The Second Coming (44 page)

“
Your sister?” The Senator laughed. “It was your sister who
promised you to me. When the three of us had relations in the
woods, it was she that tethered you to us, so that either one of us
could find you when there was need; it was she who made the deal
with the Westwood; it is she who has been calling the others to her
in the darkness; it was she who had Farin send Diarmuid to you —
the one human that could get you into Lindhome. It was she who had
me chase and guide you to where she could examine the Soulstone
Tablet for herself and once she learned that you could read it, she
had to wait to use you to command Dark Wind. It was your sister who
so willingly sacrificed her brother for her own purposes. And it
was your sister who commanded the death of those that had raised
you. The Bringer of Light calls her his own, and you — though you
have abilities she does not, you are nothing! You are not worthy to
inherit your birthright. When she was done with you, you were to be
mine in trade for my army of Hunters. But my patience grows thin,
whelp. I will have you now!”

He moved to
step forward and John tried to sort out in his head what was
happening.

The boy was of
his seed, but not the Beast?

The prophecy
called for a male.

And she
brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod
of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his
throne.

He looked to
the woman that carried Sephirah’s soul with a look of
confusion.

There was a
gleam in her eye and she mouthed the words, “I switched their
souls.”

***

Paine felt as
if a stone had struck his chest.

His own sister
had been responsible?

It wasn’t
possible. He looked to her and there was a look of seething in her
eyes; hatred in a form so pure it was like she was darkness
incarnate. She stood there, sliced hand dripping with red, owning
her betrayal of him on her stone face.

She had
already called forth the beings from the parchment, the same ones
she had summoned in the ancient ruins. It seemed a lifetime ago.
She beckoned them closer with a pale, white finger. Paine could see
them — four twisted beast-men and one woman, rulers of the
netherworld. Lya’s head moved only slightly as Paine walked towards
her. He felt their constant hunger.

Her face
remained impassive, cold. “So now you know. I will not extend an
invitation to join me. Your soul is weak.” She spat at his feet.
“You have not altered my plans much; I still have the Soulstone
Tablet. And Dark Wind may not be at my call now, but it will be.
Once it has had enough of this land and eaten its fill, I will come
back for it.”

“
Who are you? You’re not my sister.”

Lya laughed.
“Fool! Who do you think was tempting you in the mirror so long ago.
My plan has been long in the making. I almost had you where I
needed you. And I used Billy Chapman to get at you. And I would
have had you were it not for that fucking wolf.”

“
Fang?”

“
She did something to you; gave you the ability to fend off my
influence, but I will see to her kind soon enough. And as for you,
my brother, I cannot let you live. I am not sorry for your demise.
You’re pathetic. And to think a boy was supposed to be
chosen.”

She grinned,
and it was sickening. Lya pointed and the five sovereigns of Hell
came at Paine in a rush.

They bit him
and slashed at his skin. He burned in places unmentionable and his
legs grew festering sores. Paine screamed. Then he bit back the
anguish and sent his own legion of dead forward. He reached out to
the five demons that dared to assail him, his will strong.

I am Little
Badger. Serve me.

He fought with
his sister’s control over them; the blood that ran in his veins was
potent; more so than what dripped from his sister’s hand. Their
hunger for blood and the souls of the living was palpable, frantic.
They came to him with little resistance.

While he
pulled them towards him and offered them his blood; the man in
black robes went after Puck; his long black spear taking swift jabs
and swipes at the demon. The man moved well as the demon struck
back with green fire and curses of his own.

The woman that
spoke with his mother’s voice had tears in her eyes. Before her
appeared Dïor, cloaked in shadow and darkness. She pleaded with
him, but about what Paine did not hear over the screams of the
demons and the thunder that rolled across the heavens. Dïor shook
his head, took her face in his hands, and kissed her on the
forehead.

Agares, Morax,
Balam, Tephros, and Vepar having accepted his offer, waited for his
command. They resided within him. Paine held them back. He could
not attack his own sister. Yet the rage in him wanted retribution.
Her betrayal soured his stomach and pierced his heart. And the
shame that she had fooled him for so long was maddening. He held
the demons back by a thread.

Lya grabbed a
Hunter by the hair and stuck his throat with her blackened blade.
She summoned others — Byleth, Ariel, and Malphas; fiends from the
depths of the underworld. They were accompanied by others — legions
of their twisted underlings.

All were
easily swayed with the offer of Paine’s blood. They came to him and
Lya screamed her rage. They slid under his skin, an accumulation of
malice and anguish. It was vile, yet savory. He closed his eyes,
enticed by their depravities. The legions were wanton and reckless,
but their masters were deliberate. Their power was decadence.

Lya threw her
dagger at Paine. He ducked and it grazed his arm; the place where
his heart would have been. She unsheathed a knife and shoved
through the demons and Hunters, towards the angel, slicing down
those that stood in her way.

Paine reached
out to the angel, like he did to the others; and the offer of his
tainted blood made the being pause. He felt it probe him; search
his heart. He felt its power; like the foundations of the earth.
And this time, he didn’t beseech the angel with just his own blood.
He craved this being’s might, so he offered the blood of others as
well. There was a field of it, spilled about his feet. He would
take the rest of the Hunter army if this one would serve him.

The angel’s
face was stolid, unreadable. Then the being leapt into the air, and
with a few quick flaps of his wings he snatched Lya from the
crowds. His black wings carried them skywards and Paine stepped
towards them.

His feet were
immobilized and he looked back.

Puck offered a
sickening grin. “You are still mine.”

The full force
of what lay within Paine’s veins, the spirits of Hades and the
countless dead, surged forth with his full displeasure. They lunged
at Puck, and Paine did not stop them. He allowed them their
indulgences of malice and it struck Paine as odd that these
creatures would be so eager and willing to mutilate one of their
own. The demon did not last long. His cries of anguish and
aggravation echoed as his limbs were ripped and torn from him.

“
It is not over!” he cried and then his voice was muffled as
his tongue was taken from him. His body flailed and wriggled until
even it was torn. Then he ceased to move.

Paine opened
himself, waiting for Puck’s soul, eager to take it and learn. He
would have his knowledge and memories. And the knowledge would be
succulent.

But, again,
Puck’s soul did not come to him. It slipped across the plains and
there was a sickening sensation that it was grinning as it slid
towards the sea.

“
Triune,” muttered the man in black robes. “And I know where
its third form resides.” The man coughed. The air was getting
thick, putrefying; like the scent of death was leeching into
everything around them.

Triune?

Paine wanted
to scream his rage at losing him once again, but one of the
Sovereigns whispered to him. It was Vepar, the female one.

*A triune has
three forms; three as one.*

I want his
cursed soul!

*Then have
this one lead you to him.*

And I want my
sister. She will pay for this.

*Your sister
has been plotting for years. Patience is useful to those that wish
revenge. Take your time. Prepare yourself for her.*

Paine not only
recognized the wisdom of her thinking, but felt it as well. The
others weighed in with equal support of the notion.

So be it. Her
time will come.

“
You will take me to him,” he said to the man in black
robes.

The man looked
to the sky, to where the sun hid behind the roiling clouds. The day
was getting late. He gripped a bloodied wound upon his arm.

“
There are Portuguese galleons moored in New Boston. I will
meet you there. There is some business I need to take care of.”
Then he gripped the black spear and ran, skewering a goblin-like
beast along the way.

Paine marched
over to the woman that spoke with his mother’s voice. Dïor had left
her.

“
Who are you?” he demanded.

“
I am the soul of your mother.”

The air
thickened and he knew there was little time. He could sense Dark
Wind’s presence. Its wicked laughter was faint, but Paine
recognized it from the Westwood.

“
What am I?”

“
That man that left is your human father. Possessed by the
Spirit of the one who would see his return to power fulfilled, he
planted the seed in me against my will.”

A
Haudenosaunee man stood next to the woman and gripped her arm. On
her other side stood a black-skinned man who closely resembled the
woman.

“
You were supposed to be a Son of Man,” she continued, “the
Beast, but during your birth I switched your souls. Your spirit was
supposed to be born as my daughter — the heir to the throne of
Valbain.”

“
So now I am neither the heir, nor a Son of Man.”

“
Correct. And your sister is both. But some of your birthright
is still yours. In your veins runs the blood of twelve score lives
that were slaughtered for your inception – blood that I was forced
to drink. Your blood holds that power and you hold power over even
the dead now. They will heed your call.”

She coughed.
Dark Wind’s presence was nearly on top of them.

“
And what about that thing?” he asked, pointing to the cloud
of death from which birds fled in flocks.

“
Created to gain power, by Gregor and I and the Lastborn. Your
afterbirth was used in the spell with the Soulstone Tablet to
entice one of the seraph, the highest of angels. But your blood
tainted it and made its fall from glory so great that even its own
master would likely fear it.”

“
Can I control it?”

“
Its power has grown since its birth. I don’t know that you
can any longer.”

Paine pulled
from his pocket the parchment. “This is your writing, isn’t
it?”

She
nodded.

The
Haudenosaunee pulled on her arm. “We must leave.”

Sephirah’s
voice spoke quickly. “It is the spell that I used to switch your
souls. I hoped that Gwen would give it to you. It was meant for you
and not your sister, in case she grew up as she did. I had hoped we
could reach her and help her to mature without her heritage, but
she found it anyway.”

“
Did Gwen know who we were?”

“
She knew that something dark had been involved in your
conception, but I never told her I switched your souls. She knew
only that you were a bastard child. I told her to raise you in a
quiet place where you would not find your way to an evil
path.”

Paine nodded.
It made sense now.

“
How can I read this writing?” he asked. “I can see it, but I
don’t understand it.”

“
I am no longer living, and the woman to who I am twinned does
not possess a power that I can use to give you the answer. Dïor
still lives, even if it is as a shadow of what he once was. I asked
him to give you that knowledge, but he refused.”

A black cloud
rolled across the Witch Plains, making for them. Its speed was
fierce and its scent was putrid. Paine now heard its wicked
laughter clearly. He reached forward with the dead as his hands. He
latched onto Dark Wind, holding it as it loomed over his mother. He
cried out to her, around a great lump in his throat.

“
Go, get on the ships!”

With her good
hand she reached towards him. She touched his face with a finger
that was soft and smooth.

“
No! You must go!”

He took one
last glance at the woman who bore his mother’s soul before he ran
towards Dark Wind’s waiting embrace. Perhaps there was a chance he
could stop this.

Laughter
echoed across the sky and the air thickened. Paine’s lungs heaved.
He ran and Dark Wind’s presence surrounded him, cradling him. The
laughter whispered in his ears and tremors shook the land. His
power summoned forth legions of souls to his aid. The sovereign
rushed forth. He ran towards the heart of the entity, and it
suckled on him like a leech. He fell to his knees, gripped the
earth, and invited the evil unto him.

“
Come to me.”

Brahm watched
Paine run into the Westwood. She knew that look — a final desperate
act.

White Feather
was beside her. “You heard him. We must go!”

Mason grabbed
Brahm’s other arm. “Let him do what he must. We must make for the
port. Now!”

The two pulled
Brahm towards New Boston, fleeing behind the rest. The demons,
their numbers decimated, fled north into the forests and the
Haudenosaunee, Obek and wolves chased after them.