by K R Leikvoll
When the half sphere appeared around me, I was somewhere else entirely. I had left Whitecrest and Kirin far behind and was standing at the entrance of a titan-sized castle. The entire building was carved from sharp obsidian and extended far beyond what I was able to see. A thick, red mist covered the dark ground that led to the front entrance. Massive stone walls surrounded me on every side. Giant groupings of soldiers were battling legions of monsters behind me, consumed in their conflict. This had to be deep in demon country, I figured.
I was standing behind two forms, one of which was instantly recognizable as my mother. Her white hair was nearly down to the back of her knees, and she wore a shimmering silver dress that reminded me of white stars. I walked around her slowly, examining her with curiosity. She was clearly distraught over something; she was yelling various things to the man next to her, a man I slowly remembered to be Jack. He was wearing only tattered, black pants. His eyes were intensely focused on the opening of the castle.
There were no words to explain the emotions that coursed through me. Standing at the top of the stairs was James. My James…
I ran to him. The entire universe was moving too slow; I wanted to be in his arms. When I reached out to touch him, my hand froze in midair.
It was James, but it wasn't James. The once sun-kissed color of his skin was as white as snow. His face lacked muscle mass and looked starved. Even the beautiful green of his eyes was the same paralyzing shade of crimson as Lazarus'. When he opened his mouth to speak, I saw several pairs of white fangs that looked so out of place I backed up in fear.
My James, my sweet angel, was a demon.
"Finish off the dog, will you?" a voice whispered from behind James' back. A black figure was making their way inside the castle in a clear retreat. James stood guard between the entrance and the pair that seemed keen on pursuing them.
"As you wish," James replied. His voice was deeper. It almost sounded bloodthirsty.
"James?" I asked, finally gaining the courage to reach out and touch him. My fingers passed through his body, but to my utter surprise James glanced down at me. He looked around as though he couldn't see what touched him.
"Who wants to die first? The wolf king or the fairy princess?" James hissed excitedly, turning his attention back to my mother and sort-of father. I glided toward them, away from James. It killed me inside, but Alexandra told me how important it was to pay attention to my visions. I couldn't miss anything.
"I will fight him off. You sneak around from behind and try to get inside," Jack said in a low growl to Eve.
"I love you," she breathed, kissing him on the lips. Jack separated himself reluctantly and walked toward James.
"Let us see if the rumors are true," Jack called to him. James' red eyes emanated in the darkness. He had a wide, crazy smile on his face that gave me the chills. I wanted to push him away from my mother and Jack. James, what were you doing?
"Oh, I assure you, they are," he replied, pulling out a massive great sword that hung on his back. It was adorned with red gems that reminded me of beads of blood. He held the sword in both of his hands and pointed it toward Jack. "I've never killed a Wolf King before," he said with a vicious fanged smile.
Jack gave Eve a reassuring nod before moving in closer. The air around Jack, Eve and I began to change. The red mist was blown back by a whirl of forest green. It surrounded Jack so densely I could hardly see him changing shape. His body cracked and moved in unnatural ways until all that was left was a giant wolf-like beast with horns. He reminded me of Morgan, only larger. His fur was deep purple, his eyes remained bright green. He let out an earth-shattering howl that nearly knocked Eve over. She caught herself and began to walk around the side.
Jack took the offense. He leapt straight at James, attempting to encase him in his massive jaw. James jumped into the air with inhuman agility, dodging the bite at the last second. He landed on Jack's back and dragged his great sword over his snout. It cut deeply between his shoulder blades and penetrated his muscles. The wolf growled in pain and rolled to his side abruptly. The force sent James flying, but he landed on his feet gracefully. He held his sword out and lined it up with Jack's throat across their combat zone.
The giant beast bounded over to James, narrowly avoiding his sword, and smashed him into an obsidian pillar. The force was so great that the pillar crumbled into rubble. It fell on the fighting pair, giving Jack an advantage. He picked James up in his fangs and crushed one of his arms. James let out a bestial growl and bit into the side of Jack's face. In response, the wolf was forced to throw James into the dirt to separate himself from the fangs. James' sword flew a few feet away out of his grasp.
Jack took the opportunity to start another charge. As Jack's form leapt over to him, James rolled over to his sword. Eve was standing at the top of the staircase, intently focusing on a possible opening to assist her lover. I could see her crystal blue eyes scanning the battlefield.
James grabbed his sword with his injured arm and used it to drag himself to his feet. Jack stood up on his hind legs and slammed himself down toward James. I watched the silver steel of his sword deeply cut under his front leg. Another eardrum bursting howl echoed around us. The giant wolf staggered off of James and away from the blade. He was panting in pain. No matter which way Jack tried to bring James down, James was ready to slice him to pieces.
James climbed to his feet once more, shaking himself from having held off all of Jack’s weight with his sword. "Well? Already had enough?" he asked with a smile. His red eyes glinted with anticipation. He was somehow strong enough to hold his sword out with his one uninjured arm. It didn't look sustainable.
Jack's eyes met Eve's at the top of the staircase. James reflexively turned to look at her as well. The wolf bounded at him again—at his throat—probably hoping to catch him off guard. Without dodging, James turned and held his sword out in front of him, bracing himself. The wolf's fangs went for the kill. The sound of metal cutting through flesh rang in the air.
Blood sprayed from the wolf's throat. It covered James like a hellish rain. He drew his great sword back above his head, blade downward, and stabbed it directly through the top of Jack's skull, ending the fight. The wolf's beautiful form crumpled to the earth.
"Jack!" Eve's voice screamed with absolute despair. I could feel her emotions rushing through me as if they were my own. She started to run down the stairs toward his body when James turned to her.
"Your turn," he hissed, starting to step toward her. Eve's eyes turned from grief to fury. She lifted her hand into the air and reached for nothingness. The sky grew impossibly black. A white cascade of light fell from the empty heavens like a meteor. Before James could dodge it, the light came crashing down on top of him. The impact was so strong, it left a crater in its wake, burying James into the ground.
Eve didn't move back toward Jack. She gave her expired lover one last look before turning away. Her white, shimmering form tore off in the direction of the castle. I watched her rip the titan entrance open and disappear inside.
The vision was beginning to fade. James was pulling himself from underneath the comet. He got to his feet beside me. All I saw was bloodlust in his eyes.
I woke from the vision gasping for air. Alerted by something unknown, I sat straight up and glanced around expecting danger. Kirin was a foot away, peering down at me with newly formed wine-colored eyes. He was still covered in his own blood; it was dried to his face, neck and clothes. I clutched my throat. Flashes of James bombarded my brain. His glowing eyes, his pale skin… the murder of my mother's lover. I felt the color draining from my skin. A wave of confusion and sorrow hit me all at once. I buried my face into my lap, sobbing quietly.
"What happened?" Kirin asked. His fingers ran over the new, thick scar on his face. I took a deep breath and looked around us again. Whitecrest's green smog was about a mile away. The ground was deep gray and cracked, like it was fully dead.
"I had a vision," I said numbly. I wiped my tears from
my face. James' red eyes filled with bloodlust flashed in my mind over and over. It was making me light-headed.
"Before you tell me about it, did you sacrifice?" he asked lying down on his cloak. I shook my head no; the flames were sure to come at any time though. Kirin opened his arms to me and motioned for me to come. I didn't move.
"Listen, I don't have the energy after healing to do extra work," he complained. "Get over your petty emotions. We almost just died."
Kirin pulled his dagger from his side and nicked in between his shoulder and neck. His black blood started to dribble from the open wound. He gave me a demanding look and opened his arms again. Fuck my life… my undeath.
I awkwardly laid down on his chest. My stomach was in absolute knots. His arm curled around my waist as he slowly pushed my body closer to his neck.
When the flames were consuming me, it was easy to latch on for relief. With their absence, the idea of drinking blood felt different. My lips touched his throat. I hesitated. Kirin's other arm locked around my rib cage to keep me from leaving.
"Get it over with already," he hissed. I cautiously opened my mouth to accept the rain.
It was good timing. After the first swallow, fire seared up my spine signaling what debt I owed. Every single goddamn time it was just as intense. I couldn't understand how Kirin could possibly fight it off. What was worse was the desire for more than before. My arms fastened around his and he didn't fight it off. Oddly, he seemed to be enjoying it. I didn't care. I needed every last drop to stop the flames. It was too much burning to tolerate. I was overpowered by the desire to drink deeper and deeper to completely extinguish the cinders. I felt Kirin's nails dig into my skin through my clothes.
"Val," he mumbled above me. "No more."
I wanted to laugh at him. Didn't like it so much when it was reversed? The flames hissed as the final drops doused the cinders, but the urge to continue kept me glued to him. My consciousness was glimmering back to the reality of my situation. I was in Kirin's arms sucking on his neck. It was weird. I went to take another gulp when he rolled over on top of me, pulling himself away. I expected him to get off, but he didn't. Wait—what were we doing again? I went to wipe the blood off my lips when Kirin leaned in close to my face. His hand moved mine away and wiped it off for me. His red gaze was so intense I felt like a puddle. A humiliated puddle. His eyes were focusing on my lips.
"Kirin!" I said loudly trying to crawl out from underneath him. He blinked a few times and stood straight up.
"I'm sorry. I…" he trailed off and looked at the sky. He let out a sigh and paced a few feet away.
I stood up, blushing furiously from utter humiliation, and dusted off my clothes. So stupid, Val! So stupid! I was so embarrassed I couldn't find any words to say. I folded my arms across my chest and turned away. The heat was radiating off my face. I didn't want him to see how much it bugged me.
Kirin cleared his throat.
"So... you had a vision? Let's talk about it," his voice said behind me. I felt his hand on my shoulder. This fucking guy…
I moved away from his touch and faced him.
"What's with the touchy-feely bullshit?" I asked, reaching my breaking point. “You are so hot and cold, I don't get you at all!"
Kirin gave me a knowing stare. I felt like it said a million different things.
"I apologized already, Val. Blood bonds make things confusing. I've never had one beyond Guinevere.”
"What the fuck is a 'blood bond'?" I asked half-anxious, half-furious. Kirin looked like he really, really didn't want to talk about it. I didn't give him the chance to make any excuses. "Well?"
"Talking about your vision is far more important than this," he replied, refusing to answer me. He pointed into the open cracked desert that laid before us. "Walk and talk."
"I'm not going to forget this," I said sharply. He rolled his eyes without responding.
We started walking into the vast openness. Everything in front of us was a dead wasteland. It made me thirsty for water, unsurprisingly. I took the bag off Kirin's shoulder with a glare. My canteen was nearly empty; not good. I took a single swallow of water to get the metallic taste out of my mouth.
"Vision. Start talking," Kirin said irritated as I handed the bag back to him. I didn't want to remember it. I couldn't stop the images of James from flooding my mind again. His red eyes. His insane smile.
"James," I started, but I couldn't finish. I stopped myself and remained silent. My heart was sick. I didn't want to believe that he was a demon. That person wasn't him. That was someone different and evil. James was an angel—an actual angel—not a demon.
"Ah," Kirin said to break the silence. "Finally saw something you don't like about him?"
"It wasn't the same person; it couldn't have been," I whispered more to myself than to Kirin. He chuckled. It infuriated me beyond belief.
"I do agree. He was definitely a different person when he was with you. A bit suspicious, don't you think?" he asked, hinting again that James was my father. I moved past my anger so I could get through the grueling process of explaining the vision.
"You're wrong, but why? Why was he a demon, Kirin? I don't understand," I replied, feeling like I was going to break down again. My sweet James couldn’t be a monster. Kirin could tell I was an emotional wreck. I'm sure he would've loved to make me hate James, but instead he seemed to pity me.
"James was among the eldest of the demons. He was the first person to do the Dark Sacrament under Vince," Kirin explained, "His first 'dark child'."
His words sent chills up my spine, talking about that Vince person again. He got brought up like some big bad guy. The man that they told me murdered my mother. At least Lazarus made sure he was in a cold, deep grave. I didn't even know my mother, and I wished I could have had the pleasure myself. I'm sure Kirin would've agreed with me. Vince was really starting to appear as the cause of all the bullshit.
"Vince made James into a demon? But Kirin, he wasn't a demon. He was an angel when I knew him," I tried explaining. "There is no way the person I knew would kill Jack in cold blood."
Kirin stopped entirely. "What?" he asked alarmed. "You saw him kill Jack?"
"Yes," I said reliving the painful memory. Kirin grabbed my shoulders roughly, a very familiar sensation.
"And your mother? What happened to her?" he asked, bombarding me with questions.
"I don't know," I said, pulling myself out of his grasp. "She ran off inside the castle." He hung his head and looked at the ground. "Um... you okay, dude?"
"Just painful memories. We never actually knew how Jack or Eve perished. We weren't able to recover their bodies. Alexandra kept hope that Eve was alive for nearly a year before admitting to herself she was gone. I don't feel bad knowing that James can't hurt anyone anymore," Kirin said bitterly. His words hit me like bricks.
"You don't even know a thing about James. That's what I've been trying to tell you! That wasn't him! James didn't even look like that! And you should know, you told me that he is the reason you were able to kidnap me from Earth in the first place!" I said, unable to smother my voice’s shaking.
"You're right. As I said before, he wasn't the same person when he was with you. Somehow, he freed himself of the Dark Sacrament," Kirin said wistfully. "Lucky bastard. He didn't deserve it."
"Please, Kirin," I gasped, finally succumbing to my emotions. I wiped the tears off my cheeks. "Don't say those things about him. He's the only reason I'm alive today."
"No, the reason you are alive today is because I saved you when you jumped off a cliff," Kirin replied sharply.
That made it worse. I didn't want to think about the only person I truly loved being a monster. It made my head throb with confusion. I missed him more than anything. I wanted to confront him and ask him for the truth.
"Damn it," Kirin said under his breath. He leaned down in front of me and wiped my tears away with his coarse thumb. "Look, Val, I'm sorry I don't like your guardian angel. We have a bad history. I won'
t bring it up again if it keeps you from doing this," he said, gesturing to my tears. His words didn't make me feel any better. I started walking ahead.
Stupid jerk. I don't know why he acted like he cared at all. I was sick of his half-assed apologies. Even if James was a demon at one point, that's not the person that helped raise me. Not the person that stayed up until 3:00 AM watching TV with me when I couldn't sleep. Not the person that counselled me when I was bullied. Not the person that took me to our woods to play. That wasn't James.
It was the sick, fucked up world I was in. The demonic energies corrupted every single thing they touched. The beautiful land was completely destroyed. The people were almost extinct. The ones touched by the darkness infected and poisoned every last innocent thing I had seen. The empty wasteland made me crave the green of Earth. What if the darkness had followed me back there? Would everyone back home follow the same path as what happened on Praetis? We were already ready for violence as it was; we didn't need anything else influencing people with their fingers on the nuke button.
We walked in silence for the rest of the day. Nightfall came much faster than anticipated. I wasn't exactly sure how long I had been out between killing the plaguebearer and feeding on Kirin. What I did know was that we had been walking close to twenty-four hours with no rest. His blood was what kept me going for so long. He seemed energized from mine as well, though I wasn't really sure of the differences. I mean, I was part Divine so it was probably a different experience for him.
My legs eventually did cave. The night sky was shining brilliantly overhead, illuminating the gray, cracked earth. Everything in front of us was empty, the same as behind. It was daunting. No sign of life and no sign of water. My flask was running dangerously low, and I had been doing my best to ration it. I was thankful at least that it wasn't humid that far north. In fact, the desert was cold now that we were somewhere in the middle of it. There weren't any trees or material to make fire with. The temperature was dropping drastically, and the cloak I had found wasn't keeping me warm enough.
