REVENANT (Descendants Saga)

by James Somers

  “Something has happened to Hageddon,” he said. “The link has been broken. His host may have been killed.”

  “With all due respect, matters seem to be unraveling around us,” Lux observed.

  He glanced at her, disapproving. “Losing confidence so quickly?” he asked. “Sometimes plans must change.”

  “And what changes will be made?” she asked.

  He thought for a moment. “I must find Southresh and Anubis in order to regroup. My plans to gain mankind’s public favor and support may still be possible. There are still the European leaders that would follow me. They care little for what happens to an American president.”

  “Gladstone’s position makes Britain’s demise less likely,” Lux noted.

  Grayson smiled. “Very good, Lux,” he said. “Now, you’re thinking like me. British power could potentially be restored, if need be.”

  The noise of the carriage filled the awkward silence that followed. Grayson pondered. Lux waited until she could not hold her question any longer.

  “What about Brody West?”

  Grayson’s eyes leveled on her as a devilish grin came. “The boy will suffer,” he said. “And when I am satisfied with his pain, he will die.”

  Vessel

  I wasn’t sure what I was doing. I had sensed Oliver through the blood bond. He was trying to find me, but I was avoiding him and everyone else. Each time I sensed his approach, I teleported away.

  Staring out the window of our home in Highgate, I wondered how long I could keep running. There were problems to face, and they might need my help. But I just couldn’t get past this matter with Sophia. How could I bear to look at her, knowing that she would soon become the wife of another man, knowing that duty to her people outweighed the love we shared?

  Watching the nighttime sky beyond my window, I wondered what time of day it was in Tidus. What was she doing now? If Oliver was busy searching for me, then who was protecting her?

  A strange feeling came over me, a chill that I could not explain. A fire blazed in the hearth. I had lit it upon my arrival against the cold that had swallowed up the house in our absence.

  I had the sudden sensation that Southresh was near. I turned, but there was nobody. Crossing the room, I opened the door to the library as quietly as possible and peeked into the hall beyond. No one was there.

  The sensation remained. I knew without a doubt that the angel was somewhere in the vicinity. Unfortunately, that was as precise as I could be. Nearness alone did nothing to help.

  The thought suddenly occurred to me that, if Oliver was following me, Southresh might also be doing the same. Perhaps, he was simply in London, or the surrounding area. But he might also be seeking me in order to exact revenge after our confrontation in Philadelphia.

  I sent a thought to the wall sconces, igniting and bringing up the gas lighting in the room. I focused upon my sensation of his nearness. There was no change. He had not gotten closer or further away.

  Southresh watched as Brody straightened and turned, looking around the room. No doubt the boy had discerned his presence. It was an unfortunate characteristic of the blood bond, that you could not truly surprise someone whom you shared it with. However, they also could not truly get away.

  Brody went to the door, attempting to ascertain where he was. Southresh savored the fact that the boy had not found him yet. But he wasn’t going to delay. After all, Anubis and Black would be waiting. And, no doubt, Lucifer would be impatient to find him to reprimand him for not appearing in Philadelphia.

  Southresh had been resisting gravity’s effect—no longer. He fell from the ceiling where he had been clinging like a spider. Dropping like a stone, he landed right behind Brody. The young man whirled on him with flames erupting from his fingertips.

  “Good boy!” Southresh said, cackling as he kicked Brody hard in the chest.

  The Brody stumbled backward, attempting to raise an extension to shield himself. Before he could manage it, Southresh blasted him with a shockwave. He was blown through the picture window, landing out on the snow covered lawn.

  Dazed, Brody tried to stand and fight, leaving a bloody body print in the snow where the window glass had cut his back and head. Southresh was immediately on top of him smashing him across the face with powerful blows. Brody fell back onto the ground unconscious and bleeding.

  Southresh stood over him, wanting to finish the job. What better chance would he ever have? However, he wanted his freedom more, and that required a warm body for Black to inhabit in this world.

  He grabbed Brody by the front of his coat, hauling him up easily. He tossed the boy over his shoulders, laughing to himself. Southresh vanished a moment later in a fiery wash with Brody in tow. With luck, he would catch Anubis in London before his battle in Tidus.

  Oliver arrived at the base of the wide staircase in his home in Highgate. He had been following Brody from location to location all over the world. Now, he had tracked him here through the blood bond.

  He hoped that the boy would stay put this time. No doubt he could sense Oliver following him as easily as he was tracking Brody. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a lot of time to keep up with this cat and mouse game. A battle appeared to be imminent in Tidus.

  He sensed that Brody was near, but something else also. Oliver realized, to his horror, that Southresh was as near as Brody. For a moment, he thought he caught the sound of laughter—maniacal laughter.

  Oliver rushed up the stairs, crashing through the library door. At the far end of the room, he saw the picture window smashed through. Beyond that, a patch of bloody snow lay on the white lawn.

  He was too late.

  The near sensation was rapidly fading now. Southresh had taken Brody. Oliver was about to call for his wolf’s head cane from the dimensional storage he kept around him at all times when he remembered leaving the weapon with Tom and Charlotte.

  Without Malak-esh, he would stand almost no chance of getting Brody away from an angel. But he also could not leave the boy. If Southresh had not killed him here, then he intended to do so in another location. He might even have something worse than death in mind.

  There was no time to waste chasing down swords. He had to pursue and hope for the best. He prayed quickly but certainly for help from above. Leaving his estate in Highgate, Oliver knew that he would need it.

  Ritual

  Southresh arrived moments later in London on Whitehall Street. Anubis had just opened the portal into the realm of the Lycans. Southresh came running with Brody still unconscious and slung over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

  “I have the boy!” he cried.

  The soldiers stared at him, some of them quite bewildered to see the Queen’s suitor being hauled about so carelessly by the angel. From their perspective, Brody was one of the most powerful Superomancers they had ever encountered among Descendants—perhaps only second to Oliver James. Yet, here he was taken down so easily by the mad god.

  “Have you brought me a present, Southresh?” Anubis asked. “Honestly, you’re like a cat with a dead mouse.”

  Southresh ignored his brother’s snide remarks. “Or perhaps I’ve found the perfect host for our brother,” he said, laying Brody down on the street for Anubis to examine.

  Anubis cocked an eyebrow when he understood. “One of your sons, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “I’ve been chasing the imp. Finally caught up with him in Highgate,” Southresh reported. “We couldn’t ask for a better host. We must bring Black through immediately.”

  “I have a battle to wage,” Anubis said, looking out over his army.

  “No!” Southresh insisted. “Lucifer will be coming for us. Have you not felt the loss of Hageddon on the spiritual plane? He no longer resides in the world. Lucifer must have cut him off already. And we’ll be next!”

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Anubis observed. “Why would he send Hageddon away before you? We all hate you.”

  “You’ll hate me less, once I’ve secure
d your freedom,” Southresh shot back. “Besides, it makes perfect sense. Lucifer must have arrived in Russia to show himself a hero over the vampires. Just as he intended for me, he would have defeated Hageddon in battle before the people. The fool. I tried to warn him, but he wouldn’t listen. I told you this was coming.”

  Anubis considered that possibility. Unfortunately, he couldn’t fault Southresh’s logic. This was, after all, Lucifer’s reason for bringing them into the mortal world in the first place.

  “All right,” he said finally. “We will conduct the ritual and bring Black across.”

  Anubis turned to his second in command, Ishbe. The rest of the army awaited orders to proceed through the portal. They were eager to take Tidus for themselves and remove the Queen and her government.

  “Ishbe,” Anubis said, “have the commanders take their units through the portal. Begin the attack. I have an important matter here that requires my attention.”

  “Yes, my lord,” Ishbe said. “Shall I lead the attack?”

  “Send them through and then come back to me here,” Anubis said. “The unit commanders can handle this attack.”

  He did not wish to risk the young man when he very likely would need a new host when Lucifer attempted to dismiss his spirit back to Tartarus. After all, this host had been chosen for him and was connected with Grayson and Lucifer. He could not hope to keep Kron, though he was a powerful Lycan warrior.

  In fact, he fully expected that Kron would not survive the process at all, nor would the man Southresh currently inhabited. But the mad god was not so fastidious as he was. Any warm body would do for him to run amok in.

  Ishbe bowed to his lord and went on his way, issuing orders to the unit commanders and soldiers. The attack would go on despite the absence of Anubis in the beginning of the battle. Still, he would join them soon enough, and Ishbe would be at his side—a willing servant and host with which to share his power when he came to reign over Tidus again.

  “Bring the boy,” Anubis said as he started walking toward one of the abandoned government buildings on the north side of the road.

  Southresh pulled Brody off of the ground, tossing him over his shoulder again as he had before. As the Lycan soldiers filed through the interdimensional portal left to them, Anubis kicked in the door to the building he had chosen and walked inside with Southresh coming after.

  Once inside the building, Anubis snapped his fingers toward Brody. He flew from Southresh’s shoulder and was thrown at the wall, where he remained like a rag doll that had been nailed there. Brody still had not regained consciousness, but that wouldn’t matter for what the angels had planned.

  On Whitehall’s main road, thousands of Lycan soldiers marched to war. Ishbe had gone through the portal already in order to identify their exiting location and set the unit commanders on their way. Almost the entire army had come to Anubis. It could be assumed that resistance from the Queen and her subjects would be pathetic at best.

  No declaration of war had been made, and the Queen might not be expecting a fight at all. Still, it never hurt to be prepared. With an entire army coming through the portal Anubis had created, their invasion of Tidus would be both awe inspiring and shocking. The unit commanders would likely have secured the Queen’s formal surrender by the time he and Anubis finally came through together.

  In a way, Ishbe had hoped this would be different. That, at the very least, his master would have made that formal declaration. The Queen would have had time to attempt some meager defense. An actual fight was what he craved these days and to see the power of Anubis unleashed.

  He stood near the portal exit, discerning the wood beyond the river. The army was swiftly filling the forest. The unit commanders, of which there were fifty, came to him for final instructions. They had already witnessed Anubis going off with Southresh and the Superomancer he had captured. Still, they were assured of victory today. After all, who was left in the city to face them worth mentioning?

  To the unit commanders Ishbe said, “The river is low this time of year, so you will have no problem crossing. Move swiftly from the wood, cross over in a wide skirmish line so that any archers they might have stationed will have to be spread across the wall.”

  The soldiers held lightweight leather-bound shields that could take many arrows if necessary and molded leather-bound breastplates. Anubis had created weapons: spears, short swords and shields for his army as they prepared in London. They had fed well before leaving and each soldier carried a water skin.

  “Move to the wall quickly and overtake it at as many positions as possible,” Ishbe said. “Karras, I want you to take your unit specifically to the main gate. Send your soldiers up the battlements to secure the gate and open it for the rest of our army. They will have no way to defend it with so many of our soldiers pouring through.”

  “Yes, sir,” Karras replied.

  “Take the palace first and secure the Queen,” Ishbe continued. “However, she is not to be harmed. To the rest, death, but do not harm the Queen under pain of death.”

  Every unit commander acknowledged his instructions with a nod. Ishbe had some hope that the promise of power to reign with Anubis as a chosen vessel might also include matrimony to the Queen. He had long coveted her, but the Superomancer had come from nowhere to win her heart. He smiled when he considered the boy’s fate at the hands of Anubis and the mad god.

  “I must return to our lord in London,” Ishbe said. “We will come through as soon as our lord’s business with Southresh is complete.”

  Again, they acknowledged his instructions, and he dismissed them to carry on with the battle. By the time he got back to the portal, the last of their army had come through. Ishbe turned to see the unit commanders organizing their men for the assault. This will be a quick victory, he thought.

  Ishbe turned back to the portal, smiling, and passed through into London. He spotted the building where his master and Southresh had taken the Superomancer. If he was fortunate, he would be allowed to watch as they destroyed him.

  With Brody pinned to the wall by the will of the angel, Anubis and Southresh came close to stand before him. They joined hands in order to share their power in the ritual. Their other hands they place upon Brody’s chest. Together they formed a triangle to serve as a joint conduit and allow the spirit of Black to enter the boy and possess his mortal body.

  Both Anubis and Southresh began to call in the language of angels for their brother. They spoke his true name, which he had long ago stopped using for his own reasons. This was the name of power upon him that would draw him out of Tartarus.

  They felt the connection with Black through the spiritual plane and opened up the way for him, combining their efforts with his will to leave. Slowly at first and then much faster at the last, Black’s spirit extended from their angelic prison into the mortal world where Brody’s unconscious body waited.

  Black waited in Tartarus, the Abyss, a place of angelic imprisonment by the decree of the Holy One. Today, he would defy that decree as Lucifer had done in the case of his brothers: Anubis, Southresh and Hageddon. And, though it wasn’t true freedom from punishment, it was still a reprieve of sorts that afforded them the opportunity to lead the affairs of men and Descendants alike and fight against the purposes of the Almighty.

  The way began to open to him. He could feel the drawing from the mortal plane where his brothers called out to him using his true name. He added his efforts to theirs and began to extend his spirit out of Tartarus through the void and onto the spiritual plane toward the mortal plane beyond.

  The process sped up considerably once he reached the spiritual plane. His spirit moved through faster and faster until he encountered the barrier between the spiritual and physical world. There his brothers, Anubis and Southresh, waited to convey him into the mortal body they had secured for him.

  Black passed through the mortal bodies possessed by his brothers, sensing their spirits around him as he moved beyond those bodies toward the one waiting.
That physical barrier was the last to be breached, and he put every ounce of power into the last push. In turn, he felt both Anubis and Southresh doing the same. In one fraction of a second, he would dwell in a mortal form and enjoy the pleasures of an existence outside the confines of Tartarus.

  However, to Black’s surprise, this body was not only inhabited by the feeble soul and spirit of a mortal person. The very Spirit of the Holy God resided here, indwelling this mortal form, sealing him from any attack or invasion by malevolent spirits. Black could not believe what was happening. Every morsel of power he and his brothers had expended to push him through this final barrier was suddenly and violently thrown back at him in addition to an inexhaustible amount more.

  The Spirit of the Holy God repelled him with such speed and strength that he feared he might be cast back into Tartarus immediately. However, he was expelled onto the mortal plane with violence that betrayed the anger of God at the intrusion upon one of his sealed servants.

  Black’s spirit, invisible but palpable, was now loose upon the mortal plane desperately seeking an anchor to the physical world. He required a mortal form immediately, or he would not have the strength to remain. Unfortunately, there were no mortals readily available. Southresh held one, Anubis the other.

  He passed through the structure they were standing in, where the ritual had been performed, and found a lone figure approaching. This man, young and strong, would do instead. He overcame this host as violently as he had been repelled from the other.

  Anubis and Southresh held tightly to one another’s hands and also to the Superomancer they had pinned to the wall to receive Black’s spirit. They felt him make the crossing from the spiritual plane into the physical world. Passing through their hosts, they added the last vestiges of power they held to propel him into his new host.