The Fallen
Chapter 3: Judgement of the faithful
I peered into the cavern trying desperately to see what lay inside. Again my actions were in vain; try as I might I could see nothing. I did not even see what caused the white light. One moment I was covered in darkness and in the next blink of my eyes it was revealed to me that I was covered in a bright white light. It wrapped itself around me like fresh sheets on a bed. I felt the sensation of moving at speed.
It reminded me of the time that I lost control of old man Dryden's cart and horse. I thought that I was surely going to die when the animal entered the forest. Luckily it stopped to feed on some grass in a clearing. This was the exhilaration I was feeling now. I was hoping for it to last a while before I would enter the halls of judgement.
However it was over all too soon and I was left in a room completely made up of mirrors. I was surrounded by infinite versions of myself. Each one, I discovered, was uniquely different from the other. A loud voice, like that of a villain that the storyteller would play, boomed in my ears. "Find the path to your true self and enter paradise." I was completely confused, "W…what?" I stammered weakly. There was no reply. This was not how I expected the hall of judgement to be. My unanswered question echoed down the seemingly endless hall. 'That's not right. Surely this place is too small to create echoes.'
Ah how foolish and ignorant I was back then, full of my own stubborn ideals. Ideals such as the established view of what was real and what was not. In any case I stood there for what must have been half an hour, just studying the different reflections. They in turn stared back with just as much thoughtfulness in their expressions. 'My true self. Must be the qualities in these reflections. Maybe these mirrors are not mirrors at all. If a stone can be a gateway to nowhere then why can't a mirror? If only I could find a way to work these.' I decided to closely study the first row. It was like looking at a rainbow of myself. There was a spectrum showing the range of my better qualities to my darker side.
I had to ask myself the question, 'What do I want to do in the next life?' My thoughts turned to the town that I had just left behind, and how I had felt so powerless to stop the massacre at Lakeside. I didn't want to have that happen again. I walked up to the reflection that seemed to guard a small bottled ship. It was the Nightingale, the ship that had brought us over from our troubled homeland. It symbolised the town as all the town's inhabitants were on board the ship. Upon closer inspection I noticed small cracks near the top of the mirror. They looked as if they were put there on purpose.
I breathed on them and watched as the cracks revealed their true form. Small hairline cracks appeared now that had previously gone unnoticed and joined with the larger cracks to spell out the word "Protector." I was sure the others would be similar but I had chosen my path and was not going to waste time while Zanthar became stronger. I carefully pushed at the pane of glass. The cracks from the word spread across the entire pane and joined at the part of the glass that my hand had touched. Eventually there were so many cracks that a small hole appeared and the glass started to fold in on itself. It kept cracking and folding until it revealed an entrance to a dark cavern.
I put my head in and tried to see what lay in store for me this time. Again I saw nothing, something warm and fuzzy brushed against my hand, which I withdrew with a short, sharp gasp. I hung my head and forced myself to enter. As soon as my foot had crossed the threshold the pane started to fold back and seamlessly join, closing the doorway. I watched slightly shaking as the last fragments of light disappeared from the room. A deep growl emanated from somewhere near me.
"You come to make yourself ready to serve?" Fearfully I looked around and answered, "Y…Y…Yes. Who is there?" Something large moved quickly and at once I found myself pinned to the ground with what must have been a large paw. The claws dug into my chest, making sure that I was held in place. I could hear sniffing before two glowing blue eyes, the colour of the sky on a hot summer's day, pierced me with their gaze.
"Hmm. You don't smell dead, don't look dead and …" A wet, warm surface, not unlike the roughness of tree bark, ran itself over my cheek. "Yesss. You don't taste like the damned either. So tell me what is a creature such as yourself doing here?" My lungs felt as if they were going to pop like a bubble under the crushing weight of the beasts paw. I tried to answer but found that I could only manage to whisper raggedly due to a severe lack of breath.
The creature realised what was happening and relaxed its grip. I took in great gulps of air before I could answer. I told the creature of my escape from the town and how I wanted to serve God by protecting the world from the likes of Zanthar. At this the creature laughed, "How could one such as you stand up to Zanthar? Do you know what he is capable of? He has been known to flatten armies in a single thought. He could probably destroy a planet without raising a sweat but that is not his way. He is sadistic in the extreme. He feeds on fear and pain. He especially enjoys seeing a being's spirit broken. How do you intend to compete with that?"
I spent long minutes thinking of how to answer such a question. Finally it all fit into place. "I don't intend to compete with him. I intend to trap him." The voice sounded intrigued, "Go on." Encouraged by the heavenly being's interest I continued. "I not only mean to trap the fiend but to use his latest victory against him. Basically I need God to transform the deserted town of Lakeside into a place that calls souls so that Zanthar can feed on them. The souls must be sinners of course. While he is distracted with them a band of angels will burrow a tunnel into his layer in the lake. From there we can overpower him, cut him up and contain him so that he may never again walk the earth."
A soft deep chuckle sounded from the creature, "Ambitious, mortal I will give you that. Hmm…yes, right, that's it." "That's what?" I asked bemused. Those deep blue eyes looked straight into my own, "I have decided to help you. As a servant of God I share some of her power so I might be of some use to you. I will take residence in your corporeal form, that way I can walk freely in your world without fear. Now open your mouth and stay very still." My eyes looked wildly about the room; still trying to make out the identity of the presence and more importantly to judge how big it was if it was going to inhabit my body.
"One question before you do this. Will I still be me?" The creature sighed impatiently. "Do not fear mortal, I will not harm you, now lay back as relaxed as you can be." With the weight of the paw now relaxed but still there I told it that I needed its paw off my chest. I reassured the creature that I would not run. The laugh that came from it echoed around the room. I didn't like the menacing taint to it. "I know that you won't run mortal now open your mouth and lay still." I lay back, closed my eyes and did as I was asked.
I could sense movement just above me, slow and ponderous as if the creature was wondering how best to go about whatever it was going to do. The movement became more sure and decisive. Soon a sharp, wet cracking and clicking was heard as if bones were sliding into and out of place. I waited for what seemed to be an eternity before the cracking stopped. I listened carefully for the next move of my furry and rather large cellmate. A sound came from the left side of the room, not unlike a slithering, although if it was a slithering the sound must have been muffled by the creatures fur.
It got closer I could feel it's warm breath run over my cheek. Finally it crawled up onto my belly and slid closer towards my open mouth. I flinched as something cold and wet touched the skin just under my Adam's apple. A low growl was the response to the action. My hair was now standing on its end as nervous energy coursed through my body like a river over a pebble. "Lay still," the mysterious creature commanded. I closed my eyes and tried to lie as still as possible, all the time thinking of revenge and being a better servant for God.
It rested in the same spot until I had relaxed. Suddenly without any warning the creature slithered quickly into my mouth and down my throat. All at once I felt so many sensations, my tongue felt textures of fur, feathers, bone and hard skin. A pain racked my body for a short time, but it was so intense that I thought my whole body would snap itself in half. The creature was rearranging my innards so that it could accommodate itself. My eyes bulged and I broke out in a cold sweat as the creature tossed and turned inside me. I gagged over and over, I could not breathe. I knew I was about to die. Suddenly as soon as it had started it finished, leaving me to gasp for air before I passed out on the hard ground, cold with sweat and physically exhausted.
I awoke to find that the room was no longer in darkness. No it was a different sensation. I could now see in the darkness. I could see everything. The room was not the primitive cave as I had originally thought but a small and ornate temple. Decorative carvings lined the wall, painting an intricate picture showing the scene of the two God's coming to earth. In front of the Gods in all their glory were the peoples of the earth.
Half of the immense crowd bowed in awe of Xuchilpaba in all her glory and half bowed in fear of Zanthar and his army of dread monsters. I studied the scene in awe and horror of what the carvings foretold. There were two possible endings to the world. In both instances the planet was destroyed. Again the two deities played an intricate part in its destruction. The war between them ravaged the land and ended in an uneasy stalemate. No one knew why the war started the only records I could see told of the actual conflict and it's aftermath.
Xuchilpaba's decision was to destroy the world after bringing her last few remaining followers to paradise. Zanthar simply destroyed the world because he was becoming tired of the look of the planet. However in both instances I saw the same figure serving the deities. A sort of right hand man if you will. It seemed that this being was destined to serve no matter what the outcome was. The creature was like none that I had ever seen before. It was a large winged mountain lion. The only difference in the pictures of servitude was that its wings were nearly skeletal in Zanthar's service.
I finished looking at the carving and looked around for the door that I had just come through. I had to see how the creature had changed me. 'In more ways than you know,' a deep voice growled. I searched for the creature for it was surely his voice. I couldn't sense him, then I realised that he was speaking from the depths of my own mind. 'Look for the trees.' I obeyed and saw them. Two mighty trees carved in the rock.
One was covered in leaves and bore much fruit; the other was dying and seemed to be overrun with minute and horrid demons. 'Don't just stand there admiring the craftsmanship go on through we have much yet to accomplish.' There was a hole in each tree. Each tree was within arms reach, and as I explored I found that each hollow concealed a handle. I pulled on both at the same time and stood back as small beams of light penetrated the once dark cavern. It seemed to rain with light but in reality it was merely the glass folding back in on itself. Nonetheless it was an impressive picture.
I stepped back into the hall of mirrors. Again I was faced with many versions of myself. I turned to look at the mirror that I had just stepped through, expecting anything. What I saw still shocked me. I was staring at a great golden, winged mountain lion. Its beautiful fur glowed softly with golden light. Its eyes had changed colour and were not the blue that I had seen before. Instead I saw eyes that were a deep green, like a summer meadow on a moonlit night. Its teeth were as white as the crest of a deep-sea wave. The creature that I gazed upon was ancient and beautiful. It made me wonder what the hell I had allowed to enter my body.
'I am older than this land and more powerful than one hundred of your kind put together. What I am is unimportant. Pick the wheel that you see in the middle of the floor and place it onto the mirror with the doorman to your right. We have work to do.' I obeyed and slotted the valve into a hole just above the doorman's hand on the mirror. There was another valve on the doorman's left. The reflection moved with me as we both took hold of the valve handles. "Turn the valve handles the way I tell you to." I followed the creature's instructions precisely and as a result a thick fog filled the room. Somewhere a hole opened as I could see the forest and the glow of the candle lit fence once again.
I stepped forth onto the frost-coated grass with renewed purpose. It was time to use the powers that God had given me…I mean the thing inside me. The power itself was like a living, breathing creature that begged to be used. It wanted me to use it, work with it, but not control it. The power wanted to bend me to its will. I fought against it and with my newfound strength eventually brought it under control. It took the efforts of both the creature and myself to control and direct the power together. He was now the guiding force and I was the strength. 'Concentrate. First we need to guard this place against intruders as much of my power originates from this place. This magic is much like painting a picture. You have to combine different elements that compliment each other to make this work.
First we need to use fire and earth to detect intruders. This is much like the spell that you saw Black Bear cast.' I was confused and anyone looking at the scene would have thought me mad as I talked to thin air. "How the hell do you know what I saw? And how do you know the chief?" There was a sigh inside my head, 'I am inside you now. In essence I am part of you. I know everything about you…probably better then you know yourself.' I rolled my eyes to the heavens and thought into myself, 'Now why did I not see that coming?' The voice answered, 'You were and still are only a foolish mortal but by the time I am finished with you it will be as if you were a child of God yourself.'
I cursed myself for forgetting that the creature could read my thoughts as well. 'Now take control of the power and force it to take the elements from the primordial building blocks held in the air. I took the power in my hands like it was the reigns of a horse and felt my muscles tense up as the energy coursed through my body. I concentrated hard and began to see different types of specks in the air around me.
I commanded the power to gather earth and fire and place it at the fence. Great spasms ran up and down my arms as a powerful force progressed to send my whole body into convulsions. Small transparent tendrils seemed to come out of my arm as my body was now being raised on a pillar of air. I could feel my hair and clothes being tousled as I was lifted up to rest on the stone of calling, yet all the while I knew that this was impossible. I watched the long, thin appendages set about their task. The power I felt kept me standing upright on the stone's top.
I hated it for letting me know that I was merely an instrument for it to use to carry out its business. Yet the power was strangely addictive. I needed it to make me whole. It felt like I had finally found the thing that was missing in my life and now that I had it, I never wanted to let go of it. The absence of the power would surely destroy me completely. The tendrils created a column of each of the elemental scraps. The voice spoke again, 'Good. Now join them by bringing your hands together. Bigger tasks require physical action.' Again I did as I was told and started to slowly close my shaking hands.
The two columns strained against the incredible power that I wielded. A sparrow flitted in and out and through the pillars. I know that it couldn't see them but it felt them, felt the intoxicating surge of power that pulsed through them. Even the plants under the pillars were feeling the benefit as they grew at an exponential rate. There was a crackling to be heard as the two elemental pillars touched each other. A blue light glowed where they joined. I noticed that sparks of blue light also flashed between my nearly joined hands.
I felt compelled to stop, afraid of what the blue flame might do to me but the power and the creature were in control now. Sensing my fear they both closed my hands quickly. A blinding blue column of light now swirled in the air in front of me. I stood there watching in awe, it was so hypnotic. The voice broke the silent moment in which I was dazed. 'Walk into the light and with each hand hold onto the fence. Quickly the blue flame can only be sustained for a short time and time is short enough for us.'
I ran through the unnaturally thick foliage and stepped into the light. I placed my hands on the fence and a fraction of a second later a bolt of lightning fell down from the sky and struck my body. It quickly left me and travelled into the wooden fence. 'How is this possible?' I wondered. I remembered seeing lightning hitting a large tree in my backyard but it did not go through the wood, the tree simply burst into flame.' The voice answered in its wisdom. 'This is not merely lightning. This, my boy is holy light. A direct blessing from God. This force will effectively banish a demon back to the hell that they escaped from. This place is now a holy place, watch the light.'
Sure enough, one by one the candles lit up and burned steadily without melting any of the tallow. I looked closer at the candles to somehow try and see how the trick worked. Just as my eye was two inches from the flame an unearthly scream sounded from within the hollow stone. I turned to face a creature that could only be described as an abomination. It looked like something I knew once. It had Filbar Johnstone's face. "My God. What happened to him?" There was a considerable silence as if the creature inside me was pondering the same question; either that or he was simply in shock.
'It is something that has not existed for some time. Their kind was cleansed from the earth during the last wars. If it were to have a name for it's kind then I would call them the Banished. It has been known by other names in other tongues.' My mind reeled, 'What? Wait a minute, you said other wars, what other…' I did not get to finish that question as the hideous beast charged at me. It looked like Filbar had swallowed a couple of people and was using their parts for extra limbs.
He had now acquired four legs; the back two legs were joined by a second torso and a pair of arms that grabbed onto his first stomach. The other body's face protruded through Filbar's belly, it's mouth agape and crying the silent scream of a thousand sufferings. His first arms had now grown bony talons that protruded from his lower arm, making them look like bony clubs from the elbows down.
"God." I ducked and rolled as the beast charged again. For some reason this thing wanted me dead. This deduction was made whenever the club like arms were swung out at me when I dodged. The voice spoke up again with a sense of urgency in its tone, 'Explanation later. Kill it now. Use the fence.' I nodded and tried luring it over to the candles. It stayed back. It screeched sharply with the upper face before sitting down on the grass to await my next move. It was not just some animal that I was dealing with. This was a demon full of dark intelligence and malignance.
'OK what now? I can't stay in this stalemate all night. As you yourself said, I have work to do.' The voice came back again. 'We both have work to do and no we're not going to stay in a stalemate. When I said use the fence I didn't mean lure the creature to it.' I was becoming frustrated, 'Well what then?' The voice replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 'Trust me. Grab the fence with one arm, focus on the creature, then point at it with the other free arm.'
It sounded like lunacy to try to kill an unholy demon by simply pointing at it, but it had been an insane past few weeks so who was I to argue with the voice in my head? I casually went to lean on the fence, trying not to give anything away, as I knew that the thing was smart enough to figure out any trap that I was going to set for it.
The thing spoke up, it's tone a gloating one, "Thinking of running? Have you not yet realised that I could run you down in less than five paces? Or maybe you think that you are safe from me over at that fence. Hah! I would have expected more from one of God's chosen. Protector indeed, hah!" That last sentence sparked some interest with the creature inside me and I suddenly found my powers of speech within its control. "Nathaniel. It has been a while. No need to ask how you got into God's court with your powers of deception. Still seeking to conclude our business? You should have chosen a better vessel."
The creature scoffed, "You think that I'm here for you? You flatter yourself. No, my work is complete I was just on my way out. As for getting in you forget that it is the court of the God's not just your pathetic spirit." The creature inside me sounded confused and had a hint of alarm in its voice. "What in God's name have you done?" Nathaniel laughed and a grotesque smile formed on the face where his belly should have been. "That's something that I shall leave for you two to discover. Now that I think about it I will let you live. Oh by the way you should definitely check out the lake. I hear that it's beautiful this time of year." With that the creature laughed and vanished from sight as if it were nothing more than a mirage.
He sat back in his chair staring down at the book, it had once again ended abruptly, and he found himself thirsting for more.He suddenly became worried with the thought that he might become like his father, obsessed with these tales and that town. When he came here to say his goodbyes to his then dying father, his father told him somthing that still has not left his mind. "Son, you must find it. Your friends are your enemies and your enemies are your friends, trust neither. I know that we weren't close, and wish we had been closer. I should have told you sooner, your mother died because of that damned thing, and now so will I ...find it...destroy..it" His father then died in his arms. Before reading these tales and seeing his fathers study, he assumed his father had just lost his mind, but now somthing inside him was pushing him to continue his fathers work. He was scared of it, whatever it was.
Please R&R,Wolf and I hope your enjoying these odd tales. Thanks Karry!
