-xxxxx-
This is the end, hold your breath and count to ten,
Feel the earth move and then hear my heart burst again,
For this is the end, I've drowned and dreamt this moment,
So overdue I owe them, swept away, I'm stolen
-xxxxx-
Bella POV
Adam, Kade and I were the ones that were going back to Cashel. Brandon was moving Jace, Nate and Connor back to the private plane and was going to fly over Cashel and once we found Aleera and we'd call him with the location.
We weren't stopped at all on our way to Cashel, but unfortunately when we arrived in Cashel, we found it deserted. We climbed out of the car, and I cringed when I saw the damage the forest fire I'd created had caused. The ground and trees were charred black and there wasn't a single piece of fresh grass anywhere.
"Jesus," Kade said, glancing at me, "this was you?"
I frowned, "apparently."
I passed them, going back to Radha Callaghan's, hoping she could help us find them. I couldn't feel anyone close by, it was like a ghost town. We hadn't come across a soul or a moving car or anything really, and lights were off in all of the windows we drove by.
"I don't think anyone's here either," I said, not taking my eyes off of the darkened cabin.
"Fan out, see what you can find," Adam instructed and I went up the steps into the house.
A foul smell hit me as I walked through the front door. I held my breath, taking tentative steps forward and the air fell from my lungs as soon as I entered the living room. I started coughing, stomach turning in disgust.
The living room hadn't been completely burnt and at first I thought that was what had taken Radha's life. It wasn't. I pressed a hand over my mouth, face contorting as I moved closer to her. She was dead, and some of her body had been destroyed by the fire, after she had died. I could see tears and breaks in her body everywhere, half of her neck had been torn off along with her right hand and most of her left leg. She had been torn apart, and not by anything human.
"Oh fuck," Kade's voice brought me out of my shock, and I turned to see him staring down at Radha wearily.
"Did you-," Adam's words cut off as he appeared next to Kade, and they widened a little at the sight.
"Adam, we aren't equipped to handle Hellhounds, and half of our team isn't here," Kade said quietly.
"Hellhounds?" I repeated in uncertainty.
Adam's eyes flickered from Radha to me and back again, before turning back to Kade. "It doesn't matter. Were going after Aleera."
"And if one or all of us gets killed?"
"Were not leaving my fucking girlfriend behind!" I snapped.
"Aleera will be if we do nothing," he reminded him, "and this time we might not be able to track her down."
I cut in, "Hellhounds, why would witches have Hellhounds? And how do you know Hellhounds did this?" Naturally, I assumed they were literally hounds from hell.
"That smell of sulfur is a Hellhound scent, which means they were summoned from Devil's Bit, it's a mountain thirty miles north of here, let's move out," Adam said.
What the hell is Devil's Bit?
I glanced back at Radha's body, suddenly feeling guilty. Radha had helped us and someone killed her for it, I just knew it. Why else would a coven of witches send Hellhounds to kill her? In their eyes, she was probably a traitor. I briefly wondered if she had known she would die for us. And if she had, why did she still help us?
"Bella," Kade's impatient voice snapped at me. I followed them back to the car, giving into the urge to look back one last time. I shuddered at the thought of one of us ending up like that.
-xxxxx-
Skyfall is where we start,
A thousand miles and poles apart,
Where worlds collide and days are dark,
You may have my number, you can take my name,
But you'll never have my heart
-xxxxx-
Kade turned to me from the front passenger seat. "Here's what you need to know. Hellhounds are nearly impossible to kill. We should be able to pick up their heat signatures, contrary to popular belief, they'll be ice cold, but their hearts are incredibly hot. When they're attacking, touching them too long will start to turn your body to ice, our gear should be able to help with that."
"How do you kill them?"
"We don't have the proper weapons for that. Although, they're has to be something that the witches are using to keep control of them. If you find it and destroy it, they'll be freed."
"That doesn't sound like such a good thing," I contradicted, "at least something is controlling them, if they're free, all hell will break loose. No pun intended."
"They'll kill whoever had power over them, in the chaos we should be able to grab Aleera and get out of there before they turn their attention to us," Kade added.
"Why would they attack us?"
"Because souls are meant to move on, not live life after life, we basically cheat death every time we die. To hell it would be like the ultimate insult, and to Hellhounds we'd become their primary target," Adam explained.
"You said we'd need our infrared to see them, are they invisible?"
Kade nodded at me, "they do have black eyes, and when they're wounded, smoke will seep out of them like blood. It's too dark too see either."
Something else occurred to me. "Can I burn them?"
"We've never used fire to kill them. They're from hell, you'd think they'd be fire proof."
"Does that mean there's a portal to hell here?" I had a lot of questions, more to distract myself until we got to Devil's Bit.
Kade answered me. "Not exactly. It's part of Cashel's history. In mythology the Rock of Cashel originated in Devil's Bit. When St. Patrick banished Lucifer from a cave there, it caused an earthquake that sent the rocks tumbling down into the village, nearly destroying it. When Lucifer was banished, he was basically killed and sent back to hell, when he fell back into the pit, the earth absorbed some of his power. Manipulating it properly can result in many things, summoning Hellhounds being one of them."
"So your pretty much saying all we can do is see them and hope we get out of there before they notice us?" that was a very bad plan.
"Pretty much," Adam said shrugging.
"It's full proof," Kade said sarcastically.
"Well that's a shit plan," i said rolling my eyes.
-xxxxx-
Where you go I go, what you see I see,
I know I'd never be me, without the security,
Of your loving arms, keeping me from harm,
Put your hand in my hand, and we'll stand
-xxxxx-
It wasn't long before we were nearing Devil's Bit. It was kind of like the hill in the amazon. The edge of the forest lined up with the wall of the cliff, a cliff that ran straight down on all sides, waves crashing into the rocks at the bottom. There was something standing straight up at the ledge and it must've been about ten feet high, thin too. I couldn't really tell what it was.
Some ways back was a largely growing fire, as we drew closer, I could see the outline of what looked to be about a dozen or so people. I'd sort of expected the whole town to be up there, considering it was empty. Which left the question, where was everyone?
We pulled over onto the edge of the road, each of us filing out silently and pulling on our helmets. A retinal scanner momentarily blinded me to confirm who I was, before opening up all of the other functions. I switched over to the night vision as it locked in onto the others and before we could turn to leave, Kade spoke hesitantly, "wait a minute."
"What?" both of us becoming alert.
He turned to the car, and opened the trunk, pulling out Aleera's duffel bag. He sighed, lifting one of the two swords out. "Why do you have that?" Adam asked angrily.
"Aleera brought it with us, after you locked them up, she went back and grabbed one. I watched her put the bag in the trunk earlier."
Adam swore heavily, "we don't know if that'll work, Hellhounds didn't originate on earth."
"No better time to find out," I said warily.
"We don't even know if the swords originated on earth," Kade pointed out.
"Give it to Bella," Adam ordered, turning and walking into the bushes. Kade handed me the blade, and I twirled it in my hand, noting how light it was. I looked down at the blade, unsure of why it seemed so familiar in my hands. Something tugged in the back of my mind, something just out of reach. I shook off the feeling, turning in the direction Adam had gone.
Adam took the lead, and I stayed a few paces back, Kade flanking my left. "Oh, and another thing, don't look into their eyes if you see them," Adam said to me.
"What? Why?"
"Just trust me, you don't want to look into their eyes," Adam said, shivering slightly. I turned to stare at him, wondering why his voice was so shaky. I let it go for now, figuring I could ask Aleera about it later.
"And don't let it bite you either, cant decide what's worse, getting bitten or looking into their eyes," Brandon said.
We walked for a few minutes, and my senses heightened as I felt Aleera little by little. Kade and I veered off to the east end, and Adam went west. When we reached the final stretch to the wall I started to feel other people. "We can't keep going in this direction, too many people are patrolling it all the way up, we don't have enough time to fight our way through."
No one spoke at first, and I turned to my right, seeing both of their heat signatures. Adam spoke, "I'll cause a distraction, go as far as you can and climb up the wall. When I give you the signal, move in."
I reached the cliff a minute later, hearing distant voices in sync, doing a spell I'd imagine. I was right next to the water. I eyed it a moment, debating whether or not to climb up over the water rather then the forest. I could come up right behind them if I did. I holstered the blade, stretching a little. I was stretching out my back a little when I heard a low throaty growl. I froze, dread washing over me.
The growl continued and rose as I turned to face my ambusher's. I couldn't see anything, so I flipped on my infrared. Two small heat signatures stood on either side of me, boxing me in.
I swallowed thickly, flinching when one took a step towards me. That flinch was all it took before the one to my left lunged for me. I side stepped as far as I could, but I wasn't fast enough, it clipped me in the shoulder and sent me staggering. Then I was slammed into the wall of the cliff before I could regain my balance. I reached out, grasping for something and ended up grabbing it's jaw, it snapped and snarled at me as I gripped it, holding it back. This thing was huge.
I pushed it back as much as possible, and then reached up with a knee and shoved hard, using the wall to help give me more force. I jumped to the left, rolling and then jumping back up and moved towards a tree. I pushed off of a tree behind it, grabbing a branch when I was high enough. I swung around, kicking one in the face as I went low again before I crouching on the tree.
I pulled out my lighter, grabbing the flame and expanding it as quickly as possible. I pushed it at the next one leaping towards me. As it burst through the flames, I'd dropped backwards, the blade in my hand. It collided with me and as we crashed hard I shoved the blade through it's jaw.
I didn't hesitate to get back up or to check to see if it was dead, the other one was almost on top of me. I side stepped again, and hearing a whoosh, I angled my body, as something cut through the first layer of material over my stomach. Claws. Sharp claws.
It turned and rushed me a second time, and I ran straight for it. When it lunged, I dropped to the ground, sliding under it. When I was right beneath it, I reached up with the blade, shoving it through it's chest and then dragging it down through it's body, gutting it.
Standing slowly, heart pounding I looked from one hound to the next, and rolled my shoulders. My right one really hurt after being slammed into the wall. As the rushing sound in my ears lessened, the adrenaline fading, I realized everyone was shouting at me.
"I'm fine! I'm good," I said quickly, still panting. "Safe to say the blades work," I chuckled slightly, and then stretched as I faced the cliff. My shoulder was going to hurt like a bitch later, especially after this climb.
"How many?" Adam asked, sounding rather concerned.
"Just two," I said as I began to make my way up the wall once I'd centered my gravity and made myself a little lighter.
"Just two?" Brandon's voice said incredulously. "Just two she says, not a problem at all, taking out Hell's guard dogs. It was a walk in the park, a piece of cake."
"Aleera better not find out," Adam muttered.
"Tell her that her girlfriend was nearly ripped apart by Hellhounds because we split up? Yeah, that'll go over real well. I'm not fucking telling her," Kade said heatedly.
"How far up are you, Kade?" I asked.
"I haven't started climbing yet, I was on my way to you when we heard you start swearing," I had been swearing? Huh.
"I'm already a third of the way up," I said incredulously.
"Shit. Alright."
It was silent for the next couple of minutes, all of us on the move. When I neared the top, I heard Brandon start talking to someone in a hushed voice. "Connor's awake."
"He still drunk?" Adam asked.
"Little bit, he looks like shit though," Brandon said, amused. Good. I hope he feels that way too. Idiots. If they hadn't gotten so drunk, I wouldn't be scaling a mountain right now.
I reached the point of the cliff, and when I glanced up, I nearly fell in surprise. It wasn't just any kind of post at the top. It was Aleera, she was hanging from it. I stayed where I was, frozen in place as I stared at her, the image burning in my mind.
"I'm in place, are you two ready?" Adam's voice brought me back to reality and I finished climbing up the last few feet.
"I-I'm ready," my voice shook.
"You okay?" Brandon asked, warily.
"I'm fine. Let's do this."
I peeked over it a little, coming up right behind her, and I looked everywhere except at my girlfriend. There must've been about fifteen or sixteen people here, I switched my infrared back on, "we've got about seven Hellhounds, over two dozen witches."
"Eight Hellhounds," Kade corrected.
"Keep an eye out, we don't know how many are in the forest. Wait until all of there attention is on me before making a move," Adam ordered. I looked in his direction, all the way back to the tree line and a moment later he started shooting. Almost every head turned his way.
I heard someone shout something in Latin and then several of the Hellhounds moved for him, along with a few other men. Someone lit a torch and started moving towards Aleera and I narrowed my eyes a little, making the top of the torch burst, setting them on fire.
I got a little impatient, and then panicked when I noticed several of the hellhounds move for Aleera. I pulled myself over the ledge, pulling out the blade and flipped it, gripping the handle backwards. One of them lunged for me, I swung hard, getting it in the throat and then ducked when the body rolled over me and straight into the post.
"Shit!" I dove forward as it began shake, Aleera moaned, but didn't wake up. Something hit me hard and pinned me to the ground, and I lost my grip on the blade in the process. I twisted as much as possible, hot breath steaming up my vision.
I threw my palm up, shoving it's mouth up and away from me as I struggled for my lighter. When it was finally lit, the flames covered me like a second skin and the hound jumped backwards, growling furiously.
I jumped back up, eyes widening. I'd set the thing on fire. "Well that's not good," I said taking a step back.
"Bella, what did you do?" Kade asked, stunned. I cringed.
"I don't think they're fire proof," was all I said, with a bit of concentration I tried to take back the flames. I couldn't. I had no control of the fire that was on it. Almost like it wasn't there.
It rushed me and I turned to run to the edge of the cliff. At the last second I dropped to the ground, and it flew straight over me and down into the water. I jumped back up, running for Aleera, picking up the blade on my way.
I reached up, cutting her down and I pulled her into my arms, laying her down on the ground gently. I shook her a little bit, trying to rouse her, but it was useless, she was out. "I've got her," I said, turning back around.
"I'll be there in two minutes," Brandon said.
An arrow hit me in the chest, and I pulled it out, gazing around, I saw that the majority of people had picked up weapons, crossbows being the common one. I turned to the fire in the center of the field and pushed with my mind, sending trails of it to as many as i could. I probably should've though that through better, considering I just set the field on fire.
"Move for the ledge," Adam said breathlessly.
I looked around, eyes falling on someone standing amidst the chaos. I frowned a little. Everyone else was running around freaking out except for this guy. I pulled out my gun, aiming at them and then my eyes landed on something glowing around their neck. It was pulsing red and it couldn't have been bigger then a dollar.
I raised my gun again, shooting at it. The bullet didn't hit it's target. I don't know where it went. I was a good shot, it should've hit him. "Adam, there's a man about twenty feet to your left, that thing around his neck, what is it?"
It was a few seconds before he replied, "that's probably what's controlling the Hellhounds, I'm going for it. Cover me."
"On it," I said, keeping my sight in his general area. Kade appeared on my right, covering the three of us. Adam kept shooting at the man with the glowing necklace and I shot at anyone that moved against Adam. When the man noticed Adam approaching, he faced him and a moment later bright orange flames sent him flying back into the woods. Fire. This guy could control fire.
I narrowed my eyes, and then smirked. Two can play at that game. "I got this," I said moving forward.
"Got you covered, be quick," Kade said to me.
I ran across the clearing as fast as I could, putting away the gun as I maneuvered through the crowd, both Adam and Kade working to create a clear path for me. He shot flames at me as soon as he saw me. I dodged them, throwing my own small ball of flames at his face. He threw his arms out, the ball didn't hit him but the force of my throw sent him staggering backwards, and I threw another one, no bigger then a baseball.
I threw my body into his, and we tumbled. I struck out, just as more fire burst from him and he froze when he realized the flames weren't harming me.
"That's right bitch, I'm fire proof," I punched him again, ripping the chain from around his neck. I slammed it down onto the ground, and red light exploded from it, the force of it throwing me backwards.
I crashed into the fire pit, and flames exploded everywhere around me and in a moment of surprised panic I tried to push them away. The flames tripled, bursting around me and setting the entire field on fire, along with a few people that didn't escape the explosion.
I laid their, dazed, ears ringing and blinking up at the sky, not a breath later the mountain began to shake heavily. "-up, Bella!" a voice roared in my mind. Someone was talking. What were they saying? What was happening? "Get up!" another voice shouted. They were so loud. I blinked once, twice, three times as my mind cleared. Aleera. We had to get Aleera.
I rolled out of the pit, and turned to stand when my eyes met swirling black fathomless pits. I was sucked in before I could look away.
-x-
I got back on my feet, and the world spun around me ground trembling and wind roaring furiously, a voice called out to me, "Bella!"
I whirled around, eyes widening. "No," I cried out, seeing Aleera at the edge of the cliffs, barely hanging onto the ledge.
I started to rush for it, but found I couldn't move, I was frozen. I started to hyperventilate, "Aleera, I-I'm stuck," I yelled, pulling to move my body with as much force as I could. I looked down, vines wrapped around my legs, immobilizing me.
She called out my name again and I watched her left hand loose it's grip on the edge, her head disappearing. She called out my name a third time and as my fear and desperation grew I managed to pull myself free, stumbling forwards.
I ran.
I ran faster then I ever had before.
As I neared, her right hand lost it's grip and I dropped, sliding across the ground to the edge. I reached out for her hand, fingers barely brushing hers. Her eyes met mine for just a split second, and I saw the betrayal in hers as she plummeted into the water and rocks. I froze, eyes wide as I watched the waves crash into the wall.
"Aleera," I whispered eyes watering a little.
I couldn't save her.
I failed her.
I lost her.
Then everything went dark and I was falling again.
-x-
I jolted, unbearable pressure on my chest, stealing my oxygen. I sucked in sharp painful gasps of air. It felt like my lungs and blood had filled with ice, I was freezing. My senses kicked in and I realized Aleera was standing in front of me, blade in hand and covered in bruises and cuts, eyes dark.
She met my gaze, holding out her hand for me. I took it, standing on shaky legs, I realized the ground was still trembling. An intense wind swept over the area along with a whirring sound. I looked up, seeing the plane. I couldn't be sure if the plane made the ground shake more, or if the mountain was about to collapse. I was hoping for the former.
"Bella, put out the goddamn fire! We can't get to the plane!" Kade said next. I turned slowly, there were quite a few bodies laying around, several of the Hellhounds were on fire, the tree line had caught fire and so had most of the ground.
Keeping hold of my hand she guided us to the edge. Connor opened the door for us, holding up a rifle. "Who the hell gave his ass a gun? He's drunk!" Adam shouted and I flinched, and it looked like Brandon had as well considering the plane shook a little.
"Christ Adam, quit fucking shouting," Brandon snapped, "we can all hear you just fine!"
I tried to connect to the fire, but it was like with the Hellhounds, it was untouchable to me. "I-I can't," I said shaking my head and trying to focus as much as I could. Aleera released my hand, as one of the Hellhounds approached us, taking the blade from me.
"What do you mean 'you can't', you started the fire!" Adam snapped at me.
"I can't feel it!" I said, backing up a step when the flames at the point started to make it's way back.
I looked over at Aleera, watching her wrestle with one of the Hellhounds. I'll admit, it was a little amusing, it kind of looked like she was having a seizure or something. I chuckled. "I don't see how this is funny," Kade said.
I backed up another step, and a ripping sound caused me to look back at the point. "Oh no," the mountain was collapsing, just falling apart along the edges.
"Get back," Brandon said. "Fall back!"
I turned to run as the ground cracked and ripped just a foot away from us. That fall would kill anyone. I rushed for Aleera, throwing my weight into the Hellhound. It jumped on top of me, and I pulled my knees to my chest and kicked out, sending it down into the water.
I scrambled upwards, and Aleera helped me balance out as we ran towards the forest, where Adam and Kade were. The infrared picked up three more signatures exiting the woods, towards Adam. "Adam, behind you," I warned.
He spun, getting tackled by the closest one, one that happened to be on fire. Aleera whipped the knife at the pair, and it sunk in straight through it's skull. We were about twenty feet from the forest when the ground disappeared beneath us. I started to fall before reaching out and getting a hold of sturdier ground. One of the Hellhounds fell as the earthquake came to an end.
Adam and Kade faced down the other two, Aleera and I both struggling to pull ourselves up onto the surface. "Fuck," I hissed, my shoulder starting to ache painfully, I couldn't even get my feet to settle on any of the wall.
In the corner of my eye I saw Aleera drop, and I reached out and grabbed her forearm instantly, keeping a grip on the edge with my left. I clenched my jaw when the added weight pulled me down even more. My hold was slipping on both too quickly.
"A little help here!" I gasped, a second later I lost my hold on Aleera. "No!"
She started to fall, but before I could do anything my attention went to Connor, who was diving downwards, passed me and into Aleera, a thick rope attached to him. Relieved I turned back to the wall, and jaws snapped at me. "Holy-," I dropped.
My stomach churned as I fell towards the water backwards. "Bella," Jace's voice brought my eyes to the plane. "Catch it!" He held something in his hands, it was big, and gun shaped. Something silver appeared in my sight, flying past me swiftly, a wire. I reached out, clutching it and held on as tightly as I could as it swung downwards.
I twisted around in time to see Aleera and Connor in front of me. "Fuck," I crashed into them hard, all of us bouncing off of each other and tangling in the air.
"Adam, Kade, get to the edge," Jace said. I looked up, seeing another two wired arrows go flying straight over us, disappearing when it went over the cliff. The plane jerked to the left, Adam and Kade dropping into view as we moved away from the mountain.
One by one we were all lifted up, flying over the Atlantic Ocean. When we were all finally inside, everyone was bloody and battered, stunk like smoke, sulfur and sweat. Silence filled the plane.
I closed my eyes, leaning back in my seat as the exhaustion stated to set in. Kade's voice broke through the quiet, "I've said it before and I'll say it again. I hate witches."
I smiled, a few others laughing breathlessly.
-xxxxx-
Let the sky fall (let the sky fall)
When it crumbles (when it crumbles)
We will stand tall (we will stand tall)
Face it all together, at skyfall
-xxxxx-