Among Us: A Supernatural Novel written by Carver Edlund

The Light

Gripping his angel blade, Castiel raised his two material wings into battle position. Though he could not reestablish contact with Heaven, the soul inside of Aya had recharged his grace, a gift of energy and of trust that he was not going to squander. "Are you ready?"

At his back, Aya gripped the smaller demon-killing knife in both hands, holding it more like a shield than a weapon. "Ready," she said confidently. Then she hesitated, making an unhappy noise in her throat. "Maybe?"

He side-eyed her over his shoulder. "Is that a yes or no?"

"Both. Do I have to do this?" she whimpered. At his silence, she fidgeted, drooped, and then squared her shoulders. "Um. Sorry. Yes. Now or never, right?"

Amusement and admiration went very well together, Castiel discovered. He tensed, all senses alert for her signal and an attack he could feel waiting in the gloom, unsure from which direction it would come. The long columns of webs quivered slickly in the distance. Searching for sustenance, tongue-like strands separated from the columns, weaving and bobbing, tasting their vibrations on the non-air but stymied by their corporeal bodies. If neither of them used their powers, it would stay that way.

"There!" Aya said suddenly.

It was not going to stay that way.

She took off running, he splashing half a step behind, the divining charms lighting their way across the sheen of black water. Since the Void didn't follow the rules of Creation, they ran without encountering anything but darkness and water for several minutes, the emptiness designed to wear out and disorient living creatures. Aya, however, had her Sight to guide her, as Ditaolane once had.

The moment she began to cut into another hump-like cocoon, the elastic webs hissed to life. They sounded like a pit of alligators, tailored to immobilize prey with fear. They struck out of the dark. Castiel struck back, his blade gleaming. He moved with a swiftness that confounded the webs, though his wings often off-balanced him, incompatible as they were to his vessel. He sent the tarry strands whipping backward, spewing corrosive venom as they went.

Aya worked quickly. The exposed glow of a soul and her delighted whoop caught his attention.

"Sophie! It's me, Aya. I lived across from you and your mommy, remember?" She widened the opening she had made, yanking chunks off with her hands. She listened, and when she spoke, her voice shook. "No, Sophie, no, she's not mad at you. I promise. Give me your hand, baby. You don't have to stay in there any longer. Come with me!"

His moment of distraction lasted too long. A couple of strands got past his guard. They punched him, hard, splashing slime across his torso. He used a drop of the power the soul had given him to burn them to ash. He batted the webs away with his wings, sending sparks and small flames racing along their lengths. He cut and he slashed. Meanwhile, the soul's glow faded.

"Your mommy misses you, too," Aya murmured, hugging her arms.

When the attacks ceased, Castiel backed down. He pulled Aya to her feet, angel blade unwavering. Though the guardian only seemed to react, never to act first, they had done real damage here, and it would continue to fight them.

"She was only five," Aya told him, somewhat dizzily. "The family moved away when they lost her. Poor Sophie can't understand why her mother never came for her."

Castiel monitored her while she adjusted. There were several hundred more souls trapped in the Void. He didn't know if her body could actually handle that many passengers, or for how long, but there was no question. They were going to try. "Haste is our greatest ally."

Frightened, exhausted, young, and trusting, she swallowed, and then she tugged his coat sleeve. "This way."

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