Authors: Karice Bolton
Azazel jumped towards me, his disgusting claws swiping at me. Leaping backwards, I barely missed his grasp. The anger was building inside me with every passing second. I only had to hold him off a little longer.
My body jumped over his, securely landing behind him on the rocky surface, I flung out my leg kicking his spine with all of my strength. His body lunged forward into the crowd of demons.
Standing up quickly, I looked over to where Athen and Arie were perched. They were eagerly awaiting my signal. Before I turned away, I saw Noah land right next to Athen. Thankfully, he’d be here to see the destruction of Azazel. Our family of white demons was growing by the day. Azazel’s family was shrinking by the minute, and he didn’t even realize it.
Azazel turned back around, wiping himself off to stare at me. His eyes were red with anger.
“Get over here, now!” he snapped.
“Excuse me? I don’t follow direction very well. Authority and peer pressure and all that, kind of missed me,” I hissed back, his anger was at the perfect level. He’d never see it coming.
Quickly glancing to the top of the hill, Lilith was looking back at me. Smiling at her, I pointed my finger towards the sky. The pieces to the puzzle were coming into place.
The dark demons began following my stare to meet Lilith’s gaze. Her smile would have lit up the mountain, had the flames not already done that. She was our secret weapon. She made her choice that day on the glacier, and I trusted her decision.
Jumping off of the hill, her body soaring with the wind, she commanded her army to attack.
Shooting my body into the sky before I became lost in the shuffle, Azazel hollered after me, still unsure of what was about to take place. Hovering over the scene of the crime, I watched the dark and white demons begin their attack.
Lilith barking orders for her faction to attack Azazel, there was nothing more glorious than the sight I was witnessing. She came through for us all. There was a glimmer of good left in her after all.
“You, grab his arm!” she hollered at one of the faction members.
She flew over next to me, while we both hovered watching the scene below. This wouldn’t end Azazel. We both were fully aware of that fact. It was only torturing him.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?” I asked. “We’re the ones who are indebted to you.”
“For your forgiveness. For seeing something in me I never could see,” she replied.
Athen’s eyes were firmly set on Lilith and myself. I don’t think he was completely sure she had ever intended to do what she’d promised. I didn’t blame him for worrying. I had my doubts too. Smiling over at him, he attempted to smile back.
A loud scream interrupted our feelings of imminent victory. I scanned quickly to find out where it was coming from, when my eyes caught the woman hollering.
My throat clenched up as I realized who was running towards the battle. Looking quickly towards the hill, my worst fear was realized. Noah recognized the scream as well. It was Vanessa. She was attempting to stop the attack on Azazel.
“Oh no!” I yelled, as Noah flew off the mountain to try to intervene.
“Why’s he doing that?” Lilith screamed after me. I had already begun my flight to stop him.
“That was his soulmate. She got taken away from him only a couple of months ago.” Athen hollered to Lilith.
Lilith and Athen were quickly by my side as we attempted to wrestle Noah to the ground. His strength was to be expected. He only had sights set to stop Vanessa. He dove back into the crowd of dark and white demons, to stop her from reaching Azazel.
“I better get in there and end this,” Lilith’s voice was so soft. I almost missed it. That statement meant more than it could ever say in words. Looking at her, I reached my arm out to hug her. The woman, who I had been set on destroying for so long, was making a decision to save us all. The sister, I never had, was about to sacrifice herself for mankind and the army of good.
“Remember, love conquers all,” her voice was nothing like that first time I ran into her. The harshness was no longer evident. She changed.
She ran into the crowd of demons, who quickly parted for her. Azazel’s strength definitely was diminished. He was missing parts of his clothing. His skin ripped to shreds.
“Lilith,” he uttered, “You’ve come to join me?” Saliva was hanging on his lips.
“No, my dear. I’ve come to destroy you,” her laughter rang through the air. And for once, I didn’t want anything to happen her.
Azazel lunged towards her, but his aim was off. Lilith rolled in the other direction, standing up quickly to meet his stare. She rammed her fist into his stomach, creating a puff of black mist into the air. Azazel began coughing.
Lilith began to restrain Azazel, but Vanessa freed herself from Noah’s grasp. She crawled onto Lilith’s back, attempting to stop her from crushing Azazel’s spine. The demons had been instructed to stand down once the final fight had begun.
My worry began to overrun logic.
“Should we help her?” I asked Athen.
“She’s got it. Noah’s got it too,” Athen said quietly.
“What do you mean Noah’s got it too?” My heart was racing. “He shouldn’t be involved in this!”
“Ana, he’s made a choice, and there’s nothing we can do.” Athen’s face was distressed. I realized the talk Athen and Noah must have had covered a lot more than Athen told me.
“If Vanessa needs to be stopped, he didn’t want anyone else to be the one to do it. We have to respect that,” Athen replied, holding me back.
Noah tackled the mass of bodies, ripping Vanessa off of Lilith. Vanessa was fully possessed. There was no recognition of Noah in her eyes. Instead, she offered nothing but pain and destruction. Her hands were flailing, as Noah had to drag her away from Lilith and Azazel’s battle. Vanessa wouldn’t rest. She kept attempting to get back to Azazel.
Instantly, I saw it in his eyes. I grabbed for Athen’s hand. He saw it coming too and squeezed my hand. In a flash, Noah grabbed Vanessa and fell into the flames. I screamed, but nothing would come out. This was not the ending I had played over and over in my head.
My eyes moved over to Lilith in a stunned gaze, not even sure what I was witnessing any longer. I detected a slight whimper and realized it was coming from Arie. I couldn’t let this end any worse than we planned. We were so close to ending Azazel’s terror.
Letting go of Athen’s hand, I ran to Lilith, who was attempting to choke Azazel. His arms were becoming limp, but he always seemed to regain his strength.
“Help me get him over to the flames. That’s how it has to end,” Lilith pleaded.
His arms suddenly began moving again, trying to reach for Lilith’s throat. I hurriedly began dragging him by any means possible. My heart was aching because I knew what was about to happen, but I had to stay strong. He had to be ended by someone in my family.
“Please! We’ve got to hurry!” Lilith screamed.
I was pulling with all of my strength, when we finally got him over to the edge. I did my best not to look down into the fiery pit, knowing that it wasn’t just flames staring back at me any longer. My heart wept for Noah.
The heat was painful at this point. Lilith was crushing Azazel’s neck once more. I stomped on his chest, hoping that last thrust would help end him.
“Ana, you have to get away from here. I’ve got it now,” Lilith’s voice would stay with me forever.
“Thank you,” I whispered, backing away from the events that were about to unfold.
Suddenly, Azazel’s hand grabbed my foot as he inched his way closer to the fiery edge. Kicking and yanking away as best I could, I began to resign myself to this ending. The weight of his body and the heat of the flames seemed far too real to be able to fight them both off.
“Don’t you dare touch my sister!” Lilith screamed. She reached over to my ankle and grabbed one of the knives I had strapped on for a good-luck charm. Stabbing him in the chest, his hand immediately released my ankle. Athen pulled me away, but not before I saw Lilith and Azazel fall over the edge.
This battle was over, but the war might not ever end.
Standing on the grassy hill over looking Whistler Village brought tears to my eyes. So many times, I wondered if this moment would ever come; if these nightmares would ever end. I turned back towards the lake, watching the ripples of the water dancing their way to greet the corals and purples of the sunset. It was Mother Nature’s thank you gift to us. I was sure of it.
The feeling of victory had never tasted so delicious. In fact, it had never tasted so real. Athen was on his way up to enjoy the beauty of the moment with me, just us two, one last time. With everything we had been through, I never expected this to be the ending to the battles fought.
“Hey, my love,” Athen whispered, sneaking up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. Feeling his nose nuzzle into the nape of my neck sent shivers through me. “Pretty incredible isn’t it?”
“You are pretty incredible,” I whispered, letting my lips grace his ear.
He spun me around and brought his lips to mine. I slowly began to eat up every morsel of his being. Our souls were finally at peace. We were one again. My memories had all returned, and I was ready to begin making new ones. The quietness of everything, and the overwhelming sense of calm surrounding us, was something I savored in every fiber of my soul. His lips became hungrier with every passing moment. I felt his hands run up my arms creating a desire within me that only he could satisfy. The electricity between our bodies was exactly as I had remembered for the thousands of years before now, and I hoped for the thousands of years ahead of us.
We both just held each other. Our lives were about to change forever.
“There were a lot of different scenarios I pictured for the outcome of these battles,” he said. “But I can tell you that, what’s about to happen, was never in my wildest dreams.”
“Pretty insane, isn’t it? Are you ready for it?” I asked laughing.
“No, are you?” His eyes full of a fear that was new to me.
“Not at all, but it ought to be fun,“ I whispered, pausing briefly I began again. “You know, I’ve been thinking…”
“What’s that?” His eyes were searching mine.
“Since she doesn’t really have a name, I think it’s only right to call her Lilly Noa,” I ventured, leaning back into his embrace.
“I couldn’t agree more, darling,” his voice full of the pride I’d seen that first night he’d met our little girl at the farm.
“I’ve also been thinking that with this new addition, maybe we should have Cyril and Arie stick around,” I let out a huge sigh unsure of what Athen’s response might be.
Athen erupted into laughter, as I tackled him to the grass, pinning him down.
“Free babysitters, right?” I chuckled.
“You know it,” Athen replied.
“Everything happens for a reason, doesn’t it?” I murmured.
“It sure does, my angel. Every moment and every encounter was for something neither of us could ever have dreamed up on our own.”
Off in the distance, I heard Matilda barking. Everyone was on their way to meet us. Our life of us two, was about to forever change.
“Are you ready yet?” he asked again.
“Since the last time you asked? Nope, still not ready. How much time do you think we have?” I chided.
“I’d say a solid four or five minutes,” he replied, grinning.
“The last four minutes of freedom,” I sighed playfully.
“I didn’t think my love for you could grow anymore,” Athen whispered, “but it did.”
The voices were getting closer, and we both realized there were more people than we were thinking. I strained to try to distinguish the voices from one another and besides Cyril and Arie, I couldn’t tell who it was.
“Do you think she’ll remember us?” Athen’s voice unsure.
“Only time will tell,” I replied. “Lots more people than I thought are coming. Wonder who they all are?”
Matilda made her way over to us first, panting and snorting, completely out of breath. It was too much exertion for our little bully. She immediately rolled over on her back, begging for a belly rub. Slowly rolling off of Athen, I did my best to make myself look presentable for the unknown visitors.
Matilda was fully enjoying her massage, and I’m sure she felt that far too much time had passed since the last one. I was so thrilled to have Matilda back with us. My nerves started to begin making their appearance. I couldn’t believe our little girl, Lilly Noa, was about to come over the hill.
The chatter was getting closer, but then a squeal echoed above it all. The delightful squeal of Lilly rang through the air. I looked over at Athen who couldn’t hide the grin on his face. It said everything it needed to say. We were ready.
Seeing Lilly Noa running through the grass towards Athen was all I ever needed to see. Everything seemed right again in our world and not just right, better than it ever could have been, if we hadn’t gone through it all.
Athen bent down and Lilly Noa ran into his arms, holding the teddy bear Arie had gotten her. Matilda begged for me to pick her up as well, which I couldn’t resist. Cyril and Arie were finally in view hollering and waving. My poor cheek muscles began aching with the amount of smiling I was doing.
“Hey girl! Go get her,” I placed Matilda back on the ground so she could go run to greet Arie.