“I would rather die!” I screamed at him but he just laughed.
“You will be by my side, that is unless you want your lover dead!” I cried out at the thought.
“NO! You can’t do that, no one can kill Draven.”
“Ha, is that what you think? Then you are more foolish than I gave you credit for. I will be a GOD! There will be nothing I can’t do.” He finished, calmly walking back over to the old crone.
I hadn’t had a chance at his dagger, he never even got close enough and now I was faced with Draven’s life in the balance and me to be Malphas’ bargaining tool in exchange. That thought alone was enough to have me frantically thinking of other ways to end my life. I couldn’t let myself be used to bring on so much destruction. Too many lives were at stake and my life for the ones I loved and more was a small sacrifice to be made. I knew Draven would disagree but at this point saving everyone from the aftermath of some Demon on a big ass power trip to God status was more important than one human life.
I watched as he drew the blade from his back and it was the same one he’d used on me and the redhead earlier. He stood over the old naked baggy woman and held the knife high over her chest.
“I call forth the power of Hecate, represented in this body as the Old Crone and this side of the waning moon. Bring forth your wisdom, repose, death and the power of the underworld for with your blood becomes my own and the first key in freeing the Horned God is opened with this holy blade. I communicate with thee!” As soon as he had finished he held the blade to his lips, kissed it quick and then plunged it down into the old woman’s throat releasing a blue glow before spilling her blood onto the altar. I watched as it drained down the sides and followed the groove of the waning moon symbol until it reached the bottom and then started to flow into the pool beneath her.
He then moved over to the redhead and lent down to smooth her hair back from her face before dropping his lips to hers. I bet the old lady would have been gutted if she’d seen she hadn’t received the same treatment, I wanted to comment sarcastically but refrained.
“I call forth the power of Selene, represented in this body of the Mother and the ripeness of the full moon. Bring forth your fertility, sexuality, fulfilment, stability, power and life of the earth, for my seed planted in your womb will combine us as one and with your new blood life becomes the second key in freeing the Horned God with this holy blade. For this is our survival!” He then kissed the bloody blade again and plunged it down deep into her genitals, this time releasing a red glow. The sound of her howls echoed as the blood seeped away from her body into the groves of the full circle representing the moon. As it did with the old crone, the blood flowed down the symbol until it reached the pool underneath.
Of course now I knew what was coming next as he left the dying Mother and came round to my side of the altar.
“And now it is time to bring the beating heart to our God and give him back his lost Maiden.” He said, thick with emotion. He pushed my hair back but thankfully didn’t kiss me like he did the redhead. Instead he closed his eyes and looked up to the full moon that was now high in the night sky and shining down at us through the glass roof. It looked like it was ringed with a yellow glow and I didn’t know how but I felt it in my bones that this represented the power in this night.
“I thought you weren’t going to kill me?” I asked both stalling for time and readying myself for the end.
“The mighty Horned God will take your heart and mend it like he could not do with his own Maiden. When she plunged this very knife into her heart she sealed his fate, now it is time for you to undo that fate and for him to heal that heart.” He said proudly and then added quietly,
“We have waited a long time for you.” And then he leant down to take in my scent before starting the very words I knew meant the end of not only my life but of every life. How could this be happening, why didn’t the Gods put a stop to this! Was this how it was supposed to happen? Was this what the prophecy meant, when my death would mean the end of the world?! I did the only thing I had left, I screamed out the last name I ever wanted to utter past my lips.
“Draven!”
“I call forth the power of Artemis, represented in this body of the Maiden and the new beginning of the waxing moon.”
“Draven!” I screamed again but my interruptions don’t stop him.
“Bring forth your enchantment, inception, birth and youthful enthusiasm for your heart holds the power of the heavens.”
“Draven please!” I kept screaming his name but he didn’t come…he had to come. He just had to!
“For with your blood becomes the third and final key in freeing the Horned God with this holy blade. Let it be used once more as it was that day to bring back life and take back the death. This, my mighty Lord, is for your love!”
“DRAVEN, I LOVE YOU!” I screamed out so loud before seeing the blade kissed for a last time and held above the heart that only one man would ever own. I waited like time was standing still for the pain and death to take me to a new place when something finally happened.
I heard the sound of screaming and this time it wasn’t by me. I looked to the side and with blurry vision I saw soldiers moving quickly around like black flies in the mist of heated desert sands. And in the centre of it all I see,
My dark hero…Draven.
He came for me.
He had finally found me and just before Malphas could finish the ritual, the blade was flying from his hand and blood was being sprayed over me from the stump that was now being cradled to Malphas’ chest.
I looked up once my vision had cleared and I realised as I blinked rapidly that from the tears rolling down my cheeks, I had been crying as I waited for my death. Malphas staggered back and I turned my head to where the flying weapon had come from. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Lucius stood up on the edge of the pool at the right height for his target and with his arm still held out on a throw.
Once Malphas had retreated further, Lucius finally looked at me and gave me a wink in his usually cocky manner. It made me feel like crying all over again, only this time in happiness. He then turned to engage in a fight with two soldiers that had run at him. I tried to follow the swiftness of his movements but it was too difficult given the sheer speed he was fighting. One minute there were two black bodies and the next they were on the ground melting back into the earth to the Hell they came from.
I looked around and saw the battle going on and the extreme chaos of it all. My breath caught when I saw Draven cutting his way through his enemies to get to me but his movements were more precise than Lucius’ style of fighting. Where Lucius seemed to be more of a dirty fighter, Draven’s movements were fluid. And, as if proving my point further, I watched as Lucius grabbed one body and rammed his forehead deep into the man’s face, cracking his rock amour in two, revealing the hideousness underneath.
They had, without a doubt, been made from the pits of Hell and the power was still flowing freely through their veins. They looked like their skin had been ripped away to just show the tight muscle underneath that was still steaming like cooked flesh, both charred and burning, with hot coals for slanted eyes. Their lower jaws came up over their top lip with two fangs curved round back into their mouths.
This particular one spat what looked like lava at Lucius’ head in a snarl but he dodged the stuff and pulled a throwing knife from his back and he threw it straight and true, hitting the soldier in the centre of its sickening face. It howled in pain but Lucius didn’t give it much chance for revenge as he drew a sword and sliced him in two with a quick spin of his body.
After I could finally tear my eyes away from Draven and Lucius, who, strangely, looked to be working as a pair, I could then see who else was here fighting. I was shocked to see Sophia, fighting her way through the hoard dressed in black leather trousers that had guns strapped to her thighs and a little cropped leather jacket that was crisscrossed with straps that held ammo and smaller blades. Her hair was loose
and curls flew around her head like a halo as she spun round a heeled boot and did a round house kick before landing with one knee bent and the other length extended out. The reason for split legged landing became apparent when she used her curved blade to stab right up into one of the soldier’s groin, who was approaching her from behind.
I then saw her nod to another Angel in my life and my heart stopped slightly at the sight. Vincent nodded back and I heard Sophia shouting,
“Catch!” to her brother before laughing heartily, when grabbing a soldier by the arm that had thrust his blade at her. She side stepped and used her strength to propel him towards Vincent. I couldn’t believe he actually rolled his eyes before using his weapons to cut the man in four pieces with one rapid movement, bringing down his strange double edged swords in a V shape. His weapons were like two samurai swords connected side on together and instead of the handle being at the end, it was in the middle. So in effect he had four swords to play with and boy, did that man know how to use them.
I would have thought that Vincent’s style of fighting would have been overshadowed by that of his brother but in this case I would have been wrong. Vincent was a pure killing machine and he made it look like there was no effort put in his incredible actions at all. Six soldiers all surrounded him and holding one of his double swords to span the length of his arm, he defended his body from three swords while bending backwards. He then slashed round with the flick of his wrist and slit the throats of three guys at his back before then coming back round to do the same with the front three. He then calmly stepped over bubbling dead bodies as they sank back into the ground and he walked away from the six guys he killed in less than ten seconds.
“Show off!” Sophia said to him before shooting one in the face up close and slicing down another with the sword she had in her other hand. Vincent started laughing whilst fighting another set of soldiers that were quickly left in pieces and found their way back to Hell.
“Brat!” Vincent said in retaliation and she gave him a pout before ramming her blade backwards into someone’s gut, without giving the guy a glance.
“But you’re a beautiful brat, my darling.” Zagan said in a deep accented voice from behind her and then stood on the guy’s upper body so that she could pull her blade from his chest cavity before then wrapping his arm round her waist and yanking her to his lips for a full, deep kiss. She pulled back, smiled and then shot another man in the head over his shoulder who was trying to creep up behind him.
“Thanks, sweet pea.” He said before spinning round to run and, whipping his two scythes in a crossed motion, took four guys down, leaving them now without arms.
“Will you guys please stop killing loads at once, pretty soon there won’t be anything left for me to play with!” Sophia said making Vincent roll his eyes and Zagan laugh before throwing one guy her way.
“A gift for you, my love.” She grabbed his arm and swung round sending him off towards Vincent, who then dealt with him in a cutting manner.
“Hey, this is fun, like pass the parcel of body parts.” She said but then Liessa appeared and pointed my way.
“Then I hope you enjoy your games because here comes another round to play with.” I looked to my side and saw that now Malphas was stood in the pool being protected by his minions while he summoned more of Hell’s soldiers, only this time, when heads start popping up, they didn’t stop coming.
I arched up to watch as everyone finished with the last of the soldiers before coming to stand together. I could now see everyone stood waiting and watching as the army grew and grew. Liessa, Caspian and Ruto all stood together at the back, with Hakan and Takeshi speaking with each other. Then there was Zagan, Sophia and Vincent stood in front of them. But there was no mistaking the two in charge, as Draven and Lucius stood side by side with their arms crossed over their large chests.
I counted ten against the hundreds that were growing and rising up, as if from a crypt, but not one of them looked worried, in fact, most looked excited. Sophia especially as she started to roll her neck as if getting ready for the gun fight…hers being the only gun.
“So which is it Luc, Budapest or Scotland?” Draven asked Lucius in a dry unimpressed tone and Lucius laughed.
“Forget Scotland Dom, that almost lost me a limb and your aim is shite, let’s go with an old favourite and stick to Persia.” Draven just nodded his agreement and it left me wondering what on earth they could mean.
“Ready?” Draven turned to the rest of them and everyone bowed except Sophia who instead shouted out,
“Oh Hell, yeah!” And I couldn’t believe how calm everyone was in the face of such odds. Then I soon found out why.
“Now!” Draven and Lucius shouted at the same time and every one of my friends turned into their other forms and now the ‘great army’ didn’t look so great.
Draven and Lucius were now a mass of glowing, pulsating power but they couldn’t have looked further apart. Draven was stood with the essence of Heaven and Hell singing in his veins and his wings outstretched made him look like a dark Angel of death waiting for the chance to steal souls. Lucius was now once again his right hand man and his direct line to the Devil himself. The skin stretched over the bones in his wings shook as if readying themselves for flight and his horned back turned round to face over his head as another weapon.
“Once you come up again, get to Keira and get her out of here.” Draven said in his Demonic overlord voice that boomed over the noise of soldiers getting in their ranks. Lucius nodded then he stepped past Draven and looked back over his shoulder at him.
“Try to keep up old man.” Lucius said to Draven before launching himself up in the air and as he was going up, Draven growled at his comment and started pounding into the ground until it opened from a mighty crack resembling the result of an earthquake more than from the hands of someone Draven’s size.
I watched on in astonishment as the crack started to reveal Hell itself and Draven roared in the air like a wild beast before pounding down one last time, making it even bigger. Meanwhile Lucius was still hovering in the air above the chaos waiting for his cue and when he got it he took a nose dive straight into the abyss of Hell’s fire. I couldn’t help scream out when Draven sealed it closed and the two fighting forces all ran to meet each other in the middle.
I tried to make some sense of what just happened and why Lucius had just taken a trip back home to Hell, when the clashing of weapons and the shrieks of death cries pierced the air and stole my focus. I watched Ruto shoot up into the air with his metal wings and send a raining hail of small daggers into the rock clad bodies below and some found home enough for the first of the bodies to start dropping.
Liessa was leaking from every pore in her body a deadly ink that meant every touch she received sent men dying at her feet. She had no weapons herself so when any blades were pointed her way, she simply shot that ink from her neck and she watched as her enemies fell.
Hakan stormed past her like some masked villain and was unravelling the wire from his body. It started to glows like a heated coil element on a stove. He tested it in his hand and when steam rose from his palm he seemed happy. He used it as a whip and snapped it out, cutting a whole line of soldiers clean in half and their armour was still smoking from the contact. It flew back at him with a little flick and curled back round him like a snake before Hakan stepped aside to let Caspian come barrelling through now in his other form.
I couldn’t believe what I was actually seeing and even though I was surrounded by the impossible, as I lay witness to this supernatural battle, I still found enough shock left to see Caspian had now turned into a bloody Minotaur! He put his head down and started knocking down the soldiers like pins from a bowling ball. He butted his head from side to side and his massive bull’s head sent a few flying thanks to gigantic horns.
Just when I thought it wasn’t possible to witness any more power, the earth beneath the room started to tremble and this time I actually thought it was an earthqua
ke that had hit us.
“I am waiting, Luc!” Draven shouted as if he was getting bored and I wondered what he was waiting for. Then the sound of pounding was reversed and the world seemed to split upwards coming from only one place…Hell.
“Hey Bro, sounds like Hell’s a’knocking.” Sophia said as she came up next to Draven in her other form also. The sight of Sophia as the Demon she is, was always a shocker but this time I got to see her in action and soon one thing became very clear…Sophia made one kick ass Demon!
As her other self, Sophia looked like she had been taken over by a desert storm and frozen in time as a baked sand girl. Her lips were cut high up her cheek bones and even now her sadistic grin gave me shivers. But the power that came from her was a sight to see. She stood in front of the others and created a sand tunnel from her body and then sent it crashing into the centre, forcing the ranks to split ready for an eruption from below.
Lucius then burst through the floor and left an opening the same length as the pool and just as wide. Each side was now packed with soldiers all crushed tightly together and Draven used this to his advantage.
“Enough! Vincent, its time you and I send these bastards packing.” Draven said motioning for his brother to come forward. The sight of Vincent in all his Angelic glory was almost too painful it was that beautiful. Almost like looking into Heaven itself. He was glowing white and his full wings were so white and pure they looked like they were hand woven by a Goddess. Holy shit, he was pure perfection and utterly stunning to watch.
“I hope Luc’s not right and your aim hasn’t gone to shit brother.” Vincent commented making Draven growl at him. Vincent just laughed it off and slapped him on the back in jest.
“We shall see won’t we…? Ready?” Draven said in a voice like gravel.
“Always!” Vincent replied and they both separated to stand ahead of the struggling soldiers while the rest of the gang kept them from spilling forward.
The both looked up to the Heavens and held out their arms and wings waiting for something to happen. Then the sky above lit up the night and the storm hit with the mighty force of the Gods. The lightening travelled down and I screamed as it hit each of them and the electrical current was now being manipulated by the bodies they had entered. They both nodded once to each other and then let go of their new power, letting off streams of lightening towards their side of the soldiers. At the last second the other moved out of their way and it shot forward at such a rate that it was like a flash bomb going off blinding me for a few seconds. Once I opened my eyes again I was expecting to see hundreds of charred bodies but what I saw took me a while to comprehend.