The roads I instinctively navigated became increasingly familiar. I could have been driving home from work. At the thought of work, my headache returned. Focus. Drive. Find Lillith and Samael. The headache cleared, and I was able to see again.

Of its own accord, my foot eased off the gas pedal, braking near the side of a dirt road. Overhead, no stars were visible through the sunroof, just multitudes of boughs. While the outside environment was virtually unrecognizable in the dark, I knew where I had ended up.

The Uzita forest.

* * * * *

When I was a child, the forest behind my house flourished, wild and vast. Over the years, developments had reduced the number of trees, until at last only a few remained. As I crept through the forest, it was clear it had expanded. The model homes that had replaced the trees were missing. I squinted, discerning a slight shimmer, like reality trying to break through. Another shimmer passed over the scenery, and I was able to pull my hand through it. I stepped inside of the barrier, tingles raging over my skin. When I checked again, the shimmer had disappeared. No birds chattered, and the sky was tinged with red.

After about twenty minutes of treading through the moonlit forest, a stone tower rose above the tree tops. If a castle had existed in these parts, I would've heard about it. A large clearing opened up to reveal ancient crumbling remains of what looked to be a keep. There was no roof to speak of, and lights flickered from inside. At one point, there had been four complete towers, but time had whittled three of them down to almost nothing. The remaining tower boasted no definitive entrance. Circling the perimeter, I came to the conclusion that unless I gained the power of flight, I wasn't gettin' in.

I spilled my exasperation to the sky: "Rosalind, I know I said I didn't want your help, but a rope wouldn't hurt."

She declined to answer.

The weight of my sigh brought my head down. I had no idea what to do. Leaves at the toe of my shoes needed shuffling, and of course, I obliged. When I looked up, the last standing tower had a door-sized opening at its base. I was sure the door hadn't been there seconds before.

I laughed. "Thank you, Rosalind."

* * * * *

The interior of the tower was dark and wet. A winding stairway led up and up to a lit landing. As I climbed, a caustic smell increased in intensity. Ugh, demon-stink. I overheard grunts of exertion, and feared I was too late.

There were only a few steps left, and I poised for battle, sword drawn. How silly I must've appeared, wielding an ancient weapon, donning a fierce grimace, complete in a sundress. After my last fighting experience, I doubted I could handle the demon-gods. It had taken Rosalind's intervention to save my life, and she was gone. How was I supposed to defeat two (or possibly three) otherworldly entities, all on the same night I had acquired a new body?

I was ready to turn around and go home. This fight wasn't mine. Even if it was, I was going to muck it up royally. At the top of the staircase, I hesitated.

True, I wasn't ready, but something had shown me how to get to the tower. Was it God? Pfsh, I was unconvinced that he/she existed, or cared, or that he/she was capable of petty human emotions (even caring), but I was convinced that Rosalind was still with me, guiding me. Her trust, her faith in me was the push I needed.

The last step opened up to a large room. Torches hung along the circular walls, the smoke from the flames disappearing into the night air. A wine-colored carpet blanketed the floor, but it was so worn that several spots allowed for the stone to peek through.

One long groan of relief signaled the end of Lillith's labor. She was on the floor in the corner of the room, laying back.

"Constanople!" she cried, and it was my vision replaying all over again. Things were already in motion. What was the point of my visions if I was only destined to show up and watch them occur in real time?

"You survived the Lillin. I'm surprised," the silky voice of Samael melted in my ear, his hands like brands on my skin. "Is this everything the pictures in your head promised?"

"More," I said.

I tried to ignore the allure of his voice. The warmth from his hands coated my body, and for no reason at all, I had the insane desire to writhe against him. I gritted my teeth and did no such thing. I did try to break free of his grip, but it was like trying to escape a statue's hold.

He laughed,"You may have strength in this body, strength to match even Lillin or Djinn. Yet, I am a god, and you will not resist me."

At that, he spun me around. Meeting his gaze was equivalent to Medusa's power, but I could not (as promised) resist. Twin pools of silver drew me in, a red veil descending over my vision. Though my mind railed against it, I put my sword away. Before I could draw my next breath, Samael's lips were crushing mine. He tasted of ashes. His hands ran over my body, and we sank to the ground as naturally as if we had a million times before. Tunnel-vision took over; Samael was all I could see. An emptiness had opened up inside of me. I wanted him to fill it up, with no other reasoning to my thoughts. Without using his hands, Samael unbuttoned my dress until it was fully open. Everything progressed too slowly, so I brought down my underwear myself.

Samael hovered above, ready. A part of my sanity flickered through the red, but I shoved it aside and met his hips with my own. Horrific images then bombarded me, like the chronology of a degraded existence.

Red, shining apples.

Drinking, always drinking. So thirsty.

Fire. Death. The Uzita.

A second death.

Ortiz, and his Uzita descendants.

Rosalind.

"No!" I scrambled away from him.

His thrall over me had shattered once I had remembered my sister, remembered my purpose.

I stood, righting my clothes. By some miracle, I had kept the leather scabbard on. With an amateur flourish, I withdrew my weapon for the third time in my second-life. I tried hard to imitate Rosalind's movements in the convent, but that didn't matter. All the strength I could muster did nothing against the stone of Samael's skin. My sword came into contact with his chest, breaking open nothing but my spirit. On top of everything else, the bastard was impenetrable.

Too fast for even my superhuman eyes, he grabbed my arm, snapping it in half like kindling. The sword clattered to the floor. The pain in my arm was enormous, but after giving birth and then dying, my pain scale had changed dramatically. The broken bone was a pain I could handle, but at the same time, evidence of my frailty. With all of my new strength, I could still be killed.

My arm hung at my side, as useless as my sword-fighting ability. When I turned my head, I was met with two pairs of liquid-silver pools. Lillith and Constanople were staring at me, two birds with their heads tilted in question.

He seized hold of me, a lot like his Dad in his lady-capturing skills. "We wouldn't want you bolting, like you tried to before."

My face flushed. The demon-gods must've known sensed my earlier hesitation on the stairs, and were not impressed.

"There is no weapon that can destroy us. Not even that ancient relic of a sword," Samael said casually, the words directed at the weapon on the stone floor. Even though the voice sounded male, it was Lillith's lips that moved.

Before she stopped "talking," I tried to concentrate. The room quivered with refracted light, and momentarily revealing our true surroundings. I saw a bed, a dresser, and a closet door. We weren't in a twoer, but a bedroom. None of what was happening was real, and the pony posters hanging on the pink wall convinced me of that. Part of it was real, because certainly my arm felt really broken, but the demon-gods were not as impenetrable as they seemed.

As quickly as it appeared, the reality of the bedroom reverted back to the nightmare Samael and Lillith mentally sustained for my benefit.

"So now you understand that there is no earthly power that can stand in our way."

There was a false ring to the words, and the lie woke me up, helping shed my fear of them. Well, not completely.

"You've been destroyed—twice over." All three demons looked confused at my change in attitude. While they had formed a tight circle around me, the trio began to back away. "Humans have gotten rid of you, using...fire."

Fire was the key to everything. Fire was indiscriminate, burning anything in its path.

"Will you just do it already?" Rosalind whispered next to me.

But I couldn't. I was a chicken-shit.

****

A/N: We've all been there before. Too scared to act. However, when demonic forces are threatening the planet, it's time to step up  :D

Thanks for coming this far, reader, and I'll hope you'll come a bit further. When you get a moment, follow MindyLeah, a great writer and pal o' mine :D