The Dark Path (27 page)

The Velearstk were a collective: not so much individual beasts as one mind inhabiting several bodies, thus enabling their power of telepathy. The thoughts of one became the thoughts of the whole; the will of one, the will of each. Unfortunately, this had been their undoing. Their capture by Sordarrah had been a simple case of catching one, waiting until the rest located it, and then ensnaring them all. The spells of containment used to imprison them had sealed off their greater power and left them pawns for their captor.

Everything had been taken from them.

No form. No time. No thought.... For all eternity.

They were determined to make the most of their freedom while it lasted. The attack on the motel had not required such destruction, but there had been no limit placed upon their fury either, so they had destroyed it and every living thing within. It troubled them slightly that they had not been able to locate their prey; it had seemed for a while that a great shroud had been draped over the soul scent. When it had lifted, they knew instantly that their quarry had eluded them.

For the time being.

Their flight took them several miles before sighting their target speeding along the road ahead of them in one of this world’s primitive modes of transport. They increased their unified velocity, knowing it was only a matter of time.

Glorious time.

* * * *

“They’re coming fast!” yelled Gabriel over the rattling motor of the car Vain had liberated from the shopping mall car park. From the outside, the vehicle had seemed in excellent condition, and had driven so for the first two miles until with a loud bang something had burst within the engine, and their pace had steadily slowed.

“Damn piece of crap!” cursed Vain.

“We won’t outrun them in this,” stated Gabriel with a calmness that grated on the assassin’s nerves.

Vain slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to an abrupt halt in the middle of the road. “Then we stop and fight.”

Looking around, the Dark Man saw nothing likely to aid them in the upcoming battle. No large buildings for cover, no other cars he could take for their escape. It would end here, one way or another. He turned when Gabriel approached him.

“You cannot win this fight Dark Man. You are not ready yet to face these beasts.”

“What are they? Tell me everything you know.”

Gabriel sighed. “They were captured and used during the first war by Sordarrah in the battle against our Lord. I do not know where they originated from, only that their might–in ethereal form–is terrible to behold. In this realm, their powers will be weaker. They must exert themselves to keep from dissipating back into their true form of pure energy. Much of their strength will be expended maintaining their physical structure, but they could still easily destroy this entire planet if left for long enough.”

“
Would
they, though?” asked Vain, a plan forming in his mind.

“What do you mean?”

“Would they destroy the planet? Are they evil creatures by nature or are they made to do evil deeds by their captors? Tell me something, are they smart? Can they communicate with us?”

“Not smart, no. But they can communicate–barely.” Trepidation crept into Gabriel’s voice. “You cannot be thinking to make a deal with them; they will destroy you before you utter a single word!”

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” Vain murmured, gesturing towards the thirteen enormous beasts flying towards where they stood.

* * * *

The Velearstk let out a deafening shriek and swooped down towards their prey. Suddenly the air around them shifted, seeming to lose substance. Their great wings beat against nothing as they plummeted through a vacuum, culminating in a massive crash. The enormous explosion shifted the very ground.

Before they could rise and attack their target, the Earth’s gravity seemed to multiply a hundredfold, and they found themselves pinned to the earth. The man walked slowly over to where they thrashed in the dust, a look of intense concentration upon his face, and a tremendous force flowing from his form.

“Do you like being prisoners of Sordarrah?” asked the man calmly, although now he was sweating with the effort of holding them down. “Wouldn’t you like to be free?”

This puzzled the Velearstk and they relaxed their frenzied thrashing slightly as the man stepped even closer.

“I will release you if you listen to what I have to say,” said the man.

“We kill you,” said the Velearstk as one.

“Perhaps, but what do you have to lose by listening to me? And what do you have to gain?”

What the small creature said rang true, and at least it would save them some power they could use to fight the return summons for a short time longer. “We listen to words. Then you die.”

* * * *

Vain released his control over the gravity around the Velearstk and involuntarily sighed. The power he had needed to hold the beasts for those few short moments had almost exhausted him and he now realized Gabriel had spoken the truth. He had no chance of destroying these beasts. Not even if he held the power of a hundred
Glimloche
s. He only hoped his gamble would pay off.

“You are Sordarrah’s slaves, correct?” queried Vain, the beasts rising terrifyingly above and around him. “He commands you to do something and once it is done you return to your prison?”

“Yes,” answered the Velearstk simply.

“So. This time you have been commanded to kill me after which you’ll get pulled back to wherever the hell you come from.”

“Yes,” said the Velearstk, seemingly confused. “We kill you now?”

“My point is this, you retarded lizard: What happens if you don’t kill me?”

“Ga....” began the Velearstk before they paused and puzzled over the question. “Don’t know,” they answered finally.

“I suspect since you have not completed your mission, the spell or whatever it is that binds you would not close, and therefore you wouldn’t get sucked back and could remain free. Or would Sordarrah simply catch you again?”

“Huh? What you say?” The Velearstk cocked their heads as one in incomprehension.

“If an electric train is travelling north at forty miles an hour, and the wind is heading east at ten miles per hour, then which way does the smoke blow?” asked Vain rapidly.

“Train?”

“It’s an electric train. There is no smoke. Try this one: If a rooster is sitting on the crest of a roof, and the wind is blowing steadily south-west, but the roof is pointing north to south, which way does the egg fall?” Vain paused for effect. “Makes you think doesn’t it.”

“Wha...?”

“Alright, I think we’ve established that you guys have a combined IQ of a slowly-roasted peanut, so I’ll go over this simply,” Vain continued. “If you don’t kill me, you don’t go back to bad place. You stupid worms understand me?”

The Velearstk pondered this for what seemed like an eternity. Comprehension eventually dawned on their features and they nodded in unison.

“Good. You smart human. You help us, so we not kill you today.”

“Okay. I live and you stay free, sounds like a win-win situation, don’t you think?”

“So we kill you tomorrow.”

“No!” gasped Vain in exasperation. “If you kill me at all you go back to the bad place. If you never kill me, you never have to go back.”

Nodding slowly, the Velearstk grinned and loomed in closer. “You live, but we kill your planet.”

“I don’t think so,” said Vain confidently. “If you do anything on Earth, or anywhere near Earth, I’ll come looking for you.” The beasts laughed. “I’ll come looking for you, and you’ll probably destroy me. And then you’ll be back in Sordarrah’s pocket again.”

“Pocket?” they asked, again not understanding.

“Bad place.”

They all nodded. “You make smartness we think. We do like you say.”

“Good,” said Vain. “Now go and find a big garden to be worms in or something.” With that he turned and walked back to where Gabriel still stood, muttering in disbelief.

The Velearstk took off into the early morning sky, and after slowly rising for several minutes, they blurred and then vanished.

Vain finally let his relief show, and dropped down to sit beside Gabriel. “Thank Christ that worked. It took almost all the power I could control just holding those damn things on the ground for a few minutes!”

Gabriel nodded and smiled. “I am amazed that you managed to do it Dark Man. I did not think they would listen even after they said they would. You did well. You did what no being has ever been able to do, reason with a beast from Hell and win. I am impressed. I am also glad that you’re not dead.”

“Yeah, well, thanks...  I guess.”

“Thanks are not necessary. If you had died, what would have happened to the Avun-Riah?”

Vain chuckled. “Well, you would have swooped in and killed the bad guys and saved the boy by yourself.”

Gabriel’s face showed concern and he looked away. “I could not,” he said softly.

“Sure you could. I mean, they’re evil demons right? It doesn’t matter if you kill them.”

“It’s not that I would not do it if I could, Dark Man. It is that I
cannot
. If I were to use my powers in the fight against Sordarrah’s forces, the result would be... let’s say... unpleasant.”

Vain groaned. “What do you mean?”

“My powers are based upon the lighter elements of the universe. The enemies’ are based upon the darker. If these powers were to collide, everything would be cast into oblivion. Everything.”

“So what happens when we go to save the boy? You just stand there while I do all the fighting? That doesn’t seem fair.”

“I will not be there when that happens,” said Gabriel quietly.

“So,” spat Vain, “you’re a fucking coward
and
a sissy. I should have known. Run away now little boy, leave the hard work for the grown ups.”

“There are two things left that I must do. I must first guide you to your final destination.”

“And the other?”

“We shall see when we get there.”

Vain cursed, standing and walking away.

Gabriel sighed. How could he tell the assassin what approached? Where lay his courage now that the end drew near? For millennia he had done his Lord’s work without question, but now, with the final choice so close that he could almost see it on the horizon…

…now his faith began to fail.

Resignedly, the angel trudged after the assassin, down the road towards their destiny.

* * * *

“Who is the Dark Man?” raged Empeth. “What power does he possess that I do not know of? Tell me now boy or I will flay your soul!”

“No you won’t,” said Sebastian calmly. “You need me to release your master.”

“I am getting to the point now where I may not care. Tell me what I want to know!”