Judas (The Iscariot Warrior Series Book 1)

by Roy Bright

  Judas acknowledges as he also sees the abandoned jack-knifed bus.

  Both cars mount the left sidewalk, sending a newspaper stand crashing to their left as Judas hits it at high speed causing him to fight with the wheel.

  Pete notices the lead car beginning to drift and eases off allowing Judas to bring his under control once again, then reinserts the nose of his car into the back of the car, the lead having now regained control.

  Judas curses as a large group of people rear up in front of them. He whips the wheel to the right and left, bringing them off the sidewalk and back into the road.

  Pete misses his beat by no more than a millisecond and the rear of his car clips a member of the group sending that person sprawling into the front of a building.

  Everything is happening too fast for anyone to concern themselves whether or not that was a Taken or a regular person, and the vehicles continue their power surge through the city streets.

  The cars race through the junctions of Lafayette and then Crosby and Judas screeches the car-train left onto Broadway.

  Gary roars into the handset, “Stop!”

  Judas and Pete hammer their brakes and both cars screech to a sliding halt, as they come face to face with Broadway, blocked with vehicles in its entirety. There is not a single path in sight for them to work through.

  He grunts at Gary, “Tell them to back up, they take the lead, head on further down Grand, left onto Greene and onto Canal Street and pray that it is clear and so is the tunnel or we are on foot and we don’t wanna be on foot.”

  Gary is about to repeat his instructions when the car lunges forward as something massive collides with it from behind, onto its roof and he drops the handset.

  The radio bursts into life and Captain Banks screams one word only, “Demon!”

  The lead vehicle bounces up and down, jolting everyone around inside the car and Abi and Charlotte scream.

  Gary tries to grab his gun but the jolting and motion is preventing him from steadying his hand enough to get a grip of it.

  The side windows smash and everyone shields their faces with their arms.

  Charlotte’s screams intensify which in turn intensifies the attack on the car.

  Gunshots ring out from behind and whatever has a grip of the car let’s go.

  Judas screams at Gary, “Tell them to get back into the car, we need to go, it’s Abaddon!”

  Gary fumbles for the handset. He pulls at the cord, reeling it up and into his hand and, grabbing hold of the microphone, shouts into the radio, “Back into the car, guys! Back into the car, we need to get out of here!”

  Pete looks on in terror at the massive flying demon as it powers itself off the roof of the car and into the air.

  All three fire at the beast as it rises. The radio bursts into life and they hear Gary commanding them back into their vehicle.

  Pete relays the command to the rest. “Back into the car! They want us back in and out of here.”

  Martin turns to Pete and is about to say something when the demon slams into his body from above, piercing him with huge razor-sharp claws. Blood spurts from his chest and mouth as Abaddon closes his grip and rips Martin’s body open, its huge wings beating down, keeping the body in place.

  Pete and Captain Banks scream and open fire.

  Abaddon thrusts his powerful wings downwards and ascends into the air carrying Martin’s butchered body.

  Pete screams, “Martin! Martin!”

  Banks turns to his distraught detective, “Pete! Pete! Get back into the car; we can’t do anything for him now.”

  He continues to scream and starts to fire into the air.

  The Captain repeats his order with more force. “Detective Stillman, get into the fucking car, now!”

  This time Pete does acknowledge him and is just about to get into vehicle when Martin’s body slams into the roof of their car. Blood splatters up out of his wounds and onto both men, covering their faces and upper bodies.

  They stare at the body in disbelief, in shock.

  Abaddon lands on top of the shattered remains of the detective with such force that the entire roof of the car caves into its main shell rendering it useless. He looks at both men as they stand paralyzed with fear and he speaks, his voice hissing, evil and taunting, “What are you going to do now, pathetic monkey men?” He laughs, a terrifying cackle that intensifies the fear rising in both of the detectives, accentuating their feeling of hopelessness. “Are you trying to hurt me with your little balls of metal?” He licks his lips and cackles once again. “Feast your eyes on your death, feast your eyes on the end of man’s days; feast your eyes on His new world. Today is our day, today we will take this pathetic world from the Creator and The Morning Star will shape it in our image.” The demon throws his head back and roars with laughter.

  Gunfire causes both detectives to jump and bring them back into reality. Gary is out of the car and firing at Abaddon.

  The demon snaps his attention towards him and screams. Beating down with his massive wings, he rises into the air and launches at him.

  Gary drops to the ground and Abaddon’s talons miss him by millimeters.

  Judas is attempting to open his door but the damage sustained from the demon’s attack has left it jammed and unable to be broken free.

  Abaddon hovers in the air above the car and hisses, “I haven’t time to play with you fools, my Master must finish his work and he awaits my triumphant return. I will just have to eat you later.” With that, he powers down onto the roof of the car and grabs it with both claws. He pulls at the car and it starts to lift into the air, which makes him beat his wings with greater force, attempting to remove the roof.

  The three remaining police officers open fire at the demon but this does not deter him from his task.

  He throws even more energy into the beating of his wings and the wheels of the car lift off the tarmac.

  Charlotte and Abi scream and Abi searches around the inside of the car to try to find a means of escape, but the doors will not move and she is too afraid to attempt to climb out of a window.

  Gunfire, the beating of wings and the creaking of metal create an intense cocktail of sounds that occupy the night and, at last, the weight of the car wins as the roof gives way and Abaddon ascends into the air with it. The demon screeches in triumph and throws the roof of the car at the two men behind him.

  “Watch out!” Captain Banks screams; but it is too late.

  The speed at which Abaddon launches the huge piece of metal at them is too great and it hits both men, crashing them into the bonnet of the rear car and blood explodes everywhere from the impact. The piece of metal falls forward revealing the crushed forms of Captain Banks and Pete Stillman, and they slump down. They are gone.

  Gary screams, fear and anger working in equal measures within him having witnessed the brutal deaths of his friends and he fires at Abaddon once again.

  The demon laughs and dives down towards Charlotte grabbing the girl by her backpack. He beats down with his wings, attempting to bring her into the air with him, the child screaming wildly all the while.

  Abi screams and lunges, grabbing hold of her, pulling down with every ounce of strength she possesses, stalling the demon.

  Abaddon readjusts his power to gain altitude and all three leave the ground causing Abi to lose her grip, landing back inside the car, grunting in pain.

  He beats his wings once again, preparing to fly off at speed, smiling; pleased with himself. His task done.

  Judas has now managed to get out of the vehicle, swords in hand. He brings back his right arm and hurtles a sword at the demon.

  The sword buries itself, almost up to the hilt into Abaddon’s body just below his left wing and the demon rages in agony. This also causes him to lose altitude and velocity and he drops towards the ground. He readdresses his motion and fights down harder with his right wing, attempting to gain altitude and speed. He tries to engage his left, but the sword embedded underneath it prevents hi
m from doing so, causing him to bob along in the air just a few feet above the roofs of the cars ahead.

  Judas wastes no time setting off in pursuit, whilst at the same time inserting his remaining sword into his harness. He leaps onto the roof of the first abandoned car, then tears along after Abaddon an intense determination burned into his face as he pursues his foe. The uneven surfaces of the car roofs prove no hindrance to him as he races along at high speed, gaining on Abaddon all the time. Once again, he starts to feel immense power welling up inside of him and, as his gaze fixes upon Charlotte, he sees she is emanating the glow. He once again feels powerful as he nears the girl and throws more force into his legs, powering across the car roofs as they buckle and dent under his incredible pressure. Although Abaddon is evidently in great pain trying to bring his left wing into play for flight, he starts to show signs of achieving his aim and, seeing this, Judas urges an intensity into his pursuit, causing car windows to explode outwards as he thunders over them. He is now almost under the demon and for the briefest of moments, he closes his eyes and prays for one last burst of strength. Opening them, he leaps into the air, screaming with fury, launching himself upwards with superhuman strength. He reaches out for the demon as he hits the very apex of the leap and with nothing to spare, grabs a hold of Abaddon’s left leg and digs his fingers into his flesh.

  Abaddon screams. Looking down he calls out, “Iscariot!” as he loses more altitude, dropping to almost the roofline of the cars causing Judas to run and skip along them, still holding onto the demon’s leg.

  With increased determination, he claws his way up the demon and reaches out for the sword under its wing; the demon screaming with each gouge inflicted upon him from his fingers. He is within reach of the sword and at last, grabs it, pulling it out slow, relishing the great pain it causes.

  As he draws the sword clear and prepares to strike it into the chest of Abaddon, the demon realizes his opportunity and reacts quicker. He beats down both wings with furious force, calling out in great pain but gaining a huge and instant leap in altitude. The sudden rush of acceleration pushes Judas downwards causing the hand gripping the sword to fall down to his side, preventing him from ramming it into the demon.

  Abaddon regains control and moves along at great speed, tearing down Broadway, increasing his altitude with each beat of his wings.

  A huge, brown brick building looms up ahead of them and Abaddon beats down even harder, climbing up the side of the gigantic hi-rise with a steep velocity.

  Inches away from the building’s surface, window upon window zoom past Judas as he fights to hang onto Abaddon, the wind rushing against his face. He knows that he must hold on, must hold with everything he has, he cannot let go, he won’t let go.

  As the demon reaches the pinnacle of the building and attempts to cross over it, the shift in gravitational pull allows Judas to throw his sword- carrying arm upwards and he thrusts it into the side of the creature’s wretched body.

  Abaddon screams once again and, losing all momentum crashes down onto the roof of the building.

  All three hit the roof hard and Abaddon releases his grip of Charlotte.

  She rolls along the surface and claws at the ground trying to halt her momentum. Her legs feel the building disappear from under her and as she skids over the edge, she grabs at it with all of her might, screaming in absolute terror. She looks down and realizes the severity of the height over which she is dangling. She screams, “Judas!”

  Judas and Abaddon both crash into the sidewall of the part of the building that leads into the stairwell. The demon and the man grunt in pain, as the force of hitting the brick is heavy.

  Abaddon reacts first, kicking out, sending him sprawling backwards.

  Once again, Judas calls upon his increased agility and rolls backwards over his head. Spreading his arms and legs out, he brings himself to a skidding halt and reaches up to his harness, drawing his second sword. He looks past Abaddon as he hears Charlotte scream out his name as she scrambles to hold onto the side of the building and calls out in panic, “No! Charlotte, hold on, just… hold on!”

  She claws at the roof in desperation, trying to hold on and to her relief, just about manages to rest her feet on a small ledge underneath her, granting a precious life-saving moment of advantage. She takes deep breaths, sobbing with fear as she just does not possess the strength to pull herself up back onto the roof and screams once again, “Judas, help me!”

  He powers himself up and races across the roof towards her.

  Abaddon forces himself back onto his feet and leaps out, trying to cut him off.

  He leans backwards and ducks underneath the demon’s huge left claw just as he launches it at him, whilst at the same time, retrieving his second sword from Abaddon’s side and, arcing it up and forwards, slices through the demon’s left wing.

  It falls to the floor of the roof and turns to dust.

  Abaddon lets out a blood-curdling scream. “You will pay for that, Iscariot! You will pay with your flesh and blood. I will rip you apart, Betrayer, and send you to hell where I will feast upon you until the end of time whilst you scream in agony for eternity.”

  Judas feels even greater power rising inside of him. It is now clear to him that Charlotte’s fear and predicament is causing an outflow of energy that fuels him and he feels invincible. Every ounce of his soul feeds on the raw blessed power that she is providing. Every nerve ending is on fire with holy electricity, and he fears the demon no more. He turns and stares down Abaddon with a terrifying determination, pointing his right sword at him.

  “Demon, you have plagued me for far too long and I have feared you above all else but now your time has come. I am sending you to the pit. May you never rise again, Defiler, this is your undoing.”

  Abaddon roars in defiance and he launches at him, his clawed feet slamming into the roof’s surface as he charges. His huge mouth opens, revealing razor-sharp teeth and his forked and salivating tongue flicks from side to side as he runs, his massive frame dwarfing that of Judas’ as he bears down upon him.

  Judas does not move. He doesn’t so much as flinch; he just stares into the demon’s yellow eyes as they burn with intensity.

  Abaddon raises both huge claws into the air and strikes at him.

  Time slows as Judas ignites with a pure white glow of energy. He leaps into the air, moving with such speed that he is just but a blur to the naked eye. He lands two feet away from where he started, on the other side of Abaddon, his back to him and inserts his swords back into the harness. He does not look at Abaddon nor turn around. The demon skids to a halt and its face is fixed in the very grimace it sported as it bore down upon him, eyes wide open, teeth bared; but now the eyes no longer burn like fire, the tongue no longer moves from side to side, it just hangs out of his mouth, saliva dripping from it. Abaddon is motionless, silent.

  “Be gone demon!” Judas whispers.

  The demon’s head slides off its neck and hits the ground, bursting into dust. The rest of his body withers and crumbles.

  Charlotte loses her footing on the ledge as she once again attempts to climb back up onto the roof. She cannot hold on any longer; her grip releases and she slides off.

  She screams, “JUDAS!”

  She falls.

  “NO!” he cries as he turns and races after her, past the decaying form of Abaddon. Without hesitation, he dives off the edge of the building.

  Charlotte screams. She is in the throes of the most terrifying experience of her life as she grasps at the air in a futile attempt to stop herself falling. Above she sees Judas dive over the edge and stream through the air towards her.

  He forms himself into the straightest line that he can, attempting to cut down on as much wind shear resistance as possible and create a much greater velocity downwards than that of Charlottes to enable him to catch up with her. Determination locks into his face as he reaches forward, tucking his head into his arms as much as he can. He stretches his arms and fingers, trying to cat
ch up with her as the wind rushes against his face, into his eyes, water streaming from them. He must catch her! He must… catch her!

  She continues to scream and window upon window passes her by as she plummets towards the ground. Suddenly, the voice inside her head returns.

  Stretch out your arms and legs. Do it now, child.

  She knows to obey the voice without hesitation. The voice has always helped and kept her alive so she does as it commands and the small but sudden decrease in velocity slows her enough to allow Judas to catch up with her.

  He grabs hold of her, wrapping his arms around and bringing her close into his body. He then arches and twists, turning around so that he falls with his back towards the ground, his entire body wrapped around the child.

  Ken Price stares in disbelief at the form of a child and a man as they fall from the building opposite. This has been the most terrifying day of his life, with hordes of insane people killing his work colleagues and trying to do the same to him and the small band of people taking refuge inside the office they are currently defending; and now the sight of the pair plummeting to the ground reinforces the horror of it all.

  He and four other office workers had barricaded themselves into the room, trying to shield themselves from the rampaging psychotic people roaming the building. The barricaded door had been under constant siege for the past half hour and has begun to show huge signs of weakening.

  Ken doesn’t realize that he is walking away from his post of reinforcing the blockade, open mouthed. He stares at the falling man as he grabs the child and turns midair, his back to the ground. He shakes his head as he calls out, “Oh my God!”

  One of the men at the barricade screams at him to get back into his position but it is too late. The blockade fails and the door crashes open as the Taken swarm into the room and butcher them all.

  As Judas and Charlotte near the ground, he closes his eyes and prays, please let this work, please God, I beg of you, let… this… work.

  They hit the ground.

  Thirty-Five