Fallen

Chapter 31

I was furious at how weak I was. My limbs were Jell-O and even thinking about reaching for any trace of my powers brought on a searing headache that blotted out my entire consciousness. I'd used up everything I'd had on the Blaze, and now that Gaius was there smirking in my face again, I was so ready to put a bullet between his eyes, but instead I was dropped to the ground and left helpless. Fate and Luck were both bitches.

After the bit of dialogue that had passed between the three super powers on the battlefield, I was getting a little happier that I wasn't about to fight. Even though I was still new to everything involving this sort of battle, I was beginning to sense the energies of those around me. Ruby's had felt pretty large, but watching the other two in front of me, I felt like I was going to be crushed. The pressure of their battle pressing down on my shoulders threatened to flatten me to the ground. Ruby snapped her fingers and the pressure lessened dramatically. I sighed in relief, making her grin.

"What's so funny," I asked with more strength than I had.

"You, of course," she answered in a totally Gavin-like fashion. Also in a Gavin-like fashion, she became deadly serious as we watched the brothers duke it out like two gods in a boxing match. "I have enough power to deaden the force of this conflict for another half hour at max. After that, it'll get shaky."

"Great," I replied, captivated by the light show that was playing out in the sky above us now. Gaius was a cloud of smoke, ash, and fire, violent and chaotic as a volcano on the verge of an eruption. Gavin was a blinding light in the darkness, a storm of crackling, black energy and brilliant light that stood in defiance of that chaos. Together, they were a tornado of destructive power that could have easily reduced the city into a pile of wreckage and then reduce that wreckage to dust. Ruby's red energy was holding that ferocious storm at bay, but even that didn't make me feel completely safe. What had I gotten myself into? "Is this what all fights are like in your world?"

"Our world," Ruby corrected, watching closely, her eyes darting around so fast that they made me dizzy. "No, not all of them. Many are finished in under a minute, but this is an exception. I don't know how Gaius managed that much hellfire, but he's put on enough raw power to be on the same playing field as Gavin. Take the power difference out of the way and it comes down to skill, and there's the problem. Gavin was one of the greatest swordsmen in all of Heaven's forces, but he taught Gaius, and from what I'm seeing, Gaius has been taking lessons from the best on the other side as well. I can't tell who's winning right now, but I have faith in Gavin. He's never let me down before." Ruby said confidently. The look on her face was so confident, I wished I could share in that feeling. All I knew is that it felt like the world was coming apart around me, and I wasn't able to do anything but watch as it did.

I will admit, that the scene was beautiful in a deadly sort of way. The brothers were spheres of light, clashing and spiraling together, and the sound of their swords against one another was thunder filling the air. The sky had become a blanket of dark clouds that lit up with brilliant flashes of blue lightning. Heat and crackling energy had filled the air of the city as Ruby and Nathan fought to hold the barrier together. The brothers spiraled into the air and then back down, racing along the city streets in an ever turning mass of light and fire that crashed into the sides of buildings and the ground. A few cars were sent flying by the shockwaves of their battle, but the barrier was able to keep the damage minimal. The brothers finally landed in front of us, both charging up the auras of power that surrounded them as if preparing for one final strike. Ruby's sharp intake of breath caught my attention.

"Here it comes," she whispered, peaking my curiosity.

"Here what comes?" I asked, having to look away from the battle as the light became simply too bright for my eyes to handle. From the way they were burning, I was surprised that they hadn't just melted out of my skull.