Cataclysm (3 page)

“
What are the odds that a coyote did that
?” I channeled to them both.

In unison, I heard back, loud and clear,
“SLIGHT TO NONE.”

I turned around quickly to face where the noise came from, to see a pair of red, glowing eyes staring back at me. A smile returned to my lips, as the taste of a fight dangled in front of me. I knew Cyril wanted this badly, but I hoped there was enough for us all. The adrenaline started pumping through my veins, as I delighted in the thought of more practice time. Athen released my hand. I knew no matter what I would be protected. Athen and Cyril would not let anything happen to me. This would be my time to try some new tricks.

Several more sets of red, glowing eyes began appearing through the darkened forest, proving to be the exact medicine we needed. This fight would be for Arie. These creatures had no idea what we had in store for them.

Before I had a second more to enjoy my fantasies of tearing them apart, Cyril jumped over me landing directly in front of the first set of eyes that had appeared. Cyril’s hand reached up for the throat of the demon, as a loud shriek boomeranged through the air signaling that the battle was to begin. My body flew into motion, scaling the closest Douglas fir while choosing my first victim. The sight I witnessed was massive. While my body balanced on the outstretched limb, I realized we had gotten our wish. There was a small battalion of these creatures coming to be crushed by a family who all loved each other tremendously. We fought for the memory of a loved one. The only thing that fueled these creatures was hate and, in my estimation, love always won.

“Come on! Stand up and fight, you cowards!” I hollered into the air.

I dove into the crowd of demons closest to me, feeling their wretchedness try to encapsulate me, as I touched down on the forest floor. The rage had infiltrated my entire body, as I grabbed one of the knives out of my pocket, slashing the cheek of my first mark. I felt the freshness of the liquid spill onto my knuckles. I shot into the air, ripping off a tree limb, and pole-vaulted the tip directly into the chest of the creature who still held his cheek. I saw the familiar black mist seep into the air.

Laughter escaped from my throat, as a demon jumped on my back, attempting to crush my neck and failing miserably. I knew the demon had no chance as I ran towards the Hemlock tree that towered in front of us. With the demon holding on as best he could, I climbed up the tree with such speed that my feet barely touched the bark. I paused briefly before flipping backwards, dislodging the squealing demon from my neck. Watching the creature crash down to the ground, I saw Athen finish the creature off. Teamwork was nice.

A roar began echoing through the branches. I knew the sound was coming from Cyril. He flew from tree to tree, picking off each demon who was lurking up in the trees, like they were cabbage patch dolls. He was notifying them that they, too, were expected to fight. I ran to the first one he dumped to the ground, watching it become alert upon my arrival. The demon grabbed at my shirt, ripping it, as I jumped backwards, only to have another demon come up behind me, grabbing my neck. I kicked through the air, crushing the demon directly in front of me. The strength of the demon’s arm, who was behind me, began to worry me. I attempted to wrap my arm around the demon’s head, grasping for hair or anything to throw him off me. Beginning to panic, I began feeling around with my other free hand in my pocket and found one of my knives. I flipped it open, only to have Cyril jump down on the demon, who held me captive.

“Thanks!” I yelled, knowing that the fight was still ours to be won, taking off towards a huddling bunch of red eyes.

The group of demons was far enough away that by the time I reached them my strength and fury had been restored. With my knife ready and waiting, I stopped in front of the group, the smile returning to my lips. I squinted at the demon, closest to me, and I blew a kiss his way. The demon jetted towards me, and I dodged to the left, climbing the fir tree only to infuriate the demon more. Athen was across the way, perched up in a tree, watching me. I felt a blush begin to creep up my cheeks as I wondered what he was up to.

The demon began scaling up the tree after me with his curled fingernails scraping up the bark as he went. As he lunged towards me, I grabbed two branches and crisscrossed them around the demon’s neck, watching his body fall to the ground, while his head shattered into several pieces in front of me. Catching Athen still watching me, I began to get flustered. I wasn’t sure why he wasn’t fighting these last few demons we’d left. Cyril still back where I left him, presumably taking care of the couple that remained in that direction, kept busy, but Athen only sat there. I couldn’t fathom what he was doing. He was just watching me.

Releasing the knife from my ankle holster, I jumped from the fir tree, landing on my latest victim. Promising myself I would finish him off, regardless of his overwhelming size, I plunged the blade directly into his spine, and down he crumpled. Releasing the blade from his shell, I readied myself for the last two demons who were running for me at full speed. Athen jumped down from the branch he had been perched on, tackling the creature closest to him. I dove for the ankles of the other to throw him off guard.

The demon tumbled towards me, while grabbing my hair and pinning me down to the earth’s muddy surface. The demon’s cold fingers wrapped their strength around my throat. I suddenly wished I hadn’t been so eager to fight, but the high that ran through me was sometimes hard to control. I did my best to swallow, but the demon’s grip was so strong that the pain made it almost impossible. Slowly breathing in, my eyes tried to focus on Athen and how far away he was from finishing off his mess. I looked at the demon, seeing the red, evil glow staring back at me. I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t just finish me off. My hearing began getting muffled, but then the demon released my throat, dropping his mouth close to my ear.

“Lilith wanted to welcome you to her world. She missed having her sister with her for so long and was thrilled you found her training ground.” The demon’s laughter sounded as if he was in a tunnel.

I felt like the forest was closing in on me. The feeling of victory started to quickly vanish to make room for the jealousy and disgust that was spreading like a virus through my body. The demon was so in awe over the effect his message had over me that he let his guard down just enough for me to roll out from under him. Springing to my feet, I felt Athen’s presence right behind me, ready to lunge at the creature.

“Tell her I’ll be waiting for her. No matter how long it takes, my eyes will be the last ones she sees before her demise. Just pass that along, will you?” The satisfaction I got, from the thought of destroying her, was growing every day. She was one part of my ever-growing obsession.

Cyril wasn’t tired at all, or at least, that’s what he told us. He seemed to have a real distaste for hanging out in the cave. He wanted to wait outside until morning. With everything he was going through, I completely understood. Sometimes, being left alone was helpful. Those feelings were still at the surface level for me, which is probably why hearing Lilith’s name mentioned caused such turmoil. Lord knows how long it would take me to put her on the back burner again.

“I want to destroy her,” I sighed.

“I’ve been worried you were still thinking about that.” Athen grabbed my hand, squeezing it gently. “You’ll get your chance, hun. I promise,” Athen whispered into my ear.

We snuggled together under the wool blanket. The tremors had stopped, and we needed to rest from the evening’s activities. We planned on packing out in the morning. There’s no reason to stay on this mountain any longer. It offered no protection for us going forward.

Athen’s body curved against mine, providing a little serenity that I needed. Knowing Lilith slinked somewhere around here made me ill. I kept doing my best to try to forget about it, but I couldn’t. We got some of the answers that we were looking for, even though they weren’t what any of us expected. Nevertheless, I felt worse for knowing. I never thought I’d stumble upon Lilith’s own personal training ground.

“It seems so hard to believe. Of all the places to create her little army, she chose here? There’s gotta be more to this.” I was laying on my back, staring at the ash-colored ceiling, trying to make some sort of sense out of this latest run-in.

Athen gently caressed my arm, following it up and down with his finger. I knew he did his best to make me feel better, but all I could think about was Lilith. I let out a large sigh. Athen flipped over towards me, staring intently at me for some sign that I was all right.

I flipped on my side to stare directly back at him, my heart pounding. I liked how the topic hadn’t been up for discussion before. I had hoped it was going to stay that way. I dismissed what Azazel said about Lilith being my sister.

“Why would I? It was a lie – something to try to throw us off. There’s no way she could be my sister.”

I looked into Athen’s beautiful green eyes, searching for some sort of acknowledgement that my statement was accurate. Instead, his eyes filled with apprehension.

“So is it your turn to be hiding something from me now?” I questioned him.

Athen leaned over and began kissing me ever so gently. His lips running along mine, softly connecting with my soul, gave me the answers I didn’t want to hear aloud. He wrapped his arms around me, bringing me closer to his body. The warmth between us wasn’t enough to make the chill leave me. I began shaking uncontrollably. Athen tried his best to comfort me, but a hollowness ravaged my body, creating a despair I couldn’t shake. There’s no way I could be related to someone so filled with wretchedness and evil. The tears began flowing, and Athen held me tightly. I rested my head on his chest. I wanted to allow myself one night, and only one night, to feel sorry for myself before I let the anger take control again.

Unfortunately, my nightmares had something else in store for me. My mind went from a calm, empty dream state to enough activity to challenge my reality. I wanted to wake up, but instead, I appeared in the middle of new surroundings, far away from this cave.

The snow came down hard in my vision and created the exact cover I needed. I arrived back in Whistler, only it wasn’t my favorite place any longer. I wanted out of this fuzzy state, but my mind trapped me in this dream. I felt alone and unsure of myself. My mind wandered back to the little movie projection that I didn’t want to witness. I was there again. This wasn’t a dream. It seemed to be a premonition.

I had moved about halfway up Blackcomb Mountain, and my legs were tired. The combination of the snow and wind ensured that nothing would be caught by the human eye, but it made my task that much more difficult. I decided to fly up the remainder of the mountain. She should be waiting up there for me. Lilith knew I would be coming.

Feeling my body move against the harsh wind, I flew through the trees at lightning speed. The clearing in front of me held the beautiful turquoise glacier, sparkling in the light. A tiny speck of a figure stood there, waiting. It had to be Lilith.

My heart pounded uncontrollably. My body filled with hatred. I wanted to end her, and this was my chance.

Suddenly, I didn’t want my dream to be over.

Spotting a place to land, I felt my knee touch the cold surface. I jumped up not wasting a moment, grabbing a knife with each hand. Lilith shot over to me, her hair a tangled, fiery mess.

“You’re going to die. Whether it’s today or another day, your end will come. It’s very near,” I spoke in an even tone, unable to hide my smile.

I searched her eyes for any sign of acknowledgement of her fate. There was none. Only the cold, dark stare of a killer looked back at me.

Feeling as if I could conquer the world, I reached for my knife and slashed her neck, generating the familiar black mist into the air. A shriek released from her into the wind. There was nobody to help her. My job finally over. It was that easy. She’d finally been ended. Sitting on my knees to watch the spectacle and admire my handiwork, I never saw it coming. Her body regenerated and came at me before I even had a chance. Her fingers tightened around my throat. The blood began pounding in my ears. The turquoise blue glacier turned lighter and lighter in color. Everything was becoming hazy. I was going to lose…

“Ana! Ana, you’re okay! Ana!” Athen shook me awake. “You’re okay, sweetheart.”

Unable to catch my breath, I tried to focus on Athen’s face. Reaching up to trace his lips and jaw, I clung onto any sort of reality that didn’t consist of being on the mountain with Lilith. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into him.