Revelations (Bloodline Series) (35 page)

“No,”
Ballantine almost whispered. “No, this can’t be.”

I
was speechless. I’d never seen so many bodies before. They must have been taken
completely by surprise. How long had this been going on before we’d found out
about it? How many people, who just wanted to be happy, had just lost their
lives?

“We
need to search for survivors,” I said.

“There
won’t be any.”

“There
has to be a few at least.”

“Look
around you…everyone has gone.”

I
did just that. Smoke was rising from little fires all across the open fields.
Bodies lay piled on top of each other, some in pieces, others burned to a
crisp. Weapons were scattered all around, some still in the hands of their
wielder. It was a terrible site; there were no words to describe the emotions
running through me.

“We
still need to check! If we can save just one life it has to be worth it.”

He
nodded, and we split up, checking everybody we could see for any signs of life.
Sadly, there were none.

“I’m
so sorry,” I said, taking Ballantine’s hand.

He
turned to look at me, his eyes filling with tears. “All any of them wanted was
to be happy. To live in a peaceful world with those they loved the most. To be
able to help one another...just to...be happy,” he trailed off. “This is all my
fault.”

“How
is it? Ballantine, you couldn’t have foreseen this.”

“I
should have kept us all together. I just thought it would be safer for us to be
scattered around…less conspicuous. There are so many of us now, to have such a
large group in one place would have surely drawn attention to us.”

“You
did what you thought was right; what else can anyone do? I know it doesn’t make
this any less painful, but at least their deaths weren’t pointless. They died
fighting for something they truly believed in. They had
you
to thank for
that. Try and take some comfort in that knowledge. They all supported you…they
knew the risks, and they were willing to take them.”

“I
know, but I feel as though I’ve simply led them to their deaths. Someone will
pay for this.” He turned to face me. “I’m going to really need you Keira. I’m
not waiting any longer.”

“What
do you mean?”

“I
mean I need to know you’re with me whole heartedly because I’m going to gather
everyone together and we’re going to make our move. No more waiting. We’re strong,
we have more followers than I ever imagined possible...and I have you.”

“Then
let’s do this. I’m with you.”

Chapter 45

Through
the Mirror

Hecate’s
Story

As
soon as Oroan departed, I cast my spell. We poured some water over the mirror
and with a few words, it was transformed into a viewing pool.

“Show
me Diversia,” I commanded. Everyone watched as the planet came into view, a beautiful
Earth-like planet, with vast oceans and beautiful unspoiled land. “Find Eligos.”
The image in the mirror began to swirl, and I knew it was searching the planet.
The search didn’t take long and Eligos came into view. “Follow him,” I
instructed.

I
watched as Eligos and Vetis approached an opening in a large cliff face. Unsere
then came into view. She held her hands in front of her, and the rock began to
crack. Eligos’s and Vetis’s weapons appeared just before several beings ran
from the opening. I cringed as they sliced through their bodies as easily as a
hot knife through butter.

“I
can’t watch this,” Marley said. “I can’t watch people die.” She quickly left
the room.

“If
anyone else feels this way, leave now. This is only going to get worse,” I
warned. None of them left. I continued to watch.

More
and more people ran from the opening in the rock. Eligos’s army lurched forward,
fighting their way through them, beings from all realms in the fight of their
lives. Oroan was casting spells; Eaven sliced and diced his way through anyone
who approached him. Eligos seemed to be taking out his frustrations on the
larger beings. He had a lot of pent up rage…it would do him good to have a form
of release.

It
was rather sad to watch though. The people running from the cliff opening
looked completely taken by surprise, but the shock on their faces soon turned
to looks of fear. I saw some try to flee, but they stood little chance. Eligos’s
army would chase them down and kill them. I watched as their souls emerged from
their bodies. Unsere cast spells to completely destroy them. Both God and
Lucifer demanded the souls of all involved to be destroyed, no exceptions. The
people who did fight back tried with all their might to kill as many of their
assailants as possible, yet it seemed that only a few of our guys lost their
lives.

“Do
they really have to kill them? They don’t look evil, Hecate, they just look
normal,” Beth asked. “Surely they should be shown a form of mercy.”

“I’m
sorry, orders are orders. They are completely breaking the rules and murdering
human beings. They might look like everyday people, but they are mass
murderers, remember that,” I explained. “Also remember, half the bodies you are
seeing don’t even belong to them. Ballantine can’t possibly restore
every
spirit’s body. Remember what happened with the lads’ parents? That’s what’s
happened to those people you see there. Other spirits are simply wearing them.”

“I
admit, I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

We
both turned our attention back to the mirror. In just those few brief moments,
we could clearly see the body count had risen, yet
our
guys numbers didn’t
seem to have depleted. I watched as Vetis decapitated a rather vulgar looking
being, and couldn’t help but put my hand to my own throat. That was twice I’d
witnessed him do that to someone. Maybe it was one of his favorite moves—who knew?
I searched for Unsere…she meant so much to me. I had to be sure she was safe.
She too was now wielding a weapon, a beautifully crafted Katana sword. She
moved so gracefully, yet her attacks were hard and lethal.

The
whole attack lasted no longer than twenty minutes. Ballantine’s followers were
quickly outnumbered and easily dealt with. The guys continued to watch the
mirror as Eligos and Vetis began the search for any possible survivors or
escapees. Nobody was found. Once they were happy everyone was dead, they left
Diversia.

“Hecate,
why haven’t their bodies dispersed?” Jake asked.

“I
think Ballantine must have preserved them in some way.”

“Why
would he do that?”

“I
honestly have no idea. That’s the only reason I can think of. It’s very
peculiar.”

I
ended the spell, and we all waited rather impatiently for one of them to return
to the house. Eligos was the first to arrive.

“Are
you okay?” I asked.

“All
is taken care of. There were casualties…I’ve lost a few of my men, but less
than I thought.”

“We
watched you,” Lily told him. “It didn’t take you very long.”

“It
was only a small group of them, Lily; we had more than enough people to fight
them. We knew this wouldn’t take long…just a quick in and out really. Are you
disappointed?”

“No,
it’s not a pleasant thing to watch.”

“Any
sign or mention of Keira?” Tyler asked.

“You
watched. Did you see her?”

“No.”

“Then
why ask the question?”

Tyler
turned away from him, deciding not to react to his poisonous tone.

“I
wonder if she will go once she finds out what’s happened?” Danny said, raising
an eyebrow.

“There’s
one way to find out,” I said, recasting the spell on the mirror. “Take me to
the last place we viewed.”

We
all waited, watching in anticipation, each of us hoping we would see her. It
wasn’t long before our hopes became reality. Ballantine was the first to come
into view. He looked around him with sadness in his eyes. Keira appeared beside
him. They walked around the battlefield, checking for any possible survivors.
Then Keira joined him again, both looking out at the carnage in front of them.

“Anyone
good at lip reading?” Lucian asked.

“She’s
telling him he couldn’t have foreseen this. She’s trying to comfort him,” Elizabeth
said. “She’s telling him how sorry she is for his losses.”

Eligos
cringed as he watched Keira take Ballantine’s hand in hers. Rage filled his
eyes, and he had to turn away.

“Shouldn’t
you go back, try to bring them down?” Olivia asked him.

“No.
We’d need more than a couple of us to bring them both down. The likelihood is
we’d end up severely injured, or dead.”

“Oh
my,” Elizabeth gasped. “Oh...oh my...!”

“What
is it?” I asked.

“If
I read that correctly...they are going to attack full force.”

“When?”

“I
don’t know; Keira just said, ‘Then let’s do this. I’m with you.’ I assume that
means it will be happening very soon.”

“I
must report to Lucifer,” Eligos said before returning to Hell.

The
room fell silent. Panic spread across everyone’s faces. We knew it was only a
matter of time before this happened, but now that the time had actually
arrived, realizations, fear, nervousness, and self-doubt started to kick in.
Just like when a person knows the death of a loved one is imminent, even though
they have prepared themselves for that day, it still always comes as a shock. They
always believe they will have a little more time with the person. This was the
same kind of thing. Everyone thought they would have longer to prepare
themselves, more mentally than physically I think.

“How...how
will we know when they plan to attack?” Jake asked.

“We
won’t,” I replied. “We’ll just have to be ready at a moment’s notice. It could
be tonight, tomorrow, next week. But something tells me it will be sooner
rather than later.”

“Oh
my God, oh my God!” Lily panicked, almost hyperventilating. “Oh my God, I can’t
believe it’s actually going to happen!”

“Lily,
just breathe,” Jake said, trying to comfort her. “Nice slow breaths…deep
breaths.”

“We’re
going to die,” Olivia simply said. “This is the end.”

“You
can’t think like that,” Danny told her. “As hard as it may be, you have to have
faith in yourself, in
us
. We stick together…we fight together. We look
after each other. We
can
and we
will
survive this.”

“I
wish I had your optimism,” Jared commented.

“Look
at it this way…if you believe from the very start that you will fail, the
chances are, you will. If you go out with a positive attitude, self-belief,
then you will survive…or at least take out more of the sons-of-bitches before
you go! I’m happy with either.”

“Erm,
I’m not happy with that!” I shot. “I don’t want you dying on me!”

“Relax,”
he said, putting his arm around my waist. “I have no intentions of dying,” he
tried to smile. “I have you to live for.”

****

That
evening everyone was very quiet. We were all expecting someone to just turn up
and tell us it was time. When Eligos appeared without warning, I thought Marley
was about to suffer a heart attack.

“Relax,
nothing is happening yet,” he told her plainly. “Hecate, can I have a word?”

I
followed him into the kitchen and closed the door behind us.

“Danny
needs to come with me tonight. There are things I need to show him, teach
him...for the future,” he said in a tone that sent shivers down my spine.

“What
kind of
things
?”

“I
haven’t got time to start explaining them.”

“Okay,
look; I’ve known you for what feels like forever. I know when there is something
wrong, and I certainly know when you’re hiding something. Out with it! Right
now!”

“It
doesn’t matter. Can you remain here with the others? I’ll be sending Vetis back
shortly…I believe he wishes to speak with you anyway. He was rather upset when
he found out you feared him so.”

“Nice
try, but don’t change the subject. What’s going on?”

“Look—”

“No,
you
look. I’ve always been here for you, I’ve always been a friend to
you. Don’t shut me out like this, Eligos; you have no right. Your tone, your
body language, it’s almost deafening, and I don’t like it!”

He
leaned back against the table and sighed. “Don’t try and talk me out of this.
Know that what I am about to say to you is absolute. I thought about this a lot
over the last few weeks. You will NOT change my mind.”

“Okay,”
I said, getting more and more worried by the second.

“I
can’t kill Keira. I keep telling myself that I
have
to, but it doesn’t
matter. When the time comes I know I won’t be able to do it...and even if I
could—I wouldn’t. Keira was right; my love for her is my weakness. I can’t even
fight her. We all know that one of us will
have
to kill the
other...so be it. I would rather die than live without her.”