Between The Realms

Twenty-Eight

                                Atticus

                           Divine Assimilation

  It was like I was seeing through someone else's eyes. Watching myself hurt the one thing I'd burn the world for. I screamed and trashed in the prison of my mind, trying to fight the shadows I once commanded to no avail.

“Sera!” I shouted, my voice hoarse with overuse.
Her body lay crumpled on the stone floor, her downy wings covered in dirt and blood. My body moved on it's own, in a way I've never moved before. It was like I had become a completely different person. ‘Now you know what it's like to  be trapped, held captive in the head of a stranger.’ A voice as cold as a blade coated in frost.

“What do you want with my mate?” I snarled, baring my teeth. A deep rumbling chuckle boomed around the void of my mindscape, cruelty coating the amusement. ‘You mean our mate. Since we share a mind and body she belongs to both of us unfortunately.’

I glared at the inky void of my surroundings at the mention of sharing my mate with any other male. ‘I've decided I'll play with her until I get bored. Don't worry I won't kill her despite the demon general telling me to. You see, unbeknownst to him once he awoke me his control of your mind has already been severed.’ He said, his tone laced with arrogance.

‘The only reason you're trapped in your head is because of me. Now stop distracting me from my fun and watch.’ He said.

Picking her up by her throat he brought his lips to my mate's and kissed her. I could tell she was still alive by the slight twitch of her fingers.

Suddenly, her eyes flew open, a combination of silver and gold dancing in her gaze. ‘You will not harm what is mine.’ She spoke, her voice completely different and otherworldly.

He stepped back, momentarily stunned. ‘What the hell? He said, fear and confusion caused his cold demeanor to crack like thin ice. Sera had risen into the air, her wings ten times their original size. The blood and dirt that covered seemed to crumble away. Like a caterpillar shedding its chrysalis.

Her bright silver hair had lengthened and was flecked with bright strands of iridescent gold. The star symbol on her forehead had changed, a bright sun symbol shining in its place.

The cuts and  scratches caused by the fight between her and the thing that had once rested beneath my skin had completely disappeared, leaving her skin unmarked and smooth.

‘It seems we weren't the only ones with something living beneath our skin.’ Ombran said, his Icy mask back in place.  I thrashed, trying my best to escape the hellscape I've been shoved into. “Sera will kick your sorry ass.” I said, grinning like an idiot.

Suddenly he appeared before in a cloud of abyssal smoke. His features so similar to my own. The only difference his eyes were black as the depths of darkness itself. No pupils, just inky darkness. He smiled, and  I'd immediately miss the man I was prior to seeing that cruel calculating grin that almost mimicked my own.

‘She'll try, but I've spent decades not just inside your mind but trapped in the pits of your soul. She kills me you die too. I guess we'll find out soon enough.’ I spat and cursed at him pinning him with one of my fiercest glares.

Sera had landed in the spot she'd laid only moments before and walked towards the demon general, her steps bouncing off the cave walls. She thrusts a arm out towards Tarun. Power like I've never seen before ripps out from her outstretched palms, silver and gold energy crackling. ‘I said I'd rip out your throat and shove it in your eye sockets and I don't make idle threats demon.’

Ombran seemed to shake off the momentary disorientation her sudden power caused and lunged for her his claws extending as he moved.
She didn't even look his way when gold and silver power slammed him back into the same wall he punched her into only moments prior.

‘I'll deal with you later Ombran, I'll send you back to whatever shadow prison you crawled from.’ Her tone unnaturally cold and void of any emotion other than tempered rage. Her power held us in place and I couldn't keep the stupid grin off my face, she was deadly lethal and stunning and she was mine.

‘Wipe that idiotic grin off your face Junar. Remember she can't kill me without killing you.’ He laughed dryly. I ignored him and watched my mate kill for me.

She stalked towards Tarun, her eyes smoldering. He summoned insect-like demons at her. His futile attempts to stop my mate from exacting our revenge. She waved them aside like pesky flies and continued walking towards him ever so slowly. I knew exactly what she was doing— she was toying with him just as he toyed with my mind.

“I’ll rip you to shreds halfbreed!” He screeched, his voice scratchy with terror. Sera looked down at him, deception lacing the sweet smile that spread across her face, her teeth sharp and and pointy. ‘How ironic. The bug demon calling me a halfbreed!’ She laughed, the sound dark and void of humor.
She suddenly lunged at him, seizing him by his spiny throat. Long golden talons dug gouges in his crimson flesh.

There was a nasty wet ripping sound as she tore his throat out, ripped it in half, and plunged each bloody piece into Tarun's beady eyes. He screamed, a horrid yowling sound. She smiled, closing her eyes as if listening to a beautiful melody.

He slumped to the cave floor, his throat protruding from his eyes. I laughed at it, the sound reverberating off the walls of my mind. “That's my girl!” I shouted gleefully. Ombran just looked dumbfounded, his hold on my mind loosening slightly. Sera walked towards me, her palms dripping black blood, placing her glowing hands on either side of my head.

Warmth like the caress of a thousand suns flooded my mind, burning the dark restraints that binded my consciousness. The warmth slammed into Ombran, his eyes burning with hatred. Then he said something that shook me to my core: ‘I'll always be here waiting until you slip up, and when you do, I'll make her feel pain greater than you could ever imagine.’

Then, I was in my own body again. Staring into the gold and silver irises, staring into the sun unblinking. Because that's what she was the brightest star shining in my darkest hour. Then everything faded to black.