---Comma---

     We're too late.

     After a long and arduous climb, we reach the summit of Mount Aieb. Even though it's a flat top, the surface is uneven enough that one false step would mean slipping and plummeting to our deaths.

     The snow that blankets the jagged peak is stained with red. I'm light-headed from the climb and the lack of oxygen, so at first the figures on the mountaintop appear a blur.

     Rex joins me, catching me when I lose my balance. Taryn, Aiden, and the monk, Brydeck, stick close by. Normally I'd tell them to fan out and surround our enemies. But in this case, there's safety in numbers.

     Selina is the first to come into focus. She wipes her bloodstained hands on her white tunic, her golden locks whipping in the wind. Her pupils are slitted, like a cat's. She curls her fingers into claws.

     "Hello there, Sheila," says Grayson, his boots crunching over the snow as he makes his way towards us. Aiden snarls—I can't imagine werewolves and were-tigers get along very well.

     "Did you come all this way just to see little old me?" Selina asks, grinning psychotically. The discarded body of a slain monk lies at her feet, his blood still oozing into the snow. When Brydeck notices this, he flips.

     "Kai-lek!" He lunges at her with his spear, but Grayson intercepts, darting forward to snatch the spear right out of his hands and snap it in two over his knee.

     Behind Selina, a shaggy-haired male dressed in all black sustains a triangular prism–shaped forcefield. The translucent energy comprising it shimmers purple, deflecting the sunlight. Squinting, I can just barely make out a goat-headed entity caged within the forcefield. Her aura reeks of divinity; she's this world's terrestrial, no doubt.

     "We need to free her," I mouth to Taryn, hoping she can read my lips. Right now, the odds are stacked against us. But with a goddess on our side, we might stand a chance.

     Selina rests her hands on her hips. "Are you ignoring me?"

     I grin. "I'm thinking about how satisfying it's going to be to rip your heart out and stomp on it until it busts like a balloon."

     "Oh? Sounds like fun. But I've got other plans." She snaps her fingers, and we all—even Rex—drop to our knees, weighed down by a crushing, invisible force. I tug down on my toque to shield my ears from the metallic screech accompanying the pressure. Gritting my teeth, I struggle to push back against the force, but I'm pinned to the ground. Selina chuckles. "The multiverse is kind of my bitch. So what does that make you?"

     I manage to look up at her, and the muscles in my neck protest in agony. We lock eyes. And for a moment, the pain and the guilt—all the baggage that I carry with me wherever I go—slip away. Something sparks within me as I stare into those twinkling blue eyes of pure evil. Killing her will be my redemption.

     It's not that I know the cosmos is willing to forgive me. I doubt that. But I'm done carrying this burden. I've decided that, once I destroy Selina, I'm going to move on. And as soon as I've thought it, all I want is to see Em. I want to tell him everything. I want him to know who I am—who I really am. The good and the bad. It's stupid, and it's frivolous, but it's what I want.

     And she isn't going to get in the way of that.

     I push myself off the ground, breaking free of Selina's magic. She gawks, for a split-second. That's all I need—a single moment's hesitation. "Now!" I shout.

     I close my eyes, blocking out the unnecessary sensory information to heighten my perception. Though my eyes are closed, I can see everything happening on the summit. Taryn pulls out a knife and slashes her wrist. Her eyes go red as she mutters an incantation. Blood spurts out of her wound, splattering onto the snow in a circle surrounding Selina. Trapping her.

     At the same time, I reach into my pocket. I grab the moonstone Taryn gave me before we began our ascent. Aiden bursts into a sprint. He glances back at me, and the sight of the moonstone sets off his inner wolf. He shifts mid-sprint. Likewise, Grayson morphs into his tiger form. The two beasts collide and start mauling each other.

     And while that's happening, Rex darts right past Selina. He runs up to the shaggy-haired boy. All I see is the slash of his claws. The boy crumples to the ground, blood jetting out of his neck.

     I open my eyes and make my way over to Selina, who's trying in vain to break free of Taryn's blood circle. I get right up in her face.

     "You didn't think I'd show up without a plan, did you?" I ask. "That'd just be plain stupid."

     Selina raises an eyebrow. "You think this is over?"

     "Over? Not by a long shot." I brush her cheek with one hand and then ram the other through her chest, digging my nails into her heart.

     The mountaintop fades away, and I'm hovering in a sea of spiritual energy. Waves of darkness ripple all around me. I let my body go limp. I hover there, waiting, until I sense a familiar force pulling me towards it. I follow the tugging and absorb a glowing ball of warmth. It's Em's. My astral body radiates with heat. He guides me towards my own soul fragment. I absorb that too. And a couple more souls, who cry out to be freed from their malevolent captor. Then I'm violently ejected from Selina's inner world.

     Back in reality, I skid backwards through the snow. I manage to stop myself before I go tumbling over the edge. Power flows through my veins—not just my power, but Em's power. Plus that of several god candidates. It's been decades since I've felt this kind of power, and I have to say, I kind of like it.

     Black smoke rises from Selina's wound, which seals itself almost instantly. She shrugs. "So what? You powered up a bit. Doesn't change a thing."

     A shimmer catches my eye. I notice the goddess, still trapped within the prism. Wait—why the force field still standing?

     I perceive a bunch of things happening at once. The shaggy-haired boy springs back to his feet, picking up the sharp end of Brydeck's spear and hurling it at him; Grayson sinks his teeth into Aiden, whose fur is dripping with blood; and Selina snaps her fingers, causing Taryn to drop like a stone.

     Aiden whimpers and collapses, shifting back into his human form, blood gushing from his wounds. Brydeck's spear goes right through his face. Taryn twitches in the snow.

     Selina stares at me, her eyes aglow. "This blood magic won't hold me for long, you know."

     I look at Rex. He's positioned to take her out if he acts quickly enough. I give him the signal, but Selina spins around and locks gazes with him.

     "You're a kravlar demon, aren't you?" She cocks her head to the side.

     "What's it to you?" Rex asks, elbowing the shaggy-haired boy in the nose. There's a nasty crack, and the boy drops to the floor, screaming.

     "There's power oozing off of those scales of yours," says Selina, her voice a seductive half-whisper. "I could use a big, strong demon like yourself."

     "Don't listen to her," I say, summoning my chakram. If she won't shut up, I'll have to make her.

     "Why play for the losing team?" Selina flicks back her hair, and the wind carries her flowery perfume through the air. "What makes you tick, demon? Bloodlust? Or just the regular kind? I can offer you so much more than she ever could." She holds out her hand. "Don't believe me? Take my hand, and I'll show you what lies in store for you if you join me. That's right; I know about that gift of yours."

     There's always been something about her voice—it isn't until she stops speaking that I realize she had me under her spell too. "Don't let her get to you!" I will my legs to move, but they just won't listen. Damn Selina and her allure. He already got a taste of her wickedness second-hand through my memories. I doubt he'll be able to resist the real thing.

     Rex pads forward through the snow and takes her hand. It only takes a moment. And then he's staring at me with his glowing demon eyes, probably itching to tear me apart.

     I sigh. "I'd like to remind you that you said you loved me."

     He shrugs. "Still a demon, love."

     Selina reels with laughter. "So much for that plan of yours, huh?" She flicks her wrist, and the snow surrounding her erupts into the air, dismantling Taryn's blood circle. "Here's the thing. I don't want to have to kill you. Your friendship has always meant the world to me. But you're confused. It's the humans; they've infected you with their poison."

     I roll my eyes. "You really believe that, don't you?"

     "I'll make you a deal." She points at Aiden and Taryn, who are both squirming helplessly in the snow. "Kill them. That kind of mercy is more than they deserve, but I'll make an exception for you. Do that, and I'm willing to put all that bad blood behind us. We're the last of our kind, after all. We really ought to stick together."

     I try not to breathe; her perfume is suffocating me. Seeping through my pores and corrupting my soul. Bending me to her will.

     "So how about it?" she asks, crossing her arms.

     Not in a million years. Not even in two. But I'm not about to tell her that. I've got an idea. "All right," I say, glaring at Aiden and Taryn. I tighten my grip on my chakram and walk over to them. Kneel down next to them. "Sorry," I tell them, preparing to strike.

     And then I slash, opening up the vein on my wrist and letting my blood trickle into their mouths. They gag, but swallow the blood all the same. It only pours for a moment before the blood ceases flowing. My blood heals them, brings them back from the brink of death. I've spared them, for another moment at least. But now we're all screwed.

     I rise to my feet and spin around to face Selina.

     "I knew you'd do that, by the way," she says. "It'll be that much more fun slaughtering the lot of you all over again." She stomps over to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. "Any last words?"

     I shrug. "Is it too much to ask for a miracle?"

     As if in response, the mountain starts to rumble. The sky crackles, and sparks come raining down from the heavens. Then the heavens split open, and a beam of white radiance strikes the mountaintop like a lightning bolt.

     Gracefully, like a Pegasus' feather, something descends from above. But it's not a miracle. Quite the opposite, actually.

     It's an angel. 

Author's Note:

Time for some divine intervention. Or perhaps divine retribution. You never know with this story, do you?

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