Issue #173 : Evil At Hand

 

This is the final installment of a five part story. If you haven’t started at the beginning, click here to go back to the first part.

 

Richard looked around the room, the same one in which he had first uttered the rites of passage. He had not been here since declaring his allegiance to the order, six hundred years ago. To combat the forces of all that evil would strive to do and take from this world. It was a noble charge and one that he took freely. He was proud to be one of the chosen few, selected to watch over humanity and protect it in secrecy from the dangers which it, as of yet knew nothing about. The brethren of the order filed past him, touching their ceremonial blades to his chest, accepting him as one of their select few.

The chair of the order looked down at him and prepared to speak. As he did so however, the room began to tremble. The crowd of warriors looked up to try and discern the source as Richard rose to speak. Before he could get a word out however, his vision blurred and the world began to spin into darkness. He felt coldness underneath him as, through a fog, he began to hear his name called out.

He was on the floor of the church, pews on all sides of him from where the thing had hurled him as if he weighed nothing.

“Richard!” Jacob called out as the creature took him by the neck, lifting him up into the air and choking him mercilessly. Richard shook off the disorientation. Standing up, he drew the two silver blades from their sheaths and charged into the struggle. Jacob lifted his legs as Richard dove underneath, cutting from underneath at the thing. It managed to leap away to avoid the thrust but as it did, it released its grip on Jacob, letting him crash to the floor.

The room around them filled with the sound of the creature shrieking as it pushed off and soared up towards the ceiling. Before it could turn to resume its attack, it was taken from below by a solid blue beam of energy, bursting forth from the laptop in the corner. As it flew back and crumpled into the corner, the energy beam took on The shape of a massive giant. It picked the creature up off the floor and began pulling it in separate directions, straining to pull it in two.

“Brett!” Richard cried out at the digitalized form. “Release him!”

In an instant, the giant dissipated in a flash of light and the creature fell to the floor. Richard raced forward, producing the sacred blade and bringing it down in a vicious arc. Just before the blade struck home, a gnarled hand came up to block him, holding his hand at bay as he pressed down. The thing’s eyes gleamed up at him in rage as he pushed, trying to overpower it in a battle he knew that he was going to lose.

Then, from behind, he felt a hand snaking into his pocket and saw Jacob producing one of his last vials of origin flame. He held the vial down, just above the things eyes and snapped it in half. Flames immediately burst out and Jacob cried out in pain as he pulled his away, albeit too slowly. The thing screamed, lifting its hands to its eyes to try and protect itself from the explosion of bright light.

Richard drove the blade into the center of the thing’s chest.

The handle of the blade felt like it was turning to ice in his hands. He could see the monster’s skin begin to discolor and ripple, taking on a look of chiseled stone. The thing heaved as it tried to draw in air but no breath came. Smoke poured from its eyes and mouth as it writhed on the floor and a wave of light emerged from the wound, enveloping Richard in a cocoon of sudden, brilliant pain.

The light subsided and Richard saw that the thing’s skin had become bright red, as if a raging inferno had ignited there. A rending sound, like concrete splitting, filled the room. The scream of pain from the thing raised in pitch as the windows around them shattered in one final explosion.

Jacob and Brett approached the scorched remains on the floor.

“Is that it?” Jacob asked. “Did it work this time?”

Richard winced at the pain now building in his neck and joints as he nodded. “I think so. For both of us.”

Brett looked up at him, confused by the remark. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Richard felt his legs vanish underneath him as he lost the sensation. He fell to the floor, the other two barely catching him as he struggled to answer. “The blade,” he said. “It affects the one who uses it. The price. My body is dying, one piece at a time.”

“What?” Brett yelled out. Jacob looked stricken, but also like he had known this from the start. “What the hell? There had to have been a different way we could have done this! You shouldn’t have had to—”

Richard began to cough but as his lung tissue began to grow necrotic, he lost the ability to do even that. He bucked and twisted on the floor, trying to get control.

“This is too high a price,” Brett said. You can’t just—”

“My decision,” Richard forced out. “All that matters is this, the victory we win here. You must carry on.” He reached out to place Jacob’s hand on the hilt of the dagger. He felt warmth rushing out of him and through the connection, until all that was left behind was a useless appendage. He collapsed onto the floor, managing only a few last words as darkness crowded in.

“…..up to…you now.”

Brett and Jacob locked gazes over Richard’s body, now looking like he was hundreds of years old. Wind blew outside and knocked more glass out of the window frames.

“What the hell do we do now?” Brett asked.

“The only thing we can do,” Jacob replied. “Keep on going.” He looked at the dagger before tucking it into his coat. The frail skeleton on the floor that had once been Richard was already decaying into dust. A thrill of nausea ran through him as he contemplated that this would now likely end up being his fate as well, now that he had been tied to the blade.

“We need to get out of here,” Jacob said, leading Brett out of the church. They would need to find more people to replace Richard, the two of them alone couldn’t do it. Still, he had faith that it would happen. He felt the same strength of fate that Richard had carried through his life. How many more years did Jacob now have before his time would come around?

Only the fight and the years would tell.

Thank you for hanging with this story. Don’t forget to tune in on Wednesday for a brand new tale!