by Robert Ross
Kellan rested a hand on her shoulder. “We can spare a moment, Shannon. Rest a bit and get your strength back.”
She stared at him. “What are you on about. I’ve spent the last, I don’t know how many, hours resting in a bloody wall, you daft man. Now I want to go kill something and if it’s not some Cabalist bastard demon or angel, it’s going to be you.” Shannon noticed Meghan nodding with approval, her lips curling slightly. The soulborn glanced at Ares and then looked back to Kellan, “By the by, who is he and what in heaven’s name is going on with her eyes?”
All four peered around the corner and took in the scene. It was largely as Ares had described, complete with altar and nine portals, but something had changed. They pulled back and huddled in a crouch. “Those portals don’t look pitch black to me,” said Kellan.
“They have lightened, Sentinel of Order. When I was last here, they were completely opaque.”
Kellan nodded, “Ok, now does anyone else find it strange that there is absolutely no-one or nothing guarding this place.”
Meghan frowned at him, “Don’t try to be a tactician, Kellan. It makes perfect sense. There was no entrance the way we came. We traversed a portal from god knows where. They are likely guarding the main entrance and the waiting for the Spear to arrive.”
Ares nodded, “We should take an offensive position around the altar.”
The two women indicated their agreement and just as they were about to move from concealment a pulse of energy radiated from the altar sending out nine ribbons of energy, one to each portal. As each ribbon struck, the portal lightened by several degrees.
Ares gave Kellan a self satisfied look, but the Sentinel made a point of ignoring him. Instead he focused on each portal in turn. They each seemed to display a different scene but only for about thirty seconds after which the scene replayed. “We’re too far away. I can’t see what they are showing.”
“We move then,” said Ares.
Shannon rested a hand on the god’s shoulder causing him to pause. He turned to her quizzically. “Just a moment,” she said, fishing something out from within her tunic. “Kellan, you should probably take this.” Shannon lifted the leather thong over her head, and gently placed the item in his outstretched hand. Her fingers lingered a moment and softly brushed his hand as she withdrew hers.
Kellan looked down for a moment and then back to Shannon. “The Seal of Solomon?”
She nodded.
“It’s warm,” he said turning it over in his hands, “and its glowing. It wasn’t doing that when I gave it to you.”
“No,” she began, “I suspect it has something to do with that major demon I killed. I’m not sure because, well, the dead bastard fell on me and I fell through the bloody stones at Inverness.”
Ares leaned over a gave the Seal a cautious tap with one finger, then glanced over to Shannon. “Was the demon in contact with this Seal when it died?” She nodded and Ares gave a low chuckle. “That was very good fortune, soulborn. Very good indeed.”
Shannon snorted, “It didn’t feel very fortunate to me. I’ll tell you that for nothing.”
Ares shrugged, “That may be so, but killing that demon released the Chaotic energy within it. Energy cannot be destroyed. It only changes forms or seeks a new vessel. In this case, my highland friend, that vessel was the Seal of Solomon. Congratulations, you charged one of the most powerful demonic binding artifacts known to exist.”
Shannon stared at the god of war for the barest of moments then said, “Oh, that. Well I knew that bit. I planned to do that you silly mountain of a man. I thought you were talking about something else entirely.”
Ares blinked twice, gave an incredulous glance to Kellan, and smiled, “I imagine you have your hands full with this one.”
“And I’d have it no other way,” replied Kellan smoothly as he slid the leather thong over his head and felt the comforting warmth of the Seal resting against his chest.
Meghan rolled her eyes at Kellan and growled, “I’m so done with all this talking.” She gave Ares a reasonably hard slap on the face, then shot Kellan a sideways grin, and yelled, “Leeeeroyyyy Jennnkiinnnnss!”
Kellan couldn’t stifle his laugh as Meghan sprinted toward the alter with her three companions only moments behind. She ran between two portals and headed to the altar but was prevented by an energy barrier she struck with the full force of her sprint. Meghan rebounded off the unseen shield and would have fallen if Ares were not there to brace her.
“I may be able to pass through if given enough time,” the god said turning to Kellan, then paused as he saw the Sentinel staring intently at several portals. “Sentinel of Order?”
Kellan shook his head in wonder as he looked from one portal to another and watched the short scene displayed in each dim oval. A baby in a cave. A man in a river. The shared joy of a wedding. A shrouded man exiting a cave. A shared meal steeped in sadness. A darkened garden. A bloodied figure on a cross. A tomb blazing with light.
He glanced to Shannon whose face held the same awe as did his own, then Meghan walked up beside the two, whistled softly, and said, “You know I’ve never been the most religious person but—“
Kellan reached down, gave her hand a squeeze, and said, “Yeah, I get you exactly.”
Ares leaned in and broke the portal’s spell on the trio, “I said, I can probably get past that barrier.”
All three of them glared and he lifted his hands while giving the barest of glances to the portals, “What’s so impressive? I’m a god too.”
Meghan punched him and made a letter with the thumb and pointer of both hands, “Little “g” god,” then nodded back to the portals, “Big “G” God.”
Ares merely smiled at her and said, “That, my valkyrie, is just a matter of opinion.”
Kellan ignored the banter and took several steps toward one of the portals. He stared at the man kneeling in the dirt surrounded by olive trees, arms outstretched. He pounded the ground with one hand and looked up at the sky. Kellan shifted his weight and the man turned. Their eyes met and Kellan gasped. It was still a dark portal. There was no way he could be seen. The moment passed and time reversed as the portal began to replay.
“Kellan!” screamed Shannon. “They’re coming and they have the spear!”
“What the hell is that thing,” yelled Meghan over her shoulder as she and Ares ran to place themselves between the ritual altar and those entering from the cavern entrance.
“Djinn,” called Kellan and Shannon simultaneously.
The five creatures spread out with the djinn flanked on either side by a demon and angel. The demons looked nearly identical, both standing on cloven hooves with large black wings extending from their backs. Their skin was a mottled reddish brown comprised of interlocking scales similar to a snakes. The contrast between them and the Cabalist Angels could not have been more stark. They stood tall and beautiful wearing immaculate robes that seemed to glow with an inner light. Wings of the purest white hung down from their backs, tips not quite touching the ground.
After the barest moment of surprise the djinn whipped its hands in a complex geometric shape and gestured violently in Kellan’s general direction. Mist coalesced to form massive disembodied hands which flew toward the four of them. Kellan had already erected shields around his companions but it did little good. As they struck, the spectral hands closed about each of them and sent all but Ares flying backwards to slam against the cavern wall. For his part, the god of war had braced himself then cleaved the djinn’s manifestation in two with his omnipresent gladius which caused it to puff back to mist. With a roar, he charged the nearest demon who lowered the Spear of Longinus.
Kellan drew deeply from his river of power, noting once again, it had both broadened and deepened. He channeled, willing ribbons of green energy to lance outward among his companions disrupting each of the djinn’s manifested hands. Meghan fell down the wall, landing in a crouch with one hand braced on the floor. She looked up, and Ares turned, sen
sing her gaze. His aura brightened and his voice cut through the din like a razor through silk.
“Come, my beautiful valkyrie. Enjoin this battle with me.” His voice rose further sounding like thunder. “Glory awaits!” Meghan’s eyes became twins to Ares and Kellan could actually see luminescent tendrils waft from the god of war only to be greedily absorbed by her. She bellowed a feral war cry and uncoiled her legs, launching herself from the cavern wall. Kellan watched in awe as Meghan tucked into a ball at the top of her arc and landed deftly beside Ares, twin katanas already in hand. She looked up at the god of war and smiled dangerously. “Hoo Rah!” she screamed and kept pace with Ares as he attacked the spear wielding demon.
Shannon turned wide eyes to Kellan. “What the hell happened to her, Kellan Thorne.”
“Later,” he said and extended his hand. She gripped it tightly and he felt a torrent of power rush out as her eyes blazed to life, then made to release his hand, but he only gripped her more tightly. She raised an eyebrow in question and said, “Don’t you even try to keep me from this fight. Those bastards sealed me up in a wall. A wall Kellan.”
The Sentinel smiled as he felt his muscles burn with additional power and said, “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He heaved her off the ground and spun. Once, twice, three times he spun then released her and watched as she sailed gracefully across the cavern to land several paces from the farthest angel. She turned to him and grinned even as Kellan altered gravity in a bubble around himself and leaped to her side.
The Sentinel called in warning to Ares as the djinn gestured forming a glowing glyph in the air and directed it toward the god. Ares dodged and was barely clipped as it passed near him, but even that much contact ripped a gash in his shoulder which then seemed to leak amber light. He stumbled to one knee and looked up as yet another glyph hurtled toward him but suddenly vibrated and broke apart into motes of blue dust. The djinn looked down at the glowing sword protruding from its chest as Kellan whispered something to it from behind. It opened it’s mouth to scream, but no sound came out as Kellan twisted the sword and removed it. The Sentinel drew back and mentally commanded his sword to shorten in length, then used it to deftly sever the djinn’s head, kicking it toward the spear wielding demon.
The decapitated head provided a momentary distraction that Meghan used to dramatic success. She was already at a full run when Ares had sunk down from the djinn’s attack. Without a moment’s hesitation she leaped, then changed direction slightly by pushing off of Ares’s exposed back and slashed at the demon with her katana. The demon screamed in pain as his arm was sliced clean through, its hand still gripping the spear. As the severed arm touched the floor it puffed away, leaving the Spear of Longinus spinning slowly. Shannon reached for the spear, eyes glowing and willed it to her hand just as she had done at the Inverness stones. It vibrated slightly for the barest of moments before lifting from the ground and flying towards her.
Kellan’s eyes grew wide, “Holy shit, Shannon, how do you do that,” he yelled as it streaked past him. She grinned and held up her hand to receive it, but at the last moment a flash of white interposed itself as one of the angel’s streaked by. It caught the spear, bear inches from Shannon’s grasp and and arced back into the air. For a moment it hovered there, wings moving slowly, then threw its head back in anguish and screamed. The battle seemed to pause and all eyes fixed on the angel. Its wings blackened and skin changed from smooth porcelain to rough overlapping scales even as its eyes went from emerald green to ruby red. It stared down at the four with hatred then turned and angled for the altar.
“Stop it,” screamed Kellan as he drew so much power that he felt his skin begin to burn. He unleashed in a torrent of electrical bolts flashing from manifested clouds throughout the room. The newly fallen demon’s flesh tore away in charred chunks as the bolts struck. Still it continued streaking toward the assembled artifacts with the Spear of Longinus held before it. Twin flashes of green tinted silver struck the demon as Shannon’s power infused daggers struck between the leather wings. The demon arched its back as its eyes went black and it toppled to the ground.
The four watched in horror as the dead demon fell onto the alter and the Spear of Longinus struck blade first into the stone beside it.
The room flared with white light and Kellan felt his world reel as if rocked by a massive explosion. He knew the quake was from the spiritual rather than physical realm, but that brought no comfort. He felt panic rise within him as he looked around the room. All nine portals glowed with perfectly clear centers. White portals.
“None shall pass,” yelled Ares as he and Meghan leaped on the one armed demon, wrestling it to the floor.
“Kellan,” shouted Shannon in alarm, “To your left. The seventh portal. Quickly!”
Too late the Sentinel turned and saw the final angel running at unbelievable speed toward the very portal Kellan had stared through minutes before. He willed as much power into his body as it would accept and felt his legs burn with effort as he tried desperately to close the gap. The angel leaped with spread wings just as Kellan reached for it and the Sentinel cried out in desperation but was too late. The angel passed through the open portal and into the darkened garden beyond, just as the robed figure Kellan had seen before walked out of view. Kellan gritted his teeth as dozens of possibilities flashed through his mind in a single moment of frozen time. He dismissed them all. Only one path remained for the Sentinel of Order. He leaped through the portal and into a foundational fixed point in time.
Kellan released the channeled power and a violent gust of wind caught the angel, hurling it back into the trees as he fell, head first through the portal. The Sentinel landed hard and rolled to a painful stop. He turned back and saw his friends through the open portal. Beyond them more of the Cabal were arriving. There was nothing he could do for them. If he went back, all of creation was lost. His voice cracked as he yelled though time and space. “Remove the spear! Shannon, remove the spear!” He felt her eyes on his and could see the hesitation. “Shannon, you have to. If you don’t more of them will come through and I can’t stop them all. Remove it now and turn the portals dark.”
She was shaking her head. “No, Kellan, no. You will be trapped there. I know where you are. I know what it is.”
Meghan was fighting now and Kellan couldn’t see how many. He was about to shout again when something struck him hard from behind sending him to the ground. Kellan spun onto his back, sword forming from mist as he stared into the glowing green eyes of an angel. It, too, held a gleaming sword which now drew sparks as it slid along of Kellan’s own. Again, Kellan channeled a burst of wind, flinging the angel back and buying him precious seconds. “Shannon,” he yelled turning back to the portal then stopped. Ares stood beside the altar, amber light leaking from several wounds as Meghan whirled about him blocking, cutting, and killing. Ares had one hand on the hilt of Longinus’ Spear, his eyes locked on Kellan’s.
Kellan nodded and the god of war bowed his head. “Goodbye, Sentinel of Order,” his resonate voice laced with equal parts respect and sadness. He pulled the spear free, leaned back on one foot and struck the altar with the other. Kellan gave a relieved exhalation as he saw the altar shatter and artifacts fly in every direction. The portal went dark, then vanished altogether.
“Fool!” came a voice from behind and Kellan turned to face the angel who’s beautiful face was contorted with rage. “Do you know what you have done?”
“Saved creation?” Offered Kellan.
“You’ve saved nothing” and it reared back with sword raised. Kellan braced himself for another blow, but instead, the angel flexed its wings and sailed over him back from where they had come.
The Sentinel cursed and channeled a tendril of green energy that encircled the fleeing angel. Kellan felt himself jerked into the air and fell hard onto the angel’s back causing the two of them to crash to the ground just inside the small clearing where they first entered the garden.
The two looked up just as a
robe figure knelt by a nearby tree. He seemed to be speaking softly to two other men who appeared to still be sleeping, nestled in the tree’s broad roots.
“No,” growled the angel and Kellan clenched his teeth as he willed his sword to form itself into a dagger then plunged it into the prostrate angel. The Sentinel’s eyes widened in surprise as the angel slowly pushed Kellan’s hand back and removed the dagger, completely unhurt by the blade. “Order cannot kill Order, Sentinel. I am unfallen and your blade cannot harm me. I will stop the Incarnation’s sacrifice, time will shatter, and creation will be rewritten.” With that, he reared back and struck Kellan so hard his vision swam and he tasted blood.
“Stop,” whispered Kellan as he staggered to his knees. The angel ignored him and rose, wings folded flat along its back. He took a step forward, twigs cracking beneath his feet, and the robed man slowly stood, then turned to face them.
Kellan felt his breath catch and the angel froze in place. Kellan heard him whisper, “Yeshua ben Joseph.” The Sentinel stared at the man as thousands of images raced through his mind. He was thin with dark olive colored skin and slightly sunken cheeks. His eyes were dark brown and seemed slightly swollen. Streaks ran down both cheeks were dust had been washed away by tears. He had long dark brown hair that cascaded to his shoulders and a beard that seemed almost black. Kellan felt Yeshua’s eyes upon him and the Sentinel involuntarily reached for his power. He felt his eyes warm with it and as it filled him, Kellan gasped. Through his Sentinel’s eyes the man before him stood transfigured. Kellan could see ribbons of violet energy coursing through him as if straining to be free of the flesh that contained it. Occasional tendrils burst free and danced about him like tiny halos of creative light. Then his gaze went to the angel and his expression turned profoundly sad. Yeshua shook his head slowly and the angel shuddered. Kellan looked at it and winced as the beautiful white wings morphed, shriveling into black leather. The, now, demon’s lips curled back in anger and its muscles tensed, preparing to leap, but Kellan was faster. His hand wrapped around the warm Seal of Solomon and gripped it tight, then felt power course through him as he yelled to the demon.