by Ryan Attard
But that all changed when I met Tenzin. Sure, he talked a lot about God and being kind, and I did feel that serenity he felt for a while, but he’d became much more to me. Tenzin was my surrogate father, one who actually loved me and nourished me into becoming a half-decent person. He had become the person I aspired to be, and if one day I grew up to be even half the man he was, I’d consider myself lucky.
I watched him like that, half dead as the god he dedicated his life to serving sucked off every last morsel of life he had. I watched as God prolonged his suffering, using one of the kindest and most loving people in this world as a battery.
And all this for vengeance against someone who was truly evil, someone I had brought into his life.
I was never one for belief, but at that very moment, as I watched Senju Kannon pummel Crowley, slowly killing both men at once—at that moment, I saw God.
And God was killing the man I grew to respect and even love. The man I considered my father.
Senju Kannon unleashed a barrage of hits, each of its arms swatting at Crowley. The Abjurer was on the verge of death, hanging by a thread, just like Tenzin. That’s when Kannon began gathering energy.
The arms disappeared into the god’s torso, charging up for one final attack. At that moment, Tenzin’s head turned to look at me. The phantasm mimicked his movements. His eyes met mine and he smiled, life and love returning to his expression. I felt a phantasmal hand wrap around my body—a shield.
Tenzin’s right arm blackened and withered away, and I understood. He sacrificed his own limb to conjure up one of Senju Kannon’s hands.
Only a deva can protect from another deva. By that same reasoning, only a god can protect against another god.
The last thing I saw was his smile, and for a second, I actually thought that everything would be all right.
Senju Kannon exploded.
From behind my shield, I saw a blinding light before everything went dark. I saw the pocket universe dying as it crumbled into bits, and I felt the energy that made this place so alive rapidly fading away. Kannon’s blast affected the magic running along the plane on a dimensional level, rupturing it.
The entire pocket universe folded on itself and the world ended.
I woke up in a dimly lit place, looking up at a familiar ceiling. I had stared at it so many nights when I couldn’t sleep. The warehouse hadn’t changed at all.
I stood and noticed two things. One, that the large, spray-painted symbols on the wall were gone.
The other was Tenzin lying next to me in a pool of blood. His arm was missing, leaving a dark patch at the stump on his shoulder.
“Tenzin.” My cry reverberated throughout the warehouse. The old man cracked his eyes open.
I knelt beside him and cradled his head. “Tenzin, please. Come on, get up.”
His remaining hand gripped mine with surprising strength. “No, Erik.” His voice was barely a whisper. “It is my time.”
I felt tears run down my cheek. Something was squeezing hard against my chest. “Don’t say that. You’re gonna be fine.”
Tenzin chuckled. “Yes, I will be. I will soon pass over to the other world, where I will truly be at peace.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he squeezed my hand again. “My rucksack, Erik. I have something to give you.”
I had gotten so used to following his orders that I found myself reaching over him. The ancient rucksack was right next to him. I hauled it over and placed his hand on it. He fumbled with a side pocket and extracted a small, rectangular piece of wood with a kanji character chiseled on one side. He pressed it into my hand.
“My mentor made this for me before I left on my journey,” he said. “It’s a lucky charm. I want you to have it.”
More tears splashed onto our hands and the charm between them.
“Erik,” Tenzin continued. “I will always be with you, always. Accept who you are, Erik, and see the wonderful man that I see in you. Never forget the lessons I have shared with you. Keep my memory alive by living by my creed. Be kind and benevolent. Love, and release yourself from hatred. Always be just. I have faith in you, Erik. I always did. You will become an excellent man, one I would have been proud to call my son.”
He burst into a fit of coughs and settled back down with a rasping breath. “It seems that my time has come. I have no regrets, Erik. I will leave everything to you. I love you.”
His smile never faded, not even after I felt his essence leave his body and realized that he was truly dead.
I don’t know how long I cried and screamed. I don’t know how many times I cursed God and the entire universe for his death. At one point, I snatched up my weapon and scoured the warehouse for Crowley. I would cut him to pieces. He will never rest in peace, not if I had anything to do with it.
Anger, sadness, frustration—they all flooded through me like a river. I felt the familiar power take effect again, encasing me in thin, black shadows.
I hated that power, too.
If it weren’t for that goddamned curse, Crowley would have never taken an interest in me and Tenzin wouldn’t have had to die. I screamed in sheer pain and the power responded, sending tendrils of destruction everywhere.
Then I realized that I might have damaged Tenzin’s body and rushed back to his side. I must have cried for hours, yet the darkness still clung to me. No matter, I didn’t care about it.
All that mattered was that Tenzin was dead.
The lucky charm was still in my hand. I wouldn’t have picked it up, had it not been for my enhanced sense: the faintest pulses of energy came from the wood, exactly like Tenzin’s, as if a part of him had been embedded inside the talisman.
“I will always be with you,” he had said.
Perhaps this was how. This little spark of power was his way of reminding me that he was always there with me. Within the talisman, I felt a connection to a different world, a small fraction of the pocket universe.
Senju Kannon had destroyed everything, but Tenzin had managed to save a little of it.
An inheritance, I thought. Tenzin had left me a legacy in his teachings and in his gift. The least I could do was honor his last request of me.
The shadows still clung to me. I dropped Djinn gently and caressed them with my free hand. They felt light and silky, like a warm pocket of air. It felt right, true and real. These shadows, this power I grew to fear and despise, were as much a part of me as the blood in my veins.
And so, I accepted it. I was cursed and I had this ability. It was a part of me and I would live with it for the rest of my life.
Strangely enough, I was okay with that. The tightening around my head and chest loosened. The last time I felt this free was years ago, before the fight with the phoenix, before all of this crap started.
I felt light and free—I felt at peace.
I understood what I had to do. I flipped the talisman over and placed my right index finger on it, channeling my magic. The shadows converged into my finger and disappeared. I felt the familiar agony but it didn’t cripple me like before. I felt pain, but pushed it at the back of my head like an afterthought and focused on my spell.
It was a small and simple act of magic, but I poured my heart and soul into it. When I removed my finger, a different kanji was burned intricately into the wooden talisman. It was the first word Tenzin had ever taught me, and I felt it described his very essence.
Serenity.
I pocketed the talisman and bent over. My lips touched Tenzin’s forehead, and I muttered a prayer, the same one he muttered over me before I ran away to distract the nue.
“For good luck,” he had said.
“For good luck,” I whispered.
I picked up Djinn and placed the tip on his chest. Tears welled up again and a lump formed in my throat. But I steeled myself. Energy flowed from me into the body, setting it ablaze. I turned to walk away, leaving behind Tenzin and the warehouse, but not the memories.
I would never forget this. I had to deal with my demons, I had
to let go of my hatred, and I saw only one way to do that. Eliminate the source—I had to find Crowley and finish him off, once and for all. Not just for me, but also for Tenzin, Gil, Mom, and every other life he had ruined.
I channeled magic as I walked out of the warehouse, setting it on fire as well. By the time I walked into town it was a raging bonfire. There would probably be some news story tomorrow about a gas leak or something.
But they would never find Tenzin. I made sure of that.
I had to erase every trace of our life together in that warehouse. And now, I had to erase the person who was responsible for forcing me to abandon my home and my loved ones twice in a row.
Chapter 40
I don’t know how long it took me to go from our warehouse, cross the whole town, and end up back in Trinity Forest.
I walked with purpose, like a man on a mission—I felt like the Terminator. I briefly recall the sun going down and then back up again. I just kept on walking—no breaks, no stops. Just marched straight into Trinity Forest without so much as a pee break. I felt something guiding me, giving me the strength and force of will to never stop. Maybe it was Tenzin.
I like to think so.
My power took effect, feeding off sheer anger and determination. Don’t abuse it, said the little voice of reason inside my head.
I told it to shut up.
I’ll worry about that later, after I had dealt with Crowley.
Maybe his power naturally warded him off against my senses, or maybe the little weasel was good at hiding, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. It was clear to me that he would run and hide, far beyond my reach.
There wasn’t much I could do without a proper tracking spell. Not that I could do one without it exploding or sending me into a coma. So instead of playing chicken, I went to someone I knew for sure would have Crowley’s phone number.
The forest felt like home, its energies giving me a sense of comfort and familiarity. This was my surrogate home.
I felt the raw energy of the forest interact with my own. My body trailed darkness and shadows leaked from me. I felt the bond between man and nature strengthen, and I could sense everything that went on in that gigantic patch of land—how many campers were there, the couple of park rangers sitting in a lodge about two kilometers north, one of them smoking a cigarette, and the curious ant who bumped his antennae against my sneaker.
Smack in the middle of the forest, I felt a large concentration of magic. A bizarre, kaleidoscope of agony, greed, lust and despair, all having been accumulated throughout the centuries. It was the hub of the most horrific practice of magic I had ever felt. I lived in it for so long and never once noticed the tragedy that went on in there.
I had found the Ashendale mansion.
I could have just walked up and asked Gil to give me Crowley’s information. It would have been nice to see her again after all this time, the only family I had left in the world.
Now you can understand my heartbreak when I got within range of the mansion and felt that darkness: the same darkness I always felt when it was Dad who ran the show. I honestly thought Gil would purify this place, or change it, or even just burn it to the ground and start anew.
But she didn’t. All she did was take the throne. The darkness and horror emanating from the mansion was the same as always. Which meant that the family business hadn’t changed. Gil had become a proper Warlock, meaning she knew every dark little secret our family had in the closet, including Crowley.
I couldn’t just go up the front door and ask her to rat out a potential ally.
She changed Erik. Just like you did.
Whatever sadness, rage and heartbreak I felt served only to fuel my powers. I sank deeper into the void until I felt nothing at all.
Tenzin’s death was on the forefront. Gil, Mephisto, the mansion—they would all have to wait.
All that mattered now was killing Crowley.
The mansion was not exactly as I had left it.
For one thing, the walls were back in place.
For another, the whole damn thing looked like a fortress. And I don’t mean like Fort Knox: I am talking about a giant, twenty-foot wall erected around the mansion. A large, black gate with symbols etched all over it was on one side. Cameras studded the fortress wall, giving a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view.
A soldier wizard stood beneath each camera, effectively surrounding the mansion. They had visors on, obscuring their features, and were dressed in black overalls. They wore bulletproof vests with dark gray camouflage designs. Their pockets were, no doubt, full of materials for spells. I was more worried about the automatic rifles they slung around their shoulders.
I let out a low breath. They couldn’t see or hear me. I was hidden in the shrubbery about a hundred meters from the house, and I saw everything clearly, despite the darkness of the night.
Whoever was in charge of security took their job way too seriously. People here went from paranoid to zombie apocalypse. It would take an army to bring them down, or a small horde of demons. If I had been faced with this situation before meeting Tenzin, I would have backed away.
But not today.
I had fought off a phoenix and lost my magic, fought a baku and lost my sanity, a super Warlock and lost my father, and a nue who just wanted to hunt me down.
So, a couple of jokers with machine guns wasn’t exactly imposing. I faced nightmares that had killed me, and resurrected myself with powers beyond my imagination.
So, if I, the guy who’s supposed to be their boss in the first place, wanted to walk up to the front door, there was exactly nothing they could do about it.
However, that didn’t mean I was going to dive in headfirst. I had to play this smart.
My energy superheated Djinn until the blade was glowing. I placed it between dried twigs and leaves. They began smoking, and the faintest of embers appeared. A shadowy tendril caressed the ember, coercing it into a small flame. It ate more and more leaves.
As the fire grew, I took off. The fire fed on matter and magic, growing more furious. The first soldier abandoned his station to check it out. From my hideout, I saw more and more soldiers scrambling toward the flames.
I smiled. I was wrong to refer to them as soldiers—they were mercenaries, trained to deal with monsters and magic. Throw in a natural disaster like a forest fire and they scatter like ants.
I mentally chided Gil—that’s what you get when you swap quality for quantity.
I watched the cameras shift to the fire and bolted from my hiding spot. A pincer attack—light a fire on one end of the enemy base and attack from the other. Once the forces were divided, the chances of victory increased. Tenzin had taught me that. Something about a swordsman named Musashi and a book he wrote.
As I ran, I unleashed a streak of energy at the surprised guards. They dove for cover, and I followed up with another blast. Both attacks slammed into the concrete wall, leaving a deep groove. The guards opened fire and sprayed hot lead at me. Shadows converged around me, and I extended my left arm.
The bullets embedded themselves in the shadows and stopped, having been stripped of all kinetic energy. They fell uselessly on the ground. I diverted all that power into my sword and stabbed forwards. A blast of air rippled towards the wall and blasted a giant, gaping hole in it.
“Level five threat,” spoke one of the soldiers into an earpiece. “Switching to suppressing fire.”
I heard a loud whirring noise coming from the camera posts. A turret emerged from behind each cameras and pointed at me.
“Oh, crap.”
Turrets went off, their barrels rotating faster than a chopper’s rotors. Large-caliber bullets shot towards me. I didn’t try to block those. Instead, I focused on my legs and ran. The turrets followed my path, shooting bullets a hair’s breadth away. Guards who weren’t fast enough got shredded. As I ran around the fortress wall at a higher speed, the turrets tore into each other as they kept on shooting.
“All units: ignore the fo
rest fire. Converge all attention on target,” screamed the leader into his earpiece. “Target appears to be a boy in black.”
I ran up to him as he aimed his weapon at me. I whipped Djinn across, cutting his gun and a part of his hand. Another slash opened a gash from hip to shoulder, across his chest. The bulletproof vest was less than useless.
“Crowley!” I screamed at the direction of the mansion.
“Fire, fire!” cried a soldier.
A group of them put on weird gauntlets and flipped a switch on each device. They held their palms toward me and I heard a click. Fire spat from the gauntlets like miniature flamethrowers. Whips of magically enhanced flame shot at me, jerking from side to side. With my limited mobility, I had no choice but to take the hit. Luckily, I was still encased in shadows and only felt a fraction of the damage.
“My turn,” I snarled as I shot a streak of energy at them. The fire group went flying.
Two new guards leapt in front of me. Their knuckledusters, one on each hand, were plated in platinum, contrasting with their dark uniforms. I lunged at one. He dodged, and the other punched my side. He might as well have hit me with a truck. Ribs and lungs were crushed, leaving me breathless while my healing repaired the damage. The second guy punched my chest, throwing me backwards. Like ninjas, they flipped forwards. One of them punched me in the head as the other spun and kicked low. My legs flew out from under me and I hit the ground hard. In sync, they moved in for the kill.
They suddenly stopped, rigid. Spikes of shadowy material shot from my body and into theirs.
That hadn’t been a conscious decision on my part. I guessed my power had self-defense mechanisms built into it.
Oh well, they did try to kill me first.