Chapter 22 – Blaise
BLAISE
The fire still burns in the ring of stones, but our gear has been packed up. We all sit with our backs pressed against the wall. Orion and I hold our swords, and we all stare toward the entrance to this cave.
At first, Hecate had seemed on the edge of hysteria as she described some terrible force that was closing in on us.
She’s muttered about the magic, about how our enemy was too strong, stronger than even us, and then she’d seemed to pull herself together.
She’d pressed a hand to her stomach and swore that she would get her child free, and then we’d set to preparing.
I think both Orion and I hadn’t been entirely sure she was right about the force closing in on us.
As time ticked away, we’d regarded each other over her head and said nothing.
I already care more for this woman than I’d cared for any woman in my lifetime, but her being pregnant makes me see her as somehow both more precious and more fragile.
Orion, on the other hand, is doing his best not to show just how panicked he is.
He cares for her. He might even already be in love with her.
But the fact that she carries our child means that she is more important to him than anything in this world.
I can see it in his eyes every time he looks at her.
But what’s more, I think he’s finally able to picture a happy future after so long being miserable, and that’s incredible.
And we both know it.
But as time passes, a strange feeling comes over me. One like a cold breeze sweeping over my skin. But it’s not just cold. It holds a dangerous air...almost a scent. Definitely a feeling. And I, too, know that something bad is coming for us.
And based on the way Orion has lifted his sword, he feels it too.
“What is it?” I finally ask, the feeling crawling down my spine and making every hair on my body stand on end.
Neither of them answer for a moment before Hecate slowly does. “I don’t know. I’m familiar with all kinds of magic, but this magic stinks of a god’s power too. It’s like something new and disturbing has been created, so strange that even my magic fears it.”
“That can’t be good,” I say. If Hecate doesn’t know what this magic is, it has to be something rare.
Orion surprises both of us by speaking. “Whatever it is, Blaise and I will kill it, and you will stay safe.”
Hecate laughs. “I’m the first witch. I’m powerful as fuck. I’m not going to just sit back and let you guys fight it.”
“You also have a child to consider,” Orion says slowly.
She gives him a look. “You think I don’t know that? So yeah, I won’t dive in the way of any swords, but I will be using my magic to make sure we don’t all die here.”
I can see Orion is about to argue more, so I interrupt. “So is all your magic just murmured spells over fires?”
She flashes me a smirk. “No. My magic could have wreaked havoc on the Underworld. And in the beginning, it did. But Hades used his powers against me, and defeated me each time. The magic inside of me could’ve kept fighting, but it was hurting every time I brought it down to that terrible place.
When I finally accepted that I might be a match for a god on the surface, but I wasn’t in the Underworld, I stopped using my magic and just waited.
Waited for the right moment. But this thing, it isn’t a god.
It has something that feels like a god, but it’s not.
So you two will get to see what else my magic can do. ”
“Well, if there is a right moment to use those stronger powers of yours, it’ll be when we face this thing,” I tell her. I mean to keep things light, but my words come out strangely dark.
She nods, and her gaze hardens as she glances back at the door.
Suddenly, the fire is quenched, leaving behind nothing but burning coals.
Smoke rises above it and the shadows close in around us.
I alight my wings, but it’s like seeing through smoke.
The light from my wings bounces off dark, unnatural clouds.
And the fact that we can’t see most of the room…
it makes the whole thing more frightening.
We’re all tense. All waiting.
From out of the shadows come two figures.
They aren’t like the lost souls or Andros.
They’re not like the illusions of people in the bar.
They’re more like dark, shadowy figures.
I can see both their faces, and even clear eyes peeking out from the darkness.
I can see their strong forms, and the necklaces at their throats.
Both wear red gems that glow, seeming impossibly bright against their shadows.
They’re almost like people that have had all the light inside of them sucked out.
Orion and I stand. We hold out our swords, and our stances are those of warriors. I tell myself that this is like all the monsters we’d fought. If we work together, we will prevail.
One of the figures smiles, then spreads out wings behind him. They’re black and sickly, but they suddenly flare with flames.
“A phoenix?” And then it hits me. “Conley?”
It’s like all the air is sucked from the room. A phoenix was the source of the evil I’d been feeling? A phoenix I knew? He’s even the man who’d found the children’s bodies on that terrible day.
“And that’s Peter, a human liaison with the gargoyles,” Orion says.
“Neither of them are what they were before,” Hecate explains, and I can tell she’s standing not far behind us. “Be careful. They’ve been given unnatural abilities.”
Conley’s smile is eerie, sending a shiver rolling down my spine. He lifts a hand toward me, and I act without thinking, springing toward him with my sword. The metal blade stabs straight into his chest, but the blade passes through like air.
His smile widens, and red magic rushes from his hand, slamming right into me. I hit the back wall. My sword is left behind, and it takes me a second to catch my breath before I spring from the wall once more.
Orion attacks the other enemy beside me. His body is in its stone form. But from the corner of my eye, I see his sword passing through the Peter man like it had done with my enemy.
More magic leaps from my opponent’s hand, but this time I expect it and dive out of the way. He continues to attack over and over again as I leap around the room. My thoughts go a thousand miles a minute. If my sword won’t hurt him, what will?
Suddenly, the fire is burning brightly once more.
I know it has to be Hecate’s magic, and I hope it’ll help us here.
I grab a piece of wood from the fire, ignoring it when my hand screams in pain, and throw it at Conley.
The flaming wood goes right through him, leaving behind the creepy figure, untouched.
Damn it. What am I supposed to do?
A ball of bright light blossoms in the center of the room. I glance behind me to see Hecate murmuring, her hand outstretched to the light. It chases away the smoke and the shadows. But the two figures remain. They look so strange cloaked in light, but still shadows.
I roll and grab my sword from the ground and strike out at my enemy over and over again, but nothing happens, and I hate that I feel myself growing tired.
Orion flies back and hits the ground near me, but climbs once more to his feet. He spreads his wings and darts into the air, then dives back down at his enemy, but he too passes right through the shadow man.
As my enemy approaches, he knocks the sword from my hands, and I use my fists instead, although they pass through like air. His fists strike out at me, but they’re solid and painful as they strike me over and over again.
The ball of light disappears, and I blink into the darkness, the firelight not able to pierce through all the shadows.
Then I roll away from my attacker. Orion is suddenly at my back.
One of the men begins to laugh. Blue magic strikes Orion, and to my shock, a groan of pain rolls through him.
He’s still in his stone form. Nothing should be able to hurt him, but it does.
“If I get hit enough,” he whispers. “My soul will be gone and I’ll be nothing but stone.”
I feel sick. He shifts away from me, and magic slams into one of my wings.
I scream and look as part of my wing seems to melt. Rushing to the small lake, I dive in and the pain finally vanishes. Horror flows through me as I surface. I don’t know if what happened will be permanent. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fly again.
The water around me lifts into the air in a million droplets, and I see that Hecate’s hands are raised.
She shifts her hands quickly toward our enemies, and the water slams into them.
My heart hammers as I climb out, hoping that maybe, just maybe, their weakness is water.
But as the water falls harmlessly to the floor, the two men are still there, still unhurt.
“Go, Hecate!” I hear Orion shout. “Go for the surface. We have to be close!”
A cold certainty washes through me. Nothing we do can hurt these men. The only reason Orion would tell Hecate to go on alone is if he knows we are doomed. So we will be the distraction. We will buy her time to escape, and maybe on the surface she and Andros and their child can have some happiness.
Orion and I will die down here.
But it’ll be worth it. If she lives.
When Hecate doesn’t move, I shout, “Go! You heard him!” And I square off with my smirking enemy.
“Not a chance!” I hear her say.
“God damn it!” I scream as more magic comes toward me. I just barely manage to jump out of the way before he’s able to light my other wing on fire. “We’re losing. You have to go!”
I catch sight of her in my peripheral vision. She hasn’t moved.
“You really want Andros trapped down here forever? You really want your baby to never see the surface?” Yeah, I’d struck low, but it’s necessary.
And my heart aches when I see Hecate running for the exit. This is what we wanted. Now, we just need to keep this fight going for as long as we can, so that they might not be able to come after her. She needs time, time to reach the surface, no matter how close or far it is.
I see flashes of blue light behind me, and when I shift, I see Orion on his knees.
His eyes are wide, and his enemy closes in on him.
Without thinking, I leap between them. Magic strikes me in the chest, and I tumble back beside Orion.
Looking down at myself, I see a gaping hole.
Blood flows freely from me, and I know that within minutes I’ll be useless.
They won’t even have to fight when they kill me. All they have to do is cut off my head as I sit helpless.
A cry slips from my lips as I climb to my feet, pain so intense that tears burn my eyes.
Orion is there to help me, but his stone form is gone.
I wonder if he no longer has the strength to keep it.
But I can’t ask. Our gazes go to the two creatures we face, and in that moment we know that we’re going to die.
But at least we can go out knowing that we gave Hecate a chance.
“No!” we hear her shout behind us.
I can’t even turn. My heart sinks into my stomach, and a helpless desperation fills me. Hecate didn’t run. Hecate is still here.
We are all going to die together.
A flash of magic explodes, filling the room, and I know...I know it’s over.