by Jason Wilcox
The silver one sprang at Mauldrin from behind with a large axe. The axe blade came down hard on Mauldrin’s armor, but the demon was blown backwards by some type of unseen field. Blackness began to work its way up Mauldrin’s arm, starting where his fingers had been severed. Spinning his other hand around, a blue sphere encircled the wound. Once it dissipated, the blackness could still be seen, getting even worse, moving up to his elbow.
Tagen knew Azgiel made his sword with untold power, but he was surprised to see its effect slowly eating away Mauldrin.
Mauldrin’s eyes lit up with white flames, which moved to his body. Fingers of light appeared where the two had been cut off and spots of light started to crack through the blackness. An explosion blasted outward. Tagen could feel a breeze blow against him and sniffed an interesting smell that must’ve come off of Mauldrin. After the dust settled, Mauldrin’s hand was back to normal.
Tagen could feel his body finally starting to heal, but it was slow. The pain was excruciating as bones slowly realigned and grew back together.
With an explosion, the rocks that entrapped Azgiel blew to pieces. The silver demon got back on his feet, running back to the fight.
Moving with astonishing speed, Mauldrin dove in the air and landed in front of Azgiel, pounding the ground. A burst of light blew everyone back, knocking over trees.
Tagen and his tree flew ten feet, crashing to the ground. His vision fuzzy, his muscles weak, he pushed his body to move, knowing he had to get out of there. He tried transforming one last time into shadow form. Success, but he was so worn out it wasn’t complete. The swords that pinned him to the tree ripped through parts of his un-transformed flesh as he scurried to a safer position.
A large bush that was close by looked like a good place to hide. Tagen crawled under the bristly leaves. He peered out to see what would happen next. Mauldrin walked up to Azgiel, who was knocked out on the ground. Azgiel’s sword floated in the air, held there by Mauldrin, but Tagen couldn’t see how. Only one demon could be seen still fighting, but he wouldn’t last long surrounded by Mauldrin’s troops.
Leaves ruffled a small distance away catching Tagen’s attention. A demon. If they are out here hiding then they must’ve retreated. He could make out his large bulky shape in the overgrown bushes. Azgiel was left alone or so it appeared. Looking back to the action, he watched as the silver demon came out from behind a tree with his axe and cut down one of Mauldrin’s men.
With a second swing, the silver demon tried to take Mauldrin down again, aiming for his head. Tagen was fascinated, but knew he was pushing his luck sticking around, especially with a demon not too far away.
Before the silver demon could make contact, Mauldrin waved a hand and with a white flash, all that was left was a pile of dust floating to the ground.
Azgiel awoke as Mauldrin and his men circled around him. Tagen could barely see through a gap of men as Azgiel laid on the ground staring at Mauldrin.
“Give up Azgiel, you’ve been defeated. Your evil reign will go no further.” Mauldrin’s powerful words carried through the woods and Tagen shivered.
“My evil reign!” Azgiel shouted. “How dare you accuse me of such nonsense? You’re the one-” Mauldrin lifted a finger and Azgiel’s voice muted. Standing up, Azgiel placed a hand on his throat. The men around him drew their swords as he stood. He looked up at his sword dangling in the air.
“Don’t do it, Azgiel. I no longer want to fight you.” Mauldrin sounded calm but stern. Tagen shifted his weight uneasily, he knew he needed to bolt, but he was ordered to see what happened before he returned to Triaad.
Not listening, Azgiel jumped forward. His sword broke from the invisible power that held it and flew into his hand. Men crowded in front of Mauldrin to protect him. Five of them blew into pieces as Azgiel sliced through their shields and swords, cutting right through them. He waved with his other hand, and everyone flew back except Mauldrin, who stood his ground. Azgiel lurched towards him, sword ready to strike.
Tagen shifted uncomfortably. If Azgiel wins, I’m dead. Triaad will find out I gave up information. Mauldrin pulled back with both hands as a ball of light formed in his palms. He leaned forward and the light blasted Azgiel to the ground. Bands of light wrapped around him and pinned him down. Men came running to help. One of them lifted his sword and readied it to stab into Azgiel’s heart. Azgiel closed his eyes, showing he was ready for death.
Tagen smiled. His news would make Triaad happy, and rewards would be abundant. Above all, he wouldn’t be in trouble for revealing the information about Triaad.
“Stop!” Mauldrin shouted and the man froze. “He’s not to be killed.” Mauldrin lifted a hand and Azgiel’s sword floated back into the air. “Metted boenden entexted.” His words were strange. Tagen had never heard them before. A deep hole in the ground opened, and the sword fell into it, closing after it entered.
“None of your followers will ever be able to touch that sword. I’ve cursed it with a curse that will cause any who touches it to be instantly destroyed,” Mauldrin spoke to Azgiel. Tagen knew he was also speaking to demons and creatures that were watching. “As for you, Azgiel, trapped in a cell of time for an eternity should fit you just fine.” Azgiel shifted and squirmed but was unable to loosen the bands.
Brightness glowed around Azgiel and then he was gone. Something moved to the right of Tagen and he could hear heavy breathing. He turned his head, keeping his body very still. A new orange demon towered over him, but was oblivious to him lying in the bushes. His attention was focused on Mauldrin.
The demon was too close for Tagen’s liking, so he turned into shadow form. His body had healed many of the wounds, but he was still in a lot of pain, making it hard to move or flee. Using extreme caution, he slowly and painfully slipped out of the area unnoticed. He had to get back to Triaad and report that Azgiel was done away with.
CHAPTER 6
Caden was walking through Bridget’s house to put Mags out back when his pocket started buzzing. He pulled out his cell phone and flipped the lid. “Hey, Robert. We secure?”
“Yes. What’d you need, Caden?” Robert’s voice was cordial, but he spoke quickly.
“I wanted to make sure I understood everything correctly-”
“Wasn’t the email clear enough?”
Caden’s eyebrow rose, unconcerned with Robert’s impatience. “You want us there in two days, so my men, excluding me, plus Burton’s team can go into Dead Time, right?”
“Do you want to go in?” Robert asked.
“You better believe it. I didn’t create the project to sit idly by while others use it.” Caden smoothed back his hair to calm down. He was letting his emotions get the better of him.
“That’s fine. I just thought you wouldn’t want to go in until all the bugs are worked out.” Robert expressed no emotion.
Bugs worked out? Ha. You already tested the thing on humans without me and behind my back! Once again, Caden let out a breath to calm down. He wasn’t sure why the whole thing was getting him so frustrated. “Well, that’s another thing. I’m not sure if the equipment is safe to send anyone in yet. We need to do further testing. As it stands, I’d be worried the material wouldn’t hold and could hurt or kill someone.” He hoped his comment would pressure Robert to tell him the truth about the tests that had already been run.
“It’ll be fine. Allen’s already looked over the material and feels he’s found all the bugs.”
“Without me? You told me you weren’t going to work on it until you called me back in.” Caden swallowed. “Did Allen send someone in to test it? Is that how he examined it, to figure out if there were any bugs?” Caden wanted to see if Robert would lie to him or if he would do what he taught them, to be honest with one another.
“We did test it on some humans. In fact, it was Steven and Jason. And yes, you’re right. The material didn’t hold up as it should’ve and killed Jason. Steven is in poor condition.” Robert coughed on the other end, but it didn’t sound like a
sick cough, more like a nervous cough. “Allen figured out how to try the material on humans, and my advisors were overly excited to give it a try. So, we gave it a try. We figured we were going to call you up for the success party, but I wanted you to get a good vacation.”
“You should’ve told me.” Caden knew he was pushing the limits by the way he was talking to Robert, but he was beginning to doubt Robert’s integrity. The email he had received in his personal office might actually hold some truth to it.
“You’ve been told now. If you want to be here when the Burton team goes in for their first one, I would advise that you get in today, because they’ve just arrived nice and early as always.” Caden was surprised; it was rare that Robert spoke to him like that. He had to be under a lot of stress; it was the only time he ever spoke to Caden harshly.
“I’ll let my team know. We’ll be in before the night is out.”
“Good. We’ll wait for you. You’ll be impressed with what we’ve done with this thing. I think you’ll like it.” He began sounding like the normal Robert.
“Great. I’ll see you tonight then.” Caden was still frustrated and knew he shouldn’t do any more chitchatting.
Caden closed his cell phone, his brow furrowing, then almost immediately flipped it back open and called Sally.
“Hey Caden?”
“Well, I have bad news for the guys,” Caden said. “The main office called and wants us to get there tonight because the Burton team got there early, and Robert wants to get going on the project.”
Sally chuckled. “The Burton team got there early, huh?”
Caden slammed a cupboard door. “His team seems to constantly be a thorn in my side. Could you call Matt and James for me?”
“I’ll give them a call as soon as I get off the phone with you.”
“Great, let them know they can go whenever it works best for them. We won’t worry about traveling together,” Caden said as he walked out of the kitchen.
“I’ll let them know. Oh, and Caden, please think about what I said earlier.”
“Not now, Sally,” Caden said, as he plopped on the couch. Mags sat on the floor by his feet. He flipped the phone shut and let out a deep sigh, letting his phone drop on the arm of the couch. His phone slipped off the edge and headed for the hardwood floor. Caden moved to catch it, but missed, and in the process, hit the end table knocking a picture off. The glass shattered as the frame landed.
When he noticed which picture it was, Caden sat frozen in place with his teeth clenched. Slowly he stood to survey the mess. The picture was face down, and broken glass was scattered around the frame. He carefully picked up the broken glass and threw them away.
With picture in hand, Caden sat back down. It was a picture of Bridget and him sitting on a log with the ocean crashing behind them. She was beautiful with her long, dark brown hair and dark eyes. The picture was taken years ago, back at Bridget’s mother’s house. They went there often. It was their favorite place to walk and be together. He could almost smell the peaceful scent of the ocean and hear the rhythmic sound of the waves lapping on the beach. If only they could take the time to go there now, it might cool things down between them, as it always seemed to in the past.
Caden focused on the jagged pieces of glass that encircled the picture. He picked at a piece; the glass made a horrible grinding noise as it pushed against the other broken shards. Mags let out a whine that broke his concentration.
“I don’t know what to think, Girl,” Caden said as he patted her head. She stared at him with a quizzical look, her head tilted sideways. “Maybe this picture says it all. Maybe Bridget and I are broken.”
Mags walked to the back door and let out another whine. Caden sighed, not wanting to get up, but he did as she wanted and let her out. Turning around, he noticed a picture of Bridget and him on the fridge. She had put it up last year and had drawn a heart around his face. She told Caden he was the love of her life and planned to be with him forever. I’m amazed that Bridget stuck by me these last eight years. She deserves better than this.
There were so many times that he had caused problems or fights, but Bridget never gave up on him. She stuck with him even during hard times. A sickness ran through his stomach as he realized how much he took her for granted—keeping secrets from her about his work, leaving for long stretches of time and not communicating much during the duration. The only thing she asked of him was for an agreement to marry her.
“I want to marry you. I just can’t…” Caden spoke to the picture and put his hand on it. Even mentioning the word marriage made his hands cold and clammy. Fear was preventing him from getting married. He thought about all the people he had killed or captured during his military years and his years of working at the SDS. None of them had even slightly scared him, yet he was afraid to commit to the person he loved the most and trusted with his life.
Caden balled his hand into a fist and threw a punch into the fridge door, knocking off pictures and magnets. What’s wrong with me? It’s my stupid father’s fault. I can’t allow myself to become like him. I couldn’t live with myself if I ever raised a hand to Bridget.
Flashes of his mom quivering in corners waiting for her husband to pound on her made Caden physically ill. His mom never seemed to see the destruction. “He’s a good man” was all she ever said.
Caden touched the picture with his finger and followed the heart design. He had shared his past with Bridget about his abusive father. She held him close and told him that he would never be that man. He had gone cold and distant when she said that because she didn’t really know him. But remembering her words now sent a sense of peace and calmness through his body.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, struggling to push the fear aside for a moment and let the idea of marrying her sink into his heart. He was used to fighting physically, but the inner turmoil was a more difficult battle. However, this time the fight felt different, he knew what he needed to do. For once, he could see clearly that he needed to take action and do something he internally had always wanted to do.
It’s time to ask you to marry me. Screw my father. Sweat dripped down his forehead. If he didn’t act now, it was only a matter of time before his fear would stop him. He looked at his watch. Three more hours before Bridget gets off work. Caden quickly made his way out of the house feeling his heart racing a mile a minute.
Fresh air rushed passed his ears as he slid across the hood of his car and got in. With his foot to the floor, he sped off down the road. Caden couldn’t get to his place fast enough. He needed to stay focused on the task.
The details of how Caden got into his condominium were a blur. He grabbed the silvery knobs of his closet doors and slid them open. The closet was filled with camping gear and boxes. He moved everything off the chest. Dust outlined where a box had sat, but Caden didn’t care. He grabbed the lid and tried to open the chest. No luck. He scratched his head.
He never locked the chest and didn’t even know where he kept the key. The last time he had been in the chest, he must have made the foolish mistake of locking it. He bit his lip thinking about all the different possibilities of where the key could be.
The key was probably in his box of trinkets and junk. Moving to the small wooden box on his dresser, he quickly searched through it. No luck. It had to be in the room somewhere. He searched around frantically, dumping things onto the floor and bed. Nothing. Using too much muscle, he loudly slammed the drawer shut. Okay, breathe buddy. It has to be here. A small clock on the wall ticked away as he glanced up at it. I still have time. I’ll just utilize this time to pack and brainstorm where it might be while I get ready.
Letting go of the drawer handle, Caden went to get his bags. He made short work of packing for the trip to the office. Tightness grew in his chest, as he still couldn’t figure out where the key could be hiding. Before he knew it, he was done packing and everything was loaded in the car.
Caden walked to the chest and looked at it for a moment. I’
m going to win this fight. Walking calmly, Caden entered the garage and got the crowbar. After going back in the room, he looked at the chest for a moment. Key or no key, you’re going to open.
Metal slammed into the crack underneath the lid of the chest. With a hard push, the lock broke and the wooden lid flew open. The ring was under a couple of books. As he picked up the black box, his anxiety mounted; his breathing increased and sweat began to build on his forehead. Being so focused on trying to get the ring, Caden had been distracted from the anxiety. Am I making a mistake?
Taking a deep breath and releasing it, Caden gripped the small box in his hand and stood up. No, I have to do this. At least this way we’ll be engaged; we can figure out the marriage part later.
Seeing the time on his watch, Caden realized he had to hurry if he was going to get back and be ready for Bridget. He jumped in the car and sped off. A million ideas raced through his head about how he wanted to ask Bridget to marry him. Somehow he thought it would be fun to involve Mags, maybe tying the ring to her collar. Even the old-fashioned ‘getting on one knee’ seemed like it could be heartfelt enough, since he didn’t have a tremendous amount of time to be more creative. Each idea helped him push back the fear that kept pushing its way to the forefront of his mind. He had to get this over with, and then maybe he would feel better.
In his rush, Caden hit the curb pulling into Bridget’s driveway, which left him rocking back and forth in his seat. He grabbed the ring and darted up the front lawn only to find the front door locked. I swear I didn’t lock this.
Confusion set in, but he needed to keep going so he shrugged it off and pulled his keys out. After entering, he set the ring on the counter and headed for the kitchen.