The Wars Within (Servant of Light Book 1)

by Jeremy Finn

  As James locked eyes with the man in the sweater and presented a polite grin, the man did nothing. His eyes looked almost dull and lifeless. Immediately, James’ fear began to resurface.

  Whoa, hang on James, he told himself. It’s just some old guy with bad manners staring you down.

  Just as he was about to admit defeat and break eye contact with the man, James caught a glimpse of something he had never imagined in his worst nightmares. A ghostly, black image of a tortured, gnarled face slid across the lifeless visage of the man in the sweater. It moved like a fog, and appeared for only and instant, but in that instant, James saw a portrait that froze his heart. Thick lips twisted around a circular mouth framed with rows of uneven needle-like teeth dripping with a dark liquid. Long, thin black hair hung from the top of a head that seemed most to resemble something like a goat skull. Worst of all, though, were the eyes. Although James saw them for less than a second, he knew everything about them. Sunk deep within the skeleton face, they held life, unlike the eyes of the man’s face he had just been looking at, but it was a life of pain, hate, and hunger.

  Hunger? James thought. What kind of hunger?

  Before he even asked himself the question, he knew. Those eyes held a hunger for James’ life.

  As soon as the image vanished, the man in the sweater gave a start and looked at James with surprise. He could see in James' eyes the realization that the seemingly harmless older man was hiding evil intentions.

  James felt his fear glue him to his seat. Every fiber in his body screamed for him to run and get away from this thing as fast as possible! But James couldn’t move.

  The man jumped to his feet and reached one hand over his head and behind his back. As James watched with eyes wide and heart pounding, the man hissed loudly and pulled what appeared to be a short black sword from behind his back. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. James’ eyes were fixed on the sword. It was a deep black, as deep as the midnight black he saw in those ghostly eyes, and it seemed to be almost fluid. Tendrils of black steam emanated from the blade as it began an arc through the air toward James’ head.

  Suddenly, James felt control return to his paralyzed body. He ducked his head and rolled forward out of his seat and onto the floor of the subway car. The oily black blade cut the air just above his moving head and struck the metal handle bar near the car’s door. James looked up from the floor and saw the metal bar sliced neatly in two. Just beyond that, there was a large gash in the wall of the subway car where the dark blade had sliced right through the frame like a hot knife through wax. A black residue ate away at the severed metal like acid.

  As the man began to raise his weapon for another strike, James jumped to his feet and bolted down the length of the car. Through the corner of his vision, he saw the old lady huddled in a ball and shielding her eyes with her knitting. The sleeping man was still asleep. Maybe he was dead. Otherwise, how could he sleep through this madness! At any rate, James was on his own and apparently outmatched. To his relief, as he reached the far end of the car the doors opened.

  How absolutely lucky I am, James thought as he jumped out the door and ran for the nearest stairs leading up from the loading platform.

  When he reached the stairs, he heard the doors of the subway slide shut and the engine hum to life.

  Oh, I made it! he rejoiced, but he didn’t stop running. As he reached the top of the stairway, he looked down at the subway, which was picking up momentum below. With a flash of light and an explosion that made James’ ears ring, one of the subway car’s doors burst from its frame, flew through the air and slammed against the wall of the loading platform. The man in the sweater leaped out of the car and roared in angry frustration as he sprinted to the stairs, deadly blade still in hand. James rounded the corner and sprinted up the last short set of stairs leading out into the cold night air. He had never gotten off the subway at this exit before, so he had no idea where he was planning to go. At this point, though, panic had taken over, and any direction opposite that of the snarling madman seemed a sound choice. James chanced a quick glance over his shoulder as he reached the last step and saw the old man below, temporarily delayed as he crashed through a startled couple who had unintentionally blocked his path.

  A quick survey of his surroundings revealed a large street market covering the main street and adjoining alleys crowded with steaming food stands, hanging items for sale and sparkling lights dancing amidst holiday decorations. James picked the closest alley and darted into the two meter wide corridor. No sooner had he begun snaking his way through the shifting mass of shoppers, than he heard a crashing sound behind him and turned to see a wave of water and squid pouring out onto the cobblestones as his pursuer pushed a barrel out of his way to get around the shocked pedestrians. James felt a new burst of fear-generated adrenaline and began to sprint down the narrow alley. Low-hanging paper lanterns glowing dimly in a myriad of colors bounced off his head and splattered hot candle wax on his face as he attempted to reach the mouth of the alleyway.

  As James approached the end of the alley, he realized he was going to come out into a busy intersection. For a second, he hesitated in confusion over what to do next, but a blood-curdling roar behind him cut his contemplation short. James ran out into the intersection with his fingers crossed and a prayer on his lips. Cars shot past him, nearly missing him and honking their horns in anger, but the man was right behind him. He had followed James into the intersection and was reaching out to grab a hold of James’ coat.

  Just then, James saw a bus coming. It was the kind of bus common in this city, which had an entrance in the front and an exit at the rear. The rear exit had a small deck to allow passengers to get off at the street level. In a decision made out of split-second instinct, James lunged toward the passing bus and jumped onto the deck. The old man lunged as well and caught James' coat with one hand. James nearly fell, but held tightly onto the handrail running along the side of the deck. The old man dragged for a moment, and then lost his grip and fell onto the street in the middle of the intersection.

  James gained a better grip on the handrail and fumbled to a standing position on the deck. He turned to see what the old man was doing. He did not appear to be injured, as he immediately stood up. James could see the hate in his eyes despite the rapidly increasing distance between the two of them. No sooner had the man stood, though, than a car came speeding through the intersection perpendicular to the path of the bus and struck the old man, sending him flying across the street like a bullet propelled from a gun. The man’s body flew through the air and smashed into the windshield of a police car coming in the opposite direction. James saw what was left of the old man’s body tumble onto the street as the police car screeched to a halt.

  Fear still gripped James' heart in a vice, but relief suddenly began washing in as he realized he was at least safe now. This was not the kind of thing James had ever expected would happen to him.

  Questions and thoughts bounced wildly around in his head, What are the police going to think? Do they even know I was involved? Should I tell them? Someone must have seen me who could identify me as being involved.

  As James struggled over these questions and watched the accident scene steadily growing smaller in the distance, something terrifying caught his eye. From the huddled lump of the old man’s body, barely visible now from this distance, James saw a dark shape rise into the air. Although he could not see the face from here, James knew in his heart the creature he glimpsed on the subway had just floated up out of the man’s body. Two dark wings unfurled in a span as long as the figure was tall, and the form began moving quickly through the air in the direction of the bus. As if things could not be worse, the bus began to slow as it neared a traffic jam ahead.

  What am I going to do now?! James frantically questioned himself. I already tried running, and that barely worked when this thing was on foot! What about now that it can fly! It’s hopeless!

  The creature had rushed to within half the distanc
e between James and the site of the accident as the bus suddenly came to a halt in the traffic. When James jumped off the deck of the bus and onto the street, he discovered another crushing fact in this night of horrendous luck – he was on a bridge. On both sides, the Chang Bok River ran its course through the city. Before him was a traffic jam, and perhaps five seconds behind him raced a being who seemed intent on destroying him.

  “Only one thing to do, I guess,” James whispered to himself, and he jumped over the low stone railing running along the edge of the bridge and into the icy, dark water below.

  As James was waiting for the chill of the late fall water to rush into his clothes and shock his senses, something entirely different happened. Pain shot through his ankles and legs as he struck a solid floor and landed hard on his left side. James looked up and saw the bottom of the bridge creeping toward him just ten feet above his head.

  What in the world… he thought as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

  Suddenly he realized luck was not completely against him tonight. He had landed on the flat roof of a sight-seeing boat. He took one of these tours once to see the night lights of the city from the river, but never expected to be lying incapacitated on the roof. Unfortunately, though, this stroke of luck seemed to be the last he would ever experience. Just as the bridge passing overhead filled his view, the black creature dived down and landed suddenly, yet gracefully just below James’ feet on the roof of the boat.

  James was frozen in fear, and his left leg burned with pain. The creature folded its wings and reached back over its head, slowly drawing out the oily black blade James first saw in the subway. The air smelled like burned flesh and sulfur, causing James to gag and cough.

  The creature attempted what could pass for an evil smile and spoke in words that sounded like metal slowly scraping against metal, “It is hard to believe such a puny little creature could pose a threat to my Lord. Not any longer, though.”

  The world slowed as those final words slid across James’ conscious mind. He wasn’t really thinking now. His mind seemed numbed and confused just by the appearance of the pure evil before him. So, he could do nothing as the beast held its blade over its head and began the swoop downwards in an arc that would send the sword tearing through his head and torso.

  Suddenly, yet still at an exaggerated tempo for James, a form of brilliant light fell down through the bridge passing overhead. It just passed right through the stone and steel of the bridge and stopped between James and the dark creature. Tendrils of blinding light and consuming darkness twisted around each other on the edge of the two beings’ forms.

  The black creature’s sword came rushing down, quickly to be countered and blocked with an upward stroke of a brilliant white blade in the hand of the creature of light. Blades crashed and the noise was deafening. Sparks of white hot light and black shot in every direction. The blazing creature swiftly pulled his blade back over his left shoulder and jabbed at the dark creature’s face with the handle of the white sword. As the dark monster stumbled for just an instant, the brilliant, flaming creature pulled the blade over its head and with both hands thrust it downward upon the dark creature in a lighting swoop that burned a crescent moon image in James’ retina. The black creature fell back with arms extended as the white blade pierced to his stomach and his body fell away in two directions. Before the creature’s body could hit the roof of the boat, though, it dissipated into the night air.

  The creature of light turned and looked over its shoulder at James, but its face was too bright to make out any details. Then, without a word, it jumped into the air and left James’ sight. The boat was coming out from under the bridge now, and the starry night sky drifted into James vision. His mind was a mass of confusion, and he did not know if he could believe all this was happening. James attempted to stand up, and the world closed in around him.

  DARK REVELATIONS

  Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth

  when we sleep and when we wake.

  -John Milton

  The next morning James sat at his desk looking at his computer screen with a dull expression. He had regained consciousness last night on the docks as an overweight tour guide viciously fanned his face with a brochure advertising the wonders of the Chang Bok River night tour. He stumbled to his feet and told the man he was fine, although his head felt like it was split open and he was barely able to support his weight on his badly sprained ankle. Although James could not understand much of what the mass of locals gathered around him were saying, it quickly became apparent they believed he was drunk and had fallen off the bridge in his drunken stupor. All the unusual noise on the roof of the ship must have hastened the captain to pull the boat in to the nearest dock and see what was causing the commotion. James was not a drinking man, and felt slightly embarrassed by the crowd’s assumption, but he was not in the mood to try to make an excuse. So, James caught a taxi and made his way home as quickly as possible, trying not to think about the impossible memory which burned in his mind.

  After a fitful sleep, James still could not shake thoughts of what apparently happened the night before. There was no use telling anyone since they would either think he had indeed been drunk, or worse yet, may suspect he was not quite right in the head anymore. At any rate, there was a lot of work to be done, and he figured he might as well start thinking about something that would get him somewhere today. With a last exasperated sigh and a weary look out the large glass windows that formed a wall around his small office, James returned to his work.

  Just as James forced his mind onto the project before him and placed his hand on the computer mouse, he noticed a man in uniform talking with one of his co-workers near the door to the large room full of cubicles outside his office. His co-worker spoke with the man for a short time and then pointed directly at James’ office. As the man in uniform nodded his thanks and turned toward his office, he realized the man was a local police officer. He wore an evergreen suit, which consisted of a thick coat and somewhat baggy pants lightly patterned with sewn images of a tree in the same color. The coat had long, roomy sleeves with a simple white band encompassing the cuffs. The collar and waist also bore plain white trim, and large golden cloth buttons in the shape of flowers ran up the center of the coat to meet the tip of the v-shaped collar. Slightly larger golden flowers also sat one each on the tops of his shoulders. The shoes were a traditional style slipper made of soft, brown leather. James knew common street police wore a similar uniform of a blue color, and that this man’s green color signified he was a detective of some sort. The man reached James’ office and knocked on the door, smiling.

  “Come on in,” He said and tried to put on his most innocent expression.

  “Good morning, sir,” The man said with a definite twang of the local accent. “I am looking for a Mr. James Huener, and I believe that is you?”

  “Um, yes, I am,” James said. “Please have a seat, officer. Is there something wrong?”

  James knew this had something to do with last night. Why else would an officer be visiting him in his office? Someone on the docks must have told the police about his “drunken mishap”, but why would the police care much about something like that? Unless, he thought as a pang of fear shot through his heart, they believe I’m responsible for the car accident that killed that old man!

  “Well, no, nothing wrong really,” The officer said as he frowned slightly and seemed to ponder why he had come to see James. “My name is DaNyang Lomas, can anyone hear us outside this office?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” James replied cautiously.

  “Good, now can you tell me about what happened last night?” Officer Lomas questioned hastily.

  “Well, sure,” James began. “I was on my way home on the subway last night when some crazy old man tried to attack me. I didn’t really want any trouble, so I just ran from him. I jumped on a bus to get away, and I slipped off while it was crossing the bridge. Fortunately, I landed on a boat or somethi
ng, I don’t know, because I just blacked out and came to on a dock.”

  “Ok,” the officer said in an unconvinced tone, “but are you sure you don’t remember anything after you fell on the boat?”

  James was taken aback. He was almost sure the officer was going to ask him about the old man’s violent car accident, which had surely killed him. Instead, he was asking about the boat. James knew there was more to the story, of course, but he was under the bridge when that thing tried to kill him, and no one could have possibly seen that.

  “No,” James lied, “I don’t remember anything. Look, I don’t even know what happened to that guy, did the police catch him?”

  “There was no need to catch him,” Lomas replied gravely. “He was quite dead when I came to the scene. That’s not very important, though, I really want you to focus on what happened after you landed on the boat. Are you sure you can’t remember anything?”

  James felt a little uneasy about the fact that the officer had just glazed over the old man’s death without much apparent concern. He began to wonder just what this guy was trying to dig up. Surely he could not know anything about the hideous creature that loomed over him and very nearly ended his life.