In Eden's Shadow

by Amanda Churi

  I stumbled backward, Satan flying past me and shifting His weight as He rounded back toward me, switching His weapon-bearing hand and prepping another strike. For the first time since coming home, I was afraid, and truly. He… He was so agile, but how?! This should have been easy!

  I fell onto my rump to avoid Him as Satan came storming my way, lashing at my face. The heat scathed my cheek and made me wince, my eyes burning from the sheer intensity—several strands of my hair crumbled away, disintegrating as soon as the aura touched them.

  Desperate, I threw my hands forward and clasped the bone of His leg, throwing all my weight into my impulsive attack. The bone shattered in my grip, and I was sent flying through the gap within His stance, meeting the ground face-first. His body reconstructed itself so fast that He never even tottered; He snarled irritably and thrust His hand down, snatching me by the tail.

  I yowled, my spine inflamed as He hauled my rear up from the ground with one hand like a miniscule feline. I groaned, my face smushed in the ash and eyes strained as I stared at Him upside down.

  He said nothing, staring back at me with not the slightest trace of mercy. My core… I felt it fluctuating uncontrollably, the golden blood in my veins coming to light as Satan snickered, repeatedly yanking on my tail for His own amusement. I winced, trying to pull away from Him, but my body would not listen—especially not Coruscus, who floundered uncontrollably, trying to slice off His arm and break free.

  “Not protecting your tail,” Satan reprimanded dryly. “How stupid for someone supposedly so worldly.”

  Urg… This was insulting. Of all the ways I imagined this battle prior, being downgraded to the level of trash never crossed my mind.

  “So, what would you like me to cut off first?” Satan politely asked. He aimed His pitchfork at my face, smirking as I squirmed by instinct. “Arm? Leg? Groin?”

  I huffed, annoyed, tired. “Just kill me, and get it over with. At least let me die an honorable death in return for beating Your stupid game.”

  He chuckled humorously with a raised eye. “Oh, now where would be the fun in that? Besides, last time I checked, life isn’t fair, and neither is the afterlife.”

  I saw His pitchfork swing up as a blur, and the next thing I knew, blood was painting the air.

  The world slowed. Deep, musky red blood hit the ground in sluggish splats, soaking into the ash and giving it a contaminated hue. My vision flashed white, my ears ringing and core nearly exploding as I fell to the ground, shaking without restraint.

  Gasps from the onlooking crowd smothered the coliseum. I could hardly see, hardly think as I looked up at His spinning face, His lips wide and eyes slits as He held my limp tail beside His face. Coruscus’ soul-bound blade was gray and dark within, the powerful, gaudy golden blood within my slick, wire-like extension turning red as it fled my body, gradually turning my tail black.

  I was panting, struggling, clawing for life as I stared at Coruscus and the piece of my fallen soul within it. Past and present clashed within my clouded, blaring mind, showing two distinctly different bodies of the same enemy holding an identical trophy. My gut seized up while my steaming blood condensed, falling horrifically cold and whisking my breath away as Satan’s previous and current forms switched back and forth at erratic intervals.

  But I was the same—on the ground, defeated, and suddenly remembering my initial revolt against Him so long ago… And not just the fact that I did it, but why, recalling the thoughts from way back then that condemned me to ruin.

  How could I have forgotten? Had I been restrained for so long, so desperate to get back home and exist amongst a norm that my brain purposely made me reject what I knew was true? But at this very moment, the trigger didn’t matter, only the result.

  Because again… It happened again… How could I have lost again?

  “Pathetic,” Satan grumbled. “Utterly pathetic. You know, as one who shared the skies of Heaven with me, I expected a better fight. After all, we were both once angels, were we not?” He crouched, looking me in the eye. The black void within His sockets suddenly gained life, and for a moment, I saw the Lucifer I had known in Heaven before Hell became our all. “I’m not sorry, just so it’s clear. You should have used that mortal brain you had and known not to come back.” He returned to His full height, pointing His pitchfork at the base of my throat. I could most certainly feel the heat of His fury, but I could also feel the chill from His tired, broken soul. He may have once been an angel, equivalent in strength to many, but thousands of years of training fueled by the deepest of hatreds did wonders… For while the rest of us submitted to our altered realities, He fought His and never stopped trying to reopen doors that were forever sealed the moment His wings broke cloud.

  My core violently shuddered. I stared at the wisps of smoke peeling off from the spires, a swarm of voices rising within—thousands upon thousands of fledglings erupting into a panicked frenzy the closer the spears drew.

  Shut up… I told them as I waited for Satan to sever my head. There was no way you all were going to survive, anyway. Now, you die with me. Appreciate it.

  You aren’t going to die, idiot.

  An intense throb attempted to shoot my eyes straight from my head. That voice… It was stupid and sassy, and I was sure I had heard it before. I almost had an unsaid grudge against it. What are you talking about? Who are you?

  None of your business. Now do me a favor, and be a good wittle demon, ok? It’s about to get rough.

  My frustration overpowered my fear. “What are you—?!”

  My drained body cringed, and my eyes were squeezed until they were hardly more than slits. My mouth dropped open, and for a moment, I was confused. No, not confused—I felt dead, barren inside.

  My vision mashed, and Satan distorted before me into a pathetic looking boy with golden eyes. Frantic, I swung my head around, trying to find the real devil, but He was no longer within eyesight. Soot was washing over my oddly shaped fingers as I lie on my stomach, attempting to grasp the illusion around me. Everything was spinning. Everything was heavy on my body and constricting my mind. Darkness etched its way at my pinched vision, but the hazardous environment never shifted, filled with demons and that emaciated, hollowed boy glaring at me with such profound hunger… It was like a living, breathing nightmare.

  “EERO!”

  My head whipped to the side, and I almost lost it when I saw a skeleton—a walking skeleton with a purple, energized chest and steaming eyes. They had a shimmering, ancient katana, and a rotten hand around—

  “MABEL?!” I screamed, my voice cracking as the only ray of light in such a confusing, chaotic mess broke into my unraveling soul. “You-you’re—!”

  “Naked, yeah!” she cried, awkwardly turning to the side and covering her chest. “J-just forget what you see and fight, dummy!”

  I only realized the nudity when she pointed it out. But fight? Fight what? I had no idea what she was talking about!

  …Wait, yes, I did. I did need to fight. I did remember that. But fight what exactly? That was… Wait… No, not fight; she must have meant run. I think. But run where? Back to the cottage? Were the Nobles coming after us?! Was that what this was?! No, it couldn’t be. Weren’t we past them? Didn’t we win? Was it the Encryption I had to escape? The Proxez? Hold up, what even were those? I knew the names but had no pictures. And Mabel… Yeah, no, I was right, that was her name… I think? She responded to it. What did she tell me again? To fight? No, she meant run—

  I blinked, feeling blind in a world of sight. Why… Why did it all feel so fleeting? Everything looked and felt asymmetrical; my brain itself seemed lopsided, my thoughts blending together with such vigor that I could only pull out names and memories for an instant before they rejoined the pulp in my head, pounded and squashed while trying to separate into fragmented pieces once more. What… What’s going on…?

  I looked back to my front, my heart upper-cutting my throat at the sight. I released a piercing screech, scrambling backwar
d with my chest palpitating so violently the reverb nearly brought me down. “Coruscus! That’s Coruscus! WHY IS CORUSCUS ON A TAIL?!”

  The ghoulish boy cracked his neck and placed his head straight, slightly retracting his pitchfork. “My Devil, you were so calm about dying seconds ago. What happened? Finally fearing nothingness?”

  Nothingness?! Who was this, and what was he talking about?! “What?! YES, of course, I’m afraid! What’s going on?! Why am I here?!”

  He didn’t answer, merely chuckling as he resumed his painstakingly slow advance, tapping the blazing rod of his pitchfork in his palm. I was hyperventilating, waddling back like a hermit and trying to gain vital distance. “Wait! Please! I-I don’t understand! I don’t—!”

  My heart popped, my elbows and knees buckling as I fell back into a soggy mound of ash. Electricity and power were coursing through every cell, my brain contracting and heart about to rip at the seams as I glanced down at my chest, unable to recognize the mineral-like bronze that coated every band of existing muscle.

  And for a moment, I knew. A brief moment. Hisses, gargles, starved snarls echoed in my head and rammed into my skull, trying to take away what was so briefly gained. Only the smallest pieces were there, but they all fit together and overtook me, revealing a twisted, terrifying path that I somehow understood to be my only way out.

  “W-wait!” I gasped, my back giving out and throwing me down. “B-bargain!”

  Curious, the boy’s scorned lips twisted within one another, and his face began to erode, revealing plagued bone and flesh. He remained still for a moment, and then his rusting, battered head slowly started rotating clockwise, continuing to do so even after it passed ninety degrees. “Oh, it would seem a bit late to strike a deal with me, especially after all that your treacherous mouth has spouted.”

  I didn’t even know what I was saying, but the words rushed out one after the other, desperate as a sharp pain drilled itself deeper and deeper into my skull. “But Mark! Yes, Mark! The Mark knows the way!” Arms unsteady and fingers feeble, I threw my hands over my heart. “Remember? Mark! Mark! Your Mark!”

  His head stopped its rotation as my words struck a string of realism. Fluidly, His head returned to its normal position, surprise dominating His blackening face and tugging on the corners of His eroding eyes. No words allowed themselves to be heard for a moment, bone-bound flames the size of embers breaking through His withering golden hair. “What of it?”

  The picture was getting fuzzy. The words were getting sluggish, but they continued to push through while the pressure in my brain congregated at the very center. “You… Want to be in control again… The P-Proxez… They’ve taken advantage of You. L-let me live… Me-mend the Mark… Inhabit me… I will take You to Earth… And we will kill them all… You will get Your dominion back.”

  My neck shot to the side, plowing into the ash with a flop. I wailed for air as my lungs shuddered, the cilia shriveling amongst the waves of heat as my immunity lapsed. Distant, muffled voices were arguing in my head, fighting as my heart rate skyrocketed and numbness crept from the fingers up. “This is my body!” I suddenly roared, my voice entering an octave so low and cringeworthy that my ears ached. “Do not make decisions for me!”

  A burst of cold raced across my forehead before my neck flopped to the opposite side. “No, it’s my body!” my natural voice yelped. “I was born with it!”

  Flop. “And I was chosen for it!”

  ENOUGH!

  The distinctive sound of Velcro sliced my inner ears apart along with a sharp jab, my thrashing muscles liquefying and forcing my body to relax. My sight returned—a bit static-like and slow to process at first, before reclaiming its all-seeing nature.

  My growl could not be chained, neither my anger as I rolled my head so that I stared at Satan in His clearly decrepit form. I was the strongest demon besides Satan; how was it possible that a mere mortal soul countered me for even the smallest smidge of time?! Better yet, how did it? The fledglings had to have eaten it to get to me!

  “I retract my statement,” I slurred, pushing up from the ground and using my arms to keep my shaking torso aloft. “I’d rather You kill me than dominate my soul.”

  Satan rolled His eye sockets, swinging His arm back and chucking my severed tail at my face. I used my arms as springs to launch myself in the nick of time, catching Coruscus out of surprise just before falling onto my side. The shadow of Satan stretched over me, His black eyes taking a keen, ravenous shine to them. “No.”

  “Excuse me?!” I fumed, bringing Coruscus so close that we nearly merged. “I said ‘no.’”

  “As did I,” Satan rounded. “I happen to take interest in your proposal.”

  “It’s not my proposal!” I shot angrily. “It’s this shitty body speaking!”

  Satan smirked, kneeling and putting His weapon uncomfortably close to my neck. “Maybe, but see, Eero has always been an interesting child—and just as you do, he never fails to catch me by surprise.”

  My shoulders ever-so-slightly drooped. “Eero…? I am Eero.”

  “As is the name of your human soul.”

  “…Well, that couldn’t be more confusing.”

  Satan shrugged. “Blame Azuré for the name choice; guess she could see beneath the surface the moment she birthed him.”

  I tensed. Azuré was this heathen’s mother? How was that even possible? She had been a close friend of mine and a loyal, high-ranking demon, much like myself. What would bring her to touch the skies of that putrid Earth?

  … And to bring an Essence to, she herself had to be one with a human-puppet. But how and why? I saw her name on the gallows… But what had she done that could possibly equate her fate to that of mine?

  “Nevertheless,” Satan continued, “your other half’s offer… It is too enticing to possibly resist.”

  I growled, pushing myself up while continuing to clutch Coruscus. My spine was erect, and my eyes were slivers, infuriated as Satan gave me the taunting flash of teeth. “Maybe You misunderstood—I won’t accept.”

  Satan snickered. “No, I think you did. See, his proposition may have holes within the plan, but he sees what you do not: I cannot simply abandon Nortora, or those humans will secure this place once and for all. But if you manage to get back up there… Fight them and weaken them…” He slowly retracted His weapon and allowed visions of glorious death to overcome Him as He tilted His head back. “Then, without worry, I can briefly leave this land through you and kill that bastard Gannon in return for the elimination of so many of my followers. Maybe I can even swing at the good ol’ man afterward.”

  His eyes met mine once more, and He reached out to me with a crumbling hand. “And maybe, just maybe, I will reward you for your service afterward.”

  I scowled. Satan and I were too much alike. He would not reward me; He never kept His word, and if He did, there was always a sick twist involved.

  I boldly shoved His hand away with my elbow, hearing such loud gasps that together they would make the entire human population go deaf. “No.”

  He snickered, shaking His head. “Pity. See though, there is something that I heard you say earlier, and it bodes true for me as well.” He thrust His hand forward and snatched me around the throat, digging His sharp bones into my neck and nearly crushing it. I gagged, my arms releasing Coruscus as I desperately clawed at Him while trying to expand the reaches of my mouth to snap His wrist off. From His open-ended, rigid fingers, wisps of a blackened plague were injected into my throat, melting my insides as I thrashed and kicked, gagging painfully as poison overtook my body, dimming the golden blood within my veins.

  Satisfied, He abruptly released my throat, my body crumpling to the ground in a heap of misery. I panted, gargled, clawing at my throat as rusted nails and toxic fire exchanged roles within my bloodstream. There was no possible way to maintain my cool as the torture slowly trekked down to my heart until it reached the scar tissue of His former Mark.

  As soon as the afflicted area
had been touched, I collapsed face-first, crying into the soot as the microscopic swords reached up and sliced open my solid skin, carving out what would now be my fate as my demonic body came to recognize a total of three successors.

  “Because remember, you don’t have a fucking choice,” He chided with a smirk. “Now then, take your ‘gift’ of a mage with you on your return to Earth. She will be helpful, as will Korbu.”

  “W-what?!” Korbu exclaimed in surprise. “My Lord! I—!”

  “Will graciously accept this quest,” Satan finished strongly. Korbu stuttered, my watering eyes and wheezing mouth painfully turning to him. Our eyes locked for a mere instant before Korbu grunted and stepped back, falling in line with Maeve to save himself from the punishment of my resilience. No, I did not give a damn about Korbu any longer, but no one deserved the Mark… And those who accepted it willingly were the biggest imbeciles to ever grace the universe. Guess I already knew more about my human counterpart than I thought.

  The pain finally began to retreat, but I could not bring myself to move, only stare at the fallen Coruscus. Unfortunately, it took me losing my irreplaceable weapon to remember why so long ago I rebelled, and it reaped my soul head to toe. Condemned to hibernation for so long, I suppose it was only natural that my brain had pushed away the very thoughts that took me down, but my tail, my life force… Its downfall fueled those recently revived fires all the more. Coruscus was never truly mine, and it never would be with Him ruling over me, and just as it had thousands of years ago, a flare of rebellion sparked in my soul—one that sought to destroy every oppressor who kept me from afterliving how I wanted to.

  I suppose I didn’t have a choice but to do what He asked of me, especially with the Mark… But what was the rush? I would take my time traveling. I would train. I would watch on silently and calculate my future moves with the utmost accuracy. I would rebuild my strength. I would use my enhanced knowledge to come out on top and catch the advantage.