Divinity: Transcendence: Book Two (The Divinity Saga) (40 page)

Pushing his full weight onto me, he forced
me back down to the earth at full speed. Our swift, vertical drop hindered my ability to get him off of me, as he worked to rip the flesh from my arm.

The pain was excruciating. Gritting my teeth
, I brought my feet up to plant into his chest, but he wasn’t letting go. He viciously twisted his head side to side, hell bent on ripping my entire arm clean off from the shoulder.

T
he vile, black venom from his bite immediately begin to fuse into me. It was both shocking and painful, yet…deliciously satiating. I didn’t want this…I couldn’t let it overpower me.

We both slammed
into the ground; me pinned beneath him. The force of his assault and our impact, caused a thunderous crash, like a detonating bomb. The ground collapsed inward into a bowl shaped crater underneath me. Feathers, both white and black—more than likely most of mine, flew wildly into the air.

“Cam`ael!” Edanai screamed.

Baal’s bite was unrelentingly tortuous. The poison was meant to weaken and silence curses. I clenched my teeth, attempting to draw out some form of light, but my resolve was waning fast. Darkness was infiltrating me; filling me with anger, hate, and murderous intent.

Suddenly, Baal
’s bite lessened to a graze. He froze and was instantly shoved backwards by a strong force.

I cursed in pain.

A huge chunk of my flesh was lodged in his ravenous maw and my blood dripped down his bony chin.

He was impaled on a
waiting, large, dragon clawed hand that punched forcefully through his chest, maniacally shredding and tearing at his body from within.

Baal
arched his back painfully, his weapon swinging wildly as he growled in pain and fury. His psychotic smile slowly began to fade, though it was hard to tell, being that his face was always fixed in a permanent grin.

             
              A flash of darkness shot over me, and towards Baal’s nearly disemboweled vessel. It was Ry with his weapon raised. Ry belted out a taunting victory growl, swiftly swinging his deadly obsidian scimitar, and cleanly taking off Baal’s head in one pass. It tumbled away in a spinning, spray of black blood, and Rahab proceeded to rip the rest of his body to pieces in his rage.

A billowing cloud of oily black smoke began to funnel out of the physical vessel that had been Baal’s body.

Four of the female fallen in my legion, including Edanai, quickly cast and threw a curse to immobilize the furious entity that was Baal. If he got away, all Morning Star had to do, was make him a new body.

He had to be destroyed completely.

“Now Cam`ael! He’s too strong, we can’t hold him any longer. Hurry!” Edanai urged.

The unique, aqua and purple
sky above was blurry. I was teetering in and out of consciousness, feeling the poison coursing madly through my veins. I had to concentrate hard on the light within me. I sat up, holding out a shaking hand, a small, flashing orb began to swirl together and form in my palm. It was all I could bring forth, so I hoped it was enough.

             
              Baal’s ethereal form began to burst free of the magical hold that kept him still. The face inside the mass of black smoke reared and roared in anger. The ball of light I threw, hit dead center into the yawning mouth that was his. It immediately began to consume him, quickly obliterated the darkness. His inhuman, high-pitched, screech of curses rode the wind, lingering as long as it could, before finally winking out.

Baal was no more.

I groaned wearily in pain as I collapsed back down onto my back. My bicep was a tattered mess of flesh. I didn’t even have to look at it to verify that.

Edanai and Jerilah
we already on either side of me.

“Damn
it Cam`ael!” Edanai whispered as she immediately went to treat my wound.

“No time for that…” I breathed.

I pushed her away, quickly getting to my feet, only to falter and fall back down onto my knees.

I was still feeling the effects of the poison.

“Like hell! Be still! This is going to take a while to heal.” Edanai snapped.

“
You’ve been poisoned Cam`ael. You need to be healed quickly. Let me give you something for the pain.” Jerilah offered as she reached into a small pouch attached to her hip strap.

“I’m fine!”
I growled bitterly. It was more to stave off the pain and the invading, evil darkness that was trying to dominate me inside.

I closed my eyes for a second. The satisfaction of
seeing Baal’s death brought me back to myself, just a little. I had to fight against this spreading, internal miasma of repugnance. I couldn’t return to what I had been a long time ago.

Then,
I instantly remembered Starling. My head snapped up, my eyes panning the ground, in between the tall, column-like rock formations, and all of the darkened crevices between the jagged, rocky dunes.

Black feathers floated in wh
irling patterns from up above. Others of our legion had been summoned. They wasted no time or hesitation in answering and joining the fight. That was loyalty. They were clearly able to handle the other fallen that had arrived not long ago without a problem.

Durien and the
seraphim were the only warriors left behind that I could see. With a swing of his lightning-shaped, illuminated Bo, he was blocking the black magic that was being flung towards them. Twirling the curse, he then thrust it right back at the dark divine ones. It both shocked and rendered them immobile, which allowed the both of them to finish them off.

Where the hell was Starling? It wasn’t until they took off running
towards the crevice of two abutted mounds of rock, and calling after both her and someone named Jamie, that I felt my wrath return.

E
vil darkness began to pool into my core.

I
turned my gaze upwards, rage began to overtake me again, but this time my energy and power was even stronger, and far more dangerous.

A
lone fallen had taken one of the female divine warriors and began ascending into the sky, just as Starling screamed out her name —Jamie. In one bound, she leapt high into the air, reaching out to grab onto her foot. The fallen lost grip on the one called Jamie, and she tumbled back to the ground in low crouch.

Durien aimed his weapon and shot multiple bolts, but
none made contact. The fallen had Starling, binding her securely, especially her arms, so that she wouldn’t be able to wield her weapon.

The earthbou
nd seraphim tried to get to her, even casting his own magic, but the fallen was faster. Given the distance, his magic would be ineffective anyway.

I roared,
“No!”

L
ike a bullet, I shot forward, suffering through the pain of my arm. I could hear Edanai and Jerilah calling after me, but I ignored them…in full pursuit of the other fallen.

XX111
: Starling

            
 
L
ira had been a lot easier to spot when the atmosphere, and our current surroundings of the chaotic club, suddenly froze, shifted, and changed.

Pieces of the human realm began to fall away and shatter, like slow motion brea
king glass, and all of a sudden…we were here.

Wherever here was, it was obviously in the spirit realm.

How the hell did this just happen?

“I told you this was a bad idea! Lira can’t fight, you idiot! You could have got
ten her killed!” Jamie shrieked. She ran up on me as if she were going to attack me again.

This time I braced myself, ready to fight back
. There was nothing I could say. She had been right. I didn’t mean to put her in danger, or any of us for that matter.

“No time for this shit! Do you see all of this?” Anthony yelled pointing not far from us, where a battle of fallen was about to take place.

“They’re after you! Now do you get it? So get your ass into the damned portal now!” Jamie jabbed a finger towards the portal, a spray of spittle flying into my face.

Is this why people
have been looking at me funny and suspiciously, since I had risen? Like I had any control of that fact.

Either way, Jamie
was about to get punched if she didn’t back the hell away from me. I felt anger rising in me at her aggressive approach and verbal abrasiveness.

She had
her two weapons wielded. They looked like mini scythes to me, with wicked sharp curving blades; both were etched with glyphic symbols along the razor sharp edges.

I felt useless and left out. This sudden assault
, and now impending danger to everyone, especially Lira, was my fault.

What started out
as a simple night of fun and dancing with both Durien and myself alone, had turned into a nightmarish battle that could end badly for all of us. But whose battle was it? So far, the fallen weren’t really attacking us directly, which I found —odd.

I tried to wield my blades
, yet again. I had to be prepared just like everyone else. But nothing happened.

I pouted angrily in my head.

I still had my fire though. Would Sean consider it a necessity if I had to use it now? I would have no choice.

I could litera
lly feel the heat begin warming throughout my veins.

I
ignored Jamie, continuing to look on in both frozen awe and terror at the looming supernatural war, not far from where we all stood.

They were
about to fight each other. It was evident that one fallen was challenging the fallen that cornered Lira and me. But why? Was it over me?

I heard Lorelei crack
a portal gem. I glanced over my shoulder. An elongated, shimmering opening immediately took shape beside her. Her spiked, metal whip glinted in her hand; moving on its own as if swayed by an invisible wind.

All of their unique, magnificent, and deadly weapons enviously entranced me
. Even more so, I was stunned by all that I was witnessing in the pending battle that might just get us all killed.

Rooted to the ground, I couldn’t help but be taken
in by the two fallen that were now fighting in mid-air. The mix of both white and black feathers in the wingspan of one of them confused me. I thought all of the fallen had coal black feathers, like the skull-headed one that he was fighting. That particular fallen also seemed somewhat familiar to me for some reason too. How could that be?

“
Starling, would you stop standing there staring! Come on! There’s way too many! Get Lira out of here now, Durien!” Lorelei shouted to all of us and then waved at Durien, who was leading Lira by the hand to the portal.

“Starling, come on!” Lira shouted out to me.

I couldn’t leave. I was a warrior. I had weapons. I had to stay and help. Besides, Lira getting to safety had been the goal. She was the first one through the portal, followed by Crystal and Scarlet.

“
We’ve got company, and more fallen are heading this way!” Gabe shouted, readying his weapon, which was a, long, silver and white, broad, square-tipped sword.

I turned
around and looked up into the sky to see what Gabe was talking about, and I paled. A flock of huge beings, with wide, blackened wings, were approaching us…fast. In another blink, another gang of fallen simply —appeared on the ground, as if they had been here but were invisible all along.

I was paralyzed with
fascinated shock. There was no way we could go against them all. I suddenly remembered Sean’s words, ‘If you’re losing a fight’…or in
our
current situation, going to lose one…’run and escape’.

I heard the clink and pop of another portal being opened.

“Starling! Go now!” Durien shouted at me.

The dark ones who had just appeared,
all took flight in one winged pack, with weapons of all sorts drawn. It was apparent that they were going after the fallen that were coming.

I didn’t understand this. Was that normal?

In my periphery, those humans with the black brandings that I saw in the club, four girls and five guys, all moved in front of us. They were emanating negative and dark energy fields around them. They hadn’t wielded any weapons yet, but their hands and fingers were working in rapid, patterned movements. Faint whispers of poetic chanting were coming from their mouths.

“
Son of a bitch! All of you guys, get out of here now! I’ve got this!” Spencer said. He immediately darted in front of us like a shield, with his weapon poised and ready to strike.