding
when he used you, but I knew that wasn’t the case. He chose you for
a purpose, and I chose you for another purpose. You were the only
one who could defeat him in the end. He had created his own
demise—killed by his own creation—so to speak. You are a special
angel, Kara. You saved the world.”