by Karen Swart
Chapter 7
The next morning we were back in one of Vulcan’s classes, but this time I was fascinated by it. He started by bringing in a lot of stuff: weapons, amulets, necklaces and much more.
“Come, young ones. This time you need to feel what I’m saying,” he said and gestured for us to come forward. I was up and moving forward before anyone else, because this looked totally interesting. After a few minutes, everyone stood at the table with all the objects on it.
“Chanting and charms are one of our best weapons against demons, but it is also one of theirs. All these objects have been charmed. The question is: which one is a Fallen charm and which one is a demon charm?.” he explained, moving his hand over them. Wow, magic. Now, that’s cool.
“Does anyone know how we determine the difference?” he asked, looking at all of us, but no one had a clue. He then picked up a small dagger and moved his fingers over it. “When you touch a Fallen charmed object, it will feel cold, and this will be your way of identifying them,” he finished and gave the dagger to Cam, who did the same, his face turning into a smile. The dagger was passed from one to the other until it finally came to me. I brushed my fingers over it, feeling a tingle, and then it was replaced by coldness. I passed it to Nanini, who did the same. Vulcan then moved to a ruby necklace and picked it up. I was keeping my eyes on his face to see his reaction, and he really didn’t like the necklace. His face turned even more serious than what it usually looked like.
“A demon’s charmed object starts with the same feeling, but where ours are cold, theirs are hot. This is where the humans got the idea that hell is a burning pit of flames,” he explained and gave the necklace to Cam again. This time he didn’t smile. The necklace traveled to each one of us until once again, it reached me. I took it from Lada and the moment my fingers touched it, I felt very uneasy. Another tingling sensation went up my arm and then heat started to replace it. This is so not cool. I quickly gave it to Nanini, wanting the thing out of my hand.
“Does anyone know why objects are charmed?” Vulcan asked, looking at us. No one replied. I was glad I wasn’t the only one missing an important piece of this puzzle.
“Weapons are charmed to ensure that they don’t hurt the owner, or to ensure that they counter any other charmed weapon in order to kill the owner of that charmed weapon. When an object, like necklaces and other belonging, is charmed, it goes a bit deeper. A Fallen will use charmed objects to help him or her obtain something. For example, if I charmed a pair of earrings with luck and give them to Nanini, she will always have luck to help her through her life. Another example is your clothes. They are charmed to help with the transformation so that they will not tear or trap wings,” he finished, picking up a ring and giving it to Lotan.
“See if you can hit Lotan,” he instructed Cam, and he in turn walked over to Lotan and tried to give him a light punch to the shoulder. His fist was redirected, as if by a blind hand. Cam punched Lotan over and over, but never once connected. He was getting frustrated until Vulcan explained further. “This is a protection charm. The owner will be protected from any enemy, but a demon can counter it with its own charm, defusing the charm and enabling them to kill you,” he explained. He took the ring from Lotan again.
Damn, that sucks! We get magic to protect us, but it can be broken by a demon’s charm.
He walked over and stopped at Nanini, picking up a bronze cuff-like thing and again his face turned serious. “This was found on the remains of a Fallen. It is charmed by a demon and we still don’t know what the charm does. The power radiating from it is very strong,” he finished, and offered Lada the shackle. She retreated and didn’t want to touch it. My gut feeling took over. I stepped in her place and took it from Vulcan. This time the tingle was strong, very strong, giving me a strange feeling. Then the heat came and it was just as strong.
I gave it back to Vulcan and he then passed it on to others and then he returned it to the table. “Demons use charms like these to compel or entrance humans to commit sin. A lover’s charm given to a married woman will take her into the arms of the first man she meets, committing the sin of infidelity. Another charm is the lust charm, where the human will be consumed with his or her deepest lust. If he desired money, he would do anything to get it. If a woman lusted after a man, she would do anything to get him, even kill if she had to. Charms like these are collected and destroyed when we find them,” Vulcan continued as he picked up an object to pass it around, letting us get a feeling for them.
“Why do they need humans to commit a sin?” I asked, confused at why such objects would travel into the human world and land in a human’s hand.
“They feed on sin. Each time a human commits a sin, they grow stronger. This is how the “cracks” in the seal came into existence. The moment mankind stepped into sin and did not follow God’s laws, “cracks” started to form in the seal God placed around the underworld, and the demons started to escape into the human world. But to ensure that their “cracks” stay open and they obtain their power, demons needed mankind to keep committing sin,” Vulcan finished and left me even more confused.
“Okay, so if mankind stopped committing sin, demons would be trapped in hell and the world will be a safe place again?” I asked, wanting to make sure I got this right.
“Yes, but mankind is too weak, so it will never happen. Which means the world will never be without evil. Some even believe in the “Yin-Yang” theory, that a good world without evil will not be a success. They believe that the one is needed to balance out the other.”
“That’s just stupid. Who ever thought that up didn’t see what we see every day,” Lotan replied and looked a bit pissed.
“Yes, but can you imagine the chaos if they did see what we see? You have to remember that mankind is a strong species, but in their eyes only. They are not strong enough to deal with demons like we do. Take, for example, mankind’s approach towards themselves. They can’t even accept one another. They have racism, religion clashes, and many more. They are too afraid to take a step into another’s world and see for themselves; they’d rather judge and keep away. The moment a human sees a true demon, they’ll run as fast as they can and never look back,” Vulcan explained, and I could see the heartache in his eyes. Indeed mankind was not strong enough to take on such a challenge. They couldn’t even fix their own world.
“So that means we are the only ones to take on the demons and have a chance of winning. We are born into this service to protect them and repent our greatest mistake,” Vulcan went on when silence greeted him.
“Yeah, that pretty much sucks,” I replied and walked over to the bronze cuff again. “They keep the seal broken, and we have to protect them,” I finished, holding the charm. This is so unfair! There is no hope for a normal existence for the Fallen.
“The humans have a saying: Deal with the devil, and you’ll regret it for an eternity. It’s our price to pay for eternity, because we followed him and not God,” Vulcan said, taking the charm from me and placing it back on the table. “I think that is enough for today.” He ended the discussion, and gestured to the door. We took the hint and went to lunch.
Lunch was very quiet indeed. I think everyone was thinking over the discussion we had with Vulcan. After we ate, the girls and I skipped the zone and went straight for the arena. Lada planted herself on the grass, and Nanini started to go through the obstacle course next to her. I went to lean on the tree next to Lada, keeping my eyes on Nanini as she moved around, trying to work out her adrenalin.
“I asked my father once why I should pay for someone else’s mistake. His answer was that an oath to God is buried in your blood, making it unbreakable. So, because the first Fallen broke their oath to God and stood with “him”, the penalty for it also buried itself into their blood. That’s why their children and every generation that follows will have to carry the first Fallen’s curse for eternity,” Lada said next to me. I listened to her but kept my eyes on Nanini. So that’s why we get to ser
ve, because our blood is tainted.
“My mom said that when humans baptize their children, the same oath takes place. But that Jesus died to break the punishment to their children, so human children are freed from their parent’s sins,” she went on, and I heard in her voice the sadness she felt.
“Yeah,” I replied, my eyes still on Nanini. The whole serve and protect thing was running through my mind, a war within myself. Why protect them when they create the problem? Why put our lives on the line when they openly indulge in sin? I was getting angry thinking about it.
“Salve, Lada, Kasadya,” Chax said from behind me. I kept my eyes on Nanini. My internal war wasn’t over yet and I still couldn’t find a good answer to my questions.
“Kasadya, are you ready?” Chax asked, moving into my view. I looked at him and saw him frowning.
“We better get to it then, seeing that it’s all we are born to do. What do you want me to do?” I asked in a bitchy way.
“I think I’ll go find my Custos,” Lada said, and I heard her get up and walk away. Behind Chax, I could see Nanini still going at it, and then my eyes fell on my own Custos, who was glaring at me.
“So, are you just going to stand there looking at me, or are we training?” I asked, now getting pissed off at him. He turned to look at Nanini going at the course, and then turned back and looked past me.
“Salve, Arianna,” he said, and then I heard footsteps behind me. I just kept my eyes on Nanini. Looking into Seth’s partner’s eyes now would not be a good thing.
“Salve, Chax, I see you have the same problem we have,” she replied and walked past me with Lotan on her right side to the arena. Chax followed her to the spot she had picked for training. They spoke and I saw Lotan say something to Chax, but I just wasn’t interested. Nanini finally stopped and walked up to me.
“Can’t get it out,” she complained, and paced up and down in front of me.
“Yeah, same here, and it looks like Lotan isn’t doing any better. What a way to begin a day, but hey, this is a Fallen life, so we just need to get used to it,” I replied to her, watching her move up and down.
“Yeah,” she said and looked at me. I could see her internal war in her eyes. I think the question we were all facing was: why bother?
“Salve, Nanini, Kas,” Seth said, coming up behind me. He stopped at my left side. I looked at him, his smile lighting up my mood a little.
“Hi Seth,” I responded, and Nanini followed suit. I saw movement in the corner of my eye and turned my head to see Chax walking back to me, his face all serious as always. “It’s going to be a long day again,” I said and looked at Seth, this time with a small smile on my face.
“That bad, huh?” he asked and turned his head to follow Chax as he walked back to us. “I’ll see you later. Nanini, let's begin,” he said and headed off with Nanini, leaving me alone. Well, for a while at least. Chax made his way back to stand in front of me. He looked at me, but still said nothing.
“So, are we training, or are we just going to stare at one other?” I asked him, getting more pissed off by the minute. He kept looking at me, and then offered his hand. Oh boy, here we go. I placed my hand in his, and the next moment we were standing in a dark alley, a street with moving cars in front of us, music banging in the building to our left. Releasing my hand, he turned and opened a door to the building, the music crashing into the alley. We were in the human world, but why?
He gestured for me to follow and walked in. I followed him into one hallway that led into another, a line of people standing in it. He turned left and I looked down to see it was a line waiting at the bathrooms. I followed him into what looked like a club, people everywhere dancing to metal music. Chax walked up some stairs that led to a second floor, also filled with people. He walked over to a railing and stopped, looking down at the crowd. I followed and stopped next to him.
He just looked down and didn’t say a word. “So, what are we doing here. Am I even allowed to be here?” I asked him. He lifted his head and looked at me.
“You are here with me, so it’s allowed, and I’m showing you the answer to your question,” he replied and looked back down.
My question? I can’t remember asking him anything. “What are you talking about?” I asked, confused.
“Patience,” he responded and continued looking at the crowd. I bent over and did the same.
Everyone was having one hell of a time, enjoying their normal life. I saw a couple making out in one of the booths and suddenly felt shy, wondering if that was what Seth and I looked like. Man, they were devouring one another. I then saw a hot guy walking between the dancing people, smiling and greeting some of them. He walked around like he owned the place. He stopped by a girl who appeared to be about sixteen and wrapped his arms around her. She smiled and enjoyed his attention, but something was off. The guy was too good. I looked at Chax and followed his gaze; he was also looking at the same guy. So, it’s not only me who was getting a weird feeling about this.
We stood there for an hour or so, looking at the guy and girl. He was whispering stuff in her ear, and she would laugh and duck her head away in shyness. Then they stopped dancing and the guy took her arm and pulled her out of the crowd, leading her into the bathroom hallway.
“Let’s go,” Chax said and started moving with speed. I had a hard time keeping up with him through the crowd. People were bumping into me and stuff, but for Chax, they simply stepped aside, letting him pass. Maybe it was that look he always had, the one that said, “I’m pissed.” We finally made it into the hallway to see people still standing in line, some hopping with need.
Chax turned the corner and doubled his pace. I had to start a light jog to keep up. He reached the door and stopped dead, turned around, and looked at me. Screeching to a halt, I stopped before crashing into him. Just as I was about to say something, he lifted his hand to stop me.
“I want you to stay away as far as possible. Do not try anything. I know it’s not always possible for you, but don’t, understand?”
“Oh, come on,” I replied, throwing my hands in the air and looking at him. What, like I go out of my way to butt in? He looked at me like he was trying to say “yeah right.”
“Yeah, okay,” I finally said. Satisfied, he turned around and opened the door slowly. I could hear a girl’s giggle as he stepped out silently. I followed him, using the same silent approach he was doing, and closed the door gently behind me. Turning around, I could see the couple in the corner of the alley. The girl was between the wall and the guy.
Chax moved along the wall, keeping his eyes on them, one slow step at a time. I looked at him and decided that this is as far as I needed to go. I didn’t want to be in the middle of whatever he had in mind. The girl suddenly screamed, and I looked away from Chax to them. The alley was dark, so I couldn’t make out what was going on. She was hitting him on the back but he wasn’t backing off. The next thing I knew, Chax punched the guy in his side, a growl like a beast escaping into the night. Holy crap, it’s not a guy. It’s a freaking demon! I took a few steps back. So not ready for this yet.
The demon turned around and faced Chax, who already had his swords drawn as he stood there, ready and waiting. The guy’s face changed then, into what can only be described as a cross between a cat and a dragon. He had two large fangs sticking out of his mouth and from his chin downwards, I could see what looked like dark liquid running down. Crap, it was blood! I stopped dead, not wanting to attract attention to me. The demon stormed forward, attacking Chax, who only stepped aside, made two swipes with his sword and then walked over to the girl. I looked at the demon to see why the hell Chax was just leaving it and not killing it, only to see its head missing and the body slumping to the ground.
Something hit my boot, so I looked down straight into a pair of eyes. I jumped away from it. “Oh, that’s so gross,” I complained and slammed into the opposite wall, keeping my eyes on the head. Yeah, that was quick, just two swipes and the thing was dead. Didn’
t look that hard, but then again, I hadn’t been doing this for ten thousand years, maybe even more.
I looked back at Chax, who was kneeling with the girl. So I walked over slowly to see if she was okay. A step away I stopped. Her eyes were looking up at me, lifeless. Oh my soul, she’s dead! I looked at Chax, who was holding her. He then looked up at me, and the look on his face this time was not anger; it was fury. I backed away slowly. I so don’t want a training lesson now, especially when he looks like that.
“Do you see now why we do this?” he asked, letting go of her and standing up, his eyes on me. I couldn’t say anything; he was scaring the hell out of me. I just stood there looking at him.
“Even if I ripped him away the moment he bit her, she still would have died. Each demon has a unique ability in their bites. This one is poison. So, Kasadya, do you want to leave females like her to the demons’ mercy?” he questioned, taking his eyes off me and walking over to the demon’s body before crouching down next to it.
“No, I never said I wanted anyone dead,” I replied, not knowing where this was coming from.
“I see. What did you think would happen when they get their hands on humans?” he asked, moving his hand over the demon’s body, dropping something on it and saying a Latin prayer. Watching him, I saw the demon’s body slowly starting to melt. Okay, so this is how they get rid of the evidence then.
“Why did you bring me here, and to this?” I gestured to the scene in front of me.
“To answer your question about why we do what we do. We not only serve to redeem ourselves, but we also protect innocent humans, like her,” he said, pointing to the girl. I didn’t look. I couldn’t.
“Many humans do not deserve our protection, but many do. Will you allow such a vile creature to get his hand on a little girl?”
“No, of course not!”
“Then settle the war going on in your head, and get in back in line. This, as you can see, is no joke. This is the life you will face for an eternity, or until you die,” he said as he slowly walked back to me. I was already pressed up against the wall and couldn’t back away, so I had to face him. He stopped and looked at me for a few seconds; I just kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to debate this any further.
“Come, it's already late in our world, and you will miss your supper,” he murmured, offering me his hand. I had a hard time convincing myself to take it, because his face hadn’t returned to normal yet. Let’s just say that the usual scowl was preferable to the current state of his face. But I took his hand and found myself in the lobby of the house.
“Tomorrow you will meet me at my house. I have other training in mind,” he instructed and shifted out.
Yeah, freaking good night to you too! Man, he needed to lighten up. Maybe I should ask Kali to work on it for me. Nope, I think she might just convince him to do even worse. I walked to the grub spot to find everyone already gone. On one of the tables a plate with food was waiting for me, so I walked over and started to eat.
The girl and demon were running through my head, and at the third bite I totally lost my appetite, so I just got up and left. I walked to our room to find Nanini and Lada already asleep. Were we gone that long? Does time in the human world move extra slow, compared to this one?
Hell, I didn’t know, but tomorrow I was asking Vulcan. Getting more details and facts might just be a good thing in the long run. I took a long shower and put on my pj’s, walking over to my bed. I reached down to pull away the covers, when I saw a beautiful red rose lying on my pillow. Picking it up, I smelled it and knew that it must be from Seth. I had missed out on another day with him, which was a bummer. But tomorrow I would make sure to get some free time with him, I hoped.