Soul Savers: Faith Part 9

Since I'd been successful in taking off and landing to bring Tristan from the cliff's edge to the cabin, I considered flying us out of here, but decided to give something else a stab first, because flas.h.i.+ng was so much faster and more efficient. So I focused on my destination of "one hundred miles south of here" and hoped that didn't send us farther away from civilization. Well, not that there was any civilization left on this world, but I needed to go closer to the equator. Oh. Maybe that was how I needed to think it. I clarified my destination, one hundred miles closer to the equator, and flashed.

We appeared on the edge of a dark, lifeless village. No mind signatures around. The place was eerily still, but I couldn't stop and contemplate. Tristan could be dying. I had to keep us moving. I tried flas.h.i.+ng again. This time, I sensed the minds-all Daemoni-close by the moment we arrived in another village, but before I could concentrate on a new flash, a red light streaked toward us and blasted into my wing.

The shock of impact rattled throughout my body, making me yelp. After a moment, though, I realized that I otherwise felt no effects from the mage's spell. The feathers of my wings had hardened and taken on a steely edge along with a silvery glow. Another light shot at us. I immediately folded myself over Tristan and pulled my wings around us, enclosing us within their protection. More spells pinged against them. I peeked out through a crack between feathers. Several Daemoni witches had emerged from the town's buildings, standing on the roofs around us, firing their spells as we sat in the middle of the road. But none did any damage. My opinion of these wings improved drastically.

Knowing the witches couldn't hurt us but sensing the mind signature of a more powerful mage nearby, I focused on another hundred miles closer to the equator and flashed us out of there.

We slammed into what felt like a brick wall.

The Daemoni had trapped us, blocking the flash. We still sat in the middle of the same road. My mind and body picked up on the more powerful mind and magic of a warlock, and a moment later, a spell blasted at us, feeling like a sonic boom that crashed into us. The pressure hit my ears, and my heart stopped for a long moment. I couldn't pull in a good enough breath. The mages circled us, following the warlock's lead. More spells soared at us. I covered us with my wings, wiggled my legs out from under Tristan's body and still hanging on to him, crouched upward as best as I could without removing the protection of my wings from his legs.

"Don't worry, Tristan. I'll get us out of here." My promise was made more to boost my own confidence than anything.

I lifted my palm up just enough from his chest and parted my wings. An electric bolt shot out of my hand at the same time that I launched us upward.

More spells streaked up at us as we climbed to a few hundred feet above land. I swerved and twisted, dodging them and throwing my own powers back downward while somehow managing to keep a hold of Tristan, too. Then I turned us to head toward what I felt in my gut was south. As we flew farther away from the mages, I thought we might have made it. But apparently the warlock had flashed ahead, because a powerful spell surged at us again. The movement in the air sent me flying backwards, and then tumbling uncontrollably. My hands' grip on each other loosened ... then broke. I lost my hold on Tristan.

He plummeted for the ground.

"Tristan!" I screamed as I nosedived after him.

Another spell hit me, sending me off course and farther way from him. I arced around to fly for him again while zapping electricity toward the warlock, having no idea if I actually hit him and not caring. Tristan's limp body plunged toward the ground entirely too fast. I focused on zooming toward him, hoping that even if I caught him, I didn't slam us into the unforgiving ground. A spell flashed by me. I twisted and swerved. Shot Amadis power blindly behind me.

Almost there, baby. Almost there.

Another sonic boom carried through the air. And I immediately knew I wasn't going to reach Tristan before it hit him. I reached my arms out, trying to grasp his ankles, but he was still too far away.

"Tristan," I tried to call again, but the wind carried his name away as my chest tightened and my throat closed.

A gold streak flashed before the boom hit us. Something wrapped around my wrist. I yelled one more time for Tristan when everything around me disappeared.

The air changed-the smell of it, the very feel of it. The sounds of growls and grunts and metal clas.h.i.+ng against metal reverberated all around me. When my eyes adjusted to the new scene, my mouth fell open. Angels and Demons surrounded me, swords and other weapons flying, lodging into s.h.i.+elds and flesh. Silver and black blood flowed like water.

I blinked, but the scene remained. I stood in the Otherworld, facing a golden-haired faerie who held Tristan in her arms.

"Bree!" I squealed, but when I was about to lunge at Tristan's faerie mother, she shook her head.

"I need to get him out of here before he suffers the consequences. Where are the faerie stones?"

"In his pocket."

She nodded. "Good. I'll be right back. You stay here."

Her head flicked to the side, and the veil to Earth parted.

"Wait! Where are you taking him?"

"Where he'll be safe until you can get back to him." She disappeared, taking my husband with her.

My heart didn't even beat once before she returned without him.

I glared at her with my hands on my hips. "It's a good thing I trust you!"

"Duck!" She grabbed my shoulders and pushed me down right before a Demon's mace swung my way. The air swished over my head, blowing through my hair. "Come on."

She became a gold blur darting through the battle, pulling me along with her. I had to tighten my wings close to my back before an errant sword sliced through them. I didn't know if they'd stand up to the weapons of the Otherworld as well as they did those of Earth.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I'm taking you to h.e.l.l so you can save my son. We have to hurry before it's too late for him."

"What?" I came to a screeching halt as my heart leapt into my throat. "What do you mean, too late?"

She jerked me back into motion. We left the fighting behind and became swallowed up in a sea of gray. The light blinded me, and I could no longer see Bree, but could only hear her. I followed her voice.

"His past is bogging him down, Alexis. He's letting the pain of other souls-pain he caused-to get to him. His soul will succ.u.mb soon. Only you can reach him. Only you can save him."

We emerged from the gray fog into a dim light where I could see again. We stood on the jagged edge of a blackened cliff. Far below us, at least hundreds of feet, raged a river of lava, parts of it glowing orange and yellow. The smell of death and sulfur made me gag, and I had to swallow down burning bile.

Bree turned to look at me with piercing golden eyes. "You'll save my son, Alexis?"

My eyes widened, and I pulled back with surprise. Her golden locks flashed in the darkness.

"Of course!" As if she had to ask.

"You're going back to h.e.l.l."

As though hearing the words from her rather than myself made the prospect more real, fear suddenly grabbed hold of my soul and twisted it up. What was I thinking, wanting to go back to h.e.l.l? Hadn't I already lived through enough of it? The memories of the desperate screams of souls and the beasts that tried to eat my own nearly suffocated me. But my poor husband was still suffering through it. And if what Bree said was true, I was about to lose him forever to it. I had to go to h.e.l.l.

"I know." I nodded while expelling a long breath. "I was planning on it."

"You have your physical body with you this time," she said. "Any injuries you sustain are permanent. You may not heal completely, if you even survive. And if you die here, n.o.body can save you."

I pressed my lips together as I let this warning set in. But what good was my body if my soul was damaged beyond repair? "I don't care. He's the other half of my soul. And he doesn't belong here."

"No, he doesn't."

"Then I'll save him."

She nodded. "Okay, then. I'll take you down as far as I can go."

"What's the plan?"

She shrugged. "You'll have to find him, convince him to come with you, and fight your way out."

My eyes bugged. "That's it?"

My life and soul-and Tristan's-were in mortal danger, and that was her plan? She didn't answer me. Golden wings sprang from her back, and her hand encircled my wrist as it had before when she'd rescued us from the warlock. Without any warning, she launched us off the edge of the cliff. My wings covered hers as we soared downward, colliding into the heat that waved off the lava.

"Use your wings to protect you," Bree yelled at me, letting go of my wrist as we headed straight for the burning river. "It's an entrance to h.e.l.l, so we're going to dive through it."

"Oh, c.r.a.p," I muttered as I pulled my wings around me to enclose my entire body. They hardened right before I plunged into the lava. The warmth surrounded my wings, but didn't penetrate them, and they didn't burst into flames. The thickness of the lava slowed my descent down, and I began to wonder at Bree's so-called plan. What if I didn't make it through? Surely she wouldn't have set me up for failure when her son's soul was at risk. Would she? Was she any better than the Angels?

Cooler air surrounded me. Far from cold, but not as hot as the lava.

"Okay, you're through," Bree said, and I opened my wings.

Darkness surrounded us, but the familiar odors of h.e.l.lfire and Demons greeted me, sending my emotions spiraling as panic tried to take over. A fear-filled voice in the back of my mind screamed at me to turn around, to save myself before it was too late. But saving myself was impossible if it meant abandoning Tristan. Again. I shut that voice off as we continued our descent downward until we came to a land bridge that I thought might have been the same one I'd left Tristan on. But he was nowhere to be seen.

We landed on the edge of the lava rock, overlooking the fiery lake below. The distant light shone on Bree's face, revealing features that were close to what you'd think a faerie should look like-large, upward tilted eyes, a pointier nose and chin, and elongated and pointy ears protruding through her golden hair.

"He's fallen farther down," she said. "But my part ends here. You need to get through to him, Alexis. If anyone can, it's you."

My heart stammered with fear, but I nodded. "I'll save him, Bree. Or die trying."

"Focus on your love and your-" Her body suddenly jerked into the air, and she was sucked away into the blackness beyond the bridge, screaming what sounded like "fae."

"Bree!" I yelled, springing after her, but unable to catch her hands that reached out for me.

Her golden hair and eyes disappeared, swallowed by the blackness.

Chapter 10.

"BREE!" I screamed again as I flew after her, but she was gone.

My heart hammered against my ribs as my stomach sank away. I landed back on the land bridge, trying to catch a breath but unable to. What had I done? She shouldn't have been here! I should have remembered Stacey's story about the faeries disappearing. Did Satan have her now? c.r.a.p! I should have known better than to let her come this far with me. What was going to happen to her? Tears stung my eyes at the possible answers, all of them evil. She was in h.e.l.l. And it was all my fault. She had probably known better herself and had come anyway, but I could have stopped her. Maybe. I could have at least tried, if I'd only been thinking. Instead, war had probably claimed another casualty. A war I'd refused to fight anymore, yet it continued on, taking people I loved.

I wouldn't let her efforts be in vain. I wouldn't let it take Tristan, too.

I dove off the land bridge, farther down into h.e.l.l, the burning lake coming closer by the half-second. At the last moment, I veered up and soared across it, searching for my Tristan. I felt out for him with my mind at first, but my telepathy only worked down here when Satan wanted it to, so I pressed my fingers to the faerie stone in my chest and reached out with my soul instead, hoping it would find its mate.

I so did not want to have to face Satan, but when the wails and howls of souls filled my ears again, I wasn't sure which was worse. Horrific images began to flash in and out of my vision. The deep agony of all of the souls in the lake were like three-ton blocks of cement, weighing me down.

"Did you missss me that much?" a slithery voice hissed in my head.

I ignored him, focusing my search on my husband. There. My soul caught it-our connection-and pulled me to the right and down. I followed the sensation, skimming over the lake barely out of reach of the hands that extended from the burning lava, grabbing for me. When I thought I was about to careen into a stone wall, I saw the opening. I flew through the pitch-black tunnel that came to a dead end where a flaming monster had cornered my husband.

At least, my soul recognized my husband, but my eyes did not. His large self was crouched into a ball, as though he tried to make himself as small as possible. His arms were folded over his head, and his eyes squeezed tightly closed. The blazing sword I'd thrown at him lay discarded to the side. The sight of my powerful warrior cowering from this beast broke my heart and infuriated me at the same time.

"Tristan!" I yelled, and his eyes popped open. He looked at me, showing recognition and love at first, but then his face filled with the most tortured look I'd ever seen.

"No." His voice was hoa.r.s.e, sounding like he'd been shouting for a long time. "Alexis, not you, too. Get out of here. Go!"

His words came weakly, lacking any energy or power.

"No. Not without you." I lunged for him at the same time the fiery beast did.

Tristan's eyes widened, and he shook his head vehemently.

"Go, Alexis," he yelled as he sprang to his feet with sudden energy. If the fear of something happening to me sparked fight back into him, I was okay with that. "Get out before he gets you, too!"

I landed in front of him. "Not without you."

"I can't! Their pain is too much. I need to be here. To take it from them."

"What-?"

The beast behind me sucked in a deep breath, and I spun as it blew it out. I expected fire to rage, but instead, only sound did. The sound of thousands of people screaming for mercy, for help, for their lives.

"I caused that," Tristan said through a clenched jaw. "It's mine to bear. I have to take their pain."

Full understanding of what both Bree and he had meant nearly brought me to my knees with sadness. His guilt over his past life as a Daemoni warrior anch.o.r.ed him to this spot here in h.e.l.l, and he didn't even want to fight it. He wanted to take on the agony from the souls here, as though doing so would lessen theirs.

I couldn't remember how many times I'd told him that he needed to forgive himself, and I thought at one point he actually had. Apparently, though, he'd only been hiding the guilt from me, and doing everything he could to be good and right and overcome the horrors he'd committed.

"Tristan, this-" I flicked my hand at the monster "-it's not real. Those aren't the people you hurt or killed. Their pain has been relieved. You can't take this on."

"I must."

"But you can't."

"I deserve it."

"No! You don't."

His tortured expression deepened, breaking my heart. "I see them and feel them all around me, Alexis. Their cries for mercy. I only want to give that to them. Mercy and peace."

"But you can't! Not the souls here, Tristan. They chose their d.a.m.nation here. The d.a.m.ned are the ones you hear, not the ones you think. Look, it's not even real." I kicked the fiery sword I'd given to him off the ground, and it flew into my hand. I swung at the beast in front of me, severing its head. The cries surrounding us ceased. Only those in the distance remained. "See? It's not real. They're not real. You're letting the guilt bog you down. Letting Satan get to you."

He stared at the flaming monster as it collected its head and disappeared.

"Come on. Let's get you out of here." I grabbed Tristan's hand as I prepared to lift off.

But he wouldn't budge. "I can't. This is where I belong."

I spun on him, my eyes wide. I stepped right up against him, feeling the coldness his soul had become. My hands clamped onto the sides of his face.

"You listen to me. You are stronger than this. You are better than this. You overcame all of this, and you've been forgiven. Everybody has forgiven you, Tristan. Everyone but yourself. And I need you to do that right now." I pulled his face down to me and pressed my lips to his. "You are a man of love and kindness and righteousness. You are my rock, my everything, and I need you. Dorian needs you. I need you to believe in us, in our love."

He stared into my eyes, his full of bewilderment and more pain. He shook his head slowly. "He says I belong here."