Shadow Chaser

by Jerel Law

  Jonah raised his angelblade and was about to strike the creature holding Eliza when he felt another hand grab at his ankle, and he lost his balance. It was so strong, it felt like it could crush the bones in his leg at any second. He caught himself on the pavement with his left hand, stood quickly, and swung with his right. The blade sliced through the wrist that was trying to pull him underground. He heard a moan come from beneath the pavement, and the hand fell to pieces around his leg.

  “In the name of Elohim, go away!”

  A blast of light ripped beside Jonah, and one of the Rephaim flew through the air and exploded against the corner of the building. Jeremiah had found his belt of truth and freed himself from his own attacker. He directed his next attack at the one who had Eliza.

  “Elohim says that even the darkness is like light to Him!”

  Another blast from his belt, and Eliza was free. She immediately raised her arms up and joined her shield with Julia’s, providing a wider range of protection for them.

  And just in time. The fallen angels had reached them now, spreading their wings wide to slow them down, pausing in the air just above the shields.

  David’s arrows were flying, but he was focusing on the attack from below. The Rephaim continued to pop up from the ground all around them, trying to wrap themselves around the quarterlings and pull them into the grave with them. David was spinning around, firing, then turning again as he saw another appear.

  “Jonah!” he said as he fired again. “You have to focus on the angels!” He gave a quick nod upward. “Jeremiah and I can handle these guys!”

  Jonah sheathed his sword in favor of his bow. Firing as fast as he could, he immediately hit two of the five fallen that were hovering over them. The two he hit disappeared into black dust, but the other three were attacking the shield with fury. And it seemed to be working. Eliza and Julia were straining under the pressure from above and trying to keep an eye on things at ground level.

  “Jonah!” Eliza called out, letting him know that they couldn’t take it much longer.

  “Jonah!” yelled David. Four of the Rephaim had come out of the concrete at the same time. Flashes of light were coming like a lightning storm as Jeremiah spoke the words of truth as fast as he could. But they were somehow still losing ground.

  Jonah continued firing at the angels above, but they were very adept at dodging arrows, and he was having a hard time aiming straight upward and finding his targets. More often than not, the flaming arrows were flying beyond them and disappearing into the darkness. He was slowing them down, but not by much.

  It was time for a decision. “On my signal,” Jonah called out, “run! Okay?”

  He didn’t wait for a response. Stringing three arrows at once, he yelled to them again, “Now!”

  At the same time, he let the arrows fly. One of them found a target, a female fallen angel who screamed wildly as she disappeared in a cloud of black. The others had to readjust to get out of the way.

  David sent one more arrow ripping through the skull of an attacker, and for a brief second, they were all free. They took their chance. Bolting ahead, they charged down the street and away from their attackers, with Jonah bringing up the rear, trying to run backward while firing as many shots as he could.

  More of the Rephaim had pulled themselves out of the ground, but the quarterlings managed to put some distance between them quickly. The Rephaims’ spindly legs were moving, but they weren’t really getting anywhere. I guess the dead can’t really run that fast, Jonah figured.

  The fallen angels, he knew, were another matter. Jonah didn’t have to look back. He felt the remaining two hot on their trail. He wondered if there were others. Or maybe M’chala himself would make another appearance.

  He saw Fifth Avenue coming up.

  “Turn here!” he shouted. The kids took a right and continued running.

  “There are only two left!” Eliza shouted. “We should just turn and make a stand! The Rephaim are long gone!”

  Jonah knew she was right. “Okay!” he called out, nodding to David to get his arrow strung. “Ready?”

  They were running down the middle of the busy avenue. They could move through people, but physical objects, like cars, buses, and taxis, were different altogether. They could get smashed if they weren’t careful.

  Eliza had taken the lead, though, running right down the double yellow line in the middle of the road.

  Jonah looked ahead, then behind. No sign of angels—good or otherwise—in front of them, but the two behind were beginning to fire arrows. Long shots lobbed high in the air and off target, but still, they were getting closer. Now was as good a time as any to put an end to this.

  Jonah began a countdown. “THREE . . . TWO . . . ONE!”

  He dug his feet in, skidded to a stop, and turned, all in one motion. To his right, David was doing the same.

  But at just the same time, the fallen angels pulled up. They rose in the air, turned around, and flew backward, retreating into the darkness.

  “They’re scared!” said Jeremiah. “They know they aren’t any match for us, so they’re running.”

  He gave David a high five, laughing in the middle of the busy street, cars still whizzing by.

  Jonah felt his back stiffen as he watched the two black-winged demons disappear.

  “So what did you say those things were?” David asked. “The Rephaim?”

  “It means ‘dead ones’ in Hebrew. And that’s pretty much what they are,” Eliza said. “Somehow Abaddon has control of them.”

  As David and Eliza discussed this, other questions began to nibble around the edge of Jonah’s brain.

  Why haven’t more fallen angels come after us too? And why would those just give up the chase?

  “Let’s go,” he muttered, cutting their celebration short.

  THE THING BEYOND

  THE MIST

  They moved over to the sidewalk, sidestepping a couple of screeching taxicabs along the way. Eliza wasn’t celebrating anymore either. Jonah saw her thoughts churning, probably just like his.

  “That whole thing was weird,” she finally said as they sped along beside the relative safety of the expensive shops on Fifth Avenue. “Strange, huh, Jonah?”

  “What do you mean?” asked Julia. “We ran them off. Right?” The question was asked with a total lack of confidence.

  “Right, Jonah?” she said again.

  Jonah shrugged. “I just keep asking myself—why would they just leave? I mean . . . they never do that. They stay until the end. It’s not in their nature to run away.”

  David was looking ahead, at the next block up. It was normally one of those places where the bright lights of the city would be blinding, glittering with advertisements and enticements to enter and buy.

  But now, it somehow looked murkier. Darker.

  “Guys, look at this . . . ,” he said.

  Jeremiah studied it. “Why is it so dark up there?”

  “Hold on a second, guys,” Eliza said. “Let me check this out.”

  In a flash, she had left the hidden realm. They could still see her, but she was unable to see them. Knowing they were there, she spoke aloud. “It’s bright out here, no sign of any darkness. It’s all happening in the hidden realm.”

  She bowed to pray and was back with them in an instant.

  Whatever the darkness was, it was moving like a slow thunderstorm in their direction. The closer the cloud came, the more Jonah sensed the presence of cold evil.

  “Do you hear that?” asked David, looking with his mouth wide open over at Jonah and the others. Everyone nodded.

  There was a snorting noise coming from the cloud, and it was getting louder.

  “It sounds like when we went to the zoo that time,” said Jeremiah. Jonah looked at him blankly. “You know, the rhino section?”

  Jonah was still trying to make the connection when it was made for him. The sharp protrusion of some kind of horn emerged from the cloud, as tall as a ten-story building
, right in front of them. It was attached to the largest snout that Jonah had ever seen, covered in gray, black, and green scales. There were three horns, on top of the snout with razor-sharp tips, pointing toward the heavens.

  The face of the creature came into view, even more awful than the sight of the horns alone. Its head was bigger than the cargo van that sat outside the store.

  “A stegosaurus?” Jeremiah said wildly, in a high-pitched tone. “There are dinosaurs here?”

  Jonah shook his head. It didn’t have the hood of armor around its head like that old dinosaur, but it sure did look more like a dinosaur than anything he had ever seen. It stepped its giant foot forward, crashing into the pavement. Raising its head, it snorted, dark smoke billowing from its nose.

  “I guess we know why the street is getting so dark,” said Eliza.

  It stepped with its other front foot, drawing closer to them. Its body was becoming visible now, and Jonah couldn’t help but be in awe. It had a massive trunk, made of the same scaly skin that looked thicker than the shell of a tank. Four powerful legs propelled it forward, its muscles rippling through them as it moved.

  Something moved behind it, the clouds separating as though being blown away.

  “Is there another one?” asked David.

  Jonah stared closely at the wavering cloud. “No, I think it’s . . . its tail.”

  The giant beast took another step forward and proved Jonah right. It had the largest tail he had ever seen on any animal, seemingly double the length of its body. It was swaying back and forth, and on the end was a large ball with spikes all over it, just like the three covering its head.

  The worst thing of all, though, was that it appeared to be looking right at them.

  “I think we know why the fallen angels were scared off,” Jonah called out. “It wasn’t because of us!”

  The creature raised its head and issued a deafening roar.

  “And I don’t think it’s very happy!” said David.

  Eliza studied the creature. “It’s being controlled by Abaddon. Just like the rest of the creatures we’ve encountered along the way. Just like the leviathan.”

  “Any ideas, Jonah?” David asked, his voice starting to waver. Jonah knew that if his brave Ugandan friend was getting scared, they were truly in trouble.

  But then Jeremiah took three large steps forward and stood on the street corner, in plain view of the creature. Jonah could see his legs shaking, but his belt of truth appeared.

  “We all know that the strength of Elohim is greater than Abaddon’s, or yours, or anyone else’s!” he shouted. “So just go back to where you came from!”

  His belt flashed a brilliant light, erupting upward and into the creature’s face. A white explosion collided with the darkness, and for a minute, the giant disappeared from view.

  “Nice one, Jeremiah!” Eliza said. But then she started scolding. “Now get back over here beside me before something else happens!” Jeremiah obediently stepped back toward her, with all eyes still on the creature above.

  “I guess that takes care of it,” he said, slapping the dirt off his hands.

  An even louder roar erupted, though, letting them know this battle was far from over. The blast of the creature’s breath blew the clouds back. It was there, searching for the kids again, and when it spotted them, it glared as if even more annoyed.

  “It was blinded for a second,” Jonah said. “But looks like it’s going to take more than that to defeat it.”

  Jonah took a deep breath and pulled out his bow. He stood out on the street, in front of the creature, and began firing, over and over again. David did the same. Each time, their arrows were true, striking the monster in the face and the chest.

  But the flaming arrows kept bouncing off, falling harmlessly onto the ground.

  “It’s got some kind of armor,” Jonah said. “These arrows are not going to do the trick.”

  “But I do think we’ve made it angry!” shouted David.

  The creature began slamming its tail on the ground. Wham! Wham! Wham! It felt like the road was going to split in half every time its giant tail crashed into the pavement. The ground underneath the quarterlings shook, and all the while, cars in the physical world were still driving by as if nothing were going on, and people strolled down the street, completely unaware of the hidden realm.

  “I need to look up something!” Eliza suddenly said.

  Jonah’s eyes were trained on the monster, but he shot his sister a harsh look. “This is no time for school research, Eliza!”

  “No, just trust me,” she called out. “I need to find out something . . . Distract it for a few minutes. David, hand me your Bible!”

  David dug into the back pocket of his jeans and produced a small Bible he liked to carry. He tossed it to her, and she crouched down underneath an awning, out of view of the creature, and began to thumb through the pages.

  Distract it? How am I supposed to do that and not get eaten? Jonah’s mind raced. All the while, the monster was getting closer. It seemed to have narrowed its focus on Jonah. After all, he was the one shooting all the arrows at it.

  Jonah ran to the other side of the street, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a city bus.

  “Hey, ugly!” he shouted, waving his arms in the air and jumping up and down. “I’m over here! You think you can catch me? I think you’re too big and slow!”

  The creature did, indeed, have its attention on him. It turned toward him, leaning its head down and growling low.

  “It’s working, Jonah!” David called out from the other side of the street.

  “Great,” Jonah answered. “Glad I could help out.” Just great. Now all it wants to do is have me for a late-night snack. Glad I could help you out so you could do a little more studying, Eliza.

  Jonah stopped waving his arms as he found himself stepping backward, and the beast grew closer. He felt a brick wall behind him and knew he was almost trapped.

  “I hope you figure out something soon, Eliza!” he yelled across the street.

  She held up a finger in the air as she studied. “Just one more minute!”

  “I don’t have one more minute!” Jonah called out. “In ten seconds, I might be headed down the throat of this thing!”

  The creature lowered its head, pointing its horns directly at him. One of its enormous front legs began pawing at the ground. It snorted loudly again.

  “That thing’s going to rush Jonah!” said Julia.

  David, Jeremiah, and Julia bolted across the street with Jonah, screaming and waving as loudly as they could.

  “Hey, over here, over here!”

  “Look at us!”

  Julia had produced the shield of faith above her head and was trying to use it to get the beast’s attention. Jeremiah continued with the belt of truth, even though he knew it wasn’t going to work. At least maybe it would confuse the thing. David began firing arrows in between Jonah and the creature, trying to draw its attention away again.

  The creature turned its head toward the three, as if considering going after them instead. But then it lowered its head again and charged.

  If Jonah hadn’t possessed angelic superstrength, he would never have survived the bull-rush attack. But he sprang out of the way just as its giant, scaly head connected hard with the side of the building.

  “Way too close, guys!” he shouted as he landed on his shoulder hard on the cement.

  The giant turned toward him and then back to the others, as if it were deciding whom to go after next. Just then, a metal side door to the building opened, and a short man emerged, carrying two bags of trash to the sidewalk. Jonah saw his chance. He jumped up and dove through the door, just after the horn from the beast’s head crashed behind him. Thankfully, its head was too large to fit through the opening.

  Jonah found himself on the floor of a jewelry store. As he was picking himself up off the ground, David, Jeremiah, and Julia slid through the doorway, just in front of the short man, who closed the door
behind him and turned the lock.

  “You guys all right?” Jonah asked, picking himself up. They nodded, turning toward the windows of the corner store. A giant green eyeball appeared, and as it spotted them in the store, it narrowed into a slit.

  Then it opened again. Jonah felt even queasier. The creature picked its head up and turned around. What’s it doing?

  “It’s going after Eliza,” said Julia. They ran to the front double doors of the store. She was standing on the opposite street corner, the Bible open in one hand, its pages fluttering in the breeze. Her mouth was open as she stared upward at the monster.

  It had apparently decided that its best chance for a meal would be her.

  Jonah pressed his face against the windowpane, beating on the glass. “Eliza! Come on!” He beckoned with his hands for her to run over.

  She had seen them enter the building and looked across at them now, keeping one eye on the approaching monster. She was pointing to the Bible and then up at the beast. Then she made a waving motion with her hand.

  “What’s she doing?” asked Julia, looking at Eliza curiously.

  “Looks like she is pretending to hold a sword,” answered Jeremiah.

  “And it looks like she’s found something in the Scriptures about this creature,” said David.

  Jonah was already working on unlatching the locked front door. He didn’t know what this thing was, but he knew what Eliza needed him to do. She continued to point to the Bible and make sword motions, but the creature was advancing on her now. Jonah heard her piercing scream and lost her behind the enormous body of the beast.

  Its giant tail was like a massive telephone pole, swinging randomly back and forth.

  “I’m coming, Eliza! Hang on!” he called out as he tried to navigate the tail. “Use your shield!”

  He couldn’t tell what was going on, or if she even heard him, though. He could only utter a quick prayer and try to get to her before anything bad happened.

  Elohim, protect her.

  The tail swung back toward him, and he ducked. As soon as it passed, he knew he had about one full second. It was enough.