by T. E. Joshua
“How does it feel, Bodaway?” he asked perversely.
I didn’t respond; the pain was too great. He was killing me. My dema lowered even more, down to the third pillar. His foot deepened as I shouted for help.
“Call out to her. Call out to her now,” he demanded.
“No. I won’t!”
“Do it.” Suddenly we both felt a surge of energy near us. He stopped his assault, releasing his foot from of me like a giant sparing an insect. There she was, walking toward us as if she was going to finish off my brother.
“You have no power over me!” Natalie declared. A white aura hovered around her. It was the power of the Reborn God, the same power my father warned me about. I noticed her lips slowly moving; she was speaking in tongues.
“My dear Natalie.” He then glared at me and hideously said, “Bodaway, I think she can die now. I would like to kill her first. Then I’ll be back to kill you.”
“No, brother, leave her alone. I beg of you,” I pleaded. Blood foamed from my mouth.
As I lay there, seconds before Lyonell made his assault against her, the thought of death washed through me like a tidal wave. I had known death would come knocking at my door, though I had no reason to believe it would be this soon—perhaps I would fight to the death for her.
As I coughed up blood across the field, my ruthless brother left me helpless to defend someone I had come to care about, maybe even love. I still didn’t know yet.
My dark past had followed me to Blackfalls. I should have known better. But, as powerless as I was, I feared he would ignore my negotiation to at least let her live. I didn’t care if he killed me or not. I didn’t have any fight left in me.
He turned back to glare at me with his reddish devil eyes. He smiled as he whispered, “She’s mine, little brother.”
“Lyonell, no!” I gasped as I reached my hand out to him, brother to brother.
He veered away and sped toward her, vanishing as quickly as vapor. He thrust himself into her path, yelling, “All right, you little Awakened Reborn, I’m going to teach you a lesson in power that you will never forget!”
Natalie Schultz began to pray louder. The white aura increased in size. The two tyrants of power were about to collide.
Then something happened.
A massive yellow energy beam began to chase Lyonell. He sensed it at the last second and leapt high in the air to avoid being hit. The beam flew past him and onward to Natalie.
The wave was now a few seconds away from hitting Natalie.
I saw the fear in her eyes, the doubt, and the thought of death. Her faith began to dwindle as I helplessly watched.
Two seconds.
Natalie would dematerialize if the beam of light hit her. Falsha, Bors, or Sean could have blasted one from behind a building, putting the majority or all of their dark energy into it.
One second.
Then the unthinkable happened. The Awakened Reborn extended her hands outward. As the beam hit her palms, she hollered, “I believe!” The massive energy bounded off from her palms and rerouted back toward Lyonell.
As I looked up at my brother, who was still hovering in mid-air, his facial expression grew fearful. He tried to manipulate the dark energy. Nothing happened. His element of light wasn’t working. Wait! Of course, now I understood. Once Natalie touched the energy, the ball of light became hers to command. It was no longer dark energy, but light.
The energy then began to consume him.
“Nooo!” Lyonell hollered.
The energy shot off as small bolts of lightning as it lifted his body higher, sending him from the west end and into the clouds. He appeared to disintegrate into nothing but particles. I could no longer see his body. The wrath of Lyonell Lakota was over.
Soon, the smoke and dust from the battle settled in the west end. Natalie lay on the ground, exhausted and wounded. There was nothing left but rubble and dead bodies—the evidence of a massacre that never should have happened.
The mark on my chest continued to burn while I lay there in need of help. I continued move about the grass. I was more wounded than I had thought.
“It’s over,” I breathed in exhaustion.
The moment seemed to have lasted forever. I lay there with my eyes closed, thinking that I should be dead. If it weren’t for Natalie, then we would all be dead. On the other hand, if I had killed her behind Leroy’s Place, no one here would have died.
Then I heard James ask, “Tristan, are you okay?” He stood above me and reached down to grab my hand.
“Y-yeah, I think,” I mumbled. Drops of blood ran down my arm. Lyonell had cut me pretty bad.
“Good. I think Lyonell’s dead. Natalie killed him,” James said, looking at the depth of my wounds. He kneeled to the ground to hold my head up. It was true but sad—James was more of a brother to me than Lyonell ever had been.
“I don’t know if he is or not. We have to leave before more police officers show up,” I suggested.
There was a small pause as I listened to the cries beyond the battlefield. Bystanders mourned and called out for help. I looked a couple of yards from me, where the policeman Lyonell had tortured lay dead. His guts were scattered next to his corpse.
“James?”
“Yes, Tristan?” he asked quietly.
“Thanks for having my back. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Don’t mention it, literally. We’re family. We stand by each other’s side. No matter what happens,” I looked up at him as he added, “You need to heal.”
“I can’t. My body is growing colder. I’m losing blood, quickly. I have no more energy of any sort, not even dema.”
“Borrow some of mine,” he insisted.
“No, you need yours to heal.”
“You need it more,” he said as we were separated with a harsh force. James was knocked away from me. I turned toward his body but he was lost in the cloud of smoke. For the moment, my vision was off. I saw nothing but the cloud of dust before me.
“James?” I called out.
“He can’t help you, Bodaway,” a sinister voice shrilled.
No, Lyonell’s dead or at least unconscious.
Then a bloody hand appeared out of the smoke and grabbed me by the neck. I couldn’t breathe. I tried to push the hand away with little strength I had left but it was effortless. James, where are you?
Then a shadow of a forearm appeared, along with a shoulder and a head. His face was burned, and pieces of melted skin dangled from it, a hideous sight to see.
“Sean?” I asked, looking up at the young boy.
“Don’t think you’ve killed Lyonell yet. The battle’s not over,” he sneered. “That dumb bitch burned my face. She’ll die an even more painful death than you, number nine.”
He grabbed me by the collar of my singed shirt, unveiling his twin blades from his sleeves. The blades extended out from his black gauntlets. He rubbed the cold steel against my neck. “It gives me great pleasure to kill the number nine warrior and the second son of Chief Torah, the number one. My sister will be proud of me.”
Then I felt the edge of something sharp lying underneath me. It wasn’t sure but it might be my sword. It didn’t matter; I have very little energy left and couldn’t move much of my body. I grabbed the leather handle and watched Sean smiled with a sense of glory in killing me. The honor of bringing my head as a trophy back to Red Valley and claim praise from all of the tribe would be great—a Covenant warrior within the single digits killed by a lower double-digit warrior.
“You’re dead, Bodaway,” Sean snarled as he raised his blade above my neck.
“No, you are.”
I used the last bit of my dark energy and thrust the acute end of my sword through his body. He loosened his grip on my neck and looked downward, only to realize his fatal mistake. I twisted the blade clockwise, cutting his innards with the metal. Blood spilled out of his mouth. His face wore a regretful expression as his smile died—one that resembled that of a small
boy named Tristan. Yet Sean Winddick was a killer … like me.
“I am sorry, brother. You left me no choice.”
The boy fell to his knees, leaned into me, and then fell to the ground.
He mumbled, “Impossible.” the boy laid stone-cold dead with a baffled expression on his dying face. Sean Winddick, the fourteen-year-old boy of the Wolf clan, number thirty-seven of the Covenant, lay dead near me.
“Tristan!” Alope cried out from afar. I looked over and saw her sprinting toward me. Then I breathed a final breath. My vision blackened. Was I dying or had I passed out? I didn’t know. I didn’t care to know. All I knew was that Natalie was alive, and that was all that mattered.
18
The Burning of Flesh
PAIN SURGED THROUGH MY HELPLESS body as I awoke in a strange room. It was gloomy and dark. My blurry vision was a heavy burden to my head. I tried desperately to lift my upper body but failed. My lower half seemed to be healing rapidly. The burn marks from Lyonell had healed.
I heard small mumbling outside of the room. The voices decreased to a low volume while I struggled in the bed. I tossed and turned as I tried to figure out where I was being held. Nothing seemed familiar to me. I was lost. The last thing I remembered was striking Sean Winddick with my sword of fire before I passed out.
Taking additional notice of my surrounds, I realized I wasn’t in a hospital, but in someone’s room. I didn’t see any pictures or posters that I recognized. There was no connection, but it was cold, lonely, and dark. A small window was visible above my head. The shades covered the sunlight from the invasion of darkness. Only a small amount of light entered the murky room. It was then that I remembered Natalie and my clan.
To some extent, I thought I was dead. I should have been. I had brought nothing but shame and death to my people—but I had made new friend, someone I could possibly see more with in the future. If my father could see me now, he wouldn’t have acknowledged me as his Promised Child, much less his son. He wanted me to be like him, but the problem was that I didn’t want to be. I hated him for it.
Suddenly, the door cracked open. I saw someone’s head look from behind the doorway. Her blonde hair glittered in the light behind her. Everything else was a mere shadow—except her eyes, the eyes of an angel. As expected, she was the first to come see me. I couldn’t take my gaze away from the blue and green colors. She didn’t move. Then the fragrance entered the room like a mist. It was holy and pure.
I sensed a familiar dema nearby. The dark energy rested next to me as I glanced to my right. It was her. I hadn’t even noticed her, distracted as I was by the morbid environment. She opened her honey brown eyes and flashed an ever so heavenly smile. Alope had rested beside of me the whole time I had been lying here. Like she always said, she would never leave my side. She would never leave me to fend for myself. We were friends till the end.
Alope rose and uttered very softly, “You’re alive, Tristan.”
I couldn’t respond because my vocal cords were dry. Lyonell must have punched me harder than I had thought. I could only mumble a few words for her to understand.
“I-it’s you,” I uttered in a very quiet voice.
I tried to move my body closer to hers, but I was still too sore to do so. She picked up on my movement and drew in closer to comfort me. I asked her, “What happened to Lyonell? What happened to my brother?”
Alope smiled with joy and responded, “I think he’s dead.”
That was impossible. “Who stopped him?”
“Natalie and Liyah stopped him. The Wolf clan can’t hurt us anymore.”
“Wait—Natalie?” I questioned.
“Yeah, she displayed some awesome Awakened Reborn powers like we had never seen before. Don’t you remember? Liyah blasted Lyonell with an energy wave from behind and Natalie reflected the wave back into Lyonell.”
Natalie killed him? I recall the beam of light clashing right into him as he yelled. No one in the single digits of the Covenant could be killed so easily, not even me. I pressed for additional answers. My curiosity wasn’t satisfied just yet. The number eight warrior wouldn’t go down with one single blast of dark energy, not by a long shot.
“Lyonell—he must still be alive.”
“Tristan, you must rest. Don’t worry about him. I will protect you if need be. He can’t hurt us anymore,” Alope assured me.
Then Natalie Schultz scurried over to me and muttered, “Alope’s right. You need rest. I’ll take care of you.”
Alope rudely suggested, “My dear, you have done quite enough for today. Tristan’s been through a lot and doesn’t need your help. I’ll take care of him from here.”
Natalie snapped back, “I’m not leaving his side, so you’re going to have to deal with it.”
“Natalie and Alope, it’s fine.” I uttered as I pressed through the pain of talking out loud. The more I raised my voice, the worse I felt. Both of them remained silent. Alope continued to cross her arms as Natalie leaned into cover me with a white comfy blanket. The jealousy between the two was as dense as a block of ice and just as cold and hard. I knew Alope all too well. Her envy could get the best of her, which could pose great danger for Natalie—but the Awakened Reborn wasn’t to be taken lightly.
Then I sensed the my clan rush to the door. Much of their dark energy had been drained. The door flew open and they stormed inside. As I lay there helplessly, Liyah Manwolf was the first to run to my side. James walked in after Liyah.
“Glad to see you’re healing, cousin,” James said as he stood next to Natalie. I could tell he was still wounded from Sean’s kick to the leg from the way he limped. He also had a bruised up arm, and his jacket sleeve was still covered in dried blood.
“James, your arm,” I said.
He grimed and replied, “It’s nothing compared to your injuries. I’ll heal in no time.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Then I looked over to Liyah, who grazed my forehead with her warm, gentle fingers. “Thank you, Liyah, for stopping Lyonell.”
“Don’t thank me; Natalie was the one who reflected my energy wave back toward him. I thought you were done for when you passed out on the west end,” Liyah confessed.
I chuckled a bit. “Come on, Liyah, you should know me better than that by now. It takes more than my egoistic brother to take me out.” Then I had to ask. “Where am I?”
“In your Uncle Eis’s house. You’re in his room,” Alope answered.
That was when Alope reached underneath the bed and retrieved two pairs of gloves. “These were Sean Winddick’s weapons. I removed the pair of Naiche blades from his dead forearms before the police and medical team arrived. They’re his gauntlets.
The gauntlets were covered in dry blood and a part of finger coverings were ripped. The gloves had a small trigger underneath the thumb area. I didn’t put them on because of my condition and handed the gloves back to Alope.
“Hold on to these for later use,” I said. “Are the others dead?”
“The unknown warrior and Sean Winddick are dead. Falsha and Bors are gone; we couldn’t find their bodies. They must have retreated after Sean died,” James answered.
“This will be a nationwide story for the media. The Wolf clan must have escaped when the army of police and military raided the west end. Surely the Tribal Council and the Naiche clan will hear about this. Father won’t be pleased. My sister will surely rat me out. They will send more warriors, probably higher ranked ones, Red Hunters,” I said lowly.
“I’ll protect you till you recover,” Alope kindly offered as she rubbed the top of my head.
“Thanks, doll face,” I said back. Natalie, who was on my left side, grabbed my blistering hands.
“Where is Aaron?” I asked, curious.
“Well,” James said with sadness, but Liyah cut him off.
“He’s downstairs with Uncle Eis. Come down when you can.”
“Okay, I shall be down in a few minutes to see them. If you guys don’t mind,
I would like to speak with Natalie alone, please,” I said with a hint of demand. James glared at me in disapproval but then smiled out of respect. Alope had a more sinister expression.
“Come on, Alope,” Liyah said. Alope stood there and answered, “Give me a minute, would you?” Liyah nodded her head in agreement. She and James left the room as Alope lay there, not paying any attention to Natalie. It was as if we were alone together, exactly what she had wanted from the beginning, even before we had traveled to Blackfalls to hunt down Natalie.
“Tristan, I thought I lost you earlier on the west end. I went crazy as they rushed you back here. I thought you were dead,” Alope confessed as she started to cry. “Just don’t ever leave me alone in this coldhearted world again. I need you. I can only survive with you. Okay?” Alope said passionately. She could barely get those words out of her mouth as she smiled happily.
“Thanks, best friend,” I said. She leaned over to kiss me on the cheek, showing Natalie that she wasn’t going anywhere. Alope released her warm lips from my cheek and looked up at the Awakened Reborn. This time she didn’t give her the evil bitchy glare but a face of gratitude. This was a rare occasion for Alope. She put aside her harsh, envious feelings for Natalie—well, for now.
“I’ll leave the two of you alone now,” Alope uttered sadly. She vanished from the room.
“Wow, I thought that girl would never leave us alone,” Natalie humorously said as she held onto my hand. She squeezed it tight, as if believing that I would chase after Alope.
“Alope is a good girl with a heart of innocence. Give her a chance, she’s only fifteen-years-old,” I muttered in her defense.
The pain on my side started to hurt as I tried to move around.
“We should have admitted you to the Blackfalls Metropolitan Hospital,” Natalie expressed warily as she watched me ache.
“No, it’s fine. The Anglo police would have found me for sure.” Natalie giggled. I continued, “I may take a few hours to heal, but going to the hospital would’ve gotten us caught and raised more unnecessary suspicion. The Spirit Whispers can heal me with prayers, or I can use my dema energy to heal my body faster than normal.”
