Free Arianna Rose: The Gates of Hell (Part 5) by Jennifer Martucci, Christopher Martucci Page A

nor eyebrows, yet managed to convey intensity with their stare.  The hatred he radiated for her was palpable.  “As you wish, my lord,” Kane said, his voice a hoarse whisper.  But within that hoarse whisper was a barely contained mania, a bloodlust that needed sating. 
    “Oh I do wish, Kane,” Darius replied with unbridled enthusiasm.
    Kane looked up and met his gaze, an act he would have thought insolent had it been another being.  But Howard Kane was different.  Kane shared his desire to end Arianna Rose’s existence. 
    “I will not fail you.  I’ve always known it was my destiny to destroy the Sola.  My only mistake when I walked among the living was that I bowed to the wrong master.  But all is clear now.  You are my one true lord.”
    “Good, then we understand each other,” Darius said.   And as Kane was about to stand, he added, “You know your fate if you fail.”  His gaze traveled to Beau’s mangled form still fastened to the tunnel wall. 
    “I will not fail,” Kane promised with unwavering determination. 
    A moment passed between them.  “Take a few men with you and find her.  Abdiel will accompany you.  He is one of my most trusted servants.  He can suppress her powers, but not for long.  She is far too powerful.  Hopefully he’ll manage to subdue her energy long enough for you to surprise and kill her.”
    Kane selected his volunteers and, along with Abdiel, sifted from the darkened tunnel beneath the Argentinian monastery.  Now, all Darius needed to do was wait; wait for the calling of the next portal, and wait for the Sola to be brought to him, dead.  Dying with her would be any hope of saving humanity.
     

    Chapter 6
     
    Arianna and Desmond, along with every surviving person who lived at Briathos’ compound returned to the luxury log home just outside Ketchikan, Alaska.  They brought with them the only fallen member of their clan whose remains were intact.  They brought Ramiel, and intended to lay him to rest.
    Ramiel, a man with tremendous respect for the planet, for the delicate balance that existed among all living things, wished to be returned to the earth.  But instead of being placed within it and enriching the soil, he wanted to become one with the wind, to merge with the airstream and be carried from place to place, never ceasing, his physical remnants freed and roaming infinitely. 
    As a result, he had very specific instructions prepared that outlined his funeral.  Well in advance of his death, he’d written a letter listing specific details about how his mortal body should be handled once it expired.  His body was not to be embalmed and placed in an ostentatious box.  Rather, his remains were to be washed then dressed only in a covering of linen, leaving him as close to how he arrived on this earthly plane as possible, and placed on a flat slab of stone.  Then brush and timber was to be gathered from the surrounding forest he loved so much and arranged for his funeral pyre.  The pyre was to be lit at dusk, when the sun relinquishes its grip on the earth.  Briathos was to speak followed by the Sola. 
    How he’d known centuries ago that she would be with him when he passed was beyond Arianna.  But he had.  Her physical characteristic s were even depicted accurately in a small drawing sketched in the margin of his paper.  His was more than a prediction.  A premonition more aptly described it. 
    Premonition or no premonition, prediction or no prediction, Ramiel’s wishes were honored.  The funeral arrangement requests he’d set forth in life were carried out in death.  Briathos, Leo and Sorath saw to it that each detail was followed to the letter, taking care to personally bathe Ramiel before wrapping him in a length of ivory colored linen.  While they set about that task, trainees, led by Jason, Dane and Desmond, took to the forest and collected enough wood to stack and burn for the pyre. 
    Several times, Arianna had asked what she could