by J. Armand
The wind spirit struggled in the black knight’s grasp as an inky black substance was pulled from every one of his pores and orifices and melded into the black knight’s ebony gauntlet. The struggle ended in the wind spirit’s demise. This time, he faded from existence instead of exploding in azure light. His allies charged the knight. The woman summoned a torrent of water, and bolt after bolt of lightning struck down from the heavens at the other man’s signal.
Neither was successful in breaching the knight’s armor. The knight stood stalwart without even having to brace himself against the attack. At the knight’s command the shadows under the swordsman sprang to life in the form of thick tentacles that ensnared him in mid-air and pulled his body apart piece by piece. His remains, along with the malevolent katana, fell to the shadows below and sunk into a tar-like abyss.
This was the power of the ancient darkness Rozalin had threatened, or some manifestation of it. It was already here.
The knight fabricated a long sword to match his armor and hurled it toward the remaining spirit, shattering her barrier and impaling her. The sword dripped like oil and melted around the geisha, dragging her down into the darkness. Now only I remained and the knight turned his focus on me. I put everything I could muster into pushing him away so I could escape. The building shook from the impact and the windows shattered as it crumbled to the street. The black knight, however, was not deterred. He walked through like nothing had happened. I couldn’t even lift him. He was heavier than the building I had just demolished.
I retreated into the sky, but kept low enough over the skyline to stay hidden as I left the mayhem in the supernatural gloom. I thought the great war the Ancients had spoken of wouldn’t happen for years or even centuries. It was happening now and it was very real.
I narrowly evaded the knight’s grasp as he stepped out from the shadows on a rooftop to intercept me. I had to push myself harder and faster than I ever had. This is a being of darkness, a demon sent from Hell. They can’t exist on Earth for long without a host and even then the more powerful ones are too strong for the human host’s body to contain for any length of time. If I can stall him out and get to Vance maybe he’ll know more about how we can protect ourselves, I thought.
I checked behind me to see if I was still being followed, but there was no sign of the knight. The lights in the area were normal, as was the weather. In my haste I made a stupid mistake – I forgot to watch where I was going and crashed into a wall. A wall with arms that wrapped around me.
“Please, stop. You are safe now.” It was a wall with arms and a heavy Italian accent. I pushed away from “the wall” to see Gianluca standing before me. The last of the black knight’s armor morphed into Gianluca’s clothes.
“It was you this whole time?” No wonder he was so interested in me. He was another demon hoping to use me as a host. But did Minerva send him, or was he above even her? After seeing what he did to the spirits and how he took my strongest attack head-on I knew I was outmatched. This could be the master that Minerva and the Blighted One served, the one looking to reset the world to zero. “You’re a demon? You’re the ancient darkness everyone is talking about?”
“Demon? I do not understand. I come to save you because you are in trouble. Why do you look at me like this?” He reached toward me and I backed up, afraid of what he would do.
“You’re evil, that’s why. I’ve heard enough warnings to know without having to see it with my own eyes. I’m not falling for your tricks or pacts or whatever you are going to threaten me with.”
“I am not evil. Why do you say this? Is this why you run from me in Aquae Sulis?”
I wasn’t buying his innocent look or hurt expression. I knew too well what manipulation these things were capable of.
“The whole ‘black knight controlling darkness’ thing doesn’t seem evil to you?”
“Dark is not evil. It is good if the heart of the man is good.” He took another step forward, but I backed away again. “In the mother’s womb we are loved in darkness. We go to darkness to sleep when tired, to hide when scared, no? We make love in dark. Why is this evil?”
“I was born in a lab in some machine, but I’m sure you already knew that.”
“No? What are you saying?” He was either genuinely clueless or a fantastic actor. Come to think of it, if he were a demon he would have had to return to Hell by now. He’s been here for hours. When I fought Minerva and her infernal ally they only lasted minutes. He could be inhabiting this body. Maybe it was altered like mine to not break down from the possession.
“Forget it. Are we fighting or what? I’m not joining forces to destroy the world, so get it over with.”
“I love this world. I do not want to fight. I wake up because I think we are maybe the same? I want to meet you, but then you run from me and I thought you had trouble.”
“Wake up? Where were you sleeping? In the museum?” Was this guy for real? He wasn’t undead, that was for sure, but maybe he also wasn’t the bringer of the apocalypse.
“The dark. Many, many years. I feel something I have not before and when I wake up I look around for it until I see you.”
“What are you talking about? Where were you sleeping in the dark for years? Here? Underground?”
“No. Another world like this, but only darkness… tenebrae aeternae. The shadows are my windows and my doors. I can see any place on the Earth there is shadow and I can go there, like the tunnel.” He demonstrated by stepping back into the dark and then rising up behind me from my shadow. Spooked, I flew away to the other side of the roof. “Please, I will not hurt you.”
“Yeah, well I’m a little nervous. My powers can turn a building inside out, but they don’t even make you blink.”
“Why do you want to use it? I am same person in the museum. Now you see more of me, but I am not different. It was not a lie.”
“I’ve had bad experiences with that same darkness. There’s someone else who controlled it like you, a woman named Rozalin. I fought her three years ago. Maybe that’s why you felt my power wake you up if it’s all connected. She also talked about some great darkness that’s going to destroy the world.”
“It was not me. I wake up three years past, but I never see you until now. I can stop who uses the darkness for evil. That is why I wake up other times, but this time I feel your energy in my world. It is strong like the wave in the sea. I feel this so I look and look and that is when I see you.”
Could this other world he’s talking about be the Rift where the parasites are from? “Are there animals in your world? Parasites or things that look like weird bugs and fish?” I asked.
“No, only darkness.”
“Who are these other people you woke up for?”
“The ones who made me. They are very evil men. I hide from them for many years, but I become strong and find them to stop their evil. They are dead now, but when I feel you wake me I thought maybe we are the same too.”
“Well, I don’t control darkness and I’m not evil. Who made you?” Maybe he is like me. My power is fueled by another world too. Was he a previous attempt at making a suitable vessel for the demons? I stopped floating and landed a little closer to him to show some trust, but I was ready to escape the second he tried anything funny.
“I see this and I am very happy. In my time I was… I do not know the English word… soldier?” He held out his hand and from his palm the darkness formed a perfect Roman soldier seven inches tall. He motioned for me to take it. I shook my head no, but hesitantly picked it up. It was lightweight and cool to the touch, like metal. The details were eerily accurate. It looked exactly like him. Out of curiosity I tried to levitate it, but there my powers had no effect. It was as though the figurine didn’t exist.
“You were human once?” I asked.
“Yes. I am now too, I think, no?”
“Humans don’t move through shadows and create objects out of darkness.” The little soldier disappeared in a poof of black odorless smoke t
hat made me jump.
“I do not know. I am a man. Why does this matter?” He was right; it didn’t really matter. I had been so caught up in labels and judging people I was starting to sound like William. “I was a soldier, but now I have no empire to protect. The world is very different for me, but still beautiful.”
“How were you made to control darkness? Who were these evil men?”
“Senatus. They lead Roma many years ago. Some of them come to me at night and all drink my blood. When I wake up I become cold like them. They tell me to do things, hurt people, until I say no more.”
“You were undead?”
“If this is the word, yes.”
“How did you turn back? You can eat food? Breathe? Walk in sunlight? You don’t have fangs either.” Castile drank tea, but after witnessing everything else in that mansion I was sure that was an illusion too.
“Yes. After I kill the evil men, I become even more strong. They control the dark too, but I take the power away for myself. Then I sleep in the dark world for many years. When I wake up, I am alive. The darkness is part of me now, in my soul. I can feel it, but it is not bad. I think I am the only one now.”
I’m not really sure how sleeping in this dark dimension for centuries cured the undead curse, but if there is one exception then maybe there are others. Then again, if he killed all the people responsible for turning him undead that could have done it, according to William, I thought. Maybe it wasn’t crazy.
“Sorry for acting like that before. I should have given you the benefit of the doubt, but I’ve fought demons, ancient undead, and spirits. All of them were affected at least somewhat by my powers. Between that and all these doomsday prophecies I feel like I’m constantly being challenged to save the world.”
“But, you are still a boy! You are so small!” Gianluca laughed with a big smile on his face. “Like the baby chicken.”
“Hey! What?!” I was more than a little insulted by that. I couldn’t help looking like a fresh-faced teenager for the rest of my life. People only value youth when they don’t have to be taken seriously. “I’m a lot stronger than you think. I always manage to pull through sooner or later.”
“This is not bad. I like it.” Gianluca smiled at my scowl. He had a unique way of making me feel happy even when I didn’t want to. Right then, I hated it. “I am the soldier. It is my job to protect” -he paused and tried to fight back a laugh- “the baby chickens.”
“That’s not funny. And they’re called ‘chicks’.” I fought laughter. It was so hard not to laugh around him.
“Yes, these.” He made one in his hand out of the darkness and let it pop around silently on the roof. I was amazed by how lifelike its movements were. Aside from its color, it was indistinguishable from the real thing. “In Roma we call them pullus. It is also the nice word for the one we like.”
“We’re not friends anymore,” I teased him back.
“Yes, we just start,” he disagreed.
“Nope, you blew it.” I didn’t want to be too enthusiastic about our potential new friendship, but he wasn’t making it easy. I had learned my lesson several times over and was about to learn it once more. Out of nowhere, Noah pounced on Gianluca’s back, dragging both wakizashi across his throat.
Chapter Thirteen
“Don’t do it!” I yelled, but it was too late. Noah’s blades snapped like toothpicks against Gianluca’s skin. Even without his armor, Gianluca didn’t suffer a scratch. Noah was a big guy, yet Gianluca didn’t seem encumbered by the additional weight. The shadows underneath them shot up to form a spike that nailed Noah to the floor through his heart.
“Please, don’t kill him!” I pleaded with Gianluca. “He doesn’t know you aren’t bad.”
“He is a friend?” Gianluca held back from pulling Noah apart by the arms and legs with tendrils of darkness. Noah was already in rough shape, and I feared the slightest twitch would do him in.
“Sort of. Just don’t kill him.”
Gianluca released him and went to apologize, but Noah grabbed me and dashed away in a blur until we were miles outside of the city.
“Are you stupid? Do you have any idea how powerful that guy is?” Noah dumped me on the ground and shouted. “You can’t be left alone for a minute without walking right into the arms of another Ancient. They don’t even need to trap you. You just go willingly, you idiot.”
“It wasn’t on purpose. He found me and I didn’t know exactly what he was,” I corrected. “I believe in treating people equally and giving everyone a chance. Innocent until proven guilty. What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were dead.”
“Disappointed?”
“I don’t know yet. Are you here to sell me into slavery for Aurelia?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Do you not remember admitting to that at Castile’s? That you took me to Japan to train then planned to hand me over to Aurelia in exchange for your own freedom? Lying about her being dead?”
“I never lied about it. I said ‘don’t worry about her,’ and I meant it. Worrying is only a distraction. She doesn’t give a shit about a brat like you. I took you there to give me something to do when I wasn’t looking for that sword. Now stop whining and stop running into Ancients!” He pointed at me accusingly like a parent scolding his child.
“Then why did you admit to it at Castile’s? Did he make you say that stuff?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nobody made me do anything. You’re a weak little shit. Aurelia would never want someone like you to replace me.”
Maybe Castile did get into our heads to turn us against each other. He hated the Archios and it was the perfect opportunity to sow dissent. These games made me feel hollow inside. If even Noah could be manipulated so easily, then the glass ceiling was higher up than I thought. Would I ever be able to rise above the Ancients’ games? I hope Gianluca is different, I thought.
“Stop looking like that.” Noah interrupted my thoughts in a softer tone – as soft as Noah’s tone could get, anyway. “You’re not that weak. I mean, you’ve come pretty far since we met… I guess.”
“Are you trying to apologize?” I was amused that he thought I looked sad because of his comment. Anything he had to say rolled right off my back.
“No... For what?” Noah fumbled through a poor recovery. “The only thing I’m sorry about is how much time we’re wasting. I need to find the Muramasa. Those bastards got it from me when I was fighting them three-on-one and had to retreat. The sun will be up in a few hours. We have to get it back before then so we can head to Japan. I’ve already been there once and got what Vance needed. He gave me something he thinks will help.”
Maybe I shouldn’t tell him that Gianluca dropped the sword into the shadow world. Noah’s unhealthy obsession with it was putting us all in danger, but Gianluca was the only one who could handle the curse without a problem. The problem was that I wasn’t sure how much I could trust either one of them.
“By any chance, does the Muramasa have some connection with Hell or a demon?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” I could tell he was being cagey. He had known more about this than he let on from the start. It wasn’t until things started going downhill that he even admitted knowing the sword’s name.
“Yes, you do. I think it’s poisoning your mind. You said yourself it’s bloodthirsty.”
“I said it drinks blood. Nothing is controlling me, so get it out of your stupid head and stop asking so many questions. Just trust me, I know what I’m doing. End of story.”
“There you are, my friends.” Gianluca stepped out from the shadows of a nearby tree and almost gave me a heart attack. “Here, your swords. I am sorry they broke.” He handed Noah the pieces, and the expression on Noah’s face was priceless.
“What the hell are you smiling at?” Noah growled at me for taking amusement in his misfortune.
“Maybe he could help us?” I asked, looking to Gianluca. “Those spirits won’t stop
attacking until we break the curse, and we can’t handle them on our own like you can.”
“Yes, I’d like this,” he smiled back at me. I turned away, trying to be serious so I wouldn’t be caught smiling.
“What’s wrong with you?” Noah asked me in an accusing tone again. “Of course we don’t want his help. I can handle them just fine. If he really wants to help make him find the katana they stole from me.”
“This?” Gianluca retrieved the Muramasa from the shadow he had emerged from. So much for keeping it away from Noah for his own good.
“Not bad.” Noah snatched it from Gianluca’s hand before he could change his mind. “While you’re still playing the good guy and taking orders why don’t you go away, like, forever.”
“Noah, why do you have to be such an asshole? You’ve gotten your ass kicked at least twice so far and you’re a mess right now. Are you trying to get yourself killed? We can’t do this with just the two of us.”
“Whatever. I know what I’m doing this time. I learn from experiences, unlike you,” he said with a smug look on his face. “How can you trust this guy?”
“He hasn’t given me a reason not to, unlike you.”
“I will leave. I do not want to make a problem for you. I am sorry we could not be friends, but I am happy we meet.” Gianluca faded away into the shadows faster than I could stop him.
“Huh, didn’t think it would be that easy.” Noah admired the blade of the Muramasa in the moonlight. “I’m gonna need blood before we go.”
“What do you want me to do about it? You’re a big boy, go get some.”
“What’s your problem?”
“You. It’s always you. I used to look up to you, but now all you do is cause trouble. After this is over, after we break the curse, I’m done, we go our separate ways.”
“You should be thanking me. I just saved your life. The best victory is one where you don’t have to draw your sword.”
“Stop quoting me bullshit. Do you even believe half the stuff you say? Or does saying it out loud help you justify making me miserable?”
