Awakening The Goddess: Book II

Chapter 11: Let it Rain

Eriana 

“How much further?” I asked Baal as we drove through a destroyed town. The place looked like it was torn apart by a tornado, but I already knew this was already Derion’s handiwork. There wasn’t a single whole body around. I was just happy to see that there weren’t any small bodies torn apart. 

“Hm, not much farther. Can’t you feel the darkness we’re approaching?” I couldn’t. I couldn’t sense Derion’s presence, smell his scent, or anything. The only thing I could feel was the weight of the guilt I felt. It settled in my gut like a heavy Sunday dinner and made itself a permanent home. 

As the others made casual small talk to fill the air, I sat in silence and thought of all of the decisions that lead up to this moment. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even notice when Thmei and Setem took my hands in theirs. 

I felt Setem’s calmness flow through me as we continued to drive through a war-torn town. I couldn’t believe the damage that Derion caused but it’s my hands that are stained with the blood of these innocent people.

I saw him barreling down this road to hell and then I abandoned him because my feelings were hurt, I’m as much to blame as he is for all of the death and destruction surrounding us right now. No matter how much Setem poured his healing power into me, I couldn’t slow my racing heart. I felt the terror creeping up my spine and I knew we were close to Derion. 

We stopped the car at the outskirts of the town and walked a few more yards and the air thickened with tension. I looked ahead and I saw Derion sitting shirtless in the grass with his back towards us. His beautiful skin glistened under the sunlight, giving him a soft glow. A gentle breeze wafted his pine and vanilla scent and I felt like I was practically floating towards him at this point. I felt my feet moving but I wasn’t in control of my body anymore. 

I hadn’t seen, smelt, or touched him in two months and the closer I got to him the more my body ached to be touched by him. I moved as fast as my body would allow and I threw myself onto his back and wrapped my arms around his neck, but the sparks were so faint, they were almost nonexistent. 

I managed to work my way around and I kneeled in front of him but who I saw wasn’t the Derion I know. His eyes were pitch black and glossy and he was covered from head to toe in dried blood. He looked right through me as he mumbled something in an old language that my brain struggled to translate. 

“Derion, baby, I’m here,” I whispered as I cupped his face, trying to get his attention. I lightly tapped his face and I tried to shake him, but he was still in this daze. My vision blurred with the unshed tears and the more I struggled to free him, the more tears rolled when I failed. 

“Hey, asshole!” Anuke yelled as she kicked Derion in the back, pushing him forward while simultaneously angering him. I could feel his body tense up and I saw him clench his jaw in anger. My heart fell to my feet as I realized she’d started a fight with him when I was trying to get him back.

“No, Anuke! Don’t do that, you’re just going to make him angrier!” I cried out as I wrapped my arms around him to protect him from her. I hoped the sparks would get stronger, but they were still as weak as ever. 

“Good, maybe he’ll stop acting like a little b***h and get up. Come on, Montu! Fight me, you piece of s**t!” she taunted as she pushed his head. 

“Anuke, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Baal chimed in from the group behind her. She rolled her eyes and continued to berate him until Derion finally snapped. It happened in a flash and before my brain could process what was happening, they were both in the air trading blows back to back. 

I’d never seen the two of them in action against each other and it wasn’t a pretty sight. Blood rained from the sky as they pummelled the life out of each other until Derion let out an earth-shaking roar. I watched in horror as the sky went dark and lightning poured from the sky splitting the earth a little too close for comfort. I wanted to trust that he wouldn’t hurt us and he was only fighting her because she provoked him, but I don’t even know who he is anymore. 

The others yelled for them to stop fighting, specifically Anuke but I feared that they couldn’t hear us all the way up in the sky, and even if they could, she wouldn’t because he would likely kill her if she didn’t defend herself at this point. There was nothing to be done except let them go on with their battle until they tired themselves out or they killed each other. 

I heard the other women shriek in terror as Baal collapsed to the ground as Derion’s influence seeped into his domain. I stood, terrified as I watched Setem try to revive Baal but I could feel his soul wavering between the world of the living and the world of the dead. I carefully treaded to the rest of the group, stepping on already scorched earth, hoping that lightning wouldn’t strike the same place twice. 

“I can only slow them down, I can’t stop them,” Iah said panically. I could see the fear in her eyes as her voice wavered. She’s out of her league and she knows it. She could move freely through time, but she doesn't belong here when it comes to war.

“Okay, do it. Hopefully, if you slow them down, you’ll slow down Montu’s corruption of Baal’s domain. This lightning is dangerous if we get hit…,” Shai trailed off as Dejefa was pierced by a lightning bolt, nearly splitting him in half. Blood splattered across my face and the smell of charred flesh merged with the smell of spilled old blood making me gag. Thmei let out a blood-curdling scream that pierced the sky, bringing us all to our knees. 

“f**k! Iah, you need to do it now!” Shai yelled over Thmei’s sobs. I tried to console Thmei but it was no use. I held her as she wailed over our fallen comrade. Hearing her cry like this broke my heart and I wished I could do something, anything to ease it. I couldn’t force a soul back into a broken body and this one was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. 

“Set, can you...do something?” I pleaded with him. He scrambled over to Dejefa’s charred body and slowly looked him over. He touched Dejef’s body and quickly pulled his hand back as his skin sizzled. His fingertips were burned almost as bad as Dejef and I could tell he was in pain from the grimace on his face. 

“What the f**k kind of lightning is this?” Setem growled as he worked to heal his own burns. 

“I don’t know, but it’s not good. Baal still isn’t awake and Iah is struggling to keep them at this slowed pace. It’s only been a minute or two,” Shai responded, his eyebrows knit in frustration. I looked to the sky to find Derion and Anuke and they were moving at an incredibly slow speed but the contact of their blows was still thunderous as ever. 

“How am I supposed to stop this? I can’t reach him all the way up there and the only person who could bring them down is unconscious,” I said aloud to no one in particular. I tried to create a plan but I kept coming up short until something plummeted into the earth, sending chunks of earth and dismembered body parts flying through the air. 

“Iah!” I heard someone scream as a loud thump came from behind me. I turned around to see Iah on the ground, blood pouring from her ears and nose. Setem rushed from Dejef to Iah and went to work trying to help her until the lightning rained from the sky again striking him in the arm. 

“f**k, f**k, f**k!” I yelled at the sky. If the only person who could heal us is hurt, what the f**k are we supposed to do? 

“We need to get out of here,” I said as I looked over Shai. He nodded his head at me and picked Iah up to carry her. Thmei sat on the ground silently sobbing over Dejef’s body when I tried to help her up, but she just pushed me away. 

“What about Anuke?” Shai asked, looking around for her. I hadn’t even noticed they weren’t fighting anymore. Derion and Anuke were nowhere to be found.

“Where is she?” I asked as we all looked around for her. I didn’t want to leave Thmei, but we needed to find Anuke and get out of here. 

“I’ll find her. Thmei,” he said as he kneeled in front of her. “I know you loved him, but he’s not gone. It’ll be okay. We’ll get him back but right now we need to get out of here and we need to help our friends who can’t help themselves. Can you do that?” She looked up at him with the saddest eyes and nodded her head before slowly making her way up from the ground. 

Her pink hair was covered in blood and chunks of flesh. She moved mechanically as if she was just on autopilot. Her eyes were glossed over and I knew the pain she was in. I’ve watched Derion die more times than I’d like to admit and it never hurt any less. My heart ached for her. 

We walked around carefully until finally, the barrage of lightning stopped and the skies cleared revealing the real damage caused by all of the lightning. There wasn’t a patch of green land in sight and the buildings that were there previously were all destroyed. 

“I found her!” Shai yelled as he stood in front of the giant crater from earlier. I ran over to see her and I immediately wished I hadn’t. Her face was almost unrecognizable but as long as she lived, she’d heal. I couldn’t believe the damage that Derion caused, but I couldn’t blame him. He was barely himself at this point. 

“I’ll get her. Can you get the truck? Help the others so we can regroup before we find him again.” I nodded my head and made my way back to the truck. 

After a few minutes, we were all loaded back up in the truck and headed back to Silverwood. Setem did what he could to heal himself and the others, but they were still all banged up. Once we made it back to Silverwood, we all dispersed as the Omegas showed the group to their temporary living spaces and I headed upstairs to see my friends and my children. I needed something good after seeing Derion off the rails like that. 

“Hey, girl. How’d it go? Where’s…?” Gia started as she handed Erion over to me. I looked at my son who was the spitting image of his father and I couldn’t help the flood of tears that escaped me. Gia wrapped me in her arms and I just cried until I couldn’t anymore. 

“It’s so bad, Gia. He didn’t even look at me. He’s hurt so many people and it’s all my fault. I did this to him. I knew he was struggling and I left him anyway. What’s wrong with me?” I sobbed as Ash came out of the room and took Erion from between us. 

“You were pregnant, hormonal, and scared, babe. No one can blame you for wanting to protect your babies. He was spiraling out of control and he hurt you while you were pregnant. Accident or not, it was f****d up.” Gia said as she rubbed my back, trying to soothe me.

“Yeah, everything will be okay. We’ll get him back, love,” Ash chimed in. I just wanted everything to go back to normal. I missed my family and I wasn’t giving up on him, I wasn’t giving up on us.