Namirha immediately took hold of Emma’s hands around the knife and made ready to plunge it into Hannah’s little body. He seemed poised for a complete sacrifice. She looked on in horror, as with her hands still on the sword, she would effectively be killing her own daughter. Adrenaline surged. Her maternal instincts to protect her child kicked into high gear.“No! It’s not time yet! Don’t do this! It won’t work!” Emma struggled to keep the knife away from her daughter. “We had a deal, damn it!”In her head, Hannah spoke. Let go of the handle and grab the blade with your hand. I will, too. Trust me! Emma did as she was told. She grabbed the blade as Hannah did. Its well-honed edge cut deeply into her palm. Hannah yelled, “Duck!”As Emma ducked her head, Hannah kicked Namirha in the face. He let go of the knife and staggered backward. Hannah yanked on her mother, and still holding the blade, they rol
Oh, dear Lord! What have I done? She’d saved her daughter, and Michael was alive. She’d seen that and their grief, before being whisked away. “But our bargain was my life for hers, my death not hers. I didn’t bargain for eternal torture!” she yelled out loud. She had to get out of there, somehow. She checked the wall surrounding her only to find it smooth, with nary a foothold or handhold to be found.With the dead body taking up most of the usable space, Emma stood in place, closed her eyes and quieted herself. If she meditated she’d come up with some kind of plan. Before she could take her second deep breath, however, she found herself flashed out of the hole. Not quite sure what to make of this, she quickly looked around. But as she turned, something restricted her movement. Her ankles had been shackled to the floor. She looked at her wrists and they, too, were shackled, but loosely. Namirha’s voice suddenly filled the cavernous ro
Emma didn’t know how long it had been since the hounds of Hell started charging and snapping at her, but it was long enough that her shields were starting to tear and the damned dogs knew it. They were a perfect blend of patience and impatience, tenacity and eagerness. The fact that she hadn’t been able to see them at all before was a good thing. As they tore away at her shields, she was beginning to get glimpses of what they really were, and abject terror was quickly setting in.Through those tears she could see about a dozen pairs of red glowing eyes and frothing mouths that could barely contain the protruding rows of jagged teeth. She shuddered every time one of the hounds would come slamming into her shields, now knowing what awaited her when her shields finally failed.One hound was finally able to get his muzzle through a tear and bit her thigh as though it were the tastiest chop from the butcher. It held on and shook his head like her leg was, indeed
Michael suggested Hannah take over the lead through the mine since her palm was behaving like a compass. Providing the necessary light with his aura to guide them through the dark passages, they continued their tedious hike bringing them deeper and deeper into the earth. He had hoped he could fly them through the tunnels, but they were far too narrow to navigate safely, and would have slowed them down tremendously.As they made their way deeper into the mine, he noticed that the juncture where his wing joined his shoulder was tingling so strongly it was on the verge of pain.“Michael, the tingling is getting stronger.” A bend in the tunnel revealed a stone stairway leading downward. She turned back to him as if to question the next move.“We go down, of course,” he responded. “Let me go first, though, I don’t want you falling and hurting yourself. I’m not the healer around here, you know.”The stairway was simple and old, and the treads had been so worn, that by the time they reached
They linked hands as Hannah had described, took two deep breaths and closed their eyes. Hannah’s scar began to throb and glow just like Emma’s. Michael’s wing glowed as well, and fluttered erratically. They were instantly aware of Emma’s desperation to return to her family and forget the horrors of her torture.At first, only a glimmer of light emanated from them. That glimmer grew stronger and brighter until it became the brilliant aura that had encompassed the three in Emma’s backyard. And then, Hannah heard something that was music to her ears.“Hannah.” Emma spoke in little more than a whisper.“Mama!” Hannah cried out. “You came back! I knew you’d come back!” But Emma didn’t respond. Hannah nudged her. “Mama? Michael, she’s not saying anything.”“Let’s try it again. I don’t think she’s really back yet. Maybe we need to do this holdi
“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Hannah! Happy birthday to you!” The cheerful song was thunderous in the house as the Brethren bellowed it out, and Emma loved it. Although it was sung over a pizza rather than a cake, she could see Hannah didn’t care. It was still her birthday for another six minutes.“Make a wish, honey,” Emma coaxed, rumpling Hannah’s hair.Hannah closed her eyes and opened them. She announced stubbornly, “You know, I think I deserve more than one wish after all that’s happened, so I’m going to make wishes and I want you all to hear them.”“Well, okay then, Miss Warrior, let’s hear them.”“First, I wish that I could have a swimming pool in the backyard. Second, I wish that Seraphiel could come back to us. Third, I wish that everything in those towns would be back to the way it was. That’s what I want. Oh, and that
Michael and Emma looked at each other and with silent agreement, Emma replied, “Sure, we’ll be over by the altar. Let us know when you’re ready to leave.” Hannah sat on the ground and closed her eyes. Immediately she felt the hands of the Ancient Warrior soul on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and turned to find the angel, luminous as ever.“I must go,” it proclaimed. “My duty here is done.” “I know. I’m going to miss you.”“Oh, I was a nuisance most of the time.”“No you weren’t! You protected me, fought for me, and gave me courage when I didn’t have any!” She paused and reached out to the Ancient Warrior as she smiled. “There are big things ahead for me, you know. Will I ever see you again?Will you be there for the big things?” Hannah asked hopefully.“Yes, my warrior, I will be there for the big things. I shall always look
“Okay now, push! Push! Real hard, Emma! That’s a girl!” Michael was yelling, sweat pouring down his face. Emma was huffing and puffing and pushing like crazy, her face turning beet red.“Blow it out your ears, Michael! You want it so badly, you push! Ahhh!” Emma cried out. “In fact, why don’t you take over for me right now? Ohhh! If I’d known you could do this to me, you jerk, why I’d, oohh! Look at you, standing there, feeling no pain, you bastard! Ahhh!”“One more time, honey, push real hard! Push for your scheming, low-down, son of a bitch husband! Push!” Michael yelled, taking no offense at the thrashing he was getting from the woman giving birth to his first child.“That’s it, Emma, Michael. You have a beautiful baby girl!” The doctor proclaimed. A wail beyond all wails erupted from her tiny mouth.“And she’s got a great set of lungs on her, too!&rdq