Chapter two
Needless Fiend
The tedious sound of hard rain circled in an endless loop of repetition throughout the entire landscape, as the townspeople gathered from every corner to hear the good word from the supposed messengers of God in the dead center of their ruined sanctum.
“Dad, where is everybody going in such a hurry? And in this lovely weather no less…” young Sarah said sarcastically while wiping her hand across the fogged window of her front porch and looking through the smeared condensation at a blurry crowed of townsfolk running amok in the same direction like scared cattle.
“Uhmm…beats the hell out of me…maybe it has something to do with all of the fighting that’s been going on.” Sarah’s dad said while scratching his chin. “Do you think another battle has started? Between those monsters!?” Sarah cried back, “I don’t…” suddenly there was a knock at the door.
“Tim! Open up! It’s an emergency!” the frightened man shouted as he banged relentlessly on the front door. “Alright! Alright already, stop your hollerin’!” Tim replied back, unlocking the door and opening it just a crack to veer one eye outside upon the drenched and panicked citizen. “What’s all the fuss about?” Tim asked, with Sarah trying to inch her way passed her father’s arm to give her curious eyes a better view.
“Everyone’s been called to the center of town for a meeting, it’s about the war Tim…angel’s have come to deliver us from the grip of its terror! It’s salvation Tim!” the soaked man said with a deluded smile of false hope coming from his dripping desperate composure…which resembled more of uncertainty in Tim’s eyes, rather than any kind of hope. “Yeah…right, we’ll head out soon…” Tim said calmly as he slowly shut the door, pushing Sarah back along with him.
“You don’t actually believe that nutcase do you dad?” Sarah asked while tugging on her father’s shirt. “With everything that’s been going on, I don’t know what the hell to believe in…” Tim said as he glanced down at his daughter. “Tell ya what though, why don’t you get some warmer clothes on and we’ll check this out for ourselves huh?” Tim told her after placing his hand upon her shoulder. “Okay dad!” Sarah responded as she ran up to her room for a quick change of wears.
Skimming through her closet, throwing shirt after shirt on the floor, along with dozens of empty cans of energy drinks and unfinished paintings in search for anything thick layered to wear out in the cold. She was young, hyper active and jittering with impatience as she tore through her room until she found a black and white striped jacket with the tags still on the back collar. Quickly putting it over her shoulders while glancing into her slightly cracked mirror; she fixed the loose earrings on each side of her head. Her hair was short, dyed black with one red stripe on her left side, dark eyeliner and a piercing on the lower right side of her lips.
“You almost ready there kido?” her father yelled up the stairs as Sarah simply replied, “Be right there!”. She flicked off the lights and headed down stairs, slipping her worn out shoes on as her father looked over at her, smiling, “so you’re wearing your new gift huh? Looks good on ya.” He said as she gazed back, “thanks dad, it’s the best birthday gift a girl could ask for!” she responded while smiling back. They both then walked out the door and began following the rest of the panicked crowed like a heard of fluttered sheep running from a pack of hungry wolves.
Meanwhile, in the center of town where everyone was gathering; “Lord Mathias, it’s almost time sir.” Said an angel wearing torn armored patting with a scar ridden battle axe latched onto the back of his metal plated vest, his wings unconcealed with over a dozen of his feathers replaced with freshly planted war wounds.
“Very good Keldo, you have done well. I will go replenish our ranks with the new guests…I want you to go stand guard outside the center in case of any unwanted intruders trying to spoil the conversion.” Mathias replied as he put on a dark robe resembling priest’s cloth, and a long silver coated sword resting in the sheath on his left side.
“Will that really be necessary sir?” Keldo asked, “Yes, I have yet to hear back from Jonah since he departed with those humans earlier to deal with a couple of insignificant worms. I know he’s more than capable of handling a few mere demons on his own, but I just want to take extra precautions.” Mathias responded. “I see, as you wish sir” Keldo said as he relieved himself from the scene to go take watch off in the distance.
Flying overhead, above the townspeople and away from the center, as everyone looked with eyes shocked wide open at the sight of Keldo’s frightening physique looming in the sky like a giant hawk ready to swoop down and claim its prey. “Is that…is that what I think it is dad?” Sarah asked nervously, as her father gazed at the bulking angel flying further and further away. “Yeah, I guess it is…” Tim replied, with an intimidated sense of fear tickling the back of his vocals.
“Quite astonishing, isn’t it?” Mathias commented, as all of the confused townsfolk quickly turned around and veered at the robed man standing before them. “And here you thought you were all alone in this universe. You see, like him, I too am a servant of God. Fighting alongside my brothers against the outcasts who have decimated your home world; and I am of course speaking about those monsters we all know as demons!” Mathias shouted, with his fist held high and eyes glaring up into the sky as if to speak with the heavens themselves.
Not a single word was spoken; everyone was bewildered at the sight and sound of this man, taken in by his voice like lambs to a shepherd. “I stand before you, in the name of the one true God, to bring you light in these dark times…and all that is required of you is your unflinching loyalty. To act as a shield on the frontlines of Cyrus’s army, as an instrument of God’s empire and to punish all those who dare oppose his divinity!” Mathias continued on, as the people were sinking deeper and deeper into his words…until one courageous man suddenly spoke out against his versus.
“And what about choice, huh? What about our say in this war? Our ability to choose a side? Our individuality!?” the man shouted as he stepped out in front of the crowed, his wife following right behind him. “Dad, don’t you know those people?” Sarah asked, as her father aimed his eyes closer to the front and replied, “Yeah, their old friends from the neighborhood…we all grew up together, that’s Bob and his wife Sherry. What on earth are they thinking!?”
“You dare question the authority of God? Of Cyrus? And of me!?” Mathias shouted, “What more proof does a worm like you need in order to die for his Lord and savior!?” he continued on, “don’t you humans have an old saying…’seeing is believing’? Well I’m right in front of you, so you best watch your tongue boy!” he finished while grunting viscously at Bob and his wife.
“We also have another saying, ‘believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear’!” Bob shouted back, as Sherry stepped forward, “he’s right, it doesn’t matter who you say you are or if you’re an angel from heaven…every single person here is entitled to their own ideals, their own beliefs! Enforcing us to be a part of a cause that we don’t agree with is only going to provoke more meaningless violence!” she said, defending her husband’s stance.
Infuriated, Mathias then ripped his robe off and stretched his wings out at full length for all to see, “Silence! There will be no more of this heresy in the presence of a servant of God!” he shouted. “Heresy? You mean standing up for what you believe in!?” Bob retaliated, “Absolution doesn’t exist in a world of diversity! We don’t need the approval of your God in order to validate what we hold dear to our hearts…it’s our choice…it’s our right!” he finished saying.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re right or wrong, our true faith comes from the will power of free will itself! We coexist not because we believe in everyone’s choices, but because we tolerate it…and your God does not allow any kind of tolerance!” Sherry said while clenching tightly onto her husband’s hand.
Annoyed and enraged by their rebellion, Mathias unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards Bob and Sherry. “You mortal fools don’t understand anything…those who oppose the will of God, serve no purpose in his grand design. Allow me to demonstrate.” He said, gazing deep into their eyes while smirking, as if to choose which one he would smite first.
“All those loyal to God, bring those cowards to me!” Mathias shouted, as the entire crowed trembled in fear, responding with the only action that their ignorance could compel them to do in this desperate situation, as they grabbed onto both Bob and Sherry with sheer brute force. “No! What are you people doing? You can’t possibly want this!” Bob yelled out as he and his wife were both dragged to the angel in the front of the center.
“This can’t go on anymore!” Tim said to himself in panic, rushing through the mob as he tried desperately to push his way towards the front. “Wait dad! Don’t go!” Sarah screamed while attempting to latch onto her father’s shirt before he could go any further, but to no avail.
“Bring this traitor to his knees.” Said Mathias, as the scared yet obedient townsfolk forced Bob and Sherry into submission, making them kneel before the crazed angel. Mathias then stepped closer towards Bob, staring down at him like a crippled animal getting ready to be slaughtered. He then placed the tip of his sword at the edge of Bob’s lips, pointing it downwards.
“You brought this upon yourself…little man.” Mathias said calmly before making his kill, as Bob just looked helplessly back into the angel’s cold carless eyes knowing that this would undoubtedly be his end. Sherry screamed and struggled to break free, but before she could even say a word, Mathias had rammed his blade straight down into Bob’s throat…piercing all the way through his shaking body. After a brief sharp moment of pain, the only sounds left to be heard by Bob were a couple of choking gargles as his pupils slipped all the way back into his head, his eyelids slowly closing.
“NOOO!” Tim shouted, collapsing on the ground just as he had pushed the last person in his way to get to the scene. Sherry, now speechless and filled with sorrow, her body became completely numb with utter sadness while she stared one last time at her husband, fading away from her sight as tears began clouding her vision.
The dignified angel then yanked his blood stained sword out from Bob’s lifeless carcass, staring at Tim. “You dare try to fend for these heretics?” Mathias said to him, “Bob was a good man, he never hurt anyone…you damn monster! What kind of God would allow such madness?” Tim yelled back.
“The kind of God who demands his authority to be feared, fear is power and power is order! Don’t take my word for it though, let me show you just how far that authority extends!” Mathias shouted, as he walked over towards Sherry, still silent and immobile from the loss she had just suffered.
“No…please, no more…” Tim cried, but Mathias ignored, and then placed his hand around her neck tightly, and without a hesitant thought…he tore her torso in two, as her flesh was ripped into ribbons. Showing off his supernatural strength, he held the upper half of her shredded body up high as if to showcase it to the already frightened crowed while everyone stepped back in shock…not saying a word, as blood began circling around the angel’s feet, he then glanced over towards Tim and simply replied, “This could have been avoided…”
“You’re right…it could have been, if you were here to truly save us…” Tim responded back while slowly standing up from the ground. “How dare you question my intentions! I am the only salvation your kind has left!” Mathias shouted as he tossed the half torn remains of Sherry next to the recently departed Bob. “And you will learn to appreciate this salvation…” Mathias finished saying as he moved in closer towards Tim. Sarah then ran out in front of her father, “No! Please, leave us alone!” she cried, Tim quickly grabbed onto his daughter, “what are you doing here!? Leave, quickly!” he told her demandingly, fearing for her safety.
“So this is your child, is it?” Mathias said while staring down the both of them like caught mice with no escape. Tim, holding onto her tightly in his arms in an attempt to shield her, “Please, she’s just a child…all we have left is each other. Let her be, I beg you!” Tim cried out in mercy. “Perhaps the loss of a first born will make you understand.” The angel responded, raising his sword for another swift strike.
Suddenly, everything became quite…the sounds of whimpering had seized, being replaced with an eerie silence. The howling wind had halted as the air thickened with the stench of an unimaginable presence. Then, from out of the darkness…footsteps could be heard, getting closer and closer into the center.
Mathias had frozen in place; sweat began dripping down the side of his face as he heard the sound of teeth gnawing on hard bone from behind him. He slowly veered his eyes, and at first glance, saw Needless approaching them. “Wha…what? Impossible…how did a demon enter here? Why in the world haven’t you been dealt with by Keldo?!” Mathias shouted in hesitant fear.
Needless made no response; he simply lifted his left arm and continued chewing on the meat of a severed angel wing that was in his hand. There were over a dozen flesh wounds and missing feathers on the wing, and at that moment, Mathias realized that Needless was devouring one of Keldo’s wings.
“Oh God…” Mathias said, slowly backing away from Needless. “You…you freak! You’re Lucifer’s pet monster aren’t you!?” He shouted. Needless just raised his blank, empty eyes and stared him down as if to drag him into the dark void existing within him, then in a mild yet intimidating tone, he said “Servant of God? Heh…you’re nothing but meat…”
Outraged, Mathias ranted out against him, so not to show how frightened he truly was in the face of this monster’s insanity. “I am a warrior of God! You think you can just talk down to a messenger of the heavens like that!?” he yelled, to which Needless replied with, “That’s what this scum said too…” showing him the severed, chewed up remains of Keldo’s wing, and throwing it on the dirt beside Mathias’s feet.
Unyielding, Mathias then pointed his blade at Needless. “It is my will that freaks like you shall be put to death! My duty to uphold the laws of his holiness and strip you of your rank!” he continued on ranting, “Thou shall not take the lord’s name in vein! Thou shall not go unpunished for such acts of heresy! Thou shall not step foot into the kingdom of heaven!” the constant preaching went on and on, until something had snapped inside of Needless, as he held up his hand against his own forehead in sheering pain…and then…
“That noise…Ahh! How annoying that noise is!” Needless shouted frustratingly, as he continued on, “What should we do to silence it?” Needless said to himself, as Mathias began pondering in confusion with a speechless composure while overhearing the conversation Needless was having with himself. “Let’s devour him…No! We’ve already eaten today, let’s burn his loved ones first…NO! There’s no time for that, we have so much to do already, let’s just rip his heart out…but we’ve already done that once today, remember? Doing the same thing get’s so repetitive…I HATE REPETITION!” Needless shouted in a violent rant.
“Are you mad? Or are you mocking me!?” Mathias yelled out while preparing to strike first, Needless didn’t hear a word he said though, as he continued on talking to himself again. “So then how shall we make him suffer? I don’t know…we could tear him limb from limb, and then hang the pieces up on display for decoration…that would be nice. Do we have time for that though? We have so many others to kill, I just don’t know!” Needless screamed.
“Enough of this nonsense you freak! You will die by my justice now!” Mathias screeched out as he sprung forward at Needless with one flap of his long, mighty wings. His arm stretched back, ready to lunge his blade straight through the demon’s chest. Needless made no move; he just stood still while continuing his deranged conversation. At that moment, Mathias’s sword struck Needless’s flesh, piercing his heart as blood began pouring down from the angel’s blade. Mathias grinned with a calm smile, as if to claim an easy victory, “Such a fool” he said.
“Yes…yes, that’s it! It’s so simple! Why didn’t I think of it before?” Needless said to himself, unfazed by Mathias’s assault. Mathias, shocked and riddled with fear, looked up as Needless stared back at him with a sadistic visage coming from his smiling teeth drenched in blood, as he simply lifted up his right hand and shouted, “DECAPITATION!” at that very second, Needless swung his right arm downward and swiped Mathias’s head clean off with one fowl stroke of his cold monstrous hand.
The townsfolk just watched, unable to say anything from their fear laced mouths. “Who…what is that guy daddy?” Sarah said, frightened by the sight as her father covered her eyes so not to witness anymore of the horrific onslaught that had just transpired. Mathias’s body fell to the ground, nerves still twitching, “My, my…what ugly eyes you have…” Needless said while gazing at the severed head of his victim, placing his thumbs on both eye sockets and plunging them deep until there was nothing left to be seen.
Dropping the head next to the corpse, Needless then veered his eyes over at the crowed and smiled some more…as he began to walk closer. “The mission is complete! Stand down solider!” Lucifer demanded as he swooped down from the skies and landed onto the ground beside Needless. “You can’t just say it’s enough! It’s never enough! It’ll be done when I say it’s done!” Needless shouted back as he grabbed Lucifer by the neck, squeezing his fingernails tightly around his skin.
Lucifer didn’t flinch a muscle; he remained calm and kept his gaze on Needless. “These people have nothing to do with this war, it’s not our place to get the living involved in dead men’s revolutions” Lucifer said, as Needless’s eyes became engulfed with an intense rage; the only emotion that Needless ever conveys on the battlefield…and in life. “Why should I care if they live or die?” Needless responded while losing more and more control over his temper. “I’m not asking you to care, I’m telling you to let it go!” Lucifer yelled.
“Why? Why!? WHY!?” Needless shrieked out in anger, “Did you not ask yourself that same question when you watched her die!?” Lucifer responded back, much to Needless’s dislike, as he loosened his grip and removed all hatred from his composure and again becoming an empty shell of silence. Needless said nothing; he just veered blankly into the devil’s eyes and lost all notions of bitter rage, becoming the cold statue he previously was.
“That’s better; at least you’re calmer now…” Lucifer continued saying, “we’ve wasted too much time here, and our soldiers are mobilized and ready to strike on Cyrus’s next platoon.” He finished. “Another battle?” Needless asked, with a small hint of excitement. “Yes, the City of Darkness beckons…and we will be victorious” said Lucifer, as Needless simply replied back, “Sounds fun…” as they both started walking away slowly from the crowed.
Lucifer then quickly turned back and glanced over at the frightened citizens, “I don’t care how people plan to go about this situation, and although I apologize it has taken such a heavy toll on all of your lives…all I ask is that you stay out of our way, and pray that you survive.” He said to them all, turning his back and walking away again.
No one said a word, as Tim slowly pulled himself up along with his daughter and stared at the two strange figures fading off into the distance. Sarah then tugged on her father’s shirt, “Dad?” she asked, “Who’s on our side?”
P.S.
Sorry it’s taken so long to get this new chapter out, but if you like what you’ve read so far, then check out my other work! I’m proud to say that i’ve finally published my first book entitled “More than one voice, theories of solace and poetic chaos” help me with some support! It’s now available at CreateSpace, Amazon and Barns N’ Noble! check out my website for more details! www.morethanonevoice.com
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