Eternity

by Nealis, James

  “Shut your mouth and fight me,” I say.

  “But that takes all the fun out of it doesn’t it? See I remember you and yet again, you are naïve and empty headed. You create opportunities where none should exist. You should have run when you had the chance.”

  I scowl. “I will never run from a Rogue, especially the Rogue who killed my Parallel.”

  “If memory serves me, Michael, you already have. That’s right, I saw you that day, cowering on your terrace as if I were aiming my weapons at you. But I will give you this, I sure was surprised to see you weren’t already dead.”

  Cephus raises his hands and his minions charge me again, only this time, so does he. I back up toward the tree line under the force of all their weapons.

  “We have to get out of here,” Auro shouts at me. “You can’t take them all.”

  “Then I will die trying!” I shout back.

  Auro jumps to my side. His skin radiates a bright blue and he flaps his wings harshly against the air. The tree limbs bend and pull away from us as a massive gust of swirling wind blows from him.

  The gusts pull the Rogues by their wings, even Cephus is dragged more than fifty yards from us. Some of the Rogues scream out in pain as they slam into trees and the ground.

  “You found your gifting,” I shout.

  Auro nods as he continues to pound the air.

  “Okay, you can stop now,” I shout.

  “We can get away. Let’s go.”

  “I am going after him.”

  Auro stops his wing beating. “No, you can’t possibly win this fight, Michael. We are outnumbered. Save this battle for another day.”

  “That’s not your call!” I shout. “Now get out of my way.”

  “I’m sorry but this is for your own good.” Auro slams his fist into my temple.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The Dark Night

  I ONCE VIEWED DARKNESS with a naive simplicity. I perceived it as the mere absence of light. As if night was merely some empty void, deficient of luminescence. But yet now, as I sit here on this sunny day, I realize that darkness has its own subtle beauty. For one thing, it doesn’t peer down on you with that smug preachy sense of self-worth that the light has, invading every facet of your vision, refusing to allow you to disappear into the stillness.

  I grow to despise the light, but I find solace in one simple truth. Light has a glaring weakness. No matter how bright the light shines, a closed eye will always overpower it.

  The others stand around me trying to assess the damage of the attack on our former encampment. I don’t engage, rather I sit in the grass, my legs crossed underneath me. I touch a flower within my fingers, slowly pulling out the petals and blowing them off into the wind. My actions leave behind a grotesque and naked center.

  I was so close to having the revenge that I have longed for. But it was taken from me by the unwelcome intrusion of “help” for which I never asked and “assistance” that I never sought.

  “You were careless,” Sal says glaring at Raphael. “How can you not see the peril you have put us in? Not to mention the entire Prince’s kingdom.”

  “Let me know when you finish your tirade,” Raphael lies on the grass with his hands behind his head looking up into the sunny sky. He smirks, obviously pleased with his put-down. He pauses and then continues, “Can we not turn every little thing into another ho-hum argument about how it’s always my fault.”

  Sal stomps his foot, “You cost us a vital attack on their command centers. Your clumsiness left us helpless like a meal before your fat mouth.”

  Raphael laughs as he closes his eyes and soaks in the sunlight.

  “I took an inventory.” Auro approaches me and stands at attention. His bandage has been removed, replaced with a leather patch constructed for him by Celles.

  I don’t acknowledge him. Instead, I rip a blade of grass off of the ground and stare down at it as it rolls between my fingers. The oils dripping out into my palms.

  “The casualties appear to be substantial,” he says. “In some cases, I don’t know how to determine who is a casualty and who was captured.”

  His words enter my ears but my mind goes elsewhere. What was the reward he received for his insubordination? Oh, that’s right. I have still never given him the much-needed punishment, he deserves.

  “Answer me this.” I rise to my feet. “How does an army act as one unified force?”

  “I don’t understand,” he says.

  “It follows the leadership of its captain,” I say. “Yet, you disobeyed a direct order. Not only did you continue to advance against the enemy when I commanded you to leave, but you then had the audacity to strike your own captain.”

  He opens his mouth but I silence him by raising my hand.

  “You fought me. You stopped me from ending this war. Your actions were more detrimental to our army than an act by any soldier of Cephus. You, Auro, are a traitor, a mold that I must remove before it spreads its rot to the remainder of this force.”

  Auro does not respond. But the pools in his eyes speak thousands of words.

  The eyes of Sal, Gabriel, and Raphael fix on our interaction now. I ignore them.

  I find no pleasure in punishing an angel I once called a friend, but he was the one who ceased to be an ally the moment he stepped in between me and Cephus. This is no longer an argument between companions. No this a dispute between a captain and his subordinate. He stood between me and my one opportunity to reap my vengeance on that demon, that evil murderer of my parallel.

  “The Prince once told me that it takes ‘goodness to garner the strength to punish.’”

  I feel breaths quickening as I glare straight at this traitor.

  “Auro of the Arch Sandborn,” I pronounce as I reach forward, grab the chain from his neck, and rip it off. A tiny line of blood shows from where the chain dragged against his skin. “You shall no longer serve in the Army of the Prince.“I send you away. I banish you for your insubordination. You will answer for your treason before the Prince himself.”

  Auro closes his one good eye as if feeling some form of physical pain. He does not speak. He doesn’t even fight back when I order two recruits to grab him by the arms. I turn my back to him when he is finally carried off.

  “That was ironic.” Raphael laughs as he slaps his hands against his leg. “The traitor punishes a traitor.”

  I growl.

  “Let’s not get distracted by the fate of a lesser soldier,” Sal says. “Raph’s actions endangered us all. He cared only about exercising his own power, not protecting his soldiers.”

  “Give me a break,” Raphael says. “We could have taken those naked malcontents.”

  Sal looks at me and throws up his hands.

  I just stare as if nothing is playing out before me. I have already disengaged again from the conversation. I stand to my feet and begin to walk away when I realize that Sal is still talking to me.

  “Michael!” he says. “We aren’t done.”

  “I am,” I say, walking toward the encampment.

  Blood continues to drip from the wound in my leg, prickling me with a near crippling pain. Yet it only prompts a smile from me. I deserve this pain. I had the Rogue right there, just a few feet in front of me, yet he now stands somewhere else completely unharmed and able to bark more destructive orders.

  A hand grasps my shoulder. “There’s something you need to hear.”

  I turn to Gabriel. And raise my hands. “I don’t need your pity.”

  “You don’t deserve it,” he says. “Instead, you need to be told what a poor leader you are. Those angels look to you, they expect you to walk before them with confidence, with a plan and with a desire to look out for their safety. However, you are so obsessed with your selfish desire for vengeance that you can’t lead them anywhere but to their own destruction.”

  His words hit me hard. I clench my teeth. “This war is about vengeance.”

  “You are so stuck in your own head, much like I wa
s, that you can’t see clearly. You have to move past this and see that this war is about something so much bigger. This is about restoring the Origin’s order to the world. Don’t you understand? This isn’t about you or even her, it’s about Him.”

  I brush the Frosted aside and continue to walk, leaving him to stand awkwardly behind me in the underbrush.

  I enter the camp, my soldiers spread out all throughout the field. They look deeply pained. How are they so unprepared? I forge they did not receive the same level of training that I did. Still, their weakness nauseates me.

  One soldier sits in the grass, staring down at her own feet. Her hair juts out wildly like the mane on my breed. Unkempt and frazzled, she is weeping.

  “Christine,” I say. “What happened?”

  “They took him,” she says.

  “They took who?” I ask.

  “Uriel,” she says. “He’s been captured.”

  I witnessed many of my soldiers die and I have no doubt that many more of them have been captured. But with Uriel, I can see his face. Even worse, I am looking into the eyes of his parallel. I know exactly the emotions she feels. It’s as if I am looking into my own eyes right after watching Terra fade from existence.

  I place my hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

  “He was coming to help me,” she says. “I was outnumbered. He joined me in the fight. Next thing I knew, they stabbed him and then, when he went unconscious, they carried him away.”

  A tear drips from my own eye and then another. And then I am fighting my own sobs from coming out in front of her. I turn my back and gather myself. I don’t know if it’s for Uriel that I weep or for myself.

  I have a moment of clarity. I see myself for who I really am, so obsessed with my own hurts and desires that I neglect those I have grown to care about. Those in my army who trust me to lead them.

  “I repent,” I whisper. “Origin, please forgive my selfishness. Help me to rescue Uriel and to end this war tonight.

  Chapter Thirty

  The Demise

  SIXTEEN HOURS SINCE their surprise attack, the black smoke from the Rogue campfire rises up into my eyes, clouding my vision. I beat my wings to fan the cloud forcing the tree branch to sway and creak under my feet. The measures only cause me to swallow more of the gritty ash which burns the back of my throat like a swarm of stinging insects.

  I play the role of the spy. The others prepare the armies for the invasion. They will signal me when they are in position, and I will signal back to them when it’s safe to advance.

  A lone Rogue sits by the fire, stoking it with his sword. The burning wood falls and sends glowing embers up into the air. One of which lands on the back of his arm. He drops his sword, grunts, and pulls his hand to his mouth.

  “Incompetence,” Cephus mutters as he walks out of our former barracks.

  My breaths quicken as I look downward at his murderous face. Hate still seethes in my veins, but this time, I am going to be smart.

  “If only Celles and Tinus could see that,” I say thinking about how their former structure is being used.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you my liege,” the Rogue says.

  Cephus forces the Rogue to the ground. “How is it that he gets to dwell in the Temple Center while I sit around campfires with the likes of you?”

  Cephus spits on the cowering Rogue.

  The Rogue lifts his sword up and points it at his captain.

  Cephus laughs. “Good, let’s play.”

  Red peaks rise from my enemy’s shoulders.

  The underling glows a subtle white, soft light. While he stands to his feet to defend himself, his sword shakes in his hand. Cephus leaps toward him as the Rogue steps backward. Cephus grabs the minion’s shoulders and pushes him into the campfire.

  “No, please!” the Rogue begs.

  Cephus doesn’t budge.

  He smiles as he holds the cringing angel in the blaze. All the while, the Rogue screams out in pain until silence returns.

  Cephus drops the dead Rogue into the fire. The wood collapses under the weight of his body and releases a swarm of red glowing embers into the sky. I swat them out of my face.

  The body crackles and simmers as Cephus dances around it and kicks it.

  “Vengeance is coming, you sadist,” I mutter.

  “I want more,” he shouts. “Bring out the loud one.”

  He sits down upon the log that was formerly occupied by the now dead Rogue when two other Rogues exit the structure with a struggling angel. The Rogues throw the body to the ground by the fire and return to the structure.

  The prisoner’s gray hair and long beard catch my eye.

  “Is this my chance to kill you,” Uriel says.

  “I grow tired of battles,” Cephus says. “For now, I am just thirsty for conversation.”

  “Then kill me,” Uriel shouts.

  “Patience,” Cephus says.

  I rip a small piece of wood from a low hanging branch and clutch it in my fingertips. I throw it and hit Uriel in the leg. He looks around while I try to flap the cloud out of my face.

  He doesn’t appear to see me, instead he returns his attention to Cephus.

  “What’s it like?” Uriel asks. “Knowing that the very Creator of the universe opposes you?”

  Cephus laughs. “Now see, that’s the real question isn’t it? Which of us fights on behalf of the Origin?”

  “How is that even a question?”

  I drop to a lower branch and throw another object at Uriel. He startles this time and scans the tree line until our eyes meet.

  A smile inches across his face.

  I point toward my tree and gesture for Uriel to find a way to get Cephus directly under me. Cephus glances at Uriel while Uriel nods at me in the trees. The Rogue’s eyes follow Uriel’s stare upward. Cephus is about to see me. I draw my sword.

  “What happened to you?” Uriel interrupts.

  Cephus looks back toward him before he sees me. I let out a breath.

  “How could any creature become so depraved? Were you harmed or abused? What makes you this way?”

  “Oh how delightful, you care. You really, really care.” Cephus grins as he turns his back toward Uriel and walks toward me. “Why is it that everyone needs a reason for the way we are? Can’t we ever just be this way because we choose to be?”

  Cephus stands directly under me and he starts to hum a song that I don’t recognize. He leans back against the tree. He tilts his head up and looks directly at me in the branches.

  I freeze. Did he see me?

  No. The smoke from the fire clouds me in darkness. But I still see him, as the flame’s light brightens his image. His eyes sparkle in the firelight, like two red coals.

  Cephus brandishes a blade and holds it up. A smile etches upward.

  “It sure would be a nice time for someone to save me right now,” Uriel says.

  I mumble. “You never were much for subtlety were you? Just give me a second.”

  I look up to the sky, still no signal from the others.

  What do I do?

  I am seconds away from killing Terra’s murderer. I try to think and I realize that I can’t remember the sound of her voice anymore. It’s forever lost from my memory.

  “Nobody is coming for you,” Cephus says. “Other than me.”

  He looks so very pleased with himself.

  My arms start to vibrate as my blood pumps in my veins.

  How dare he ever feel any happy thought? He stole that chance from me.

  Cephus draws his sword.

  My teeth start to grind against each other and my jaw shuts down tighter and tighter as I look at his smug smile.

  No, I won’t give up this opportunity for revenge.

  I won’t wait for their signal. I lift the pipe to my lips. I play a long low tune that sounds like the after sounds of the rumblings of thunder followed by the slightly higher pitched tone, similar to the sound of my breed’s roar.

  Cephus looks up. Hi
s eyes glance frantically back and forth across the trees. He can’t see me through the smoke.

  At the same time, a bright flaming angel bursts into the sky signaling that Gabriel and the others are on their way.

  “Perfect timing!” I say. “This is the end, Terra. I will avenge you once and for all.”

  I dive from the branch, sword in hand.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The Blind Rage

  THE WIND BLOWS against my face. I’m falling faster and faster through the air. I don’t flap my wings for fear that it will displace the smoke and make me visible. Instead, my hands and feet claw at the tree bark. Blood pours out from my ripping skin like burning flames.

  I land on Cephus’ shoulders. He topples to the ground. I feel completely disoriented. My pipe has shattered. The tubes look more like a series of cracked sticks then instruments.

  “About time!” Uriel says. “What were you waiting for, a change in the seasons?”

  I ignore him. Instead, my focus is completely on Cephus who coughs beneath me. This is the moment; I don’t wait to give a long speech or to even enjoy the revenge.

  I thrust my sword and feel his bones crack beneath the blade as it digs deep into his chest. I pull the blade out. Chunks of meat and fluid stick to the metal, blocking out the reflection of the moon from my sword.

  Uriel cheers me on.

  I lean in to jam the sword in again.

  “Wait,” Cephus says. “Let me speak.”

  Blood drips from his mouth. His words lose their deep bass, instead they trickle out with a gurgle.

  I don’t care what he has to say. I stab him again but this time in the shoulder just to cause him pain.

  Uriel calls me over. “Come get me out of this bind.”

  “Her name was Terra!” I shout. “She was the most wonderful Healer in the universe and she was my parallel.”

  I slide the sword along the open skin on his chest, slowly splitting it. He’s already dying, but I want him to feel more pain.