Caged by Damnation (Caged #2)(58)

Liam stumbled, making the cuts and bruises scattered about his body that much more profound. He couldn't take anymore. Steeling myself, I allowed Isis's power to slow the effects of the poison.

It was my turn to enter the ring. Liam desperately needed to be tagged. My steps quickened until I stood between him and the giant. "My turn."

Liam's eyes broadened. He nodded and collapsed beside Griffin's immobile body.

Grasping a double-bladed axe from the hands of nearby corpse, I faced the demon. I held it at an angle, prepared for a coming attack. The giant’s club swung towards my abdomen like a deadly bat aiming for a baseball. I jumped over it. Just as my feet hit the ground, he brought the lopsided weapon back, nearly battering my head before I ducked. My hair whipped around at the disturbance. Taking a card from a mouse, I began darting and zigzagging to avoid my version of an aggressive cat.

The giant stumbled, trying to keep pace with me, as I slid between his feet. I followed by slamming my axe down onto the hide of his back, with minimal result. My abnormally large opponent spun on his grimy feet, his weapon in sync with his body, but I threw myself to the side. On impact, the giant stomped on my left hand, crushing every bone. I bit my lip and let out an agonized scream. Blood and filth flooded my mouth as I cradled my hand to my chest and tears washed down my cheeks. Anger swept through me. I had broken my rule. I had allowed a monster to see me cry.

I stood, stumbling at the pressure on my ankle. Apparently, I had twisted it when I’d willingly thrown myself at the mercy of the dirt. Before I had a chance to brace myself, I was backhanded, sending me flying towards the waiting army of demons. They were eager to have a piece of the fight. Their hands clawed and squeezed, their teeth sank into various parts of my tattered body. As one, they passed me to the front of the group.

Suddenly, I was standing in front of them with blood trailing down the side of my face. I fell to my knees, exhausted and wondering how I could go on. I was laden with pain; my soul was grief-stricken with helplessness. Griffin didn't look like he could last much longer, if he wasn't dead already. Liam was lying on his side, facing me with an obsolete gaze. We were going to die and all had accepted it.

I watched my foe swing his club around, revealing a sword at the opposite end. Behind me, the army chanted, while others sounded the drums of war. The blade arched towards me and I darted sideways. I had seen the look in Liam's eyes, and I wasn't ready to let them win. I would go down fighting the way Maye had taught me. A battle was only won if a party gave up.

Bellowing, I raced to the giant. Grabbing onto the massive fist coming my way, I used it as leverage to climb onto the demonic giant's back. Wrapping my weapon around its throat to use as reins, I braced myself. Desperately, he tried to assert dominance by kicking, jumping and trying to pull me off. I was determined to break him.

In a last-ditch attempt, he fell onto his side, squashing my leg beneath him. He began to roll onto his back, but I jerked the axe, sliding it across his jugular and ending his efforts. His head fell forward with a lazy thud.

Relieved, I stood, momentarily forgetting that I was still standing in a battle zone. I smiled at Griffin and watched his eyes widen just before pain pierced my back and spread to my front. I looked down to see a blade protruding from my chest.

Twin thoughts clouded my mind: if we survived this, Griffin and I would have matching scars, and secondly: it made me wonder about my battle with Asmodeus. Had I not chosen to live, my injury would have been remarkably similar to the one I now sported. Now, the choice was taken from me.

My vision darkened, bringing forth an internal Armageddon, and I fell to my battlefield grave. I wondered if anyone would live to bury me?

Crazed loneliness swept through me, settling inside my skin like a cool mist that I’d absorbed whole. It was infuriating the way my body embraced it, welcoming it as an old friend rather than recognizing it for the enemy it was.

The elixir of death had taken hold of me, making of me an empty shell to contain the spores of darkness, a bottomless pit cast from iron emotion. Thankfully, the world couldn't witness my surrender.

I struggled to move against the depths of my despair. I was paralyzed, left only with the ability to inhale and exhale. This was the embodiment of torture: to be unable to respond to my needs and the useless fluttering of my heart without the physical reaction it demanded.

Finally, I drew forth a whimper, the barest hint that cold hadn't replaced my heart, though it lasted for barely a few seconds before it too collapsed under the pressure. Repelled from all sides, I was being crushed from the inside out. More ground was taken by the darkness until all that lay between myself and total damnation was my box.

A forgotten corner of my mind was the resting place of the cube that had protected me all those years ago. It was sandwiched between the childhood sacrifices I’d witnessed and Asmodeus's death, garnering esteem from cobwebbed thoughts and spider-ridden memories.

I retreated from the evil dispersing itself within my mind until my flesh pressed into the cage behind me. Its bars felt like sandpaper moving across my shoulder blades. This place was forbidden lest I accidentally entomb myself and lose the key to my release. The more I shrank into the familiar safety it offered, the more it became a weapon against me. My own creation could easily transform from guardian to prison.

It had been a long time since I had retreated from my fickle friend. I’d promised myself I’d never return. The darkness was approaching and the threat the cage posed was miniscule compared to what lay in the rest of my mind. So there I hid, hoping my ancient cage would protect me once more.