The Dark Path Read online

“Yes. Rather helpful in fact, but I’m starting to think she might have been lying to me.”

  “Human, you are truly remarkable. You meet the most evil creature in the universe and all you can say is: ‘Rather helpful in fact’.”

  Vain grimaced. “Anyway, that’s all beside the point. What else can this thing do?”

  Gabriel shook his head softly. “The Glimloche is limited only by your imagination. Unfortunately most creatures who acquire it merely lust for power, and thus it has only ever been recorded as a force for evil. Remember that Lucifer wasn’t always evil–he once held the duty of archangel like myself.”

  “So it can be used towards other ends?”

  “As I said, it magnifies what lies within a person’s heart. Whatever the user feels can be created using the power of the Glimloche.”

  “Not much chance for somebody like me then.”

  “Probably not,” agreed Gabriel impassively. Vain had forced a laugh, and the two had continued with the training.

  A second explosion–closer this time–rocked the small room, and Vain leapt from the bed, instinctively reaching under the pillow to gather his handguns. He stopped short, fingering their familiar grips and realizing he no longer needed them. The Glimloche that surged within his soul was more powerful than anything made by man.

  Vain made his decision and walked to the back of the room, leaving the guns on the table. He honed his concentration and stepped up to the wall–and then through it!

  He emerged at the rear of the motel and instantly shrouded himself in darkness. Ebony swirled around his frame, and he slid along the wall, merging perfectly with the shadows. Reaching the edge, he cautiously peered around the corner and witnessed a scene of carnage.

  The cars parked in front of the motel had been set alight; two had been reduced to fragments. Vain guessed these had been the explosions that had awoken him, amazed the other sounds of destruction had not. A sudden movement flickered near the edge of his vision, and the car park rang with the screams of a woman. Sliding quickly to the opposite wall, Vain could now see a girl being dragged from her room by a creature that almost defied description.

  Eight limbs sprouted from the scaled beast’s torso. Reaching the car park, it reared up onto its four hind limbs, and used the front four to grasp the woman and, with a tremendous surge of strength, tore her into quarters. Incredibly her death was not instant, her voice still crying piteously after her dismemberment.

  Swiftly realizing that its victim still lived, the creature pounced upon her again and viciously clamped its cavernous, fang-filled mouth over her head, ending her screams with a savage wrench. The beast again reared up to its full height–Vain guessed something over twelve feet–and let loose an ear-splitting roar that echoed similarly from other areas within the motel.

  Swaying its elongated head to the left and right trying to gather the scent of its prey, the creature’s face, though serpentine, also bore similarities to that of a human. The nose, while stretched and covered in scales, bore the unmistakable traits of a person, as did the ears. The mouth resembled a snake’s or large lizard’s, and the gaze filled with an evil cunning that seemed to glint with anticipation, moving towards where Vain’s room lay.

  The Dark Man suddenly felt a hand upon his shoulder and instinctively roused the power of the Glimloche, readying himself for an attack. Instead, swinging around, he found Gabriel standing behind him, a look of infinite sorrow bathing his features, watching the slaughter occurring within the motel. The fires had almost burned out, but the crashing of demolished buildings echoed clearly along with several screams from within some of the rooms.

  “We must leave quickly,” whispered Gabriel through clenched teeth, trying to suppress emotions that so obviously raged within him.

  “What are those creatures?” hissed Vain.

  “They are Velearstk, and we must flee. Now!” cried Gabriel. He grabbed Vain quickly by the upper arm, and the world swirled into vertigo and midnight.

  His vision clearing slowly, Vain wrenched his arm clear of Gabriel’s grasp and glanced around them. They were now in what appeared to be the car park of a shopping centre some five miles from the motel.

  “Don’t you ever do that again you weird bastard,” grated Vain, but the words held no real malevolence, merely relief at escaping the massacre.

  “We don’t have much time,” said Gabriel. “They will soon discover you have escaped them and they will follow. Unfortunately I can transport us no further; my powers were sapped trying to cloud your soul scent. We will have to make our way by more conventional transport.”

  “‘Soul Scent’?” asked Vain, “What the hell is a soul scent?”

  “Every creature that has a soul leaves a trace of it behind them wherever they go. It is similar to the smell a tracking dog follows. Some creatures can pursue these soul scents to find the whereabouts of their origin. In this case, it’s you. The Velearstk will have been imprinted with your soul scent upon their release from Limbo and they will track you until they either kill you or are destroyed.”

  “Oh... good,” said Vain. “For a moment there I thought we were in trouble. Well why didn’t we just kill them back at the motel? At least we knew where they were, now we’ll have to keep looking over our shoulders while we run away. I don’t like that prospect.”

  “You don’t ‘just kill’ the Velearstk,” said Gabriel, a touch of irritation in his voice. “I’m not sure you could even destroy one yet, and there are thirteen in total. You would be annihilated within moments of facing one—they are all mentally linked and would swarm in on you instantly.”

  “Thirteen? What is it with the number thirteen all the time?” said Vain suddenly. “It seems to emerge whenever there is something related to Sordarrah. I thought it was just supposed to be bad luck.”

  Gabriel grimaced. “It is far more than bad luck, Dark Man. Humans believe thirteen is an unlucky number for many reasons. The main being traced back to the number of people present at the last supper with Christ. There were twelve apostles plus Jesus when the great betrayal occurred, and ever since that time people have believed thirteen to be a bad omen. I do not know if it was simply bad luck or an early sign of Empeth’s corruption–needless to say, being a guardian he should have known better. However, in relation to the forces we face now, thirteen is a number of great power. As six, six, six is said to be the number of Satan, so thirteen could be called the number of Sordarrah.”

  “And I suppose your God’s number is one?” Vain mused sarcastically.

  “He is not my God, Dark Man. He is our God and he has no number. It does not matter that you do not believe in Him, what matters is that He believes in you. Why else do you think you were chosen for this task? For your sparkling wit perhaps?”

  “Well, well,” the ghost of a smile appeared upon Vain’s lips. “I do believe you almost made a joke there fairy boy. I think my ‘sparkling wit’ must be starting to rub off on you,” he finished with a low chuckle.

  “Corrupting me more likely,” muttered Gabriel. “Anyway, nobody knows where these numbers originated from or what their purposes are. Possibly star alignments from past events or dates yet to be, their true reason will probably never be known.”

  “Why doesn’t your God just tell you?” asked Vain.

  “Our God is not exactly what you think, Dark Man. Neither am I. I could not possibly explain the great mysteries of the universe to you in a way that you could understand, so let me just say this: think of me as energy with purpose. I now appear in human form to complete my final assignment, but for eons I have existed with no form, travelling inside and outside the dimensions with no limit to the powers I can obtain or achieve. You would agree that is vastly superior to being human, yes?” Vain slowly nodded his head, unable to disagree.

  “Now picture this,” Gabriel whispered softly. “Our Lord is as superior to me as you are to a grain of sand.”

  Vain looked deep into the eyes of his companion and suddenly realize
d the scope of what Gabriel explained. It seemed astronomical, and Vain found his mind reeling at the responsibility that now weighed down like lead atop his shoulders.

  “I don’t want this!” he fumed suddenly. “Choose someone else before it’s too late!”

  “There is no one else Vain,” said Gabriel sadly. “You are the only hope now for all of existence. I cannot imagine what a burden this will prove for you, but know this: I will help you in any way I can throughout this journey, I promise you upon my eternal existence.”

  Vain struggled momentarily to regain his composure, finally mustering a wry grin. “Okay then... angel,” he challenged, “how are you at stealing cars?”

  Gabriel looked momentarily uncomfortable and, with eyes lowered, he murmured, “I cannot. Stealing is a sin.”

  Vain’s laughter reverberated loudly in the quiet car park. “Fallen at the first step eh? Don’t worry; I think I’ll be able to manage enough sinning for the both of us.”

  Gabriel grinned grimly, and the two moved off, the sun cresting the hills before them.

  Chapter Thirteen: The Velearstk

  The Velearstk knew as one their target had escaped. Instantly they ceased their search and moved simultaneously to the front of the motel. Releasing the wings folded beneath scaly flaps of hide on their backs, they took flight and moved at speed after their quarry.

  The beasts had not known such freedom in centuries, and even then they had seldom been able to hunt in their full pack. Trapped in Limbo since before this puny planet had been created, only occasionally had one or two been released to briefly do the bidding of Sordarrah or his minions. This knowledge grated on the beasts, but they knew of no way to escape their captors and so had to obey their whims.

  The Velearstk were a collective: not so much individual beasts as one mind inhabiting several bodies, thus enabling their power of telepathy. The thoughts of one became the thoughts of the whole; the will of one, the will of each. Unfortunately, this had been their undoing. Their capture by Sordarrah had been a simple case of catching one, waiting until the rest located it, and then ensnaring them all. The spells of containment used to imprison them had sealed off their greater power and left them pawns for their captor.

  Everything had been taken from them.

  No form. No time. No thought.... For all eternity.

  They were determined to make the most of their freedom while it lasted. The attack on the motel had not required such destruction, but there had been no limit placed upon their fury either, so they had destroyed it and every living thing within. It troubled them slightly that they had not been able to locate their prey; it had seemed for a while that a great shroud had been draped over the soul scent. When it had lifted, they knew instantly that their quarry had eluded them.

  For the time being.

  Their flight took them several miles before sighting their target speeding along the road ahead of them in one of this world’s primitive modes of transport. They increased their unified velocity, knowing it was only a matter of time.

  Glorious time.

  * * * *

  “They’re coming fast!” yelled Gabriel over the rattling motor of the car Vain had liberated from the shopping mall car park. From the outside, the vehicle had seemed in excellent condition, and had driven so for the first two miles until with a loud bang something had burst within the engine, and their pace had steadily slowed.

  “Damn piece of crap!” cursed Vain.

  “We won’t outrun them in this,” stated Gabriel with a calmness that grated on the assassin’s nerves.

  Vain slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to an abrupt halt in the middle of the road. “Then we stop and fight.”

  Looking around, the Dark Man saw nothing likely to aid them in the upcoming battle. No large buildings for cover, no other cars he could take for their escape. It would end here, one way or another. He turned when Gabriel approached him.

  “You cannot win this fight Dark Man. You are not ready yet to face these beasts.”

  “What are they? Tell me everything you know.”

  Gabriel sighed. “They were captured and used during the first war by Sordarrah in the battle against our Lord. I do not know where they originated from, only that their might–in ethereal form–is terrible to behold. In this realm, their powers will be weaker. They must exert themselves to keep from dissipating back into their true form of pure energy. Much of their strength will be expended maintaining their physical structure, but they could still easily destroy this entire planet if left for long enough.”

  “Would they, though?” asked Vain, a plan forming in his mind.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Would they destroy the planet? Are they evil creatures by nature or are they made to do evil deeds by their captors? Tell me something, are they smart? Can they communicate with us?”

  “Not smart, no. But they can communicate–barely.” Trepidation crept into Gabriel’s voice. “You cannot be thinking to make a deal with them; they will destroy you before you utter a single word!”

  “I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” Vain murmured, gesturing towards the thirteen enormous beasts flying towards where they stood.

  * * * *

  The Velearstk let out a deafening shriek and swooped down towards their prey. Suddenly the air around them shifted, seeming to lose substance. Their great wings beat against nothing as they plummeted through a vacuum, culminating in a massive crash. The enormous explosion shifted the very ground.

  Before they could rise and attack their target, the Earth’s gravity seemed to multiply a hundredfold, and they found themselves pinned to the earth. The man walked slowly over to where they thrashed in the dust, a look of intense concentration upon his face, and a tremendous force flowing from his form.

  “Do you like being prisoners of Sordarrah?” asked the man calmly, although now he was sweating with the effort of holding them down. “Wouldn’t you like to be free?”

  This puzzled the Velearstk and they relaxed their frenzied thrashing slightly as the man stepped even closer.

  “I will release you if you listen to what I have to say,” said the man.

  “We kill you,” said the Velearstk as one.

  “Perhaps, but what do you have to lose by listening to me? And what do you have to gain?”

  What the small creature said rang true, and at least it would save them some power they could use to fight the return summons for a short time longer. “We listen to words. Then you die.”

  * * * *

  Vain released his control over the gravity around the Velearstk and involuntarily sighed. The power he had needed to hold the beasts for those few short moments had almost exhausted him and he now realized Gabriel had spoken the truth. He had no chance of destroying these beasts. Not even if he held the power of a hundred Glimloches. He only hoped his gamble would pay off.

  “You are Sordarrah’s slaves, correct?” queried Vain, the beasts rising terrifyingly above and around him. “He commands you to do something and once it is done you return to your prison?”

  “Yes,” answered the Velearstk simply.

  “So. This time you have been commanded to kill me after which you’ll get pulled back to wherever the hell you come from.”

  “Yes,” said the Velearstk, seemingly confused. “We kill you now?”

  “My point is this, you retarded lizard: What happens if you don’t kill me?”

  “Ga....” began the Velearstk before they paused and puzzled over the question. “Don’t know,” they answered finally.

  “I suspect since you have not completed your mission, the spell or whatever it is that binds you would not close, and therefore you wouldn’t get sucked back and could remain free. Or would Sordarrah simply catch you again?”

  “Huh? What you say?” The Velearstk cocked their heads as one in incomprehension.

  “If an electric train is travelling north at forty miles an hour, and the wind is heading east at ten miles per hour,
then which way does the smoke blow?” asked Vain rapidly.

  “Train?”

  “It’s an electric train. There is no smoke. Try this one: If a rooster is sitting on the crest of a roof, and the wind is blowing steadily south-west, but the roof is pointing north to south, which way does the egg fall?” Vain paused for effect. “Makes you think doesn’t it.”

  “Wha...?”

  “Alright, I think we’ve established that you guys have a combined IQ of a slowly-roasted peanut, so I’ll go over this simply,” Vain continued. “If you don’t kill me, you don’t go back to bad place. You stupid worms understand me?”

  The Velearstk pondered this for what seemed like an eternity. Comprehension eventually dawned on their features and they nodded in unison.

  “Good. You smart human. You help us, so we not kill you today.”

  “Okay. I live and you stay free, sounds like a win-win situation, don’t you think?”

  “So we kill you tomorrow.”

  “No!” gasped Vain in exasperation. “If you kill me at all you go back to the bad place. If you never kill me, you never have to go back.”

  Nodding slowly, the Velearstk grinned and loomed in closer. “You live, but we kill your planet.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Vain confidently. “If you do anything on Earth, or anywhere near Earth, I’ll come looking for you.” The beasts laughed. “I’ll come looking for you, and you’ll probably destroy me. And then you’ll be back in Sordarrah’s pocket again.”

  “Pocket?” they asked, again not understanding.

  “Bad place.”

  They all nodded. “You make smartness we think. We do like you say.”

  “Good,” said Vain. “Now go and find a big garden to be worms in or something.” With that he turned and walked back to where Gabriel still stood, muttering in disbelief.

  The Velearstk took off into the early morning sky, and after slowly rising for several minutes, they blurred and then vanished.