Chapter 37 Steel and Stone
Hi. I'm
not all that proud of this chapter since it is written so badly, but I
don't have the time or energy to go back through it and rewrite
it. But trust me, the chapter quality will only go up after this
one.
In the sky we could see the source of the shriek. The Goddess statue was angry, for we had survived all three of those plagues, despite its best efforts. The statue raged, shrieking and howling as it glared down upon my hated farm. Smoke came from its ears, and fire erupted from its mouth as the carved figure fumed.
"Be wary," I said, "I think its going to do something."
I was more right than ever. The Goddess Statue suddenly shot down from the sky, down, spiraling towards us, venom in its eyes.
"LOOK OUT!" I shouted, and all seven of us ran out of the way.
The statue slammed into the ground, before rolling twenty feet. Then, it stood back up, towering above us. Suddenly, the mouth of the statue opened, and it began to speak.
"The ninth plague!" it said, it a deep, raspy voice which sounded somewhat like large boulders scrapping against each other. "I come to take you to the netherworld. More potent than the Reaper, but I am not him. More powerful than a murderer, but neither am I human. The one worshiped by Pagans in dark caverns in candle light. Dark where their dreams, and Dark am I. But they never understood who I was. They never understood who I was until it was too late. Now I have form. Now I have structure. Now I have a body."
"Stand back," Kai said to Ann, Doug, the Doctor, and Elli, "we will deal with this."
All three disciples, and Captain Bates walked towards the Statue. I drew my sword, and held it out towards the demonic statue. It just chuckled in response.
"I am made of stone," it said. "Invulnerable to your powers, I will rise above you."
"You will fall like a rock to the Abyss," I retaliated.
"Oh? You wish to challenge me? Like a Gentleman? No doubt you will fight with honor. I have no honor. I have no love. I am only hate. I am not a Gentleman! I am not even a man! Genderless I am! Stronger than you! I am who I want to be!"
"As am I whoever I want to be," I replied, "but you have chosen the ways of darkness!"
The statue's eyes flared, and it swung its mighty fist upon my. I leapt to the side, and the blow shattered through the earth next to me. I slashed at the stone arm as it landed, but my attack left nothing more than a scratch on the surface. At the same time, Gotz swung his axe, connecting with the side of the statue's face, resulting in the same outcome. Kai and the Captain began firing their weapons into its face, but the bullets just ricocheted off, causing no damage. From the mouth of the Goddess erupted a fury of neon green fire, melting the snow on the ground that it hit, and scorching the grass. It fired the neon green blast towards Gotz, but he leapt out of the way just in time.
"Demon," I spoke to the statue, "I rebuke you in the name of Christ."
The statue's hateful eyes turned to me.
"I command you to stand down!"
A shriek erupted from inside of the statue, echoing inside the hard stone. Then, the Goddess Statue fired green bolts of light from its eyes towards me. I fell to the ground, and the bolts flew over my head. The statue then began rising up into the air, flinging its head back as it rose. Its eyes looked straight up into the night sky, as if reveling in the light from the stars. Suddenly it began to glow with a bluish light, similar to the light of the moon.
"Goddess of the Moon I was once," it said as it rose, "people sacrificed to me, worshiped me, fell at my feet. What fools they were. Worshiping a demon they were, but they did not listen to those who warned them of darkness. Miracles they wanted, and miracles they received. Good miracles? They thought they were. Were they right? No. Enslaved them I did. Bound them I did. Then it was too late."
"You never were a Goddess," I shouted, "and you never will be. Stand down demon! I command you!"
"Do not speak that way to the Goddess of the Moon. Goddesses have powers you know."
The statue then held its arms up towards the moon, and the moonlight seemed to collect on its two hands, forming into balls of energy. The statue laughed, before tossing the two balls down towards us. The moonlit shot slammed into the ground right in front of me, exploding in a fury of blue fire. I was tossed backwards by the explosion, and landed in a heap on the ground. My shirt was scorched by the blue fire, but otherwise I was okay.
"I have the shape of the Goddess," the moonlit statue, "but I am not the Goddess. People think I am, but they are fools. Just like the fools who worshiped me, they worship the Harvest Goddess."
The statue then tossed two more bolts of moon light down towards us.
"In the name of God," Kai shouted at the statue, "I command you to stand down!"
"Don't say that word!" the statue shrieked, turning its attention towards Kai. It then extended its arm, and fired a stream of moonlight towards Kai.
Kai dodged just in time.
"Yer a fiend," Captain Bates said to the statue. "Back down in the name of the Savior!"
For the first time, I saw real fear in the eyes of that stone figure. It even backed up a little. It suddenly became aware of the fact that it was facing against four Christians. But it quickly recovered.
"If I could carry you to hell, then I would!" the statue shrieked.
"Back Spirit! In the name of Jesus I command you!" Suddenly Ann stepped up towards the statue, and spoke out against it.
She had just recently become a Christian, but let me tell you, I hadn't seen faith like that in years.
"Get back Ann!" Her father shouted at her.
"I have to help them," Ann replied.
"We have to make a stand," the Doctor said, "all together."
Doug nodded. Slowly, the Doctor, Elli, and Doug stood, and walked up next to Ann. Then, the four of them joined hands, and faced the statue.
"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit I command you to back down demon!" the Doctor said to the statue.
"We..." Gotz corrected. "We all command you in the name of Jesus Christ to back down."
The moonlight encircling the statue disappeared, and the statue fell to the ground suddenly. It backed away in fear as we approached it. But we kept walking. It was afraid of us, for our commands had caused its powers to leave it. The statue snarled at us as we approached it, but it failed to mask its fear.
"Demon," Kai said, "we command you in the name of the father to leave this world and go to the Abyss."
"I will never obey you! I am Goddess of the Moon!"
"You are a demon, and you are below God!" I countered.
"I will not obey you mortals!"
"You will obey God," Captain Bates said.
"To the Pit!" I shouted. "We command you in the name of God to go to the Pit!"
"God," Kai prayed, "please send this demon away from us. Please cast it away to the Abyss."
"Do not pray!" the statue shrieked, horrified.
"Leave this mortal earth!" I shouted at the statue, "and go to the Lake of Fire!"
Suddenly a mighty shriek erupted from inside of the stone figure. Without warning, it charged towards us. "Look out!" Gotz shouted, and turned and fled from the stone behemoth. As we ran, I looked back over my shoulder. As the statue chased us, it began to fall apart. First the arms began to crack, and then the torso was shattered. The legs exploded, and the head was tossed off of the remains of the body. It landed on the ground, and rolled over towards us. By then we had stopped. The head rightened itself on the ground, gave us a final glare, and then all life disappeared from those stone eyes.
"That's it," Gotz said happily, "all nine plagues are over!"
"That's what I'm afraid of," I said softly. "Now comes the tenth plague. And the Right Hand will carry out its wrath."
