“No! Not without you,” she whispers in my ear. Grittin’ my teeth, I decide not to give her the choice. My hands move up her spine, infusin’ magic into her. She shimmers golden. Light pours from her body, as she becomes a fiery Phoenix.
The urn portal opens, I twist my finger like a corkscrew and the vase mimics the action; it spins like a top in front of us. Anya rises into the air, the embers of her Phoenix feathers sparkle down as her hawkish wings spread wide. She’s can’t resist the force that draws her to the portal. In a flash, she’s sucked into it and is gone from my sight.
Relief washes over me that she’s safe. I assess the fury surroundin’ me. It’s unclear just who’s winnin’ this fight. Pieces of undead Gancanagh lie next to pieces of very dead angels. Brennus and Emil are fightin’ all ‘round the room, throwin’ magic at each other. Bursts of colorful light-energy explode, killin’ angels and fellas as it’s deflected. Debris and leafs of paper float down from above in wintery gales.
Emil disappears into thin air. He leaves behind a smoky vapor trail where he had been in front of Brennus only to reappear behind Brennus with the same smoky essence swirlin’ ‘round him. Emil’s wicked grin is only there for a moment before Brennus elbows him in the mouth. Blood squirts into the air as his lip explodes. Brennus pivots and his green eyes glow in the growin’ darkness surroundin’ us.
The warm forearm of an angel wraps ‘round my neck from behind me. I grasp it, and leanin’ forward, I flip the rancid, brown-winged bugger over the top of me. When he’s on the ground at my feet, I step on his neck, crushin’ his larynx. Energy is freely flowin’ to me once more. I use it to crush fallen angels near me.
Brennus backs nearer to me, struck by a whip-like current of energy from Emil. Black blood seeps from his left ear, coursing down over the glowin’ tattoo of the axe I saw earlier. He stumbles to the left a step, his fingers comin’ up to touch his ear. His other hand grips a chair as he tries to stay on his feet. The action draws Emil closer. Brennus whirls with his own whiplash of light, hittin’ Emil with a lightnin’ bolt. It singes the flesh from Emil’s face. The lightning branches out to the evil angels near Emil, cookin’ them alive.
Emil struggles for breath for a moment before he weakly raises his winged-dagger, holdin’ it aloft. His lips move and I strain to hear what he’s sayin’. It eludes me, but I feel no less damned by it. The blade glows red; he slashes the air with it, cuttin’ the room open, like he’s tearin’ away the shroud of wrappin’ paper. Another world beyond this one reveals itself. An intense reek hits me like a punch to the gut, and suddenly I understand what I’m seein’. We’re exposed to the reekin’ pit of Sheol.
Our library crumbles away. The panorama of a dark night sky surrounds us. Beneath it, a Gothic cityscape lies like the chalky outline of a murder victim. This place is like nothin’ I’ve ever seen before. A blood red moon casts ripples of ruby light upon the river below as it twists a tangled spine for miles through the bones of the city. The beautifully gruesome buildings that line the pristine streets have an immense degree of detail. They have perfect symmetry; so perfect, in fact, that they look as if they’re monuments to worship. The stone-white spires are gargoyle-infested. Rosette windows, like a thousand eyes, glow in multicolored splendor. Gazing upon them, they take note of me and they gaze back.
I detect movement in the darkness between the buildings. The limestone figures come alive and loft into the air. Scaly white wings beat against one another in their frenzy to reach us, a tangle of frantic bodies converging. I take a step back. The threshold of Hell follows me, encroachin’ further into the library.
It’s as if I’m the light within a lantern, peerin’ out into the darkness beyond the dome of glass at the violent shapes of an army of evil moth men. My mind screams so loud it drowns out the frantic beat of my heart. A spell! I need a spell!
Wintry cold wind wafts into what’s left of our fadin’ world. With the reek of unbridled evil upon us, I pray to Heaven to escape. Golden light breaks from above, on the opposite side from where Sheol is emergin’. Before I can take it all in, Brennus unleashes a silver ball of energy from his hand. It zips ‘round the perimeter of the room, Faerie dust fallin’ from its path as it coats the walls with shiny gray light that runs down in tears. The lustrous ball spirals up to the ceilin’. When it reaches the top, it explodes in a shower of silver sparks.