The Last Hope

Lilith stared at her father as a million images of murder flashed through her mind. Without saying a single word, she slipped from the bed and slowly made her way towards the bedroom door. She stood with her back towards Dante as he stood to face her.

"I know exactly what you're considering," he said. "Don't think I won't try to stop you."

"You won't."

Lilith extended her hand to her side. The door opened itself. Lilith stood just a few seconds longer before charging down the staircase. Dante let her get ahead a few steps before walking after her. He took the time to close the door before nonchalantly following her downstairs. When he reached the bottom, she was already at the front door. He whistled to catch her attention.

Lilith pulled her hand from the doorknob. She glared at him over her shoulder. Kyra, who was sitting in the adjacent room with the others, blindly found her way towards them. She leaned against the doorpost with Eryc at her shoulder.

"Whatever it is," Kyra said, "let it go. It's not worth what you plan to do."

Lilith turned her glare to Kyra. "You stay out of this. You have no right protecting Kaliel."

"I don't understand."

"You lie!"

"Lilith!" Dante suddenly called. She turned to face him completely. "You said so yourself what would happen if he died."

"That is suddenly irrelevant. If you want to lecture someone, why not lecture Kyra for her role in all this?"

Dante saw Kyra tense up in his peripheral vision. "Why?"

"She's been playing you, Dad. She doesn't know what she wants. There are other things I saw while she let me go insane in a living grave. She's been lying to everybody, even Kaliel. I'll be doing these people a favor."

Recurring thoughts that Dante tried to ignore flashed through his mind. His eyes remained on Lilith. "Kyra," he said, "come here."

Kyra tried to back away, but Eryc was standing behind her. "Kyra," Dante repeated in a firmer voice.

"You can't boss me around," Kyra said with unexpected vehemence. "Just go and do what you have to do!"

"No!" Lilith insisted. "You won't get away with hiding in the shadows when something goes wrong. Not this time!" Lilith spun and yanked the front door open. She was greeted by a powerful gust and the too familiar sound of high pitched screeching. A glance revealed another horde of tulpas razing the city.

"He knows," Kyra said. "He's losing strength because you're free, and he's trying to make up for it with a premature Blood Feast."

Lilith took one step towards the door before Dante call her name. She stopped in midstride. "What about the locals?" he asked.

Lilith didn't let herself think of an answer. She stepped onto the porch and closed the door. Dante subconsciously held his hand out to Kyra. As if she had seen it, she held her own hand to him. He took it and pulled her forward.

"What was Lilith talking about?" he asked.

Kyra shrugged. "I don't know."

Dante was silent in thought. "Kyra," he suddenly asked, "after you rescued Kaliel from his little accident all those years ago, did you know what type of person he'd become?"

Kyra was slow to answer. "Yes."

"If you couldn't kill him, given the nature of the island's existance, why didn't you try to relocate the natives? Why didn't you try to find another way to separate them from him?"

Kyra was slower to speak. Dante squeezed her hand to force a response. She resisted for about a second. "I couldn't!" she finally answered.

"Why not?" This time Dante didn't wait to squeeze her hand again.

"I didn't want to be alone," she said while fighting tears.

"Be alone?" Eryc asked behind her. "What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you what she means," Dante said as he released her. "I suspected as much, but Lilith confirmed it in my mind before she left. Kyra has been playing both sides of the field, and she doesn't even care to acknowledge why." Dante looked over Kyra's shoulder towards Eryc. "Kyra is like the others."

Eryc shrugged. "The others? What others?"

"The tulpas. Those creatures out there. Kyra's life is partially dependent on Kaliel's. If he dies, he takes her with him, as well as this island."

Eryc folded his arms and leaned against the doorpost. "How the hell did that happen?"

Kyra realized the question was directed at her. "You seem to have figured it out," she said to Dante. "Why don't you tell him?"

"I can't," Dante said. "That part I don't know. What happened? Were you sick?"

Kyra turned slightly away from him. "I was dying from an illness I've been suffering since before we even met. It just wasn't obvious at the time. Not even to me. Kaliel offered me an alternative as payment for caring for him. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Well, if my daughter gets her way, you don't have long to live. What are we going to do about that?"

(X)

Lilith completely ignored the surrounding chaos as she followed her instincts to the outskirts of the city. Flying montrosities and frightened locals were oblivious to her. She maintained a casual pace as she left the small urban area and continued towards where she knew Kaliel was waiting for her. A drop of rain fell against her shoulder. She did not realize it froze against her skin. Her breath condensed and floated away.

With each step, she felt her stolen power seep back into her body. On a whim, as soon as she took a single step beyond the final house (or what was left among its smoldering embers) she activated her devil trigger. The transformation felt slower than usual, but it was completed with a euphoric surge. She quickly spread her wings, three vespertilian pairs working as one, to flick away rain. She inhaled deeply before finally taking to the air.

(X)

"Me," Eryc said.

Kyra and Dante turned towards him as if they had not understood what he said. "Repeat that?" Dante said.

"Me," Eryc said. "I can do something about it."

"What do you mean?" Kyra asked.

Eryc took Kyra's hand and pulled her back towards the adjacent room. "How quickly could you teach me this tulpa thing? Could you give this island to me instead?"

Kyra gasped and held her breath before answering. "Are you serious?"

"As a tax audit."

"I, I don't know."

"Can you try?"

Kyra backed away a short distance. "Do you have any idea what you're asking me to do? What you will have to do?"

Eryc raised his eyes to Dante as if to get permission. Instead, Dante looked away. "Yes," Eryc finally said. "If it will buy this island extra time, then teach me. As fast as you possibly can. As if your life depended on it."

"Because it does," Dante said. He turned and headed for the exit. "I'll try to keep you alive as long as possible."

Kyra and Eryc waited for Dante to exit and close the door. Kyra took Eryc's hand. "You'd better sit down to conserve your strength."

Still holding hands, Kyra and Eryc lowered to the floor and folded their legs. "Relax," Kyra instructed, "and prepare to concentrate."