Keys of Fate Part Six

Keys of Fate

A Story in Serial - Part Six

This is part six of the serial story I’m currently writing. If you have not read the story from the beginning, you might want to go check out part one first. Click here to read it now. This is a story you get to help me write by providing your feedback in the comments or by sending me a message through my Contact page . If I like your ideas, they might just end up in the story, or I might name one of the characters after you!Part Six:

The Forest

Abaddon turned back and forth in every direction. He scanned the dense pine and cedar trees, drawing his sword. Instinct gradually took over, calming him, forcing him to slow his heartbeat. He stood as still as possible and relaxed so that he could listen for every sound and smell his surroundings. Nothing stirred in the trees, not even the wind in the higher branches. 

He let a smile of comprehension crawl into the corners of his mouth as he caught the faint scent of cooking food and cleaning solvents.

“I’m still in the diner.”

“And making quite the spectacle of yourself,” someone said. 

Abaddon took his time turning around, assuming that he was now facing the same direction he had been before the illusion. Seated comfortably on a rock was the waiter, only he was no longer a waiter. He was tall, even seated, and thick, swollen muscles bulged beneath his shining armor. The tip of his longsword was in the dirt, and he had one gauntleted hand draped over the golden pommel.

“Forgive me, Talis,” Abaddon said with a mock bow. “I did not recognize you.”

Talis frowned. “Indeed. And do you not recognize where you now stand?”

Abaddon grinned. “I stand, dear Talis, in a diner in West Texas where you are making a feeble attempt to stop me from my work. The appearance of this illusion you’ve conjured?” He waved a hand at the trees. “Meaningless.”

Talis twirled his sword and watched the mesmerizing blur of the blade. He breathed in and out of his nose and then looked up. “Do you say so? Truly? Have the millennia been so unkind to the memory of the great Abaddon?”

Abaddon took a step forward. “Continue your mockery, and you will find out how great I”

“Lebanon,” Talis said, interrupting Abaddon without so much as a flinch as the demon took another step toward him. “The Lebanon that was, that is. Before the first temple of the Jews. Before Solomon’s reign.”

At that, Abaddon roared and rushed forward with his sword poised to strike. Talis remained calm as if he had no intention of rising to meet the impending attack, but at the last moment, he lifted his sword and stood. He swung his sword into Abaddon’s so hard that sparks flew from the edges of them both on contact. The blades remained crossed, and both the angel and the demon pushed against the other. There was a sharp, metallic ringing as the blades slid to the hilts and locked together. Talis and Abaddon stood inches apart, staring each other down over their swords.

“I’ll finish what I started that day, archangel.” Abaddon spoke through clenched teeth.

“I see you forgot what happened that day, demon.” 

They both pushed away and stepped back. Abaddon followed with a diagonal slash aimed at Talis’s neck, and Talis sidestepped without bothering to block the harmless strike. He countered with a horizontal strike, but Abaddon proved faster and reversed his strike at the last second to block. Talis wasted no time, quickly spinning his sword off the block and swinging over his head and then bringing it down toward Abaddon’s eyes. The demon deftly thrust his sword straight up, gripped tightly in both hands, and managed to block the deadly strike. The force of the blow nearly knocked the sword from his hands, and he scrambled backward to regroup and get off of the defensive.

“You forget where you are, Talis.” Abaddon stood up straight and held his sword to his side. 

Talis didn’t respond, but then something in his look changed. Confident anger dissolved into a sudden panic. In the air around him, demons of all shapes and sizes materialized. Every one of them held a weapon and was aiming at him. They appeared in the air in what seemed like slow-motion, but then they descended on the archangel with blurring speed. Talis raised his sword to deflect the first strike from a mace aimed at his head, then kicked out in front of him and knocked a demon that looked human out of the air. His sword never slowed. He lifted it above his head, blocking the chop of an ax. He pushed away with a growl and then blocked left and right with impossible speed. He so stunned the next demon in front of him that the creature had no defense when Talis stabbed it in the throat.

Abaddon watched in awe as the archangel spun back and forth, blocking, parrying, and striking with unmatchable precision. Several of the demons’ strikes got through his defenses, clashing against his armor, but he countered every one of them with a more intense hit, sending demon after demon airborne and then onto its back. The space around him expanded as the demons became more careful and respectful of his skill with the deadly longsword. Soon they were all standing back, their chests heaving and nostrils flaring. Talis wasn’t breathing hard, and his sword was comfortably at his side.

Abaddon suppressed a growl. “Impressive but pointless, Talis. You are outnumbered and will not be able to defend all of us in a full attack for long.”

Talis nodded and sheathed his sword at his waist. “True.”

Abaddon nodded as well. “Drop the illusion.”

Talis smiled. “Gladly.”

The air around them shimmered, then seemed to fracture into lines. A moment later, there was a rush of wind and a loud popping sound. Abaddon closed his eyes to shield them from a brilliant light. When he opened them again, he was once more standing in the diner. His confidence soared, and he was about to smile when he noticed that the brilliant light had not gone away.

He swung around to where Viggo sat. The human was still in his seat, sipping his water, but behind him were two tall angels with armor similar to Talis’s. Abaddon looked all around. His soldiers were surrounded by angels. They filled the diner with their light, and all of them were armed with longswords. He ducked down low enough to look out the window and saw that the parking lot was filled with angels as well. His smile evaporated, Abaddon turned around.

Talis was standing there with one hand propped on the pommel of his sheathed sword. “As I said, you forgot what happened that day.”

Abaddon growled and started to lunge at Talis, but strong hands grabbed him by the shoulders and restrained him. He looked to his left and right and saw his lieutenants, Garith and Cosset, holding him. He nodded to both of them, and they removed their hands from his arms and shoulders.

“This is far from over.”

“Leave,” Talis said.

Abaddon stared into the archangel’s golden eyes for a long time before relenting. He turned far enough to see Viggo with the two angels kneeling beside him and whispering words of comfort. Then, without looking back at Talis, he motioned for his soldier to leave. They were slow to comply but dared not defy their commander or the shining host surrounding them. They exited the diner without a word.

*  * *

When the last of the demons were gone, the two angels beside Viggo stood and bowed their heads to Talis. He returned the bow and then spoke to all of the host.

“Thank you for answering the call. The threat has been, temporarily, eliminated.”

The angel at Viggo’s left shoulder spoke up. “But there is still much to do.”

Talis regarded him for a moment, then nodded. “Yes.” He sighed. “We must safeguard his wife.”

It was the angel at Viggo’s right to speak. “How many marriages must be destroyed?”

Talis shook his head. “You have your orders. Go.”

To be continued…

This is the unedited, rough draft of a story in the Journey of Fate universe. All feedback is welcome!

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