The Aberrant Sword

by Rebecca Ripley

  A bald man with flaming red eyes comes charging towards me. I duck his first blow and try to avoid his second. It hits me right in the stomach. I fold double, grasping my stomach and see my chance fit to stick my dagger into his knee. He screams as he goes down on one knee, his rank and putrid breath panting in my face. I gather all my strength and stab him in the throat. I can feel the hot black blood gashing over my hand as the floor underneath him opens up and sends him right back to where he came from.

  “Go back to hell. Do not pass by start.” I whisper as I wipe my dagger on my jeans, closely dodging yet another blow by an even uglier demon.

  I use his own speed and force and kick him towards Danny on my right who had just gutted yet another minion. She slashes his throat and does not wait for him to be swallowed by the earth before she takes on another opponent.

  “You are doing surprisingly well.” She says as the earth closes after her latest victim. “Thank you!” I say through my gritted teeth as I finally manage to pull a dark haired, red eyed demon off Martin Martell. I jam my dagger through his throat.

  I look around and notice we had fought back the few that had made it through the line of experienced hunters, through the first line of defence.

  “Approach!” Danny beckons everyone to move forward, helping our parents, brothers and sisters who were fighting off a horde. I see my dad gut a demon in a black leather jacket while Sarah Davies is thrown on the floor by a hulk of a guy.

  I move towards her in a flash, pulling her away from the brute before he could bring down his sword. “205 Alert.” The walkie talkie on my dad’s shoulder creaks. “205 Alert.” My mom warned him again. A 205 meant as much as “More incoming.” And judging by the panic in her voice, there were loads more.

  I dodge a blow of the massive demon in front of me, almost losing my balance doing so. My heart is pounding in my chest. I can hardly think. Breathe, dodge, dodge, slash, breathe. It is the rhythm of the fight that dictates my thoughts.

  My knife finally finds the tender skin between the Demon’s ribs. I stab him hard enough to send him back. I run towards dad and headbutt the Demon that was getting the upper hand on him. He is massive. Almost as large as the oaf we met in the cemetery.

  “You okay?” I ask dad after he finished him off. He nods. “I need you to be second line again honey.” He says, quickly turning around to parry a sword’s blow.

  “Too dangerous here…” He yells as he dodges out of the way of a charging demon. I start attacking the demon in front of me, but a large crossbow bolt hit him right in the middle of the head. I look up to see Gina salute me from the window of the spare room. Her large crossbow was leaning on the windowpane. She loads the crossbow with another bolt and shot it off in the distance, trying to give cover to the new group of hunters marching up to flank the horde.

  Fighting these kinds of demons is not hard. They are mostly under dwellers. They are not very powerful and definitely not very smart. Something is not right.

  I shoot a look at dad, but he is fighting two of them – with ease, and I decide to fall back. “Danny!” I yell, trying to make my way to the fierce black woman slaying two demons with a single blow.

  “Something is off!” I yell next to her as I plunge my sword into the stomach of a rather small minion.

  She looks at me and disengages from the fight after sending yet another one straight to the pits of hell. “Why is he sending these bottom feeders.” I take a few steps back.

  She shakes her head as we back up to the second line of defence. “I don’t know.” She says. “These are just…” She lunges forward and cuts a charging one straight in half. She is a force not to be reckoned with. “It’s as if these are just cannon fodder.” She wipes the sweat from her forehead.

  “Where is Daimon?” I yell. She has thrown herself back into battle. “I don’t know!” She replies before going up in the sounds of steel clashing on steel.

  “Make way!” screams go up behind me. I look over my shoulder as four strong men wheel out a large machine gun. This must have been the first time we ever used it. I know very little about it but that it was forged just after the second world war and that every single part – from screws and bolts to bullets, had to be blessed by a priest for the thing to work, for it to send these bastards back to hell.

  “Duck!” I yell as more voices go up to duck or fall back. Joshua Jones crawls onto the machine and with a large rattling sound it comes to life.

  The gun spits bullets at the demons, taking down at least forty every swipe it takes. It was working!

  Loud cheers go up as the gun takes out most of the demons and a large number of the bottom-feeders seem to be fleeing. Was this it? Was this the massive fight I had been imagining? Was this what we were so scared of?

  I take a deep breath and allow a small smile onto my face. This is easy. Easy peasy!

  I turn around and hold up my hand to give Danny a high five. But she does not respond. Her hand hung still next to her hip. I look at her face, at her massive eyes and open mouth, staring into the distance.

  My first thought was that she was wounded, that something was wrong with her, but that we would fix it. Because we won. Didn’t we?

  It wasn’t until I followed her gaze, until I saw the thick black cloud of wings in the air that I understood that this was just the beginning. That these bottom feeders, these minions, were just a test.

  And that whatever is coming for us, whatever that dark cloud entails, would not go down so quickly.

  I take a massive breath. We are in big trouble.

  Chapter 31

  We all stare at the sky for a minute. The black cloud of wings and glistening steel draws closer to the house. I have no idea where to go from here. We need a different tactic. We need a better tactic.

  Although the fight had been easy up until here, not all hunters came out of it unscathed. Two men carry away the wounded and I would bet on it that some of the women – many of who are fantastic and able fighters, had taken it on them to take care of the wounded.

  I curse silently as the swarm of demons starts to descend onto the muddy grass in front of the house. The man in the front is dressed in black leather.

  Asmodeus.

  “Hallo dear friends.” He says in a loud voice, making his way over the field. I dig my heels into the mud and raise my dagger. Oh hell no. He isn’t just going to walk over like we’re old buds.

  “I see you have met my… associates.” He says as he steps over a yammering minion that was waiting to die. One of the men behind him digs his sword into the throat of the bottom feeder. A small yelp followed with a gurgling sound and the smell of sulphur tells me that he had found his way back to the pit.

  Father takes a few steps away from the group of hunters that had huddled together. “What do you want.” He says, holding his head high.

  Asmodeus stops not 10 feet from where my father was standing. “Oh, I think you know what I want.” He says. How I wish I could punch that self-congratulating smile off his stupid face. “She knows what I want. Isn’t it, Isabelle…” He says, turning his head to me. I shoot him a deadly stare which he, for some reason, found funny.

  “She is a feisty one, your daughter.” He jokes as he turns back to dad. “I would like the infernal sword please.” He declares, sticking out his hand. Father shakes his head. “No.”

  The word echoes over the muddy field. The large demons behind Asmodeus squares their shoulders. They are of a completely different calibre than the ones we have been fighting up until now. They are muscular, well-fed, they are broad shouldered and obviously know how to wield a sword. This is going to be a massacre – and I am not so sure we would come out on top.

  Asmodeus glances over his shoulders towards a rather large specimen. He snaps his fingers and the demon moves forward, stretching its wings and flying towards the front door of the house. Gina tries to shoot him out of the air without all too much success. He dodges all but one arrow, which he just pulls out of his s
houlder laughing.

  Mother, who is standing in the open door saw what was happening and slams the large wooden door shut. “Dodge this you motherfucker.” A lone gunshot echoes through the air followed by a loud thump as the demon falls to the floor. I turn around in shock and look back as I see the demon being absorbed by the pit.

  Gina is standing upstairs, a smoking gun in her hand. I can read the absolute anger and frustration on her red face. The gun is a family heirloom made by an ordained cousin of grandmother’s grandfather. Long story short: Georgina just fired an antique gun for which we only have one single blessed bullet. We are screwed.

  I turn around, biting my tongue to look more though than I actually feel. It’s a wonder I am able to keep my knees from wobbling. “You heard him.” I spit at Asmodeus. “You are not getting the sword.”

  Asmodeus looks me in the eyes. A shiver travels down my spine as his red flaming eyes connect with mine. “Too bad.” He says, scratching his chin. “I was starting to like you.” He grunts.

  I narrow my eyes to angry slits.

  “I was thinking of keeping you as my little human pet.” He beams at me. “But now it looks like we will have to kill you and your marry little band of…” He cocks his head looking at us. “apes.”

  Asmodeus lifts his hand to snap his fingers again, but this time we are prepared. We know that this would be his signal for the attack, we know that now his horde will fall upon us. We spread out as much as we can, but there are simply too much of them.

  The whole fight is a haze of black and silver, blood red hatred and spine pinching screams. I try to hold them off as best as I can but as I hit the mud, I knew it was over. I knew we would never be able to win this fight. These are not the bottom feeders we fought before, nor are these the stealing and plundering demons we would normally fight and slay. These are elite soldiers trained for one purpose, and one purpose only: to defeat us.

  I crawl back through the mud, narrowly evading a large hammer. I am panting hard. Another one now turns towards me, his sword raised high. I only saw the glint of the steel as it hit my leg. I jerk out of the way, only just quick enough. A sharp pain tears through my leg and up my spine. It is only a flesh wound, but one that almost made me puke out of sheer pain.

  Danny stabs one of my attackers in the back and takes on the other one as I try to crawl away, try to escape their glistering weapons. As I am lying here in the blood and the mud, trying to bite through the pain, I notice how outnumbered we really are. Every hunter was fighting or warding off at least two demons.

  Many more have made their way through the muddy field and towards the doors of the house. Towards the sword. Asmodeus, who is keeping an eye on the battlefield 5 meters above the ground smiles at me. “You hurt little sparrow?” he asks as he descended slightly towards me.

  I grunt. I try to get up. I try to bite through the pain. I am not weak. I am not weak. I am not weak. The mantra keeps going as I slowly but surely rise to my feet. “I have no idea what you are talking about.” I spit at him, my teeth firmly clenched.

  He laughs, shakes his head and makes his way to the other side of the battlefield where Beren Brodrick was dual wielding his signature axes. I should learn how to fight with an axe, I think as I see him slay his third massive demon in less than a minute.

  I turn around and hop towards the front doors. The mud makes it hard to move – especially with a wounded leg. I hear the charging demon before I see it. I turn around and dig my heels into the mud, ignoring the sharp pain in my calf. The demon appears to be not much older than I was in human form. He has broad shoulders and a blonde quiff. One of those quarterback types I always see in American movies. He would be incredibly handsome if it wasn’t for his…evil infernal tendencies.

  I parry the first blow of his sword with my stiletto, duck and then stab him in the heart. My leg is = screaming at me, but I have to ignore it. I need to make my way to the house. I need to protect the…

  The big front doors of my childhood home open again. My mom is pushed outside by a massive man with sleek black hair. She was followed by the other wives, the Warlock children, and wounded walkers and hunters alike.

  I notice Asmodeus landing on the grass in front of them. He looks pleased.

  “You step away from them!” I raise my voice. But all that came out was a single frustrated croak. Asmodeus turns towards me and folds his hands together. “You keep surprising me, you know that?”

  I look at him like he is the biggest piece of shit I have ever seen – which is the truth, by the way.

  “Are you…” Asmodeus takes a few nonchalant steps towards me. “Ready to see your mommy dearest die?”

  Chapter 32

  I run forward to punch a demon, cut someone’s throat or kick someone in his infernal nuts when I stop dead in my tracks. A large black-haired demon steps into the late afternoon sun. In his hands he is holding the red pillow on which I had carefully balanced the sword earlier that day.

  I curse under my breath. This is not how this is supposed to go. At the end of the story, the good guys win. My heart is beating in my throat and I feel the sweat build up in my clenched fists.

  “No!” I scream. But Asmodeus just smiles. “Bring her here!” He snaps his fingers and a large man steps forward. He is about twice my size and has four time as many muscles. I know better than to fight him when he drags me towards Asmodeus.

  “I just want you to see what is going to happen.” He says silently. “I want you to witness history.” He smiles down at me. I don’t say a word, but I hold his gaze. No way that I will look away. I am not afraid of him. Or well… yes, I am. But he does not have to know that.

  “Bring me the sword!” He says loudly so his voice could climb over the sounds of fighting in the distance. I turn my head to check on father. He is fighting side by side with Danny and some of the other walkers, a sight that would have warmed my heart was it not that life as we know it will end if this freak gets his hands on the sword.

  Maybe I want him to get his hands on this sword. No way he is a descendant! He would die! Problem solved!

  The man that had been standing next to the pillow bearer stretches out his hands towards the sword. I hold my breath. Asmodeus obviously does not know about the bloodlines, about the fact that you needed to be related in order to wield the weapon – touch it even.

  He looks at the sword and back at me. Shit. He knows. “And take that thing off of her.” He spits at the demon nearest to me. “Two birds in one stone.” He smiles that slimy smile of his. “The aberrant sword and the Dagger of Truth.” His smile grows wider. “My horoscope was right. This is indeed a very good day. Not that I believe in those things. But it is one of the cuter things humans came up with.” He winks at me.

  This is when a loud gargling sound echoes over the field. The demon who had been tasked by bringing the sword to Asmodeus is now lying on his knees, sword in hand. A weird greyish shine is spreading from his hands to his arms, over his neck and even through his hair. It took a while before I noticed that he was indeed ageing. Everyone stares in shock at the now grey, old and wrinkled man. He looks ancient and frail – and then, as if he was made of clay, he started to crumble. His arm fell off, his face lost most of its skin and bit by bit he started to disappear – only to be blown away by the little breeze that had just appeared. This was next-level Infinity War shit if I ever saw some!

  A small hush lands over the group of onlookers, demons and hunters alike. A few broad-shouldered demons take a step back and the one holding the pillow where a few seconds ago the sword was balanced on seems frozen in fear.

  “What a remarkable surprise.” Asmodeus says quietly. He takes a few steps toward the sword yet keeping a safe distance. “Very interesting indeed.” He mumbles scratching his chin.

  If only I could run forward, grab the sword and jam it into his guts. But I knew I would be killed before I would ever reach the sword. These large minions might be scared of the sword… they would tackle and
gut me within seconds.

  I grind my teeth as I look for a solution, an escape. A way to save everyone and make everything better again.

  But even the most senior hunters had their eyes down, seemed to have given up the fight. My heart feels heavy in my chest and my stomach turned at the thought of Asmodeus winning, at the thought that – in the end, it was my fault that this creep was here.

  My mouth feels dry when the realisation set in. It WAS all my fault. If I had trusted my father… if I had…

  A large gust of gasps sweeps through the group of walkers and hunters, huddled together for protection. I follow their gaze and turn around, only to see yet another cloud of black wings.

  That was it… any chance of victory, any way of us coming out on top, was now gone. If Asmodeus brought in new troops, we would be outnumbered 10 to 1. We would be dead within the hour.

  We are doomed…

  Chapter 33

  But then something catches my eye. Asmodeus seems as scared as we are. Instead of looking pleased with himself, I can see fear trickling over his face. Was he frightened?

  I take in a deep breath of air when I recognise the man in front. When it hit me that these were not Asmodeus’ troops, but ours. It is Daimon, and he has brought reinforcements.

  Asmodeus starts yelling orders in infernal as he comes to the same conclusion. Bodies start moving, men start taking positions to beat down the incoming host of walkers.

  I try to stab and wound some of them as they come running past me. One of the men tries to punch me with his massive fist, but I duck out of the way, landing in the soft mud.

  The men in black leather vests charging running towards Daimon and his group of walker warriors that had just landed on the field. I hear the clashing of swords.