The Aberrant Sword

by Rebecca Ripley

  That’s it! A little light went on in my brain. Of course! The sword. If anything could save us it would be the sword!

  I get up out of the pool of mud and run forward towards the sword. It is still lying the demon that held it disintegrated. A large man, not 20 feet from me, saw what I was doing and ran towards the sword. I dive forwards and feel the cold metal against my skin as my hand closes around the hilt of the sword.

  A large combat boot lands on my wrist. I scream as the hard rubber presses down into my skin. I look up into the face of the guy that was racing me for the sword just a few seconds ago. I was not letting go. I was… he shifted his weight further onto his foot. It would not be long until he shattered my wrist.

  I bring up my other hand. I still had my dagger clenched tightly in my fist and start stabbing the man’s calf. He screams. A small trickle of smoke rose from the holes my dagger had punched in his muscular calf.

  The man curses under his breath and takes me by the throat. He is chocking me! He holds me up, my feet dangling at least a foot above the muddy field. I try to cough, but his hand is clenched so firmly around my throat I cannot get any air in and out. I am choking. I am choking bad!

  That’s when my last pair of working brain cells comes up with the idea to use the heavy sword in my hand. My muscles hurt as they fall without oxygen. I bundle all my strength into my right arm and lift the sword. In one big swoop I ram the sword into his side, aiming for his kidneys and the soft flesh that would not be able to protect his intestines from the blow of the sword.

  The sword cut through the demon like a knife through room-temperature butter. His eyes widen and the grip on my throat loosens. I fall onto my feet, still looking him in the eyes. “Go back to hell!” I cough.

  But instead of the floor opening below him, a large ray of light explodes from his open mouth. The demon screams, falling onto his knees and throwing his shuddering arms back.

  The light was gone as soon as it came. I look at the lifeless body at my feet, still expecting the earth to gulp it up. But nothing happened. I must have been staring at it for a good thirty seconds, not understanding or knowing what had just happened.

  He wasn’t going back to hell. He… died. The demon had died. I had heard about priests being able to kill demons with powerful white magic, but an object… a weapon that could kill Demons? I almost drop the sword when the realisation hit.

  I clench the sword firmer in my first and run forward, slashing and stabbing my way through the horde of demons. I need to find Asmodeus, I need to…

  And there he is. Asmodeus’ hair had come undone. He is wielding a large shiny sword which just cut a walker in half. I squint at the sight. Shit. I need to help. This was going wrong. Asmodeus now turned towards Daimon who had been fighting not too far from the Demon ringleader.

  “Daimon!” I scream. But my screams do not surpass those of the hundreds of fighting men and women around me. “Daimon!” I try again as I see Asmodeus’ sword rise in horror. But my friend was too busy fighting. I lunge towards Asmodeus. I could almost touch him, kill him with the sword even.

  If it wasn’t for my stupid feet.

  Just as I am running towards him, grunting and screaming, sword first, I trip. I trip over a stupid rock or foot or branch – I don’t care, and I fall face first into the mud. Asmodeus smiles as he sees me lying there. I cannot feel the cold steel of the sword in my hand anymore. It is lying in the mud not three feet from where I had gone down.

  To add pain to injury, this was the moment Daimon realises I was there, that he realises Asmodeus was on the verge of killing him. In that little second, he lost concentration and looked at me and my besieger, his opponent took the upper hand, smashing him down.

  He grunts as I hear bones crack. Were those his ribs? He falls back and lands hard on his ass. Shit. This is all my fault. If he dies like this, if he… it will be on me. I try to scurry towards the sword so I can stab the demon and free Daimon.

  And that is when it happened. My heart stood still. Hell! Time stood still.

  Daimon was on his back in the mud, struggling with the Demon on top of him. Asmodeus was looking at me – was that a knife coming towards me?

  Daimon’s sword lay buried in the mud not even a foot from the Aberrant Sword… flailing and trying to gain the upper hand, his fingers went for the wrong sword and grabbed the cold muddy metal.

  This was all my fault. I killed Daimon. It was over now. I was a failure…

  I hold my breath for a second as I expect the sword to annihilate my friend. But nothing happens. In fact, Daimon raises the sword and thrusts it into the stomach of his assailant. Large white rays of light burst from the wound, killing the husk and the demon alike.

  I fall down on my knees, tears streaming over my cheeks as I scream in agony, waiting for Daimon to die. Any second now. He looks at the sword in his hand, he looks at me and back to Asmodeus.

  Asmodeus moves his eyes from the sword to Daimon and back to me. I can see he is angry. I can see he is not done with us.

  Asmodeus roars as he stretches out his wings. “I will be back.” He says slowly. “I promise.”

  It is a promise I do not want him to keep. A loud horn echoes through the battlefield. Large black wings pop up all at once. One by one Demons start rising up from the battlefield. Some were seemingly wounded and could not get away soon enough. Others looked as if they wanted to stay and fight.

  Asmodeus looks me in the eye one last time and smiles. “See you next time Isabelle.”

  The next moment he and his host were gone.

  I don’t know who caught me, but I felt arms around me just before I hit the ground and lost consciousness.

  Chapter 34

  I hear a soft knock on the door. “yes?” I answer with a creaky voice. I had only just woken up. Every single fibre in my body hurt. I breathe in the familiarity of my own room. I had no idea how much I missed my soft goose feather pillow or my oversized duvet.

  The door creaks open only a little bit and I catch a whiff of what I assume is chicken soup. “Mom?” I ask. She smiles at me through the crack in the door. “I thought you might be hungry.” She says as she puts down the platter on my nightstand.

  Mom strokes my head and I smile. “Are you okay?” She asks, looking at me with motherly eyes that see through lies and directly into your soul.

  “I think so.” I nod. “How… where…?” I take a deep breath and shake my head. “Is everyone all right?” I ask.

  “Yes.” She smiles, handing me a small square of chocolate. “Daimon is downstairs in a meeting with dad and what is left of the council.” She must have noticed my puzzled look because she continues: “Some of the council have decided to leave. From what we hear they have set up a fringe organisation.” I can hear the anger and betrayal in her voice – even though it was still as sweet as honey. “Bloodsworth?” I ask. She nods slightly. A tight cold iron fist clamps itself around my heart and stomach. “What about Kathy? Her father…” Large waves of nausea wash over me.

  “Kathy is okay.” Mom sighs. “She will be staying here until she goes off to uni.” I almost start crying at those words. I cannot even imagine the choice she had to make.

  “Talking about family.” A mischievous smile appeared on mom’s face. “You might want to set your alarm for 3 am tonight.” She winks and gives me a little kiss on my forehead. “Call me if you need anything.” Mom says when she reaches at the door. “Will do.” I yawn, drifting off to sleep again.

  Chapter 35

  A little knock wakes me up from a bad dream. Warm tears are streaming down my cheeks and have made a little wet spot on my pillow. My throat tightens as I think about the ropes tightening around the large bear in my dreams, how they had pulled the roaring animal down. They had poked it with swords, their red eyes flaming in the night. It was almost as if I could taste the bear’s blood in my mouth when they severed its head, blood spraying everywhere. And then all I could see was Asmodeus’ smiling face. It was
growing bigger and bigger and bigger until there was no space for me to breath – the knock on my door had saved me.

  I wipe the tears of my face and throw the thick duvet of me. A few hours ago, I had locked the door, another nightmare had made me paranoid, had me look under my bed and in my cupboard and ultimately check the locks on the windows and the door. Since when was I so scared?

  I take a deep breath and turn the key. The door opens slightly. “Daimon?” My voice croaks with sleep. A little ray of moonlight fell through the window opposite my room. He opens my door a bit more and slips in.

  I cannot read the expression on his face. I have never seen him like this. He looks worried. Yes – it was worry, mixed with something else. Something… softer.

  “Dai…” But he shakes his head and starts pacing the room. I switch on the lamp on my bedside table and look at the clock on my phone. 2:50 AM.

  Was it him my mom had me set an alarm for? I rub the last remnants of sleep out of my eyes and try again. “Daimon...” He looks up at my voice and stops pacing. We stood there; eyes locked for a few seconds. I can see his Adam’s apple move up and down as he swallows hard.

  With a flash of wind and movement he makes his way through my room and sweeps me up in his arms. His lips feel warm and comforting against mine. “Daimon...” I say once I was able to peel away from his deep kiss. “We can’t… I can’t.” I stumble over my words.

  He loosens his grip and looks me in the eyes. “Why?” he asks. I bite my lip and think long and hard over my words. “You and I…we…” I take in a deep breath as I am too scared to speak the words out loud.

  “I am a Demon and you are a Hunter.” A soft smile appears on his face. I nod and avoid eye contact, ashamed of hearing my thoughts come out of his mouth.

  He just smiles and pulls me closer. “If we learned anything these past few days, it is that we need to look pas these labels.” He whispers in my hair. His words make me look up at him. “I know.” I say, taking in a deep breath.

  My lips instinctively look for his, drowning in their warm softness. My head is spinning. I want this so bad, but deep inside something tells me this is wrong, that this is not the time… that big things are going to happen and that…

  A small cough from the corner of the room makes me open my eyes in sheer panic.

  Someone is in the room.

  My heart stops beating. We are not alone. Someone saw us kissing. I swallow hard as I turn my head towards the cough. My knees go wobbly as I see my grandmother sitting in her favourite chair by the fireplace in my room. The chair where she read me stories about princes and princesses and dragons and werewolves.

  “G-Gran?” I stutter. Daimon tightens his grip on me as I feel my legs grow weak. Grandma smiles from the chair. I rush towards her but as I try to hug the woman who means so much to me, my hands and arms grab nothing but air. Only then I see the faint ethereal light that surrounds her.

  “Oh child.” She says, lifting her hand as if to stroke my face. “I am not really here.” She looks at the door as if someone was standing there. I follow her gaze but can only see the dark shades cast by the light on my bedside table. “Zeke is projecting me.” She smiles at my confused look. “He is a warlock I have been working with for the past decade. He is a helping me – helping us...” I nod as I understand what she is trying to say.

  She now lets her eyes land on Daimon who is still standing in the corner of the room where he kissed me so passionately not a minute ago. “When I told you to get my granddaughter, I did not mean…” her voice was strict. I looked over my shoulder to Daimon whose eyes were now fixed on his shoes. Then I hear the ringing laughter coming from my grandmother. “Oh Daimon…” she sighs. “You have been such a good friend. I cannot imagine my lovely Issy ending up with someone better and more deserving than you.” She says, her eyes and voice soft and loving. “I am so grateful for everything you did for my family.” She says as he finally met her gaze. “And once this is over, I hope to meet you again. We really should go and try that Faery Fire Whiskey in Scotland.” She winks at him.

  I can’t see his face, but I feel his smile behind me as he puts a hand on my shoulder. “We should, old friend.”

  “Where are you?” I ask. “Can I help? How can I get to you?” Why didn’t you take me with you? Why didn’t you tell me what was happening? I am too afraid for the answer to ask the last two questions. Gran just shakes her head. “I am afraid I cannot tell you, little princess.” I can read the worry in her eyes. “For both your safety and mine.” She says, looking at the invisible man by the door again.

  “Look.” She looks me straight in the eyes. “You might have defeated Asmodeus once, but he will not stop until he gets the rest of the Abarynthian Artefacts. Find them!” She says. “Find Angus MacAllistair and tell him I sent you. Find the Ursine Amulet and keep it safe from Asmodeus.”

  “The Ursine what?” I try to ask but she shakes her head. “Honey.” Is that a tear I see? “They are here. We need to go. Find the Ursine Amulet. Bring it back and promise me you are going to do what I ask you next.”

  I look at her and shake my head. “But what...” “Promise me.” She says fiercely.

  “Okay, I promise!” I say, still confused as to what is going on.

  “Quick. Johnathan can’t hold them off any longer.” A deep disembodied voice bellows through the mirage that is my grandmother. She nods at the invisible man and looks back at me with a look in her eyes so intense that it scares me a little.

  “Promise me that you will leave the guild.”

  Epilogue

  I look at the man opposite me. He looked like he had a rough night. He was wearing sunglasses and over ear headphones. Probably battling through his hangover.

  I close my eyes. The past 24 hours had been an absolute nightmare. Dad had been furious when I went in front of the guild and retracted my membership. I had never seen him this angry and disappointed. He refused to talk to me that evening.

  Mom understood.

  Mom knew.

  I don’t know how, but she knew.

  How could she be in contact with Gran?

  I had asked her about grandmother but all she did was shake her head and give me the train tickets and a post-it with a phone number scrabbled on.

  Things had been set in motion that would change my life and they were not even bothered to tell me, to keep me informed. Just like the fact that all of a sudden Kath had been accepted in this stupid far-away school in France.

  “I promise you will like it there.” Mom had said when she had sat us down. “It is very… alternative.”

  I had shrugged. “Kath is going to Edinburgh, aren’t you?” I had looked at my best friend and she nodded fiercely but mom just handed her a one-way ticket to Paris.

  “It is for your own safety, honey.” Mom smiled at Kathy. “We love you very much and we… there has word that it might be safer for you to go to Bellefeuille Academy.”

  Kathy was angry, irate even. She made a point that she had never even heard of the school and that she had been accepted to one of the- if not THE best hunter academy in the world.”

  Mom had just shaken her head. “I am sorry honey. This is final. You are going to Bellefeuille Academy. For your own good. Trust me that we are doing what is in your best interest.”

  She had smiled. “And I promise you will like it. They are… Different.”

  It didn’t matter how much Kathy had screamed and pleaded and cried, she left from Saint Pancras an hour ago and should be in Lille by now, safe and sound on her way to Paris.

  I had tried to calm her down. I trusted mom on this one, especially since I knew this idea and directive did not come from my mother but rather my grandmother.

  “Here’s your coffee.” Daimon woke me from my trance and held out a steaming cup of coffee. “Thanks.” I mumbled.

  “Where do we need to change?” He asked sitting down next to me. “Inverness. From there to Lairg.” I mumble. I wasn’t in the best of
moods.

  It had been my biggest dream to join the guild, to be a hunter, to be good at what I did, maybe even to lead the guild. Who knows?

  And now that future has been scattered in thousands of small little pieces. But I had promised her. I had promised grandmother that I would do what she asked of me. Not in the least because she had helped me – us, throughout the past week, because she had been fighting this war for a lot longer than I had, and because I loved her deeply and truly.

  Rain was now lashing against the window. Darkness had set in and every now and then I could see little strings of streetlights make their way up on a hill or mountain. “we should not be far now.”

  The train breaks suddenly. I had not seen this coming and almost land in the lap of the man in front of me. My coffee spilled over his T-shirt and into his lap.

  “Oh my god!” I panic. “I am so very sorry sir!” I take the little serviette from the ham sandwich I ate earlier and dab his leg and t-shirt. “It was the train, I am so…” in my awkward enthusiasm to apologise I knock off the man’s shades uncovering his bright red eyes.

  For a second it was as if I was staring into Daimon’s eyes. They were mesmerising.

  Something pulls my arm, pulls me away from the man – the demon, in front of me.

  “Run!” Daimon yells as he pushes me forward. The man had now gotten out of his seat. When I look back, I saw that the man’s path was blocked by Daimon.

  “Where to!” I yell back. More red eyes light up as I look around. Four, five – no seven other demons in the carriage!

  Daimon lands a punch in the Demon’s face and launches himself towards me. The Demons are now all running towards us. What is happening?

  Were they supposed to follow us? If they had gotten the orders to kill us, they could have done this hours ago!

  Daimon takes me through the train, carriage in, carriage out, carriage in, carriage out. “Here should be fine.” He says. My head is spinning as we enter the little train manager’s office on the front of the train.