Chapter 2  Degrees of Severity

 

There is a knock at the study door. Ryan looks up from whatever it is that he’s reading...

 

“Come in...”

 

The door opens... Justin steps in. He takes a seat in one of the chairs in front of Ryan’s desk. He leans forward, staring at Ryan...

 

“You’re unhappy.”

 

Ryan slowly nods...

 

“Um... yeah. Of course I am.”

 

“It’s becoming a problem.”

 

Ryan shakes his head slowly...

 

“A problem?! For you?”

 

“Not just me.”

 

“Oh... for you AND Saphir then! This is nice. Why is it a problem?”

 

“It’s just the way that you’re acting. You’ve cut yourself off from the rest of us. We could help you.”

 

“Help me do what?”

 

Justin shrugs...

 

“Help you deal with her death.”

 

Ryan gets visibly angry. His face gets a little red. He slams his fist down on the desk.

 

“What makes you think I WANT to... deal?”

 

“Ryan... you need to mourn...”

 

“I DON’T WANT TO MOURN! I want to find everybody who was involved with Jove, and the Children... and I want to make them pay. I want revenge Justin... I need revenge... I don’t need to deal.”

 

Justin stands. He leans over the desk... getting right in Ryan’s face...

 

 

“You’re angry... too angry. It is starting to affect your work. You need to realize that your job... your duty in this world is to protect the good and the innocent... not get revenge for the wronged people.”

 

Ryan gets all the angrier at this little speech. Justin notices, and shakes his head...

 

“And, you should realize, that of all the people here, I am, arguably, the only one that has nothing to fear from you. I can protect myself from any magics with my force fields... and, as I recall... the only time you’ve beaten me in a fight was when Brad and Saphir were both on your side.”

 

Arrowny falls back into his chair... shaking his head...

 

“That’s the ONLY time we ever fought. I’d probably kick your ass on my own now...”

 

“Any time you want test that theory...”

 

Justin smiles... and Ryan even manages a little grin. But, it only lasts a moment... all too soon, the very serious look returns to his face...

 

“I need to do this Justin... I know what I’m doing.”

 

“We're your friends... we’ll help you... but you still need to rethink the way you’re going about things. Revenge has never helped anybody feel better...”

 

“I know... it’s just something that needs doing.”

 

There is another knock at the door. They look up to see Saphir standing in the doorway, glancing nervously around the room.

 

“Good... nobody’s unconscious, or dead, or dying, or burning alive... so I’ll assume that there wasn’t a fight, and get to the point. Something came over that police scanner that you built,” He motions toward Justin. “Five people were killed just a little while ago. Four of them were drug dealers... but the fifth was just an innocent bystander... got a little too close to the action.”

 

“Was it a demon?”

Saphir shrugs...

 

“Don’t know. I’ll keep an eye on everything, just in case there is a new demon in town. And, by the way, I’ve translated most of the important parts of that gold book. It’s got some... disturbing information.”

 

Arrowny nods...

 

“Well, lets get the whole group together, and you can tell us what you found. Where’s Brad, anyway?”

 

Justin shrugs...

 

“He went out for a walk a while ago, but he hasn’t come back yet.”

 

As if on cue, the front door opens, and Brad returns home. Saphir and Justin head off to the library, and Ryan goes toward the living room to get Brad... who is just standing there, staring intently at his sword...

 

“It’s... clean...”

 

“Of course it is,” Brad snaps his head around at the sound of Ryan’s voice, “You spend all your time cleaning and polishing it. It should be sparkling, right?”

 

“Um... yeah... that’s right.”

 

“Anyway, Saphir did some translating... we’re having a meeting in the library.”

 

“Alright then...”

 

When they step into the library, Saphir barely even gives them a chance to sit down before he starts talking...

 

“Six thousand years ago, the ancient Roman gods got together and banished their king, Jove, from this plane of existence. Jove’s last act was to give life to four immortal minions, in the guise of children. Their job was to ready the world for Jove’s return.

 

According to prophecy, the Children will bring together Jove’s General, who will cull the unworthy from the world, Jove’s Champion, who will rule alongside the God, and Jove’s Vessel, who will allow the God to walk among the world once again.

 

Now... for the very, very bad news. Jove cannot be killed... not by magic, not by science... not by any means. And, this isn’t one of those weak ‘swords don’t work, so we’ll use a rocket launcher’ deals. This is a very literal statement. The other gods tried everything... and nothing worked.

 

So... in theory, the only way to stop Jove, is to make sure that the Children aren’t successful in their attempts to complete their work. But, we have no idea how to do that.”

 

“Well, it’s settled then!” Arrowny claps his hands, and gets to his feet. “We just need to find out exactly what the Children are doing... exactly what their plans are, step by step... and stop them! Seems pretty simple to me...”

 

Saphir gives a little laugh...

 

“Yeah... it’s simple... except for the part where we can’t just kill the kids, because they’re immortal... and we don’t know how to stop their plans... or even how to find them.”

 

“Well...” Brad barely glances up... “If that’s all we know now... I’ve got a job for us!”

 

Everybody looks over at him. He’s just staring at his sword... it takes a few moments for him to remember that he was even talking...

 

“Oh... I found another follower of Jove. A demon, living just outside town. Big snake like thing.”

 

Justin glances over at him...

 

“So... how did you find out about this? No disrespect, but you’re not exactly one for the research or finding aspect of the job.”

 

A confused look comes to Brad’s face... he turns his face slightly away from his sword...

 

“I’m... not sure... must have seen him on my walk... I guess.”

 

Justin and Saphir give a questioning glance at each other, but before they can say anything, Arrowny is already heading toward the basement stairs, calling out orders.

 

“Let’s suit up, and Brad can show us the way.”

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

“Mere hew-monsssss dare to disssssturb me!”

 

It stands with its back to them, completely hidden from their view by a long, flowing green and purple robe. It is short... about a foot shorter than Saphir. The Warriors lower their weapons slightly... or, rather, Justin, Saphir, and Ryan lower their weapons... Brad just holds his sword out before him, and stares at it intently...

 

Arrowny leans slightly toward Justin...

 

“He doesn’t look like much...”

 

And then the reason for its diminutive stature becomes apparent... it was slouching. It stands straight, and drops its robe to the ground. For lack of a better description, it looks like a giant cobra, covered with yellowish green scales, with short human arms. Its robes were covering its coiled snake body, and now, it stands up to its full height... about twenty feet from head to tail. It turns, gazing at them with its human like face, hissing at the people who dared to interrupt his activities.

 

Justin nods, and leans toward Ryan...

 

“I think I liked it better when it didn’t look like much...”

 

They don’t even have time to agree with the technomage, before it turns on them, ready to attack.

 

Saphir quickly pulls out one of his Cards... the winged warrior PALIDOR. He touches the card to the blade of his glaive...

 

“BAEaemeay-teoon KUmoo-fe!”... but there is no flash of light... the Card does not release its magic... the Slow spell does not work.

 

The demon lashes out with its tail, knocking Justin, Ryan, and Saphir away. It turns on Brad, lunging at him... but Brad just keeps gazing at his sword...

 

The demon gets closer and closer... and just as it gets near enough to attack, its eyes fall on the sword in his hands... and it stops, hissing at him...

 

“You have the sword!”

 

Brad’s head snaps up at this statement... there is anger in his eyes. He sweeps out with the sharp blade of his sword, cutting one of the demon’s arms off. A quick flick of the wrist, and the thick, dull, serrated edge is buried in its body. It lets out a howl of pain... droplets of green blue blood fly forth from its mouth.

 

Brad pulls his sword from the demon’s body, and gets ready to deliver the death blow. Justin and Saphir quickly get to their feet, and rush over to grab Brad’s arms from behind.

 

“Don’t!”

 

“We can use him!”

 

Arrowny sort of saunters over, taking his time. When he gets beside the others, he pokes the demon in the chest a few times with Sky Render. It cries out in pain again as small pools of blood form around it.

 

“Why don’t we just torture it... could be fun.”

 

Brad nods in agreement...

 

“Wacky fun, actually. I wonder how many pieces we can cut it up in before it dies? Forty? Forty five?”

 

Arrowny shrugs...

 

“Oh... sixty at least... if we’re careful enough... keep the head for last.”

 

Saphir and Justin glance at both of them as if they are crazy...

 

“Guys... it might have some information.”

 

“Saphir is right. We can question it... interrogate it to a certain extent. But there is no need for torture... especially if it is only for fun. He might know something.”

 

“Yessss... I do! You wisssh to know about the God Jove, do you not? I know who the God will choossssse as the General! I can help you!”

 

Arrowny glances up at the others...

 

“That is worthwhile information. We could go after them before they gain too much power.”

 

“Yesss! Yesss! I can help!”

 

It raises its remaining arm slightly... points its fingers out... and dies as Brad’s sword cuts it clean in two from head to chest...

 

Justin and Saphir gaze at him... each covered with little drops of the demon’s blood. Justin shakes his head...

 

“Why... on earth... did you do that?”

 

Brad looks around... almost confused...

 

“I... guess... I mean, I thought it was going to cast a spell or something. The way it moved...”

 

He glances around at the others, who are not looking at all convinced. Justin shakes his head...

 

“My scans showed no magical energy coming from him.”

 

Saphir nods in agreement...

 

“We’re not even sure if it had any magical powers. It probably would have used some spells against us before now. It takes a great deal of concentration to cast magic, even for demons. It would have been very difficult for that thing to use a spell in the condition it was in.”

 

Brad gets a little defensive...

 

“Hey! I’m pretty much the only one who can’t sense magical energy and abilities. I reacted to his movements... because that’s all I’ve got to go on! If that’s not good enough for you... it’s not my problem! Plus, if you’re spell had worked in the first place, maybe I wouldn’t have had to kill it!”

 

Saphir becomes rather indignant...

 

“Hey! That’s not my fault! My Cards haven’t worked right for a long time now... I can’t seem to figure out why. I just thought it was worth a try!”

 

Arrowny rubs his temples, and clears his throat to get their attention.

 

“Alright... Brad did what he thought he had to. I won’t fault him for that. Way I see it, we’ve just got one more dead demon in the world... and that seems good all around. We’ll figure out who the General is later.”

 

Brad pulls his sword from the body as Arrowny casts a fire spell on the demon’s body... putrid green smoke fills the room as its flesh burns under the magical flame. The Dragoon Warriors head off back toward their home.

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

It is a quiet night for the group. Arrowny sleeps soundly... and not even the Children interfere. For this day, he thinks no more about Jove’s plans... about the group’s internal problems.

 

For the first night since Crystal’s death, he is able to sleep without dreaming of her death... without seeing her in his mind... watching her jump in front of Bastian’s blade... watching her die slowly over two days.

 

This night passes without event... which is lucky...

 

... because, the next morning, an other report will have come over Justin’s specially made police frequency scanner.

 

During this night, two petty thieves will be cut down on the streets of Wolfville... and along with them, two innocent bystanders.

 

Tomorrow, everything will start up again...

 

But, for tonight, Ryan Arrowny will rest.