by Hunter Blain
Separating, I swung again while Ulric easily parried my blow, trying to throw me off balance with his staff.
As I returned to a defensive stance, Ulric feigned an overhead strike, prompting me to bring up my blade to block the attack. Even as I moved, I knew it had been a mistake. Ulric jabbed the bottom of the staff directly into the center of my forehead, knocking me silly for a moment as my knees tried to buckle under my weight.
Seeing his opening, Ulric brought the weapon down in the initially planned overhead strike, and I knew I couldn’t do anything about it. He was going to cut me in half, longways.
Magnificent, angry lightning hammered from the sky, smashing into the confused Ulric and sending him tumbling across the ground with an electrified scream.
Tentative hope dared show its head again, and I looked up to fucking see Thor Odinson hovering in the air, holding Mjolnir. Blue lightning danced around his weapon, over his body, and even in his rage-filled eyes.
A furious voice boomed like thunder from the man—the god.
“You dare touch my beloved, warlock?” Thor Odinson challenged with venomous vengeance dripping from his words. I could almost hear his knuckles popping from how tightly he gripped Mjolnir.
“Ludvig!” I cried out with a beaming smile. “You are worthy!”
“Because of Hayley, Magni, and even you, John,” Thor said with a slight smile of pride.
“Ha haaaaa!” I cackled victoriously with fists raised to the sky.
In answer to Thor’s attack, Ulric lobbed his own lightning spell infused with powerful hellfire.
Thor braced for the attack, but it still impacted him like a speeding Mack truck smashing into a reinforced brick wall; absolute carnage.
Turning back to the threat, I brought my gladius down and sent a torrent of raging heavenflame crackling through the air.
Ulric sidestepped effortlessly before spinning his staff in a dramatic show and then lashing out at me with something I couldn’t see.
A ball of pure energy crashed into my arm, making it go numb and hang at my side as another hit my knee, dropping me sideways to the ground with a yelp of surprise and pain.
The armor glowed where I had been struck, and I understood that I could have been dismembered had it not been for my celestial protection.
Another crack of lightning split the sky as a sheer monsoon of power rained from the darkening clouds onto Ulric’s general area. I had never seen so many forks of electricity before. It was as thick as a wall of rain, and popped like a hundred machine guns going off at once, nearly deafening me.
I couldn’t see Ulric, but oh, could I hear his delicious screams of pain. Mm! Mm! Good! Wait, that’s too like that one brand of canned food. How about, Mmm! Mmm! Neat? Yeah, I like that.
Thor flew from the sky like a blond, monstrous superman, and tackled the stunned Ulric to the ground like a meteor crashing from space.
The earth swelled and split as the pair rocketed just beneath the ground like two leviathans trading blows under the surface of the ocean.
There were more cracks of power and alternating grunts as the two battled while I started to feel my limbs come back to life.
Shaking my arm and leg, I got back to my feet and ran to the massive entrance leading underground. Smoke billowed and rocks melted into magma as the neighboring house shuddered. Then it was crumbling in on itself as its foundation was destroyed.
A mass of earth exploded from the ground, and I saw a filthy Ludvig—I mean, Thor—flying through the air, only to crash into the other neighboring house.
Ulric burst from the ground with a snarl as mud caked his entire body from head to toe.
Blurring forward, I willed a shield into my free hand and swung my gladius at Ulric right as he wiped his eyes.
The universe was in my favor at that moment as my angelic blade sliced right through the fucker’s left bicep with a satisfying thump of impact.
To his credit, Ulric didn’t even scream as he instantly registered what was happening and let go of his weapon to place his open palm on my face, his staff floating precisely where he left it as if he had stabbed it into the ground.
“Uh-oh,” I articulated right as an unseen blast of pure energy decided my face needed a big ol’ hug.
Searing power snuck between the protection of my armor and into my flesh, melting my skin and muscle to the bone with a nauseating sizzle.
On instinct, I bashed Ulric in the head with my shield as hard as I freaking could and sent him tumbling into yet another neighboring house. I was 100 percent sure I was not going to be getting my deposit back from Airbnb.
I heard the scream of a child from the house Ulric had violated, and I rushed forward with a gasp of fear.
Landing inside of a small bedroom with the walls painted blue, I saw a bleeding Ulric holding a small boy just in front of him with his only hand. My maker had a shark’s grin.
“Ulric!” I started, hands outstretched and weapons vanishing. “Don’t!”
“Remove your helmet and throw it to me,” he demanded with a snarl of hatred.
My eyes flicked to the blue wall again, bathed in warm sunlight. I understood, then, what my maker intended. I would remove the armor and burn to ash, or he would kill the child in front of me.
“I...” I breathed out as I became dizzy.
Ulric squeezed the child closer to him, and bones began to slowly pop as the boy shrieked in unbridled pain never before experienced by most mortals in their entire lifetime. Ulric wasn’t playing around or indulging in his normal theatrics. He was a wounded predator, which was a most dangerous creature, indeed.
“It’s up to you now, Lily,” I loudly whispered as tingling hands lifted to my face. My brain screamed at me to stop what I was doing, but I knew my heart would win the battle. Plus, I don’t think I could mentally take another child being murdered because of me. I would want to die. Maybe I would even find my way to Sheol and dive into the ocean of nothingness, blinking forever out of existence and away from my pain.
“Do it now, John,” Ulric hissed, squeezing a little tighter and making the boy pass out from agony.
“Forgive me,” I whispered as I lowered my head...and slid the helmet off.
16
Ruak - Faerie
Ruak peered from around a thick tree in the dense forest at the ruins of the portal he had made. A lone centaur patrolled the area, drawing ire from the young troll.
“Don’t worry, Ruak,” said Benji, the human-looking boy with amber eyes and hair the color of wheat. “We can build another one.”
The black, lean troll pulled his face back from around the tree and leaned against the bark while letting himself slowly slump to the ground.
“You know I like to be called Russell,” Ruak said to the young Benji, who insisted on wearing an oversized green coat.
“Russell,” Benji corrected with a warm smile, “let’s go find an even better spot!”
The troll looked up at the excited boy, arched a pierced eyebrow, and asked, “Why are you helping me?”
“I told you, silly!” Benji began to explain. “I want to go home to Midworld. Didn’t you say you want to go there too?”
Russell’s mind flashed to the recurring fantasy of walking hand in hand with Ghle while in Midworld, where they would be considered equals. If they stayed in Faerie, Russell knew he would never be allowed to wed the one he loved more than anything.
“Yeah,” Russell agreed. “I want to go to Midworld.”
“Then we need to build another portal! Come on!” Benji excitedly whispered, trying not to draw attention from the patrolling centaur.
Russell pushed himself up, and the pair disappeared further into the woods.
After a few minutes of searching, Benji froze in place, drawing Russell’s attention. There was a smile slowly creeping up the boy’s face, making the troll uncomfortable.
“What is it?” Russell asked nervously, feeling at ease in the presence of the human boy who had promis
ed to help him build a portal if he didn’t tell anyone about him.
With eyes that seemed focused on something in midair that Russell couldn’t see, Benji said, “I need to go, for a bit. Something...important...has come up.” His focus switched to Russell as his smile grew wider. “Think you can keep looking until I get back?”
“Sure, I guess,” the troll agreed, happy for any excuse that made the creepy boy leave.
“Be right back,” Benji informed in a chilling singsong before turning and disappearing into the forest.
17
John - Germany
Sunlight splashed over my exposed skin as the celestial armor was disconnected.
Red eyes looked up to lock onto Ulric’s smiling face. I basked in his confusion as his shit-eating grin of assumed victory faded into a frown of confusion.
“I have more angel than demon in me now, big boy,” I growled between my teeth. “My body is part demon, part angel, and part mortal. And now my soul is half mortal and half angel. The good wins out, dick.”
Thor burst through a window behind his target, seizing the stunned Ulric by his only arm and wrenching the child free with a series of satisfying pops.
Ulric inhaled sharply as wide eyes turned to see a mangled arm inside the giant of a man’s grasp. Thor was bleeding from several wounds, but he still gave off an air of absolute power.
“Now, puny vampyr, you die!” Thor barked out as he lifted Mjolnir skyward, ready to bash my maker’s brains in with a single strike that could probably split the Earth in two.
There was a sound of impact and a gasp of surprise, but something was wrong. The hammer remained poised in the air, ready to strike.
Thor coughed once, and a sheet of bright blood poured from his mouth. His brow etched itself further and further into confusion and surprise as veins bulged over his neck and head from how hard he clenched his jaw.
“Found you,” said a confident, familiar voice from behind the large man.
Ulric stepped forward as I stumbled to quickly put my helmet back on and save my friend from whatever was hurting him.
Thor’s arm dropped, the hammer clattering to the ground, and a sloshing sound filled the room as something was pulled out from deep inside the Norse god’s back.
Samael stepped into view, wearing his pristine white suit. Not even a single drop of Thor’s blood had landed on the material.
“You couldn’t help yourself, could you? You just had to pick up your little hammer and become Thor again. Well, I couldn’t allow that, now could I?”
The Spear of Destiny dripped scarlet tears that pattered to the ground, staining the carpet of the boy’s room.
“Hay...ley...” Thor let out before collapsing to his knees, and then his whole body was flat on the floor with a heavy thud.
“Oh, do not worry; she is next,” Ulric painfully purred, trying to regain some semblance of composure now that the tables had been returned to his favor.
Samael saw his general’s wounds, and with an almost annoyed expression, stepped to Ulric and placed his hands on the mangled and missing limbs. Then Ulric was whole, his limbs returned to complete normality with not so much as a scratch on them.
“Thank you, my lord,” Ulric appeased with an accompanying bow. “Now, what to do about John.”
Samael seemed to notice me for the first time since appearing in the boy’s room, and just stared for a moment with a blank expression.
“Nothing,” he commanded. “The job is done. Thor is dead, and now his pantheon’s entire stream of power is mine.” Amber eyes flicked to lock onto mine, and he whispered, “We have such plans for you, John.”
It took Ulric more than a few heartbeats to wrestle with his desire to murder his insolent fledgling, but decided not to anger his master.
“Very good,” Ulric placated.
Samael rested a hand on his shoulder, gave me one more glance, and then the two vanished into thin air. I took note that Samael didn’t have to summon a portal to traverse the planes like Ulric, and that gave me pause.
Thor moaned on the ground, and I took the few steps to him and fell to my knees with a loud thud. Reaching down, I turned my friend over and saw a pained expression on his face.
“Jo...John...” he breathed out as his skin paled.
“I’m here, buddy,” I reassured him, grabbing his clenched fist. He opened his hand and took mine in his, squeezing it tight.
My eyes fell to the blood pooling around us, and I croaked, “I-I-I don’t think I can heal this, man.”
“Please...” he breathed out, giving me a pain in my chest that ached at not being able to heal him. Then he finished what he had been trying to say, barely able to muster the strength and say the words that shattered my heart, “Please watch over Hayley. Promise. You promise me.”
He knew he was going to die, and with his last breath, was asking me not to try and save him, but to protect his wife.
“I-I promise,” I wheezed, feeling like an elephant was standing on my chest, making it impossible to breathe.
His eyes began going unfocused before snapping back as if he’d remembered something of immense importance.
“No. No! I cannot die. I have to protect her! I must!”
Thor...Ludvig, my friend...began trying to push himself up with the absolute desire to see the woman he cherished just one more time.
“It’s okay,” I said just below a whisper, losing the strength to formulate words. “It’s okay, man. I’ll protect her.”
“You don’t understand! I cannot die! She...she’s...”
Ludvig’s strained face went fully slack all at once, and he fell back into my arms, his eyes gazing at nothing in the sky outside the shattered window. As a surreal reminder of how fleeting life could be, his had been extinguished in an instant, like popping a balloon. Full one instant, and then in tatters the next.
Staring down at my friend in complete dismay, I saw his pupils begin to dilate, even in the direct sunlight, and heard the death rattle hiss as his last breath left his body.
“Ludvig...no...” I mouthed as my throat became tight like someone was strangling me from behind with a piano wire.
The image of Hayley collapsing into utter despair popped into my mind, as I knew I was going to have to be the one to tell her about her husband.
She was lying unconscious on the floor, healed by Ludvig before the Norse god had beaten down Ulric, only to be stabbed in the back by Satan himself.
Ludvig...was dead.
Thirteen books exploded into my mind as the last one flipped open at impossible speeds to a page where I stood over Magni’s body. The passage had stated I had become like a father to Magni after Ludvig...
“FUCK!” I bellowed into the air as I realized more and more that the prophecy was coming true, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Hayley popped back into my mind, reminding me that I was going to shatter her world with the words I was going to speak to her.
My head became light as I struggled not to collapse on top of Ludvig’s body.
A small cry rang out in the silence, and I jumped in my skin as I turned to see the boy coming back into consciousness. Ulric hadn’t killed him because Ludvig had saved the boy.
I gently set Ludvig’s head down on the ground, ran my hand over his face to close his unfocused eyes, and then hobbled on hands and knees to the waking child.
As quickly as I could, I placed my hand on his chest and willed the armor to explore the injuries sustained by Ulric crushing him against his body.
Several ribs and his sternum had crumbled to dust; even both of his clavicles were shattered.
With a focused mind and the celestial armor, I willed my energy to rebuild the broken bones.
When I was done, I looked down to see blue eyes over rosy cheeks from where the [girl] boy had cried. My mind flashed to the child in the plexiglass prison, and I had to shake my head, hard, to clear the memory.
Looking down again, I saw the boy’s e
yes were wide, and brown.
In German, I said, “You’re okay. Just had a little accident. But you’re all better now.”
“Are...are you an angel?” the soft-spoken child asked.
I let his question linger in my mind, feeling the weight of it as I realized that I was just as much an angel as I was a man.
Bringing my finger to my lips, I said, “Shhhh,” and gave him a little wink.
Something struck me as odd, and I looked up from the small child and through his open door into an empty hallway.
“Where...” I began, concern in my voice. I quickly realized who I was speaking to and the nature of my question, and shifted to a brighter tone. “Where is your parents’ bedroom?”
The boy pointed his finger downward, and my stomach dropped.
Leaning over, I looked through a large hole in the floor to see blood smears from where Ulric had impacted in the bedroom below...only I didn’t think it was his blood.
“Oh, Lilith...” I mouthed to myself as I dragged my beanie off my head, letting my black hair spill out. I noticed my armor had vanished, leaving me in my usual attire, almost as if it were fleeing the tense situation.
Remembering the boy, I slapped on a positive expression and asked, “Do you know your address?”
“Uh-huh,” the boy nodded.
“Do you know how to call the nice police?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Do you have really supercool grandparents?”
“I guess so,” the boy said in the way children do, lightly shrugging his shoulders as he answered.
“After you call the police and ask them to come hang out with you, can you call your grandparents so you can go over to their house for a sleepover?” I was trying my best to be overly enthusiastic, and it made my heart ache at the lie.
“Okay,” the boy answered, almost as if my line of questioning was of no real interest to him. He was simply doing what the grown-up said.
“Okay, after you call the police, call your grandparents. And then, could you wait on the front porch? I, ah, don’t want you to get hurt in here.”