by EJ Wallace
Ras' Guul's laugh echoed through the black fog. “Now it is I who can feel fear in your heart, Ezekiel. Worry not, I will rip it out of your chest, and you shall fear no more.” A jet of smoke came rushing out of the fog like talons. It raked at Ezekiel's chest, leaving three bloody trails across it. Then Ezekiel felt the same pain erupt in his back and on his neck. The talons came pouring from the darkness like rain. The flurry of blows rent his flesh, the shadow claws howling around him like a tornado.
Ezekiel stumbled through the fog, tripping over his own feet. He then crawled on his knees, but there was no escape from the endless onslaught of talons. They were ripping him to pieces. Then, Ezekiel kicked something, a necklace, one with a cross pendant. “All faith is rewarded.” Ezekiel said, picking up the pendant. He felt the warmth stored inside it, the thousands of prayers channeled through it. Then Ezekiel's wounds healed, and the light around him burst forth in a bubble, shattering the veil of darkness.
Ras' Guul had returned to his human form now and was sprawled on the pavement, heaving heavily, his skin more pallid than ever. His eyes were wide with fear as Ezekiel approached. “How!” Ras' Guul howled. “How is he more powerful than me? I have leeched the strength of thousands over a millennium. Where does he draw his strength from?”
“It's the townspeople,” Andras said. “They are pious, and their faith gives him power.”
Ezekiel stood over Ras' Guul and reached to the sky once more, his blade of light returning.
Ras' Guul smirked. “So you think these people love you? Is that why you protect them?”
“I reward the faithful, the pure of heart,” Ezekiel said.
Ras' Guul scoffed. “You really think these people are pure? How do you think we found you, Ezekiel? Has that thought crossed your mind?”
Ezekiel paused, lowering his blade.
“Maybe you should closer examine the company you keep,” Ras' Guul whispered darkly. “Perhaps Ben could shed some light on this mystery.”
Ezekiel turned to Ben, who was huddled with his children, watching the battle. “What is he talking about, Ben?” Ezekiel asked.
Ben's face was flushed white. “J-Jake. I'm sorry. It was before I knew who you were, what you were. What you could do. I'm so sorry.”
“What do you mean?” Ezekiel asked, stunned.
“I told them about you, Jake. I told them only days after you arrived. They promised they would bring her back. They promised they would bring my wife back, Jake,” Ben sobbed. “I didn't know it would lead to this. Can you please forgive me?”
Ezekiel only stood silently, trying to interpret this new information.
“Traitor!” Ras' Guul hissed. “You see, Ezekiel? This is man's true nature. Selfishness and greed, fear and foolishness. Ignorance. Even now he makes excuses for his actions. He condemned you to death for his own lustful heart.”
The light in Ezekiel extinguished, his power dispersing. Then he was Jake once more.
“Ben... how could you do that? The whole time. We… we trusted you,” Jake said, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Ben looked down, ashamed.
Then Ras' Guul rushed forward, his long white hand wrapping around Jake's forehead.
“Jake!” Sophie shouted, dashing towards him.
“Silence!” Ras' Guul waved his arm, and a black tentacle appeared from thin air, wrapping itself around Sophie's waist and mouth. “Now!” Ras' Guul brought Jake closer to him. His strength was unending, his grip coiled steel. Jake felt as if he could crush his skull with the slightest of movements.
“Do you know what power I possess, boy?” Ras' Guul asked. “I am a lich. You see, each demon has a certain gift. Andras has power over fire, a good one, but unpredictable. Balan, as you may have guessed, possesses the strength of lunacy. I, however, have a very unique power. I can suck the mana from others. Steal their powers, their souls, their essence. Can you feel it, Ezekiel? Can you feel your life force draining?”
Jake sank to his knees as Ras' Guul sapped him of strength. Blackness danced on the fringes of his consciousness. He was tumbling now, into the abyss, an eternal descent.
“I'm going to kill her, too, Ezekiel,” Ras' Guul whispered. “Her powers would make a fine addition to my own. But first, I must absorb yours, to ready myself.”
Sophie. Jake remembered her now, her smile, her laugh. Her soothing presence. He would die for her, live for her. Jake got to his feet. “You want it, take it, take ALL OF IT!” Jake howled, letting go of the bonds that shackled both angel and demon inside of him.
“The power!” Ras' Guul cried, as red and gold light rushed into him. “The pure, unparalleled POWER!” Then, Ras' Guul's grip began to slacken, his eyes going wide. “T-there is too much! Stop! No!” Ras' Guul's knees buckled as the light coursed into him, and he began to bloat and swell. “Rauurghhh!” he screamed as the light tore him to pieces, vaporizing his very being. Abruptly, the light stopped, and all that remained of Ras' Guul was a smoldering crater.
Jake then looked to Balan and Andras, his eyes pure white. “Run,” he said, and the demons obeyed.
Chapter 9
(Sophie)
Sophie was sitting across from Jake, who was grinning from ear to ear. “What's so funny?” Sophie asked.
Jake shrugged. “Nothing. I'm just happy,” he said.
Sophie laughed. “Me too.” Sophie and Jake had been helping repair the town for the past week. It only seemed right, seeing as they were the cause of most of the damage. Well, Ezekiel was, the renegade angel imprisoned inside Jake's body. Somehow, though, Sophie thought it was easier to explain it using the former description.
“You're eating the best barbeque south of heaven. So you better be,” Ben said from the grill. They were sitting at a picnic table in the park, celebrating after a long day or rebuilding Joe's diner. Even after today, it still had half of a car wedged in the wall. The work was slow but rewarding. And since Jake had forgiven Ben, and the demons weren't chasing him anymore, they had all the time in the world.
“I still don't understand something,” Jake observed, taking a bite of his hamburger.
“What?” Sophie asked.
“Your powers, did they come back or not? How did you know that Ras' Guul would die? That I would win?”
“Faith,” Sophie said with a wink.
Jake frowned. “So you never got your powers back?”
Sophie shook her head. “No.”
“But why?”
“Maybe I can answer that,” a familiar voice said. Sophie's eyes fell on Gabriel, the fallen angel. The scent of fresh linen filled her nostrils.
~~~
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
