“You imbecile! You fool!” Crouzer roared as he wiped the blood from his eyes. “You dare provoke me?”
Peter giggled and continued to hold his stomach.
“Don’t let him provoke you, Gabilon.” Lillith wiped the blood that had splattered on her thigh. “The child has completed the task.”
When Peter looked up, the tower stretched through the large Hellgate. The huge tower had stopped vibrating. Peter knew he was too late. He had failed yet again.
“I told you, Gevurah. All your actions will still not prevent or prove anything. Now we shall enter into heaven. The top section of the tower is on earth and will open the doors to heaven’s doorstep.”
Peter said, “You’ll never get in. No force in this universe is strong enough to go into heaven. My brothers and sisters, the children of Sephirot, will guard the gates with their lives. All your efforts are for nothing.”
“Really?” Crouzer said. “Don’t you remember what I had said to you back in my office?”
Peter said, “When you told me you’ve journeyed into the future?”
“Yes. This war will last for a century. The sun will not shine for ninety-nine days and ninety-nine nights, but it will go in our favor after the hundredth day.” Crouzer chuckled. “Heaven will crumble in less than a year. For now, I will take care of our matters at hand. Lillith, you can retreat for now. Inform our lord of our success.”
Lillith nodded and smiled. An Hellgate opened before her after she motioned her hand. It closed behind her with a twinkle.
“Now what, Gevurah? What will you do?” Crouzer asked.
“I will do as I had promised—take the boy back to his mother.” Peter slowly stood up with his hand on his stomach.
“That you may do. Come, boy.”
Randy slowly walked over to Crouzer.
Crouzer reached for his hand, and he took it.
“Unlike you, Gevurah. I keep my promises. Randy, go to Peter. He will take you to your mommy now,” Crouzer said with a deceitful smile.
Randy nodded and began to walk toward Peter.
Peter smiled and reached his hand out to Randy. “You are a special boy, you know that?”
Randy nodded and took his hand.
Peter knelt down and brushed the child’s hair from his face. “Your mother is going to be happy to see you, and I’m going to tell her how brave you were. Are you ready to go?”
Randy smiled and nodded.
Crouzer said, “Out of curiosity, Gevurah, how are you planning to leave this plane? If I can recall, Lillith took all your weapons and relics.”
His smile was gentle. “It’s funny you should ask. She forgot the most important thing.” Peter reached in his pocket and pulled out a golden marble. It began to glow almost as brightly as the sun.
“What is that?” Crouzer asked.
“This little thing here is our ticket out of here. This is the Key of Cronus.”
“A key? That little ball is the Key of Cronus? How fallacious.”
Peter held his palm up, and the ball slowly rose from his hand. It sparked and began rotating before it transformed into a cross.
Randy’s eyes lit up when his saw the golden crucifix. The colored stones gleamed.
“You, sneaky bastard. You had that all along without us knowing?”
Peter grinned and nodded. “Not even Lillith could detect it. She took everything else, but she forgot to look for this. Its size and presence were hard for her to detect. My brother showed me how to hide it.” He held the crucifix above his head and concentrated. A light beamed down from above, and the golden light slowly circled down toward Peter and Randy. When the light touched their bodies, Peter and Randy began to levitate.
All the demons, lost souls, and Crouzer watched in amazement as the golden light pulled the two up.
“You schemer! You double-crosser!” Crouzer said. “How dare you deceive me?”
“I bet you didn’t see this coming when you saw the future, huh?” Peter said.
“You imbecile. Do you think I would allow you two to leave? I didn’t know you had that relic to aid you. You just made me mad, Gevurah.” Crouzer raised his hands, and the ground began to tremble. Lightning sparked and struck him. He began to undergo a transformation. His body expanded, his neck grew, and five dragon-like heads sprouted. A tail and wings grew from him. “You fool. You will never leave here alive,” Crouzer roared.
Randy began to weep.
Peter wished the light would move a bit faster.
Crouzer pulled back all five heads and launched intense flames at them.
Peter did not have any way to defend himself. He grabbed Randy, hugged him close, and turned his back to the angry flames. When the flame struck him, Peter cried out in agony. He almost let go of Randy because of the pain, but he hung on as tightly as he could.
Crouzer laughed and used his stubby hands to create a purplish-black energy. A dark vibe was felt all around the area as the ball sparked bright purple lightning.
Peter knew what to expect when he saw Crouzer creating it. He pushed Randy up to the light. The boy cried out when he saw that he was leaving Peter below. He threw a hand out to grab him, but Peter knew he had to protect the boy at all cost. The energy would kill them both. He slipped out of the light and fell to the ground as Randy continued to be vacuumed up into the light.
When Peter landed, the crucifix was still in his possession. Peter raised it over his shoulder and threw it at Crouzer. The cross twirled and curved like a boomerang toward the fallen angel.
Crouzer saw the twirling crucifix coming toward him and was forced to release his energy at it. To his surprise, the crucifix cut through the energy ball and struck him in the chest.
Crouzer fell to his knees as the light from the holy relic crawled into his chest. It spread throughout his body, and he began to scream in pain. In an instant, he exploded.
***
Peter released the holy relic a moment before Crouzer released the deadly energy. Crouzer had released the ball to stop the crucifix, but the crucifix passed through it, heading for its target. It slammed into the demon’s chest, but the ball was still on course. Peter rolled out of the way before the ball hit him. It collided with one of the small towers and exploded.
The force pushed Peter forward and he fell on his knees. He was exhausted.
When he looked up, he saw that his nemesis had finally met his demise. The crucifix shot back in his direction, and Peter raised his hand to catch it. He rolled over on his back and saw that the light and Randy were gone. He had succeeded in getting the boy back to earth—and back to his mother. Peter smiled and closed his eyes. His breathing was repetitive, and the severe burn on his back was painful.
Peter heard footsteps, raised his chin, and saw Lillith and two large demons walking toward him. Peter cursed under his breath and squeezed his eyes shut. ‘What does she want from me now.’
“Nicely done, Gevurah,” Lillith said. “You succeeded in sending the boy home—and you destroyed Gabilon.”
One of the large demons grabbed the crucifix from the Demon Slayer. It yelped when it felt the holy relic’s power scourged out. The demon backed away when its palm was in pain.
Peter chuckled at its discomfort and pulled the relic to his body. He looked up and saw that the clouds were slowly covering the way the boy had went through. He wanted to lift the relic again to escape.
Before he could, Lillith grabbed his hand. “A thing like that cannot harm me.” A box that resembled a cigar case formed in her other hand. She squeezed Peter’s hand and the crucifix fell inside of it. She stood up and closed the wooden box. “Thanks to you, everything is falling into place,” She chuckled. “Now that the tower is on earth, it’s time for your second task. Do you remember the eighteen goons I spoke of when I first brought you here? It is time to bring you to the chambers below the tower.” She turned to one of the demon. “Pick him up.”
The demon picked Peter up by his hair.
Peter s
creamed and hung on to its humungous arm when it stood him up. He wobbled like a drunken person when he tried to stay level. “What else do you want from me?”
The demon growled, pulled back a fist, and punched Peter in the chin. The punch launched him in the air. His body twirled a few times, and he landed thirty feet away.
“Well done. Now we don’t have to listen to his chatter,” Lillith tittered. “Bring him. We have already wasted too much time. Gevurah and Demeekur are the last two generals we need to find to fuel the tower. Hurry along.”
The demon threw Peter over his shoulder, and they all walked toward a small square tower. Lillith waved her hand over it, and a door revealed an elevator. She walked in, and the others followed. When the door closed, the small elevator descended.
“In Iceland?” Ella screamed. “There’s a large irregular shaped building in Iceland that just rose up from the ground? Are you crazy, Sam?”
Claudius, Zack, and Dawn anxiously waited for her to get off the phone to hear what she had to say.
“Is it on the news?” Ella asked.
Zack reached for the remote and pressed the power button. They watched as the news camera circled around in a chopper over the diabolical tower. Their eyes lit up when they understood what it was.
“Is that the tower?” Dawn asked.
“Oh no,” Ella whispered.
Claudius went upstairs. He could not believe his father trip was unsuccessful.
Dawn chased after him.
“Did Peter fail?” Zack looked over at Ella and then back at the television.
Ella began to cry. “What are those things? Sam, there are things crawling on the building.”
Sam asked, “What things? I’m not there, Ella. You have to tell me what you see.”
“They’re demons.” Zack said. “A number of them are flying toward the camera.”
“Oh my gosh, Sam. The demons are attacking the chopper—with the camera crew in it. Somebody help them!”
The program changed back to the news studio. The anchorman said, “Due to the graphic nature of this program, it cannot be broadcast at this time.”
Ella ended the call with her partner and cried.
Zack said, “I have to go to that island. I know exactly where that tower is.”
Ella wiped her cheeks and asked, “What do you mean?”
“Those people need my help. I have to go see if anyone made it out alive.”
“I don’t think so. Those things look cruel. Everyone in those two choppers is dead. You might get hurt if you go.”
“I have to know for sure. Besides, there are people who live near Snæfellsjökull.”
“What? What kind of name is that?”
“That’s the name of the volcano the tower rose from,” Claudius said as he walked down the stairs. “I recognized that area when I saw it.”
Zack smiled. “He’s right. That’s the center of the world—the point where the door to the kingdom of heaven will open.”
Ella shook her head and said, “How do you two know of this?”
“Garrison spoke of it in his lectures,” Zack answered. “He told us the exact location and how the gate is going to open. Reykjavik is close by. There are 120,000 people in that city. We have to help them.”
Claudius said, “We have to evacuate the city. The demons are going to rise from that area. We have to go there and help them. In hours, that entire city could be wiped out.”
Dawn ran down the stairs. “You guys need to see this. Come and look out the window.” Dawn opened the blinds.
“Oh my,” said Ella.
Claudius said, “What the …”
“Why is it dark? Is there a storm coming?” Zack looked out the window.
Claudius said, “It’s one o’clock. Why is it so dark outside?”
Zack said “It has begun—ninety-nine days and ninety-nine nights of darkness.”
“What?” Ella screamed. “Are you saying that it’s going to be this way for almost a hundred days? The entire world is going to be covered in black clouds?”
Claudius nodded. “The Apocalypse is upon us.”
Dawn walked in to hug Claudius, and rested her head on his chest.
Claudius said, “We have to save those people on that island and stop the demons before their plague spreads throughout the world.”
Ella said, “How are you guys planning on getting there?”
“I will take us there,” Zack said. “I will fly us there.”
“No. The island is two thousand miles away. It will take us days to fly there with your speed. I have another source of transportation.”
Zack said, “What source of transportation is that?”
“When my father went to Jerusalem, he got there in a few hours.”
Zack asked, “And how did he do that?”
“There’s a demon roaming around in New Jersey’s underground. It can take us to Iceland.”
“A demon?” Ella said. “Are you insane? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Just relax, ma’am. My father had great confidence that it was a friendly creature. I trust my father’s judgment.”
Ella hugged them both.
Claudius said good-bye to Dawn, and Ella wished them the best before the two departed.
Chapter 26
Showdown on the Stairway to Heaven
Claudius and Zack hid behind a small hill just behind the volcano. They lay down on their stomachs, looking over at the tower from about a football field away. The tower looked large on television, but they couldn’t imagine it would be so much bigger up close. They watched as the demon marched around to guard the area. Some of the demons were crawling from the Hellgate below the tower.
Claudius and Zack had seen pictures and videos of them, but they never imagined they would be so frightening.
The air was thick and suffocating. Black clouds wrapped around the tower, and the top half disappeared in them. The tower seemed to be creating the clouds; they slowly glided away from it like smoke from a chimney.
Zack saw a few aircraft flying above and knew it was the Air Force. “Oh man, why are they here? I hope they’re just checking out the area.
“Yeah, last thing we need is to get more people involve.”
They watched as the craft circled the tower and took off where it had came from.
“Can you believe this?” Zack asked. “There are so many of them. There are at least five hundred demons. Look over there. They’re marching toward that military troop. We have to do something.” He prepared to activate his armor.
“Wait.” Claudius grabbed Zack’s arm. “We can’t just rush into battle without a plan. Besides, there’s too many of them. We have to figure out a way to destroy a large number of them simultaneously.”
Zack looked at him and nodded. He did not like the feeling he was getting from the area. The hair on his skin was standing up. His palms were sweaty—and his mouth was dry—but he had no reluctance in his heart.
“It’s so hot here. I thought Iceland should be cold around this time of year?” Claudius took off his coat and threw it on a rock.
“It should be. It’s early November. The tower must have changed the atmosphere here.”
They hunched down and crept across to another hill to see if they could get a better view of the demons and the tower.
Zack said, “If I’m correct, the demons over there are Slangers. These Slangers don’t have wings. They must be an alpha breed or something. That’s kind of strange. Did you notice their long horns? In our studies, Garrison said the demons with the largest horns rely on physical and close combat. If we attack them using projectiles, they would be much easier to defeat.”
“But what about those skinny, short ones with the large wings and twin swords? Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t they called Tempar Ragge?”
Zack nodded. “Those demons are fearless and strong for their size. They are masters with swords, and their ability to fly gives them an advantage. Wit
h that many of them, we won’t even last five minutes.”
“You’re right. It would be nice to have some help. The two of us are outnumbered, but we still have to stop them from going into that town.”
Claudius noticed four tanks opening fire on the demons. Large booms echoed like the Fourth of July. The Tempar Ragge demons swooped down and attacked the tanks. One of the Slangers began to punch away at the tank’s base. Blows struck it, and it shook.
Zack and Claudius decided to watch. They wanted to see their opponents’ strength and learn more about them.
The boys heard a whooshing sound as two MQ-9 Reapers shot toward the tower and the demons that were attacking the tank. A laser beam from the Reaper beamed at a Slanger, and a Hellfire rocket shot toward the demon, ripping it to pieces. The large tank jerked from the powerful force. The other demon’s curiosity shifted toward the rockets shooting toward them. Loud bangs rang out as the demons exploded.
The second Reaper sent several five-hundred-pound laser-guided bombs toward the tower. They exploded, and the tower trembled.
“All right!” Claudius roared.
As the Reapers prepared to head back to the base, a few Tempar Ragge flew and caught up to them. The demons destroyed them with ease.
The tower was still standing after the Reapers were destroyed.
“Zack, other than flight and the other abilities you’ve revealed to me, what other power does your antibiosis armor produce?”
“I can discharge thunder bombs. They are filled with a destructive force of air pressure and have the power of twenty men. I have a few new abilities I’ve developed.”
“Check you out.” Claudius shoved him playfully and smiled. “You’re not the only one with an ace in the hole. I’ve learned a few new tricks as well.”
Hellbound Second Advent Page 24