Risen: The Demontouched Saga (Book 6) (8 page)

“That was the plan,” I say, struggling to move as the barrier wraps itself around me.

“Foolish.” She continues her trip to the car, leaving me restrained.

Lightning strikes, brightening the sky ahead of the approaching storm. As Abaddon walks back with two more glowing orbs, the wind picks up, sending her hair flying to the side. She grins as she passes by, apparently pleased at her small victory.

“They won’t be able to save you from the orbs when I kill you again.”

“I underestimated your power last time, Demontouched. A mistake I won’t be making again.”

“Then let me out of your little trap and let’s find out.”

She tilts her lead back to laugh. “How about I make you watch instead.”

As promised, she leaves me in the barrier while she makes one final trip to her car to retrieve the last pair of orbs. The rumble of thunder gets louder as the sky continues to grow dark. I shield my eyes to protect them from a gust of wind that sends a dust cloud over the riverfront nearly three stories high.

I push and poke the barrier as she carefully places the orbs around the altar. Behind me, I hear the sounds of the battle getting louder, like it is pushing this way. I force my head to turn to the side to get a better view.

Near the remnants of the tree line, I see a group of people wearing the same blue on blue clothing falling back near the southern pillar of the portal. Once they get out in the open, the people in the unit drop one at a time. The last falling a few feet from the base.

“Imbeciles,” Abaddon says.

Azrael leads the charge into the clearing with nearly two dozen of our soldiers falling in behind him.

“Looks like your playtime is up,” I say with a wide grin on my face.

“Hardly.”

The barrier around me fades out of existence, sending me falling into the ground. As I get up I notice Az and the soldiers coming to a complete stop as a new barrier forms about fifty yards away.

“Now I just have to deal with you,” she says, cracking her knuckles.

Not bothering with a response, I grip the handle of my sword tightly before charging in to the fray.

I see the tips of her fingers sparkle with electricity as I get close. With a grunt, she shoots a bolt of lighting, forcing me to twist out of the way.

“Same old tricks.” I swing the blade at the demon, slicing the fabric of her shirt as she leaps back.

As I approach the center of the alter, I can almost feel the souls in the orbs. It reminds me of the ritual down on the farm, but much greater. She doesn’t let me enjoy the feeling for long as she sends another bolt at my head.

“Quit moving you little worm!” She shouts as she sprays the platform with lighting, sending me ducking behind one of the stone pillars for cover.

Rain cascades down the side of her barrier when the storm finally hits. Debris flies in the air as the winds pick up. To the west I notice Az and the others moving the base of the portal, to get a reprieve from the winds and rain.

“Your friends run from my glory!” she says, laughing.

“They run from the storm, moron,” I say, quickly running between stone pillars. “Drop your shield and see how fast they come back.”

She hisses and sends another wave of lightning into the platform.

I wait for a break in her attack before making my move, grabbing an orb from the edge of the platform before hiding behind my rock.

With the orb in my hands, I swear I hear thousands of voices asking me to release them. If I knew how to do it, I would in a heartbeat to end this once and for all. Too bad for them, Eunie never taught me how to do that trick.

“Bastard.”

I look up in time to see Abaddon’s fist hit me in the gut. I double over in pain from the force of the blow, dropping the orb on the ground.

“You will not shatter this one,” she says, picking it up. “Or any of the others.”

I don’t get a chance to look up before the pain truly begins. Electricity flows through my body from head to toe, sending me to my knees.

“Now, you die.” As she walks closer I can feel the pain intensify until peaking out when she picks me up. I open my eyes, but struggle to see the woman through the constant flashes of electricity both around her and above her barrier.

Through the buzzing I hear a thud when she drops the orb to the ground, placing her free hand on me shortly after.

“Any last words?” she asks with a laugh.

I nod my head.

Through the electrical impulses, I place my hands on the side of her face. I only smile as I step down on the orb before giving her my response.

“Exorcizamus!”

My vision returns as the constant flashes of lighting are replaced with the light emitting from my hands. Abaddon’s jaw trembles as the force of my blast enters her face, penetrating her eyes and mouth. She lets out a muffled scream as the power melts her eyeballs.

Her skin turns black as I continue pushing power into her body. Then suddenly, the flow of power stops as quick as it started.

I let go of her body, expecting it to drop to the ground, but instead she stays upright. She shuffles to the nearby pillar, using it to hold her weight.

“How are you still alive?” I ask, confused.

She laughs. “You haven’t seen my true power.”

“And he won’t.” Blood squirts out of the front of her chest as the tip of an angel blade juts from her chest. I see Nancy walk out from behind the pillar, holding Abaddon close with one hand while twisting the blade with the other.

When Abaddon seizes, I run forward to place my hand over her mouth. I’m finally able to take the soul when her body gives up its fight.

“It’s over,” I say, collapsing to the ground.

“You did well, Mitch,” Nancy says. “All that’s left is to destroy the portal.”

I smile at her when she offers her hand to help me up.

Looking on the ground, I see the once yellow orb now crystal clear. The souls inside long gone. When I pick the orb off the ground, it is empty except for a small glowing red ball.

“What is that?” I ask handing the orb to Nancy.

She shrugs her shoulders. When she hands it back, I have my answer.

- 12 -

The heat from the portal causes the rain to sizzle and steam as it falls to the ground. A glowing red light bathes the area as far as my eyes can see.

Before I can move away from the stone pillar to get a better look, Nancy’s head flies into my hands. Her body stands upright for a moment before collapsing to the ground. I don’t get a chance to retrieve her soul before I see the culprit.

“You must be the demontouched.” A man, nearly seven feet tall walks from behind the large piece of stone, sliding his hand through his slick black hair. He is wearing a black trench coat over a pair of black slacks with an enormous angel blade in his free hand.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Samael,” he says, walking close. “Second in command around here.”

“Who’s first?”

“Don’t you worry. You’ll meet him soon enough.”

I step away from the man as he approaches, wanting to stay well out of range of that massive sword. Looking at the platform I notice all the orbs are clear, the souls inside long gone.

“Back away from him Samael,” Uriel says, running up from behind.

Samael grins when he sees the angel. “Look who finally came out to play. Tell me, are you done hiding behind these humans?”

“She wasn’t hiding,” I say, squaring up to the man.

“She just needed some help.” Nal walks to my side, my demon killing knife in his hand.

“The odds are even, I see.” He laughs before creating a large black spear in his outstretched hand.

“How about now?” Azrael says, lending his sword to the fight.

“Fighting on the wrong side, are we Azrael?”

He shakes his head. “I didn’t leave to torment humanity.”

“But you left.”

“Enough talk!” Nal tosses the knife at the demon, sticking the knife in his leg.

“So you are the first to die.”

Nal doesn’t react before the spear hits him in the chest, sending him flying in the air away from the portal.

My jaw trembles as I try to keep it together. Just like that, Nal was gone.

“You going to cry, little human?”

With those words I charge in, the angels are close behind me.

Time seems to slow after he parries my blade. Sensing an opening, I do a counterattack that he blocks by creating a new black spear. He returns the favor, sweeping his long angel blade at my waist. I try to get my sword in the way, to parry, but it gets caught on the ground as I move it over. Thankfully, Uriel threw a barrier in front of me to catch the blade.

With his attention on me, Azrael circles around to attack him from behind. I feign an attack, hoping to keep his attention, but he senses my diversion and faces Az right in time to parry his sword.

“As much as I want to play, I have an important detail to attend to.” Samael says before throwing his new spear into Azrael, pinning him into the ground. “I’ll take care of you soon, brother. After I kill your pesky little friend.”

Azrael’s hands turn black the moment he touches the spear. He screams as he tries to pull it out of his body, but it doesn’t move an inch.

And like that, we are down to two.

“Which one should I kill next?” he says, creating another spear. “Perhaps the baby angel.”

Uriel creates another barrier to block that blow before creating a white spear of her own.

“Try me,” she says, changing into an adult.

Without a hint of hesitation, he leaps at Uriel. The angel blocks the first set of blows by parrying the spear and creating a barrier to stop the sword, but she can’t mount a counterattack before he brings another weapon to bear.

Not wanting to see another friend die today, I let out a savage roar when I leap into the fray. Without hesitation, he blocks my blow with his sword before sticking the tip of his spear through my shoulder.

“Tsk, Tsk,” he says. “Attack a man with his back turned.” He raises the handle of his black spear, sending me to my knees, screaming in pain. With a laugh he thrusts the spear forward, pinning me into the ground. “Now you can watch me kill all of your friends. You, I’ll save for my brother.”

I would ask him what brother, but I assume he is talking about Lucifer. The only reason I can see them going through all this trouble to open the portal would be to bring him back on the earth. He is the one being that can truly handle Michael, without teamwork and a healthy dose of luck anyways.

I try to force myself to my feet, but the shadowy spear creates a set of barbs that pierce my skin the more I move. Without any other open I watch the fight unfold.

With all of us out of commission, Uriel goes on the offensive, opting to create another spear instead of relying on her shields. Without needing to create the shields, she is really fast with the weapons, but Samael easily matches her blow for blow. Two minutes in, she finds her opening.

After a pair of vicious swings to her upper body, Uriel drops to her knees while using her spear to sweep his legs out from underneath him. She takes another swing at the demon on the way down that narrowly misses.

Uriel is back on her feet by the time he hits the ground.

“Yield,” she says, holding her white spear to the demon’s throat.

He laughs. “Never.” He moves his sword arm at a speed I never believed was possible. Swinging his blade upward, he cuts Uriel’s arm from her shoulder. She cries out as she collapses to the ground, clutching the wound.

“The queen of angels, bested by a lowly demon,” Samael says as he gets to his feet. “So close to her victory, yet still fell in defeat.”

“You think this is over?” I say. “I’ve killed much better people than you.”

“Have you now?”

I nod. “And now I’m going to kill you.”

With the demon standing still, I focus my power on the knife stuck in his leg. Lifting my arm in the air, the blade slices up his side, only stopping when it hits his rib cage. With a final move, I push my arms forward, sending the knife the rest of the way into his body.

Samael howls in agony while the knife does its thing. I look over at the portal and see the red center slowly widening to fill the gap. On the other side I see a large crimson face with two black horns on his head grinning widely.

I can see why they made this portal bigger. He would have had one hell of a time crawling under the arch. He’s going to have enough trouble getting through this one.

Samael’s body, finally giving up on life, drops to the ground. The spear pinning me to the ground fade shortly after. I feel my shoulder where it once pierced my skin only to find it unharmed.

Now free, Azrael runs over to Uriel, bleeding on the ground.

“We can’t stop the portal,” he says, holding her up. “It was all for nothing.”

Uriel opens her eyes and looks over at me. “Use your power,” she says.

“I can’t move that much metal,” I say. “It’s way too heavy.”

“Not that one. Your light.”

“I can only use that on an exorcism.”

She smiles. “You have always had that power. Just open your heart.”

Azrael looks over at me, determination in his eyes. “You can do it.”

I don’t know if I agree, but I have to try.

I stand on the altar and face the portal. My heart races as image creeps towards the side. There isn’t going to be much time to get this right.

I hold my hands forward, trying to will the white light into existence. Forcing the issue doesn’t help me much either.

“A little help here,” I say.

“Think of something special to you,” Az says. “Try Sara.”

I close my eyes and immediately picture her sitting on the couch, hair pulled back a pony tail as we watch the Matrix for the umpteenth time. I never cared much for the movie, but I loved spending time with her.

Right when Morpheus is about to sacrifice himself to save Neo, I hear a knock on the door.

“Who’s that?” Sara says, sitting up.