by Jacob Rundle
“No. I thought it would give us more time,” Kali responded. She wasn’t expecting him to spawn a massive army. Kali materialized her trident, and she plunged it the demon’s side, buying herself a few more seconds.
She pointed to the sigil in the sky, indicating that she knew what was happening. The sigil radiated with a pulse, and then it became a clear doorway. Henri could see through the sigil, and he saw New York City. He had to get back to his world.
“Henri, you must get…back.” Kali struggled to release the right words.
“I can’t leave you. He will kill you, Kali,” he responded.
“That is the point, Henri. What happens now is not as important as what could happen. Remember that!” Kali used her remaining power to throw Henri through the dimensional doorway.
Raktabija saw Kali’s actions, and he ordered his minions to capture Henri. The thousands of demons leaped into the sky to catch Henri before he reached the threshold of the doorway. Henri knew what was at stake if he was to get caught here and now.
A sense of ease came over Henri, and he conjured every emotion he had ever felt in his life, channeling it to defeat the demons. The mysterious glyphs appeared on his skin, creating a new mysterious, darkened sapphire glow with bolts of lightning running throughout his body.
“Etlina did say that channeling too much emotion was dangerous. Well, it’s time to see what would happen.” Henri thought of each person that he had seen die by the hinax or by one’s associated with him or her. He used those emotions, and he channeled them in a new way. Henri placed the emotional energy into his power.
He glanced back at the despicable demon army, and a glyph appeared in his mind’s eye. Having an instinctual understanding of the glyph, Henri gestured, activating the glyph. The activated symbol created a multitude of colored magic spheres followed by exploding into a tens of thousands of blue lights.
Henri’s eyes grew a darker shade of blue. Almost a demonic shade. A second glyph appeared in his mind, so he drew it in the air. Henri somehow knew that he could alter the gravity of the plane with just a flick of a finger, and he swiftly activated the magical force. The surrounding area’s gravity increased tenfold, destroying every demon in the surrounding area.
Raktabija saw his demons being extinguished by Henri’s power. From the droplets of his blood, be created a massive claymore sword.
“Do you like knives, little boy?” Raktabija smirked at the opportunity to compare blade sizes with Henri. He hurled himself through the air, swinging his blade at Henri’s head. Henri was able to dodge the attack. In a quick fashion, he drew a third glyph. Once activated, Henri had frozen the demon in its tracks.
“What the hell is this?” the demon king screamed. He tried to thrash around, screaming bloody murder. He locked eyes with Henri; rage and hatred coursed through the demon’s mind.
“This one gives me the power of the mind.” Henri had one hand maintaining the red demon while his other hand activated another glyph, allowing him to rip the earth open.
The laceration of the earth caused an accompanying earthquake, rippling through the entire wastelands. Raktabija still couldn’t move, not being able to avoid the seismic shock of Henri’s glyph. The shock rattled the demon’s body—down to his individual cells. His demons felt their king’s anguish through their symbiotic connection.
“Let’s turn it up a notch,” Henri stated, commanding the gravity to intensify, crushing the demons into the ground. An evil glare appeared on Henri’s face, accompanied by a hysterical laugh. The demon king was clearly insulted by the lack of fear in Henri’s eyes.
“Stop there, human!” Raktabija screamed across the battlefield he had created, but Henri continued his pursuit of the garnet demon.
Henri saw the thousands of minions that the demon king had spawned from his own blood. Henri felt a relief that he didn’t fear the outcome of the battle. He was confident in himself and in his now-fulfilled power.
“Perfect,” Henri hissed, drawing a glyph into the air. Henri knew that the new glyph felt different. The power behind its summoning wasn’t right, but he didn’t care.
He glared into the sky, seeing hundreds of dimensional rifts in the skies. In one swift motion of his fingers, a sound echoed throughout the wastelands. All of a sudden, the dimensional rifts released beams of destructive light, designating Raktabija’s entire fleet of mindless demons.
A beam of light pierced through the demon king’s chest, leaving him with an enormous soldered hole in his chest. Henri took a deep breath, releasing a sigh that he had somehow won the fight.
“Kali! Where are you?” Henri screened the area for her body. He wasn’t able to find her.
“Kali? Are you okay?” Henri asked breathlessly.
“Augur, you did it!” Kali examined the area for the demon.
“Yeah. I guess that I did,” Henri mumbled.
“Henri, leave now. You’ve spent enough time here. The war has only started. Do you understand me?”
“Yes. I do.” Henri helped Kali to her feet. She tried to open a new portal when an invisible force grabbed her and threw her against her golden throne.
Out of the corner of his eye, Henri tried to see who threw her against the throne, but he didn’t see anyone. Feelings of worry and anxiety flourished in Henri, not seeing who attacked Kali.
Henri combed the area to find her attacker when he laid his eyes upon Raktabija.
“Why so sad, boy?” Raktabija taunted the young Augur.
“I never said I was sad, asshole.” Henri didn’t allow the red demon from Hell to sense his fear. He could only remember one of the glyphs he had drawn before, and he started to draw its embodiment in the air. Raktabija foresaw what Henri was doing. The demon punched the ground, releasing a destructive shockwave. The wave’s destructive force spread throughout the lands, demolishing anything that stood.
The demon king directed his evil aura to encompass the entire platform. Henri saw the resemblance between Raktabija and Aquarian. Henri desperately needed a win. Suddenly, a glyph appeared in front of his eyes, and he understood what he had to do.
“Is that the best you can do, human?” Raktabija laughed at Henri’s attack.
“No… this is my best attempt.” Henri smirked at the demon. The glyph combusted, and it formed a floating orb of fire. The fiery orb mimicked the solar body of the Sun.
“Raktabija, have you ever had sunburn before?” Henri’s eyes turned black, and his aura flared as a dark-toned flame. He directed the flames of the sun toward Raktabija and his minions. They all instantly burst into flames. The flames turned into a silvery color, burning his minions to a crisp, and leaving Raktabija crawling on the floor of the platform.
“You can’t rejuvenate if there isn’t anything left of you,” Henri stated as he watched the former king crawl for his life. The demon cried for his demon spawn, yet Henri didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for him. Raktabija looked into Henri’s eyes, and he laughed uncontrollably.
“What’s so funny, Raktabija?” Henri was irritated with him.
He took some steps toward the demon, but then paused when he felt a presence behind him. He was interrupted by thousands of minions approaching. Henri instantly lost every ounce of confidence he had. Henri lost himself to his thoughts.
Henri hated the thought of his impending fate at the hands of a bunch of demon spawn. He thought of all the things he and his friends had completed and the tasks they still had to do.
Out of nowhere, Kali reappeared on the platform, standing in between Raktabija and Henri, halting the demon’s progression.
“You can’t have him, demon.” She stood her ground as she summoned her last strength remaining.
“I will kill your boy, Kali. He will know the pain that he has caused me. I will taste his blood, and I will make the skies rain with his blood,” Raktabija enlightened Kali as he prepared for the final battle with her.
Kali summoned her trishula and braced to battle. She threw her trishula
into the air, releasing a pulse of destructive energy, instantly killing all of Raktabija’s demon spawn. Kali saw the portal was still open, and she decided to get Henri out of harm’s way. She grabbed Henri telekinetically, and she threw him at the dimensional rip.
Kali stared at where the aerial sigil was located, and she was left with a giant smile on her face, knowing that Henri was safe and sound. She turned around to face Raktabija, and she called forth her trishula and sword once more. She began her dance of destruction, knowing that it would destroy the wastelands along with everyone in its vicinity. Henri’s last memory of Kali was her raising her hand, calling forth her powers of destruction, and he knew that it would be the only time that he would ever see this mythical twirl of beauty and death. Henri saw Kali’s true power, following the closure of the portal.
CHAPTER 34
“Henri! Where the hell have you been?” Etlina embraced the recently transplanted Henri. She held Henri tightly enough to almost crush his ribs.
Siméon ran over to do the same, making sure he was in one piece.
“Guys, I am fine. Give me a second, okay,” Henri reassured them. Siméon pulled Henri into his arms, and he hugged him as if it was their first time.
“One second you were touching the scimitar, and the next thing we knew was that you and the scimitar were gone. You were physically gone, Henri. Teleported?” Etlina couldn’t control firing her questions at Henri.
“I know. I was in the wastelands with Kali,” he replied.
“What happened there?” Siméon asked with concern etched across his face
“I did it. I resurrected Raktabija. He was pure evil, and he was coming after me, but the sky opened, and someone shot a golden arrow down at him. The arrow punctured Raktabija’s chest. His army contained thousands of mindless demons. I only got away because Kali threw me through the sigil that appeared in the sky.” Henri caught them both on what had transpired in the wastelands.
Siméon and Etlina helped Henri to his feet, and Siméon realized that Henri appeared different. “Henri, what are these symbols?”
“What symbols?” Henri glanced at his hands, and the glyphs were still glowing on his body.
“All I know is when I need something, they appear, and things happen. They usually disappear, but…” Henri noticed the shocked expression on Siméon’s face. He didn’t have the energy to investigate them.
“They are on your face and neck. Henri, they are everywhere,” Etlina commented, showing Henri the extent of the covering. They resembled ancient hieroglyphics. Henri loved them because they had saved him from death.
In shock, Henri looked on his arms and legs, and he saw the symbols matched the ones on the sigil in the sky. He was enamored by their change of intensity.
“Okay, so, since you resurrected Raktabija, doesn’t that mean the first gateway is open?” Siméon asked.
“It does. The sigil in the sky was the first gateway. It would explain all the weird symbols on the sigil and the timing of them. Maybe, this is how it affected me?” Henri explained.
“Where are we going to go? What do we do now?” Siméon asked the group.
“I have no idea,” Etlina said.
“Let’s go to my house. There is something that I have to do.” Henri believed that if surviving the demon didn’t prepare him for his mother’s anger, nothing would.
“Alright. One-dimensional shift back to my place, coming up.” Etlina chanted her mystical words, opening a portal to Henri’s house. Before Henri stepped through the portal, he looked back at the pillar that held the scimitar and wondered for a moment about Kali. He replayed all the moments with her, and then he turned back around and proceeded through the portal to go back home.
CHAPTER 35
NEW YORK CITY
A sense of nostalgia hit each member of the group as they returned to Etlina’s apartment. Henri saw the spot where the hinax was burned to a crisp by Etlina’s power, and he sensed its essence. He walked around, trying to have the same feelings as he did before they left for India.
They still felt empty because they did not know all of the effects of opening a gateway. Henri realized that Raktabija was possibly still alive, but he didn’t know the wellbeing of Kali. He felt guilty for leaving her in that place.
“I thought that we were going to Henri’s house?” Siméon asked.
“Honestly, it is much easier to open a rip to a place where you have been before, and I am drained of my energy. I was lucky enough to be able to open one to here,” Etlina replied.
“It’s okay. It gives me more time to think about what I am going to say to my mom. We have been gone for a while, and I am sure that she is worried. She probably called the police and put posters all over the place for me.” Henri hoped that his mother hadn’t gone overboard.
Siméon and Henri left the apartment to make their way toward the subway while Etlina decided to stay hidden as her face was plastered all over the television and newspapers. They both knew that if they needed her, she would show up to help them.
Siméon and Henri stepped onto the subway to head to Henri’s neighborhood. They both realized that the exact moment was their first one alone since the time in Siméon’s bedroom, “Siméon… there is something that I want to say to you.”
“What is it, ma chéri?” Siméon asked.
“Umm…this whole experience has made me think of…” Henri became shy and nervous, and he couldn’t say any more words.
“Henri, are you okay?” Siméon asked with concern. Henri was embarrassed, and Siméon knew because his cheeks changed color; they were brighter than a rose.
“I don’t know how to say this to you. Siméon, I really like you, and the whole time I was in the wastelands…when I thought that Raktabija was going to kill me…I thought that I wouldn’t ever see you again.” Henri scrambled to exchange his thoughts.
Siméon smiled at him, and he leaned towards Henri. He assumed that he was going to whisper something in his ear. Instead, Siméon pressed his lips against Henri’s. Every single color in the rainbow rushed to Henri’s cheeks. At the moment, Henri was filled with nothing but happiness.
Henri tried to catch his breath, but he was lost in the moment. Every thought he had about Siméon, wondering if he felt the same way towards him, was put at ease. He didn’t have to worry about opening gateways, resurrecting demons or anything else they would have to do in the future with Siméon by his side.
The train came to a stop at Henri’s exist before he realized that they had arrived. “Oh, this is the stop. Let’s go.”
“Do we have to?” Siméon asked, staring into his eyes. Henri wanted nothing more than to continue enjoying the moment they were sharing.
“We will continue this conversation later. I promise,” Henri replied. They stepped off the platform, heading up the stairs to his street. Siméon looked around the neighborhood. “Ma chéri, this place is like magic.”
Every time Henri stepped off that platform and entered his neighborhood, he always thought how magical a scene his street created. He had dreams of him and his partner holding hands and enjoying the changing of the leaves.
“Yeah, it is a nice place. I have always enjoyed the visage of my street, but somehow I don’t feel at home here though.” Henri explained some of the history of the neighborhood to Siméon as they continued down the street, explaining the marches that this street had seen and the protests for women’s rights along the adjacent streets.
For the first time in a long time, Henri was at peace with himself. Henri knew that his mother would have difficulty at first with the idea of her son with another man, but deep down, Henri knew she would support him. They had been through worse, and Henri held onto that idea.
“Your neighborhood seems really nice, Henri. It is really quiet,” Siméon commented as they strolled down Henri’s adjacent street.
“Siméon, I am really excited to show you it all.” Henri could hardly contain his excitement. He knew, though, that his mother wou
ld question him about the glowing-blue sigils on his body. Despite how he and his mother left things on the phone, Henri was excited to see his mother. One thing in the wastelands that he realized was that he needed to keep his family closer to him. If he was going to survive his destiny, he needed to keep his loved ones closer.
Henri’s inner desire to reclaim a semblance of a normal life superseded the nerves and butterflies that he felt in his stomach. He realized that he wasn’t the same person that he was just a few weeks ago, and he was nervous if his mother picked up on anything different about him.
He and Siméon turned onto the side street that he and his mother lived on. The smells of the turning leaves and coldness in the air brought Henri back to a time when he was free. He stopped to look at Siméon. “Do you think that destiny truly is a living entity that randomly picks individuals for certain tasks?”
“What do you mean, Henri?” Siméon tried to understand the question.
“I mean… how does one get their destiny? Who decides that?” Henri asked.
“Henri, that is a very good question, but why are you wondering that?” Siméon caught an idea of why Henri was asking such a question. “Henri…” Siméon interjected.
“Your cultures did prepare you for spiritual warfare. Am I wrong?” Henri retorted.
“You are correct in the sense that we are connected to our ancestors and our spirits. You are new to spirit interaction,” Siméon remarked.
“This isn’t a topic that I will be able to speak about with my mom. I’m so glad that you are going to be there. You don’t have to say anything. I’ll feel better just knowing that you are by my side.”
“Henri, I will always be by your side. I am not going anywhere,” Siméon responded. He contemplated saying more, but he knew that Henri was processing all that had happened in the past few days.