Page 49 of Wings of The Wraith
“This is madness, he’ll die,” I said out loud.
“Then save him, what are you waiting for? My magic is all around you Syph. Those vines on your arms are like touching me. A person would sell their soul to the devil himself to get a hold of my powers, and there you are, just letting time pass and go to waste.”
My eyes widened as I realized what she was saying.
I could have her power. I did have her power.
The same way I had Dante’s.
I closed my eyes and focused, feeling for the difference and there it was.There it was.Like a box inside my soul.
“Release me.” I said to the vines and they listened. As the vines retreated back to the earth the glass case shattered, breaking me free.
“Oh my God.” I gasped and moved to Dante just as the creature was about to land his sword down hard on him.
I waved my hands and stopped the sword mid strike. The creature growled, and the queen shuffled. I looked to her as the understanding of her power filled my mind. Not everything came to me, but some. Enough.
She wanted me to show the creature mercy, so I did. This was a game, but not one to the death. With a wave of my hand I sent the creature back beyond the wall it came from. Then I went to Dante who needed me. I knelt down and put my arms around his battered form. Blood was all over his face.
“Alyssa, syph. God, this feels exactly like the first time I died.” He coughed blood.
“Hold still. I’ll heal you.” The only way that I could heal him was to turn him back to his angel form. “Revertio discadentio.”
Those were the words the queen spoke when she transformed him the first time and it worked now to put him back to his angelic form. I watched him turn back into the man I’d come to know, and...loved.
This...was unreal, everything about the last few days were unreal, but what felt real to me was this feeling in my heart.
The feeling in my heart that told me I would only ever feel the way I did with him. As I watched him change, I wondered if maybe I could have removed the wraith essence in him, but as he transformed, I saw I didn’t.
He sat up and expanded his wings and the black tips were there still.
He reached for me and held me close.
“You saved me,” he whispered into my ear.
“I thought it was about time. Right?”
He held me closer and kissed the top of my head.
“Both of you get out of my realm,” the queen balked. “And do not come back.”
We both looked at her.
She waved her hand into a circle and a portal appeared in front of us.
“That is the Shadowlands?” Dante asked.
“It is.”
“No games or tricks?”
“Time is of the essence. Balmora and the necromancer are already there waiting for you. This gateway will take you straight to the Cave of Endless Night.”
When I looked, I saw a lonely mountain off in a distance.
“Remember, all magic stops while you’re inside the cave.”
“I know,” Dante replied. He helped me to stand and took my hand to lead me toward the portal.
“Thank you.” I said to the queen. I knew she didn’t want to help us, or maybe it was more like she didn’t want to get involved. So, she did the next best thing by giving me access to her powers.
“Use them wisely.”
“Come on Alyssa,” Dante tugged on my hand.
We both stepped into the portal and into the shadowlands which looked exactly as the name described. Like a land surrounded by shadows.
As we stepped in, the portal closed and all there was...
Was nothingness.
