Chapter 26

I had Air push him out of the doors and I shut them behind me. I wasn't going to risk anyone else's life but my own if I had to. I heard the knocking and screaming from the other end of the doors. My friends were trying to get back in. I narrowed my eyes at Kalona. The Raven Mockers took steps back as I floated forward to the front of the room. All eyes were on me that didn't get out of the dining hall. They were amazed at what I was doing. I was reflecting back to what my Dad had told me about Morrigan, Celtic Goddess of War and how he said when I was angry, I reminded him of her. I was going to use that for all it was worth.

"So, now you are alone and you come to me? Break this cage of fire and sit with me as my Queen!" Kalona pleaded.

"Never! You would have to follow me through the depth of the earth to get me to become your queen!" I snapped.

"Then I will have to follow you then. Only you, my A-Ya is who I should be with." He answered. I looked to Neferet, she looked massively hurt. She had assumed that even though she set him free, that she would be with him for all eternity. I saw the small streak of blood staining her cheeks. She was crying.

My dad was the only one left in the room with the rest of the students. I thought I had seen him leave in a rush with Darius, but I was wrong. He walked up to me and stood by my side.

"Neferet, it is not too late to ask forgiveness of Nyx." My dad said. He almost pleaded to her to seek forgiveness instead of feeling my wrath, which I would gladly give her. Kalona looked to Neferet with a stern and nasty look.

"My Queen, you wouldn't abandon your love would you?" Kalona said so seductively. Neferet's face changed from sadden to cold.

"Your Queen? Your Love? All these words you had professed to me you are showering to HER!" she pointed to me and screamed. "You are no longer my Love. My love was killed for YOU, my love slept with you're A-Ya! I have risked everything for what? You to deceive me and leave me for A GIRL!"

Neferet walked right up to me, I was taller than her when I floated in the air. I came down just a bit to see her face to face. My hair still whipping around me and still encased in fire. "I never knew just how much trouble you would be or I would have ended your life before you were marked." Her eyes narrowed, "You have ruined EVERYTHING!"

"No Neferet, I looked up to you. You were the mother I wish I had, the Father I wish that never left, and you betrayed ME! You will reap what you sow." I said in a booming voice. The Raven Mockers began to close in again. Fledglings hid under the tables holding each other. I looked out the corner of my eye and saw on Raven Mocker about to pounce on me and with the wave of my hand air blew him back and fire charred him to bits. The monster became a pile of ash in a matter of seconds. All the others backed away and began to get closer to Kalona. I looked at Neferet straight in the eye, "Spirit, you have the power to renew. You have the control to undo what has been done. Wipe her mind and her soul of evil and return her to the Goddess Loving woman she used to be."

An energy surrounded Neferet and I. My flames went out and I settled my feet back on the floor. A dark matter began to swirl high above us. Kalona screamed. "NO!!!"

Neferet fell to the floor limp. My father caught her and picked her up. I nodded to him to take her out and I would deal with the rest. I walked to Kalona still trapped in his cage. "Now what will you do that I will not be your Love or your Queen and that your power over Neferet has been lifted?"

"I will have you A-Ya. Just you see" he said snarling.

I just laughed at him. I turned around and began to exit. "All those who are of free will may leave. This is not your God Erebus, Personification of Night; this is Kalona, Demon to all vampires and mortals. He will feed on all of you. Leave and go underground." I opened the doors and floods of fledglings ran out. Most of them crying; others on the cell phones to their families; if they were still in contact with them.

My friends were standing at the entrance to the dining hall with their hands crossed around their chest. I looked back at Kalona who was struggling to get free.

"Shaunee, you have to release him."

"Are you crazy Z! Its better he's in there and we're out here! At least Neferet is back to normal, at least, for the time being and all the others have gone fleeing. I'm not letting him go." She snapped and whipped her head around.

"You need to! We need him to chase us to the tunnels so we can finally, once and for all be rid of him!" I shouted to her. I grabbed her shoulders and shook her small frame. "We have to be ready to run when you set him free. Once he's out, he's going to fly to get us and send his children loose."

"FINE!" Shaunee yelled back at me. "I'll do it as much as I don't want to."

"Darius, go get the truck and just drive it right up here. Gather everyone in the truck and then Shaunee you release him. I will meet you all back at the Tunnels. I will call with my signal to send Stark and Stevie Rae. We need to be really quick. No daddling!"

Darius took off running with Aphrodite and within a few short minutes screeched the tires of a large Ford Excursion to a halt in front of us. Damien and Jack both gave me a big hug and got into the truck. Shaunee and Erin gave me a look and then hugged me tightly. Aphrodite just looked out the window of the truck and waved goodbye.

"Go, now!" I yelled over to Darius. I saw Shaunee close her eyes and mumble something under her breath before she called for Fire to release Kalona and return to her. The truck took off faster than a hot rod racing down a drag strip. Now it was my turn.

I turned towards the dining hall to see Kalona stagger on his feet. His wings spanned out either side of him and he jumped. He landed right in front of me; I had to take a step back.

"Your friends are gone and now you're alone. I think now I will finally have my way with you!" and he grabbed my arm. He pulled me close to him and kissed me hard on my lips. I tried to struggle but some sort of energy enveloped me. I breathed in Air and asked it to separate me from him and fly me away to the safety of the tunnels. I whooshed out from his grip and took off through the sky. I had only flown in the tunnels and it was an exhilarating experience, but to fly in the open sky was amazing. I felt like Supergirl. I glanced behind me to see Kalona flapping his massive wings not far behind me. Trailing him were the Raven Mockers. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket as I saw the entrance to the church. I texted Erik and told him to send Stark outside and that I was coming in hot.

I circled the church twice before I saw Stark come out of the main doors. Erik was standing behind him in amazement. Air gently started to guide me downward towards them with the Kalona hot on my tail. "SHOOT!" I screamed down to him.

I landed hard and ran into Erik's arms. He held me tightly and kissed my head. I turned back to see Kalona on the ground with his wings spread. His arms were lifeless. The Medicine Arrow was exactly where it should have been, and no matter to how physically it got there, it was sticking straight out of his head. Only the turkey feathers you could see. The Raven Mockers circled around him and began to burn into cinders. I assumed now that they were products of the Kalona, now that he was dead, they would too. Well, Kalona wasn't really dead, but incapacitated. We had killed his heart, but not his soul. We had to get him to the tunnel underground so we could seal him away.

"Stark, run to Stevie Rae, have her open the cavern all the way so the hole reaches the outside. Erik and I will pick Kalona up and drop him down into the pit. Then she can seal him up for eternity."

Stark nodded and ran into the church yelling for Stevie Rae. I didn't have a way to contact him to see if she was ready, but we walked over to Kalona and pick him up anyways. It was like he was passed out cold. He couldn't move or talk. This made our job much easier.

"Get his head and I'll get his feet. Air will lift us to where the pit is." I told Erik who eyed me and nodded, but not before he managed to pluck a few feathers out of Kalona's wings.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"Just in case. Bird's have difficulty flying when they lose some flight feathers. I just gave us an insurance policy." Erik grinned.

"Air, lift us and take us to the pit where we will seal for eternity this demon here on earth."

The air brought us up and rushed us West towards the depot where we first came into the tunnels. I saw a crack in the ground and slowly the earth began to open.

"There!" I pointed down to where I saw the big pit opening up wide right in the middle of a small park that surrounded the depot.

Once we hovered over the pit I told Erik to release Kalona. He dropped head first like a lifeless body down into the pit. Kalona's body spun as he fell. Deeper and Deeper into the darkness of the earth, he would never have his A-Ya again. As soon as he was out of sight, the earth closed.

I grabbed Erik's hand and flew back towards the church. He really did look like Superman from up here. The wind blowing through his hair. How ironic that he was wearing a blue shirt and dark jeans. He made a better version of Clark Kent than Christopher Reeve any day. We landed on the ground and he swooped me up in his arms and kissed me passionately.

"You did it Z! You defeated the Kalona!" he was so happy.

Shaunee, Erin, Damien and Jack ran out of the Excursion that just pulled up and hugged me tightly.

"We saw EVERYTHING!" started Shaunee.

"Like, OH MY GODDESS! That was so cool!" giggled Erin.

"You really kicked some serious demon butt today Z!" said Jack.

"You're a real Femme Fatale aren't you?" said Damien.

"Come on you guys, give the girl a break. I'm sure she wants more than anything to play make up with Erik. You have eternity to talk to her." Snapped Aphrodite. Though she could be mean and cold, she did have a point. I just wanted to wrap myself up with Erik, in a bed somewhere, and sleep. Just sleep. Nothing else. Sleep and not have to dream about demons out to get me.

I looked around and remembered that my Dad had taken Neferet, but where was he?

"Have you see my dad? He picked up Neferet when I sent Spirit to her."

"I didn't see him get in the truck Priestess…err..damnit..Zoey." said Darius. "He may be back at the House of Night. I would assume he knew there was no more danger there."

I wanted to go look for him, but I thought for a minute, after four thousand years, I'm sure he's able to take care of himself. Like he did before, he will find me. He is Armand the great healer; he could take care of Neferet. A wave of reassurance washed over me and I felt calmer, relaxed. More than I had the whole time we had been down here. I looked at my friends and smiled. They were all healthy, happy and alive!

"Come on guys, let's go home." I wasn't sure where home was just yet, but I knew wherever it might be, it was with my friends.

Thanks for reading my story! Maybe I will write another one about what might come next. For now, I have writen all that I feel is needed for this. I hope you all enjoyed it and look forward to reading more.