grown used to my look.”
“As I was saying,” Noeth interrupted, clearly not fond of small talk, or maybe he just thought my conversation was not worth continuing. “You won’t be alone. Those of your kind are waiting for you to return and I will join you.”
My brows rose. “You will?”
“As I told you before, it wasn’t until recently that I discovered just how important you are. A vision has shown me the full truth of the power you hold.” Aaliya replied.
I waited for her continue. She didn’t. I laughed awkwardly. “Sorry, am I supposed to say something here?”
She nodded.
I mulled that over a moment, glanced around at the others, hoping they could give some clarity, since I had no idea what she wanted me to say. After a few agonizing minutes, I gave up trying. “Er…sorry I’ve got nothing.”
Her large baby blues bore into mine, full of knowledge and wisdom. “You do know. It lies there within you. It’s what you’ve wanted for so long and what you know you’re capable of doing.”
Minutes passed as I searched for an answer. A reason to give her. Did I know what I wanted? Sure, I wanted this situation over, but could tell that was not what she meant. Was there something more I wanted?
Slowly, but surely, the answer became crystal clear in my mind. How had I not seen this immediately? I did know exactly what I wanted and the truth was there the entire time. I’d even said it, time and time again.
I gasped, my eyes wide as a hand went over my mouth. Could it be possible?
Aaliya smiled, a bright grin that sent the glowing aura around her to erupt into a bright light. “That’s right, Nexi. Now, there are two things you must know before we do this.”
“What are they?” I asked urgently.
“I’ll need to stay connected to you to protect our realm. The last and very most important thing you cannot forget…not everyone will be safe. Protect those who need it.”
I will never forget…
Chapter Fifteen
My feet hit the grass of the Underworld. Everything from there happened slowly. Aaliya smiled while she held my hands tight as the world around us erupted back into chaos.
Screams and magic came from every angle around. The sky was alight with war.
Kyden’s roar and panic instantly captured me. I slowly turned my head to see him in the state I left him, charging toward me with the Demon Lords rapidly approaching. His expression turned from fierce to one of blatant confusion as he saw Aaliya in front of me.
Beside me, Noeth drew a bow from his back, which seemed to appear out of thin air, and began blasting the demons with arrows, sending a bright flash to graze through the air.
Aaliya squeezed my hand. My gaze returned to her and I smiled. It was time.
I released one of her hands and drew the rune. It only took seconds for me to finish the Alpha-Omega symbol and lock myself into the rune. Time seemed slow even further. The loud screams around me seemed timeless.
“Primoris quod permaneo,” I chanted, closed my eyes and let the words blend together and draw on the source of power from those words, what they really meant. This was the symbol of God and all that is good. I allowed myself to believe I was speaking to him and allowed his strength to envelope me.
Suddenly, wind began to stir, but I never opened my eyes. My hair whipped around my face but I never stopped chanting. Then, a bright light that resembled the orange sun flashed behind closed eyes, followed by a loud bang that brought complete quiet.
My first thought was, holy shit, it worked, and I got the Latin right. Then I thought about the fear of what I was about to face. It was entirely black here. No walls or burning molten lava, just black emptiness. It was far worse than anything I could’ve imagined to be surrounded by nothing, it was cold and downright scary.
Once I recovered from the horrifying hollowness also came the reminder of who I was about to meet. The Devil.
Just as that fear came forth, the presence of someone near floated around me. I’d been expecting a being that resembled a human or some scary-ass mythical creature with horns to be standing before me, but there was nothing here. No visible person.
He was here, though, I could feel him all around me. The darkness closed in. My breath caught and throat tightened, fear