Chapter 8 Heroes
“TEahae-de-ra peah-luae-seeah meay-fuah oo-fu de-raah peoo-teoh
Meay-fuah peah-luae-seeah teahae-de-ra oo-fu de-raah kuooeem
Nah-deeen-ha fe-raae-de feae-ku deae-geah-ha
DEoo fe-raahnah eay-de peahmoo-ha-kuk-ku
SEEae-geah de-raah raaem-fu fe-raoomah
SEEae-geah de-raah eay-ha-raee-seeae-ha raee-seeae-ha”
Adam watches on as Crystal chants... small sparkles of green and blue energy dance around her like fireflies...
He has a dagger in his hand... ready to draw his own blood on her signal... ready to give his permission to whatever powers govern this particular spell... ready to remove the piece of Joseph’s life force that resides in his body... the thing that gave him second life... cursed life...
He waits... not knowing how long it will take...
Joseph grabs the Glaive, just under the star sapphire, as Saphir swings at him. He pulls Saphir forward, and kicks him in the stomach when he gets near enough.
Justin swings at Joseph’s head, but the tall man leans back to avoid the blow... but Justin keeps his momentum, spins around, and kicks him in the chest... barely knocking him back half a step. He is rewarded with a fist to the jaw.
Saphir rakes the blade of his Glaive across the back of Joseph’s knee, causing him to howl in pain, giving Justin and him a chance to lay a volley of well placed blows. Shots to the head, neck, chest, stomach... all causing small grunts of pain, but every cut heals before the next one is made... every bruise disappears before they have a chance to strike again...
They back off, allowing Joseph to get to his feet...
“Are you tired yet?”
Saphir lunges forward, shoving the blade of the Glaive into Joseph’s chest. He growls a little from the pain... and looks down at the blade sticking out from his flesh...
“Unpleasant!”
He reaches down... and slowly pulls the Glaive blade out. He pulls the weapon from Saphir, with amazing ease, and pushes it forward, slamming the handle end into its owners head... and throws it to the side.
* * * * * *
Kenneth, showing a great deal of athleticism, performs a fancy flip over Brad’s axe as the Warrior attempts to cut him off at the knees. He punches Brad a few times in the back, but tries one too many attacks. Brad, not being unfast himself, turns, and raises the flat side of his axe just in time, and Kenneth’s fist only hits hard, enchanted demonic metal.
He winces in pain... and Brad sees an opening...
He slams the flat of the axe forward, striking Kenneth in the face. There is a sick crunch of bone as the business man’s nose breaks under the force of the blow. Brad slams forward again, and again, and again... each time, forcing Kenneth to stumble back more and more.
Finally, Brad swings vertically, and strikes Kenneth’s chin with the flat of the blade. He falls back, hitting the wall... and doesn’t move.
“Finally!”
Brad turns to open the door to the main office, but as soon as his hand touches the handle, he hears movement behind him. He turns to see Kenneth slowly getting to his feet...
“Crap... I really don’t have time for this.”
Kenneth clenches his fists, and Brad readies his axe.
They rush at each other...
“Nah-deeen-ha de-raah ku-baeeayneay-de deoo de-raah oo-fe-haahn
Nah-deeen-ha ahae-lu-ra deoo de-raaheayn ooneay-kukeay-haaem ku-deae-deah”
An unseen wind sweeps through the library, knocking books from shelves, sending sheets of paper from Saphir’s research swirling through the air...
Crystal continues on, and even Adam, who has little knowledge of the workings of magic, can see that the spell is taxing her.
“DE-raahoh fuoon-fuaheay-de eay-see-seeoon-deaemeay-deoh
DE-raah jaeah-ku-kuahm kukeay-jaeah-ku baeahn-seeeay-ku-kueayoo-ha”
She nods her head at him, the prearranged signal that it is time for his part of the ritual.
He holds the dagger steady in his right hand, and slowly drags the blade across the palm of his left. He heals quickly, so he must cut deep to ensure that enough blood seeps out before the wound closes.
When his hand is covered in blood, he reaches over the runes on the table, and lets a few drops fall onto them.
Nothing happens...
He shakes his hands, allowing more drops to fall...
But, still... nothing.
He glances to Crystal, and knows, by the look on her face, what the problem is... there’s just not enough blood.
Still holding his left hand over the runes, Adam takes a deep breath, and slams the dagger through his hand...
His face contorts as he fights through the pain...
He twists the dagger... opening the wound as far as it can go...
Blood pours from it, soaking the table and the ruins...
And something happens.
* * * * * *
As Joseph fights with Justin and Saphir, Arrowny gets to his feet. He’s standing behind Joseph, a good distance away... and he marvels at just how big the office is... he may be evil... but Joseph sure knows how to live!
Ryan pulls a throwing dagger from his jacket pocket, and waits for only a moment before sending it at Joseph’s back.
Only, it doesn’t hit his back.
At the last second, Joseph turns, and extends his arm. The dagger his him in the palm of the hand... he winces, only a little bit.
Joseph pulls the dagger from his hand... turns, grabbing Saphir by the neck... and shoves the blade into the Glaive bearer’s side...
Saphir doesn’t even have time to scream as Joseph backhands him against the far wall.
Arrowny rushes forward, Sky Render in hand, ready to cut Joseph’s head off... but he doesn’t get the chance.
With a single downward blow, Joseph all but knocks Ryan unconscious. He picks Arrowny up by the neck with one hand, and with the other, he reaches into the Warrior’s jacket, and pulls all of his throwing daggers out... he smiles as he throws the discarded weapons to the floor.
Joseph grabs Arrowny by the shoulders... and throws him as hard as he can, straight up at the ceiling.
A bubble of light envelops Ryan just before he hits the ceiling, acting as a partial buffer to soften the blow, but the force of the throw still pushes him up through the metal and concrete... and he lands, face down, on the roof of the Apocolypse Incorporate building.
His vision is blurry... but he can see that, at some point in his little flight, he dropped Sky Render... he can just barely make out the shape of the sword about twenty feet away.
It suddenly strikes him that his face is wet...
... it’s raining.
* * * * * *
Brad manages to keep Kenneth pretty much at bay. Even with the other man’s far superior knowledge of fighting styles, Brad has a BIG FREAKIN’ AXE.
Brad pushes Kenneth against the far wall, and with a very wide swing... buries the blade of the axe into his stomach, pinning him to the wall.
The Warrior takes a few steps back... admiring the look of Kenneth... pinned to a wall by a big freakin’ axe sticking out of his stomach.
In fact, he’s so lost in admiration at the sight of the mangled body, that he literally jumps back about three feet when Kenneth’s hand reaches up to take hold of the axe handle.
“You’re kidding?! I slammed a FREAKIN’ AXE into your stomach!”
Kenneth pulls the axe from his flesh... and throws it aside. He looks right at Brad... hatred in his eyes.
“IS THAT ALL YOU’VE GOT?!”
Brad just glairs at him...
“Well, EXCUSE ME! I didn’t think that I’d need much more than the BIG FREAKIN’ AXE!”
Kenneth growls... not a human growl... more like an evil demonic growl... and then he changes into an evil demonic creature.
Much like Castor and Pollex, Kenneth grows taller... quite a lot taller. Spikes cover every inch of his now pale grey skin, and long bone like blades extend from his forearms. His eyes glow a weird yellowish colour...
“Whoa ugliest!”
Brad glances from the big demon, to his axe, which is on the floor, in the corner, behind the big demon...
“Um... is that all you’ve got? Because I really don’t think I can handle any more...”
* * * * * *
Joseph looks around, searching for the source of the protective light which surrounded Arrowny on his trip to the roof.
He sees Justin standing not too far from him... and smiles.
“Right... technomage... force fields... I remember. You know... you probably saved his life... for a few more minutes, anyway.”
Justin steps forward...
“We will stop you.”
He swings his staff at Joseph, who catches it... electric shocks surge through his arm, but it doesn’t even faze him. He pulls the staff away, and grabs Justin by the throat.
“No... you won’t.”
Joseph punches Justin as hard as he can in the stomach... the technomage’s ribs break... blood starts pouring from his mouth...
Joseph unceremoniously drops him to the floor. Without a single look back, he jumps up through the hole in the ceiling...
* * * * * *
“NAH-DEEEN-HA”
As soon as Crystal speaks the final word, Adam feels the spell working.
He jumps up from the chair as the magic courses through him.
Crystal just watches as blue fog seems to float from his body, The more fog that appears, the more Adam starts to look... normal...
He seems to get a little shorter... and a little less muscular... and a little less dead. His hair becomes dark grey, rather than white... and his eyes actually have more than just deep white... only black pupils at first, but more colour pours in over time. His skin becomes less decomposed looking, and tightens up around his face...
Eventually, all the mist floats up through the ceiling... the wind dies down... and Adam is left just standing around... looking confused.
“I thought I was supposed to be dead. Wasn’t Joseph’s life force keeping me alive?”
“Well,” Crystal shrugs her shoulders. “you look pretty good... for somebody who’s about ninety five years old.”
This is just one of those things that couldn’t get any worse.
Arrowny runs through the past little while, just to get the details clear in his own mind.
Both Saphir and Justin have been knocked unconscious...
Brad is fighting Kenneth on his own... and judging by how long it is taking, there is little hope that he will be able to help
Crystal and Adam are back at the Dragoon Warrior’s offices in Wolfville... on the other side of North America...
Sky Render was knocked a good twenty feet away from him... and he can feel his broken ribs digging into his internal organs as he tries, and fails, to get up from his knees.
And Joseph is standing tall over him, smiling.
They’re on the roof of the Apocoplyse Incorporate head office building, over one hundred floors above the streets of Los Angeles... and it’s raining.
Yup... this couldn’t get much worse.
As Joseph reaches down, grabbing the back of Ryan’s jacket to lift him off his feet, Arrowny figures this is his last chance to try and distract him... and there’s only one thing he can think of that just might do the trick...
When Joseph lifts him up to eye level, Arrowny takes a deep breath...
Ryan quietly reaches into his left jacket sleeve, and takes hold of the dagger he strapped in there back at the office. He looks Joseph directly in the eye...
“You... fight... like a cow...”
Joseph hesitates... taken aback by the statement...
And Ryan pulls out the secret dagger, and shoves it into his stomach.
Joseph screams as Arrowny pulls the dagger upward, cutting a path all the way up to Joseph’s chest. He drops Arrowny, and stumbles back to the edge of the building.
Breathing quite heavily, he pulls the dagger out, and tries to calm himself as the wound begins to heal.
He looks down at Arrowny, who still cannot stand...
“What were you trying to do? You can’t kill me... you can’t stop me! Why do you INSIST on being heroes?!”
Arrowny shakes his head... and points over Joseph’s shoulder.
“Not heroes... just... decoys...”
Joseph glances back, just in time to see a cloud of blue fog flying over the skyline of the city. The cloud hits him, causing him to drop the dagger, and fall to his knees.
Arrowny watches as Joseph seems to age years in only seconds... his hair becomes brittle and grey, his skin loses its texture... he even shrinks back to a more normal looking size.
Slowly, Joseph looks up... with tears in his eyes...
“How... how did you do this?”
“Morning Star was ready in case you tried to betray him.”
Joseph stands... looking down at his hands...
“There’s... so much... blood. I’ve... killed... so many people.” He looks pleadingly at Ryan. “No... I can’t deal with this. I couldn’t before... I had to go to Morning Star to get the guilt ripped away. Please... I can’t live like this.”
“You won’t have too.” Arrowny raises his hand... “Thunder...”
A bolt of lightening shoots from Ryan’s finger, striking Joseph in the chest. The force of the electricity sends him flying backwards... he hits the railing around the edge of the roof... and falls over.
* * * * * *
Saphir and Justin regain consciousness just in time to see an older, smaller looking Joseph fall, screaming and smoking, past the full wall sized window at the back of the office.
Saphir laughs, which hurts, considering the knife that is still stuck in his side. He manages to drag himself over toward Joseph’s desk, and pull himself up to sit on the corner.
Justin makes his way over to the other corner of the desk, and groans in pain as he sits.
“Guess it’s over.”
“Yup... guess so.”
Just then, the door to the office gets kicked in...
They look up, trying to discern the identity of the kicker... and they see Brad, walking very slowly, dragging his axe behind him by one hand, covered in a vast amount of blood, holding something sort of round in his other hand.
Saphir snorts...
“What took you so long?!”
Brad stops about ten feet from them, and shakes his head...
“I was taking care of something UGLY!”
Justin manages a little smile...
“There’s no way it could have been worse than what we had to do.”
Brad nods... and then, as if bowling, rolls the round object toward their feet. When it comes to a stop, Saphir and Justin see that it is the severed head of a spiky, yellow eyed demon...
“Okay... it might have been worse.”
“Where’s Arrowny?”
Saphir lazily points to the hole in the ceiling.
“Cool... where’s Joseph?”
Justin tilts his head back toward the window.
“He fell.”
Brad walks over to the window, and peers down, trying to see the splattered body. When he is unable to do so, he walks over to a security monitor on the wall, and starts pressing buttons until the camera facing the street from the front lobby shows a rather flat Joseph, surrounded by, what seems to be far too many entrails.
“Whoa uglyierist... uglyester... ug... that’s just not pretty.”
Brad takes a seat on the floor, beside the desk.
“So... how you doing Saphir?”
“Except for this chunk of metal sticking out of my side, I’m pretty good actually. Justin?”
“A little internal bleeding probably... and a broken rib or two. But, other than that... I’m fine. Brad?”
“I’m just PEACHY! Ryan?”
They look up at the hole in the ceiling just in time to see Arrowny fall through, landing with a heavy thud on the floor.
Brad laughs.
“He... looks pretty banged up. He probably needs medical attention!”
All three of them start laughing... but it is short lived as their various injuries cause a great deal of pain...
“Maybe... we should go with him to the hospital... you know... just to make sure he’s okay.”
* * * * * *
“I think I’ve got it.”
Saphir looks up at the group... beaten, bruised, broken as they are... and points at the Journal of Morning Star.
“This last part... it says that the spell, the one that returned Joseph’s life force to his body, was designed to let both he and Adam live... sort of. If the original curse was ever broken, they each would get one year of normal, mortal life. A reward, or a punishment, depending on your view.”
Adam smiles and nods... Crystal looks over at him.
“So... what are you going to do with your year?”
“Well...” Adam reaches down to scratch Interceptor as he speaks, “I figure me and the pup will head on down to some tropical island... drink those little umbrella drinks... have them served to us by naked women. Yup... that sounds about right.”
* * * * * *
The day after Adam leaves, Arrowny calls Justin into his study. Both are still badly hurt. They sit in silence for a while... before Justin speaks.
“I figure you’ll want to turn me in, right?”
“Not really, no.”
“I’ll take full responsibility for everything that I did.”
“No need. It’s all over and done with now. What you did... you thought it was a good idea at the time. I get that... you didn’t have all the necessary information.”
“Okay... so, why am I here?”
“Do you want a job?”
Justin’s eyes widen in surprise.
“A job... working here, with you guys? Be a demon hunter?”
“That’s the idea. You saved my life with that force field... you seem to be a handy person to have around. If you pull your weight, you’re entitled to a cut of the profits. You can have the last bedroom upstairs, and, since you’re better with the tech than any of us, the computer room is yours.”
Justin thinks about it... for only a second or two.
“Okay. I’m in.”
“Great. I’ve got a job for you. We’re all going back to L.A.... Brad and I have business that needs attending... but I want you, Saphir, and Crystal to take a look around the Apocolypse Incorporate building... see if there’s any technology stuff that you can scavenge... we have a good library here... but we’re sorely in need of a decent computer system.”
“Alright then.”
They stand, and head out to the living room, where Saphir and Brad are waiting.
Crystal meets them in the hallway, and tells Justin to go on and wait.
She turns to Ryan.
“I know what you’re going to do.”
“How?”
She just gives him a look...
“Oh... right... you’re a seer. So, you know... is it a bad thing?”
“No... it’s a good thing.” She reaches out, and takes his hand. “I just want you to know that I don’t think you’re responsible for what happened.”
She doesn’t even give him a chance to respond... she just turns, and joins up with the rest of the group.
Ryan stands there, muttering something about ‘stupid girls’...
* * * * * *
It’s a bright, sunny day... above the smog that surrounds the city of Los Angeles. In the small, rural section, where Brad and Ryan are right now, it’s kind of a stinky brown day.
Their standing on the sidewalk outside a typical home... it’s not a mansion... it’s not a shack... it’s just... normal.
Brad looks over at Arrowny.
“You sure about this?”
“Yeah... they deserve to know.”
“What’re you going to tell them?”
“Everything... Joseph... Adam... satanic ritual... throwing knife. They don’t need anybody else telling them that their daughter just turned up dead, and nobody knows why.”
“What if their mad? What if they want revenge? You did kill their daughter, after all.”
“I’m not going in so that they can get revenge. I just figure they deserve the truth.”
The stand in silence for a few moments...
“Want my help?”
“No... that’s alright.”
“Oh... Can I watch?”
“No!”
“But, it might be funny!”
“No!”
“But,”
“No!”
“B-“
“No!”
Arrowny just glairs at Brad... shakes his head... and walks up the front drive to the home. He knocks a few times... and soon enough, he’s greeted by a middle aged man and woman.
He looks up at them... and swallows hard...
“Hi...”