by Brian Rella
FRANK
October 28, 2015
Hudson Highlands, New York
Frank raced through the woods, following Jack’s winding path through the trees. The clouds had come up, blocking the sun, and graying the day. Flurries fluttered through the air in slow motion as Frank zig-zagged through the trees of the forest.
Damn, he’s fast…faster than I am.
Frank poured on the speed, but could not keep up with Jack. The boy might not have the training, but whatever fire had been set in him, it had set him free of his bonds, and Frank knew he was just scratching the surface of his skills.
They were running uphill, approaching the crest of one of the higher peaks in the range. Frank hoped the boy would stop soon. He was sure Jack was the One now, but what he wasn’t sure of was how much the boy had interacted with the Heart of Darkness he had seen in his mind. Questions crowded Frank’s mind, and they all came back to one thing he needed to know: had the boy been infected with the evil he sensed from the creature in his dreams, or had he successfully kept it at bay, hiding from it?
“Jack!” Frank called after him. He was still pulling away from Frank. “Slow down! You don’t have to be afraid! Let me help you!”
The Heart of Darkness—its power had been incredible. Frank had heard the heartbeat of the creature before, many times. He suspected that it was the Heart manipulating things here in the land of the living. A presence that powerful could easily tempt a child like Jessie and influence her into helping it.
Frank crested the top of the mountain, and skidded to a stop, sending rocks over a steep drop off. He turned back, and Jack was standing on top of a boulder, looking out at the puffy gray sky, his hair blowing behind him.
Frank stood a few feet away. “You’re one of us, kid, and speed is just a fraction of your abilities.”
“I don’t want this.”
Jack’s thoughts were grim shadows. Frank heard them roaring like river rapids through the boy’s mind. He understood exactly what the boy felt, because he felt it, too. But how could he convince him to accept his destiny? How could he make him believe in himself?
Frank followed Jack’s gaze over the landscape before them. He became aware of what the boy was thinking, and Frank knew it would do no good. It would not achieve the result he wanted. It was hard to kill a Watcher, and leaping off this cliff would just hurt a lot.
“What you’re thinking, Jack, it won’t work,” Frank said.
“Get out of my head. I just want to be left alone.”
“I’ve been here, Jack. It won’t do any good to jump. You can’t kill yourself.”
“I…I don’t want this…”
“Sometimes I don’t either. But we don’t have a choice. This is what we are. It’s what we were born to do.”
“I… I…” Tears streaked Jack’s cheeks.
“You cannot wish this away. You cannot unmake what you are. You cannot hide from this. Where will you hide when that thing comes into this world? Where will you go that he won’t be able to reach once he’s here? You don’t want this, I know. You want the terror to end, but once that evil is in this world, we are all doomed.
“That’s why I fight on. Because I believe we have a responsibility to stop them. They’ve taken everything from me. My father, my brother, my mother, my friends, everyone. And if I run away, if I don’t make a stand and fight, they’ll take it all from everyone else too. And I won’t let that happen. Not to you. Not to anyone.”
Frank let that sit with the boy a moment.
“Fighting back is the only way, Jack. Kill them all. Avenge your losses. And never let them hurt anyone else.”
“Leave me alone,” Jack said. “I want to be alone.”
Frank sensed the boy was mulling it over. He had made the smallest of progress in convincing Jack of his destiny, and knew if he pushed too hard, he could lose him. “Okay, kid,” Frank said, and left it at that. He turned and headed back the way they had come at a human pace.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw Jack begin to shake, and saw the tears roll down his cheeks. The wind howled, and the flurries whirled around him.
Frank went back to the Temple to wait—wait for him to accept the reality of who he was, hoping he would embrace his destiny…because if he didn’t, they were all doomed.
40
JESSIE
October 28, 2015
Grand Canyon, Arizona
Jessie awoke with a start. She was surrounded by darkness, with no point of reference or memory of how she got wherever she was to guide her back to solid footing. The sound of her breathing echoed around her and her body ached with the soreness of having been in the same position for too long. She rolled up on her elbows, trying to find something familiar to trigger a recollection of where she was. A creaking feeling under the skin over her ribs brought her back. She’d been shot by a plane and scorched by a Watcher, but the wounds on her side and chest were gone now, mostly. An image of Him formed in her mind and she thanked Him, whispering His praise and her gratefulness into the darkness.
Mentally, she felt rested and refreshed, like she’d had the best night’s sleep of her life. There was grit in her teeth and the air was warm and still. She cast the spell for light and glanced around as more memories of the recent past came back to her.
She was in a dark cavern, where the rock walls were varying colors of tan and clay. The expanse was tall enough for her and Pasmet to stand. She glanced behind her and saw the verdant glow of the beast and she remembered her quest. I must find…Dalkhu.
She turned and moved forward, the light in her hand guiding her way, unmasking the tawny walls which had been in the shadows for hundreds of years.
She moved forward slowly at first, the stiffness in her body reluctant to leave, but her mind raced with a newfound resolve and determination to free Nalsuu and carry out their plan.
She was beholden to her King. She was indebted to Him. He had saved her life. Saved her from herself. He loved her and she loved Him.
She walked deeper into the passage, the downward gradient increasing as she went. The pressure in her ears popped the lower she descended. She realized she was going deeper underground, to a place that had not been seen by humans in centuries. Millennia, perhaps. She knew it in her heart and soul that this was a place of great power… She felt it in her bones.
There was only one path for her now. The dreams of her human father had faded forever, as she found when she tried to conjure an image of him. His face was fuzzy, the setting vague, the emotions less powerful.
And in her human father’s place was Nalsuu, her King. And He spoke to her as she walked on, telling her of secret powers and spells, strengthening her alignment with Him, teaching her His wicked ways.
And she embraced them as she embraced Him. Her depravity swelled and made her feel complete. They were a sordid pair, she knew, but she wanted Him. She needed Him. And He needed her. They were one, and they were in danger. She would find Dalkhu and free him. And with her small, yet powerful army, she would defeat those who dared to threaten them both.
I am Queen of the Fallen, my King.
Yes, Jessie. You are.
And with every step forward, deeper under the earth, her heart hardened into the macabre likeness of her King. Her morbid core matched the black heart of her true Father. Her Leech of the Aeons. Her Father of All Monsters. Her King of the Fallen.
And in that, she felt comfort and joy and peace as she had never felt before. She felt safe. She felt powerful.
The slope leveled off and before her was a cavern so large she could not see the other side of it. It was hundreds of feet high and in the center of the room—it made her breath catch—such beauty and power overwhelmed her, and she gasped and her knees buckled at what she saw.
The ground was warm and sandy. The air tasted stale and old. The light from her ball of energy was not large enough to illuminate the entire cavern. She blew on it until it resembled a small sun and then set it aloft in
the cave.
Enormous. In the center of the room stood a stone idol about ten or twelve feet high with seven statues of slightly lesser height symmetrically placed around it. Time had eroded the figures’ features, but Jessie could distinguish two long spikes angling more than a foot above the large one’s head, and saw a human-like torso. Its arms were crossed over its chest.
The other seven statues looked humanoid as well, though time and decay had eroded them, making them somewhat amorphous. They all looked like giant humans for the most part.
Power radiated from the place. It pressed on her, penetrating her skin, vibrating through her. It was dizzying, and Jessie had to use her own power to push back against it and steady herself.
You have done well, Jessie. You have found Dalkhu, The Dead One, The Shepherd of the Soulless. Now you must free him.
“But how?” Jessie said aloud.
You must find a way, as you have before. They have hidden these answers from me.
Jessie called forth Arraziel, and with Pasmet behind her and Arraziel by her side, she moved toward the formation of the idols. There were no signs, no indications of how she might free them. As she approached, the power emanating from the statues pushed against her, like some kind of invisible shield or boundary. She pressed forward, determined, using more and more of her energy to move against the unseen force.
When she was almost close enough to touch one of the smaller statues, a rhythmic, warbling sound pulsed in her head. It grew in volume, and soon became unbearable. She slammed her palms over her ears, and fought back against it.
The sound was insufferable as she stood before the first of the seven statues. She fell forward and touched the human-looking giant. Her hand went numb, and the sound became so painful she thought her head might explode.
“Arraziel, burn it!” she commanded.
Arraziel inhaled deeply, his chest bulging, and blew a plume of fire at the statue. The flames encircled it, licking at it, and the heat made Jessie fall back and break out in a sweat.
The demon stopped and glanced at Jessie. Jessie kicked the dirt floor in frustration. “Smash it, then!” she screamed.
The demon snorted and ran at the statue, ramming his bulging shoulder into its side. He bounced off and fell, sprawling backward on to the floor. The warbling sound grew louder and brought Jessie to her knees. She screamed, but could not hear the sound of her own voice. She squeezed her eyes shut—her skull felt like it might split open at any moment.
A reverberating crack ripped through the room. Rock fell from the ceiling and the ground shook beneath her. Arraziel moved to cover Jessie, shielding her from the falling rubble. Pasmet stomped behind her and roared.
Suddenly, the warbling sound stopped, and more cracking sounds echoed through the cavern. Jessie opened her eyes and stood, her hands slowly coming off her ears.
The seven effigies surrounding the center idol were glowing with blue energy, and the energy peeled away the stone facade, revealing radiant white-blue skin, human-like features, and feathers the size of Jessie’s forearms.
Wings? What the—
Jessie felt Nalsuu’s blood stir in her, and His voice came to the fore of her mind. The wings of the creatures spread, and seven humanoids with white wings ten feet across rose in unison from the ground around the statue of Dalkhu.
They wore gold armor that covered their chests, pelvises, arms, and thighs. Atop their heads, golden helmets. Four held shields and fiery swords. The other three held long spears. Their almond eyes were an electric blue; their hair, golden blond.
“Angels?” Jessie sneered.
They are the Seven Powers, my princess, the Creator’s warriors. Kill them!
The one closest to her hovered in the air and pointed its fiery sword at Jessie and her army of Fallen. Its eyes flashed at her and the creature frowned. A deep baritone voice boomed through the cavern. The words were unintelligible, and came in long syllables that were more song than speech. Jessie could not understand what they said, but the message was clear:
Leave or die.
Jessie’s face contorted with fury. Nalsuu’s energy flowed through her, the ache of His power begging to be freed from beneath her skin. She gnashed her teeth, raised her arms, and set the darkness free. Streaks of lavender lightning bolted from her hands at the creature. The being swooped below the blast, and dove in a blur.
Jessie watched the point of its spear coming toward her. She rolled away and Pasmet’s jaws clamped down on the wing of the creature before it could stab her. The angel-like being raised his spear and stabbed at Pasmet’s snout, gashing the beast’s nose open. Pasmet roared as his green blood splashed to the floor and froze in a giant puddle on the ground.
“Kill them!” Jessie screamed. “Arraziel!”
Arraziel leaped into the air at another, and its fiery sword slashed at his chest. He swiped it out of the way and sank his clawed hand into the being’s torso. The angel creature shrieked and pushed back at Arraziel with its shield, but Arraziel clung to it and dug his clawed hand into its chest. The Power’s eyes glowed, and blue beams shot out of them into the demon’s face. Arraziel roared and the two of them, locked in a deadly embrace, fell to the ground, Arraziel landing on top.
Arraziel blew fire into the angel’s face, and with his other hand grabbed hold of its wing and ripped it from its body. The cavern echoed with the song-like shriek of the Power as blue light burst through its wounds, its flesh burning with sapphire-blue flames. It quivered in a feverish blur on the ground and exploded, leaving glowing blue-black embers floating in the air.
Another Power dove at Arraziel, but Jessie knocked it out of the air with a blast of her energy. It fell to the floor and Arraziel leaped onto it, his snout latching onto the creature’s shoulder and tearing its flesh away.
“Argh!” Jessie shouted. A spear had pierced her thigh. She snarled at the angel-creatures flying in the air, attacking her and her small army. “I will be your end!” Jessie felt more of Nalsuu’s energy swell within her. Her breathing became heavy, and her body radiated with indigo light.
She felt something squirm inside of her. Thick strands moved and thickened under her skin and throughout her body. She glanced down at her arms and raised them in front of her, her face showing confusion and shock at the movement under her skin and throughout her body. She could feel His power within her and it wanted to be free, free of the boundaries of her skin.
The marks where her King had kissed her began to ripple and pulse, and the pleasure and pain grew within Jessie. She bared her teeth, and suddenly the power of Nalsuu burst forth from the marks on her body.
Thick green veins shot out from her arms, back, chest, legs, and torso. Wherever he had kissed her, a veiny tentacle thrust out of her and flew through the air, seeking her enemies. The verdant veins coiled around the remaining Powers and dragged them to the ground. The song-screams were deafening as the veins from Jessie’s body bit into the Powers and injected Nalsuu’s venomous blood into the creatures of light.
The angelic beings roared and slashed at the veins that bound them with their fiery swords and spears, but as quickly as a vein was cut away, it grew back and re-attached itself.
The Powers’ blond hair and white wings caught fire, burning a deep purple. Their faces melted and blackened, and the light in their eyes faded. They thrashed about on the ground violently in the last throws of life, but were no match for Jessie and Nalsuu’s combined fury.
Jessie rolled her head back as the last of the Seven Powers burned to ash on the ground. She fell to her knees, exhausted as the energy continued to pour out of her. When there was nothing left of them, the veins recoiled back into Jessie, and she collapsed to the ground.
The Seven Powers that guarded Dalkhu were dead. Jessie lay on the ground, staring at the blackness above her with iridescent eyes. The intoxicating blood of her King burned inside her. Her thoughts mixed with His, and she realized she would never be alone again, for her King was now a part of her,
and dwelled within her body, mind, and spirit, as if it were His.
Her eyes fluttered closed and she felt the cold embrace of Nalsuu coil around her in the dreamlands. He suckled her flesh, and she relaxed as His healing essence flowed through her.
41
FRANK
October 28, 2015
Hudson Highlands, New York
“Where’s my brother?” Nic said angrily, but Frank knew it was fear, not anger, that he spat.
“He’s thinking,” Frank said.
“What do you mean? Where is he?”
Frank kept walking and went into the bunks. He was tired and wanted to rest. There was nothing else to do until Jack came around or didn’t.
“Hey, man. Don’t walk away from me,” Nic said, grabbing his arm.
Don’t do that, kid.
Frank turned, biting back his instinct to lash out. He didn’t like being grabbed like that, and his natural response was always violence. But Nic was just a kid and Frank understood why the kid was scared. And Frank needed him. He needed him to help convince Jack, to support him. Jack looked up to his brother, and Frank needed Nic on his side to get Jack to accept who he was, and what he needed to do.
“Nic,” he started. “Your brother is processing everything, and I’m trying to help him. He needs to figure this out for himself. Do you understand?”
“We don’t need your help. I’ve been taking care of my family since my deadbeat father left five years ago. We don’t need you or that priest to come to our rescue. We’ve been doing just fine without you or your—”
“Come on, Nic, you’re smarter than this. You can’t take on the world by yourself. No one can. We all need help.”
Nic balled his fists and pursed his lips.
“Your brother needs to accept who he is. He needs you to support him. And you know what? I need you too. I need you to help me with him, because believe it or not, there’s a world of shit coming down on all of us and your brother, and me, you, and all the Watchers in the world need to be on the same team or we’re all going to die! Do you understand? Because I don’t have time to—”