August and Lucas walked down a city street.
August said, “I think I need a drink.”
“Yeah, something so I can forget what I saw.”
“It was your idea to go.”
“I know, I thought I could handle it. I was a rebel, I’ve killed gods and soldiers. I took their lives away with my own two hands, sometimes in a less-than-clean fashion. But these shows are something else.”
“Soon enough, if the world doesn’t correct itself, we’ll all have to go that way.”
“Eh, what a thought.”
“I think I know of a bar near here. If it hasn’t gone out of business yet.”
“The bars in this city never go out of business, August. Where else would we drink our problems away?”
“Good point.” August’s phone rang. It was from Luna. “Hello?”
“August…I did something bad.” It was Kevan. His voice was coherent somehow. It had an awareness to it.
“Kevan!”
Lucas gasped.
“I killed them… August… I killed them…” There was a strange lack of emotion in his voice.
He killed them? August glanced at his caller ID again. Luna. “Oh, no!”
“August… I’m finally home.”
“Kevan, stay there! I’m coming!”
August jumped out of the car as Lucas came to a stop. In front of the apartment complex, there were ten police cars, a few ambulances, a fire truck, and every major news channel van in the Los Angeles area.
The police were questioning a few people in front of him.
“Shit, we’re too late,” August cursed. There was a sound behind him. He turned around and saw Kevan staring at him from a dark alleyway. He looked around, the police and news crews were distracted by the amount of spectators. “Lucas, bring the car to the next street over.”
“Got it.” Lucas sped off and August ran into the alley.
“Kevan.” Kevan didn’t respond to him. He stared at the ground.
Lucas’s car pulled up at the other end of the alleyway. They got into his car.
“What now?” August asked himself.
Lucas glanced back at Kevan. “Just a sec.” He got out of the car, popped open his trunk, grabbed a large metal box, closed the trunk, and got back in the car.
“The hell is that?” August asked.
“It’s a radio scanner.”
“Why do you have it?”
“It’s back from my rebelling days. We used it to intercept radio signals from the God’s Hand and followed Ifor’s movements. The interim police force use the same system as the God’s Hand. They were too lazy to upgrade and simply took over Ifor’s old equipment.”
Lucas turned one of the knobs until a voice came on. The voice said they were searching for a hooded man who looked just like Kevan.
“Shit. I have to hide him.”
“I know a place. But you won’t like it.”
August and Kevan walked into an abandoned church hall. Dust covered the rows of wooden seats, the red carpet between the seats was faded gray. In front of the rows, leading up from the middle, was a large marble statue of He.
The face was of a simple, strong-jawed man. But August knew that was just man's wishful thinking. He showed himself in the best image the viewer would perceive him in. But even then, most saw him as just a blur.
When August last saw He in person, on the rooftop on the fateful day he killed him, he saw his father.
But to some, all they could see was a blur.
August helped Kevan into one of the rows. Lucas walked in, carrying all the stuff August had brought with him. August had run to his place and grabbed everything of value he could carry while Lucas waited outside.
“You didn’t have to carry my stuff. I was going to come back once I helped Kevan inside,” August said.
“No. I have to go. I listened to the police scanner. Kevan’s wife and kids are dead. Their heads weren’t crushed nor were they burned to death. Yet, there are no breaths in their chests. I need to find out why.”
“I think I might have a good guess on how he did it. If my guess is true, we might be fucked.”
“I need some more facts first before we come to any conclusions.”
“I’ll just stay here then and watch over him. In the church of the very being we strove to and succeeded in killing.”
“It’s ironic, isn’t it? God is still watching over you. Even though you killed him.”
“I’d laugh if I had the spirit to.”
Lucas waved him off and left.
August sat next to Kevan, who stared down into his feet. He didn’t know what to say, so he took in his surroundings. There was a door to the right of the statue of He. A small dry rusted baptism tub at the base of He’s feet.
August was surprised that no one had reopened the church with the hell the world was going through. Even though August had told himself that he had no regrets, he expected some people who had reveled in the death of He to take back their faith. Since the dead had nowhere to go, there was only one person who could have fixed it. He himself.
“Sorry…” Kevan muttered next to him. He finally spoke.
“Kevan… I… It’s going to be okay.”
“No… it’s not.” Kevan’s voice had some of the heat he had lost long ago. He was beginning to sound normal again.
“I… I should be sad… torn apart that I killed them… I should feel… the weight of my mistakes… weighing me down… But I don’t… I’m not sane.”
“Some people take some things differently. That doesn’t make you strange or weird.”
“Yes, it does… I remember what happened to me… I remember getting killed… I remember my former self… and the self I am now… the maniac, the insane…” Kevan grabbed his head. “I remembered the tattered thoughts wracking through my mind… the memories of my wife and children… their thoughts kept me up at night… brought me pain I didn’t understand… Yet, when I woke in the mornings… the warmth they brought me in the night… The pain I went through in the nights was gone… I needed to stop the pain… the memories of the pain… they’ve brought me… I hadn’t known why they brought me this despair… when I was insane… I only remember you taking care of me… Brother… I had to kill them… I had to kill them to stop the pain…”
“Kevan, I’m sorry. This wouldn’t have happened to you if it wasn’t for me.”
“No… It’s not your fault… I remember my past life… My reasoning and rationalizations… of why I did what I did... Even if you never came back… I would’ve done what I had done… and died the same… except... I would have never come back… I’m not sure how to feel about that… I don’t feel anger anymore… I feel... nothing… I should feel something for my family… I should have cried… been torn apart to the point of tears… and yet, not a single tear fell from my eyes… a cry of anguish never left my mouth… the love I felt for them is still somewhere… in my heart… burning my soul to a point of nonexistence… but it’s like that part is simply gone from me… I love them… But… I’m not… sane… I can’t even… cry anymore.”
His soul wasn’t fully back, then. But it was fuller than before. Could a soul regrow a part that was burned away? Using the faded memories of the soul that was left behind?
August couldn’t say sorry again. He simply sat in silence as Kevan wailed in his own dark thoughts. August didn’t know what to say anymore, what to do. He stared at the symbol of He in front of him.
Even though this was He’s fault, August wished He could come back to fix the problems He created.
The morning sun peered through the stained-glass windows behind the statue of He. Candles dripped on the floor as they sputtered out. August had found some old candles under one of the rows.
Kevan lay down in the front row. It was a few days later. August’s eyes slowly opened as his phone vibrated in his pocket. He got a text message.
Urgent. I’m out front. Emergency meeting with the rebels
. It was from Lucas.
August got to his feet and looked at Kevan. He couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not. Kevan hadn’t been much of a speaker in the last few days, but at least he wasn’t as far gone as he was before. He should leave him here. He was sane enough to not go anywhere and do anything stupid again.
August put on his jacket, his shoes and walked toward the door.
“Don’t… leave me…” Kevan muttered.
August stopped in his tracks. He walked to his bag on the floor and grabbed a hooded jacket and walked to Kevan.
“Don’t worry. I’ll never leave your side again.”
August, Kevan, and Lucas walked into a small office building. It was empty except for the twenty people arguing in the middle of the room.
Kevan wore a hooded jacket and a mask over most of his face. August hoped nobody could tell who it was.
Lucas walked up to the group.
One of them said, “You said this was urgent. I’d rather not be seen with the rebels anymore, so make haste.”
Lucas said, “Our members… sorry, ex-members have been getting systematically killed.”
August stared at Lucas. “What? Why did you wait to tell us?”
“It’s a very recent development. Over the last three days, hundreds of us have been wiped out. The only reason I found out was because my old lieutenant relayed a warning before she was killed. Someone has to power to kill us. Men in black, she said.”
One from the group said, “Dammit, is there any pattern? Any people the murderers are targeting?”
“Yes, the ones who once owned a finite weapon.”
They all looked at each other. They all had used them during the war.
Lucas continued, “Which leads us to our next issue. If someone is killed with a finite weapon, or with the Omniscient Man’s power, they will die permanently. No crushing or burning needed. I’m not sure if it’s because these weapons exist outside our world’s laws, or what, but we can fix the world with them.”
August pulled Lucas aside and said, “You can’t do that. If you use the power, then the executioners will come.” Kevan walked beside August.
“It’s your fault that the world is like this in the first place!” Lucas exploded. “I’m just trying to fix the problem you caused.”
August stepped back and looked Lucas right in his eyes. Lucas looked away.
Lucas said, “Sorry, it was all our mistakes. Not just yours. We all wanted the gods dead. I’m just trying to make amends for the problems we caused.”
“You can’t do it that way. You’re chancing getting yourself killed.”
“Well, it looks like the executioners are already here, and we both know why. So, what choice do we have?”
August thought about what he said. Hundreds of rebels dead in a matter of days. He took heed to the Omniscient Man’s warning but he didn’t expect the executioners to be as effective as they were.
He chuckled. That’s probably why they were called executioners.
“Why do you still have your power, Kevan?” Lucas asked. August had almost forgotten that he was here since he was so silent.
“I… think it was from my father’s rifle… a remnant of the power was still in it… even though it should have just been in me…”
“So, what’s your plan now, Lucas?”
“To do the only thing I can think of. Announce to the world that our weapons can kill the undying and group up in numbers to defend ourselves from the executioners. I will talk it through with the remaining members, but we will need to move fast. Take my car and go get your things from the church and meet us back here.”
“I guess I could do that.” August sighed. “Sometimes I wish I could just live my life as an undying. Then the only thing I’d have to worry about is how loud I can scream.”
August ran into the church, Kevan slowly came in behind him.
“We need to pack—” August paused.
There was a man leaning against the statue of He. He blew smoke out of his mouth as he flicked away his cigarette. He wore a black tie and white button-up shirt under his black suit. His hair was well-groomed and slicked back.
He held a sheathed katana at his side.
As August slowly backed up, the man sniffed a white powder off of his thumb and wiped off his nose. “Well, let’s get this over with.”
“You’re an executioner, aren’t you?”
“A fine observation.”
“I have men waiting outside. If you attack me, then they will surround this place. There will be no escape,” August lied.
“If you’re speaking about your rebel friends, then I’m sorry to tell you this, but if my comrade has done his job correctly, then they are already dead.”
“What?”
“Step aside, you’re not an anomaly. We are here to wipe a certain man’s musings from this world. You picked the long straw by having your power stripped away from you and taking the place of a dead man. We have no quarrel with you, but my initiative states that I can kill anyone who gets in my way.” The executioner spoke with an indifference. He had done this many times before.
“I won’t let you kill my brother.” Kevan moved behind August.
“Then, I’ll have to kill you.”
The executioner disappeared and appeared in front of August with his sword out. August swung out and willed out his finite blade. A sword made of green appeared in his hand.
Their blades clashed. August felt a great force as the executioner’s katana blade pushed against his. He had a little bit of feeling back in his body. The executioner grunted and jumped back.
August looked at his hands. He could feel again. He squeezed them, it was a marvelous feeling, even if the things he felt weren’t as strong as before. Some of the color in his vision came back; his world was made up of faded colors instead of just gray now. He could barely feel the blade in his hand, but that was enough.
The executioner sheathed his sword. “It looks like my information was wrong. Old Man Gloom isn’t going to like this. If you still have that power, that means I have to kill you.”
“But the rebels stopped using the power! Why do you have to kill them?”
“I’m not here to answer questions. I’m just here to do my job.” The executioner looked behind him to the door to the right of the statue of He. “Let’s move this battle somewhere else. I hate fighting in holy places.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then I’ll kill you where you stand.”
August shuddered.
“But what’s the fun in that?”
August stood on the rooftop, with Kevan standing behind him, face still covered by his hooded jacket.
The executioner stood across from them. “I’d like to introduce myself. It’ll make your death feel a little bit more personal. So it doesn’t feel like your life was pointless. I’m Cloudslayer.” He pulled his katana from its sheath.
“You already know our names,” August said. He willed his blade into his hands. He only had one finite gem on him. He had lied when the rebels started rounding up the weapons.
He stole one off of a dead body on the rooftop after he killed He. Just in case of an event like this.
But was it enough? It wasn’t enough to kill a god. But these men weren’t gods, they were something else.
They scared the Omniscient Man enough to run away. He couldn’t take the man’s power for granted.
“I… want to fight…” Kevan said behind him. August looked back at him. There was something in his eyes he hadn’t seen in a long time.
A will to live.
August nodded and Kevan moved to his side. A blue light erupted from his hand.
Cloudslayer lit another cigarette. “I’m excited. I’ve never fought a man who killed his God before. Let’s get this over with before my cigarette goes out.” He flicked his cigarette into the air, his katana blade reverberating in the spring sun.
They attacked.
Kevan came from the left
and August, the right. Cloudslayer’s blade flashed in the air, becoming a blur as he blocked their advances from both sides.
Kevan leapt back and released an energy blast and Cloudslayer’s blade swung up and split it in half.
August took the diversion and slashed for Cloudslayer’s head. He saw stars as Cloudslayer’s foot connected with his face.
August skid across the rooftop and got back to his feet. How was Cloudslayer moving so fast? His back was turned away from him and he still managed to kick the shit out of his face.
Cloudslayer slowly approached them.
August wiped the blood from his face. What little pain he felt was not enough to stop him from moving. He sprinted for Cloudslayer. No hesitation.
Both Kevan and August moved in sync. Like they were in a deadly waltz.
Their blades clashed with Cloudslayer’s. They were unrelenting, unyielding, pushing Cloudslayer into a corner.
Cloudslayer was strong and fast, but he couldn’t keep up with the both of them. Then Cloudslayer wavered, between his constant blocking of Kevan’s and August’s continued flurries, he slowed.
It was slight, but enough for August. He ducked under Cloudslayer’s blade, going for a killing strike.
A sudden flash came from both sides of August. August vaulted back as two blades closed into where his neck used to be.
One of them flashed again and pierced deep into his left shoulder. He jumped back and it came out of him.
He landed on his feet, Kevan landed right next to him. August nearly lost his head. He barely felt the blood running down his arm.
“What the hell is that?” August muttered.
In front of Cloudslayer, floated two katana swords. He still held one in his right hand.
“Sword art. This technique is the most common among the executioners. You haven’t pushed me hard enough to see my specialty.”
August held his left shoulder; the pain was dull. It barely stung but he knew that the damage was done. “Kevan, I’ll block his two blades and you go in for the kill.”
Cloudslayer walked forward.
August ran for him.
Cloudslayer’s floating blades swung for him in unison. August’s blade blocked one of them while his hand raised up to the other.
Legends of the Damned: A Collection of Edgy Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 231