Hunter's Legacy

by N. P. Martin

  It was only when I stood, feeling massively tall now, that I realized they were wings. The weight on my back was such that it affected my center of gravity, which I then had to adjust to suit the new adornments there.

  The physical transformation was only half of it, though. Internally, a new kind of energy flowed through me. It was a perfect balance of light and dark, and it felt much more powerful than either of the two powers alone.

  Holding my arms out, I looked down at myself, unable to keep from feeling a certain level of disgust and despair at what I had become. "What am I?"

  "You mean what am I?" that voice inside me said, and I realized that my dark passenger was now in control, had been since I gave it permission. "You can call me Demon Leia…if you like."

  Demon Leia stretched her powerful body like she had just awoken from a centuries long sleep. Although I could feel every movement of every muscle, it was she who was directing them.

  "So now what?" I asked, just a passenger in this new body. "No way am I just sitting back while you pilot this…body, or whatever it is."

  "What do you propose, Sister?"

  Without even having to think about it, I turned Demon Leia’s head—my head—to find Abigor standing by the edge of the Hell Gate. Dark steaks flew out of the muted red light, merging with the darkness outside.

  The spirits of demons, fresh from Hell.

  "We do this together," I said. "I’m not just going to be along for the ride in my own body…whatever my body is now."

  "As you wish, Sister, but please allow me to direct things at least until you grow used to this new form, of which my instincts are already connected."

  "Okay, fine," I conceded. "You can stop calling me, Sister, by the way. It’s a little weird since I hardly know you, whatever you are."

  "I was born in you. I am a part of you."

  Abigor had noticed me, or rather Demon Leia, by this point. He stood staring wide-eyed as demon spirits streaked past him.

  "Let’s continue this discussion later."

  "Agreed."

  I walked toward Abigor in my new demon body, who continued to stand there, slightly aghast at what was walking toward him it seemed.

  "What is this?" he asked after I’d stopped not far from him. "This can’t be. Such a transformation is impossible." His eyes looked up and down my body. "A mere hybrid cannot transform in such a way, and into such…a thing of absolute beauty."

  I must admit, I never expected him to say that last part. I was a horned demon with blue skin after all, but I guess Abigor’s tastes run a little different.

  "Well," I said. "This thing of beauty is going to kill your ass."

  He half smiled as he shook his head, clearly unconcerned by my threat. "Please, let’s not do this. I mean, look at you. If you don’t belong at my side now, then—"

  "I never fucking will. Exactly right."

  I charged forward then and swung the glowing Demon Blade at his neck, but he easily ducked under it and then moved in the blink of an eye to my rear.

  "Okay," he said glaring at me now. "You want to fight me? Then you fight the real me."

  In an instant, the man I’d been staring at was replaced by a massive demon that seemed to stand at least ten feet tall. There was no dramatic or even gradual transformation involved. One second Abigor was a man, the next a demon. His general shape was still vaguely human, and he had huge feathered wings that seemed to have been a brilliant white at one time, but which had now mostly turned black and various shades of gray. I remembered then that Abigor was once an archangel. In his heyday, he no doubt looked formidable and blindingly, well…angelic. Now he was just formidable, especially with his heavily muscled body and the two twisting, glistening black horns protruding at length from his skull. His skin looked charred, as if a blow torch had been applied to every inch of it. Parts of him seemed to glow a faint orange, as if those parts were burning still. There was even a fire in his eyes, and in his hands a flaming sword that seemed to go on forever. Taking it all in, you could say my prior empowerment began to falter, even if no more than a little bit.

  "Fear not, Sister," Demon Leia said telepathically. "Just allow me to do what I was born to do."

  "What’s that?"

  "To destroy."

  Demon Leia jumped high into the air, the velocity creating a strange sensation in me, as if I’d been sitting on a rollercoaster that had taken off suddenly, and now I had no choice but strap in and go along for the ride. It was like what I'd imagine it would feel like to be an avatar. I felt her overwhelming need for violence burn immensely within her, so strong it was practically built into her genetic makeup. Even if I wanted to wrestle back control, I didn’t think I could. Neither did I think I should, given Abigor’s fallen archangel super-status.

  He was now hovering in the air as well, his massive flaming sword pointing toward the ground, as he beckoned with one hand. "All right, New Bitch," he said in a low-pitched voice. "Let’s see what you’re made of. Come and get me!"

  Demon Leia, needing no further encouragement, shot forward like a bullet, the Demon Blade pointing straight out in front of her, as she tried to spear Abigor with it, but Abigor used his own sword to deflect the oncoming attack. As Demon Leia turned mid-air to attack again, Abigor’s burning sword came into view as it came slicing down toward her. The sword was so close, I thought there was no way she was going to be able to move in time, and that the humungous sword would cut her—or should I say, fucking us!—in two. Yet somehow, she managed to turn away from the sword’s path to narrowly avoid it, at the same time bringing the Demon Blade up and then down as she struck back at Abigor with it. I could hardly believe it when the Demon Blade sliced through Abigor’s lower right leg, completely severing it below the knee.

  Abigor roared mightily as he turned to face Demon Leia again, his dark face a mask of pain and fury. "Bitch!"

  Inwardly, I smiled, a smile that was reflected on Demon Leia’s mouth as she hovered, staring at Abigor while black blood dripped from his severed leg. Not only that, he appeared to be in agonizing pain, a pain that contorted his face along with the unmistakable fear there. As it was the Demon Blade that made the cut, it seemed to have weakened him considerably. Where he was probably used to healing himself immediately and retaining all of his power, he was now in the unique position of having to deal with pain and loss of power like an ordinary mortal would have to. Intuitively, I knew this scared him the most—the thought of final death after all of his millennia of being alive.

  Demon Leia charged again at blinding speed, but Abigor swatted her head with his huge clawed hand, knocking her off course. I felt the pain go through her body, and the disorientation of being struck mid-flight. She recovered quickly, though, and just in time to deflect Abigor’s next sword blow, using the Demon Blade to do it.

  After that clash of swords, a whirlwind of pure violence ensued, with Demon Leia and Abigor both locked in battle as they spiraled high into the dark sky, where streaks of lightening jabbed all around them. Things were moving at such a dizzying speed that it was difficult for me to discern what was happening most of the time. I felt it, though, when Demon Leia got slashed or burned by Abigor’s sword. I also felt each time the Demon Blade slashed or stabbed Abigor, or when Demon Leia’s fist or foot slammed into him. Throughout it all, I was beginning to get much more of a feel for the demon body my own had transformed into for reasons I still didn’t fathom. I was beginning to understand just what the body was capable of, to the point where I began to feel comfortable in this new skin. I’d also be lying if I said being in that body wasn’t the most exhilarating thing I had ever experienced. No drug could come close to replicating the feeling that came from knowing you had massive power at your fingertips.

  The most astounding thing of all, though, was the fact that I had somehow birthed the being I had become. As soon as I had that thought, my consciousness seemed to merge with Demon Leia’s until it felt like I had full control over her now.

&
nbsp; Suddenly, it was just me fighting Abigor.

  And I was more than okay with that as I clashed swords with him, the two of us pushing against each other as I made sure to look him straight in the eyes. I wanted him to see it was me, that it was the girl whose brother he lured away and corrupted.

  That it was the girl he underestimated.

  Something faltered in him as I stared at him, and I half smiled because I knew exactly what he saw in my eyes.

  The knowledge of certain victory.

  Without warning, I pushed off his sword and spun myself around a full three-hundred-and-sixty degrees, swinging the Demon Blade around in a wide arc as I did so. The turn was so fast, Abigor hardly had time to react. By the time he did, the Demon Blade was already slicing through his neck, coming out the other side a split second later, having decapitating the demon beast for all the world to see. His severed head spun around in the air for a second, before dropping away into the darkness below. The rest of his body stayed where it was, the black wings still keeping it hovering. A short moment later, Abigor’s shadow form came screeching out of his physical body. The decapitated corpse dropped like a stone suddenly, plunging to the earth below, but the shadow form remained, its two burning orbs glaring at me, its formless mouth now silent as it began to dissipate, the howling wind tearing it to pieces until there was nothing left.

  Until Abigor had been wiped out of existence.

  Forever.

  43

  "Nicely done, Sister."

  I remained hovering in the dark sky for a moment, hardly able to believe what I had just done.

  "Is he really gone?" I asked.

  "He is destroyed. So yes."

  Even in my new demon body, the relief washed over me.

  Then I remembered the Hell Gate. Looking down, I could see it was still wide open, and spirits continued to pour out of it at an alarming rate. Who knew how many demons had escaped so far?

  Too fucking many, I thought.

  I flew down and hovered above the huge chasm, which seemed to go on forever in its depth. "I have no fucking idea of how to close this, or even if it can be closed."

  "Yes, you do."

  "What? How?"

  "The Demon Blade. When you kill a demon with it, that demon’s essence is distilled into the blade. It is what makes it stronger with every kill. Contained within that essence is the memories of the demon. If you access Abigor’s memories, then perhaps you will discover how to close the gate that he opened."

  "How the hell do you know this?"

  "It appears I was born with knowledge."

  I nodded, hardly having time to comprehend that. "Of course you were. So how do we access Abigor’s essence with the sword?"

  "Press the sword against your forehead, and then project your consciousness into the sword. All you have to do is think about it, but I hear the experience can be quite overwhelming."

  "You hear? How could you have…" I shook my head. "You know what? Never mind."

  I did as she said and placed the bloodstained sword against my forehead, then I closed my eyes and tried to project myself into it. At first, I thought it wasn’t working. But then I seemed to get pulled into this massive current of vastly flowing images and sounds and feelings. It was like plunging straight into an icy river, and just as shocking. So much so, that I had to pull put out.

  "Holy shit!" I gasped. "It’s too much…"

  "Focus, Sister! You must do this!"

  I nodded. "All right, I’m going in again."

  The second time I dived head first into that current of information, it was still as shocking, but this time I managed to keep from panicking too much. I just tried to float in it, to let the sounds and images wash over me, the feelings to flow through me. As I did, I saw things no one should ever see, heard things no one should ever hear, and felt things that made me indescribably sick. The Demon Blade had claimed the living consciousness of thousands of demons—imprisoning them in a way—and all of their memories were now contained within it. Somehow or other, I had to try and locate Abigor’s memories, and then locate the one that gave me the ritual to close the Hell Gate.

  As impossible a task as it might have seemed right then, somehow I managed to slow my mind and concentrate on what I wanted to find. Pretty soon, I began to get glimpses of Abigor’s memories, going right back to when he was still an archangel. Surprisingly, he was only mildly better as an archangel than he was as a demon. Clearly, he was always an insane megalomaniac. After his descent into Hell, he only got worse. The bastard had lived so long, it was near impossible to know when he might have learned how to open the Hell Gates. It was only when I changed my focus to the books he had read in his lifetime that I eventually located the ritual, which Abigor had learned from a book of dark magic located in a library in Hell. The script to the ritual ran to many hundreds of words in a language I’d never seen before, let alone know how to pronounce, and I began to panic that I would firstly, never remember them all; and secondly, be unable to speak them.

  But a moment later, Demon Leia’s voice drifted into my consciousness. "You can come back out now, Sister. I have this."

  "You mean you got this," I said as I disengaged from the information stream and came back into reality.

  "That’s what I said."

  "No, you—"

  Demon Leia took control of the demon body before I could say anymore, and then flew down to the Hell Gate, landing by the edge of the chasm, from which the spirts of demons still flew out like a scene from Ghostbusters, screeching as they went.

  As I became the passenger again, Demon Leia raised her arms and began to recite the complicated words to the ritual in a deep, gruff voice that was full of power and control. Within seconds, the gaping chasm began to close up, the red light within becoming gradually more diminished as the earth seemed to stitch itself back together.

  Minutes later, the earth closed up and finally sealed off the gate once more, the light of Hell disappearing just as a few lucky demon spirits managed to make it out in time. As I watched the dark spirits fly off into the gloom, I wondered what damage they were going to cause once they established themselves in this world. A lot, no doubt, but I would worry about that later.

  When the Hell Gate was finally closed, Demon Leia dropped her arms by her sides and gave a sigh of satisfaction. "A job well done, Sister."

  "Thanks to you."

  "No, thanks to you, Sister. You created me, you birthed me. I am here because of you."

  "Birthed you? That sounds slightly gross."

  Demon Leia turned so we could survey the rest of the cemetery. Before us was a mass of bodies spread out everywhere, some Nephilim, many of them demon. No doubt there were Watchers among the dead and injured as well. Through the thick fog and rain created by the maelstrom that still raged overhead, I looked for signs of Frank, Eva and Josh, but I couldn’t see them.

  "You’ll find them," Demon Leia said. "In the meantime, my work is done here, as much as it pains me to say so, for I would very much lean into the chance of experiencing more of this world first-hand…but alas…"

  "What?" I prompted her.

  "Alas I am being pulled in a different direction at present. It is over to you now, Sister."

  Before I could even ask what she meant, I felt the sudden onset of changes happening, as I painfully transformed back into my normal self, ending up on my hands and knees as the rain pounded my naked body.

  "Are you still in there?" I asked out loud, but there was no reply from Demon Leia. I could barely feel her anymore. The dark power that flowed through me before was gone as well. My grace was the only power that I still felt.

  Is she gone now, I wondered, just like that?

  As I stood up, I realized Demon Leia could never be gone, because she was now a part of me as much as my heart and lungs were a part of me. She was in there, and I could feel her, although she remained respectfully muted, and on the edge of my consciousness.

  Watching and waiting for t
he next time I would need her.

  After taking a coat from a dead Nephilim (I know, classy, right?) to cover up my nakedness, I managed to locate Frank, who was sitting up with his back against a large tombstone.

  "Frank!" I crouched in front of him as I took in his battered face and bloodstained body. "Jesus, are you all right? I thought you were fucking dead."

  Frank managed a painful smile. "Nope, still looking good…"

  I shook my head at him. "Yeah, real good."

  Taking his hand, I pulled Frank to his feet as he groaned in pain and rested one hand on my shoulder. "You did it."

  I nodded. "Not just me."

  "Yeah, I saw." He shook his head as he looked at me. "I can’t even begin to…"

  "I know, neither can I."

  "You were…a demon."

  "Pretty much, but different. I’ll explain it later, if I can. We need to find Eva and Josh."

  As we went to walk away, we were confronted by two other Watchers who had walked purposely toward us, two middle-aged guys, both with Watcher Knives in their hands.

  "Stop!" one of them said, pointing at me with his knife. "You aren’t going anywhere…demon!"

  I shook my head in disbelief. "Guys, what—"

  "We can’t let you walk out of here," the other Watcher said, smaller and stockier than his partner.

  "Carl," Frank said. "What is this shit?"

  "You know what it is, Frank," Carl said. "She’s some kind of demon. She’s a threat."

  Frank shook his head. "She just fucking saved your ass and everybody else’s!"

  Carl’s partner glared at me as he came closer with the knife. "She’s dangerous."

  As I readied myself for a fight, Frank suddenly pulled out a gun from inside his jacket, aiming it at the two Watchers while still holding onto me for support. "Back off, guys. I mean it. There’s been enough death here today."

  Carl and his partner looked at each other, and then looked at Frank like he was some kind of traitor to the cause. "This isn’t over, Frank," Carl said as they began to walk away. "Not by a long shot!"