by Jack Crosby
Roxanne, who already had a gun hidden somewhere on her body (I had no idea how or where), went to the bladed hardware. I saw her violently swinging around a katana that looked straight out of the Far East.
Azrael also saw her and ran over. “Careful with that one, the Grasscutter is not a sword to take lightly.”
I stopped at that. “Did you saw the Grasscutter?”
The Grasscutter or, more accurately Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, is one of the three legendary swords of Japanese mythology. Rumors on its name generally reflect that the blade is so thin that it could spilt a blade of grass in half. Judging by the edge on it, I had a feeling it could split a lot more than just a blade of grass.
“I came across this sword in a deal with a middleman. He had no idea what he had, so I properly took advantage of him. I’m afraid that one’s not for sale.”
Oh man, the Roxanne pout face came on full throttle. “But Azrael, don’t you want me to be safe out there?” For added effect, she pushed her arms together, sending her already large bust line closer to the top of her shirt.
This was fascinating, watching her play the old angel. He patted his forehead with a rag, “Of course I want my friends to be safe, but this sword is priceless. It is one of the jewels of my collection.”
She slid her hand down the handle of the sword so provocatively that I nearly burst. “A tool like this needs to be used. You understand that, right?”
And just like that, it was all over but the crying. “You may borrow the sword, but I expect it back after the mission is complete.”
She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Awe, you’re the best.”
We finished up our shopping. I restocked on our bullet supply, got a few knives (both throwing and regular), and a cool face plate for Khloros. I had a feeling he would be needed in his natural, horse form on this job. After paying the man and signing a lease for the sword Roxanne was practically gushing over, we left.
On the ride home, “I notice how you get the awesome legendary sword but it’s me that has to sign the paperwork. Couldn’t you have used your feminine wiles to help me out?”
Still holding the sword like a prized possession, “Paperwork is not my concern, but if something happens, I will talk him out of the repayment fee.”
“With weapons now in place, what will our plan be to cross the ocean? As you may know, even in my natural form, I cannot travel via airplane.”
He had a good point. “We’ve got two options I figure. We either take a cross country road trip to California and find a ship there to take us, or we leave from New York and cross Europe, into Asia.”
Neither option was that great, as both had large amounts of land to cross. If we went the European route, there was a better chance of encountering old beings we’d rather avoid. On the flipside, traveling the Pacific was going to be no joy ride either, leaving us vulnerable in hostile waters for a much longer period.
Roxanne put the sword down. “Which option are you leaning towards?”
“I think going through Europe presents a better choice. At least on land we have options if the need to retreat comes about.” She nodded in agreement. Hopefully War was as amicable when it came time to talk to him about the plan.
The front door was open when we got back. Veronica was sitting outside on the stoop, holding our furry visitor, who seemed to be enjoying the attention. War was across the street, doing something to his motorcycle. I pulled the car up and parked in front of him. “I gotcha some weapons.”
I popped open the trunk and he walked over. “Anything good this time or just the same old shit?” His eyes darted to the sword Roxanne was holding. “Is that what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s the Grasscutter, you are correct. Azrael apparently had it and this one conned him out of it.”
He reached a hand out, towards Roxanne. “Can I see it?”
She looked at the sword then his hand. “Yes, but only for a moment.”
He laid it down gently in his hand and he wrapped his fingers around the handle. His eyes lit up, holding the legendary sword. Well that is until I heard a loud static shock, which caused him to drop the sword and howl in pain. “What the hell happened?!”
When Roxanne picked up the sword nothing happened. Then it dawned on me, “That damn sword chose her as its master.”
Chapter 12 – Triple Trouble
Surprisingly my plan to take a boat out of New York and cross Europe was met with a general consensus. This in turn presented a pleasant drive to New York from Philly. Even after everything, Roxanne was starting to warm back up to Veronica. I can’t say I’m surprised; she liked having a friend who was a girl. I might’ve been awesome, but having a Y chromosome makes me retarded on some topics.
The other reason for the peaceful car ride was that War was on his motorcycle. The two of us can’t go longer than like an hour without reminding the other what a dumbass the other is. He cut me off a few times in traffic which only ended with my middle finger and Roxanne sticking her head out the window and calling him a pig fucker. From there, he drove a bit more rationally.
We’d left at six p.m. to avoid the awful traffic that builds up on Instate Ninety-Five from rush hour. Now that we were here, we needed to come up with a plan and find ourselves a boat. Parked outside the ship terminal, “So, how should we do this?”
“We just steal a mortal vessel. As Horsemen, we do not need to ask for such permissions.”
See, he was a dumbass. “Yeah, nothing like stealing a boat then having the Coast Guard arrest us for piracy. Do you even think before you open your mouth?”
“Boys, knock it off. Your stupid feud isn’t going to help get across the damn ocean.” Roxanne crossed her arms and glared. “This calls for a woman’s touch.” She handed me the Nyx and grabbed Veronica by the arm. “Come on, I’m going to need you too.”
Leaving us by ourselves with such a fragile being wasn’t the best idea. “What does your wench plan to do?”
“Probably more than you are able to accomplish. You’re idea was to steal a boat. Even if we didn’t end up in jail, the only boats we could steal are small and they’d never make it across the ocean.”
Our bickering must’ve annoyed the cat because it started crying, I think. Pissed, “Great, look what you’ve done.” Tired already of him, I walked away, back towards Khloros. Maybe he knew how to calm a Nyx down.
Apparently not. “Why did you bring that thing back inside? I do not want fur balls or dead animals on my seats.”
The meowing intensified. “Dude help me out. Find some music or something that might calm it down.”
It took a few minutes, but it seemed to enjoy one of the R&B stations we were able to find. This is why I’d never want pets, they were just way too much to handle. Looking down, it’d fallen back to sleep. I thanked the Almighty, as I’m sure Roxanne would’ve killed me if she came back to a distressed kitten.
Bothering Khloros again, “Why do you think this thng hasn’t shown its true form yet?”
“I do not know. Have you tried talking to it?”
I hadn’t no. “Talking to a cat seems like such a waste of time. I just figured it would eventually not be a small cat and maybe could tell us what’s going on?”
Khloros was about to answer when a knock on the car door caused me to jump. War’s face was close to the window. Rolling it down, “What the hell do you want?”
“Pyrrha told me that we need to put our differences aside to complete this mission.”
“Khloros, can you watch the cat for a moment?”
The engine shuddered. “If I must.”
I got out of the car and the two of us walked a bit away. “Going to listen to your horse?”
“He is right brother. This petty conflict has gone on for far too long, I know you agree.” I did. “If we fail in our current task, something far worse than our hard feelings will need to be dealt with.”
I was one of the few beings with firsthand experience
and still living of Abaddon. “He’s one mean shitbag.”
“The rumors are true?”
“Oh yes. Him and his Wild Hunt rule Tartarus with an iron fist. We killed off his supply demonic wolves, which is a small blessing. Still, the demon lord himself is not one to trifle with.”
They say Lucifer himself fears Abaddon and probably for good reason. The ruler of Tartarus is the true definition of warrior. With his demonic hunt, a menagerie of deformed animals, none were foolish enough to challenge him. The one thing that stuck with me was those burning embers he called eyes. They raged with hate, but also pure unbridled strength.
Noticing my silence, “What chance would we have if he was free?”
“None, that’s why I can’t believe that crazy fool Dante wants to storm Tartarus and take the fight to him.”
“What?”
Apparently this wasn’t common knowledge. Whoops. “Yeah, half the reason he sent me there was to disable the wolves to make it easier for him. Hell, Conquest was in on it, so I figured you were too.”
“Our brother has mentioned nothing of this to me.”
Well, isn’t this awkward. “If they do decide to go through with that suicide mission, they’ll need you for sure. Even then, I’d give it probably a two percent chance of success and I’m being generous.”
“All of this matters not if we fail and Abaddon comes to our front door.”
“Yeah, you’re right there.”
We kinda fell into silence, waiting to see what the girls were up to. The cool breeze coming off the open water was nice and with the moon glowing, it gave off a peaceful feel.
War’s face was relaxed too. That is until he started sniffing the air. “Do you smell that?”
I did the same. “Brimstone and definitely not Roxanne’s scent.” When Michael gave her the Angel-Friend status, her brimstoney smell all but evaporated. It was still there, but if you weren’t looking for it, you’d never notice. This scent was strong.
Three demons appeared from across the parking lot. Judging by their blood red eyes, with no pupils, these were Wrath demons. Abnormally strong and known for the immense amount of punishment they could take, this wasn’t the peaceful setting I had hoped for.
They approached with no sense of fear. Their leader was clad in a leather jacket and had spikes sticking out of his shoulders. This was an old one. His two buddies looked pretty impressive too. When they got close, the two minions stopped, but the leader took two more steps towards us. “I am the General Zartan, Wrath demon, leader of Mammon’s Legion. We are here for the Nyx you stole from us.”
Probably to anyone else, this would be impressive and downright scary. To war and I, we didn’t give a shit who he was. “I am the Horseman Death and this is my brother and fellow rider War. Are you sure you wish to do this?”
He knew who we were, but his minions apparently hadn’t been informed before setting out. I heard one whisper, “Did you hear what Death did to Albion?”
“Albion was weak.” I’ll give him this; Zartan looked much stronger than Albion. “Mammon has issued an order; we must take the Nyx back. Do not make this any harder than it must be Horsemen.”
It was War’s turn. His sword came to life. Leviathan is a scary weapon, but War’s sword, Ravager draws out a beings worst fear. “To challenge one Horseman is asking for death. To challenge two of us; how did you piss your master off so badly?”
“We are his strongest followers! Millennia ago you may have been impressive, but today, you are just another celestial who refuses to see how far you have fallen. Now,” he took another step towards us, “I require the princess now.”
We took a step forward and met him, almost nose to nose. “The girl is in my care. I will reap your soul and you’ll never even get close enough to see the Nyx.”
His wrath (no pun here, just the truth) boiled over. “Enough of this! You two fuckers are dead! Firenz, Muspel, attack!”
Chapter 13 – Tag Team Champions of the World!!!
The two lesser Wrath demons seemed annoyed that they were commanded to attack, but their fear of their leader was evident. One carried a large broad axe and the other had two sabers. War, of course, took the one with the axe, immediately engaging in combat. I took my time, squaring up my opponent.
This was the one who spoke of my defeat of Albion. “You know who I am and know what I can do.”
“It matters not. Mammon has commanded me and you stand in our way.”
For a Wrath demon, this one was coming across as reasonable. A decent Pride demon? A reasonable Wrath demon? What the fuck was going on here? “You might not be mortal so I can’t foresee your death, but it is as plain as day. Your fear of me will only bring about your end should you choose to continue.”
“Firenz, enough chatter!” The general was watching closely. “You have a job, now shut the fuck up and kill him!”
He brought his two blades up and began his assault. The more intense into battle he got, the more his apprehension went away, replaced by the Wrath demon’s true gift; the ability to keep going. I sliced him a few times, Black blood oozed from his wounds, but the demon kept on coming. He was much more skilled in combat than Albion, which was a bit of a surprise.
Using the handle, I blocked two more blows before bringing the scythe down on his left arm. It sliced through cleanly and the demon screamed in rage. “On Mammon’s honor I shall end your fucking life!”
Even without his left arm, his attacks were still dangerous. Focusing all his rage towards one sword, his movements were brutal, unending. Using my ace card, I quickly called forth my chains and when the moment was right, wrapped it around his feet. I pulled him to the ground and used Leviathan to take his head off. A fountain of black blood spewed out of his neck.
War had already killed his opponent and was engaged with Zartan. The demon general had a large black sword, even bigger than War’s. My brother looked like he could use a hand.
Jumping in, Zartan’s red eyes flared in excitement. “Two Horsemen! Now this is a fucking challenge!”
He fought the two of us off with skill rarely seen. I hated saying it, but his skill was far more advanced than even Darius’s. If Beelzebub had this dude’s patient and abilities, I probably wouldn’t be here.
As our blades kept clashing, a few gunshots fired across the way. Zartan kicked War to the side and knocked me off balance with his blade. I was still on my feet, ready to engage when Roxanne and Veronica ran up beside us.
Seeing he was outnumbered even more severely, “It matters not. Either myself or Kyrule will eventually get you. Do not consider this a victory Horsemen, as today proved your powers are finally waning.” With those last words, he vanished.
“Derrick, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I looked over to the car just to make sure the kid was still with us and sure enough the little furball was curled up behind the back seats. “That could’ve been a lot worse.”
War didn’t seem to think so. “Have we grown that soft that we can no longer take out a simple demon? Where have the days gone when all but the mightiest Arch-Demons feared us?”
“Do not feel bad, the angels of the Upstairs are no longer feared either. The demons have grown strong in their hatred and their skill.”
Veronica was right. It first started with Beelzebub and Darius. It seemed they had given hope to all the denizens Downstairs. “From here on out we can expect to take their best punches. We can either bitch about it or we can get better.”
“Option C is to kill the cat.” War’s eyes ventured over to the sleeping animal. “I know no one wants the blood of an innocent on their hands, but it is becoming increasingly necessary.”
Both girls stepped in front of him. The angel gave him a sad look. “If we do not try the path of mercy, we will be no better than the demons we fight.”
“What she’s trying to say is if you even touch the kitty-cat, we will kill you. That’s not a threat dickhead, but a promise.”
&nbs
p; War didn’t balk at Roxanne’s words, but let it go. “Fine, we will continue with our plan. Have you found us a boat?”
“Yes and a rather nice one. The captain was sweet enough and gave us two rooms.”
Two rooms? What did they do, get us on a luxury liner? “Just what kind of boat did you get us on?”
She was practically beaming at this point. “There is a cruise ship leaving port at nine and it is setting sail to Vigo, Spain! Fourteen wonderful days of being pampered and spoiled before we have to deal with each other in a car!”
Of course she’d find a cruise ship to get us on. “Do I even want to know how you did it?”
“All I did was convince him he had a chance with Veronica and that fourteen days was a long time to get to know someone.”
“That’s all great and what not,” but it was time to drop this idea for a more practical one, “What about the horses? You can’t stash them on a cruise ship.”
I was wrong, how wrong I was. Khloros and Pyrrha, back in their natural forms had a place to go on the ship. Apparently this was one of those rich people boats and it even came equipped with an entire deck committed to animals.
The captain was so hard pressed to impress Veronica, that he actually found room for the horses. Obviously we couldn’t stow the Nyx down there, so Roxanne kept the Nyx hidden in her purse. I was still shaking my head on the top deck watching the boat pull out of the dock and out into the open waters.
My biggest surprise was how easily War went with this. As soon as he saw the all you can eat buffet, he was on their side. “Lighten up brother! At least we will have plenty of sustenance on our voyage across the ocean.” Even as he said it, he tore into a giant drumstick that couldn’t have come from a turkey.
After the late dinner, he went to the gym to work out and that left me alone. This called for drinking, so I made my way up to the top, getting their early and having a few beers while I waited.
The girls loved it. Before the bon voyage party, the captain set them up in the onboard salon to get whatever they wanted done. My mouth dropped to the bottom deck when I saw Roxanne for the first time up on the top deck. Stunning was a word that gets thrown around too often, but it was appropriate here. Trying to pull myself together, “You are so beautiful.”
