Legacy of the Defender (The Defender Series Book 1) (8 page)

“No.  I am not here right now, remember?”

It was true; he had left me some time ago on a mission he said was very important and did not concern me.  My recent success in obtaining the female scent gland had me consumed, so thoughts of my master leaving had faded in my memory.  He truly was not here, and I really was about to die.  Yet time stood still. 

I was the one stopping time somehow.  Where this ability came from I did not know.  I did not learn it, nor was it passed on to me.

“You are over thinking this.  Look at the fight and close your eyes, tell me what you really see,” said Mathias.

I looked back and started to go over it again, replaying it from the start in my head.  Each step taken, block attempted, or redirect executed moved in slow motion in front of me, as I was watching a video of myself.  I saw myself leap and reposition with each attempted strike.  Then it hit me when I saw myself under the paws of the beast and the pressure began to crush me. 

“What are you forgetting?” he asked.

It hit me harder than the weight of the beast. 
I had forgotten to turn on my defenses!
  They not only lessened the damage taken and slowed the attackers’ weapons down, they also repulsed the weapon back out of my personal space...even the daemon itself.  Malnuras beat that into my head for days on end.  I had just received my new rune days before this battle.  Not activating my shield before entering combat
was
the true error.  

The second aspect of it was shorter in duration but meant a daemon could not enter my personal space.  Its fast moving claw attacks had enough momentum to get through the defenses, but my shield reduced the speed and force of the attack.  The rune was strange looking, resembling a pattern of energy swirling around it.  When activated the energy pattern expanded out from me about two feet.  It kept me from their swarm.  Even if a blow managed to hit me, deflection would occur with tremendous force. 

The downside was it took a lot of energy out of me to turn this ability on, which meant I could only use it sparingly.  My energy had to recharge in between uses.  Logic descended on me.  Turning the shield on now would push the daemons hands off my body and allow for potential escape. 

The voice came again...This time it was my own voice saying the name.

I am Tathlyn.

I looked at Mathias with amazement and he was not there; neither was I.  Pain exploded in my chest as the pressure snapped more ribs and tore more flesh.  What little breath that I could draw came slow and labored.  Pushing with all my might upwards, my energy flowed with the exhale.  The bubble of the shield came into being, exploding outward, and surrounding me.  Immediately the pressure on my chest subsided, and the daemons hands repelled away from me.  Their position above me interfered with its view of me as it pressed down harder. 

I imagined its surprise as it could not see why its paws and claws were forced open.  My blades kept pushing as the weight diminished.  Hoping it did not know there was now a space between us, I relaxed my mind and let my healing energy flow freely.  My ribs decompressed and returned to their place one by one.  It hurt as much as having them broken, but having the bone no longer piercing my lungs felt as good as the flesh rebuilding itself.  Seconds later, I found myself healthy and healed but in the same situation.  Tons of daemon filth was still on top of me.  It would be seconds before it came crushing down again in another attempt.  This creature had four legs plus the two arms so it did not normally walk on all six legs.  I twisted the blades so the edges faced away from each other and, with a mighty yell; I forced my hands wide apart, taking the swords in opposite directions.  Flesh separated and bone cleaved as my arms extended.  Resistance meeting the blades ended as they extended.  The daemon had a lot of its weight on its “hands” and its center of gravity shifted.  Falling forward it pulled its stumps to its torso.  Fingers with nasty claws fell around as the creatures weight came forward. 

I rolled back and away from the hole that had almost become my grave.  Backing off, my swords spinning gently to loosen my arms and wrists up, my eyes fell to my foe.  I tried to gage its next move.  My tendons were still a little sore, but functional.  The healing energy did its job for the most part, but it would be a bit before I could do it again.  The creature had regained its balance and was roaring at me with bulging bloodshot eyes.  Trying to create a false pattern, I moved side to side as it advanced.  The creature came at me again, wings flapping.  Surprisingly agile this time, it spun, trying to catch me with one of its many flailing appendages.

With renewed strength, I rallied my cause and tried a new approach.  Taking two steps, I vaulted myself atop the beast, avoiding the wings that were still trying to buffet me out of range.  My footing shifted as the daemon tried to shake me off.  There was no time before it started to roll back to its hind feet with me fighting to move with its shifting body.  The creature reversed its direction in attempts to throw me off balance.  I steadied my aim and struck with both of my blades right where the wing connected to a large shoulder muscle.  Instantly, dark blood sprayed from a deep cut.  A spasm rolled through its body.

Again I struck, this time hard enough that the only thing holding the wing in place was a large, fraying tendon, which I made short work of with my third and final strike.  The great wing severed and flopped to the earth; its lifeblood sprayed.  Black ichor gushed from the angry wound on its back.  Up it reared, causing my footing to shift and one of my embedded swords broke free of my grip as I fell down clinging to its leathery hide.  Gravity shifted again as it came down on all fours.  One of its clawed hands reached back to grab me.  Above, its head craned around, trying to spy my location.  

I could now see I had not cut as many fingers off as I had hoped for each hand clearly had many.  Only the smaller side ones were missing, but this thing had at least eight per paw.  My grip released right as its front legs touched down again and slid me towards my other weapon, now lodged in its muscular, knotted definition.

In came the talons from the beast’s wounded hands.  A blow like no other launched me backwards and off its back with tremendous force, just like a car hitting me.  Landing hard, I rolled to my fee.  Around me, the dust and dirt flew in every direction.  It was hard to see without getting dirt in my eyes.  I felt heat.

Diving into a roll backwards, I managed to avoid the business end of its mouth.  Its teeth made a snapping sound as they clamped down on the air near my body.  Regaining my feet some distance away, I sprinted to the left towards the side missing a wing.  The distance came easily as it was limping some from the blows previously rained down upon its feet, moments before it crushed me.  Again, I leapt to its great back and assaulted its second set of wings.  I wanted to make sure it could not fly.

The great leathery sails were not easy to hit.  As my feet touched down on its mighty back, my attacks resumed.  With balance regained, my blades bit deep on the second wing located on the same side as the first.  Again the flow of blood exploded forth, making footing difficult, but manageable.  Its body rolled to its right side as I moved in that direction.  It must have known another wing was my target for it rolled to that same side in an attempt to crush me.  As its weight shifted, so did my attack.  The left wing was now folding up behind me as it pitched to its side.  I turned and jumped, thrusting both blades out as it continued to roll.

I found my mark.  The clean cut showered me with viscous fluid that fountained into the air.  Falling to my right, I noticed I had cleaved the wing completely.  It was bucking now.  His remaining two wings buffeted.  Still, he could not dislodge me.  My grip held me securely.  The beast rolled to the right again, but I was not quick enough.  My body hit the ground, knocking my breath out.  It was a struggle to roll out of the way of the impending doom with no breath, but finally my feet touched the earth, and I leapt skyward with all my strength.

To the daemon’s surprise and mine, I landed on it again, this time on its belly.  Now between four taloned feet, the threat slightly lessened.  Reversing the grip on my blades, I went to work.  The beast roared and convulsed as my stabbing blades bit repeatedly.  Flat on its back it lay, with me running all over its underside slashing anything and everything I could.  It continued to swat at me with its taloned feet.  I ran toward its head to get at its throat in hopes of ending it. 

That was a big mistake on my part.

I did not see the clawed hands coming.  Both of my swords were in a downward motion when the shadow fell upon me.  I barely had time to redirect them to the sides to meet the incoming threat.  The steel bit as the trap collapsed on me.  My blades slid to the hilt before my arms compressed back towards me, and I felt my right wrist fold backwards on itself to keep hold of the weapon. 

My ears rang as the air clapped around my head with a tremendous bang.  I would have been on my knees from the experience except I found myself between the beast’s hands like a bug in a Venus flytrap.  It did not care, and as it squeezed it pressed the swords deeper into its own hands until I was almost flat against both its palms when it began to apply insane amounts of pressure.  A throaty laugh, like a gurgle, came from the daemon.  The pressure squeezed tighter then suddenly let up for one second. 

I managed to roll to the side in the midst of its claws and had my feet against one palm and my shoulder on the other.  I cupped my broken wrist in my hand while leg pressing back to keep from being crushed. 

The weight was greater.  I thought getting smashed on the ground was bad, but the difference was I had been flat on my back.  It felt just like being in a vice grip.  With my swords in each of its hands, I squirmed as it tried to grind me between its palms.

Focusing on my wrist, I began to try to heal the broken bones and snapped tendons.  It was almost too much; my mind faltered on the task.  I felt the tingling begin in my wrist.  The pressure on my legs and spine increased.  My head began to spin with pain, overloading my nervous system.  He ground me between his massive paws, and he had twice the force now to exert.  Time felt like it stopped for a moment; although I was still aware but not like before.  The bones reset for now; however, the damage was severe and my healing powers weakened.  The tendons reattached finally when I felt its hands shift. 

The daemon roared.

Instinctively grabbing for my swords still embedded in the large clawed hands of the beast, I turned the blades and held on.  Its giant hands pulled apart.  My grip tightened.  One of the blades came free while the other stayed in.  Using the momentum, I put my foot against the palm of its hand next to where my blade pierced and pushed up.  It tore free.

Gravity released.  I was free falling...but not to its torso again.  Its breath engulfed me.  I knew right where I was falling.

In all my life, both here in this world and home, I had never been so disgusted.  In a pool of rotten saliva I landed.  The teeth in its huge maw stood my height.  Its jaw collapsed.  The fluid level rose.  Instantly, I felt the saliva go to work on the skin on my legs.  I was thankful that its breath that did most of the damage.  It could have just exhaled holding me in the pressure cooker against all those teeth; however, the thought of drowning in even acidic spit was not appealing.  Then again, getting swallowed was just as bad.  

Teeth began to grind.  With all my remaining strength, both blades thrust out in front.  Darkness fell.  For a split second, the thought of death felt close again and peace was there.  I felt strangely tranquil.  It was not my day to die.  There were too many things to do and thousands of more daemons to kill.  A vision of home appeared in my mind for a moment, and I wondered if my parents had any idea what I was doing.

Light appeared slowly in the distance.  It was as if the gates of heaven were parting to allow my admittance.  My senses returned.  I wrenched and twisted my blades in deeper.  The fluids flushed as if it was swallowing steel.  The light got brighter. 

I closed my eyes.  Intense wind surrounded me.  My steel bit deeply before impact tore them from my grip.  I had just lost both of my swords. 

The end must be near.
 

My eyes opened just in time to see the ground rushing up at me.  “Oh, you have got to be kidding!”  I said before impact...covered in daemon saliva.  The image of a giant spit wad came to mind.  I lay there on the ground, afraid to move from the pain, my skin frozen and split in places from its breath. The blurry face of Malnuras leaned over my still form.

He smiled.  "What do you have to say for yourself?"

I winced.  We both laughed.  It hurt to laugh because the skin on my face was splitting.  I fought to regain my feet but stood teetering.

“It is dead, go get your swords!” he said, walking away.

"I am Tathlyn...my Teacher."  My bow almost took me to the ground again.  His answer surprised me.

"I know."

VII

The Big Picture

“It is not the destination that matters but the journey.”

I loved that quote because of the infinite wisdom; it was so basic but powerful.  When Master returned to me, I was happy to see him.  Malnuras nodded to him as he walked into camp with his armor glowing bright in the morning sun.  I bowed.

“It is time,” he said, turning and leaving as abruptly as he arrived.  A portal was waiting just outside camp.  We left and travelled to a city in the wilds.  Upon setting up camp, he turned to me and said one word:  “Attack.”  We sparred for days, only stopping to eat and rest.  The fights were brutal, and he cut me often.  He did not wear his armor so my blades found flesh often as well.  From me, he received only scratches, as my control was precise.  He was not so kind in return.  The battle must have been poetic to behold.  Several onlookers passed by and watched for a time.  They kept silent as to not distract, but we both knew they were there.  I could feel them. 

I was like a contest of wills…which I lost.

He took me to the edge of the town to a market place to buy food.  We sat down off in the corner outside.  He was good at dramatic pauses, making me wonder what he was about to say.  We ate a modest meal and discussed many things.  The food was superb and made of some local game that did not seem like it should be edible, but it was rather tasty.  It did not taste like chicken.  We ate some local fruit that was overly sweet, but the sugar rush it gave was amazing. 

He began to speak and I listened intently.

“Since the dawn of mankind, the daemons have been trying to form permanent gates from a dimension you might refer to as Heaven.  There is more than one habitable planet in the universe.  Yet Lucifer has his eyes set on earth.  Perhaps it is because this is where he first made contact with mankind as their creator.  We really do not know his reasons.”

"God chose to make many races, but humans were special.  He placed humans on this planet so that your souls might learn what he could not teach…something that only experience can provide.  He gave men the basic knowledge they needed to create tribal societies.  As mankind reproduced, God sent down new souls from his kingdom to fill the newborn."

“For many thousands of years your race flourished.  Small tribes came and went due to sickness or war.  People died and returned to the creator with tales and stories of the lessons they had learned.  But man was slowly influenced by an outside force and through his own actions was not able to return to God’s plane of existence because of sin." 

"Evil began to creep into
man’s heart from the moment he came down.  Yet they continued to come.  During this process, a great deception took place.  Lucifer is actually a deity but of lesser power, for he rules the daemon horde.  He amassed enough power that he was able to infiltrate the maker’s realm in the disguise of an angel created to serve.  It was his presence in the heavens, which caused man to doubt and falter.  His power was also strong enough that he was able to cloak his identity, from God and many others.  For thousands of years he hid and watched, and manipulated man.  Man’s evil grew and Lucifer must have been overjoyed to see the reaction to his presence."

“Fascinated with the corruption that mankind had suffered due to his influence, Lucifer decided to try to find a way to bridge the gap that spanned the two planes of existence.  Many more millennium went by.  God had made a pact with his creations after he had to destroy many of them with a great flood.  If mankind were to follow God’s example of living, they would be able to return.  The pact required a blood sacrifice to be made for any and all wrongdoings perpetrated against God’s will.” 

"Lucifer saw this as a weakness on God’s behalf and was trying to find a way to exploit it.  In his excitement, he began turning other servants of God against their master.  Large meetings soon began to take place and a wave of dissent swept through the heavens." 

"God found out about the plot.  He learned the true identify of this corruptor and realized it had been Lucifer’s doing that had affected his children on Earth.  God banished him from the heavens, but not before Lucifer had amassed a sizable following.  Armed with what he had learned so far, he watched and waited.”

"Eventually, God created a copy of himself to be his son whom he would rule the heavens with and allowed his consciousness to move freely between them.  As he watched the beginning of new civilizations unfold, he realized that he would need to save his people from themselves.  The previous arrangement was not efficient.  He sent himself in the form of his son to the planet to be a sacrifice so the way home would be locked open for those that chose to return.  Man had become something beyond his control.  The free will he gave them became their undoing.  As soon as the event unfolded, man was free and simply had to choose to follow the creator’s teachings.”

"
Lucifer simply watched from afar
..."  I interjected

“You may know this story from your bible.  That is man’s version of the account, however different it may be.  Lucifer saw that blood mixed with magic, or the arcane, could open portals on a more permanent basis.  His minions slay themselves for his glory.  Sometimes they get enough blood and magic going in the right place to open a portal, which is how they enter.  However, this is a small part of whatever his plan is.  His main goal now was to harvest as many souls as he could and enslave them to serve him.  Even if he never fully succeeds in flooding your plane with his minions, he seems to have some sort of satisfaction at one or more of his minions, even if it is only a handful, running around wreaking havoc amongst the populace.  For anyone slain on your plane by one of his minions, he still gains power from it."

"In the beginning, it started small at first.  One or two creatures would slip through; killing all crossed its path until God sent an angel to hunt them down.  Soon the crossovers became too numerous or the numbers were too great for your average angel too handle.  He created a special being.  You know it as the Sasquatch.  Magical in nature, they have the ability to cloak themselves to avoid detection.  They are immortal in the sense that they do not die of natural causes, but they can die in battle.  This is usually the case; they fall in combat.”

“They also have the ability to mask the daemons as they exit, so the fights were usually undetected by the human eye.  Large magnetic disturbances and geological events are some of the results of the energy displacements.  Sometimes the weather changes in certain ways, like the rain suddenly turning to hail or a small whirlwind of air forms; you call them dust devils.  The irony on that was not lost since it was masking a daemon.  Electronic devices also may fail, creating a gremlin like effect.  It’s funny that Gremlins do exist, but they do not affect electronics."

After listening for some time, I spoke.  “I don’t see anything that would pass for technology up here Master.  How do you know about it?”  He simply gave me a look and I closed my mouth.  I may be a tough fighter but he was still my master and I tried to be respectful always to him.  He continued.

“When the larger deluges take place a volcanic eruption often accompanies the rift due to the tremendous force that involved in the fabric of space being torn as well as the magic needed to mask the effect.  These battles last for days, sometimes weeks where the Defender must close the portal and hunt all the creatures that have skipped by.  Along with the daemons and the physical repercussions comes the nature of evil in its purest form."

“This is displayed when someone who is mentally healthy suddenly breaks from his normal behavior and goes on a killing spree.  The evil can affect anyone anywhere, not just near the rift.  It literally ripples outward.  Soon you will be able to see this and be able to track it back to its origin and close the portal.  Whilst doing this task you will have to fight any daemons coming through and any still guarding the rift.  Unless the event is apocalyptic in nature, no more than a dozen or so come through at a time, but they do not all stick around, and the hunt begins.  They attempt reconnaissance too.”

"The problem is sometimes many small portals opening all over the world and it can take time to find them.  The Sasquatches can feel the portals and find them quicker sometimes before they open because the process to open is a slow one.  The connecting bridge roots in this world like an anchor.  As the energy builds, the perverted aspect of its creation is what will draw you to it...just like the current Defender."

"In the western part of the continent you lived on, where all the volcanoes are, is the hotspot of the planet.  The other is on the other side of the ocean that your continent shares.  The mountains next to that ocean are also problematic; although, it pales in comparison to the region you are from."

"Originally there was several.  Only God knows the number he created.  As the millennia crept by, only one survived.  He is now a shadow of his former self as the years of battle have depleted him.  So the need for a new plan has been in the inception phase for years."

“The last major rift caused a small volcanic eruption in the Cascade Mountains.  The Sasquatch was responsible for closing it.  This final act has left him weak, weak to the point he no longer knows when he has cloaked himself or not, without serious meditation.  That is why you saw him that day.  That is why both of you saw him.  Now that you passed the test and accepted to replace him, you are no longer a threat to him.  The driver of the car perished.  Your friend, however, hunts the Defender and every day he comes a little closer to being able to see him at will.  His hatred and lack of understanding have made him dangerous.  You may have to intervene if the situation becomes critical.  The Defender is the last of his kind.  You may have to deal with your friend.  It is for the greater good, although any ideas you might have will be given serious consideration."

“You have been given the same abilities as the Sasquatch.  Runes that will allow you to detect these openings in the fabric that separates the two realities will develop and grow stronger in time.  Hunting daemons through many means of detection after you close the portals will be your second priority.  When you find a portal, open or not, you will be able to cloak the daemons as they come through.  This is an area effect, and covers a very large area.  Your weapons, as you know, can come to you at will so you will not have to worry about being armed.  Most of these daemons you could kill with your bear hands if you needed to.  The ability to mask yourself will also be at your disposal soon.  If a daemon leaves the area, and finds people, it will be bad.”

“A portal may not be open when you arrive, so cloak yourself, and then watch the area and wait.  It may take hours for them to form, but when you get an urge to go somewhere that you cannot control, it is a portal forming.  You will be able to teleport there.  The rune attunes to the fabric or veil that separates the realities, if that destabilizes, you will know.  If there is more than one, it will take you to the one that is farther along in its failing.  The horde knows that the Defender always shows up so they have been working on ways to hide the energy transfer that creates the tear until the last possible moment.  You may find yourself in the middle of a battle where people will die.  They also can hide themselves from you to some small measure.  It will take time for you learn their tricks.”

“When will I get this rune?”

“In time.  Do not be overwhelmed my pupil.  The Sasquatch chose well when he saw the tenderness in your eyes.  He told me he had never seen such compassion.  He is tired and is looking forward to spending time with his maker as he has been performing this duty for several millennia and is the last survivor of his kind.”

“Who is his maker?”  I asked. 

Silence. 

Mathias quit speaking.  I sat there in shock.  Hearing the full truth about what I was to become had a certain weight to it.  I swallowed hard and tried to think about my responsibility to the people on Earth.  I was to be the first of my kind. However, the most serious trials still lay ahead.  Failure was not an option, but I was not the one making the rules.  Lucifer’s influence was out there.  I could feel its tug on me even from here.

“So how did the daemons get here, Master?”

“They invaded so quickly that God had to defend the city.  That is the main reason why he cannot save mankind on Earth, and protect the souls in Heaven at the same time.  Lucifer is after the souls as much as he is after getting to Earth to kill and consume human souls.  He is still assaults Heaven forcing God is doing nothing else but focusing on its defense.  Lucifer will never get through as long as God is there maintaining it.”

Another long pause.

“In fact, he waited until God was watching his son crucified for the sins of the world.  He struck at that moment.  The people of earth think God turned his back on Jesus because of all the sin that was upon him.  The truth is, the horde broke through into Heaven, and all he could do was wrap his arms around the city.  Because Jesus is part of God, God was weakened, at that moment…To have part of him destroyed meant for a fraction of a second, he was incomplete.”

“With the sudden insurgent of daemons, the balance of the realm of heaven taxed God so greatly that his power level dropped severely.  He may be complete, but the presence of such an enormous horde means that all he can do is shield Heaven.  Helping those on Earth or answering prayers is nothing compared to what it used to be.”

“It is amazing, Master, that God has been able to protect Heaven even with the realm under siege.”  He took a draw off his water.  A distant look fell upon his.  A great sadness washed over his countenance.