Chapter 15
“Well, Samara, it would appear you and I are always connected, even when it’s most inconvenient,” I muttered in a bitter tone before I raised my wand higher in the air. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe I tried to enter your mind… at least not right now. I’m actually in the middle of something, thanks to you.”
Our combined magic works in mysterious ways, Samara’s soft voice replied, and then she began to chuckle like the wild woman she was. You must constantly be thinking about me. It’s the only explanation I can think of. As much as it disgusts me to say, you and I are closer than we’d like to admit.
“Don’t flatter yourself too much,” I growled as the flying beasts drew even closer. “I do have other things to concern myself with, so I’ll worry about our unpredictable bond later.”
If you live to see a later, that is, she cackled in my head.
When I glanced upward, Alexander was already high up in the sky and tackling the greatest beast in the clouds. My relentless familiar let out a wild, war-like scream in my head as he attacked, and soon, blood began to fall like rain. Chaos ensued, and the rest of the women started to cry out multiple spells to kill the creatures one by one.
“Secare!” Morgana yelled before she blasted one of the winged creatures right in its exposed belly.
Red, slick tendrils spilled from the beast’s gut, and the intestines fell like bloody snakes upon the open, grassy field and then splattered at the women’s feet.
“That’s it!” Vanessa screamed with bloodlust. “Keep going!”
“Dissulto!” Akira cried out, and her blast of violent light hit another beast right in the center of its forehead and sent it tumbling downward in a spiral. Its brains exploded through its eyes, and the pink specs of gore flew in all directions. Akira smiled with bloodlust, pumped her fist in the air, and then jumped up with glee. “Fuck, yeah! Did you see that?”
“Uh-huh, and it was fucking awesome!” Faye agreed before she pierced another creature with a bright white spell, and it disintegrated into a thousand shards of glass.
“Try to aim for their wings!” Vanessa shouted. “It’ll bring them down faster!”
Spells spurted from every direction as we attempted to kill every single creature one by one, but no matter how long we persisted, it seemed like they just wouldn’t stop flying through the mysterious hole in the sky. With my clearer vision, I stared up at the white abyss and wondered if I could find a way to close the opening using the ancient spell of motus. I knew it would be difficult since this attack was based on Samara’s power, but I didn’t doubt myself or my profound abilities.
Not after we’d come so far.
“You’ll soon be mine, Samara,” I whispered, and I could feel the elder goddess’ energy all around me, “and I can’t wait to have you all to myself.”
We’ll see about that, Cole, she hissed. Words are nothing to me. Actions mean everything. You know that better than anyone.
“Oh, I know it,” I replied as I gritted my teeth and stared up at the sky. “Now, watch me as I destroy your summoning portal.”
I pushed the elder goddess out of my head while the other women continued to defend themselves. The familiars without wings did their best to protect their masters, and while chaos ensued, I closed my eyes and willed Satan’s undeniable power to course through my veins and penetrate my heart. I could feel the overpowering darkness like an invisible but potent cloud wrapped tightly around me, and my head spun with supremacy as I pictured the sky closing back up and returning to normal. My heart raced with adrenaline and exhilaration, and when I opened my eyes, I saw the portal growing slightly smaller and dimmer.
“Cole!” Vanessa yelled with wide eyes. “Why are you just standing there?”
“You’ll see,” I said in a low growl while I remained completely still. “Soon, this fucking hole will be dead and gone.”
“With all due respect, professor,” Nyx said as she shot off another spell. “I don’t think we should disturb his train of thought. We should always trust him to know exactly what he is doing.”
“Agreed,” Akira shouted before she burst an ivory-winged beast into dozens of pillowy feathers. “He’s never let us down before, professor!”
I didn’t avert my gaze from the sky, but still, I pictured Vanessa glaring daggers at the blue-skinned Wicca and the ebony-eyed witch. I swallowed hard as I tried to block everything out, and then I closed my eyes once more, regained focus, and then took a deep breath.
With Satan by my side and nothing to fear, I knew I was ready.
“Motus!” I cried out, and when I opened my eyes, I stared up at the bright, white hole and the vast, cloudless sky.
Suddenly, the sky started to rumble again, and my head began to pound like something was crawling inside my skull. It felt like my cranium was going to split in half, but no matter how painful the sensation was, I remained steady on my feet and raised my hand even higher in the air. Soon, the opening above us began to shrivel, and it became more difficult for anything to fly through. I could see feathers and bodies struggling to get past the portal, and as the creatures toiled with all their might, their bodies became trapped, and their appendages were torn from the closing borders.
No! Samara’s voice rang through my head. This shouldn’t be happening!
“Nice try, Samara,” I said through gritted teeth, “but once again, it looks like I have the upper hand.”
Fuck you, the elder goddess hissed. I still have plenty of other traps waiting for you by the time you reach the stairwell.
For a moment, I questioned the word stairwell since I’d only heard about the gates of heaven, but before I could ponder too deeply about it, I pushed the elder woman’s voice away and turned my full attention back to the sky. By now, the opening was the size of a faraway star, and nothing else was getting in. The darkness had subsided, and now the sky was as blue as a robin’s egg.
I’d closed the portal, but still, we had more work to do. There were dozens of creatures on the loose, and we needed to destroy them all.
“Illuminana!” Circe screamed before she set a group of white-winged beasts on fire, and the blonde Wicca’s shoulders shook with laughter as the creatures burned and wailed. “Fuck… smells like breakfast..”
At this point, we’d nearly destroyed them all, but when I searched for my familiar, Alexander was still battling against the largest beast of the pack. The other women took out the remaining animals one by one, and once they were obliterated, we watched as Alex plunged his giant bladed wing deep inside the shoulder of the oversized white beast. For a moment, we thought Alex had him in his clutches, but in retaliation, the holy creature swiftly bit into Alex’s neck, and a gush of deep red blood spurted from his open wound.
“Alex!” I cried out with my wand raised.
I was prepared to rip Samara’s motherfucking beast into a thousand shreds, but something stopped me. It was like a force of some kind, one that was determined to bring my arm all the way down.
D-Don’t do it, Cole, Alexander responded sharply in my head. His voice was weak, but I could also sense the strength in his words, and that’s when I knew his bond was preventing me from interfering. I can take him on. Just watch me… I know exactly where to nick him. He’ll be dead in no time…
Although it pained me not to help my loyal friend, I let my arm drop to the side, and I didn’t say anything while the two wolverine-like beasts danced one final but gory waltz. My body was shaking with nerves, but before anything else could happen to my beloved Alexander, he tossed back his giant dark head, raised his sharp wings, and then plunged both blades into the sides of the ivory creature.
Samara’s animal wailed while it bled to death, and it tossed its head back and forth, unable to move or fight. Then we all watched as Alex opened his mouth nice and wide and then bit the other beast’s head clean off. A spray of blood spurted upward from the open neck wound, and when Alex released the creature, its massive body fell and splattered on the grass. It exploded when it hit the ground, and gore and blood flew everywhere.
I sighed with relief, and the grip on my wand loosened with ease.
“Well done, Alex.” I grinned, and my shoulders loosened, but my smile slowly died when I saw the wound on his neck. It was wide open and bleeding profusely. “Fuck… are you alright?”
Despite skillfully taking that fucker out, I’m not actually feeling too hot, Alex admitted in my head before he slowly flew down and spat a mouthful of blood on the ground. In fact, I’m actually a little lightheaded.
“Oh, you poor thing,” Faye mumbled before she approached my familiar and began to inspect his ugly gash. “We need to take care of this before it gets infected.”
Faye was right. The mark was very deep, at least a couple of inches, if not more. It was a blackish-red, and a glimmer of bone shone through the gash. Thick layers of greenish-yellow pus were already crusting along the edges of the opening, but Faye didn’t seem disgusted in the slightest.
“Can you help him, Faye?” I asked, and I did my best to hide the concern in my voice.
“Mmmm, well, I think I have some guarigione paste in my pocket,” the redhead said before she stuck her hand into her robes and fiddled around. “Ah! Here we go. This is just what we need.”
Faye pulled her freckled hand out, and there was a small vial in her grasp. Inside was a deep orange powder with bits of black bark speckled in the mixture. It shone like tangerine gold as she twirled it between her slender fingers, and when Faye plopped the cork out, it smelled like rotten oranges and withered sunflowers combined.
Fuck, that smells like shit, Alex grunted in my head. It better work.
“Don’t complain,” I ordered before I nodded in Faye’s direction. “Go ahead, put it on him. He won’t bite.”
Faye chuckled under her breath before she carefully dipped the tip of her finger inside the vial and retrieved a pinch of the mysterious medicinal paste. Alex did his best not to budge as the redhead carefully covered his entire wound with the strange concoction and then wiped her hands along her hem.
“There we go.” Faye smiled as she stared deeply into Alexander’s eyes. “Should be as good as new.”
“Thanks,” I said before I turned my attention back to my familiar. “How are you feeling, Alex?”
Better already, Alex replied, and I could hear the pep back in his voice. Can you thank the hot redhead for me?
“Alex says thank you,” I chuckled. “He’s, um… more than appreciative.”
“No problem,” Faye giggled.
“Cole,” Vanessa said in an urgent voice, and it was clear she was ready to move the conversation along. “The compass… is it still spinning out of control?”
“Let me see,” I answered before I opened the wooden lid and peered down at the ancient relic.
The compass was still spinning, but it was going slower this time. I narrowed my eyes at the erratic little device and patiently waited for it to come to a full stop. Then the needle finally came to a halt, and it was pointing northwest.
“Well?” the professor pouted impatiently. “What do you see, Cole?”
“We need to head in that direction.” I pointed, even though all we could still see were miles and miles of green. “I have no idea how far we have to go, but that’s what the compass is telling me.”
“Ah, fuck,” Vanessa mumbled as she ran her hands through her dark hair. “Well… fine, let’s get moving. Cole, please lead the way. Everyone else, keep close behind.”
“Yes, professor,” the women agreed before they quietly began to follow me.
I took a deep breath and marched onward through the endless sea of grass, and we remained silent for several hours. After what seemed like most of the day trekking through fields, there was still nothing but green grass and clear blue skies stretching for miles. More time passed by, and I was beginning to wonder if these fields would ever end. I grew tired, and I knew the others felt the same until finally, I thought I saw something in the far distance. At first, it looked like some kind of tower, made from marble or perhaps stone. It was difficult to tell from this distance, but something in my heart told me it was important.
“Do you all see that?” I asked before I came to a stop and gestured toward the mysterious pillar. “It’s the only thing we’ve seen for hours.”
“See what?” Vanessa began until her eyes went wide with realization. “Oh, wait a minute… yes, I see it. Unholy Satan… is that what I think it is?”
“Wait, what is it?” I asked, and when a cool breeze swept through my hair, I realized the sun was setting. “Have you read about it, Professor?”
“Yes, it leads to a door, and through that entrance, there will be a stairwell leading to the gates of heaven,” Vanessa replied in a faint voice like she was spilling some kind of dangerous secret. “Once we arrive at the small door, a holy entity of some kind should be guarding it. Don’t ask me what, because different books tell different tales. If we can defeat whatever is guarding the precious door, there should be a long, golden staircase inside--”
“And it will lead us to the actual gates,” Morgana finished with a long, drawn-out sigh. “We understand, Professor… but still… I-I can’t believe we’re so close.”
“Neither can I,” Vanessa breathed before she glanced up at the sky and exhaled long and hard. There was a tremble in her breaths, and it surprised us all. “I mean, I knew we could do it, but now that we’re so damn close, it just feels so much…”
“Like a dream,” I interjected, and the blue-eyed professor turned and flashed me a small smile.
“Precisely,” she said before she glanced back up at the dimming sky. “Or maybe even a nightmare. Anyway, we’d better set up camp here for the night. We’re going to need all our strength tomorrow. Satan only knows what will be waiting for us at the front of the tower.”
“Shit… tomorrow will be the day, huh?” Circe questioned with a raised blonde eyebrow. “We’re about to make history.”
“Yes.” Vanessa nodded. “We’ll be against the greatest and holiest of soldiers tomorrow morning. Just as powerful, if not more so than the scouts.”
“Unholy hell,” Akira sighed. “Well, I agree. Let’s make camp, eat, and then go to bed.”
“Do you think they’ll write ballads or chapters about us?” Circe asked with a twinkle in her snake-like eyes. “Once all of this over?”
“That would be so cool, wouldn’t it?” Akira breathed in a dream-like voice. “I’d love to return to Scholomance and hear them chanting our names.”
“It’s not about the glory, ladies,” Vanessa said, but I could tell a part of her longed for a legacy of her own.
The women mumbled their agreements, and after we set up a small fire, had the familiars hunt for food, and ate a small family of bunnies and mice. Then we cleared the fire, and Vanessa set up two tents. The dark-haired professor quietly slipped inside her tent with Isobel by her side, and when the other women joined me in my quarters, a heavy silence settled over us.
“M-Master,” Beatrix stuttered. “Is it alright to admit a part of me is afraid of what tomorrow might bring?”
“Not at all,” I reassured her. “Fear is a normal and natural response to something as great as this.”
“Cole is right,” Akira said in a gentle voice before she brushed back Beatrix’s hair. “Even I’m afraid.”
“What?” Beatrix gasped with wide eyes, and it made us chuckle. “But Akira, you aren’t afraid of anything.”
“That’s not true.” Akira shook her head. “I may act like I’m fearless, but I’m just as concerned as you. The only difference is that I hide it a little better than you do, no offense.”
“None taken,” the light-haired brunette giggled, and I could tell she was already in better spirits. “Thanks, Akira.”
“Of course.” The ebony-eyed witch smiled. “Now, let’s get some fucking rest.”
We all slipped beneath the silk and cotton blankets splayed on the ground, and while the other women fell into a deep sleep, my eyes were wide open, and my breathing was shallow. Tomorrow felt like Armageddon, and even though my faith was unwavering, fear still clung to the back of my mind. We only had a few more acres to cross, but Satan only knew what was waiting for us between the pillar and the stairwell to the gates of heaven.
The more I thought about it, the stronger my connection grew with Samara. I could feel her energy like it was my own. It took a long moment to understand exactly what she was feeling, but I could tell it was a whirlwind of emotions. Her soul was exhausted, her holy spirit was drained, and her heart was tired.
Still, there was a deep anger in her that I knew all too well. It resonated with me, and I knew we were on two sides of the same coin. Both of us longed to fight for what we believed in, and we were willing to fight to the death to achieve that goal.
I can feel you watching me, Cole, she said in a worn-out voice. Is there something you wish to tell me before we meet? Or rather, if we meet?
“Nothing you don’t already know,” I whispered back. “You will be mine soon enough, and we both know there’s not a thing you can do to stop me.”
I’d sooner take a blade to my throat and cut myself from ear to ear, she replied in the back of my head. The elder lord may not forgive me immediately for taking my own life, but I’d rather die by my own hand than give in to you.
“Samara,” I said. “You know your heart belongs to the darkness… you need to stop fighting it.”
Never, she said in a voice laced with iron-like strength.
I sighed, not with defeat but with pity. I decided to let the elder goddess go, for tomorrow we’d finally see each other, and then time and magic would tell what would happen. It felt like hours had passed, and I knew I needed to rest for at least a couple of hours, but still, sleep eluded me. There were too many concerns weighing heavy on my heart, but eventually I found my eyes slowly closing, and my mind began to drift to another world.
In my head, I saw vast fields of pure, ebony black fields. Dead trees lurked all around, and a steel sky hovered above me. The air was cool and smelled metallic, like fresh blood. Whenever I was, it felt like home. It was the opposite of the elder heavens, and its pure darkness brought a sense of melancholiac peace to my busy mind. I could hear the laughter from hell as the ground trembled beneath my boots, and I knew the souls of the inferno were celebrating. I couldn’t tell if this was a direct message from Satan himself, but I would take my unholy blessings whenever I could.
But suddenly, my beautiful dream was violently disturbed. I awoke with a start, and ice-cold fingers were tightening around my throat. It was damn near impossible to open my eyes, but when I did, I saw a shadowy figure hovering above me.
She was as white as a ghost, with golden wings and piercing blue eyes. She had no facial features, aside from her sockets, and it reminded me of a lifeless doll. Her tight hold on me was growing stronger, and my body was paralyzed.
“Hello, Cole,” she said, and her voice was a soft echo. “Samara sent me to destroy you before you could even come close to her domain. Now tell me… are you prepared to die? Your time has been long past due, and I’ve come to collect your soul and send it where no one will ever be able to retrieve it.”
Her eyes burned brighter as she stared down at me, and soon, I could feel myself fading from this world and from those I loved with all my heart.
Was this the end?