Chapter Six
The dawn had broken. A gentle breeze swept the grassy surroundings and as the sun began to beat down on the marching demon horde, Chul-Moo’s mind raced with the thoughts of what was to come. Two of their number had already fallen on the journey; an inevitable consequence of such a large gathering, but even this had not dampened the determination of the pack. Led by Haneul’s brisk pace towards the crystal tower they rapidly approached; a beacon of light, a monolithic testament to this ‘new world’ his ancestors had so long since been banished from, now clearly observed on the horizon. Kwan – still drenched in the dried blood of their unknown attacker back at the village – had gone to join his mother in high spirits. He had tasted human blood and was excited by the prospect of the oncoming battle. The naïve fool, could he not see through her manipulation? That the deceptive witch had gotten them all involved in this ridiculous conquest of a world in which they did not belong?
He glanced to his left, the dark grey robes of Annwku steadily kept pace at his side. He had refused to let the deceitful creature out of his sight, he was sure he was working on his own agenda, merely using Haneul to his own ends. He could deal with his wife when the time required it, but this human, promising them futile dreams of a life in a city had somehow gained their trust. He spat angrily at the ground; perishing the thought that he would see his own kind working with such weak vermin.
“I trust the shoulder is feeling better?” Annwku said, turning his head to face him. The sunlight offered the faintest glimpse beyond the dark shroud provided by his hood, allowing his thin smile to emerge from the darkness. Chul-Moo growled angrily; the thought that he had tried to redeem himself in a vulgar display of his power sickened him, and he would have his vengeance.
“Who were following us?” he snarled venomously, demanding a response from the man that clearly knew more than he was revealing.
“They were the Alamanni,” Annwku began in a complacent, confident tone, “they are a people from the northern mountains, and whilst they have forgotten their past they will come. It is in their nature to try to prevent such a justice as we are striving for.”
“Then why let them escape?” Chul-Moo roared, “I could have killed him and –”
“And what?” he interrupted impatiently. “Delay our journey further? Let them follow the trail of corpses we so conveniently left behind for them like breadcrumbs to our destination?” He snorted at the thought, “they will come regardless of our actions, and we are on a tight schedule. Once we take the city they will be powerless to stop us.”
Chul-Moo growled angrily at the response, Annwku seemingly capable of deflecting questions without giving any real answer of use; it wasn’t too difficult to see how many of his simple-minded brethren had been so easy to convince, not looking past his confident and convincing demeanour onto the heart of what was being said, convoluted and deceptive in what information he was willing to give. “So we’re to enter the city and kill anyone who moves?”
“That would be correct,” Annwku responded, nodding his head slightly. Chul-Moo let a flicker of a smile flash across his face; he must admit, he liked this plan. It had been a while since he had been treated to a feast of soft sweet human flesh, and this could well be a feast to end all feasts. “And then I get to have my way with that so called ‘angel’ of theirs, I’ll make sure her death is slow and –” Annwku suddenly stopped walking, turning to face him with a glint of rage in his eyes.
“And suffer the eternal hostilities of men? You think they would just leave if she died? These people will blindly follow her to the end of time, and so to control the city we need to control her. And for that, we need her alive,” he blurted out in a sharp, aggressive outburst. “Is that clear? You are not to harm her in any way.” As they resumed their march, the revelation that they were to capture their leader became an insignificant drawback, far outweighed by his reaction to the question; so this soft-skin is still a human after all, still a slave to his emotions. ‘Interesting,’ he thought, ‘this could indeed come of use,’ a small grin sliding across his salivating mouth, a small trickle of drool slid down his chin; all this talk of the human slaughter was beginning to make him hungry. Shaking off this distraction, he focussed once more on the task at hand.
“Wait –” Annwku turned to look at him, the red glint in his eye becoming more prominent through the black hooded shroud, his rage failing to subside “How are we to control her?”
“Through the only one she trusts,” he snapped in response.
Before he could continue he looked ahead to see Kwan racing towards them. The walls of the city could now be observed on the distant horizon, tall grey stone haphazardly built in their haste to seclude themselves from the outside world; a typical soft-skin response, denying their fears exist in order to maintain an ignorant bliss, denying the futility of their lives for their own insignificant purposes. It is far better to accept the harsh reality than it is to fabricate your own. Breathing heavily after his sprint, Kwan composed himself once more, and ignoring Chul-Moo, spoke directly to Annwku.
“Haneul sent me to warn that there appears to be no entrance to the city.” ‘Typical’ Chul-Moo thought, their fear of what lay beyond their brittle walls of stone went beyond simple isolation and had driven them to try and make escape impossible. Annwku smiled his serpentine smile; all the fury that had been shown moments ago drained and his body relaxed from its tense composure.
“You are to head west towards the sea. There is a hidden entrance to the sewers there; we are to take them by surprise,” Kwan nodded and began sprinting back towards Haneul. “That angel of theirs is far too trusting,” he continued, turning to face Chul-Moo, “she was easier than I expected to infiltrate. She didn’t ask any questions of my brothers before offering them a position in her employ.”
Rapidly they approached the vast expanses of ocean, the moss covered stone walls of the city at their side, the sun glistening against the gentle waves of the deep blue stretched as far as the eye could see; he had never previously travelled this far, and was the first time he had seen such a landscape. An ominous mist clouded the horizon, slowly being drawn towards them by the wind brushing against their hard skin, whistling against the gently swaying grass, forcing Annwku’s dark hood down from his face. Even observing his pale complexion and deceitful eyes, the demon legion he commanded did not waver in their faith in his resolve, so blinded by his confidence that they no longer questioned his less than altruistic intentions. Following the slow curve of the city walls, Haneul and Kwan slowly came into view, the grass yielding to the small murky river in front of them seeping out into the expanse of water. The gentle trickle of brown putrid sludge flowed from the large dirt encrusted pipe, the sickening smell of soft-skin waste wafting out into the open air.
He watched as Kwan enthusiastically led the first wave into the dank sewers, eager for the bloodshed that awaited him, and calmly he walked over to his wife with Annwku still at his side.
“Go. Join your brethren with the assault,” Annwku proffered. Chul-Moo growled; his cowardly intentions of waiting here for the path to become clear were all too evident from his tone. He gripped Haneul’s arm and began to make his way for the sewer, quickly stopped by Annwku’s frame blocking his path. “She stays.” Chul-Moo roared, it was bad enough that he feared getting his hands dirty but leaving him alone with his wife?
“What do you want with her?” he barked, deliberately allowing small droplets of saliva to spray his scarred face.
“Only to see her hard work come to fruition; you remember out mutual friend? It is from this ocean that she is to arrive.” His complacency was frustrating; gripping the deceitful, pathetic creature by his hood he slowly raised him off the ground in a threatening manner. Haneul turned attention from the river to the unfurling events.
“Go,” she cried. “I want to stay.” Chul-Moo’s eyes darted between the two; he was unsure which was worse at this point, the soft-skin who had manipulated him into fighting his war or the woman who had welcomed him. She was more trouble than she was worth. Reluctantly, he threw Annwku against the hard ground and darted for the sewers, refusing to look back lest he change his mind.
Through the cracks in their society long since shielded from the outside world the faint trickle of the blood of the slain inhabitants had already began to seep through onto the cold stone floor; the putrid river that gently flowed down its centre slowly becoming more clouded where the droplets fell into the already murky depths. He could taste the sweet blood in the air, the gentle sounds of crumbling rock from where others had exploded through the tight fitting manholes leading to the city surface. Followed the panic-stricken cries through the maze of passages and tunnels, he soon found a path leading above. The protruding steel ladder had been severely bent out of shape, likely from the weight of those that came before him, and so precariously he began to make his way up. He felt the steel give under his foot, and looked up to the surface only a few feet away. Using the failing rung of the latter as a spring board he leapt up, catching hold of the open lip to the city streets – the rung crashing down onto the hard floor below – and maintaining the momentum he sprung forth out of the sewers, landing squarely on the metallic surface with a loud clang.
The streets were filled with the chaotic sound of the screaming inhabitants; panic-stricken and dishevelled by the sudden assault they had begun to flee in every direction to preserve their own existence. Quickly met by the loud screams of a loud male soft-skin, head turned behind him as he ran in his direction, rebounding off his hard skin he collapsed backwards onto the floor. Turning to face the copper behemoth blocking his path, Chul-Moo roared “have you never seen a demon before?” his fury and amusement at their pathetically futile attempts to escape resonating with each word.
“My god,” he cried.
“No, but good guess,” he responded, laughing hysterically, as he stumbled back to his feet and began to sprint away; he hadn’t had so much fun in years. He didn’t know why he hadn’t done this sooner, the sights, the smells and the sounds; he basked in the delectable carnage that took him back to his wilder youth.
With tall glass buildings on either side, he darted in the directions of the screams, soon emerging from the cold and sterile path into the city centre; the crystal tower lay directly in front of him in the distance, reflecting the sunlight in a brilliant blue shade onto the bloodbath that ensued in this edenic paradise. As he waded into the thick forest-like undergrowth that dominated the outskirts, the blood dripped down from the tree’s like the onset of rain; the bodies of those who had tried to hide in the treetops above maimed beyond recognition, gradually bleeding out from their open wounds. Briefly looking up to the dismembered head of an elderly man caught in the treetops, he opened his wide jaws and allowed a drop of blood to splash down into his mouth. Savouring the taste, he continued onwards, brushing past the bushy undergrowth to reveal a large clearing, evidently the origin of the massacre. Bodies lay in their dozens strewn against the blood stained grassy floor, the dark red river gently carrying the disfigured carcass of a young child with its gentle tide.
Through the anarchy of the surroundings, the faintest sound of the cracking of a branch could be discerned above the cacophony of sin. Dropping to the ground he scanned the horizon for its origin; it was too light for another demon and too prominent to be far away. He reached behind his back – ‘damn,’ he thought, realising he left his spear back at the village – his eyes darted for a makeshift ranged weapon. Making for the tree line, many of which bore apples, a female figure slowly poked her head out from the dense forest, gasping at the sight of him and sprinting deeper into the shade it provided; her long blonde hair and blood-smeared salmon pink dress a stark contrast in colour easily observed as it flashed through the undergrowth.
Within moments he was in pursuit, rapidly making for the tree line she dwelled within, he leapt across the gently flowing river, clutching at a dangling apple bore by the tree in front of him he dropped once more, awaiting another flash of pink. He didn’t have to wait long, out of the corner of his eye he caught the blur of a figure dart past, and was once more in pursuit through the undergrowth, refusing to let her out of his sights as she stumbled against an outlying root and came crashing down to the ground. Pouncing down on her as she rolled onto her back and began to scream at the sight of him effortlessly gliding towards her, apple in hand he forcefully embedded it into her mouth, prying them open and muffling her desperate cries. Seizing her hair, he clutched it tightly and raised her from the ground, bringing her close to his blood stained face; his breath close enough to make her eyes water, she flailed, striking him in his torso desperately trying to escape. ‘Pathetic’ he thought, this was too easy. Withdrawing his curved blade from his belt, with a single slash he cut off her hair, causing her to come crashing down to the ground once more. Chuckling at her panic stricken face as she frantically scrambled back; replacing the blade in his hilt he took a deep sniff of the hair still within his hand, the sweet fruity aroma infiltrating his nasal, sweetly tantalising his senses.
His taunting was soon interrupted as he felt the hard impact of steel, embedding itself between the plates in his skin before exploding, taking apart a small chunk of his hard plated skin with it, exposing the soft flesh that lay beneath. Howling in pain he spun his head to face the bold blue uniform of the panic stricken guardian; heavy black boots and short cropped hair, the young soft-skin stood paralysed in fear. It was about time someone offered him a challenge. Returning once more to the woman before him, he dropped the hair on the ground by her side, raised one powerful foot, and brought it crashing down on her head; her skull collapsing with a loud crack, the juicy insides gushing out like a crushed grape against the grassy floor. Purposefully he twisted his hoof-like foot against what little remained to force as much matter from her person as he could. Returning his attention to the guardian who had proffered a challenge to him, he watched as he began to tremble slightly at his gratuitous show of aggression. He smiled at the look of disbelief on his face, suddenly he turned to run, dropping his weapon on the ground; his heavy boots slowing him down. Giving chase, he lowered his head and like a wild rhino he charged after him; horn landing squarely into his back, he felt the resonating pop of his spine where he struck, the gentle trickle of blood streaming down his face from the deep laceration in his back. Lifting his head up, he flung the helpless creature into the air, coming to an abrupt halt only as his side struck the hard bark of a nearby tree; uncontrollably he wrapped around it, landing unconscious on the damp ground.
He had come full circle, the clearing lay a short way ahead. As he went forward to finish the assailant, the loud cracking of gunfire could be heard a short way in the distance. Ducking down amongst the thick undergrowth, he watched as a small group of the guardians, with blood soaked blue uniforms and features that looked indistinguishable to the others, had soon slowly emerged from the bushes; with a flurry of gunshots they frantically fired their weapons into the forest, hoping to hit their target. The first of the demons emerged; a badly injured adult male, despite blood spattered around his person he recognised him as being from a nearby friendly clan. Entirely consumed by bloodlust his hulking frame charged forward, many of the shells popping all around him as they harmlessly bounced off against his hard skin. Like a matador leading a bull out into the open they parted, allowing him to harmlessly run past; the continual stream of gunfire against his injured back finally capable of seeing the hulking mass of demonic flesh fall to its knees. Outnumbered, he died fighting to the end, fighting for what he believed. Irrespective of his own thoughts on this futile war, his death had as much honour to it as anyone could wish for.
The gunfire into the forests resumed, and through the trees he could make out the faintest outline of two more young demons making there way through the dense forest. They appeared to be arguing amongst the chaos, though he could discern little more. Suddenly, one of their number charged outwards towards the guardians leaving the young female behind; out in the open he instantly recognised Kwan’s gait as he fell into the same trap that the demon before him and stumbled into. ‘The fool,’ he thought, knowing that out in the open, outnumbered he wouldn’t stand a chance. Desperately he looked around him for something that he could use as a distraction to draw his attention without giving away his position, scanning the nearby unconscious body at his side. Discovering a small metal canister, he pulled hard on the protruding ring, coming away in his hands. Throwing it aside he seized the belt in its entirety and tore it from his person, the leather uttering a loud satisfying snap as he wrenched it away and threw it towards Kwan. Before the object could strike the ground, it exploded; emitting a blinding light and disorientating cacophonous bang, he quickly recomposed himself to look onto the thick black smoke shrouding them. Having already lost the element of surprise he cried out at the top of his lungs, looking deep into the smoke for any sign of him. He recoiled slightly at the cry of a soft-skin, and watched as he flew through the air into view, collapsing on the ground as Kwan barged through, closely followed by the other young demon.
Knowing their cries would bring along the attention of others, and with no idea how many more remained within the city walls they had to escape for more favourable odds. Turning tail he ran through the dense forests, making sure the others were still in tow, and soon emerged back out in the open; the hard steel clanging underfoot. Darting towards the side of a nearby building, he took the first passage and followed it down to the end; blocked by the stone walls of the city edge, he quickly ducked to his left, down another small passage at the back of the building. Peeking from around the corner he saw them both still in tow, a bold guardian giving chase, firing haphazardly in their direction, catching the young demon’s leg; as she stumbled Kwan lurched back for her; Chul-Moo darted out, seizing his arm he sharply pulled him around the corner. The final defiant cry from the fallen demon was soon silenced by the sound gunfire, ending the life of another of his kind.
Silently, he waited patiently crouched against the dark tinted glass windows of the building for the soft skin to emerge; the slow thudding of boots as he cautiously made his way towards their location. The tip of one black leather boot creeping around the corner all he needed to spin out from his hiding to face the guardian who had dared to attack them. Grasping at his uniform he raised him from the ground, roaring defiantly as he spun him around and slammed him hard against the city wall; the cracking sound as his back came into contact with the hard stone. He let out a small whimper, and fumbling about his person dropped his firearm, clutching for the small canister at his belt. Withdrawing it, Chul-Moo snatched it from his hand, but within moments they were once again under fire from two more of this city’s guardians. Throwing the soft-skin in his hands towards the oncoming salvo he once more darted behind the building, only to be halted by further blue uniformed attackers directly ahead of them. They were trapped.
Frantically, Chul-Moo glanced between the slowly advancing attackers, two on either side looking pleased with their catch. Kwan looked solemnly on the ground, seemingly unconcerned with their situation. “They killed her dad,” Kwan exclaimed. He growled at the love struck child, and with his back to the glass gradually brought out his curved blade, tapping the glass; solid. He doubted he could break through it and escape that way. “She said yes.” His mind raced; there had to be another way out of this situation; the guardians got ever closer, only 30 feet. From this range even the most incompetent amongst them would not miss; he was left with no choice. With more than a glint of remorse he hooked the pin on his large canine, sharply pulling it out and throwing to his right; he turned back towards Kwan hard back; the attackers rapidly responding to his last minute attempt at escape. Through the hail of fire he ducked behind Kwan, thrusting his sharp claws into the crack between the plates in his back, forcing a handhold in the soft flesh that lay beneath. The explosion of the canister temporary blinding to his enemies; he raised Kwan by the hard plate of skin and charged onwards into the smoke, using Kwan as a personal shield against the oncoming fire. Bullets rebounding from his hard skin, he felt the warmth of the multiple small explosions surrounding him; the desperate cries emerging from the demon of his own flesh and blood sent him reeling in anger at the thought of the real demons, forcing him into this position.
With a deadly fury he slammed Kwan’s badly bleeding body into the first of his foes, throwing Kwan back against his far smaller frame; he heard the loud snap of brittle bones as they fell crashing to the floor. Frantically slashing blindly against the smoke with his curved blade, following the sound of the gunshots; his blade soon struck bone, the hard skull of the second of the two assailants. Raising his foot he kicked the recently made corpse’s chest to free his blade, the limp, lifeless body crumpling against the hard ground, he spun around to face those that remained through the rapidly decaying fog. The vision of this gargantuan behemoth, blood soaked and wide-eyed in a bloodlust filled rage, further fuelled by his son’s recent demise forced from his own hand at their aggression was enough to send them reeling in shock. Wide-eyed, the guardians slowly began to lower their weapons; placing his long, curved blade against his shoulder – his elbow jutting out – he spun around in a 360 degree turn, and providing as much strength as he could, threw the sword. Arching over, it slowly began to drop, impaling one of his foes through the chest; the impact forcing him down onto the ground. The last of the guardians began to whimper, blinking in disbelief at this feat of strength. In fear, he fled the scene, leaving Chul-Moo alone once more.
As the smoke cleared, the dying body of Kwan lay on the ground bleeding heavily onto the cold metal floor of this city. As he knelt by his side he felt a deep pain of regret; he should have put a stop to this plan sooner, there must have been some way he could have avoided this. “Thank you,” Kwan murmured, “perhaps now I can be with her.” He smiled a bittersweet smile, ‘the romantic fool’ he thought; perhaps we aren’t so different from those soft-skins after all, both searching for solace where we can find it. Gently lifting his body, he carried him his arms and gently placed him beside the remains of the woman he had desperately tried to protect. Kwan offered a weak smile, and scrambled his hands towards hers, gripping it as tightly as he could before delivering his final breath. His body suddenly relaxed, the blood forming a soft pool around his person. Chul-Moo leant in close, closed his eyes, and whispering into his ear said “thank you for restoring faith in my instincts.”
As he raised his head he looked out on the bloodbath they had wrought upon this city; bodies littered the streets, the smooth surface of the steel ground allowed the blood of those who had been slain to gently flow along its contours; the entire city glowed a ferocious shade of red, the gentle sun overhead shining on the fine particulate mist that had been carried across from the sea. The rapturous cheering from many of the other demons at their triumphs as they continued their rampage evident as they ran through the streets, playfully wrestling with each other in a fit of high spirits. We had conquered a city in which we could never belong; what remained of the local populace had gone into hiding but would soon meet their demise. We had won someone else’s war, but at what cost? Was the loss of life worth the end result?
But a larger question still remained; not of what had they done for that was the past and could not be changed, but what is to happen in the near future. There was much Annwku still had not divulged – still some plan which he had set into motion to try and control this city. They already had control of the city, the battle could not have lasted long but already they had forced their opponent to scatter, dishevelled, disorganised and demoralised, they were now even less of a threat than before. He looked into the sky in contemplation but his attention was drawn by the prominence of a figure on the rooftop; obscured by the mist, the dark outline from his black robes emanating around his person shrouding him a darkness, a disturbing sense of evil filtering down onto the city below. It couldn’t be Annwku; his posture was too powerful, even Annwku had a slight sinister hunch. The figure stood rigid, transfixed by something ahead of him. He reluctantly moved to observe the object of his transfixiation; so there she stood, the angel in all her glory. Bathed in a brilliant white glow, her deceptively innocent appearance captivating, and even in the knowledge of the cruel manner they had been banished from her new world he couldn’t help but be left with a feeling of awe. Gritting his teeth, he felt the anger build up inside; he may not know Annwku’s reason for wanting this war, but she too was responsible for it, and he was determined to find out why.
Whilst the battle raged on within the city walls, just beyond them Annwku stood; arm outstretched, searching amongst the intricate philotic web of life for her arrival. For hours he had carefully traversed these thin strands, searching for that one bright spark amidst a sea of souls blissfully unaware of their own energy tied to this world. And then, suddenly, he saw the briefest glimpse of something powerful. Chasing after it through the web, he had finally found it; the philote he had been searching for. Gently reaching out towards it, he was met with resistance; pushing slightly harder, he was delivered with a sudden flash of pain. He recoiled and snapped back into our plane of existence; a diabolical smile slowly emerging across scarred face, for she had arrived.
This was what their master had trained him and his brethren for; they had been shown how to manipulate the very fabric of the energy that binds us together in order to control another, and they were ready to fulfil their destiny. Joining hands with the rest of his brothers, their connections strong between one another, they once more returned to the philotic plane of reality, rapidly following along the thin strings of energy to their destination. Ashiya resisted once more, but was unable to fight back against their combined power; slowly but surely they pushed their way into her conscious soul; a burning pain as she struggled to fight back; they could hear her screams, the cries for mercy, hoping they would stop their relentless pursuit but still they persisted. The screams became louder and more panic-stricken; the pain began to burn as though their blood was boiling, but they maintained their focus until suddenly she caved; like a bloodthirsty infection they had broken into her and spread throughout her body.
Haneul watched as the gentle waves became more turbulent; the sight of a thrashing beast deep in the blue below. She was barely capable of observing the serpentine creature as it desperately fought back against an unseen attacker. The bubbles rose to the surface in a frenzy, and then as abruptly as it had started she lay motionless in the ocean depths. Haneul turned towards Annwku and the others, the sweat on his forehead, and glimmer of a smile overshadowed by the contrast of his shining milky white eyes, deep in concentration of his control of the beast. Once more the waves returned; the beast was beginning his approach to the surface.
Head arising first; the large bulbous eyes lay protruding on the side of her green scaly head, long snout and frantic tongue darting in and out of its mouth, sensing her surroundings. Her serpentine jaws opened wide to reveal a pair of long, thin overarching fangs; rising further still from the deep, her thick, powerful neck quickly broadened to reveal her lizard-like frame. As it stood on its muscular hind legs it arose 30 feet from the ground, hard scales shielding its soft skin from the elements. It blinked its eyes, eyelids coming across horizontally, and stretched its long forearms across on either side proudly displaying her lizard-like paws, sticky liquid oozing from the tips of her fingers. Like a bat, thin skin-like wings dropped down from her extended forearms, and with head raised to the sky she roared a high pitched shriek, her long serpentine tail flailing around on the surface of the water behind her. Ashiya had arrived.
Amidst the chaos of Ashiya’s return, nobody noticed that lurking in the shadows of the sewers lay the prying eyes of K’mtar. Sent to retrieve this beast for his angel, he watched as they waited, her unworldly form emerging from the ocean to greet them. He gritted his teeth in anger; the mere sight of such a foul looking creature would have caused him concern, but here he had proof that she had been deceived. These mysterious humans had evidently betrayed her to work with the demons and this creature to bring an end to her benevolent reign over the city; his mind raced with thoughts of what needed to be done. As the creature shrieked into the sky he darted back into the sewers lest he be discovered; he had no option, Tenshi had to be warned. Turning his heels he fled once more to find his angel.
He glanced to his left, the dark grey robes of Annwku steadily kept pace at his side. He had refused to let the deceitful creature out of his sight, he was sure he was working on his own agenda, merely using Haneul to his own ends. He could deal with his wife when the time required it, but this human, promising them futile dreams of a life in a city had somehow gained their trust. He spat angrily at the ground; perishing the thought that he would see his own kind working with such weak vermin.
“I trust the shoulder is feeling better?” Annwku said, turning his head to face him. The sunlight offered the faintest glimpse beyond the dark shroud provided by his hood, allowing his thin smile to emerge from the darkness. Chul-Moo growled angrily; the thought that he had tried to redeem himself in a vulgar display of his power sickened him, and he would have his vengeance.
“Who were following us?” he snarled venomously, demanding a response from the man that clearly knew more than he was revealing.
“They were the Alamanni,” Annwku began in a complacent, confident tone, “they are a people from the northern mountains, and whilst they have forgotten their past they will come. It is in their nature to try to prevent such a justice as we are striving for.”
“Then why let them escape?” Chul-Moo roared, “I could have killed him and –”
“And what?” he interrupted impatiently. “Delay our journey further? Let them follow the trail of corpses we so conveniently left behind for them like breadcrumbs to our destination?” He snorted at the thought, “they will come regardless of our actions, and we are on a tight schedule. Once we take the city they will be powerless to stop us.”
Chul-Moo growled angrily at the response, Annwku seemingly capable of deflecting questions without giving any real answer of use; it wasn’t too difficult to see how many of his simple-minded brethren had been so easy to convince, not looking past his confident and convincing demeanour onto the heart of what was being said, convoluted and deceptive in what information he was willing to give. “So we’re to enter the city and kill anyone who moves?”
“That would be correct,” Annwku responded, nodding his head slightly. Chul-Moo let a flicker of a smile flash across his face; he must admit, he liked this plan. It had been a while since he had been treated to a feast of soft sweet human flesh, and this could well be a feast to end all feasts. “And then I get to have my way with that so called ‘angel’ of theirs, I’ll make sure her death is slow and –” Annwku suddenly stopped walking, turning to face him with a glint of rage in his eyes.
“And suffer the eternal hostilities of men? You think they would just leave if she died? These people will blindly follow her to the end of time, and so to control the city we need to control her. And for that, we need her alive,” he blurted out in a sharp, aggressive outburst. “Is that clear? You are not to harm her in any way.” As they resumed their march, the revelation that they were to capture their leader became an insignificant drawback, far outweighed by his reaction to the question; so this soft-skin is still a human after all, still a slave to his emotions. ‘Interesting,’ he thought, ‘this could indeed come of use,’ a small grin sliding across his salivating mouth, a small trickle of drool slid down his chin; all this talk of the human slaughter was beginning to make him hungry. Shaking off this distraction, he focussed once more on the task at hand.
“Wait –” Annwku turned to look at him, the red glint in his eye becoming more prominent through the black hooded shroud, his rage failing to subside “How are we to control her?”
“Through the only one she trusts,” he snapped in response.
Before he could continue he looked ahead to see Kwan racing towards them. The walls of the city could now be observed on the distant horizon, tall grey stone haphazardly built in their haste to seclude themselves from the outside world; a typical soft-skin response, denying their fears exist in order to maintain an ignorant bliss, denying the futility of their lives for their own insignificant purposes. It is far better to accept the harsh reality than it is to fabricate your own. Breathing heavily after his sprint, Kwan composed himself once more, and ignoring Chul-Moo, spoke directly to Annwku.
“Haneul sent me to warn that there appears to be no entrance to the city.” ‘Typical’ Chul-Moo thought, their fear of what lay beyond their brittle walls of stone went beyond simple isolation and had driven them to try and make escape impossible. Annwku smiled his serpentine smile; all the fury that had been shown moments ago drained and his body relaxed from its tense composure.
“You are to head west towards the sea. There is a hidden entrance to the sewers there; we are to take them by surprise,” Kwan nodded and began sprinting back towards Haneul. “That angel of theirs is far too trusting,” he continued, turning to face Chul-Moo, “she was easier than I expected to infiltrate. She didn’t ask any questions of my brothers before offering them a position in her employ.”
Rapidly they approached the vast expanses of ocean, the moss covered stone walls of the city at their side, the sun glistening against the gentle waves of the deep blue stretched as far as the eye could see; he had never previously travelled this far, and was the first time he had seen such a landscape. An ominous mist clouded the horizon, slowly being drawn towards them by the wind brushing against their hard skin, whistling against the gently swaying grass, forcing Annwku’s dark hood down from his face. Even observing his pale complexion and deceitful eyes, the demon legion he commanded did not waver in their faith in his resolve, so blinded by his confidence that they no longer questioned his less than altruistic intentions. Following the slow curve of the city walls, Haneul and Kwan slowly came into view, the grass yielding to the small murky river in front of them seeping out into the expanse of water. The gentle trickle of brown putrid sludge flowed from the large dirt encrusted pipe, the sickening smell of soft-skin waste wafting out into the open air.
He watched as Kwan enthusiastically led the first wave into the dank sewers, eager for the bloodshed that awaited him, and calmly he walked over to his wife with Annwku still at his side.
“Go. Join your brethren with the assault,” Annwku proffered. Chul-Moo growled; his cowardly intentions of waiting here for the path to become clear were all too evident from his tone. He gripped Haneul’s arm and began to make his way for the sewer, quickly stopped by Annwku’s frame blocking his path. “She stays.” Chul-Moo roared, it was bad enough that he feared getting his hands dirty but leaving him alone with his wife?
“What do you want with her?” he barked, deliberately allowing small droplets of saliva to spray his scarred face.
“Only to see her hard work come to fruition; you remember out mutual friend? It is from this ocean that she is to arrive.” His complacency was frustrating; gripping the deceitful, pathetic creature by his hood he slowly raised him off the ground in a threatening manner. Haneul turned attention from the river to the unfurling events.
“Go,” she cried. “I want to stay.” Chul-Moo’s eyes darted between the two; he was unsure which was worse at this point, the soft-skin who had manipulated him into fighting his war or the woman who had welcomed him. She was more trouble than she was worth. Reluctantly, he threw Annwku against the hard ground and darted for the sewers, refusing to look back lest he change his mind.
Through the cracks in their society long since shielded from the outside world the faint trickle of the blood of the slain inhabitants had already began to seep through onto the cold stone floor; the putrid river that gently flowed down its centre slowly becoming more clouded where the droplets fell into the already murky depths. He could taste the sweet blood in the air, the gentle sounds of crumbling rock from where others had exploded through the tight fitting manholes leading to the city surface. Followed the panic-stricken cries through the maze of passages and tunnels, he soon found a path leading above. The protruding steel ladder had been severely bent out of shape, likely from the weight of those that came before him, and so precariously he began to make his way up. He felt the steel give under his foot, and looked up to the surface only a few feet away. Using the failing rung of the latter as a spring board he leapt up, catching hold of the open lip to the city streets – the rung crashing down onto the hard floor below – and maintaining the momentum he sprung forth out of the sewers, landing squarely on the metallic surface with a loud clang.
The streets were filled with the chaotic sound of the screaming inhabitants; panic-stricken and dishevelled by the sudden assault they had begun to flee in every direction to preserve their own existence. Quickly met by the loud screams of a loud male soft-skin, head turned behind him as he ran in his direction, rebounding off his hard skin he collapsed backwards onto the floor. Turning to face the copper behemoth blocking his path, Chul-Moo roared “have you never seen a demon before?” his fury and amusement at their pathetically futile attempts to escape resonating with each word.
“My god,” he cried.
“No, but good guess,” he responded, laughing hysterically, as he stumbled back to his feet and began to sprint away; he hadn’t had so much fun in years. He didn’t know why he hadn’t done this sooner, the sights, the smells and the sounds; he basked in the delectable carnage that took him back to his wilder youth.
With tall glass buildings on either side, he darted in the directions of the screams, soon emerging from the cold and sterile path into the city centre; the crystal tower lay directly in front of him in the distance, reflecting the sunlight in a brilliant blue shade onto the bloodbath that ensued in this edenic paradise. As he waded into the thick forest-like undergrowth that dominated the outskirts, the blood dripped down from the tree’s like the onset of rain; the bodies of those who had tried to hide in the treetops above maimed beyond recognition, gradually bleeding out from their open wounds. Briefly looking up to the dismembered head of an elderly man caught in the treetops, he opened his wide jaws and allowed a drop of blood to splash down into his mouth. Savouring the taste, he continued onwards, brushing past the bushy undergrowth to reveal a large clearing, evidently the origin of the massacre. Bodies lay in their dozens strewn against the blood stained grassy floor, the dark red river gently carrying the disfigured carcass of a young child with its gentle tide.
Through the anarchy of the surroundings, the faintest sound of the cracking of a branch could be discerned above the cacophony of sin. Dropping to the ground he scanned the horizon for its origin; it was too light for another demon and too prominent to be far away. He reached behind his back – ‘damn,’ he thought, realising he left his spear back at the village – his eyes darted for a makeshift ranged weapon. Making for the tree line, many of which bore apples, a female figure slowly poked her head out from the dense forest, gasping at the sight of him and sprinting deeper into the shade it provided; her long blonde hair and blood-smeared salmon pink dress a stark contrast in colour easily observed as it flashed through the undergrowth.
Within moments he was in pursuit, rapidly making for the tree line she dwelled within, he leapt across the gently flowing river, clutching at a dangling apple bore by the tree in front of him he dropped once more, awaiting another flash of pink. He didn’t have to wait long, out of the corner of his eye he caught the blur of a figure dart past, and was once more in pursuit through the undergrowth, refusing to let her out of his sights as she stumbled against an outlying root and came crashing down to the ground. Pouncing down on her as she rolled onto her back and began to scream at the sight of him effortlessly gliding towards her, apple in hand he forcefully embedded it into her mouth, prying them open and muffling her desperate cries. Seizing her hair, he clutched it tightly and raised her from the ground, bringing her close to his blood stained face; his breath close enough to make her eyes water, she flailed, striking him in his torso desperately trying to escape. ‘Pathetic’ he thought, this was too easy. Withdrawing his curved blade from his belt, with a single slash he cut off her hair, causing her to come crashing down to the ground once more. Chuckling at her panic stricken face as she frantically scrambled back; replacing the blade in his hilt he took a deep sniff of the hair still within his hand, the sweet fruity aroma infiltrating his nasal, sweetly tantalising his senses.
His taunting was soon interrupted as he felt the hard impact of steel, embedding itself between the plates in his skin before exploding, taking apart a small chunk of his hard plated skin with it, exposing the soft flesh that lay beneath. Howling in pain he spun his head to face the bold blue uniform of the panic stricken guardian; heavy black boots and short cropped hair, the young soft-skin stood paralysed in fear. It was about time someone offered him a challenge. Returning once more to the woman before him, he dropped the hair on the ground by her side, raised one powerful foot, and brought it crashing down on her head; her skull collapsing with a loud crack, the juicy insides gushing out like a crushed grape against the grassy floor. Purposefully he twisted his hoof-like foot against what little remained to force as much matter from her person as he could. Returning his attention to the guardian who had proffered a challenge to him, he watched as he began to tremble slightly at his gratuitous show of aggression. He smiled at the look of disbelief on his face, suddenly he turned to run, dropping his weapon on the ground; his heavy boots slowing him down. Giving chase, he lowered his head and like a wild rhino he charged after him; horn landing squarely into his back, he felt the resonating pop of his spine where he struck, the gentle trickle of blood streaming down his face from the deep laceration in his back. Lifting his head up, he flung the helpless creature into the air, coming to an abrupt halt only as his side struck the hard bark of a nearby tree; uncontrollably he wrapped around it, landing unconscious on the damp ground.
He had come full circle, the clearing lay a short way ahead. As he went forward to finish the assailant, the loud cracking of gunfire could be heard a short way in the distance. Ducking down amongst the thick undergrowth, he watched as a small group of the guardians, with blood soaked blue uniforms and features that looked indistinguishable to the others, had soon slowly emerged from the bushes; with a flurry of gunshots they frantically fired their weapons into the forest, hoping to hit their target. The first of the demons emerged; a badly injured adult male, despite blood spattered around his person he recognised him as being from a nearby friendly clan. Entirely consumed by bloodlust his hulking frame charged forward, many of the shells popping all around him as they harmlessly bounced off against his hard skin. Like a matador leading a bull out into the open they parted, allowing him to harmlessly run past; the continual stream of gunfire against his injured back finally capable of seeing the hulking mass of demonic flesh fall to its knees. Outnumbered, he died fighting to the end, fighting for what he believed. Irrespective of his own thoughts on this futile war, his death had as much honour to it as anyone could wish for.
The gunfire into the forests resumed, and through the trees he could make out the faintest outline of two more young demons making there way through the dense forest. They appeared to be arguing amongst the chaos, though he could discern little more. Suddenly, one of their number charged outwards towards the guardians leaving the young female behind; out in the open he instantly recognised Kwan’s gait as he fell into the same trap that the demon before him and stumbled into. ‘The fool,’ he thought, knowing that out in the open, outnumbered he wouldn’t stand a chance. Desperately he looked around him for something that he could use as a distraction to draw his attention without giving away his position, scanning the nearby unconscious body at his side. Discovering a small metal canister, he pulled hard on the protruding ring, coming away in his hands. Throwing it aside he seized the belt in its entirety and tore it from his person, the leather uttering a loud satisfying snap as he wrenched it away and threw it towards Kwan. Before the object could strike the ground, it exploded; emitting a blinding light and disorientating cacophonous bang, he quickly recomposed himself to look onto the thick black smoke shrouding them. Having already lost the element of surprise he cried out at the top of his lungs, looking deep into the smoke for any sign of him. He recoiled slightly at the cry of a soft-skin, and watched as he flew through the air into view, collapsing on the ground as Kwan barged through, closely followed by the other young demon.
Knowing their cries would bring along the attention of others, and with no idea how many more remained within the city walls they had to escape for more favourable odds. Turning tail he ran through the dense forests, making sure the others were still in tow, and soon emerged back out in the open; the hard steel clanging underfoot. Darting towards the side of a nearby building, he took the first passage and followed it down to the end; blocked by the stone walls of the city edge, he quickly ducked to his left, down another small passage at the back of the building. Peeking from around the corner he saw them both still in tow, a bold guardian giving chase, firing haphazardly in their direction, catching the young demon’s leg; as she stumbled Kwan lurched back for her; Chul-Moo darted out, seizing his arm he sharply pulled him around the corner. The final defiant cry from the fallen demon was soon silenced by the sound gunfire, ending the life of another of his kind.
Silently, he waited patiently crouched against the dark tinted glass windows of the building for the soft skin to emerge; the slow thudding of boots as he cautiously made his way towards their location. The tip of one black leather boot creeping around the corner all he needed to spin out from his hiding to face the guardian who had dared to attack them. Grasping at his uniform he raised him from the ground, roaring defiantly as he spun him around and slammed him hard against the city wall; the cracking sound as his back came into contact with the hard stone. He let out a small whimper, and fumbling about his person dropped his firearm, clutching for the small canister at his belt. Withdrawing it, Chul-Moo snatched it from his hand, but within moments they were once again under fire from two more of this city’s guardians. Throwing the soft-skin in his hands towards the oncoming salvo he once more darted behind the building, only to be halted by further blue uniformed attackers directly ahead of them. They were trapped.
Frantically, Chul-Moo glanced between the slowly advancing attackers, two on either side looking pleased with their catch. Kwan looked solemnly on the ground, seemingly unconcerned with their situation. “They killed her dad,” Kwan exclaimed. He growled at the love struck child, and with his back to the glass gradually brought out his curved blade, tapping the glass; solid. He doubted he could break through it and escape that way. “She said yes.” His mind raced; there had to be another way out of this situation; the guardians got ever closer, only 30 feet. From this range even the most incompetent amongst them would not miss; he was left with no choice. With more than a glint of remorse he hooked the pin on his large canine, sharply pulling it out and throwing to his right; he turned back towards Kwan hard back; the attackers rapidly responding to his last minute attempt at escape. Through the hail of fire he ducked behind Kwan, thrusting his sharp claws into the crack between the plates in his back, forcing a handhold in the soft flesh that lay beneath. The explosion of the canister temporary blinding to his enemies; he raised Kwan by the hard plate of skin and charged onwards into the smoke, using Kwan as a personal shield against the oncoming fire. Bullets rebounding from his hard skin, he felt the warmth of the multiple small explosions surrounding him; the desperate cries emerging from the demon of his own flesh and blood sent him reeling in anger at the thought of the real demons, forcing him into this position.
With a deadly fury he slammed Kwan’s badly bleeding body into the first of his foes, throwing Kwan back against his far smaller frame; he heard the loud snap of brittle bones as they fell crashing to the floor. Frantically slashing blindly against the smoke with his curved blade, following the sound of the gunshots; his blade soon struck bone, the hard skull of the second of the two assailants. Raising his foot he kicked the recently made corpse’s chest to free his blade, the limp, lifeless body crumpling against the hard ground, he spun around to face those that remained through the rapidly decaying fog. The vision of this gargantuan behemoth, blood soaked and wide-eyed in a bloodlust filled rage, further fuelled by his son’s recent demise forced from his own hand at their aggression was enough to send them reeling in shock. Wide-eyed, the guardians slowly began to lower their weapons; placing his long, curved blade against his shoulder – his elbow jutting out – he spun around in a 360 degree turn, and providing as much strength as he could, threw the sword. Arching over, it slowly began to drop, impaling one of his foes through the chest; the impact forcing him down onto the ground. The last of the guardians began to whimper, blinking in disbelief at this feat of strength. In fear, he fled the scene, leaving Chul-Moo alone once more.
As the smoke cleared, the dying body of Kwan lay on the ground bleeding heavily onto the cold metal floor of this city. As he knelt by his side he felt a deep pain of regret; he should have put a stop to this plan sooner, there must have been some way he could have avoided this. “Thank you,” Kwan murmured, “perhaps now I can be with her.” He smiled a bittersweet smile, ‘the romantic fool’ he thought; perhaps we aren’t so different from those soft-skins after all, both searching for solace where we can find it. Gently lifting his body, he carried him his arms and gently placed him beside the remains of the woman he had desperately tried to protect. Kwan offered a weak smile, and scrambled his hands towards hers, gripping it as tightly as he could before delivering his final breath. His body suddenly relaxed, the blood forming a soft pool around his person. Chul-Moo leant in close, closed his eyes, and whispering into his ear said “thank you for restoring faith in my instincts.”
As he raised his head he looked out on the bloodbath they had wrought upon this city; bodies littered the streets, the smooth surface of the steel ground allowed the blood of those who had been slain to gently flow along its contours; the entire city glowed a ferocious shade of red, the gentle sun overhead shining on the fine particulate mist that had been carried across from the sea. The rapturous cheering from many of the other demons at their triumphs as they continued their rampage evident as they ran through the streets, playfully wrestling with each other in a fit of high spirits. We had conquered a city in which we could never belong; what remained of the local populace had gone into hiding but would soon meet their demise. We had won someone else’s war, but at what cost? Was the loss of life worth the end result?
But a larger question still remained; not of what had they done for that was the past and could not be changed, but what is to happen in the near future. There was much Annwku still had not divulged – still some plan which he had set into motion to try and control this city. They already had control of the city, the battle could not have lasted long but already they had forced their opponent to scatter, dishevelled, disorganised and demoralised, they were now even less of a threat than before. He looked into the sky in contemplation but his attention was drawn by the prominence of a figure on the rooftop; obscured by the mist, the dark outline from his black robes emanating around his person shrouding him a darkness, a disturbing sense of evil filtering down onto the city below. It couldn’t be Annwku; his posture was too powerful, even Annwku had a slight sinister hunch. The figure stood rigid, transfixed by something ahead of him. He reluctantly moved to observe the object of his transfixiation; so there she stood, the angel in all her glory. Bathed in a brilliant white glow, her deceptively innocent appearance captivating, and even in the knowledge of the cruel manner they had been banished from her new world he couldn’t help but be left with a feeling of awe. Gritting his teeth, he felt the anger build up inside; he may not know Annwku’s reason for wanting this war, but she too was responsible for it, and he was determined to find out why.
*****
Whilst the battle raged on within the city walls, just beyond them Annwku stood; arm outstretched, searching amongst the intricate philotic web of life for her arrival. For hours he had carefully traversed these thin strands, searching for that one bright spark amidst a sea of souls blissfully unaware of their own energy tied to this world. And then, suddenly, he saw the briefest glimpse of something powerful. Chasing after it through the web, he had finally found it; the philote he had been searching for. Gently reaching out towards it, he was met with resistance; pushing slightly harder, he was delivered with a sudden flash of pain. He recoiled and snapped back into our plane of existence; a diabolical smile slowly emerging across scarred face, for she had arrived.
This was what their master had trained him and his brethren for; they had been shown how to manipulate the very fabric of the energy that binds us together in order to control another, and they were ready to fulfil their destiny. Joining hands with the rest of his brothers, their connections strong between one another, they once more returned to the philotic plane of reality, rapidly following along the thin strings of energy to their destination. Ashiya resisted once more, but was unable to fight back against their combined power; slowly but surely they pushed their way into her conscious soul; a burning pain as she struggled to fight back; they could hear her screams, the cries for mercy, hoping they would stop their relentless pursuit but still they persisted. The screams became louder and more panic-stricken; the pain began to burn as though their blood was boiling, but they maintained their focus until suddenly she caved; like a bloodthirsty infection they had broken into her and spread throughout her body.
Haneul watched as the gentle waves became more turbulent; the sight of a thrashing beast deep in the blue below. She was barely capable of observing the serpentine creature as it desperately fought back against an unseen attacker. The bubbles rose to the surface in a frenzy, and then as abruptly as it had started she lay motionless in the ocean depths. Haneul turned towards Annwku and the others, the sweat on his forehead, and glimmer of a smile overshadowed by the contrast of his shining milky white eyes, deep in concentration of his control of the beast. Once more the waves returned; the beast was beginning his approach to the surface.
Head arising first; the large bulbous eyes lay protruding on the side of her green scaly head, long snout and frantic tongue darting in and out of its mouth, sensing her surroundings. Her serpentine jaws opened wide to reveal a pair of long, thin overarching fangs; rising further still from the deep, her thick, powerful neck quickly broadened to reveal her lizard-like frame. As it stood on its muscular hind legs it arose 30 feet from the ground, hard scales shielding its soft skin from the elements. It blinked its eyes, eyelids coming across horizontally, and stretched its long forearms across on either side proudly displaying her lizard-like paws, sticky liquid oozing from the tips of her fingers. Like a bat, thin skin-like wings dropped down from her extended forearms, and with head raised to the sky she roared a high pitched shriek, her long serpentine tail flailing around on the surface of the water behind her. Ashiya had arrived.
Amidst the chaos of Ashiya’s return, nobody noticed that lurking in the shadows of the sewers lay the prying eyes of K’mtar. Sent to retrieve this beast for his angel, he watched as they waited, her unworldly form emerging from the ocean to greet them. He gritted his teeth in anger; the mere sight of such a foul looking creature would have caused him concern, but here he had proof that she had been deceived. These mysterious humans had evidently betrayed her to work with the demons and this creature to bring an end to her benevolent reign over the city; his mind raced with thoughts of what needed to be done. As the creature shrieked into the sky he darted back into the sewers lest he be discovered; he had no option, Tenshi had to be warned. Turning his heels he fled once more to find his angel.
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