Great, not only did I get his attention, I now have his curiosity peaked. "I'm a really good thrower."
"Do you think I'm stupid?" His nostrils flair and he stalks toward me. "You couldn't have picked that up if your life depended on it."
Wow, he's a sweet talker. "Well, this is awkward. Because do you remember what just happened?" Maybe I shouldn't be snarky. I used to be able to control my mouth, what has happened to me?
Without warning, the angel reaches out and smacks me hard against my face. "Don't speak to me that way."
Pain radiates up my check and into my jaw. This son of a bitch is going down. I push my power toward him, and it slams him against the wall of the tunnel.
He hits the side hard and falls to his knees. He takes a ragged breath and flies up in the air. "You will pay for that." His large wings flap causing a hot breeze to hit my face and the scent of brimstone to fill my nose.
Promises, promises. I want this over with. "Bring it."
Dax yells out as he slides over his knife my way. It lands at my feet.
I reach and grab it, standing back on my feet. At least I'm not weaponless now. I hadn't realized until now how far up the tunnel goes. It looks like it is open for miles. I watch him fly higher and higher until he's just a black dot in the red sky.
"You have to let me fight him." Dax groans as he stands and leans against the wall, grabbing at his side. Blood soaks through his fingers from where he was stabbed. "I have to protect you."
"Oh, please." Doesn't he realize he could bleed out fast if he's not careful. "You could barely kill a fly in your condition right now. Sit back down before you get us both killed."
Something like a sonic boom fills the air and that black dot in the sky grows quickly in size.
Shit he's coming at me fast. My power goes crazy and I embrace the swirling blues and browns cascading and surging through me. It has to be the elements working together, because they are the exact shades the artifacts shined prior to absorbing into me.
His body comes into view and he’s coming down in a circular motion, almost like a screwdriver. Holy crap is he going to cut through me? His wings cling to him and the feathers stick out as if they are small spikes.
I push my power out, encompassing me, and as he lands on me, he ricochets off and falls to the ground.
"How are you doing that?" He runs at me, swinging his blade downward, and I block it with the knife.
He kicks out and hits me square in my stomach, causing me to fall on my ass.
Pain radiates up my spine, but I jump back to my feet. I have to block it out or Dax and I won't make it out of here. I rush at him and raise my knife swinging down at his right wing.
Prepared for my attack, he spins around and grabs my arm. "You're a worthier adversary than he was." He grabs me by the neck and lifts me while he squeezes. "But still not a good one."
My air is being cut off, but I close my eyes and focus inside. The ground shakes underneath his feet and the air begins to swirl.
"What the hell?" He flaps his wings to fly, but I focus on freezing the air around them so his wings can't gain elevation.
Increasing my power, I push the brown energy into the ground more, making the ground shake harder under his feet.
He throws me hard to the ground and kicks me in the stomach. "I don't know how you're doing it but stop it." His jaw is clenched and his nostrils flair.
I huddle in a ball, playing up my pain. We've got to get the upper hand. Underneath me, I move the knife around in my hand so it's in a striking position.
"Now you act pathetic. Quit it." He grabs me again and turns me to face him.
As soon as my body turns into his, I reach and kick him square in the balls. At this point, I'm okay fighting dirty.
Dropping to a knee, he growls. "Playtime is over."
"Yeah, it is." With the heel of the knife, I swing as hard as possible and hit him right under his chin, knocking him out cold. When he doesn’t move for a few seconds, I put the knife inside my jeans making sure it won’t cut me.
"I can't believe you just beat him." Dax is limping toward me, sweat coating his forehead.
Yeah, me neither. We aren't ready to be down here. I try to locate the flame, but I still can't get the best read on it. We need to go back and get a better game plan than this, especially with Dax injured. "We need to go back. We aren't ready for this. I still can't nail down the flame."
Loud laughing comes just a few feet away and then five tall black demons turn our direction looking straight at us. One steps out in front of the others. "There they are. Let's get them."
15
My heart jumps in my throat. How did those demons find us? As far as I could tell, the dark angel never had an opportunity to call on anyone else or even consider to.
They are about five hundred feet from us but moving fast. Their red, glowing eyes can be seen from here and they are laughing as if this is child's play.
Dax’s hand is now red with blood and his skin is glistening with sweat.
There is no way we are going to come out alive if we don't get out of here fast. The longer he bleeds the less likely he'll be able to transport us out anyway. "We gotta get out of here."
His eyes
