by Justin Sloan
The dark angel stared at her with its fiery eyes and again started a chant, but this time nothing happened. Allie took a breath of relief, but then something slithered on her arm. Above the marks carved into her skin, three black snakes were circling her arm, one preparing to strike. She knocked them off her arm and shot them with a bolt of fiery light from her ring.
“The sword, Allie!” Daniel said, hand outstretched.
His voice was urgent, and with a glance around the room, Allie understood why. The walls had begun to shift, revealing myriad spiders emerging from the cracks. Even the Strayers’ eyes shifted at the sight.
She tossed the sword to Daniel and, running with her ring pointed in front of her, created a path of fiery light through the spiders.
“Where’s your family?” she shouted as they reached Yuko and her grandmother, pulling them along.
“The back room, but it’s blocked. We can’t get through.”
“Blocked how?” Allie shouted as she pulled to a stop, seeing the answer for herself.
The back room had been a tomb, but now the cement blocks were moved aside, and the undead that had once rested in its darkness were shuffling toward the group.
“Under different circumstances,” Daniel said, preparing his sword. “I’d have thought this was cool.”
Allie shook her head. “You’d have been wrong. In all circumstances.”
He smiled, then charged. Allie ran beside him, staying between the bodies and Yuko. As Daniel hacked, she shot white blasts of light at the walking corpses. Each strike caused them to vanish into thin air, leaving behind floating dust.
“Yuko-chan!” a voice called from farther back. “Hayaku!”
“We have to hurry!” Yuko said, running out in front of Allie.
“Wait!” Allie said, but too late. One of the undead had grabbed Yuko and pulled her down, teeth bared for her neck.
A swipe of Daniel’s sword turned the undead into dust that flew across Yuko. She looked like she was about to be sick, but shot him a grateful smile.
“Yuko-chan!” a woman yelled again as she ran out, helping Yuko to stand. Allie assumed she was her mother, and the man who joined to help on the other side, her father.
“This way,” Allie shouted, leading them back toward the arched entryway.
“Are you crazy?” Daniel shouted.
“Yes, but as far as I can tell, it’s our only way out.”
The dark angel and his followers were waiting in the room, and more undead stumbled after the group from behind. The dark angel held up a hand, and silence fell over the room.
“You can’t ignore fate,” the dark angel said. “Join us, fulfill your destiny.”
“My destiny is to become the Tenth Worthy and destroy you!” Allie shouted.
The dark angel laughed, shaking the stone walls. “Is that what they’ve told you?”
She gulped, glancing at the exit.
“Now the time of truth, little one.” The dark angel waved a withered hand in the sky and a glowing sphere appeared. In it were the shifting shapes of various men on horseback, always with armies at their back.
“The Nine Worthies… each with great power. Many cut down before their time.” The images showed Julius Caesar being stabbed, Alexander the Great on his deathbed. “They were invincible when on our side, and only when they turned on us were they betrayed, their lives ended. Don’t you see, Allie Strom? The path those so called Bringers of Light would have your travel ends in your demise, but on our side you have an army of the gods, the power to change the world for the better.”
She stared at the flashing image, which now showed her standing atop a green hill with men and women dancing around her, smiling. The ring glowed on her finger and the Armor of God glimmered in the moonlight.
“Why do you fear us, Allie?” The dark angel made the image bigger, and now it showed him and eleven others. Their skin was restored to a shining silver, white wings flowing from their backs. “Restore us to our rightful place, and together—”
“No,” she said defiantly.
“You are wrong.” The dark angel looked at her sternly. “You’ve been lied to, misled.”
“I agree, but only by you.” She looked to Daniel for confirmation and he gave her a nod. “I’m not fooled by you. My mom fought you and Samyaza, and I’ll continue the fight.”
The dark angel pushed the ball of light toward Allie. It exploded, but not before Daniel stepped forward and slapped it back with his shield. The light missed Allie and instead threw the Strayers onto their backs.
“Destroy her!” the dark angel shouted. It raised a sword that glowed red with jutting spikes.
The Strayers and undead moved forward. One caught Allie, pulling her to the ground and sinking its teeth into her shoulder. She screamed, trying to focus on her ring to send them back in flames, but there were too many. They began to pile on top of her, and all she could think of was her next breath. She tried to pull herself up, so she could breathe ….
She could hear Daniel hacking at the undead and blocking strikes from the dark angel’s sword, but he was getting pushed back. Yuko’s family was screaming, but Allie couldn’t see them. All she could see was rotting flesh and gnashing teeth.
“Allie!” Daniel shouted. “What do we do?”
She opened her mouth to shout, but a clawed hand fish-hooked her cheek and she felt her stomach lurch. Instinct fueled by panic took over, and suddenly she was clawing her way out from under the pile. Forget the ring, this was time for crazy Allie. She found a hole in the assault, and finally pushed her way out. Kneeling at the edge of the lumbering corpses, she spun back and blasted the undead so that limbs went flying.
A swipe of the red sword came down at her head, but she dove and ducked it. Rolling to her feet, she aimed at the back of the dark angel’s head and sent everything she had left into a blast that threw it sprawling forward and right into Daniel’s well placed sword thrust.
With a shriek, the dark angel hissed and spun, releasing a string of otherworldly curses, and then it fell to the floor, grasping at the open hole in its chest. Flames burst forth from beneath its skin as it hissed and spasmed in pain. The Strayers stared in horror as the dark angel convulsed one last time, and then dissolved into black smoke.
Allie turned on them, ready to finish the fight, but instead one of the Strayers knelt and pulled back a wig, revealing a shaved head covered in black patterns carved into her skin.
“They’re here!” the kneeling Strayer shouted, and the dark marks begin to shift like snakes, glowing in a purple light. “Come, great lords.”
The other two Strayers joined her, revealing their own dark marks and chanting. As they did, a portal began to open in the floor, and through it, red eyes glowed. Allie could see at least three more dark angels, just like they one they’d just killed, about to come through the portal.
Allie glanced at Daniel, then to Yuko and her family, weighing their chances.
“Retreat,” she said, and they all escaped through the arched entryway.
Chapter 7: Regroup
Allie and the group exited into a grassy field in the middle of a densely populated residential neighborhood. She saw restaurants on the corners and a shopping center not far off. They ran through tight streets, past glowing vending machines and red lanterns. They didn’t look back once, instead focusing on each step and making sure they were as far from the tomb as they could get.
Yuko’s mom shouted something in Japanese.
“In here,” Yuko said.
Heart pounding and gasping for each breath, Allie didn’t argue. She glanced back to make sure no one saw them, and then was the last to enter, sliding the shoji screen door shut behind her.
“Where are we?” she asked, looking around the tight enclosure. She saw a counter with stools before them and a large metal cooking pot.
“A ramen-ya,” Yuko said. “Come, we know the owner.”
They went through the back door and found an old man in
his underwear and a tank top walking down wooden stairs. Yuko’s parents exchanged quick words with the man. With a look of doubt, he motioned them to follow him up the stairs. He led them to a back room with one window and a balcony, where Allie positioned herself as lookout. Her eyes scanned the shadows of the street while the others talked in hushed tones.
She was glad to see everyone was safe, and very glad to receive some ointment and gauze from the old man to treat her wound where the undead creature had bitten her. Daniel sat beside Yuko, asking if she was okay, and Allie noticed the slight smile Yuko showed at the way he was catering to her.
Outside, the sky was dark and the wind was strong, rattling the window and howling. At least, Allie hoped it was the wind that was making the horrible noise. Black wisps went by and she ducked back behind the curtain, certain that she would be in trouble if they sensed her.
She wondered what had happened with Troy and Brenda back on the train. If they had escaped, she doubted they would have any way of reconnecting, so they might not see them again until this was all over.
A noise startled Allie, but she turned with relief to see it was just Daniel coming to check on her. He studied her for a moment.
“You could’ve told me, you know.” He sat beside her and checked the wound.
“About what?”
“Allie….” He looked at her arm and the dark marks Paulette had carved there. “Maybe I could’ve helped?”
“I… I’m sorry.”
“Next time, don’t let there be a reason to say sorry, right?”
“I may just chop it off,” she said with a glance at her arm.
“Let’s not let it get to that.” He smiled grimly and looked back at Yuko.
“You like her, huh?”
“What?” He glanced back at Allie, caught. “What’ya mean?”
“Daniel, come on. I’ve seen the way you look at each other.”
“No different than how you’ve been looking at Troy.”
“Hey.”
He blushed, cocking his head. “Don’t suppose it matters though, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“If we don’t beat the fallen angels to the rest of the armor, none of this matters. And right now, our chances are looking a bit bleak, right?”
She considered the golden helmet on his head, the shield and sword on the floor. The realization hit her, and she slapped her forehead with a groan.
“The Belt of Truth!” she said. “We completely forgot.”
“That’s what I mean,” Daniel said. “Now there are three of those fallen angels waiting for us. Can we really go back in there against them?”
“We could try.”
“You don’t have to,” Yuko said as she sat down beside them, beaming. “My mom managed to swipe this during the fight.” She held up a belt with strips of gold-studded leather dangling from the front.
“Wow,” Daniel said, then leapt up and gave her a hug. Stepping back awkwardly, he took the belt and tried it on, hanging his sword in the loop on the side.
“Maybe we’re not in as much trouble as we thought?” Allie said, but then the house shook and an explosion sounded nearby. “Or at least, we’re closer to succeeding than we thought.”
As if in answer, the building shook again, followed by a series of crashes. Allie looked outside, and saw a building down the street collapsing. Flames licked the sky from another building that had caught fire, and even as they watched, another tremor shook them.
“We can’t stay here,” Allie said, making eye contact with the old man and Yuko’s family. “We’re putting everyone at risk.”
“We’re all at risk anyway,” Yuko said.
Daniel looked like he was about to agree with Yuko, but then shook his head and stood. “No, Allie’s right. We have to get out there and fight this thing. We only have to find one last piece of the armor, and then….”
“Then what?” Yuko asked, defiantly. “You win, like that?”
“Well, no,” he admitted, looking to Allie for help.
“But we have a fighting chance, at least.” Allie stood beside Daniel. “You all, stay hidden. Daniel and I have to carry on this fight.”
“Then I’ll come with you,” Yuko said.
Allie shook her head.
“I have to, I can’t just—”
Daniel took her hand, eyes pleading with her. “Yuko, you’ve already been compromised, okay?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“And your family needs you.”
This got to her, and after a glance at her family, she nodded. “But you… you’ll be safe?”
He laughed. “I’ll do my best.”
“And when it’s all over?”
“I’ll come back for you.”
Allie raised an eyebrow at that, surprised at how serious he sounded.
“I’ll miss you,” Yuko said with a kiss on Daniel’s cheek.
“You too,” he said, blushing. With a glance at her dad to make sure it was okay, he kissed her hand and then gave her a big hug. He stood tall, proud.
“Where to, Allie?”
“Maybe back to the school,” Allie said. “To regroup. But I’m not sure how….”
Daniel assessed the ring. “In the past, you’ve focused on the ring while concentrating on locations, right? Like with me in the forest that first time, or Kyrgyzstan with the globe? So let’s try that.”
He had a point, so they knelt together. Daniel put his hand in hers, flashed a comforting smile at Yuko, and then they both closed their eyes and focused.
A sudden warm blast of air surrounded them, and when they opened their eyes they were in the light of the school training grounds.
Principal Eisner was standing there, back to them, staring at the screen where the briefing had taken place. On the screen, Bringers of Light and Guardians were in retreat. Tokyo was in ruins, and Principal Eisner cycled through the images to show other cities also in ruins. Strayers in their black robes were causing fires to erupt and earthquakes to bring down buildings.
“It’s horrible,” Allie said, standing next to Principal Eisner.
The principal spun to Allie with a look of surprise. “You’re still alive!” She took Allie in an embrace, holding her tightly for a long moment.
“Barely,” Allie said, with a nod toward Daniel. “Saved by my Guardian again.”
Daniel blushed, but shrugged in agreement. “Saving each other, right? It’s our thing.”
“Well, I’m glad,” Principal Eisner said. “I was starting to worry.” She gestured toward the screen, and then lost herself in the images of destruction for a moment.
Allie asked hopefully, “Have you seen Troy or Brenda?”
Principal Eisner spun back on her with worried eyes. “You mean they’re not with you?”
Allie shook her head.
“That’s not good,” the principal said. “Where were you separated?”
“On a train heading toward Tokyo, I believe.”
The principal turned to the screen with a frown. “Let me see what I can find out, and in the meantime….” She looked over her shoulder to them, finally showing a hint of a smile. “Your parents are here, in the teachers’ lounge. You can go see them.”
Allie and Daniel broke into smiles and rushed from the room, running through the halls and into their parents’ arms.
“Tell me everything,” Allie’s mom said. Allie’s dad listened intently as she recapped as best she could, a shine of sweat on his forehead.
“You don’t actually mean to go back out there?” he asked, fear and anger mixed in his voice.
Allie’s mom put a hand on his shoulder and closed her eyes. “I know it’s crazy, but she doesn’t have a choice.”
“You mean you’re okay with this?”
“Of course not!” She opened her eyes, and they shone with tears. “But I was in her shoes once, and I remember what it means. If she were to walk away now, we’d all be dead.”
“Or enslaved
,” Principal Eisner said as she entered. She shot a strong stare at Allie. “Like your two friends have been.”
“What?”
“Troy and Brenda…. Let me show you.”
Principal Eisner waved her hand in the air, much like the dark angel had done in the tomb, and an image appeared of Brenda and Troy. A dark shadow loomed over them and their eyes looked blank.
“The Strayers got them, and they’ve been taken over by two of the Fallen Angels.”
“No….” Allie said, not wanting to accept it. “We were just with them.”
“You’ll need those two if you hope to retrieve the Breastplate of Righteousness. Which means your first step is a battle in the ethereal plane.”
“I’m not following,” Daniel said. He shrugged sheepishly. “For once, that is.”
Allie rolled her eyes, but then nodded in agreement and looked to Principal Eisner with curiosity. “Yeah, none of what you said makes sense.”
“There’s a place out there—call it our subconscious, call it another plane—where the angels and demons can affect us on a mental level. When people become possessed, as with the current situation, this is where the true battle must take place to set them free. You’ve been there before, when you defeated Samyaza.”
“That wasn’t the underworld?” Daniel asked.
“Not in physical reality. It was in your mind, in a way. Or on a different plane. However you want to look at it.”
Allie blinked, then decided she could ask Principal Eisner for a lesson on ethereal planes later. “Just tell us what to do so we can get it done.”
Daniel glanced at her and narrowed his eyes, determined. “Right.”
“Wait just a minute,” Daniel’s dad interrupted. “Allie has to do it, I get that. But my son, too?”
Principal Eisner bit her lip. “He has a point. Daniel, if you don’t want to go, there’s nothing to say you have to.”
He looked at Allie, shaking his head. “I could never….”
“It’s okay, Daniel.” Allie did her best to put on a smile. “You watch out for everyone here. I can take care of this.”
