The Winged Beauty (Part 3)

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!!!

Okay, I ‘m not gonna leave you hanging any longer. Here is the last part of the prologue from BLACK RAYNE SILENT SCREAMS. (Available at Amazon) If you haven’t read part 1 of 2, click here => The Winged Beauty (Part 1) and The Winged Beauty (Part 2)

Thanks for swinging by and enjoy!

The Winged Beauty (Part 3)

Trapped within the scaly coils, he was crushed mercilessly against the rough bark. Through the fabric of his robe, the wood bit into his flesh. A harsh wail leaped out of his throat.

“Ohh, you really disappoint me, Mayiki,” scoffed a familiar sibilant voice from the shadows. “Reeeally disappoint me.”

“It seems I have a talent for that, big brother,” Mayiki retorted, his voice strained as he struggled to breathe.

“Hold your tongue, traitor,” the shadow scolded. “You are hardly in a position to be facetious.” Doshar emerged from the darkness, his finger leveled at him. The pale light emanating from the tree highlighted his pallid features.

“No Doshar, it is I who should be calling you the traitor.”

A malevolent glow shone from Doshar’s eyes. “I am no traitor! I’ve stayed true to my blood!” he boasted, slapping himself on the chest.

“Ah, true to the blood you say? Would that be the blood you were brought into existence with or the blood our gracious dark lord has bestowed upon you?”

Doshar’s hand sought his throat cruelly. “Enough of this pointless talk! Which realm did you send her to?”

“Sent who?” A weak smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

His brother’s hand tightened around his neck, pinching off his air flow. “Why do you continue to go against your own kind, for the likes of her?” Doshar sneered.

“Because she will lead me to salvation and save my dark soul,” he gasped barely above a whisper as tears of anguish blurred his vision.

A sinister chuckle erupted from Doshar’s gut. “Save your dark soul, you say?” He laughed harder, stopped and growled, shoving his face close to his. “Well unfortunately for you, little brother, your savior has met her demise.”

“Is that so,” Nikena’s voice sung from the darkness.

The shriek that retched from the large serpent made Mayiki’s ears bleed. Its large body uncoiled and slithered to the ground. Heaving and gasping for air, he fell over the snake’s limp body.

Nikena melted through the tree, the huge severed snake head in one hand and her blood soaked axe in the other, evidence of her victorious battle. The black vital substance was spattered along her sheer silver gown and wings, but failed to tarnish her radiance.

“Are you well, Mayiki?” she asked, her back to him.

Nodding as if she could see him, he pushed up from the ground and stood, taking in several deep breaths. “Yes, my lady,” he choked out on a cough.

Doshar grunted disapprovingly. “You address her as such, when she is nothing but a demon’s whore?”

Instant fury carried Mayiki’s feet in a flash step toward his brother, but before he could strike, Nikena raised her axe against his chest. He shifted from one foot to the other, glaring at Doshar, reluctantly granting Nikena’s request to stay put. His chest rose and fell with every angry breath he took. He balled his hands into tight fists until his nails bit into his palms. It was all he could do to prevent himself from sending a magical strike over her shoulder to sever Doshar’s insulting tongue.

“Calm yourself, my friend. His insults mean nothing to me,” she mused, glancing at him over her shoulder. She tossed the snake’s head to the ground and approached Doshar.

Panic dissolved Doshar’s smug grin as he backed away. “Those incompetent demons! I sent hundreds after you! Why are you standing here before me, alive and unharmed?”

“Because the light always prevails,” she whispered, suddenly behind him.

Doshar spun around. The flash of her blade sliced through his gut. Screaming, he tumbled to the ground.

Nikena stood over him. “Doshar, son of Rydus and servant of Lucifer, I bestow upon you a chance to set right your wrongs, a chance to see the light and walk into it, therefore erasing the darkness that binds you.” She offered her hand to him. Her wings fluttered and gleamed with the power to purify his soul. “The pain, the evil deeds―it can all be erased. Just take my hand.”

For a moment Mayiki thought Doshar would receive her generous offer, as he himself had done so long ago, but there was resistance in his brother’s black eyes. He felt Doshar’s struggle against her proposal, his refusal to be taken by the light.

The stubborn fool squeezed his eyes shut and frantically shook his head. “No! I will not allow you to suck me into the light like you did my brother!”

“Very well then,” she murmured dispassionately, stepping back from him. “Since this will not do…” She leveled her axe at him. “On your feet. Draw your blade.”

Mayiki heaved a heavy sigh. The fool should’ve taken her offer.

Grimacing, Doshar gripped the handle of his sword and leered his way. There was a frantic tap on his psyche, indicating Doshar’s request for mental communication, but Mayiki would not comply. Doshar’s decision to remain on the dark side had sealed his fate.

Sluggishly, Doshar rose to his feet, clutching his bleeding stomach. “You think you can best me, you winged whore?” He raised his hand, conjured a ball of flames, threw it at her, and fled toward the portal as fast as he could.

With the casual flip of her hand, she deflected the fireball and hurled it back at him. Inches from the portal, Doshar was smashed in the back with his own fire spell and pushed through the entryway. His enraged scream erupted from the abyss then faded.

Mayiki moved to Nikena’s side and watched the flames vanish. “This portal has access to many realms, my lady. It will take him a while to find the one she’s in,” he answered without waiting for her to ask.

“He will find her, at the mortal age of twenty, when she reaches her peak and the heavenly scent flows from her body. It will not matter what realm she’s in, he will sense her.” The silver melted from her eyes and was replaced with gold. Sadness veiled her lovely face. “Her essence will draw him from the pits of hell.”

“I will find her first and cast a gychi spell. I cannot detach her scent, but I can make it very difficult for him to locate her.”

Sighing, she looked up into the night sky and frowned. “I must go into exile, Mayiki.”

“Yes, my lady, I know.”

“I trust you’ll do what you can to protect my daughter until I can go to her.”

“I will give my very life to protect her.”

A warm smile graced her face. She turned and locked her golden gaze with his admiring dark stare. “I’m so glad I was able to bring you to the light, my dear friend.”

She grazed her fingers across his forehead, blessing him with a touch of the sweet divine. It traveled through his limbs and brought tears to his eyes.

“Me too,” he strained out on a whisper, touching the warm spot where her fingers had kissed him.

Nikena turned her attention back to the sky and displayed her wings. “He must not find her before her chosen consort does.” Her aura gleamed powerfully. “There will be many nights of a scarlet moon in the earthly realm.”

Mayiki tried to shake the question burning his brain, but couldn’t. “Please forgive me if this offends, but…” He paused to choose his words carefully. “Why didn’t you destroy Doshar when you had the chance? Why are you allowing him to go after her?”

She glinted at him then turned to walk away. He cursed himself for asking her such a foolish question. “My lady, please forgive―”

“Because my daughter will be the one to claim his head,” she replied over her shoulder. “And she will succeed.” Her form became a sphere of white light before she shot to the skies and vanished.

Thanks for reading and have a great week!