by Heath, Joel
“Spencer, you, Vince, and Rodney are with me,” Jessie said. “Dan, you lead the second squad in the front door. If there’s a problem, fire three shots then run like hell.”
“Where are you going?” Dan demanded. “We’re going to the roof,” Jessie replied before beginning the hike up the switch backing stairs.
The roof was covered with planters that were divided by walkways that crisscrossed the summit of the building. In the northwest corner Jessie spied what looked like nine glass pyramids that allowed a view into the interior of the building. Spencer, Vince, Jessie, and Rodney started across the roof.
“Jessie, where did you hear about gaining a power from killing a Fiend Lord?” Spencer asked.
Jessie paused, concerned that she might be considered insane, but nonetheless, she briefly explained. “An old guy appeared to me in a dream.”
Spencer looked intrigued. “Did you see him?”
Jessie nodded. “He wore a long cloak, I couldn’t see his face.”
Spencer’s intrigue turned to awe; could this be the same man that Spencer saw in Arizona? Why was Jessie seeing him in a dream?
Jessie was almost relieved at Spencer’s reaction; she could tell there was a story there; she would just have to live through this day to get it out of the guy. Stopping at the first glass pyramid, Jessie knelt and peered through the glass to the floor below expecting to see a building as immaculate inside as it was outside.
As her eyes scanned the ground level, Jessie felt bitter disappointment. The carpet on the floor was charcoal black; seats throughout the internal chamber were torched and strewn about. In the front of the room there was a podium and an elaborate stand where important dignitaries would have addressed a considerable
congregation; it too had suffered significant damage.
“What the hell happened down there?”
Three gunshots tore through the air warning Jessie and her squad that there was a problem; the gunshots were soon joined by the screams of dying men.
“JUSTIN!” somebody faintly screamed. Then the ebony black-skinned Fiend Lord rocketed up the side of the building, then arched downward to land on the roof with a mighty crash. Under his huge fist was a body, even at the distance of twenty feet they could see Jared lying lifeless, pinned by the Prince Class demon.
“Oh no!” Jessie said before raising her weapon hoping it was half as nasty as her quarry. People scattered as bullets started flying, most ricocheted off the scaled hide of the demon. Spencer quickly found himself abandoned right in the path of the charging Fiend Lord.
“Run, you idiot!” Jessie shouted. But the Fiend Lord was a few feet out of range. Spencer tried to run but was knocked out of the path by a strange man that came out of nowhere. He was wearing an off-white cloak that flowed down to the ground. Spencer noticed that the person in the cloak had a short beard of brilliant white. The man held a sword with a silvery blade that glowed with the reflected light of the sun. No, it wasn’t reflected light. The blade seemed to glow with celestial light. The man held out his free hand.
“Get up,” the cloaked man said in a raspy voice “this fight isn’t over yet. You may yet survive.” The man encouraged.
Spencer took the hand that was offered and got to his feet. He found himself surprised the hand actually felt like flesh, like a real hand. The demon came to an abrupt stop, skidding, and then resumed his charge, like a bull after missing the matador.
“Your weapon won’t work on this one, you need this.” the man said, holding a sword by the hilt; trying to fend off the pitch black Fiend Lord.
The demon came within striking distance before the strange man threw Spencer out of the way and dodged the demon while performing a spin maneuver with his sword; the tip caught the upper bicep of the Fiend Lord who shrieked in agony as a deep gash was carved in his upper arm. Realizing he was in trouble he tried changing his tactic and searched for the remaining survivors, they had less effective weapons and it could kill them as it escaped the white foe. But the strange man struck first, driving his celestial sword into the soft, unprotected portions of the Fiend Lord’s right shoulder.
The man removed his sword from the demon’s shoulder and tried to follow up with a second strike but the winged creature fled over the side of the building. It opened its wings and began to climb into the sky before heading north. It was several seconds before Jessie, Vince or Rodney decided to approach.
“Who are you?” Jessie demanded.
“I am called Michael.” The man replied, pulling the hood from his head to reveal his platinum white hair and the white scruff that covered his jaw line. “The Princes of Hell will soon return, and in greater number,” Michael warned
“Then I think we should go after him and finish him off,” Jessie replied.
“I agree, we should regroup before we leave.” Spencer suggested.
Michael nodded before leading the way back to the survivor camp.
“Spencer!” Gretchen shouted when Spencer walked in, jumping to him she threw her arms around his neck. When Spencer didn’t return the hug Gretchen stepped back and stumbled down, accentuating their height difference. “What’s wrong?”
“Time to pack up, we have to leave,” Spencer said.
“What happened?” Gretchen asked.
“We wounded him, he’s heading north, and unless we leave now we’ll lose his trail.”
“Pack only essentials, we leave
immediately.” Jessie shouted.
“Where are Dan, Justin and Jared?” Brittany asked.
“Dead,” Jessie barked out, trying to show no emotion, but she couldn’t hide it all.
Spencer turned to Michael. “You said our weapons would be useless against him. How can we fight him?” Spencer asked.
“Only those with truth in their spirit can use the weapons that will harm Lucifer’s princes,” said Michael, who had since returned his weapon to a nearly invisible sheath on his back. There it would wait to be called to work again. Michael extended his hand and wrapped his fingers around an invisible shaft not much bigger around than a broomstick and instantly light began to focus to a point, the point quickly transformed into a sword, long, sleek, and regal.
“Too many of you have already given up; there is no faith within you.” His eyes narrowed at Spencer. “You,” Michael began, “You just might be able to summon the will to use a celestial weapon,” Michael reveled. Michael paced through the remaining survivors and picked out two others, Vince and Gretchen.
He stopped at Jessie. “There is too much turmoil within your heart,” Michael concluded. “Until you sort through it, you will never be able to wield these weapons.”
Spencer extended his hand as he had seen Michael do, and closed his hand around an invisible shaft of light. “Focus,” Michael directed, “You must have faith.”
After several seconds Spencer conceded. “I can’t.”
Michael noticed the sword on Spencer’s back.
“What is that?” Michael asked.
“I took this off of one of the hive queens a few days ago,” Spencer admitted.
“May I see it?” Michael requested.
Spencer took the sword off his back and handed it to Michael.
“This sword bears the mark of evil; I fear it may have begun corrupting you. I might be able to reverse it, but I will need to take this with me.” Michael explained, “The prince of Hell fled north, beyond a city called Bountiful. He is the one that has been corrupting the religious sanctuaries, so you must hurry. I fear His sanctuary there has already been corrupted. If that is so, then it will soon be destroyed with the city, just as Salt Lake will soon be destroyed. The armies of hell must be stopped. I will see you again in Bountiful,” Michael said before walking out the door.
Terror filled all present as Spencer confirmed what Michael just said. “Salt Lake is going to be destroyed?”
Michael nodded. “Too much of the city has already been corrupted and since there is nobody capable of restoring t
hem they must be destroyed,” Michael explained.
“When?” Jessie demanded.
Michael shook his head. “I don’t know, it may already be too late.”
Jessie leapt into action. “You heard him; we have to clear out. Now!” Jessie said before herding everybody to the Hummer.
As they drove out of Salt Lake City Spencer glanced at Gretchen and she smiled back at him. It was then that it hit him the gravity of the situation, Hell had not only started a war with Man, but also with God himself, and victory could be achieved within the week. Was there any hope? The city limits came and went, and the city was still standing, was the city’s destruction still to come?
Bountiful was a short drive from Salt Lake City, only ten or fifteen minutes. The sun was lowering as the Hummer entered the deserted city allowing a beautiful religious edifice on the hill to stand out. Oddly, all of the building’s exterior lights were on even though the power grid had been down for a week.
As they neared the sacred edifice, they noticed several cars were in the parking lot.
“Wow, that’s beautiful,” Brittany commented. In front there was lush vegetation, beautiful water fountains, the building seemed to glow as though it were white limestone under the Egyptian sun, untarnished by time or the elements.
Gretchen pulled the Hummer into the parking lot. Spencer got out and as he did he caught a glimpse of the clouds clearing over Salt Lake City. Then a pale blue light quickly shot down out from the sky like a bolt of lighting and lit up the city for six whole seconds. Most of the beam’s target was obscured by the mountains, and it took a couple of seconds for the sound to reach them. But when it did it sounded like thunder after a lighting storm and yet it didn’t. It was the sound of destruction.
“What the hell was that?” Jessie asked, she too, had been watching.
“I’m not sure.” Spencer admitted then stopped to think. “You think, maybe, it could happen here too?” Spencer replied as he recalled what Michael had told him earlier.
“Then let’s get in there and find the Fiend Lord,” Jessie said.
“Where’s Michael?” Vince asked. “He said we would see him here.”
“Maybe we’ll find him inside.” Gretchen suggested.
Before heading inside Spencer prepared himself expecting to see pretty much what he saw in Salt Lake City, but walking in he saw just the opposite, the lobby was neat and orderly. Not even a layer of dust on the tables and chairs.
“Maybe he didn’t get this one,” Brittany guessed.
“I’m going to head further in,” Spencer said walking watchfully past the lobby and towards the rear. Passing a bathroom he noticed the halls were identical to the building in Salt Lake; blackened walls, carpets were burned, and plastic plants in the halls were burned into a pile of melted plastic as though a fire ravaged the entire building. Yet it had not burned everything, just some specific items.
“There’s someone here?”
Spencer faintly heard the words coming from a restroom, so Spencer barged in with gun up and ready.
“You survived?” a man said when he saw Spencer.
“Yeah, we just got here from Salt Lake.” Jessie said, standing right next to Spencer.
“Well, make yourself at home.” The man said, “We have plenty of food and water. This place is safe, you don’t need to worry.”
Spencer noticed seven other people that had found refuge in the once sacred building. “Really?” Spencer challenged, “Who burned out the interior of this place?”
The man was at a loss.
“You’re being crazy, Spencer,” Brittany defended, “if they said this place is safe, then you should be able to relax.”
A horrifying realization hit Spencer like a four hundred pound linebacker. This could cost him his credibility or it could cost the lives of everybody in the building. “No, this place is going to be destroyed,” Spencer declared.
“What?” the man asked in disbelief. “This is a building of great religious significance.” The man defended.
“No, this WAS a place of significance, now you have a building that looks like it was gutted by a fire.” Spencer countered “Michael warned us. The light we saw before coming in here, the sound. Something in Salt Lake was destroyed, likely most of the city, and this building is next. It has been corrupted and God is going to destroy it. Anybody inside will die.”
“Did you see it? How do you know it was destroyed?”
“You have to trust me on this,” Spencer urged.
“You know, I have had just about enough of you.” The man spat.
Spencer realized he was getting nowhere trying to convince them, time was short enough as it was. “Good, because I’m leaving, who’s with me?” Spencer said before walking out with great purpose.
Gretchen saw the look of horror on Spencer’s face, and though she didn’t know what it all meant, she followed Spencer with Vince on her heels. She trusted in her man’s feelings and he looked deadly serious right now. After a couple of seconds Jessie, Rodney and Halley followed.
“What took you so long?” Gretchen asked.
“Brittany is staying behind, we were trying to talk her out of it,” Jessie explained. Gretchen looked back; her worry for Brittany was starting to show.
“Does that mean you believe me?”
Jessie nodded. “Hell yeah…no pun intended.”
“Do you really think God will destroy this place?” Vince asked.
“Yes, the only question is can we get away in time?” Spencer asked as he strode quickly out the front door. Spencer looked up to see the clouds start to clear, ahead he saw Michael standing in front of the Hummer. Spencer sprinted to meet him, Gretchen and everybody else barely managed to keep up.
“You have to get out of here,” Michael urged.
“We’re out of the building,” Gretchen defended. “Aren’t we out of danger?”
“No, you need to get into your vehicle and put as much distance behind you as possible as fast as you can.
Spencer looked up and saw the clouds had fully opened like a camera’s iris and a point of pale blue light had appeared in the center, they had very little time to get clear of the building and the surrounding grounds.
“Oh crap!” Spencer commented, “Time’s up, let’s go.”
All six packed into the Hummer. Gretchen started the engine and peeled out onto the street as the pale blue light rested around them, shining in through the Hummer’s windows from all directions, a grim foreshadowing of what was to come. Spencer looked back for Michael but he was gone.
It was two miles later when the light had noticeably intensified; Spencer expected they would have another few seconds before all hell broke loose. He was wrong; that’s when it all hit the fan and hit it hard. The sacred structure erupted in a violent explosion that might as well have been a nuclear blast. Houses on the side of the road were shattered into splinters of glass, wood and rock not even ten feet back. Each of the Hummer’s windows shattered spraying everybody with glass shards but Gretchen kept the gas pedal mashed down, she only raised a covered arm to guard against the crystalline pieces.
Gretchen brushed off a few glass fragments as Bountiful Boulevard turned into East 400 North. Finally, Gretchen took a hard right onto North 500 West before rejoining I-15. Everybody sat in silence for a long moment before Jessie spoke up.
“What now? Jessie asked.
“What do you mean?” Rodney asked.
“The demons can corrupt every sacred location, and God will keep destroying those that are corrupted,” Jessie paused to sum up her distress, “The demons can corrupt any sacred place, and God will just destroy the corrupted places. We’re running out of places to hide. What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Spencer said, resigned, as he turned to stare silently out the shattered window.
It was maybe ten minutes before Spencer noticed something that should not be possible; there was an electronic sign that seemed to be getting power. It wa
s an advertisement for an amusement park on the other side of the parking lot that it overlooked.
“What the hell?” Gretchen asked in astonishment as she followed his gaze. They looked at each other and shrugged. Gretchen took a quick right to get onto Highway 89 and soon ended up on Park Lane. A right turn got them headed towards the amusement park.
Pulling into a small parking lot meant for waiting patrons doing a quick pick up or drop off they stopped and got out. They whole group was still wary so they armed themselves with P-90’s and M-249’s and a grizzly fifty caliber. Spencer grabbed some explosives and a detonator from a crate before hurrying after the others into the larger parking lot. Jessie, Rodney, and Halley also armed themselves and brought up the rear. Halfway into the parking lot there was a small storage building that had a tree growing on the side like a parasite. On the north side of the storage building there was another building which looked to be like an office of sorts. None of the windows were broken; there was no damage to any of the buildings or anything else that they could see, it looked as though the park had just closed for the day.
“Spencer!” Gretchen said and pointed to a big window. There was movement inside.
Spencer watched the window and soon saw a human face. “It looks safe,” Spencer decided.
Jessie directed Rodney and Halley to set up a perimeter while Spencer went in for a closer look. Spencer carefully crept up to the door and listened to a conversation that was taking place inside.
“Kortney, I need you to check on the south end, I’ll send Tony to watch the Central…” the voice said before it stopped. “I know you’re there.”
After a couple of seconds the door opened and an older man stepped out. “Hello and welcome.” The man said in a downright charming manner. Spencer was taken aback; the man was very charismatic, and almost unaware of the danger that was sweeping like a plague around the globe.
“Did you guys see a demon around here? Black as night, silver scales. Big guy?” Spencer asked.
