Page 120 of An Unexpected Ascension
I stare at him, at the look of pure fear on his face as he reaches inside himself, tearing his own heart out to gift to me. A replacement for my own. Only, when I tore mine out, it wasn’t for him. It was to end this terrible, wretched feeling of despair and pain.
“Wow, Hermes. You fell even harder than I did.”
Chapter 37
The Demon
Lunging forward, I draw my sword up going in for a fatal blow, except the sound of metal clanking together rings out, the impact vibrating into my hand and up my arm.
Without so much as a pause, I jump back and pivot before spinning in the opposite direction, throwing the Devil off and when my sword cuts through the air this time, it glides against the leathers on Lucifer’s back.
He arches forward, sweat matting his dark bangs back, and glowers at me. We dance, circling one another, waiting for the next move.
“You’re bothered with something.” Lucifer goads.
In response, I plunge my weapon forward, aiming to stab him in the gut. He’s quick though, already predicting my next move. He eggs me on, provokes me to make stupid mistakes that I can easily avoid with a clear, focused mind.
“You’re just bitter that I have a new sword and as promised, I’m annihilating you, God of Hell.”
Our weapons clash together over and over again as our feet shuffle along the stone floor of the training room. The stifling breezeof Hell hardly relieves the sweat coating every inch of my skin. Even when I feel as though I may drop cold, I keep going. Stars blind my vision and the room sways, but my blade still swings.
Until it doesn’t.
Dropping to the ground, Lucifer climbs atop of me, tip of his sword at my neck. My chest aches and I squeeze my eyes shut, willing the room to stop spinning.
“You exerted yourself too much and if you hadn’t, you might have won.”
I smack his blade away from my throat and he sheathes it at his back. Climbing off of me, Lucifer jumps to his feet and pulls me with him before wiping dirt from my shoulder.
“Again.” I pant.
“Give it a rest, Lynx. You nearly just passed out.”
“Again,” I growl.
He eyes me wearily, assessing how bad the mess is inside my manic mind.
“That bad, huh?”
I take a fighting stance, feet parting, sword raised.
The Devil sighs, then withdraws his sword one more time.
We battle until I win. Then win again. And after our third round, Lucifer is done.
The normally dense air thins as we suck in breath after breath, our lungs completely deprived after hours of sparring. Yet, my thoughts still torment me.
“How do you do it?” I finally ask him as I drop to the ground, resting my forearm on my raised knee.
“Do what?” He falls beside me, leaning against the stone wall behind us.
“How do you let yourself love someone?”
Lucifer chuckles, wiping the sweat from his brow.
“Easily. It comes as naturally to me as breathing does.”
“And what if it doesn’t come naturally?”
