forty-five
The others awake in a sleepy haze, strapping on their weapons and rubbing their eyes while they mutter curses. It takes them a few moments too long to notice the white wings that now stretch from the archangel’s back, the silver tips that glow in the moonlight. They almost run, their faces contorting with fear.
It takes less time to convince them that he is on our side than it did Sam. Apparently they trust my judgement. Poor souls – I don’t even trust my own judgement.
The archangel stays quiet until the squad has settled, then explains to us what the things in the shadows are. Chimeras are a crime against nature, an experiment gone wrong. Lilith takes different animals and stitches them together, turning them into vile creatures. The hellfire they breathe is enough to turn us to ash within seconds, their strength unmatched.
The archangel’s warning comes across as more of a speech to prepare us that this is it, that we’re not making it through this fight. He warns us that our weapons won’t cause more than an inconvenience to the creatures, and to focus our energy on the daemons that accompany them in the hopes that he can take care of the chimeras.
It’s not until we step out into the moonlight that it really sinks in. There aren’t just dozens of daemons; there are nearly fifty, with more likely hiding in the shadows. Around ten chimeras are scattered amongst them, larger than they seemed from inside the house.
The archangel stiffens. There’s no way he can kill them all.
He’s going to have to leave us behind.
My eyes meet his, pleading for him to save Jeremy without me. His plead for me to let him fly me away from here.
The soft daemon growls are quietened by the roaring battle cry of the chimeras as they charge towards us.
I give the archangel a small smile before mouthing, Thank you for everything, and running towards death.
It doesn’t take long for us to weaken. We’re outnumbered and outmatched.
The daemons are vicious, as if they haven’t fed for days. My movements are slow, the exhaustion of travelling so long taking its toll on my body.
No one from our squad has fallen yet, but few daemons have either. They move quicker as we move slower, our frost blades only skimming their bark-like skin. Enough to wound but not enough to kill.
I can’t see the archangel amidst the chaos, but I know that he’s trying to draw the chimeras’ attention away from us. We scatter through the street, breaking up the horde of creatures as much as we can.
Sam fights closest to me, and as a daemon’s claws scrape along my arm, he drives his blade through its heart. It turns to ash within seconds. I offer him a nod of gratitude and he returns a nod of his own. I’ve never been in the field with Sam; I’ve only ever kicked his ass at training. He’s a fierce fighter, and the way he calculates surprises me. He offers an aid and assist to each of us at some point, fighting not just for himself, but for the whole team. He makes one move to save himself, then the next for someone else.
I’ve always thought of Sam as a self-serving narcissist. I’ve always counted him out because he’s been so brazen, but I didn’t really see him until now. I smile, knowing that even if we die tonight, at least we die fighting for each other.
Xavier would be proud of us all.
Xavier. As I dodge the teeth of an attacking daemon by only a second, I wonder what will happen to my friend. I wish I had time to speak to the archangel, to plead with him to end this war. To end their tyranny on humankind, to fight with us and not against us. That way, we could have a chance. We could stop living in fear and help fight against Lilith’s army. The world could start to rebuild. Xavier could find happiness. Jeremy too.
I hope that the time we’ve spent together has helped the archangel to see that humans can be of use, that we’re not his enemy. I hope that it’s enough to change the way the war is fought.
I search for him in the street, spinning around a daemon and taking my frost blade to its throat until it’s nothing but fallen ash. He’s a blur of white and silver in the distance, his sword moving in careful precision while he fights against two chimeras at once. Others charge towards him, the glow of his sword acting as a beacon.
Can they kill him? What happens if the dragon’s head takes the lower part of his body between its teeth while the lion’s head rips the top?
Hellfire spurts from the dragon’s mouth, narrowly missing the archangel. My breaths turn shallow, and I watch as his blade meets its eye. Another chimera appears behind him in an instant, the lion’s teeth latching onto his side.
“Archangel!”
My desperate scream is met with hungry eyes. The chimera lets go of his side and turns towards me, spitting hellfire in my direction. The beast leaves the archangel to fall to his knees before charging for me.
Shit.
I swap my frost blade for the sickle and run in the opposite direction. I aim to lead it away from the others, but hordes of daemons trap me in.
No, no, no.
Icy cold grazes my right arm as hellfire rains past me, missing me by only an inch.
I turn to the beast, trapped in by the creatures with no place to run. The lion’s head snaps at me, while the dragon breathes a circle of hellfire around us. The goat’s head moves to ram into mine, but I manage to duck under it.
I hardly have time to think about my next move before I make it. All I know is that avoiding the dragon is my best chance. I make sure to stay to the left of the beast, away from the head of the hellfire-breathing monster. Directly in front of the lion.
Its teeth are like knives; one bite and I’d be dead in an instant. It must have a weakness, something that can harm it enough for me to run. It has the body of a lion, which means it has to have a heart.
Its tail snaps towards me, and I only now notice the snake’s head that grows from it. I miss its bite by an inch, ducking and rolling under the belly of the beast, dragging my blade across its stomach as I do. The chimera buckles, its step faltering for only a moment. But when I roll to my feet, I come face to face with the dragon.
It rears its head back, its neck glowing red as it curls its tongue. Before I can think, my blade meets its eye. The dragon roars and I spin away, moving back towards the lion’s head to the left. The pain the dragon feels does not transfer to the rest of the creatures melded together, and the lion moves quickly before it latches its teeth onto my arm.
Pain burns through my skin, and crimson blood pours from beneath the lion’s mouth. I try to scream, but no sound comes out. The pain blinds me for a moment and I drop to my knees.
I try to will my right hand to move, to cut at the beast until it releases its grip on me. I’m frozen in place; I can hardly see. I look for Sam, for the squad.
I see Sam in the distance, a daemon’s claws taking hold of his arm. Brendon falls to his knees as he takes a gash across his abdomen. Alicia is hardly visible under a pile of ash, no light left in her eyes. Jacob backs away from a chimera, spinning to avoid the dragon’s hellfire. Mary cuts through a daemon with her frost blade as another reaches for her from behind.
We’re all going to die.
My eyes flutter closed as I accept my fate. The pain numbs and my breathing slows. I hope that the archangel keeps his promise, that he saves Jeremy.
That I can rest easy knowing that Xavier and Jeremy will live. I wonder if anyone will know what happened here, how bravely they all fought. I wonder if anyone but Xavier will attend my funeral. A selfish final thought.
My arm drops, teeth pulled off me in an agonizing movement. When I open my eyes, I see the chimera bleeding black blood onto the ground at my feet.
Warmth surrounds me, starting at my waist and moving under my knees as I’m lifted off the ground. I look up the archangel, who doesn’t dare meet my eyes.
“Archangel, no! Leave me, save them!”
But he doesn’t listen. He doesn’t even acknowledge my words as his wings create a gust behind us and we fly away from the battle.
“Archangel!”
I watch my friends disappear below me. Sam’s scream is the last thing I hear before it’s replaced by the sound of the wind.