Realm of Darkness

by May Sage

  Ralph nodded enthusiastically. “Right, sounds swell. And you?”

  How the fuck was he supposed to say it?

  “I’m heading down to the basement.”

  Ralph’s eyes widened. “No.”

  Gray had to roll his eyes. “That wasn’t a question. I have to see if she…if they’re okay. The enemies went upstairs, and the door leading to the basement isn’t obvious when you don’t know it’s there. There’s a good chance they’re alright.”

  “Dude, you can’t risk your life for a good chance. That’s pointblank the most idiotic idea you’ve ever had.”

  Maybe. Okay, definitely. But he still had to do it.

  That’s when something at the back of his mind – not the parasite, just some age-old instincts, the memory of the first time he’d heard of it – told him the reason behind everything he’d done and felt over the last week. He could be wrong, of course, but there was a chance – a pretty big chance – that Tria might be his, his mate.

  His kind didn’t automatically get attributed a mate. In fact, it was very rare, and generally linked to blood promises, spells, and machinations of someone with an agenda. His parents might never have been mated if his grandfather hadn’t played with their fate. Unlike shifters, vampires, humans, Gray’s race hadn’t been engineered to behave in a certain way. Angels were the initial race, the creatures who’d come first, and had shaped the rest of them. The most recent generations were of mixed blood, so they were subject to the whims of “fate.” But the blood running through Gray’s veins was old, and powerful. Fate should have had no claim on him.

  Still, now that he’d started to believe it, the idea just wouldn’t go away. Tria was his, his to protect.

  Wow, aren’t you a genius.

  Gray rarely engaged the parasite inside his head. Right now, he did.

  Am I wrong?

  No. It just took you a while to get it, that’s all. Let me grab some popcorn and watch as you figure out what you’ve really gotten yourself into.

  A long, high-pitched scream pulled him from the conversation with his nemesis. His hearing was nothing on Ralph’s, but it worked well enough to pick up what was happening.

  “We found her hiding in a broom closet, Master,” someone said, dragging a screaming woman through the lobby.

  The Master, presumably, laughed. “Clever woman.” His voice was distinctive; a deep baritone with a teasing edge. “You knew better than to fight against us, didn’t you?”

  “She was texting, sir. Giving information about our numbers, and asking for help.”

  “And pretty, too. Shame. I do hate having to waste such a gem. Perhaps I should keep you. How would you like to remain on your knees for the remainder of your days, pretty thing?”

  The woman spat, from the sound of it. When she opened her mouth, Gray recognized her voice. “I’d rather die,” Sheila growled.

  “Consider your wish granted.”

  Gray burst out of his hideout then, without a single thought for his vaguely sane plan, Remus and Ralph flanking him.

  As he entered the lobby and got his first look at his enemy, Gray was surprised. They were all around his age; late twenties, early thirties. They wore boring clothes, jeans and t-shirts. He didn’t think he would have stopped if he’d come across any of them on the street.

  He saw Sheila, held on her knees by a thick brute. Then they moved. Three of them leaped, and the next instant, they were on him; a pretty blonde punched Ralph so hard he crashed against the wall. Remus was fast and brutal, but a bulky bald guy had him in a headlock.

  Gray surprised himself. The tall, dark-haired guy who came at him didn’t land a blow. He evaded each hit, blocking them or countering them just in time. But after less than a minute, he felt like he’d sprinted all the way up a mountain, and he hadn’t even had the chance to try to attack once.

  What are they?

  Are we going to have to have that conversation again? If they’re freaking you out and kicking your ass, chances are they’re Scions. Just like you. Only, less spoiled by mommy and daddy, and better trained. Now, let me out, before that heathen kills our dog.

  In other circumstances, Gray might have resisted, but one glance at Remus, whimpering as the Scion choked him harder, and he let his defences down, knowing the parasite wouldn’t fuck him over, not on this.

  Three years ago, when he and his sister had found the dying pup, it was the parasite that had rushed to the surface and called him back, pulling him from the brink of death. One of the few good deeds the unstable part of him had ever done.

  The parasite said Gray’s clothes sucked, his house was boring, his car needed an upgrade, his partner was a dick; but when he talked of the pup, he said “our” dog. He’d never let anything happen to it.

  He could feel the moment the parasite took over. Gray was still there, and still vaguely in control, but he wasn’t the one who lifted his arm and blocked a knee to the face without a flinch. He certainly wasn’t the one who grabbed his attacker’s leg, pulled it to make him lose his balance, and effortlessly flipped him on his back, before twisting his neck with bare hands.

  They leaped to Remus’ aid, their left hand going through the back of the man who was strangling their dog, his movement so fast and hard it punched through the bones. His fist wrapped around the goon’s heart and pulled it right out of his chest. Gray didn’t know what he’d expected the parasite to do then, but it surprised him by going to Ralph’s aid. The woman had a sword in her hand, pushing it towards Ralph’s heart; his hands were the only thing stopping the blade, and he wasn’t going to last long. Gray’s parasite was fast. He jumped in the way, bumping Ralph aside, kicked the woman’s chest, and grabbed her sword as she stumbled back. He cut her head clean off before turning to the others.

  The one they called the Master was looking at him with some interest, holding his hand up to prevent his other men from attacking.

  He was tall – as tall as Gray – with flaming red hair and blue eyes. On the skinny side, with a pair of rectangular glasses, the man would have been welcome in most geeklands with open arms. Still, while his appearance wouldn’t have raised any alarm bells in a picture, everything about his presence said ‘dangerous’.

  “Well, if that wasn’t fascinating.”

  “Dude, I get it. You’re a redhead, so you have to be angry at the world. But can we fast-forward to the part where you let go of Shay?”

  The parasite was another level of cocky.

  The Master laughed. “And who might you be? I don’t have any intel about you.”

  Gray smiled. Of course he didn’t. All they knew about him in this world was that he was Gray, a magic-user of unknown descent. No one had seen him in action since he’d stopped using the parasite’s skills.

  “Let me return the question.”

  He was surprised when the Master tilted his head, and said, “Ajax, son of Apollo. My followers and I have decided we’ve had enough of taking the scraps humans throw at us, of following their laws, when we should rule the world.” Ah. Typical ‘evil lord shit’ right there.

  “I’m Graymark,” he responded, giving his real name for the first time since he’d entered this world. At least those guys wouldn’t be able to sense a lie, if that was part of their skill sets, and they wouldn’t find anything about him under that name.

  “Well, Graymark, a man of your talents would be welcome amongst us.”

  He had to laugh. “Thanks, but I’ll pass. Here’s an offer, though: get your goon to let go of Shay, let me check on my friends, and get out of here. I won’t attack you, and we don’t need to answer the question all of us are asking ourselves right now.” He smirked. “Which one of us is the master here?”

  The redheaded villain laughed like it was the best joke he’d heard all year. Then, he clicked his fingers, and Shay, Ralph, and Remus fell on the floor, lifeless.

  Scions

  Gray’s heart stopped beating as he tried unsuccessfully to find a pulse on Ralph.
>
  “So you really are one of us. Good. No one else matters; they’re so weak, fragile, and perishable. Even if everything went well in their lives, they’d be dead in eighty, a hundred years.”

  He crouched in front of Sheila’s corpse as he talked, cupping her face. “Shame. She really was a beauty.”

  “Don’t fucking touch her,” Gray yelled in a voice he didn’t recognize.

  Gray was boiling, every part of him ready to explode. He couldn’t move yet, he couldn’t walk away from Ralph. But as soon as he could, he was going to destroy every single piece of the bastard who’d killed his friends.

  Ajax was still laughing. “You cared. Aw.”

  “So did I, actually.”

  The redheaded monster spun on his heels, and Gray’s head turned to his left.

  He’d seen the trio who worked downstairs just the day before, yet it felt like he’d never set his eyes on them until this day. Not because they were wearing gear, rather than normal clothes, today. Not because Tria had shed the mask and the goggles. When he’d first seen them, he’d been confused and intrigued, unsure of what they were. They weren’t hiding it now. Their power radiated out of each and every one of their pores; he could actually see it. Tria emanated red and black mist; Jase, dark clouds; And Daphne’s blue eyes flashed like a beacon. There wasn’t a single drop of mortal blood in them, and they weren’t hiding it today.

  “Ah.” Ajax didn’t seem very fazed to see them; in fact, he was pleased. “I’m glad you’re here. Daphne, Jason, and the lovely Demetria. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m glad to see what they say about your face is true.” Tria smiled, without responding. “I trust you received my offer.”

  Tria smirked. “Consider it received, and rejected.”

  “Hm. Shame. The world is taking shape, cousins. I’m building a new order and when the light goes down on this one, you’re either with me, or against me.”

  Jason laughed. Then he stomped his foot, and the entire building trembled.

  Gray just had the time to put his hand over his head to reduce the force of the upcoming impact when he saw the ceiling go down, but it floated above him, like an invisible wall had been erected to protect him, as well as Ralph and Remus.

  His eyes hurt, and everything was a dark, dusty mess around him, until Tria appeared right in front of him.

  “Can you walk?”

  He coughed when he tried to talk, so he just nodded, before realizing she probably couldn’t see it.

  “Yeah,” he croaked.

  “Follow me. There’s no time.”

  On that note, she put her arms under Ralph’s back and knees, carrying him like he weighed nothing, before she sprinted out of there, running faster than a bullet, catching up with Daphne and Jason. Daphne was carrying Remus, and Jason, Sheila.

  Gray pushed his limbs to follow them, leaving the sane universe behind without a second thought.

  They arrived at a pleasant, inconspicuous brownstone in Beacon Hill; Tria waved her hand and the front door flew open, along with the door of the downstairs apartment.

  An old lady called from upstairs, “Is that you, Tria, dear?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Gibbs!” she shouted back.

  “Oh, I thought you came in earlier today.”

  “I did, Mrs. Gibbs. I had to run out.” Then she added, “I might be going out of town for a bit. Would you mind feeding that damn cat for me?”

  “Of course, sweetheart.”

  Then, they were in her place. The apartment felt lived in, cozy; Gray swept the room with his gaze and frowned, wondering why it seemed so impersonal.

  “We can’t stay,” Daphne said, gently placing Remus’ corpse on a rug and heading towards the window, looking out.

  “I know, but if we don’t take care of them now, I won’t be able to do anything about them.”

  Tria was gesturing towards the three corpses in her lounge.

  Gray frowned. There already wasn’t much to do about them. “They’re dead. I’ve checked.”

  She headed to the kitchen and drank water directly out of the sink, before coming back. “Yeah, but there’s dead and then there’s really dead.”

  She sat right on the floor next to Remus, holding her arms up, palms flat, towards the ceiling. Tria closed her eyes. When they opened again, the black had completely taken over, there was no trace of white left. The mist he’d seen around her grew thicker and a deeper shade of red. Then, it disappeared.

  Remus got to his feet. Ralph exhaled a long breath.

  “Holy shit! Let’s never do the dying thing again.”

  Gray watched the whole thing in shock. This was impossible. He’d just witnessed something that didn’t make one single blink of sense. He’d seen necromancy before, and it had involved blood sacrifice, bones, spells, chants, moonlight dances – the works. Besides, what people brought back wasn’t a person; it was a damned, tormented soul that could only exist, not live.

  Bringing Remus back the first time had completely changed him, although he hadn’t even been completely dead. But neither Ralph nor Remus was a zombie. Just as Ajax had killed them without any effort, Tria had brought them back to life.

  Like a god; the real kind, that shouldn’t exist in this world. Those who had initially created life, and could play with it as they saw fit.

  There were two kinds; the Angels and the Myths. The Angels, Gray knew everything about. Amongst the original twelve who’d created life, three had lived to see the last century, but they were all dead now; Lucifer, Michael, Gabriel. There was no doubt they could have done this, but no more.

  The Myths were another story. They’d arrived at the same time as the Original Angels; they’d come from the same place. But they had no interest in humans, in shifters, in anything mortal. They’d clashed with the twelve, so, instead of fighting amongst themselves to decide who’d rule this world, they’d decided to leave this dimension.

  Humans knew of them, of course; they’d lived with them, and rightfully feared them, until the day they’d abandoned the three mortal worlds. The Myths went by various names, but the most popular were Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and their descendants.

  Ajax hadn’t lied. He was a son of Apollo. Tria, and the rest of them, weren’t just Scions, they weren’t just children of immortals, they were the children of actual gods.

  Gray should have freaked out, but he didn’t. Part of him wasn’t surprised, or panicked. That’s when he realized something different about himself, something alarming. He hadn’t pushed the parasite back where he belonged, back inside the dark corners of his mind. He’d needed him to fight for him, then he’d needed him to carry on going, run, follow those three, who seemed to move at the speed of light. And now, he needed the parasite to keep it together.

  His family had told him a day would come when he would have to accept that part of himself, the monster who didn’t care what burned as long as he got his way. His parents and his sister had welcomed theirs, and they’d remained good people. But Gray’s monster was worse than theirs. Stronger. More indifferent and cruel. He’d seen him in action. He’d seen him destroy an entire city to get what he wanted. Could he trust it? Could he trust so much power in his hands?

  There’s no me and you. There’s no Gray and Mark. We’re Graymark Morgan. I’m you. And you’ll never belong with these people if you deny that.

  Thankfully, he didn’t have to acknowledge that yet, because his attention was demanded elsewhere.

  “Why isn’t she waking, Tria?” Jason knelt next to Shay’s immobile corpse, holding her.

  Tria bit her lip. “We took too much time. She’s gone.”

  “No.”

  “Not everyone’s the same. Ralph and the dog may have been a little stronger. Sheila has a lot of human blood. I can only flip the switch if their spirits haven’t crossed yet.”

  “Then, recall her,” he roared.

  Tria sighed. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

  “I’m no fool. I know exactly what I’m
asking, and you will do it for me, Demetria. I’ll owe you a favor.”

  The cousins held each other’s gaze, Jason’s blue eyes blazing, Tria’s dark ones analyzing everything about his.

  “She’ll be linked to me for the rest of her days. I die, she dies. And for as long as I live, she’ll never die. That means she’ll feel like her life is worthless unless she spends hers protecting mine. It might obliterate everything else she was.”

  “I know.”

  Tria sighed. Her hand went to the pretty, engraved pin holding her curly dark hair at the top of her head, and undid it. The pin changed into a short, shiny sword, and she used it to cut deep down her palm. Her blood dripped on Shay’s forehead and strange , ancient words Gray didn’t known came out of her mouth in a melodious chant.

  Unlike Ralph, there was no deep breath when Shay opened her green eyes. There was no breath at all.

  Splitting up

  Tria didn’t think she’d ever been that exhausted. A girl should get a nap after recalling three souls, but it was just that kind of a day, so, instead, she had to pack some supplies while talking strategy.

  Mostly to Daphne, because Jason was too busy making hot chocolate and coddling Shay – who totally deserved it, after being dead and all. Ralph paced through the whole room impatiently, and Gray was too busy staring at her like she was a freak. Which was fair, considering the fact that she actually was a freak.

  “They’ll know this place. I’m not hiding it. We don’t have long at all; in fact, we should already be gone.”

  “Then let’s go,” said Daphne, “I don’t even know why we stopped. No offense, but we can’t afford to play good Samaritan with this lot, they’ll only slow us down.”

  True. And false.

  “Jase likes that girl,” she whisper-hissed at her cousin, tilting her head towards Shay.

  “And you like that boy,” Daphne pointed at Gray, not bothering to lower her voice. “That doesn’t mean we should act like teenagers and let that get in the way of our survival. I wouldn’t worry about Ajax if it wasn’t for his followers. Dammit, Tria, practically every Scion joined him. It’s seven hundred of them, and three of us.”