Secrets and Sins

Chapter 40

~Ava~


The wind whistled around her ears as they descended, she tried to keep her eyes shut as looking down brought on a wave of vertigo that threatened to make her pass out. They had been in a controlled fall for a while and there was still no sign of the bottom of the sinkhole. Ava could tell Lilith was flagging, her breathing was harsher, her wings quivering with fatigue as she tried to hold them out to slow their descent. The Halo bearer stayed very still to avoid making the winged woman’s job harder.

“I can’t hold on much longer.” Lilith hissed, the muscle in her arms flexing slightly around her.
“But I have an idea…you’re not going to like it.

“Don’t you dare fucking drop me Lilith!” Ava snarled, eyes snapping open to look at the other woman’s face.

“Sorry.” Lilith let go.


~Beatrice~


She couldn't stop the cry of pain that escaped her lips as Reya threw her against the dirt wall, her broken ribs and head throbbed severely, she had all but lost feeling in the hand of her fractured arm. Beatrice fell to the ground; she raised a shaky hand to wipe the trickle of blood at the corner of her lips. The deity had been coming and going from the sinkhole while they waited on Ava to arrive, Beatrice had to assume she was leaving to tend to her army of tarasks, preparing them for the looming war. Whenever Reya was present, she entertained herself by throwing Beatrice around, the sister warrior was not doing very well.

“Humans. So fragile and soft. No idea how your species made it this far.”

Beatrice gave her the finger, using the wall to struggle to her feet.

“Ava’s going to kill you.” She breathed, Beatrice couldn't much more than whisper at this point.

Reya disappeared with a growl of anger. The sister warrior tensed, steeling herself for the consequences of her defiance, one thing she'd learned in this quality time with the enemy was that this bitch had a massive ego.  Reappearing in front of Beatrice, she grabbed the sister warrior by the throat, pushing her hard against the wall. The impact between the dirt and the back of her head was nauseating, she fought the urge to be sick.

Although it would be funny to see Reya’s face if I vomited on her.

"I’m getting pretty fed up with the lack of due respect, human.” A smirk crept across her face.
“Maybe if I break a couple of fingers, you’ll learn your lesson?”

The goddess took her left hand, holding it up so the sister warrior could witness the mutilation and began bending back her index finger. Beatrice bit down on the inside of her cheek, tasting blood, staring Reya down. She refused to look away and she refused to show pain.

Fuck this bitch.

She pushed her finger back further and further. Beatrice clenched her teeth, readying herself for the snap of bone when suddenly she realized she could hear something. Reya paused, seeming to notice the sound as well.

“What the…?” The deity looked up towards the darkness above them, tilting her head.

The noise got louder and louder, Beatrice could now identify it as a scream and a familiar sounding scream at that.

Ava?

The Halo bearer appeared above them, falling fast, her figure illuminated by the strange white orb that Reya had produced for light in the center of the floor of the pit. Beatrice’s heart stuttered; the fall would kill Ava for sure. Out of nowhere a dark winged shape swooped underneath the screaming woman, catching her. Lilith flew them to the ground, releasing Ava as they landed.

“Well, well, well…” Reya started, dropping Beatrice to the ground, the sister warrior gasping for air as she slid to her knees.

Ava staggered for a moment breathing heavily, she held up a hand as she panted, “Just...just hang on a sec.”

Nobody spoke as the Halo bearer took a couple of deep breaths pulling herself together, Beatrice would have found it amusing if not for the life-or-death circumstances.

“Okay, okay. I’m good.” Ava stood up straight.
“Lilith…” She turned and glared at the winged woman beside her “...fuck you.”
She then turned to Beatrice, meeting her eyes. Ava's expression was a mixture of relief and determination, “Bea, I’m going to get you out of here.”

Reya cleared her throat, “Well if you're quite finished…”

“And you…” Ava’s tone changed, it was icy and cold, Beatrice shivered, she had never heard the younger woman’s voice so…deadly.
“I’m going to make you pay for every cut, bruise and broken bone she has.”

Ava drew the Cruciform sword; the blade illuminated her features in an unsettling blue light as it glowed. A slow smile spread across Reya’s face, placing a hand out in front of her, a gleaming white sword materialized in her grip. She took a step forward.

“Come on then.”


~Ava~


Despite still being a bit pissed off with Lilith for dropping her, Ava was extremely grateful to have the former sister warrior in this fight with her. She was pretty sure she would’ve died a dozen times already, if not for her. Whenever it looked like their opponent had an opening to land a blow on the Halo bearer, Lilith would teleport into the fray to distract or strike at Reya, drawing her away from Ava.

Reya was fast, much, much faster than they had anticipated and so very strong. Every time Ava deflected a blow from the white sword, her hands and forearms stung from the impact. So far neither the Halo bearer or the goddess had managed to bloody the other, but Ava knew it wouldn’t be long before Reya struck her or Lilith. They needed to end this quickly and she had an idea, a really, really bad idea about how to achieve it.

Ugh this is going to suck so much.

Biding her time, Ava waited for the perfect moment. She needed the deity to thrust her sword at her, a slash would do too much damage, the Halo bearer needed to be able to survive the blow. Abruptly, Ava saw her opportunity. Reya brought her sword around in a smooth arc to hack at Lilith’s right arm that had almost been able to claw at her, the winged woman teleported at the last second to dodge the blade. Ava stepped into the weapons range bringing her own sword up to feign a swipe at Reya’s side, the goddess evaded the tip of her blue blade and plunged the pure white metal deep into the Halo bearer’s left shoulder.

“No! Ava!” She distantly heard Bea’s scream but forced herself to focus on the job at hand.

Lilith appeared off to the side of the pair with a crack of power, she froze seeing the predicament Ava was in, the Halo bearer knew she didn’t have long before the winged woman would try to intervene. She stepped forward with a groan as the sword embedded in her was pushed deeper.

“You lasted longer than I expected, I’ll give you that.” Reya muttered, pressing the blade in even further.

Ava looked up into her eyes, and smiled a blood-stained smile, watching the deity’s expression change to one of confusion before she rammed the Cruciform sword into her enemy’s stomach. Reya released an otherworldly howl and teleported clear of the Halo bearer. As she disappeared so did her glowing white weapon and with nothing propping her up, Ava fell to her hands and knees.

Lilith was at her side in an instant, pressing her hands down on the wound to try and stem the bleeding.

“What the fuck were you thinking, you bloody idiot.” She whispered; her mouth was set in a grim line.

“Sorry.” Ava choked out; blood dribbled down her chin but at least she couldn’t feel any pain.

That's normally a bad sign.

“You shouldn’t have done that human!”

Oh good she’s back.

Reya had returned, one hand clutched at her stomach, black inky blood staining the pristine white armor. The expression of fury on her face made her look more monstrous than Ava had ever seen her. The goddess clicked her fingers, a ball of fire forming in the air beside her, the metallic groaning and shrieking of a tarask portal opening echoed around the pit.
The enormous blue skinned tarask from the surface stepped through with a roar. Ava gulped, this wasn’t going to be fun, she immediately felt the cerulean bracelet begin to heat up around her wrist. But instead of sending the creature after herself and Lilith, Reya pointed her finger at Bea. The sister warrior had been trying to drag her broken body closer to Ava.

No, not again.

Icy fear froze her blood. Helpless, Ava watched the tarask march towards the woman she loved more than anything. A massive, clawed hand scooped the sister warrior up, holding her just off the ground, Ava’s heart pounded in her chest.

“Kill her.”

The tarask brought its free arm back, preparing to run Bea through with a long sharp talon. A low keen started vibrating through the air around them, slowly growing in volume. The Halo bearer could feel the under currents of something building in her body, her rage fueling it. Ava pushed Lilith away from her and stood, she was done with this shit. Blood poured from the wound on her shoulder, she ignored it. The bracelet burning into her skin became so hot it began to melt, dripping molten cerulean metal onto the dirt floor at the Halo bearer’s feet.

“Finally.” Reya murmured.

As the last droplet left her skin, the halo flared to life scorching the flesh on Ava’s back. She succumbed to the power, letting it wash over her, making a deal with it.

Save Bea and I’ll never block you again.

The energy built higher and higher; the vibrating hum so intense now the air shook with it. Ava felt the searing heat travel through her veins down her right arm, she lifted her hand and a wave of intense golden light erupted from her palm channeled straight at the tarask. The beast was thrown backwards into the wall behind it, whilst a golden bubble formed around the sister warrior, protecting her from the blast.

The tarask let out a bellow of pain as it’s flesh disintegrated, leaving nothing behind but a cerulean blue skeleton. There was a blinding explosion of blue and gold light, followed a deafening boom.

The connection to the Halo overwhelmed her, Ava blacked out.