Legacy of the Defender (The Defender Series Book 1) (52 page)

We ran at a fast pace for about ten minutes then slowed.  Motioning me to get sneaky, Jason pointed at something off in the distance about eighty yards away.  I crept forward into cover.  Sure enough, there was a portal open.  It angled toward us, so it looked oval and close to eight feet tall.  Jason was right.  There was also a large pile of stones, carved or cut in irregular shapes on the ground.  Next to the rock pile stood an arch way.  Strange they built and arch as if marking the spot to build a structure or mark the area as a marshaling point for future invasions.  The horde was getting confident that it would be able to return to this exact spot and construct a building.  Motion caught my eye.

Some sort of creature moved about.  One I had anticipated.  A hybrid was there with a daemon.  Hybrids not only commanded, but also added a serious threat.  We had no way of knowing what else was here. 

Talk about ugly. 

This thing towered over the medium sized daemon that stood guard.  The hybrid looked like it had some sort of scales all over it.  By all appearances, it was male.  He seemed to be looking around often and focusing in certain directions at times.  Suddenly he would trace symbols in the air, and an energy wave rolled out into the woods.  I got a distinct impression he was giving commands based on where his attention focused and how he moved his hand, but I could not be certain.  Occasionally he would look at a scroll.

"Can you take him?”  I whispered.

"Yes, but he always seems to know when he is being targeted.  I had him in my sights earlier and he moved almost as if he knew there was danger.  It was creepy.”

"Then I will distract him.  Give me about a minute, and then take aim."  I was able to focus my energy on the area.  I could see the clearing and that made memorizing it easy enough.  My energy gathered faster than usual.  That should have triggered a warning.  Something was strange, but I dismissed the thought not wanting to over analyze.

Perception shifted. 

I stood inside a ring of protective barriers not viewable from a distance.  Runes hung in the air suspended by the arcane.  He spun to face me and hissed in a guttural voice something almost like English.  His face disjointed and I could see he had mandibles and four eyes.  His hands only had two fingers and no opposing thumb.  Without hesitation, he charged me. 

He was fast...faster than any creature I had ever faced.  His attacks came furiously.  My posture went defensive as he engaged.  Just being in close proximity to me, dark energy grabbed a hold of my core.  The closer he got the worse it was.  Swipe after swipe he made, trying to hit me.  My swords deflected each one then scored great cuts on his arms with each attempt he made.  He did not relent.

My shield triggered on its own with his proximity.  I jumped back, creating much needed distance.  Not wasting a moment, he charged again.  He never closed the distance.  Part of his head exploded followed by a crack of the rifle.  On the perimeter, small flyers took to the air in typical flight patterns and set up angles for a pass at me.

Behind him, the runes flashed and the portal vibrated.  From the hybrid’s body, several of the plates opened and tiny flyers appeared and started to feed on his flesh.  They started to grow right before my eyes.  This was familiar.  He was a Hybrid Summoner Daemon.  I charged at him with both swords engulfed in flame.  Energy flashed from the tips of the swords, obliterating the body and many of the small creatures eating it.  When they died, they were four times bigger than when they emerged from the hybrid. 

The runes flashed again.  Now images of an angel in the woods appeared.  I smiled.  Celuine cut down the daemonic weapons and decimated the trailing energy sources, as they stood there stupefied.  About a dozen of them remained.  Some moved and fired, other stayed stationary.  This hybrid directed and coordinated everything.  With him gone, the coordinated attack would cease, I hoped.

Over my shoulder, a group of about thirty flyers came in low.  They had no idea what they were facing.  My position in the open for an enemy would be too hard to resist.  The small ones all had the ego of an ant taking on something much bigger.  They always thought they could take me in a one-to-one fight…even though they watched me destroy a whole flight of them seconds earlier.  Shots rang out from Jason’s direction.  He was doing plenty of damage.  I lined up my targets and as predicted they came in fast and low to try to sweep my stance.  Shifting at the last second out of the way, both my blades passed into the path of the small fliers creating death by cutting clean through all of them.  Remnants of them dematerialized as they hit the ground and simply disappeared.

Jason ran down from his elevated area.  He had his shot gun out and advanced like a S.W.A.T. member would.  His stature was determined and alert.  I was rather convinced he was very efficient until he tripped over a root.  I laughed for a moment before waiving at him.

"That was impressive.  You really took care of them."

I laughed.

"That, my friend, was nothing.  There are daemons the size of dragons, the big kind fly with four sets of wings and walk on six legs.  Those are hard to take down.  Nowhere near as hard as Lucifer's son.  He was formidable."  Jason looked at me as if I was crazy.

"You do realize what you just said, right?"

"Yes, I do.  There is a lot about me you probably will not understand right now, but in time I will try to explain.  Right now I need to close this portal.  Keep watch."

I centered myself.  A deep breath flowed into my lungs with a slow exhale, and I turned my focus to the portal.  Slowly, energy flowed.  Tendrils of energy moved toward it and grabbed hold of the edges just like before.  The edges began to fold in on itself, slow at first, and then another flow of energy came from me to grab another side of it and began the same process.  Within moments, several tendrils had the portal down to almost nothing.

A small popping sound occurred and it went away.  I looked at Jason.  His eyes were wide.  He just stood there in shock for several minutes before shaking his head slowly.  I could tell by the look in his eye that disbelief was starting to fade and wonder was setting in.

"What have you been doing all this time that you were in a coma?" he said, finally finding the words.

"I was learning to fight daemons and to do that,” I pointed towards the portal’s last place. 

"You were right.  We do have a lot to talk about."  There was movement to his right.  He spun, leveling his shotgun.  Out stepped Celuine from the trees and she stopped for a moment until he lowered his weapon.  She had a smile on her face expressing she enjoyed herself for the first time in a long time.  Jason stared at her seven foot frame while she approached.

"I might as well get this over with,” she said.  A motion behind her blurred and majestic wings unfolded and extended.  The perfect white on them caught light from the canopy and began to glow with searing brightness.  My hand shielded the intensity.  Jason stood there nodding his head in excitement.  I had seen this splendor but on a grand scale amidst a war muting the magnificence.  Even after the siege broke and I moved around the city a bit, I did not see many of the angels.  Among all of that gold, a white pair of radiant wings was not such a sight.

"Can you do that?" he asked.

"No, I am only half angel, a nephilim," I said.

"Seriously?” he questioned with a look of utter disbelief.  “Wait, it is your father right?”

“My father too,” replied Celuine.

“Unbelievable!”  Jason remarked, unsure of what to ask next.

I laughed.

"Let us depart.  I have some explaining to do and I am hungry."  I felt a slight tingle in my shoulder and was not sure why. 

He laughed hard.  That made me smile.

XL

Duty and Honor

Synchronous Dance

A synchronous dance of steel and air

Step forward they purrs are you brave do you dare.

In one sweeping motion, they glide to and fro

Blurry is the timing and lethal is the flow

The firelight glistens and reflects off my blades

Stepping through motions, feet mimic my wade

Legendary foes springing up all around

Through them I slice but none hit the ground

My mind is in focus, deadly is the dance

The link that I have with my hands, they’ve no chance

The intimacy lies with each or my blows

Knowing they rain down death on my foes

Tomorrow my test I take in my head

Knowing if I fail that I will be dead

The trial tonight is to play out this dance

I will give no mercy or allow any chance

My motions draw near to the end of the night

Sweat of my brow catches rays of first light

The sun rises slowly to reveal it all

The fields of battle summon me with its call

I will not go weary from this night to the day

This battle is won with each step I portray

I see the horde rushing to fall on my steel

They will soon know that with me there's no deal

Fore fathers above guide my blades strong and true

Know that my goal is to fight and honor you

This legacy will balance by the strength of my blade

Today I fulfill sacred oaths I have made

Alone I will stand on this field I've prepared

A line in the earth shows a boundary declared

Horizons do darken and blot out the sun

I smile at the tactic for I've already won.

A treasure was gone – one the world never knew existed. 

The weight of it all landed on my shoulders.  I felt the Sasquatches passing for several days.

He might even be the last one. 
I did not need recognition for my efforts, but my state of mind found contentment.
 
Was the world ready to know the truth? 

My defeat of Amduscias was a bitter sweet memory.  He claimed to be a son of Lucifer.  There were not any records or history to back his claim up, only several references describing him.  He did have the fabled unicorn head.  That was more terrifying to be honest.  He was
damn scary
as he was.  His defeat at my hand was not an open contestation of his true rank.  Why else would such a nasty creature be granted not just one but two incredibly powerful swords?

We could not dispute Lucifer’s reaction. 

One had to wonder if he could just walk into a hellish forge and order up another instrument of death so easily.  Was there a surplus of them around?  What kind of arsenal was at their disposal?  I cannot imagine every denizen of the daemon horde would have the kind of resources needed to get another one so easily.  As funny as these questions were, I had to know my enemy, and that meant knowing their weapons.

Yet this one did
.

My blades were unusually quiet. 

I asked them several times if they were okay.  They said they were excellent.  But I know that during that fight with Amduscias, they went above and beyond with their contributions.  My fear was that my actions overtaxed them, and it could be weeks before they recovered fully.  I spent time meditating with them.  Several times they spoke of sensing daemon presences, but none revealed themselves to us. 

Yesterday it took many hours to explain the situation to Jason.  His boyish charm was gone.  Not much was funny to him anymore.  Reality found its mark.  He knew the world as it really was now.  It was a day to silently mark in his mind that he was not a mundane any longer.  He confirmed his own sanity.  His mind was awake.  There was no going back to sleep.

All was quiet.

We staying at Celuine's house and enjoyed getting to know her.  We talked into the night and got very little sleep.  The idea of what I was settled in a bit more with Eryn and Jason.  They were still in awe that the world was not only much bigger than they had imagined, but it also more vulnerable.  Both had a different way of looking at me now.  I would feel the same way had things been reversed. 

It was dinner.  Celuine shared her experience when Heaven called her back. 

“A feeling came from Heaven for me to return.  I had no idea what was happening.  As an angel, we all share a connection to the city.  Something felt wrong.  So when evil creatures overran Heaven, the energy felt tainted.  Part of me expected it was a call to retrieve the souls outside the walls of the city.  As Tathlyn knows it is a choice when a believer dies.  Heaven may be a city, but it is also what you want the experience to be.  People choose to exist outside the walls living in the smaller cities or towns.  When hell invaded Heaven, those people chose to stay and did not desire to live in a cloister.  Even in death, it appears some people want a simple existence.  So when the call came, I figured it was to recover those outside, and never expected to find Heaven’s walls breached.”

“That must have been a surprise…and not a welcome one,” Jason said, feeling the seriousness in her voice.

“It was horrific,” Celuine added with distant look crossing her face.

“I agree.  It was beyond description,” I interjected.  “That must have been shocking.” 

She continued her tale.

“Denizens reap more from a live kill on Earth.  Their only real drive is to kill while the soul was still in the body.  This was the whole reason to siege Heaven.  To distract God and keep him busy.  Grandfather is too busy protecting Heaven to answer prayers or involve Himself with humans.” 

Eryn’s jaw dropped. 

“So God really is not listening?  He does not care about us anymore?” she asked.

“It is actually the opposite, Eryn.  The task falls to angels because of the copious amount of energy needed to power the shield.  With several hundred billion daemons in Heaven’s realm, it has Grandfather taxed.  It is like a virus in his body.  He cannot get out of bed to do anything.  He can only hold on.”  Celuine gazed at Eryn and something took place between them.  Eryn nodded and smiled back. 

Celuine looked at all of us.

“God loves every one of the Children here on Earth and throughout the galaxy.  Earth is not the only place where his angels protect.  We have the ability to answer some prayers if the person praying has very strong faith.
 
This keeps what few of us there are very busy.  The Defender exists for this reason.  It is now Tathlyn’s responsibility to deal with invading daemons.” 

She turned to look at me.

“Brother, seeing you close the portal moved me.  I did not know it was the Father’s apprentice until much later.  But it moved me because it has been mankind’s destiny to defend Earth against the horde.  It is long overdue.  Every candidate failed for hundreds of years.  We thought the concept was impossible until the Sasquatch found you…an angel and human hybrid.  That was the key all along.  We needed mankind’s determination to succeed and the human fortitude mixed with an angelic bloodline.”

I blushed a little bit at her praise.  It was strange to have a sister…let alone one that was an angel.  I was still adjusting to knowing my father really existed…in Heaven.  It was no pun to say this.  The joke would be lost on anyone not in the room.  Celuine stood up and gave me a hug.  Eryn began to weep.  Jason bowed his head to hide his response.

“I painted that scene right after returning to Earth and right before you awoke,” she said.

I looked at her paintings.  The detail made me realize how much you can miss when you are right in the eye of the storm.

“So what was your funniest moment training?”  Jason asked

“That would be getting swallowed by the large flying daemon.  This dragon-like creature was one of the hardest tests of my training.  I cut two of the wings off making it very mad.  The daemon rolled over on me then managed to swallow me.  When I carved up his insides, he spit me out.  I felt like a giant spit wad flying through the air.”

Jason laughed.  Celuine had a confused look of amusement on her face.  Eryn looked mortified by my story.  Then piped up

“That explains some of the wounds I saw on you during your coma!” she said.  “I met your earthly parents.  They knew something was wrong when the church convinced them to stay away and let them handle it.”  Celuine’s eyes widened and she added to what Eryn said.

“I remember now.  The scientists involved were paranormal investigators working with the church behind closed doors.  They wanted to dissect you.  I had them shut down and threatened to have them investigated for fraud since they were not actually who they claimed to be.  We destroyed the data.  Any news of your situation became uninteresting.  I told the church it was damaging to the family.  Funny thing about the church is their devotion to family.  The church kept a priest there…not like he could do anything.  They have no power and their faith is challenging at best.”

“What about this twin who killed his brother?”  Eryn asked.  “That was damaging enough with an imposter roaming around a hospital masquerading as a man of the cloth.”  I had to admit.  That part still bothered me that they had access to me when I was not able to protect my body.

Celuine looked at all of us.  It was clear that her strength ran deep.  But even the water in the deepest pool still circulates.  There was tension in her voice during this recanting.  She held poise and composure the entire time like it was an interrogation.  Something about her changed at that moment.  She was somber…almost sad.  She finished her thought.

“I was there unseen often, but occasionally they allowed me to task another angel to stay in your room.  We kept an eye on you.  I started to question that decision but remembered that the Sasquatch had still been doing his duty so resources, as thin as they were, had to make due. 

We processed all the information from the night before and the previous day’s conclusion. 
The reasons behind the decisions may not always be clear.  They just are.

I was out in the yard working out with Jason.  He asked me for instruction almost as soon as we returned.  Celuine retrieved an extra blade and let him borrow it.  It was a decent sword.  The angelic make was obvious to me.  His eyes lit up when he held it and swung it around for several minutes without even looking at me.  It was strange being the teacher now. 

His fighting skills were still apparent. 

Since the day of the accident, his skills had improved.  I wanted to ask him where he honed his skills, but something told me the answer was one that I did not want to know.  We exchanged blows on an eight to twenty ratio in the first few minutes.  He fought well.  I remembered stories he told me where he faced several at once in his early years and walked away.  Holding back was not hard.  My actions and reactions masked my intentions.  I did not want to give the slightest appearance of what I could actually do. 

I allowed Jason to continue his repetitive attacks for a time.  It was easy to keep it simple and start with the basics without letting him know this was the basics.  He fought well considering that his training in weapons was self-taught.  I smacked him with the flat of the blade several times to show him his openings.  All hits served a purpose…to humble the student and toughen them up.

After all, was it not Malnuras and Father that daily beat the daylight into and out of me?  This is what toughened me up and gave me the edge to manage pain.  The key was to recognize it was there and measure your response to it.

The topic of the day was Bigfoot.  Jason wanted to know everything that I knew about this creature.  It had not only eluded him for six years but also remained a clouded mystery to mankind for the better part of known history.  A great sadness was set over both of us.  It was a great loss.  Jason recognized that a mighty warrior fell doing his duty and had died with honor.  He also recognized that Bigfoot saved his life many times.  The series of questions that came at me were not ones I would have expected so soon.  My friend’s anger and hate melted away to compassion.

“So you’re telling me that you have met him before?  I can’t imagine having a conversation with it, or him.”  The look on his face was a betrayal of his fascination and admiration that developed since the battle.  Jason's bullet hurt the creature, but the daemons finished the job.  My guess was the Sasquatch could heal the bullet wound over time.

“Well, I saw him once.  The siege of Heaven was over.  Malnuras’s body was back in the city.  I was recovering in the city for several weeks.  My father brought him when he came to visit me.”

Jason’s eyes locked intently on me.  Mine used to fixate on him when he told me stories.  This role reversal was an adjustment for him.  He felt as if I did not see him as a warrior.  That had to be emasculating.  My opinion mattered more.  He fought gang members twice his size and won.  So size did not intimidate him.