Host Chronicles Volume 1: Devil's Offspring

by D.L. Cox

  “Tell me about the sword,” Simon said.

  Ben hesitated before he replied, “It was black, but it shined like crystal.”

  Simon’s eyes lit up and he glanced at Stacy and Tracy. He thought for a moment and then nodded. Four muscular men, dressed in all black, entered the room and surrounded Ben. They stood within two feet of Ben. Ben eyed the man standing directly in front of him and then looked up at Simon.

  “So,” Simon said. “This human portrayed no intentions at all.”

  “That is correct,” Ben answered. “At first we thought he was the reaper that crossed over with your sister, but his attitude betrayed his human nature.”

  Simon motioned to the men surrounding Ben, and asked Ben, “And what about the intentions of the men surrounding you.”

  Ben smirked. “The man in front of me and the man behind me intend to draw their weapons. The men to my sides intend to subdue me and cuff my hands behind my back. Then the four of them intend to take me to a room upstairs where the one behind me intends to torture me until I pass out. He specifically intends to administer a grueling electric-shock technique. I assume they are waiting for the order to proceed.”

  “Good,” Simon nodded. “And what do you intend?”

  “Only to serve your will,” Ben vowed.

  Simon nodded, and in the blink of an eye, Ben slammed the base of his palm against the nose of the man in front of him, breaking his nose on impact and sending him bent over in pain with blood spraying everywhere. Ben felt the guy behind him attempting to pull his gun from his blazer and spun towards him, smashing a nose-breaking elbow into the nose of the guy on his right along the way, and then grabbed the gunman’s wrist with his left hand and broke it with a crushing fisted blow from his right hand, which caused him to drop the gun. Before the gun hit the floor, the guy on the left rushed Ben and Ben squatted and simultaneously sent his left elbow into the attacker’s groin while catching the gun by the barrel with his right hand and then smashed the butt of the gun against the attacker’s nose. The man behind Ben winced and held his broken wrist while the other three men bent over nursing their broken noses. Ben eyed the four men and then dropped the gun, prepared to finish them off.

  “Enough,” Simon announced.

  The four men left the room as a young girl entered using both hands to carry a tray with a bottle of water on it. She looked to be in her mid-teens. She had bright green eyes with her long hair styled in pig-tails and wore a short skirt with a halter-top. She walked around Ben to face him and offered him the water. Ben took the water and the girl started to leave, but then Ben abruptly knocked the tray in the air, revealing that she held a dagger in her left hand. The girl lunged at Ben, swinging the dagger at his chest. Ben grabbed her left wrist, twisted her left arm behind her back while spinning her around, took the dagger from her, and then rammed it into the top of her head.

  Ben looked up at Simon as the girl’s lifeless body fell to the floor. “The girl intended to kill me by stabbing me in the back.”

  Simon told Ben, “You still possess the vision and you have no problem manipulating your bodily vessel. This human must be more than what he appears. You will stay here until there is a sign of this human, and then you will track him down.”

  “When I find him?” Ben asked.

  “Right now finding him is the objective,” Simon said.

  Ben bowed his head and then left.

  Stacy waited for Ben to leave and then asked Simon, “Is this human the Host?”

  “No,” Simon replied. “It’s the boy.”

  Tracy frowned. “You think he has Tess?”

  Simon shook his head. “No. He arrived after the attack. He must have Charles.”

  Stacy said, “We should not have allowed him to snoop around as long as we have. We should have killed him.”

  Simon snapped, “There is no we. There is only I, and I need him alive. He has revealed that he is the keeper of the Host’s sword, and now he will lead me to the Host.”

  “But if he has Charles—” Tracy started.

  Simon finished her thought, “He’s going to learn things about our organization.” He paused, then added, “That will keep him close. Besides, Charles lacks knowledge of any serious details. The real problem is that Saleena and Izzy have Tess.”

  ***

  Simon was pleased to hear that Nat had the Host’s sword. He took the elevator up to the fifth floor and approached a door guarded by two men brandishing automatic assault rifles. The guards greeted Simon with a nod and stepped aside for him to enter the door. Simon stepped in and shut the door behind him. It was an expensively furnished penthouse apartment.

  “Angela,” he called out as he stepped into the living room.

  “What do you want, Simon,” she barked, entering the living room from the bedroom. She was nearly fifty-nine years old, but she was just as beautiful as she had been fourteen years earlier when she picked Nat up from that group home. She wore a night gown and bathrobe and had her long gray hair pulled back into a tight bun.

  “Your Nathaniel has grown tired of watching me from a distance,” Simon announced.

  “Nathaniel?” Angela whispered and sat on the sofa.

  “Tell me about the sword,” Simon demanded.

  “I have already told you—” Angela started.

  Simon grabbed her by the throat and lifted her to her feet. “Don’t toy with me human. I have allowed you to live because of your usefulness. It would benefit you to remain useful,” he warned.

  “Alright,” Angela said, struggling to breathe.

  Simon released her and she choked and gasped as she caught her breath. “Tell me about the sword,” he said calmly.

  Angela explained, “It’s said to be crafted by the chosen of God’s angels, Gabriel.” Simon stated, “And it has the kind of power that can turn any able warrior into a king among men.”

  “Yes,” she nodded. “But the sword is not meant to belong to man. It belongs to the Host of Heaven. The sword contains a message that initiates the Host’s mission upon contact.”

  Simon frowned. “And how will your Nathaniel find the Host to deliver this message?”

  “Fate,” Angela declared. “He will meet the Host when it is meant for him to meet the Host.”

  “And what if I kill him first,” Simon taunted.

  Angela firmly responded, “Nathaniel will not die before he has fulfilled his destiny.”

  “You’re right,” Simon smirked. “I will wait for him to deliver the message and then I will kill him and send your so-called Host back into hibernation for another two hundred years.”

  “Fate will reveal what is to come,” Angela said.

  Simon laughed sinisterly, “For now fate says you will remain alive and continue to live here as my prisoner.”

  Simon turned and walked out the apartment. Angela sat on the sofa and silently prayed for Nat’s safety. It had been six years since she last saw him. Nat was fifteen then, and had spent a mere nine years under Angela and Todd’s tutelage, but had already completed most of his training.

  “He’ll be fine,” she whispered, remembering how quickly Nat had learned the ways of the Order of Light.

  Chapter Six

  Six years earlier, the sun shined directly above the James Estate. Todd and a then fifteen- year-old Nat stood shirtless behind the mansion surrounded by several acres of manicured lawn. They each held a bamboo carved sword. Angela walked out the mansion wearing a bikini. She eyed their swords and adjusted her bikini top before sitting in a beach chair about five feet away from them. Nat flexed his bare chest, winked at Angela, and then raised his sword while inching toward Todd.

  Angela winced as Todd and Nat squared off like a couple of cowboys at high noon. “Be careful!” she pleaded.

  Todd looked into his young protégé’s eyes and raised his sword. Pride filled Todd’s heart as he scanned Nat’s athletic, five
-foot, seven-inch frame. The boy had become a man-child, and Todd found no fear in his eyes as they inched toward each other.

  Todd rested his sword against Nat’s sword and told him, “She’s scared I’m going to hurt you.”

  “She’s worried about you,” Nat grunted while stepping back and swinging his sword downward.

  Todd quickly swung his sword counter-clockwise until it met Nat’s sword in front of their shins. “A wasted move young—”

  Before Todd could finish his sentence, Nat heaved his sword above his head and sent it slicing down at Todd’s left shoulder. Instead of meeting Todd’s flesh, it smacked against Todd’s sword as Todd swept it upward. Nat attempted to pull back for another attack, but a kick to the stomach sent him tumbling onto his back.

  Angela jumped to her feet. “That’s enough!”

  “I’m alright,” Nat assured Angela while hopping to his feet. He twirled the weapon around his body with one hand to show off his swordsmanship and then gripped it with both hands and cautiously inched toward Todd.

  Angela reluctantly sat back down. She had seen Todd and Nat practice on many occasions, but never without armor. She thought about the bruises the bamboo had left on Nat’s armor-covered body and imagined what would happen without the protection.

  Todd snickered. “Maybe you should let Angela fight for you,” he teased when their touched swords.

  Nat chuckled, “I’m sure you’d rather that.”

  Todd responded by launching his sword at Nat’s face. Nat leaned back in the nick of time and quickly raised his sword, blocking Todd’s sword from crashing into his neck.

  “Come on Todd,” Nat said while swinging his sword downward to defend against an incoming thrust to his stomach. “It’s only right that you’re afraid of me,” he took a swing at Todd’s neck, but Todd blocked it and spun around and smashed his sword against Nat’s left arm. Nat shook off the pain and gasped, “I’m faster—”

  “Yeah,” Todd grunted and sliced his sword down at the left side of Nat’s body.

  Nat gracefully weaved out of harm’s way. “I’m younger,” Nat announced, leaning right and then left as Todd left off a fury of downward swings. Nat didn’t bother to raise his sword; he simply held it at his side and slipped one swing after another. “And let’s not forget better looking,” he completed his taunt with a confident grin.

  Frustrated, Todd went into his signature move. He brought his sword down on the right side of Nat’s body, pretended to launch into another swing to Nat’s left, and plunged forward with his left elbow as Nat attempted to lean right. But Nat faked right and lifted his sword as he turned three hundred and sixty degrees to his left. Nat’s move was perfectly timed. He had been waiting for Todd to attempt the one maneuver that had defeated him every time they had sparred. Only this time instead of Nat being hit in the chin by Todd’s elbow, or Nat dipping right into a deadly blow from Todd’s sword, Nat smiled when his spin move ended with the sound of his sword smashing against the back of Todd’s neck.

  “Death blow!” Nat yelled victoriously and dropped his sword with a grin.

  Nat then jumped up and down. The only thing he had enjoyed more than combat training was the driving lessons Todd gave him, and now he had earned his first victory against Todd.

  Todd lowered his sword and turned to Angela. “He’s ready.”

  Angela slowly stood and nodded. “It’s time.”

  Todd and Angela had already told Nat all about the demons that crossed over to earth and the Order of Light. Although Nat had brushed it off as fairy tales, he actually enjoyed the stories about God, the devil, rogue demons, the Order of Light, and the warrior Host of Heaven. Todd and Angela were about to make those fairy tales a reality.

  ***

  A few nights after Nat had defeated Todd in the sparing match, Todd and Angela had him stay back after dinner. Nat stood by and watched as they moved the dining room table and opened a hidden door in the floor that led to a stone-walled secret room. The hair on the back of Nat’s neck stood as he followed them down into the candle-lit, dirt-floored room, which was basically empty except for a dozen rough cut, baseball-size crystals arranged in a circle on the floor and the Host’s sword hanging sheathed on a wall. It had been the first time Nat laid eyes on the sword.

  Todd grabbed the sword and unsheathed it, “This is the Host’s sword.”

  Nat’s eyes grew wide with amazement as he studied the sword’s blade. It suddenly dawned on Nat that the stories could be true.

  Angela rested her hand on Nat’s shoulder and said, “We told you that your mother was a member of the Order of Light, but there’s something we didn’t tell you.”

  “What?” Nat asked, eyeing the sword.

  “Where’s the crystal you got from your mother?” Angela inquired. Nat pulled the crystal from his pocket and handed it to her. She sat the crystal on the floor in the center of the circle and told Nat, “We didn’t tell you that your mother had trapped her murderer in this crystal before she died.”

  Nat didn’t believe it. “What do you mean?”

  Todd said, “We told you about capturing rogue demons. Your mother used her crystal to capture a demon before she died.”

  Nat’s eyes narrowed. “A real demon?”

  Angela stood just outside the circle and chanted, “Come forth from the light demon!”

  Nat couldn’t believe his eyes when a red smoke oozed from his crystal and spun in a small tornado within the circle. The smoke swirled faster and faster and then disappeared, leaving what appeared to be a man standing in the circle. Nat looked closer at the man and saw that his eyeballs were completely black and he had extremely sharp teeth. Nat realized it was not a man but a demon that stood before him. The demon snarled and attempted to lunge at Angela, but the circle emitted an invisible force field that kept him inside the circle.

  “Release me!” the demon barked in a demonic voice.

  Nat approached the circle. “You killed my mother!”

  “Release me,” the demon demanded. “And I will kill you too.”

  Todd held the sword out and approached the circle. “I’ll release you all right,” he told the demon.

  The demon laughed. “You may annihilate me, but Simon will annihilate the entire Order of Light.”

  Todd swung the sword and severed the demon’s head. The demon’s body burst into flames and disintegrated.

  Nat looked into Angela’s eyes and asked, “Who’s Simon?”

  “The devil’s son,” Angela replied flatly.

  Todd and Angela spent the next few hours telling Nat about Simon’s war against the Order of Light and the coming of the Host. Nat went to bed that night and dreamed about the Host, and he woke up the next morning eager to learn more. He bombarded Angela and Todd with questions over breakfast the next morning.

  “Who is the Host?” he asked as they sat at the dining room table.

  Angela explained, “The Host is a gift from God to Humanity. The Host’s purpose is to thwart the plans of the devil and his vicegerents. The Host will emerge to restore the hope of humanity.”

  Todd said, “The Will of God will lead the Host to the sword in its 23rd year on earth.”

  “It?” Nat asked with a raised brow.

  “Well,” Angela said. “It takes human form, but it’s human and angelic.”

  Nat looked confused. “Where is it now?”

  Angela answered, “Could’ve been born as a human yesterday, or could be born tomorrow. We only know it will present itself to the sword.”

  Todd added, “The Host must live among humans for twenty-three years with no knowledge of its true identity. It must learn the ways of man, the good and the bad.”

  Angela said, “It is said it possesses a spirit of light, a spirit of fire, and a spirit of man. The sword carries a message that awakens its spirits of fire and light and initiates a process called consecration, in which all t
hree of the spirits become one. It is then that it becomes the Host.”

  Todd explained, “The Host is an agent of destruction and judgment, the giver of protection and deliverance. That is what the Host shall do. All of the above in the name of the Lord of Humanity.”

  Nat’s eyes filled with awe. “I hope I get to see the Host.”

  Angela cut her eyes at Todd before she told Nat, “You are the protector of the Host’s sword. You shall present the sword to the Host and ensure that it is consecrated. That is your destiny.”

  Nat sat there in disbelief quietly taking it all in.

  Todd nodded, “That is what we have been training you for,” he confessed. “The Host will need you. There’s a period after consecration called the Calm of Transformation. It’s a period where the Host is highly vulnerable.”

  “You must protect the Host during this period,” Angela informed Nat.

  Nat suddenly felt the world on his shoulders and questioned whether he was worthy of the task. “What if I fail?”

  “You won’t,” Todd assured. “We will teach you to wield the sword and show you how to capture demons with the crystal.”

  ***

  Young Nat had spent the next few months learning to use his mother’s crystal, but then his training came to an unfortunate halt one night when Angela rushed into his room and woke him up.

  “Hurry,” she said frantically.

  “What’s wrong?” Nat asked.

  Angela grabbed Nat’s crystal off his dresser and pulled him from the bed and dragged him out the room and down to the dining room where Todd waited with a shotgun. The dining room table was moved and the door to the secret room was open.

  Todd told Nat, “Go down there and don’t come up until we say so.”

  “What’s wrong?” Nat pleaded.

  Todd pushed Nat toward the secret room. “Just go down there.”

  Angela said, “Just do it.”

  Water filled Nat’s eyes. “Okay.”

  Angela hugged Nat tight, kissed him on the forehead, and then handed him his crystal. “Go!” she cried. “And no matter what happens, don’t come out.”

  Nat sadly climbed into the candle-lit room and looked into Angela and Todd’s eyes as they shut the door above him. A single tear rolled down Nat’s cheek as he heard the table being moved up above to conceal the room’s door. The crystals lay forming the circle on the floor, the sword hung sheathed on the wall, and a box sat on the floor directly behind Nat, but Nat kept his eyes glued to the door for a few minutes. When he finally turned around, he noticed the box and picked it up. Inside the box he found stock certificates, bonds, access codes to over a dozen back accounts, and a letter with instructions on what to do and where to go in the case of an emergency.