LAMENT OF PURGATORY (ASHWOOD CHRONICLES #1)

by Brandon Chandler

  For a while, the group walked in silence but after another haunting howl, Ethan had enough of the quietness. “Why are those soldiers after us?”

  Hayden groaned as Kori answered, “because Giovanni wants to make the five of us residents of purgatory.”

  Lucia was the next one to pipe up, “are we there yet?”

  “We haven’t walked that far,” Brianna said sourly.

  Lucia huffed, “but this terrain can’t be good for my bare feet.”

  The others ignored her, which only caused her to loudly complain more.

  “How did you ever put up with her?” Dominic said covering his ears.

  “She’s not that bad,” Atticus protested.

  Kori scoffed, “she nearly killed me and Hayden.”

  Before Ethan had a chance to process what Kori had stated, she continued with, “then Christos attacked Lucia’s flying pirate ship, but the three of us managed to escape thanks to Hayden using his wings and flying us to safety.”

  Ethan’s eyes widened, “what?”

  Hayden threw his arms into the air defeated. “I guess no-one cares about keeping a low profile.”

  Brianna laughed fondly and wrapped her free arm around his. “Is that why you’re shirtless.”

  Dominic scoffed, “having wings is lame.”

  Hayden smirked as Brianna spoke the words he was thinking.

  “Don’t be jealous.”

  Lucia squealed and rudely shoved her way from the back up to Dominic’s side.

  “You boy,” she said tapping him on the shoulders. “Why don’t you fly us to the capital? I can navigate.”

  Dominic gave off an edgy laugh, “Me using my wings isn’t a good idea.”

  “Why not?” Lucia asked.

  Dominic cringed as he stared into Lucia’s face underneath the poorly lit forest. The combination of her wide eyes and anxious expression gave off the guise of an insane overly attached woman.

  “Flying isn’t my strong suit,” Dominic answered uninterestedly.

  Lucia huffed, “you’re no longer my favorite brother.”

  She backed up until she was walking alongside Hayden.

  He instantly said, “forget it.”

  Lucia pouted for a moment then smiled as the forest opened into a clearing that covered a wide area. About five small houses could fit in the large space. It was hilly with tall trees, wooden picnic tables, and benches with flowers, hedges and bushes growing all around. The twin moons shone brightly, giving light to the nocturnal beauty of the clearing.

  “This looks like a great place to take a break,” Lucia said running ahead of the group.

  “I don’t think she cares if we get caught by the soldiers,” Hayden said, watching Lucia sitting on one of the wooden tabletops.

  “How right you are boy,” Lucia said acidly. “Let’s say if you and your friends make it back home to your world, Atticus and I will still be trapped here, forever on the run from his maniac brother.”

  “You said you’ve changed and yes I see that. But the old you still shadows the new you.” Atticus said soothingly. “I still see some of that obnoxious and overthinking woman I fell in love with within you.”

  Atticus and Lucia appeared to have a silent conversation as they stared into each other eyes. Lucia finally looked away, tears threatening to blur her vision, Atticus’s hands encircled hers. It felt reassuring almost as if he sensed her desperation to be touched by him. He pulled her free from the table and she leaned on her toes to rest her forehead against his.

  “Damn you Atticus,” she whispered.

  As their lips brushed against one another, the sound of Dominic imitating the act of vomiting interrupted the intimate moment. Kori stared dreamily at them, while the others looked away uncomfortably.

  “I think this is beautiful,” Kori said drawing an air heart with both index fingers.

  Hayden groaned, “you would think that.” He still found it hard to establish eye contact with either Atticus or Lucia.

  “Is being edgy still popular? because you’re good at it,” Atticus said reaching over and pinching one of Hayden’s cheeks. “It’s so adorable.”

  “Right,” Lucia screeched as she pinched the other cheek.

  Hayden snarled slapping both of their hands away from his face. “The two of you are made for each other.”

  Brianna and Kori laughed fondly at Hayden as a flash of annoyance came across his face. He groaned whilst staring at the ground and listening to the others talking amongst themselves. His stomach grumbled way too loudly for his own comfort. Hayden clutched his abdomen as the others glanced his way.

  “Have you eaten at all today?” Brianna asked.

  Hayden shook his head.

  Brianna along with Atticus and Ethan freed their rucksacks from their shoulders. “There was food in these bags,” Atticus said as he and the others positioned the backpacks onto the table. They unzipped the bags and after moments of fishing around inside; Brianna pulled a can of tuna free, Ethan a tortilla, and Atticus a sealed bag of granola cereal.

  Hayden shrugged and accepted the food, “we’ve had worse.”

  He tastefully ate under the light of the twin moons, and the others continued their conversations with one another.

  When finishing up his meal, fragments of Hayden’s thoughts splintered off and spun into nothingness. The absence of howling sounds belonging to unseen nocturnal creatures raised his vigilance. Silence lingered in the air making the shallowness of his companion’s banter louder and projected.

  A distant roar of an engine boomed throughout the night sky, triggering everyone to cease their conversation. A flying pirate ship blossomed overhead partially eclipsing the moons. Brianna grabbed hold of her wand and the brothers summoned their handguns while Atticus drew his sword.

  Its sails were threatening as the grim reaper’s hooded cloak in ebony complemented the sky. The rest was all solid as any indestructible metal. Deep red like blood with golden trimmings, the ship hovered in the air with regal dignity creating waves of winds.

  Hayden swore underneath his breath watching several armor-clad men bound from the aircraft. They landed smoothly onto the ground with bent knees and then spread, surrounding them in military fashion.

  Hayden felt the nails of Kori pressing into his arms as she clung to him.

  A man somersaulted forward and executed a three-point landing on top of the wooden table. He stood tall and proud as if ready to deliver an inspirational speech. Unlike the other soldiers, the man wasn’t equipped with a high-powered rifle or helmet. Instead, he had a katana sheathed to his side and his face remained visible. His slim features mirrored that of Atticus but were softer less rugged and younger. His face was clean shaven and he had short jet-black hair.

  “Greetings,” he shouted with joyous laughter. “I’m glad that I found you when I did. I was afraid my ship wouldn’t have been able to handle another teleportation,” he smiled broadly.

  “Maxi!” shouted Atticus. “It’s been so long brother.”

  The man’s face flushed bright red as his mouth twisted into a frown.

  “That’s no longer my name!” he screamed with such ferocity that Atticus looked astonished.

  Realizing everyone was staring at him the high priest took a moment to compose himself. “Please, Divinity Soldiers put away your weapons. These people are our friends.”

  The defense force lowered their rifles submissively.

  Dominic snorted, “this is the guy we’re running from?”

  “Don’t,” Brianna warned. “Don’t you remember your fight with Malek?”

  “I love that wild card look in your eyes,” Christos said staring into Dominic’s face. “But don’t try anything stupid. I’d hate to waste you... because Giovanni wants you all alive.”

  “Speaking of your boss...where is he?”

  Christos turned his focus onto Atticus. “Thanks to your vanishing spell he’s scouring all over purgatory looking for Gaspard and Malek,” he rubbed his
chin. “Which will probably cost him a considerable amount of energy...I should prepare him a feast of souls upon his return.”

  Dominic chuckled, “screw your boss.” He opened fire on the high priest.

  Christos sighed, “that’s not going to work.”

  Dominic’s eyes widened as the rounds never made it to their intended target. In disbelief, he glared at his two projectiles floating in mid-air between him and Christos.

  “Don’t retaliate!” he screamed at the soldiers as they raised their weapons.

  The high priest hopped from the table and walked circles around the suspended ammunition. “Interesting, they are pure energy in the form of a bullet,” he paused staring a Hayden. “Like the ones you fired at me...but these are slightly weaker although faster and able to travel a further distance.”

  Christos waved his hands through the projectiles disrupting their physical manifestation. They erupted into miniature clouds of explosions. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Dominic taking aim again.

  Christos gripped the bridge of his nose. “Why are teenagers so-,”

  The sound of Dominic’s firearm going off at various intervals interrupted him. Christos groaned with frustration as a swarm of his soldiers fell to the ground in a heap of armor and bluish-white balls of light flew heavenwards. The other soldiers wasted little time to retaliate and began to open fire. Dominic smoothly dodged the assaults bolting towards the forest.

  “Hold your fire!” Christos screamed frantically.

  The guardsmen didn’t hear over the barrage of shots.

  Amid the chaos, the others also retreated into the darkness of the surrounding forestry.

  Christos screeched with frustration, “hold your damn fire.” The fierceness of his voice this time boomed over the gunfire. “What are you even shooting at? They’re all gone.”

  One by one the men halted their assault.

  One soldier asked, “do you want us to go after them, your holiness.”

  Christos inhaled deeply. He reached out as if he was going to choke the soldier but after exhaling, he lowered his hands. “No,” he said softly. “I’m sending in an expert.”

  He looked up at his floating ship and whistled. A thunderous roar boomed from above, followed by the sounds of something heavy and huge clumsily smashing around overhead. Seconds later a massive creature vaulted from the ship. It landed on top of the picnic table snapping it in half underneath its weight. The ground quaked around them.

  The soldiers cowered at the sight of the Beast, none of them daring to make eye contact.

  “Bring me the outsiders along with my brother and Lucia,” Christos said without looking back at the creature. It snarled then sprinted off with abnormal speed.

  Chapter -Thirty-Four

  His feet slipped on the moist forest floor, causing him to fall face first. Ethan rolled onto his back as large amounts of air rushed in and out of his lungs. For a while, he laid there until he was able to breathe normally. He sat up and took a short moment to analyze his glasses and wondered how he hadn’t broken them yet. The sudden sound of rustling leaves reminded him that the others weren’t around. Placing his glasses back onto his face he scrambled to his feet. The rustling came again, and he squinted, staring off into the shadowy corners of the woodland.

  Through the darkness came the glow of two golden eyes, like sallow lamplights eight feet off the ground. They moved with a slight mastery as if the unseen body prowled like a big cat.

  Ethan froze.

  The eyes did not, continuing with swift acceleration with the ground bouncing around them as if they shared a trampoline. In less than two seconds he was on his back gasping for air as a massive hand gripped his neck, and soon another form of darkness rendered him unconscious.

  HAYDEN AND BRIANNA came to a halt after hearing a distant roar. The light illuminating from her wand warded off a small portion of darkness while highlighting their faces.

  “That sounded really scary,” Brianna said briskly.

  “Yeah,” Hayden agreed uninterested. “Can you do a locator spell to find the others?”

  She shook her head, “I would need something that belonged to them in order for it to work.”

  The roar sounded again, but this time closer. From the darkness came the sound of heavy limbs being dragged across the forest floor. Whether it was dragging its feet or a tail through the undergrowth, Brianna knew whatever it was, it was massive. A crackling noise like bone on wood or at least that is what Brianna imagined it to be, accompanied the dragging noises. She took a few steps towards the area she believed the creature was lurking. The ground around her vibrated, and Brianna felt her body tensing up. The roar sounded once more so close to them, they felt the sound waves pulsating through their core. Brianna turned into the direction in which the roar originated. Golden eyes glowed through the darkness. Brianna pointed her wand towards them and shouted a phase in Latin. Almost instantly a sphere of pure light no bigger than a basketball sprung from her wand and floated towards the eyes, illuminating the space that enshrouded them in darkness. Brianna caught only a split second of a massive bulk charging at her proficiently on all fours. It lunged at her so fast Brianna could only scream, but her shrills were overpowered by the sound of Hayden’s revolver going off. The blast of energy struck the beast while it was airborne sending it hurtling onto the ground. It then rolled onto its back and scurried off into the darkness.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled. The ball she had summoned began to orbit around her body like her own miniature moon. “Do you think you killed it?”

  Hayden didn’t have time to answer-

  The sound of twigs snapping caused him to apply light pressure to Delilah’s trigger. But before he could fully squeeze, a breathless figure broke through the blackness.

  “Kori!” Brianna yelled.

  “I’m so glad to see you guys!” she shouted happily. “If it wasn’t for that bright ball, I wouldn’t have been able to find you.” Her eyes widened. “It’s so cool looking.” Like a moth drawn to light, Kori zeroed in on the orb.

  “Where is Ethan?” Hayden asked.

  She paused with a gasp, “he was just behind me.”

  “There is a hostile creature lurking,” Brianna said, her voice was calm, but she kept her wand at the ready.

  And as if that was its cue, the monster came from above causing the ground to tremble upon impact and knocking the three teens off balance. A stream of curses unraveled from Brianna as the behemoth advanced. Its mostly scar tissue skin oozed a mucus-like substance and shimmered in her artificial light. Every step it took rattled her bones. She tried to dodge a swing from its massive hands, but it collided with the side of her head and Brianna tumbled onto the dirt. She could hear nothing. The enraged yells of Hayden, the fearful screaming of Kori even the roaring of the beast was inaudible. The cold ground pressed against her form.

  Hayden dove for her body, cradling his sister into his arms.

  Kori picked up her wand and tried handing it to her.

  Brianna saw the panic in their eyes as they frantically spoke words to her, unknown amongst them she couldn’t hear them. Instead, she smiled weakly at them and fought valiantly to stay awake, but it was a losing battle and the darkness soon consumed her.

  With Brianna out of commission, the sphere vanished; however, the light from her wand remained. It hummed with life within Kori’s hands. She stared at it wide-eyed as it glowed brighter than a lantern.

  “Um Hayden,” Kori shouted. “This thing is acting weird.”

  Within its luminosity Hayden and Kori bared witness to the beast raising its claw to strike again, and Kori was his target. Hayden placed Brianna gently onto the ground. He knew he had to keep his calm, but he felt it coming on. His rage boiled at the pit of his stomach as his heart rate sped up. Hayden looked away from Brianna and dove at the beast without a thought of consequences. As Hayden’s wrath grew, Kori felt a sudden rush of queasiness at the pit of her stomach.

  “I’m
going to murder you!” he screamed.

  Using phenomenal velocity Hayden threw a punch towards his opponent’s chest. Surprised by his speed the creature barely had time to dodge, causing Hayden’s strike to connect with his shoulder instead of its chest. Hayden’s fist sunk into the creature’s upper arm and came producing through its back. The beast roared as blood cascaded, painting nearby trees red. Hayden reeled back for another assault. But the creature exceeded his speed appearing behind him. It delivered a karate chop to the neck. A sickening thud echoed, and Hayden fell sideways to the ground. Right as Hayden hit the forest floor, Kori’s nauseated sensation subsided.

  She didn’t have time to ponder the weird feeling as the creature came at her.

  “Stay back,” Kori shouted. The wand continued to glow, flicking from amber to ruby then gold. She clutched the wand tighter taking aim at the beast.

  It looked at her tautly almost as if it was astonished by her defiance. Kori felt a tingling awareness as if a fire was rushing through her veins along with confidence and power. Her eyes glowed bright green.

  “Leave my friends alone!” Kori screamed. And acting upon her wrath, a torrent of green energy burst from the wand. The blast struck the beast in the center of its chest sending him flying backward until it smashed into a tree, pulverizing it on contact. The monster rolled and thrashed about on the ground wailing in cries that were deafening.

  Kori fell to her knees feeling exhausted. Though her eyes no longer glowed, the iris’s remained bright green.

  “What was that?” she whispered breathlessly.

  The creature whimpered, hopped to its feet and then roared at Kori.

  Staying on her knees she lifted the wand towards the behemoth once more.

  “I’ll do it again,” Kori bluffed boldly.

  The creature grunted and bundled Brianna underneath its arm.