Authors: Holly Dae
“I’m looking!”
Malakha
tried to split her focus then, but found that hard when she saw the dragon
shoot up into the air and start to make another descent. Malakha jumped off the
edge of the building, again rolling a distance on the dirt ground before
stopping. Her entire body ached, but she got up anyway, looking at the scythe
in her hands and deciding to put it to good use.
She
stood her ground and began to swing the scythe in her hands. When the dragon
dived down upon her this time, she ran toward it, sliding under its body and
cutting its underbelly. The dragon roared and collapsed to the ground, but
Malakha knew better than to think it was down for the count though and ran away
from the town, hoping to get the dragon into open space. Malakha wasn’t sure
that was particularly wise, but it would at least get the dragon away from
everyone else.
“…a pr… or chant… It in… I don’t know…”
“Are you sure…
work
?”
Malakha
only heard bits and pieces of what her two friends were discussing as she was
so focused on putting as much distance between her and the dragon as possible,
but obviously Malak had found something. When she was at least starting to get
out of the crowded downtown area of the city, Malakha began to slow down and
turned to see if the dragon was behind her. She caught something in the sky
headed toward her and began to swing the scythe in preparation to knock the
dragon out of the sky.
It was
only when she heard its loud shrill caw that she realized it wasn’t the dragon,
but Julius’ overgrown bird Malakha wasn’t sure that was a good thing, and she
instinctively fell forward on her stomach, the bird’s talons barely missing
scratching her back as it landed behind her. Malakha rolled over to look at it
as it circled back around and cawed as it headed toward her.
“Hold
on!” Malakha yelled rushing to her feet. “Remember me. Julius’… friend,”
Malakha said though she was pretty sure that didn’t stand true anymore.
The bird
cawed again, this time not diving down on her, but circling above her like a
vulture or something.
“That
doesn’t bode well,” Malakha muttered and then she… well Malakha wasn’t quite
sure what happened, only that her reflexes or something had gotten better
because she jumped out the way
before
she
heard the wings or roar of the dragon and jumped onto its head when it dived
after her again. She ran backwards down the length of its body as it curved
around to attack her. Malakha swung her scythe, missing her target, but caused
the dragon to rear back.
Once
she was back on the ground, Malakha began twirling the scythe again and the
dragon slithered around to face her. When it dived at her again, mouth open
wide, Malakha charged ahead and swung the scythe into its teeth. The scythe
didn’t cut them, but forced the dragon to rear back for another attack. Malakha
didn’t let it and continued to charge forward while swinging the scythe at the
dragon. The dragon continued to slither back and Malakha even got a few good
hits in. Then the dragon realized Malakha’s only advantage was the scythe, and
it used its arms to try to grab the weapon out her hands.
Malakha
had no intention of letting the weapon go, but the dragon shook her off the
weapon and then threw the scythe away from them.
“That’s
not good,” Malakha muttered and decided once again to try to get through to the
beast.
“Julius. Do you want to go back
to talking this over like civilized human beings?”
The
response was a roar as the dragon dived down at her again. Malakha wasn’t fast
enough and though she wasn’t hit directly, the force sent her flying into the
side of a building, a building Julius’ eagle was now perched on. When the
dragon dived to attack Malakha while she was disoriented, the eagle cawed and pecked
at the dragon to keep it away from its perch. Annoyed, the dragon reared back
and lunged at the eagle. The eagle flew into the air and then dived toward the
dragon. It managed to grip the dragon in its talons for a second before
dropping it when the dragon tried to bite out its chest.
Malakha
stood up, ignoring the ache in her body, particularly the one in her shoulder,
as the eagle dived once more to try to grab the dragon, but missed. As it was
beginning to ascend again, Malakha ran toward the bird and latched onto its
tail feathers. The bird cawed as its balance was thrown off, and while it
faltered in the air, Malakha pulled herself up to climb onto the eagle’s back
near its neck.
The
only two times she had been on the bird, Julius had steered it in the right
direction so Malakha wasn’t sure exactly how to tame the bird. All she knew was
that it had something to do with the feathers.
The
eagle was about to dive again, but Malakha didn’t want that, so she tugged on
the bird’s feathers, forcing it to continue ascending into the air. The dragon
followed.
“Okay,”
Malakha said as the eagle circled to face the dragon. “Now let’s see how hard a
dragon falls.”
Malakha
didn’t try to stop the eagle as it flew headfirst toward the dragon. It flew
out of the way the first time and the second time, even the third time, but on
the eagle’s fourth try, it managed to grab the dragon by the tail and circle
the air with it before swinging it into a building and letting go.
The
eagle cawed in triumph, but Malakha was certain the dragon wasn’t down. She was
proven right when the dragon roared and took to the skies again, but this time
it was shaky, unbalanced.
“The
tail,” Malakha said. If she could damage it enough, she might be able to bring
the beast down, but the scythe…
Malakha
frowned, unable to quite describe what she was feeling. It was less than a
shock or jolt, but more than a tingling. It almost felt like a numbing
sensation, but a warm one. Whatever it was made Malakha able to stand on the
back of the eagle even as it got ready to strike the dragon head-on again. When
it began to make its charge, Malakha ran up the bird’s back, neck and head and
leapt onto the top of the dragon’s head. She held out her hand and the scythe
from earlier flew to her waiting hand. Then she began to slide down the scaly
back of the dragon, and when she was little more than halfway down, she pierced
its tail with the scythe and made a long gash along the length of its tail.
As the dragon roared in pain, Malakha leapt
off its tail and back onto the back of the eagle. The dragon fell from the sky
and crashed into the ground, kicking up dust and debris into the air. When the
dust began to clear, Malakha was able to make out the form of the dragon
shifting again, back to its human form. Malakha frowned. She wasn’t even sure
she could call these things any kind of human despite how they looked.
Somehow,
she forced the eagle to get close enough to the ground so that she could jump
off, deciding that she would ponder how exactly she managed to land neatly on
her feet like she was at all athletic later.
By the
time she was standing next to him, the dust had already cleared and Julius was
back in his human form more than a little worse for wear and naked.
“Now
let’s talk about those demons terrorizing my school and you trying to seduce me
buddy,” Malakha said putting the scythe near the Hell prince’s neck just in
case he had any more surprises besides being able to shapeshift into a dragon.
******
“Bastard,”
Malakha muttered.
“Don’t
you have any other insults?” Julius asked.
“Bastard
seems to be the only one befitting to you,” Malakha said as she continued to
wipe the blood off the inside of Julius’ legs.
She had
no idea how he managed to talk her into cleaning his wounds instead of leaving
him to bleed in the middle of the street since she was pretty sure it would
take a lot more than that to kill him. He convinced her somehow though and even
after she had defeated him, he still managed to act like an arrogant jerk. Then
again, what else could she expect from a Hellion prince.
“Don’t
be like that,” Julius began, but Malakha cut him off.
“Don’t
even start. If I recall, you saying that to me is how we got to fighting in the
first place. Don’t make me have to kick your ass again. Next time I’ll just
leave you naked in the middle of the street.”
Julius
huffed, not seeming at all shamed that Malakha had seen him in such a state,
even after she said earlier,
“Well this
is a nice change. Now I see what you mean about that view.”
“It was
a fluke. Where did you get all strong like that?” he asked.
“Secret,”
Malakha said blandly as she stood up. The truth was she wasn’t sure, but
Malakha didn’t think he needed to know that, only that she’d figure it out and
do it again if she had to.
He gave
her a sly grin.
“Now that
you’re all clean,” Malakha said tossing the ruined cloth into a broken chair
lying in the even more ruined building they were in, “Let’s talk about you and
your little minions haunting my school.”
“Well
how else am I going to get you to come back here?”
Malakha
grabbed the scythe off the ground—the ability to summon it having disappeared
earlier—and pointed it to Julius. Julius laughed.
“You
wouldn’t.”
“Don’t
try me,” Malakha warned.
Julius
rolled his eyes, still looking more amused than anything, and said, “Fine. You
win. No more terrorizing people to get your attention, and I’ll see what I can
do about the other stuff.”
“There’s
no seeing. If I have to come back here, you’ll end up like that harpy I stole
these boots from.”
“I hope
you’re very aware that this isn’t doing anything but making me
want
to find a way to force you to stick around more, right?
You’d make a good queen of Hell.”
Malakha
glared at him pointing the scythe at him once more.
“That’s
no way to say farewell to a friend.”
“All
things considered,” Malakha began, “I don’t think we classify as friends. Be
glad I’m leaving you alive.”
That
was more for her benefit than to show any mercy toward Julius. She wasn’t sure
what kind of relationship Julius had with Lucifer, but she was pretty sure
Lucifer would not be happy if he found out she had killed his son and that
meant more trouble for her.
Malakha
turned around to leave, looking again for the background noise, but she stopped
as another thought came to mind. That and Julius was standing in front of her
as she did so.
“I
guess you’re not as hurt as you look,” Malakha said dryly, pointedly avoiding
looking anywhere but his face. He was still naked after all. Before he could
respond she asked, “Why did you tell me?”
“Tell
you what?”
“Tell
me that you were behind everything, that you had the power to stop everything.
Seems like you could have just led me on the entire time.
It
might have been much easier to seduce me to your way of thinking. I would have
never suspected you.” She actually had been starting
to
really like him, but Julius didn’t need to know that if he didn’t already know.
Julius
laughed. Then he said, “Because while it’s entertaining to watch a person fall
and have no clue they’re falling, it’s much more entertaining to watch a person
fall when they know they’re falling and there’s nothing they can do to stop it.
It will be an entertaining challenge.”
Malakha
huffed. “You’ve just made things harder for yourself.”
She
began to search for the background noise again and seeing the faraway look in
her eyes as she found it, Julius asked, “Leaving without a farewell kiss?”
“This
isn’t a farewell. It’s good-bye. And don’t push your luck,” Malakha said
raising the scythe between them.
Julius
didn’t seem to care and began to close the gap between them anyway, but by then
it was too late. Malakha already felt like she was floating again, as Hell
began to blur and she saw what looked like a mirage of her own world that was
getting clearer and clearer as she floated towards it. Then she was back in her
world and back in her body, but she didn’t gain control over her body again.
Instead, as soon as she registered the pain her body was in, she promptly
blacked out.
Chapter
Fifteen
Convictions
Malakha’s
entire body ached. So while she had been awake for a while, long enough to
glance at the clock and tell it was six in the morning and long enough to scan
the room and see that Malak and John were gone and Sabrina was sleep against
her bed, Malakha hadn’t quite found the will to make herself get up.
It
wasn’t until close to seven that Malakha was able to drag
herself
out of bed, grab some clothes out of her drawer, and make her way to the
bathroom. Malakha turned on the light and faced the mirror. She was immediately
sorry she had done so.
There
were bags under her eyes and blood stained the entire left arm of her jumpsuit
from where the wound in her shoulder had reopened. Her hair was in disarray,
but it was nothing a little braid spray wouldn’t be able to take care of. After
she peeled off the jumper, the bruises on her arms from where Julius had thrown
her around in his dragon form became visible. Malakha had half the mind to go
back and kill him, but decided she had enough of him, and she didn’t need Julius
to get any ideas.
Malakha
sighed and left the bloody clothing on the floor, making a mental note to go to
the laundry later. Her feet felt heavier than normal as she began to climb into
the shower and she looked down to see why. The boots she had stolen from the
harpy had come back across the divide with her. One of these days, she was
going to figure out what could come back across the divide with her and why.
She kicked off the boots and climbed into the shower.
After letting the hot water soothe her aching
body and wash away most of the blood, Malakha ran a bath to let her soiled
clothes soak and then threw on some sweats and a long sleeved top before
stepping out the bathroom. Sabrina was up now, sitting on her bed and rubbing
her head as though fighting off a headache.
“Malakha!”
she said standing up. Sabrina ran to Malakha with the intention of crushing her
in a hug, but Malakha held up her hands.
“My
body aches in places I didn’t know could ache Sabrina so no hugs of relief
right now please,” Malakha said throwing her towel in the dirty hamper. Then,
feeling the soreness starting to return to her, Malakha bent her leg behind
her, grabbed her ankle and began to pull. “Is my whole body supposed to ache
like this?”
“Be
glad the only thing you’re feeling is just some aches,” Sabrina said in a tone
Malakha was all too familiar with. It reminded her of her mother sometimes.
“If John hadn’t known how to read that Hebrew you would have been a
lot worse.”
Malakha
looked up as she grabbed her other ankle, hopping a little so that she could
gain her balance.
“Hebrew?”
Malakha asked.
“Yeah.
It was… some kind of chant or prayer Malak found. It
was so ridiculous. We didn’t even think it would work but the cuts and bruises
stopped appearing after that so we guessed it was working,” Sabrina replied.
“You
mean these,” Malakha said holding out her arm.
“Yeah,”
Sabrina said. “You sounded like you were getting beat up. You… your body... it
kept taking sharp intakes of breath and acting like the wind was being knocked
out of it even though it was just
lying
there and then
the cut on your shoulder started to open up. It was bleeding so
bad
. I ruined a towel trying to stop the bleeding.”
“So…
what did the prayer do?”
Sabrina
shrugged. “We’re not sure, but your body wasn’t injured anymore after that and
the bleeding on your shoulder stopped.”
“That’s…
that’s weird.”
“Why do
you say that?”
“Because
in Hell, I could suddenly do things I normal couldn’t. It was like my senses
started to get enhanced or something and I could summon the scythe from far
away and then after I beat Julius, it went away,” Malakha explained.
“Wait.
Defeated Julius?”
Sabrina asked.
Malakha
groaned in irritation. “I don’t even want to talk about it.”
But
even though she didn’t want to, Sabrina forced the details out of Malakha, even
the parts where Julius kissed her. Sabrina was so engrossed in the tale that
she was almost late to class. Malakha decided not to go, feeling that she would
be able to get away with not going for the rest of the week considering how
traumatic the first part of her week had been, and that was without including
going to Hell.
At
first, she lay around, letting her tired muscles relax. But then she grew
bored… well bored wasn’t the word as much as it was anxious. She looked at the
boots across the room, the ones she had taken from that harpy; the only
evidence that her experience had been real.
Evidence.
She owed John some proof.
With
that thought, Malakha slipped on a pair of tennis shoes and made her way down
to the living area of the dormitory and then into the adjacent hall that
connected it to the rest of the school. Most of the nuns and monks were busy
with a class or another so no one was in the halls to stop her this time when
she crossed the large hall with glass stained windows that took her to the
church side of the building.
Malakha
decided to check the sanctuary first. If he wasn’t there she’d just ask around.
Thankfully he was sitting in the sanctuary, kneeling before the altar at the
front that depicted Jesus hanging on the cross. Malakha knelt next to him and
set the boots next to her, content to let him finish his prayers first, but he
looked up almost as soon as he felt her kneel down next to him. He didn’t turn
to look at her though.
“Sorry.
I wasn’t trying to disturb you,” Malakha said.
“That’s
fine,” John said continuing to kneel before the altar. “I was going to come
check on you myself later, but I’m glad you found me first. That at least
proves that you’re alright.”
Malakha
grabbed the boots and sat them in front of the two. “I brought these back from
hell. Trust me. I didn’t already have them in my closet. I stole them.
From a harpy.”
“I
don’t need any more proof that you were telling the truth than what I saw last night
Malakha. It was… disturbing to say the least.”
“I
figured as much from Sabrina,” Malakha replied. “She also told me that your
prayer… it helped me. Thanks for not thinking I’m crazy and for everything else
I guess.”
“It
wasn’t my prayer,” John said. “I just said the words because I could read them.
I didn’t even think they would work until they started.”
“Either
way something in the universe was activated by it. I wouldn’t have been able to
defeat Julius without it.”
“Julius?”
John asked.
Malakha
sighed. “Let’s just call him my own personal demon and as much as I would like
to never see him again, I don’t think this is the last time I’ll have to deal
with him.”
“So you
were possessed in a way?” John joked.
“Yeah,
but no amount of exorcisms will get rid of him although I’m starting to wish it
were that simple,” Malakha said rubbing the bruises on her arms.
“There
are different kinds of exorcisms Malakha and not all of them involve sitting
you in a chair and letting someone bring them out. We all have demons and the
best way to fight them is on our own. Your fight is just a little more
literal,” John said.
He
still hadn’t turned to look at her and so Malakha followed his gaze to the
statue of Jesus, Christ, nailed to the cross. The image had never invoked much
of anything in Malakha spiritual or emotional. To her, it was just a tragic
piece of art. Someone had called her a heathenish sociopath for voicing that
opinion when she was younger. But whether or not that was true, Malakha still
never found a way to relate to the image.
“So,”
Malakha asked keeping her gaze on the statue. “Are you here questioning the
foundations of your belief after last night?”
“No. In
fact, my convictions have been strengthened because of it and my understanding
has deepened.”
His answer
surprised Malakha. A less convicted person might have been rocked to the core
by what they had witnessed. Then again, John hadn’t really witnessed anything.
He only had Malakha’s testimony as prove that there was a hell that was very
different from the one Catholicism taught. The only thing he had seen was her
bruised body, the result of her struggles in Hell.
“What
about you? Have your convictions changed?”
That
was easy.
“No.”
Malakha replied simply.
John
didn’t say anything, and Malakha guessed he was waiting for her to elaborate.
“I
believe there is a Hell and I believe there is a Heaven and I still believe
they co-exist, but on two different planes of earth. Nothing has changed.”
“But
you met Satan, right?”
“I met
Lucifer.”
“Who
was kicked out of our plane and sent to Hell.”
“But
not by God. Religion is just based on an old conflict between the people on
earth.”
“So you
don’t believe there is anyone who might be the God to Hell’s Lucifer”
Malakha
sighed and then said, “I’ve been to Hell and I’ve met Lucifer. So I believe in
Hell and I believe in Lucifer or Satan if you want to call him that. I haven’t
met God yet, and Julius didn’t convince me this is actually Heaven.”
“So
does that make you a Satanist or something?”
Malakha
cringed. “Why don’t we just say I have faith in the truth or something? It
makes me sound less evil and not a delinquent.”
******
The next
few days were different or at least that was the only way Malakha could
describe it. Julius must have made good on his promise because something
changed in the school, something in the atmosphere that Malakha couldn’t quite
put her hands on. Whatever it was, it made the monks and the nuns much more
patient with her and not in the patronizing and condescending way that
frustrated Malakha. It could have had something to do with the fact that she
had agreed not to tell her parents about the fact that the school had her
exorcised because she didn’t feel the need to
yet
and they were trying to make sure she never felt the need.
Still, either way, they didn’t quite grate her nerves as much as they used to
and she was seriously going to have to do some research into Hell and Julius’
definition of “possession.”
“You’ve
been a lot less outspoken lately,” Malak said when he caught up with her outside
the following weekend.
Malakha
shrugged. “I haven’t had the need to be.”
“Or
maybe, you actually learned something about sensitivity and respecting others
opinions and ideas after seeing someone who completely mocked and ridiculed
others for it?” Malak suggested.
“Hardly,”
Malakha muttered, but Malak did have a point. She saw a lot of the potential to
become something like Julius or even Lucifer in herself, especially with
Julius’ interest in her. “What do you want anyway? I know you didn’t leave you
Saturday football game just to tell me that when you could have waited until
lunch or dinner or something.”
Malak
grinned at that. “I talked to Sabrina.”
“And?”
“She
told me about you and Julius.”
“You
mean our epic battle?”
“No.
I’m talking about something a little less epic than that. Like the fact that
you kissed him before and after you found out he was the prince of Hell.”
Malakha
stopped and turn to raise her eyebrows at Malak.
“So.”
Malak
looked around and before Malakha could ask why, he had pressed his lips to
hers. If the nuns or the monks saw this, they would have in school suspension
for life and the thought thrilled Malakha, and it was the only reason she might
have kissed him back. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she
held a softer spot for him than she liked to let on. Then Malak pulled away,
grinning at her stunned expression.
“I felt
like you owed me that. I mean you kissed him three times and you knew him all
of three days or something? And you’ve known me since last semester?”
“Did
Sabrina also tell you that I threatened to hurt Julius with my scythe after he
kissed me every single time?”
“You
don’t have it with you thankfully,” Malak said though he started to walk
backwards away from her.
Malakha
glared at him and started to take a step after him. But she hesitated when she
heard a rumble, like a low roar. It sounded annoyed, angry, maybe even jealous…
She shook it out of her head and followed after Malak.
###