Serpents's Heart

“Use your courage! Break free from your illusion!”

“Doctor Hunter, you have to wake up! Please!” I heard Virginia shrieking in a panic.

“Robert, you must wake!” And that was… Erik’s voice?

A sudden screech woke me, and I sat up, covered in a cold sweat. I didn’t dream, that I knew of, but as the night went on I heard more and more panicked voices calling to me. Virginia’s and Erik’s voices… As I gained my composure, I did hear some knocking at my front door.

“Doctor Hunter, wake up!” It was Virginia.

“You’re going to be late, Robert!” Ms. Gladwin followed.

It must have been their voices I heard… I must have just transposed them… What I couldn’t figure out is why those two would be in such a panic. After I composed myself, it dawned on me. After Virginia joins me on a job, she needs to make a report to the department heads the next day.

“Oh damn it!” I exclaimed. “Hang on one moment, and I’ll be right out!”

I quickly got dressed, and both Virginia and I raced out to a cabbie already waiting for us to get going. The drive to the campus was never really a long one, but that changed today. Apparently there was some sort of collision or accident or something, and it backed up the traffic for miles, grinding it to a halt in both directions.

“Well, they know we’re going to be late now, due to circumstances beyond our control,” Virginia said, ending a call to one of her department heads. “Hopefully they won’t be too angry once we get through this.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, Virginia. I’ll make this up to you,” I apologized.

“May I ask you a question?” she asked.

I nodded. “What’s on your mind?”

“Are… you alright? Did something happen?” she inquired.

I chuckled nervously. “What… do you mean? I’m fine!”

“You’re not telling me something. You’ve been acting strange since you woke up from the plane ride home,” she continued. “It’s a little concerning. What’s going on? Did something happen?”

I tried to think of what to say, but nothing came to me. What could I tell her? I thought it was a dream, but I remembered every bit of detail of what happened like it did happen. I’d had vivid dreams before, but none like that, and I always forgot nearly all of it hours later. No, this time it was different. Much different. I was hearing and seeing things that do not exist. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, something was very wrong, and I had no idea what to do about it.

“Break free from your illusion!”

A booming, male voice echoed all around me. It made me jump in my place, my heart started to race. I started to panic. I started reaching for the door, but I couldn’t find the handle to open the door.

“What is it?!” Virginia asked, grabbing my hand.

“I… I…” I couldn’t get the words to come to me.

Virginia’s eyes suddenly welled up. “Don’t leave us, Doctor! Please wake up! We’re going to die!” she yelled.

“What did you… just say?” I asked. “Why are you screaming to tell me to wake up?! What illusion is this?!”

She shot me a confused look, her tears were gone as if she never cried. “What are you talking about? No one was screaming! I asked you what was wrong! Now I’m sure there’s something wrong! There is no illusion!”

“Virginia... I don’t know what’s real anymore!” I said to her. Then there was a flash.

“Use your courage! Break free from your illusion!”

That voice again. I thought I had officially gone loony. I looked around, panicked. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Everything was still. Frozen in time. I finally was able to open the cab door, and I stumbled out onto the street. Nothing was moving except for me. The air even felt cold and stagnant.

“You will die in your dream and those you care about will die in a vain struggle to save your withering body!”

“Who are you?!” I screamed.

I gasped in horror. In front of me was a wall of flame surging toward me. The ground shook the closer it came, sending cars flying as it smashed into them with amazing force. The ground right beneath me cracked and shook, and from the crevices five steel chains shot into the air. They whipped back down, and wrapped around my wrists, ankles, and chest. They pulled me down to the ground and onto my knees as they squeezed the life out of me. I couldn’t breathe. I was gasping for air. The ground quaked more and more as the wall of flame approached.

“Break free of your illusion! It is now your duty to fulfill the task placed in your hands!”

“What if I can’t do this?! What if I’m not capable of the task set before me?!” I cried.

“Then the Earth will be consumed in fire and blood. All you know and all you love will be reduced to nothing but ash lest you find your will and break free of your illusion and fulfill your destiny!”

The ground shook violently as the fire closed in, surrounding me. The inferno raged within feet of me, the heat was intense. I was struggling to breathe as I fought the chains holding me down. I collapsed to the ground. It was hopeless. I couldn’t break these chains. It was then I heard a scream of sheer terror.

“Virginia!” I looked out in vain, I could not see her. “Virginia where are you?!”

“Use your courage! Break the illusion and you will find her.”

I let out a primal scream, and I pulled my arms up. The chain holding my left arm suddenly gave way. The flames parted in front of me, and from it a blinding light overtook me. Within the light stood a towering figure clad in armor. I couldn’t make out details of the figure, as he was obscured by the light of the pillar and the fire. He extended his hand, and as he did, a pair of silver wings unfurled upon his back. He was an Angel…

“You have broken the illusion,” he said.

I recognized that voice. “You were the one speaking to me, weren’t you? Who are you?”

“All answers in time,” he replied. “All of us on Heaven and Earth are counting on you.”

I reached for his hand, and as I did the figure reached for mine, but before our hands met, the light engulfed us. The light faded, and I felt a hand grasp mine. I was still held down, my right arm, legs, and body still bound by something. As my eyes adjusted, I realized I was still in the village I remembered falling asleep in.

I looked up at the person who had my hand. It was Erik! I looked around and found that Virginia was trying to cut vine-like vices holding my right arm, legs, and body, thorns on them digging into my skin. I was disoriented, looking around, it appeared we were on the outside of the village, set ablaze. The raging inferno from that place… It was from the fire of the village.”

“Are you alright?! Are you back with us?!” Erik asked.

“I… I am…” I replied. “What…what happened…?”

“You don’t remember any of this? What is the last memory you have?” Erik questioned.

“Surrounded by fire, chained to the road… And before that with Virginia in a cab…” I recollected.

“That isn’t a memory, Robert!” Erik yelled. “I need you to think back! What was the last memory you have with Virginia and I?”

Virginia was able to loosen the vines and I was able to free myself and get to my feet, but I could not stand alone. I felt weak. I felt drained. Virginia and Erik came to my side and helped me steady myself. The vines retreated back into the ground.

“I don’t know…” I replied in a mutter.

“Incredible that a mere Man was able to willfully break through the power of my illusion.” Before us now stood a terrible creature.

Draped in dark cloth that flowed from its shoulders to its feet, sewn with pentagrams and characters of which not even I could decipher. Its hands and feet were elongated, with three digits each, and sported formidable claws. Its face was bestial, though I could not discern from which beast it took its shape. It had two horns which curved back, and rested just above its shoulders. What flesh was visible was covered in a dark-gray fur. Perhaps the most striking of all were the appendages wriggling from the back of the creature. There were eighteen of them in all, and four of them were damaged… they were cut. Those appendages were what wrapped around my body, holding me down.

“I remember now…” I said. “Erik had woken us both up when Demons began a raid on the village, setting it ablaze. The inhabitants slaughtered, despite our best efforts to save them. It was then I was separated from Erik and Virginia by the Demons… Where those… things… shot out of the ground and wrapped around me, embedding themselves into my skin, and I blacked out… When I came to, I wasn’t here… I was on my way home… That illusion… It felt so real.”

“To the Human mind, my illusions are indistinguishable from reality,” the creature explained. “No Man should be able to break the illusion, but you… You somehow escaped the perfect world I gave you.”

“Erik, who is this?” Virginia asked. “Another of the Exercitus Daemonum?”

“The girl is a smart one,” the creature said. “I am known as Penemuel the Guile, Weaver of Illusions.”

“This… is unforgivable…” I muttered. I clenched my fists, and I felt the rage within me start to build. “For the time I was within the illusion, I thought we were rid of this whole ordeal. That I, and more importantly my companion would not have to face legions of demons to face a destiny neither of us wanted. Unforgivable!” I reached for my sword which lay on the ground.

“You are a fool if you take up your sword against me!” Penemuel taunted.

“Then I am a fool!” And without a second thought, I charged the Archdemon.

“Pathetic!” the creature cried.

Penemuel stretched out his arms, and the appendages quickly started to wrap themselves around the Demon’s body, enveloping him in a strange light. He grinned with a cocky smirk as I approached. I raised my sword up high to strike, but as the light faded I stopped cold in my tracks. I was no longer staring at the face of evil, but a smirking, chuckling, Virginia.

“What’s the matter? Why can you not cut me down?” the Demon laughed, his voice coming out of her mouth.

“It’s an illusion… I know this is an illusion!” I raised my sword again, and I tried to strike, but now looking into Virginia’s eyes staring back at me, I was unable to strike at her visage.

“Why have you stopped?!” Virginia called out to me. “You know that isn’t real!”

Penemuel laughed, amused by his ruse. “Whenever I have someone trapped in my illusion, I learn all about them. I know their memories, their thoughts, their hopes and their dreams. Be it Angel or Human, there is always someone whom everyone is unwilling to strike. Someone they love or value above all others. All it takes is a little searching in the mind of the one forced into my illusionary world, and I can easily discern the one. Even if that person knows this form is an illusion, the thought of seeing the fear and pain in the eyes of the one they love most is more than enough to stay any blade.”

He was right… I couldn’t look at the visage of Virginia and still strike against it. Even though I knew it was an illusion, I couldn’t do it. The Demon smiled as it lifted its arm, and slashed with all its might across my chest. Three claws ripped through flesh and cloth, leaving three great gashes. The pain was intense… they burned with a great ferocity. I’ve never felt such pain before.

“Robert!” Erik yelled as he and Virginia raced towards me.

“Stay where you are!” Penemuel ordered.

From his back, came two more of those appendages, capturing Erik and Virginia, wrapping around them tightly. A third came shortly after, and started to wrap around me. I felt its barbs start to burrow in my skin.

“I will send you all to Heaven, before I strike you down to Hell!” Penemuel cried.

The eyes of the Demon started to glow a bright red as it cackled fervently. I felt the same way before when I was cast into that illusion the first time. Everything started to go black, and the world around me started to bend and distort. I knew if all three of us fell into the Guile’s illusion, it would end here.

“Use your courage! Break free from the illusion!”

That voice again… It was that Angel I saw in the illusion. This wasn’t my memory… He was speaking to me. I realized the creature hadn’t bound my arms. I had once chance and I had to take it. I knew I wouldn’t be able to move fast enough to do anything, so I did the only thing that came to mind. I took my sword in hand, and I raised it up.

“If you can hear me…” I said to the Angel. “Guide my sword!”

I threw my sword blade first toward the demon, and it tumbled through the air end over end. When it almost looked like it wouldn’t hit its target, the sword became cloaked in a golden aura. The sword almost seemed to increase in speed before hitting its mark.

The sword embedded itself in the Archdemon’s head, and it let out a terrifying shriek as the image of Virginia faded. The bending of reality ceased, and the appendages holding us hostage dropped.

The Archdemon collapsed to the ground after a moment. “I… I have… failed…”

The body turned gray, and as Zagan before him, he fell to ash. I dropped to my knees, the pain of the gashes still burning like hot coals. Virginia retrieved my weapon from the ash, and joined Erik at my side. From a pocket in his coat, Erik pulled out some more medical tape. Apparently he had stashed some from the cabin we stayed at. He enchanted a few spirit pearls and started wrapping bandages around my wound, keeping the pearls in direct contact with my skin. The pain surged, almost like cauterization.

“It’s going to hurt, but this will remove any Demon influences in the wound, and help it heal faster,” Erik explained.

“You said you never came across the Exercitus Daemonum before,” I said. “Why is it now that we’ve found two in less than two days?”

“Any explanation I can give would only be a guess at best,” he sighed. “And there are still two more out there.”

“And the two that we’ve killed… will eventually be resurrected…” Virginia added.

Erik nodded. “But there’s no telling when. It wouldn’t be so hard to believe that Zagan could already be back prowling the surface.”

“Where do we go from here?” I asked.

“The best thing we can do is to keep moving. We know our goal, and we have a lot of distance to cover,” Erik replied.