He took a deep breath and forced them through his skin. As he took flight, he knew his own blood dripped from his wings for the first time. Ridge looked over as they flew.
“I’m beside you.”
Heath would not send out the message to open the conduit. The darkness would stop him if he tried. He would fly into the sky kicking and screaming if he had to. He watched as the stars faded around him and the conduit opened. The pain intensified, and he could feel darkness fighting to make his wings pull in so he would fall to Earth again. Heath curled up in pain but then felt Evie reach out to him with her mind.
I believe in you. Don’t let that bastard win. I owe him a kick up the butt. Destroy him, and you’ll get the best real-life sex you have ever had.
He smiled through his pain, as her thought gave him more impetus to fight on. They stopped. The stars were gone, but there was a strange pink glow in the space between worlds tonight. He looked to Ridge and nodded, knowing his friend would try to open the conduit. It was at that point he could feel Slyth start to slide over his brain like ice forming on the surface of a pond. He fisted his hands and gritted his teeth as he fought, but the power of the darkness seemed to be amplified by this space.
You will not take me back to that forsaken world that is only a remnant of what we came from.
He doubled over in pain, as if a red-hot poker had been shoved into his stomach. Nicole flew across to be by his side.
“Get away, and take Evie with you. It’s fighting me, and I don’t know how long I can hold him back.”
“I love you,” Evie said.
Those were the last words he heard before his mind left his control.
He could see Ridge and the others not far from him and sent out a burst of energy. Where it would normally be pale blue and pure, it was now streaked with black. He laughed as he watched them all curl up in pain. If they thought their powers would defeat him, they would learn the hard way.
They didn’t stay down long and were charging for him instead of using their power. He threw them back again with a blast of energy. They circled around him so that Ridge, Namid, and the others were in front, and Suzie and Genia were behind him. The onslaught of their power was strong, but he could turn it back against them. As they sent out another blast, he formed a shield around himself so that the explosion was turned back. They fell back. Now was his chance to flee and return to Earth, where he could take his time to gain complete control of this Midworlder’s body.
Before he could flee, Suzie hit him with a discharge of power and grabbed his arm. Ridge took the other arm.
“So, you are cowards to try to kill me while you hold me?” Heath closed his eyes and sensed the darkness growing in power, as it absorbed the strength of the two holding him. Black tendrils flowed out of his hands and wrapped themselves around Suzie and Ridge’s chests.
He opened his mouth, and more black poured forth, aimed at the others. He could smell their wings burning, and he would laugh as they were destroyed until they resembled nothing but a pile of ash. Suzie and Ridge’s clothes were smoldering, and they would soon be dead, too.
“Stop, Heath. They’re your friends.”
It was the woman who spouted love yelling at him. He wanted her dead as well. Someone clutched his head from behind. He had forgotten the healer Genia, the bitch had crept up on him. Her hands were like acid on his skin, as she tried to heal him. He didn’t want healing. This was what he had strived for. She would lose. There was a gust of wind, and the colors changed as the conduit opened. No, he would not be taken to Pergor. He would kill them all.
They were not moving though. Something was forming before him. An Angelic. But that wasn’t allowed. Angelics could not come into the conduit in solid form. As on Earth, they could only project their form. She floated before him real in all her annoying, pixie-like appearance with her pretty wings.
“Mira,” Nicole said, as she went to move forward but was halted as the Angelic put up her hand.
Two more beings arrived, an Angelic and Demonic. One of the Angelics carried a crystal-covered oblong box that was about a foot in length. He knew it was meant to take him home, but he no longer considered Homeworld his home. Damn them to hell, if he believed in it. This Angelic reached out with her hands, which resembled claws more than the cute fingers of a pixie. The Demonic’s hands didn’t look much better, with their claws aimed at him and their eyes bright red, but he knew he had to fight now or give up and go back.
“Ridge, you’re my friend. Will you let these creatures hurt me? They’ve done nothing for you but gloat from a distance and watch your pain.”
Ridge held onto his arm tight, as he gazed into his eyes.
“Heath, you’re someone I’d give my life for, but this ain’t you. We’re here to help.”
The Angelic called Mira came up close, and her clawed forefinger scratched down his cheek. Blood seeped into the corner of his mouth. He could feel its warmth and faintly copper taste. She stood before him, placed her hands on the sides of his head, and opened her mouth wide. The heat that poured forth made his eyeballs sting. The other guardians placed their hands on his body, and they felt like they were covered in sharp needles. They were drawing him out, but he would cling on. Their claws punctured his skin, and he could feel the agony in each wound as his blood oozed from his body.
To leave this body would mean everlasting torment if he went back. There were people he had hurt, families who had lost loved ones because of him, and they would seek revenge. He could see his essence in the form of a dark cloud starting to leave through the wounds in the Heath’s chest. They would not win as he encircled the Midworlder’s brain with his power. If they wanted him, they would have to kill Heath, but he knew they were weak and would not risk it. He looked across and saw Evie in Nicole’s arms.
“Save me, Evie. Don’t let them do this to me.”
Evie struggled to leave Nicole’s arm, as tears streamed down her face, but Nicole hung on. He turned his attention on the Angelic before him. The fools didn’t realize he had been expecting this for a long time and had one more trick up his sleeve. He started to suck the energy from the Angelic called Mira. He could see the shock, as her eyes opened wide and she screamed in pain. It was a glorious sound. She fought him and tried to stop the leaching process, but he was going to infiltrate her mind.
There was a stabbing pain in the back of his head, as someone else placed their hands on him. It was Genia again. Between the two of them, and with the others helping, he couldn’t win. He clawed at the Heath’s brain with his mind to stop what was happening. He would be nothing more than a dribbling cripple by the time they had finished with him.
The world sounded different, as he was drawn out with a popping sound. Voices sounded far away like echoes, but he could see the faces before him. They didn’t gloat but gazed upon his essence with sadness. He didn’t want their pity. He grasped the edges of the box with black tendrils of energy, but they continued to force him in with the power of their minds. The lid snapped shut, and he knew this was the end. What he could make sure was that this was not just the end for him.
Turning his power inward, he let all restraints go so all his power would be dissipated to destroy the others. He liked the idea he would be the first Demonic to destroy some of his own kind for centuries. If their old planet had not died, the Angelics would have been annihilated long ago. Earth had been a mistake for the Demonics, but he had decided it was better than death. Now he was ready to go out in a blast of glory.
Heath tried to breathe into his damaged body, but every tiny movement sent pain hurtling to every nerve ending in his frame. He struggled to lift his head and saw that Ridge and Suzie were holding him upright. Peering down at his chest, he saw blood soaking his shirt. They were in the conduit, but he couldn’t remember getting there. Someone had shaken his skull, so his brain felt like mush, or like someone had been in there with an electric mixer. One thing he knew for sure, he was rid of the darkness that had been within him. His body might be broken, but it was his again.
He looked into the conduit before him and could see his fellow Midworlders, but he could also see Angelics and a Demonic. What the hell had been going on? One of the Angelics held a box, and he didn’t need to be told to be sure whatever had been inside him was now contained within.
“We need to get you back to Earth so you can heal,” Ridge said, as he placed Heath’s arm around his shoulder and took his weight.
Heath glanced around, as if he was missing something important.
“Where’s Evie?” He asked, but before he could get an answer, the box the Angelic was holding exploded, throwing him out of the conduit and back into Earth’s atmosphere.
Chapter 22
Pergor
Evie’s head hurt like she had just collided with a truck. The idea of opening her eyes at the moment seemed impossible because she knew the action would bring pain, and she’d had enough of that recently. Her left eye was swollen, and her jaw ached. Squinting, she viewed the world from a strange angle. She was lying on the floor with her cheek flattened against its cold surface. The room was white and way too bright for her eyes. Someone had left all the fluorescents on at the same time, and it wasn’t doing her head any favors. How the heck did she get here? Another question−where was here?