Chapter 33
Alicia’s scythesliced a group of ghouls neatly in two. Nikolai blasted the devils dropping down on him with Hell Flare. The spell obliterated the monsters and scorched the air inside the tunnel, painting its walls with a bright glow.
The light sparked off Azazel’s spear where he clashed with Barquiel farther down the passage, his expression focused and his movements confident as he delayed his archenemy’s advance.
With Barquiel’s army nowhere near as large as they’d expected it to be, they were more than halfway to the location where the demon had hidden Ran Soyun’s soul and her mortal remains.
Nikolai could see Barquiel’s desperation growing with every step they made toward their final destination.
We need to hurry!
Alastair crouched on his shoulder, the crow’s power amplifying his own as he cast spell after blinding spell, obliterating the enemy even faster than the Reaper queen’s blade. White magic was the one weapon few in Hell could overcome and the reason why Ran Soyun had been so powerful down here.
Soon, the last ghouls and devils fell, clearing the path ahead.
Alicia flew back to where Azazel fought Barquiel. “Go, Zaz!”
Crimson brightened the Reaper queen’s orbits. She moved in front of the demon and slammed her scythe on the ground. Her blade expanded in a flash of light, forming a glinting, metal lattice that blocked the passage with a thin wall sharp enough to cut the air. Darkness swarmed Alicia as her form grew, her cloak billowing and casting long shadows all around them.
“I will keep this bastard here,” she growled. “Take Nikolai and free Ran Soyun!”
An unholy sound left Barquiel. He slammed his broadsword into Alicia’s barrier.
It held.
Azazel whirled around, shot toward Nikolai, and grabbed his wrist. Nikolai’s stomach lurched as his feet left the ground.
The demon flew rapidly, his wings skimming the walls of the tunnel whenever he swerved inside one of its many branches, his face brightening with every bifurcation and chasm they crossed.
They could both feel Ran Soyun’s magic growing ahead of them.
A faint light finally glimmered in the distance.
Azazel’s breath caught. “Ran!”
The demon accelerated, his speed bringing tears to Nikolai’s eyes and causing Alastair to crouch even lower where he sank his claws in his shoulder.
They rounded the corner of the widening passage and came upon the cave holding the first Witch Queen’s prison.
Azazel landed lightly on the ground and folded his wings. He let go of Nikolai, his eyes glinting with unshed tears as he marched toward the dome of demonic energy trapping the brilliance of his wife’s incredible magic.
Ran Soyun’s eyes rounded where she floated above her sarcophagus. “Az?!”
A wretched sound left Azazel. His knees buckled. He fell before Ran Soyun and bowed his head, tears rolling down his face and darkening the floor where they landed.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get here, my love!”
Ran Soyun’s chin trembled as she drifted down to where her husband crouched. “Don’t, Az. It wasn’t your fault.”
They reached for one another, only to flinch when Barquiel’s powers sparked against their fingers. Azazel scowled and cast Negate. It barely did anything to the barrier.
The demon turned to Nikolai, desperation darkening his crimson gaze. “Your magic! It might work on?—!”
“It won’t,” Ran Soyun interrupted miserably. “I’ve already used all the spells I’ve mastered.”
Nikolai’s pulse quickened. “Then, it’s time to try something else.”
Azazel and Ran Soyun gave him a confused look.
The sound of distant fighting made them stiffen.
Barquiel was drawing closer.
Nikolai’s heart thundered in his chest. He closed the distance to the dome and crouched before Barquiel’s barrier. The suspicion that had been growing inside him ever since Vozgan flew over the lake that had brought them here solidified into a shocking certainty when he put his hands on the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut, relief lightening his chest.
Yes!I was right!
“Nikolai?” Azazel said.
He opened his eyes and gave the puzzled demon and first Witch Queen a hard smile. “Did you know Hell has a nexus?”
Azazel and Ran Soyun startled.
“What?!” Ran Soyun mumbled.
“I believe it’s under the lake we had to cross to get here,” Nikolai told a stunned Azazel. “It was resonating with Ran Soyun’s magic, which is why I picked up on it. The only reason I’m sure of it now is that there’s a ley line under this mountain and it connects to that nexus.” His pulse raced as his gaze shifted to Ran Soyun. “I’m sorry I wasn’t in a fit state to make that out the first time I came here. I think the reason you can’t sense it is because you’ve been trapped inside that barrier for so long.” He paused. “Azazel had never been to this part of Hell before, so I gather neither had you.”
Ran Soyun hesitated before nodding. “You’re right. When my soul was roused after the war, I was already here.” She faltered. “I retain the faintest connection to the nexuses on Earth, which is how I’ve been able to communicate with Mae. I never imagined Hell would have one too.”
Alicia’s curses echoed dimly in the corridor outside the cave. Azazel rose, spear in hand and face set in grim lines.
“Do what you need to do,” he told Nikolai harshly. “I will make sure Barquiel doesn’t stop you!”
Nikolai’s stomach tightened. “You ready, Al?”
Alastair clicked his beak.
Nikolai took a deep breath before reaching for the bright cord dancing far beneath the ground. He knew he was risking his and Alastair’s cores by tapping into what was effectively a demonic ley line. But it wasn’t as if there was an alternative option. He frowned.
Besides, we harbor a power that can hopefully protect us from harm.
He unleashed an aura of Hellfire Magic around them before grasping the ley line and following it to Hell’s nexus. Fire filled his blood as he drew upon the incandescent power within it.
It burned his veins. Scorched his mind. Blinded his vision.
A tortured grunt left Nikolai’s throat as his body struggled to keep up with the dazzling blaze. Alastair trembled and swayed on his shoulder.
Ran Soyun’s voice reached him dimly through the ringing in his ears. “Stop! It’s going to kill you!”
Sweat poured down Nikolai’s face. He clenched his jaw.
“It won’t,” he ground out. “I won’t let it!” He bared his teeth. “Besides, I made a promise to your daughter. I told her I would see her again. And I meant it, with every breath I have in me and every inch of my heart!”
Ran Soyun’s eyes flared.
The spell he had been working on ever since he returned to New York grew in power, fiery runes searing his consciousness. It left his lips on a roar that rose from his and Alastair’s very souls.
“HELL STORM!”
Flames exploded on Barquiel’s barrier, their power and potency making the air inside the cave tremble and robbing Nikolai of breath. The fire grew, an invincible tempest that swarmed the demon’s defensive wall and consumed it in a violent flash.
Azazel gasped behind Nikolai.
The brightness sparking the air around Ran Soyun expanded to fill the entire cave as she was finally freed from her prison. The first Witch Queen shuddered.
Nikolai’s heart swelled. Her white magic washed over and through him, replenishing his and Alastair’s cores.
“Thank you, child.” Ran Soyun floated down to him and caressed his cheek. Though he could not perceive her ghostly touch, he felt her magic where she stroked his skin. “Thank you for believing in yourself and for saving me.” She hugged him and kissed his brow before moving past him to embrace the demon who had waited thousands of years to take her in his arms. “Az.”
“Ran!” Azazel sobbed.
Alicia backed into the cave behind the demon, her scythe sparking as she strained valiantly against Barquiel’s sword. Her robe was in tatters and her bones bore scratches where the demon’s blade had made contact.
Barquiel faltered at the sight of the ethereal figure in his rival’s arms. Horror widened his eyes. His face crumpled.
“Nooooo!”
Ran Soyun’s eyes glittered with a mixture of emotions as she observed the demon who had helped the first Sorcerer King destroy the kingdom she had built with her husband. The demon who had killed her and her daughter. Her face hardened. Magic brightened her pupils.
“Reverse.”
Barquiel grunted and bent over. His nails scored his stomach, like he was trying to rid himself of a fire no one could see. His legs buckled.
“My daughters created that spell to defeat you,” Ran Soyun said calmly as the demon fell to his knees with a tortured groan. “You should not have angered them, Barquiel. Because they are a greater Witch Queen than I could ever be.” She looked lovingly at Azazel. “In that sense, they are truly their father’s daughters.”
Azazel smiled tremulously.
The scream of rage and pain that left Barquiel made Nikolai flinch.
“Curse you! You belong to me!” Crimson boiled in his pupils, jealousy and rage distorting his features in a hideous mask. “I will make you mine if it’s the last thing I do, Ran Soyun! I swear upon my dark soul!”
The demon tore open a portal with his bare hands and escaped inside it. Alicia’s scythe missed his back by a hairbreadth as it closed. She cursed, frustration tightening her face.
Ran Soyun turned to Azazel and Nikolai. “He will go after Davor’s soul and Mae’s core. You must hurry and stop him!”
Dread knotted Nikolai’s stomach.
Azazel stared at his wife, his expression torn. “What of you?”
Ran Soyun indicated the sarcophagus on the plinth. “I cannot leave my remains unguarded here. Alicia can help me take them to a safe place. Besides, I need to free the soul of my familiar. I can sense where he is, now that I am outside Barquiel’s barrier.”
Nikolai blinked. Her familiar?!
“We will follow you afterward, I promise.” She kissed Azazel’s cheek. “Hurry, my love!”
“But—!” Azazel protested.
Ran Soyun pressed a spectral finger to his lips. “Hush. You know I’m right.” She looked at Nikolai and smiled faintly. “Besides, now that I know there’s a ley line in Hell, I’ll be practically invincible.”
Azazel’s expression turned rueful. “It’s incredible how much of your stubbornness our daughters have inherited.”
Nikolai made a face. “He’s right.”
“Yeah,” Alicia muttered.
Ran Soyun wrinkled her nose.
Her expression turned serious. “There is something I must tell you before you leave.”