| Chapter 51 Everyone sat in the living room, watching a movie. The thunder roared outside, and the flashes of lightening blinded them. "Wow, that's some storm," Howie said, pulling Kira closer to him. "Yeah, Lyn you do have candles just in case the power goes out, right?" Kevin asked. Lyn nodded, "In the kitchen." A.J. walked into the kitchen finding them and bringing them back into the living room, "Just in case," he said, seeing everyone looking at him. A loud burst of thunder startled them all, and Tara Gail started to cry. "Aww, honey, it's OK," Leighanne soothed, holding the child in her arms. They where startled again as Tracy and the protectors appeared in the room. The lightening seemed to illuminate them as they all walked to the windows, looking at the sky. Gary glanced at Kevin, wondering what they where doing. "Tracy, what's wrong?" Kevin asked, standing up. "It's started," she said, still looking at the sky. Kevin walked over to her, "What's started?" "The battle," she said as another boom of thunder filled their ears. Everyone got up walking to stand with them at the windows. "What are we looking at?" A.J. asked. "You'll see," Tracy said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian struggled to breathe. He pushed himself up, gasping for air as he did. He watched as Nick charged the demon, the two armies melding into one great sea of bodies. It was hard to seek out individuals in the mass, but Brian managed to see Gideon and Jade, fighting together as a team. He scanned the crowd, finally finding Tara, then after some more searching, Nick. Nick and the head demon where locked in battle, exchanging fierce blows with one another, and neither gaining the upper hand. Brian ran out of air and pushed himself up again. Sharp pain shooting down his legs when he did. He cried out, a tear falling from his eye. "Hang on Brian," Evi said from below him. He looked down to see her desperately trying to loosen the supports holding the cross up. "Evi..." he said. She looked up, "Brian, don't talk. Just focus on breathing." He shook his head, "Ask." Evi stared at him. He had no concern for himself at all, but was worried about her. She stopped what she was doing and stood in front of him, reaching up to touch his blood covered feet. Brian stared down at her as she eased the pain he was in. "Please Evi ....." he whispered. She looked up into his eyes. The sun was shining down on him, illuminating his face. His eyes said it all, peace, love and compassion. Evi's vision blurred from her tears and she held on to Brian's feet tighter. She looked past Brian's face, into the sky, "God, please forgive me ...." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gideon and Jade fought their way closer to Micah, who was holding his own. "We're outnumbered!" Gideon yelled to him. "We have to fall back!" Micah said as he plunged his sword into the chest of the demon he was fighting. "Where are Nick and Tara?" he asked, moving closer to Gideon. They searched the field, finally finding them. "Oh God," Jade said, seeing the two surrounded. Micah and Gideon glanced at one another, unsure of what to do. "Micah, take the lead here, I'll send for reinforcements," Gideon said. Micah grabbed him by the arm, "You're the one that keeps saying give him a chance. Here's his chance." Gideon looked back over to Nick, "We can't wait to long, we'll lose everything if he screws up." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian pushed up for air, looking past Evi and seeing Hathath coming right for her. "Evi, behind you!" he yelled as he dropped back down. Evi looked up, then ducked as Hathath's sword just missed her. "What are you doing?" she asked, backing away from him. "Traitor," Hathath spat as he went after her again. Evi backed up against a support and waited, barely ducking out of the way as Hathath's sword hit the support. Evi backed against another, waiting for him to come at her. She was playing a deadly game of cat and mouse. One wrong move from her would end any chance she had of getting Brian down. Evi ran from support to support, just ahead of Hathath's sword. She could tell he was getting angrier as she kept dodging from his grasp. He finally hit a support hard enough to break it. The cross wobbled a little. Hathath realized what Evi's intent was and stopped chasing after her. Instead he grabbed a long spear from the ground and headed straight for Brian. Brian saw him coming, but there was nothing he could do. "No!" Evi yelled as Hathath pierced Brian's side. Brian screamed in pain as the spear was pulled from his flesh, blood pouring down his body in a steady stream. Evi picked up a sword from a fallen demon and charged Hathath. "You son of a bitch!" she yelled, bringing the sword up and running it through his chest before he had time to react. She glared at him as he fell to the ground, "And for your information, I am not bound to you anymore!" she yelled, twisting the sword as she yanked it out. Hathath stared at her in surprise, then closed his eyes in death. Evi wasted no time, running to the foot of the cross and looking up at Brian. He was on the verge of passing out, and she knew she had to get him down now. "Brian, I'm gonna try to push the cross over. Hang on," she said, placing her hands on the cross and pushing with all her might. It wobbled, but stayed in place. "God please help me!" she screamed, pushing again. She felt the cross start to give, the supports collapsing. The earth around the hole gave way, letting the cross topple to the ground with a bone jarring thud. She ran to Brian, who was now laying on his back, staring up at the sky. "Hang on, I'm gonna get you off this thing," she said, grabbing a spike and pulling on it. Brian cringed in pain as the spike slowly inched its way out of the wood and his wrist. It finally gave up its hold and came free, sending Evi falling backwards. It took her a few minutes to get the other two spikes out, but she finally did. She pulled Brian off the cross, holding him in her arms. She had managed to pull the cape Hathath was wearing off his body and wrapped Brian in it, putting pressure on the wound to his side. Brian looked at her. He couldn't speak, his body weakened by the abuse it had gone through. She held him tighter, "Thank you .... thank you for caring enough about me to help me." Brian smiled at her, then closed his eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick looked around him. He and Tara where back to back, facing at least twenty demons. They had been cut off from the main army, and there was no way anyone could get to them to help. "Well now, isn't this interesting," the head demon spat, "You never learn do you? History is repeating itself once again, and you're still clueless." Nick glared at the man, but said nothing. He knew he was right. He had been in this same position ages ago and had lost his life. It seems he'd learned nothing from it, because here he was again. This time there was more to lose than just his life. Heaven and Earth would be no more if he lost this. "Nick," Tara said in a frightened voice. He reached behind him with his free hand, taking hers and interlocking their fingers. As he did, visions started to play in front of his eyes. He watched himself so long ago, falling for Luna. He saw their love blossom, and watched as everything fell apart because of it. Then the visions changed. He saw himself with Tara. He watched as their first kiss replayed in front of him. Watched as their love grew to what it was now. This was started because of an angels love for a siren, let an angels love for a siren finish it, he heard a voice say. Nick turned them both to face one another. He looked deep into the green fields of Tara's eyes. He bent down to hug her, "I love you." The demons laughed at his gesture, mocking him. Nick ignored them, whispering in Tara's ear, "When I kiss you, sing as loud as you can, and don't stop until I do." Tara nodded, not really understanding what they where about to do, or what it would do to help them, but trusting him enough to follow through. Nick pulled away, just enough to look into her eyes once more. Then he bent down and took her in a kiss. They wrapped their arms around each other, closing their eyes. The demons around them stopped laughing, when something strange started to happen. A light seemed to come from the two of them, growing in intensity and brightness until it completely consumed them. Then it started to spread. Several of the demons backed away as the light came closer to them. The few that didn't had no time to regret it. As soon as the light hit their bodies, they collapsed into a pile of ash. This sent the demons running as the light spread even faster through the valley. The sky seemed to open up, adding its own light to the one already moving through the battle. The angels stopped fighting and watched. The demons where frantically running for the entrance to heavens realm, but the majority never made it. Gideon took Jades hand in his as the light washed over them, healing their wounds and filling them with God's love. Micah looked over at him, smiling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Evi looked up when the demons started running past her. She saw the light moving up the valley towards them. She held Brian tighter as the light engulfed them. She had never felt so much love in her life, and basked in it. She felt Brian stir in her arms and looked down. He opened his eyes, blinking at the intensity of the light. "W-What happened?" he asked, feeling a warmth run through his body. She smiled at him, "Nick and Tara." Brian turned his head, seeing the two still locked in a passionate kiss. He smiled, and settled into Evi's arms. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh my God, look," Lyn said, pointing at the sky. It had stopped raining and the sky seemed to open up, an intense light streaking across it. Tracy smiled as the light encompassed the entire sky all the way to the horizon. "What is that?" Gary asked. Tracy turned to them, "That is love, in its purest form." "What does it mean?" Kevin asked. "It means the battle is over, so is the war. It means we win," she smiled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick pulled away from Tara as they both fell to the ground. Gideon, Micah, Jade, Michael, and Aleisha ran to them. Nick was barely conscious when they got there. Micah took his hand looking down at him. "I didn't screw up," Nick said weakly. Micah laughed, "No Nickolas, you didn't." "We won?" Nick asked. "Yes," Gideon said. Nick looked over to Tara who was laying beside him. He reached over and took her hand in his, then closed his eyes. The group looked at one another, then over to where Evi was holding Brian. "Micah, take Nick and Tara into the city. We'll take Brian home," Gideon said. Micah nodded, moving over to pick Tara up as Michael, Jarab and several others lifted Nick. They turned to the army, making their way through, heading to the city. The army following behind them. Gideon, Jade, and Aleisha walked over to Evi and Brian, kneeling down beside them. Brian looked up, "Are they OK?" "They will be. They need to rest, just as you do," Gideon said. Brian nodded, looking up at Evi. "Thank you for helping me," he said. She smiled, "Thank you for helping me see the light." Aleisha took her sisters hand as Gideon lifted Brian up. "Come on, let's take you home," Aleisha said. Evi nodded, looking at Brian one last time before she and Aleisha vanished. Brian settled into Gideon's arms, resting his head on the mans shoulder. Jade covered Brian with the cape Evi was using. "I'm not sure I can explain his scars to them," Gideon said. Jade looked at the scar on Brian's wrist where the spike had been run through, "We'll just have to tell them the truth. These scars will never fade, they will always be there." Gideon nodded, "Well, let's get him home." Jade placed Brian's hand under the cape, and they disappeared from the valley Chapter 52 |