by J W Kiefer
Jeremy and Sanctuary continued to square off, but Jared was no longer listening. His black eyes were fixed on the horizon.
“You can sense him as well, can’t you?” Tzedakah asked.
Jared nodded and clenched his teeth in rage. His grip tightened on the sword and for the first time since he had been reborn, he allowed Tzedakah in unhindered. At first, he wanted to struggle against the sudden rush of emotions he felt from the sword, but he calmed himself and let the sensations to flood over his mind.
The compulsion to move and act was so intense that it threatened to overwhelm all his human reasoning. He could feel himself being lost to the driving hunger. It was like there was nothing else in the world existed but one thing: justice. For the first time since this had all started, he felt he understood the sword and what it was they were meant to do.
The change in the atmosphere was tangible. Jeremy and Sanctuary turned to look at Jared. Even Jeremy’s human eyes could see the power radiating off him like tongues of blue-black fire. Sanctuary took a step toward him, alarmed by the sudden surge of spiritual power.
“Jared, what’s wrong?” he asked concerned.
Jared glanced back at his two friends, and the darkness that had replaced his eyes danced. Before either man could react, Jared leaped off the rooftop and vanished in a burst of crackling energy.
Thirty-Eight
The woman was beautiful. Her long flaxen hair was pulled up into a ponytail and it bounced provocatively as she ran. Her eyes were an amazing bright blue and her milky white skin glistened with sweat. She was full-figured and curvy but had the tight stomach of a fitness instructor. She was dressed in yoga pants and a hoodie and looked to be in her mid-forties. Doubtless, she could have been a model or actress, and Steve smiled as she jogged up to the intersection where he was waiting and stopped next to him.
Panting, the woman put her hands on her hips as she cooled down. She was oblivious to everything around her, including Steve standing next to her. But he noticed her, and drank in every detail.
When she finally became aware of him standing there, the woman acknowledged him politely yet dismissively. She checked her smartwatch and sighed. She was out for her morning run but had awakened a little later than usual. Now she needed to cut it short to get back in time for work. Smiling politely at Steve, she headed back the way she’d come.
Before the woman had even made it a meter, Steve struck like a viper. His shadow blade lashed out and sliced the back of her hamstring. Unsure of what had happened, the woman stumbled forward and dropped to one knee. The cut had been so precise that it had sliced cleanly through her skintight pants, leaving only the slightest incision.
The woman gritted her teeth from the sudden intense pain, tears welling in her eyes. She groped at the back of her leg and cradled it to her body protectively. She was in shock as the blood dripped down her leg and pooled at her feet.
When she noticed the dark red stain on the ground next to her, her face went paper-white. She tried to stand but stumbled and fell backward, hitting her tailbone hard on the pavement. She was still in shock and could only whimper as she looked around for help.
Her eyes met Steve’s. He smiled warmly and ambled toward her, and she exhaled thankfully through gritted teeth when she realized she’d managed to get his attention. But the searing pain in her leg made it impossible for her to explain the seriousness of her injury. The woman was in so much pain that all she managed to say to him as he kneeled down next to her was a barely intelligible, “Please call 911.”
“Just calm down, getting all worked up only makes it worse,” he said, pretending to assess the situation. “Now, tell me what happened.”
“I—I—” she started.
The world swam, and woman blinked to regain focus. She wanted to stand, but the searing pain told her the leg would not work. All she could do was grasp it as her blood leaked out.
Steve pulled her hand away and probed the wound. “Okay, I can feel where it’s bleeding from. Looks like you got a nasty cut here. Any idea how that happened?”
The woman shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I’ve got it,” Steve said, clamping his hand on the wound.
The jogger closed her eyes and exhaled releasing some of the built-up tension. Her face was tear stained and she was deathly pale, but thanks to her unknown rescuer, she felt a little better.
“Thank you,” she started to say before her words were strangled by a rush of excruciating pain.
She thrashed and screamed out in agony as Steve cruelly dug his fingers into her open wound. Even though it was early morning, this was upstate New York. No one was around to hear her cries.
He was in ecstasy right up to the point where the woman passed out from pain and went limp. Furious that his fun was interrupted, he kicked the prostrate woman. Seriously, he had seen more fight in a puppy. He had just decided to put the poor girl out of her misery when he felt a surge of immense power materialize behind him.
Remembering the Musketeer’s words, he allowed the dark energy that resided in him to build up in his fingertips. Now the demonic force flowed out of him instinctively as if it had always been a part of him. Energy coursed through his entire body, electrifying him with unimaginable power.
Steve’s newfound demonic senses bristled at the spiritual pressure of the man who slowly walked toward him. The authority emanating from him was similar to the Musketeer’s, yet decidedly different. It was as if both men were different sides of the same coin. He was dressed all in black like the Musketeer and brandishing a glowing sword, though he was wearing a long-tattered trench coat instead of the Musketeer’s traditional tabard.
Even with his dark powers, Steve knew he should be afraid of the man, but the intoxicating effect he felt from the demonic energy he’d unleashed flooded him with confidence. It was not until the man had moved close enough for Steve to see his face that his nerve faltered. The face he beheld was the face of his dead brother.
“No,” he hissed in disbelief. “This is not possible.”
Jared advanced toward his younger brother. His nightmare black eyes churned angrily and Tzedakah’s glow increased with every step. In truth, Jared did not see his brother when he looked at Steve. All he saw was the monstrous atrocities he had committed. All he saw was murder.
Jared pointed Tzedakah at his petrified younger brother. Power swelled in the blade of the sentient sword, arcing and convulsing in anticipation. Jared’s face was hard; Steve knew that the person who stood before him now was no longer his older brother.
The thought came too late to him, however, as Jared unleashed the pent-up energy. The power exploded from the blade with the sound of a thunderclap and surged toward him like a lightning bolt. He knew that he would not be quick enough to evade the blast. He had resigned himself to his fate when a voice inside said, “Let me take control.”
Thirty-Nine
Jeremy ran to the edge of the roof and searched in vain for any trace of Jared. He knew it was futile, but he had to make sure, anyway. The Holy Spirit was screaming in his mind that danger was nearby, but he ignored the warnings.
“This is not good,” he said frantically. “I know that this kind of thing is not my usual forte, but he’s kind of grown on me and I don’t want to see him dead. Well, at least re-dead or whatever it is that happens to him.”
Sanctuary paced behind him, scanning the horizon as if he was searching for something. “His link with the sword is tenuous at best and that puts him in real danger. Tzedakah will do his utmost to protect him, but sword bearers are at their most vulnerable shortly after they are first called.”
“Called, that’s a very diplomatic way to put zombified,” Jeremy retorted. “Where do you think he went? Honestly, he could theoretically be anywhere in the known universe, right?”
The thunder of an explosion echoed in the distance; blue-black lightning flashed.
“I’m pretty sure I know where he went,” Jeremy said.
“Agreed,” Sanctuary replied. “He most assuredly needs our help. Are you up to the task?”
Jeremy sighed heavily. “Well, since you asked so nicely, yeah. Besides, God has been screaming at me for the last couple minutes about it, so I don’t have much of a choice either way. Trust me, if I tried to leave, He’d find a way to get me there, anyway. He’s good at that.”
Sanctuary smirked at Jeremy. “I am aware.”
Jeremy huffed, “Yeah yeah yeah.”
Sanctuary put his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. “I truly am glad to have you with me, my friend, and I am very thankful you were able to be here when I was not.”
“Alright, enough with the mushy stuff already. You gonna fly me there or am I going to take the bus?”
“The bus, of course,” chuckled Sanctuary. “I may have the strength of ten men, but I am not that strong.”
“And there is the son of a gun we all know and dislike,” said Jeremy. “Wow, I didn’t think you had a sense of humor. I thought being serious was a prerequisite for your line of work.”
“Perhaps you are rubbing off on me,” he said, turning to take him by the arm. “We really do need to go.”
As soon as Sanctuary touched Jeremy’s arm, his eyes went wide in surprise. He jerked suddenly to the right, away from the angel’s touch and away from the edge of the roof where they were standing. His momentum sent him as far from the angel as was humanly possible just as a ball of violet energy erupted between them. The force of the explosion pushed Jeremy towards the center of the roof and sent Sanctuary reeling through the air.
Jeremy’s last-minute maneuver had saved his life, placing him in just the right position for the blast wave to throw him away from the edge of the roof instead of off it. He did, however, strike an industrial air-conditioning vent with enough force to crack a few ribs and knock the wind out of his lungs.
He lay still on his side, gasping for air. He could taste blood in his mouth but was unsure if it were coming from internal or external injuries. Thankfully, Jeremy had been listening, and he had heard God’s warning just in time. He had been distracted, but responded quickly enough to prevent himself from being splattered all over the pavement below. He knew that they were still in danger, so he tried to stand, but nearly passed out from the pain. Something was definitely broken. All he was able to do before the pain became unbearable was roll onto his back and turn his head toward whoever it was that had attacked them.
Sanctuary had already recovered from the unexpected ambush and had both his flaming blades out and at the ready. The fire from his aura had deflected most of the energy from the blast, but a few tendrils of crackling power arced around him before dissipating into the atmosphere. When unveiled, the angel was imposing, but the aura of the person nonchalantly leaning on the guardrail was just as impressive.
“God forgive me,” Jeremy whispered, “but oh shit.”
The Musketeer smirked as he tapped his lips with his free hand. His rapier was in his other hand still surging with power and he casually flicked it in the air.
“Now, now,” he mocked. “We mustn’t interfere with the children’s fun.”
Forty
The police radio in Dana’s car squawked as she barreled down an empty street. Apparently, two more explosions had been reported in different areas of the city and officers were being rerouted from the initial location to those neighborhoods. The radio chatter was predominantly from the officers who had been rerouted and they were all talking at the same time, trying to discover what was going on in their normally calm municipality.
Lee was buckled in and holding on to the handle over the window casually. Of course, his face was as stoic as ever. Dana took a hard left turn and he leaned into it gracefully like a pro, not showing any signs that the movement had disturbed him.
I bet all this action reminds him of wherever he was deployed, she thought.
Dana’s cell phone suddenly came to life as she made another sharp turn. Lee picked it up. “Officer Lee. Yes, sir, she is currently driving. Absolutely, sir.”
Lee pushed an icon on the dashboard’s touch screen and the captain’s baritone voice came through on the car speakers.
“Dana, you there?”
“Yeah, Captain, go ahead,” she replied.
“You headed to Fairview, or have you rerouted to one of the other locations?”
“We are headed to Prospect, sir,” she answered. “It’s the farthest out and most of the other officers are headed downtown or to the initial incident, so I figured we’d go there.”
“Good. I was going to send you that way. People are waking up and the reports coming in are… strange.”
Dana and Lee both glanced at each other. The captain was a veteran police officer and he had experienced pretty much everything that a person could during his many years on the job. So for him to be unnerved…
“What do you mean, sir?” Dana asked, trying not to allow the anxiety she felt to show in her voice.
“Now take this with a grain of salt, but witnesses are claiming that there are two men fighting in the street.”
“Okay. So, are they the suspected bombers?” Lee asked. “Perhaps an internal dispute or something like that.”
The captain said, “Honestly, I am a little hesitant to repeat what was reported. The reports are that one of them is carrying a glowing sword and that he is shooting lasers out of it like some kind of science fiction movie.”
Both Dana and Lee said, “What?”
“Are you serious?” Dana added.
“Dead,” replied the captain. “That is why I wanted you to head that way. I need a level head on this, and you are the best officer I currently have in the field. Handley and Winder are still finishing up their earlier homicide investigation, and I notified Agent Johansson about our new possible Stalker victim. I am waiting for him to call me back.”
“Is Agent Johansson on his way?” Dana asked.
“As far as I know, he left about two hours ago. Said he would call when he got into town. You call me as soon as you get to the location and let me know what the hell is going on.”
“Will do, Captain.”
Neither officer spoke as they continued to drive down the now awakening streets. All that could be heard was the wail of their siren and the occasional screeching of Dana’s tires as the city flew by. Both of them found it hard to believe that a sword-wielding warrior was roving around the city blowing things up with lasers.
Dana had a thought and she reached for the icons on the dashboard. A phone rang through the car speakers. It only rang twice before a male voice answered. “Dana? What the hell is going on up there?”
“Tom. I am not really sure,” she managed as they took a particularly hard turn. “That’s why I’m calling. All hell seems to have broken loose. We have multiple explosions and possible—and I hesitate to say this—sword-wielding aliens or something like that.”
“Okay… is there more than one of them? Be specific. What exactly are the reports saying?”
Dana was surprised by Johansson’s tone, which seemed apprehensive. “Well, all I know is that the reports stated that two men were fighting. We are heading in that direction now and I thought I’d call you to see if there was any rumored terrorist activity that you knew of.”
Johansson sighed heavily on the other end of the call. Dana could tell he was losing his patience. “All I can say is that this is not a terrorist attack. At least, not as far as I can tell. But what I need to know from you, is how many of the reported assailants have swords?”
Dana was stunned into silence. She had just told him about multiple explosions and medieval weapon-wielding combatants in the streets and he was concerned with how many of them had swords.
“Dana. How many of them have swords? This is important.”
“I don’t know for sure, but the captain only mentioned one.”
“Okay, I want you to do me a favor,” he said, sounding relieved. “Do not under any circum
stances go near them. Do you hear me? Do not go near them.”
Dana and Lee shared a look of incredulity at Johansson’s warning. They were police officers and unknown assailants were endangering the people of their city. Getting involved was their job.
“What exactly do you know, Tom?” she asked him. “Because from where we sit, it sounds like you know more about what’s happening here than you are willing to divulge.”
“Dana, I’ll be there in about an hour. Please don’t do anything until I get there. You have to trust me on this, okay? I honestly don’t know what’s going on, but I do know things that you don’t, and I am asking you as a friend not to engage any of the suspects until I get there, okay?”
“Well, we can’t do that, Agent Johansson,” she said and pushed a button to cut him off before he had a chance to protest.
Forty-One
Steve had no idea how it had happened, but he had somehow managed to evade the blast from Jared’s sword. He found himself about ten feet away from where the power had traveled, crouching in front of a split and burning pine tree. A sinister shroud of shadowy energy flowed all around him, protecting him like a shield.
The voice inside spoke again, instructing him to permit the dark energy to flow into his hands. Just like when he had conjured the daggers, the shadows coalesced into something of form and substance. This time, however, instead of a thin dagger, two large scythes manifested around his hands.
“My power is yours,” an eerie voice rasped in his mind. “Take it.”
Steve shook violently as wave after wave of demonic power coursed through his body. Before his body had stopped trembling, some sort of sixth sense warned him that danger was upon him. Faster than human eyes could track, Jared dashed at him with his sword poised for a killing blow.
Steve grinned as he easily maneuvered out of the way and swung a shadow scythe to parry the strike. He punched out with the other scythe, slamming Jared in the gut, throwing him backward.