Darkness Arisen

chapter Nineteen



Alice screamed as Ian plunged the head of his mace into his chest. The moment the weapon made contact, fire raged through her. His entire being seemed to fill her, bursting through her like a hurricane knocking her off her feet. Strength surged through her, and she lunged to her feet, her weakened body suddenly reverberating with intense power. "Ian!" She lunged for him, her entire soul aching for him as he sagged in his bonds.

As she reached him, a young warrior leapt off the stairs with a battle cry as he unleashed a relentless arsenal of weapons at Cardiff, throwing them so fast that they were a blur as they flashed past her head.

Cardiff whirled Deathbringer around, shooting streaks of magic at the weapons, knocking them down as fast as they came, but then more came, until the room was a volley of green lights and weapons.

Not that it mattered any more who won, not with Ian's life bleeding out of his chest. Her throat raw, tears blurring her vision, Alice reached Ian. When she touched him, the most intense feeling of rightness filled her. Ian seemed to expand through her spirit, her soul, and her world. "Ian!" She caught him as he sagged in his bonds, his freed arm hanging limply by his side. "You killed yourself!" Guilt ripped at her. He'd finally succumbed to his worst nightmare because she'd been almost dead. "This is wrong! Please don't give up! We can—"

"It's perfection." He raised his head, his eyes glazed. "By killing myself, I saved you. There is no greater honor than that. I offer my life for you freely."

Tears streamed down her face, her heart breaking into more pieces than she could ever have imagined. "But—"

"Cardiff made a deal with the demons for angel magic. It won't end until he meets his end of the deal." His voice was laced with pain. "So I offered myself."

"You did it on purpose?" She stared at him, not understanding. "But you're not an angel."

"No, but my sheva is. My soul will count, because you're a part of me." He tried to grab her arm, but he was too weak. "I gave my life for yours. The final stage is done. We're connected forever."

She looked down. Her heart stilled and then seemed to blossom when she saw that the brand was complete. Every line of his weapon was carved on her skin. He was a part of her, and she was a part of him. Merged together. Forever. "Oh, Ian," she breathed in awe. "It's done—" As she watched, the angry black began to fade. The lines became thinner, and the color fainter. "Oh, no! It's disappearing!"

"No." His eyes were bloodshot now, barely open as he fought to watch her arm. "It's turning into what it should have been all along."

"What do you mean?" But then she saw what he meant. As she watched, the lines turned into beautiful, elegant silver marks. No longer was their connection blackened by demons. It was simply them, simply the beauty of what should be between them.

The demons had released their claim on her. Now their bond was pure and magical, everything it was supposed to be. Intense rightness filled her. "I'm yours," she whispered. "Forever."

"Forever," he agreed, brushing his fingers over her cheek in a gesture so tender that it made her soul ache with longing. "You're a part of me. Which means I fulfill the contract—" He gasped suddenly, and Alice saw black shadows winding around his ankle. The demons that had come to take her were taking him instead. "No! Stop!" She shouted and batted at them, but they just kept coming. "Ian!"

His fingers drifted off her cheek. "I love you, sweetheart. You'll always be my angel." Then his eyes closed, and his body relaxed. The dark shadows swirled over his body, and she felt them taking his soul. "No, no, no!" She screamed, frantically trying to remember how she'd saved Gideon. She called the white light, but it didn't come. Nothing came. Because he wasn't Order anymore. She couldn't save him. "No!"

He'd relinquished his legacy for her. He'd given up his chance to restore honor to his family name. He'd taken the road considered least honorable. Everything that mattered to him, he'd given it all up for her.

And she'd lost him. Dear God, he was gone.

* * *

A weapon whizzed by Alice's head, and she numbly looked up as the young warrior continued to pummel Warwick. A dagger nicked the wizard's shoulder, and another grazed past his horse's chest. There were too many for him to fend off. He glanced down at Ian, and then threw his arms in the air in victory. "It is done!" he crowed in delight.

Victory because he'd caused an amazing man to kill himself?

"You bastard!" She lurched to her feet, anger blazing through her. She'd never felt so much fury, never allowed such intense emotions to flow though her. "You don't get it! You didn't dishonor him! Ian just made the most powerful choice a warrior can make! You didn't ruin him. He died with glory and honor because he took back what you stole from him, his ability to love!" She was screaming at him now, tears streaming down her face.

Warwick glanced at her. "What are you raving about, woman?" In the split second he took his attention off the battle to focus on Alice, a spear plunged into his shoulder.

He shouted, whirling back to face his young attacker, but Alice grabbed his horse's bridle, yanking the massive animal back toward her with surprising ease, as if the horse himself was on her side and not the wizard's. "You failed! Don't you get it? You failed to destroy him! He defeated you!"

The wizard yanked the horse's reins free of her grasp, and she saw pink foam frothing at the animal's mouth. Blood? He was hurting his horse too? "You bastard!" She called out Ian's mace, and it appeared in her hand. "How dare you!"

Cardiff laughed. "You think you can kill me with that?" He held his arms out to his sides in a defenseless position. "Just try! If you kill me, it will destroy you even more! Try!"

Alice raised the mace to strike, her arms shaking with fury as he waited for her to strike him down in cold blood. She hesitated, the weapon heavy in her hands. How could she do that? How could she take a life? How could she become like him?

She could make herself do it. She knew she could break the rules. She was already damned. But at the same time, did she really want to become the person with even more blood on her hands? Tears filled her eyes, and she lowered the mace. "I am an angel, not a monster," she said, claiming her birthright with pride for the first time in her life. "I will not be that person. You will find your death by hands other than mine."

"Like mine!" With a shout of triumph, Gideon sprang up from the floor behind Warwick, and slammed his axe into the side of the wizard's neck. It went clean through, severing the life from him instantly.

Cardiff tumbled off his mount, but before he hit the ground, his body shimmered once and then vanished from sight, his cloak dropping to his horse's saddle. It stayed there for a minute, then the animal stepped sideways and the cloak slid silently off the leather and landed in a soft heap on the ground beside his massive hoof.

Beside him, Catherine moaned, and she slumped on the wood as the stains on her body faded.

Alice cried with relief as Catherine looked up, her eyes blue again. "Alice?" she croaked.

"Cat!" Alice dropped to her knees beside Catherine and hugged her. The wizard's death had broken the spell he'd cast that had been dragging Cat toward that horrific fate. "You're okay."

Cat hugged her fiercely, her body trembling. "For now, Ally. Just for now." She pulled back and met her gaze. "It won't end."

Alice brushed the hair out of her sister's eyes. "I know. We'll figure something out. But we have time now."

"Not much, Ally. Not much." The women hugged again, both of them treasuring this moment, all too aware that Catherine's battle was far from over.

The sounds of fighting on the roof stopped, and there were shouts of triumph from the warriors still up there. In their tower room, Drew let out a whoop of victory, but Gideon just looked at Alice, his face grim. "Ian?"

Grief surged through Alice. Grief, and the most powerful love she'd ever experienced. "He killed himself for me."

Gideon looked past her, and hope sparked in his face. "His body hasn't vanished yet. He still has a chance."

Alice's heart jumped, and she whirled around to look at Ian. "What?"

"Calydon bodies vanish at death. The older they are, the quicker they disappear. Ian's should be gone by now." He sprinted across the room and knelt beside Ian as boots began to thud down the stairs. With a few slashes of his axe, he broke the manacles that had been trapping Ian and caught him as he slid to the ground.

Alice squeezed in beside him, and put her hand on Ian's chest. His body was empty. His spirit was gone. "He's not there."

"No!" Gideon swore, grabbing Ian's shoulders. "Quinn Masters died for two minutes, and then came back to life. Ian! Come on! Don't give up!"

God, if there was a way...but she knew there wasn't. He was gone. Tears blurred, and she realized she was clutching Ian's hand, as if she could bring him back to life with her touch.

Gideon grabbed her arm. "Save him, like you saved me. Give him that white light shit that you did."

"I can't. He's not Order of the Blade! You guys kicked him out and now I can't help him!"

Gideon blanched, and the other Order of the Blade members charged down the stairs. Kane let out a shout and teleported himself right beside Ian. "Shit, we have to heal him!"

But unlike last time, when his team could help him, this was different. "He's dead," she whispered. "There's nothing left to save."

Kane turned his head. "Then you're the only thing that can help him."

"He's not Order—"

"Who the f*ck cares? Just do it." Kane's eyes glittered. "I'm married to an angel, and I know damn well that you can break the rules if you want to badly enough."

"I do want to! I love him!"

"Then save him!" Kane commanded. "Now!"

Alice looked down at Ian, knowing that it wasn't anything like how it had been with Gideon when she'd saved him out of instinct and duty. It wasn't Chloe, who was just a person to her. This was Ian, the man who had saved her so many times, pushed her past her limits, and made her laugh when she had no reason to. He'd awakened her emotions, and he'd given her the ability to feel and connect in a way she never had before. The man who'd given up what mattered most to him, just so he could give her love.

She didn't want to save him because it was her duty.

She wanted to save him because she loved him—

Oh, God. Did she really love him? That was the ultimate betrayal of her duty as an angel of life. The ultimate failure. Had she really crossed that line?

But as she gazed down at Ian, the pain in her heart was so deep, so intense, and so agonizingly terrible, that she knew the answer was yes. And she didn't want it any other way.

Kane's flail pressed against her neck. "Save him," he said, his eyes darkening with a fury that made her skin crawl. "I won't lose two of my teammates. Get him back for us. Now!" His eyes were blazing with such torment and hell that her skin went cold.

Something was seriously dangerous inside him. Slowly, Alice reached out and touched his face. His skin was cold and hard, almost brittle. "You need help," she said.

Surprise flickered in Kane's dark eyes, and for a split second, she saw the desperate humanity within them. A vulnerability he kept hidden deep inside, from others but also from himself. "I know," he said softly, in a voice so low she felt his words more than heard them. "Sarah keeps me in control. I need to get back to her. But right now, Ian needs help."

"Save him like you saved me," Gideon said. "I can feel the white light pouring out of you. It's still in there. Use it on Ian. Now."

"The white light is for the Order—" But as she protested, she realized there had been times when she'd used white light on someone other than the Order: herself.

Every time she died, just at that moment when the demons had taken her beyond what she could endure, a white light had come for her. It had always started as a glow, but it eventually took the shape of a woman before plunging into her and taking her back to the physical world. She'd always thought it was something external coming to rescue her, but now, for the first time, she realized that she'd been wrong.

That light was inside her. It was her own powers, coming to save her when she was at her most desperate, when she was so desolate that she called it even without meaning to. She wasn't Order, but she used the white light on herself. Could she call it for Ian, for the man who was such a part of her that his brands were on her arms?

Sudden, fierce resolution flowed through her. Determination. No fear. For the first time in her life, she felt no fear or insecurity, just the same intense focus that she'd seen in Ian every time he'd prepared for battle. "Come on, Ian." She slid her hands under his head and bent her head to his. Just as you offered me your healing and your strength to save my life all those times, I offer you mine.

Then she pressed her lips to his cold ones and offered him everything she had, just as he had offered it to her so many times. She opened her heart to him. She let him feel her love for him. She showed him her terror at what would become of her for saving him, and at the same time, let warm reassurance flow through her that it was the right choice. That she would do it a thousand times.

His lips didn't respond, and his soul was gone...no...no...wait! She could feel him! Distant. Not in his body, but hovering close, connected by mere threads, still trying to hang on and resist the demons. There was still a chance!

Ian. Come back to me. Alice continued to kiss him, trying desperately to erase a lifetime of protective shields around her emotions. She let herself feel the agony of a future without Ian. She allowed herself to experience the anguish of what his death would feel like. She let the trauma of it all fill her, until the grief and desperation were so strong that they tore at her heart. She welcomed all the pain and let it fill her.

She opened herself to Ian's suffering, and nearly staggered at the feeling of how fiercely he was fighting to live. She brought that will to live into her, and she absorbed it as her own until her lungs began to labor under the effort of taking one more breath, as if she were the one who was dying.

She let his death fill her, merging them until she felt her soul join him in death. Further and further she fell into the crevasse, winding her soul around his, until his last breath tried to steal hers, until death was their only future. No! I'm not ready to die! Just as she had all those times while in demon hands, Alice lunged for the one thing that would save her: the white light.

She screamed to the heavens, calling for her life, for help, and for salvation. She turned her existence and Ian's over to a power far greater than she. And as she did so, she reached the end of her capacity and her lifeline. Immediately, that familiar white light formed in her mind, coming to save both her and the man so connected to her that they were one.

As she and Ian fought together for breath, the white glow began to spin, faster and faster. It took the shape of an orb, stretching longer and longer, and then suddenly morphed into the form of a woman. And for the first time in her life, Alice saw that it was herself. She screamed for help, and the white light transformed into a glowing sphere and plunged right through both of their hearts.

She gasped and her body bowed in unison with Ian's, and their screams joined in agonizing relief as their spirits returned to their bodies.

Alice. Ian's arms went around her, catching her as she collapsed onto him. His pride filled her, a sense of pride so beautiful that she wanted to cry. I knew you had it in you.

"Way to go!" Kane thumped her shoulder, and she was vaguely aware of the rest of the team's cheers of triumph.

All she could focus on was Ian. I lo— But before she could get the words out, her thigh began to burn. Alice yelped and grabbed for the front of her shorts. Smoke was rising from them, and a charred black hole was in her front pocket. She cupped her hand beneath the hole as the pearl rolled free and landed in her palm.

It was no longer the inactive swirl of reds and oranges. Now, it was glowing with a blazing white light, so bright that she had to shield her eyes. Ian sat up, bracing himself on his elbows, his eyes clear and focused as if he hadn't been a whisper from death. "What's that?"

She held it up. "The pearl of Lycanth. It's activated now."

Ian looked at her, and his eyes were grim with comprehension. "Saving me damned you, didn't it? The pearl is on overdrive trying to protect you."

She nodded and closed her fist around it. "Without it, I'd already be in the ocean."

"And when you have to give it back when we return—" He didn't finish the sentence. They both knew what would happen.

Alice shrugged. "You don't need to go back. I'll go—"

"F*ck that. We're going back, and we're going to face the deal we made. If you're going to wind up living a mermaid's life, I'll buy some scuba gear and rule the underworld with you."

"But what about the Order? You can't be in the Order if you're stuck under water."

Ian took her hands and met her gaze with unflinching intensity. "The bastards don't appreciate me. Why would I trade what I have with you to run around with a bunch of guys who sweat too much?"

Tears burned in Alice's eyes and she saw the depth of sadness in Ian's face at the idea of walking away from the Order. "No," she said, "Don't do that for me—"

He put his index finger across her lips, silencing her. "I love you, Alice. There's no other life for me besides the one I share with you. I'm sure there are sharks and shit down there that I can protect the girls against. Because those women need protection, don't they?"

Alice nodded. "They do—"

"So, I'm the man to do it." He winked at her, and behind the sadness at leaving his friends, she saw an inner peace, a man who had found his calling. "You really mean that, don't you?"

"Of course." He kissed her hard. "I gave my life for you, sweetheart. Giving up oxygen and poker with the guys is a no-brainer."

Alice laughed, suddenly feeling giddy. And to think this was the man she'd thought could never put her first. She felt light and glorious, a woman finally alive. "I love you, Ian."

"I love you, too." He kissed her for a long moment, then raised her arm to press his lips to her marks. He stopped suddenly and grinned at her brands. "Now, that's what it's supposed to look like."

She followed his gaze and smiled at the thin, silver lines. She pressed her hand to them, and found they were cool to the touch. "It's over."

"Yeah, it is." He grinned. "The demons no longer have any claim on you. They got me, and that satisfied the bargain."

"But you came back, like I did." She looked at him. "So, they'll come back again, won't they? The deal isn't done."

"I think it is. Unlike you, I was actually dead for a minute. The deal was complete. They got their angel soul; they just couldn't hang onto it." He framed her face with his hands. "Don't you get it sweetheart? They won't be stalking you anymore. No more dying. We've got a whole life ahead of us."

Hope began to hammer in her heart, hope for all the things she'd craved for so long, but had no chance of having. "What about the bond? Don't you need to go rogue since we bonded?"

He paused for a moment, then shrugged. "I feel fine. My guess is that I died too quickly to go rogue, but since I died, that fate is taken care of as well."

"Or it could still come after you," Gideon said, clamping his hand down on Ian's shoulder. "Welcome to the unstable world of being fully-bonded and always looking over your shoulder to see if fate's going to grab you by the ass."

Ian grinned, and slung his arm around Alice. "I've been stalked by magical shit my whole life. Keeps life interesting." He kissed the top of her head, his eyes growing serious. "Hey, Alice?"

She smiled at him. "Yes?"

"Since the new trend appears to be that we marry our soul mates, I'd hate to be out of the club. Will you marry me? And..." He cleared his throat. "I'd be a good dad," he said, not quite able to keep the thickness out of his voice.

She grinned, the most incredible emotions filling her up. "I will," she whispered. "I really will. And you will be an amazing father, one that will make yours proud." A flicker of sadness drifted through her heart. "But I don't know how to be a good mom."

"I'll help you." He laid his hand over her heart. "All you need is in here. I believe in you, and I'll help you find your way."

Alice put her hand over his, and she knew he was right. She might be a guardian angel, but she'd just found the guardian angel who was meant for her.

As they stood there, Alice became aware of a loud chirping from the ocean. Frowning, she walked over and peered out a window. Beneath them, cresting the whitecaps were two dolphins towing an ancient dinghy. Alice caught her breath as Ian's hands clasped her shoulders. "It's time."

"It is."

Anguish filling her, Alice turned toward Catherine and hugged her. "Let the Order protect you. They'll help," she whispered.

Catherine hugged her back. "I love you, Ally."

Alice pulled back, searching Catherine's eyes for a promise. "Stay with them, Cat. Seriously."

Catherine pulled back, wrapping her too-thin arms around her torso. "It's bigger than you know, Ally. I can't stay."

"But—"

Cat held up her hand. "Trust me, Alice. Let me do what I need to do. Don't come after me."

Alice's chest hurt with sadness, but she'd already broken one promise to her sister. She couldn't betray her again. "I'll always be here for you."

"I know." Cat hugged her again, then turned and ducked wearily down the stairs, slipping unnoticed past the men who were talking solemnly with Ian, not happy with his disclosure that he was off to become a merman. Guilt swept through her at the heaviness of the atmosphere, all jubilation from their defeat of the wizard gone.

The tightness of the bond between the men was evident, and Alice knew that they would have welcomed Ian back into the Order if he weren't leaving it to be with her. How could she let him give that up?

She knew then that she couldn't. He was compelled to come back with her, but if she could save Chloe, they would be allowed to leave. She would be trapped as a Mageaan without the pearl, but Ian would be free.

She would not let Ian stay with her. She would save Chloe not just to save the girl, but also to liberate Ian, and then, she would let him go.

It would be easy. As a Mageaan, she would control the sea. If she commanded it to reject him, it would. He would have no choice.

The dolphins squeaked again, and Ian met Alice's gaze, his warm smile not hiding the weight in his heart as his team stood in a silent semi-circle around him. "Ready to start our new life, sweetheart?"

Sadness filled Alice's heart as she put her hand in his, because she knew that this was the last time they would be together. She managed a smile, but not words.

It was just too hard.

* * *

Ryland leaned against the wall of the tunnel, his lungs heaving with each ragged inhale. His skin was hanging in shreds. His clothes had burned into embers. Around him on the floor lay the putrid remains of the poisonous substance that had tried to claim him once he'd entered the pit. What he'd had to do to break free of it...it had been a thousand times worse than what had happened when he'd been at the other pit with Kane.

He looked down at his hand and saw glittery scales shifting beneath the skin. Shit. He leaned his head back against the wall, summoning the same intense control that had kept him going for so long. But he couldn't find it. All he could think about was Thano going through that same hell. And the angel of death, somewhere in this morbid castle. And Dante's demise. Shit, he missed Dante.

His upper lip curled, and his teeth began to lengthen.

"Shit!" He slammed his head back against the wall and pressed his hands to his eyes, his body straining with the effort of holding it in. Dante. Why the f*ck did you have to die? What kind of plan is that?

Ryland.

Ryland's eyes snapped open at the sound of his mentor's voice. He spun around desperately, almost frantically, searching the dark tunnels. "Dante!" he shouted. "Dante! Where are you? Are you down here?" He staggered down the hall, bumping off walls as he tried to regain his equilibrium. "Dante!"

Stop.

Ryland froze, going instantly immobile at the command.

This war has become your battle.

"Yeah, okay." He clenched his hands as his fingernails began to lengthen, the sharp barbs digging into his fisted palms. "Tell me what to do."

You don't need that from me anymore. You know your path.

"My path is your path. I'm here to serve you."

This is bigger than I am, Ryland. You need to move beyond me.

Denial roared through him. "No!" he shouted. "I will not abandon you!" Scales shifted on his arms, and Ryland's face contorted. "Shit!" He went down on his knees, fighting as his muscles began to contort. "I can't do this without you, Dante. I can't." He gasped the last words. "Help me. Please, help me."

He felt Dante's disappointment, and then a wave of calmness washed over him as Dante provided that same protection he'd given him so many times before. Ryland sucked in his breath as the scales receded and his muscles relaxed. He hung his head, shuddering as his body reclaimed itself. "Thank you."

No more help from me, Ryland. You are on your own now. Deviate from the path you think you're supposed to be on. There's no other way.

"No other way to do what?"

What needs to be done.

Ryland felt his mentor's spirit vanish. Loss and grief roared through him. "Dante!" He lunged forward, his hands clutching at empty air as if he could somehow reach the man who'd given him a second chance at life, who'd snatched him from the bowels of hell and taught him how to be a warrior.

But Dante was gone, and the emptiness of his existence filled Ryland again, the same pulsating doom that haunted him day after day. With a groan, Ryland hauled himself to his feet. His palms were bleeding, three cuts on each hand. A reminder of how close he was to that edge.

But Dante had given him a reprieve, and he would not waste it.

He wiped his hands over the wall of the passageway, leaving his blood behind as he continued down the dark hallway, allowing his instincts to continue to guide his path. Thano. He tried again, for the thousandth time. I know you're alive. You don't get to shirk your duties anymore. Man up, kid, and get with the program.

There was a faint ripple of Calydon energy in Ryland's mind, and he went utterly still. Thano. Your manicurist misses you. You gotta come home. He focused all his energy into his mind, thrusting out feelers in all directions. Come on, Thano. Answer me. I'll do the rest.

And then he heard it. The sound that he'd been searching for so hard. You're too old for this shit, Ry. Go back to bed and let the young guys handle it.

Thano! It's about damned time you spoke up! Elation rushed through Ryland, and he immediately locked onto the warrior's mental energy. He broke into a run, not caring about his half-burned foot or the bits of silvery scales drifting in the air behind him. He sprinted down the hall, took a right, two lefts and then stopped in the middle of a long hallway. Thano's energy was all around him. It was weak and splotchy, mingled with something else, but definitely Thano. Where are you?

Right where I've been, waiting for one of you guys to show up.

Ryland looked down at the ground beneath his feet. Solid rock. F*ck that. Rock wasn't enough to stop him.

He called out his machete as he rubbed his foot over the floor, searching for the weakest spot. Thano's energy suddenly came through stronger, and Ryland marked it. He took a step back, focused on the location he'd identified, and then slammed his machete into the rock. Stones exploded everywhere. Three more hits, and then the hole was big enough for him to fit through.

Ryland immediately dropped through the hole, not even bothering to check and see what he was descending into. It was pitch black as he landed, so dark that not even his enhanced vision could penetrate the darkness. "Thano?"

A faint violet glow appeared in the corner, and Ry whirled toward it, his machete ready...until he saw what it was.

Sitting in the corner, his forearms draped over his knees, was Thano. His palm was faceup toward the ceiling, and a small violet flame was burning brightly on his hand. His face was shadowed by the light, showing hollowed-out cheeks. He was covered in dirt, and his shoulders were bone-thin, as if he'd been deprived of food for a thousand years, not for just the short time that he'd been missing.

But he was alive. Conscious. "Thano." Ryland lowered his machete, his throat actually tightening at the sight of his teammate.

Thano looked up, and in those haunted eyes was the same glittering attitude there had always been. "Where have you been?"

"Looking for you." Ryland walked across the room, and after a moment, he sat down beside Thano, draping his arms over his knees like Thano was. He leaned his head back against the wall, suddenly too exhausted to move. "You forgot to leave your new address, which made it a little tough to find you."

"Sorry about that." Thano held out his hand. "I've never been able to start fires before. Not sure what that means."

"You'll have to ask Zach. He knows fire." Zach Roderick was one of the Order members. He had a special relationship with fire that none of them really understood. Ryland passed his hand through the flames. "It's ice cold."

"Yeah. Zach's isn't." Thano turned his head to look at him. This time, now that he was closer, Ryland could see shadows in Thano's eyes that hadn't been there before. "Ry?"

"Yeah."

"I want to go home."

Ryland nodded. "Let's do it, buddy." He stood up, but Thano didn't. No words passed between the warriors, but Ryland understood. He sheathed his machete, then crouched down, slid his arms beneath the warrior and picked him up.

As he carried Thano back toward the hole in the ceiling, Ryland thought of Dante's words. The battle was his now. His to win or lose.

There was no choice. Nothing else mattered but Dante's legacy.

Whatever the battle was, he was going to win it.