fifty-eight
A muffled chuckle bounces off the walls of the houses as if it’s trying to pull me back into reality. I don’t look away from the corpse of my friend. My sobs slowly turn to deep breaths, the fire that burns through my veins growing hotter when I turn to look at him.
Cain lies on the ground ten feet away, his wings spread beneath him. He bleeds from his chest, but it’ll heal soon. He’ll heal, but Xavier won’t.
When I look to the fallen angel, I feel myself fading. It’s an odd sensation, as if my body no longer belongs to me. As if I’m watching myself from far away.
I slowly put down Xavier’s lifeless body and stand to face the man responsible for his death.
Cain grunts as he rolls onto his side and pushes himself to his feet, his wings tangling with his body. When he meets my eyes, I almost think I see him quiver, but it’s only for a moment before his wicked smirk returns.
“There she is. There’s the saviour.”
He says the word with disgust, squaring his shoulders.
“You should’ve killed me when you had the chance. Now I’m going to drag you back to hell and burn it all to ash.”
The words don’t feel like my own.
Cain only smiles before he lifts into the air and flies at me.
I grab the side of his wing and pull him down to the ground with a strength that surprises me. The contact with the sharp edges stings my hand, but it heals almost immediately.
Cain blinks at me, his jaw falling slack. He moves his other wing to stab at me, but I dodge the blow and spin around him. I aim for the spot between his wings where I know his sword is sheathed. I wrap my hand around its hilt, pulling it from its sheath quickly and cutting another line down the skin between his wings.
Cain bellows a piercing screech. “How did you —”
His face turns blue, fear seeping in.
I spit at him and swing the sword the way the archangel taught me. It’s not as elegant or calculating as the way I’ve seen him wield a blade, but it’s as if I’m not driving my own movements. Something primal within me takes over and my skin burns with fire that causes no pain.
Cain dodges the blow, but I swipe him on the next one, cutting his abdomen. I smile at the black blood that drips from his flesh. Shadows rush in to stand at his side, lunging towards me.
They burn away when they come into contact with my skin.
I watch as they scurry back to the fallen angel’s side. My smile grows. Huh.
Cain growls and grabs the sharp end of the sword with his hand. Black blood drips from where the blade cuts his skin, but it doesn’t stop him. He pulls the weapon out of my grip and tosses it aside.
“You can feel it, can’t you? You can feel what you are.”
He steps towards me, his wings curling around us. The blade-feathers separate, floating in the air around me.
I take deep breaths to try to slow my heart. The blades take their time to circle me. Taunting me. They’re cold on my skin as they draw blood and spread ice in my veins.
My blood turns from crimson to gold as it sees the daylight.
Cuts cover my body one moment, then in the next, they’re gone. My skin knits itself back together as if it were never torn in the first place.
Cain grabs me by the throat and lifts me off the ground, my feet dangling below me. I know better than to claw at his hands, but I can’t think of anything else to do. He squeezes with a force I’ve never felt before. Air tries to fight its way into my lungs with a fierce desperation.
I kick him in the groin as hard as I can, and he falters for a second but collects himself just as quickly. His growl turns vicious, but I don’t let in the fear that knocks at the door of my subconscious.
The blades of his wings pierce my side before making their way towards my spine. I try to scream, but don’t manage a sound other than choking. I kick out again, but the fallen angel avoids it.
A few more seconds and I’ll be dead.
I let go of his hands, noticing the black wound that hasn’t healed on his abdomen. I kick at him again and, at the same time, pluck two of his bladed feathers from the air. Pain sears my skin as it fights to knit itself back together over the blades.
I bury the feathers into his shoulders.
His hands release me before his wings do. I crumple to the ground onto my side that’s covered in knife wounds. The pain doesn’t fade as my skin heals. A thick mix of golden red dampens my clothes.
I only have a moment to catch my breath before Cain swings his wings for me again. I roll quickly and sweep my legs beneath his. He falls to the ground, his wings fighting to catch him.
I feel an odd kind of power surge within me as I stand over the monster who murdered my friend, my only family. Who hunted humans for sport and strung them up in cages for daemon dinner.
My skin tingles, the flames in my veins burning their way to the surface.
I don’t know where the action comes from, but before Cain can pull the bladed feathers from his shoulders, I thrust my hand into his chest. It takes barely any effort for me to punch straight through his ribcage.
My fingers clasp around his heart and hold it, squeezing tightly. There’s a part of my mind that questions my actions, wonders how this is even possible, but it’s muffled by the stronger part of me that’s been awoken.
The skin on Cain’s chest begins to glow. Light pours into his heart, spreading through his body.
The fire that burns within me surges, rushing through the hand that squeezes his heart so firmly. Fuelled by pure hatred.
A petrified look shadows Cain’s face for a moment before it’s replaced with defeat. His lips part and his eyes go wide.
My toes turn icy before the cold takes a different path, seeping through my veins. The last of the warmth leaves my body and rushes into his. My skin turns to ice as his turns to flames.
I pull my hand from his chest, his heart along with it.
Cain’s flesh lights on fire, and he falls to the ground. The last sound to escape him is a cynical chuckle as he lies there burning until his body turns to ash.
I stand above his corpse with his heart in my hand and smile.
He’s dead.
I killed him.
The fallen angel, dead at the hands of a mere mortal. No, not a mortal.
I drop the organ in my hand and stare down at him. My body starts to shake and my skin freezes. My teeth chatter as I fall to the ground.
I feel numb. The world spins around me.
I don’t know how long I lie there for. Maybe this is the end for me. Maybe I’ll get to be with my friend.
I’m almost happy knowing that I’ll meet him again.
At some point, perhaps an hour later or just a minute, I hear my name in the distance. A familiar cry that’s muffled by the ringing in my ears.
All I see is a wave of silver and blue.
“You’re okay.”
The words are a whisper as the blur moves towards me.
My body is slack in his arms, but a twinge of warmth seeps back in with the skin-to-skin contact.
“Nathaniel,”
I croak, though I don’t know if the sound actually leaves my throat. He’s alive. He’s here. A small smile spreads across my face, but I’m too weak to keep it there.
“Don’t speak. Save your energy.”
The sound of his voice wraps around me, bringing me comfort. I blink a few times to clear my vision, but I can’t make out any more than shadowed features.
“It’s okay. I’ll be with Xavier.”
A single tear runs down my cheek. “I’ll be with my friend. We can rest.”
His gaze locks with mine, but it doesn’t soften, and he doesn’t dare smile. All he says is, “Hold tight,”
and in a flash of bright light, we’re gone.