Hexen kept getting taller, and, suddenly, Josh heard screams echoing through his head.
"You proved that in that park today,” Hexen continued. “You can see negative energy like him. You even have the same symbol on your hand."
Josh began to panic as Hexen took a few steps closer. The screaming grew louder in his head. Josh finally recognized who it was. It was Nick, but where was he?
"Nick! What's happening to him?" he cried out.
"Your brother has protected you from me for years. But I knew he’d become arrogant and reveal your whereabouts at some point. Unlike him, I understand patience. After all, you are the Son of Light; the one who will defeat the mighty Demon Lord and his kingdom of hate,” said Hexen amusedly. “He will share the same fate as your mother.”
"What? Please, leave my brother alone! I beg you!" pleaded Josh.
He looked down and saw that the glowing pink sea was now at his chest. Hexen wasn’t getting taller; Josh was sinking into the pink sea.
"Why? He’s human, and there is nothing innocent about humans. This is the end for mankind," said Hexen.
Meanwhile back at the campus, Nick continued to writhe on the ground. The black mist felt like white-hot knives slowly puncturing his neck. Through the mist he could see Damen dancing around him, shooting lightening into the dark sky and yelling in his demonic, childlike voice.
In every high school, college, home, and street near the park, hundreds of men, women, and children panicked as they dropped like flies with their flesh rotting. Soon chaos crawled over the entire world as the colossal black sphere hung in the sky, surround by millions of the pink, blue, and purple orbs. Planes crashed into cities, and cars smashed into buildings and gas stations creating huge explosions. Hundreds of bodies continued to pile up in the streets as the stench of rotting flesh filled the air.
In the dark realm, the sea was now at Josh’s neck.
“They call me a murderer. I’m not a murderer, I’m saving mankind from itself,” said Hexen.
"Please!" Josh cried out.
"And to make sure I never have to see your face ever again, your soul will fade in my lake of negative energy. You’ve weakened yourself in that park enough to make this quick," said Hexen, now looking above Josh’s head.
Josh frantically swam towards him and grabbed the ends of his long cloak.
“As long as you live, I cannot have peace,” said Hexen.
"Don't kill him! Don't kill him, Please!" Josh begged.
Lord Hexen stood like a stone statue. The last thing Josh saw before sinking completely under the pink sea was Hexen pulling his hood over his eyes and walked slowly away. Lord Hexen continued on until he suddenly came a halt. He was stuck. He turned and saw Josh’s hand tightly clutched on the tails of his cloak with the triangular symbol shimmering.
Back in the stone garden, the large symbol flashed again around the stones, along with Josh's body. The force was go great the stones began to crack and the ground tore apart. Nick was able to move easier for the mist around his head was weakening. He rolled behind one of the stones nearest to him, glancing from Damen to his brother. He saw that Damen had stopped dancing and was now beaming at Josh.
In the dark realm, Josh continued to pull on Hexen’s cloak, heaving himself onto the piece of land.
“Let go!” Hexen ordered.
“No! I won’t let you kill him!” Josh yelled, weeping.
Hexen desperately kicked Josh back into the sea. The moment Josh touched it, the pink sea became a sea of light. Josh lunged back up now grabbing Hexen’s legs, pulling himself out of the glowing sea. Hexen collapsed and Josh’s soul fell onto Hexen’s chest and wrapped his arms around him.
“Let go!” Hexen yelled.
They both fell to the ground. Hexen aggressively forced himself away and moved to the other side of the small island. Josh crawled towards Hexen with watery eyes, and saw a look of horror on the demon lord’s face.
“No! No!” screamed Hexen, covering his eyes.
Josh saw Hexen freeze. For a split second Josh thought he saw Hexen’s eyes water, but the demon lord vanished and the symbol on Josh’s chest faded. Then there was a bright flash. Josh felt himself fall asleep.
Meanwhile back at the campus, Nick saw Damen stretching a hand towards Josh’s body. He felt a powerful force of energy soaring over him. He could not see anything, but it felt sickly, cold, and dreadful. He knew Damen was doing something, but whatever it was, the blinding shimmering light from Josh’s body seemed to be repelling it.
This was Nick’s chance. Damen’s back was turned and if he could get to him, he could save Josh. And so, he crawled with all his might towards the demon lord’s heels. But just as he got close enough grab the demon lord’s cloak, Damen suddenly screamed. Nick clapped his hands over his ears. The sound was so painful he thought his ears might bleed. Damen stood paralyzed in front of him. Then without warning, Damen moved again. He quickly turned into black mist and Nick watched him fly away from the garden. “What just happened?” he thought.
Then, as he struggled to keep his eyes on his brother, small, shimmering white and sky blue orbs flew from Josh's glowing body. The bright orbs flew into every black sphere in the stone garden, causing them to boil. Before long they were covered in pure light along with the dark beams.
The light beams made their way to the colossal black sphere as hundreds of the glowing orbs flew into it. The millions of ghostly orbs around it began to evaporate. Within moments, the monstrous sphere exploded into pieces covering, the sky in light particles.
As light particles rained down around him, Nick crawled towards his brother, who was now visible through the fading light around them. The etched symbol around the stones stopped glowing and with all his might, Nick continued to crawl.
Finally within reach, he noticed tears falling from Josh’s closed eyes, and trickles of blood running down his nose and mouth. Nick desperately tried to wake him, but he saw no signs of life in his baby brother. No! No! Nick felt his movements becoming slower. Before long, his eyelids felt heavy. They shut and there was darkness.
Chapter 14
The Failed Plan
Nick
It was late in the evening. Nick awoke to the smell of fresh, clean sheets. The walls around him resembled a blue sky above a field of grass. He turned to his right and saw a large triangular symbol over the doors with the words medical wing over it. Then he turned to his left and spotted Josh in a bed at the end of the large room through the dim light.
He forced himself from his bed and collapsed onto the cold marble floor. He noticed that he was wearing a white hospital gown. His bandaged left calf throbbed with a stinging pain and his throat burned. He placed a hand on it and could feel the bandages around it too. Nonetheless, he continued to move towards his brother. When he reached the middle of the floor, he let out a loud cough, but continued to crawl.
After what felt like ages, he pulled himself up to Josh’s bed and immediately placed an ear on Josh’s chest. His eyes watered when he heard a heartbeat. He turned away from him to cough again, which brought him back down to the floor. The burning in his throat was unbearable. Blood was now spilling out of his mouth with each cough. Suddenly, the front doors were flung open and he heard a male voice.
“Alaura!” cried the voice.
He glanced up and saw Tyshawn rushing towards him with Zelda behind him. They picked him up and helped him onto the bed, next to Josh.
A few moments later, Alaura, dressed in a lavender flowered dress, rushed through the doors. She carried a silver bottle and a small cup with her. As Zelda cleaned Nick’s bloody hands with a towel next to the bed, Alaura sat on his bed, tipped the bottle over the cup and poured, what looked like tea, into it. She placed it Nick’s lips.
“Drink,” Alaura said politely.
Nick sipped from the cup, made a sour face, and pushed it away. It had a strong lemon taste with a hint of honey and mint.
“Nick.” she urged putting the c
up back to his lips.
He sipped it again and the burning in his throat eased.
"How did we get here?” Nick said softly, turning to Josh. It hurt him to speak, but he was willing to endure the pain.
“We got a call from Seth telling us where you were. He’s still above ground in trouble somewhere. We’ve sent a recuse team after him,” said Alaura.
“We got a report from them sayin’ that everywhere they go, there is some crazy shit going on. Dead bodies, burning cities, what the hell happened up there?” asked Tyshawn.
“Hexen!" said Nick burying his face in his right hand.
Alaura, Zelda, and Tyshawn all gasped.
"What?" said Tyshawn.
"I knew it!" said Zelda clenching her fists.
“And I think Trent was helping him, too,” said Nick.
“They chased you all the way from Thousand Oaks? Why didn’t you call us?” asked Alaura.
“I wasn’t in Thousand Oaks,” said Nick.
Alaura and the others looked puzzled.
“Then where were you? And who is he?” Alaura asked glancing at Josh.
Nick paused as the others waited for him to speak. It was time to tell them everything. Forcing his mind off the pain in his throat, he spoke in the softest tone as possible.
“This stays between us. I want you all to swear it,” he said passionately.
They all swore to him, looking him dead in the eye.
“This is my adopted brother, Josh. He is the Son of Light.”
His friends’ faces were a mixture of shock and disbelief.
“Your brother?” asked Alaura. “Your mother never told me she had adopted a child.”
“She didn’t want anyone to know. After she died, I raised him myself in secret,” said Nick.
“What do you mean, the Son of Light?” asked Tyshawn.
“He’s the one who will defeat Hexen,” said Nick.
The room went quiet.
“Defeat Hexen?” repeated Zelda, sounding a bit skeptical.
Nick knew Tyshawn and Alaura were thinking the same way as Zelda, and how could he blame them? Hexen had terrorized his family and friends for decades. How could a sixteen-year-old boy stand a chance against a foe like Hexen?
“Do remember the story my mom told you all, after Hexen attacked Pasag? About the book of Rebirth and Death?
Zelda and Tyshawn nodded.
“Well, it also spoke about a person called, the Son of Light. The Son of Light would be reborn and fight against Hexen. My mom left this part out of the story because she wanted to keep him safe.”
“So that’s why you would leave for long periods of time,” said Zelda.
Nick nodded.
“She wanted to have things ready for Josh once we got here to the guild. Remember?” asked Nick turning to Tyshawn.
“Yeah. But she didn’t tell me about him. So you were training him secret?” asked Tyshawn.
“I wanted to, but I was afraid that Hexen would find us,” said Nick, “after Karl used his powers to save those people that day, I was sure it was the reason Hexen came after us. I was sure he saw Karl, or sensed him using his powers. Leaving Josh alone with that kind of power would be very dangerous.”
He saw images of Karl flashing through his head. How Karl had saved those people at the theater, and how Hexen had murdered him. And then his thoughts drifted to Trent.
“Trent lurking around only made things worse. I bought a house in Thousand Oaks to fool him and the guild, and left in secret to my other house in Porter Ranch. I couldn’t be too far or too close to Josh. I placed high level of protection around that house especially, and monitored all of his movements.”
His throat was in pain again and gestured to his godmother to give him more of the medicine. After take a big gulp, his throat felt cool again. He continued.
“But Josh became so uncontrollable, and I couldn’t handle dealing with him and the guild anymore. So I gave in, even though we hadn’t caught Trent yet, and even though Hexen could attack again.”
He buried his face in his hand with his eyes watering.
“I took ten years away from his life. I wouldn’t blame him if he never forgave me. If I can get him to understand why, maybe he will.”
Nick felt so relieved to finally tell someone he could trust, and yet at the same time, he felt so ashamed and guilty for the isolation he had put Josh through.
“Don’t blame yourself, you had no choice,” said Zelda softly.
“I contacted Seth,” Nick continued ignoring Zelda, “I was going to bring Josh to a safe house and then here to the guild. Seth, along with a few other guild members would wait for me at a safe house.”
“So Seth and those other guild members knew about Josh?”
“No,” said Nick sensing what Tyshawn was trying to say, “I didn’t tell them anything. All I said was that I needed them to help me with something. The safe house they were waiting in was heavily secured, but on my way back to the house everything went black, and I woke up in front of the college and found Josh. It had all been a trap.”
He paused leaving everyone else in awe.
“Shit,” said Tyshawn, amazed.
“My God,” said Alaura. “But I don’t understand one thing. He found you at Brevig College, coming from Porter Ranch? How did he get there? And why didn’t Hexen just kill him on his way there?”
“I don’t know. But whatever Hexen had planned, Josh must have defeated him.”
“How?” asked Zelda.
“His powers fully manifested, and he’s still breathing. Plus, Hexen hasn’t returned.”
“So then it’s ova!” said Tyshawn excitedly.
“No, I don’t think so. Both Hexen and his servant can regenerate their bodies. I don’t know what he did to Josh or where he’s gone now. Plus, according the Book of Rebirth & Death, Josh is going to need more than his current powers to defeat Hexen for good,” said Nick.
He heard Josh groan. Nick jerked around and saw blood coming from his nose and mouth. Tyshawn and Alaura rushed to him. Josh squirmed, clenching his fists as streams of tears poured from his eyes.
“What’s wrong with him?” panicked Nick.
He pulled himself out of bed with Zelda aiding him and collapsed onto his brother’s bed. Josh began to shake. Nick grabbed hold of him and felt Josh’s skin go from blazing to ice cold.
“He’s having a seizure!” shouted Alaura. “Get the doctor!”
Then after a few moments, Josh ceased moving. Nick felt his heart drop into his turning stomach.
“No, no, Josh, No!” sobbed Nick.
He felt no heartbeat, or pulse.
“No, Please no! Please, Josh!”
Nick was feeling lightheaded again. His lungs began to burn. Was this Hexen’s doing? He couldn’t pass out now. Josh needed him. He can’t be dead! He just can’t be. What if Trent or Hexen came into the room? Or what if Tyshawn, Zelda, or Alaura were lying? What if they were helping Trent? Nick was scared beyond imagination that the moment he closed his eyes, it would be his last, or worse, Josh’s. But he couldn’t fight it. Seconds later, darkness was all he saw.
Chapter 15
Lord Hexen’s Wrath
The Cloaked Figure
In the misty dark realm, red lightning flashed, illuminating wide canyons as black as night. Lightning bolts crashed against them, blowing off huge chucks of land into the pink and purple sea of ghostly orbs.
At the source of the thunderous bolts, on a small island surrounded in the center of the canyons, a man dressed in a black cloak cowered on his knees as he watched Lord Hexen storm around him covered in red bolts. He felt Hexen’s right backhand strike his face, forcing him to the ground. He saw Damen quickly move away from where he had fallen as Hexen stormed towards him again. The cloaked man grabbed the ends of Hexen’s cloak.
"Please! I beg you! I beg you! Forgive me!"
He peeked through the hood of his cloak and saw Hexen’s eyes bulging and veins throbbing across
his face and neck. Suddenly, he saw a red flash. Hexen had shot a bolt of lightning. The burning pain was unbearable, and for a moment, he saw an image of Engel being ripped apart in purple lightning. Please not that! he thought as more lightning struck him. Then he felt Hexen’s foot hit him in the face, throwing him back to the ground with a bright flash. It felt more like a sledgehammer than a foot.
"I-I-I didn't know the boy would be that stron—”
He felt Hexen’s foot slam onto his chest.
“I was sure the plan would work, I swear it! I'd never betray you, my lord. Never!" he choked.
Hexen added more pressure and the cloaked man squealed.
“If you’re going to kill me, then p-please make it quick. I’d rather be dead than to live knowing you’ve lost faith in me, my lord,” the cloaked man sobbed.
Hexen curled his upper lip, groaning with his face still twisted with fury. But then the lightning ceased. The man felt Hexen decreasing the pressure on his throat. As he lay there, he heard Hexen’s footsteps storming away with Damen at his heels.
Now alone on the small island, the cloaked man sat up and pulled off his hood, revealing his pale face and blond hair. Tears ran down from his emerald green eyes as he wiped the blood from his nose and lower lip. How could he have failed his master? What would he do now? What would Hexen do with him now? Seth closed his eyes and began to weep uncontrollably.
The End
*Next Books*
The Son of Light Book 2: The M.B.S. Guild
The Son of Light Book 2.1: Fierce Fellowship Games
The Son of Light Book 1: Rebirth Page 10
