A:N// I can't explain how chaotic life is at the moment, but to sum it up — I got engaged!!!! So apologies for inactivity. I'm also almost finished this book and will be taking a break from the series before starting the sequel- some other stories require my attention first! I might pop this into the Watty's depending on what the requirements are. Thanks for reading! 

Also, the irony of me putting this song is not missed but also I love it so yolo. Love you guys! 

Chapter 25

"Are we sure he's okay?" Bonnie murmured, eyeing Gremory's crouched body that was whispering words to himself as he held up different items in his hands.

Kimaris stopped setting up the pyre he was building and looked over his shoulder at his friend, a slight grimace pulling at his lips.

"As much as he usually is."

It wasn't entirely comforting, but Bonnie tried to accept the answer, after all Kimaris knew him best.

His eyes lingered for a moment longer than they should have and she caught them as he returned to stacking wood. He could see the question in them, and with a breath Kimaris leaned into her, turning their shoulders from Gremory.

"You need to not blame yourself if this doesn't work. I know you will, but you can't. Some things just aren't possible, even for someone with abilities such as yourself."

Her chest felt heavy.

"You think this isn't going to work?"

Kimaris sighed, his lips almost hiding themselves as they pulled in. "There's a possibility that nothing will ever be able to bring Amdusias from the Abyss. We don't know what kind of punishment he's recieved, or how tied to the realm he's become. The gods made it so humans had the true power when it came to banishment and protecting themselves. Against the heavy spirits that is, not themselves. Depending how strong the person was that sent him back dictates the amount of power needed to pull him up again."

"Heavy spirits?"

Kimaris' brows pulled together, and she could tell that the subject was not an easy one for him to talk about.

"Although we all started at the same place, the 'Angels' made this curse that caused those of us who had 'strayed from the light' to become weighted with our decisions. Our bad morals made us heavy with shame from our gods and forced us to 'fall' from our home. They maintained that the furthur we fell, the heavier we'd become. It made us more human in a way I suppose, as it stops us from being able to fly or move between realms like them. They are made of 'light air', so they are of course the better race."

It made Bonnie want to laugh at how human Kimaris looked when he rolled his eyes, she could almost forget that what they were talking about was true and not a historically inspired piece of fiction.

"What made you guys stray?" she asked, helping him with the stacking as he pointed at where to put the pieces. "It must have been important if it caused you to 'fall'?"

A softness overtook the features on the daemons face, his fingers flexing slightly as he placed the next log down.

"She was. She was the most important thing to us all."

Bonnie's heart thumped. The last thing she had expected him to say was that it had been a woman. She ignored the small twinge of pain that knocked at her chest. The cool wind picked up, brushing her hair against her skin.

"Who was she?"

"She was an Aeon, one of the first gods. She was a soul who was never truly happy, who always wanted for more. She's the reason that humanity came to be, the reason we all knew there was more out there than what we were being told and that life was bigger than we could imagine. She sacrificed herself so that we could live as we truly were, so we could see what souls truly were."

A buzz like static had started spreading between Bonnie's shoulder blades. She did not know if it was because Kimaris' voice was filled with a gentle caress that she had never heard before, or if it was the air between them that had brought the feeling. But it made her chin rise, and her back straighten.

"You must have loved her a lot."

She waited for him to scoff or clam up at her words, but he didn't. The tender smile only grew as he shook his head and stood to his feet, surveying their work.

"I did," he confessed after a moment of silence before squatting back down beside the pyre and bringing a match to it. He whispered something under his breath, words that she knew were not english, and it lit up in a blink, the roaring flames as tall as she was. "I loved her but so did everyone, it was just she that could not love. That was the downfall of Sofia."

Suddenly the smoke was making her choke and the heavy air became ten times stronger, telling her to collapse to the ground in a panic. It took everything she had to make her legs lock and remain standing.

"That's perfect, great job guys" Gremory complimented as he walked over to the pair, eyes following the huge tower of fire in front of them. "Not that we're going to need it."

"What's it for?" Bonnie asked, clearing her throat when her voice cracked on each syllable. Kimaris' eyes darted to her from their corner and she tried to make her lips relax into a curious expression instead of panic.

"It's just a precaution incase it's not Amdusias that comes out of the Abyss."

Bonnie's face must have turned into a mask of horror, but by which part she didn't know. All she knew was that Gremory had quickly turned around and stopped speaking while Kimaris placed a gentle hand onto her shoulder.

"Don't let that worry you," he said, brows flattened with purpose. "The chances of that happening are beyond miniscule, I'm just preparing for the worst."

"And what's the worst?" Bonnie replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Well," Kimaris began, his eyes following the landscape across to the large mound at the other end of the field. "I suppose the worst would be if we open a connection and instead of Amdusias, someones legions come through, or another daemon that has been waiting for an opportunity for this specific sight to be opened."

She didn't need to ask what the legions would be, she ahd the haunted memories, the chill that fell across her skin when that first demon appeared.

"But if that happens we have this." His smooth voice turns her from the daunting view and back to the tower of flames beside them. "If legions are coming the sky will tell us, that darkness that I'm sure you remember will grow and that's why we made this. Even if that happens these flames won't go out, so you look for them, you run here, and you go into the haven. Nothing can get you in there. We'll make sure you're safe."

There was a calmness in her chest, a safety in his words. And as his hand squeezed hers, she only felt it grow. He had made this for her.

In the warm glow of the fire his eyes were not the flat grey, but that dazzling silver that made her feel as though she could look into the sky full of stars. Her heart pounded.

She should tell him. Even if it meant nothing she should tell him.

"Kimaris I–"

"It's okay," he interrupted, "We'll be fine, there's nothing us daemons can't handle."

The words died, and she didn't try to bring them back. There was no need. It wasn't important right now, she'd tell them later. Once they had done this.

Once they'd succeeded.

"Let's go help Gremory with this last bit before he pounds a hole into the ground."

Bonnie nodded, swallowing the hesitation that had grown in her throat and offering a small smile. Kimaris accepted it and began walkiing towards their friend who was moving in circles, his hands rolling over themselves.

"Perfect!" He called when he saw them coming. "Let's do this!"

To anyone else he may have seemed excited, but Bonnie saw the feral energy behind his eyes, the shaking fingers that were clenching at his sides. He was just as nervous as she, if not more.

"These are the items you need Bonnie— Sage, copper, something yellow, and this glass jar to cover the tiny fire you're going to make so the wind doesn't blow it out. Because that's the last thing we would want, for it to work and get cut short."

His words clipped themselves at his heels. It made her straighten up. She could do this for Gremory. Her friend. Her friend who was terrified that the love of his life wouldn't show, or that he would but hate him. She'd never known what it was like to love someone in the way he had, and perhaps she never would. But Gremory had experienced it, and that made it so much harder to lose.

"Where's the sigil?"

Gremory's please smile overtook his face as he knocked his shoulder against Bonnie's, handing her a piece of paper with a drawing on it.

"Look at you, an expert summoner," he winked and she couldn\t help but smile at his proud expression. "I suppose seeing as you're such a pro now you can go find your own perfect stone? The sigil is one of the easier ones."

"I think I can handle it," Bonnie said with a roll of her eyes, sticking her tongue out at Gremory. As he turned from her however, her eyes flew themselves over the green grass around them and her confidence stumbled at the lack of rocks visible.

"Down the hill towards the river mouth, theres plenty there."

Kimaris' hushed words came over her shoulder and she refrained from tunring her head to look at him, afraid their lips might touch. She only nodded before setting off in the right direction, calming her frantic heart.

How was it that he could be so hot and cold? Even when she thought he would never look at her again, his eyes still peered into her mind, as though she couldn't escape him. There was nothing to do but feel herself fall into a constant loop of hope versus disappointment.

As she spotted the area Kimaris had been alluding to, Bonnie crouched, running her fingers over the smooth surfaces of the rocks. It didn't take long to find one that would work, actually it would probably have taken longer to find one that didn't—all the stones were strangely flat and Bonnie had to wonder if it was another side effect of such a magical location.

The thought of her guardian angel floated into her mind. Perhaps there was someone looking out for her. At the last minute she picked up a second one, sliding it into her pocket. It never hurt to have a back up, especially seeing as her previous art skills hadn't been the best.

Before she left she admired the bright purple flowers growing around the waters edge. They looked familiar, but almost unnatural here. She shrugged the thought away with the turn of her head.

As she headed back she watched Kimaris and Gremory talk. Gremory looked like he couldn't stand still, his feet bouncing from one to the other as they whispered to each other, but it was Kimaris' stance that made her truly tense. His eyes scouted the area, never letting his back be turned to one side for too long. He did it subtly, like he had trained himself to never look threatened, but he didn't see Bonnie as a threat, and therefore he didn't hide it from her.

Something truly had him on edge, more than what could possibly happen. But she wasn't going to pry, that was a dangerous game when you were hiding something yourself.

"Got one!" she shouted, waving a hand to warn them that she was approaching. She didn't need to think of anything other than her job right now, she had to keep it simple.

They quickly scattered and she held the stone out for inspection, pretending to flip her hair as Gremory gave her a nod of approval.

"Like I said, a pro."

Carefully she drew the sigil onto the stone, the lines of this one swirling and flowing into each other like a song. It was beautiful, soft in ways the others hadn't been. When she was done she showed it to gremory again, but now there was no humour, and only tears came to his eyes.

"Thank you Bonnie, for doing this."

"There's nothing I want to do more, Grem. I can't wait to meet him."

"I hate to interrupt, but we need to start before we lose daylight," Kimaris' gruff tone broke their frozen gaze, letting the fresh air into their lungs. "We'll stand closer to the opening just incase anything happens, you stay here, the center of this field is the strongest part, set up the summoning here."

"I wrote out what you need to say on the paper under the brick there, just remember not to touch it," Gremory added quickly, as though she might forget the rules of summoning.

"Got it."

Both men stayed a foot away, their jaws gritted against the urge to hug her or reassure her in some way, but they didn't dare touch her. They knew how dangerous that could be.

Gremory gave her one last nod, "Good luck, Bonnie."

He sped away at a speed that she hadn't expected and it brought new nerves to the surface.

Kimaris stepped in front of where her eyes had followed Gremory, and there was something comforting about his tall frame being the only thing she could see.

"Remember," he told her, refusing to blink. "It all comes down to your belief."

She nodded, taking a deep breath and trying to smile. "Should be easy."

Kimaris copied her movements and the two of them began to turn away from each other, the wind whisping between them and wrapping around their hands. It stopped her from moving furthur.

"If it's needed though," Kimaris added quietly, making her eyes dart to him. "Then you should know I believe in you too. We both do."

A warmth bloomed through Bonnie, as though a flame had grown in her sternum. She smiled for real now, and his own grew too.

"Thanks Kimaris, that means a lot."

"I know," he smirked before heading after his friend.

Bonnie shook her head lightly at his arrogant response, but knew he had seen her smile.

She knelt to the ground and arranged the items in the correct order, lighting the fire inside the vase and reading over the words that lay below. She read over them again and again, determined to get it right. She closed her eyes, imagining the painting in Gremory's room and the person in it. She pictured them wrapped in each others embrace, reunited after so long. It was the image she kept as she took a breath and held the sage over the vase opening.

"Amdusias, O'Daemon of sound and duke of hell.

He whose trumpets play and trees sway.

Bring forth your song of redemption,

And free me from thy binds.

Through all six realms I beg your ears to hear,

And your rage to grant thy wish.

For I have offered you,

Now offer me,

The chance to bask in your glory,

And learn from thee."

As she dropped the sage into the glass, she sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening that this would work. She begged Amdusias to come, to appear in front of them at the mouth of the mound.

There was silence around them for a moment. Not even the wind whistled.

Bonnie glanced over at the two figures who were poised and ready to move if need be, their wary eyes drifting around them.

And then it began. A soft hum like the beginning crescendo of a symphony breathed through the trees, their leaves rustling into a note that came from all around them. Bonnie felt the notes dance along her skin and up into the air. If she didn't know better, she would say they sounded like trumpets.

But the sky darkened, and the wind continued to rise, no longer gentle but bashing against one another as though fighting to be released. Bonnie stood to her feet, panic lining her tongue. What had she summoned? How many legions would pour out from the spot that they stared at?

A crash shook the sky above them, and for a moment Bonnie thought that an earthquake had begun. But then a streak of lightening broke acros the darkened air and the clash came again.

It was thunder.

Although she felt fear, it was Gremory's shriek of shocked delight that broke her trance and she watched in panic as he ran towards the ever growing dark shadow that had overtaken the mound.

"Gremory, wait!" Kimaris yelled, following after him, but he did not listen. The two of them could only watch as he reached the edge of the darkness, and a sandled foot stepped out.