02 Wrath of Flames

by Jr H. Lee Morgan

  “In essence Order wants Chaos to attack together? Impossible. Our sides hate each other too much.” The Titan said.

  “No, it’s not impossible. Kyoko asked for help and I came running. This is a modified agreement that says until Sheedan is neutralized, neither side will actively engage in a fight to the death unless in defense of one another. Once she is gone we go back to being at each other’s throats. Together we will police soul eaters and take her and her raiders down. Simple as that. Since the houses are more protected than any one of your bases yet you reproduce far faster can be beneficial. We will designate a safe area outside each House rather than kill any of your minions on sight…” he looked away and tensed.

  “We have trouble. Sounds of battle come from the entrance.” Blake said in his ear.

  “What is it?” Gaia asked first, too calmly.

  “Go, we’re under attack!” He yelled to the anxious Lords.

  “Ahhh!!!” Kanade screamed louder than Ethan had ever heard from her. It was pain, extreme and unexpected.

  Everything stopped in that instant. Her scream was doubly loud for Ethan as he was in her mind and practically felt it cut too, though his own mind protected him from the knowledge he was unharmed. His rusty colored eyes were frightened wide as he took in her prone form thrown from her seat that fell to the side along with her. In that moment where time stood completely still he saw an arrow shaft sticking out from her shoulder, wing and worst of all her neck. Only the arrows were all gray like concrete, but the closer he looked made him realize they were either small javelins or large needles. Her hands were around her throat in a universal sign of choking where the deadliest barb had gone right through, her suddenly frightened eyes locked to his in desperation, pleading. But even through her shrieking mind wracked in agony she thought “Left!” Before her eyes rolled up in her head and her mind slipped.

  Stopped time sped up to barely a crawl as he turned in the direction she pleaded he adjust to. Feet from his forehead was a point coming for him, but he felt a great deal of Spirit Energy emanating inside the gray spike. Much more than he ever felt coming from one of Nell or Ellen’s arrows. But his arm came up in reaction from hours upon hours of combat training, but seemed like going through syrup due to the time lag though another part of his brain spoke his heightened speed was keeping up. The black gauntlet backhanded the spiraling shaft with a resounding ‘Thwak’. It exploded in a puff of dust.

  Only he wasn’t the only one being fired upon.

  Kanade’s scream had momentarily frozen the group from acting and in that hesitation left the Lords and their aides vulnerable to hundreds upon hundreds of incoming projectiles.

  Ethan followed where the source originated to find a group of grinning figures up high in the stadium near the main stairwell entrance, standing behind one small man who had a clear napoleon complex full of hate as he sneered, eyes focused on the arena and on Ethan most of all. Around the small man wearing platform shoes and a tall hat, concrete of the stadium was torn from the ground in chunks, lifted in the air, reformed into hundreds of more spikes faster than a runaway machinegun with a near unlimited ammunition capacity. In that moment Ethan knew he dealt with another Elemental.

  An Earth Elemental.

  An Earth Elemental who hurt Kanade.

  Wrath far beyond anything ever felt before blasted through Ethan as he found the bastard who hurt her. Blood boiled through his veins. Not even when Storm-shadow died had he felt such desire and need to kill anyone before. It didn’t matter if it was human or not. No one hurt her and lived.

  Red tinted his already locked vision as a roar caused an earthquake when the air itself ignited and instantly destroyed every fired missile just before anyone else was hit while painfully bringing his wings down and gouging the ground itself as he sprang to the group. He was like a flaming missile of wrathful destruction bent on obliterating the one who hurt Kanade. Nothing else mattered. Not even his own life. His instinct to kill had awoken solely to protect the one he loved and get sweet revenge. Pure and simple revenge.

  Unknown to him in his hatred, Floa Translocated off his shoulder the moment he knocked the first weapon aside like a twig.

  Blake and the team rushed inside the arena at just the moment. A shooting fireball, like a giant purple Drone with wings was rocketing to a group of humans.

  Kyoko was on her feet and surrounded her body in impenetrable ice, but she recovered and said “Dallare-chan, help Ethan-sama’s mistress.”

  Dallare appeared right as Floa did beside the unresponsive Enchantress and then all paused in fear as they heard a roar of such hate and anger never the likes had ever been heard in company of friends before. Ethan was beyond being talked down. He was out to kill and nothing would stop him.

  Blake and the team watched as Ethan picked up a tiny man in comparison to him with one hand and crushed his skull like a ripe orange before grabbing his leg and tearing him in half without an ounce of remorse. Blood bathed him as entrails stretched like uncoiled rope. No mercy was given in the brutal killing. The horrified team had never seen Ethan do something like that seconds before Kira screamed “Kanade!” as she saw the demon Shamans converging on her along with Sarimee the Kitsune.

  It all made sense to them in that second, but the warriors of Order were all immediately Translocated thanks to a Pixie with fast thinking and appeared in the field.

  Ethan though was unstoppable and none dared come within three hundred feet as he was on a warpath. The Earth Elemental wasn’t enough to calm his wrathful rage. A pair of rogue Wizards tried launching spells, but were too slow as a single wing snapped out in a turn. Like a buzz saw, his speed in the wing took off their heads, easily tearing through their pathetic magical defenses like a wet noodle. A woman in black clothes turned to metal like Colossus from the X-men, was kicked square in the chest and launched over fifty feet into the wall and left a large dent that made her go unconscious.

  A Pixie in their group was trying to clap the group out, but was burned in an instant in the fire melting the very ground. The last to still stand was a terrified man holding blades made from his own blood, but as he tripped on a molten rock the Earth Elemental didn’t use, on the superheated liquid ground his chest was stomped on and was submerged in the liquid rock, crushing lungs and a bone from a rib stabbed the heart unmercifully.

  But it wasn’t over as his hearing picked up more fighting so he threw himself alone into the tunnel to find sixty darkly cloaked men with swords and shields wading into the Demon warriors without fear. They were all identical though they moved differently and were real. Every human fighting the demons were selected before a wave of fire rushed through the entrance, burning the men alive. Ethan knew they were mere clones from one man’s special ability and identified the origin who was like a beacon in his mind’s eye. They weren’t a Wizard’s illusions, but he was sensed and homed in on by the great power it took to make the clones.

  “Back away!” Blake hissed with unsheathed katanas as he rushed to Kanade. There were too many Demons around her for him to be comfortable.

  “She’d been shot by… I don’t know! They aren’t arrows.” Floa said as she fluttered helplessly.

  Dallare didn’t move, even as a sword was placed at her throat. “She cannot move and is barely alive. The shaft has nicked her arteries. It cannot be pulled out without killing her corporeal form. If she doesn’t get treatment in the next minute, this body will die. Kyoko-hime, what do you wish of me?”

  “Save the young master’s mistress.” Kyoko said, still covered in an armor of ice.

  “Give room.” Gaia said to everyone huddling around the unconscious Enchantress.

  “Magnus, Nell, Ellen, go check the dead and see if Ethan left anyone alive. Doubt it, but check anyway. The rest of you, surround Kanade. Kira, emergency treatment. Dallare, you support. Your spells in healing won’t help, but your hands will still work.”

  The Elf nod after seeing Kanade’s clothes brighten to resist Demon E
nergy. Her tiny hands though put pressure to staunch the bleeding. Kira and the other two Witches brought out potions to begin emergency treatment on the life threatening neck wound first and foremost. Kira mumbled “Just a centimeter in any other direction would have instantly killed her.”

  “What happened here?” Blake demanded as his gaze took stock of two demonic teams running down stairs from the opposite end of the building, where they were further from the attack.

  Dileep galloped to a stop between Order and his minions. “It was not them. Secure the area and fight off the…” The ground shook again and fire burned through the stairwell opening Ethan had shot down into. Then there was complete and utter silence. “Or not.” The Kelpie said as his long ears swiveled around. “I’m hearing patrols yelling ‘All clear’ everywhere.”

  In Blake’s and the team’s ear came Magnus’ voice. “We have a live one up here. Ethan didn’t kill her, but she’s in bad shape.”

  “Detain the prisoner for questioning.” The Naga ordered.

  Methrom stood to say “This transgression must be revealed. All but one were human. I smelled that much. Allow us to be present or we will have no other recourse than to believe this was an Order trick.”

  Blake, as second in command, said “I assure you, I’m just as unsettled of this attack. We will work together to find out what happened here… unless Ethan hasn’t yet informed you of our secondary mission? In which case I cannot speak.”

  “He was trying to explain when the attack occurred.” Kyoko said, still not removing her icy armor that looked more like clear glass.

  Ethan stomped up the stairs along with the remaining Demons who could utilize the stairs and fit, holding the throat of a struggling man. The original person who can clone himself a hundred times over. Blood morbidly steamed like pink mist off his large, winged body and the hot rage moments ago turned cold. As he reached the top he saw seven floating souls above corpses he left behind and said “If any one of you eats those souls before a Spirit Guide collects them I’ll kill you too.”

  After his display of power and fierceness outside, they knew he wasn’t joking. He saw how difficult it was for them to resist, but one Ghoul scooped the baseball size, blue burning souls and moved them away. Ethan nodded to the gray skinned corpse eater with huge legs like a frog able to leap great distances.

  Halfway down he spotted Nell and Magnus carrying the metal woman he kicked into a wall. He carefully avoided the destroyed area the Earth Elemental used to make so many lethal weapons and the still hot ground he personally melted.

  Then his eyes focused on a crowded area and froze. He extended his mind and thought with all the hope he could muster “Angel? Please speak to me. Tell me you are okay. Please.” but all he got was darkness due to complete unconsciousness. He sensed she was still alive, but was weak. He held his arm back and said “Take the bastard to your master and show no mercy in leaning all you can from him.”

  An incubus didn’t question as he took hold of the terrified captive with bright red burn marks from a single hand around the skinny throat.

  Wings carried him through the air and caused all conversations and shouting to end. Everyone crowding around pulled back, most out of fear he invoked.

  Laying on her back was Kanade with her eyes closed, pale as a sheet with blue lips. One Witch was dressing her wounded shoulder while Kira and Lillianna were rapidly pouring vials of liquid over the end of the spike while swiftly writing complex spells of healing. Between them was Dallare ever so slowly pushing the weapon with all she had and knew where he was needed. Kanade’s tough body was difficult to get through.

  Ethan knelt and grabbed the other end to pull as if it were plucking a blade of grass, but he did it painfully slowly. Kira nodded to him and said “Go no faster.” as they all worked. He wanted it out of her now, but her own mind protected her by shutting down all but its most vital functions. So he added what spells he knew. He held his right fist out and the exposure on his bloodied fingers all glowed since the rest of his fist was covered by the gauntlet. It was a simple illusion spell that allowed internal viewing by turning parts of the body transparent, like a realistic MRI and Kanade’s neck showed her arteries being jaggedly scraped due to the spike and any sudden movements would open them fully. And the pressure of the shaft is all that kept her from bleeding out. The potion they used on the shaft soaked in the jagged areas to be coated for smoothness as well as to collect some gritty debris and seal the terrible wounds as best possible.

  The five Demon Lords all looked meaningfully to one another as they saw him using a fist to spell Order’s runes rather than a lone finger or two.

  Magnus and the Incubus dropped the prisoners dead center off where the conference table had been, in direct line of sight of everyone, especially the angry Lords.

  Blake approached and kicked the unresponsive woman over and she remained limp. One simple look in his direction had Magnus bringing Zaxis up to his lips and whispering the commands which made it glow blue and sizzle with electricity. He then gently touched the club to the side of her metallic face and she immediately screamed and jerked away, coming to in a room full of enemies. In her fear, the metallic coating her body vanished to reveal a homely woman scarred from many confrontations. Blake had put away his katanas and drew his broadsword to make it glow a bluish white. “Who are the two of you and why did you come here?”

  The girl looked at the Naga, recovered her senses and smirked as if she as victorious. She jerked her jaw and broke a false tooth to swallow poison.

  The duplicator went to try the same, but Blake was just in time as claws filled the man’s mouth and pried it apart. His gold and brown eyes located the tooth and popped it out of its housing before pulling away. “Should have guessed they were assassins who knew they wouldn’t come back.” Blake tossed the cyanide capsule to Nell as Ellen broke the man’s legs with her front hooves like she always does so they can’t go far and it causes tremendous pain. Blake, Magnus and Methrom converged on the last survivor while the team’s Shifter took the woman’s newly parted soul in her mouth and carried it away to where the others were. Freshly killed souls were disoriented so no useful information would come from them anytime soon. Plus it was against the Accords in this instance. Only the living can be interrogated. She spat the soul out from between her fangs and guarded the lot of them so the Ghoul wouldn’t be tempted anymore.

  Blake sat on his heels and said “Name and reason. If you do not tell me, you will answer to him.” He thumbed the red Lord glaring down on them all. “Or would you rather die quick and clean?” he displayed the glowing broadsword.

  An Arachne Shaman left Gaia’s side to burn a truth rune in the man’s forehead, just to make sure he speaks honestly. It was truly as painful as his broken legs. Black tipped claws glowed with ominous red. The Shaman returned to her Titan master who still didn’t move from her spot.

  “Who I am is none of your business, Freak. All you damn creatures are the same. All trash that needs to be killed and thrown away. This is a human world. Leave!” He hacked and spat a wad of blood on Blake’s shoulder and got a powerful backhand that made the stars shine brightly.

  Blake’s expression remained calm even during the strike. “You’re right. I don’t care who you are. What I do want to know is who you belong to and why you attacked this summit in clear violation of our rules. Clearly you are a human who does associate with other beings. You had a Pixie with you.”

  “That thing? No, she’s a slave. Or was. She should have gotten us out the moment Victor the Earth Elemental stabbed everyone in this room.” He said, unable to resist the spell branded into him. “The little freak failed us. And we don’t follow your rules, Reptile.” The man said it like it was the foulest comeback he could come up with. “If they can’t be used, we kill all non-humans. I am sad I couldn’t kill more of you freaks. Especially the whores with gold skin who think their powers make them irresistible.” Every present Succubus hissed and had to be held
back.

  Blake said “Why did you come here? What was your goal? Who was the target? How many more are you?”

  Unable to resist the spell or to keep his mouth shut due to extreme pain the man said in a grunt “Got paid with a hundred kilos of gold to first take out the angel fucking a demon before an abomination could be conceived. Angels should be pure and righteous, not a common whore.”

  The area went dead still, but Blake looked over to find Ethan still solely focused on pulling the remnants of the spike out. Blake and everyone thought along the lines of “Thank goodness he didn’t hear that.” Devastation would be an understatement and they all knew it.

  But the man continued. “She had to die first so the child of Lucifer would be next to die when hearing her scream. Then the rest of these freaks would be next.” He glared at the room of denizens of Chaos and Order. “I am God’s instrument and am not alone. We are hundreds. You will all burn in hell.”

  Methrom growled “Who ordered the hit and whereby did you come the information we would be here? Where is your territory, Biped?” Smoke rolled from his snout as his anger was right along with the rest gathered.

  Struggling was impossible for long, especially when one of Methrom’s claws dropped on a broken leg with the force of a fifty pound sledgehammer. After the scream and tears he said “Don’t know! Our base moves after each operation you bastard! By now our rendezvous is scrubbed and passwords have changed. All I know is we were well paid and our children will grow up safe to carry on our mission to hunt you fucking freaks long after we are gone. Either way, we got paid and were told where to find you.”

  “Religious nutters are so narrow-minded and creepy.” Kira mumbled.

  Blake nodded. “Too bad we are forced to abide by the Accords. Groups like yourself ought to no longer exist.”

  “Look away and I’ll do it.” Methrom growled and the man realized the Demon was serious about devouring his immortal soul.

  “No, we are prohibited.” Kyoko voiced. “Have you forgotten our vows to the Fire King so easily, Methrom-san? Kill his body and feast on flesh for all I care, but his soul belongs to Spirit World.”