by Jack Delgado
***
The wind rushed over his face like cool water, the exhilaration of speed and the adrenalin of danger roaring through him without end. Omega lay spread out around him like a map, a black jungle whose secret ways and hidden contours had only seen fit to reveal themselves to a select few.
An apex predator. A king. A grey reaper. Judge, jury and executioner of the damned souls around him, flitting through the city’s darkest veins to try and escape his gaze.
A god. Yes, that’s it! A grey god. Ruling silently in the haven for the lost, paid tribute by the queens and kings in the underworld, begged for favor and services rendered, an army of dark angels at his back willing to dispense his justice.
Invisible. Invincible. Immortal. So Dante Soldari saw himself as he rushed into the darkness, triumphing over his mother divinity, securing his place in the heavens. Ecstasy, determination and, most of all, pride filled him to the top as he leaped for the next great megalith, blinding him to the deeper darkness rushing down towards him.
Dante roared a challenge to the world as he flew forward on invisible wings, daring anything to contest his rule, tempting Fate itself to make the final cut, to end his godhood.
And suddenly, with the whistling sound of a dart flying through the night and the thunk of an arrowhead burying in flesh, it was all gone.
Dante shuddered as he flew through the air, the agony of his wings ripping from his body overwhelming him, overcoming him in a rush of silent black. Hooks jabbed into his unprotected back and pumped poison deep into his veins, the warm, liquid feeling of heavy narcotics flooding through his brain.
In an instant, he became human again, fading slowly, feeling death surpass his strength as he went limp and fell down to Hell.