It struck me then just how finite this place actually was. The land of the damned really wasn’t so big. It might stretch on for leagues and leagues, but it had a floor and it had a ceiling. No wonder the devil was so eager to leave this place.
Souls crowded around me, their faces upturned. All these people had been bound unfairly to hell, all so that the devil could gain a bit more strength. I’d righted his wrong and freed them. That counted for something. More than just something. That counted for a lot.
I reached the ceiling and, like before, the earth parted to make way for me. I could still feel my father’s hand in mine. Beyond all that peace that suffused his touch, I could feel his deep love. It was all going to be okay.
Unlike the other times I’d pushed through the earth, this time the ground didn’t fight me. I flowed through it, gaining speed along with the specters. Together we rose higher and higher until I could sense vestiges of life.
All at once, we burst through the ground, and then we were on earth.
Chapter 31
The ground shook as angels, humans, demons, and everything in between fought. In the sky, underwater, on land. With swords and guns and claws and fangs and talons. Red blood and black blood and blood that seemed to be weaved of light all spilled. Beings that stared eternity in the eye fell alongside mortals.
The elements stirred themselves into a frenzy as good and evil fought for dominance. Waves crested hundreds of feet high, swallowing up ships and crashing into coastlines. Gale force winds tore at buildings and swept away homes. Fires blossomed in thick forested areas and spread like a disease, descending upon entire towns. As worlds fought, the earth rebelled, ripping apart like all the prophecies feared it would.
The ground trembled, so subtle at first that it couldn’t be told apart from the quakes that already shook it. It was just enough to scatter pebbles and further disturb the already agitated bodies of water.
A high pitched noise sounded in the distance. It rose in volume as the earth’s tremors built on themselves. The noise grew louder and louder, until battle cries could no longer be heard over the sharp whine.
All at once, the sound cut out.
Fighters lowered their weapons in the silence.
And then, with a cataclysmic boom, the dead rose.
Gabrielle
I emerged from the earth alongside the souls I’d freed. They lifted into the sky, their forms taking a warm golden hue. Beyond them, I could make out Bishopcourt.
I’d surfaced in the middle of the battlefield. I only had a moment to take it in, soaked with blood and broken bodies. Those that hadn’t fallen on the field watched me and the souls rising. My skin hadn’t stopped glowing, and now it shone as bright as the angels that hovered in the sky.
My entire life had led me to this moment, and my one true purpose was to return these souls to their rightful home. I realized that now as they continued to ascend.
My father brushed a kiss against my cheek, just a whisper of contact, and then he let me go. I felt the loss deep within me; I would see him again, but not for a while yet. But he had his fate and I had mine.
He was the last one to leave me. I watched his form grow smaller and smaller as the heavens finally claimed him.
“Consort!”
The devil’s voice shattered the peace. He stalked forward, his face twisted in anger. That fury had no place here.
Even though the souls had released me, I kept rising, my toes skimming the grass only for a moment. The magic within me drew me off the ground and into the air. I could feel it crawling beneath the skin, burning, burning—
“Consort!” he yelled again.
Power was filling me up. Too much of it. The blinding light of it obscured my vision, but I made out the devil’s form. He stalked towards me, deep shadows shrouding him.
The pain of so much power dug its claws in me. I could barely focus on him over it. And conscious thought … that was going too.
Still a vessel …
The devil stopped in front of me, his inhuman rage mingling with a yearning so deep it shone out of his eyes. I reached down for him as I rose, beckoning him to take my hand. I was still low enough to grab his if he gave it to me.
He stared at my outstretched hand. His yearning won, and he reached for me.
I realized what was going to happen an instant before it did. And in that instant, I hesitated—briefly.
Even after all the carnage and destruction he’d wrought, a part of me didn’t want to see this being hurt. But I was just a vessel, and a far more generous being steadied my hand.
The devil grasped it, and his eyes locked on mine. For one earth-shattering second, everything else fell away.
I saw the future.