Chapter 10 A Demon's Mercy
2 years ago during the portal opening:
The Bloodgoyle snatched Anna off the top of the Temen-ni-Gru. The Architect was so consumed by the opening of the portal that he did not notice nor would he have cared that his daughter was now lost to him. The Goyle sought to take Anna back to the Underworld but by a stroke of luck, it was unintentionally blindsided by another flying demon and Anna fell from the sky, her tattered dress catching on a broken offshoot of a building, saving her life.
"Here! Take my hand!"
Anna looked up to see a bearded man extending his hand. She was full of fear and still in shock from the fall but she still had enough sense to take his hand. As Anna slouched down to the ground, crying, as the man spoke again:
"We must get underground. They will not stop."
Anna ignored the man and continued to weep. As he attempted to console her, she backed away.
"It's alright, child. You need not be afraid. My name is Abel, what is yours?"
Hearing the kindness in the man voice, she responded somewhat distantly, "…Anna…And I am no child." Anna stood erect to reveal the body of a twenty year old woman.
"I see." Abel then picked up a book on the ground and dusted it off.
"What is that?" Anna inquired.
"What, this? It is the truth, my dear. The key to our salvation"
"Salvation?"
"Yes, the words in this book shall echo for many generations to come. It is a weapon, mightier than any sword, to fight the evil that has befallen us this day. It is our only hope."
Anna continued to look at the book very strangely.
"What troubles you, child?"
"My mother used to carry a book like that. She said it was the only way to save my father, but it did not save him. So, I stopped reading it as well…" Anna appeared shaken as she clutched herself tightly.
"It is alright," The man then took a white gold necklace from around his neck and placed it in Anna's hands, "You have lost your way. Come with me. I shall guide and protect you now."
Having no other option, Anna took Abel's hand and they stole off together into the shadows….
Back to the present during Sparda's crusade through the human world:
"Tell me, Sparda, how many times have you ventured into the human realm?" Mundus' tone was one of feigned curiosity. Since Sparda had left the demon realm to eliminate the Human Resistance, he had been coming back less and less.
"Seventy two times" Sparda's response was quick and to the point.
"And how many humans have you and your army killed?"
"Six hundred and twenty four thousand, three hundred and eighty two" The large and impressive number runs off of Sparda's tongue as naturally as water flows through rivers.
"That is commendable; however, it is not good enough. Those cancerous humans, those contemptible fleshlings, are still able to resist our lesser forces. This is not acceptable in the least. The humans must be totally eradicated, and you are the one who will do this."
"You would have me go alone?" Sparda's voice indicated an almost pleasant overtone at the thought of going to the human realm unattended.
"No…..no. I want you to take a small cadre of your strongest. I want you to find the leader of this human resistance, and kill him. Without their leader, the humans will fall."
"And how do you propose that I find their leader?"
"The way that any General determines his enemy……very carefully….."
And Sparda once again descended into the human realm with an army of his strongest soldiers, this time with a distinct objective; eliminate the head of the Human Resistance.
"Sparda, how will we find him, their leader?" Beowulf asked.
Sparda was silent and surveyed his surroundings, as if lost in deep thought. Not much was left of the buildings and huts that once surrounded the base of the Temen-Ni-Gru. Not one human remained in its vicinity, at least not in plain sight.
"Sparda, how will-"
"Silence!" Sparda cut Beowulf off, his red eyes remained fixed off into the distance, he calmed his mind and began to scan the city for the ephemeral glow that he had noticed on previous excursions.
Where are you? This mission of Mundus' is futile, but while I am in the human world I can at least determine the source of that aura...where is it?
He had never been able to find the source of this ethereal light, but it continued to fascinate him, almost to the point of obsession; he was inexorably drawn to it like a moth to flame. The Abyss, Frosts and Hell Vanguards that surrounded him began to grow anxious.
Where could it be? Damn! It cannot be gone, can it?
"Sparda, when are we going to atta--" the Frost was immediately quieted by a slice from Sparda's sword.
What will I tell the others if I do find it? How will I explain why we are not pursuing the Resistance? They will kn—Ah! There it is…
Then Sparda finally broke his silence.
"Do you hear that?"
"Hear what, general?"
Suddenly there was a very faint sound in the background, similar to that of a bell tolling.
"That."
"Yes, but where is it coming from?" Beowulf inquired.
Sparda lifted his sword and, without looking, pointed, "That way."
As Sparda and his task force made their way through the broken town, they came to a heavily forested area.
"There." Sparda's voice was stern and direct
"Where? I do not see anything"
"You must look beyond what your mere eyes can see, old friend, and look through the ether" Sparda then took his sword and swung it upwards with lighting speed, creating a narrow pathway where the overhanging trees were. And behind these trees, nested in the cover of the forest, was a small monastery, which, if it hadn't been for Sparda's keen senses may have never been found by the demons.
"Their leader is in there." Sparda spoke with false certainty.
"But how do you know, general?"
"Just put yourself in their position. If you were them, where would your leader be?"
The Vanguards and Frosts seemed very confused by this answer and fell back in line. A gathering seemed to be occurring inside the monastery, and Sparda stood ready to give the order. After a few moments of silence, Sparda spoke.
"Do not leave any alive. Show no mercy……GO!"
The bells of the monastery rang, calling for an assembly. The people quickly filed in and filled the holy house, leaving only room for people to stand. As the commotion quieted down, a man took the pulpit, with a woman sitting behind him.
"Good evening, my brothers!"
The sanctuary full of men and some women responded in unison, "Good evening."
The man then continued to speak, "We are gathered here today because we are on a mission," Several men in the audience responded with affirmations as the intensity began to build. "We are on a mission to defend humanity! To stand up to a new menace…these……creatures from Hell!"
"These are dark times, yes, but this is not a time for fear!" The man's voice grew louder and his statements more profound. "We will not fall, we will not, can not give up! We will stand and we will fight! Fathers, you must protect your wives and daughters. Women, you must not question the will of your husbands, for he needs your faith now more than ever!!"
"We attempted to prevent this evil before but we failed. This time we cannot fail!!" The energy inside the sanctuary became more intense and a great uproar arose from the crowd.
Men, clad in armor with weapons in hand, stood and beat their shields as they cheered the man on. They began to chant his name, their leader, "Abel! ABEL! ABEL!"
Then one of the men from the crowd spoke out loudly, "We must take the fight to them Abel, no more waiting in the shadows for them to attack us!"
"YEAH!!!" The other men yelled.
"Brutus, I know how it pains you to use such tactics but it is the only way. We tried to take the fight to them before but too many lives were lost. We cannot risk that again."
"But we can Abel. We are smarter than those beasts, we can organize an effort. Listen to me, brethren; any lives we lose in battle will be atoned for and avenged. Our will is stronger than theirs, our courage outweighs their numbers. I do not care how strong these monsters are. NO MONSTER IS STRONG ENOUGH TO--"
Suddenly a thunderous crash erupted from the back of the sanctuary as Beowulf exploded through, immediately destroying the balcony, killing a few.
Beowulf roared as the men and women scattered in terror. Raising his arms, his demonic power of light pulsed through his veins. Like a beacon of destruction, Beowulf began to tear his way through the room.
Abel looked on in disbelief, "Oh dear God, save us, Father!"
As the Frosts flooded into the sanctuary, Brutus pulled out his sword, "BROTHERS!!! TO ARMS!!" Then all the men in the sanctuary took out their blades and shields and charged the incoming demons, letting out a might war-cry.
Vanguards trampled over pews, piercing the humans' body armor with their sharp scythes. The women, unable to escape, begged for mercy but were only granted the sharp claws of the powerful demons.
Beowulf swung his arms back and forth, clearing the room of would be attackers. And Sparda stood at the monastery entrance with his scaly arms crossed, watching the debacle with a grimace. Brutus then took out a large battle axe and headed straight for Sparda. His head was severed before he could even lift the weapon over it. Sparda re-sheathed his sword and continued to observe.
At the front of the sanctuary by the pulpit, Abel looked on in horror. He then regained his composure and turned to the woman who was sitting behind him.
"We must get out of here. We will go through the exit in the back."
The woman, full of fear, her hands shaking as they grasped an old, dark brown book, silently followed him.
Then, unexpectedly, a Vanguard rammed the end of his scythe into Abel's spinal column, held him up then slammed him to the ground.
"Abel! No!" the woman screamed.
As the demon was about to do the same to her, one of the men ran it through with his sword and punched it away with his shield.
"Get out of here, Anna! You are second in command; we cannot lose you as well"
Sparda watched on as the woman fled through a hidden door in the front of the sanctuary. He walked past all the carnage around him to follow suit. He then touched the wall where the woman had disappeared. As he pushed, it began to open up like a revolving door. Behind the door was a dark spiral staircase that led downward. Sparda could hear the quick footsteps of the woman echo as she ran.
When he made it to the bottom of the stairwell there was a long hallway with a series of rooms lined on each side. Sparda began to walk down the hallway slowly. As he came to the first door, he opened it with his sword and peered in, noticing only a desk and a stack of books. When he came to the second room he did the same and still saw nothing of any significance. He made his way all the way down to the last room of the dead end hallway. This one he opened with his clawed hand and stepped in.
The room was slightly larger than the others and depended on a small, melted candle for its illumination. Sparda walked over to the workbench near the back of the room, on which sat more old texts. He picked up one of the books and thumbed through it, trying to make sense of the words foreign to his eyes.
Suddenly, the woman jumped from behind the door with blade in hand, attempting to stab Sparda in the back. With supernatural speed, Sparda reacted, slapping the knife out of her hand causing her to fall to the floor. His blade hung inches from her nose as she was now at his mercy. As their eyes met, Sparda paused and stood frozen in a daze. This woman, apparently, had been the source of his obsession for months.
"What are you waiting for, aren't you going to kill me? I'm right here!"
Seeing that Sparda was hesitating, Anna tried to get up and run but he blocked her path, and she hit his gray exoskeleton with a thud. She fell backward from the shock and tried to crawl away. Sparda slowly and deliberately walked toward her, turning his sword into a spear. She began to cry without making a sound.
The tears pouring from her face catch Sparda's eye. Emotions, at least in the way humans experience them, are something demons are devoid of, and it stops him dead in his tracks. Silence runs like high tension between them, and he suddenly notices something hanging from her neck. In her helpless state, the aura around her intensifies, seemingly being amplified by the amulet, which was now glowing white hot. Sparda is in a stupor, and Anna is in shock. He doesn't know whether to kill or not; she doesn't know whether to run or not.
The silence was broken by Beowulf's deep voice calling from inside the monastery, "Sparda! We've cleared most of them out, some escaped underground. Should we follow them?" Sparda looked into the woman's eyes and saw something he was not accustomed to: hope. That's where she was running to, he thinks. Beowulf's voice called again, "Sparda! Is it clear?" Sparda's eyes narrowed almost to a close, looking at the woman. Confused thoughts pulsed through his head like a tempest. "Sparda! Is it CLEAR!"
Sparda continued to look into her eyes, still slightly dazed for reasons beyond him. He eventually snaps out of it as his thoughts die down to nothing, and he abides in silent observation. He shouts, almost cutting Beowulf off, "It is…Clear!"
His sword returns back to normal as he steps over the woman and exits the chamber. He doesn't give her a second glance, but she follows him with her eyes until he melts away in the darkness. She remained huddled in the shadow of a large golden statue until she heard the screams stop, and until the sound of Sparda's hooves clicking on the stone floor was nothing more than a faint memory.
She slowly arose and made her way down the hallway to peek out into the now lifeless sanctuary. Fires still burned from both the humans and the demons. Bodies were strewn about like animal skins. Without a conscious command, almost by surprise to herself, her legs begin to propel her and she heads for the underground, where the Resistance can regroup, where she can gather her strength, where she can wonder why that devil spared her life, alone, as opposed to the hundreds more that he slaughtered that night……