Chapter Twenty-eight: Beyond Salvation

Noforl's attacks on my forest took the breath out of my lungs and pierced my heart with energy-draining daggers. I could barely stand from the blow, and it was then I realized how much more powerful he was. My forest revealed how determined Noforl was to eradicate not only humans, but any life he deemed imperfect and pathetic. He was aiming to cover this world in darkness and create his own slice of hell.

Penny Lee struggled against him, and her emotions flowed through the forest. She was brave enough to face him alone, but her pride would dig her grave.

There was a way we could work together, but I had to use Tark's body. Noforl's aura crippled me and my powers, but with Tark's energy, we stood a chance.

Why was Tark, a weak human, able to wield such power? I sighed as I figured their spirit was on another level, neither here nor there. It doesn't make sense to many, but it doesn't have to. Their emotions, desires, convictions, betrayals, choices, and inactions made this world what it is now. It was only fitting that one of their own should end it.

I winced when Penny Lee was struck down by Noforl's claws. Tark ran to her, oblivious to Noforl's subsequent attacks. Hekin bolted after him and used his spiritual barrier while everyone else followed and did the same. I gathered the strength I had left and stumbled towards them.

Tark quivered as she took her last breath.

His unforgiving glare pierced Noforl's defenses. His lips moved, but no sound seemed to come out.

Hekin, Thorn and I heard our orders. Our harsh gazes whipped to Noforl's frustrated figure.

"Aeklith, Hekin, Nalueth, become immune to Noforl's attacks. Absorb his energy and tear apart his devilish spirit. Use my body to do so."

Blue waves of energy shimmered around us. It felt as if I was being pulled apart on a rack and then stitched back together upon entering Tark's body.

Has any human been merged with three demons before? I was excited beyond measure.

Once we had control, Hekin's voice sounded close to me. "It feels . . . peaceful here."

"No kidding," I mumbled.

"We get front row seats!" Thorn shouted.

A blinding light encased us before we were able to see the outside world.

Tark was resisting Noforl's attacks and landing hard punches. "That's for Mom!" Another smack. "That's for Dad!" He caught Noforl's hair and rammed his knee in his face. "That's for Penny Lee, you heartless bastard!"

Tark was breathing hard from his outbursts. Noforl lay on the ground, unmoving.

We noticed the craters the punches had left behind, but the trees were unscathed.

"Is it over?" Thorn whispered.

"It's never over," Hekin answered with a solemn expression.

Noforl grunted as he got to his feet, his bloodied face was healed before Tark kicked his jaw and booted his ass so hard that he landed at another island.

It was Grace's island until Tark's punches blasted it into the depths of the ocean. The energy circled around the world before it slammed into Noforl again, like a moon orbiting and crashing into the planet.

"How is he so strong?" Thorn wondered.

"He has us," I declared.

The beatdown went on for two weeks, Noforl continuously healing and Tark dealing severe damage. Through that whole time, we absorbed Noforl's collected energy and dispersed it in useful ways. Hekin used it to melt rare metals and combined them into alloys for armor and weapons. Thorn used the energy to upgrade Penny Lee's Fort with protective thorns and had it hovering in the sky.

I smiled as I put my energy into the vast growth of the forests. The vines and flowers overtook the empty cities while trees became the new skyscrapers. I sighed in admiration as my dream of a never-ending forest covered the lands.

Hekin scowled at me. "At least make some hiking trails, Jopp!"

"Who needs trails when we have trekkers?" I reminded.

The roars of the trekker family erupted from the sky. They had returned victorious against Noforl's flying demons.

It was strange seeing them as tiny Golirs, but I laughed louder than I thought I ever could.