Page 39 of Demonic Division (The Sundering Duet #1)

39

Dagny

Swirling beams of light shine behind my closed lids, moving through the vast darkness of my mind—not unlike those lights above the Welwigs I saw when I first came to this strange place. I remember how they danced and pulsed above those frosted canopies, adding color to a world so devoid of it.

I struggle to crack my eyes open, a thick haze of sleep clinging to my lashes and holding my lids together. Eventually, I’m able to peek through thin slits, though the strangeness of my surroundings only adds to my confusion.

The thin branches of the Welwig droop toward the ground like the strands on the head of a mop, each one weighed down by thousands of translucent, icicle-shaped leaves. It offers a perfect cover from the elements but doesn’t allow me to see past the small circular clearing at the base of the trunk.

I blink against the haze, trying to recall memories of the past few hours. Waking up with Roark, Lir, and Cyprien. Kaebl showing up, covered in blood. Slaine’s forces attacking. Being locked down in the dungeons with M .

At the last thought, I shoot upright, my vision swimming as the blood rushes to my head. M. He knocked me out. He… why would he do that?

I shake my head, squeezing my eyes tight as a flood of emotions swarm my mind. Fear is at the forefront, but it’s overshadowed by something far more sinister. Desire. That thing in my chest is still aching for M—demanding I find him and strengthen our bond.

Weakly, I crawl out from under the protection of the Welwig. Cold air whips against my skin as I pass through the last of the branches, and I have to squint against the blinding silver light shining down from the sun.

Blinking rapidly, I try to focus on the tiny silhouettes lining the horizon. On closer inspection, one of them has the same outline as Kaebl. And the other…

My throat constricts as I catch sight of M, his lips pulled back in a horrific snarl as he launches through the air toward Kaebl. His body erupts into a ball of flaming shadows just before he makes impact, one with enough power to break the demon lord’s body and knock him from the very sky.

My vision flickers with shadows, then explodes in a kaleidoscope of colors, breaking apart like shards of glass and raining down to the frozen ground. And in the center of the shower is Kaebl. Broken and bloodied, he flips head over feet, his wings jutting out at odd angles as they fight to gain control of the spiral. And then, he just stops. Stops moving. Stops fighting.

He lets go, closes his eyes, and crashes. The ground beneath my palms shudders with the impact at the same time an anguished cry pierces the air. It takes me a moment to realize the cry is coming from my own lips, and even then, I’m powerless to stop it .

The thing in my chest is on fire, boiling my blood and searing through my veins. It builds and builds, erupting in a blinding explosion of light spreading from my pores and coating my outline in shimmering silver light. I throw my head back in a scream that threatens to shatter the sky as a scorching pain travels up my spine, settling in the spot between my shoulder blades and burrowing deep into my marrow. My skin shudders with the sensation of a million fire ants slicing into my flesh, a billion fireflies buzzing in my head.

I can’t think, can’t breathe, can’t move. But I am acutely aware of two wings materializing in my periphery. Shimmering onyx feathers dance in the breeze, catching and reflecting the silver light like millions of dangling gemstones. I’m so shocked from the sight, the pain radiating throughout my body ceases for a moment.

But it’s only for a moment.

In the next, a powerful blast of magic tears across the land, carving a deep crater into the frozen ground that travels for miles and covers my body in angry flames. The force is too much for me to handle—too volatile—and I’m sent flying backward through the air, my wings dissipating once more into the void.

The back of my skull smacks against the ground as the last of my beautiful wings evaporate, and a horrible crack breaks the air as pain flares throughout my entire body. Warm liquid pools on the ground like a halo around my head, and though I try to reach up, my arm won’t move. So I lie there helplessly, focused on continuing to draw breath as more and more blood joins the puddle, seeping into furs around my neck and staining them crimson.

I turn my head slightly, blinking against the fog coating my vision, blurring the edges of the golden-eyed demon heaped in the middle of the battlefield. Kaebl. That thing in my chest rears up, releasing an animalistic wail that shakes my very bones. He can’t be gone. He can’t be.

Powerful red wings beat the air, sending a cloud of snow billowing as M lowers onto the ground. Elongated claws pierce the ice as he touches down, giving his thick, padded feet traction as he stalks toward Kaebl. The runes along his forearms glow molten, casting a warm red light onto M's face and chest.

He looks deadly. He looks beautiful.

Despite the atrocity I just witnessed, the thing beneath my skin still calls for M. It still wants him, needs him despite what he just did to Kaebl. I’ve never been so conflicted, so at war with parts of myself that are integral to my very being. Luckily, I don’t have to think about it for long.

All other thoughts are dashed as Kaebl’s eyes open, latching onto mine like they’re the only ones that exist out here. A small, rare smile tips his mouth, his eyes flashing blue for a split moment before settling back to their usual gold. My chest aches as he lifts a bloodied arm, his clawed fingertips reaching for me across the distance. His last thoughts are not on survival but on connecting with me one last time.

M turns his head, following the line of Kaebl’s arm, and his mouth presses into a thin line. His eye flaring, he brings his hand into the air, and I know when it comes down, the blow will end Kaebl. Before he makes impact, a ball of yellow light zooms through the air, knocking directly into M's arm and sending it off course. M's fist smashes into the ice just to the side of Kaebl’s skull, carving a deep crater and sending shards of ice shooting through the air.

He turns his head just in time to catch Cyprien’s fist, the force and surprise of the attack causing M to careen backward to the ground. He’s down for less than a moment before he’s at Cyprien’s throat, clawed hands wrapping around his throat and digging deep into his flesh.

“I’ve waited so long for this,” he whispers, his tone full of venom, brimming with a deep-seated rage. “Let’s see just how easy the bunny’s neck snaps, shall we?” His eye gleams with malice as his claws extend and rip downward, causing thick swaths of blue-black blood to stream down Cyprien’s neck, pooling on the ground around his feet.

A scream tears up my windpipe but won’t leave my body. It’s stuck somewhere in my chest, trying to squeeze past the fist wrapped around my throat, the icy fingers reaching to the pit of my stomach and choking me with dread.

“N-no… no-not…” Cyprien blubbers incoherently, his eyes glazing over as the blood continues to leave his body. His shoulders slump, and he falls forward onto M's shoulder, his lids drifting closed as the last of his life is drained from his veins.

I think it’s all over when a crackling roar fills the air. My gaze drifts to the sky, where a blue ball of fire hurtles toward the battling demons. Lir crashes into M, knocking his hands from Cyprien as they tumble to the side in a fight to the death. Teeth, claws, limbs, and blood blur together in a flurry of movement and violence, filling the air with unholy shrieks and snarls that send shivers down my spine.

Another roar pierces the air—this one much deeper than the others—and my attention shifts once more as a golden ball of light shoots to the upper atmosphere. My eyes widen in awe as Kaebl’s great wings spread to the side, pumping powerfully despite the blood and flesh dangling from the tattered appendages. His mouth opens in a vicious bellow, one with enough force to shake the ground beneath me.

Light flares out from him in all directions, from every pore, inking the sky with vibrant hues of purple, green, blue, yellow, and red. They dance in the vast nothing, bleeding color into the surrounding air and clouds.

But even more astounding is the sight of the other demons.

Where their borders were once solid, each of the four demons are now flickering, fading in and out of focus like they’re nothing more than holograms. Lir and M cease their fighting at once, their attention diverted to their limbs slowly fading to translucent.

“What the fuck…?” Cyprien gazes down at his hands, turning them over in the light as they continue to fade. “What is…” His head snaps up to the sky, and a piercing howl echoes into the night. Lir, M, and Roark follow, seeming to be pulled by an invisible thread as their heads snap toward the sky—toward the glistening demon lord and the aura pulsing from his outline.

Slowly, Cyprien, Lir, M, and Roark begin to disappear, their bodies dissolving like grains of sand in the breeze. And all the while, the colors billowing in the sky grow brighter. I look from the ground to the sky, realization hitting me like a freight train. M isn’t the core.

Kaebl is. Kaebl is the main piece.

My eyes find M just before he vanishes, and I’m unsurprised to find his gaze already on me, an all-knowing smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. Always so cunning. Always hiding something.

His smirk widens, showcasing each one of his pointed teeth as he reaches up, pointing at the sky. I follow the line of his hand just as it dissolves into thin air, leaving me with the sight of Kaebl gleaming in the night.

Or, I should say, what used to be Kaebl.

The demon hovering in the sky is as similar to Kaebl as a lion is to a snake. Thick, flowing hair cascades past his shoulders and over his back like a snowy white mane, ending in tips colored the same hue as Kaebl’s eyes.

This demon’s eyes are pitch black—soulless dark orbs seeming to see nothing and everything all at once, and they immediately find mine across the distance before shifting to the vibrant bond markings pulsing beneath my skin to the frantic beat of my heart.

His eyes flicker with an indescribable emotion, his jaw setting and a massive, clawed fist clenching at his side. It looks like he plans to fly to me, but then, all at once, Abaddon rears his head back, bellowing an anguished scream to the clouds.

Something is wrong.

I lower my gaze from his face, gasping at the sight of what appears to be a great gaping hole in the center of his chest. String-like, golden fissures spread out from the chasm, infecting the surrounding skin and bleeding it of color as the cracks grow. And as they grow, the demon’s outline begins to flicker, breaking at the seams and dissolving in a similar way as Kaebl, Lir, M, Cyprien, and Roark had.

The fissures spread across Abaddon’s arms, legs, and torso before condensing in a single golden coil, separating his body lengthwise into five even pieces. The cord in my chest pulls taut, causing searing pain to radiate throughout my nerve endings as Abaddon howls to the sky once more.

Through half-lidded eyes, I watch the coil embed into his flesh, separating muscle, bone, and tendon—breaking him apart. His legs are the first to fall to the ground, followed by stomach, chest, and neck. His head joins the other pieces soon after, spewing blue-black sludge across the ice, covering the land in Abaddon’s blood and organs.

A scream tears from my throat as black spots line my vision, blotting my sight as wave after wave of pain courses through my veins. I can’t think, can’t breathe, can’t move. Stuck in a never-ending loop of pain and sorrow and madness, I lie on the ground, watching as Abaddon's pieces pulse and shudder with the last of his life.

Ear-piercing shrieks shudder through the air, and my gaze rises to the horizon, my stomach churning at the sight of the new wave of Slaine’s soldiers flying straight toward us.

It’s over. It’s all over.

I close my eyes, waiting for the inevitable kiss of death, when something brushes against my cheek, calling my attention. I open my eyes, surprised to find Cyprien’s bunny, Bo, sitting on the ground next to my face, his beady black eyes locked onto mine as his nose twitches gently.

I try to raise my arm but find I’m unable, and Bo leans closer, ears pinning flat against its head as it nuzzles my cheek like before. I blink, and Lir’s bear, Honey, materializes in a swirl of shadows, rounded muzzle lowered and eyes fixed on something just over my shoulder.

Roark’s stag, Comet, steps into view, great horned antlers reaching to the skies like pointed daggers. Its mouth opens, releasing a bellow that shakes the ground and calls the other familiars to attention. Bo and Honey hurry to its side just as Kaebl’s snake materializes, its long golden body standing out against the ice as it slithers toward the others.

The last one to join is Nya. Just like the others, she seems to appear from the very shadows themselves, the outline swirling and dancing in the wind before solidifying into the body of a little black cat. Her ears are pinned back, the hair between her shoulders standing on end as she releases a hiss, displaying her rage. I follow her line of sight, finding it pinned on Kaebl’s snake. The serpent has reared up, fangs bared in a menacing display of dominance—or perhaps just a warning not to get too close.

The stag releases another bellow, giving no attention to the cat’s fit as it begins walking across the ice toward Abaddon’s severed pieces. Nya yowls her dissent, looking back over her shoulder before eventually following the others toward the fallen demon king.

The familiars form a circle around the bloodied remains of the demon, lowering their heads to the ground as five matching high-pitched yowls pierce the air. My mouth opens in shock as the animals glow—beautiful hues of blue, violet, yellow, gold, and red dancing through the air unpredictably. It’s barely visible, then all at once blinding and vibrant.

A silver thread appears in the center, diverging and connecting each animal to a piece of Abaddon. Binding their souls together. A massive explosion rocks the land, sending chunks of ice and snow billowing into the air, covering the familiars and Abaddon from view.

When the dust settles, five separate demon forms are spread out on the ice, their skin pulsing weakly with the colors once brightening the sky. The familiars are nowhere to be seen, though I swear before I blinked, I saw Nya’s glowing red eyes staring through the dark. Promising me we’ll be together again soon.

The thrumming pain in my chest eases at the sight of Cyprien, Lir, Roark, Kaebl, and M—barely breathing but alive. I stare across the land, scared to blink for fear they’ll disappear again. Terrified this is all a horrible dream.

But in the next second, a worse fear takes root.

M's glowing red eye opens, finding me across the distance and burning into my skin. My breath catches as he pushes upright, his powerful muscles shuddering as he struggles to a stand. Large, bat-like wings spread out to the sides, beating the air and sending M high into the sky. He tips his head back with a smile, releasing a screech to call Slaine’s forces directly to their location. When he lowers his face, his eyes snap to mine, the width of his grin increasing along with the menacing glint in that glowing red orb.

He waves a hand in the air, sending a shot of magic coursing toward me. It burrows beneath my skin, inky fingers slipping deep into my brain tissue and tearing my consciousness away. I should be afraid. But even as I succumb to the dark, only one thing is on my mind.

Want.