by Rue Volley
“I am the true Lord of Valon, and you will all accept me and allow me to rule,” he said.
He stepped out, and doors closed in the hallway. He grinned again, as he walked by the closed doors, and could feel the nervousness seeping through the hall. Everyone here believed that he was a Lord; everyone thought that he was the most powerful protector in existence… Only he knew the truth, and the fact that he had not transformed into his one true calling disturbed him to the core.
He slowed his breathing as he controlled his feelings concerning this disturbing fact, and headed towards the council room, ready to meet and talk with all the council members. He stopped at the door, looking at the two large handles, and had a flash back to his childhood. He had peeked into the large hall once as a child, and Sophia had been holding a meeting. He had stood there motionless as a child, watching his mother conduct the meeting, and felt it then as he does now. He wants power, power over Valon, power over the direction that he wants to lead his people, power over the world. Sophia had instilled that in him at a young age and pounded it into his head over and over again, as she forced him to travel through the trial mirror.
He took a breath and opened the doors to reveal a crowd of protectors, silent. It made him uneasy to hear nothing in the room. He closed the door behind him and held his head up high, as he walked towards the center riser. The protectors watched him and then turned to each other, saying nothing.
He cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders, as he always did with his mother as a child. He stopped at the riser and saw five protectors standing there, staring at him. They said nothing, and he started to climb the steps, preparing in his mind for the speech he was about to make. He stopped at the top and looked at the floor. There were five bodies, covered in white shimmering cloth, and he looked up at the boy who stood closest to him.
“Lord Caine,” he said.
Caine nodded and looked back at the bodies.
“What is this?” he asked.
The boy laughed and waved his hand.
The other protectors on the riser stepped up behind him and all stared at Caine.
“This is murder,” the boy said.
Caine clinched his fists and looked at all of them.
“Murder?” he asked.
“Oh, but you act surprised,” the boy said.
The protectors behind him all spread their feet apart.
Caine relaxed his hands and face.
“This is Sia, my Lord… or should I just call you Caine Graph?” he asked.
Caine took a breath and stared him down, as his eyes narrowed.
“You will call me what I am entitled to,” he said.
“Oh, I see that you have not mentioned to anyone that you have not changed…not one bit,” the boy said.
Caine gritted his teeth.
“I do not know what you speak of.”
The boy laughed and kicked the shimmering white sheet off of the body at his feet. Caine looked at Sia’s blackened face. He tilted his head and looked back at the boy.
“You sent her out… knowing that she would fall.”
Caine looked at him.
“That I did not; Sia asked to be released from Valon. She had personal business to attend to, that of which I did not ask,” he said.
The boy stepped towards him and leaned in his face.
“Sia was my mate, and you are the reason that I will live an eternity without her by my side.”
Caine grinned and stepped back from him.
“First of all, I am Lord of Valon… true Lord, whether that pleases you or not. And Sia… as lovely as she was, had her own demons to battle. She asked permission to leave, and I simply granted it to her.”
“You are a traitor and an abomination to Valon.”
Caine pulled his blades from his back and stared him down.
“Are you challenging my reign?” he asked.
The boy suddenly threw his hands down, and a ring of light lifted around Caine as he screamed out in Latin. The light was glowing white, and twisted and turned, as Caine stood there without any expression on his face. He suddenly started to laugh, and the boy stepped back from the ring of light and stared at him.
“You can’t possibly believe what you are saying,” he said, as he lowered his head and looked at the boy, causing a chill to run up the boy’s spine.
“That I do… and I have proof,” he said.
“Oh… I see,” Caine said, as he placed the tip of his blade into the ring of light.
It sizzled and blackened on the tip.
“I would guess that this is an old spell, Greek?” he asked.
The boy looked at the other protectors in the room and stepped forward.
“Before you, I show you a true enemy of our people, a traitor to Valon, and a murderer of protectors!” He yelled out.
Caine slowly turned to him, as the white light lit up his face.
“You better make this speech good, for it will be your last,” Caine said, as he showed his teeth.
The boy swallowed hard and waved his hand. The doors opened, and a young girl stumbled in. She looked frightened and overwhelmed to be in the council room with all the protectors of Valon assembled. She heard a hissing to her right and tried to see who had done it, but it was so packed in the room, that it could have been anyone.
She walked slowly towards the riser, and the boy stepped down towards her and held out his hand to her. She looked up at him and raised her hand, as it trembled. He took it and gently rubbed his finger across the top of her hand, and she walked up the steps and glanced at Caine, then lowered her head, staring at the floor.
Caine laughed and placed his blades on his back.
“You bring a human into this sanctuary? And I am accused of treachery,” Caine said, as he glared at the young girl.
The boy looked at her and leaned over, whispering in her ear. She looked at him, her eyes red from crying, and glanced at Caine who tilted his head and grinned at her. She looked back to the boy and started to move down the steps. He grabbed her hand and shook his head ‘no.’ She crinkled her eyebrows and let him pull her back up, scared that she would be killed if she ran.
“This is Alandra, and she was brave enough to bring something to my attention, something that was both treacherous and disturbing. Caine killed his mother, and she watched it happen.”
A loud murmur rose up in the crowd. The boy raised his blade, and it started to glow brightly. Alandra squeezed his hand and looked up at him, biting her lip. The boy looked at her and smiled, letting his calm mood flow from his hand into her…slowing her heart that beat widely in her chest.
“You have taken the word of a human?” someone yelled out from the crowd.
The boy looked out and smiled.
“That I did, and I would suggest that you all allow me to share her memory with you, so that your doubts will be extinguished.”
The crowd quieted down, as Caine adjusted his shirt and looked at the boy.
“So… you have the power of memory, how charming,” Caine said, as he crossed his arms on his chest.
“That I do, and this little one saw you and your whore demon kill Sophia. That is your undoing, Caine; your lust for power that is not deserved,” he said.
Caine took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He held his hands up, and a pulsating light started to radiate out from his palms. The boy looked at him and tilted his hands.
“What are you doing?” he asked him.
“I know when I am no longer welcome,” Caine said.
The boy stepped back and pulled his other blade.
Alandra fell to the ground and grabbed his leg.
“You said that you would protect me… from him!” she yelled out.
Caine laughed.
“Seems that he lied,” Caine said, as he pulled his hands apart.
A web of light started to lace in between his fingers. The light started to glitch from White to Black, and all the protectors on the platform started
to pull their blades. Caine waved his hands around and continued to pull his hands apart. The boy watched him and hissed.
“This is demon magic,” he said.
Caine grinned at him.
“Oh, I see that you know of it… You see, I have not spent my life in this box, and therefore, I do not depend upon only my own power,” he said.
“You are a traitor and should have never been born!” the boy screamed at him.
He held his blades out in front of him, and they pulsated in light.
“Perhaps, but I was and now this ends,” Caine said.
The web of light, he slowly moved in between his hands, started to lace itself into the circle of light around him. It made a terrible high-pitched noise, as it pierced the light and started to absorb it. The boy stood his ground, as the other protectors backed away. Alandra scrambled to her feet and started to run towards the door. She reached the door, almost falling, and jerked it open, pushing herself through the crack. Caine grinned at the boy.
“Tell me, what is your name?” Caine asked him.
“I am Able,” the boy said, as he grounded himself, and the light from his blades wrapped his hands.
“Fitting, don’t you think?” he asked.
“If you speak of the biblical reference, I find it ironic,” Able said.
Caine closed his eyes, as the last of the circle was eaten by his light, and then he opened his eyes in a flash, exposing his teeth.
“Now, we create our own version of that silly book… Are you game?” Caine asked, as Able stared him down with no expression.
“I love my people, and if it is here that I will fall to protect them from a demon like you… then so be it,” he said.
“You no match for me; you are young and have no experience.”
“And you have lived far beyond your usefulness,” Able said.
Caine stepped from the circle with his blades in his hands.
They glowed with his light, and Able could see the small thin lines of black, racing across the metal.
“I am the future, and you are soon to become the past.”
“I am tired of listening to you and your lies,” Able said.
Caine grinned and waved his hand.
The walls shook, and small cracks started to form in the white stone.
“I have loved her more than any before me. Valon is source of power and light to this otherwise monkey ridden dirt pile. I will not be lectured by a self-righteous and diluted protector, with no lineage.”
“All protectors love her and would die to protect her. I simply do not want humans to suffer.”
“Oh! And there it is again… that love, that disgusting adoration for our food. They are food. You are aware of that… are you not?” Caine asked him.
“And what happens when they are gone, and we are left here to starve?” Able asked him.
“They can go… for I know what we must feast on, the ones who sympathized with the monkeys,” he said.
Able stared at him and tilted his head.
“You speak of cannibalism, Caine… that is blasphemy.”
Caine grinned and looked at his blades.
“Really...? Do you truly believe that?” he asked.
“I do! The tree left us when we fed upon the humans, and I cannot imagine what the repercussions would be if we fed upon each other.”
“Oh please,” Caine said, as he moved to his left and Able moved to the right, keeping his eye on his blades.
“It is already happening… out there,” Caine said, as he waved his blade, and the crowd murmured.
“It is not,” Able said, as he glanced at the crowd.
“I pity you… all of you. You live in this utopia, not really experiencing the world… You closed your eyes centuries ago and locked out knowledge… the true power.”
“You lie,” Able said, as he tilted the blades in his hands.
Caine glanced at him and at his blades.
“Oh, I see. I am the demon. You know, this city will fall; you will fall… All protectors who call her home will fall. The spells cannot protect you all forever; because there are stronger ones, created by stronger creatures than ourselves,” he said.
“There are no better warriors than protectors, none who can survive anything,” Able said.
Caine looked at him and lowered his blades.
“That is just… sad,” he said, as he swiped his blade quickly, and Able stood there, with no expression on his face.
He slowly started to slump to the ground, as his upper body slid from his bottom half. Caine flicked his blade, and the blood splattered on the white stone. The room vibrated, and he looked up at the skylight.
“Go ahead and whine and billow, my creator! You abandoned your children long ago… leaving us to our own survival.”
All the protectors in the room started to run towards the doors. Caine waved his hand, and a white light wrapped the room. The white stone continued to crack, as the protectors trapped in the room started to panic.
“Listen to me…you are all already past your time… I believe that Valon has seen her last days.”
Caine raised his blades over his head and closed his eyes, as he started to chant. With every word, the room shook more violently, and white stone started to fall, as protectors held their hands out and closed their eyes.
“Pray to your dead god… ask him to allow you into memory!” Caine cried out.
The room shifted, and the light pulsated from it. Protectors started to fall, one by one, as light swirled around their heads and collected their light. Caine placed his blades on his back and held his hands out to his sides.
“I receive you, oh lord of darkness… Allow this light to enter me so that I may devour it in your name,” he whispered, as the screams continued in the room.
Light started to hit him in waves, and he twitched and stumbled, as he felt the light of all protectors in Valon start to absorb into his body. He cried out and fell to his knees, as it burned his skin and bubbled in his stomach. He gritted his teeth and fell forward, catching himself with the palms of his hands. He looked down, as the light continued to hit him in waves like a thousand points of fiery light. Blood started to seep out of his eyes and mouth, and he coughed, letting it drip on the white stone under him.
He took a breath and started to laugh, as it continued to torture him… with more pain than any creature should be able to endure. He slammed his fist on the white stone, and the room continued to sway and crack.
“I feed upon all your people here, and yet, you do nothing. I expected more from you… my dead god,” he said, as he pushed himself up and looked out at all the bodies lying in the room.
He closed his hands, and the blood dripped from them, leaving a trail as he moved towards the door. He stopped and looked down at a girl, who still had her eyes open. She was mouthing something, and he leaned down and looked in her face.
“You see… there is only one God, and it is me,” he said, as he lunged on her and bit into her neck.
Her body trembled, and Caine moaned as he drank all that she had left in her veins. He leaned back, blood staining his face, and cried out, a terrible sound, that echoed through Valon, across the land and into every living creature on the earth.
***
Mia sat straight up and grabbed her chest. She took a deep breath and looked around the room. She shook her head and scooted back against the corner of the couch, clutching the blanket in her hand. Kai stepped in and looked at her.
“Ummmm… anybody?” he yelled out.
Mia lunged on him and hit him in the face.
Kai stumbled backward as she clawed at him; he tried to fight her off.
“Holy shit...! Help?” he yelled out.
Sam flashed in and stopped, as she watched Kai struggle to pull Mia off his back. She bit into his ear, and he screamed and smacked her on the top of the head. She continued to gnaw at him, and he stumbled backward and slammed her against the wall. She yelled out, and he flashed fo
rward and picked up the remote. He held it out in front of him, looking like he was about to throw it at her.
Sam held up her hands and looked at Mia, as she pushed herself up slowly, and shook her head.
“Mia… you need to settle down,” she said.
Mia gritted her teeth and started to run at Sam, who grabbed Kai and put him in between them.
“Oh my god! Are you serious?!” Kai yelled out.
“I need a distraction… distract!” Sam yelled out.
“No… no!” Kai yelled, as Mia jumped on him and wrapped her legs around him. She grabbed his hair and pulled on it on either side.
“Ouch! Not the hair!” Kai yelled at her, as he smacked her on both sides of her head.
She dropped on the floor at his feet. Kai looked down and smiled at her.
“That is what you get,” he said.
Mia bit into his foot.
He stumbled backward, as she bit through his sock and spit out a piece of it.
“AWWWWW!” Kai yelled, as he shook his foot.
“Sam...? Where the hell are you?” he yelled.
“Right here…Mia?” Sam said.
Mia looked up, and Sam hit her with the hilt of her blade. Mia fell backward, and her eyes closed. Sam tilted her head, and Kai kicked at her. Sam hit him on the arm.
“Don’t,” she said.
“What...? I should throw her off the cliff… She bit me!” Kai said.
Sam looked at his ear and grimaced.
“She more than bit you… looks like she ate you,” Sam said.
“Oh shit,” Kai said, as he touched his ear and ran to the bathroom.
Josh and I stepped in and looked at Sam, standing over Mia with a blade. Josh flashed to her and snatched the blade from her hand. Sam rolled her eyes and looked at him.
“You should take that blade and run it straight through her,” Sam said.
Josh looked at Mia and threw the blade across the floor.
“She is a child,” Josh said.
“She is a vicious beast,” Kai said, as he walked out with a towel pressed to the side of his face.
I ran to him and pulled on the towel.
He hissed, and I peeked at the mess that was his ear.
