Kasadya Hellhound Defined (Kasadya Hellhound Series) Read online

  “Yes, she is in her room. She is still struggling with her changes. She just needs some time.” Chax’s brother smiled at him.

  “I would like to speak to her, if that is alright?” Chax stood up when his brother nodded.

  He grabbed my hand and we strolled down another corridor until we reached a wall labeled Females. Turning into the hallway, we reached the only closed door and stopped. Chax knocked on the door and we waited.

  Alexia opened up the door and I could see she wasn’t happy at all.

  “Alexia,” Chax greeted.

  “Chax, Kas,” she greeted back, turned around, and walked back to a couch in the room.

  Chax grabbed my hand and pulled me into the room. It was kind of nice. A small room with a bed, couch, study table and a few other things. Real cozy.

  “How are you feeling?” Chax continued on while I scoped out the room.

  “I don’t know. One moment I’m excited, and the next I am scared.”

  “It will pass. Have you thought about it yet?”

  My eyes drifted to them. She wasn’t looking at him. She was looking at the ground. And it looked like she was close to tears.

  “Chax, you’re doing it again,” I warned him.

  He frowned at me, but still waited for her reply.

  “No, I’m not ready yet,” she finally replied. She was really close to bursting to tears.

  I grabbed Chax’s arm before he could utter another word.

  “That’s fine. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Take it one step at a time; the rest will follow,” I replied before he could.

  She looked up at me and a small smile of gratitude formed on her face.

  “Alright, let’s go.” I pulled Chax from her room.

  “See you later,” I yelled the moment I had Chax’s body through the door.

  “You really don’t have a touch with women,” I bombarded him when we were alone.

  “I am just trying to help,” Chax fired back.

  “Chax, sometimes you can be a bully. She is scared to death. Give her some time to find her place before you ask her to do anything.” His face fell a little, but he nodded.

  We ran into Sharon, who dragged us to a training room to show us how the ex-demons are trained. I was amazed how quickly they were able to catch up. We spent another hour there, just amazed at all the progress being made. My heart was content and I was just beaming with joy. I finally did something right, or my blood did at least.%

  Chapter 14

  We thanked Chax’s brother and Sharon, and Chax held out his hand for me again. “Time to prepare for war, my love." My stomach fell a little but I put on a brave face, taking his hand.

  We landed at his house, the team buzzing around prepping themselves for the fight. More fallen and even angels started to gather as we prepared for the biggest battle yet.

  I stood outside and watched as everyone ran around and talked. We would always have a battle to fight. They would just get bigger and more dangerous. I looked at my team and my heart stumbled inside my chest. We had a hard life, and death was always knocking at our doors. How long would we have together? How many years before I would have to lose one forever, or until I join them? Sad, I looked at all of them, praying that the day would never come.

  "What are you thinking?" Chax whispered as his arms closed around me.

  "I finally have something worthwhile, and I am not ready to part with it," I replied, still looking at everyone.

  "That's the beauty of this world. Yes, we may lose someone today, but they are never really gone. One day you will meet them again, and you would spent eternity with them," he encouraged still holding me.

  "I know, but it still hurts."

  "My time in this world has brought a lot of blessings, but also a lot of loss. What I have learned is to take the blessings, keep them in your heart and when the hurt comes, use them to carry you through that time. I will be here, Kasadya. I will help carry you if that day should come." He kissed my cheek and stepped away. I turned to watch him walk towards the archangels. He walked with such certainty that it was almost ghost-like.

  "Salve, Kas," a female voice said behind me.

  I turned and found Nina standing there with a smile on her face. "Glad to see you made it back, a bit late, but hey, who is going to complain?" She reached for my arms to greet me.

  "Salve, Nina. It’s good to see you too. I hope Chax wasn’t too insane after our plan was executed."

  "Yeah, he was pissed, but no worries. We managed to keep doomsday back a little, well, until today, so to speak."

  I laughed. She was looking really good. Chax’s words started to make sense. Even though she had lost loved ones, she was still smiling and pushing forward.

  "So, I take it you’re ready to kick demon butt?"

  "Well, from the gossip around here, I believe we are about to go for the ultimate demon butts."

  "Oh, trust me, the size of one of their butts would be able to take down a skyscraper. Butt is all we are going to see today." At that, we burst out laughing again.

  "It's good to see you again, Kas. Even more to fight beside you. See you on the battlefield," she greeted me and joined her team.

  I turned to join my own team but stopped. Making their way to me, the hellhounds were smiling, except for a reluctant Raven.

  "So, what's our game plan?" Max asked as they reached me.

  I laughed. "I have no idea. Try to kill them?"

  "You mean find out how to kill them and then try to kill them," Lada replied.

  Yes, this wasn’t going to be easy. With demons, we knew what to do to take them down. With these things, we were going in blind.

  "Just stick together and make sure you have each other’s backs. We'll take it one fight at a time,” I tried to encourage them.

  Vulcan whistled and we all turned to look at him and the other archangels.

  "Alright, fallen, the angels will be joining us at the gate that has been reported to be the target. We don’t really have advice, only to stay in teams and give them all that you have. We might be facing something we have never seen or heard of before, but we take them on like any other demon. We make sure to walk away victorious!" Vulcan yelled over the crowd, then took a step back for Chax to speak.

  "By now all of you will know what has transpired in hell. That was yesterday, but this is today. Today, there is no difference in our mission, in our purpose. We are all here to protect this world. We are all here to make sure that the good in this world walks out victorious. Years of training have prepared us for this. Remember that when the battle starts. Don’t forget or you will not make it back to celebrate the victory," Chax’s voice boomed over us.

  With a nod he shifted us to the same small town. Here, it was already evening, the humans already in their beds and sleeping. We all walked towards the gate and found a huge angelic army waiting for us. Joining them, we took a last look at each other and braced ourselves with what lay behind that wall.

  Demon bodies already lay before the gate. The angels must have taken care of them.

  "I have to lead all in this. Make sure you stay with your team and the hellhounds," Chax said.

  "I will. You just concentrate on killing them," I reassured him.

  "Try and avoid Ballen as much as possible. The last stage of divinity will leave you down and unable to defend yourself."

  "I will try, but he is most likely to come for me. I can’t guarantee it. But I will try."

  Chax gave a nod at all of us and turned towards the wall. With his hands outstretched, he closed his eyes and the wall started rippling like water. Soon the first sign of the gate appeared before us. And within minutes, it was open. Chax and Michael and a legion of angels were the first ones to step through, swords drawn and prepared for battle. As they disappeared, the crowd stayed quiet, trying to listen for the cries of battle. Nothing came. Next to go was Astin and his team. Team after team took turns to enter the gate and walk into battle, the gate s
taying open. We were next. With a final look, I nodded to my team and the other hellhounds, drawing my swords. Here we go. I stepped into the icy entrance and pushed through to hell.

  We were greeted with a huge war. Demons, new monsters, fallen and angels were all fighting for their lives. I stormed forward to assist another fallen team with one of the dragon-like creatures. The huge creature was spitting fire balls and jumping around. I ducked in time to miss its tail and rolled over to jump up again. Just below its stomach, my team joined me.

  "We need to get it to the ground. Take out its legs!"

  With battle cries we stormed at it and swiped at its legs. The dragon screamed and tried to bend its head down to bite us, but the other fallen team was attacking him, keeping him busy. I hacked at the huge leg, trying my best to cut it open. Each blow was like hitting a rock.

  "We are just pissing it off and making no progress!" Nanini yelled, ducking as its tail swooped towards us. I jumped over it and landed in another roll, getting up to attach the leg again.

  Around us, screams, growls and battle cries rang. We needed to find the solution quickly. In the corner of my eye I saw another dragon grab hold of an angel and swallow him whole. Really fast. Again I swiped with all I could, but nothing worked.

  Suddenly a dragon's tortured scream broke out, and I watched astounded as it fell to the ground. Chax flew up and with the angelic swords swiped at its head. Blood spurted all over him, but he actually managed to take its head. He flew away from it, charging for another dragon.

  Well, hell, why the hell can’t our swords do that!

  Furious, I swiped at the dragon again. "Use your claws!" my hellhound yelled inside me. Okay, since swords weren’t working, let’s try that. I placed my swords in their sleuths and moved in with my claws. Ducking low, I swiped my claws over the leg, the jagged bone on my forearm also gliding over its scales. I was greeted with a mouthful of dragon blood. Eeuw! Spitting it out, I told the other hellhounds to do the same. The moment our dragon finally came crashing down, the other fallen jumped for its neck. Swiping like berserkers, they tried to take off the head, but nothing happened. The dragon raised its head and two fallen were snagged into the giant mouth.

  Crap!

  I moved to get to the head, pushing fallen and angels out of my way. Lifting up, I pulled out my swords again. I made sure to fly a good distance up, then closed my wings and came crashing downwards. I noticed a spot between the neck and head that was glowing like lava. That was my target. With everything I had, I swung my swords down over the mark and again ended up with a disgusting mouthful of dragon blood. The dragon scrambled around, its head still attached to a small patch. Dammit!!

  Another figure came crashing down, the glint of silver flying through the air as the last piece of the neck was sliced off. Max fell straight through the dragon and landed on the ground.

  Okay, we now know how to kill them! I transmitted to the others.

  Fallen and angels fell back a little to let the hellhounds through to take down the beasts. We advanced to the second dragon, chopping off demon heads as we moved. Lada moved in first, claws hacking at a leg. Max moved for the other leg, and Raven the left hind leg. Zurita and I made it to the last one and start hacking at it. Blood spurted all over us, but this time I wasn’t opening my mouth. The front of the dragon gave way and its long neck and body slumped to the ground. But with his hind legs still up in the air, we had to work double time to get his butt down. I lifted my arm and sent my claws down to the leg. Finally it gave way. I didn’t stop. Turning, I ran over to help Raven with the last leg.

  "Make room!" I yelled at her and watched her step to the left.

  I jumped up into the air and brought down my claw. It racked through the scales, and finally we had the dragon down on the ground. "Go for the neck. Look for the junction between the neck and head; it's glowing like lava!" I instructed as I jumped over a leg and started to move towards the others. The dragon suddenly reared its head and its long neck snapped towards the left, catching Lada between its fangs. All effort to get the neck off died in an instant. We all jumped for its head to try to save her. Yelling, screaming and biting, she was giving it hell. I grabbed hold of a horn sticking out from its head and jumped on the head. It thrashed to try and get us off, and at the same time, try and crush Lada. Looking down, I could see Max at her side, trying to keep the jaws from closing down on her. I managed to struggle into a position where I had an open shot at its eye. I drew my sword and brought it down, piercing the eye. Goop spurted from the eye up into the air. The dragon went crazy and started to shake its head in an attempt to get the sword out of it. When it launched it head to the right, Lada and Max went flying through the air.

  "Raven, get the other eye!" I instructed Raven, now visible from across me.

  She lifted her sword and brought it down. She was rewarded with a face full of goop.

  "Hold on!" I yelled as the dragon went even more ballistic.

  It thrashed its head from side to side, and Raven and I were thrown around like rag dolls.

  "Max! Take off its damn head already!" Raven yelled, holding on for dear life.

  Two figures jumped into the air. As I passed to the left I saw the figures crashing down a split second after the other. The dragon gave an eerie gurgle and then the head fell towards the ground. I pulled my sword free just in time. Raven, unfortunately, didn’t and ended up under the huge head.

  "Argh!" she yelled, trying to get it off.

  "Hang on!" I yelled as I raced to the other side to try and pick it up. Lotan and Caim joined me and we managed to lift the head just a fraction.

  "Kas, watch out!" Nanini yelled just as something came flying over the head towards me.

  I looked up just in time to see a familiar face diving towards me.

  "Ah, crap!" I managed to get out before Ballen slammed into me and we went flying backwards.

  Chapter 15

  I landed hard with the impact and rolled over a few times. As my body came up right, I dug my feet into the ground to try and stop the momentum. My claws joined in at the sides and I skidded to a full stop. I looked up and found Ballen getting up himself. He turned around and locked down at me.

  "You know this is really not a good time," I sneered at him as he advanced towards me.

  "It seems like a perfect time to me," he said as his swords came slicing down towards me.

  Reacting on instinct, I raised my left arm and blocked the swords with my jagged bone on the forearm. Pulling my arm back, I disarmed him of his swords. He froze and looked at me. With swift movement I jumped up and sent my leg out, kicking him full on the torso. As he flew backward through the air, I moved with him, pulling my only remaining sword from the sleuth, the other lost with the fall.

  "Seriously? I mean, did you miss the part about the big ass dragons we are trying to deal with first?" I taunted him as he lay on the ground. He jumped up and prepared for my attack.

  He tried to give me an uppercut, but I swung back just in time. The momentum sent him forward again and he lost his footing. Nice. I brought my sword down and managed to slice his calf open. He roared and shifted away. I looked around, trying to find him. It was a nightmare. About four dragons still remained and everyone was trying to kill them. I saw the hellhounds hacking away at one’s legs. Chax and the archangels were slicing another up real good. But no bloody Ballen! Bodies lay everywhere, fallen, angel and demon mixed up. The ground was now covered in blood from the battle, the metallic scent driving my senses into overdrive.

  Where the hell are you!? Frustrated, I tried to find him but didn’t succeed. I froze as my eyes locked onto another figure making its way towards the dragon the hellhounds were fighting. Well, you will just have to do then. I shifted and landed just behind him, my sword already moving down. I watched in fascination as one of his black wings was sliced off completely. Mr. Demon turned and roared in pain. Blood and saliva covered my face. I took a step back and tried to wipe it off my face, only ending
up getting hit by a boulder. I flew backward and crashed into a few bodies. I didn’t even look to see if they were fallen or demon. I rolled around and stood up. Mr. Demon was now completely pissed off. Another freaking huge creature was standing there, roaring at me. Yeah, you just had to piss him off, didn’t you, Kasadya? A demon and angel were fighting in front of me. With a quick swipe, the demon's head was flying. I ripped his sword from his hand and moved forward to Mr. Demon.

  "Hellhound!" he roared at me.

  "Yeah, pantsy!" I yelled back.

  We stormed each other at the same time. Again, I didn’t reach my freaking target. Ballen slammed into me from the left and my body was flying back with him. We rolled, crashed and finally started beating the crap out of each other.