Exiled - 01

by M. R. Merrick

  I took a few steps back then ran towards the statue. I pushed off the ground as hard as I could and leapt. My hands reached out to grip the stone, but just as I was about to land on the pedestal, I hit an invisible barrier and there was an explosion of white light. I felt my body moving through the air as the statue got farther away and I hit the cool, grassy earth hard.

  The sting in my tailbone was sharp and I looked up to see a woman standing before me. Her entire form was wrapped by a white glow. She was illuminated with a brightness that didn’t hurt my eyes, but it was impossible to perceive any of her features distinctly. She was perfect and beautiful, yet nothing about her stood out. It was remarkable on many levels, and her presence exuded comfort and warmth.

  “Who might you be?” the lady said. Her lips didn’t move and the sound seemed to come from the air around me. Her voice was soft, smooth, and as perfect and simple as her form. I looked up in awe and couldn’t remember my name.

  Rayna approached and helped me to my feet. “I’m Rayna, and this is Chase,” she said.

  The lady didn’t look at Rayna. Her eyes stared only at me.

  “We came for the scroll,” I said. “Who are you?”

  The lady watched me, her expressionless face glowing. “I am Elyas, the guardian of her lady, the goddess. Who are you to seek her power?” Again the voice came from all directions. It moved the blades of grass beneath my feet and echoed in the rustling of the leaves.

  “We don’t seek her power,” I said.

  Elyas laughed and it echoed around us, the warm sound flowing over me from every direction. She moved towards the statue, though her feet did not move; her body floated along, not disturbing the grass. She pointed to the scroll and her words were not as gentle and warm as they had been, imbued instead with ferocity.

  “Lies. Everyone seeks my lady’s power.”

  I shook my head helplessly. “We don’t even know what your, or her, power is.”

  Elyas looked insulted somehow. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

  “We only came for the scroll to save our friend,” I said.

  Her head tilted to the side as a smile passed over her face.

  “So you are a protector, using your powers for the good of others.”

  “No, I don’t have any powers. I came up a little short in that department.”

  Elyas moved towards me and her hands moved over the air in front of me. “There is power within you; I can feel it vibrating off your vessel. You would not have been able to enter this place without it.”

  “But it wasn’t my magic that brought us here, it was hers,” I said, pointing to Rayna. “She’s an earth elemental. Like I said, I don’t have any powers.”

  She floated towards Rayna. “Hmm, strange creature. Her soul must be pure, otherwise she could not enter this place, but yet, she is a demon. A demon with a hunter’s magic? Interesting.” Elyas examined Rayna from every angle. “Interesting indeed.”

  Elyas straightened and regarded me again. “To obtain the scroll, you must pass a test.”

  “Okay, what kind of test?” I asked, somehow not terribly surprised.

  “The challenge has never been completed. Hence, the scroll is still here. It can only be undertaken by one of you, however, and that will be you, Chase.”

  “Why can’t I do it?” Rayna protested.

  The woman smiled. “I’m sorry, child, but you have the blood of a demon, and this challenge is not for your kind.” Rayna looked ready to argue, but she was cut off. “Your soul is pure, but this task must be completed by a hunter of pure blood.”

  Rayna didn’t look pleased, but she held back whatever she was thinking.

  “Are you ready?” Elyas said.

  How was I supposed to be ready when I didn’t even know what I had to do? “I guess I have to be,” I said.

  “Excellent. But to understand what you must face, first you must understand where you are from.”

  “Um, I’m from Stonewall, New York.”

  “No, where your kind truly came from.” Elyas drifted effortlessly back to the statue and turned back to me. “In the beginning of time, your world was full of humans, pure and perfect in the eyes of the goddess Serephina, just as she’d made them. But the demon god Ithreal was enraged with jealousy at the goddess’s power and used her world as an arena to release his anger. He released his own creations on Earth to wreak havoc on her precious humans. In retaliation, Serephina joined forces with the other gods and banished Ithreal to a demonic dimension and blessed her special soldiers with the powers of nature, giving birth to the Circle, a group of warriors bearing elemental magic. These newly anointed hunters fought long and hard before driving the demons back into their own realm. The Circle then locked the portal to their home world with magical seals, but it was too late. The worst damage had already been done. The demons had inflicted their curses upon some of the humans, and the demons you’ve come to know as Underworlders were born. Your world is now full of these half demons, like this one,” Elyas said, pointing to Rayna.

  “I never knew that was how the Circle came to be,” I said.

  “This scroll holds true power, hunter, and to earn such a treasure you must fight true power. Now that you know how your kind was born, I give you your challenge. Defeat three of Ithreal’s pure blood demons, and the scroll and all it contains are yours.” She raised her hands above her head and the tingle of magic fired up my spine.

  Thunder rumbled in the cloudless sky and the ground shook. Three columns of light burst from the ground and a single demon shot into the sky from each. The ground trembled as the demons hit the earth, each like something from a nightmare.

  I took a step back, studying the beasts. Three on one wasn’t great odds, but with these creatures it was outrageous. I’d only heard of pure blood demons in legend, and I had never planned on seeing one. Underworld half demons were strong enough as it was, and I could only imagine what kind of power these demons possessed.

  The light vanished around the smallest of the demons and it rushed towards me. The other two stayed trapped within their circles, sealed away from the fight.

  The demon approaching me ran on four legs like a wolf, but instead of fur, it had scale plates covering its back, chest, and tail. Its legs and neck didn’t have the same plating, but a slimy green skin, spotted with black. Horns covered the beast’s long snout and three black eyes were locked on me. White fangs the length of my forearm hung from its upper jaw and bone spikes on the tip of its tail dragged on the ground.

  The demon’s mouth opened and a stream of bright green fluid shot towards me. I jumped out of its trajectory and watched it melt the bark off the tree behind me. The demon swung its tail around, which I dove over to end up behind the creature. It was slow to turn and I lunged onto its plated back. The beast growled, an ungodly sound, and shook from side to side. I held on with one hand and brought my dagger across its throat, much like I had done to the bear.

  I pulled the silver through its flesh and it howled. Orange blood exploded from its neck and pumped out over my skin as the demon fell limp to the ground. It burned the moment it touched my skin and I leapt from the corpse to make a break for the fountain. I shoved my scorched hands in the cool water and looked back at the dead demon.

  That wasn’t so bad. I thought. I can handle one at a time. But before relief set in, a burst of light exploded behind me. The ground shook, and before I could pull my hands from the water, a larger demon hit me with a giant wooden club.

  The two remaining demons were both loose, and the larger of the two towered over me. It was wearing spiked shoulder pads and a rusty steel helmet. Its skin was bright red, and full black eyes peered down at me. So many razor sharp teeth filled its mouth that it couldn’t close, and drool streamed from thick black lips.

  The club hit my chest and sent me tumbling backwards. The demon stomped towards me with the other following more slowly.

  The second demon had a very human looking shell. He walked o
n two feet, but was hairless. His arms were gorilla-like and hung down past his knees, and although he didn’t carry any weapons, on the end of long fingers were fierce looking talons. He opened his mouth to reveal chiseled teeth made for tearing flesh, or steel, or anything it decided to chew.

  I stood and slipped my sword from its sheath, taking a ready stance as the demons neared. The red-skinned demon brought his club up and swung. I had plenty of time to react, so I ducked and brought my sword up, slicing at his wrist. He let out a thundering moan as my sword went halfway through his forearm.

  He pulled away and ripped the sword from my grip with the blade still stuck in his flesh. He gave the sword a tug and pulled it free, throwing it to the ground. He released another ghastly roar and I found myself armed only with my daggers, which seemed rather inadequate, considering my opponents.

  The red skin reached down and grabbed me by the neck with one hand and dangled me over his head. I struggled to suck air into my lungs but the red fingers squeezed too tight.

  The other demon watched as this one started to crush my throat. He could’ve done it in a single motion, but he enjoyed seeing me struggle.

  All I could think was this is it. I thought of Willy, Rayna, and my mother. If I died right then, I would let them all down. I could picture my father, but the disappointment I wanted to see on his face wasn’t there, replaced by laughter: laughter at how weak his son was, and happiness to be rid of me at last. That image filled me with anger so fierce it pushed the fear away.

  The other demon roared with envy and the red one looked at him before what I took for a laugh escaped his thick black lips. He released his grip and tossed me towards the ground. Black dots filled my vision when I hit the earth and I sucked the sweet air into my lungs, but as the dots faded the red demon’s foot connected with my ribs. He kicked me towards the other one and the impact expelled what air I had left.

  I blacked out for a few seconds but when the darkness receded the hairless demon was grinning down at me with yellow stained teeth. It raised both razor-tipped hands and brought them down towards me. The claws hit my chest and face at the same time and I immediately felt warm blood pump from the wounds. I knew the cuts were bad because I didn’t feel the pain at first, only a soft burning sensation.

  I winced and covered my face as I waited for another blow, but it never came. I moved my hands away and the demon stared down at me, licking the blood off his talons. I tried to squeeze the daggers in my hands, but I realized I wasn’t holding them anymore. Somewhere between where I’d been kicked and here, I’d lost them.

  I cringed as the demon raised his hand again and prepared for the blow. The talons came down quickly, but stopped as a blade shot through the creature’s chest. The arm fell limp and I had enough time to put my hands up before he fell on top of me.

  I rolled the demon to the side and saw Rayna standing above me, my bloodied sword in her hand. Her mouth moved but I couldn’t hear her words. “What?” I said, but she didn’t have time to repeat herself.

  She rolled to the side as she swung the sword above me. The red demon loomed behind me, a fresh cut across his chest. It wasn’t as deep as I might have hoped, but it was start. His club came down and smashed my face in response, foiling my attempt to get up.

  When my head cleared enough that I could stand, I could see Rayna dodging strikes – first from his club, then his fist, and back and forth. She wasn’t making any more progress injuring him, but at least she wasn’t getting hurt.

  I tried to run towards her, but something grabbed me and I couldn’t move. There were no hands holding me, but Elyas was beside me and her magic squeezed me.

  “I cannot allow you to assist her. She entered this battle of her own will and against my warnings. She will now suffer the consequences.”

  “But she saved my life,” I said through gritted teeth, trying to fight the magic.

  “She was not to interfere.”

  “I won’t watch this. Let me go!”

  “I cannot. She knew this battle was for you, and you alone. She has chosen her own fate.”

  My guilt and anger filled me so quickly I burned, and I put all the strength they gave me into pushing away the magic holding me. I used my power, both physical and magical, to push at what held me. The squeezing lessened briefly before reclaiming its hold and clutching me again. I screamed in pain as the magic squeezed the air from my lungs. I wouldn’t let Rayna die for my failure – I couldn’t! I made one final push.

  Power exploded from my body in a wave of heat and Elyas’s spell broke around me. I fell to the ground and collapsed to my knees. Breaths came in heavy gasps as I struggled to fill my lungs with the oxygen they craved.

  Rayna was still dodging the red demon’s attacks and the first one I thought I’d killed was making its way towards her. The gash around its throat had healed and its slimy legs were covered in dried blood. I looked at Elyas, who was rubbing red and blistered hands, before I ran to Rayna.

  She had a demon on either side of her and I watched as the red demon raised his club and brought it down across her back.

  The sensation of magic surrounded me as I got closer and I prayed it wasn’t Elyas’s. The magic was stronger the closer I moved. I could feel it build up until it exploded.

  The force pushed me to the ground and burst around Rayna. Shards of stone and dirt shot up from beneath her. Jagged rocks emerged from the ground and drove the demons back. They were forced to the ground and Rayna stood surrounded by massive stones that stuck motionless in the earth. The focus on her face was fierce and I could feel the magic pouring off her.

  The demons crawled to their feet and ran towards her again. I made a break for the red one and jumped on his back, letting fury fill my core. I wrapped my legs as far around him as I could and put my hands around his thick throat. I didn’t know how I knew what to do, but the knowledge was suddenly there.

  I pushed my anger into my arms and out of my hands, feeling warmth pulsating in my fingers. The demon snarled, trying to reach me with his free hand, his bulging muscles not allowing him the flexibility to grab me. I thrust power through my body and reached down into my soul with an invisible hand and suddenly my own palms were ablaze.

  The muscles in the demon’s neck tensed and the cold, rough skin grew warm. My hands were a ring of fire, and flames caught his skin and spread up his face. The skin softened beneath my fingers and I reached for the front of his throat. I dug my fingers in and tore the flesh away.

  Black blood exploded from the wound and the demon dropped to one knee. I took this chance to leap from his back. His screams had become a deep gurgling sound as blood oozed out of his throat. He dropped the wooden club and clutched at his neck before collapsing to the ground.

  I reached down and picked up my bloodied sword, swinging it above my head. I brought it down on his neck and watched as his head rolled away. I wanted to make sure this one was dead.

  I turned to Rayna, who had blood dripping from her face and saw the smallest of the demon’s head roll away from its body.

  “Look out!” Rayna shouted, pointing behind me.

  The talons cut into my back before I could move, but I didn’t fall. I absorbed the pain, and in a single motion, I turned and grabbed the demon by the neck and lifted it off its feet. I took a step forward and threw him, driving my magic into him.

  The flame exploded from my hand as I released my grip and followed the demon as it flailed in the air. Another flame, this one bright blue, arced in a stream towards him and engulfed his body until it exploded. Black blood erupted from the charred flesh before evaporating among the ash that rained from the sky.

  Rayna stood beside me and we stared at the mess of bodies around us as they blazed red and orange and crumbled. Rayna’s bright green cat eyes gazed at me. Her skin looked paler when accented by splashes of bright red blood.

  “I could have handled it,” I said.

  “You’re welcome.”

  A bright light shone
behind us and we turned to Elyas.

  “You are just as I’d hoped,” she laughed.

  “What?” Rayna and I said in unison.

  Her warm laughter faded into a glowing smile. “I’ve waited millennia for a warrior worthy of this,” she said, extending her hand, into which the scroll materialized. “It was worth the wait. I found not only one, but two champions.”

  I hesitated before I reached out and grasped the scroll. A tremor of power moved through me as my fingers wrapped around the parchment and I nearly dropped it.

  “But you tried to stop me. You almost got us both killed!” I said.

  “I needed to know you were worthy of the mark.”

  “What mark?”

  “The mark of the gods,” she said, pointing to the scroll. “After all, you didn’t come here for just a piece of paper, did you?”

  The scroll was made of parchment that looked older than anything I’d ever seen, filled with creases and cracks. As I unrolled it, black ink filled the roll of paper in a language I didn’t recognize, and a ring slid down from the top. It was a plain silver ring with a small red gem. I picked it up and realized it was the source of that vibrating power.

  “Put it on and claim your prize, warrior,” Elyas said. I looked up at her and she nodded. “Go ahead,” she added, gently and encouragingly. I slipped the ring on my index finger and felt power course through my body. “Read,” she instructed.

  I shook my head. “I don’t understand this.”

  Elyas smiled. “It does not matter if you understand. The power is in the words themselves.”

  I looked at the scroll and tried to sound out the syllables as best I could. “Ariaca, tracious, ona-forle, ma-tre-meendo, straticalla,” I said.

  Nothing happened. Déjà vu. I thought.

  I looked at Rayna, who shrugged, before a sudden flood of light consumed us and forced my eyes closed.

  Thunder roared and the light faded. The statue behind us began to move with a strange grace, as if not made of stone. The man twirled his trident and pointed it towards me. Different colors of light shot from each of the three points and I turned away to shield myself.