by Billy Wong
On the floor, Henry shot lightning from his spear. "Absorb," Demetrious said with an extended arm. The electricity struck his palm and seemed to infuse his hand as it crackled through it, but without harming him. "Return." He sent it lancing back into all four of his opponents. Henry seized up, the current making his muscles tense to the point of tearing, and he heard the sounds of agonized thrashing while his friends suffered the same.
Blackbird, who had endured the electric attack without losing her footing, lunged shrieking at the Archcardinal. "Ice." A cube of the stuff formed around her, freezing her in mid stride feet from him. Then it shattered as from a flex of her muscles and she resumed moving forward. "Gravity." She finally went down belly first like a great weight had been dropped on top of her, but pushed herself up and onward with a grimace of effort. Demetrious waved a hand up. "Fly." Blackbird seemed to become weightless as she was hurled into the air. Her lower back hit the edge of the hole in the roof and she plummeted back down, cracking the boards with her body. Yet she stood right up slashing and finally hit her foe, opening a cut in his sleeve and the arm beneath.
He backed up with a sneer. "Heal." His wound closed up instantly. "Flare." A gigantic fireball formed before his hand and shot forward. It engulfed Blackbird, continued until it hit the wall and blew up in a deafeningly massive explosion. Henry coughed from the smoke, but that wasn't the main reason tears moistened his eyes. Of the struck victim, there was no sign... He forced himself up and thrust. "Magnet." The spear snapped backwards against his will, whipping the shaft into his forehead. He saw double and fell hard on his butt, dropped to his back barely able to stay awake.
Kara jumped at Demetrious from the side, axe swooping down. He seemed to vanish out of the way and reappear next to her. "Speed. Power." His fist plowed like a battering ram into her face. Bone crunched and she flew, crashing through several benches to lay still.
"Kara!" Andrew cried. "You monster!" He flailed his sword wildly, but it was no use. The Archcardinal dodged blow after blow with his invisibility-like speed, then grabbed Andrew by the throat and lifted him choking into the air.
"Steelhand." His hand took on a metallic sheen, and Andrew gagged that much harder. Demetrious punched him in the stomach with his other fist which still held the scepter, and his breath whooshed out. "Acid." Liquid somehow oozed from the fingers around Andrew's neck, and he screamed at the top of his lungs as it ate at his flesh.
Suddenly the Archcardinal dropped Andrew and grabbed his flank, and Henry could see that his torso had been slice nearly halfway through. "Heal." The gaping cut rapidly filled in, but his voice sounded unnerved. He turned with urgency not seen prior to face Blackbird, who stood behind him.
"Stop hurting my friends! It's me who you want."
Chapter 12
"You should not be alive," Demetrious observed. "The flare attack can kill an elephant in one direct hit."
Smoke floated from Blackbird's body and she was missing pieces of skin from her hands and face, but still stood steadily. "Do I look like an elephant? I'm more flexible and resilient. So you get all your power from that scepter, right? Maybe all I need to do is take it from you."
"Magnet." He extended his hand towards the hole in the wall. Through the smoke floated a mass of dropped swords and spears which he sent hurtling at her. She parried most of them, though a few got past her flashing blade and buckler to rip her flesh. As the storm of weapons died down, she launched herself spinning like a drill through the last of it and punctured the Archcardinal's shoulder. The turning sword almost popped his arm free of the socket, and his lips parted nervously. "Heal. Gravity." It forced Blackbird to a crouch, but she slashed his ankles and he fell forward. She met him on the way down with a rising uppercut, launching him into the air. Before he touched the floor, she chopped between his legs.
"H-heal..." he said on his back, staring in disbelief at the chasm she'd made in his body from groin to navel.
Blackbird smirked. "If you were still human you'd be dead already."
"But I'm not. I am the archangel!" He thrust a palm at her. "Death!" Gray energy shot from his hand into Blackbird's chest, appearing to flow through her. Her face contorted in anguish and her fists clenched painfully tight as she tried to resist. The magic brought her to her knees. Her skin lost color, and her eyelids fluttered. "Even you must surrender to death."
"I a-accept that," she gasped. She shoved herself off the floor, lurched through the death magic and plunged her sword into Demetrious' chest. "In about sixty years!"
"Heal!" He sounded short of breath, and on the verge of panic.
"Not with me holding it in you you don't!" She pushed him backwards transfixed on the blade.
"Fly."
Blackbird was hurled towards the roof, but grabbed his arm pulling him up with her. She punched him, knocking him back down with a resounding thud. Her blade, impaled through him, pinned him to the ground. "Why using that old stuff, don't you realize I adapt?" Upon landing she jumped on him, wrapped her legs around his scepter arm. "Now I'll rip it off!" Before she could pull it straight, he passed the staff to his other hand. "Hey no fair!"
"Bend." His arm stretched out impossibly long, so it was able to loop around Blackbird and hit her in the back of the head with the scepter. She released her hold and rolled away, dragging the sword out of him. Wheezing like he'd just nearly drowned, he gasped, "Heal." Blackbird shook her head clear and charged again. "Guilt." She stared at him and froze.
"No, don't stop," Henry begged. "Whatever you're seeing, it's just a trick..."
Demetrious informed him, "She sees me as whatever makes her feel the most guilty. Judging from her reaction, I expect her to just stand there while I cut off her head. Sword." A long blade materialized in his free hand, and he drew it back.
Blackbird ducked the swing. "Nope! I may have done things I regret, but that doesn't mean I'll give up my future over them." She retaliated with a flurry of strokes, soon shattering the Archcardinal's sword. "So one of your special powers is to summon a regular sword? Lame!"
She drove him around the room, hurting him again and again yet just failing to disarm him of the scepter so that he always healed. He used his artifact powers between dodges and parries—"Bind. Daze. Muddle. Entomb. Pain. Teleport. Lacerate soul. Summon demon. Meteor. Suppress rage. Seduce." and so on—but she countered or resisted them all. He generated an invisible shield from his hand to block her strikes, but she broke through after several attacks and continued to unrelentingly press him. Then he said, "Fear." Blackbird's eyes bulged, her hands trembled. She turned and ran.
"What, really?" Andrew managed to ask between moans of pain.
Demetrious grinned. "Flare." A titanic fireball flew at her back, and she disappeared again. Henry's mouth went dry. Was she done? She'd survived such an attack before, but was more worn down this time and had been caught unaware...
Blackbird landed behind the Archcardinal. His arm fell off and thumped onto the wood, along with the scepter. She showed off her glowing buckler. "Flipped over it and you. Predicted you just right."
"Perhaps. But it is not enough. Return." He opened his other hand, and the scepter flew into it. "I am attuned to the artifact, and it will not leave me. Heal." His arm grew back.
Kara jumped on his back and covered his mouth with her hand. "Gotcha! I figured it out, guys! He has to talk every time he uses a power, so as long as we keep him from speaking-" She yelped as if burned, and fell waving her hands frantically as to cool them down.
"Turn hot," he said after the fact.
Blackbird put a hand on her hip. "I'm getting annoyed. I'm pretty tough, yet everybody I fight is more durable than me because of ridiculous healing. Well, all my major challenges anyway."
"But what will you do about it?" Demetrious taunted. "Give up and die?"
She looked to each of her friends. "You should all leave. Walk if you can, and help each other or crawl if you can't."
"Why?" Henry asked softly. He thought
she meant to die, to sacrifice herself delaying him. They could try to get help, but it sounded like the armies still battled outside. Not enough of their allies might be free to make a difference...
"Because I don't want to kill you." Her words confused him, but she added, "Trust me."
#
After Henry stumbled up and helped Andrew and Kara drag themselves away, Blackbird returned her gaze to the Archcardinal. He laughed. "Noble of you to sacrifice yourself. Nonetheless, your friends will die soon after you."
"Maybe. But you should know one thing. After the time I slaughtered that family when I was a child, I've never fully given in to the rage again." Her eyes narrowed, and her voice rose. "Now I will!" She charged, and they clashed once more.
#
Moving slowly, Henry, Andrew and Kara had only gotten a few yards from the church when an explosion louder than all previous ones shook the city. Much of the fighting stopped as warriors looked towards the building from which smoke billowed through all openings. White wings rose into sight over the roof, followed by the top of a male head. No, Henry thought, it can't be...
Demetrious' face came into view, so burnt as to be unrecognizable. His eyes were closed, and his head drooped. Henry realized a hand was clamped around his neck from behind, its owner holding him up in front of her. Blackbird stepped before the bell and raised the corpse higher. Much of her clothes were gone, but the horrible burns that covered her exposed front made it far from attractive. Even aside from that, her breasts looked like mishappen lumps from all the punishment they had taken over time, and it was hard to make out her navel amid the huge scar from Grendel skewering her.
"Look," she bellowed, "is this what an archangel is to you? He was just a man who used the power of artifacts to deceive you, like all the others." She threw the body off the roof, and it flopped pathetically into the dirt. "Gods men create to feed their own greed are not worth your worship."
A few seconds later, the remaining church fighters surrendered and the battle was over. When Blackbird rejoined the others on the ground, Henry covered her up with his cloak. She shuddered in pain from its touch, and he apologized. Even after seeing how damaged her body was, he still looked forward to romancing her. "Sorry about hurting your wounds. By the way, that last line wasn't so fitting given what we know."
"Just making sure the enemies were properly discouraged. Besides, my use of 'gods' could refer to the fake angels and not actual God."
"So how did you manage to beat him?"
"I broke the Sovereign. When I saw it start to crack and light leaked out, I figured it might explode so I knocked him down to the basement. There we fought some more before the big boom. Killed him good since he lost his magic healing, but I'm me so... you know. Thought I saw something weird after, though..." She trailed off.
"How much stronger and faster are you in your fully enraged state, anyway?"
"I'm not sure. A little, but maybe not that much. Could be my victory was as much due to a mental advantage as anything. The more I screamed and attacked wildly, the less his chances probably became of noticing I focused on his weapon."
He imagined the scene and smiled. "I see. I would have been intimidated in his shoes seeing you send us away, too. Smart little beast."
She giggled. "I did have to rely on my wits a lot to survive before I grew big enough." Her face sobered as she removed her circlet, wincing when some skin came off with it. "Uncle Pete, I'm sorry your sacrifice turned out to be in vain and we ended up having to take down the church. But I'll always respect you and what you did. There are all different kinds of strength, and I couldn't have done the same." She put the circlet away and looked at Henry. "I'll wear it again. Just need to let my forehead heal up some first."
They returned to Septapolis as heroes, Prince Michael and Blackbird getting most of the credit and rightfully so. Henry was just glad everyone had made it back safely, and the immediate battle ended. The world also changed. Within days of the church's fall, people started coming out about their visions of God's death. While not everyone accepted it yet, many did and started to prepare as they could in case whatever killed Him targeted the mortal realm next. Though he still questioned if all the bloodshed had been necessary, Henry felt somewhat vindicated in his and his friends' choices. The church hadn't needed to hide the truth from humanity, for they were strong and would rise to the challenge.
#
Not long after they got back, Ronald found Andrew and Kara relaxing with mugs of ale in a quiet little tavern. "Where have you been?" Kara asked upon turning to regard him.
"After we got separated, I met another group of people working to keep the church from getting any more artifacts and decided to join up with them. When I heard you were helping Prince Michael I tried to find my way back, but got delayed a few times and well..."
"I'm glad you could finally join us," Andrew said.
"What are we doing with the artifacts now that the church is done and you know how to use them?"
"We're working with Michael on figuring out how to distribute them to people of merit." He laughed ironically. "It looks like the angel project will continue after all, if not under the same name."
"So where are Henry and Blackbird? I've been wanting to catch up with the heroine of the day and the man who made it all happen."
#
Henry and Blackbird stood in a gentle breeze on a balcony of the castle overlooking the land. "You know, there's one thing I still haven't gotten to do," Blackbird said.
"What's that?"
"Date. I feel kind of sorry for myself when I must be over twenty, and a lot of people have experienced love way before that while I haven't even been on a date."
"Well, you could start with me." He held his breath.
"Of course you can be my first! We should go to Ancient Wisdom, so we can honor Pete and the others."
He wasn't sure that was the best premise for a first date, and it certainly wasn't conventional, but said, "Okay. We should fix the place and open it up again—maybe not as a restaurant, but a recruiting office for artifact bearers or something."
She nodded eagerly. "We could call it 'Renewed Wisdom.'"
"And I'll help you find your family, like Pete was going to."
"Thanks for everything. I'm glad you're willing to date me. Some of the other guys I've asked seemed to be put off by my scars..."
Henry stroked her cheek with a smile. "They're missing out. You may not have the smoothest skin, but I think you're beautiful."
"They might have had overly high standards. I did meet them in Michael's castle." She gave him a curious look. "But are you sure you find me physically attractive, or is your opinion colored by my awesomeness?"
He burst out laughing. "Your face has a pretty shape, and you have quite the body. But yes, your being awesome complements it."
"Then let's go to Renewed Wisdom right now and make some awesome dishes together!" She picked him up and jumped off the balcony. Landing easily on the street below, she sprinted for the restaurant. Henry savored the wind whipping through his hair as people ran out of the way. He would never let this girl go, if he could help it.
#
Prince Michael helped spread the word that they were looking for any parents who had lost a little girl in the borderlands years ago. But no one came forth, and Henry began to think maybe Blackbird's family had indeed died leaving her as the sole survivor. He felt saddened for her anew. They got somebody to retrieve her black feather cape from the mountains and she wore it all around again, yet it didn't do much for her mood. Weeks passed, and she seemed to grow more and more restless.
One day, she said while they were alone in the bedroom, "I think maybe I should leave soon. I feel like I'm losing myself. It's too easy living like this, not having to catch food and sitting around so much of the time. It was okay back when we were running all over the place, but now that things are calm... I get this sense I'm going to waste away. The wilderness is where I got my strength, s
o maybe I belong there." At his unhappy look, she held his hands. "I'm not going away forever. I'll visit you and the guys, and you can visit me. I just don't feel like being part of society full time is for me."
He hugged her. "But you're a person," he said softly, "and a person should live with other people."
"I was born as a person, but I changed into a monster to survive. A feral savage who eats bugs and don't like to wash up doesn't really fit into civilization."
"We don't mind that. Me, Andrew, Kara, Ronald, Nicole and Georgie—even Prince Michael and all the people who admire you for defeating the church don't mind you. We accept you just the way you are."
"I know. I don't feel at home here, is what I'm saying. I'm just used to a different environment, and I wouldn't ask you to change for me either even if you could."
Before they could discuss it further, Andrew opened the door. "Hey guys, we got a message. Apparently they discovered something in the basement of the church in Batrecar, that we might want to see."
"So what did they find?" Henry asked as they set out. For now, Blackbird decided to stay with them. "It'd better be important considering how long the trip will be."
Andrew shrugged. "The note didn't say. But considering it was stamped by the person Michael tasked with rebuilding the city, I think we can trust it to be significant."
#
When they arrived in Batrecar, the marshal in charge led them to the church basement and pointed to a hole in the floor. "Down there. The structure might be unstable, so be careful."
They approached the opening to find it was a trapdoor connected to stairs leading down. "Is this the weird thing you saw?" Henry asked Blackbird.
"Not exactly..."