The Assassin and the Knight

by Rick Bonogofsky

  Ibsen was taken aback. All he had initially asked for were vampire and werewolf hybrids to add to his army. Instead, his scientists had given him something so much more powerful. Having a nephilim with the added traits of a vampire and a werewolf would be much better than simply having a half-breed. It was exciting. “You have done excellent work, doctor,” Ibsen congratulated. “You and all your colleagues. I honestly cannot begin to understand exactly what you did scientifically to make this happen, but you did well.”

  Walter grinned at the praise, knowing his entire staff would be just as pleased to hear about Lord Ibsen’s happiness with the project’s success. “Thank you, my lord. I am certainly glad to hear you like her. We have already done a few tests on her and she is completely stable. No fear of her unexpectedly dying on us. Plus, she is incredibly powerful. We ran her through some pretty extensive training sessions, and she has thoroughly outperformed all of our projections. She has an impressive command of her magical abilities, she is impressively intuitive when it comes to hand to hand combat, and she is smarter than we were initially expecting. Her I.Q. is nearly as high as mine, if I may boast.”

  “Good,” Ibsen smiled. “I do have some questions, however.”

  Walter’s smile faded. “Y-yes, my lord?”

  “She looks to be an adult,” Ibsen stated. “How old is she, exactly?”

  “Well, physically, she’s fully matured. In reality, she is only about a week old.”

  Ibsen nodded. “How did you age her?”

  “Magic,” Walter shrugged. “Unfortunately, there was no other way to really tell whether she would be up to par, so we had our wizards put her through some time spell. It sped up time just for her. During those few hours, we played some educational videos at the same speed to ensure she was sufficiently taught what she needed to know. It was purely experimental, but it seems to have worked.”

  “Interesting,” Ibsen muttered. “Why did you make her female?”

  Walter’s shoulders slumped. “To be honest, we flipped a coin.”

  Ibsen’s confused glare caused the doctor to shrink back and stammer.

  “W-well… there were obvious advantages and drawbacks to either gender. Males of any species show increased aggressiveness and dominance, and while those are important traits to have, they would also have been a bit of a hindrance. Males also exhibit a penchant for not working well enough as a team. Females, on the other hand, tend to be much more cunning than males. This cunning would no doubt lead to a greater ability to strategize, which we have already seen proven in her training. Females can even be better team players, and often don’t feel the need to be outwardly aggressive. In fact, our little project is quite the sweet little lady. Until she starts fighting, that is…”

  Ibsen nodded along with Walter’s explanation, knowing all too well what his own daughter was like. She was just as much the gentle, innocent woman outside of combat as could be. In a fight, she was just as capable as any soldier. “I was hoping there was a more scientific answer to that question. Have you named her, yet?”

  “I thought I would leave that honor to you, sir,” Walter replied.

  “Very well, then. We shall call her Sara, after my daughter.”

  Walter smiled at the parallel. “Excellent, my lord. We’ll let her know right away.”

  “Good. Now, how is our pet angel doing?”

  Surprised by the sudden change in subject - but figuring Ibsen wanted to move on from looking at the image of his daughter - Walter took a moment to gather his thoughts. “He is doing well. I mean, he is obviously angry at being held captive, but we are definitely making progress. We have synthesized a compound that can keep him unconscious, and we are increasingly close to making the element that can kill his kind. It would be much easier to simply scan and reverse engineer a demonic weapon, but we don’t seem to have any just lying around. However, I believe we are only a few days off from figuring it out.”

  “Good. And what about out other plan for him?”

  “Perfectly on schedule. Once everything is in place, the plan will commence.”

  “Then you have my thanks and my praise. Keep up the good work, doctor.” With that, Ibsen turned and left the labs, headed back to his office to see to his far less interesting obligations.

  Dante walked into his war room, where Amun-Ra was already waiting.

  “Greetings, King Dante,” Ra said.

  Dante took his seat at the head of the table, directly across from the lord of Heaven. “Hello, Lord Amun-Ra,” he greeted. “Thank you for coming here and agreeing to meet with me.”

  “What can I do for you?” Ra asked.

  “How are your preparations going?”

  “Not bad. I have one of my archangels ready to go to Earth at my command. She has two hundred angels at her back, more than enough to storm a building full of vampires.”

  Dante nodded, satisfied with the answer. “Your angels will be joined by my knights, who have been training to accommodate your troops. To be honest, I am impressed with their progress. I’ve never seen them quite this organized before.”

  “Good to know,” Ra commented, losing interest. He looked at Dante and realized the demon king looked different. He was pale and his skin hung from his body as if it was half a size too large. “Are you feeling well?”

  Dante sighed and shook his head. “I’m fine. I haven’t been sleeping well lately. Now, as for your troops. I will need them placed all around the building to kill any vampire that tries to flee. The bulk of your force will be used as backup to mine. Those angels not in the streets will post inside the building itself and secure every exit point on each floor. My demons will take care of clearing a path through the building in order to get to Ibsen. I would like to kill the vampire quickly and decisively so we may appeal to the vampires’ common sense to elect a leader who will be more of an ally than an enemy.”

  Amun-Ra nodded, pleased that his angels would not be at the forefront of the battle. “I do like the plan. I will warn you, however, that if there is any imbalance that occurs, it will be corrected immediately. As the master of the balance between order and chaos, I cannot let there be any one side greater than the other. We do this as equals, and we emerge as equals.”

  “And if my men create an imbalance in their favor?” Dante asked.

  “It would not be the first time one of my archangels would be forced to even the odds,” Amun-Ra replied cryptically.

  Dante almost bristled at the perceived threat, but quickly calmed himself. It was indeed Amun-Ra’s duty as ruler of Heaven to keep the balance among the three worlds. If power tipped to either side in Heaven, Hell, or Earth, problems of untold magnitude would erupt. One prime example was the war that destroyed Earth. The war that Dante’s grandfather began. The war that decimated the armies of Heaven, Hell, and Earth.

  “Your point is understood,” Dante told Amun-Ra. “I will see to it that my troops only act within the bounds of keeping the balance. I want our peace to last.”

  Amun-Ra smiled, glad to hear that the young demon in front of him did not want to recreate the tragedy of his grandfather. “You are truly a credit to your bloodline, Dante,” Ra stated. “As smart as Lucifer, as wise as Hades, and as brave as Osiris himself. However, I do hope you do not plan on joining your troops on Earth. If I may point out again, you look very ill.”

  While Dante appreciated the compliment, he was getting wearier by the day of people commenting on his health. “As I keep telling everyone, I am fine. Lack of sleep is all this is. I’ve triumphed over worse foes.”

  “So I’ve seen. Victor was no easy opponent.”

  Dante leveled a hard stare at the king of Heaven. “Actually he was. Why do you bring that up? That was ended decades ago.”

  Amun-Ra nodded. “That is true, but he was sent after you for a good reason all those centuries ago. Back when you went on a rampage on Earth.”

  “I was working for Death back then,” Dante growled. “You know why.”

>   “I do know why, but it took me years to get the full truth from Death as to why a demon was murdering thousands of innocent humans daily, thus breaking the ancient laws set forth by Osiris and myself. When humans finally began to populate Earth and form civilizations, your ancestor and I made a pact that neither of us would have our people tip the scales in our favor. The humans were a neutral party. They were to come into their own, in their own time. And you wiped out more humans than any disease or natural disaster ever could.”

  “But in doing so, I saved millions, perhaps billions.”

  “That is very true,” Amun-Ra conceded. “However, you upset the balance by quite a bit. There was a time I felt there would be no way to correct it, even if my agents were to kill you. The evil and the taint that you unleashed upon Earth was truly devastating.”

  “Why are you bringing this up now?” Dante demanded, his breath coming in short bursts. “You got the story from Death that explained why I did what I did. I had to use my demonic power to destroy those cities and taint the land. You know I did what I had to do, and you know it was at Death’s command.”

  “Yes, I know. I bring it up because I want you to know how serious I am when I say I will send whoever I need to keep the balance. I sent my mightiest archangels to Earth during the war to fight off Hell’s forces. I lost a lot of good angels, too. Do not make the same mistakes your ancestors have.”

  Dante was visibly confused. Why was Amun-Ra bringing this up now? The matter had been settled since his work was completed millennia ago. Or so Dante had thought. What was Ra’s goal in bringing up the past? “What is this all about?” he asked.

  Amun-Ra leaned forward in his chair, resting his arms on the stone table. “That imbalance has not been corrected. While Victor lived, there was a lot of good being done on Earth. The evil atrocities you committed far outweighed that. And then you killed him. Over a petty misunderstanding, no less. Yes, he took your beloved as his own, raised your son as his own. And you killed him. Granted, you surprised me when you took Vincent as your own. You surprised me even more when you were up front with him about who he was and what his heritage was. You proved to be a better man than I thought you were. But the imbalance you left in your wake still has not been corrected, no matter how much I have tried. And now, reality is beginning to unravel.”

  Dante was taken aback. He slumped into his seat, at a loss for words. “And you blame me?” he asked.

  Amun-Ra shrugged noncommittally. “I cannot rightly say,” he replied. “What I do know is that you have scarred the worlds with the imbalance left in your wake, and try as I might, I cannot seem to bring the balance back. I continuously send my angels out to do their good works, but to no avail. The damage you have caused is staggering. All evidence leads me to you, but I do not see how one man can wreak so much evil in the world.”

  “In what way is reality unraveling?” Dante implored. He was coming to accept some of his fault, but he still felt that he did as he was supposed to do at Death’s request.

  “It is subtle, but there are inconsistencies in how the natural order is working. There are areas on Earth where magic has died. These places of dead magic are rotting away, becoming inhospitable to those beings born of magic in some way. Only certain humans are capable of staying for any length of time. I’ve sent angels to investigate, but none have returned.”

  “How is this new? Humans have known of at least one of these dead zones for centuries. They called one of them the Bermuda Triangle.”

  Amun-Ra nodded, and said, “Yes, but there are more than those that have existed before. New dead zones are arising, and more frequently. There are only a few on Earth right now, and even the largest is only the size of a small town, but there will be more. The worse reality unravels, the worse this will get. Earth would survive losing its magic, for the most part, but what if it spreads to Heaven, or to Hell? Angels and demons are beings born of magic. We cannot survive without it. It does not matter if some of our people have no magical aptitude. We are all magical in nature.”

  Dante leaned forward. “What can be done to stop this?” He felt as if he knew the answer, but did not want to acknowledge it.

  “I believe restoring the balance would help heal these wounds to reality. Although I cannot be entirely certain. Too much damage has occurred already.”

  “Have you spoken to Artemis about this?” Dante asked. Artemis was the most powerful being in existence. At the end of the war, he had replaced the old gods, making him the last god.

  “He has not been answering my summons. I fear he has been affected by this problem. Without him, I believe all of reality will fail and cease to exist.”

  “That tells me he must be working to keep it all together,” Dante mused. “What about Death? He rules over Earth and exists in all moments in time. Perhaps he has some insight?”

  Amun-Ra shook his head. “No word from him either. I fear he may have also been affected. He may be doing what he can to keep reality from falling apart, as well. That is my hope.”

  Dante blew out a heavy sigh. “Well, this is quite the conundrum. Who can we turn to for help if this gets out of hand? What can we possibly do to keep reality from falling apart?”

  “I honestly do not know,” Amun-Ra stated. “My best idea is to continue my work to restore the balance. Whatever aid you can lend in that regard would certainly help.”

  “Then, that is what I will do,” Dante said, determination in his voice. “I will send out my demons to help your angels restore the balance. It is the least I can do for the trouble I have caused.”

  “Good. I will send word when I send another team to Earth. In the meantime, let us start by replacing the vampire leader with a decent person.” Amun-Ra stood, shook Dante’s hand and left the war room.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Adrian slunk across the open plains of Hell, making his way inexorably toward the newest outpost of Hell. Once he got to the river Styx, it was a relatively short and straight shot to Earth. His plan was to sneak past the many guards at the outpost and slip into the cave leading to Earth without anyone noticing him. So far, he had not been stopped by anyone he passed. His heavy cloak shrouded his features enough for him to get by unnoticed. He realized early on in his trek that he was no longer as stealthy as he once was. It dawned on him that he relied on his magic more than he originally thought. Still, he was Hell’s master assassin. The shadows were his home. Silence was his song. And when neither option was available to him, he was adept at disguising himself. Unfortunately, all of his disguises required a second arm.

  The plains gave way to rocky outcroppings, which led to the mountains surrounding the land around Hell’s capital city of Laarsa. He glanced back, looking at the ruby glow of the volcano against the ebony flames of the night sky. Looming above the mountain of fire was his home, the obsidian tower of his ancestors, a dark shadow in the darkness. Laarsa spread out around the base of the volcano like a blanket of stone and wood. He had the feeling he would not get to see his home again, and if he did it would be through the eyes of a changed man. Adrian shook the thoughts from his mind and continued on his path. Once he reached the cave in the mountainside, he would only have another mile to go before he was safely on Earth and closer to finding the human that would help him reattach his arm. And when that happened, he was determined to rejoin his team and get Vincent back from the vampires.

  He made his way through the cavern, taking extra care to keep from making any noise. The shallow water made it difficult, as any splashing would echo across the stone walls and ceiling. The assassin would slip the toes of his boots into the water first, ever so slowly, and gain purchase on the solid ground beneath before settling his weight on that foot. Each step was agonizingly slow for him. His impatience nearly overwhelmed him on multiple occasions. Far too often, Adrian found himself simply sliding his feet over the stone under the water, but he caught himself and stopped, worried that even the most inattentive guard would hear the sloshing. Once he
came within sight of the outpost, he slipped to the edge of the tunnel, keeping to the river’s shore. The outpost was well lit, offering Adrian few shadows to hide in. He was worried that he would be spotted. He silently hoped that the guards would all be asleep.

  To their credit, every guard that Adrian snuck past was awake and fully alert. The outpost was heavily fortified and manned by enough knights and assassins to fend off any attempt at an invasion. Adrian slipped past the knights easily, keeping to the few small shadows, even slipping into the river in some places. The assassins, however were more difficult for Adrian to sneak past. He had trained nearly all of them himself, and they made him proud. Where possible, he crept up to the ledges to get higher than the lookouts. Otherwise he kept low to the ground to get by. It took him much longer than he anticipated, but Adrian finally made it to the border between Hell and Earth. Within a little over an hour, he emerged from the cave on the other side. He breathed in the fresh summer air and smiled up at the clear blue sky. The countryside was beautiful amidst the mountains of Greece.

  Adrian walked a while and pulled a map from his satchel. According to it, he was only about two days’ walk from the nearest large city. From there, he would find a way to get a ride to Athens, where he had a contact in the city’s underground. The city of Athens had become a hotbed for crime and debauchery since the war, filled with the worst scum and villainy. Adrian had visited Athens many times over the years, either during a mission, or as part of a vacation. Almost every time he went to the city, he found himself in some form of trouble or another, and every time he did, his visit was cut short. The only constant was that his contact was usually his best way out of the city. That is, if the contact was not the cause of the trouble to begin with. He and Adrian had a knack for getting into tight spots whenever they saw each other, but as much as Adrian wanted to just unwind, he knew that he had to keep the visit short and to the point. He needed information, and his contact would know the best place to start looking.