by Alexie Aaron
Clupea shook his head. “I think it’s time to sever our relationship.”
“You can’t until my family have all passed naturally on,” Piers said. “I assure you I have been very fruitful.”
Clupea waited until each heritage demon moved to their master before speaking. “What incentive do we have to continue to follow your orders?”
“I will release you so you can move on to another family,” Piers said.
“But if you end the world, there will be no one to move on to. There will be no Hell, no regeneration, and basically, you will have fucked us.”
“What are you going to do then?” Piers asked.
“We could kill you now and take our chances in Hell,” Clupea said. “Lucifer is sick of your doings anyway. We may be heralded as heroes.”
“Go ahead, it’s a win-win situation for us,” Piers bluffed. “We’ll just go into the light where we have favors owed. They will send us on to Ursa Minor where we will be gods. Just a little ahead of time.”
“But what about the rest of the Cynosura?” Clupea asked.
“I don’t think we care about them, do we?” Piers looked around at the bloated, rich men.
Clupea scanned the room. The thought of these bastards being gods in another galaxy was bad, but his being tied to Piers, killing his enemies for him, was worse. He advanced upon the man and slowly plucked the man’s limbs off. And when his screams ceased, Clupea beheaded him and, with tremendous force, shoved Piers’s head up his own ass. Satisfied, he saluted the other heritage demons. The ground opened, and he jumped in, laughing all the way.
The elite pleaded to their demons to no avail. It seemed like each demon tried to outdo Clupea in the pain they inflicted before they killed their masters, desecrated their corpses, and accepted their fate as Hell called them home.
~
Mia opened her eyes, feeling the coolness of the sudden downpour. She squirmed out from under Angelo’s protective wing and let the rain wash the sand from her. She looked down and saw Angelo move to his back. He looked up at her.
Mia knelt. How are you feeling?”
“Tired, damn tired. You?”
“A bit wobbly. Thanks for pulling me out of the water.”
“It’s what I’m here for. I wonder if it’s over?” he asked.
“How far away are we?” Mia asked, looking around.
“Half a state.”
“Whoa.”
“If I could stand, I’d take us back,” Angelo said.
“If we get back too soon, I’ll have to clean up dead giants,” Mia said.
“If we are gone too long, Ted’s going to think we fooled around.”
“I would like to get back to pay my respects,” Mia said. “Will you sing the lament?”
“Soren will. Help me up.”
Mia helped Angelo to his feet. He spread his wings and shook them out.
“Hey, watch it,” Mia sputtered as she was splattered with wet sand.
The sound of a horse stopped her from picking up a handful of sand and launching it at Angelo.
They turned.
“That’s something you don’t see every day,” Mia said.
“Flying horses aren’t that unusual,” Angelo said.
“No, but Murphy and Abigor sitting together on one is. Last time I saw them together, Murphy had an axe planted in Abigor’s side.”
Murphy jumped off the horse, ran over, picked Mia up, and swung her around. He then walked over and shook Angelo’s hand. “For a bird, you’re mighty handy.”
“For a farmer, you sure do get around,” Angelo countered.
“Mia Cooper Martin, you’re standing in naught but your birthday suit!” Abigor scolded, draping his cloak around her. “Bad enough you’ve done the spiral with three birdmen in three weeks, but here I catch you dancing in your underpants in the pouring rain.”
“You can thank me later,” Mia said. “Tell us. Did it work?”
“It worked. The door is gone, and after we send the valiant off, we have some celebrating to do.”
“You and I have had our problems, but I mean it when I say that you are one hell of a general.”
“I had the best to work with. I am honored by your praise, but this win should be celebrated by everyone involved.”
Abigor turned and eyed Angelo. “The doors of the house of Abigor will always be open to you and yours.”
“As will my aerie.”
Mia felt a tingle on her arm and looked over at Murphy. “You flew to find me,” she said.
“I did,” he said simply. “But I’m walking back.”
“I’m not walking with you.”
“Come on, Mia, it’s only one hundred and twenty miles.”
“You want me to walk one hundred and twenty miles barefoot, dressed in only my underwear and Abigor’s cape?” Mia said, nodding to Angelo who snatched Murphy up from behind and disappeared.
“Come on, Mia, I’ll give you a ride so you can tell me again how wonderful I am.”
Mia laughed and got on the horse behind Abigor.
“Angelo called from the penthouse. He and Mia are safe and sound, and Abigor is bringing Mia back. Soren’s getting ready to send off the dead. He asks us to be there in a half hour before sunset,” Cid reported.
Ted closed his eyes and said a prayer of thanks.
“I hear hooves on the roof,” Cid said.
“It’s either Santa or Mia,” Ted said, running outside.
Ted rounded the corner of the building to see Mia climbing down. Her hair was a mass of knots, and she stood barefoot, shivering inside a massive cloak. She never looked more beautiful. He picked her up and kissed her. Her kiss back told him all he needed to know.
Mia walked down into the bunker and found her father sitting in the dark, nursing a drink from Altair’s flask. She drew up a chair and hugged him. “Please, fight it. I know your heart wants to stop beating because hers no longer does, but I need you. You owe me thirty-two years of tossing a ball. I’m sure there are a few father-daughter teas too. I know how it feels to lose someone so important to you, but the pain will ease.”
“Mia, it’s hard to explain, but when I knew she was gone, I’m ashamed to say that, for a moment, I felt relieved that I didn’t have to explain how I disappointed her, again. Then the grief came. I started walking and found myself here. I saw the chaos that we had caused with our need for academic glory and felt sick. I stumbled into the museum where someone had laid out your mother. I saw how you had tenderly covered her with your mourning feathers to give her dignity in death. Feathers that you knew you would need to have a chance at surviving this fight. My beautiful selfish wife covered with my beautiful noble daughter’s feathers. I knew that I had to survive in order to make sense of all of this.”
“Come stay with us. Don’t go home.”
“I’ll think it over.”
“Mia,” Ted said, walking over. “You need to get dressed for the send-off.”
“Dad, are you coming?”
“I don’t think so. Give me time. I’ll see you back at the farm.”
~
Mia, gowned once again in Ralph’s creation, devoid of the blood he hosed off before letting her wear it, stood between Abigor and Angelo. Ted, who stood with his arm around his son Dieter, had seen Mia in many different guises, but tonight she looked like royalty. She was beautiful even though her face was pinched from holding back tears. Before her were twenty-five warriors and one Norseman. All died under her and Abigor’s shared banner. Ted knew the responsibility of what Mia had asked these warriors to do weighed heavily on her shoulders.
Soren walked forward, leading a procession of birdmen and birdwomen who encircled the dead. Nicholai and Victor arrived and closed off the circle.
Soren stepped forward and spoke. “Warriors, healers, friends, we are here to call for the sparrows to come and take our twenty-five home.”
A low beautiful tone sounded from the birdmen before their voices joined and rose to
the heavens.
Valiant men of the eternal sky
Warriors all into death they fly
Made of heart, feathers and steel
Soaring on tides, these men of leal
Into action these heroes fly
Filling the air with their battle cry
Wings beating hard, as weapons held
A line of iron the birdmen weld
No attacker of the human race
Be it by sword, knife or lifted mace
Shall withstand this mighty bird of prey
No cries of victory for them today
Before you lie our dead valiant
Unto this field of loss lament
Do not mourn their passing, no
Into the wind their souls will go
Out of the setting sun flew twenty-five sparrows. Each landed on a warrior and waited.
“Take our brothers to the place of light. Take our brothers on their last solo flight,” Soren commanded.
The sparrows lifted off slowly, pulling the soul of the warrior out of his broken body. As they moved higher, the body faded away, because the body of a birdman is nothing without the soul attached.
Mia watched the birds fly back into the setting sun. When they had gone, she stepped forward and said, “Before me lies a proud and mighty Norseman. He left the comfort of his fire to help us in our plight. Never underestimate how well a Norseman can fight. Welcome, Valkyries, come and guide Dag to his reward.”
The twilight sky opened and five wolves with five black-winged Valkyries riding them landed. The lead Valkyrie walked up to Mia. Mia handed the woman Dag’s sword. Dag rose and nodded his head to Mia before he sat upon the wolf. The lead Valkyrie rose in the night sky, and in a flash, all were gone.
“Well, that’s going to put Roumain out of business,” Abigor said.
Mia winced and shook her head.
The squadron readied itself to take off. Victor took Mia’s hand. “We will speak soon,” he promised.
Nicholai walked over. “Seems to me, you were supposed to dance with me.”
“I can’t help it you fell asleep, Pops,” Mia teased.
“I don’t know how anyone is going to explain the damage you two did.”
“So far no one is asking. Don’t worry, a few winter storms and the beach will be back to normal. I hope.”
Ted walked up. “The count is in, and according to Jake, who followed your forays into the slaughter of frost giants with rapt attention, Nicholai, you bested Mia by two giants.”
“Only two?” Nicholai said. “Tell him to count again.”
Mia laughed. “I think I got credit for half of the ones Angelo and I blew back into the doorway.”
“Okay, then that makes sense,” Nicholai said.
“Victor has one more than you,” Ted said, looking at his list.
“It will just go to his head,” Nicholai complained.
“Murphy has three more than Victor.”
“What a way to bury the lead, Teddy Bear,” Mia grumbled.
“Wait, that’s not all. Altair has three more than Murphy. He has the most kills.”
“Oy,” was all Mia said. “Wait, how many did I get with my cannons?”
Ted raised his finger. He dialed and repeated the question to Jake. “Eight, but you have to share the kills with Murphy, which puts him over Altair.”
Mia frowned. “If I do, there will be no living with Murph, but I will have bested the feather boys.”
“Feather boys?” Nicholai growled.
Mia inched herself behind Ted.
“You can’t hide there forever, Little Bird.”
“Let’s not count the cannon casualties,” Mia said quickly. “I didn’t die and that’s important. Was there a pool?”
“Yes. Don’t worry, no one took you to win,” Ted said.
“I want the cannon victims back,” Mia said in a huff.
Ted walked away while Nicholai and Mia argued.
~
Piers’s soul moved out of his body. He looked down at the disrespect and the carnage. He vowed to return to Earth and hunt down Clupea and do worse to him. The souls of the narcissists, psychopaths, oligarchs, heads of industry, and dictators who embraced the Cynosura beliefs moved up from their bodies. They were as disgusted as Piers was by the ill treatment of their earthly bodies.
“Fear not, my friends, when we are gods, we will return and hunt down our murderers. We will have our revenge. Now, ready yourselves for our promised journey. We will be the first to travel to Ursa Minor. We will claim the best planets. We will enslave the denizens, and we will be gods!”
The others, bolstered by Piers’s claims, moved with him out of the building and stood upon the hillside and waited for the promised light.
Lensic looked down at the earth and tapped the screen a few times as if it would release different information. He transferred the information to his clipboard and went in search of Azrael who was sending off messenger angels to the new worlds.
“Isn’t it wonderful!” Azrael said, patting Lensic on the back. “They did it. They saved the earth. We will not have to witness those we have cared for die a fiery death.”
“About that… I have a mass murder on an island near St. Barts. Shall I send the light?”
“Who died?”
“Cynosura.”
Azrael tilted his head and closed one eye. “The sadistic sodomites that put the door in play?”
“Yes.”
“The same people who thought they could bribe my staff to send them to Ursa Minor to be gods?”
“Didn’t they bind heritage demons to their families?”
“Yes. Seems to me that Lucifer should have a crack at them,” Azrael said.
“But hasn’t he done enough, sir?” Lensic asked. “I spied him healing birdmen.”
“Clearly you were seeing someone else.”
“No, sir, he was there beside Altair healing the birdmen.”
“Earthly eyesore!” Azrael cursed. “We can’t give these base bastards to Roumain. He’ll quit. We can’t leave them on Earth; they would become wraiths or elementals.”
“They deserve to be punished. They are dark, dark souls…” Lensic prodded.
“Let me make a call,” Azrael said, picking up the cue.
The light appeared from the heavens. Piers walked boldly towards it and tumbled down the hill.
“The light isn’t connecting with the land. Jump for it, lads!” he said.
Piers moved up from the hill, watching the Cynosura, soul after soul, attempt to sail into the edge of the light only to fall short.
“This is outrageous!” Piers shouted. “As the spiritual leader of the Cynosura religion, I demand our right to the heaven of our choice. Send us to Ursa Minor!”
He felt a tap upon his back. He turned to see a very large hand before him. Behind the hand was an army of hands. He backed away, turned, and shouted, “REAPERS!”
Lensic looked at his monitor and waved Azrael over. “It looks like an arcade game. Watch as the ghosts are chased by the large hands.”
“Kind of a twisted version of Pac-Man.”
“Sir, you’re dating yourself,” Lensic said. “Ouch! That had to hurt.”
Two reapers decided they both wanted Piers. They each pulled on an arm until they ripped Piers in two.
“One down,” Lensic reported.
Azrael returned with a bag of popcorn. The two watched while the reapers cleaned the private island of Cynosura spirits. The souls of the rich and greedy were pounded into the ground, pulled apart, and squished between the fingers of the large hands, sending them to the Dark World to walk forever alone, never touching or hearing another being for an eternity.
One of Lensic’s aides walked over and reported, “Sir, there are reports of suicides all around the globe.”
“If they are Cynosura, send a reaper. If otherwise, send them on to Roumain.”
Chapter Thirty-three
Murphy walked into the woods wh
ere Mother Nature waited. She seemed to be sorting through bulbs when he arrived.
“We saved the world.”
“I never thought you wouldn’t,” she lied. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you.”
“Why didn’t you stay and honor the dead?”
“I didn’t want to get scooped up by accident.”
Mother Nature looked at the farmer and noticed he was a little off color. “Is there something bothering you, Stephen?”
“I keep imagining her kissing Angelo,” he said through his teeth. “I thank God I was too busy killing giants to see that.”
“Don’t play high and mighty with me, Stephen. You kissed and scrambled her eggs six years ago. Let Angelo have this kiss to remember.”
“He’s going to cause trouble.”
“I think Mia and Ted will be able to withstand it. If not, she’s got other options.”
“They all have feathers,” Murphy grumbled.
“Not all of them,” Mother Nature pointed out. “I will leave you with this advice. Stay off the pirate ships and out of the rum or Mia is going to geld you.”
Murphy blushed.
“Tell Mia I would like to see her, soon.”
“I will.”
Murphy decided that he did want to celebrate, but instead of watching Angelo’s smug expression, he had other company in mind. He picked up his axe and walked to the ley line and headed to Chicago.
~
After celebrating with PEEPs all night, Mia flew off to bring their children home. Ted stopped and collected their things from Quentin’s. There, he found Baxter and Quentin scotched to the gills. Ted was offered what was left of the expensive liquor, but he declined. “I’m going to head home. I have some things to tie up before Mia comes home with the boys.”
