The Day of Legion (23 page)

As she plummeted to the ground, she realized no one was going to save her. She was going to die. She didn’t know why, but knew there was a purpose; the darkness would reward her for all she had done.

She fell with her back toward the earth. The wind in her ears was deafening. The sensation of falling began to overwhelm her and she panicked. Her legs and arms moved uselessly in the air. High above she could see the demon and his angels, circling in the sky; black silhouettes against the wispy clouds of the morning sunrise. She felt herself fall, faster and faster, then felt the impact, followed with searing pain.

She couldn’t raise her head but turned it sideways. Blood flowed from her nose and mouth onto the ground. One of her eyes dangled uselessly on her cheek, popped from its socket. Most of her teeth were either smashed or lying in the dirt around her. Her back and legs were numb and she couldn’t feel her hands.

She looked up one last time. The demon and his companions still circled above her like vultures. As she lay there, she realized they were waiting for her to die.

Moments later she was standing upright on the ground. At her feet lay her lifeless body. She looked up again and saw them circling, demon and angels, slightly closer than before. This was different from her previous deaths. This time there was no black angel assisting her back to life

She was alone; no one was there to meet her. She was dead, had left her body, and stood wondering what was happening. Another look above and she saw they had not descended to her as she expected.

She heard a voice behind her and spun around. It was Elizabeth.

“They have abandoned you.”

Clara recognized her immediately.

“What are you doing here?” she spat. Her hatred for Elizabeth was plainly written across her face.

“This is the sanctuary,” she replied. “You are the sacrifice, so to speak.”

“What are you talking about, bitch?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I see your intelligence hasn’t improved over the years. They can’t enter the sanctuary without the blood of an evil human being spilled on the ground, soaked into the hallowed earth. They have never been able to get in before. That demon up there arrived with enough power to fly over us. He dropped you to ensure your blood allows them entrance.”

“Then I am no sacrifice,” Clara replied. “I am a tool for the success of the darkness. I will be rewarded when the demon descends and slaughters you.”

“You are right about one thing,” Elizabeth replied. “The demon will come down and kill me; that is my destiny. You are wrong about the other. You are a sacrifice. Evil that dies within the sanctuary can never escape. You can’t get out. You will wander this forest forever, never able to walk over the boundary of hallowed land. You will be here for eternity alone. The darkness has abandoned you. It has used you for its own purpose, and has now discarded you, just like you discarded so many people over the years. This is your reward. See now your true form.”

Elizabeth waved her hand gently in the air. A light appeared in front of Clara, allowing her to see her own reflection. She screamed. What was mirrored was an ugly, obese hag with limp, straw-like hair, crooked teeth and patchy skin covered in dark moles.

“Your reward, Clara,” Elizabeth repeated. “Your true self. You will never leave here. You will forever be alone. You will forever be you.”

Clara swung at the light in front of her. Her hand passed through and she felt a searing pain as it danced over her putrid skin. She stared at Elizabeth. She charged at her, screaming.

Elizabeth raised her hand, sending Clara flying backwards across the ground. The force was so strong it felt like the oceans of the world pushing against her. She couldn’t fight it, so stopped struggling and lay still. She saw the demon swooping down and smiled. He was coming for her. Elizabeth was wrong.

She watched as he landed and stood in front of Elizabeth. He was nearly twice her size. The blackness of his skin contrasted the snow white of hers. The demon breathed heavily, visible in the cool morning air. His companions landed and stood behind him. They stared at Elizabeth, their hatred clear, but so was their fear. They kept their distance behind their master.

“Elizabeth, where is he?” he said, his voice hoarse and dry.

She smiled. “Long gone, Cre.”

His face contorted with anger. “Don’t call me by my name! Why do you resist?” he screamed. “The victory is ours this time, you know that!”

“It will never be yours!” she shouted back, raising her hand when she saw one of the companions move to flank her. The angel screamed in agony as light penetrated its chest. It exploded in a cloud of black dust.

The demon laughed.

“Your magic tricks are getting old, just like you, Elizabeth.”

She pushed her hand at him. The light hit his chest and bounced off, ineffective.

He inhaled deeply. His chest almost doubled in size and his eyes bulged. He raised his arms in the air and screamed; his voice roaring in her direction. From his throat emerged thousands of black souls, swirling and dancing in the air. They looked like smoke in the wind.

They encircled Elizabeth, spinning around and around. The pressure they created against her body was too much for her. She fell to her knees, then to her side.

The evil vibrations created by the swirling demons forced its way into every pore of her skin. It flowed though her veins, beat in and out of her heart and infected every organ in her body. She could feel herself dying, her life force and light slowly, painfully slipping away, dissolved by the darkness.

Clara watched as the demons circled, creating a black cloud so dark and deep Elizabeth disappeared in it. She could just see her outline inside the swirling mass of bodies. Elizabeth’s agony was clear as she vainly attempted to strike out at the mass.

Clara saw the light from Elizabeth’s hand as she struck at the demons. One or two vanished, but the mass of bodies was so thick it made no difference. Gradually, the demons slowed and then stopped. They rose into the air, exposing Elizabeth’s remains. Her body was mutilated beyond recognition, bones charred from the searing heat of the darkness, smoking in the coolness of the morning.

“This is legion,” Clara said out loud, looking at the demon. Even she was surprised. She knew the day of Legion would happen, but had no idea she would witness the beginning, or that this demon was the vehicle. The day of Legion had been in her mind since the beginning.

She remembered the teachings she had received in the early years. One day a legion of beings, so dark they could not spend long in the light, would emerge from the shadows and wipe out the righteous.

They had been in the shadows since the beginning of time, watching and waiting for the right moment. They influenced the demons themselves and were the source of all pain and misery.

They were as old as time, powerful beyond imagination. She knew the day of Legion would be the beginning of the reign of darkness, and that anyone who helped would be rewarded greatly.

The Legion of black souls returned to the demon through his mouth. Their bodies flowed in dozens at a time, until they all disappeared. Clara ran to the demon and threw herself at his feet.

“What of me?” she asked.

He looked at her, his eyes devoid of any compassion. He appeared annoyed. His companions flapped their wings and hovered above him, impatiently waiting for his instructions.

“You will remain here for eternity, Clara. We needed your blood to soak into the hallowed ground, but now you are trapped. Your blood has taken long to become dark enough for this task.”

“You made me more evil only to use me like this?” she screamed, touching his feet. She was convinced this was still all a test of her loyalty.

He motioned lazily with his hand, sending her flying backwards. She fell into Elizabeth’s remains.

“You have been rewarded many times over the years!” he shouted. “You have lived hundreds of years and done whatever you wanted. We gave you beauty, strength, immortality and power over others, but you are ultimately nothing to our plans. All we needed was to get your blood black, which has taken hundreds of years, during which we provided you everything you needed. You enjoyed yourself immensely over the years. Now, you are trapped here. Hundreds of years ago, three white angels blessed the land with pure light energy, creating a border no darkness would ever be able to enter—or, in your case, leave.”

Clara howled in protest. “Take me with you! Allow me to be reborn! I’ll continue your work. I’ll do anything!”

The demon flapped his wings in response, ascending high into the sky followed closely by his companions. He disappeared into the clouds without ever looking back. She screamed, enraged. Her voice echoed through her purgatory, alone and betrayed, in the silence and light of the sanctuary.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The car broke down not too far from the sanctuary. They didn’t know if it was just a coincidence so soon after leaving the safety of the light, but they were now forced to continue on foot.

David led the way, with Amanda and Patricia behind him, Jason following close behind and just in front of Matthew. Charles hadn’t been with them since the sanctuary, but they all felt him, watching and guarding.

The sun sat above the mountains before them. In any other situation, the day would have been perfect. Just a group of friends out hiking, a beautiful sky and nature surrounding them: green trees, light-blue sky and birds singing early-morning choruses.

David admitted that he didn’t know where they were going or what they actually had to do, other than get away from the sanctuary as far and as fast as possible, so that was the direction he led them–away. They walked, deep in thought, trying to imagine what the darkness wanted with Jason—and how to stop them getting him.

Matthew told them he had a sense that they needed to just move, that there was no actual place to go. He said everything was unfolding as it should. It was up to them to respond to circumstances, because they were the key to it all. He admitted himself that he didn’t know; it was just a feeling, that their actions would control the outcome.

They tramped through scrub for some time and then came to a large clearing. The adults each carried a backpack laden with water and food. They were bags prepared in case of a need to escape, ready to go at all times.

Jason was the first to notice that the birds had stopped singing. When he told the others, they were suddenly aware that silence had fallen over the entire forest. No noise, no wind, and a coolness despite the shining sun. They knew they were about to be confronted.

The demon landed in front of them, silently, in a rapid descent from the cloudless sky. He was black as night and almost regal in appearance. His wings stretched high above him and his taut skin glistened in the sunlight. His black eyes scanned them slowly as he landed on the ground. His eyes stopped on Jason. He stepped behind Patricia, pushing against her leg.

Six smaller angels descended and stood behind him. They stared at the group. It was clear that they wanted to destroy them, but had to wait for the command.

David stepped forward. He showed no fear when he spoke. “Get out of our way! We are not afraid of you! You will take nothing from us, demon!”

The demon smiled, revealing a line of large, pointed yellow teeth. His gums were covered in coagulated blood. He tilted his head to one side, like a child examining an exciting discovery he’d found in the garden. Suddenly, he spat. A huge glob of red slime hit David on the chest and began to run down his shirt.

He jumped backwards and tried to flick it off with his hand. It burned, and he had to remove his shirt as quickly as possible.

The demon laughed. “You are so weak that just my spit leaves you half-naked and vulnerable. I will take what I came for and kill the rest of you; I haven’t decided who will be first.”

Matthew moved to the front of the group. He’d been running from this demon in his dreams long enough. He knew it was the same force that had been chasing him and he was ready to strike back.

The demon looked down at him with pity. “Ahh, Matthew,” he hissed. “You’ve had your chances to come back, and I still offer you your place here among us. You can be defeated here with these fools, or can celebrate victory with us. Just speak the word.”

Matthew waved in the direction of the demon, attempting to release the same power that he had used with Charles to defeat the black angels they encountered. He defeated them then, and this was just another messenger of the darkness. He didn’t realize the strength of this demon.

The demon was unmoved. He struck Matthew down with a dismissive wave. Matthew fell, stunned and in agony, but alive. He lay completely vulnerable at the demon’s feet. He could feel the black energy probe his soul.

The angels laughed in unison. The traitor was hurt; the master would finish him in his own time. They would feast on his blood after the others were dealt with. Their eyes were all on the demon.

Jason screamed when he saw Matthew hurt. His eyes opened wide. At first he hugged Patricia as hard as he could, but then he got angry. He punched his hand out toward the demon furiously, from behind the protection of Patricia.

The demon saw him and realized what he was doing. He moved to the side, letting the black angels absorb Jason’s rage—a blinding light shot from Jason’s palm, temporarily blinding everyone. It struck the black angels and enveloped all but one of them.