ASCENSION (13 page)

              Andras sent another stream of flames at Ezekiel. They spouted out of her arms like a flamethrower, engulfing him. At the last moment Ezekiel shielded himself with light, but then Balan came crashing into him from behind, ramming him into a parked car. The car crumpled, burying Ezekiel in the frame. Ezekiel heard Andras cackle as he pulled himself out of the wreckage. He wiped blood from his busted lip, but the wound disappeared before he could even finish.

              “The angel will not die,” Balan said. “He keeps healing the mortal's flesh.”

              “Then we won't leave any left for him to heal,” Andras snarled, firing a fireball from her palm.

              Ezekiel ducked, and the fireball exploded on the windshield of a car behind him. Then Balan kicked a car at the far end of the lot, which hit the one next to it, and which hit another another, like dominoes, until the one next to Ezekiel slid into him, pinning him to the car Andras had set on fire.

              Ezekiel struggled to push the car off of him as Andras approached, but it would not budge. Balan was pushing the car into him with his demonic strength.

              Andras jumped on to the hood of the car and smirked menacingly. Ezekiel's hands were under the car as well, the metal wrapped around his wrists like shackles. He was helpless. “How does it feel knowing your god has forsaken you? Left you to die? That this is how he rewards your loyalty. Tell me, Ezekiel, are you afraid of the eternal dark?” she asked. The flames on Andras’s arms had begun to branch out until they consumed her entire body.

              Ezekiel's eyes glazed over, the clouds above becoming heavy and black. “A light shines in even the darkest of places,” Ezekiel said, and suddenly, a lightning bolt reached down from the heavens, striking Andras in the heart. The resulting shockwave sent cars and demons alike scattering like leaves in the wind. Then the sky opened up, and a torrential downpour of rain doused the patches of fire burning around the town. Both Andras and Balan were struggling to get up, still stunned from the blow. The fire on Andras's arms had been extinguished.

              The rain left as quickly as it had come. Then, Ezekiel heard a sharp clap cut through the still air.

              “What a marvelous display, Ezekiel. It is good to see that your confinement hasn't dulled your abilities,” Ras' Guul said.

              Ezekiel's heart skipped a beat in his chest when he saw Sophie struggling in Ras' Guul's arms. “Let her go,” he demanded.

              “Who? The oracle?” Ras' Guul smiled. “But I've grown so fond of her. As have you, I see. The mortal's mind distorts your own. You have forgotten who you are, Ezekiel. Forgotten your heritage, your history. Why do you think you can't remember your past? Your parents? It's because you don't have a history. You have no parents. There is no Jake. His body was only a shell for you, for Ragnarok. Do you not remember, Ezekiel? You put him there yourself. You couldn't defeat Ragnarok, so, in typical angelic fashion, you shackled his soul to yours. Imprisoning you both in the body of a mortal. So, that begs the question: if you are here, than where is Ragnarok, and where is the mortal?”

              Sophie was crying. “Jake, is that you?” she asked.

              Ezekiel nodded. “I'm here, Sophie. Don't worry. I will not let him harm you, not any more. I'm not going to run. I'm going to face my demons. Just like you said.”

              Ras' Guul rolled his eyes. “How droll. Release Ragnarok or I will kill your lover.”

              Andras and Balan had both come to now and were circling around Ezekiel.

              “You cannot win here. To fight is to die. So just release Ragnarok and the oracle lives. She's no danger to me if you are dead. I will let her go.”              Ezekiel laughed. The sound startled Ras' Guul.

              “What's amusing?” Ras' Guul growled.

              “I thought demons were a proud people, powerful. But look at you! You cower behind a mortal, behind your generals. You fear me, Ras' Guul. I can feel it in your black heart,” Ezekiel said.

              “I fear nothing!” Ras' Guul spat. “I am a lich of the fire lake, a lord of death and darkness itself.”

              “Then face me, demon. Alone. Prove you are worthy of your position,” Ezekiel said.

              Ras' Guul contemplated this for a moment. “Very well,” he said, releasing Sophie.

              “Jake, pleas-”

              Ezekiel raised a hand to silence Sophie. “I'm going to win, Sophie. You know that I am.”

              Ras' Guul had begun to mutate. Now his face was full of festering boils and rotting flesh. Fangs extended from his mouth, claws from his fingertips. Spines shot out of his back, which was now a hardened purple flesh, like a carapace. “You put your faith in a false prophet. I have gotten stronger since your imprisonment, Ezekiel. My powers have grown.” Ras' Guul heaved, tearing his own flesh from his body. The beast in front of Ezekiel no longer resembled anything on this earth, but some foul monstrosity. Ras' Guul grew in size until he towered over Ezekiel. Finally, wings, leathery and black, erupted from his back, so big they cast the entire parking lot in their shadow.

              “I will tear Ragnarok out of you myself, and then I will devour your very soul, Ezekiel, feast on you faith, absorb your essence,” the monster hissed, bits of spittle spattering on the concrete below.

              Ezekiel reached his arm out towards the sky. A beam of light from the sun's rays shot into his palm. Ezekiel then closed his palm, and a sword formed from the light, its blade glowing as bright as the sun itself.

“No, Ras' Guul, you will die. The fates have already decided.”

              Ras' Guul dashed towards Ezekiel, gaping maw foaming with acidic spittle. He let out a roar  and swiped at Ezekiel with a massive claw. Ezekiel side-stepped it, so Ras' Guul lashed out at him with his tail. Ezekiel grabbed the tail at the last moment. The tip of it was the head of a black snake, which was snapping wildly at him. Ezekiel cleaved the tail in two with his blade, and Ras' Guul howled as black blood gushed from the wound.

              “You have only scratched the surface of my power, fool! I possess the form of every soul I've taken.” Ras' Guul howled as he shrunk down. His flesh began to darken until it was pitch black. Soon he was only a wisp of shadow, a puff of smoke. “I can consume the light itself!”

              The light from the air began to lessen, grow dimmer. The air became colder, and Ezekiel's blade began to dull. Soon, he was shivering. The blade grew brittle in his hand, then dissolved into ashes, floating off into the howling wind. Then, Ezekiel was swallowed by darkness. Only the glow of his body remained, allowing him to see only a few feet in front of him.

              Ras' Guul's laugh echoed through the black fog. “Now it is I who can feel fear in your heart, Ezekiel. Worry not, I will rip it out of your chest, and you shall fear no more.” A jet of smoke came rushing out of the fog like talons. It raked at Ezekiel's chest, leaving three bloody trails across it. Then Ezekiel felt the same pain erupt in his back and on his neck. The talons came pouring from the darkness like rain. The flurry of blows rent his flesh, the shadow claws howling around him like a tornado.

              Ezekiel stumbled through the fog, tripping over his own feet. He then crawled on his knees, but there was no escape from the endless onslaught of talons. They were ripping him to pieces. Then, Ezekiel kicked something, a necklace, one with a cross pendant. “All faith is rewarded.” Ezekiel said, picking up the pendant. He felt the warmth stored inside it, the thousands of prayers channeled through it. Then Ezekiel's wounds healed, and the light around him burst forth in a bubble, shattering the veil of darkness.

              Ras' Guul had returned to his human form now and was sprawled on the pavement, heaving heavily, his skin more pallid than ever. His eyes were wide with fear as Ezekiel approached. “How!” Ras' Guul howled. “How is he more powerful than me? I have leeched the strength of thousands over a millennium. Where does he draw his strength from?”

              “It's the townspeople,” Andras said. “They are pious, and their faith gives him power.”

              Ezekiel stood over Ras' Guul and reached to the sky once more, his blade of light returning.

              Ras' Guul smirked. “So you think these people love you? Is that why you protect them?”

              “I reward the faithful, the pure of heart,” Ezekiel said.

              Ras' Guul scoffed. “You really think these people are pure? How do you think we found you, Ezekiel? Has that thought crossed your mind?”

              Ezekiel paused, lowering his blade.

              “Maybe you should closer examine the company you keep,” Ras' Guul whispered darkly. “Perhaps Ben could shed some light on this mystery.”

              Ezekiel turned to Ben, who was huddled with his children, watching the battle. “What is he talking about, Ben?” Ezekiel asked.

              Ben's face was flushed white. “J-Jake. I'm sorry. It was before I knew who you were, what you were. What you could do. I'm so sorry.”

              “What do you mean?” Ezekiel asked, stunned.

              “I told them about you, Jake. I told them only days after you arrived. They promised they would bring her back. They promised they would bring my wife back, Jake,” Ben sobbed. “I didn't know it would lead to this. Can you please forgive me?”

              Ezekiel only stood silently, trying to interpret this new information.

              “Traitor!” Ras' Guul hissed. “You see, Ezekiel? This is man's true nature. Selfishness and greed, fear and foolishness. Ignorance. Even now he makes excuses for his actions. He condemned you to death for his own lustful heart.”

              The light in Ezekiel extinguished, his power dispersing. Then he was Jake once more.

              “Ben... how could you do that? The whole time. We… we trusted you,” Jake said, tears streaming down his cheeks.

              Ben looked down, ashamed.

              Then Ras' Guul rushed forward, his long white hand wrapping around Jake's forehead.

              “Jake!” Sophie shouted, dashing towards him.

              “Silence!” Ras' Guul waved his arm, and a black tentacle appeared from thin air, wrapping itself around Sophie's waist and mouth. “Now!” Ras' Guul brought Jake closer to him. His strength was unending, his grip coiled steel. Jake felt as if he could crush his skull with the slightest of movements.

              “Do you know what power I possess, boy?” Ras' Guul asked. “I am a lich. You see, each demon has a certain gift. Andras has power over fire, a good one, but unpredictable. Balan, as you may have guessed, possesses the strength of lunacy. I, however, have a very unique power. I can suck the mana from others. Steal their powers, their souls, their essence. Can you feel it, Ezekiel? Can you feel your life force draining?”

              Jake sank to his knees as Ras' Guul sapped him of strength. Blackness danced on the fringes of his consciousness. He was tumbling now, into the abyss, an eternal descent.

              “I'm going to kill her, too, Ezekiel,” Ras' Guul whispered. “Her powers would make a fine addition to my own. But first, I must absorb yours, to ready myself.”

              Sophie. Jake remembered her now, her smile, her laugh. Her soothing presence. He would die for her, live for her. Jake got to his feet. “You want it, take it, take ALL OF IT!” Jake howled, letting go of the bonds that shackled both angel and demon inside of him.

              “The power!” Ras' Guul cried, as red and gold light rushed into him. “The pure, unparalleled POWER!” Then, Ras' Guul's grip began to slacken, his eyes going wide. “T-there is too much! Stop! No!” Ras' Guul's knees buckled as the light coursed into him, and he began to bloat and swell. “Rauurghhh!” he screamed as the light tore him to pieces, vaporizing his very being. Abruptly, the light stopped, and all that remained of Ras' Guul was a smoldering crater.

              Jake then looked to Balan and Andras, his eyes pure white. “Run,” he said, and the demons obeyed.

              Chapter 9

(Sophie)

              Sophie was sitting across from Jake, who was grinning from ear to ear. “What's so funny?” Sophie asked.

              Jake shrugged. “Nothing. I'm just happy,” he said.

              Sophie laughed. “Me too.” Sophie and Jake had been helping repair the town for the past week. It only seemed right, seeing as they were the cause of most of the damage. Well, Ezekiel was, the renegade angel imprisoned inside Jake's body. Somehow, though, Sophie thought it was easier to explain it using the former description.

              “You're eating the best barbeque south of heaven. So you better be,” Ben said from the grill. They were sitting at a picnic table in the park, celebrating after a long day or rebuilding Joe's diner. Even after today, it still had half of a car wedged in the wall. The work was slow but rewarding. And since Jake had forgiven Ben, and the demons weren't chasing him anymore, they had all the time in the world.

              “I still don't understand something,” Jake observed, taking a bite of his hamburger.

              “What?” Sophie asked.

              “Your powers, did they come back or not? How did you know that Ras' Guul would die? That I would win?”

              “Faith,” Sophie said with a wink.

              Jake frowned. “So you never got your powers back?”

              Sophie shook her head. “No.”

              “But why?”

              “Maybe I can answer that,” a familiar voice said. Sophie's eyes fell on Gabriel, the fallen angel. The scent of fresh linen filled her nostrils.