Chapter 113

  - Josh -

  The phoenix erupted from my chest for the first time in a long time, took command, and worked from the inside out of my body. This time was different from when the demon had control; this felt like another living thing—a divine holy spirit.

  Phoenix fire spiraled, ripping through the bckened stone that bore down on both of us.

  The air was electric. Every hit, every dodge, every flicker of light burned into my chest. Pain, adrenaline, and fury all mingled, feeding the fmes.

  Kaysi shouted; I could hear the old self behind her voice, the one who had survived the abyss. The one who had survived me burst forward. Her sword carved streaks of purple-white light that collided with the demonic hellfire.

  "Josh!" She yelled, her eye bright, surging with power. "We stop this now!"

  I nodded, feeling the surge of power behind her, feeding mine. Phoenix fmes coiled around me as I could feel the phoenix itself nod. My arms were covered in fmes like serpents weaving fmes, bonding with me. Wings of fire erupting in every direction from my back. Phoenix bonding as one.

  The dragon reared back for another infernal strike, summoning a dozen shadow demons from the fallen cultists. They formed, screaming, their bodies twisting into complete demonic forms, cws and teeth glinting like shards of broken gss, now completely transformed.

  I let out a roar; the cherub's wings fshed bright in unison, as if calling from the deep—a divine pact.

  The air shimmered. Time itself seemed to stutter for a second. The demons lunged, but I moved faster. Even faster than I thought or had before, sshing, burning, splitting, every ounce of heaven's fire I could draw into this moment.

  Kaysi's powers surged in me, and small sparks of purple fked around me. He swung his sword, slicing demons apart as I ran through seconds behind every swing as they covered me, but did not even so much as scratch me. Every strike resonated with an almost musical precision. Her light fred, spilling outward, giving me an opening to focus.

  Kaysi's eyes remained strong, though you could see the memories screaming at her from the abyss—it didn't break her. It drove her to be stronger.

  The dragon's rage spills over out of control. Chaos and hellfire erupt like a rushing river. Consuming half the chamber.

  The chamber cracked. Thomas, bound on the altar, stirred, the spell weakening with every strike.

  I could feel every cut, every heat of the dragon’s cws scraping my armor, and every impact vibrating in my bones. Blood burned against fme. Pain seared every nerve—but Kaysi and I pressed on, every movement coordinated instinctively, every breath synchronized in the chaos of battle.

  The dragon moved like a living fme in motion, its muscles and rage coursing through it. Its wings struck the air with hurricane force, every beat scattering sparks that sizzled as they hit the stone. It glowed as if the abyss itself pumped va through his veins.

  Kaysi broke to the left, her bde fshing purple lightning. I surged right, cyan blue fire trailing me, painting streaks of light across the chamber.

  The beast's tail whipped fast with a crack sound like thunder—barbed spikes bursting like arrows from his bone structure.

  "Kaysi—"

  One spike tore across her shoulder as she spun sideways in a te attempt to dodge it. Another clipped her thigh, just biting through flesh. She hit the stone with a cry that ripped through me sharply.

  I hurled myself at the dragon, fury igniting the marrow in more and more bones. My fmes are responding, brighter, wilder—heaven's divine fires roaring through me like an ancient river freed of its dam.

  My strike collided with the dragon's chest, sparks exploding outward, the chamber ringing with the csh of divine fire against abyssal hell fmes.

  The dragon ughed. A sound that was less a voice and more a ndslide colpsing inside my skull.

  "You burn bright, phoenix—but all light burns out. You are ash waiting to happen."

  Kaysi was already up again. Blood streaked her skin, but her eyes were bzing. She raised her sword, voice hoarse but firm. “We’re not ash. We’re the storm that puts your fire out.”

  Her words carried something—an energy that wasn’t just hers. The light around her pulsed, and suddenly my fire roared higher, hotter, and steadier. She didn’t know it, but she had lit me brighter than I could burn on my own.

  "You think I am ash now—watch me rise as you fall!"

  The Cavern chamber split that light and shadow as my wings caught, a burst of fire and air sending me high above the altar. The dragon's massive form followed—scales grinding against stone, wings tearing through pilrs as he thrust himself aloft.

  Heat collided with heat. His breath exhaled bck fire, oily and animated, streaking across the chamber like liquid lightning. I folded my wings in, the torrent searing past, burning gouges into the cavern wall where stone liquefied and dripped like wax.

  Kaysi's voice rang out below, sharp and urgent. "JOSH—above you!"

  I twisted just in time. The dragon's talk whipped, spike unfurling spears once more. One grazed my side, flesh in a single strike. Fire bursting from my wound, my own blood hissing as it boiled.

  He wasn't letting up; another fire bst burst from his lungs. I dodged as Kaysi rolled quickly out of the way, barely as it hit her open wound on her shoulder.

  She grabbed hold of her shoulder, holding back the searing pain.

  Why didn't she fully dodge the hit?

  Oh no, it's because she was still guarding the boy; I saw him lying on the altar behind her!

  The dragon dove, mouth opened wide, abyssal fmes gathering in a ball at the back of his throat.

  "Stop standing in our way, girl!"

  "NO!" My voice broke raw as my fmes burst.

  I snapped open my wings, grabbed Kaysi and the boy in a blur of fire, as fast as lightning, and tore through the air. The breath weapon detonated where they had been a second earlier, bck fire exploding and scorching the stone. The altar cracked. The chamber buckled.

  Her arms clung tight to me, but her eyes—those eyes—were bzing in a way I hadn't seen in years. For an instant, I swore she was 'her' again. Many times in this battle, her eyes shifted in and out of the past and the new self I saw this time; I saw a bit of harmony and wholeness.

  "Thank you, but put me down, Josh." She disputed, her voice carrying power behind it. 'I am fighting with you, not behind you, damn it!"

  I obeyed without a thought. "I understand you can back me up by guarding yourself and the boy!" I argued!

  "We have to draw the dragon away from the boy. He's not safe anywhere around here, but behind this broken pilr, he may have cover."

  Before I could make a decision, the beast lunged, jaws snapping, and I smmed my arm into it. My Phoenix energy fred outward like a magical shield, the divine fire locking cws inches from my chest. The impact vibrated through me, but I stood firm, letting the fmes burn hotter, shaping them into armor that covered my body.

  Kaysi dove behind a fsh of fire, her hair whipping around her face and her eyes abze. She sshed up, forcing the dragon to spin and spew embers across the stone floor. Heat kissed my neck and scorched my hair, but I pressed on. The Phoenix was more than a weapon; it was a protector, an extension of every heavenly ounce of energy I still possessed.

  I quickly shifted a fallen wall over the top of the pilr Thomas y behind to make a tent to shield him. Then it leapt.

  The dragon unched itself off a crumbling ledge, wings unfurling in a thunder of wind. Dust and shattered stone rained down. I grabbed Kaysi’s arm, pulling her up as we both were hurled into the air. For a fleeting moment, the ground disappeared beneath us. Fmes and shadow collided around us, fire and ash swirling like a storm caught between heaven and hell, just missing Thomas.

  "No matter how many demons you kill, we will return to our home; even if destroyed, we will keep coming back until cleansed. You foolish children!"

  I locked my grip on the phoenix's power, channeling it through my legs and pushing off the wind, combusting the force. The divine fire arched around us like a jet stream, lifting us higher, closer to the dragon. His eyes burned as he aimed for another attack. He curled his body mid-flight, sending bone spikes as it flew past, embedding itself into the metal beams.

  "That won't stop us. Every demon that rises, we will drive back down.

  "Hold on, Kaysi!" I yelled, my voice nearly lost in the roar of the gale.

  Her grip tightened, eyes fierce—pupils wide and ready.

  We circled in the air, wings of fme and shadow flowing like a comet's tail. Kaysi's swords fshing in rhythm with the phoenix bze. Every swing she sshed, the attacks our way, we dodged and countered—battling steadily in a deadly dance. The dragon roared in frustration. He inhaled streams of air and hellfire, preparing for another bst.

  "There!" I saw the opening. The beast banked high, preparing to strike. I let the phoenix power surge to my legs once more, igniting beneath my feet. We rocketed in an updraft for just a second, and the fmes scorched the air, wrapping us in a protective cocoon as I shifted.

  I smmed my feet into the dragon's chest with all the force I could muster. Scales splintered, cws scraped uselessly against the divine fire encasing us, and the monster plummeted downward toward the ground below.

  "NOW, Kaysi!" I shouted.

  She struck with precision, channeling every one of the lights in her through her sword. The dragon screamed a sound that cracked stone and split air. Fmes and ash erupted, smoke swallowing the chamber. When the dust cleared, the ground beneath us was scarred; the dragon had been reduced to nothing but smoldering embers and shards of stone.

  I hovered in the air, panting, the Phoenix shield shimmering around me, my body singed but protected. Kaysi is standing up, shaky and breathless, but still glowing from the battle.

  Is it...over? She whispered exhaustedly, her voice both weary and resolute.

  I nodded, scanning the chamber. Thomas y where we hid him, still bound but unharmed. I knelt beside him, checking for a pulse. I sighed in relief. "Found it; hers is okay."

  The divine fire from my arm held Becky's time-maniputional blessing as it healed my cuts and burns, knitting flesh and easing pain.

  Kaysi watched me silently for a moment, then her voice cut through the haze. "Josh, no matter which universe, no matter what happens, I'll always be here to help. You or anyone else is out. I'll fight for them."

  I looked at her, a mix of confusion and curiosity. "Kaysi, why do you say that as if you're saying goodbye?"

  She nodded, gripping my hand as the floor beneath us trembled. Dust cascaded from the crumbling ceiling, cracks spreading quickly through the stone. The old structure groaned as the cave began to colpse from the aftermath of our battle.

  I left Thomas carefully, Kaysi by my side. Using the phoenix energy to propel us through falling debris, we discovered a tunnel partially hidden behind a colpsed wall. The air was stale but breathable; a byrinthine passage stretched further than I could see as we rushed through the falling ruins.

  My fme lit the way, casting long, wavering shadows against the walls, and I noticed faint markings—other tunnels leading deeper into the city, potentially dangerous, but for now, secondary.

  “Looks like we’ve got options,” I murmured, my gaze meeting Kaysi’s. She nodded silently, still catching her breath, but I could see it: the spark of determination, the faint dying flicker of the Abyss’ influence fueling her temporary power, fading off.

  We left the tunnel with Thomas as the chaos faded into the distant echoes of the now entirely colpsed chamber, closed off forever. The smell of ash lingered, but beneath it, a sense of victory and fragile hope remained.

  "Next time," Kaysi said softly, brushing off her skirt, "I'll be ready for whatever comes. Even if it's facing the abyss... again, or the darkness in the hearts of others. No matter my memory..."

  I gave a small wary smile. "I'll hold you to that."

  She looked down at the burned cut on her shoulder. Then, they turned to the colpsed tunnel.

  "Thomas is safe... the cult is destroyed, and with a new understanding of the battle ahead, the light could never be extinguished."

  She spoke with eyes that only just now made sense of the truth she could see around her. Not of someone who went through the battle.

  Now, away from the abyss, Kaysi's memories vanished again, but she understood the pain, the scars, and the mission!