by Jacob Spadt
My master stared at me. I took his hand and a deafening cheer erupted around me. Voices from all around in one accord began to chant something that I did not realize was my name. My eyes fell upon the faces of those on the wall fighting not for their lives but for the very existence of the promise of life after death. I saw smiles that were beautiful and delicate, not just the warriors of heaven covered in daemon blood. Just when I thought my shock was over, Mathias, still holding my hand, raised it up high and hollered something.
“The savior of Heaven! The Defender has arrived.” A host of angels all bent a knee, and silence followed. Not even the fighting on the wall near or far was heard for a moment. Thoughts escaped me. Standing there with my hand raised by my master, I was speechless. My mouth found no response as the angels began to rise still nodding and bowing to me. I did the only thing I could think of and placed my fist over my heart like a salute in Roman time seen a hundred times in the fire pit. Moments passed as those alive, behind the line of engagement, policed up the dead. The battle pressed forward, sweeping the walls. Angels reclaimed the skies, hunting the tens of thousands of fliers now trapped. The energy weapons on the walls turned inwards; vaporizing them mid-flight as panic ensued.
Watching the airborne carnage take place, my eyes caught the splendor of the city for the first time. Surreal was the view as I stood overlooking the city. It was true. The towers and buildings were made of gold. The light glinted off them like a rainbow when I realized that was the shield reflecting off them. I walked to the edge, and a mile or so down, I could see the streets crowded with little dots. They moved about their afterlife with no real concern, considering there was an invasion at hand.
Time passed. Angels thinned the horde. They dropped down from the sky like the helicopter leaves from a tree back home. They spiraled as they fell. Many turned to ash, leaving a trail as their bodies broke apart. The cities defenses, both angelic and arcane, completed their task. Losses were staggering.
“Not what you expected?” a familiar voice said. I turned suddenly and was looking at a man that looked and sounded like Malnuras, but with a different demeanor. He wore armor, but not like the angels on the wall. His breastplate was made of cloth like mine and had pieces on his shoulders that looked as though they held the garments in place. His bracers were gold, decorated with angelic symbols. The decorated hilt of a sword peaked over his right shoulder. I studied his features, amazed by how much he resembled Malnuras. I felt a twinge, as if looking at my teacher, and bowed low.
“The wall is safe. The portal is sealed,” I said, standing. “I just got here a little bit ago, Teacher. So many ha…” He raised his hand as if to cut me off from speaking and turned away. I knew that lesson so I fell silent and waited for further instructions. He, however, did not speak; it was as if he was listening to something and was simply keeping me quiet so he could hear. In silence we waited. A few moments later he turned back to me. Mathias stood at my side, silent as well. He did not even appear as if he was in a battle because his armor did not have any daemon blood or bits on him. He glowed.
“Tathlyn, your presence is appreciated and turned the tide in the city’s favor. We have a situation that has come to our attention that we need to have rectified.” He did not show much concern in his voice or expressions, but the words he used carried a lot of weight with me. I stared at him and tried to get past the resemblance to Malnuras.
All I could say was, “Who are you?” I felt a pressure from his gaze, unlike any other intense stare. My mother used to give me that look when I was in trouble or when she really wanted me to focus. This had something else to it. Perhaps it was his resemblance. Maybe it was his position, for he was obviously important. He had a presence even bolder than my teacher and a commanding stature even more robust than Masters was. It struck me perhaps they were brothers or maybe because they served Heaven that they came from the same family. I did not know what to think, but I noticed he did not answer my question. He just stared at me. My unease grew a tad as his eyes bore into me.
“I do not have time to explain myself to you, Defender. I need you to be somewhere now. Do you not feel the matter pressing?”
He meant what he said. No sooner did he speak the words and my energy surged. It was the same feeling from before when I focused on finding my master. The need to be somewhere else right away arose. It hit me with such a strong feeling that I had a hard time focusing on his words. His lips kept moving. I had to play the words back mentally while he continued to speak. He had said, “Malnuras is in trouble.” That was all I needed to hear.
“You need to get out there and find him before it is too late. No one else can do this, for the horde now has our scent. It has access to so much more that this entire city will fall if you do not succeed.” He looked into me so deeply it was as though he knew my thoughts. Nothing felt sacred. Malnuras had never done this. I felt violated until memory reminded me of my oath. My life and thoughts were not my own anymore. I served Heaven. Shrugging the feeling off, I dropped to a knee with head bowed.
“What are your orders?” I felt a hand reach under my chin and lift me up with but a finger. There was not even any pressure and I came off my knees, not by my own doing.
“Tathlyn, if you do not go right now, something horrific is going to happen that is unimaginable.” I glanced at Mathias. He had a grim look on his face. He knew something was indeed wrong. Just then I felt the city was starting to vibrate. A sound like the air splitting cracked like glass that had been hot suddenly filled cold water, only it did not break. The air protested. An event was about to take place.
Right above the wall, near the same place where previous portal existed, a hairline fracture started to form in the shield. It started small and slowly worked its way down towards the top of the wall. With every inch that it sliced, the sound got louder and louder...then deafening for a split second. A tremendous explosion rocked the top of the wall, killing all the angels within hundreds of feet. Sound deafened us all. The blast almost reached where we stood. Time slowed. Mathias raised a horn and blew it as he charged forward.
I began to follow and felt a hand on my shoulder stopping me. Glancing behind, I saw the man shaking his head. He mouthed the words, “Go to your teacher” repeatedly. When the sound finally returned to my ears, a trickle of blood came from his nose and eyes as he drew his sword. I tried to pull away one last time and felt a grip on me that was admittedly stronger than mine was. Our eyes met and he shook his head.
“Find Malnuras.” Both of his hands were on the side of my face. Information spilled into my mind. Images, too blurry to focus on flashed in my mind. My legs buckled, but the hands held fast. Slow motion caught up to me as the wall exploded, and a huge hole appeared after the dust settled. The horde flowed out of it in such numbers it darkened the skies. The urge to engage my mortal enemy gave way to the desire to be somewhere. A familiar image popped into my head. A pile of rocks covered in blood.
I recognized this image from minutes before, only there was a recognizable human, obviously fed upon by some denizen, and overseen by that huge daemon. I felt sick as the reality hit me. They used Malnuras blood to open the portal to this plain, and not just to this plain, but also into Heaven. That was his body. The back of my neck burned as if the final part of the rune finished carving itself into my flesh. The pain did not even matter to me anymore. Energy gathered at my fingertips and gathered inwards from my extremities inflating me with power. There was lightning in my veins.
This sensation assaulted my senses. Muscles spasms cascaded through me. His hands were still on my face, filling me full of information and energy that ran right down to my core. It felt like floating. I balanced on my toes now. My mind was ablaze as it received the last of the images. The last image stuck in my mind as the hands fell away. I watched this clone-like person holler, “Go!” one last time then to face the horde flooding into Heaven. Above me, dots came from towers in the distance like birds from a nest or aerie. It was
like watching bees coming from a hive but in turn the skyline began to darken as thousands approached to meet the influx of daemons.
My vision changed to what was stuck in my mind: total devastation. The walls of Heaven were falling, for barely half of them stood. The mighty towers still crumbled. It was a play on seeing Heaven for the first time. Little black dots swarmed over the ruins. The task was clear; this would be the result of failure. My stomach surged as this clear picture settled.
The second image that I received was chaotic at best and spilled back into my mind, helping me to focus on the pile of rocks. Somehow since words would have taken too long, this man had dumped images directly into my memory. He did it in less time than it would take to speak to them and try to explain the sense of urgency. I continued to pull my energy in and the rune on my neck activated. The image blurred and swirled like a drain in a bathtub that had its plug pulled out. Like poking a hole in a gallon of milk, or popping a balloon, something was draining God’s power. It was inevitable what was going to happen, and he made it very clear to me.
An image of Malnuras holding his hands over his heart flashed. At first I did not see it but there was fluid running out from between his fingers very slowly. Behind him, there was an image coming into view, but I could not see what it was. The energy hit its crescendo and I felt my head explode in pain, blurring my vision. How could I focus with this swirling chaos to sort out? I felt dizzy, weightless…for a fraction of time, until my feet hit the ground without my knowing they had left. Air rushed back into my lungs. A burst of light made it difficult to refocus.
Countryside greeted me.
The coarse grass crunched under my feet as my weight shifted, returning balance to my control. Fresh air was a nice change from the death and carnage on the wall. The smell angels’ blood was very strong. It was a relief.
I stood gathering my bearings and shook the disorientation off. Behind me sounds that, at first, seemed muted and diminished, caught my ears. Birds fled the direction I faced. Their squawks alerted me back to focusing on my surroundings. Death was closer than before.
My mind exploded with thoughts from my blades. Like an alarm going off, they sensed a threat greater than I had ever felt, a feeling now grabbed my heart and squeezed. The daemonic words they screamed in my head were almost deafening even though nothing was audible. It took me several moments to reign in the maelstrom of panic I felt. I fought to calm my emotions. An eternity seemed to passed before the fear and excitement became manageable. It came down to one cohesive phrase.
"Tathlyn, he is here."
"Who?"
"Amduscias. The general in charge of hell’s assault."
"You saw him through my eyes did you not, on the wall? Where was this fear then? You are metal...how can you be afraid?" I felt a twinge come from the blades as if they chastised me. "Why would he leave the horde?"
"Can you not feel it?" they chimed in their melodic duality. Even though it was still a dulcet voice, their pitch changed to a deep and dark cadence. “He is one of the worst. There is a reason Lucifer chose him."
"What would that be other than he is an evil monster unwelcome on Heaven’s doorstep?” I asked.
"He is a fierce leader and commands loyalty. He uses music to entice legions to follow him to death. His enemies cannot hear his songs."
"Wait, could that be how those smaller daemons line up to be used as energy for those weapons assaulting Heaven? Do they use his power to enslave?"
"Yes," they replied. "He normally loves an audience and performs when commanded by those he serves."
"All the images I have seen when I studied daemonology did not show him having wings. Are we sure it is him?"
"Do not believe everything you see, Defender."
"I will keep that in mind," I said turning.
A small city lay behind me.
It reminded me of the one that I had been to only once before with Mathias where we had some food and spoke about the big picture. We had eaten at a small inn with service outside. The food was very good. I remembered thinking that it was strange there were no guards. The village was open and friendly. This place was bigger. I could hear noise in the distance but it was quiet...too quiet. In fact, I did not see anyone. I decided to move closer, being very cautious. With blades out, I advanced toward the structures, which appeared deserted.
The architecture was Roman-like, bearing many similarities. The people obviously had skill in crafting, for an artisan crafted the stone and someone moved them into place. It had to be a difficult task. The road was not paved with cobblestones but slate like tiles with a texture that allowed rainwater to run into a gutter, which meant some type of water collection or sewer. My master mentioned there were several in which souls could choose to reside. If people chose this life, they would live forever unless something happened and they died again.
It was strange to have a village so close. When a soul’s body died again, it would pass to Heaven in the same plain of existence. Why not live in the city of Heaven? Why risk the horde finding the city? The thought perplexed me as I approached.
The sound grew as I stepped around a building. Several people gathered in a central area, as if holding a meeting, but their speech was in whispers. I immediately thought, “This cannot be good,” as it would make slaughtering them too easy for the horde. Concern raised alarms in my mind because my focus on Malnuras had brought me here. They forced the people to gather here to hold my attention.
It was a trap.
I did not catch it before. The people had terrified looks on their faces and attempted to conceal them. I first noticed it on a woman in passing. She avoided looking at me. When she did make eye contact, with her fake waves to the people pretending to be coming and going, things became more apparent to me. I started to pan the square when I realized there were all sorts of baskets around it. Several hundred hastily placed. They were not small baskets; they could hold something large.
I heard laughter. Baskets exploded and out jumped more than four-dozen of the medium flyers followed by hundreds of leapers. There must have been holes under the baskets for it was like watching a clown car unloads. They just kept coming. The townsfolk died as they scattered in all directions.
I cannot say I was surprised. It was a masterful execution of a plan that the horde must have felt would throw me off guard. They lured me here and set a trap. Dying screams filled my ears as I stepped forward to engage the ground units. It was time for them to pay. The shadows cast by the flyers overhead grew fast as thousands filled the sky from all around. I heard the laughter again.
My blades were right in fearing it.
The sound of it pierced my heart...but instead of crippling me with fear, it unleashed the righteous fury inside. Energy leapt from the tips of my blades without my having to command it.
The time to settle the score was nigh...
XIV
Vengeance
The light that fills these fading eyes
Has always been my compromise
In the dark, I made my stand
I bleed to meet the horde's demand
With each drop, my life might fade
But in return lends strength to blade
Standing fast against the tide
No other course but to abide
All my life I have prepared
To stand alone without despair
Heightened skills have bought me time
I am the cork that holds the line
From those that passed in times before
Reinforce the mandate inside I swore
If I fail this day this hour
To the next, I will add my power
I did not choose, yet here I stand
To turn the tide and save the land
I fight a battle to none exists
So they can have their crimson bliss
A battle cry came from me like a bellow to greet the ages and proclaim that Tathlyn had arrived. Both of my swords reached skywar
d as the scream of righteous vengeance escaped my lungs in primal fury. Energy rolled forth like a blanket consecrating the very ground on which I stood. I was in full command of my focus and emotions. The horde in front of me froze for just a moment as my will hit them full on. Not a muscle flexed or moved without my command to do so and I felt all my defensive runes activate and the protective energies flow over my body like a second flexible skin.
The warrior had awakened.
Mathias told me some time ago that there would come a day when every action, thought, and impulse would come together in one cohesive moment. That day would be the day that hell knew of my arrival. Today was that day. The power felt in every muscle was divine in its inception and righteous in its execution. My senses reached out to the entire battlefield. It was as though the thoughts and intentions of my foes lay wide open to me.
My enemy faltered. I could taste the fear rolling off them. It felt sweet to my senses, to know that my presence struck fear in the heart of creatures that lived off hatred, and the torment of others. Such creatures willingly gave themselves to the greater evil. That action in and of itself did not make sense, for evil is selfish and greedy. Right now evil feared me. My mind tingled with a euphoric feeling, creating an intoxication of sorts. I found myself laughing as my swords swung again, cleaving five in half and taking the heads of a several more. The energy released from the swing and decimated dozens close behind those.
My defenses dampened the attempted strikes against me. The occasional claw found its way through my blades to be repelled. Most of the daemons could not even get close to me, as my protections deflected strikes as easily as they touched me. I was starting to sense the frustrations of the horde. They wanted me dead, badly.
Thankfully, the poor souls in this area had scattered. A few of the daemons chased them for a while, but hatred for me pulled them back like a magnet. They knew I was their mortal enemy as much as they were mine. Hundreds of them returned from side streets to engage in the fight only to die within moments. More failed at attempts to get through my defenses. I spun a few times, extending my steel as they re-engaged as a whole, their intention to overbear. Normally that would fell the strongest warrior or at least score some mortal wound on a lesser fighter.