“You are not through yet tiny one,” his voice gentle and soothing, calling me to him.
“I have lost against this thing…” I spoke, my words breaking upon each syllable as blood poured from my mouth and dripped down my chin to my chest.
“Not yet. Do not give up just yet. You are much stronger than you think. You have so much left to fight with. You do not die this day…” He said, his hand descending to the blackish blade protruding from my chest. As he reached for it, I felt it tremble, still buried to the hilt within me. I looked up, my head falling back, into the blood red, cloudy sky. I screamed for death to take me as he pulled the weapon from me and stood beside me. I looked once more at my mangled chest, seeing my shredded ribs and flesh. How could I still fight?
“Stand warrior. Do not let this monstrous being defeat you.”
“I can’t… need help… please… don't take them,” I begged from the heavenly being standing before me.
“I cannot do this. I am a being who does not take sides. My job is only to aid in the journey of the deceased ones. I am not allowed to take you. I am not allowed to defend you, nor defeat this loathsome thing. Your job is to battle and win. Your job is to defeat him and defend these people of yours. Even my Master cannot help you anymore. He gave you the tools to win, and you must do so. He will not lose another realm to these things. He has lost so much, given more than he should. Only you can do this as no other has before you.” His musical yet haunting voice echoed within my mind.
“Even if I… do this… I can’t bring them back!” I screamed in return.
“Not all are meant to live. Kali will shine her light on those who shall, and they will walk once more among you're land, if you can stop this. She will not allow her people to suffer or be enslaved to this race for food or entertainment. You will win this and many, many more. It is far from over. The gates have been destroyed, and there is no going back.”
I screamed in frustration, tasting my own coppery salty tears, which had turned to red. Despite the pain, I stood as he commanded. I looked into the beast’s eyes and took his own sword from the angel of death. I held it high as time restored itself; the angel now gone with more than half of the dead. Not even death could stop me it seemed.
The uber demon growled in frustration and denial that I was not groveling or dying, his fanglike teeth gnashing madly together, brownish saliva dripping from its jaws. He raised his arm to strike me down swifter than my eyes could follow. My own hand was reaching far back, as well. It seemed impossible to match or even beat his speed.
As his massive arm came down my arm with his sword came up and blocked, the sharp side towards him. It sliced cleanly through, lopping his arm off at the elbow, if it was mad before it was now furious, blinded by it, in fact.
Humans could not beat his race. Thousands of years, thousands of these battles had proven as much. How could I, such a tiny elfin creature do so?
His other arm came down, the sword I held countered it, as well. I called forth lightening to aid me. My strength nearly gone, I had one more thing I could do because even armless it was still deadly. Its wings battered at my face, proving this, ripping my cheek open.
I called forth earth begging it to obey, to open up and have lightening knock it into the crevice. My strength now depleted I dropped back to my knees as it tumbled down into the blackened abyss.
My job was not done. I had to find Kali, wherever she had gone. Without her, all of this was pointless. I had to find my child and have her heal the rest that lay beside me, their souls watching me, urging me to get up to save them. Only Aries understood how hard it was, and didn’t judge me, didn’t push me to fight more.
Raven smiled even as she saw the destruction surrounding me. She too knew I’d in time save her, the others begging silently. I had no energy left, not even enough to heal myself. I would have to take theirs, consuming their energy into myself. Who to choose among them all? I had to end their existence to save the others. Who deserved to live or die? I couldn’t choose my friends over the others, or vice versa. The Undead Ones came forth and knelt before me their heads bowed, all but Aries. I shook my head fiercely I couldn’t lose them. They had all come to mean so much to me. They were here to help me fight these things.
My bloody tears had returned. Through the blurry red haze, I saw others come forward, all offering what I needed most, all of them more than willing to sacrifice their existence for others, for their family and friends. The Lykan’s wanted to give all that they could. These people would sacrifice as much as me in some ways.
There was only thirty or so left of the people who I had brought to the island. My vampires, some Lykan’s, Raven, and Frank, they were the ones who I had to choose from. I didn’t recognize a handful. I had to choose who would have to cease to exist.
I whispered an apology not just for this, but their deaths, as well. I had not protected them and had allowed the demons and other beings to slay them. I struck at different people here and there, taking the energy I needed. Feeding as a vampire would, taking energy instead of blood. It was the same in the end, though, except mine was worse, it was permanent and unholy, as far as I knew… Was I any better than the demon I had just sent back into hell? Did this justify everything?
I didn’t know. Maybe I never would, but I had to stand, had to find her. Without her, the others would perish as well in time. Go wherever lost souls went. Maybe would be reincarnated. Their bodies were strewn all around me, with their ghosts hanging on desperately, hoping I would return in time to restore them to their selves.
I couldn’t tell Aries my dream. If it was as I thought… it was a vision of a possible future, something that might happen no matter how hard I tried. Aries simply held me tight understanding it was something beyond words. I cried with fervor unlike any, except in childhood maybe. My world was literally ending, and if I couldn’t change this outcome then what was the point of trying?
A few minutes later I went to wash my face. I had to speak with Nanna, alone. I told Aries thank you and that I would catch up to him later. He nodded understanding, kissed me and left.
My voice was harsh from the tears I had shed, the intense sobbing. Nanna was alone, though when I went upstairs and heard me.
“I need to ask you something Nanna. I can’t explain why, or what the dreams were. I need to know if my nightmares are real…”
“Not real, but visions all de same of a future within reach. Things happen for a reason chile, but dey are not destined always to be,” she replied sighing, her accent coming and going.
I nodded but stayed silent, hoping she would continue. I had to find some answers, and soon, or I might fail them all.
“Dese things will not happen if ye be strong, if ye prepare, if we all prepare we just might win dis. Many creatures may come here to find flesh. Many be bad, evil beings. Some dat even I cannot see. It will be de hardest on ye, and will only get harder as some perish and others are reborn. Very soon the first will fall, and ye will not be able to stumble. If ye do, we all fail.”
Nanna grew quiet giving me time to think.
“So I will do this forever? In my nightmare… vision, or whatever, the angel said all the gates were destroyed. Will that truly happen?” I asked, begging it to be wrong.
“Yes. With de birth of de goddess dere will be many changes. First de world will perish in seven days, meaning dat de elements will wreak chaos and destroy every human and animal on our planet. Dat’s just de first day, de second day de plants will perish, and the third de underbelly of our world will rise. De things that sleep will wake; great beings not wholly human, dey be good and be bad. De fourth day dose beings will rip all gates asunder, trying to return home. Dey knows dat de end has come and dey will not fight, but find sanctuary elsewhere to wait it all out.
“De fifth will be darkness and blood as de gates are invaded, wars breaking out on every plane of existence to rule dis one. De six day will be de day dat dey come, de ones who win de first of man
y wars. De seventh Kali will come and in that moment her apostles shall emerge from de humans she has chosen, de parents of de new race. Dey will know who dey are and will hide under the church in the caves for many days until you have purged the evil ones from the island. Dey will meditate and learn how to heal what has been destroyed by her coming, over many years. If dey dies, den de new race will never be born.
“On dat seventh day ye shall become one of the immortals, like the vampires. Ye will drink de demons blood and grow stronger with each one. Dere strength is yours, and ye will command an army of de dead and de shifters. Your vampires and werewolves,” she said smiling at the last.
“How do you know all of this?” I asked. Panic not that far away.
“It be my vision. Dat is how I knew to come here; my part was to see ye through the pregnancy and tell ye of her coming, of my vision. To prepare ye for what ye may fail.”
I was in misery worrying about whether or not I could do this. How could little old me, a little over five foot, take on a seven foot monster that had killed for hundreds if not thousands of years.
Even with God Almighty on my side I could still fail. My vision had more or less said so. That was the most likely outcome I believed. If I failed Aries, my true love, my soul mate would die. My child would be tortured and killed and unable to restore Earth to her true self. My friends would die a very abysmal and painful death.
It was kinder to leave them behind in some ways, to maybe get carried off by some tornado or mudslide. To allow them to move on to a better place while these things happened. If any survived the first twenty years, then it would be no better, maybe worse. Every day some kind of new threat and beings from other realities and dimensions would ravage the earth seeking food, seeking blood.
For all I knew, the movies I had seen where A.I.’s took over could be true, machines with life inside. Dinosaurs could exist elsewhere and walk right through a gateway into our world eating a few people along the way. Our ultimate and worst nightmares come true.
The stories I had read of beings so horrible they’d make these forthcoming demons look tame and friendly. These shadow people that had no substance, things that were not physical. How could you kill what wasn’t physical?
“Oh. My. God…” I whispered, finally seeing what this really meant. Was the life that was coming really better? Being eaten by these entities could not possibly be a better life!
“So now ye finally see, it be clear as day on ye white face,” she consoled.
“I can't do this… there’s no way… there is just too much!” I said beginning to freak out, all of it finally coming together. She had not mentioned these things but had hidden them from me so that this very thing wouldn’t happen, so that I’d not give up or panic. Yet had I not seen, or if Nanna hadn't told me, then I might not have fought so hard. I would make these same mistakes.
“I fear ye will die trying, ye are only meant to guard the new race of de humans until dey can protect dere selves…” she mumbled, ashamed of what she had to say.
“What twenty years, a hundred? I am here only so the human race can live on through me…” I said completely and utterly shocked. How could this be? I gave and gave and gave… it just wasn’t enough that all my life I had suffered, but when peace finally came, and Gaia had brought about this new world… I might not get to see it. They did not expect me to. My life was nothing but a miserable existence meant to be a tool for others to carry on. Well at least I would not miss the fallen ones for very long.
“Dat is de only way…” she said, feeling apologetic.
It wasn’t her fault. This task of mine, the hardest thing asked of any human, was mine, and mine alone to carry. My story was to die just so mankind could live. A story I would have someone tell someday just so the world could see what they had wrought. That by continuing to destroy our planet, we would suffer greatly. Was taking the recyclables off, not littering, or saving the trees so damn hard compared to being eaten alive by a demonic being?
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
In the two weeks before The Seven Days of Kali, as it would someday be known, I was mostly alone. I spoke to Lady Kara once.
“I feel like it isn’t fair that I should have to bear this responsibility; it is too much to ask of me,” I told her.
“It isn’t, I know. You were chosen Angel; that’s what I believe. You’ll be strong enough to fight and to carry this burden. No one else can do it Angel, only you. He would not have chosen you if you couldn’t do it. I think it is time you found faith. It will give you more strength to carry on. It is all I can give you at least. I think you have gathered these people, not to only save them, but to learn something from them, as well. You were not named Angel without reason.”
I thought about that. I knew Aries was learning what Sen could teach him. I saw Aries at night only, and Sen not at all. Sen would die very shortly, my father, the man who had stood by and allowed people to abuse me as a helpless child. How could I forgive him for that, and for allowing my mother to die, as well? Part of me knew I’d have to. This might have been the reason for my vision. To allow me to do things I would not have otherwise done, to visit with people who had last minute advice.
Lady Kara had helped me to forgive God over the four hours I spent in her company. I wasn’t sure still how all this worked, but deep down I did believe there was some ultimate being that had begun this and saw somewhere in the past what would happen in my immediate future and gave us, his free-willed people, the chance to save ourselves by creating more beings. By arranging my life the way he did. Upon my death someday, Lady Kara believed I’d be free, maybe even rewarded for my sacrifices. These things man knew not, only THE ONE who had created us all.
I also talked to Frank once more, a few days after the talk with Lady Kara. He was nervous as he could sense something happening very soon. It was some kind of an animal instinct, or something that protected the Lykan clan.
“You know when, don't you?” he asked quietly.
We had moved off near the jungle where I had been secluding myself. I could not answer him, yet by not answering he knew.
“Are we ready?” I asked.
“While you have been… busy… we have finished up a lot. Switch has been working nearly nonstop, no longer sleeping for some reason. He stays in the monastery or hotel during the day, fixing something, talking to Raven, or down in the caves arranging everything so there's more room to bring in one last shipment of something or another.
“Aries has been working just as hard farming or fishing. He has seemed distant like you, so I kind of figured it would only be a few more days. I’ve been making sure the pack is ready, assigning them all jobs and enforcing the new rules. Some of the younger boys have started rumors that I had to nip. They’ve realized how serious these things are and are truly sorry. I’d say we are as ready as we are going to be. Switch and Aries have ordered a few last things after doing a head count. They have timed the last boat to arrive with certain individuals aboard some time tomorrow.
“If they calculated right they’ll arrive right at the time they think it will start and hope that they can convince the men on the ship to stay overnight.”
“The men on the ship, who are they?” I asked.
“Some of the last few people that haven’t gotten to the island yet like Michael’s parents maybe. Aries and Switch called them and explained some things. They said they would visit for one day. They don't realize the ship only comes every five days. Like we said we’ll try everything to get these people here.”
“Sen?”
I planned to see him soon, before all this started, to say goodbye if anything.
“He has many people trained in basic defense. Many more are capable of more than that. There are some, like my Lykan’s that are ready to take on anything. He has taught them all much in such a short time. It takes years for most people to learn what he has shown them in these few months. Lately, he and Aries have become very close. He has not slept in
weeks, pushing himself to teach so many. I think he has been over at least the basics with ninety-nine percent of the island.”
I knew why of course and didn’t say anything else. I thanked Frank for his time and went in search of Raven. I spent many hours that afternoon with her, telling her a few things. She understood that I couldn’t say more. We merely spent time together, relaxing. I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.
“Angel, I have spoken to Nanna. She told me there is something I can do to help you. I don't know if I should tell you, but if it can make a difference I’m all up for it. Sen has taught me how to defend myself. He basically enhanced what you showed me. I’ve been working out and jogging twice a day just so that I’m physically fit for all this. I will be in the room with you when you have Kali. Don’t ask me what my gift to you is. You would only object. I honestly don't need it anymore.”
I thanked her and told her she was my true sister. Blood or not we were family. I was also sorry about the way things had gone with her and Michael that I shouldn’t have set them up.
“Actually, Switch and I are getting along great. We aren’t together or anything, but he is great to me. Michael and I are just friends now. He’s still angry with you and Aries, but there's nothing you can do about that. It isn’t your fault.”
I told her sorry nonetheless. I would miss my sister when time eventually took her that is if I didn’t go when she did, as well. We had known each other many years, and it would truly break my heart to lose her. I’d take care of anything or anyone she left behind as if it or they were mine. What else could I do?
It was time to speak to Sen, my father. I’d been thinking about a lot of things and realized not too long ago that some things were beyond our control, like becoming this warrior. If the ultimate Master honestly forbade him so that the world would be a better place, I couldn’t honestly blame him. He didn’t know until I was a couple of years old anyways. As powerful as he was there were still some things he couldn’t do.