Horns and Halos, page 21
I had been so lost in thought that I didn’t realize Elijah was already about to throw the leftovers. Watching as he picked up the remains, I held my breath and hoped that everything would go according to plan. Realizing that the fire could gain the creature’s attention, I grabbed my canteen and slowly snuffed out the flames. A hissing sizzle sprung out from the fire right as I heard a thud in the distance. Flashing my vision in Elijah’s direction, he nodded in confirmation that it was him throwing the leftovers. Within seconds, the grunt gave a short, clipped hoot of curiosity before it scrambled over to the discarded meat and bones, sniffed it, and dived into its meal.
No matter how much I wanted to feel some form of relief over how everything seemed to be going as expected, my mind wouldn’t let me. If I let down my guard, it could spell the end. As I sat there in a torturous limbo, I thought of how Draki had aided me in learning how to do more than senselessly hack at the air in blind fear. I remembered how he told me to hold the weapon. I remembered how he told me to stab. I remembered how he explained that I had to be in control of the blade’s actions or I would be at the mercy of whomever I was protecting myself from. And I remembered that demons had no mercy.
“Sia,” Elijah whispered. The frustration in his voice told me that he had tried to get my attention for a while now.
Blinking, I looked at him confused and replied back in a hardly audible tone, “What?”
Without a word, he pointed behind me and then put his hands up to his face. I didn’t understand what he meant. The look on my face told him that clearly. He looked exasperated and pointed to me and then, again, put his hands up to his face, hiding his features from me. Bending my brow, I clumsily attempted to decipher the message he was trying to convey. Just then, I heard sniffing and a twig snapping. It was close. Too close.
My body froze. The sudden realization of what Elijah had been trying to tell me was finally clear. He had been telling me to hide. Now I was worried that it was too late to. Slowly turning, I let my eyes walk the surrounding area where I had heard the grunt. It was hopping around and sniffing at the air. Getting up on my knees, I started to crawl backward and further away from the creature. The surrounding bushes hid most of my movements, and the fire recently being put out gave us more shadows to hide in. I wondered how long it would last, though.
A hand brushed over my own, and I flinched as the fear swelled within me. Noticing that it was Elijah’s, I relaxed immediately and resumed looking forward. We were shoulder to shoulder and crouching as we kept our vision locked on the curious grunt’s form as it hobbled and hopped behind the thin veil of the nearby bushes.
Elijah’s mouth was close enough to me that I could feel his lips brush over the edge of my ear. I suppressed the urge to shiver and hyper-focused on the words he spoke. “We need to head away from camp. It seems like it will be lurking for a while.”
Frowning, I looked over our simple chosen area. It wasn’t much, but wherever we put our blankets down and lit a fire at was a temporary home. I had come to accept that. Feeling like I was being forced out of that made me angry and upset. It made me feel helpless. But all of those emotions were replaced with bitterness when I realized that Draki wasn’t there to help me. It didn’t seem like the barrier that was normally around the camp was present tonight. I hadn’t seen him for a while. It almost felt like he had abandoned me. I didn’t know how I should feel about that. Happy? Sad? My mind was a mix of emotions, and I didn’t have time to really pick it apart because of the current threat. It didn’t stop the ache in my chest or the sinking feeling from creeping over my whole being.
“Sia?”
Snapping out of my daze, I dared to look at Elijah and nodded while saying, “You’re right. We need to find someplace further away from here.” Then I started to head back to my sleeping area to try and grab a few things, or—at least—my bag.
Elijah’s hand reached out, grabbed my wrist, and squeezed it in a vice grip. Looking at me, he shook his head. I didn’t like that. I didn’t want to think about how he was telling me to abandon everything. I never wanted to feel the way that I did that night that I fought for my life.
... I didn’t want a reminder of everything that led to me making a monstrous deal with a devil.
He pulled at me and motioned with a pointed look and a jerk of his head in the opposite direction. We needed to get away before things got worse. Grunts might not be smart, but they were annoyingly persistent. If we didn’t leave (and soon), we risked more than just one nipping at our heels.
Quickly and quietly, we turned and started to head away from the camp. We could wait it out somewhere safer until morning and come back to grab our things. The last thing I wanted to do was leave everything here. I couldn’t let myself stop and think about what we were leaving behind. We needed to focus on surviving.
As we cautiously walked backward, we kept our vision glued to the grunt rustling about the shrubbery. But it was the sound of something snorting behind us that made my blood go cold. There was a laugh, one that was soaked in bloodthirsty snarls of delight.
A second grunt hissed at us.
Elijah spun around and spotted the creature. Not a fraction of a second passed before he drew back his leg and then kicked with all his might. The demon was punted further into the desert. Without skipping a beat, he took hold of my hand and spoke in a hoarse voice. “Run.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I wrapped my fingers around his hold, and we both started to run just as the first grunt burst through the bushes with a bloodstained face and a howl of anger. We were already going as fast as our feet would carry us by the time the demon turned its mouth to the sky and shrieked, calling for its brethren. The sound made me spare a look over my shoulder. Letting Elijah guide me, I looked longer than I should have, and there wasn’t a single thing I saw that I liked. Within the depths of the night, there were eyes—more than I could count—and they were all set on us. Shadowed bodies hovered around our camp, ripping open our bags and searching the contents therein. The rest of them were racing in our direction.
“Elijah,” I whimpered.
“I know,” he shot out.
In the darkness, we weaved through the vegetation and hoped we didn’t come across a snake or other demons as we rushed through. The moon was a sliver of light in the blackened sky and gave little illumination along our path. As I felt the thundering of endless footfalls thrum over my own pounding soles as they collided with the earth below, I realized how screwed we were. But that thought only intensified as a high-pitched screech came screaming at us from somewhere off to the side and hidden behind the cacti littering the surrounding area. The blob that emerged and floated about made my stomach drop to my feet. A leech. Any hopeful thoughts were ripped away from me as the cry of the shadowed, wormy mass was answered by something deeper within the desert. It sounded larger, stronger, and like it was just another issue stacked onto our growing list of problems.
“This way!” Elijah yelled before tugging me toward the more rocky terrain.
My feet complied before I could register what he had said. “We’re going to need to climb,” I yelled to him.
He let go of my hand as he said, “Yeah. I see an opening further up. Maybe we can hide from them in there?”
“Hopefully,” I said. However, everything in me doubted that we could hide from everything that was chasing us. I wanted to stop and think, but I couldn’t. My body only knew one function and that was to escape. My mind still felt foggy from my recent sickness, my limbs screamed with pain, my body was tired, and all I could think to do was to run toward the mountain and climb.
Sweat coated my face and dripped from my chin as we practically slammed into the steep incline at the base. My hands swept over the face of the rock as I tried to find something to help lift myself up. As I heard the approaching whoops and hollers, I yelped in frantic panic and searched faster. I only found smooth stone beneath the pads of my fingers. The fear that swelled within me swallowed any sensible thought. I only slapped over the warm surface of the mountain and hoped that I would find a groove ... something. Anything!
“Over here!”
Elijah’s voice made me feel like I had jumped out of my skin. Turning to face him, I saw him higher up and I smiled. As I ran over he said, “I’ll come down and you go up first.”
“No.”
“Sia—”
“Climb!”
Swiftly, I looked behind me and saw the grunts fast approaching. They were tripping over themselves and slamming gracelessly into the bushes and boulders. Flashing my gaze back to him, I shook my head. “No. It will waste time. Climb. CLIMB!”
It didn’t take long for me to find the path that he had taken up the mountain, and I followed after him. As soon as the swarm of demons clashed with the base of the mountain I couldn’t help but scream, “Hurry!” up to him. Pebbles rained down on me as Elijah shuffled above me.
“Almost ... there,” he grunted between labored breaths.
“How close is the cave?”
“Uh ...” He paused and the silence stretched. “Maybe a couple of yards. But the ledge is pretty thin.”
I looked down and watched as the grunts below struggled to climb. I eyed the machete at my hip and made a choice. “You hide first. I’ll try to draw them away.”
He reached the ledge, pulled himself up, and turned to help me. As soon as he had a hold of my arm, he locked gazes with me and said, “I’m not letting you risk yourself for me. Wherever you go, I go. We survive together or we die together.”
As I was pulled up, I let what he said sink in. But the truth wouldn’t let those sweet words live long. On the edge of the mountain with him, I replied softly, “Do you really think a devil would let someone die before they collect?”
His expression looked sad. I wanted to wash that look off of his face, but there wasn’t time to talk. There wasn’t time for much of anything. “I need you to trust that I can do this. You hide. I’ll lure them away and come back.”
From below, beneath the collected sounds of hungry grunts and cries of surprise as they fell down after failing to climb, there was a deep, unnatural scream. We both rushed to peer over the edge to see what it could have been. Combing through the crowd and flinging grunts out of its path was a larger shadow. Squinting, I noticed exactly what it was.
“A soldier,” I gasped.
“We need to go.”
I unsheathed my machete and forced Elijah to take it. “Go to the cave. Stay quiet and hidden. I’ll come back.” I went up on my tiptoes, kissed him, and pulled back whispering, “I promise.”
Reluctantly, I pulled away from him and went in the opposite direction from the cave. I was thankful that it was enough of an incline that I didn’t have to climb more than I needed to march up in a half-crawl. I took one last look at Elijah, and I watched him reluctantly fade into the shadows of the cave as his eyes stayed fixed on me until the rocky walls wouldn’t permit him to. Then I looked down the side of the mountain and noticed that the soldier was already a few feet from the ledge. I swallowed the urge to scream and quickened my pace.
“You won’t get far!” The soldier snarled.
I heard it let out a roar as it leaped up, and its claws scraped over the surface of the ledge as it caught itself and the demon hoisted itself up over the edge. I tried to move even faster. In my haste, my footing slipped, and I slid down until I dug my nails deep into the crevices of the stone and halted my descent. Groaning in pain, I twisted and pulled myself up to my knees and started to climb again as I heard the mocking laughter of the demon hot on my heels. Already, a great number of grunts were pouring up over the ledge. Hot tears pricked my eyes, and I felt defeated when I saw some of the grunts head toward the cave.
I had failed.
As that thought crushed me, I felt long, boney fingers wrap around my ankle. I screamed and looked back to see the soldier had caught up to me sooner than I had anticipated. Ensuring my grip was solid, I held on with all my might and used my free foot to kick the creature in the face. It let go and fell only a foot or two away, and it angrily glared up at me as a handful of grunts started to climb up behind it.
I felt overwhelmed. I could hear metal slicing over stone resounding from the confines of the cave. My heart sank as I saw the numbers flooding the mountain. My mind raced. My eyes shifted about to try and find an escape. Finally, I let go of my pride and screamed out his name. I screamed so loud that I was sure something inside me broke.
“DRAKI!”
My pant leg was grabbed and jerked. I felt rocks slicing over my palms and my fingers burning as they tried to keep their hold. I quickly slid on my back, the rough surface tearing the skin as I fell toward the deadly embrace of the soldier.
However, in the twisted storm of demons, vicious laughter, and pointed teeth waiting to consume me down below, there was the flutter of perfectly flawless pearl robes and long ribbons of snow-white hair overhead. A flash of golden eyes were spared in my direction before they snapped to their new target. A thin, glistening, onyx sword was in his hand, and he slammed it into the throat of the soldier and swiftly pulled it away. A spray of crimson erupted into the night air and splattered all around us like red rain. It all happened so fast that I didn’t hear him land near me. Draki hovered over me, his eyes burning into mine as I was brought effortlessly to my feet.
“I love to hear you lose all hope and call out my name,” Draki admitted with an expression that looked hungry.
The nearby grunts hissed and whimpered as they scattered like cockroaches. Still a bit frazzled, I watched to be sure that it was safe to speak. After only a few seconds, I saw the cave and noticed that the few still brave enough to stick around had chosen the easier prey. I started to go in that direction but Draki stopped me. Turning to him in confusion, I tried to wiggle my arm out of his grasp.
“Let me go. I need to help Elijah.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
When I looked up at him, I saw that his face was free of emotion just like when I had first met him. He wasn’t teasing me or joking around. I didn’t like that. It felt like he was brewing deep, dark ideas. Twisting my arm in his grasp, I tried again to break free.
“Stop it, Draki. Let me go!”
“I said that I can’t let you do that. Stop struggling.”
But I did just the opposite. I saw the grunts rushing for the opening, and I desperately fought Draki like I thought I could win against him. “Let me go! I have to save him!”
He didn’t move. He just tilted his head and stared at me with an expression that felt dead. I screamed and went to hit him with my free hand. I should have known better. I should have known that I was fighting a battle that I couldn’t win. Before my hand could ever get close, he caught it in mid-air and glowered at me.
“Is this how you thank me?”
“I’m trying to save him. Please,” I yelled, tears streaming freely down my face.
Why, Sia?
I’ll come back. I promise.
“Please?” I begged and felt my chest rack with the urge to crumble at his feet. “Please?!”
Draki yanked me so hard that the feeling of absolute despair was ripped out of me, and I was forced into his blazing embrace. A clawed finger forced me to look up into those molten orbs of gold. “Beg me again,” he demanded in a low, cold tone.
My lip quivered. “Please, let me go save him.”
He brought his face even closer to mine and searched my gaze. “You realize that you are at my mercy, right?”
As he asked me, I heard a cry of pain erupt from down below and it rolled out of the cave. My heart leaped up into my throat and fresh tears welled in my eyes. I knew why this was happening. It was my fault. All of it.
“Yes. I’m at your mercy. Please, let me save him. Please!”
“Oh? You know that you are at my mercy, yet you have been avoiding your duty to me all this time, and you still have the bravery to beg me for favors?”
“I don’t have time for games!” I screamed.
“Neither do I!” He snarled in my face. His hold on me got painfully rough, and I felt like I was being crushed instead of protectively embraced by him. “You’ve been avoiding the truth. You’ve been avoiding your end of the bargain. You’ve been cheating me out of what is mine! I’ll hold true to our deal, but remember that you have to do the same, Sia.” Heat caressed every word that came out of his mouth. Those lips were like fire, his tongue like a hammer, and he hatefully forged each sentence that he had spoken to me.
My face was still tilted up to look at him, but now my chin was forced by the tip of his razor-sharp claw instead of the gentle touch of his fingertip. Another cry came from Elijah as he fought for his life. Would it be better if I just let him die there, thinking that I would come back any moment and that I probably met a similar fate on the outside? Or should I crumble right here knowing a worse fate awaited him later on down the road?
Licking my lips, I found the strength to speak. “Save him, Draki. I’ll stop fighting it. I’m begging you. Save him.”
As the grin formed on his face, a fresh tear rolled down my cheek. The devil leaned forward and gently kissed the droplet. Lingering there for a moment, he whispered in my ear, “As you wish.”
His form was there one minute and gone the next. Where the blazing touch had been was now caressed by the chilling cold of the growing night. Where he had once stood was the fading smell of spice and smoke. However, down by the cave, there were unnatural sounds and screams of agony. Fear gripped me, and I scrambled and stumbled down to the ledge and rushed for the opening on the side of the mountain. By the time I reached the entrance, I saw nothing but bodies and blood.
