by Han, George
“The Defenders have dispatched units to Asia, Africa, and Middle East. Another unit is on their way here. I understand Eugene discovered traces of gargoyles in the cities of the Eastern Seaboard.”
“Gwyneth, are those children your kinglings?” Maganus asked.
“They are in grave danger. I had glimpses of them.” Gwyneth explained.
“Our efforts to locate them have been in vain. The Celestial Compass is erratic. The arrow was madly in oscillation.” Maganus explained.
“That can mean only one thing—the presence of the demons is strong and it’s obstructing the device.” Jin added.
“Let’s move to the southwest. We should take a closer look.”
“That is the Delaware Reserve,” Gwyneth observed.
“Thick woods and potential hideouts for forces of darkness,” Jin added.
“You’ve forgotten that I am Maganus, Friend of the Woods. From the squirrels to the bears, they are all my fans.” Maganus winked.
Gwyneth was about to tease her old comrade when she noticed the Golden Cross glowing whitish. It was a friendly.
From the skies, a web of lightning stretched out and a path of light fell. Soon after, a winged creature landed with a ripple of energy. He was lithe and muscular and in his right hand, was his trademark warhammer, and in his left a sword. Once he had landed, he greeted with the others with a full smile. Maganus, however, was sarcastic.
“Aren’t you tired carrying weapons in your hands all the time, Eugene?”
The new arrival smiled sheepishly at the tease as his wings folded. He looked hale and combat ready.
“Stop teasing him, Maganus,” Jin said. “Eugene had earned quite a reputation as one of our best warriors. Demons vanished when they heard him coming.”
“Lord Maganus, Lady Gwyneth.” Eugene bowed in humility before speaking. “I came after I received confirmation on a demonic resurgence from Aachen.”
Jin smiled. “I am glad to see you.”
“A war it is then?” Eugene asked, his white eyebrows arching upward.
Maganus took a puff on his pipe and grumbled. “We must move out to defend the Kings.”
“We do this even before instructions from Lord Michael?” Gwyneth asked. “We act?”
Jin and Maganus nodded in unison.
“That is a proposition and I second it.” Eugene asserted.
“I take this silence to be a consensus?” Jin said after a long moment of silence.
Everybody nodded.
“Then it is decided. We move to defend the kinglings, Kings of Men. We will enter the realm of Earth and act as we deem fit until there are directives from the Archangels.” Jin pronounced.
“The humans will see us,” Maganus was succinct.
“That is the only way we can engage the demons,” Jin said. “We have no choice. “In the arena of Earth, we will be prone to injuries and our powers are finite.” Eugene added.
“Heaven help us. Reinforcements will arrive,” Gwyneth said, her tone firm. “May the Lord be with us.”
“Aye,” they all said in unison. Then they each plucked a feather from their wings and broke it, a symbolic act to represent their temporary change of their celestial status to enter into a different realm.
Jin turned to Eugene. “My friend, I have a task for you, though.”
“What is it?”
“Hunt the demons and then report your progress at the soonest.”
“I must leave then.” Eugene quickly added.
“We will part company then,” Maganus said with a pat on Eugene.
“Lead the way old friend,” Gwyneth said.
Maganus turned to Jin. “Are you coming?”
Jin shook his head.
“Another destination waits for you?” Maganus asked.
Gwyneth added. “We need to stay together.”
Jin shook his head. “I saw something else and I need to act on it.” He returned to his horse and mounted, then explained, “Once I have completed my task, we shall meet again. By tomorrow nightfall, at the latest, I shall look for you. Till then, Angelus Triumphus.”
“Angelus Triumphus!” the other Guardian Angels echoed.
Chapter 13
Allies and the Ordo
The Ordo of Tutor of Fides, or Order for the Defenders of Faith, was a secret organization that had existed for close to a millennium. Through the turbulence of history, they had been steadfastly loyal to the cause of the Archangels and fought alongside the Guardian Angels and Kings of Men.
Their existence was one of the most closely kept secrets, unknown to the human world, but ironically closely intertwined with the fate of civilization. Members of the Order had served as protectors of Kings and kinglings, and had worked hand in hand with the Angels in a broad partnership to defend civilization from the destructive hordes of Demons.
They are not dissimilar to the Knights Templar, only that the Knights defended the bloodline of Jesus against the enemies seen by the naked eye and the Ordo defends the Kings, leaders of men, against the unseen enemies—the Demons.
The millennium-old Order was born under extreme conditions in a turbulent moment of history. The year was 741, a critical juncture in human civilization when senseless wars and cataclysmic violence mushroomed like poisonous fungus amidst a landscape of bigotry, with waves of decimating carnage committed all in the name of faith.
It was a hot summer when tens of thousands of seasoned warriors descended from the Pyrenees Mountains like a crescendo of darkness with the hunger to subjugate another civilization. The Demons had infiltrated the hearts and minds of men and drove them towards senseless war and destruction.
There was much chaos in Paris as the courts deliberated about a hasty evacuation to the east. However, sane and strong men were in command and a certain Charles Martel, mayor of court, rallied his men. On the eve of battle at Tours, where thousands of Saracens came for blood, Martel rallied his faithfuls.
Amongst his knights was a certain man named Guy de Godfrey, who hailed from southern France. He arrived on the scene with a platoon of hardy men, peasant boys and wanderers. At forty years of age, Guy was a handsome man who stood taller than six feet and blessed with fair complexion and long silvery hair. He was well-regarded amongst his contemporaries for his integrity and skills with sword. Guy de Godfrey was also legendary for his steely faith in God.
On the eve of the battle, unrecorded by history, the Saracens ambushed the French forces, with the intention of eliminating Martel. However, the plot was uncovered by Guy, who led his men to quell the assassins.
In the course of battle, Guy received a blow on his right temple and when he regained consciousness shortly, he began to witness the presence of astonishing beings. Alongside the combatants, he saw creatures that belonged, he so assumed, to wild fantasy and childhood stories. There were monsters, green and black in complexion, with wings and horns like mountain goats. They were fighting with men in white, with huge wings and armed with swords and shields—angels that he had seen carved on walls of churches.
They were no figment of the mind’s mischief. The freak accident had given him the ability to see things that were usually invisible to mortals; the beings that were very much part of the existence of mankind but imperceptible to the human eye.
The battle ended with the Angels victorious. Amongst the winged men in white, was the burly Maganus, Friend of the Woods, mentor to Kings of Men, and he was pleased with Godfrey’s prowess and character.
For his valour, Guy was given a mandate to be the guardian of Kings in the human realm and with that, immortality. His thirteen brother warriors each received three hundred years of lifespan, the lease of which would be transferred to a fresh generation upon the expiry of the old warriors. Under their command were two battalions of warriors steeped in the faith and trained and skilled in the warfare against Demons.
Thus was born the Ordo, an order of exceptional individuals with a lease on immortality, valour, and fighting powers. Bella
tor was the chosen surname, which meant warrior in Latin, underlining the great mandate they received, to fight alongside the Angels and Kings against the hordes from Hell.
Over the years, the Ordo had chalked up countless acts of courage and self-sacrifice in their defense of the Kings and kinglings. Their successes were never, never recorded in the annals of human civilization to protect their identity. Publicity was fatal to the fundamental mission of an organization whose enemy existed in the cloak of clandestinity and darkness.
#
After Pologus and Marz returned empty-handed from their search of the kinglings, Gwyneth and Maganus took to the skies. As they combed the terrain, they sighted a growing miasma of darkness that engulfed the landscape, and their hearts. The Demons are rampant.
Maganus decided to rally his animal friends. He clasped his hands and murmured his prayers. The Heracles Horn neatly materialized into his palm.
The Horn was a brass relic that was as old as civilization and was once the possession of Heracles, the mythical Greek hero. After Heracles’ demise, the horn passed through many hands before landing in Maganus’s when he was appointed the Guardian Angel of Kings. At six feet of tubing coil, the horn was an exquisite artifact, with images of angels and griffins engraved on the surface.
The horn’s summons could only be picked up by the sensory capacity of Maganus’s animal friends and some of the ancient tribes of allies residing on Earth; totally inaudible to the naked ear of the ordinary man. Maganus’s most trusted allies, the Amicitia, animal friends who were allied to the Angel, would never fail to respond to his summons.
These animals had at one time or the other received help from Maganus and their relationships were strong as oak. Maganus’s credibility earned him the title of Friend of the Woods, Guardian Angel to the entire animal kingdom. In addition, Maganus had the unique mastery of tongues to communicate with beasts of all sorts, both of that world and the others.
Today, Maganus’s summon, however, drew a feeble response. After three attempts, Jan and his squadron of friends arrived, followed by the hawks and magpies, but there were few of the rest. The absence of the other regiments of Amicitia raised questions in his mind. Despite his jovial front, Maganus hid an unspoken fear in his heart, that they might have encountered some form of danger.
He and Gwyneth decided to delve deeper into the woods to investigate. They had walked for no more than five minutes when Gwyneth grabbed her temples and hunker down. Maganus reached for her. “What is it, my friend?”
“I felt something. I sensed something.”
Gwyneth shut her eyes as brows crumpled in an acute frown. Her forehead grew damp with perspiration as her grip on her temples remained tight. She struggled with a powerful insight. A vision had invaded her mind.
“What did you see Gwyneth?” Maganus asked.
Gwyneth finally opened her eyes. She was pale and her lips were dry. “I had an insight, flashes of light and a dark miasma.”
“Could you place it? The location?”
“I cannot put a name to it, but I saw a lot of tall buildings.”
“A city?”
Gwyneth lifted her head to the skies. “My insight is obscured by miasma.”
“The Demons are already here?”
“I need to be sure.” Gwyneth bit her lips.
“The moon?” Maganus suggested.
“Yes, my friend.” Gwyneth smiled at their chemistry. “The lunar power will enhance my sensory powers. I must be in the skies.” She continued.
“This is so sudden. You are leaving.” Maganus exclaimed, his bushy white eyebrows rose in shock.
“Yes.” Gwyneth was firm. “You must manage on your own.”
Maganus forced a smile. “This is my neighborhood. However, I wish you stayed.”
“I take my insights seriously. This is not something I can ignore, my friend.”
“Go if you must but call to me when help is needed. I shall respond.”
“I will be back shortly.”
“I shall wait for you.”
“Old friend,” Gwyneth whispered and patted the doughty Maganus on his shoulders. “Before I go, I have to tell you about the siblings that we are trying to find.”
“I am all ears, Gwyneth.”
Chapter 14
Encounter
He had lost count of the number of years spent fighting the Demons. Is this the eight hundredth or eight hundred and tenth year? Jin had been so immersed in the battle that time as a variable had grown meaningless. He thought he should ask the captain of the Guardian Angels, Alastair, when they saw each other again.
However, endless stream of time had not diminished his appetite to seek and fight the Demons, whether it was on the Alps Mountains, Gates of Vienna, and Waterloo, the deserts of North Africa or in plains of China.
After parting company with Gwyneth and Maganus, Jin had sensed the familiar foreboding that lurks like a black cloud in a sky of blue. It was one of those feelings that he felt before those enormous and cataclysmic encounters with the Demons.
Gwyneth had felt the same way, and she was a lot more sensitive.
Experience had taught him that the Demons would head for the schools, the incubators where the kinglings were educated and guided.
His paramount task was to visit the prominent institutions where the kinglings had been placed. With a keen eye on the dark miasma, Jin searched vigilantly from spot to spot. At each location, Jin summoned the guardian spirits, entities nominated by Angels to safeguard the locality from Demons. There were members of the human race who were distinguished individuals in their living years. Men and women, young boys and girls, who had chalked up records of selfless service to fellow men, and their faith made them ideal allies of the Angels.
After hours, he was relieved to hear the reports. No detection of dark forces. Jin then made a spin of the hospitals, areas where there was a high concentration of weaker members of the human race—old, sick, and young.
The inspection went smoothly until he reached a public school in the town of Charlton, Massachusetts. By a boulder along the edge of the woods, he received a visit by friends of the Angels—the tree fairies. They arrived in pairs and illuminated a soothing blue as they emerged through the green of the woods.
“Jin the Silent,” the taller of the two fairies said as he bowed in greeting.
“Fairies of the woods? What a pleasant surprise.”
“We are the designated guardians of these woods, Lord Jin. My name is Greenie and this is Gracie.”
“What brings you here?”
“The detection of the dark presence,” Gracie said in a voice as brittle as ice but just as soothing.
Jin was confounded by the first confirmation of demonic presence.
“Kindly be specific. I have sensed nothing here.”
“There is a contingent of Familiars moving through the Delaware reserves.”
“Familiars?”
“Yes, and they had a number of skirmishes with the Amicitia. There were traces of blood and carcasses everywhere. We have already sent word to the clans that reside in the depths of the woods.”
“This is worrying. What else, my friends?”
“We overheard a conversation between some Familiars.”
“What was said?”
There was hesitation.
“Speak.”
“We heard the name, Lord Barbatos,” Greenie said.
Jin squinted his eyes.
“Darius, as he was formerly known to the Angels, if my memory serves me correctly,” Gracie added.
Jin repeated the name. Darius would always resonate amongst his community, ugly reminiscences of a dreadful past association.
“Lord Jin, it seems he is raising a new campaign against the human race,” Greenie said.
“Advise me on the names.”
Greenie flocked over and whispered into Jin’s ears.
“This confirms the vision.” He murmured.
After he thanked the f
airies, he headed off to complete his surveillance. He started with the schools St. Michael, St. Xavier Public, All Saints, and all seemed fine. His final stop was St. Catherine Public, the public education institution in the state.
The campus was located to the south of the Delaware reserves, resting between rolling hills in the midst of idyllic greenery. From the air, it looked like a quilt of different shades of green, crisscrossed by a network of campus paths.
Jin landed in the campus square and dismounted from his steed. He checked the surroundings. The open lawn was empty, with none of the usual human traffic, an uncomfortable void.
Jin shut his eyes in deep focus to grasp the presence of demons. Suddenly, a tremor of pain hit his temples and blinded him. There is a source of darkness, and a powerful one.
Jin tightened his fists and summoned his strength to keep a lid on the surge of vibes but an explosion, and a blast of hot air shoved Jin to the ground. Screams gushed towards him from the north of the lawn and Jin soon witnessed students streaming out of the campus church in panic.
“Good lord,” he whispered as students ran past him. Invisible to the human eye, Jin strutted in steady pace towards the church and stopped when he saw a figure donned in robe of white and orange, a halo above his head, heading in his way.
“Guardian spirit?”
“Lord Jin, I am Peter Guildford, guardian of the campus.”
“Guildford, what happened?”
“There has been an explosion over at the generators behind the church. There are demons, familiars! I had just investigated when there were screams from the church …”
Peter Guildford stopped midsentence like he had sensed something. He was soon hit by a bolt of energy, and within seconds just an unsightly mass of brown.
Jin sensed another dark force, strong and gushing like an angry river. It was too late to duck and Jin was hit by a bolt of dark lightning. The impact hurled him over the grounds.
The magnitude of the force was shocked Jin. Only a very senior leader from the hierarchy of hell can muster that sort of energy. Now he understood the attack on his mind.