Legacy of Blood

chapter Twenty-Four

“Ge’away from ‘er, deamhan!”

I gasped in surprise and turned around to see Seamus flashing towards us. Amun growled loudly and roughly threw me to the side, away from him. I watched in horror as Amun and Seamus came together with a loud bang; their limbs flying into action as they bared their fangs at one another.

Feet pounded the stairs to my right and I tore my eyes away from Amun and Seamus to see Ruarc and his Army run up to join us. Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, I heard a sickening ripping sound and a splat as something hit my leg.

I looked down into the still blinking eyes of Seamus’ severed head and screamed.

A fierce roaring sound cut through my terror as I scrambled backward on my butt away from the gruesome sight. Bodies flashed past me and I heard sounds of battle, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Seamus’. I heard someone softly calling my name and I tore my eyes away and crawled toward the sound.

“Skye! Oh God, please tell me you’re okay.”

When I reached the edge of the cliff, I glanced over and spotted Trey struggling against his chains. “Trey!”

“Oh thank the good Lord,” Trey breathed a sigh of relief when he saw me. “You’re okay. Sugar, do me a favor and come get me out of these dreadful things.” I stared down at him and blinked a few times, still in shock. “Honey, there will be plenty of time to fall apart later. Hurry down here and get these damn chains off me. I’m in an awful lot of pain.”

Nodding my head, I crawled over the side and dropped the fifty feet down to the ledge, narrowly missing the edge. Trey was in terrible shape and I started crying as I took him in. He had blood on his face and shirt and I saw that he had been stabbed in the stomach. I grabbed the end of the sharp, pointed rock and quickly pulled it out of him. Trey gasped and bit his bottom lip in pain, but I didn’t stop. I rolled him over, looking for a lock to the chains and cringed when I saw his arms.

“Oh, honey.” His arms had been bent behind his back at funny angles and I knew they were broken. He had had enough time to heal, so I knew we would have to break them again when I got him free so he could heal properly.

“I’ll live,” he breathed. “Just get these chains off.”

I grabbed a hold of the lock and yelped in pain, immediately pulling my hand back. “Ouch!”

“Silver,” Trey groaned.

He had to have been in incredible pain being wrapped in those chains for at least the last twenty minutes. I took a deep breath and grabbed the lock again, pulling hard and breaking it off. I threw it off the cliff and turned my attention to unwrapping him, starting with his legs. Some areas were so bad that it actually took skin with it when I removed them. Trey did his best to stifle his cries, but no matter what I did, I hurt him.

When I reached his waist I set him up and continued pulling the chains off. He started crying when I reached his neck and as soon as he was free, I threw the chain over the ledge and looked down at my bloody, raw hands. They had started to heal but it was a little slower than I had expected.

“Come on,” I said, pulling Trey up by his elbow and then throwing him over my shoulder. “We have to get you out of here.”

I started climbing up the side of the cliff and marveled at how easy it was. As a human, there was no way in hell I’d have been able to vertically climb up a rock face, especially carrying someone on my back. When I reached the top, the sound of fighting was intense. I set Trey down on the edge and pulled myself the rest of the way up.

“There is a yellow truck in the parking lot. Get inside and lock the door,” I instructed as I pulled him up and gave him a little push in the direction of the stairs.

I didn’t wait around to see if he listened as I turned and ran toward the sounds of fighting. I came across two bodies and recognized them as two of An Dilis’ elite soldiers. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. If Amun was able to kill two of the Army’s best, what chance did I have against him?

A huge shadow passed over me and I jumped as I realized it was a body being thrown. The head was next and I jumped out of the way before it could hit me. I stared into those blue eyes as they passed me and I almost fainted. Oleif, the gigantic Viking pain in my ass, was no more.

I tore my eyes away as his head hit the ground and started to roll. Running full force, I grabbed Oleif’s sword and had to pry his fingers off before he let go. Even in death he was being difficult. I turned on my heels and charged into the circle of men, wanting to join in on the fight.

I was grabbed from behind and I brought my sword around, narrowly missing Archer’s head.

“It’s me, Cion,” Archer said soothingly as he wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly to his chest. “You’re okay. Thank God you are okay. Where were you? I looked everywhere for you.”

“I was saving Trey,” I breathed in relief as I hugged Archer. “Amun had him chained up. What are you doing here? How the hell did you find me?”

“There is no time to explain,” Archer said before letting me go and calling something out in Gaelic to Ruarc and his men. “We need to get you out of here.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said defiantly. “I’m going to finish this once and for all, Archer. Amun is going to pay for what he did to Seamus and Trey.”

Turning my back on Archer, I flashed into the chaos and spotted Amun smiling and taunting one of the soldiers as he expertly ducked and dodged his sword. I heard Archer calling my name and Amun’s head immediately perked up, his eyes finding mine.

“Who will you stand with, Nisiqtu?” Amun grinned at me. “Be careful that you choose the winning side. If you raise your hand against me and I live, I will destroy everyone you have ever known… slowly.”

My nostrils flared as my rage built. His words helped me realize that I was doing the right thing. I would never live in peace, my family would never live in peace, as long as this a*shole walked the Earth. I roughly pushed the soldier that was fighting Amun to the side and smiled at Amun as I walked up to him.

He opened his arms to me and I cocked my head to the side as I brought Oleif’s sword up and stabbed him in the chest. Amun threw his head back and laughed as he pulled the sword out and threw it to the ground. My mouth opened in utter shock. The sword didn’t even faze him. “It looks like you have chosen wrong, Damu. Such a pity.”

He raised his hand and backhanded me before I even knew what happened. I hit the dirt hard and crashed into someone’s legs; my face pounding in time with my heartbeat. Amun screamed out suddenly and I felt searing pain in my stomach. I looked down to see blood gushing from between the laces of my bodysuit. When I glanced up at Amun, he was staring down at his stomach in utter shock. He had been sliced open and the wound was deep.

Someone pulled me up off the ground and began dragging me away, but not before I saw Ruarc attack Amun again with the Sword of Saint Patrick. The sword connected with Amun’s chest and I felt the searing pain again as it tore through my skin. I screamed at the exact same time as Amun did.

I felt my body being thrown over someone’s shoulder and I watched helplessly as I was taken away from the fight. “P-Please,” I whispered, the pain in my chest excruciating. “I have to go back. I-I need to go back.”

The person carrying me said nothing as they started descending Mount Bonnell’s stone steps. Pain sliced through me again and this time I felt it in my side. I started choking and coughing up blood and I had a sudden moment of startling clarity. Amun was dying. I felt each of his injuries as it happened to him; I carried the same wounds from the Sword of Saint Patrick as he had. I blew my essence into you; shared my very soul. I combined a part of it with yours. Amun’s injuries were killing me in return.

The next blow hit me on the side of my head and I saw stars as blood began pouring down my face. I had to stop them from killing him or I was going to die too. My vision began to vibrate as the person carrying me reached the parking lot. I felt my body start to pulse and everything around me turned bright white, blinding me. I closed my eyes as I let the vibrations overtake me.

The next second, I hit something hard and I opened my eyes to see that I was laying on the ground a few feet from Amun and Ruarc. Amun was on his knees and Ruarc stood over him with the Sword of Saint Patrick in his hand. I watched Ruarc draw the sword back and I screamed as loud as I could.

“STOP! It’s killing me!”

Ruarc turned around in shock as Archer picked me up off the ground. “Páiste? Where did you come from? What happened to you? You’re covered in blood.”

“The girl just appeared,” one soldier remarked. “One second the ground was empty and the next she was there.”

“She left with Lorcán,” one of the soldiers behind me said. “I told him to take her to the van and out of harm’s way. I saw them leave.”

“Please,” I whispered with difficulty. “No more. You’re killing me.”

Amun started laughing as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. “You cannot kill me without killing the girl, you fools!” He laughed again and started coughing up blood.

“He… w-we… are connected,” I coughed, allowing Archer to pull me into his arms. “Every cut you inflict upon him with the Sword of Saint Patrick cuts me as well.”

“How can this be?” Ruarc whispered in horror, his eyes bouncing between me and Amun.

“Shared his soul… blew a part of his… soul… into me.”

Amun started to stagger away and I reached my hand out and flicked my finger in his direction, pushing him back to the ground. The effort it took nearly made me black out.

“Blood… I need blood,” I whispered as my vision started to go black. I knew I had lost at least half the blood in my body judging by the puddle Amun left behind.

Amun started laughing again as he pulled himself to his knees. “You cannot harm me… not without harming Skye. It was the… perfect plan really, to split my soul with your beloved human and never die. I knew how much you cared for her… I knew you could never kill her… and thus never kill me.”

Ruarc growled fiercely in frustration and threw the sword down to the ground. The action caused Amun to laugh harder and I hated him even more in that moment, if that were possible. I hated what Amun had done to me; I hated that, because Archer loved me, Amun would never experience the death he deserved. I couldn’t let Amun walk away from here. I couldn’t let him get away with all he had done. He had killed Seamus, Callum, Greyson Mead, and Archer’s brother Treasach. He had killed Jesse and he had killed my chance at living a normal, human life. I hated him for all he had taken from me and the people I loved and I desperately wanted to make him pay, no matter the cost. The world would be a better place without Amun in it.

I tilted my head up and kissed Archer on the lips. His eyes grew wide in surprise, but he didn’t hesitate to kiss me back. “I love you Archer… so much.”

“I love you too, baby,” he said, wiping the blood from my eyes. “Come on, let’s get you out of here. An Dilis will find a way to contain Amun until we can figure something out.”

He tried leading me to the stone steps but I stood my ground. “Do you remember all the things I told you in the basement before my test with Ruarc?”

Archer’s brow furrowed deeply as he slowly nodded his head.

“Good… good,” I breathed as I felt my shoulders fall in relief.

“What’s this about?” Archer asked as I turned toward Amun.

Amun met my eyes and I saw the sick glee behind his. He was enjoying our pain. That pissed me off even more and I took a few steps toward him and Ruarc.

“I hate you,” I whispered as I stopped ten feet from him.

“I am not very fond of you at the moment either,” Amun wheezed, “you betraying kashshaptu.”

“I hope you burn in hell, you sick bastard. And I hope it’s extra hot when you get there.”

Amun smiled at me and I wasted no more time as I pointed to the Sword of Saint Patrick, lifting it using my newly acquired Divine Power of Telekinesis, and then drove it straight through his heart.

I immediately felt the sword impale me and I collapsed to the ground. Screams and chaos surrounded me as Archer fell to his knees beside to me. I tried to smile at him, to reassure him that I did the right thing, but I felt myself rapidly drifting away. I did it, baby. I finally killed him. My head turned as my eyes found the stars and I welcomed death’s embrace with open arms.