Alex is kneeling on the rocky ground, with his head down and his wrists shackled. His bare chest is covered in bloody wounds which drip his essence onto the slick rocks.
“Brothers!” Raphaim says softly and the noise stops. The silence is immediate when he steps forward, holding the scroll. With a smile he points at Elina, “I told you she would come!” The Fallen cheer wildly, continuing their chant and fall silent at his raised hand.
“Did you think I had forgotten you, Elina?”
She starts to step forward, but Raphaim jerks Alex’s head back and puts a dagger to his throat. Alex’s brown eyes look at her with horror.
“NO!” he whispers, “Go, Elina!” he starts to struggle desperately.
Elina starts to run towards Alex, reaching for her power, but she is too late. She is alone and powerless.
Alex’s chest explodes as a small hand punches through from behind. It punches his heart out in a fountain of blood. Lexy leaps up from behind Alex, holding his still beating heart in her clawed hand. Her wings carry her over the top of the surrounding fallen and she squeezes the rich blood into the waiting mouths.
Elina hears a woman screaming as her vision tunnels focusing on Alex’s bloody body still upright from the shock. She is running as fast as her body will move towards him. She does not see the demons laughing as she reaches Alex’s side sliding on her knees in time to catch his now lifeless body. When the weight of Alex hits her, she realizes the screaming she hears is her own as she rocks her brother’s broken body in her arms.
Alexandria laughs wildly from above the Fallen and she feeds on the despair in Elina’s soul.
“NO, no, no….” she sobs endlessly.
Raphaim watches Elina and smiles.
“Finally!” he says to Elina, “You feel what I felt, losing my Rena! Well, almost…” he sighs circling her as Alexandria lands beside him.
“More Daddy?” she asks eagerly. He looks at her painted in the blood of their enemy and his pride shows.
“Yes, my sweet, more.” He replies, touching her cheek delicately. “Bring them forward!”
“I am sorry to tell you this, but I lost my self-control and killed your lover, Malach. I did however have the foresight to save these for you.”
Simeon walks slowly through the crowd and lowers Malach’s frost covered wings onto the floor beside Elina. He does not meet her eyes when she looks up at him.
She slowly reaches out to touch them, but the blood on her hand grabs her attention. Fascinated, she holds her hand up watching the bright red blood drip down her arm. A look down at Alex’s gray face and Elina begins to laugh at the absurdity of this situation.
Her laughter enrages Simeon. He backhands her across the face screaming, “You think this is funny, Keeper? Elsbeth took her own life and left me here, in this hell you created!”
Pain explodes in Elina’s face as she flies backward sliding across the rough ground. When he advances towards her again Raphaim stops him.
“Enough, the Keeper is mine.”
Simeon backs away, dejected. He wanted to see her as broken as he had become.
Raphaim grabs Elina by her hair and drags her back to the center, dropping her back at Alex’s side.
Elina looks up at him with her swollen, bleeding face, “You will never break me, demon. You have no power over me, you have killed everything that I loved. Kill me and be done with it.”
“Don’t you remember, Elina? I like to play with my food,” he leans down to bite her and Elina strikes at him. She jams her blood covered thumbs into his eyes, and kicks him back away from her.
A scream from behind has Elina spinning around on her back in time to see Lexy flying towards her. A kick sends her skidding across the floor into Alex’s body.
Jumping to her feet. Elina tries again to call on her power, to no avail.
The Fallen surround her and Kane smiles. “My turn Keeper!” as he throws a dagger at her chest.
Elina catches it and turns it on the nearest demon, slicing its throat open with a quick thrust.
Simeon joins the group and hears Raphaim say, “Keep her alive! Her blood is mine, and mine alone! Bring her to me when you are done.”
“Can I watch, Daddy?” Lexy asks with a hopeful look on her face.
“Yes, give me the scroll, Alexandria.” She hands him the scroll. They ignore the grunts and screams from Elina. A bloody knife skids across the floor, stopping at Lexy’s feet.
She picks it up and licks the blood off the blade, purring with contentment. Her black eyes close when she tastes the blood of the Keeper.
“Powerful isn’t it? We will have more, later. You did well today Alexandria. You have earned a treat. What shall we do?” he asks, smiling at her.
“Hunt! I want to hunt some humans! I’m starving!” she replies enthusiastically.
“You’re always hungry. I will return the scroll, you stay and watch. Tonight we will hunt.” He leaves looking at the scroll.
The sound of bone breaking draws Lexy’s attention. “Ouch, that’s gotta hurt.” The hoarse scream that follows the snap, confirms her suspicion and she jumps into the air hovering to watch. The Fallen cheer and chant longing for more blood.
Elina’s rage is no match for the powerful Fallen. She is able to cut a few, before the first bone splintering blow takes her off her feet. In her mind, she goes to a quiet place, longing for death. Her body no longer feels the blades slicing her or the strikes breaking her bones.
From her position on the floor, through the kicking legs, she can see Alex next to Malach’s wings, and she hears him ask, “Is that all you care about? What about humanity, Keeper?”
In that moment
