Lightbringer - The Patron Saints of the Damned III

Dufaii’s wings carried his aching body as fast as it could go—keeping up with the messenger demon, Kueng, flying ahead. He could feel the fractured bones inside him aching in agony, but he pressed on. As soon as he’d been told, he found himself immediately able to believe that this incarnation of the Lightbringer had betrayed them all for a chance at freedom. It was no more difficult to accept that the Madness inside Ammon had taken over entirely. Oddest of all, it made all the sense in the world that Exousia would be with them both. Despite the fact that he still had no idea how she would have ended up in Hell, Dufaii wondered how he could have ever thought that Exousia would ever be anywhere else. So he had followed Kueng—leaving behind the Creator, the Archangels, Hell, and however any of it would turn out.

Dufaii moved quickly out of the final tunnel and through the air toward the fortress of the Lightbringer, his eyes narrowing on that damn palace where so much misery had been birthed. He had half-expected a small army to be standing guard outside the fortress—whether from Ammon, the Lightbringer, or Hades. As he drew closer, however, he saw no such sight. There was absolutely nobody outside … and the doors were damaged and left wide open.

“I’ll remain in the shadows … in case things go badly,” Kueng said before diverting his flight path toward the shadows of the palace.

Dufaii dove toward the doors and pulled up only a couple feet off the ground—landing on his feet at the top of the stairway. Finally, he stepped through the partially splintered entry. The inside of the palace looked like a warzone. Injured demons were scattered in heaps along the floor—puddles of black blood pooling between them all. Much of the furniture and ornamentation had been entirely demolished. Five demons remained standing, as well as something that looked like some sort of a wingless dragon that seemed severely injured.

Mr. Green was facing the door. He did not seem shocked when he saw who had arrived there. He smiled and said, “You’re just a minute too late. It seems that your apprentice has opened her mind to madness.”

Dufaii realized that the closest of the demon figures—a wingless one wearing a black cloak and cape—was Exousia. He nearly sprinted to her, until she turned and stared with a twisted and familiar smile. It was the same smile as the mangled demon Dufaii had saved in the deadwoods—the demon now being held captive by the Warden who stood not far behind Mr. Green.

Exousia had … opened her mind to the tormented and compounded souls of the Seer.

“Honestly, I was going to keep her alive and sane,” Mr. Green said, shaking his head. “But I had no idea she would do something that stupid. If anything, I thought she would be overcome by the influence of her human sorcery, once she fully gave into it. But this … this is just sad.”

Dufaii shouted as loudly as he could, his throat cracking as he did. He drew his sword and marched forward, blinded by rage. He felt something solid strike him and send him rolling to the ground, blood splashing from a gash in his face.

The Warden stepped forward, her hand balled into a fist from having punched him. She also drew her sword and went to meet him.

Suddenly, the reptilian creature let out a horrible shriek so piercing, all of them paused to cover their ears. One of the remaining two heads not hanging limply on the ground snapped at the two demons guards, keeping them at bay. The other head was focused on Exousia. After a moment, it tore ferociously into one of the unconscious heads and ripped it off with a pained screech.

“Stop that cursed beast!” the Warden shouted at the guards as she handed the chain binding the Seer to the Lightbringer. The guards moved to attack but then unexpectedly screamed in pain once they were close. Bubbles and steam rose from their bodies as they shrieked. It seemed that one of the creature’s severed necks had sloshed blood at them. Immediately, their skin and armor began to sizzle and melt. The two demons pulled desperately to try to remove their armor and clothing—even clawing at their own skin to try to remove the acid blood. The two heads continued the combination of attacking and self-mutilating until all the necks were headless and writhing with spurting blood. Then, one by one, each head stopped bleeding. What was more, Dufaii could have sworn he saw something beginning to grow on each.

The Warden moved towards it.

But this time it was Dufaii who struck her with his sword, crushing several ribs with his blunt blades. He couldn’t adequately follow up his attack before he was on the defensive, though, weaving between her barrage of strikes.

“W-wolfy?” the Seer said as if waking.

Surprise struck the Warden’s face, immediately followed by rage as she turned her fury on the creature. “You do not speak!” She ran towards it with her sword at her back and her hand ready to strike.

The Seer and Exousia both flinched, cowering in unspeakable terror of the Warden. They both began to crawl backwards desperately, their eyes watering.

For an instant, Dufaii could only see red. He launched himself aerially with the aid of his wings, spun, and cleaved down into the Warden’s skull. He then prepared his sword and readied himself to fight the Lightbringer themselves.

But Mr. Green did not prepare his stance for a fight. It was as if he couldn’t even see Dufaii. He looked angry at first and then … scared. He stared viciously between the Seer and Exousia with their identical twisted smiles. Then he shouted, “Seer, I will make you feel pain like you’ve never endured.”

But the Seer and Exousia just giggled and replied in unison. “You’re not the scary one. Big Wolfy gobbled up the scary one. You know … Green isn’t a scary color. Grapes are green sometimes, when they’re not red or black. We know red and black. We’re scared of it, but we still eat the grapes. The grapes are always delicious, whether black, red, purple, or even … Green.”

Mr. Green just looked on with horror, his face darting between the Seer and Exousia as he backed up.

“The baby wolfy says that you’re scared, Mr. Grape,” the two of them said, standing to their legs and slowly following him. “You’re scared of us. Scared that you’ll become small. Then … you’ll be no more. There will only be the Roach. All you will ever be is the Roach. Tell us, why are you so scared of cockroaches?”

“I’m not afraid of-” Mr. Green was cut off by a sharp sound.

Maniacal cackling came from the Seer and Exousia, filling the room with horrific energy that brought a chill down Dufaii’s spine. The multi-headed creature also let out a small roar and backed itself into the corner. The laughter continued until it was deafening, and nobody could move.

Mr. Green’s face was frozen with terror. Then it seemed to grow darker, becoming smooth and glossy. He hunched over, and his spine began to let out violent pops and cracks. His extremities became gnarled claws, and the blackness spread over them too. Soon, he was nothing but a small demon in the shape of a beetle with horns, who looked around with confusion.

Dufaii stepped forward and looked at the victorious but insane expression on Exousia’s face. He didn’t know what to do or what to say. His words felt stuck in the back of his throat. For the last time, he was too late. He’d failed again … and it felt like the wind had been freshly punched out of him all over again.

“Don’t worry, Big Wolfy!” Exousia and the Seer replied with a cackle. “We’re just sharing some grapes and conversation in here. She knows how to play checkers! I will let the baby wolf know that it is time to wake up.”

Exousia lurched and collapsed to the ground. She was motionless for a moment before life returned to her, and she stood up. Exousia twisted her face and stretched her jaw, seeming to still feel the bizarre way her facial muscles had been contorted.

Dufaii ran forward, threw his arms around Exousia, and hugged her tightly. Despite the pain of his broken body, he held his daughter like he feared that letting go would lead to losing her again. He whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

Exousia tried to speak, clearly not knowing what to say. However, for the first time in years, her eyes were unguarded. The depth of her own remorse, her anguish, her pain, and her relief were plain to see.

“You’ve done so well,” Dufaii whispered as he held her. “So, so well.”

-O-

Exousia felt disoriented; she didn’t know what had happened until it was over. All she knew was that at long last, Dufaii was there. She let him hold her as awareness of the situation returned. She had … come to fight Ammon … the Lightbringer had ambushed her … she had opened her mind to the Seer … and now Dufaii was here. For what felt like a while, Exousia remained sitting there, waiting for her emotions to catch up with the rest of her. He was here … he was really here.

After a while, Dufaii helped her to her feet and she looked around at the results of her gamble. The Seer and Roach were now free, while the rest of the demons were incapacitated. The Hydra seemed agitated until she gave it and its regrowing heads a reassuring look. Ammon was still unconscious. Yana had woken up after the damage from her battle with the Ligjtbringer, and was now kneeling over Ammon.

Suddenly, Exousia remembered what she had been sent here to do. She walked towards him.

Dufaii stepped close, seeming wary.

Exousia looked at him and said, “I think I can … maybe fix him.”

Dufaii hesitated and then nodded. He and Yana both took a step back.

In almost a trancelike state, Exousia took out her knife, unfolded the scalpel blade she’d formed in it, kneeled beside the demon, and began to cut. Once she got to the heart and opened it, she revealed the sickly yellow soul with its hundreds of hair-like growths. Exousia had to search intensively to find the exact places where the yellow tendrils borrowed from other sould blended into the slightly silvery surface of Ammon’s own original soul.

“There’s too much,” Dufaii said, watching over her shoulder; he was right. Not only was there too much, Ammon had given up so much of his soul in exchange for these now-unstable pieces. Cutting them out … it would leave Ammon with a fraction of his previous power. There was no choice in the matter, though.

One by one, Exousia began to cut out the corrupted pieces of soul. It was tedious, but the difficulty of it was something of a mercy as she did not have the brain power to spare for doubt or fear. She just had to work—something that became more difficult as her fingers cramped, and as more of her demon allies woke and gathered around to watch. When the removal part of the process was done, the heart looked like a plum with bites of various sizes taken out with no sort of pattern. The biggest of these bites and the most difficult one to remove could have only come from the old god, Tezcatlipoca.

Then Exousia collapsed backward, her mind and fingers exhausted from what she’d just done. Her hands, face, and robes were covered in black blood. Exousia could only watch as the mummy-looking demon began to mend Ammon’s body—restoring all the bones to their original positions and sewing the skin back together.

Exousia looked back at Dufaii, who had not left her side, trying not to let all her fear and insecurities show in her eyes and feeling like she was not doing a good job of it.

Once again, Dufaii only said “You did well.”

For a moment, Exousia didn’t know how to feel about his words; part of her couldn’t imagine them being true. She felt she’d failed at every turn … and had not even searched for him as he had searched for her. Nonetheless, Dufaii’s steadfast presence soothed and created in Exousia a sense of déjà vu. It was like she was on that tree again, after having lit an angel on fire and run away into the woods. Exousia remembered the promise that Dufaii had made to her then, to never leave her again. He had kept that promise … kept it entirely.

Then E ousia heard someone clear their throat. She looked around until she saw one of the previously incapacitated figures standing once again. It was Roach; he cleared his throat uncomfortably once again and said, “I’m … sorry, Exousia. I … wasn’t in control.”

“A new incarnation,” Dufaii seethed under his breath.

Roach shifted somewhat uneasily at the words.

“Easy, Dufaii,” Ammon said, laboring with his words as he also stirred from the state Yana and Exousia had left him in. Yana helped him sit up on the floor as he regarded her and his other soldiers present. “We’ll need the Lightbringer’s help if we are to succeed in destroying the Creator.

“Not this,” Dufaii said, closing his eyes to take deep breaths.

“No,” Ammon said, shaking his head. “After all these years, I finally understand. It was a memory—something that I saw when Tezcatlipoca cut my chest open and put a piece of his soul inside. I remember it now. I saw the world, but it was draining. It was losing power and fading away. The world is losing life, and there’s only one way to stop it.”

“We have to destroy the Creator,” Kueng said in agreement, stepping in from the doorway. They all stared at the messenger demon in surprise—both at his presence and at his statement. He had never weighed in on the feud between Hades and Ammon–staying perpetually neutral. Kueng nodded slightly, as if understanding everyone’s shock, and then continued, “This has been in the works for a long time. Gabriel and the Creator themselves have both been working towards this goal and with the same understanding of what will happen should they fail. You need not trust Ammon or even myself in this. As we speak, Gabriel is trying to destroy the Creator himself. We have to get the Lightbringer back there as soon as possible, in case he is not successful.”

The words seemed like some impossible fantasy to Exousia. She wondered now what all had been in the works while she’d been wandering in Hell. Hopefully, there would be time for that soon.

Roach spoke up then, stammering, “I uh,” He was fighting to get words to come out of his mouth. His body began to shake as he tried to get some words to come out.

Exousia noted the demon’s fear and said, “It’s alright. You won’t be left to face the Creator. But none of us should be here when the Lightbringer’s followers come to.”

Roach nodded. And it was clear that he wasn’t the only one unprepared. Nearly all of them were in various wounded states. Exousia didn’t know how much any of them were going to be able to do to fight the Creator. She didn’t even know if she could believe everything that had been said. But she would go to see for herself. And if everything Kueng was saying was true, she would fight herself.

Dufaii sighed heavily. He looked like he was about argue before he looked at Exousia and seemed to come to the same decision to hold his judgments for the time being.

“There’s no more time,” Ammon said, interrupting them. “All of you need to go. Those of you who can fly should go and find Hades, along with anyone else who will fight at your sides. Let her know that she has my full cooperation and that of every soldier still loyal to me. Exousia, Kueng, the Hydra, and I will make our way by foot as my injured state allows. We’ll devise a plan of attack and contingencies for possible outcomes and meet you at the site of the battle. Lightbringer, do not forget the trident.”

Exousia, Dufaii, Kueng, Ammon, Yana, Attel, and their comrades all nodded while Roach picked up the trident with the tips of his fingers as if it might have burnt him otherwise. The two groups left the Lightbringer’s palace for the last time, leaving the unconscious demons that had been loyal to the late Mr. Green.