Chapter 20
Tina held tightly to Uriel’s waist as Uriel drove around looking for an exit, her senses disoriented in the chaos of shouts, the thuds of footsteps, and darkness. The smell of burning flesh burned and bile rose in her throat. If she could only have gotten rid of her restrictions, she could have helped, but between holding onto Uriel and her clumsy fingers, the panic that slammed her heart against her ribs prevented her from pulling away the last edges of the electricity ribbons that wove around her upper arms and shoulders.
She looked around. The electric beams flashing through the darkness outlined men’s bodies and flying shapes that shot through the air, their every descent ending with a piercing scream.
They needed to get out of the storehouse and it felt to Tina as if they were flies caught in a spider’s web, that no matter how much they struggled, the silken net would only tighten its hold on them. Then suddenly the whole place lit up and thousand upon thousands of electric threads shot out from the ground and through the black masses lighting the whole space with such intensity that the light actually hurt Tina’s eyes. Shrill cries cut the air and her eardrums as the light exploded and sparks, together with black, thick drops, rained down on the ground.
Here it is, the opening, Uriel said and the bike shot forward.
Suddenly they were out on the open, the hell of the storehouse behind them. Tina looked over her shoulder at the storehouse, at men and vehicles pouring out of it and the electricity that covered the whole building in a thick net, except for the small opening at the entrance door where more than ten men, all in white, stood with boxes in their hands, slashing with beams and swords through the core of Shadows -- the only way to extinguish Shadows -- that dared to follow them. Uriel, shouldn't we leave?
Stop her! Damon’s voice cut through Tina’s mind at the same time a loud bang startled her. Her eyes followed the sound and she could see the shape of an angel with wide-spread wings whose feathers were marred with dark-grey, emerging from the roof.
She has Abbas.
Tina didn’t know who had said that, but two -- no, three winged creatures joined Angelica, circled, then attacked her. One was Damon, she would have recognised the three braids that floated behind him anywhere; the small one’s white coat and white wings betrayed her as Prva; and the third one was the large monster who had dugs its claws into her shoulders the time she had gone hunting with the Dumes. Who's that? That large beast? And shouldn't she and Uriel be headed toward safety instead of lingering in the place where Shadows darkened the sky, curtaining off the moon's light?
It's Muriel. Uriel swung the handlebar, twisting his body, and the motorbike turned; the back-tire dug into the pavement. Come on, Haniel, I don't have all day.
Muriel? That was Muriel? Tina removed the helmet because she couldn’t see clearly as she stared at the beast slashing his swords at Angelica and Shadows that surrounded Angelica, his large bat-like wings creating a twirl of wind. That was Muriel! Of course, it was Muriel. How could she have missed that, with so many clues? No wonder he had gotten upset when she had called him a monster. She could feel Muriel's presence in her head, it was his power that kept all them mentally connected, so she knew that he could hear her -- she bit her lip -- he wouldn’t resent her again, would he? She shook her head. She should really worry about other things right now. Like what they were going to do now that Angelica had Abbas.
Haniel! Uriel called.
I'm here. The motorcycle in an arc shoved through the window on the left side of the building; pieces of glass flew on the ground. The bike's front tire bumped against the pavement, the back tire followed. He made a turn and came to a screeching halt beside Uriel. From his pocket he pulled out boxes. Here. He tossed one to Uriel before he aimed his at Angelica and the fog that shielded her.
More beams joined, they lighted the sky and wove around Shadows and Angelica.
Something moved in the line of Tina's vision and as she gazed around, she noticed figures crawling out from the sewers and around the corners like cockroaches, their red eyes glowing. Deadeaters. Those were Deadeaters. Uriel, there are Deadeaters everywhere.
Yes, I noticed. They are probably being drawn out by Abbas's strength.
Hold her down! Damon's call snapped Tina's head up and she could see Angelica breaking out from the electricity bonds, shooting up and toward the skyscrapers that rose behind the warehouses of the dock.
She got away! Tina's eyes widened, she had trouble swallowing, and cold whips of dread coiled around her. This can't be the end.
What end? Damon disappeared from Tina's sight, just to appear close on Angelica's heels, both hard to follow with the naked eye.
The motorbike roared, the back tire spun on the pavement, drawing a dark trail, before Uriel released the brake and the bike shot forward between the long and narrow storehouses, which were quickly replaced with taller and taller buildings.
Tina tightened her grip on Uriel's waist and for a moment closed her eyes as the wind rushed past her ears, causing her eyes to water, and the edges of Uriel’s leather coat flapped around her, making her wish that she hadn’t gotten rid of the helmet. She had only driven with the Dumes once, with Haniel, but she doubted that any amount of experience would have gotten her used to the terrifying speed that made her dizzy or the stunts they pulled with their motorcycles, jumping over cars and using the walls of buildings to turn or to jump onto roofs.
Everything around her became a blur of lights and sounds as they passed in the blink of eye, but if she looked up she could clearly see a dark shadow with wings above them, Muriel and Prva, and behind them Haniel, driving like the devil himself. And if she had looked beyond Haniel she would have seen cars trying to follow them close behind.
Where’s your helmet? Uriel turned and guided bike off the road toward the buildings that stood nearby.
I lost it.
How could you have lost it? Uriel lifted the bike’s front, and using one of the parked cars, he jumped up. Well, never mind that now, just hold on tight. The speed of the bike decreased as the machine roared toward the tall building beside the road. He turned the handles and leaned them sideways; the wheel bumped against brick before they flew even higher, as if they had wings.
Tina trusted Uriel, but as they used the buildings to climb higher and higher she still held her breath until Uriel landed on the roof where he accelerated, turning the world into a passing blur again.
She didn’t dare look down even when she couldn’t see anything beyond the flashes of light as the motorcycle shot over the roofs as if they were on a road, knowing that Haniel was right behind them.
How long until they catch up to Damon and Angelica? Will they even catch them?
We will; I can already see Angelica, Muriel’s voice said in her head.
But only as a small dot, Haniel added.
Tina put her chin on Uriel’s shoulder. Can you see it, too?
Yes, Damon caught her; they are fighting.
We better jump in. Haniel came parallel with Uriel's bike.
Don't you dare! She's mine. Damon's voice sounded rushed and out of breath.
We should secure the area around them, Muriel said. Otherwise they might destroy the whole city.
Uriel and Haniel agreed and as they landed on the roof of the business building above where Damon fought against a yellow translucent form for domination, Haniel jumped from the bike, and Muriel descended down and as soon as his toes touched the ground he transformed into his human form.
With their disappearing and appearing ability Haniel and Muriel set four stones in the corners of the buildings, one for each side of the sky, in the blink of an eye. Then Haniel with a press of the small display activated the shield. A red matte dome appeared over the building, covering it and the neighbouring buildings, colouring the moon above red.
Tina stood beside Uriel, her fingers curled around his, and so close to him that she could feel the warmth of his body through his long coat. Her heartbeat wildly and even though she had managed to scratch off all of the beams, she had left a short end around her shoulder, afraid that if she got rid of it, she might not be able to calm her heart enough for time to restore to normal.
Above her, sparks flew as Damon's sword collided with Angelica's long claws. Damon advanced on her, the sharp tip of his sword getting closer and closer until it made its first cut into Angelica’s glittering form.
They were going to win. Tina leaned on Uriel and with the back of her hand wiped her damp forehead. She flinched when Uriel turned; his katana appeared in his hand as he slashed something behind them. Tina’s gaze followed the glint of the blade and she drew in her breath.
Watch out!
A short sword swished before Tina’s eyes as Muriel cut through the man with glowing red eyes who was attacking her, and obliterated him into dust.
That was a Deadeater and as she gazed around she could see more of them; they were climbing on the building’s platform, Prva, Numuns and Prva’s and Damon’s subordinates -- whose arrival she hadn’t even noticed -- reducing their numbers. Another one jumped toward her, and this time before Muriel or Uriel could intervene, she tore down the electric tie that she had left around her shoulder and everything slowed down.
She stepped out of the way, and her gaze fell on Haniel, who was in a half-jump, his long sword wrapped by an electricity beam in mid-swing and Trinity’s blade --, no, it was hers now -- in his left hand. She pried her sword out of Haniel’s fingers and shoved it into the Deadeater.
Nothing happened. She was about to panic, but then she saw the Deadeater’s body slowly changing, transforming into dust. Time slowed down and then quickened again. She used this momentum to slash down another two Deadeaters and sidestep the Shadow that brushed past her.
A Shadow had just passed her! Her gaze followed it and then went beyond and up. The sword slid from her loosened hold. Her widened eyes observed the dark floating shapes that even in slowed time rushed among people, zipping through the dome toward Angelica, who absorbed them, her dark glow becoming stronger with each swallowed Shadow. And wait --Tina focused her eyes, she also noticed something more solid being sucked up. Were those Deadeaters?
She tried to increase the speed of her heartbeat and time became even slower. Yes, they had to be -- now she could see them more clearly-- none of them wore suits like Prva’s and Damon’s men did. How could she do that? Was it because of Abbas, who now looked as if his robot body and the glass jar were merging with Angelica? And was that why Angelica now loomed over Damon, parrying his attacks with such apparent ease? And even Muriel, who in his beast form now joined Damon, didn’t seem to be a match for her.
Tina bit her lip. She caught the floating sword before its tip could hit the ground and concentrated to slow her heartbeat. What were they going to do?
Uriel grabbed her around her waist and lifted her up.
“Hey!” Tina automatically kicked out.
Uriel took a step forward; they went through a strip of blackness and appeared on the other side of the rooftop, where Irene and Tristian extinguished Shadows as if they were candle flames. “Take care of her.” He released her.
Tristian nodded and stepped behind Tina.
“Where are you going?” Tina gripped Uriel’s arm.
Uriel looked up at Angelica.
“You can’t! She’s swallowing Shadows and Deadeaters. She’s getting stronger. You can’t beat her.”
“So pessimistic.” Uriel shook his head before he sprang upward, two bat wings spread behind him.
They couldn’t win; it became more obvious when Prva joined the fight and all four of them were no match for Angelica’s intangible shape that continued to grow and grow.
Uriel, should we? Muriel asked.
Should you what? Tina slashed through the Deadeater just like Uriel had taught her. She refused to slow time too much, because then she wouldn’t be able to hear their conversation, and most of the Deadeaters attacked with their bare hands anyway, their attacks those of wild beasts, uncontrolled and risky, enabling her to cut through them with only the fencing skills she had learned from Uriel. And there was also Tristian right beside her, taking care of anything that managed to slip by her sword.
She was afraid, her heart speeding up time here and there despite her efforts to keep it calm, but she had faith in them -- she looked up at the blur of motion above her, where sparks flew and the clashes of swords against claws echoed over the whole dome.
We are not ready. Haniel, who was on the platform turned a somersault, gutting three Deadeaters in his way. And we can't stay that way too long.
There’s no other way, Uriel said. We have to try it.
Try what? Damon’s voice sounded tired.
Two figures separated from the battle raging above and joined Haniel on the surface of the roof.
What are you doing? Tina couldn’t tear her eyes away from them. Their bodies seemed to glow.
Uriel and Haniel stepped toward --no, into -- Muriel’s beast form -- how could that be? -- and the beast started to change, his body became human-like, his features distorted into an angel-like face, his hair grew until it reached his knees, and an additional pair of wings appeared on his shoulders.
Muriel?
It’s Dume. The man’s voice was warm. This is what we would be if Angelica hadn’t separated us. He stretched his four wings that were twice the size they had been before. The downdraft knocked down all in Dume’s close proximity as he leaped upward.
Tina had to slow down time to be able to follow Dume’s movement with her naked eyes. She watched with bated breath as Dume clawed through Angelica’s energy like it was tissue paper. In a few seconds his talons held Angelica by her throat while Damon pulled the jar with Abbas's head out of Angelica.
There was only half of the jar and a black cloud started to spread from it.
Tina’s heart stopped. That cloud carried corruption, in the form of the plague, the same plague that had spread all the way to Europe when Trinity severed Abbas’s head, the same plague that had carved away a third of the world’s population and terrorized the planet throughout the Dark Ages... They had to stop it. Trinity!
Trinity!
Trinity, please, Tina called her again.
What?
Can we stop it?
Stop what?
The plague.
Give me your body.
What? Why? Are you even strong enough to take it? And what do you intend to do?
Just give me your body.
Tina let Trinity tug to draw her backwards, but instead of losing control over it, she felt something pressing out of her skin, her legs wobbled. She fell to her knees. It hurt so much.
A white translucent silhouette drifted off Tina’s body and rose up.
“Trinity?”
“Yes.” The being looked over her shoulder down at Tina, a small smile graced her lips. “I’m sorry, I drained you, but that’s the only way.”
“What are you going to do?” Tina wrapped her arms around her middle, the emptiness inside of her threatening to swallow her from inside out.
“You’ll see.” Trinity looked up at where the cloud slowly spread then down at Tina again. “When time speeds up again, slow it down for me, will you?”
Tina nodded and leaned on her hands. “You will come back, right?”
Trinity stilled for a moment, and suddenly Tina could see before her eyes her mother’s retreating back. She reached out. “Promise me you will be back.”
“I’m sorry, I don't think I will be able to. I was never meant to be in this form and I... I’m sorry, but this is goodbye.”
“No.” Tina lifted herself up onto her knees and reached out for Trinity as if she could grab her and pull her down. She wasn’t ready to part with Trinity. She wasn’t ready to bear the empty place where Trinity had been. Why did everybody always leave her? “Please, Trinity, please don’t go.”
“It’s the only way,” Trinity said.
“What am I going to do without you? I can’t be on my own again.”
“You won’t. You have the Dumes now and Damon. You’ll be fine.”
No, she wouldn’t be fine, but there was nothing she could do but watch Trinity float up and wrap her glittering form around the black cloud, swallowing the darkness. Her pulse slowed down.
“I won’t allow that!” Angelica’s voice pierced the air.
Tina sped up her heart, just as she promised Trinity. Her hands fisted over her chest and something stung her eyes. She was losing her.
Angelica still continued to suck into her form every Shadow and Deadeater under the dome. Then her shape started to shift; the Shadows and Deadeaters screamed and fought to crawl out from Angelica, one even managed to push out of her to his waist. He looked familiar, he looked similar to that that Deadeater, Petsha.
A beam of pure energy from Angelica flew toward Trinity, while another shimmering and slightly smaller part curled into a Deadeater.
A shimmer in the corner of Tina’s eye made her turn her head and she saw Dume’s image rotating with Muriel’s, Haniel’s and Uriel’s. What’s going on? She started to tremble. Not them, too.
Haniel fell down, he landed on the floor like a cat and killed any Shadows and Deadeaters that his sword would reach as he moved in Tina’s direction.
Uriel, Muriel and Prva jumped after the energy part, while Damon took hold of the Deadeater’s neck. Abbas’s empty jar fell down to the floor.
“Are you okay?” Haniel squatted before Tina.
Tina looked at Haniel. She swallowed the lump in her throat before she spoke up, her voice breaking. “We are going to lose her.”
“I know.”
Tina could feel the wetness on her cheek, she wiped it with a back of her hand, and when her eyes met with Haniel’s, she could felt as if his face and feelings mirrored hers. She took his hand and squeezed it, her eyes looking upwards again, even though she didn’t want to.
Angelica’s energy reached Trinity, who wrapped her shimmering body around the plague and slowly reduced its size. The energy dove into Trinity. An animal-like scream pierced the air and a violet spark flashed before everything exploded.
Tina closed her eyes and curled up. She could feel the slow motion of Haniel’s arms as they shielded her.
She didn't know how much time had passed, it seemed to her like an eternity, but she held her eyes tightly shut, refusing to look, refusing to move even as hands in slow motion pulled her up. Trinity was gone and it had left her hollow and cold. It wasn't fair, she hadn't felt like that before Trinity came into her life, so why...?
A voice started to talk to her, distorted, incomprehensible, sounding as if somebody were talking to her under water.
She didn't want for time to speed up, but it did, and screams and the sounds of thuds and cracking filled her ears.
“Catch him! Catch him! Don't let him get away!”
Tina could hear Irene's yelling; she frowned, Irene never raised her voice, not even when giving orders. She peeked out and the sight of men rushing toward a silhouette with a man tossed over its shoulder, glittering as it slowly disappeared, filled her vision.
“What's going on?”
Uriel, who stood beside her and held her upright, sighed. “Petsha just took Damon.”
“What? Why? Like Damon would allow that.”
“Damon wasn’t conscious.” Haniel’s voice came from Tina’s right side. “It’s Angelica’s fault. She did something to that Deadeater, possessed him or something, and he fed on Damon. He caught him by surprise. We have to get him, I mean the body that Angelica possessed.”
They had just lost Trinity and Tina wasn’t ready for this, for any of it: for the emptiness, for Damon being taken away -- why did that have to happen, wasn’t it enough that Trinity sacrificed herself? -- for the hole that spread before her and reached down into the buildings’ last seven floors. She just wanted to close her eyes again and never open them again.
“Angelica didn’t possess Petsha. She only gave him enough power for him to overcome Blackdart.” Prva spoke up from above the hole where she floated with her white wings wide spread. “My sister is gone. She perished in that explosion. She probably thought that she could scatter Abbas’s poison in the atmosphere despite that Blackdart’s girl, but it looks like her assumption was incorrect.” A flap of the wings. “I can’t say I’m really sorry, but... My Father.” Prva’s face or contorted into a frightening mask. “By destroying him, you may have destroyed me -- I may not exist long without his presence in this world.”
“Ma’am, I’m sure that you are wrong. Your existence can’t depend on Father’s, not when you have been so long without contact with him,” Anael said from the right side of the hole, Nathanael, Michael and a few men in white standing beside her.
“What about our Galbeliya?” Irene intervened. “Angelica was your responsibility; you should lead the hunt for that Deadeater.”
“I can’t help you with Petsha; I made a deal with him that I won’t interfere with his business as long as he and his Akilueteers stay away from my territories.” With a flap of her white membrane wings Prva left them in the dust that the movement of her wings lifted from the wreck below her. Anael, with a short goodbye to Uriel, swung herself over the edge of the roof; the rest of her company followed her.
“But without Abbas’s presence the Deadeaters will become even more violent and out of control.” Uriel wrapped his arm around Tina.
Tina couldn’t avert her eyes from the hole. Was that Angelica’s final act or Trinity’s doing? Angelica wanted to destroy them all, the humans, to release the plague that could in less than a week spread over the whole world, but instead all that was left was a large hole, almost as big as the one that burdened her soul. And they had lost Damon, too. “Why did Angelica do that? Why did she want to get rid of humans? What did they ever do to her?”
“You heard her: for her Mamaels were nothing but food and didn't deserve to have life beyond her lab or Mamaels’ farms,” Uriel said.
“Beyond human farms? So... It's true. She made us?” Tina turned in Uriel's embrace.
“Yes, according to the annals of the Lost, she and Abbas made you,” Irene answered.
Tina looked sideways at Tristian and Irene, who stood with what was left of their Aradma and Damon’s Ishaaas on the other side of the abyss like they were waiting for something.
What would they do now that Damon was gone? What would she do? Tina couldn't help but ask herself. She wrapped her arms around her middle.
“He’s not dead,” Irene said it like she could read Tina’s mind. “If he were, we would feel it. You would feel it. ”
“He’s alive?” Tina repeated, knowing that she could trust the truth of Irene’s words. The cold hands that held her insides in a merciless knot withdrew under a wave of relief. She had to grip Uriel’s arm for support. Why was she so relieved? She had always thought that Damon meant nothing to her; he was just an obstacle that held her back from being a normal person again.
Irene and Tristian exchanged a glance before their eyes went back Tina.
Tristian spoke: “What do you want us to do?”
“What?”
“Even though you are not Trinity and even though I don’t feel any traces of Trinity in your soul anymore, Trinity left the mark of a Beloved on your soul, and as such you are the first among Damon’s surrogates and your station is higher than ours.”
A dry chuckle escaped Tina. They are kidding, right?
No, they are not, she could hear Uriel’s voice say in her mind.
Are you serious?
Yes.
But she was free now; without Damon there was nobody who would prevent her from resuming her previous life. She looked sideways, at Uriel, Haniel and Muriel, who in his beast form stood behind Haniel as if trying to hide his big, furry body. No, she was wrong. She would never be free because instead of walls there were much stronger bonds that held her back from her previous life.
From the streets the sound of nearing sirens drifted up.
Tina frowned. What was the first thing they should do? Find Petsha, of course. “Try to track down Petsha.”
Irene and Tristian nodded and the next second they vanished. Ishaaas and Aradmas one by one vanished behind them.
“We have to go, too.” Uriel went toward his bike that lay on the edge of the roof, pulling Tina with him.
Tina tugged her arm out of Uriel’s hold. “I’m going with Muriel.”
Uriel scrutinised her face before he nodded and rushed toward his motorcycle, Haniel alongside him.
Tina staggered toward Muriel and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Why?” Muriel wrapped his wings around them.
“Because you might think that I find you disgusting and that I’m afraid of you.” Tina looked up at the grey face with red eyes. “And I’m not. You are my family now. I could never be disgusted by you.”
“You wouldn’t? We are?”
Yes, they were a family now. They might not have been related by blood, but they had a more powerful bond than that. They were emotionally connected through the mind. And they were the ones that would help her fill the emptiness that Trinity had left behind and she would help them with theirs. She gave him a small, sad smile. “Of course.” Even though they were without Trinity now and even though there was someone missing. Damon. But they would find him, she was sure of that.
Muriel returned her smile. He embraced her and spread his wings, then beat the air with them. They soared into the sky just as the doors on the roof burst open and rifles’ lasers lighted the greyness of the sky.
From the distance she could see men scattering through the door in low positions, and red lasers and rays of blinding light as the men probably searched through every nook and cranny, but the only thing that they would come across was a deep hole with debris and papers floating down.
For them this was probably just another unexplained event, which would be announced over the news later as some tragic accident or some kind of weird natural disaster, while for her this was an event in which she had lost a part of her soul and realized that her life as she knew it was irrevocably over. She had also learned that her place now was beside her new family, the Dumes, and even though she still wasn’t ready to live her life among Bloodeaters and there was this vast emptiness in her soul, she was confident that with the Dumes by her side she would do just fine.
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