Chapter 42

“This fight has been a long time coming, Fallen. Did you believe that I would allow you to simply run away and take one of our own?”

Lord Jekia’s voice was calm yet commanding as he stood before the Fallen, who was currently on his hands and knees on the ground.

He looked much more like a demon now, his yellow eyes burning as he glared at him. Large black wings fanned out from his back.

Near them, Emelio had appeared with Hailia, and they were untying Lucille. Hailia helped her to stand, moving them behind the Mage to keep them safe.

I could see tears streaming down Lucille’s face as she held onto her sister. She tried not to look at her mother’s body which was lying near them.

Out of respect, Emelio waved his hand and a dark sheet appeared over her. Rayne remained beside me, keeping an eye on what was happening between his father and mine.

He was ready to move us if he needed to. As for me, my senses were quickly coming back despite the aching pain radiating from the open wound in my collar.

“Be not so full of yourself, Dog! You never would have gotten this far if your bastard hadn’t taken her!” the Fallen spat back, his voice full of malice.

“It would appear that you underestimated the bond that forms between an Alpha and Beta in our world. Even your bloodline could not overtake it, and while I won’t go so far as to gloat, it has worked to our advantage this time,” Lord Jekia responded.

The Fallen’s wings flapped as he leaned back. “And you intend to be rid of me now?”

“My intention is to drive you away from the Veil forever. Do not think I am not well aware of all you have done to me and all who have suffered because of you. I’ll do what I must to ensure that you can never return,” Jekia warned him.

Lord Jekia’s movements were so fast that I almost didn’t see them. In what felt like a blink of an eye, he was in the spot where the Fallen had been.

The demon had disappeared just as quickly. We looked over to see him at the altar again, where he slowly wagged a finger at Lord Jekia.

“So very eager to tear into me, aren’t you? Are you that sore over the past?” he mocked him.

His words brought out even more anger in Lord Jekia, who was just as quickly in front of him. Blood splattered on the floor and some of the candles as he cut into his arm.

The Fallen didn’t react in any pain, only continuing to use that arm to hold him back. “Do not mock me or the lives you’ve taken! And all for some demonic queen!” Lord Jekia fumed.

“You will not insult her!” the Fallen snapped. He used his wings to force Lord Jekia back, disappearing again.

Lord Jekia jumped over to where Emelio was with the girls as we looked around. Rayne slowly stood up beside me, making sure he was ready for anything.

I saw his and Lord Jekia’s ears twitching like they were listening to every sound. Emelio was also on alert, looking around the room with his hand open and ready at his side.

“Did he retreat?” I heard Lucille whisper. Hailia shook her head, still holding her arms.

“No,” she whispered back. “He’s hidden for an ambush.”

“This is bad. I can’t sense him,” Rayne quietly admitted.

“Keep your guard up. He could aim for any of us,” Lord Jekia ordered.

I slowly stood beside him, my legs a little wobbly as I held the fabric against my wound. The air in the room was tense and cold, the silence almost deafening.

My father had hidden himself very well, yet I felt like I could sense him. He was still there and he was close.

My eyes scanned the ceiling again, and I could see the dark shadow darting from side to side. “There!” I called.

The black cloud shot downward as soon as I spoke, heading straight for me and Rayne. Before I could react, Rayne was in front of me, blocking the shadow from hitting us.

It quickly morphed back into the Fallen, although his appearance had now changed. His arms and hands had turned completely black, and his long fingers were now sharp claws that cut into Rayne’s arm.

Rayne was still able to push him away. Yet even as he did, the Fallen used his large black wings to send a strong gust of air at him.

It nearly knocked him back too, although Rayne somehow stood his ground in front of me. “I won’t let you take her or anyone else! Go back to the Hell you came from!” Rayne ordered.

The Fallen landed near him, letting out a long, loud roar. It was almost deafening, and we had to cover our ears for the pain it caused us.

“I will not relinquish what is mine! I made her, and she will become the vessel she is intended to be!” he declared.

“You will keep your attention on me! This fight will remain between us!” Lord Jekia informed him.

He’d grabbed him from behind in those few seconds, holding claws against his neck. The Fallen wasn’t the least bit intimidated, using his wings to help him wrench away from Lord Jekia’s hold.

He did not react at all when his throat was cut in the process. “You believe I’ll give in to a mongrel?!” he spat.

“No, you’re going to bow to us!” Rayne spoke up as he raced in front of him and slashed his chest. In the meantime, I hurried over to the altar where Emelio was with Hailia and Lucille.

Lucille was on her knees, leaning over her mother’s crumpled body as Hailia stood in front of her. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

“We must find a way to get out of here! Even Lord Jekia may not be a match for one like him!” she was saying.

“The only way to leave here is to defeat the Fallen. This realm is his to control for now,” Emelio admitted.

Hailia’s attention turned to me as I joined them, her eyes wide as she took in the sight of the blood covering my front. “Are you to be okay, Luna? You appear to have lost much blood!”

“I’ll be fine.” I looked around us, scanning for any signs of a place where they could get out. Even if I refused to leave Rayne and Lord Jekia, they at least could stand a chance at escaping and being safe.

Not seeing anything immediate, I turned to Emelio. “You’re certain there’s no way to get them out of here? He could still try to use Lucille for that queen’s body.”

Lucille stiffened as I said this, finally turning back to us. “Please, I swear that I have nothing to do with this. I do not want to be invaded by her,” she begged.

“It’s understandable, but as I said, this realm is under his control for now. All we can do is hope to find a way to banish him,” Emelio reminded us.

I couldn’t say I was certain I believed Lucille, but I also wasn’t going to argue the point. Not with the situation we were in.

Lord Jekia and Rayne were still fighting with the Fallen and keeping him away from us, but not without some injury. I could see where blood stained their clothing and rips had been made into it from the Fallen’s claws.

~This is no good~, I thought. ~We need to find his weak point and end this quickly!~

“Enough of these games!” the Fallen bellowed as he flew high into the air. A loud rumbling filled the room as he did this.

Everything shook violently, causing all of us to lose our balance and sending cracks through the walls, ceiling, and floor. Dust floated down from the ceiling as I lifted my head.

I saw the Fallen flapping his wings hard to send Lord Jekia and Rayne flying back against the walls. They dropped to the floor, reeling from the hard hit.

The Fallen flew in front of the altar, holding out his arm as he landed. I was wrenched forward to him.

“Luna!” I heard Rayne call, though it was a bit strained as he tried to sit up.

“She is growing quite impatient, so let us move on with this,” the Fallen stated as he held me by my arm. His grip was tight, bordering on pain.

“I won’t do this! I won’t become her vessel!” I yelled.

“You have no choice,” The Fallen’s grip tightened even more as he pulled me close and looked into my eyes. “Give in.”

A wave of cold swept over me as I stared into his eyes. Again, I could envision Lilith far down within the Abyss.

Her eyes shined as a light appeared over her. I could feel the cold beginning to invade my body, even though I was fighting it with everything I had.

It was like there were icy chains all around me, squeezing my insides tighter and tighter. But as that cold moved up my legs and to my abdomen, this warmth suddenly began within me.

It was like a pinpoint in my lower belly that swelled within seconds to engulf my body and pushed the coldness out. I heard a loud howl in my head as Lilith was forced back down into the Abyss.

The Fallen stood still in front of me, his eyes now wide as he stared at me. “Wait. Is that…?” I heard Emelio start to say.

His words were cut off in an instant as a figure dove between me and my father. It was Rayne, and he had cut off the Fallen’s arm.

His shirt and pants were ripped and stained with blood. There was some blood on his head and in his hair, but he wasn’t showing any signs of it affecting him.

His attention was completely focused on my father. “Enough! You’re going to retreat and stay out of the Veil even if I have to tear you apart to make you do it!” he breathed.

The Fallen’s eyes glowed bright yellow as he growled at him. “Insolent pup! You believe you are a match for one like me?!”

His arm regenerated in an instant, though Rayne was able to block him from cutting into his shoulder. The black claws instead cut his right arm again.

Even though the cuts looked deep, he maintained his unshakable fortitude. “I have no fear of the likes of you, nor will I ever! You are nothing but an insatiable demon!”

There was a splash of black blood as he slashed into the Fallen’s neck. It made him stumble back as he held the wound and gurgled.

As he did, Lord Jekia was suddenly behind him, holding him by the back of his neck as he pushed him to the ground. “This is enough! It is obvious that you cannot use Luna as you wished, so set us free and be gone!” he ordered.

Everything became very quiet as the Fallen remained still where he’d been pinned. I moved beside Rayne, holding onto him and feeling his slight shaking.

He may have been acting tough, but I had this sense that he was hurt fairly badly. He may have only been empowered by adrenaline and wanting to save me.

The odd thing was that when I held onto him, that same warmth came back, moving through me and to him. As it enveloped him, it appeared to be healing his wounds and making him stronger.

Rayne looked surprised as he looked down at me. “What is that?” he quietly asked me.

“I don’t know. I’m not…”

The Fallen’s deep, dark chuckle interrupted me as I struggled for the answer. He remained where he was, a wide smile crossing his face.

“Ah, so that is their game. Do they believe they can thwart me with this? Then I will destroy it!”

The room suddenly plunged into complete darkness, and I couldn’t see anything. I did feel Rayne hold me against him.

The sound of flapping wings filled the room before the deathly silence returned. “Father?” Rayne quietly called.

“Remain as you are,” Lord Jekia ordered before addressing Hailia. “You recall what we asked of you, do you not, Hailia?”

“Yes, sire. I will do as I must, even if I still fear it,” Hailia answered.

“Have no fear. I can ensure you do not lose yourself, so do not hesitate,” Emelio promised her.

Another moment of silence passed before a soft blue light began to glow to our left. It looked like an orb about the size of a lantern.

Another appeared beside it, then another and another, until there were many of them lighting up the room with an ethereal glow. I looked around but saw no sign of the Fallen.

It appeared that he had melded into the shadows again. As I looked around us, I noticed a figure gliding in a circle around the lamps.

It made no sound as it moved. It took me a few seconds to realize that this figure was Hailia.

In the dim light, I could see that her face had changed. Her skin was now white like porcelain and her eyes deep and dark.

Fangs jutted slightly out from her ruby-red lips while her long dark hair swayed gracefully around her face and shoulders.

“Ah, so she truly is an aswang. What an unlikely one for you to ally yourself with, Dog,” we heard the Fallen say.

“She has never been a threat, and allies like her are once in a lifetime. Now, retreat to the Abyss and end this!” Lord Jekia ordered.

“I think not!”

A black shadow darted down toward Lord Jekia but was stopped as a bright flash of light shone in front of him. It took me a few seconds to realize that Hailia had swiftly moved beside him.

She held her hand up toward the Fallen. The flash of blue light immediately drove him back, and he let out a painful grunt as he disappeared back into the shadows.

We watched as Lord Jekia stepped to the side. He slowly reached Lucille and, along with Emelio, helped her up.

“Stay close to us,” he whispered to her.

“Yes, sire,” Lucille softly agreed.

She looked terrified, but there was no doubt she would comply. The black shadow came flying at them again.

However, Hailia was able to repel him with a flash of blue light. It looked like she had something in her hand to do it.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a mirror. ~Is this one of the powers the aswang have?~ I wondered.

My thoughts were interrupted by Rayne tugging me along, moving slowly and cautiously.

“Let us join them,” he whispered to me. “We’ll regroup there.”

As we made our way over, a clear voice spoke within my mind. ~Banish him for good. It is now within your and Rayne’s power.~

I stopped in my tracks. ~“Sionn?”~ I thought back.

~“It’s okay, Luna,”~ he reassured me, ~“Do not doubt yourself or your love. Your blood and his are now intertwined and enough to help you drive him away from this realm.”~

As if to emphasize his words, I felt a warmth emanate from my lower belly. A startling realization hit me.

No way. Was ~this~ what the Fates were planning all along? To be rid of my father for good and completely bind me to Rayne?

I didn’t get much of a chance to think about it. A wave of inky blackness hurled toward us.

Hailia reacted quickly, dark wings sprouting from her back as she jumped in front of us and held up her mirror. Emelio stood with her, holding onto her wrist to help empower the flash of light from the mirror.

It was enough to dissipate the darkness, though just barely. Hailia was breathing hard, her arms trembling slightly.

“I do not know if I can withstand another like that,” she confessed.

“You don’t have to,” I spoke up as I stepped forward.

“Luna, what are you doing?” Rayne asked, clearly concerned. He must not have known anything about this.

I wondered if Lord Jekia even did. But there was no time to explain or back down.

Not if we were going to survive this. “We can stop him, Rayne, but you’ll have to trust me. You do, don’t you?” I responded.

His answer came without hesitation. “Of course I do, and I’ll do whatever you need me to.”

It appeared that Lord Jekia felt the same way. “If you can drive him away, then, by all means, do so. We will back you up as needed,” he told me.

I nodded, stepping forward with Rayne. The darkness was bubbling around us again, blocking out many of Hailia’s lights.

I could hear growling that sounded like it was coming from everywhere. I was certain that all of this darkness was my father.

Creatures like him didn’t have true forms and could morph as they pleased, even spreading themselves like the night.

“This is enough! Let us go and retreat before we force you to!” I commanded.

The growls grew louder, and the darkness bubbled in front of us before shooting out at me. Rayne was quick to move in front of me, cutting through it to stop it before it could reach me.

A golden glow again surrounded both of us as he did, and the Fallen screeched as the darkness seeped and didn’t reform. “Looks like you can’t regenerate as easily now. Good to know,” Rayne commented, flexing his bloody claws.

The darkness reared back, now condensing into a large cloud several feet in front of us. It tried to shoot out another pillar of smoke toward us, but Rayne cut it down again.

Undeterred, it tried again, but each time, he and Lord Jekia were able to stop it. Before we knew it, the cloud fell to the ground, turning back into the Fallen.

He was now cut up and bleeding, glaring angrily at us; in particular, me.

“Little traitor! You will never belong anywhere!” he spat.

“Maybe not, but I certainly don’t belong with you,” I countered.

I glanced at Hailia. “Please allow me to see your mirror so we can end this now.”

Hailia nodded, handing it to me. It was a small oval mirror with a silver jeweled back, only about the size of my palm, but it would be enough.

The glass of the mirror lit up as I held it toward the Fallen, enveloping him in golden light. His dark wings surrounded him as he struggled to get out of it, and I could see smoke coming off of him.

The floor under him cracked but wouldn’t open as it needed to swallow him back into the Abyss. I winced as I focused harder, trying to force it to happen.

I couldn’t let up now. If I did, then he’d escape and keep coming back after us. Suddenly, a hand grasped my wrist.

I opened my eyes to see Rayne standing beside me. Lord Jekia stood at my other side, holding my other wrist.

The light around us grew brighter as they did, and a loud cracking sound filled the room as the floor under the Fallen began to open. The smell of brimstone and fire filled the air, and the Fallen reared his head back, letting out a howl before turning into a black cloud again and being pulled down into the opening, which immediately closed once he was gone, only leaving the nauseating smell of sulfur hanging in the air.

The room became very quiet as we stood there, our hard breathing the only sounds cutting through the silence. The glow that had surrounded me, Rayne, and Lord Jekia faded, as did the power from the mirror.

I could feel my body beginning to shake as everything set in. We’d actually done it.

We’d been able to fight back and finally banish this Fallen for good. Rayne grabbed me before my legs could give out, and I held onto his shoulders, feeling both exhausted and relieved.

“It worked,” I breathed. “He’s finally gone.”

“It’s okay now. It’s over,” Rayne promised, hugging me back.

I felt him look toward Lord Jekia. “Are you okay, Father?”

“I will be fine. I’ve had much worse wounds before. How about you?” Lord Jekia answered.

“I’m good. It’s more superficial than anything,” Rayne promised.

“It is…over, is it not?” I heard Lucille ask.

I opened my eyes to see her and Hailia standing near us.

Hailia’s face had changed back to normal, and she was holding her shaking older sister’s arms.

“It is. That Fallen has finally been banished and will not be returning,” Emelio assured her.

“May we leave this place?” Hailia asked. “I don’t believe it’s a good idea to linger too long in a realm created by one of them.”

“Probably not,” Emelio agreed.

Rayne looked toward the altar, where Camille’s body still lay under a sheet. “What should we do about her?”

“We can’t simply leave her here. Everyone deserves a proper burial,” I reminded them.

Lord Jekia nodded in agreement. “Yes, that is true,” he conceded.

He then turned to Lucille. “We will return home and ensure that her body is returned as well, but there will also be much to discuss here, Lucille. I believe you are well aware of that.”

Lucille nodded. “I understand, and I promise to be honest with you,” she assured him.

“We’ll deal with that as we need to, but for now, let’s finally leave this terrible place,” Emelio interjected, raising his hand.

I held onto Rayne as the nearby wall began to crack. Beams of light seeped in, crumbling the wall until there was an opening that appeared to lead out into a bright garden.

While I felt like Emelio was downplaying the situation now that it was over, I supposed it was okay. After all, my father had been Lord Jekia’s hidden enemy for years, and I needed to stand up for myself against him as well.

Now that he was gone, all the painful chapters could be closed. But with this closure also came uncertainty about what the future held.

Was I truly ready to face the prospect of being a mother, and would Rayne accept this once he found out? For now, I’d have to wait to find out.