Chapter Thirty Four
Gabriel sat up quickly realizing it was all just a dream. Though the dream seemed very real especially since Jack had many voices, some of which showed up in the dream. What if he really was possessed by this suicidal writers society? They might have been using him all of his life. Forcing him to think as they do, and then write for them from the grave. Jack had many issues but the chairman of a dead society? A puppet for them to play with and torment.
“Jack....Alexander?” Gabriel said.
“Shh, they are all over the place.” Alexander said.
“Who?” Gabriel said, unable to see anything in the dark.
“The demons, I went down to get some food and water and they are everywhere. In the streets and clearing houses.....I don't think we can even get away until they are gone.” Alexander said.
“Then they know we are here...” Gabriel said with a whisper.
“Yes, they might just be waiting us out. Or putting up a show of force. Either way we have only two sodas, some cereal, and a half eaten bag of chips. We won't last long, so I guess we wait until we have no choice but to come out. Maybe they will even leave once they have searched...” Alexander said cutting his words short.
Gabriel knew what he was about to say, They are searching for him and Alexander bit his tongue. Gabriel had the feeling that they would most likely use him as bait to get out of there. Searching his neck with his hand Gabriel found the pendant and held it in his hand. Feeling it with his fingers he searched for the yellow pendant, the gem that Apollyon now had. He had to find out if their motive in the city was to find him.
“Well I guess it's best that we don't speak....Does Jack know?” Gabriel whispered.
“Yes.” Alexander said.
“Frigga.” Gabriel whispered under his breath while pressing his finger tips on the yellow jewel. He could never remember what to say. But regardless of the words used, Gabriel now found himself looking down from a top window of a sky scraper. Looking out Gabriel now had a birds eye view of the city where they were hiding. The wind blew into his face and his fear of heights took over. The window was broken and he was standing right on the edge.
Stepping back Gabriel felt for something to grab but found nothing. His feet crunched down on the broken glass at his feet. The smog from all the smoke and pollution from the city was just above where Gabriel was standing. Looking down at the street below Gabriel could see Apollyon's legion marching around the streets like little ants. Out of the smog flew demons on their flying monsters.
“Although I am no longer omnipresent, I know he is here in the city. We must not let him out of our reach!” Apollyon shouted from behind Gabriel. Turning around Gabriel could see that they were in a executive office. Sitting at the desk was Apollyon with his two headed lion with wings kneeling beside him. Just above his head was a golden statue of Apollyon's head. Or at least our traditional idea of what he looked like. With his devil horn and smirk, the head was mounted like a hunting trophy.
“Here this is the one who seen him!” One of the demons said throwing a smaller demon towards the desk. The demon knelt down instead of getting up and bowed his head.
“I was....Looking for something to eat my lord....Near a school when I seen three human run across the field and into the school. The one is the one you seek. His image has been seared into my mind and when me and the other demons sleep, it is all we see. I know it is him, so I ran to the appointed region commander, Vladmir. I told him all I had seen and he took more demons and searched the school.” The small demon said pointing at Vladmir. He was wearing Nazi badges and a Nazi uniform. His face was filled with puss sacks and his eyes looked frozen.
“So......Vladmir?” Apollyon said as his eyebrows grimaced.
“We were unable to retrieve them.” Vladmir said with no emotion. Apollyon got up from the desk and walked over to Vladmir. He gently grabbed him by the back of the neck and they walked over to the window. Apollyon held onto the back of his neck the whole time.
“Look out there Vladmir, here we are on the world where you were born....” Apollyon said pointing out over the city with his other hand.
“You see....It's not god that I hate, it's his creation!” Apollyon said as he threw Vladmir out the window by the back of his neck. Apollyon calmly strolled back over to the desk and sat down leaning back in the chair. His gaze looked around over the frightened demons, until it stopped on the small one that had seen Gabriel.
“What do they call you?” Apollyon asked the small demon.
“Steward...” The small demon said looking back down at the floor and still kneeling.
“Well Steward you are the new region commander of the legion. What is the first thing you will do as my new commander?” Apollyon said.
“The one....He cannot die?” Steward said looking up at Apollyon.
“Yes.” Apollyon said.
“You only need the one, not the others?” Steward said.
“Yes.” Apollyon said with a slight smirk.
“Burn it all! The whole city, turn it to ashes. Then like the phoenix the one will rise!” Steward said rising to his feet. A huge smile came across Apollyon's face.
“BURN IT!” Apolllyon shouted so loud that Gabriel's ears hurt.
“Now anything else?” Apollyon said as the smile retracted from his face.
“Well....The one who threw me at the desk?” Steward said turning to look at the demon that tossed him in. The other demons around the room grabbed a hold of the demon.
“Wait no!” The demon pleaded, Steward made a slit throat motion and the other demons tossed him out the window.
“Now Steward when I return I expect that you will have him?” Apollyon said getting on his flying creature.
“Of course I will!” Steward said. Apollyon nodded, and pulled on the reins to take off.
“I will be across the sea, where the war with the old kingdoms finally begins!” Apollyon said as the creature flew out the window.
“Midgards calling!” Gabriel shouted holding the pendant. Gabriel was back in the attic trying to reorienting himself, he thought of how they could escape. Though he knew there was no escape, unless he never came up from the ashes. Just like when he was buried alive, he could stay still inside of something that would not burn. The only thing he could think of was the trunk of a car. He remembered there was a car with its trunk open in front of the school.
So how could he get from the attic to the trunk of the car. Then it came to him, what if he told Jack and Alexander that he would surrender himself. Giving them a chance to escape? Although he wouldn't actually surrender and so he would betray them. The only allies he truly had besides the Norse. But it was his only option since he knew the flames were coming. Reaching in his pocket he pulled out the final jeweled pendant that he had. The green one was all that was left and he held it in his hand.
“Psst Jack?” Gabriel whispered.
“What?” Jack said right next to him.
“I have a gift for you, it will help protect you from the gods.” Gabriel said handing him the pendant.
“What? You keep it you need it more than me.” Jack said pushing Gabriel's hand away.
“No take it, I'm turning myself in. I am the one they want and I don't have any fight left. You two will go on though, and kill these gods.” Gabriel said. Jack pulled the pendant from Gabriel's hand and placed it around his neck.
“You can't give up now!” Alexander said.
“I have no choice, they will burn this city down until we come out. If I go with them then you two will have a chance.” Gabriel said.
“No, we will wait them out.” Alexander said.
“For how long? Our food and water will be gone and we will be forced out by either flames, or famine. I was never much of a fight, and even less so now. There has always been this feeling of dread when ever I face struggle. My whole life I really just wanted to be....A corpse.” Gabriel said,
“Some people think I am unstable,
but I would never give them the privilege of seeing me fall down.” Jack said in a different voice.
“I am sorry Jack, as you know there is an end to every great story, this is mine.” Gabriel said releasing the steps to the attic. Alexander tried to hold the door closed but then moved his hand away and let Gabriel go.
“We all have a time limit, but there is no limit to what we do with it.” Jack said in his own voice as Gabriel walked down from the attic.
“Farewell my friends, and I hope you do kill the gods!” Gabriel said as he raised the attic down back up, sealing Alexander and Jack inside. Walking down to the ground floor Gabriel realized he would miss them. In a strange way he had bonded with Jack. Even though his dreams warned him that the writer would kill him. Maybe the dream meant one day when Jack wrote about the war of the gods, he would not have Gabriel in it, Or maybe he would kill the spirit of Gabriel through his writing. It didn't matter now though, now he had to get inside that trunk.
Walking room to room Gabriel looked out each of the windows. In the front window he watched as a group of demons ran past the house. Once they were past he cracked the door open and stuck his head out. Looking both ways he made sure the street was clear. Swinging the door open he ran as fast as he could right for the school. As he ran he looked up at the sky and could see the demons flying up near the smog. He hoped they would not see him but all he could do was run.
With a hard crash Gabriel ran right into a small chain link fence just before the school. He had been watching the sky and all around, but did not pay attention to what was in front of him. There was a painful pop in his shoulder when he nailed the fence. He was certain that he must have torn a tendon or something because he couldn't even pivot his arm from his shoulder. Bending it at the elbow was all he could do. Though there was no time to recover from the crash.
Pulling himself up with the fence with his one good arm he then pulled himself over it. Once on the other side he began running again. This time watching what was in front of him instead of all around. The open trunk was in view but he fell to the ground. Just as he was only a few yards from the trunk some demons came running out of the school. Laying still Gabriel watched as they ran past him. When they went by Gabriel crawled up to his feet and bolted for the trunk.
Taking one last look at the demons running the other way, he closed the trunk. Once again sealing his fate inside of a prison. It no longer mattered to him though, his own flesh was like iron bars. Trapped inside of himself, with all the emotions and pain he was forced to feel. If his flesh was the prison then his emotions were his punishment. He allowed himself to care about people who were mortally doomed. They would all die and he would live on.
Laying in the closed trunk for hours Gabriel waited for the flames to begin. Passing the time by thinking about what Tiffany looked like. How she held herself and how she was so quickly taken from him. His life never went like most story's, no happy ending or precious time with those he cared about. Even when he did have the time he never really allowed himself to enjoy it. So moments with her were just a blur in his never ending time line.
Imagining himself staying in the cabin in Asgard. Maybe they would still be there now in that forest that wanted to kill him. Now he could only go to her in his thoughts. They almost repeated themselves, along with the emotions. Maybe that's why we use a ring as a symbol for our love. An endless loop of emotion that never seems to stop. Gabriel could hear the sound of fluids dumping over the car. There was a small hole on the side the allowed some light in.
Looking out the hole he could see demons running around with cans of fuel and torches made of all different things. Smoke covered the field like fog. One of the demons was splashing fuel all over himself as he tried to run with a bucket of fuel. Tripping the demon lit himself on fire and jumped up from the ground screaming. A demon from above flew down and dumped even more fuel on him catching the field on fire as well.
Flames started to crackle around the car and smoke filled the trunk. Gabriel could feel his lungs starting to choke with the fumes as he tried to stop from coughing. It was almost no use though as he made muffled hacking sounds. He had to do something and fast otherwise the sounds from the trunk would signal the demons. Grabbing for the pendant he touched the first jewel he could.
“Frigga.” He let out with a cough. Gabriel found himself standing next to Morrighan. He knew that in his haste he had picked the red jewel. They were standing in front of a small, unknown grave. Its core was made of wood while it had an iron frame around the wood. The grave had no markings. No names, nothing just an unknown grave. Morrighan knelt down and placed a black rose in front of the grave. Gabriel could hear the sound of the wind, and felt snow blowing on his face even though it was a warm and sunny day. Turning around he saw the rest of the kingdom of the Celts.
They were all preparing for battle, Cailleach the goddess of winter was brewing a snow storm from out of her hands. Cerridwen was drinking one of her mighty brews, and her eyes glowed red as she chugged it down. Lugh unsheathed a sword from his side that glowed red as if it was placed in burning coals. Rhiannon calmed a mighty stallion petting its face and whispering in its ear. While Taliesin played a battle song on his lute. All the Celt kingdom was there in that field in front of an unknown grave.
“Here rests an unknown warrior. But he is not unknown to me, as all warriors are known by me. Today we will all be unknown warriors to our enemy. Just unmarked graves in their dreams of victory. But they do not know warriors as we do! They are mere beasts summoned by their dark master. So now is the time that I wash the armor of these beasts in the seas. Signaling their death with the high tide. So now my brethren, lets put our names on the grave stones of time. So that all will know that we are not merely an unknown warrior, but the rulers of this land!” Morrighan said as she walked away from the unknown grave.
Gabriel looked up and could see some of Apollon's legion in the sky above them. They weren't flying as sporadic as they had been while searching for Gabriel. This time they are in battle formation but flying very high. The Celt gods began going down a path and Gabriel followed behind Morrighan. The path lead down to a coast line where hundreds of Celt warriors were waiting. They were in columns with archers in the front and warriors with swords and clubs in the rear.
As they approached they all drank some form of a potion. Its content was a dark red almost black liquid. It sent them in an almost savage frenzy as they yelled at the demons in the sky. Each god moved towards their own regiment. Rhiannon had horse woman on a hillside. They were clothed in fur and held spears in their hands. They did not drink any potion and kept their grace and elegance. Lugh went into a group of brutish men with scars from burns on their arms. Most likely from crafting swords and other iron weapons.
Taliesin went into a group of bards, playing lutes and drums. Herne went up to some thick trees and shrubs where he had men and women painted like the forest. They wore nothing except their paint and were extremely difficult for Gabriel to see. He only noticed them when Herne walked up into the trees. His warriors had bows the color of the bark and daggers made of a dark steal so that it would not shine in the light.
The other Celt gods circled around Morrighan where they waited for the enemy. After only moment Apollyon's ships appeared through blizzard like snow. It was storming so bad that sheets of ice formed along the coast. While the Celts stood in the warmth of the sun. Cailleach was next to Morrighan conjuring the impressive storm. She was shivering and looked exhausted from her attack on the sea. More Celts quickly ran into formation from the forest but still it did not seem like nearly enough to Gabriel.
Apollyon had an entire legion reaching into the millions. While this looked like around five thousand warriors, which was impressive by ancient standards. But did they stand a chance against hells army? Feelings of doubt grew as more ships came out of the storm. The ships appeared to be fueled from some sort of a burning molten engine mounted on the rear of the ships. There were all type
s of ships from modern destroyers to millionaire yachts but they all had the inferno of an engine.
Out from just above the ships came a diving attack from the flying demons. They dropped from the sky like dive bombers and whistled through the air as they landed on top of the archers. As fast as a blink of the eye then dove and grabbed archers and pulled them into the sky. Only to drop them to their fellow archers moments later. The demons swung sledge hammers and an blunt or sharp object that they could find. So as the fly creature grabbed an archer the demon on its back delivered fatal bludgeon blows.
“Fire!” Morrighan cried as the archer unleashed their arrows on the the flying creatures.
“Cailleach! We need more time!” Morrighan shouted as Cailleach gave the storm all she could. The wind started to blow next to them and small flakes fell. While the sea turn into a white blanket of snow. Icebergs shot out from the waters smashing into ships. The shore line started to turn into one large solid block of ice. Demons and creatures fell from the sky riddled with arrows. The archers on the shore shot as fast as they could.
It was an inaccurate volume volley of arrows. While the stealth archers in the forest shot precise arrows. They soared straight and fast through the air with impressive range. Gabriel tried to focus on single arrows to see where they hit. One came out from the forest and was leading onto a creature that just picked up an archer. The creature flew through the air as fast as it could but they arrow caught up to it. Catching it right in the eyeball and instantly dropping it from the sky. It still was not enough though the creatures kept coming from the sky and there were not enough arrows to bring them down.
“Archers need to fall back to the cover of the tree's. Send in the infantry to cut down the creatures when they land!” Morrighan shouted through the battlefield. Her words echoed back all around. The archers on the shore ran up to the trees as fast as they could as the warriors with swords charged forward. Four or five men and women would jump on each creature as it landed. Slashing and bashing them until they came back down.
The blood and gore was very intense. The creatures were hardy and would get a few hundred yards in the sky before being brought down. It was a suicide mission for the warriors who jumped on their backs as they too fell to their doom. They crashed into the ground as blood and body's bounced from the impact. Morrighan sighed in frustration, and grabbed a hold of her head with both hands. Ships crashed into the icy shore and Cailleach fell to the ground. She looked like a woman who froze to death and laid motionless next to Morrighan.
“Farewell my sister, you fought hard.” Morrighan said kneeling down next to Cailleach. Sounds of crashing and twisting iron filled the air. Ships tipped over and capsized as demons jumped off to their frozen death. Though Cailleach was gone she planted a mine field of ice bergs for the demons to try and get through. Some ships sank while others made it to the shore. It was nothing like Gabriel had ever seen before and the sight gave him goosebumps.
Cailleach took her final breath and let out a small frozen puff of air. Looking away Gabriel drew his attention back to the battle. Demons were running onto the shore, which was not very smart. They trickled into the fray a few at a time. Those not picked off by the archers were quickly cut down by the warriors that formed a tight wall. Eventually after a few of the ships inhabitants were massacred the demons caught on and the ships crashed into the shore and the demons waited on board.
“Send in the alchemists flames!” Cerridwen shouted. From behind Gabriel a line of men and women carrying large vials of a blue liquid ran in to the front of the line. One of them was picked up by a flying creature. Once they were just off the ground she smashed the vial into the head of the creature. They erupted into a ball of blue flames and quickly incinerated. Nothing but charcoal and ash fell to the ground below. The warriors with vials made it to the front of the line and waited.
Finally the air attacks had ended and the sky was quite and calm. Snow no longer fell on the seas and the icebergs floated back in forth in the sun along with the carnage of ships. All the remanding ships rested quietly on the icy shores and both sides waited for movement. The archers prepared arrows that instead of arrow heads had small vials of the blue flaming potion. They cocked their deadly arrows and took deep breaths in and out.
“NOW!” Morrighan yelled as the demons poured out from the ships. The arrows flew through the sky and hit the ships and demons turning them into an inferno of blue flame. Gabriel though hundreds of yards away could feel the heat from the flames. Though once all the arrows hit and the flames died more demons came in through the ash. Before the wall of demons smashed into the wall of Celt warriors the alchemy vials were thrown through the air.
They crashed down only feet in front of the Celts incinerating both demons and Celts. Although it looked as though the demons took the most causalities. After the blue flames turned to ash the Celts charged crashing into the demon force. A glimmer of hope glowed inside of Gabriel as he could see the numbers were in the Celts favor. Though the demons brutishly ripped the men and women apart. For every three or four Celts deaths one demon died.
The battle started to become very close as both Celts and demons numbers faded. Gabriel cringed as he watched Celts torn limb by limb. Wounded Celts were crawling out of the fray with missing limbs. After a short bloody fight a few demons were all that was left standing. While all of the Celt warriors on the shore laid dead. The archers cocked another round of arrows with the blue vials. Sending out a volley that finished off all that was left of the demons and their fallen warriors. The battlefield was nothing but a blue flame that traveled over the corpses of demons and Celts. All that remained in the end was ash, blowing in the wind and around the battlefield.
“Yeah!” The Celt archers and horse warriors cried out. But their cheers quickly vanished as another wave of ships showed up in the distance.