Red Twilight: A Dawning Of Power

Chapter 22: Dread of Night

"Cravixs!" Jacob yells furiously, swinging his torch in the demon's direction.

"No," Snake calmly replies, "that is Job the Endless, Cravixs's warrior angel and general."

Job the Endless nods. "Yes, and I am deeply sorry for what I must do." He lowers his long, effeminate hand to his side. "I must kill you all, you see, and add your bodies to my own." He folds his hand and slowly paces toward them.

"Job?" Jacob looks questioningly. "The Hebrew high prophet?"

"Indeed," Job answers.

"But you were incorruptible; the devil took your wife, children, and home but could not taint you …"

"Wrong," Job points out. "It was God, not the devil, who sent heretics and thieves to steal from and tempt me, for he was angered by my pride and vanity. I was his most perfect sheep, and the perfect sheep is sacrificed first. But I refused to yield, so God crushed my home and abandoned me in its waste; God sold me to The Cravixs in his anger, and I found a new master to serve."

"Warrior angel, seek out redemption at thy father's table …" Jacob starts toward Job, holding forth his torch. El interrupts Jacob's path.

"Silence, cleric! I shall kneel to no more idols," Job cries out in frustration.

El's eyes narrow as he grins, eager for battle. "Allow me, Father." El loops his three-piece rod under one arm and makes his way over to Job, squaring off. The hardened warriors embrace the moment before the struggle, both confident in themselves and their own power.

"Watch yourself, El," Pistol calls over.

El flicks the rod out from under his arm, swinging it at in upward angle then snapping it down with only a flick of the wrist. Job twists and hops out of El's reach. The warrior spins forward, swishing horizontally at the rogue angel. Job lifts his knee, blocking the swing, then retaliates by stepping into a palm punch. El staggers back and Job steps into a second attack, but El takes his rod in two hands, twisting it around himself and snaring Job's arm. He spins in a one-eighty and tugs down on Job's arm, flipping the angel over his shoulder. As Job lands from the throw, he twirls around and grabs El by the neck, and he wh.i.p.s El across the room into the wall opposite from where Lacerti landed.

Snake howls a battle cry and dashes in, skinning knives drawn. He launches multiple rapid swings. Job needs little more than to lean left, then right to stay out the way of Snake's fiery swings. The mortal finds Job's knee in his stomach after overextending another swing, accompanied by a stunning side kick and a devastating round kick. Snake rolls along the ground, the wind knocked out of him by the lightning-fast kick combo.

Larry leaps into the air, raising his axe like a barbarian intent on smashing his foe with a flying cleave. Job closes one wing then thrusts it out, slamming Larry out of the air. Snake's brother rolls onto his back, panting as he looks to the ceiling. "OK, at what point did we lose control?" he queries out loud. As the battle rages, warrior after warrior steps up to do combat with the angel, and each in turn gets knocked down Job as easily as if he were just playing with his food.

Jacob charges in next and is flung away with a telepathic slap; Job flicks his wrist, sending Jacob flying.

Trash and Spooky take their turns. Job's hand turns as black as tar, and Trash stops herself and grabs Spooky midstride, remembering where else the name 'Job the Endless' appears. She says, "The Legion?"

Lacerti finds his feet and realizes that it is time to unlock his true power if they are to win this victory. For hundreds of years I have hidden the shadows, sneaking silently throughout the ages, fearing myself and the titan's blood I house within myself. But now I, Whitewolf, Uncrowned King of the Barbarian Tribe the Arctic Dragon and also known as Hercules of Greece or the mighty Viking Norman the Red, must show my face once again. With the blade he had acquired, he cuts his palm. He kneels, raising his cut hand to the sky, and chants, channeling his divine blood. He thrusts his hand to the ground, drawing symbols: a crown to summon wisdom, an eye to invoke intellect, mountains of strength and courage, a serpent for speed and agility, the sun and gold chalice to empower the body, and the Ankh of power to draw them together in the seal of divinity.

"Unlock restriction of the Crown of Eternity," he calls, and invisible chains shatter from around his body, making a glasslike echo. "Unlock restriction of the All Seeing Eye!" His body grows, shredding his clothes. "Unlock power of earth and stone!" His muscles bulge out further, veins popping out, skin stretching with a rubbery, tearing sound. "Unlock the power of the raging beast of the earth!" Electricity seems to flow throughout him, creating a shell of energy. "I call forth the Blood of Titan's and power of Truth!"

His voice echoes louder with each seal breaking. He howls. His hair stands on end, each strand burning with light. The ground cracks at his feet as his influence admits pressure onto the world around him. "And the power to transcend time itself!" he calls as he slams his fist to the ground, creating a shockwave. The blood that had been dripping from his fist reabsorbs into his body. Lacerti stands, having become the vision of a primordial battle god, the dozen symbols arced across his back in a vestige of divinity.

Job turns his attention back on Lacerti and smirks. "Impressive, you really are a

Tamriel after all. Tell me, why hide in that ridiculous human uniform?"

Lacerti pays no heed to the words of the dark angel. Instead the transformed Entity that was Lacerti delivers him a flying knee to the stomach, throwing the dark angel into the air. Lacerti chases him up and thrusts two hammering hands into his back, flinging him back down. He finishes his devastating attack by flying back down and catching the monster in one hand, then discarding him with a fling off to one side in a fashion that would have snapped most any other creature in two.

"What the hell did we just witness?" Snake asks the crew, dumbfounded.

Larry answers, "What we just saw was Hulk Hogan transforming into the

Incredible Hulk."

"Lacerti," Trash calls, "don't let your guard down. Job isn't human, and he can't be hurt so easily." Lacerti faces back over his shoulder and sees Job floating back up to his feet. The others watch with no small amount of amus.e.m.e.nt as the superpowered Lacerti smashes Job repeatedly into the ground. Job rises to his knees, and with a single, crushing, blow Lacerti pushes him down again. This continues until Job begins laughing at their attempts to harm him, a trickle of blood running down one side of his face.

"Don't touch him again! Job is an energy eater; he will devourer you. He is 'The Legion,' a man with the power of an army, and just as many souls at his command." It is Trash who gives this warning.

However, Lacerti has gone blood-drunk. He kicks Job to his feet and pushes him over, captivated by the idea of an opponent that simply does not die. Job snatches Lacerti's hand on another attack string. The evil angel's body becomes as a dark, gray-brown sludge crawling over Lacerti's body: arms, to shoulders, to c.h.e.s.t, to head. The sludge creeps, drinking the power from Lacerti's body. The inhuman beast continues its unholy feast of life and flesh, hoping to add the power of a god to its own.

Job's form fades, its body becomes bubbles, stretching, expanding, becoming a tarlike rubber. Soon all that is identifiable as human is a single face, but then more faces float to the surface until Job is little more than a mass of thousands of levitating heads glued together.

As Lacerti begins sinking into the blackness of the new form of Job, Jacob leaps in, shouting, "Gloria in Excelsis Deo, All hail be unto Thee one true Lord who art in heaven.…"

Enraged by the sound of Jacob's voice, Job loses his concentration on absorbing Lacerti's power. The man-turned-god conjures the last of his strength and leaps out of Job's body in a magnificent flash, then out of Job's reach.

The angel's golden glow fades and he returns to his normal size and appearance, disappointed. He howls, conjuring a beam of souls to wield as a whip, and attacks Jacob as his new target.

The priest chants, "We are strong in the lord and the power of his might; by the power of Christ we command you return into the darkness of your own hell, Iehovah, god-king compels you!"

Dozens of hands reach out through Job's spectral weapon, grabbing at Jacob, slowly overbearing him. Jacob's prayers give him power, but the spiteful souls of a million evil dead warriors are simply too strong for the armor of faith to deflect. The darkened mass of energy reaches for the cleric.

Spooky takes the hunting knife from Pistol and flings it, piercing one of the numerous heads that make up the semi-divine dark angel. Angered, Job flings Jacob at the group; El catches the man and the two go tumbling across the floor.

"It flinched?" El whispers. "It's not indestructible."

The monster vomits, creating thousands of gray-skinned, featureless, humanoid monstrosities. "Oh shit …" the group calls in unison.

"That's the creature from my nightmare," Larry mumbles.

"Stairs!" Pistol points out, bouncing almost joyously. Pistol pauses a moment as a brief glimpse of recognition overtakes him as his eye catches the face of one of the ashy dead.

El nods. "The Roman chalice strategy, he's right—the stairs, we fight on the stairs." Jacob and Ashley are pushed up at the end of the group, followed by Spooky and Larry. Trash and Lacerti go up next; Pistol, El and Snake bring up the final ranks. Job summons more hordes to his side of his fallen slayers.

Larry pipes in, "I'm telling you, I've seen one of those things in my nightmare!"

The party holds their ground as three by three the monsters start up the steps and are met with stabs, thrusts, and smashes from the hunters' artillery. Three are knocked away, and three more rush up to fight.

"Snake, I figured out how the map works," Larry explains as Trash stabs a monster with her spear over his head.

"A bit late," Snake says, slashing a beast four times before stabbing it to finish it off.

"No, it's a grid, we can control it."

"I don't see how that helps right now."

"Ten by one hundred Tetris grid."

"Larry, shut up and pull out your gun and shoot that giant floating head, will you?" Snake says, losing his patience.

"El!" Larry takes a step left to talk to El instead. "Are you any good with numbers?"

El freezes, captivated. "It so happens that I'm exceptional," he slowly and quietly explains as he kills.

"Listen, under each brazier there is a letter, and each letter has a numerical value of four, which relates to a series of ceiling panels. They're connected to moving walls from one floor to another."

El focuses, spellbound by Larry's sudden genius. "Show me."

Larry leans over his brother. "I'm taking your phone," he says, grabbing the instrument. He opens the phone and shows El a video game based on the same principles and a scrap of paper: "Q = 2×2, (v = 4), L = 2×2×1, (v = 4=1) I = 1×4, T = 1×2×1." He explains, "If you arrange the pieces to give you a value of thirty-six then add in a I, giving yourself a value of forty, all the pieces get deleted."

"What if your values exceeded one hundred in a column?" El asks.

"Game over," the other man simply states.

"Can I have this?" El holds up the phone. Larry shrugs. "Tetris. Snake, give me your gun, too."

"What is this, a stickup?" Snake jokes while throwing a knife, impaling another monster, before giving his revolver to El. "What do you have planned, anyhow?"

El calmly responds, "100÷5 = 20, 4×6 = 24 = game over."

The warrior/mathematician crouches beside Lacerti, leaning over to aim between Lacerti and Snake. The defensive line holds strong. El takes his time, squinting hard to hold his focus. His target is far and tiny, and he can afford few mistakes. Time slows for El. He squeezes the trigger, and his first shot flies. El watches as it passes under two of the thousands of Job's underlings and past the heads of dozens behind them. El's hands sweat—the shot looks good, but then it is interrupted by a monster's c.h.e.s.t, harmlessly flattening against its skin. "Damn it," El whispers.

Larry looks down at El. "What's up? I wasn't wrong about the code, was I?"

"No, I think you're right, but the shot is to tough for me to make. I need to find a straighter angle."

Pistol glances over his shoulder. "You mean a cleaner kill zone? I think big stuff, and I can handle that, aye." Lacerti nods at Pistol. The two burly men heftily push against the line of monster warriors, flinging them back. The monsters all fall down the steps into the open corridor. Lacerti slashes his sword in a tremendous arc, clearing space for Pistol to move in. hordes leap at Lacerti, attempting to pull him down, but the giant represses them with a constant swishing of his blade. El slides on his knees under Lacerti.

Pistol lays his whip at his feet. He brings his arms up, revealing the image of the gold spiral on his forearms. The air darkens as he slowly pushes the symbols together, lighting arcs between him, his arms, and his whip. "In the name of Gaia, Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, I beseech you!" Multicolored rings of energy encircle Pistol, burning, freezing, and flinging away monsters caught in the aura. "Protect me!" he shouts. His arms lock together, and the multi-rings become one blue circle orbiting him. Pistol's hair slowly flaps up and down in the holy aura. He is entranced by its power. Monsters stare, helplessly mesmerized by the field of magic that the Belmond has conjured.

El sees his opportunity. He takes aim again and fires, the bullet striking the far wall. A T-shaped wall smashes down from the ceiling, splattering a number of monsters under it. Next another, identical wall lands across the room with similar results, then three, four, five—the room begins to fill. El throws Snake his gun and pulls out his Jackal for the last shot, destroying the brazier in the process, and the room begins to crumble.

Pistol runs out of strength, slouching forward, his mana expired. The giant, floating head that is now Job spits a spectral beam at the spent warlock, who takes the blow, lacking the energy to defend himself or move. He flies back into Lacerti's arms. El takes his last shot and the room shakes. Tiles fall as the whole room begins to collapse entirely. Once Job is buried, all his ash-like minions vanish. The party, battered and exhausted, makes its way weakly back up the steps, away from the sight of their finest battle yet.

Lacerti carries Pistol at the back of the group. Ashley is with Jacob next, with Snake and Larry before them, and El leads the way alone, Trash and Spooky just behind. The way back through the deserted underground pyramid is disturbingly silent, as no one wishes to speak any further.

Snake alone is distracted, and for only a moment as out of the corner of his eye he meets his Minotaur friend's gaze. She nods at him approvingly then vanishes into the depths again, both knowing as if by instinct everything the other had to say … Job the Endless is dead, and Cravixs will flee into the night, not to be seen again until he has another warrior angel to do his fighting.

***

Crow stands over the wreckage of the battlefield, looking down at his faithless soldier Job the Endless. "Pity, what a waste of souls. Job, my slave, you did good works when you were young and submissive. But then your head swelled with pride and thoughts of rebellion; you thought yourself omnipotent, compared yourself to gods rather than workers. You belonged to me, and this is your punishment. You loved God and feared the devil, but never did you think what the loss of all divinity would do to one like you, one meant only to serve and obey—one without the almighty sword of Agency. You suffered the will of a tyrant before next you shall suffer the unending emptiness, as you are now without master. This will be your hell."

Job has been forced back into his human mask. His eyes drop. The emptiness Crow promised fills him already—the pain of nothing, the pain of silence, the pain of loneliness. The rocks are heavy, and Job knows now that without a master to give him strength, soon only the screams of the souls he has stolen will be his comfort, and he will remain buried forever in undying sleep.