by S E Brower
“We seek your help,” he stared The Author straight in the eyes.
Such behavior surprised The Author. “What impudence is this? I gave you a directive, how dare you defy me,” The Author bellowed.
Drummondax stood firm. “We need your help.”
“Why would I help you?” The Author interrupted, his voice booming throughout the Library.
“You must help us. It is not too late to come back to The Father. Our Father forgives. I’m sure–”
“Enough!” The Author hissed, cutting him off cold. “You have vexed me beyond all reason. I shall see you cast out for this disobedience. I should have done it, while I had the chance,” he spat at the Guardian.
As the words fell from his lips, Lucifer and his hateful first in command, Dreck appeared. Jessie shivered at the sight of Lucifer. He was breath-taking. Just as they had taught her from childhood. He was the most beautiful being she could ever imagine.
Aside from the demon mists surrounding him, it would be hard to think of him as evil. But Jessie knew, he was the very embodiment of evil, and his presence in the Library meant the time for talking had passed.
Dreck recognized Jordondey as a Dragon Warrior, a fact not lost on Lucifer. Fierce opponents are the Dragon Warriors, and for a split-second, Dreck feared him. However, it was Aalonray who drew Lucifer’s attention when he sniffed the air. Lucifer skulked towards her.
“You have let your guard down, Librarian,” he said, a fiendish smile appeared, as he sniffed at her once more. “I detect a secret you hold… What could it be? Ah, Incubus lineage, I recognize the smell.” Aalonray lifted her chin, with smug defiance.
“What you smell is the little troll by your side, or perhaps it could just be you.”
Lucifer, surprised at Aalonray’s impertinence, paused before he became enraged. Without using the talents of his henchman, Dreck, it was an infuriated Lucifer himself, who fired the first shot. Manifesting a lightening ball of Hellfire, he hurled the deadly discharge straight towards Aalonray.
“No!” Jessie screamed. She watched helplessly, as Jordondey instinctively shoved Aalonray to the floor. Shielding her, he took the hit. The Lariat was flung from his hand, as he was knocked to the floor lying motionless.
Aalonray rushed to him, kneeling by his side. He was alive, but just barely. Gently, she lifted his head into her lap.
“What have you done?” she whispered. A weak smile was his reply.
In an instant, Travis was also by his side. Paying no mind to Lucifer, he knelt beside his Guardian. He pounded a fist to his own chest, with a quick thump, thump lauding him.
“Eyes that have watched and guarded me, have made the ultimate sacrifice. May The Father bless you and keep you,” Travis bowed his head.
Her brother’s bravery impressed Jessie, given the fact Lucifer stood mere feet from him. She was even more surprised by Lucifer’s non-interference. It seemed odd. She could not hear what was being said, yet she didn’t dare take a step closer, with Lucifer positioned between them.
Jordondey looked up at Travis, his jaw tightening in excruciating pain, as he reached back behind his head, producing a small wooden shard, he handed it to Travis.
“It is your time to guard this relic, Travis John.” This was a telepathic command, for theirs was a silent exchange. Travis accepted the token in awe knowing its significance, due to the earlier ‘Transference’ from his Guardian.
“From the spear of St. George,” Travis whispered under his breath.
Jordondey stared at him. “Keep it safe for all time. You shall know how, and when to unleash its power.”
“I am honored to have known you. You can count on me, my brother.”
Jordondey let out a long slow breath as he turned towards Aalonray, wincing in agony. “I will await you.”
Smiling down at him, her tears flowed in a mixture of joy and sorrow. “I shall follow,” she whispered. When his eyes closed, the Dragon Warrior was no more. The second he passed, the Dragon Tattoo on his forearm faded from view.
Travis, feeling a deep burn in his own right forearm, looked down. The Dragon Tattoo, having graced Jordondey’s arm, appeared. Glowing, and burning his flesh, it forever marked him as a Dragon Warrior, until the day he chooses his own successor.
Jordondey’s ‘Transference’ was now complete, making Travis the custodian of all the history, memory and power of Jordondey. Travis looked at Aalonray, wanting more than anything to comfort her, but remained silent, his back towards Lucifer.
Aalonray sat still, with her head bowed. Without looking up, her whisper echoed in the mind of the newly forged Dragon Warrior.
“Find the Rogue Souls, set them free.” She reached for her rose, placing it on the heart of her now deceased beloved.
Across the hall, a single clap… clap… clap, pierced the silence. Everyone turned to see The Author, a smirk emblazoned on his face, as he was trying to impress Lucifer.
“Oh bravo, such a touching scene,” he mocked Aalonray, as he walked towards them. She remained stoic, determined not to satisfy him by returning his gaze.
During the commotion, The Author had retrieved the fallen Lariat, and not one of them noticed. He continued spewing ranting insults towards the group when without warning, hurled the Lariat towards Drummondax.
It wrapped around him, ensnaring the startled Guardian to a pillar. Drummondax wrestled to free himself in vain. The Lariat was like quicksand. The more he struggled and writhed, the more it bound him ever tighter, leaving him incapacitated, and vulnerable.
“Dax!” Jessie shouted. Travis looked in her direction. With Jessie distracted watching Drummondax struggle to free himself, Lucifer slipped a dagger to Dreck.
“Handle this,” he told the eager demon, “I shall return later to finish my business with The Author.” The demon cackled with delight. He was pleased when he realized Lucifer had gifted him with the dagger used to vanquish the sibling of the ‘Arc Angel’ himself, Michael. It was a special blade, indeed.
With Jordondey no longer a threat, Lucifer felt confident in Dreck’s ability to handle the situation. Leaving him to it, Lucifer vanished once again to the depths of Hell. The second he departed, the surly demon bounced around the corridor, relishing the exquisite souvenir. “Humans are of no match for me,” Dreck decided, and set to dispatching with Travis next.
However, Travis knew what to do. Although he now had the knowledge and confidence he needed, he was still human. Transference was meant for celestials. The download overwhelmed him, but he handled it and had ‘Intercession’ at the ready when Dreck went on the offensive. The demon bombarded him with a barrage of hellfire blasts, aimed directly at him, while he still knelt at Jordondey’s side. But Travis deflected them with ease. He slowly arose to his feet, turned and strode purposefully towards Dreck, who continued the assault. Travis was undaunted.
Seeing the blasts had no impact, the treacherous, stinking demon, rapidly changed tactics and wielded the coveted dagger. He stabbed at Travis with short quick slashes, but to no avail. Dreck suddenly realized, Travis was no ordinary human, upon spotting the Dragon Warrior tattoo still aglow on his arm. The ugly little demon’s expression turned to one of panic.
For an instant, Jessie breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Dreck was about to flee when he disappeared, only to re-appear behind Travis.
“Behind you!” Jessie screamed. But she was too late. Dreck slashed at Travis, knocking the sword from his hand, sending it skating across the marble with a loud clang, echoing throughout the Library.
Dreck laughed, as he lunged, brandishing the dagger at Travis, slitting the back of his heel, dropping him to the floor. Injured and in pain, Travis was slow to rise, while Jessie looked on in shock, knowing she had to do something, fast.
She took a step towards ‘Intersession’ thinking she could retrieve it for him, stopping short when she heard the voice of Drummondax in her head, telling her to “stand down”. She shot a ferocious glance in his direction, and ever so sli
ghtly, he shook his head no.
With the battle to disobey raging in her mind, for once in her life, Jessie listened. Stepping back, she watched as Dreck swooped in seizing the opportunity to wield ‘Intercession’ and finish Travis, once and for all.
Jessie stared in horror, thinking she’d made a terrible mistake, missing her only chance to help her brother. When Dreck went after the sword, he hadn’t counted on the aptly named ‘Intercession’, comprised and forged from fervent prayers, and the power it held.
When Dreck laid his hand upon the blade, he let out a blood-curdling shriek, the decibel of fire alarms times ten. Jessie’s hands flew up to cover her ears, until he disappeared, and his screams ceased. The sword had felt like molten fire to the demon, and when Dreck dropped the sword, Jessie gave Drummondax a sly smile.
In one motion, Jessie scooped up the weighty sword with both hands, heaving it towards Travis, who caught it with ease. “Good one,” he smiled at her, but that momentary distraction would cost him.
Dreck was persistent, and re-appeared, once again behind Travis. Jessie and Drummondax both screamed for him to turn, but again it was too late. Dreck reached up from behind. Plying the dagger, he slashed Travis. Laughing, Dreck gutted him from front to back, and ‘Intercession’ fell once more. This time though, Travis was mortally wounded, and bleeding out.
Dreck screeched and cackled, pleased with himself, as he darted all around the corridor. Jessie wailed in anguish, while somewhere inside Travis, Garret was there fighting to use his own life force to keep her brother alive.
Now Jessie ran to ‘Intersession’. “Come back here you coward,” she screamed at the demon, “come back here, and fight!”
Without warning, Dreck reappeared firing an electro-static ball at Jessie. Although it lacked the absolute power of Lucifer’s Hellfire, it was deadly just the same. Through sheer dumb luck, she raised the sword up in time to deflect it.
Dreck disappeared once again, but this time, Jessie was ready for him. She knew he would come at her from behind, and so she held ‘Intercession’ with both hands and waited. When the demon showed himself, she spun around swinging the mighty sword making contact.
It wasn’t enough to kill him, but she slashed him across the face. Screaming in agony, his skin smoking from the burn, ‘Intercession’ had laid him open from ear to chin. With putrid black blood gushing from the newly opened wound, the demon disappeared, this time for good.
Then, The Author drew Jessie’s attention. “Jessica Elaine, I presume. If you stop this now, I can promise you a quick and painless death.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” Jessie looked him in the eyes.
“You should be, insolent child,” The Author, stung by her boldness, retorted.
Drummondax, still bound to the pillar intervened on her behalf. “You have underestimated her,” he shouted at The Author, who glared back at him.
“It was you I underestimated, not having dispatched with her as I ordered you.”
Drummondax continued trying to unnerve him. “She is invincible. She is a Rogue Soul, who has received a blessing. I know this to be true, for it was I who blessed her, in the name of The Father.”
“I know,” The Author smirked, leaving the captive Drummondax speechless, until the words sunk in.
“What do you mean? How could you know?”
The Author clasped his hands behind his back, beneath his tawny wings, pausing before walking towards Drummondax. “Ah, interesting story, so glad you asked. As luck would have it, awhile before The Father summoned me, I found her book.” He said it with the most charming voice possible, looking in the Guardian’s eyes. “I imagine you were unaware of the fact, that a blessing may also initiate a Life Book, albeit sparse I admit, Rogue Souls being masked are undocumented.”
“No. This cannot be true.”
“It is true, I assure you. I saw it with my own eyes.” The Author turned to Jessie, “Not only that, but I have made a notation in your book, a special gift for you, dear Jessica. A malady incurable is forming in your brain as we speak. Your time is short. Your life shall be over like the turn of a page. Death shall come, and your Angel can no longer protect you.”
“Jessica!” Drummondax shouted her name.
“Everything will be okay. Dax, this is not your fault,” she whispered, “I’ve known something was wrong for days now. This just confirms it.”
Drummondax could not contain his fury. “Why? Why have you done this to her?” he demanded.
“Because I can, I am The Author. The plan to turn the souls of man away from The Father is almost complete. Soon Lucifer will take the throne, and I shall bask at his side. Where will you be? Cast out, and your charge dead, that is where. Poor, poor Drummondax, I could almost feel sorry for you, had you not been so pathetic.”
“Do it,” Drummondax shouted, “wait not for my sake. Do it now.”
His outburst angered The Author, but Drummondax realized The Author was hesitating. “Why?” he wondered. There was something the Author needed, he had yet to get. “What was it?” Drummondax lifted his head. As he did, his gaze rested upon the open doorway of the Relic Room, and he knew. “He needs the Life Book of the Christ child to make the plan come to fruition and doesn’t realize the Son’s Life Book is part of the Holy Bible, sitting in plain view all this time.”
Drummondax sends a mental message letting Jessie know, and she raised a finger to her lips, afraid The Author will read his thoughts. But Drummondax, emboldened by this new revelation, provoked The Author once again.
“You cannot defeat Jessica, The Father has activated her into service, and now you must tell us where Evan Driscoll Alsop is being held.” The Author took time to comprehend this new tidbit of information, which caused him panic, followed by unbridled fury.
“Not possible!” The Author bellowed, his voice reverberating through the hallway. But Jessie could hear the doubt creeping into his voice. Holding ‘Intercession’ she faced him with a smile.
“With The Father, all things are possible,” she told him, “now, tell us where you have hidden the Rogue Souls?”
The Author laughed at her request, but it was a laugh comprised of nervousness. For one fleeting second, his gaze diverted just over Jessie’s left shoulder. It was subtle, but it was a ‘tell’, and all she needed to make her ‘Aware’. Now, she knew how to locate the Rogue Souls. Jessie spun around with ‘Intercession’ in hand.
“The Rogue Souls,” she breathed aloud, knowing like she knew her own name, they were there. Before her in the corridor, a crystal mound two feet wide and four feet high appeared, glowing blue from within. Taking ‘Intercession’ she roared, “In the name of the Father, I release you!” she swung the sword down with all her might striking the crystal.
“Son of a…ow,” she grimaced. The impact stung her wrists, traveling up both arms. Nothing happened. Barely a tiny crack made its way into the mound. Jessie stood in disbelief, not knowing what to do.
The Author, who had been watching with trepidation, burst into laughter when he realized her failure. “Your actions are futile,” he scoffed.
“Not necessarily,” A voice came from behind him. Aalonray was standing there with the hammer from the Relic Room in her hand. “Jessica!” she yelled, throwing it towards her like an axe.
The Author grasped what was happening. He fired off an electrified bolt hitting Aalonray, knocking her to the floor. But the hammer had already left her hand, flying end over end across the corridor. When Jessie jumped up grabbing it from the air, she swung it round, and round much like a discus thrower would do.
Building up momentum, she smashed it into the glowing mound. The crystal broke away. She had set the Rogue Souls free! Garret burst forth from Travis’ chest streaking towards them.
“Protect her,” he commanded them, “for she is the last!” In an instant, the Rogue Souls circled, surrounding Jessie. She was cocooned and immobilized in their glowing mass. Their effervescent, sparkling blue spirits glittere
d, lighting up the Library. So many were they, that they suspended her above the floor. They would protect her at all costs.
The Author, recognizing Garret’s voice, pieced things together. When he looked back towards Aalonray, he saw inside the Relic Room. There on the shelf, behind where the hammer had rested, a carrying crystal glowed red, and he knew.
“You!” he screamed at Aalonray, “you did this!”
Aalonray’s eyes narrowed in defiance, “Yes, I did,” she declared. The Author, so filled with rage sent a shot, slamming her into a marble pillar, killing her instantly.
Aalonray’s lifeless body slumped to the floor, feathers flying, as her beautiful wings crumpled all around her.
“Aalonray!” Jessie screamed, as one lone rebellious white feather resisted, floating this way and that, ever downward, gently coming to rest upon Jordondey’s arm.
The Author then returned his attention to Jessie, firing off shot after shot. But the power of the Rogue Souls banding together protected her. It took all their energy. They wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer.
“Aalonray, oh Aalonray,” Jessie screamed over and over, her anguished voice coaxing Travis back into consciousness. Making a quick assessment of his circumstances, he realized his own death was imminent. He no longer could help his sister. He understood her chances of surviving to be unlikely, as well when he remembered what Drummondax had told him. Prayer was the most powerful tool ever to be used and knew what he had to do.
Barely conscious, he fought to reach into the back pocket of his jeans. With great effort, he extracted the card bearing the ‘Prayer to St. Michael’ and with two shaking fingers, slick with his own blood, he flung it towards Jessie.
“Read it, Jess!” It took the last of his strength to call out. When she understood what he was doing, she knew she would be unable to reach it, and all would be lost.
“Travis, Noooooo!” she yelled, but in slow motion, the card was already spinning towards her. It was Garret, who caught the card within his swirling mist, floating it up before her face.