Smoke poured from its huge nostrils as I raised my hand, calling upon the power of Caliburn and letting Hellfire fill my palm. The smell of sulfur hit my nose as I flung the fireball at the dragon. The blast slammed into it, causing it to shriek in pain as it swerved, trying to fly back into the air.
Only before it could escape, I sprang into the air, driving Caliburn into its side. As my blade sank into its flesh, another screech tore from its maw. Then it bucked, trying to throw me off. Resisting, I reached out with the power of Mammon’s gauntlet, the Relentless Grips of Greed. As soon as I did, I felt everything inside the creature, including the gob of Dark Blood that powered the creature.
I yanked on it with everything I had, and as sweat beaded on my brow, I felt something within the creature give. The Dark Blood within it ripped free, slamming into my palm an instant before the creature evaporated.
That was a problem because I was a couple hundred feet in the air. Yes. I tried to flap my damned arms like I could fly. It didn’t help, and oddly, knowing I’d heal was a small comfort as I hit the ground at a billion miles an hour.
As my outstretched arm shattered beneath my weight, followed by pretty much every other bone in my body, Darkness and agony ripped up inside me. Even as I felt my powers struggle to heal me, my only solace came from the fact that the Darkness warriors were too busy trying to tear down Heaven’s gates to pay me much mind.
That’s when I saw the angels descend on the battlefield. Michelle stood front and center, a glowing sword of fire in one hand, and as she touched down with a multitude behind her, she whipped the blade outward. The edge snapped outward like a whip of flaming steel, and as it hit the creatures closest to her, they disintegrated into ash.
She strode forward, her weapon whirling around her in a blur of flame, and crazier still, every time she swung, entire legions fell. No wonder she was the leader.
As I watched her cut down a ravager like it was made of tissue paper, I had a horrible thought. Dred had utterly destroyed her in battle. How was that even possible?
No. I couldn’t think about that right now. I had to focus. Shutting my eyes, I reached down and let my marks open. This time, as power flowed into me, I felt my healing quicken, spurred on by the six marks I now held. Wrath, Pride, Envy, Greed, Lust, and Death.
Strength filled me, and when I opened my eyes a second later, I had been reformed. Part of me was shocked, but most of me was just glad to be whole again. Pocketing the Dark Blood I’d taken from the dragon, I leapt to my feet and rejoined the fight.
I can’t tell you how long I cut, and punched, and kicked, nor how many Darkness warriors I fought, but it felt like it had to be hundreds. Yet, even as they fell before my blade, more came charging from the Darkness.
I’d worried about that for a moment, but a quick glance behind me, made the worry dissipate. The angels had formed a line, standing shoulder to shield in a way that reminded me of the Spartans from 300. Mounds upon mounds of Darkness warriors rushed them only to fall to decisive spear thrusts. For everything else, the angels knew how to fight.
In fact, almost all the angels were fighting in that solid, unbreakable line, and even when one fell, another moved to take her place.
There was only a scarce few, like Michelle and Uriel who found beyond the line, and even then, they more seemed to be in a supportive role, moving quickly to where the legion seemed thickest and thinning it out, or focusing on the specials like ravagers.
It was a bit crazy, and I quickly realized that had I not taken down the dragon, Michelle or Uriel would have. Well, maybe not Uriel since she had only a single wing, but still.
“You need to get behind the line,” Michelle said, moving next to me and destroying the pair of beholders I’d been fighting with a casual swing of her flaming whip-sword. “The boss will show up soon.”
“Boss?” I asked, confused. “What do you mean, boss?”
“During these attacks, they throw minions at us, and when we’ve killed enough, a really powerful monster comes. I don’t want you out here until I know what it does.” Michelle, Archangel of Justice looked at me. “At the end of the day, I’m more expendable than you.”
“I’m not leaving,” I said right before the horizon shattered into iridescent shards, and a lich rode through on another dragon. Only if I thought the other one was big, this one made it look like a baby.
“Get to Uriel,” Michelle cried as the lich sighted on us and raised its staff.
As she shoved me backward behind her, a fiery blast of silver light slammed into her, blowing a hole clean through her armor before exploding outward with so much force I was thrown from my feet by the shockwave.
Michelle collapsed forward on her knees, her abdomen a bloody ruin, and as she looked at me, the lich charged her on its dragon, staff raised high as it summoned more energy.
14
“Get away from her!” I cried, leaping to my feet. Caliburn blazed in my hand as I flung a sapphire blast at the creature.
The lich batted it away with ease, and as my attack shattered into ethereal shards, it began to laugh.
“I wondered if we would meet, Builder,” the lich cackled in its half-dead Morgan Freeman voice. “Now, prepare to die, so that I may raise you as a zombie. Then you can serve me grapes for all eternity.”
“Or you can just go back to being a corpse!” I snarled, and as I glared at it, I felt the earring in my ear pulse with cold remembrance. What I’d seen Sam do when she completely obliterated the creature with her power over death filled my brain, and I realized I could see a thousand blue dots all over the lich’s body, reminding me of stop-motion capture.
“Such big talk for one who will be a feast for my dragon!” The lich charged, its steed tearing up the distance between us.
“Get out of here, Arthur,” Michelle wheezed, pushing to her feet with the hand that gripped her sword. Blood dripped from her mouth while her other hand clutched her wound. More blood flowed from between her fingers.
“No. You go, Michelle. Have Sally heal you.” I held out my hand, and once again focused on Mammon’s power. As I did, I felt the dark blood within the dragon. I yanked once more, ripping it free with a surge of demonic energy. As the glowing green crystal hit my outstretched hand like a basketball, the dragon erupted into flames.
The lich screamed as its mount was reduced to ash, and as it crashed to the earth, I squeezed the dark blood, drawing upon its power. The crown on my head began to flare as I focused on the weather.
With a shriek, the piece of dark blood shattered into dust, and as it fell from my hand in a billion pieces, a tornado exploded into the middle of the battlefield. It whipped outward, tearing through the armies of Darkness and ripping them to pieces.
Even still, I knew the display wouldn’t last long because even though I’d powered it with the energy contained in the lich’s mount, this was a tornado. I had ten seconds at best, but that would be all I needed.
As the lich climbed to its feet, I stepped in front of Michelle, who still stood there bleeding. Her eyes were wide in shock as I clutched Caliburn tight.
“You won’t be able to do that to me,” The lich snarled, its bony hand gripping its staff as it conjured a swirling ball of power and sent it flying at me. “My magic protects me.”
“That’s fine. I plan to rip out your heart the old-fashioned way,” I said, realizing I couldn’t feel the dark blood within it like I had with the dragon.
As its spell flew toward me, I slashed at it with Caliburn, cutting the explosive blast in half, and sending it spiraling off behind me. It exploded on either side of me, and the shock wave of the blast turned my stomach, but I was just glad none of it had struck our fellow fighters.
“Then come, Builder.” The lich planted its staff in the ground as the tornado cleared a path between us. “Face me.”
“With pleasure.” Only instead of charging the creature, I stared at all the pinpoints of light holding it together. I wasn’t sure if they were
each there, but from what it seemed like, it sort of resembled a puppet on strings.
As I focused on the power of Death, I reached into my pocket with my free hand and grabbed the dark blood from the other dragon. Power coursed up in me as I pulled it free and pointed it at the lich.
With a flick of my wrist, I once again broke open the Dark Blood. Energy surged forth in me as I concentrated on ripping those strings out of the creature. To be fair, I wasn’t sure if it was from Death’s power or Greed’s, but either way as my power grabbed hold of those strings and jerked them free, the lich screamed. I didn’t get enough of them to completely hobble the monster, but I got enough for its legs to give out beneath it.
“What have you done?” the lich cried, and for the first time, I heard the fear in its voice.
“Defeated you,” I said, sprinting forward and slashing out at it with Caliburn. My blade cut through its magical barrier with an earsplitting shriek that ripped across my brain, like nails on a chalkboard.
Then my sword smashed into its skull, shattering its unlife into a spray of bone and brain matter. An explosion of light and sound filled my ears moments before I was flung backward across the landscape by the lich’s death spell.
As I landed hard on the ground, the tornado burned itself out, leaving only scattered remnants of the army. Only without the lich to guide them, they were mostly running away from us rather than toward us.
I picked myself up and moved toward Michelle who was on her knees, blood still flowing from her wound, but even still, she looked better than she had only a second before.
“Need a hand?” I asked, offering her my free hand.
“How did you do that?” Michelle asked, not taking my hand because she was too busy staring at the crater left behind by the lich. “I’ve not seen someone do that since Samael.” She swallowed. “Normally we need to beat on them until we shatter their shield with force. It’s difficult and takes a lot out of me and the others.”
“I have Samael’s mark.” I touched my abdomen, and the movement drew her eyes to me. “It let me see the power animating the lich and negate it. I could have done more, but you know, I’m only at twenty-five percent.”
“This is you at twenty-five percent strength?” She took a moment, trying to absorb that.
“Yeah.” I nodded as she licked her lips. “It is.”
“If this is you at twenty-five percent, then we must get you to one-hundred percent.” She forced herself to her feet and extended her hand to me. “Come, Arthur, there must be a way. Let’s go see Raphael.”
15
“You just storm over here and demand I help you?” Raphael asked, glaring at Michelle from the doorway to her archives where she kept all the information Heaven had gathered throughout the years. “I’m busy doing important work.”
“Is this where you make a big deal about having to help, so that when you succeed, I praise you?” Michelle asked, raising an eyebrow. It was a little crazy because she was still bleeding, but she hadn’t wanted Sally to bother because she would “heal it like an angel should” and that “scars are good reminders to be better.”
“Don’t be a bitch,” Raphael snarled, blowing out an exasperated breath and shaking her head so her copper curls fluttered around her head.
“Excellent,” Michelle smiled before turning to me, and I must have looked as lost as I felt because Michelle’s smile slipped a touch. “What?”
“I have no idea what’s going on.” I pointed at the pair of them. “This is way over my head.”
“Oh.” Michelle nodded to me. “Raphael is mad because she figured it out and wanted to make a big deal about it, but I stole her thunder.”
“You figured it out?” I asked, sort of surprised. “Already?”
“Yes.” Raphael gave me a hesitant look, like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Is that a problem?”
“It’s fucking awesome, and you’re awesome.” I moved forward and clasped her hands. “Thank you so much.”
“Well, I, er, it was nothing.” She pulled her hands away and pushed her glasses up her nose.
“It’s not nothing. You figured out how to overcome my inability to effectively use Heaven’s armaments. That is game-changing.” I smiled.
“I suppose it is, isn’t it?” Raphael’s eyes moved to Michelle before settling on me. “Come, I’ll show you.” She stepped back, gesturing for me to enter. I was a bit surprised because the interior was all plush red carpet and gold filigree. Artwork I was pretty sure had been lost for centuries filled the walls, and as I stared at what I was pretty sure was an original Da Vinci, my eyes nearly popped out of my head.
“You’re letting him in?” Michelle asked incredulously. “You don’t even let me in.”
“You’re a bitch, and he’s nice.” Raphael grimaced. “And you’ll bleed on the carpet. I just had it cleaned.”
“You had it cleaned?” Michelle said, clearly confused as she looked down at the carpet. “But it’s red. Blood won’t even show.”
“Some of us don’t like to live in hovels.” Raphael snorted. “Now come along, Arthur. It is okay that I call you Arthur, right?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.” I smiled at her and cast one last look at Michelle. “I’ll be back in a bit okay?”
“Okay…” Michelle said, clearly at a loss for what to do. I sort of felt bad about it, but at the same time she’d had eons to be nice to Raphael, and being nice never hurt anyone. Still, I knew that deep down Michelle really did want friends. Or at least she did when she was drunk, anyway.
As the door closed, blocking off Michelle from view, I turned to find myself staring at the world’s largest museum. Artifacts, books, and everything in between filled shelves, cases, and displays. There was so much that even a cursory glance at this very tiny room let me know it’d take a lifetime to look through, and this was just the entryway of a building that seemed to rival the whole of Earth.
“What do you think of my collection?” Raphael asked, clearly enjoying my awe. “It used to be bigger, but sieges destroyed some artifacts before I could move them here.” Her face soured. “Damned heathens always destroy things.”
“I think it’s amazing.” I took a step forward and stared at a map of what looked like America. Only it was hand drawn. "Is that what I think it is?”
“The Amerigo Vespucci? Yeah.” Raphael nodded. “But I doubt you came to see old maps.” With that, she spun on her heel and moved toward the far door, her hips swishing with each step in a way that made me wonder if it was natural. Either way, I liked it.
“So how did you figure it out?” I asked, following behind her into the hallway. It was filled with so many life-sized suits of armor, that it could have outfitted an entire battalion.
“Figure what out? The armaments thing?” Raphael cast a glance over her shoulder at me.
“Yes.” I nodded. “Seems like you did it in just a couple hours.”
“Well, I knew where to look. Knowing where to look is eighty percent of the battle.” She gestured at me. “It’s like the book I asked Gabriella to give you. It talks about your powers.”
“Sort of. It more displays information after I encounter something.” I shrugged, wondering what the book would say now. Would it have entries on Heaven, on the angels? I wasn’t sure, but the moment I got a little time, I was going to look.
“That’s true, but not the point.” She turned the corner and stopped before a silver archway. Beyond it was a football field sized room all filled with tomes, artifacts, and paintings. “I bring you to what I call the wing of the Builder and Destroyer.”
“You found it in here?” I asked as she gestured for me to enter.
“Yes. I have all the collected works on you and your rival.” She shrugged. “Does it seem like something I wouldn’t have?”
“I honestly, never thought about it really.” I felt a little dumb. I’d never even considered where Gabriella had gotten the magic book from nor if there were others. From the l
ook of things, there were many others.
“You should think more. Not all women like the muscles and brawn thing.” She frowned. “Anyway, I found it in a book that talked about achievements.” She pointed at a book that lay open on a desk near the center of the room. It was piled high with other books beside a notepad with an honest to god quill pen in an inkwell next to it.
“What are achievements?” I asked, moving closer, only as I glanced at the page in the book, I realized I couldn’t read it, and while a menu appeared above it, opened it revealed only strange, nonsensical characters.
“Achievements are special, um, hmm…” Raphael thought for a moment. “Let me start over. When you accomplish certain tasks, it will cause you to gain an achievement.” She waved her hand. “I recognize that doesn’t explain much but just go with me for a second here, and it will sort of make sense.” When I nodded, she continued, “If you accomplish a bunch of tasks, you will gain reputation with our faction in Heaven. That faction boost will basically eliminate the debuff affecting you and the armaments.”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense.” I took a moment, thinking it over. While I didn’t quite understand, it sort of made sense. Often in video games, by building reputation with various factions, you could gain access to rewards from that particular faction. Evidently, Heaven worked similarly to that. I must have started off with a higher reputation with Hell because I was the Legendary Builder, but conversely, that ruined my reputation with Heaven. Now I had to quest to raise my reputation.
“It does?” Raphael seemed surprised. “I feel like my explanation was terrible.”
“I need to do quests to grind out faction reputation. It makes perfect sense. At least to me, anyway.” I shrugged. “So, what are the quests I need to complete?”
“They aren’t quests. They are achievements.” She gave me an annoyed look. “It’s different.”
The Builder's Wrath (The Legendary Builder Book 4) Page 9