by Jason Wilcox
CHAPTER 22
Two dark souls stood at the bottom of a long hill where the city began. Azgiel lying in the deep grass watched them closely. He was surprised to find any of the creatures out in the hot afternoon sun. Both the dark souls had been spotted by Kaz. They had been difficult to see, hidden in the shadows of a large fallen tree that landed on a small house.
“If they see you or even catch wind of you,” Azgiel began, “they’re going to run.”
“What’s your plan?” Kaz said as he hunched behind a large boulder. The rest of the demons stood back in the trees, hidden from view.
“Well.” Azgiel looked at the dark souls and then at the demons. “We don’t want to lose them. So, how about I go down? They’re not going to be running from me.” He crawled a little closer to get a better look. “Once I finish having a friendly discussion, you can join us.”
“Sir?” Kaz turned and sat in the green grass looking over at Azgiel. “I think its best we come down with you in case something goes wrong. There are more dark souls that we can grab. If we don’t get these, it’s okay.”
With a chuckle, Azgiel stood up. “Stay here, it will be over in a moment.” Kaz fluttered his wings and gave a low grumble but stayed put as Azgiel made his way down the hill.
One of the dark souls shifted in place as he saw Azgiel. Pretending not to notice them, Azgiel kept moving forward without missing a step. A light breeze blew through the long grass, fluttering the white shirt and pants Maselda made for him.
He couldn’t help but smile as he stepped down onto the old road with weeds growing out of the cracks. The dark souls took the bait and went into shadow form. Any moment they would be on him. He bent down and picked a vibrant blue wild flower growing in the gravel. The fragrance was intoxicating but was quickly washed out with a pungent smell as the flower crumpled. Azgiel could hear the creature breathing.
Looking straight ahead, Azgiel knew the creatures were there but couldn’t see either of them. A black figure immediately appeared centimeters from his nose and let out a horrific scream. Azgiel smiled and the scream stopped. The dark soul closed his mouth and just stared at Azgiel.
Moving quickly, Azgiel grabbed him by the neck and squeezed using the hand that didn’t hold the flower. The other dark soul materialized about five feet away. Screaming, he dove at Azgiel, but came to a dead stop as Kaz quickly landed and slammed his sword into him, cutting him in two. The dark soul melted away, leaving black rubbery bones.
The dark soul in Azgiel’s hand screamed and clawed at Azgiel’s arm. Becoming tired of the noise, he tightened his grip, cutting off the screaming. Fighting for life, the dark soul fought harder, kicking at Azgiel.
“Enough or I’ll kill you!”
Going limp, the dark soul stopped fighting. He wheezed as he breathed with Azgiel still holding him tightly. The other demons that came with Kaz circled with their swords out.
“When I let go, I expect you to stand up slowly and stay calm.” Azgiel began letting up on his grip. “But if you try to run or attack, you’ll end up like your buddy.” The dark soul looked over, through the demons legs to see bones lying on the road. He looked back at Azgiel and nodded. Azgiel smiled and let go.
Moving cautiously, the dark soul slowly stood up. “Who are you?” He looked around at the demons. “What are you?” he hissed.
Many of the demons began laughing. Azgiel raised a hand and everyone silenced.
“Take us to Hermue,” his words were stern, but his actions weren’t. Azgiel lifted the flower and sniffed it one more time before he opened his hand and watched it float upwards into the air. The petals became whole and crisp once again. A glass casing formed around it and the glass-encased flower fell back to his hand. He placed it in a small pocket on his arm. It would be something to take home to his wife.
“Who are you?” The dark soul asked again, sounding more unsure than he had the last time.
“My name is Azgiel. Now take me to Hermue, or we’ll find ourselves another dark soul.”
“He might kill me if I do that.” The dark looked around at the demons and Azgiel.
Lifting a finger in the air, Azgiel smiled. “You fear the wrong person.” Stiffness ran through Azgiel’s eyes as they became black, followed by his skin growing paler. “Allow me to educate you.” He opened his hand and quickly closed it. The asphalt below him came up and smashed the dark soul from every side, gripping him like a giant hand. Some of the demons’ swords were pulled out of their hands and were jabbed into the rock shell. All that was left sticking out was the dark soul’s head.
“Now,” Azgiel began. “If you decide to go into shadow form and through your new prison, those swords will slice through you and kill you.” He tightened his fist and the asphalt gripped the dark soul tighter. A couple of small cracks at the bottom of the enclosure dripped black blood. “Are you ready to take us to Hermue, or shall we kill you now?”
The dark soul shook his head. “I’ll…take you…don’t kill me.”
“No tricks?” Azgiel tapped the solid surface of the asphalt that held the dark soul.
The dark soul shook his head again.
Tapping the asphalt one more time, Azgiel pulled back and watched the enclosure fall to the ground in a pile. “Lead the way.” He held a hand out for the dark soul. The demons picked up their swords and followed.
They traveled for many hours, and everywhere they went, houses, buildings, and roads were vacant and falling apart. Azgiel was surprised by what he saw. The last time he had been there, people had been in homes and the buildings kept up.
Most impressive was the wall that the dark soul took them to. Through the whole journey, the dark soul had taken them through back streets and roads. Azgiel assumed he was trying to stay out of sight. At the wall, there was no hiding. Screams filled the air. Their guide let out a strange gargled scream and dark souls materialized about them. Humans with bizarre armor and a lens over one eye came from behind buildings.
One man stepped forward and approached the dark soul that led them there. He looked the dark soul up and down. The dark soul, surprisingly, cowered and turned away. The man then looked at Azgiel and the demons. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“We’re here to see Hermue,” Azgiel answered stepping forward.
The man looked around at the large multitude of dark souls and humans that circled them. Finally, he looked back at Azgiel. “And if we just kill you?”
Azgiel couldn’t help but smile. “By all means, if you want a fight, we can give it to you.”
The man began to lift his hand, but Kaz stepped forward and quickly spoke, “Tell Hermue, Azgiel is here to see him.”
“I’ve never seen anything like you before.” The man lowered his hand. “Are you some type of dark soul?”
Kaz gave a grunt of disgust. “Not in the slightest. Now go tell Hermue Azgiel is here to see him.” His request wasn’t as cordial as the last.
The man began chuckling. “Your request is done. A dark soul should be giving him the message soon. They’re our errand boys.” Some of the men chuckled again.
Yawning, Azgiel rolled his eyes. He wished Kaz hadn’t stepped in. Instead of listening to the man’s ridiculous arrogance, they could be fighting. “How much longer?” He made sure to emphasize that he was bored with the conversation.
“Soon,” the man’s tone and body language changed. He was even colder. The smug smile left his face, and he became serious. An awkward silence filled the area. For a couple of minutes no one moved.
Finally, a dark soul appeared next to the human and whispered in his ear. The man furrowed his brow as he spoke, “Right this way.” He waved for them to follow.
They walked through a large gate, and even more dark souls and humans gathered around. Azgiel knew Hermue was trying to scare them. The humans pulled swords and guns.
The farther they went through the city, the more the crowd grew. Some of the dark souls would scream as they joined the group and w
ould hiss “Demons” to the rest of the crowd. Azgiel was impressed with all that Hermue had done. He had quite an army and city.
A nuclear power plant came into view. When they arrived, a large man with old rusty armor stood at the entrance. “Only Azgiel can pass.”
Kaz stepped forward. “Azgiel doesn’t go in without us,” he snorted and twitched his fingers, ready to draw his sword.
“Hermue’s orders were for Azgiel.” As the man spoke, dark souls in the background screamed and whispering could be heard going through the crowd. Tension was high, and Azgiel was amused by it all.
“Then tell Hermue, he can come out here,” Kaz ordered.
With a nod, a dark soul that had been huddled by the man scurried off towards the tower. Moments later a tall, ugly human with horns came out with the dark soul in front. Behind him and to the sides were multiple human guards, each carrying guns and other weapons.
“Is that Hermue?” Azgiel whispered to Kaz.
“I’m not sure.”
The group slowly made their way down, as the guards lined the fence. The large ugly man with horns stepped up to the gate with two of the bigger guards next to him.
“Kaz, owd frend, good ta see you.” His large yellow eyes and torn skin were unpleasant to look at. “Where Azgiel?”
“I’m here,” Azgiel spoke up. “And you’re Hermue, I presume?”
Hermue looked Azgiel up and down. “Yess Hermue, bu you no Azgiel.” He lifted a hand and pinched two fingers together. “You too small.”
Azgiel chuckled. “And you’re too human.” He kept an eye on those around him. Things were going too well, and Hermue was being too nice.
Moving closer, Hermue looked down his pale nose at Azgiel. “I wad toad you dead, bery sad you not.”
Tired of the chitchat, Azgiel wanted to get down to business. “There is a war brewing, Hermue. I know we’ve had our differences, but I want you to join me. In return I’ll give you this entire planet and help you conquer it.”
First Hermue smiled, and then he broke into laughter. “King Azgiel, beggen me.” He laughed even harder. “Neva I thaw day come.” Others began chuckling as well, but it was obviously forced laughter. “I not need you halp. You ecsbianet Contie.”
Azgiel still understood the ancient language, and couldn’t believe Hermue was still telling him he defiled demons.
“Contie join me. No fall-o Azgiel, he ecsbianet.” Hermue motioned for the demons to follow him.
Enough was enough, Azgiel wasn’t going to stand by while Hermue tried to get demons to turn against him. “ENOUGH!” Azgiel lifted a hand, and Hermue was knocked backwards. Guards quickly drew guns and shot at Azgiel, but the strange bullets dissolved in midair before they reached him.
Dark souls screamed and ran in for the attack. The first one was sliced in half by one of the demons in the back. Azgiel hit the ground with his palms, and a strong blast knocked everything fifteen feet back except for the demons, which kicked up a large dust cloud. As the dust pushed past those on the ground, Azgiel could see some of the fence becoming tangled with the guards that stood behind it.
Even though they were knocked back, Azgiel grew concerned. If the fight became too big, there would be the chance of losing demons, and he couldn’t afford to lose any of them. He questioned whether he should run or fight. But Hermue really wasn’t his worry, it was Triaad, and wasting his efforts here would be frivolous.
Dark souls were the first to get up and were hissing at the demons and Azgiel. Hermue was right behind them, quickly trying to get to his feet.
“I didn’t come to fight you,” Azgiel shouted, even though it wasn’t true. He just needed to wait until after he killed Triaad, then he would come back to slaughter them. “I came to make you an offer, but since you don’t like it, maybe you’ll like a different one.”
“No offer,” Hermue said, looking at Azgiel. He rubbed his right horn with his hand.
Not knowing what Hermue said, Azgiel decided he would pretend he never heard anything. “I’m willing to offer you this land as long as you leave us alone in ours. We will honor and acknowledge your right to rule this area. You just have to promise us the same respect.”
Some of the dark souls screamed, and one of them broke from the others and ran at them. The demons readied themselves with swords in hand.
“Stop!” Hermue yelled. The dark souls stopped screaming, and the charging one returned to the others. “Make…” Hermue began but rubbed his chin as he tried to think of the next word. “Make clebro.”
It was nice hearing someone use the ancient language, which at one point had been dominant on Azgiel’s planet. “Yes Hermue, we would make an alliance,” the words were hard to speak. Even though it was a lie, Azgiel still hated the demon.
“Yes, we al..lie..ance,” Hermue’s tone was lackluster, like he had to force the word to come out. But it was good enough, Azgiel just wanted to get out of the mess he had dragged his demons into. It had been stupid to think Hermue was going to join them. He should’ve known that the demon in the human’s body was too idealistic. Even back when Azgiel had a kingdom, Hermue fought Azgiel though he had no chance of winning, only fighting for his idealistic principals, thinking Azgiel had been corrupting the demons.
Both sides started to lower their weapons; however, everyone was still on edge because neither trusted the other. They stood waiting for their leaders to give orders.
“An alliance it is,” Azgiel called out. Hermue smiled a creepy smile that made the splits in his skin show prominently. He stepped forward and held out a hand but stayed close to his human guards.
Not trusting Hermue, Azgiel hesitated to walk to him. But there weren’t many options, and he wanted to get going. With a huff, he went to step forward, but Kaz grabbed his shoulder.
“Don’t do it sir,” Kaz whispered in his deep voice. “He can’t be trusted.”
Placing a hand on the demon’s, Azgiel whispered back. “Not to worry old friend.” With that, Kaz let go and Azgiel made his way towards Hermue. No one moved, not even the guards closest to him. Feeling more confident, Azgiel picked up his pace, so he could get out of there. He threw his hand out and took Hermue’s. Whispering ignited through the crowd like wildfire.
“We have an alliance now,” Azgiel said, hoping that would satisfy the demon.
“Where you sword?” Hermue chuckled looking to Azgiel’s shoulder for the sword handle that he typically had worn as a king.
“Right here.” Azgiel pointed down at his side, but kept his hand away from the blade, making sure he didn’t give the wrong impression.
“No. Azgiel sword. Where you sword?” Hermue poked Azgiel as he spoke.
Heat flooded Azgiel’s cheeks. He knew what Hermue was referring to, but he needed to keep his cool.
“Where powafull Azgiel sword?” Hermue chuckled. “Azgiel not so powafull, with no sword.”
Azgiel glared at Hermue. “I’m plenty powerful. Would you like to find out how powerful?”
Shaking his head, Hermue lightly chuckled. “No…no…no. We allies.” He smiled his creepy smile again, his skin splitting in multiple locations. “I keep eye out for you sword.”
The longer they talked, the louder the whispering grew. Azgiel wasn’t sure what Hermue was getting at, but he was ready to get out of there. “Fine, you do that.” Without another word, he turned and walked back to his demons. “Let’s go. I don’t want to spend another minute here,” he whispered to Kaz. “Let’s make sure we keep an eye on what Hermue’s doing from now on.”
CHAPTER 23
James petted Mags as Caden walked up. “I heard you sent for me.” As Caden spoke, Mags lost interest in James and ran full speed at Caden, diving at him. He patted her head and pulled her in close. It was an awkward moment as James snapped his fingers for her to come back, but she ignored him.
“By the way, where did you find her?” Caden asked while playing with her floppy yellow ears.
“At Bridget’s mother’s home.
She was on the porch. Didn’t look like she had been taken care of for some time when I found her.” James walked over and patted Mags on the back.
Caden felt horrible. So much happened the night of Bridget’s death, he never had the chance to find Mags.
“I found Elizabeth’s body there as well. It wasn’t pretty, the condition it was in, but we gave her a proper burial.”
“Wait. What about Bridget?” he shifted his weight as he asked. Tagen fortunately stayed quietly in the back. It wasn’t time for one of his remarks.
“What about Bridget?” James stopped patting the dog and gave a confused look.
“She should’ve been there too,” Caden’s voice trailed off. Is she still alive? Did I actually see her that night in the dark soul’s cave? He could still remember the glowing white figure at the doorway, surrounded by the darkness.
“I’m sorry Caden, there were blood stains everywhere. An animal must’ve dragged her off. Elizabeth was chewed up as well.”
Caden tightened his jaw and took a deep breath to try to hold back his rage. So many emotions came flooding back. He knew he needed to change the topic before his emotions overcame him. Either way, James was probably right, she’s gone and he needed to face the facts and move on. “So, what did you call me down here for?”
“I called you down, because I set up a meeting with the General.” James pulled a treat out of his pocket and fed it to Mags, who quickly gobbled it up. “I think we need to talk to him again about your plan after what happened.”
“Do you think he’ll listen this time?” If he wasn’t going to listen, Caden didn’t want to talk to him again.
“It’s worth a try,” James said as he snapped and pointed for Mags to go out the back door that led to a fenced grassy area. The setting sun gave everything an orange look. “I’ll also be supporting you this time.”
It was good to hear James backing him up again, it had been a while since they had worked together. “When are we going?”
“Now, if you’re ready.” He looked past Caden. “And you’ll be invited in this time Tagen. We feel you’ve proven yourself, but you’re still expected to stay with Caden.”