So so so sorry for not updating. Don't have any excuses other than Uni being hectic and a hectic summer….So here's the long awaited update, I'II do my hardest to update more regularly :) Don't forget to review to let me know what you think :) Thanks for sticking with me.
Chapter Nineteen
Whoosh! A sickening thump occurred before Daniel yelped out in pain as another arrow hit him, this one followed the same course as the last but was one deadly inch closer to his heart. I gazed up at Gabbe in shock. "Gabbe!" I gasped out only to be met with a growl before an arrow tore through the air missing my shoulder by a hairsbreadth. The initial shock and panic of the near hit sent me sprawling backwards away from Daniel. "Luce!" Daniel's pained voice spoke as another one of Gabbe's arrows became trained on him. "No!" I yelled before lunging at her, I took her by surprise and her arrow went wide by mere inches. I barrelled into Gabbe's slender form, sending us into the hard snow bank. Gabbe grunted at impact. "It's all your fault!" She hissed in my ear. "I wouldn't smell like a rotten corpse if you hadn't had to have saved Cam!" She snarled as she quickly gripped my shoulders, her long nails scratching against my armour as she spun and slammed my back into the snow bank which might as well have been a sheet of ice. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of metal and grasped her wrist just as the point of her dagger dug slightly into the side of my neck, drawing a small pinprick of blood to the surface "I was there for you! I protected you! He tried to take you for his own." She snapped as she added more force to the arm I was trying my best to push away. "This isn't you!" I gasp out. "The Gabbe I know, wouldn't look for vengeance, yes it was my fault and yes my decision will haunt me for the rest of my days! The Gabbe I know wouldn't hurt anyone" I snapped as I pushed against her slowly inching the knife away from my body. "Newsflash, The Gabbe you know is dead and it's all because of you!" She snarled as her other arm swung at my elbow, causing my elbow to buckle as she forced the blade to my neck.
A hand grabbed Gabbe by the hair, the other holding her wrist that had the knife in it and pulled her away from me. "Nice to see you again, princess!" Michael snarled into Gabbe's ear. "This isn't the way, one of the most higher up archangels should act." He spat as he threw her aside. "Go, Take Daniel to the medic tent. Get outta here." He ordered, his eyes trained on Gabbe, as she got back to her feet, hissing at him like a snake, her angelic grace was gone replaced by something completely animal. Her fingers were poised like a bird of prey's talons as it neared its prey and her eyes gleamed with absolute wrath and daggers. Her pupils so big, her blue irises merely rimmed the dark pits or her pupils. "Its not her Luce, just get outta here now!" He ordered once again, with an air of finality. I quickly went to Daniel, he was trying to pull the arrows out. I stop him. "You'll do more damage, let's get you to the medic." I say as I try and get him to his feet, but he slouches over in pain really falling back to his knees. I wrap my arms around him and put all my strength into keeping him up. I quickly glance back as I can hear Gabbe's animalistic screams as she battles Michael. The horn from before blows again, Gabbe's eyes widen at the sound. She quickly parries Michael's blow before kicking him backwards. Michael momentarily loses his balance on the slick surface. But a moment is all Gabbe needed to whirl around and slam her blade into Michael's black in between his wings before I was even given a chance to react. "NO!" I cry out as I see the bloody tip of Gabbe's blade protruding from Michael's chest. A look of shock and agony frozen on his face, as the colour slowly drains from his face and his knees shake. Gabbe places her foot on the small of his back and with a sickening squishing sound rips the blade from Michael's back, her lips moving into a satisfied smirk, as she looks at me, blood dripping from the blade. I don't hear her taunts before as I pull my sword from it's scabbard. "Don't!" Daniel croaks in pain as he tries to take my wrist but I'm already charging towards her. She knocks my blow away and I dodge her swing. "This has been fun but alas, I must go….until we met again, Luce!" She smirks before vanishing. I crouch beside Michael. "What the hell was that?" He groans softly "I told you to take Daniel and go to the medic!" He tries to snarl. "You and I both know, I never listen." I smirk as a tear runs down my face. "Ah! Please don't go all sloppy on me. A good warrior should expect nothing more than a death in a battle. The cowards hope to live to evade the un-known." He groaned his voice weakening, I feel Daniel behind me and he slowly kneels down beside me. "So I'm a coward than? because I hope to live?" I snap at him. He smirks. "My girl, you've died enough to know that death is actually the easy way out, we're all fools in love and in war. No one ever truly wins. Though that will and temper of yours will certainly be your undoing." He grunts as the snow surrounding him darkens from a bright red to a terrifying crimson. "Michael…Thank you, for everything." I sniff as more tears fall. "When they asked me to help you, I laughed, I thought it was hopeless. No way could anyone learn everything you have in the time we were given. But you did and for that I thank you Lucinda Price for inspiring me. You can do this Luce. Just believe in yourself." He smiled at me. Of course the bastard would only smile at me, when he's about to die. Typically bloody Michael! "Now go, get him to the medic, god knows what that arrow's done! I'd like to be alone in my last few minutes." He finishes in a whisper as he closes his eyes. "Until we meet again, my friend." He adds. I swipe at my tears before turning to Daniel and help him back to his feet and together we stumble haphazardly towards the medic's tent…or at least where the medic's tent should have been.
"AHHHHHHHH!" Daniel screams as Raphael digs in further with his scalpel to try and locate the final shard of the obsidian arrowhead. Normally obsidian wouldn't shatter upon hitting bone but these arrows were made in such a way to inflict the most damage. I turn never releasing Daniel's hand -even though he's crushing all the bones in my hand together with his white knuckled iron grip- and dip the cloth back into the icy water and then turn back and gently wipe at the sheen of sweat along his brow and cool his face. "Just a little longer." I whisper softly into his ear as soothingly as I can. Francesca and Steven both stand at the wall of Raphael's tent. Francesca shifts restlessly from foot to foot and Steven's arm is wrapped around her, securing her to his side, the upper corner of his face near his hair line is bandaged concealing the stitches beneath. It never occurred to me how hard seeing Daniel hurt must be. They had raised him after all. To them he was their child. I looked at Francesca and she pulled away from Steven and came forward and went around to his other hand and took his other hand in hers and drew it close to her lips. "You're doing so well! just a little longer, son." She soothed in her honey thick voice. Daniel grunted and gasped out in pain before letting out another cry before Raphael grabbed the forceps and in one swift motion pulled out the final obsidian shard. "There we are. That was deep." He informed us. "You're damn luckily it wasn't more to the right!" He tutted and he then took up his needle and thread and began to sew the skin back together. I placed a gentle kiss to Daniel's temple. "Never take an arrow for me again." I growl softly into his ear. His mouth moves from its pained grimace into a grin. "Better me than you, my love. " He whispers back. I shake my head as I wipe the sweat from his brow once more. "If you die needlessly, I swear to god, Grigori or Greene or whatever you call yourself. I will find you and kill you in a way that's ten times worse." I smirk back. "I don't doubt it." He smirks before he hisses. "Last one." Raphael promises as he carefully does the final stitch and secures it. An angel I've never seen before enters the tent but keeps his eyes to the ground. "Commander Lucinda, Cambriel's sent for you. He says its important." The angel says. I nod. "I'II be right there." I say as Daniel goes to sit up. I place a hand to his hot skin. "What are you doing?" I ask. Daniel's brow furrows in confusion. "Umm…..going with you." He answers. "No, you're going to stay here and rest you lost a bit of bone and snapped you're clavicle and get needs dressing!" I say pointing at the wound that's now stitched but still weeping blood and before he can protest, I press my lips to his. "I'II be five minutes, not a second more." I promise against his lips as the kiss finishes. He groans. "Not a nanosecond more." He agrees before lowering himself back down. "Cross my heart." I promise as I peck his cheek before standing keeping hold of his hand until I take my first step away from him.
"What will we do now?" Cam asks as he paces back and forth in his tent, one side of the canvas dropping to the ground prematurely, blood splattering it's white fabric. Luckily our numbers only suffered minorly. Altogether we lost around fifteen warriors from our group of seven hundred and fifty. Though our make shift armoury was set alit destroying most of our weaponry. "We'll figure it out, We still have an army at least. A more enraged one, dare I say." I sigh. "Michael' loss, has hit the group hard." He agrees and he stops and looks at me. "I'm sorry for your loss by the way. I know you too became close." He sighs. My lips twitch into a frown momentarily before I regain composure. "He wants us to win this. I won't let him down." I croak out before I clear my throat. "You can cry you know I won't hold it against you." He slightly smiled at me and at his words I broke down. My arms started to tremble as the built-up fear, pain and grief washed over me like a tidal wave. My eyes blurring with tears as I hugged my trembling arms to my body as I felt arms wrap around me. "Sometimes I forget that you are just twenty-two…..the oldest I've ever seen you though." Cam smirks into my hair as he holds me to him. "She was there. Gabbe was there, she killed him." I sobbed. I felt Cam frown into my hair. "Lu, what's dead stays dead, it was most probably one of Lilith's followers who could tell your weakness or grievances and shape shift to prey upon that weakness. I promise you Luce, it wasn't your fault. You never asked to be cursed. You never asked for Gabbe or Molly to sacrifice themselves for you. They did it because they loved and believed in you to do what no one could do, stop Lucifer. It was in no way your fault. They chose their fate, they've moved on Lu, wherever that is." Cam spoke softly as he stroked my hair. "You're so strong and brave, Luce but you can't save everyone no matter how hard you try." He continued in a soothing soft tone as he took my tear-stained face in his hands and looked me in the eye. "You've already saved the damn world once! Of course, there was going to be a price for that. You won't have to pay the price for this war, Luce. I swear to you. I'II raise hell before I let you pay again." He said sternly as his emerald eyes scorched into my hazel ones. "Please don't raise hell, I don't think I could deal with Lucifer at this precise moment." I whisper earning a grin from Cam. "There she is, there's the Lucinda I know." He grins. "You better get back to Grigori before he has heart failure. I'II deal with the preparations for tomorrow, just get some rest. You're going to need it. Doubt you'll be able to save the world on a couple of winks of sleep." He smirks before he sends me away.
On the way back to Raphael's tent I pass through the ruins of our camp, some of our makeshift buildings and tents are ablaze, dark clouds of smoke blocking out the wonderful Northern lights and twinkling stars. The flames climbing high into the sky as Angels and Demons alike argue over the best way to extinguish the flames. I shake my head and smirk to myself. At least some things never change. As I near Raphael's tent the hairs on my neck raise slightly. I try and shrug the feeling off as I enter the tent only to find, Raphael, Francesca, Steven and Arriane unconscious and Daniel gone. My eyes widen. "Daniel?!" I call looking around and find Raphael's small table of surgical instruments toppled, the sharp instruments scattered haphazardly across the tents floor and the ceramic bowl which was filled with the icy that I had cooled Daniel with, was nothing more than shards over the floor. A small moan filled the air, followed by a shudder from Arriane. "Arriane!" I gasp as I move carefully towards her, I gently move her and her eyelids flutter. "Arriane what happened?" I ask "Where's Daniel?" I ask. She says something incoherent and I lower my head until my ear is nearly right on her mouth. "What?" I ask. "I'm right here." A soft familiar voice says from behind me. I turn to see Daniel stood before me. Raphael had dressed the wound to his upper torso but something about him was…..off. "Are you okay?" I ask as I gently set Arriane back down before crossing towards him. He doesn't answer me, he merely watches as I cross the tent. "Dan-" I'm cut off by him slapping me across the face so hard, my eyes water at the sharp sting and I take a sharp intake of breath. He steps towards me in the way, Gabbe had but I knew for a fact this was him. I could see his soul within him. I retreat a couple of steps earning a triumphant grin from Daniel. "W-What?" I stutter as I place my palms in front of me. "Daniel..W-W-What are you doing?" I ask as he pulls out a starshot from behind him..He cocks his head to the side. "Where one shall stand, the other shall fall and have nothing at all." He hisses as he lunges at me with the blunt, deadly end of the starshot pointing at me.