The Dark Path (35 page)

Empeth chuckled with genuine humor. “Do you think you can achieve redemption by doing this? Do you think your sins against their God will simply disappear? He will despise you just as these humans do.”

“I don’t care.” Sekiel’s defiance rose. “Today I live.” Leaping forward, he almost caught Empeth off guard, but at the last moment the leader of the Souls of Sordarrah raised his hand, and Sekiel stopped mid-air. Vain moved to help the demon, but Empeth raised his other hand, and the assassin froze.

“You are a fool, Sekiel. I have always despised you,” said Empeth casually. “But I never thought you would become a traitor to our cause. Now you will learn what it means when you oppose our Lord Sordarrah!”

Suddenly Sekiel’s body twisted in agony. Bit by bit his outline began to dissolve, becoming less substantial. Gripped tightly within Empeth’s power, Vain struggled to pull free. Sebastian knew within the Dark Man dwelled a great force, but he feared to let it loose, lest he lose control of it.

Sekiel screamed, and Empeth laughed. “I hope you enjoy oblivion, demon. With the ritual almost complete my powers are such that I can now absorb you utterly.”

The demon writhed even more within Empeth’s power, but could not liberate himself. Slowly he dissipated until he was no more substantial than a thin smoke...

... and then he vanished.

Empeth now focused his attention on the Dark Man and grinned maliciously. He moved closer to the assassin and gazed closely at his face. “What’s wrong, Dark Man? Can’t you control the powers of the
Glimloche
?”

Vain gazed calmly into Empeth’s eyes until he glanced away. “I pity you Empeth,” he said softly. “For all of your power you’re nothing but a little puppy dog, running to pick up the scraps from your master’s table.”

Empeth flew into a rage, hurling waves of blue flame which surrounded Vain. The assassin cried out in anguish. Burning slowly within the conflagration, his mouth open in torment, the Dark Man reached instinctively for the
Glimloche
and it suddenly exploded out from within him.

The two powers raged against each other, and Sebastian sensed the Dark Man’s control beginning to slip as he poured more and more of himself into his own dark flames. The assassin’s features began to swell and his skin grew darker. Sebastian reached out with his own powers and touched Vain’s mind.

Don’t give up!
he pulsed.
I believe in you!
This seemed to bolster Vain slightly and his features shifted back to normal, but Sebastian knew he could not hold his concentration for long.

Instantly, the look of torment upon the assassin’s face changed to one of incredible serenity. A strange feeling of utter acceptance suddenly flowed from within Vain.

Withdrawing his own blaze, Vain instead drew Empeth’s power into him, using the
Glimloche
to absorb the flames and destroying the malice contained therein. He opened his arms wide in acceptance, gradually dragging Empeth closer and closer to the assassin.

Realizing the danger too late, Empeth tried to withdraw his own power from the fray, but the
Glimloche
held him too strongly now, and he felt himself being slowly drained. Panic began to grip the leader of the Souls of Sordarrah and he fought with renewed ferocity against the dark embrace, but with each pulse of force he threw at Vain, the hold grew stronger, and Empeth drew inexorably closer.

Finally, the two were pressing together, and Vain closed his arms around his enemy. Empeth shrieked with fury, but all to no avail, his power draining from within and substance fading much as Sekiel’s had.

Sebastian watched the Dark Man, awed by the force that burned through him. It should have flayed his soul, but the power of the
Glimloche
held it at bay. At the same time, Sebastian realized, the
Glimloche
was burning out. Used in a non-aggressive role, it had nothing to feed upon and was starving itself. Little by little, both Empeth and the
Glimloche
deteriorated until they were both almost gone.

Vain opened his eyes and looked at the wispy figure of Empeth still flailing uselessly within his embrace. A silent scream stretched his mouth, and Vain’s expression turned to one of sympathy. After a desperate surge, Empeth finally surrendered, but before he disappeared completely, his face suddenly adopted a look of utter peace. He smiled faintly at Vain before fading entirely.

The Dark Man slumped slightly as the power of the
Glimloche
disappeared from within him and he turned towards Sebastian. The boy rose from the floor and then ran to throw himself into the Dark Man’s open arms. “You saved me!” he cried.

Vain smiled warmly at the young boy. “Let’s get out of here,” he said tenderly.

Together the two descended the stairs and entered the partly demolished hallway. Through the windows, Sebastian could see the now empty courtyard outside and the gates to the mansion stood wide open. In the distance, the blaring of sirens approached, and the Dark Man’s eyes narrowed with concern.

“We’d better go out the back way,” Vain suggested calmly.

The two moved through the hallway towards the rear of the house and into the large kitchen situated there. Out front, they heard the sirens cease, and several cars screech to a halt in the driveway. Uncertain shouts sounded, the police noting the huge splatters of blood staining the courtyard, the various piles of ash and strewn limbs, as their voices echoed closer to the main doors.

Vain’s features hardened and he paused. “I’m sorry Sebastian,” he apologized. “I can’t come with you.”

“What?” cried Sebastian. “What do you mean?”

“They will always be searching for me, do you understand? They’re going to try to blame me for the deaths here, and if they capture me you’ll probably get caught up in it too. Stay here and make out that you’re just some innocent kid who doesn’t know what’s going on and you’ll be okay. It’ll be safer than if you come with me.”

Tears began to stream down Sebastian’s face. “
No!
I don’t care! I just want to be with you!” Even as he cried the words, though, he realized the Dark Man spoke the truth. His destiny lay elsewhere, and he could not find it if he was always running.

“I’ll make sure that somebody comes to look after you Sebastian. And don’t worry, if you ever need me, I promise I’ll be there.”

As he moved to the door, Sebastian called out to him, “Thank you Dark Man!”

“That’s not my name,” he said without turning.

“I’m sorry–Vain.”

Turning back around, he once again swept Sebastian into his arms and whispered into his ear, “Call me Martin.”

He put the astonished boy back down and, without another word, walked back to the door...

... and finally stepped out into the light.

A thorough investigation by police failed to find the reason behind the massacre at the mansion. Eventually chalked-up as a mass suicide by followers of a cult erroneously labeled the ‘Sons of Sordarrah’ by the press, the fact that several members of the cult were torn limb from limb or reduced to cinders, left many people still asking questions. Nonetheless, the investigation was eventually closed by the police commissioner some six months after it began.

Sebastian Dunn ended up placed into foster care, never revealing what had truly occurred at the mansion. He claimed to be suffering from shock due to his ordeal and had no memory of anything that had happened to him. It proved no hard task to convince physicians that he was distraught, and with no living relatives they temporarily placed him into the foster care ward to await adoption.

A giant of a man named Tobias came forward to adopt Sebastian, alongside him, his new wife Gloria and her two sons: Tony and Mikey. Apparently Tobias had been sent an anonymous message stating that the woman required his assistance regarding a personal issue. Arriving at the house to see what she required, an unlikely romance had swiftly bloomed between the two. Both of Gloria’s sons loved the gentle giant, and the pair were wed a mere three months after their first meeting.

Tobias never found out who the message had come from.

For several years the family lived in bliss. Gloria had apparently inherited a large amount of money not long before she’d met Tobias, and the family never wanted for anything. Tobias continued his charity work, and eventually Sebastian came to help him at Chapel.

Sebastian aged and his powers grew within him. He was always careful; he couldn’t be sure that all of the Souls of Sordarrah had been killed, and he feared another attack by the fanatical cult.

His powers expanded, and so too did his instinctive need to use them to aid people. He began simply helping Tobias with his work at Chapel, but he soon found himself moving throughout the city, aiding the poor and indigent wherever he could.

Sebastian gradually established a new organization, named ‘The Martin Roberts Foundation’. By the time he’d reached twenty-seven it had expanded nationally, eventually becoming one of the most successful charitable organizations in the country.

Several hospitals were erected providing treatment free of charge to anybody who needed it. Funding derived through the aid organization, but also in part from an anonymous contributor who, during a single fund-raiser, pledged millions of dollars towards the various charities created by ‘The Martin Roberts Foundation’.

Sebastian began to turn his attentions overseas. Poverty stricken countries in Africa and South America received much needed aid, but more than this, Sebastian turned his skills to negotiating tenuous cease-fires between several warring nations while the rebuilding of their countries took place.

Without the need to fund their wars, third-world nations began to divert more money into other areas. Housing, education and healthcare gradually started to receive much needed attention as a result.

The rest of the world was watching.

Governments began to see increases in their productivity throughout their rapidly expanding workforces. New doors were opened, other countries gradually commencing trade with them.

The world embarked towards a horizon of renewed hope. Although wars were still being fought throughout several parts of the world, the fact that countries that had been bitter enemies for decades could finally put down their weapons and live in harmony brought hope to millions worldwide.

All of this began to crumble when Sebastian–the lodestone holding many of the treaties together–suddenly disappeared some weeks before his thirty-ninth birthday. He had accomplished so much in such a short time, but his significance only became recognized once he was no longer there. Many nations began to doubt the wisdom of this man with no real ties to any of the countries involved. Several of the tenuous treaties were sundered in bloody battles; old wounds reopened and old hatreds re-emerged.

Fearing his son had once again been kidnapped by the Souls of Sordarrah, Tobias hurriedly travelled to Washington DC. Sebastian had been trying to organize a cease-fire in the Middle-East when he had disappeared. He sought out his son’s aide, Vincent, questioning the man thoroughly about Sebastian’s movements during the days before he went missing. Unfortunately Vincent was of little use, and appeared terrified to tell Tobias anything other than his son’s registered itinerary.

“What is it that you’re not telling me Vincent?” pursued Tobias softly.

“N-nothing sir!” stammered the thin, slightly feminine-looking assistant.

Tobias stood up and towered over the quivering little man. “My son has gone missing,” he growled, “and you know something you’re withholding from me. What is it?”

Vincent sat silently, racked with indecision. “Another man came asking about your son just before he disappeared,” he said softly.

Tobias sat down again. “Who was he? Police? FBI?”

“Nobody like that. He was like nobody I’ve ever met before.”