Angelfire
Page 78

"This is the end for you," he hissed. Blood from the bar impaling his neck leaked onto my shirt.
"No, it's not," I snarled.
He smiled cruel y. "Oh, I think it is. Once again, your Guardian is down and you are alone. I know you remember the last time you and I were alone. I'd like to relish the moment, savor it, if you don't mind."
I glared up into his empty eyes. My fear for Wil 's safety consumed me, and that fear spun into hate and rage. "That was then. This is now."
My power swel ed into a swirling orb in my palm, the heat of it blasting both of us. Ragnuk's eyes widened. I let it erupt point blank into his face, the white-hot light swal owing his entire upper body. He shrieked and reeled back, shaking his head violently, blinded by the light of my power. I rol ed away from him and swept up my second sword.
Ragnuk backed away, fighting against the glaring light. When it settled, I gaped at the damage I had done to him. Half his face had burned away, revealing sinewy muscle, sagging chunks of flesh, and gleaming white bone. His massive fangs were exposed completely on the right side, and the charred bones of his jaws clicked grotesquely. His right eye was missing from the dark, bony socket, and his remaining eye was shut tight from pain. He breathed heavily, wheezing, staggering on his feet. I watched in horror as his face tried to heal itself; the flesh bubbled and spread slowly, uselessly. He needed to feed.
The reaper stared up at me with his one bloodshot eye, a new hate and hunger boiling within him. My pulse pounded faster.
"Now, look what you've gone and done," he spat with his half-skeletal face. "How did you burn me? It burns like angelfire!"
I held my ground, my own fury matching his. The corners of my vision pulsed, darkening, and I fought to stay focused. My power was building steadily, swel ing past my limit of control. I was slipping again, but I didn't fight it. Al I yearned for now was to dig my hands through Ragnuk's entrails, to smel the sizzle of angelfire on his hide.
"You don't stand a chance, girl," he snarled. "You reek of humanity. I can smel your soul through your skin. It makes you weak."
"My humanity makes me strong!" I shouted, the truth in my words resonating deep within my heart. "It gives me passion so I can keep on fighting, and my friends and family give me something worth fighting for!"
"And if you didn't have those swords?" He laughed, spittle and blood flying from his maw. "You and your weapons. You're helpless without them. You'd be nothing without them. My weapons are part of me. Tooth, claw, and bone." He dug his nails into the floor and licked the charred remains of his black lips. "You're helpless, Preliator, and you always wil be."
Something swel ed deep within me, something angry, desperate, and dark. It flowed at my feet like fog, flickering with snaps of electricity. I crouched, feeling the energy pulsing from me and out through space. The floor throbbed as if it had a heartbeat, hammering inside my head in time with my own pulse, drowning my senses in the hypnotic rhythm. I forced my eyes up to meet the reaper's angry stare. I snarled, binding my power to me, feeling it pounding against my wil . "I am not helpless!" I shrieked, releasing my power ful force. The concrete floor sank beneath me and I with it, the white light swal owing Ragnuk whole. He roared and leaped high into the air before coming down on me. He landed with an earth-shattering thud and lashed a paw at me, but my arm shot up, deflecting his strike. I swung the sword in my other hand up, but his teeth clamped down on the flaming blade, wrenched it from my grip, and threw it aside. I jammed my fist into his soft throat and his jaws crunched shut. I stared into Ragnuk's eyes and felt myself slipping away again, into the darkness deep within me. Deep down inside I knew that if I lost control, I could hurt Wil . But as soon as the thought had passed, so did my sense. Crouching low to the floor, I gathered my power as I had done moments before, my swords back in hand. I ground my teeth tightly as the energy col ected inside me, swal owing me in white light, pressing outward on every inch of me.
"You can't do it, girl!" Ragnuk thundered, the white of his one remaining eye flashing like a crazed animal's. I felt the floor creak and groan, throbbing under strength that couldn't have belonged to me. With a hoarse cry I forced my power into the floor, crushing the concrete with the might of a tidal wave. The floor rol ed in waves, rising and fal ing like water, before it sank deeper in a massive crater. The building ached and moaned as dust shook free.
"It's not going to happen!" The reaper's voice was distant and muffled.
I sent another shockwave rocketing in a circle around me, and it exploded into the wal s and columns like a bomb. The windows shattered and sprayed countless glittering glass shards al around me. Steel crunched and screeched, and the ceiling sagged heavily. Debris crashed to the floor. My hair blazed around my face like a wildfire. Someone far away seemed to be screaming, and I realized after a moment that it was me.
Again. The columns closest to me and the beams above crashed to the floor, ripping out giant hunks of the ceiling. As a beam col apsed beside Ragnuk, I could see fear final y resonate across his scorched face. He roared and launched himself at me, talons outstretched.
My power rocked the building once more, and the ceiling plummeted down on top of Ragnuk. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself to share his fate.
But it never came. Warm hands wrapped around me, cradling me close to an even warmer body. I felt a strange rushing feeling and then it was gone a moment later. The air was now cold and I was on my feet again. As my eyes focused, I found myself in the middle of the street looking back at the ruined warehouse. My vision pulsed, and I was unsure whether or not what I saw was actual y real. Half the building had col apsed to the ground and was nothing but an undefined pile of wood, brick, and metal.