Blood Stained Lives (The Blood Stained Saga Book 1)

by Ronald Griffin

  “What is the meaning of this? You know not to treat her that way until...”

  Cyrus pauses as he sees Tiffany holding the completed amulet in her hand. His eyes light up with excitement as he reaches for it, but she withdraws it just barely out of his reach.

  “Take him away,” she says to the warrior demons behind him.

  He lunges out at Tiffany, but right before he can touch her, the demons grab him by the arms and drag him away. His arms sizzle from the contact of their touch. He tries to resist them, but they over power him.

  “You will pay for this!” he yells.

  “Make sure you bind him with chains so he cannot get free,” she says to them.

  She turns to Drake and hands him the amulet.

  “Here you go just like I promised.”

  Drake grins as he accepts the amulet. As soon as it is in his hands, his eyes start to glow green.

  “Child, you truly have no idea what it is you have just done,” he says.

  Tiffany watches as scales form over Drake's hands. His head changes its form as his body mass increases.

  “What are you?” Tiffany asks, quaking with fear.

  “I am that which your beloved Cyrus fears,” he says as his tongue flicks about.

  “He doesn't fear anyone!”

  “My, my, my, just a few moments ago you couldn't stand him, and now here you are defending him. Just like a woman,” he tsk tsk her with a flick of his tongue, “cannot make up your mind. Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway. The ironic thing though is that I used my dear sister's own creations to do my dirty work for me.”

  Drake laughs a very deep and dark laugh, as his head becomes more reptilian, and horns form from his head.

  “You just delivered the amulet to Denominos,” he says speaking of himself in third person. “Take her away, and lock her up with Cyrus.”

  Two more demons appear to drag Tiffany away. Denominos lifts Aluana, carries her to the roof, and has her tied to a chair. Then he prepares for the ceremony to bring back his brother, the demon dragon Galamythe.

  Namon is kissing Aluana in front of everyone at Washington Park. Everyone is dressed up, and it is obvious that he is at his own wedding. He is the happiest that he has ever been. They leave to make their escape for their honeymoon, and everyone is throwing rice at them as they get on the back of his motorcycle. She holds on tightly to the veil as they ride down the street, happy as she holds him close to her.

  Next thing he knows, he is carrying her across the threshold, and throws her down onto the bed. They strip each other of their clothes, and prepare to make love until all the light in the room seems to be sucked away. He rushes to the window and pulls back the curtains to reveal the skyline, which is covered with dark clouds, and then fire rains down from the clouds. People in the streets run in panic as the flames hit their skin causing several burns to form, and singing their hair. Legions of demons fill the streets attacking people as well.

  Brice finds Namon washed up on the opposite riverbank. He phases back into human form, he hesitates because he hates the flowing river as much as any other wolf, but saving Namon is more important. So he dives in swimming across to him and wraps one arm around him. Then with his other arm, he swims back to the packs’ side of the river, pulling him ashore. He performs CPR to expel the water from his lungs. Namon starts coughing up water, and then turns to his side.

  “Aluana,” he barely manages to get out.

  Brice picks him up and carries him all the way back to the trailer park. Once there, everyone rushes out to check on him. He slowly starts to come around. Once he becomes fully aware, he jumps up.

  “They got her! I've got to save her.”

  Brice grabs him, and locks his arms around him to hold him there.

  “Easy there, buddy. Who has her?”

  “The sorcerer Drake and a vampire woman.”

  Then Kaya walks around, and Namon sees her face all scarred up.

  “Oh my god, Kaya, what happened?” he asks.

  “The woman vampire attacked me in the bathroom at Ingles. I'm sorry Namon, but she took the amulet.”

  The vision is going to come true.

  “Let go of me, Brice, I have to go. They have both of the rings, Aluana, and now the amulet. They are going to bring Galamythe back tonight! I have seen it.”

  “Not alone, you’re not!” Eric says.

  Everyone moves aside as Eric walks closer to Namon.

  “I have to. I cannot let anyone else carry this burden. It is mine, and mine alone. You have seen what happened to Kaya!”

  “Yes, what happened to her is unfortunate, but if you do this alone, you will fail, son. You are part of this family, and you have helped us keep the wilderness here safe. So what kind of family would we be if we didn't help you save the world? If Galamythe is free, what is there to stop him from burning the entire world down?”

  Namon considers this and realizes that Eric is right. Brice slowly lets go of him, as he feels the tension leaving Namon’s body, but still making sure that he isn't going to run off.

  “As usual, you're right,” Namon says.

  Eric offers his hand out, palm up to shake his hand.

  “So, what do you say? You ready to lead us? No one else knows these things better than you do.”

  Namon takes Eric's hand and shakes it. Kieran approaches and hands Namon his jacket.

  “You may need this.”

  Sierra hands him his sword and chainsaw dagger.

  “And all of us,” Kaya says.

  Eric looks at her concerned.

  “You need your rest, dear,” he says.

  “I have a score to settle with that bitch,” She snarls.

  “So what should we do?” Brice says.

  Oz comes out, throwing punches into the air showing that he is ready to join the fight as well, anger evident on his little face.

  “No, buddy, you need to stay here. There are too many things that can eat you where we are going,” Namon says.

  Oz pouts and stalks away, but as soon as he gets to where no one is paying attention, he sneakily heads into the direction of the car.

  “Well, Brice and Kieran, the two of you are the best fighters. So you need to get whatever weapons you may need. From what I saw in the vision, there will be zero time for anyone other than me to phase. So that means the rest of you will need to be in your wolf forms when we get ready to fight,” Namon says.

  “So what are we up against?” Eric asks.

  “Well, there were warrior demons in the vision. Don't let them touch you any longer than a few seconds, or they will burn you. They are fire element based, so their touch can be deadly when they touch you for too long. My suggestion is to remove their throats as fast as you can to avoid a long fight. Then there are the destroyers. Those are stronger ones. They are made of stone and mud. If you destroy or remove the blue gem that is located on the back of their necks, they won't be able to hold their form together. Then there was Galamythe, but let’s hope we won't have to deal with him. He is very powerful, and nothing has been able to kill him, yet, or we wouldn't be having this situation.”

  “Gotcha,” Brice says.

  Everyone prepares for the upcoming battle. Brice, Kieran, and Namon put on thick, padded leather for extra protection. Namon then puts on his leather motorcycle jacket that was part of his birthday gift. Then he places the sheath over his shoulder, strapping it across his chest. He takes the sword and slides it into the sheath. He wraps the belt around his waist for the dagger, and places it in its sheath as well. Kieran decides on his two katana, Japanese Samurai swords, for his weapons of choice, and straps the sheaths to his back. He twirls the swords around, and then slides them both deftly into their sheaths. Brice straps a two handed massive war hammer to his back, and then ties the wrist straps from his single-handed war hammers to both wrists. He twirls his arms around, making them spin, to test the durability of the straps. Eric, Kaya, and Sierra come out wearing loose fitting clothing so it
will be easier to remove when it's time to phase. Everyone stands around ready to go.

  “Before we go, are you guys sure you're ready for this?” Namon asks.

  Everyone nods in agreement.

  “All right, well you guys do the best you can, but do not hesitate to run if things get too bad. Thank you everyone for being my family, in case I don't get to say so later.”

  He puts on his helmet and starts his motorcycle while everyone else loads up in the SUV. Once they are ready, they all ride out ready for battle.

  Inside the mansion, Tiffany, and Cyrus sit in a room together, both restrained.

  “Do you really know why Demetria wanted so badly to bring the dragon back?” Tiffany asks Cyrus while trying to free herself of her bonds.

  Cyrus fumbles around with his chains, trying to free himself as well.

  “Why do you care? You betrayed me!”

  “You betrayed me first, you son of a bitch. I heard you tell Drake you were just using me.”

  “I'm sorry you heard that, but this is so much more important than your desires.”

  “My wants are important too!”

  “Not when it comes to the end of the world as you know it,” Cyrus says.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Demetria wanted control of Galamythe to use him to destroy Denominos. She wanted to control both humans and demons. Damerez wanted to destroy him so that he couldn't be used at all. He became weak when he fell in love with a human woman, and would have us all banished back to the demon realm, including himself. Denominos, though, is very demented. He wants to destroy all of humanity, Damerez, Demetria, and all of their creations.”

  “Oh shit!” Tiffany says.

  “What did you do?” Cyrus asks.

  “Drake is really Denominos.”

  “Fuck me! You really screwed up this time, haven't you?”

  “You're the one who had him as an employee all this time! Enough about that though. We have to get free,” Tiffany says.

  “No shit. Now try to move over here closer so I can untie you,” He says exasperatingly.

  She scoots her chair closer to him, and tries to turn it so that he has access to her chains.

  Aluana starts to wake up, and sees Denominos. She screams, seeing the monstrous being. He simply laughs as he chants, looking over the edge of the roof. Down in the field in front of the mansion, the earth opens up and a large army of warrior demons starts to climb out from the hole. Then destroyer demons start forming from the earth as seekers fly up into the sky from the hole.

  “I'd like to see anyone try to make it past this army,” Denominos says.

  He turns to Aluana.

  “So, my dear, are you ready to say hello to Galamythe again?”

  She looks at him, puzzled, as he walks over, and uses one of his claws to cut her arm. Then he takes the completed amulet, and holds it under her arm where the blood drips, and he covers the amulet with her blood.

  “Oh yeah, that's right. You do not remember him thanks to Cyrus's mental block he had me place on you. Well that should be enough of your blood. The amulet won't work without the blood of the one who imprisoned him in the first place.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” she asks.

  Denominos laughs and just looks out at the army as the holes close up.

  “When Cyrus is dead, you will have all the answers that you have ever needed or wanted. You see, he had me put a mental block on your memory, and had me convince you that you were a vampire for all these years.”

  Her skin starts to feel cold and clammy. She doesn't understand why. She looks out at the army and thinks about Namon, hoping that he is all right. She doesn't know what happened to him after she fell unconscious. She realizes, suddenly and completely, that she may not get out of this alive. Tears form and streak down her cheeks.

  Chapter Twenty

  Namon and the others stop their vehicles in front of the massive iron gate that closes off entry to the front lawn of Wilmington Manor. Everyone gets out, and Brice walks over with his big war hammer in hand. He swings it hard over his head, hitting the gate with a blow so hard that it knocks him back. Unfortunately, the strike didn't even dent the gate. Brice scratches his head, and then turns back.

  “We're not getting in this way, boss.”

  Namon gets off the motorcycle and removes his helmet. They begin discussing possible options as Oz sneaks out from beneath the SUV. He holds on to his small radio that was given to him by Brice. It came in handy to listen to on the trip there. He looks around, searching for any way that he can help, until he hears a voice over a P.A. system attached to a nearby old locomotive. The voice tells the history of the freight train station not too far from them. The old locomotive steam engine had been placed as a monument for the nearby train station when it was first established. He looks at the train, and then back at the gate. He does his little sneaky chuckle as he heads into the direction of the train. When he gets there, he concentrates with all the magic he has, and the old train starts to shift around, its parts moving to adapt to his will. His radio floats through the air, and mounts itself onto the control panel.

  Everyone stands, trying to solve the problem, until they hear metal rails clanging hard onto the ground. A path of rails slams to the ground on its own, the rails connecting to one another, and forming a trail from the gate all the way back to the old train. Namon looks into the direction of the train when suddenly he hears Ozzy the musician, now the Gremlin yells as the song “Crazy Train” starts blaring over the P.A. system on the train. They see Oz hovering mid-air around inside the train, parts and pieces floating around him and connecting at his will, as the music plays loudly. Suddenly, the smoke stack blows its top with a cloud of smoke, and fire erupting from it as the train backs up to build up enough momentum. Then it heads forward with all the speed Oz can put into it.

  The train crashes into the gates, knocking it free from the wall. Eric, Kaya, and Sierra shed their clothes and start changing into their wolf forms. Namon draws his sword, and Brice starts spinning his smaller hammers, ready for battle. Kieran draws his two swords, and everyone stands ready. They hurry over to the train to make sure Oz is all right. He jumps down from the train and starts walking, wobbly, and having a hard time keeping balance from the impact.

  “You doing all right there buddy?” Namon asks.

  Oz does a salute before falling down.

  “When you get back up, you need to find somewhere to hide, Oz.”

  He gets back to his feet and looks around. Everyone walks through the gate, but Namon stays behind and looks down at him.

  “Thank you, my friend. We couldn't have made it without you. If anything happens to us, just run, okay?”

  Oz nods in agreement.

  On the mansion's roof, Denominos loses concentration as the train plows through the iron gate. Aluana looks over into that direction, and she sees Namon, Brice, and Kieran walk through the rubble. Alongside them are three wolves. She guesses they are the rest of the family. Her heart begins beating faster at seeing him, knowing that he can save her.

  The pack looks around, and they see the large number of enemies before them. Warrior demons start to approach them, and the destroyers aren't very far behind them.

  “I got dibs on the big guns,” Brice says.

  “Everyone remember what I told you. Just take them out as fast as you can. Brice, you run through the middle, and take out as many as you can. Kieran, you and I will run behind Brice and take out any that he doesn't hit, or finish the ones that he has stunned. The rest of you finish off the ones that we knock on the ground, or any that try to sneak up behind us. So is everyone with me?”

  Brice and Kieran yell out while the others howl. Brice runs toward the oncoming horde, swinging his hammers. As soon as they come into reach, he swings the hammers, hitting several of the warriors with each swing. Kieran runs along the left side using his swords to stab, slice, disembowel and decapitate any demons in h
is path, or lying on the ground because of Brice's attack. Namon does the same along the right side, and when a seeker swoops down, he slices through one of its wings, making it crash to the ground. Shortly after it lands, Sierra is upon it, biting into its throat and ripping it out. Kaya runs between Eric and Sierra, picking off any warriors that missed Namon's or Kieran's attacks through the center. Eric is steadily ripping out throats of warrior demons that have fallen to the ground or any that get too close to Kaya.

  Back at the front line, a seeker swoops in low and Brice brings down one of his hammers over its head. As it falls, Namon phases and collides with it in mid-air, sinking his teeth into its throat and ripping it apart. Then he runs ahead, making a quick pass biting and clawing the legs of the oncoming warriors, making their legs burst into flames. Then he returns to his spot in the formation and phases back to his human form just in time to remove a demon's head, which was ready to attack Brice from behind.

  The pack is fighting very well, but they are still against heavy numbers, and just ahead of them is a destroyer blocking the path.

  “Everyone change directions now!” Namon commands.

  Brice ignores the command, though, and confronts the destroyer.

  “You see, this is what's going to happen.” He holds one of his hammers up. “You see this? I'm going to throw it at you, you're going to duck, and then it's going to come back to me and hit you in the back of the head. Ready?”

  Brice throws the hammer and the destroyer ducks, but then turns around to intercept the hammer. It looks around in the sky, but doesn't see it, and then it looks down and sees it just lying there on the ground. When it turns, Brice swings his war hammer against its knee, causing it to fall down to one knee as it loses balance. Then he spins around with the war hammer, connecting with its head, forcing it down to the ground. He brings the war hammer down on the gem behind its back, shattering it.

  “This ain't no comic book, bitch!”

  “Good job, Brice. Now do you think you can do that with five more?” Namon says while he points at the five incoming destroyers.