Celtic Rose

by Campbell, Jill

  “Yeah! What? Did you think we’d get here, get the necklace, and get out without a bit of problems? This whole curse has been nothing but one obstacle after another. The only way to do this is to come at it full on and get it done,” he said excitedly.

  “Fine, we go in fighting; but how on earth do we fight a demon?” Kallisto asked, completely bewildered by the direction everything was going.

  “We fight the demon with the armor of God,” Ephiny said matter-of-factly.

  Ramina gawked at the other girl. “The armor of God is just a metaphor, isn’t it? It isn’t real.”

  Ephiny shook her head. “Do you know the scripture about the armor of God?”

  “Sure. Ephesians chapter six, verses ten through twenty,” Ramina replied.

  “Actually, we only need up to verse eighteen for this, so as long as you know it, we should be fine.” Smiling, Ephiny turned to Gabriel.

  “Wait! We’re going in there spouting off scripture?” Kallisto said in shock. “How on earth is that going to help?” Ephiny inclined her head, looking at her.

  “Fear not, Princess. It’s more than just spouting off scripture. You’ll see on the inside.” Ephiny returned her gaze to Gabriel. “Which of them do you think should be the armor bearer?”

  Gabriel scanned them all and stopped on Talus, staring at him. Talus fidgeted under the scrutiny of his gaze.

  “Talus will do it,” Gabriel said finally.

  Talus blinked, his mouth dropping open. “Wait, Talus will do what?”

  Gabriel grinned at his third person remark. “You’ll go in taking point, while the rest of us stay behind and quote the Bible.”

  “Whoa, whoa, wait. I take point, which means I’m in front of everyone. And that means what? That I’m going to fight this thing while the rest of you sit back and what, quote scripture?” Talus’ cheeks flushed in anger and the slight hint of fear.

  Gabriel brought out his fierce smile and brought his face down directly into Talus’. He blinked and his jaw clenched in response, but he didn’t step back. “Yes, Talus, that’s exactly what it means.”

  Talus stared at Gabriel. “I’m not William, Gabriel. I’ve always been civil to you. Now, back off.”

  Gabriel chuckled and stepped back. Kallisto stared at them in shock.

  “Sorry, Talus, just checking to see if you could handle it or if you’d turn tail and run. And now I know that you’ll fight with all your heart.” Gabriel started to turn away but Talus stopped him, grabbing his arm and turning him back. Gabriel looked at the hand on his arm and then at Talus. Talus never moved his hand, showing their protector he wasn’t afraid like the others. Kallisto hoped he wouldn’t need to learn to be afraid of Gabriel.

  “Gabriel, I’m not a coward. I’ve fought in many wars throughout the years and I’ll fight until the day of my final death. You should’ve already known this after everything we’ve been through all these centuries.” Talus released his arm finally, but he’d waited until the look of rage left Gabriel’s face. He wasn’t going to show any fear to Gabriel. When Gabriel realized it, his expression softened. He clapped Talus on the shoulder and smiled brightly.

  “Now you’ve just proven you can handle whatever this demon throws at you. I’ll tell you how this is going to work now.” Gabriel pulled Talus along with him. Kallisto followed. “You’ll be going in bare. No shoes, no socks, no shirt and you’ll need to be bleeding.” Talus froze and so did Gabriel. Kallisto stared at them both with fear in her eyes.

  “Bleeding?” Talus asked.

  “I’ll need to cut you across the chest, closest to your heart blood. It won’t be deep or severe; just enough to get the demon’s attention. The demon will think you’re vulnerable and unarmed. This’ll cause a type of feeding frenzy—bloodlust. He’ll attack fierce and hard, but it won’t be physical attacks. They’ll be mental, emotional, and spiritual. These are far worse than physical attacks. He’ll prey on your worst fears.” The moment Gabriel said that, Talus turned to look at Kallisto. He walked over to her, quickly wrapping his arms around her.

  “Can he hurt her Gabriel? Will she be safe?” Talus held her tightly as he spoke. He kissed the top of her head. “My worst fear is losing her, Gabriel. Can he do anything to her? Please tell me.” Talus looked at Gabriel but never let her go. She clung to him just as tightly.

  “Kallisto will be fine, Talus. The only thing the demon can do is play with your mind. It may show you horrible images and they may feel or seem real, but they won’t be. You must remember that or the demon will have you,” Gabriel said strongly, his voice tinged with desperation. Kallisto realized their survival depended on Talus’ ability to withstand the hallucinogenic demon attacks.

  “Will I be able to let him know in some way that I’m fine?” Kallisto asked, pressing her ear against Talus’ chest, listening to the steady, sturdy beating of his heart.

  Gabriel seemed to think for a moment and then pulled her out of Talus’s arms and started pulling her along. Kallisto had her footing and kept up well but Gabriel was being a little rough. Talus started after them.

  “Stay there, Talus!” Gabriel ordered. “I need to do a little test. Don’t worry.” Gabriel kept walking as he spoke and Talus finally stopped. They trusted Gabriel with their lives but sometimes they worried about what his tests would entail. Gabriel and Kallisto went around the rock facing and disappeared from everyone’s sight. Kallisto wasn’t sure what he was up to, but by the anger radiating off him she could see he wasn’t happy about it. They went all the way around to the other side of the tomb before he stopped. He turned them facing each other and grabbed Kallisto’s shoulders. He closed his eyes and bowed his head which wasn’t a good sign. It usually meant Kallisto was about to feel pain in some way, shape, or form.

  “Gabriel, you’re scaring me,” Kallisto said softly.

  Gabriel opened his eyes and raised his head to look at her. “It’s not good that you know my intentions before I can carry them out,” he said with a grin, then his face sobered. “No, I can’t hurt you again. I’ve done too much already, so much already that you’re beginning not to trust me. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you again.” He let go of her and turned.

  Kallisto sighed in relief. “What were you going to do anyway?” She asked curiously, then remembered that curiosity killed the cat. Gabriel turned back to face her, brandishing a knife in his hand. Her eyes widened and she started to back up, but the hurt look in his eyes made her stop.

  “I’m not going to do anything to you, Kallisto, I promise. I was going to make a small cut, nothing big, just something small to see if Talus would feel it. You two should be able to feel what happens to each other by now. But I can’t do it, Kallisto. I can’t hurt you again. Please don’t be afraid of me.” Gabriel was earnest in his plea and looked so sad she couldn’t help but feel love for him. She ran up to him wanting to wipe that look from his eyes. He enveloped her in his arms and held her tightly. After a short time, she pulled away. She grabbed the knife from him quickly and slashed her arm. She didn’t do it deep but it was rushed and sunk in deeper than she’d planned. The blood ran down her arm immediately.

  Talus came running around the corner as Gabriel knocked the knife from her hand and grabbed her arm. William was right behind him and the others came a few seconds later with Kalan in tow. His arm was slashed and bleeding, too. Kallisto had forgotten what would happen to Kalan. She felt guilty immediately.

  “What’s going on? Why did you cut yourself?” Talus tore a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around her arm, trying to help stop the bleeding. Ephiny and Ramina were doing the same with Kalan.

  “You came running as soon as it happened. Did you feel it?” Kallisto asked as they were bandaging her arm. Talus looked at her then.

  “I felt a sharp pain in my arm and I just knew it was you. I don’t know how, but I just did, so I started running in the direction Gabriel took you, and it was like something was pulling me to you.” Talus’ eyebrows bunched together. Kallisto s
tretched out her good arm and used her fingers to smooth his brow.

  “Then you’ll know whatever that demon shows you will be a lie. You’ll be able to feel if something truly happens, or you won’t feel anything because it’ll be a trick.” Kallisto smiled at Talus. When he grinned back Kallisto turned her attention to Kalan. “I’m sorry, Brother. I forgot for a moment what happens to you when I get hurt. Forgive me?”

  Kalan looked at her sober faced. “I’ll forgive you if you keep squarely in your mind that whatever happens to you will happen to me. Please stop and think before you do something like this again. I don’t enjoy pain, you know.” He seemed to be angry but then he smiled. “Or at least give me fair warning before you pull something like this again.” He chuckled and Ramina kissed him on the cheek; a reward for taking it in stride, Kallisto thought.

  They were bandaged and ready to go. The only thing left was working out details and for Talus to be bleeding. He wasn’t happy about that part.

  “Ramina and Kallisto will put up some light like I did that first night.” Gabriel looked at them full of confidence. They looked at him like he was crazy. “You can do it; it’ll be just fine. After that, Talus will walk farther in. The demon won’t like being in the light so he’ll go into the shadows. Sorry bud.” He looked at Talus. Talus nodded. He’d already accepted his fate.

  “Are you sure this is going to work? I mean, what am I going to do besides stand there all vulnerable and delicious for that thing?” Talus said as he was taking off his shirt. Kallisto stared at him, star struck.

  “Vulnerable is not a word I’d use for you, but delicious might be a good word to use.” Kallisto giggled and blushed.

  Talus looked at her with a seductive smile. Gabriel took that moment to slice his chest. Talus hissed and directed a dirty look at Gabriel. Kallisto grabbed her chest and did the same. She felt the bite of the knife but it was a dull ache. Gabriel shrugged and smiled.

  “What better distraction was I going to get? There’s no better distraction than a woman.” He chuckled quietly and looked to Keira, who smiled brightly at him. Kallisto gave Talus a kiss, hoping that if she’d distracted him from the slice then maybe she could distract him from the pain. She was rewarded for her effort by a bright smile as they pulled back.

  “Did I kiss it and make it better?” Kallisto asked playfully.

  “Yep, all better.” Talus leaned in close, giving her another mind blowing kiss. They pulled apart and turned to Gabriel.

  “So, how will Talus fight the demon if he doesn’t have anything to fight with?” Kallisto asked.

  Gabriel and Ephiny looked at each other and back at Kallisto.

  “He’ll have plenty to fight with. As we are quoting the Bible, the armor of God will appear on Talus, and that’s what he’ll use to fight the demon,” Ephiny explained. “The demon will try everything in its power to stop us from saying the words, and it’ll try everything under the sun to incapacitate Talus so he can’t fight. You’ll see when we go in there. There’s really no way to explain all that you’ll see, hear, and feel while we’re in there, but I’m giving you the best warning I can.”

  “Alright, let’s do this,” Talus said, ready to go like a true warrior.

  Gabriel went up to the wall and directed one calculated blow to the weakest point, and it all came tumbling down. They waited for the dust to clear before making their way to the opening. They were relieved when nothing jumped out at them.

  “The demon won’t come into the light,” Ephiny said as though she was answering Kallisto’s thought. Ephiny looked at Talus and made a motion to the door with her hand. Talus took a deep breath and looked at Kallisto. She grabbed his hand and squeezed. He squeezed back and smiled. He gave her one last kiss and started through the hole. They followed along one by one, fanning out behind Talus in a type of v-shape and searching the area. Nothing popped up at them as they assessed the area. Gabriel looked to Kallisto and Ramina and nodded. They nodded back and did like he had before, throwing up a couple of electric balls and holding them stationary. Neither of them were sure they’d be able to do it, but the action came easily. They stood bathed in light for a moment, letting their eyes adjust. Talus started for the shadows and Kallisto watched in horror as he disappeared from sight.

  Chapter 20

  Talus’ heart was beating a thousand times faster than he’d ever felt it beat before. He knew it was going to be dangerous when he was volunteered for it, but he figured Gabriel had good reason for choosing him. He’d have preferred for Gabriel to do it because Talus was strong, but Gabriel was so much stronger. Talus doubted anything this demon might show Gabriel would get a reaction out of him. Fear thumping in his veins, Talus turned and looked back at the group.

  Talus could see them really well in the light, but they were searching the darkness for him. That didn’t seem like a very good sign to him; if they couldn’t see him then how were they going to know when to start saying the passage? A chill swept over him and on reflex, he turned around and came face to face with the ugliest creature he’d ever seen. Its head looked like it was three times too big for its body and scales covered every inch. It was green and putrid, and the teeth stuck out in all different directions. The claws were as long as daggers. Talus let out a loud yell and jumped back just as it took a swipe.

  Talus started back for the light but the thing appeared in front of him, blocking his path. He slid into his fighting stance, prepared to do his worst when Gabriel and the others started saying the passage.

  “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” As they spoke, the demon roared and twisted. It didn’t like hearing God’s word. Talus felt stronger when the words were spoken and the fighting stance seemed more appropriate to the situation.

  “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” They continued to say the passage, and it was like with every part something new would happen. As they spoke, Talus realized he couldn’t fight the demon with hand-to-hand combat. He needed to fight its mental, emotional, and spiritual attacks.

  It started out small—visions of his tortured body in the fiery pits of hell, and when that didn’t seem to disturb him, the demon moved on to mental and emotional tortures. One minute he was seeing visions in his head and the next he was staring at the demon and it had Kallisto in its arms. She was staring at Talus with wide, tear-filled eyes, a look of pure terror on her face.

  Talus started to run for her and as he ran, the demon stuck its hand into her chest and pulled out her heart. Talus heard her scream and the cries turned to gurgling. He shrieked, dropping to his knees in front of the demon. It dropped her bleeding, lifeless body in front of him. Tears streamed down his cheeks and he let out a ragged, tortured scream as he reached for her, taking her into his arms. She felt so real he thought it couldn’t be a trick that it had to be true, and yet he didn’t feel it.

  “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…”

  They continued to quote the passage and strength rushed over Talus. He stood firm and all of a sudden, a belt appeared around his waist. He knew the illusion of Kallisto’s death was just that—a trick, because he’d have felt it. Immediately, the body disappeared and the demon let out a growl of anger. Talus would’ve been impressed if he hadn’t heard Gabriel’s growl; it sounded much more dangerous. He looked down at the belt of truth, it was opaque and ghostly but it was there, “with the breastplate of righteousness in place and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” They kept saying the passage and the breastplate appeared just as opaque and ghostly as the belt. Talus’ feet were encase
d in armored boots and with those he felt peace wash through him. The demon slashed at his chest. He didn’t have time to jump back from it and expected the claws to go right through, but they made sparks as they met the ghostly armor. The demon started screaming in pain as the claws started to smoke.

  “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Talus could hear the strain in their voices as they spoke. He looked toward the light and saw them holding their heads. Their eyes were squeezed tight and they were shaking, even Gabriel, but they never stopped. As they quoted the passage, a shield appeared in Talus’ left hand. It’d come just in time. The demon spit bolts of fire at him, and as the fire hit the shield, they fizzled out like they’d been doused with water.

  “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” During the quotation of that passage, a helmet was on his head and an opaque sword was gripped in his right hand. As soon as Talus felt the sword, he looked at his body and all of it turned opaque and ghostly. He looked like a ghost knight of the old days. The demon came at him tooth and claw and Talus used everything about sword fighting he’d learned through the years. He was doing damage to the demon but it wasn’t dying–it just kept coming. Talus heard someone scream and looked back to the light. The girls were on their knees crying, he didn’t know which one screamed. They all looked like they could have and might again. William and Gabriel were crouched down and seemed to be in pain, but they kept straining to say the words of their salvation.

  “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” With the last of the passage said, the guys dropped to their knees as well, and they all started praying. Talus prayed with them as he fought, and light filled the cavern from up above. The demon writhed and screamed in the pale, white glow, but there was no shadow for it to retreat to. A type of storm cloud seemed to form above the demon. It swirled and twisted like a wall cloud ready to drop a tornado. Angels flew from the cloud, at least a dozen of them. They had wings so large they stretched the width of the cabin and they glowed so brightly Talus couldn’t see them clearly. They flew into the sword of the Spirit. Talus knew exactly what to do with it then. He thrust it into the chest of the demon and it was pulled out of his hand as the demon tried to fly up out of reach. The demon started bubbling up from the center like it was being filled up with air and then it exploded. Talus threw his arm over his face and ducked down to the ground. He caught a glimpse of the others dropping the rest of the way to the floor, all except for William, who had stood up and was standing wide-eyed with his mouth open.