Shadow Warrior

Chapter18

Landing on the other side of the portal, they ran for cover. The portal closed within seconds of their entrance. No one else came through. Leo looked as though he was ready to fall over. The light in the room defined the dark circles under his eyes. He looked nearing the brink of death.

Abby helped Leo move over to a couch in the room. Laying him down carefully and sitting close to him. She ran her fingers over his along his forehead. His eyes closed and opened slowly. She could see he was fighting sleep. His exhaustion was palpable.

“Sleep my love.” She took her lips to his forehead and kissed it.

“I am losing the fight, Abby.” His words caused a painful chill to run along her spine. Fear crept into her mind.

“You need to rest. We will figure this out.”

With her words, Leo closed his eyes and was quickly sound asleep. Standing, she found a blanket and covered him up. Then there was just her. Standing in the middle of the room, looking at Leo. Now trying to figure out where the answers hide. They had seemed to evade her every step of the way.

Frustration grew and her faith slowly lost grasp. How could the angels allow such things to happen? Leo was nothing but kind, gentle, soft, loving, and self-less. He never did anything to deserve this. Abby’s frustrations brewed within her.

Leo’s breathing was even. His skin had sunken in from loss of weight. His arms were frail as were his legs. Looking over Leo, it broke her heart. Pain gripped her as she fought the tears begging to be released.

Moving away from Leo, she took a look around the space they were in. It was unrecognizable. They had never been here before. Walking around, she looked through each space. Searching for answers. The building was old and frail. The walls were crumbling, as was the ceiling. The floor barely holding her weight.

Giving up on finding any answers, she made her way back to Leo. A sudden crash rang through the hall. Her adrenaline spiked and her heart raced. Her body reacted before her mind could. Abby’s legs carried her as fast as they could move. The distance between her and her destination quickly closed. Rounding the corner, her eyes met those of Valak’s.

He was fighting to exit Leo’s body. The ritual had been completed. Leo was holding onto Valak with everything he had left in him. Valak was still connected to Leo from the waist down. Valak began screaming and cursing at Leo. His fury evident.

“RELEASE ME!” Valak would scream.

Leo’s entire focus was on Valak. He had scratches and open wounds all over his body from the fight. Abby had no idea how to help Leo. Her mind attempted to find an answer.

The thought of their power crossed her mind. She had to get to Leo to help. Moving forward, she began fighting Valak to keep his attention away from Leo. He needed time. She wasn’t sure how they were going to win, but failure was not an option.

Valak’s black eyes bore into Abby’s soul. His claws ripped at her flesh. If they were going to keep Valak in Leo’s body, she was going to have to force him back in. Stepping closer and closer to Leo, he bogged Valak in. She wasn’t entirely winning, but she was making progress. If anything, she was losing the fight. She had open wounds all over her body. She had nothing to fight with, but her fists.

Now that he was partially part of their world, she was able to connect with him. Hearing his grunts as each throw landed. She was now close enough to take hold of Leo’s arms. Valak was now connected from their necks down. His arms could no longer hurt Abby. Giving Abby the opportunity she needed.

Slamming her body into Leo’s, they fell. They stared into each other’s eyes. Seeing the fight within Leo. She kissed him. Their kiss deepens. Finally, pulling away, she could feel the power humming between them.

“I couldn’t do this life without you.” Leo’s words held sadness in them.

“I’d live a thousand lifetimes if it meant I could be with you,” Abby told him.

She could see the flickering in Leo’s eyes. Valak was fighting to get out again. Feeling the electricity of the power flowing between them, she had a thought. They needed to overload the breaker.

“Trust me Leo.” Abby whispered into his ear.

“I trust you always.” With that he closed his eyes and waited for Abby to make her move.

She brought her lips back to Leo’s. Focusing on the power surging between them. She pushed it to expand. To grow in intensity and strength. It was heating up their bodies. At first, the heat wasn’t causing any pain. But as it grew, they could feel the heat burning their skin.

It was soon unbearable, but Leo and Abby fought against the pain. They could both feel Valak losing power. It wasn’t enough though.

Thinking back to each moment of her life with Leo, she allowed it to grow their powers. Leo thought of Abby and felt their power growing two-fold with each passing moment. Their skin felt as though it had been set ablaze.

For just a second, everything was still. It was only them in the universe. No pain, no sorrow, no heartbreak. Just them. The power hummed around them in a dull roar. They could both feel something was coming.

The next moment, their power was releasing a loud thunder around them. The pain in their bodies was no longer tolerable.

Pulling away from Abby, Leo looked into her eyes. They needed to release it. It was too strong for them to keep holding onto.

“Let go.” Leo yelled at Abby over the thunderous noise about them.

Never second-guessing Leo, she closed her eyes and pushed the power out. Leo did the same. It was like moving a brick wall. They had to fight to push it out. Pushing together, they could feel a pulse surrounding them. With each push, they felt it move and shrink back in.

With a final push, they felt the power explode around them. With it, pain consumed them.