Beyond Perdition, page 37
Raphael nodded, ‘Seems like our only plan’ Kaleen concurred. ‘Keep a single file and as quiet as you can, follow me.’
5
Isaac’s arm was growing heavy. He could feel his biceps, triceps and forearm muscles weakening with every thrust and swing. At least five of the Titans had breached the outer defences and were striding towards the central tower. If they destroyed the surface battlements it wouldn’t be long until they discovered the ladder and then...
Isaac swerved round and ran towards a large Titan who was nearing the centre, each of its strides covering a great distance. Its body was riddled with arrows sticking out of its bark-covered skin like porcupine needles. Its exposed ribs were a charred black where fires had started and quickly burned out. Isaac leapt onto its heel, gripping his own feet into the natural hollows and indentations. From there he scaled the knobbly calf, easing his way up the gnarled surface. His sword chopped indiscriminately at vine and twig until he had reached the Titan’s waist. From here he could see up and into the creature’s exposed rib cage. A great throbbing mass hung like a meaty light fixture connected by a wooden arterial tract, to the heart.
Isaac wasted little time plotting his route through the Titan’s innards. A writhing mass of vegetative growth snaked its way between the jutting ribs. Dangling trails of ivy allowed Isaac to pull himself upwards and between the strange amalgamation of internal organs, stomach, lungs and intestine until he had a clear shot at the heart. Gripping hold of the upper ribs, he drove his blade into the heart. A soft squelch and then a harsh swaying as the Titan reacted violently. An earth -trembling roar left its mouth as it stumbled forward, falling to the ground like a felled tree. Isaac leapt from his caged confines and rolled away from the downed body, his sword glazed with gloopy tree sap.
CHAPTER 31
THE GREAT DRAGON
1
The perimeter fence stretched way further than Kaleen had first thought. Luckily, the thick treeline obscured their efforts as they navigated around the ramparts of the Tal’argen prison. The group did their best to keep eyes on both the fence-line and the Titans. Mason couldn’t help but wonder why these Titans were all different from what they had encountered on the subway tracks. At least, the burial shroud had worked on that creature. Now, darting between the oaks, he felt they were exposed and vulnerable; if these Titans could see through enchantments then perhaps their others senses were exaggerated. Perhaps they could smell or hear at some supernatural level and if that was the case, what chance did this group have entering the prison compound unseen?
Kaleen had increased the distance in front and broke Mason’s reeling thoughts with wild signalling of her sword hand. They had reached the edge of the watchtower to the far left. It appeared abandoned. A defunct spotlight dangled from an opening at the top, an abandoned machine gun nest held only the remnants of life. All defences had been called to the other side of the compound to fend off the invading hordes leaving the northern-most section of the prison essentially abandoned.
Mr Andes caught up with Kaleen. He took hold of one of the chain-links and chanted unintelligibly. The effect was immediate. The thin interlacing metal began to melt away like large drops of mercury. Within seconds, a hole about a meter wide and the same in height had been created in the fence.
Despite the chaos, a single Angel was running through the forecourt, advancing on them, sword drawn. He stopped a few meters short and took a moment to catch his breath.
‘Kaleen, Raphael, it’s good to see you’re both still alive. This must be the Trinity?’
‘That’s right Isaac. Can you take us to Michael?’ Raphael asked, his eyes moving rapidly from what was happening a mere hundred yards behind, to the three men stood huddled next to Mr Andes.
‘Sure, follow me.’
As one, they made a beeline towards the central tower, Kaleen and Isaac took the lead.
‘Through here, this way’ Isaac panted, moving a few blocks aside and pointing the way in. ‘find cell 43, from there you can get into the underground bunkers, Michael will be waiting for you there.’
‘What about you?’ Kaleen asked, placing her hand gently on Isaac’s shoulder.
‘The Lord’s forces need me. We can’t let the Titans overcome our defences. If we can hold them off until their Master arrives, then we might just stand a chance, quickly now, before anyone sees.’
‘Thank you Isaac, and may the Lord be with you’
As Isaac disappeared into the shadowed forecourt to re-join the battle, Raphael and Kaleen led the group into the tower.
They were met with an interior coolness far more intense than the night air and shadows far darker than those in the forest. Slivers of moonlight sliced through iron-barred windows hitting the cracked, wet tiling and making it shine. Rats scurried from cell to cell, their tiny feet splashing in the rust flecked water. Iron pipes, themselves covered in florets of rust leaked further dirty water onto the linoleum walkways.
‘Can you make out the numbers?’ Logan asked as he moved from cell to cell. They were nearly all identical in appearance. A cot-bed, an iron sink, occasionally a toilet and all in a space no larger than a broom closet. Some of the stone walls still held evidence of posters or photographs now torn or turned to papier-mâché by the damp.
‘They go up in ascending order, even this side, odd that one. I’ve just seen 26, so we gotta keep going up that way.’
Logan ran ahead reading the mantle above each cell door. 33, 35, 37, 39. the corridor turned sharply.
‘It’s here’ he announced, and indeed they all saw the nondescript mantle inlaid with the faded printed number 43. The cell looked little different from the rest, except the bed had been unbolted from its foundations and moved aside revealing a small but accessible hole in the floor.
‘That must be it’ Logan panted
‘I’ll go first,’ Raphael announced illuminating the black maw with the light of his blade. ‘Kaleen you take the rear, make sure we aren’t being followed.’
She nodded as Raphael descended into the hole.
The narrow cone of light created by the sword allowed the group to negotiate the shadowy conduit in a single file. It was only when they reached what looked like an abandoned munitions bunker that they were able to spread out. Bowls of enchanted flames had been positioned around the perimeter and there, clad in an armour of gold, was Archangel Michael, bent at the knee as if in some private knighting ceremony. He was saying something but in such hushed tones, it was impossible to discern.
When Raphael approached, he stood up, his full height dwarfing the group. His expression was a strange mixture of delight and dread. A smile belied by a tearful look in his eyes.
‘Thank the Lord, Father in Heaven that you all made it. With all that’s been happening outside, I was beginning to think we were fighting a losing battle.’
‘It’s not over yet’ Raphael exclaimed, ‘the Carnal Trinity has assembled and soon the Prince of Darkness shall arrive.’
‘Soon’ being the operative word, I’m afraid’ Michael said. ‘He’s reached the shores of the island and he’s flying directly for this prison compound. We will need to devise a plan and then head out into the open to fight him.’
Mason looked nervously at the others.‘Are we really sure about this? I mean, the Devil come on we don’t stand a chance.’
‘Fear is good’ Michael began, ‘I would be more worried if you weren’t scared but you must harness that fear. Each of you has faced many trials in Hell and all of them have prepared you for this moment.’
‘But how?’ Logan began
Michael held out his sword, a blade over a meter in length, the hilt garnished with rare stones.
‘Do you recall when you fought the demons in the arena of Under-Olympia. Do you remember how against the odds, you defeated each opponent, those skills, that swordsmanship has followed you up here? With this blade of tempered Damascus steel and gems from the very courts of Elysium, you will be able to fend off the Great Dragon.’
Logan took the sword, surprised at first by its weight. It was a lot heavier than the weapon he had wielded in the arena but somehow that helped him feel more secure in its ability, like a higher calibre firearm.
‘And me?’ Mason stammered, ‘I never really fought anything and neither do I know how.’
‘Your strengths do not lie in combat but in the spells you acquired under the tuition of Argon, the White Magic Mage. If you can bring to mind just one of those spells and cast it effectively then you stand a chance against the Master of Darkness.’
‘Okay, okay, that’s all well and good but what about me?’ Daniel asked, stepping out from behind Mr Andes. ‘I’ve learnt no spells or gained any experience in combat, I can’t see how I can possibly be of use.’
Michael smiled, ‘the answer doesn’t lie here but in the silo of Sheol where all knowledge is kept. You must return there and consult the race who inhabit the quadrant, they will reveal what you need to know.’
‘How do I do that?’
‘I know for a fact that Jesus explained that, in times of meditation, people have entered this area. Find a quiet place here and clear your mind. Once you are there, you can ask the questions you need to ask. You don’t have long though, go into the next room away from distractions, I promise you if you do this properly you will have the answers.’
2
The scales on the tarpaulin-like wings glistened with a reptilian sheen. Like thin jewelled plates, they not only tessellated but overlapped in some intricate form of epidermal layering. The metacarpal joints, coupled with the wing phalanges, gave a firm rigidity to the extended appendages like the chain mail of a knight’s armour.
The Great Dragon’s deep amber eyes pierced the night air, scoping the terrain. The ivory white of its scythe-like unguis shimmered in the light of the moon. Its mandible, housing an array of serrated incisors, appeared to shudder in excited anticipation. Long translucent straws of salivation oozed from the ridge of its mouth onto the forest floor below. A serpent’s tongue, nestled deep within the stalactite formations of its maw flickered out and tasted the air. He was near, he could taste his prey.
3
Logan swung the sword in wide arcs as he imagined the advancing foe. His taut tendons pulsed in his arm sending ripples across his skin. There was a naturalness to his movements far removed from the clumsy swings and parries he’d exercised in the arena. The motions felt somehow more fluid, more dance-like. It could easily be down to the sword itself but something more was regulating and perfecting his attacks, like a puppeteer pulling all the right strings on a marionette. It was like a ballet performance or a perfectly choreographed sequence of moves strung together seamlessly and professionally.
Mason studied his hands, his tools of magic. No longer did he view his digits as mere fingers but as individual wands containing within them the means to cast great spells. A tingling not unlike pins and needles rushed through his hands and for a moment it was as if the magic was going to be ejaculated from under his nail beds, spurted out in an uninhibited stream. He no longer needed words for he felt the enchantments writhing about his insides like a thousand hungry worms desperate to escape.
He could visualise spells of fire and ice and, of lightning and blood. Argon’s bearded face swam in front of his eyes, silently mouthing the words of spells like a Thespian’s understudy prompting from depths unseen.
Daniel had retreated to a room just off from the bunker. Although it was quiet, his mind reeled with a thousand thoughts. Any chance of emptying his head, of meditating seemed impossible. He had to find a way of calming down, of forgetting all that was around him and just return to that silo, to the creatures with their strange extended craniums and the infinite answers of the universe.
It was only when he relaxed, removing his mind from the task at hand that he found himself once again in a room covered in signs, symbols and mathematical equations. The reptilian beings were still feverishly inputting data into the keypads. A surge of visible energy was flowing through their interlocking tails. A low humming permeated the small room like an electrical generator in a substation.
‘He’s here’ muttered one of the beings
‘And exactly on time’ answered another
‘Come forward, Son of Light, make known your request.’ At this point, it was impossible to tell who was speaking. The dialogue seemed to belong to all of them and yet to none of them at all. No one moved their lips or made any other indication of speaking but the words still came clear.
Daniel didn’t know what to say next. His legs trembled as he neared the interlocked Analysts and tried desperately to figure out what to ask or at least how to phrase it.
‘I’ll get straight to the point then. Does the Devil have any weaknesses?’
The Analysts exchanged glances before the voice which belonged to no one in particular rung out loud and clear.
‘Whilst the Devil inhabits Hell, he is all-powerful.’
A silence, absent of even the humming energy, hung heavy in the air.
‘He is no longer in Hell but on Earth, does he have a weakness on earth?’
‘The Earth is the Devil’s domain, he is infinitely powerful there as well.’
Daniel sighed. ‘I need to know how to defeat him’
‘You can’t, not on your own anyway but as part of the Trinity you stand a chance.’
‘Then tell me my part, what must I do?’
‘Your mind bought you here, there is no reason why you cannot move others with your mind as well. The Devil may be invincible in Hell and the realms of Earth but there is a place where he has no influence or power.’
‘Where?’
‘Why, beyond the borders of the Universe, in the unexplored expanses.’
‘I don’t understand’
‘The Universe expands outwards but that which it expands into, that which is beyond the borders is known merely as The Expanses’, a realm of white matter where nothing yet exists. If the Devil was taken there, then he too would be part of that which does not exist. There is, of course, one major problem.’
‘What?’
‘If you take him there than you too will be entering a realm where you no longer exist. In fact, you will be wiping your complete timeline and by extension all that has come before. It will be as if you were never born.’
‘Never born?
‘The prophecy refers to it as the second sacrifice. Where Jesus sacrificed his life on earth for the Salvation of Mankind, you have been elected to sacrifice your own life so that all who come after will not be a part of this Earth but of the new Earth and the new Heaven. Everything must begin and end with a sacrifice.’
The words hung in the air, the red eyes of the Analysts glowing brightly.
‘And this would defeat the Devil?’
They nodded simultaneously, ‘evil will be wiped from the timeline and only good shall reign.
Daniel was about to ask another question when the room began to ripple. Suddenly the faces of the Analysts blurred and faded out of view.
Daniel was once again in the bunker, the rest of the group staring at him intently, waiting for him to speak.
‘What did you see Daniel?’ Mr Andes asked.
4
Far below, the greens and browns of the forest soon surrendered to the grey ramparts, barbed fences, and tall slender guard-towers of the Tal’argen prison. The Devil’s Titans had breached the perimeter lines and overwhelmed the Angelic forces but of course, this was never in doubt. Bodies lay sprawled across the forecourt. Supposedly unbreakable Damascus steel lay snapped and floating in ever-expanding pools of blood.
Those running across the gantries pointed to the skies with trembling bows in hand. However many enchanted arrows were loosed, they had no effect on the Great Dragon’s impenetrable hyde.
He swooped down towards the outer walls of the central tower. An indefinable energy diffused from within the stonework. His target lay inside.
Archangel Michael silenced the group with a finger to his mouth before pointing towards the outside. In a hushed voice, he said ‘He is here, he has arrived.’
There was a sudden loud thundering neither natural nor mechanical but deep and guttural. It shook the very foundations of the tower. Stonework rained from the bunker ceilings, crumbling onto the flag-stoned floor. The small flaming bowls of Celestial Fire trembled at the new disturbance.
‘We must head deeper inside’ Mr Andes proclaimed
‘There is no place we can hide now, our only chance is to meet the Great Dragon, Satan himself out in the open.’
Suddenly Logan’s blade felt distinctly inadequate. Any confidence he once had was shattered by the bellow of the exterior roars. A great swishing sound surrounded the tower, powerful gusts of wind pummelled the walls with an unflinching relentlessness.
‘Are you sure we can do this?’ Mason asked, looking both at Mr Andes and Michael.
‘We must try,’ Michael answered, his own doubts undermining his answer. ‘Let’s head out the way
‘And to all of you, I pray that our Father in Heaven be with us, protecting us and guiding us. The Bible says that ‘if God is with us who can stand against us?’’
‘Amen’ Daniel cried from behind.
5
The corridor walls vibrated with the ever-increasing din. The roar was akin to a thousand lions, the resonant notes ricocheting from the buttressed ramparts in loud earth-shattering explosions. The group knew the parts they individually had to play and yet each of them mourned the loss of time to strategise an effective plan of action. In all the books Mason had written with dragon attacks, the adversary struck from the air, not once alighting upon the ground. If that was the case then only Michael was on equal standing and he had given his blade to Logan. What if this dragon breathed fire as all dragons were rumoured to do? What protected the group? Other than Michael and Mr Andes, they were all human and even the two that weren’t, they were just as likely to be susceptible to the flames. Was this nothing but a kamikaze mission? A foolish last-ditch effort to turn the tides of battle? It sure felt that way as they left the fortifications of the tower and entered the exposed forecourt.
