The Change

by Lori Aisling

  Bane

  As the miles disappeared under the sure-footed hooves of Qian, Bane prayed to the gods for another message from his Other. He knew he was close, he could feel it in his bones. When he had received her second message the night before, it reaffirmed his conviction that this Re-Order was going to be different. His Other was stronger than she had ever been and he was anxious to join the fight. Being ripped away from her time and time again was taking its toll. Feeling a familiar tingling trickle down his runes, he rejoiced at the yellow glow of magic that appeared around him, floating effortlessly in the air. “Never give up hope. We will be reunited.”

  “Yes, Qīn'ài de, My beloved. We will be. Soon.” Leaning closer to the Chollima’s neck, he let him have his head and Qian stretched out, extending his gait. The ground was a blur as the horse found his stride. Bane was grateful the gods were able to convince Bole, the legendary horse-tamer of the gods, to part with one Chollima for The Balance. Qiānlǐmǎ, or Qian, as Bane called him, was that gift. The steed was bred to be too fast and too spirited for a mortal man to ride, but this horse had been his best friend for centuries. Literally translating to ‘thousand-mile-horse’, legend stated that a Chollima could travel one thousand miles in a day. Bane had no idea if that was true or not, but at the speed and pace that Qian ran, he wasn’t going to doubt it. The stallion was loyal, fearless, and unstoppable. The horse let out a shrill whinny as the yellow magic floated around them and then shot back the direction it came. Qian’s ears flicked forward as he ran in the direction the magic had taken.

  Together, Bane and Qian raced on through the night and many days thereafter stopping only long enough for a quick rest, food, and water. The desert landscape started to show signs of dilapidated dwellings. Once homes for the residents of this realm, they were now just shrunken and abandoned buildings, long vacant. This was a sure sign he would be coming to a town soon. Most outposts still housed people; offering supplies, food, and shelter. If that were the case, he would stop and let his mount drink and rest while he found a meal for himself. Slowing Qian to a canter when the town came into view, he surveyed their surroundings. It seemed awfully quiet and deserted, but there were signs of habitation. Horses grazed in the brown stubble surrounding the town and he saw a dog hike his leg on a stack of old car tires. Pulling Qian to a stop, he looked at the layout of the streets. It was larger than he had anticipated. Deciding to get a closer look before riding directly into the municipality, he turned his steed onto what had once been a residential street. He rode through the rubble and trash of deserted and scavenged houses, the belongings of a lifestyle long since abandoned.

  Seeing an alley that led to what appeared to be the main street, he dismounted and left Qian to get a closer look at the settlement without being seen. Creeping through the narrow path, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Leaning up against the side of the building, he listened. It was just too damn quiet. Slipping silently down to the end of the building, he crooked his head around the corner to get a better look. Seeing nothing, he stepped out of the alley and onto the sidewalk. Flicking his wrist, he manifested two throwing stars and palmed them. Walking up the street, he watched for movement or any other signs of life. Seeing the door of a general mercantile shop swinging in the breeze, he snuck up to the entrance for a better look inside. The sickly-sweet smell of death assaulted his senses and he felt his runes begin to glow. Upon entering the shop, he saw a woman on the floor. Her stomach had been ripped open and her entrails lay, rotting and putrid in the desert heat beside her corpse. He stepped around her, seeing another body half exposed on the other side of the counter, this one was male. He had attempted to shift, his alternate form being a wolf from what Bane could see of the claws and extended snout, but the man was killed before he could complete his shift. His head had been almost ripped from his body and long gashes covered him. Although the stench of decay was settling in, the slaughter had not taken place that long ago; most likely the day before. Bane had seen this many times: Chayn. Chaos had awoken and was building her power. She was sending out the putrid demons to harness and gather fear and death for her. Producing a Chinese glaive, his weapon of choice, Bane snuck back out the door and began to look for any indication that the hellions were still present- he was itching for a fight. He prayed to the gods for a group of chayn to slaughter as payment for the lives of the people that died here. The sunlight glinted off the curved black blade at the end of the onyx pole as he made his way down the sidewalk. Coming to a cross-street, he paused. Then he heard it; that high-pitched shriek that caused his heart to beat faster and adrenalin to rush into his veins. There were still chayn here.

  Following the sound, he rounded the corner and heard not only the shrieking demons but anguished human cries. They were coming from a larger, two-story building that he assumed was a motel. Sidling up to the building, he peeked into the window to get a look at his odds. He counted four chayn floating around what appeared to be the only human still alive in the place. She was screaming as the creatures tortured her, running their sickle-like fingers into her flesh, opening up gaping wounds. Assuming there was probably a few more in other areas of the motel, and hoping it wasn’t many, Bane made the decision to act. He hated the stinking spawn and any chance to take a few out only benefited his Other. The more power Chaos had to spend to create more of her beasts, the better. Sneaking through the door unnoticed, he was able to dispatch one of the chayn before they even knew he was there. Swinging the glaive in a long arc, it cleanly beheaded the demon. The other three turned, their pus-filled eyes assessing their new prey. Bane spun, releasing the razor-sharp throwing stars as the curved blade sliced across the abdomen of a second chayn, basically cutting it in half. A quick flick of his wrist and he fired off two more stars, one of them sinking into the hate-filled eyes of the chayn closest to him, while another sweeping arc of the glaive did away with the third beast. Now there was just one. Floating just out of reach, it leaned its head back, letting out an ear-piercing scream. “None of that, demon. We don’t need to alert any more of your friends before I can be ready for them, right?” Bane smiled cruelly and dropping into a roll, coming back up on his feet as his deadly weapon sliced into the creature. Releasing noxious, stinking sludge, the chayn’s left arm slid from its body, making a plopping noise when it hit the bloody floor. Before it could let out another sound, Bane silenced it by removing the head from its body. Squatting down next to the woman they had been torturing, she stared back at him through sightless eyes. He closed her eyelids and laid his fingers on her forehead, sending a quick prayer to whatever god was listening, asking for mercy and a better life for her in her next cycle.

  Moving quickly, yet silently, Bane left the building through a back door. Looking around, he could hear the screams of many more chayn, but there were none in sight. Deciding to wait for the dark of night to disguise him better, he slipped out of the town and back to the deserted neighborhood where he had left Qian. Moving carefully and quietly, the two of them made their way to an abandoned barn close to town, yet far enough away for him not to worry about the chayn finding him by chance.

  “I am sorry I am delayed, Qīn'ài de. But I do this for you. I will be there soon.” Bane knew she couldn’t hear him, as they had not bonded, but he sent the thought none-the-less. It had been days since he had heard from her, but he knew in his heart she was safe. Settling down in the dusty, moldy hay in the old barn, he waited for nightfall.

  Bristol

  They traveled for days. There were no signs of chayn, Empurin or the white lions. Jessie had been hunting enough rabbits and game birds to keep them all sated with fresh food, but they were all still growing weary. Coming down from the mountains, the terrain had become much more arid and the days were hot. From their high vantage point, they were able to see a town in the distance.

  “Should we risk another town? I know we need more information and we need to find Caspian, but this ended poorly for us last time,” Bristol said to
Bror and Ristan since she had decided to travel in her shifted form that day.

  “We have to,” Ristan said. “We can’t avoid all settlements and civilization if we aim to find Cas and increase your power. Obviously, Chaos is continuing to build hers and we have to catch up if we want to have a chance at saving this realm.”

  “I vote we ease up to the town at nightfall,” Jayson said. “It’s easier to sneak in undetected and easier to get out with the cover of night if we have to.”

  “Agreed. By the time we reach that town, it will be dark, so the timing is good.” Bror said. “But let’s get one thing clear before we go any further. We only travel in pairs or greater. No one does anything alone. Don’t even piss without company. And Bristol, for all that is holy, will you please try ta refrain from another attempted sacrifice of yourself?” He grumbled.

  Bristol threw her head and snorted at him, choosing to not answer outright. He wasn’t going to like the reply anyway.

  As they traveled across the hard, hot ground Bristol tried to figure out where they were. From where they had started and the direction they had traveled, she was thinking it was perhaps New Mexico. Not that it mattered much. The states had fallen after The Change and people were more concerned about food, power, and medical supplies for a simple injury than politics and government. She pondered how much had changed since that monumental day and it still saddened her when she thought about her family and friends. She wondered if they had been sent to another realm or what the gods did with all the people they took. She decided to ask her Others about it someday when they had the time to just talk.

  Dusk was approaching as they neared the town. At one point, it had been a good-sized place. Reaffirming her guess they were in New Mexico, she saw an old sign referencing the Pueblo of Isleta. Knowing that New Mexico was home to three different Indian tribes, the Pueblos being one of the larger ones, she figured that this town had to be what was once called Albuquerque.

  Finding a grove of dying trees that still provided some cover, the group stopped to formulate a plan for entering the town. Shifting back into their human forms, Jessie and Bristol dressed.

  “We are riding in together,” Ristan said. “It’s dark enough that we won’t gather much attention and I just don’t like us separated.”

  “The only reason the last town was such a disaster was because of Fear,” Boz said. “Everything was going along smoothly until he showed up. I think we can all agree that the chances of that happening again are quite slim, correct?”

  “True. I still hate it,” Bror grumbled. “I was getting quite attached ta our little cabin in the woods.”

  “No shit,” Jessie said. “Once we kick Chaos’s ass, can we all get a nice big house in the country and just live out our days being boring? Cuz that sounds really incredible.”

  The group agreed and Jayson wrapped Jessie in a hug. “I think I would like to be boring with you, kitty,” he teased, kissing her forehead.

  They mounted the horses and headed into town. Bristol tried to be calm, but apprehension was filling her brain with all sorts of worst-case scenarios. Wrapping her arms around Ristan’s waist, she squeezed him and pressed her head against his back, looking for the bright side. “You know if this is a good town and it’s a good night, we can get a room. Maybe with a big bathtub and a king-sized bed?”

  “I think we have created a monster, and I really like her,” Ristan purred. “I support that plan, and would love to be a part of it,” he teased.

  Coming up to what was once a hi-way running through the town, they reined the horses in. It was obvious there had been a slaughter. Dead bodies littered the streets and the smell of decomposition was heavy in the air.

  “Looks like that little plan of yours isn’t happening in this town,” Ristan growled.

  Leading the horses to an abandoned auto garage, the team changed their strategy.

  “Weapons out, be on the ready,” Bror said. “There could be a really large horde here. We stick together, no wanderin’ off.”

  Leaving the horses, they silently made their way into the settlement. Jessie had shifted and she stayed at the back of the group, watchful of any creatures that might try and flank them. They could hear music playing somewhere close. But under the cheerful tunes, there was the sound of suffering; they could all hear it. Bristol’s heart pounded loudly in her chest as they approached the conflicting sounds. In a park next to the main street was a big bonfire. Chayn flitted about, their numbers were decent, but not undefeatable. Bristol stared at the scene before her. Dead bodies were piled up next to the bonfire and there was a recently deceased woman on a stake in the flames. She had been burned alive. Next to the raging blaze was a stage most likely used for outdoor concerts when the town was alive and flourishing before The Change. Now, there were chairs arranged and a man in a designer suit was sitting in one of them, kicked back, nonchalantly drinking a beer, as if watching random people being burned to death was now the highlight of entertainment. Behind him sat six men, all dressed in black.

  “What and who the fuck is that?” Bristol asked.

  “I’ll be damned. We haven’t seen him in centuries. I thought the bloody bastard was dead,” Bror said.

  “That is Alexander. A high-ranking lessor demon of Lucifer’s,” Ristan replied, answering Bristol’s question. “We would be too lucky for that piece of shit to be dead. He is here to collect souls, which tells me that Chaos has made a deal with good ‘ol Luc once again. She needs the kills for the emotional power, but she can’t do anything with the souls. So she barters a deal with the devil. He loves the mayhem and slaughter, but the reaping of innocent souls is something he dearly relishes. Alexander is notorious for his ruthless and torturous ways. His means of death feeds Chaos greatly.”

  “Let’s kill him. Can we?” Bristol asked.

  “Honey, if it were that simple, don’t you think we would have done it eons ago? He is very powerful and surrounds himself with other demons that protect him. It’s always worth a try, but we need ta step back and make a plan. We go screamin’ in there now, we’ll be done for,” Bror said.

  Ristan made a motion for the group to retreat. Before they could leave, Alexander stood and hollered to one of his soldiers somewhere in the dark. The group froze, crouching down and hiding behind some large bushes; a stack of pallets protecting them from sight. “Hey you! Stupid! The one dragging the slut. Bring that bitch over here to me.” Alexander stepped off the stage and walked across the park, meeting his soldier halfway. The soldier was dragging a woman by her long black braid.

  “Yes, sir. What would you like me to do with her? Put her on the stake?”

  “Not yet, the bitch will burn later. Right now, I like the look of that dish. Normally, I go for lighter flesh, but I think I’m craving dark meat. I would like to enjoy her first. Tell me, whore. What are you willing to do for me to save your pathetic life?” Alexander sneered.

  The woman stared at the demon. Her lip quivered, but she did not cry out. Her jaw was rigid and Bristol could see from where they were hiding that the woman’s fists were clenched tight.

  “Speak, bitch. I can taste your fear. Fear leads to bartering. What are you willing to do for me to save your life? Or at least kill you quickly,” he asked again.

  Again the woman refused to answer, her dark eyes staring down the demon. Reflected by the flickering flames from the bonfire, sweat glistened on her olive-colored skin.

  Raising his hand, Alexander wiggled his index finger at her. “This one has spark, boys! Yes, she has a spine of steel. Let’s see what else she has.” Reaching out, he grabbed ahold of the neckline of her simple summer dress and ripped it. It fell to her waist, exposing her breasts. Still, the woman did not flinch or attempt to cover herself, continuing to stare at Alexander. The demon back-handed her across the face and her head whipped back. Bristol felt her body begin to shake, fury taking over. Ristan placed his hand on her neck, squeezing gently.

  “Calm, Bristol. We can’t he
lp her if we all die. Alexander loves to torment. He won’t kill her right away. We will help her,” he vowed.

  Bristol watched the woman recover from the brutal hit. She licked her lip, clearing the blood where his backhand had split it. Slowly, she turned back to face her tormentor, resuming her hard stare.

  Alexander placed his chin in his hand, an evil smile on his face. “Yes, I chose well. You will entertain me for hours.” Grabbing her braid with one hand, he reached down with his other and finished ripping the dress from her body. Standing in the glow of the bonfire in nothing but panties and leather sandals, the proud woman never broke her stare. Hearing a snicker behind him, Alexander turned around calmly to face his jester. “Did I hear laughter? Who would like to expound on their little joke?”

  One of the black-clad demon soldiers still seated on the stage laughed again. “Looks like you might be losing your touch, Alex. You just don’t seem that scary. Even to a simple human.”

  Rage consumed Alexander’s features and he threw his hand towards the smirking joker on the stage. Instantly consumed in blue flames, the man screamed out in agony as his flesh was burned from his body by the fires of hell. Addressing the rest of the demons on the stage, Alexander smiled at them. “Anyone else care to query on my methods? Got any sage advice for me, boys?” The rest of the crew muttered under their breath, fidgeting in their seats. “I didn’t think so. Now get the fuck out of my sight. Search every fucking building in this shit-hole town that we have not covered already. I want every live human, shifter, Fae, whatever is on two legs and breathing accounted for. The plan is in place and we are ahead of schedule. I would hate to have to reprimand any of you.” Instantly, the soldiers scattered and Alexander turned back to his prey. “Look what you did. You made me appear weak to the simpletons. That wasn’t smart, now was it?” Pulling her head back by her braid, he slapped her bare breasts. Bristol could hear his palm connecting with the sensitive tissue over and over. “Look how pretty those titties look all flushed and hard,” Alexander smirked. “What else do you have for me?” Reaching between her legs, he pushed his hands under her panties and brutally shoved his fingers inside her. The woman finally broke and cried out, her humiliation overriding her pride. “Nice and tight. Good. That’s really good.” Shoving her back into the arms of the demon that had captured her, Alexander pointed at the building behind them. “That is the nicest motel this dump has to offer. I have the honeymoon suite. And now I have a lovely bride to consummate it. Secure her there. Sadly, I still have some citizens to burn before I enjoy some ‘me time’. I swear. Upper management just adds more and more to the workload these days.” Reaching out and cupping her face, he wiped a tear away from her cheek. “That’s what I like to see. Good girl.” Turning and walking away, he disappeared down an alley between two buildings.