by James Somers
The three Man-O-Wars, surrounding the Maelstrom, ripped apart as the shockwave hit them. Their sails were shredded and set on fire as the masts splintered, falling like trees toppled by a mighty wind. A fiery cloud engulfed the entire lot of them, as more explosions erupted from the powder stores onboard the enemy ships.
When the shockwave hit Gideon and Bonifast a second later, it sent all three of them reeling. Ethan was pulled by their bodies as the blast wave tossed them all back into the sea. Ethan shifted back to the physical world after they hit the water. His friends quickly came back to the surface for air.
Levi Bonifast watched as the black mushroom cloud rose from his ship. There was nothing recognizable about the old seabird now. Had it not been for the fact that they were all in the water, the two young men might have noticed several tears tracing down Bonifast’s stubbly cheeks. “I guess I’m a civilian now,” he muttered under his breath as the three men bobbed in the sea.
SEWER RATS
The Maelstrom was no more. Nothing but ash and burning debris remained. But Captain Bonifast, Ethan, and Gideon did not linger to watch it burn. Bonifast had a plan. “We’ll enter the palace ourselves and find your sister,” he told Ethan.
“But how? How can we get inside from here?”
Here was a good two hundred yards from the granite cliffs now towering above them. They were crowned at the top by the king’s palace, now the home of Mordred himself.
“I’ve scaled many a rock face before,” Gideon said, “but it would take equipment we simply don’t have to get up that cliff.”
“You’re not thinking, boys,” Bonifast said. “If you knew anything about the palace, then you would know there is a series of drains which lead away from it to the sea. Now, how do you suppose they drain into the Azure?”
Ethan and Gideon looked at one another puzzled, then at the white cliffs ahead. “Through the rock?”
“Precisely! We only have to swim over to where the rock meets the water, then find the drains. I’ve heard from old acquaintances that the drains will lead you right into the throne room if you know what you’re doing.”
“People have gone through them before?” Ethan asked.
Bonifast smiled. “Oh yes, they have. I’ve not been myself, but that’s the only direct way I know of.”
They heard the sounds of a distant battle above them. “King Stephen must have already begun his attack,” Bonifast said.
“Perhaps we should join him,” Ethan suggested.
“He won’t be able to breach the walls,” Gideon said. “No, I think the captain’s suggestion is probably going to be our best bet for getting inside and rescuing your sister, Ethan. Besides, the battle with Stephen will have Mordred and his forces preoccupied. No one will expect us.”
“I’ll go ahead while you two swim for the cliffs,” Ethan said. “I’ll have the best chance of finding the drain.”
Levi and Gideon nodded their agreement, then began to tread water toward the pristine rock ahead. Ethan entered the spiritual realm again, floating up from the sea. He raced ahead of his friends toward the cliffs.
Ethan watched the sky expecting to find the angels still engaged in battle, but they were gone. The edge of the demon cloud remained barely visible above the top of the cliffs. Ethan supposed the spiritual warfare must have moved over the battlefield where King Stephen fought to breach the city walls.
Ethan soared upward as he reached the cliff. His supernatural eyes scanned every crevice of the white rock, looking for the drain coming from the palace above. It took him nearly twenty minutes of going back and forth to find it. The drain gate had been painted in white and grey to match the cliff and it was not as big an opening as Ethan would have hoped for.
The gate was located twenty feet above the water level. This presented the problem of getting Levi Bonifast and Gideon up to the drain in order to enter. The drain tunnel was roughly three feet in diameter. It would be a tight squeeze. Provided it did not open up into larger tunnels higher up, this would be a long and tenuous climb to the palace.
Ethan headed back to his friends. They had swam closer to the cliff wall. He stopped above them and reentered the physical world. Ethan appeared out of thin air about five feet over their heads. Gravity dragged him into the water.
“Did you find it, lad?” Levi asked as Ethan came up for air again.
“It’s over there,” he said, pointing to their right, “about twenty feet up on the wall.”
“Did you see any way for us to climb it?” Gideon asked.
“None. But I can carry you up to the drain one at a time.”
They swam the remaining distance to the wall. They could barely make out the drain opening from the water. “I’ll go up and cut through the gate, then come back for each of you,” Ethan said.
Ethan liked knowing the plan depended on him so much. It felt good to be an integral part of what Shaddai was doing against Mordred. He felt like victory might be certain now. He was so close to fulfilling the prophecy.
Ethan shifted to the spiritual realm again and shot up to the drain tunnel. He pulled the heavenly sword from his side, slashing at the bars of the drain gate. An orange streak of molten metal marked where his blade had cut through.
Ethan used his armored foot to smash the two halves of the gate in. Ethan let go of his sword, willing it to his side. The supernatural blade obeyed, snapping back to his left hip.
Ethan dropped down to his comrades still floating in the water below. They were only half expecting it when Ethan grabbed each of them under their arms, in turn, and hoisted them to the open drain gate. Gideon, then Levi, crawled inside the dark tunnel and Ethan followed, coming back to the physical world. “It’s going to be difficult without any light,” Levi said.
“I’ll go for a lantern,” Ethan said. He shot out of the tunnel again, shifting in mid-air. He was getting braver with his gift. Ethan flew to the burning wreckage of the Maelstrom and Mordred’s ships. It was hard to tell which was which by now. Ethan soared through the fiery debris and smoke until he found what he was looking for-two lanterns lying among the wreckage of twisted boards and charred bodies.
Ethan took them up and used a piece of wood, which was still on fire, to light them. One of them had a cracked bell on it, but it would do for their purposes. Ethan returned quickly to the drainage tunnel where his friends were waiting. He handed them the lanterns, then returned to the physical realm.
“What about you?” Gideon asked.
“I think it might be wise if I go ahead of you two and make sure nothing is blocking our way.”
“Good idea,” Levi said, “we could use a scout to keep us on track. This tunnel is supposed to branch out into several directions at some point.” They all agreed and Ethan returned to the unseen.
He was beginning to enjoy being in this form more than in the physical world. Here there were no constraints on him, no gravity-not even a need to breathe and matter became as passable as air. Ethan went ahead of them, up the tunnel like lead shot through the barrel of a musket, his spiritual sight lighting his way.
The drain tunnel wound up through the rock toward the palace. There were other smaller tunnels intersecting with it, but otherwise it continued directly to the palace. Ethan began to get that tingling feeling, which always warned him of the presence of demons. He stopped below the drain gate in the floor of the palace. He did not know what room lay beyond and he wasn’t sure how many demons might be waiting on the other side.
Ethan descended the tunnel again to his friends. He had to hurry. Elspeth had to be here in the castle. If he could only reach her, then everything would be all right. When he reached Gideon and Levi again, reappearing in the tunnel ahead of them, they had not even climbed half the distance, yet. “I’ve found the palace up ahead. There are intersecting tunnels, but this one goes straight to it.”
“What room does it terminate into?” Levi asked.
“I’m not sure. There’s a grate in the floor and then one
lower. I didn’t go in yet. I felt demons nearby.”
“Felt them?” Levi said.
“No time to explain,” Ethan said. “We’ve got to hurry. Elspeth must be here in the palace. I’ve got to save her!”
Levi and Gideon looked at one another. “Well, it’s going to take us a while to get to the top,” Levi said. “We have to go the hard way and this isn’t as easy as it looks.”
Ethan considered it. They had a long way to go. Anything could happen in that time. Elspeth might be lost to him already. “You’re right, Captain. We don’t have time to wait. I can go in alone.”
“No!” Gideon said. “You must not face Mordred alone, Ethan. It’s too dangerous.”
“But I’m Shaddai’s Deliverer, Gideon. You said so yourself.”
“Ethan, you need to think about what you’re doing. Let’s pray about what we need to do. We have to let Shaddai guide our steps or-”
“Shaddai is guiding my steps, Gideon,” he snapped. “I don’t have time to wait any longer. The Lord has given me this power, and it’s time I fulfilled this prophecy against Mordred! I’ve got to save Elspeth.”
“But, Ethan-”
Ethan disappeared. He did not wait to see their reactions. Ethan shot back up the tunnel toward the palace. He was going to face Mordred now and he was going to rescue his sister. He had to.
THE WRAITH GENERAL
When Ethan reached the double floor grate, he was still trying to let go of his anger. Gideon was wrong. He could do this. After all, he was the Deliverer. What more did he need to pray about?
Ethan drew his supernatural sword and cut through the two grates. He did not need it cut, but Gideon and Levi would need a way out of the tunnel. Having done this, Ethan rose into the room through the floor.
He found the chamber to be a huge throne room. Ethan had never seen such a massive place. There were many soldiers and civilians moving around inside. All of them seemed to be attending to the man sitting upon a large golden throne at the end of the room.
A huge golden laver stood on either side of the chamber. Ethan had heard something about them being used by priests for purification before approaching Shaddai with sacrifices for sins. They seemed out of place here in the king’s throne room.
But what was even more out of place was what the people were doing with them. A feast was in progress, a celebration of some kind. Mordred is celebrating while a battle rages outside of the city? It seemed impossible to believe.
Servants filled pitchers of wine from the giant lavers. Each giant laver held enough wine to fill a small pond. Ethan’s anger kindled a white-hot flame in his belly. He felt righteous indignation welling up within. This was an insult to Shaddai-using temple vessels for such activities was an abomination.
Many of the people laughed and talked, eating at a large table overlaid with the finest spread of food Ethan had ever laid his eyes on. Servants attended to their every whim. Some of the guests were soldiers of high rank, while others appeared to be merchants and politicians. Many lower ranking soldiers lined both sides of the massive throne room, standing at attention. The entire palace had been constructed of brilliant white granite, which descended the cliffs into the sea. The white walls reflected every bit of lamp light. Still, darkness which could be felt pervaded everything here.
Ethan tingled all over. Demons had to be here somewhere, but he had not seen them yet. At the end of the chamber, Mordred sat upon the throne, attended by one of his servants. He drank wine from a golden goblet and tore the meat from a large turkey leg with his teeth.
Mordred was a large man dressed in black and crimson. His leather armor bore a standard overlaid in gold and a black cape draped down his back over the throne. He wore a gray beard several inches in length and his wavy hair fell just over his shoulders. A large broadsword stood unsheathed against the right arm of the throne.
Ethan stood invisible in the middle of the room between the lavers, looking at Mordred. He raised his sword, ready for the attack. He would kill Mordred according to the prophesy. Then he would find Elspeth and rescue her from this place.
Just as he was about to charge at the golden throne, Mordred looked up and began to laugh aloud. Ethan stopped short, wondering why the man laughed. Mordred looked right at him and said, “You actually came!”
Ethan looked around, trying to see whom Mordred had spoken to. After all, Ethan was still invisible to human eyes in his spiritual form. Mordred stood up at the throne and gingerly held up his turkey leg. Then the big man tossed it through the air so that it landed precisely at Ethan’s feet. Ethan watched it roll to a stop in front of him. It didn’t make any sense.
“Surprised I can see you, Deliverer of God?” he said. “Mordred said that you would come for him, but I must admit, I wasn’t completely convinced.”
Ethan’s eyes grew wide. His expression must have given away what he was thinking. “Oh, you thought I was Mordred, didn’t you?” the big man said. “I hate to disappoint you, Deliverer, but Mordred felt he should leave this place just in case you managed to come here. I am General Rommil, Lord Mordred’s second in command. We were just celebrating the inevitable defeat of King Stephen’s army.”
Ethan didn’t know what to do next. Mordred had slipped into hiding somewhere and he didn’t even know where to look for his sister in the palace. He took a deeper look into the man boasting before him. A single spirit possessed General Rommil. Overwhelming darkness emanated from the demon.
Ethan raised his sword again. “What is your name, demon?”
Rommil’s laughter faded to a devilish grin. “I am Jericho, son of man. Why do you ask?”
“I just wanted to know who you were before I destroy you,” Ethan boasted.
The demon within Rommil laughed through him. “Don’t you realize by now? You can’t destroy me. Even if you managed to defeat the man, I would be back eventually.”
This was the kind of insight Ethan needed. Okay, so I can’t destroy demons, only send them away temporarily.
“Do you really take me for a fool, boy?” Jericho asked.
At that point, Ethan heard swords drawn behind him. The soldiers closed in from both sides of the room. Civilians stood from their places at the table. Ethan saw, now, that demons dwelt with them as well, only on a deeper level like Jericho. It took greater concentration to make them out within the mortals they inhabited. Spiritual swords mingled with the steel in their human hands. When the first possessed man closed on him, Ethan’s heavenly blade locked with the physical steel of the soldier’s sword.
The demons can fight with their weapons through humans! Darkness permeated the entire chamber now-power emanating from the demon, Jericho. Ethan realized he had made a mistake. Gideon’s admonishment to pray resounded in his mind like a trumpet.
Ethan tried to pass through the floor and escape, but the Jericho’s power somehow prevented him.
“There is no escape for you, Deliverer!” Jericho said, as if answering the unspoken question in Ethan’s mind. “You have stumbled into death this day, son of man.”
Swords flashed at him, but Ethan managed to defend himself. People, who had been eating and laughing, moments before, now stalked toward him from every direction. Each of their expressions had changed from jovial to hate-filled.
Ethan leaped over several possessed people, trying to find space to fight as they closed in. More swords swung at him. Men leaped at him like wild animals lunging for their prey. Ethan’s blade cut the air. His weapon met one sword in flight and then another, but they were too many.
The battle in the bottom of the slaver ship’s cargo hold flashed through his mind again. He had walked into a similar predicament now. Then, he had barely escaped, but now he faced a far more powerful foe.
Ethan remembered how his weapon multiplied as needed and found the second blade at his hip again. He freed one of his hands to take it, using it just in time to block another sword coming at him. He blazed a trail through some of the closest dinner guests
as he fought wildly with both swords. Each time he hit a person, the blades struck the demon within, sending the creature tumbling out of its host. The humans crumpled to the floor, while the demons dissolved into the ether-returning to their own wicked abode.
But there were more to replace those who fell. Ethan noticed that General Rommil had not entered the battle. A possessed attacker managed to strike Ethan. The pain was excruciating, but his armor protected him from the worst of it. He fought back and dispatched the demon and its host-one to unconsciousness, the other to the netherworld.
Two more strikes got past his defenses. He felt the pain even though he did not see any wounds. Their strikes weakened him-each unseen wound sapping his strength. Ethan leaped straight up out of the swarm of bodies trying to pile on him like ants on a piece of discarded food. He reached the high stone ceiling, clinging to it like a fly. Rommil still stood at the far end of the throne room. Ethan leaped away from the granite ceiling at an angle, bringing him down near the general.
Rommil appeared surprised by Ethan’s aggressive move. He grabbed his broadsword from its leaning position at the arm of the throne, holding it out in front of him. Ethan hit the floor, running toward General Rommil and the demon, Jericho, within.
Ethan used his momentum to his advantage. He struck Rommil’s broadsword with one of his own, deflecting the weapon. He drove the other right into the Wraith General. But in the split second before it hit Rommil, Jericho leaped from the old soldier’s body. Without the presence of the demon, Ethan’s weapon pierced Rommil’s physical body. Jericho shot away to the stone wall, immediately bouncing back with his own spiritual sword in hand. Ethan withdrew his sword from Rommil, letting the old soldier fall back on the throne. He deflected Jericho’s attack, but noticed the possessed soldiers closing in again from the far side of the throne room.