Like a crashing angel falling from the sky and hearing his cries, his wish was granted. He saw a person in Golden armor, with a giant hammer in both their hands leaving their mark on the earth. They wore a helmet that was the shape of a lion's head. “Hey kid, hope you’re not too hurt.”
“Cameron, how did you know?” Nick said lowering his magic shield. He held onto his wound trying to stop the bleeding, he could feel his energy draining by the moment.
“Don’t worry I’ll handle the rest,” Cameron said taking his hammer and slamming it straight into the masked person. They may have been fast, but Cameron was way bigger and swung like a truck crashing into a building. “You need to leave. Go back to the undercity before you get into real trouble. You know how the god breakers feel about the eternals. I’m giving you this chance.”
The masked person got up slowly from the floor, their masked cracked down the middle. “He has to pay, they all have to, for what happened to Jake.”
The masked person swung their staff at Cameron, but he took his hammer and blocked the blade with its handle, cracking it in half. They took the two halves of their staff and flew the blades with a flurry of hits on Cameron's armor, leaving nothing but small scratches. He grabbed the masked person with his armored hand and made them fly back a few feet, letting the ground welcome them.
“You want more I’ll give you more, stay down,” Cameron said placing his hammer on his back. The armor grabbing and latching onto it. “Leave before I have to smite you.”
“No, wait, Cameron, leave them alone, that’s enough,” Nick said getting up and leaning against the old man. “They have had enough, they can barely stand up.”
“I’ll remember this, this isn’t the end,” The masked person said turning into a bat, and flying away.
Next time I’ll make sure to be ready, He thought.
Cameron collapsed to the ground face first. “I am not as young as I use to be, glad they left, would have sucked having to fight them,” he said letting out a chuckle.
The two of them sluggishly limped their way to his shop, both holding each other up and using their sore, tired bodies to just make it through the door. The people continued to move through the streets as if nothing happened, but many recorded footage of Nick and the masked person fighting and uploaded it, and it spread like wildfire. A fire that would grow with the tension of the humans and the eternals, and make many wonder, how long could each side fool each other. How long could the peace between the two different realms that melded into one go on for? A small fight could continue to grow, to become bigger, and could lead to an all-out war. Many saw it from the leaders to the humans, and the houses of the undercity. The real fear of death became planted.
19
She left topside, beaten, embarrassed, and pissed as all hell. The old man was right, she had to watch her back. Going back to the undercity took some sneaking around, sliding in the shadows. The god breakers were out in form, and all she could do was avoid them, try not to raise suspicion. When Veronica got to the undercity, she needed to go somewhere safe, that wasn’t home. The worse thing that could happen would be her father finding out where she was and doing something that both of them would regret so she decided to head to her best friend's castle.
Veronica flew to a castle that had stone walls that were worn down and covered in dirt, veins, and surrounded by gargoyles keeping watch. The gargoyles that were lined around the roof were ones that they titled knights of the ebon. Guardians who used dark magic to create weapons out of chaos energy. She was hurt and needed to just rest without having her mother or father question her. “Hope she's awake,” she said knocking on a glass window. “Domina should be home, she never goes out at night, always says she is studying.” Her body was tired, she was hungry, and her ego was badly beaten.
“Veronica, what are you doing here?” Domina said opening the window wearing a thin robe around her. The inside of the room had green walls with different types of furniture ranging from a desk that had miniatures and paint. To a television that was on playing music from the band Coheed and The Devilture.Domina loved listening to different types of music but had her favorites. It was something they shared, listening to bands, pretending they were singers at their imaginary concert.
“Well, you look to be busy tonight. I just came and wanted to spend…” Veronica said before stopping dead in her tracks eying the person sitting on Domina’s bed. He sat at the edge of the bed playing on his phone. “What in the hell is this shit?”
“Veronica, look, just be nice. I know how you are girl, Chris isn’t a bad person,” Domina said stretching one of her wings to guard her lover at whatever Veronica was about to do. The interactions of humans and eternals were still so rare, still a whisper in the dark for some, a forbidden fruit that not many talked about. To be with the one that wasn’t your own was seen as weird, and looked down upon. The gargoyles were proud warriors who saw humans as nothing more than little ants, and to be with one was a black spot on your family.
Just what I need, another fucking human to deal with. I already had to deal with two earlier. She felt her blood simmer, not boil as it once did. Seeing her friend protecting the human-made her feel confused. Why go to so much trouble just to be with someone who your family, your world doesn’t want you to be with? Maybe she has a good reason for being with him. She thought.
“Hello, names Chris, you must be Veronica. Domina told me a lot about you,” Chris said reaching his hand out.
“So you’re dating my friend?” Veronica asked putting her arm around Domina’s shoulder and squeezing. Domina stood in silence her head bowed waiting for either of them to say something, anything. She wanted the best for her friend. Domina was the sweetest being in the whole world, who loved people with all that she was, and she kicked ass like no one's business.
“I am, is that a problem?” Chris said standing up. He walked forward and gently grabbed Domina's hand and rubbed her chin with the other. “There will be no fighting here my love.”
Veronica smiled looking at both of them, and how they reacted towards each other. She didn’t have to ask, investigate, or fight to get answers from him. She saw how genuinely he loved her friend. They looked at each other with affection, with fire, and it made her kind of jealous in a way. She never felt those feeling for anyone. She felt fire though, fire to kill that human she fought. Him and his damn magical bubble. She thought.
“Veronica, you don’t have to like humans, but Chris is the one I’m in love with, and if you are truly my friend you will accept that,” Domina said grabbing Chris’s hand and perking her wings and shoulders up as high as she could, nuzzling his face.
“Hey Chris, you love my friend?” Veronica asked. She would keep an eye on him, but breaking her friend's heart was something she didn’t want sitting on her heart. Veronica wanted to try her best to accept Domina’s decision, to respect it, even if she didn’t like it.
“With all that I am.”
“She has a heart of gold you know? To have that heart means you have one of the most valuable treasures in all the worlds.”
“Yea, she’s my love, the one I adore with all my heart and I will always be there for her, no matter what.”
“Good because if you were ever to hurt her it would be bad. I would have to cut your nuts off,” she said smiling. Veronica felt her energy sap from her body in an instant and fell to the floor face first. Chris rushed to pick her up and lay her down on Domina's bed.
“Veronica are you okay? what happened? Do you need blood? I’ll go call your father,” Domina said getting up from the bed, but before she could get to the door Veronica grabbed her arm with a deathlock grip. A force so strong that even her friend was able to feel it and sat back down. The last thing she needed was a bunch of pissed-off vorpals.
“Father doesn’t know I’m here. I got in a little fight with a few humans, one of them looked like a god breaker. I was up topside, needed to find who killed Jake,” she said rubbing her foreh
ead with her fingers. Her body was tired from fighting, and flying back home. She felt that she needed more aether, but remembered what her father said about it only lasting fifty or so years, it scared her thinking about what will happen when it’s all depleted.
“God breakers, a bunch of scumbags,” Chris said shaking his head.
“This wasn’t your normal god breaker. This one seemed like he had been out of it for a while. He was strong sure, but something about him just made me feel like he was more true to the light than the other god breakers. He felt more kind, didn’t try to kill me right away, and just wanted to protect the other human I was fighting with,” Veronica said.
He was a scrappy fighter. She remembered her encounter, how she felt in the moment. Just thinking about blaming anyone she could find when it came to Jake's murder. She didn’t even know for sure if that person was with Jenni. She didn’t see where he was in the undercity, just went full bull on him, but it was all that ran through her mind. Imagining the people that killed Jake, thinking about the different ways he could have died. It made her feel sadder, not being able to help him. Jake deserved better. He was an ass, but he was like a brother. She thought.
“I know you would be upset about Jake's death, but Veronica it’s dangerous to go topside,” Domina said leaning against Chris’s shoulder.
She sat up and stared out the window and looked at the blood moon. “Father is going to be upset once I get home. I didn’t think about who else could see me. I could have fucked up everything for all of us,” Veronica said swaying from side to side.
20
Nick and Cameron walked into the shop dragging their bloody and bruised selves across the wooden floor. The lights were beaming and Abigail was making a cup of coffee. When she saw the two of them enter both beaten and bleeding, she dropped it on the floor and rushed towards them. Shattering the cup into pieces.
“What happened to Cameron? Why are you both hurt?” Abigail said grabbing him from Cameron and sitting him down at one of the tables close to the window. Quick as one can be, whoever that was wanted him dead.
“Ah don’t worry about it, Abby. Take care of your friend I’m gonna go in the back for a bit,” Cameron said taking off his shoulder plates, leaving them on the floor. “Fuck, I’m getting too old for this shit.” The old man still had some life in him. If it wasn’t for Cameron he would be dead, and the only thing left of his legacy would be Nick Martinez, dead in nowhere of town.
He could feel his body wanting to give in on him, his leg was hurting, and he could still feel the weapon inside the leg that it penetrated, pain that didn’t leave, but lingered like a bad cold... “Shit, she got me good.”
Abigail grabbed the first aid kit from behind the counter and slammed it on the floor fumbling around until she found what she was looking for. “Aha, got it. Bandage wrap,” Abigail said rushing to him. She cleaned the wound, and put some cream on it, then wrapped his leg as best as she could. “Got yourself in some trouble this time.”
“I didn’t mean to. I was just heading to Cameron's. Needed help with this symbol I found near the murder scene of the aerion, it was important and then I just got attacked out of nowhere,” he said snapping his fingers and using the last bit of his magic to close up the wound. “Still hurts like hell, but that’s the best I can do for now.”
He took out his phone and showed Abigail the pictures he took and especially one of the symbols that was hiding on the wall. She grabbed it and zoomed in on the photo as close as she could. His phone was about to die but at least he knew how the photo looked like so if he had to go to the undercity he could describe it to Jenni.
“Never seen an image like this exactly. I have seen the separate images but not combined like this. The eye and star or whatever is the symbol of the king who Grinned. The tentacles surrounding it are just an elder,” Abigail said handing Nick back his phone. She walked over to one of the bookshelves and took out a large brown leather book with a black spine. The cover of the book was like looking at a carved out face on a tree and nothing but darkness where its eyes and mouth would have been.
“HEY NOW, GET OFF ME WOMAN,” The book said.
“Now Ash, you have to behave, I just need some information from you,” Abigail said placing the book on the table that Nick was sitting at. “Sorry. He’s just been cranky after the cabin incident he had.”
“Hey, my life use to be groovy before I got put into this stupid piece of shit book. Did you know I use to be human? Yea and an awesome one at that. Chainsaw monster-slaying badass, that’s who I was buddy. I use to have a penis too, not the biggest, but it DID THE JOB,” Ash said turning to face Abigail. Books told stories, many had lives that passed down different generations. Each storytelling added new layers, a new twist, and shaped it into something new.
It’s always hard to take what a book says seriously. Sometimes the stories they tell are true, other times it is a mix between what's made up and what isn’t. Ash was someone who would always rant and rave over their past life whenever someone picked them up. People enjoyed the stories he told but other times people got tired of his language. Many of the ladies did not enjoy getting hit on by a book either, especially one who loved redheads.
“Man, You always like to be the big mouth. Cameron has all sorts of weird stuff and you are by far on top of the totem pole,” Nick said poking a finger through Ash’s eyes.
“Yo shit for brains keep your hands to yourself. You don’t see me grabbing your hot dog, personal space,” Ash said.
“Please can you show us the Grinning King,” Abigail said putting her hands together, pouting her lips. “I promise if you do me this favor and you will have a movie night.” She smiled at the book and massaged the top of him, where his head would be.
“We can watch that movie about the two lovers that travel through space!” The book spun around in the air a few times and opened up to a picture of a being that was wrapped in a red robe, with arms that went past their knees. Their hands held heads of people that followed in their name, each one with the eye of the king etched into their tongues. You could not see their face, only insects that were housed where their eyes were. Their smile was big and long, showing how much they enjoyed his wicked games.
“What is so special about this Grinning King?” Nick said pulling the book closer to him, his eyes magnetized to his smile. It was a devilish smile. Like watching courage the cowardly dog and having that weird blonde-headed man in the green suit that smiled a lot following you around. It was unsettling.
“The Grinning King can be in any of us. He manifests and grows the larger his following is. People that would kill for the King, to take over a place and to hide under the veil of a just ruler,” Abigail said.
“AND A LAZY FUCK AT THAT. YOU KNOW HOW RICH ASS PEOPLE ARE. I BET IT’S ONE OF THEM. LIKE THAT BOOT LICKER THAT LET HIS PEOPLE SUFFER AS VORPALS ATE THEIR PEOPLE, WENT TO SOME ISLAND HE DID. I LOVE ME A GOOD ASS KISSER,” Ash said chuckling.
Abigail slammed a fist into him to stop the pages from moving. “As I said… it could be anyone. The elder one and the king are melded though. Could be a new cult,” Abigail said flipping through the pages. “We have many Zealots, and it seems these people got tired of the almighty and were trying to send them a sign I guess.”
Great, more religious freaks to pollute the planet. He thought about the time when he would have to go to church, to hear the speaker talk about who gets into the land of the light and who goes down into the realm of darkness. Using Lucidian as a monster and using that fear of his realm to keep people in the same routine, same life, and beliefs that never changed.Beliefs that led people to commit evil acts in the name of the almighty God. I never got why people got so religious. Why they needed it so bad. But when I told them how I believed in a higher being they would get mad because I cared about everyone no matter who they loved. He thought. Growing up in the South it was always loving thy neighbor. Treat others the way you wanted to, but if they saw you being different they l
ooked at you like a monster.
“Hell of a sign to send. They kill an aerion on the streets on the topside and for what? to get the rest of us in trouble with the spirit king or worse God themselves,” Nick said looking outside at the street lights, seeing people in coats walking past with no idea what was going on, just living their boring, normal life, without a care in the world. Another dead, human or non, never stopped the world from turning.
“Maybe you should try finding a way to get to them,” Abigail said closing the book and putting it back on the shelf.
Before Nick could answer Abigail the door to Cameron's store flung open with Jenni standing in the doorway, wearing a black shirt and jeans. Her arms were bloodied. She put her daggers back into their holders and collapsed next to Nick, leaning against him.
“Hey girl, grab me a cup, extra creamer, and don’t shy from the sugar,” Jenni said winking at Abigail. She looked like someone kicked the shit out of her and dumped her into the trash.
Abigail forced a smile and went to the counter to prepare drinks for everyone.
“You could be a little nicer,” he said nudging Jenni off him. He saw blood dripping from her body, but did not see any wounds on her. She looked tired, worn down like she had been on the run for a while. She was sweaty, smelled like cigarettes. He forgot the last time they were together but just assumed she was busy with Mary finding out more information.
“That old crone had no new information. As soon as I got into her building some of the god breakers and vorpals showed up. Shit got dicey and I barely escaped. Don’t know what is going on,” Jenni said wiping the blood away from her face. “Fuck do men like to destroy shit that isn’t theirs.”
“Heres your drink,” Abigail said placing the cup in front of Jenni. “Names Abigail by the way. Nice to meet you.” She folded her arms and frowned at Jenni.
The God Breaker's Ruin Page 11
