by A. Q. Owen
“Tired? How are they tired? Aren’t they immortal?”
Leonardo turned to Orion and eyed him as he would a child seeing an airplane take off for the first time. “When you turn your path from God, when you try to live outside of his light, no matter who you are or how powerful, your tasks will drain you. These creatures have spent their entire time on Earth trying to lead humans astray, to pull them away from God’s path. Evil can never beget beauty, truth, or life. It only produces darkness and pain.”
Orion felt his fingers involuntarily clench the saber a little tighter. “Okay, so I’m in the realm of demons. Where’s the devil?”
Leonardo let out a quiet chuckle. “So eager to find the master of darkness, you are. He is not in this place.”
Orion frowned. “He killed my daughter.” The words came out in an angry whisper. “If he’s not here, why am I? I thought I was here to kill the devil. Point me to him.” He didn’t care how cocky he sounded.
“The devil is in this realm, but he is not in this city. The mirror of your town is managed by a governor. All the cities in the world are. Each city, each village, anywhere there are humans on the planet, Lucifer has set up a system by which his governors run their wicked efforts. And make no mistake, his plan is all-encompassing.”
“He has something for everyone,” Orion muttered.
“That is correct.”
Orion sighed and looked up. Another cluster of angels flew over in the distance, probably several miles away. From his point of view, they looked like nothing more than oddly shaped birds.
“Okay,” he said. “When do I start? How do I find the devil if he’s not in this town?”
“At the center of this realm is a center of darkness, a focal point that emits a beam of shadow into the sky. You will see it when you step out of this place. But be warned, once you are away from the church, I cannot protect you. You will be on your own. Within these walls, you are safe. The demons cannot enter here, nor can they see it. This church is nothing but a blur to them, an aberration.”
“They don’t know it’s here?”
Leonardo shrugged. “They possibly know about the portal and about the theory of this place, but none of them have seen it. It’s protected.”
“By what?”
Leonardo offered a kind smile. “By the power of the Almighty. He placed a concealment glyph on this place, as he did in other locations around Earth.”
Orion had heard of glyphs before, symbols of power used by mages, wizards, and others who dabbled in the arcane arts. But he’d never suspected a higher power would use such a thing. Then again, it made sense. The ancient religions of the world were rife with symbols that could be considered glyphs in some ways.
“God? He made it invisible to the fallen angels?” Orion asked, diverting back to the one part of the story that held lingering doubt.
“The Creator doesn’t interfere directly. He sends messengers to Earth, warriors from time to time, and for this place, he put me here along with a blessing that cannot be broken by any created being, including his former right hand.”
“Okay,” Orion said. “So, the devil doesn’t know you’re here and that this church is here. If I get in trouble, I suppose I should hurry back, huh?”
“Indeed.”
“And if I walk off these steps?”
“You will become visible to the minions of darkness. Step back in, and you vanish. It’s that simple.”
“Then I guess I should get started,” Orion said with a kind of arrogance that only came from a man ready to die. He was about to take a long step out into the street when Leonardo grabbed him by the shoulder.
“There are a few things you need to know first.”
“Such as?”
Leonardo’s head twitched and he looked out to the right, down the street into the city center. Thunder rolled in the distance, and white lightning streaked through the crimson sky, spreading like a dozen skeletal branches in the atmosphere.
“One, you must not lose that ring on your finger.”
“Yeah, I figured that. At this point, it kind of feels attached.”
“It is, but one of them could cut it off of you. If that happens—”
“I’ll become mortal here. I know. They can’t kill me as long as I have it on—unless they take off my head.”
“That’s not all. If they get that ring, this place becomes visible to them. They’ll be able to see it, and the blessing that has been put here will be gone. It is a ring of tremendous power. If it falls into the hands of the demons, they will gain access to the portal.”
The grave tone in his voice didn’t escape Orion. “If that happens, they’ll be able to get to Earth?”
Leonardo’s eyes darkened again. “Yes,” he said with a nod. “Were that to occur, humanity would be in grave danger.”
“Has that ever happened before?”
The old man looked out over the city and folded his hands behind his robe. “Yes,” he said. “Before this place was built, before any of this was here. Long ago, just before the time of the great flood, fallen angels were called Sons of God. They roamed the Earth unchecked. Genesis speaks of some of their actions, as do the Dead Sea Scrolls. I’m sure you’ve heard of those documents?”
“Yeah.”
“Back then, the demons had sex with human women.”
“Giants roamed the world. Men of might and renown. The Nephilim and all that. Am I right?”
Leonardo passed Orion a knowing grin. “I see you’ve read your scriptures.”
“Not that they did me much good.” The thoughts of his daughter stabbed at his mind once more.
“You are right not to blame the Creator for your life’s misfortune, Orion. It’s why you are here. Most humans turn their backs on God when things don’t go their way. You did not. Shunned him, maybe, but you didn’t turn your back. You know where the blame rests. And now you are in the right place to exact justice.”
“I don’t understand,” Orion said. “That last part. Why doesn’t the Creator just take out all the bad guys and bring us back to a place where all this evil doesn’t happen anymore?”
It was an eternal question, one that likely every believer who’d ever lived had asked themselves or others at one point or another. He’d asked it a million times since the night his daughter died.
“It is not our place to question the Almighty,” Leonardo said. His voice was smooth, almost melodic. “Only God knows the end from the beginning. He is the end and the beginning.”
“The alpha and omega,” Orion added.
“Yes. But he has far from left humanity alone on an island floating through space.”
“Yeah, I know. He’s sent messengers and warriors.”
“And now he has sent the hunter.”
Orion felt his cheeks blush at the insinuation. “Yeah, my middle name. Odd coincidence.”
Leonardo’s head turned side to side. “There are no such things as coincidences, Orion. Not in this or any universe.”
Orion scrunched his eyebrows together at hearing his name.
Suddenly, a loud boom echoed through the street. He lost his balance and felt himself reaching out his left hand for the doorframe as he fell out of the doorway and down the steps.
He expected Leonardo to reach out and try to catch him, but the old man vanished in a blur. All that remained was the church. A closed wooden door stood where Leonardo had been a moment ago.
Orion tumbled down the steps and rolled to a stop on the sidewalk.
He scrambled to his feet and spun around, suddenly aware that he was exposed and, according to what the old man had said, fully visible to the demons of this realm.
There was no sign of any fallen angels in either direction, so he took a quick step toward the church and the safety it offered.
“Son of man!” a wicked voice boomed.
The sound waves struck Orion in the back and nearly knocked him on his face. He twisted his head around and looked over his shoulder. S
tanding in the middle of the street was the most terrifying and magnificent creature he’d ever seen.
The angel stood at least seven feet tall. His muscles bulged and rippled his skin. A long sword hung at the being’s side from a belt buckled loosely at his waist. The massive weapon looked like something out of a medieval fairy tale, one where the bad guys came out on top.
“Hello,” Orion said. Uncertainty, fear, and a hint of dismay littered his voice.
“What are you doing here?” the demon asked. He crossed his huge arms and chuckled. “How did you get to this place?”
“Funny story,” Orion said. “I was walking down the street and, well, you know those subway grates? I fell through one, and whamo, here I am. If you don’t mind, could you tell me how to get to the closest church? I need to pay tithe.”
The fallen angel let out a bellowing laugh that seemed to shake the buildings around them, even the ground under their feet. “Church? There’s no church here, boy.” He reached down and wrapped his fingers around the hilt of the huge sword. “You’re in the realm of demons, human. It’s not often we get this kind of treat.”
“Treat? What treat would that be?” Orion sensed the ring pulsing on his finger. A warm glow resonated from it and coursed through his hand and arm, all the way up to the shoulder.
“In your world, we’re not permitted to kill humans. It’s against the rules for us to touch you. Possession, sure. Temptation? All the time. But we never get the chance to actually hurt one of your kind. In fact, I don’t recall ever seeing a human in the Realm.”
Orion nodded. “Yeah, well, you know. We like to keep to ourselves. Busy with careers and stuff like that.”
“Oh, I know. That’s one of the master’s best plans.”
“What is?”
The demon smirked. “He keeps you busy your entire lives. Your kind always loves to get the newest and best next thing. You covet your neighbor’s possessions, and so you push yourselves to achieve more, simply so you can get more material things. It’s a brilliant plan.”
He drew his sword and let it angle down at his side. The tip nearly brushed against the bottom of his muscular calf, right near the heel.
“Well,” Orion said, “if that’s what he had in mind, it’s definitely working. I imagine that kind of thing has worked for a long time.”
“Oh, it has.” He took a threatening step toward Orion. “But enough small talk, human. Time for you to die. I have to say, my brothers and sisters are going to be awfully jealous. Our kind has been wanting to kill one of you for eternity.”
Orion took a cautious step back, though now there was something else pulsing through his veins. Pure rage. It was driven by a single thought. You do kill us. Lots of us. And you killed my daughter.
He caught his heel on the edge of the concrete and forced himself to stop. “You’ve done enough damage to the human race, demon. Too many have died, suffered, and faced unimaginable trials because of you and your boss.”
The fallen angel shrugged. “I don’t see anyone coming to stop it. The Creator certainly doesn’t seem to want to do anything to keep us from doing whatever we want.”
“Except physically killing one of us.”
“Well, that’s about to change, isn’t it?”
He took another huge step toward Orion, covering a broad span.
“You know what? No. I don’t think it is.”
The creature let out another booming laugh. “What are you going to do about it, puny human, you and that tiny sword of yours? Tell you what, I’ll make it easy on you. I’ll kill you nice and quick. I’d like to make you suffer, but…” He let out another laugh. “No, I think I will make you suffer.”
He raised the heavy weapon over his shoulder and prepared to swing. His muscles tensed through both arms and shoulders. His thighs bulged. He revved up like a baseball player swinging for the fences and then brought the sword around in a dramatic, sweeping arc.
10
Orion saw the sharp edge flash in the red glow of the sky. His first instincts were to turn and run, to duck, or to dive out of the way.
He did none of those.
His sword hand shot up and he raised the weapon high as the snarling demon drove the sharp edge toward his neck. When the blades struck, Orion expected to be knocked a hundred feet down the road. That, however, isn’t what happened.
The weapons clashed with a terrible bang. A surge of power flashed through Orion’s arm and into the sword. A blue flame sparked off the steel saber. The energy zipped through the demon and sent him reeling backward. He grabbed his sword hand with the other, clutching it over and over again as if he hadn’t felt physical pain in millennia.
He looked down at the appendage and then back at Orion. A puzzled, almost humored look crossed his face.
“That’s not possible,” he said. “You’re too weak to take a blow like that.”
“I’m full of surprises,” Orion said. Truth was he was just as surprised as the fallen angel. The demon was right. He shouldn’t have been strong enough to withstand that kind of power. And what was with the blue flame or spark or whatever it was that flashed when their blades met?
He didn’t have time to ponder those things. He was, after all, still facing certain doom.
The demon took a sideways step, turning his shoulder to Orion for a moment, analyzing him out of the corners of his eyes.
“What’s your name, boy?” the demon asked. His sword was almost dragging on the pavement now, hanging loose in his fingers.
“Bl—” Orion started to say his name and then stopped himself. Maybe it was time for a change, time to start fresh. Even if he was about to die, he would go out like a warrior, like his brothers had done in the service, like so many before him. Thoughts of his daughter lying lifeless in his arms rushed to his mind. The rage that had crept in before now pulsed through his body.
“Orion,” he said. “My name is Orion.”
The demon stumbled on the asphalt and came to a sudden stop. He turned, facing Orion with a perplexed glint in his eyes. “Orion? The hunter? You’re too small to be a hunter.”
Orion swallowed, unsure of himself once more. “You heard me, demon. And what’s your name?”
“Ha! My name doesn’t matter, little hunter. You won’t be telling anyone what happened here. You’ll be dead soon enough.”
Orion shook his head. “I don’t think so. Who are you? So I’ll know the monster I killed today.” He sounded confident; at least he thought he did.
But did the demon buy it? Orion was fairly certain it didn’t matter if the fallen angel believed him or not. This was going to end in a fight whether he wanted it to or not.
The demon flashed his snarling teeth. “My name is Ashgog. Warrior of the legions of our master, the Prince of Darkness. And it’s time for you to die, little hunter.”
He surged toward Orion, faster than before. His hulking arms raised the massive weapon again, this time in a position to thrust. He was going for the kill shot again.
Orion lifted his saber again, ready to defend, but this time he did something different.
Ashgog charged ahead, the ground shaking under his powerful feet. The tip of his sharp sword glinted red as it approached the target: Orion’s chest.
The creature closed the gap in the blink of an eye, but Orion was ready. He stepped to the side at the last second as the demon plunged the sword point forward. Instead of the weapon sinking into Orion’s chest cavity, it whooshed by. Orion spun as he stepped out of the way, dragging his saber through the air at the monster’s midsection. The ring and the blade both glowed bright blue as the edge cut into the demon, slicing through his internal organs, spine, and eventually the fabric of the cloak on his back.
The fallen angel’s face that had appeared so confident, so sure of itself just moments before, now turned into a mask of absolute terror. Ashgog’s eyes went wide. He trembled from head to toe and looked down at the clean cut in his torso. Before he could muster a word, the top
half of his body slid off and hit the ground with a thud. The knees gave way, and the bottom half dropped to the asphalt next to the rest of the bloody corpse. The blood spewed from the stump like a fountain, spraying thick, blackish-red liquid across the pavement. There was a kind of glow to the blood, pulsing and warm. As it leaked from the dying creature, the glow waned until it disappeared entirely.
Orion stared down at the wide eyes of the dead demon. The muscles in the arms still twitched, but he wasn’t coming back. Orion breathed heavily even though he’d only made one quick move and taken a single swing to kill the beast. He felt like he’d just run a marathon. Maybe it was the stress of the situation. He didn’t know, but one thing he was certain of was that he needed to get back inside the church.
He glanced up at the building where he’d met Leonardo. It was still there in plain sight, though Ashgog claimed he didn’t see it or know of any church.
He heard a crack of thunder in the distance. It was immediately followed by a shriek unlike anything he’d ever heard before. Over the top of the buildings to his left, he made out the silhouettes of more winged creatures soaring through the air. From the looks of it, they were headed his way.
Time to get out of here, he thought.
He ran to the church steps and bounded up them two at a time until he reached the door. He was about to rap on it with furious desperation when the door flung open and an unseen force sucked him inside.
Orion hit the floor and rolled several feet before he came to a stop. The sword flew out of his hand and clanked on the hard stone. He breathed heavily for a few seconds before planting his palms on the floor and looking up. Leonardo stood six feet away with hands folded behind his robes and a pleased grin on his face.
“I see you survived your first venture into the Realm,” the old man said.
Orion gave a nod. “Yeah, I guess.” He dusted himself off.
