Death's Mantle: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Revelations Book 1)

by J. A. Cipriano

  She turned her eyes back to Fames’ outstretched hand. His fingernails were blue, but even still, he looked familiar. Her gaze swept up his cloaked body to settle on the face shrouded beneath the hood. There was no way it was Ian. How could he kill his childhood friend in cold blood? Ian was the one who always kept them all together. No… no this wasn’t him. It was someone else, someone who needed to pay… dearly.

  “How could you do this?” she murmured as rage bubbled up inside her, scalding and burning. Crimson flames burst from her body, licking across her skin like a phoenix lighting itself ablaze for the first time. The ice around her melted and burst into clouds of steam.

  She seized Fame’s hand, and in that instant, she knew. This was Ian, but something was wrong. Only… only she didn’t really care. Her fist collided with his cheek. He flew backward, crashing into the wall and denting the metal inward. He slumped to the floor, his weapon slipping from his grip and skittering across the floor.

  Amy crossed the distance between them before he recovered and seized him by the collar. She shook him, slamming him backward against the wall so hard the metal shrieked. Flame spread from her fingers, catching his cloak on fire and burning it to cinders in an instant.

  Ian’s face was one large deep purple bruise as he stared at her with flat, empty eyes. He smiled, blood trickling from his lips, and as he opened his mouth to speak, he smashed his forehead into her collarbone. She shrieked in pain and reeled back, releasing him. Before he even touched the ground, he threw his palm forward. As it came closer, jagged ice exploded outward at her.

  As she twisted to the side, the ice sliced superficially into her skin instead of goring her. Ian stepped through with his momentum and ran himself right into her knee. The blow staggered him enough for her elbow to connect with the side of his chin.

  His body spun around with the force, but instead of dropping him, he came around and drove his knee into her abdomen. Pain flashed through her as she fell, trying desperately to suck in a breath. She lay there clutching her stomach as he picked up his sword.

  “Your timing is off, Bellum. I simply moved with your attack. It’s like you just hit yourself with a lethal blow.” He laughed, and the sound skittered down her spine like an insect. “But what could you expect from War? You’re nothing but blind destruction, after all.”

  Ian 01:10

  All Ian saw of Bellum was a hazy, black shape, more shadow and sinew than anything else. Fire swirled around her as he raised his sword above his head. The weapon’s hunger grew as the demon, Bellum, struggled to her hands and knees. Not that it mattered. He would destroy her and drink in her essence. It would feed him, slake his thirst… for a little while.

  His blade cut through the air, and she threw herself forward and blocked his hand where it held the hilt. She grabbed hold of his wrist and thrust her hip into him, wrenching his arm violently from the socket. Pain exploded from his shoulder, flaring up inside him for an instant before being dragged down inside of him by his hunger.

  He grinned at the creature and licked his lips. “Even pain is delicious,” he said before driving his free hand into her stomach. Breath exploded from her in a whoosh as she collapsed to her knees. The flames around her went out, and the icy chill of wind howled through the air.

  Ian flung his injured arm out to the side. The sounds of joints popping filled the air for a moment before he flexed the arm. He held it in front of him and curled his fingers, testing the impromptu surgery. He lowered the sword and placed the palm of his once injured hand upon the pommel.

  “You did hurt me, Bellum, but it won’t happen again.” He thrust the sword at her. She moved as it tore through her cheek. Her blood splattered across the icy floor before freezing into a crimson smear. Scarlet ran down her cheek and pooled on her chin as she staggered backward, throwing up her hands to defend herself. Ian thrust his sword at her again. He caught her in the side and tore the weapon free of her body. Her scream was delicious, like ice cream melting on his tongue.

  Bellum squawked at him in some demonic language he didn’t understand. He didn’t know what she said, nor did he care. He readied his sword for another strike. This time, he would finish it. He stabbed the sword outward again, but the demon stepped in, dodging by the blade. She kicked him in the stomach, her hand gripping his wrist as he staggered backward. She thrust him backward with the ball of her foot, bracing against him, and wrenching the katana from his hand.

  As he lost contact with his weapon, the world around him dimmed. Color returned to Bellum’s features, and as she stood over him with his sword in her hand, she seemed vaguely familiar.

  “Who are you—” He squawked as she drove the weapon down upon him. The cold steel stabbed through his stomach and pinned him to the metal below. He screamed, pain flaring up inside him as his sword tried to drink him in, tried to pull his essence into the blade itself. He reached out, desperate to seize the weapon and pull it free. His bloody fingers slipped off the blade as she released it. Blood. There was so much blood.

  Bellum stood over him, one hand filled with crimson dancing flames and everything went blurry and warped. He gripped the katana, his numb fingers barely able to close around the blackened blade. It cut into his flesh as he tore it free. It slipped from his bloody grip and fell to the steel floor beside him with a resounding clang. The sound reverberated in his ears like a clarion call as he looked up, meeting Bellum’s eyes as she stepped in to finish him. No… no… it couldn’t be… his heart leapt into his chest.

  “Amy..?” he choked through the confusion. “What’s going on?”

  The flames in her hands died as she stared at him, eyes hard and flat. “Ian?” she asked in a voice that was broken and hollow.

  “Amy…” he mouthed as his vision went hazy around the edges. She dropped down next to him, grabbing his shirt in her hands and pulling his face close to hers. All at once, realization struck him like a kick in the teeth. It had been her this whole time. He had been fighting her, not some faceless demon… if that was true… if that was true, who had he killed?

  She was holding him close, the blood seeping from his wound onto her clothing. But her touch warmed him, and he felt stronger.

  “Ian… you can see me now?” she whispered into his ear, but her voice was anything but comforting. “Do you know what you’ve done?” She turned his head, and he stared. His mouth fell open and his heart exploded. Tears filled his eyes as he watched steam waft off Jesse’s corpse.

  “Did I…” he murmured, but before he could say more, Amy gripped the sword beside him and jabbed the point of it up under his chin, the point of the katana piercing his skin and drawing blood.

  “Yes,” she whispered into his ear. Her breath was like a desert wind on his neck. “And now that you know, I won’t let you die. You must live with this, forever.” She pulled away and dropped the katana to the floor. Her eyes darkened like she was going to cry.

  Only… only instead of tears, magma dripped down her cheeks. They spattered against the ice beneath them. The sound of sizzling, bubbling water filled his ears as she turned away from him.

  Malcom 01:05

  Malcom rose, Kim’s body cradled in his arms, and turned to stare into the darkness. Then he stepped into it. It swirled around him, pulling him in and worming through his thoughts. His mind melted away as one single thought pressed to the forefront. He needed to get Kim help.

  The darkness receded from his vision, and he found himself standing under the harsh, sanitary lights of a hospital. Caden lay unconscious in the bed in front of him and Malcom shook his head.

  “What are you doing here?” Caden whispered, voice hoarse as his eyes opened. “Is that Kim?” he asked before Malcom could respond.

  “Yes.” Malcom shifted her in his hands, and without thinking laid her on the foot of the bed.

  “You need to get a doctor…” Caden said, trying to sit up and wincing. His body was covered head to toe in plaster, and based on the glassy expression in his ey
es, Malcom was reasonably sure his ‘friend’ was pretty doped up.

  “I need you to do me a favor,” Malcom said without thinking.

  A dumb grin crossed Caden’s lips before being chased away by a grimace. “I doubt I’m going to be much help to you, Malcom.”

  He took a step forward and put his hand on Caden’s head. “Be well,” he said and as the words left his mouth, emerald fire rippled along Caden’s body. The boy cried out, not in pain, but in terror. A moment later, the flames vanished and Caden looked at him bewildered.

  “What did you do, Malcom? I feel fine.” Caden swallowed hard. “How did you do that?”

  Malcom grinned in spite of himself. He hadn’t known if it would work, but something inside him had told him it would. All he had to do was believe in his own power. Well, surely he could manage that.

  “I need you to do me a favor,” Malcom said, ignoring Caden’s questions. “Can you do that for me? You know, since I healed you and you owe me for being a scumbag and sleeping with Kim.”

  Caden looked like he was going to say something, but instead shook his head and shut his eyes. “What do you need, Mal?”

  Malcom lifted Kim’s body and pressed her into his arms. “You are going to take her to a man named Sabastin. When you get there, you are going to tell him Polyphemus is gone. I am going after the guy responsible for this myself. Is that perfectly clear?” As the words left his mouth, a chill settled over the back of his neck, and he struggled to ignore it. “Maybe then whatever this is.” He gestured at Kim with one open hand. “Maybe it will fade.”

  “Okay,” Caden replied, voice full of shock. “But how do I find this guy?”

  “I don’t believe that will be a problem.” Malcom smiled, reaching out and placing his hand against Caden’s forehead. “Well, here goes nothing. Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” Caden said.

  “Take care of her.” Power surged from Malcom’s fingertips and green flame leapt between them, spiraling outward around Caden like a burning tornado.

  Amy 01:03

  “Amy, get Ian in the tank! There isn’t much time!” Sabastin yelled as his hands flew across the keyboard in front of him. His teeth still chattered from the cold, but it must not have bothered him because he’d jumped into action the moment she’d freed him from the ice.

  Amy looked from Ian’s slumped form at her feet to the tank in front of her. Never before had she seen such a contraption. It looked like a large fishbowl filled with viscous raspberry jam.

  “Why?” she asked, glancing at him with narrowed eyes. “He’s a murderer. He killed my boyfriend.”

  “I’m going to say this, and it will sound cruel,” Sabastin replied as he pushed by her and scooped Ian into his arms. “But he’s more important than your boyfriend, Bellum.” He climbed up the metal steps leading to the rim of the bowl, slipped a breathing mask over Ian’s face, and dropped him inside with an unceremonious plop. Ian drifted beneath the surface of the goop like he was sinking into mud.

  “Don’t worry, he can still breathe inside there,” Sabastin assured her. “We stole this tech from earth a few years back. Amazing stuff. It can heal any injury in minutes.” He rubbed his chin as Amy glared at him, but it didn’t seem to bother him, or if it did, she couldn’t tell.

  “That’s a cruel thing to say,” Amy said as Sabastin turned and went back to his keyboard.

  “The truth is often cruel.” Sabastin shrugged, and Amy turned away from him.

  As she stared at Ian’s bobbing body her feelings struggled. Really, she shouldn’t care what happened to him. But somewhere inside her, she was glad he was going to be all right. She felt strangely connected to him. That was nuts. He’d just killed Jesse, and… she swallowed and shook the thought away, focusing on her anger. She could trust her anger, if nothing else.

  Without knowing how, she found herself on the top step, staring down into the tank. Tentatively, she touched the substance. It felt like warm slime, and as she pulled one finger away, she was amazed it didn’t cling to her skin. Her eyes widened. If this machine was from earth and not some sort of supernatural contraption, why wasn’t it in every hospital everywhere? Had Sabastin’s people stolen it and rendered it impossible for normal people to use, or was someone just hording such an amazing machine for themselves? Both possibilities made her blood run cold.

  She turned and glared at Sabastin. “Why is he more valuable than my boyfriend, and why is everyone calling me Bellum?”

  “We call you Bellum because that is the name of the one who carries the mantle of War,” Sabastin said, extending his hands outward. “I keep forgetting you all don’t know who you are. You, my dear, are one of the four horsemen. War to be exact. It’s why you can call upon fire. It’s a power of your mantle. Or did you think that was normal?” He winked at her. “That is why he is more important than your boyfriend. Inside you know this to be true.”

  Amy swallowed and looked away from the old man as the feeling that his words were right welled up inside her. So she was a horseman. It seemed impossible, but she had been abducted by a guy claiming to be the Norse God Vali, and now she was being sent into a magical realm to fight one of Loki’s monstrous children. When she thought about it that way, finding out she was one of the harbingers of the apocalypse and was going to fight monsters wasn’t actually that weird.

  She was about to ask Sabastin about it when a tornado of emerald fire filled the space between her and the old man. She covered her eyes with her arm, shielding them from the glare even as every muscle in her body tensed. She glanced to where Ian’s bloody sword lay unmoving on the steel floor. She didn’t know how long it would take to reach the weapon, but she was going to try anyway.

  The flames died away as she leapt from the stairs, landing hard on the metal. Her knees screamed in pain as she took several staggering steps toward the weapon. The flames died down as she knelt toward it, and just as her fingers were about to touch the hilt, she felt it. The blade called to her, begged her to wield it once more, for her to drive it through her enemies. It whispered a promise into the air. If only she would take it up, she would hear the lamentations of her enemies.

  She pulled her hand back, eyes wide as she stared at the weapon. This weapon was bad. She swallowed, turning her head toward the dying blaze. Whatever that was didn’t feel quite as bad as this sword. Amy stood and readied her fists, and as she did so, crimson flames trailed along her skin, flickering around her body like she was the human torch. She took a step toward the swirling green tornado as it burned itself out.

  Her breath caught in her throat, and her own flames vanished like they’d never been there at all. Caden stood before her, his bandaged, broken body barely able to support Kim. Her head fell bonelessly against his shoulder.

  Caden met her eyes, and he sighed in relief. “Thank god, someone I know is here.” His legs shook as he tried to drag Kim toward her. Amy reached out, swinging Kim’s other arm over her shoulder and Caden grunted in relief.

  “What’s going on?” Sabastin called, his eyes set into a hard mask. “How did you get in here? You shouldn’t be able to make it up here without one of my people as an escort…”

  Caden stepped backward so quickly he nearly dropped Kim. He struggled for a moment, nearly falling to the ground before Sabastin reached out, gripping his shoulder and stabilizing the boy

  He took a deep breath as his eyes took in Sabastin’s scarred form. “Are you Sabastin?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

  “Yes.”

  “Malcom told me to tell you Polyphemus is dead, and he is going after the one responsible.” Pain flashed across Caden’s face. “I’m hoping you know what that means.”

  “Dammit!” Sabastin cried, grabbing Caden by the shoulders and shaking him. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, that’s what he said right before he thrust Kim into my arms and sent me here.” Caden swallowed. “It was like he was saying goodbye.”

  Sabastin turned to face Amy. “You ha
ve to stop him. Malcom has not embraced enough of his mantle to stop Jormungand…” Sabastin nodded to himself as thoughts swelled in his eyes. “Okay… maybe we can salvage this.” He looked at Amy. “Amy, I need you to go after Jormungand, can you do that?”

  Amy swallowed as the words rattled around in her brain. Was he being serious? How was she supposed to go and stop Jormungand on her own? She’d never met the creature before, but she’d felt its presence. Just that feeling had been like staring into the vastness of space and realizing you were a tiny, inconsequential spec. Then again, he didn’t seem like the type to send her after Jormungand if he didn’t think she could win.

  “I’ll do my best, but I don’t know where to go,” Amy said as Sabastin pulled Kim from her arms and made his way up the stairs. He stared at Ian for a moment before dumping Kim in along with him.

  “The tank is only made for one person, but it will have to do,” Sabastin said, leaping from the stairs and turning a dial all the way to the right on the base of the fishbowl.

  “Is that safe?” Amy asked as sparks began to leap across the surface of the goop.

  “In a word, ‘no,’ but desperate times…” He trailed off as he reached out and grabbed Caden’s wrist. “Malcom transported you here?”

  “Yeah he did.” Caden smiled weakly.

  “Perfect, that means you’re in touch with his power, at least a little.” Sabastin placed his hands on Caden’s head. Green fire crawled across Caden’s skin, flaring brightly before winking out. A low moan escaped Caden’s lips as he collapsed haphazardly to the floor. “Oh… that’s way, way worse…”

  “What do you mean?” Amy asked, not sure if she should help Caden or not. Part of her wanted to make sure he was okay, but well, she wasn’t sure touching him right now was the best idea.