DOUBLE UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm just putting this here for those who maybe missed it, this is the 2nd part of the double update so be sure to read chapter 55 first.

AND COMMENT!!!!!

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Lincoln's P.O.V

I'd always thought that I was a creature of darkness, born from death with the inflicted purpose to hurt others, but I saw now that that wasn't darkness, only a sad mirroring of it.

What raged around me now; this was true darkness.

Like a storm let loose, the wicked, suffocating force blotted out the skies and the moon, leaving only its source to be glimpsed above through flickers of the tormenting winds.

Something vile had arrived, and it looked like my love.

I knew deep down that it couldn't be, that there was no possible reality where this menacing creature with a face carved by torment could be my sweet Kalem, but between those harsh lines were features I recognised, even if they were now encased with hatred.

It looked quite simply like a demon had risen from the pits of hell.

With something akin to horror cast upon me, I find myself unable to move as I watch jagged, mammoth wings that blended into the night, spread wide before their owner fell to the Earth hard enough to shake it to its core.

This creature had brought the endless darkness that now plagued the dessert, making it impossible for me to spot a thing beyond the being in front of me that was most certainly not of this world.

The war became a quiet thing, forced to the back of my mind along with the threat Diablos had posed only seconds ago, all of it now becoming inconsequential as I watched the demon straighten and settle its repulsed eyes on me.

The shell around my heart almost cracked against the hope that slammed into me. It wasn't Kalem. I knew in the depths of my soul that this was not my Kalem since the man I loved had a permanent light in his eyes that this creature did not possess in its obsidian gaze, but for a moment, I wanted to believe that it was.

It had only been a handful of days since I'd last seen my love, but by the Gods, it felt like decades, and my soul was starved for even a morsel of him. A scrap that I saw now in this harsh, calloused face that was too close a mirror to my love.

But as I knew it would be, the hope was crushed before it had a chance to grow as those dark eyes filled with wrecked disdain that had the right corner of its lips curling upwards into a nasty sneer.

"Yû árp malpt! Rǎn!"

My skin instantly prickled as a decidedly monstrous voice filled the air, just as cold and distorted as the being in front of me. The cold wasn't something I could feel physically, and yet, I suddenly felt chilled to the bone.

Whatever had just been said, I was willing to bet it wasn't anything pleasant, so I forced myself up to my feet, remembering myself as the massive creature stepped toward me with unmistakable rage.

It's that look that propels my instincts back to life so that I can face this new foe that had entered the playing field.

I hadn't a clue how exactly I was going to do that since I didn't know what this person was, but any beginnings of a measly plan are squandered as a flash of light breaks through the never-ending darkness.

Bright, golden light shines down from the opening that mirrors what I imagined the heavens to look like if they opened their gates. It filled my vision, almost blinding me as something escaped from them and swooped down towards the creature and me.

I pushed back, moving just enough to create space between myself and the dark being as the gift from the heavens that landed directly between us.

Like the black-winged messenger of death, this new being towered over me like a God next to a man, but where the other had black, sharp wings that were like jagged swords, this one had beautiful, white sleek wings that had a dusting of gold to them.

With its back facing me, I could do nothing but explore the rest of the golden being that seemed to glow at every inch. Even from the long brown locs that fell over its shoulders like a cascading paradise.

Every inch of them was enticing, to the point that I was sure there was some magic involved, for that could be the only explanation for why I couldn't tear my eyes away from them.

At least, that was the only explanation I had until they turned their head to look at me.

This time, I'm sure my heart beats.

I'm sure that the lifeless thing rages hard within my chest as my gaze finds eyes that are cunningly white now, but even without their usual hazels, I knew those pretty eyes anywhere.

"Kalem," I breathe out, his name coming like a cry from my lips as I rush towards him, not at all off-put by his staggering new height or the wings that flapped eagerly behind him, almost sending him back to the skies.

But I reach him first, my hands lock around him as I twist him to me and hold him tighter than could be so that he could never escape without taking me with him. My chest tightens and expands at an alarming rate, contracting enough to cause me pain before spreading wide with relief at the feel of my love back in my arms.

The joy I felt at that moment could power this world for a lifetime.

Massive arms wrap around me, pulling tightly around me before they alarmingly take my feet from the floor. Kalem squeezes me between his enormous form with a happy cry that I was sure filled the entire desert.

"Master!" He sobs, his voice like a song that could put me to sleep, but there was no chance of that while his arms locked tighter around me, almost crushing my lungs.

My eyes widen, short measures of panic lighting inside me, but I ignore it as I breathe in his scent of honey that had tears rushing to my eyes in quick measure. I'd never been much of a crier, but somehow, my tear ducts had really found a moment of respite within these last few days.

Pulling back to look at me, Kalem darts his whitened eyes all over me while I do the same to take in his new features.

It was still Kalem, he still had those pouted lips, those fulls cheeks and that look of pure sunshine to him, but there were hardened bits as well. Where I knew my love to be a soft, gentle thing, this form to his was like carved marble, the statuesque image of an angel that artists of the 19th century so desperately tried to capture.

My love had always been an angel to me, but now... there was no denying that he was.

"We have no time for this," I hear the gravelled voice of the grim-reaper snap behind us. Even speaking English now instead of whatever the fuck that had been earlier, his voice was quite literally the opposite of Kalem's melodic sweetness.

I pass my gaze over the being, trying to understand who and what he was.

There was no doubt that Kalem was now in true form, the very reason he'd left home in the first place, which meant that this could only be the other Nyphilim. A creature that seemed to be etched from the pits of hell itself, even though it carried features disturbingly close to my love's.

Instead of looking even slightly scared, Kalem only put me down with a sad pout before he faced the darker version of him with a frown.

"Zhoron," he complains, his usual whine still there even if he sounded different, lighter as if there was an easy comradery between this Nyphilim and Kalem.

Zhoron, with his blackened eyes, didn't pay Kalem any mind as he flicked his gaze upwards, causing the winds around us to finally settle. The darkness clears enough to reveal that while Diablos still lived as he struggled to stand from the firm rockface, he'd be flung towards.

It's the sharp reminder I need to put my mind back in focus. As much as I wanted to hold Kalem and take us far away, there was a war at hand that we needed to end before that.

Seemingly thinking the same thing, Kalem snaps his gaze towards Zhoron, his bleached eyes serious, "Master and I will finish this. Go where Aias went, kill any of them that aren't from our clan."

I wanted to ask how this Zhoron could ever know who was foe from friend, but the question died on my tongue as he fixed me in his gaze.

It's quite literally impossible to miss the threat in his eyes as he points one long finger at me, "He takes no lives or wounds."

It's the only thing he says, not needing to add the 'or else' since I heard it loud and clear in his stare alone. With that, the winged killer took to the air, his lips turned upwards in something too wicked to be a smile as he launched himself towards the centre of the battle.

I look up at Kalem, silently asking for an explanation. He at least offers me an apologetic smile and pinkening cheeks, "Brother," he mumbles with a nervous laugh, as if he thought I'd hate that. Whilst all I hated was the fact that Kalem apparently had family he seemed to like, and for some reason, they already hated me.

My challenges never seemed to end.

"Is that the slave I spot?" Diablos asks in a sing-song that brings our attention back to him. "The one named who named himself Kalem?"

Kalem's wings flare out around us, menacing like the sharpened teeth he flashes at Diablos, but I stop his advance with a hand on his arm.

Diablos may be weakened, but we'd still have to be careful; there was a never-ending bag of tricks he kept in hand.

Staying at my side, Kalem watches as I do as Diablos draws himself back on his legs, staggering while he laughs, the sound as wrecked as the crushed half of his face that was slowly putting itself back together.

His hand seemed to have been broken on impact, along with his twisted leg, but those quickly snapped back to place as he settled his bloody gaze on the two of us.

But it settles on Kalem this time, refusing to move as he takes in every inch of the colossal beauty of unfiltered power my boy now was, and for the first time today, unease flashes through his gaze.

Lips twisting down in an angered grimace, he shifts his hateful gaze to me, "Angels don't exist, so what is he?"

"I am the last thing you will see before Master kills you," Kalem snaps back with all the confidence he'd grown over the last year.

Pride swells in my chest, strengthening my stance as I watch the way Diablos rolls his eyes while he drags himself forward, leaning into dialogue in an obvious play for a surprise attack.

I leave Kalem in his place, moving around Diablos so we can circle him while forcing his focus to split, something that makes his jaw tighten the moment he notices it.

"Is this how we shall end things then?" Diablos taunts, his attention entirely on me now, "with you cowering behind the slave's power instead of facing me on your own?"

His words were meant to goad, as he'd done all day; an attempt at forcing my hand to move from anxiety rather than sense. But that nonsense had only crippled me when I did not know what was happening to my love, but with Kalem standing right in front of me, my mind was as calm as stagnant winds.

"While I'd be happy to let Kalem rip you to shreds, that's not how we do things," I say, my feet moving to draw me further from Kalem so that we could both circle our prey. "My love and I face it all together."

Facing twisting with sporadic violence, Diablos snarls as he charges forward, going for Kalem instead of me, in what had to be a ploy at scaring him, but from the gleam in his white eyes, it was obvious that Kalem wanted nothing more.

Before Diablos even has a chance to reach Kalem, or I stop him, lightning strikes from the sky, spearing Diablos down to the Earth with a murderous bolt that makes the vermin shriek while Kalem pops over to my side.

I'd witnessed Kalem's training with the elf from time to time, but I'd never seen him do this.

"I can't hurt him too much," he reveals with a disappointed frown that almost made me laugh. Gods, it was good to have him back.

"Why not?" I ask with a glimpse towards Diablos, who he was hurting plenty from the looks of things.

"It'll make me go super bad, and that can't happen."

I nod, Zhoron's warning coming back to mind with the seriousness that had been no play or trickery.

"Alright, leave me to inflict his pain,"

It's a promise, one that Kalem hears loud and clear as he makes the lightning stop.

The relief gives Diablos the strength to raise his head and pin his red eyes on Kalem. They were aflame with the type of rage that only being belittled by someone he saw as inferior could cast.

He'd be going for Kalem. Even if he saw his end, I could see in his eyes that he would try to take Kalem down with him. Regardless of the other Nyphilim's warning, that was not something I would ever allow.

"You remember our training?" I ask with a glance as Diablos gets to his feet. "To use your power to attack, not only defend?"

Kalem's eyes spark before he nods his head vigorously, his jaw set in a firm line as he readies himself.

The next time Diablos rushes towards us, Kalem pops away, allowing me to meet his attack head-on as he rams into me like a drugged bull. My armour takes the brunt of the attack, allowing me to keep the strength I need to take his wrists in hand and crush the bone beneath them.

They were already healing when I let him go, but the small opening was what Kalem needed to appear behind Diablos. He kicks his feet out from under him, sending him sprawling to the ground while I circle him and jump enough to strike his spine on my landing.

His shriek is an enamouring sound with the added crack of bone shattering beneath steel.

Reaching for me, Kalem pops us both away from Diablos before he could hope to grab either of us, giving us distance and time to decide where to attack from next.

We move like a unit, a perfectly oiled machine that works at breaking down Diablos faster than he could heal or recover. His armour takes work, but with Kalem's seamless opening and my attacks, it's shattered to pieces at his feet in no time, leaving Diablos a crazed, manic version of himself.

If it was one thing that was his undoing, it was how he became in the face of loss, and this was exactly that.

"Cowards!" He growls like a cornered animal. "Both of you are cowards!"

"For destroying you together?" I mock with a glimpse at my boy. "Two against one may not be fair?"

Kalem's eyes harden, "Neither is slavery."

Diablos opens his mouth, but whatever smart retort he had ready is ripped from him as the broken rocks around us, raise and pommel him without pause. I let Kalem have his fun, my attention snagging on a glimpse of steel I spot only a few paces away.

The shift in the dirt exposes the rest of the slick weapon that was mostly covered by the sands that had gotten swept up in Zhoron's arrival, but it shone like a beacon now.

"I have an idea," Kalem says beside me.

I look at him, really look at him, and in that moment, I see a compilation of all the traits I'd tried to instil in him so that when the day came for him to face any threat, he would be able to without any fear.

That's what Kalem looked like now, fearless, and I'd be damned if I stood in his way.

I nod my head, ready to place my trust entirely in him, and he smiles, his face lighting up with unfiltered joy as he pins his gaze on Diablos, "You have to hold him down."

"With pleasure," I reply as I head for my sword.

I kick it up from the sands, freeing it only to send it soaring straight for Diablos the moment the sharp rocks fall.

It spears his back, cutting through his insides in a blow that was hardly fatal but enough for me to circle him at the front so I could grip the sword and keep him from freeing it.

His eyes meet mine as blood pours from his clenched teeth, and I smile as he'd done earlier.

"Do you see it now?" I question, repeating his words, "why you won't win this?"

Alarm burns in his gaze as Kalem appears behind him. He settles one of his large palms on Diablos' chest, right over his heart, while the other grips the side of my sword that stuck through his back.

Diablos claws at my arms and face, tearing skin from me as he shifts like a man possessed, trying to escape, but there was no chance for that with the two of us holding him steady.

The pain of my skin ripping was nothing when I got to watch him flail, fruitlessly trying to escape while Kalem's palm glowed golden, like a ray of sunshine that he was casting on Diablos.

I had no clue what he was doing or why, but by the frantic look between Diablos' shifting eyes, it seemed to be something horrible.

"No!" He roars, fighting hard enough now to make us waver slightly. "No! You can not!"

I try to meet Kalem's eyes, but they were shut tight, his focus solely on his task, which left me with no other choice but to look at Diablos, who met my eyes with a rampant fear that disturbed me more than it startled me.

Diablos was never scared.

"L-Lincoln no," he begs, his voice pleading and small like it had been when he'd first been formed, "please, no!"

I watch unmovingly as he begs, fighting with every last breath he has until the blood-red eyes I always known drained with hue, filling with a deep brown.

That's when I hear it, the start of a heart beating.

It starts slow before it begins to rage hard, a long-abandoned muscle pumping back to life that it spreads throughout the rest of him.

I staggered back, real fear twisting through me, far too similar to the fear I saw in Diablos' eyes. Kalem finally lets go as well, stepping back with his eyes wide and hopeful as if he wasn't entirely sure of what he'd done.

"You..." I start, but the words fail even me because what Kalem had done shouldn't have been physically possible.

Kalem pops to my side, eyes gleaming as he looks from me to Diablos who was grasping desperately at his chest, his legs wobbling beneath him.

"Zhoron said I couldn't take life. I'm not supposed to, so I didn't!" He answers, his voice both excited whilst dripping with wicked pleasure. "I gave it back. I gave him life."

I wanted to deny it, but I could hear Diablos' heart beat, scent the change in him that was alarming to know was even possible.

Vampires weren't dead, not really. We were creatures suspended in time, chained by magic that kept our bodies stagnant, but Kalem had just made the clock start running again.

"You made him human," I breathe out, the words as exciting as they were horrifying.

"No," Diablos stammers, his previously twisted expression pure terror now. "That's not possible!"

"It is," Kalem beams as he looks down at me, eyes hungry for approval.

Like I wouldn't give it to him. Smiling up at my love, I take his hand in mine and squeeze it as best as I can, given its size, before I fix Diablos back in my view.

He looked so much smaller now, not so demented but like a lost child that didn't know how to handle what was happening to him.

No part of me felt sorry for him as I walked toward him.

If I were a different man, I'd keep him like this, perhaps in a cage I could visit when I wished it, but I was not that sick, and I'd never been one to prolong my happiness.

So while Diablos staggered back, stumbling over some mix of pleas and promises, I kept my gaze fixed on his as I settled one hand on his shoulder and another on the end of my sword that jutted out his front.

I make sure he's looking straight at me, his breaths coming short with fear, before I rip it free from his body.

Organs and intestines that had only just begun to function again spilt out of him unabashed, painting the desert floor with a mix of pitch black and red blood while his shaking fingers scrambled around the gaping wound that refused to heal.

"Lincoln," he breathes, eyes wide with disbelief.

I offer him a nod as I raise my sword, because I too couldn't quite believe it still, but when had my boy ever not surprised me?

"Diablos," I reply, in a final goodbye before I let my sword sail.

It's a clean, satisfying slice that slips through the air, it splits his hair just as it does the life that had just been granted to him.

Diablos' wide eyes drain before his hands fall limply at his side, followed by his knees that fall to the floor, and finally his head that tumbles from his shoulders.

I watch it roll toward me as it comes to a stop at my feet. I stare into those blank eyes for a long time, needing to make myself believe that he was truly gone.

But there was no way to return from a beheading, human or vampire, which meant that he was really and truly dead.

I turn to my love, meeting his equally shocked eyes that only take a moment to burn bright with relief as I smile at him.

It was over. Finally, it was all over.

I step towards him but only get the one and not even another as something punctures my heart.

There was no function to that organ, so it didn't hurt, not really, but I found it to be bleeding profusely as I looked down at the spear that now protruded from my body. It had split through my armour and my skin, making it hard for my body to heal itself with the little energy it had left.

I grimace tightly at the nasty wound. I would heal, or rather I should, with time and some rest, but even that sure thought wavered in my mind as my vision began to blur. That was not reassuring in the slightest.

I risk a glance down at Diablos' head, happy to find it still dislodged from the rest of him before I cast my gaze upwards.

What seemed to be one of Diablos' followers, some angry witch stood at a clifftop, with an enraged expression twisted with triumph at what she'd done.

I would've killed her myself if not for the way her body literally imploded on itself in front of my very eyes. I blink once, and then once more, but there was nothing to deny the way blood sprayed the air while chunks of what had been a person only a moment ago fell down the cliff's edge.

It's then that I notice the steering of the winds around us, the call of power that shook the Earth beneath my feet and blackened the skies once more. But Zhoron wasn't anywhere I could spot him when I looked around, the only thing I could see was the angel who stood before me with their mouth open in a cry I couldn't hear, their face streaked with white tears spilling from their petrified white eyes.

I shake my head as I step forward, only for my legs to give out beneath me. Kalem catches me easily, scooping me close while his large fingers hover over my chest, trembling like the rest of him.

His lips moved quickly, stammering and shaking like the rest of him while his tears splashed against my skin. I shake my head as I reach a hand for his cheek, my soul aching to make it better, to take the pain away from him.

"Kalem," I try, but the word is slurred. "I'm fine."

I really was. I was sure I just needed some rest, some blood, and I'd be fine, but even if I could've gotten those words out, I wasn't sure they would've registered to Kalem as I watched him sob for me, his agony palpable even if my ears were ringing.

Above him, storm clouds gathered, the sky thundering while he cried frantically over me, his white eyes bleeding black in a way even I knew they shouldn't.

If there was any hope that his brother would eventually approve of me, I knew it was lost at that moment.

My vision blurs in and out, along with the rest of my senses, but when eyes part next, I spot black wings descending above us. But they never quite reach us though, as some yellow barrier lights up around us.

I knew it was Kalem, all Kalem as I glimpsed a blurred vision of Malcolm on the other side of it, banging furiously along with a bloodied Wequie, their eyes pinned on me.

Whatever Kalem was doing, it was ensuring we stayed safe from the chaos he reigned around us.

I reach for him, resting my hand on the only part of him I can find while I try to bring my love back to me.

"Kalem," I breathe as my fingers settle over his heart that hammered wildly.

Nearly entirely black eyes meet mine, the last bit of white there almost flooding out completely, barely holding on at all for me.

"Sweet Kalem," I breathe out in a gentle plea for him to hang on for me until I was strong enough to take care of him.

My consciousness flickers, the last of my strength making my fingers fall slack in a motion that makes something in Kalem break.

It's the last thing I see as my head lolls, sending me into the caving darkness where I spot Zhoron taking for the skies with both Malcolm and Wequie in his arms as he releases a shout for all to hear.

"Run!"

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I am too far for y'all to kill me.

Thoughts???

Thoughts on Angel Kalem?? That final Diablos scene? Hurt Lincoln (Malcolm tried to warn him)??? And Kalem losing his shit?????????

Look, I know! I KNOW! At this point, we might as well change my name to cliffhanger, but fuck I can't stop. The only good news I have to offer is that I'm already 2000 words into the next chapter which I should be done at the end of the week!

I am sorry though fr, I know how annoying cliffhangers can be.

Please, please share any thoughts and comments, and vote if you enjoyed.

I worked really super hard on these chapters, like crazy hard so I really hope you liked them.

Until next time,
Byeeeeeeeeeeee Humanssssssssssss