31. Arim

Chapter 31

Arim

I frowned. "You'd think she'd know she can't run away from our problems."

Sava sighed. "Lexa doesn't run away, Arim. She's gone to use the facilities. Trust me. Even on death's door, that Dark Lord would rather die than give in to defeat." He recounted what he'd seen of Lexa's memories from her time in the demon stronghold.

"Good Light, how did she survive?" I couldn't imagine such horror, or that my love had been subjected to it because she'd been trying to save me .

"She used that part of herself filled with Light. The love she still had, even after all the recriminations and hurt, for you."

"That love is why I refuse to take her into a situation where she'll be most vulnerable. I can't afford to lose her. Especially not now." Not after Ravyn.

Sava drank more cinarum. "I understand, truly. But I don't see how you're going to avoid it. Even with the small bit of demon magic I managed to procure, you'll only be able to destroy a handful of the demons guarding Sin Garu, not the ones inside him. Normally, I'd give you the benefit of the doubt against the Netharat . But Arim, I can feel your weakness. It's tied to Tanselm. You won't survive a direct confrontation with a Dark Lord of Sin Garu's power."

"I'm not a total weakling, Sava." I glared at him. "Just because Tanselm is weak doesn't mean I am as well. Granted, I'm not the strongest I've ever been, but I have weapons at my disposal as well…" I paused as something tickled the periphery of my senses.

A Dark shadow slid by the doorway through which Lexa had vanished. Dread washed over me. I swiftly stood and left Sava talking to himself.

"Arim? What is with you people walking away in the middle of a conversation?"

I increased my pace, my sense of wrongness growing. I'd just made it to the doorway when Lexa crashed into me and knocked me back on my ass.

Shrieks filled the air, full of inhuman laughter and rage as the Netharat began filling the commons. The Light Bringers remaining in the area tried to flee, the smarter ones falling quickly behind the few sorcerers and Sava striking back.

I noted everything as I clung to Lexa, my mind processing as my magic enveloped the two of us in a powerful shield while I did my best to strike back at the encroaching enemy. As before, our shared touch strengthened us both and gave me a sense that I was more powerful than this room full of evil.

"What happened?" I asked her as we stood, still touching, side by side.

Lexa refused to stand behind me, a fact that both irritated and impressed me. I wanted to keep her safe, but I admired the strong backbone that would not allow her to be anything less than my equal.

" I happened." The Netharat parted for Sin Garu, a walking Dark Lord/demon made flesh.

"Looks like crap, doesn't he?" Lexa smirked. "He doesn't like it when you give him your signature arrogant eyebrow. Try it and see."

Why was she smiling? Had she hit her head and I hadn't noticed? I scowled.

"Great." She laughed. "Just like that."

"I'm going to carve you up piece by piece, but not before I show you all you've lost," Sin Garu promised, focused on me. Several wraiths fell upon a poor woman not lucky enough to evade them. "Bring her to me," he commanded as he advanced on us.

The wraiths dragged the woman to Sin Garu, who enfolded her in his arms, the limbs so long they reached around her and behind his back. "Would you spare this poor Light Bringer so much pain? Give in and I'll let her go."

The wraiths beside me jeered with grating laughter. The woman moaned, bloodied, bruises already marring her skin.

"Fuck off." Lexa pushed a blast of fire at one of the wraiths, killing it easily. I took care of the others close by, yet Sin Garu only smiled. "We know you're going to kill her no matter what we do. Nothing but death awaits us all at your hands."

"So clever all the time," he mocked. He stared at us and opened his mouth. What looked like dozens upon dozens of sharp, white teeth moved inside his mouth as if living entities. His lips stretched over the woman's neck, allowing for a bigger bite. A drop of saliva touched her skin and her flesh sizzled.

His victim screamed out in terror, but Sin Garu's strength held her in check. I wanted nothing more than to kill him, but with the woman positioned as a shield, not to mention Sin Garu's own demonic protection, I could do nothing but watch with Lexa.

She grabbed my hand and held tight, alarmed with the idea of the woman's death but trying not to show it. Sin Garu lost his smile when he noted our clasped hands and growled and bit into the woman's neck. Blood spurted. He didn't so much suck her blood as he chewed her up like a meal. Demon lights glowed in his eyes as he watched us watching him kill the poor woman, who started to blacken as Dark poison filled her.

"You'll pay for that." I could feel my own Darkness coming to the fore.

"And for so much more," Lexa added, squeezing my hand tight. She shot a burst of blue flame at the woman, killing her instantly. "Now her pain is no longer yours."

Sin Garu tossed what little was left of her body to the side, and several wraiths hovered over it, looking to him with their blank, white stares.

"Take her. She's yours."

The wraiths descended, ripping the dead woman apart. Beyond us, I knew the kingdom lay under siege. Sava battled several wraiths and two Nocumat, and I felt relieved to have him here to control the Shadren monsters, as only he could. Other warriors and sorcerers battled with the Netharat just in this room.

I could only imagine the battle spreading throughout the western territory. Reaching out with a small part of my mind, I contacted my nephews and learned that the entirety of Tanselm was under attack.

I reacted, launching a blast of Light that should have killed Sin Garu outright. The speed and intensity of the attack were on my side, but the demons protecting him allowed him to wave the blast aside, which took out several Netharat instead. Lexa fired with blue flame that did little to Sin Garu but burn some of his hair.

To my surprise, the Dark Lord cursed and retaliated as if we'd done him major harm.

"And I thought Sava had vanity issues," Lexa murmured before Sin Garu struck back.

Joined as we were through combined magic holding our shield, we experienced the same sensations. The violence of the blow hit us hard, since I had no way of protecting Lexa from it. Our defense held fast, even against the cold fire attacks launched by several surrounding wraiths…until a subtle fluctuation in Tanselm's energy allowed for a thinning in the shield.

Deliberately pushing most of my energy over Lexa, I wasn't surprised to for a sharp, brutal blow and consequent loss of energy. Despite the pain, I didn't turn away from our enemy. I kept my eyes glued to Sin Garu, but it wasn't long before I felt wetness sliding down my side.

Immediately, I worried about Lexa. "Blue, are you okay?"

She looked angry but intact, thank the Light. I fed her a little more power, pleased when she made no move to reject the help.

"I'm fine." Her eyes widened when she spotted my wound. "But you're not." She turned back to Sin Garu, her blue eyes sparking with rage. "You're going to pay for that."

"As are you, sister. I've waited a long time for this. Much longer than I wanted, certainly. But now there's nothing stopping us from being together." His tone changed to one of cajoling, raising my hackles. "Why not join us?" Us , I noted, not me . The demons had truly taken Sin Garu over. "Become one with us and the power is limitless."

Demons echoed in whispers around us. "A life for a life, in this world or the Next." As several demons coalesced into black shadows around Sin Garu, I noticed that even the wraiths backed away from their master and his new "friends." Apparently, even the Netharat recognized that demons didn't belong outside their own realm.

The demons seemed to grow more substantive as Sin Garu's minions killed the Light around them. I wondered how long it would take them to fully integrate into Tanselm's plane and what would happen once they did.

Lexa tugged my attention by moving farther from me, weakening our shield. I wanted to call her back, but the sharp look she shot me told me she deliberately increased the distance. The fool woman was probably trying to protect me by making herself a better target.

"‘Us' and not ‘me'?" She sneered at Sin Garu. "Two's a crowd, Sin. But hundreds of demons and you? Way too many. Face it. You were never as good as Arim, and you're still way less of a magic user. You had to resort to demons to equal the playing field. Even now you've yet to really hurt him."

I scowled at her. Had she missed the part where I was bleeding? "Lexa, don't push too far too fast," I warned. Yes, we needed Sin Garu out of control, but not until we had him where we wanted him. Right now, bleeding behind a shield flimsier than a sheet of paper was not where I wanted to be. If only we'd had time to plan this out.

Correction. We'd had time. But I had used it seducing Lexa instead of readying us for the worst. This situation was partly my fault because I couldn't keep my Light-forsaken dick in my pants. The Darkness inside of me that wanted Lexa with an obsession bordering on madness would be the death of us. I shook my head, disgusted with my lack of discipline.

Sin Garu's eyes blazed red, his hands turned into flaming balls of green fire, and his body shook with undisguised rage as he cursed us to the Pit and eternal suffering at his hands.

As he aimed a blast squarely at Lexa, I leaped to intercept it, wondering if our luck had indeed run out.