Arianna Rose: The Arrival (Part 4) (29 page)

Inside her, another battled raged.  Powers warred, sliding against one another with frictionless force, pushing and pulling.  Insurmountable
wrath, her dark and ever-present companion, clashed with a more powerful opponent, the new energy that had emerged at Agnon’s lair; the one that had imparted Desmond with strength once again. The energy pulsed from within, beating as naturally as her own heartbeat, as it effervesced through her veins like crystalline fragments of fallen heavens.  The voice inside her no longer demanded blood.  It no longer whispered through her murderously, seeking to kill in an eye-for-an-eye capacity.  It demanded justice, plain and simple. 

She felt the darkness inside her falter before collapsing entirely.  Awareness tingled across her skin as realization of what she was, what she was destined to do, swept across her flesh.  The prophecy of her existence came to her in razor-sharp clarity. 

Beams spilled from the darkened sky, resplendent, glorious, and she found herself bathed in their brilliance.  Blue light glowed from within her, seeping from her skin and haloing her, surrounding her, sparkling like freshly fallen snow in sunlight. 

She turned f
rom Amitt, infused with celestial radiance, and watched as Desmond moved with deific speed and grace, countering Abraxas’ every move before striking lethally.  His flaming blade sliced a glowing arc across Abraxas’ throat, cutting cleanly through his flesh and bone.  His head, eyes still staring in shock, tumbled from the stump above his shoulders and fell to the ground with a
thud
. 

“Arianna!” a voice roared behind her, the sound slithering down the length of her spine.  “What have you done?”

She spun and saw Darius looming in the distance, moving toward her swiftly. 

“I know what you are,” she said, her voice tolling with certainty. 

Darius froze momentarily, his expression like that of a person who’d just been slapped.  But he regained his composure quickly.  “You may think you do,” he smirked mirthlessly.  “But I doubt you really do.”

“No, you’re wrong,” she said and squared her shoulders.  “You came to fool me, to trick me into your arms and to your side.  You thought you could use me.”

“Use you?” Darius threw his head back and laughed, circling her.  “You make it sound as if you did not enjoy our time together, our passionate kiss,” he spat the words cruelly, looking directly at Desmond. 

Desmond’s face withered for an instant, jealous
y contorting his features.  He turned his head to face her, his eyes pleading, tearing at her heart.

“Desmond, it meant nothing to me,” Arianna started.  “I thought you
’d betrayed me that you were with Amitt.”

Darius howled with laughter.  “Oh, how I love to watch you squirm
, Arianna!” he jeered.  “So pathetic, and ironic too, when you think about it.  You were with me, in my arms, thinking that Desmond here had jilted you when all the while he was locked in his father’s dungeon, stripped of his powers.”  Darius scoffed and applauded.  “It is almost too much!” he swiped imaginary tears from beneath his eyes dramatically and said. 

Anger and shame convened to form the perfect storm.  He was right, but he had orchestrated the deceit that caused all of it to transpire.  “What you said is true,” she said.  Darius’ thick, dark brows shot upward
, his surprise evident, and now it was Arianna who grinned cheerlessly.  “And really, I owe you thanks,” she added.

“Thanks?” he asked, befuddled.

“Yes.  I have you to thank.  If you hadn’t come to me and done everything you did, I never would have completed my transformation.  You served a great purpose, one that I cannot overlook.  So thank you for serving me,” she said.  She could practically see his blood boiling beneath his skin, the notion of servitude of any kind rankling him to his core.  “I now know not only what you are, but what I am.  You served your purpose and that was the only reason you were able to deceive me.  You were sent to fulfill
my
destiny, not the other way around.  You were my pawn.”

“You know nothing!” he snapped. 
“You were born of darkness, swaddled in shadows, destined to be the blight of mankind.  Don’t deny your destiny!  You know what you were, what you still are,” Darius hissed venomously. 

“No,” Arianna
’s voice clapped like thunder.  She planted her feet and shook her head slowly.

“
Yes,” he disagreed, his sibilant voice oozing malice like the warning of a serpent coiled to strike.  “Darkness is within you, rooted deep.  You are the Sola, the Black Witch, the Dark Angel.  Whatever name you are called, you are wicked.  Your heart is filled with resentment, with anger, with hate.  Don’t ignore it.”  A hollow laugh slipped from his lips, dripping with scorn. 

“You’re wrong,” Arianna said with a certainty that echoed through her soul. 
Her voice filtered through the space like a choir of bells, crackling with energy. 

“Do not divest yourself of your power, your destiny
, for Him,” Darius spat and cast his eyes heavenward.  “He is a fraud of the cruelest sort, sending pathetic creatures, armed with free will but devoid of anything else to guide them, to kill each other for his amusement.  Created in His image, bah! That is the cosmic joke of all cosmic jokes!”  Darius’ lips curled to a tight grimace.  “He does not muddle through time and space powerless, helpless, yet His children do.  Come with me, Arianna,” Darius said as a glowing portal opened at his side, the air shimmying unstably.  “We can end it for His pets, end the misery and reign over the world.  Come with me.”  He reached out a hand to her.

Energy surged tempestuously from the open portal and the metallic, iron-rich stench of blood assailed her nostril
s as visions of slaughter bombarded her brain.  A cold shiver passed through her while goose bumps stole about her skin, responding to the sensation of demons creeping close by, just beyond the entrance of the portal.  Her mouth parched and her pulse darted in her throat.  “Never,” she said through clenched teeth. 

His gazed bored into her
, bubbling with unconcealed hate. Tree limbs cast long, spectral shadows across his face, gashing his features with pointed bands of black that made him look every bit as sinister as he was.  “So now you are a pious, do-gooder, is that what I am to understand?” he growled.  “All of a sudden, your bloodlust is gone, is it?”  The portal at his side dimmed as the pale violet haze enshrining her wafted toward it.  “Just like that,” he said then shook his head and
tsk
ed at her.  “I think you are making a mistake.  I think you are forcing down your true nature because of him,” he pointed a finger at Desmond. 

“I am not mistaken, and I’d mind my tongue if I were you,” she provoked.  “You are in the presence of power far greater than your own.  I will strike you down if you do not bow to me now.”

“Bow to you?” he bellowed.  “Bow to you!  Do you know who I am, the powers I possess?” Blood-red flames gathered between his hands, pulsing with black veins that did not resemble the ones she’d seen when she’d trained with him. 

“I know exactly who you are.  You are the re
ason I was born; to destroy you.”

As soon as the words left her lips, she saw the
pulpy clot of fire leave Darius’ fingers and readied her own sphere of energy.  Bright and lively like an oversized marble replica of Earth, her ball flashed toward him, devouring the pulsating artery intended for her and slamming into his chest. It exploded in a kaleidoscope of colors, knocking him onto his backside. 

He quickly recovered and leaped to his feet.  He brushed sooty residue from his shirt.  “Is that it?  Is that th
e power you expect me to bow to?” he mocked.  “Well then allow me, your highness,” he continued and curtsied overstatedly.  He laughed heartily, gripping his belly and doubling over. 

But his laughter was interrupted when a blast like
a cannonball smashed into his back.  Desmond launched a fiery attack on him.  A dagger, buried to its hilt, protruded from Darius’ back.  He wriggled and writhed, trying in vain to remove it, as another sailed toward him and lodged in his side.  Arianna joined his effort and discharged a spray of orbs, pelting him in his face and throwing him to the ground.  In the blink of an eye, Desmond moved to her side.  She felt the warmth of his body brush her arm, the hearty thrum of his energy keeping time with hers. 

His proximity, the drumming of their power in unison, caused her to understand that their combined force would be necessary to conquer Darius.  Powder-blue ribbons of her force continued to rush from her when
all of a sudden Darius rocketed from the ground and jetted into the night sky. 

“We need to defeat him together,” Desmond said as if he’d read her thoughts
, his eyes following Darius. 

Darius hovered above them, glowing a deadly garnet hue and spewing electrical spines.  He looked like a firework.  But instead of raining radiant embers that faded before they touched the ground, his sparks was razor-sharp and wept like blood.

Jagged fragments nicked and slit their skin, singeing as they sliced.  Arianna and Desmond dove to the ground behind a clustering of low trees, hoping it would absorb some of the shards of energy Darius showered on them.  But soon, the needle-like shards grew to sizable stilettos then to ovals the size of footballs.  They crashed to the ground in quick succession, rattling the earth beneath Arianna’s feet.  She stood slowly but swayed each time a rumbling blast hit, her body pitching from side to side.  She gripped a small tree trunk for support and sent a firestorm his way. 

Her arc of fire, though potent and far-reaching, was easily dodged by Darius.  His position high in the sky afforded him the advantage of simply sidestepping it.  Arianna cursed under her breath and watched as Desmond attempted to attack with his daggers.  But Darius was able to dodge them with ease as well
, watching with disinterest as the blazing blades flew past him. 

“Pathetic!” Darius scorned them.  “Th
is is what the Sola and her lapdog has to offer?” he said and threw his hands out to his sides.  Bowling-ball sized globes of fire flared to life like enormous bloodshot eyes in his palms.  He flexed his fingers, manipulating them.  “You thought you could defeat me,” he shook his head and laughed. 

Desmond turned his head to look at her.  “You have to go and get him,” he said. 

She paused for a beat, thinking Desmond had gone mad for sure.  “Sure.  Easy-peasy.  I’ll be right back,” she said with a deadpan expression.  Darius, oblivious of their side conversation, continued holding court with himself, laughing and mocking them.

“Arianna, you are the Sola,” Desmond’s eyes fixed on hers.  “You are
as powerful as he is.”

“How?”  She asked.  “How do you propose I do it?” She had sifted when she’d never thought it possible.  Defying gravity would be a lateral move. 

“I’ll teleport, place myself behind him and grab him.  But if you don’t come, I’m dead,” Desmond said. 

“Wait, what are you saying?
” she began then realized she was talking to empty space.  Desmond had already sifted. 

“Come out come out wherever you are!” Darius continued to taunt. 

She wanted to scream at him to shut his big mouth, but did not have time.  Desmond appeared behind him.  He reached out and gripped him tightly, silencing him. 

Darius’ arms were bound.  “Arianna!” Desmond called out
to her, his voice straining as he struggled to contain Darius.

The moment to act had come.  Her pulse took off at a gallop and her innards felt as if they’d sunk to her shoes.  “Shit,” Arianna muttered to no one.  She squeezed her eyes shut and envisioned her body shooting up off the ground and speeding through the air like a missile. 

She immediately soared upward at warp-speed, felt air whooshing into her face in a rush, and unrestrained power spiral through her veins as cool and refreshing as ice water.  Her entire body was bathed in starlight, radiating blinding, lustrous, white light.  She streaked like a meteor hurling through the galaxy toward a distant, unnamed planet.  But a distant, unnamed planet was not her destination.  Darius was.  And she was heading straight for him.

The instant before her body struck his,
a fleeting look of shock and terror washed over his features and silence prevailed.  Peaceful, blessed silence so thick she could have heard a pin drop blanketed the space between them like a layer of freshly fallen snow.  But all too quickly, the world erupted deafeningly.  A loud buzz layered atop an unending shriek burrowed from her ears to her brain, their powers screeching in protest, repelling each other.  She slammed into his chest, the collision echoing like an explosion. Massive shockwaves snaked in every direction.  Arianna lurched backward while Darius and Desmond careened toward the ground.  Arianna caught herself and quickly recovered then dove headlong in their direction and grabbed Desmond just before his body hit.  Darius plunged to the ground and landed hard.  A crater formed beneath his body and he did not move to stand right away.  In fact, for several moments, he did not move at all. 

Desmond looked to her, hope shining in his sky-blue eyes. 

“He is not dead,” Arianna told him with calm confidence. 

And with her words, Darius stirred.  He jerked and twisted, his every measure looking pained.  When finally, he managed to scramble to his feet, he looked around, disoriented.  “You think you’ve stopped me?” he spat, his voice garbled
at first, but defiant, nonetheless.  His eyes darted about wildly until they rested on Arianna.  “You haven’t!” he shouted.  “You cannot stop me, not now, not ever!”  He rubbed his hand over the short hairs on his head.