by Jack Crosby
Cassandra nodded too. “Other than having questions about the man who saved me, I’m fine.”
The beacon was in my pocket, right where I put it before we were sent back. “Sorry guys. I just couldn’t let him kill the two of you.”
Not sure if they’d be mad at me, Cas gave me a man hug. “I appreciate that buddy. Cassandra might’ve been willing to die for Merlin’s honor but not me. Especially if what he told us is true.”
The soft voice beside me sounded in pain. “Merlin told us that Mordred, or Mephisto, poisoned the roundtable and left the realm helpless to be destroyed by Morgan. If that’s not the truth, then I question everything, including this crusade we’re on.”
It pained me to see Cassandra’s trust in her master fractured. However, we had an innocent life to save and I was pretty sure this witch Morgan was still out to do terrible things to the world. “Merlin may have screwed up years ago, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t save Darina and stop Jacoby.”
“Oz is right sis, we can deal with Merlin later. Let’s go save our friend’s wife.”
I looked east, the way Mephisto told us to go instead of entering the booby trapped house. “Come on, he couldn’t have gotten far.”
Chapter 20 – A Tale of Two Brothers
We tracked Jacoby east, hoping to pick up a sign or trace of him. The problem became evident, as a cat, he was an excellent hunter, which meant he probably knew how to keep away from us. Or worse. “Guys, not to be the lame ass human over here, but what if he’s tracking us?”
Cas had a decent point. I looked around, but only saw drunks and lights. “I mean I guess he could get one over on us.”
“Not to make matters worse, so take this with a grain of salt.” Not her too. “For a place that has high concentrations of demons, I haven’t detected any since we began moving this way.”
Their paranoia was getting the best of me. “Come on now, this all doesn’t mean a thing.” I stormed ahead forward, leaving the busy part of the island and into a more subdued area. The crowd of people seemed to just stop and soon we were all alone. “I think you’re all giving him-”
Something large tackled me from above. As I rolled around on the ground, I felt a massive paw swipe at my side, sending me into the Twins like a bowling ball. Cas jumped out of the way, but Cassandra (in impractical heels for such a mission) was caught up in the mess and tumbled on to the street with me. As we laid there for a moment, I heard a gun cock.
“Listen here kitty-cat; I will shoot the shit out of you.”
My brother didn’t take the threat very seriously. “The Zane Twins, you would’ve thought my first defeat of you would’ve been sufficient. You’re a stubborn as my mistress claims.”
I helped Cassandra up and saw Jacoby was back in his human state. “You’re ever the fool aren’t you? First Sabrina and now Morgan; can’t you think for yourself?”
He didn’t take the bait. “Some were destined for spotlight while other are destined to serve. I know my role brother, do you know yours?”
Asunder lit up the night. “I do. My role is to stop you and end this madness. I’m sorry it comes to this Jacoby.”
“It’s a pity your last beating didn’t dissuade you further.” He brought his broadsword to attention. “It seems another lesson is needed.”
Cas fired off two shots at him, but the Nyx dodged them easily. As he rushed forward, Cassandra attempted to light him up with some wicked fire spells. Again, Jacoby’s reflexes allowed the black knight to avoid any damage.
As he closed in, Asunder moved in my hands to intercept the blow. His physical strength had always been greater than mine, but even still the blow was heavy. I used my agility to block it and then retreat to a better position. From here I swept my leg out, trying to trip him up. He jumped over it and followed up with a stabbing motion of his own. I rolled back, away from the sword as it busted the concrete.
He halted the attack. “Your skills with a blade have improved brother.”
Knowing defense was paramount, I added my wings to the mix. “Face it, when it comes to movements with a weapon, I am better than you.”
He hadn’t transformed into the lion-beast yet. “Fights aren’t won on skill in one area. As you have inherited a little of your mother and a bit of our father, I am completely my mother’s child.” His eyes went yellow. “Your fractions of power are no match for my total mastery.”
I couldn’t let him get in my head. “You talk too much.” I spun at him with Asunder leading the way. My wings added some extra leverage to the attack movement and he wasn’t prepared. He avoided the brunt of the attack, but enough of the blade caught him in the arm for Jacoby to unleash a primal roar.
A fireball hit him in the back. Cassandra wasn’t done. As Cas fired another round from his gun, the witch supercharged it with a purple attack spell and the bullet raced towards my brother. He brought his sword up to block the blast, but the impact sent him off into the night. I’d never seen anything like that. “Whoa.”
The Zanes smiled. “Me and Cassandra have been practicing that little magic trick for a while. Glad it worked.”
Knowing we needed him to get the location of Darina, “C’mon, let’s go find him.”
The three of us walked in the direction the enchanted bullet had sent Jacoby, thinking he’d be down. It didn’t take long to realize that the bullet didn’t kill, injure, or maim him. Nope, it only pissed him off.
A very large lion walked out of the shadows. We’re talking like mythical large. His fur was no longer yellow, rather a snow white color. We were in deep trouble.
When Jacoby saw us, he unleashed a deep, angry roar. Everyone within twenty miles had to have heard it. Even though it was loud, the part that bothered me the most was the long teeth in his mouth. This lion would be able to do some serious damage quickly. I took this form as his total mastery of his Nyx powers.
His voice was rough, raw. “What can you do against me brother?!”
Cas shot him. The bullet bounced off his hide and harmlessly into the wall to our right. Jacoby didn’t even acknowledge the futile attack. I looked at my sword and connected with Asunder. “Yo mystical sword, you got any advice?”
“Yeah – run.”
When an ancient, sentient sword tells you to boogie, you do it. The three of us started backing up before breaking into an all-out spring. Jacoby laughed and gave us a few moment head start before the powerful lion began to take chase. We were in deep doo-doo.
As we turned into the alley, a large white paw nearly took Cas’s head off. He ducked at the right time and kept moving. Cassandra now and then would fire off a spell to try and slow Jacoby up, and it worked for a second or two. The problem was we were running with no place to go.
“We need to stay off the main street; we can’t risk innocent lives getting caught up!”
Cas fired aimlessly over his shoulder. “I’m more worried about my innocent life right now Oz!”
We turned down another alley with Jacoby right on our tails. Cassandra blasted a chuck of the old building we passed up and the pieces fell to the ground, causing the lion to recalculate his route. This bought us a bit but not much. Then it hit me. “We need to make it to the harbor. Trust me!”
The water was a decent distance, so there was no time for letting up. We kept running as fast as we could, providing distractions when we could. A few times one of us nearly got eaten by the mad beast, but luck was on our side. When we crossed out of another alley and on to Duval, we could see the blue waters of the ocean calling us. We picked up the pace for the last distance.
We were out in the open now. There wasn’t anything to slow down Jacoby. The water kept getting closer, but so did the lion. Realizing one of us should sacrifice themselves to save the others; I was getting ready to cut him off as best I could as we reached the beach. Cas hit the water first and dove in as far as he could. Cassandra was next. I picked my moment and was ready to make my stand when a flash of light encompassed Jacoby.
The lion stopped and he transformed back into a man. “Noooo!”
“Take your chance Oz!”
Asunder was right. His power had left him and he was vulnerable. I knew I’d never get a better moment than this. With Asunder, I dove at him. I needed him alive, just not in a position to hurt us anymore. I went low, completely willing to cut his legs off. He just seemed to have one last trick in his pocket. He grabbed an orb and smashed it, disappearing from me once again in a black mist.
My attack cut through the mist, not hitting anything. Realizing he was gone, I kicked the sand under me. “Damnit!”
In the water, Cassandra and Cas were okay. Both looked relieved that Jacoby was no longer here. Be that as it may, we’d failed again. Darina was still missing.
Chapter 21 – Time to Regroup
The sun rose on the safe house where we were staying. Cas was asleep in the corner while Cassandra was sitting with me on the back enclosed porch. We’d failed miserably and seeing just how powerful my brother was, I didn’t know what we should do going forward.
With some trepidation, “Not to add to our problems; tonight is the night he can harvest the pearl from Darina. If we don’t figure something out soon, all is lost here.”
That summed it up. Plus we had two friends inside who were seriously injured. Argus looked a bit better today, the bruising and swelling had gone down. As for Tyra, we really wouldn’t know until we woke her up. Who knows how traumatic it was for an angel to have their wings ripped off.
That was what we needed to do. With things in the mess they were, we needed Argus and Tyra. “I think it’s time to wake them up.”
“Are you sure?”
Yep my mind was made up. I got up and she followed me in. Cas was still out of it, so there was no need to bother him. I walked right over to the two of them and waited for Cassandra to join me. I knew this was going against her better judgement, as I’m sure she felt they needed more rest. Still she did it though; she reversed the sleeping spell and we waited.
Tyra was the first one to stir. “I feel as if I have been hit by a bus.”
I dropped down to her side. “Hey, how are you doing?”
“Oz? Is that truly you?”
It was good to see her eyes open. “Yep, I made it back. You couldn’t get rid of me that easily.” Cassandra wasn’t enjoying the nature of this conversation, but she remained quiet. “The important part is how you are feeling.”
She pushed herself up a bit on to the pillow. “Thank you Cassandra. You saved me much pain.”
The witch didn’t know how to react to the angel’s compliment. “I did what I could.”
I saw the two stumps that were sticking out of her back. They were wrapped up to hide the damage but I could imagine what had been done. I put my hand on hers. “This is my fault. If I hadn’t convinced you to come…”
“You expect me to be mad at you, yet I am not. I am a creature who makes her own decisions and coming back to this time period was one I made.” Her other hand found my face. “It is unfortunate what happened, alas this may be the Almighty punishing me for my choice.”
“That’s not fair to you. It was my choice that put you in a no-win situation.”
Her finger pressed against my lips. “Hush. I do not like to admit it, but seeing as how I am the oldest being in this room, I am plenty capable of making my own choices. Fear not, for an angel who loses his or her wings in battle will eventually get them back.”
It was hard to understand how she wasn’t mad at me. I couldn’t think on it anymore as our other patient began to rouse awake. “Damnit that guy punches hard.”
Argus’s grunts woke up an agitated Cas. “Would you people keep it the fuck done over there?”
“Dude, Argus and Tyra are awake.”
He ruffled his hair and let up. “I guess that’s a good reason to be talking.”
The pirate felt his face for a moment before speaking. “I remember it being puffier.”
“The swelling has gone done.” Cassandra checked out the rest of his injuries. “Your bones are mending nicely too, but I’m afraid you have a few more days of recovery.”
It was then he realized what happened to his wife. Where’s Darina? Has anyone found her?”
I took this one and told him what happened. He listened intently to my words as I told him about our encounter with the Sloth demon, to our trap with Mephisto, and finally the chase with the white lion. As the story was about to end, he realized we hadn’t been able to save her yet. “I thank you all for trying. Now as her husband, it is my turn to rescue her.”
Cassandra pushed him back on to the bed. “You foolish man! You go out in your condition and that beast will kill you.”
Tyra, whose hand was still in mine, squeezed it. “Did you say you came across Mephisto?”
“Do you know who he is?”
She swung her long legs around off the bed. “Yes, his name is not mentioned much, but those of us who have studied all the lore of the celestial history know of him. He is the Last Scion of Purgatory and one of the four higher beings.”
Even Argus stopped fighting with Cassandra long enough to listen to Tyra. She was very enlightening. “As we know, the Almighty, Lucifer, and Abaddon rule the three realms celestials have access to. There is a fourth, one where few have gone and no one has returned – Purgatory.”
“If no one comes back, how the fuck do people know about it?”
“Mr. Zane, would you please stop using that word? It is undignified.”
He rolled his eyes at her. “Whatever, just answer the question.”
She waved him off. “Mephisto has long ruled it, vigilantly watching over the realms, acting as a scribe of events. That is until he decided to start interfering in them. Long gone are the days of the neutral sage who’s only purpose is to document. Now we have a vengeful higher being on the loose. Not even the Four Horsemen have been called in to deal with him.”
I pulled out his beacon. “Well we dealt with him and we’re stuck with an agreement we made in exchange for our lives.” She went to take the beacon away but I pulled it back. “I got you into one mess, I’m not involving you in this one.”
“This is all fine and well. I just want my wife back.”
The Mephisto business definitely could wait. “We haven’t given up Captain. My step-mom would never forgive me if I didn’t go down fighting for Darina.”
He forced a smile with the mention of Roxanne. “Aye, she’d be pissed if either of us gave up.”
“Argus, are you familiar with her sister Meleena?”
He scoffed at the mention of her name. “That floozy? Yeah, I know of her. She’s got her heart in the right place, but she’s thick as mud.”
“Well she saved my life when Jacoby tossed me from the ship.”
He immediately took back his insult. “Well next time I see her, I’ll have to thank her.”
Cassandra looked at me funny. “You didn’t tell me a mermaid saved you.”
The details of my rescue didn’t need to be shared. “No one asked how I made it back. It’s almost as if no one cares about a guy around here.”
Well played Oz! They all went into full guilt trip mode, no longer talking about that vixen mermaid. With that swept nicely to the side, “The point is she knows me. She might be able to give us a little insight into how Jacoby can take the pearl from Darina’s heart tonight.”
The clock on the wall read just a few minutes passed eight. If we were going to put a plan together, we couldn’t waste time on semantics. Argus put his hands together. “Okay, Oz goes and talks to Darina’s sister. The rest of you, you’re with me. I know the island better than anyone and will scout it out.”
“Is it wise for Oz to go alone?” Tyra seemed worried, however there was no reason to be. “Shouldn’t someone go with him?”
Cassandra was about to volunteer when Argus put a halt on that. “Sorry witch, but I’m going to need back up. Tyra’s hurt and if she wants to g
o to the mermaid’s lair, at least she’ll be safe.”
Her brother mumbled something in the corner about wanting to meet a hot mermaid, but no one really paid much attention to him. Poor Cas.
I really didn’t want anyone to go with me. “I got this, Meleena and I are cool.”
“It has been decided. I shall accompany you and that is that.” Almighty she was stubborn. Plus, depending on what Meleena remembered from our time together, this could go south quick. Well, she wasn’t saying no.
Argus got himself up slowly, yet surely. “Alright Zane Twins, get ready. Oz, we’ll meet back here in two hours, got it?”
I saluted him. “Aye aye captain.” I don’t think he thought I was all that funny. That was okay. “C’mon Tyra, get ready. We don’t want to walk the plank for being late.” There we go; that got a smile from the salty old pirate.
The others left while Tyra took her time getting ready. I couldn’t blame them, I was getting antsy too. Finally, I popped my head in the bathroom to see what was happening. She was naked, looking at her back where her wings had been ripped out. “I’m hideous.”
“No you’re not. You’re perfect.” Again, no lies necessary. “Scars are just pages numbers on your life’s story.”
Still naked she walked over to me. “No one has ever been so sweet to me Oz. Angels, while a very caring group, and do not need much emotion. That is what makes me so different.”
I felt my face turning red again. “Different is good too. I was very different than the people in Philly where I grew up and in the Garden with the others.”
She walked over to me slowly. “It will not take long with this mermaid will it? Do you think we have time to do something special?”
My inner demon was practically panting at the thought of what she was offering. I felt my heart racing a million miles an hour. “What are you thinking about?”
She took my hand and placed it on her perfectly spherical breast. My fingers began to work her already hard nipple. “I have been thinking about this since the moment I saved you.”