Succubus Tear (Triune promise) (5 page)

It’s just a dream, right? I can live with condemning a figment of my imagination, right?

She started to weep, and doubt entered his heart.

If it’s a dream, what is the harm of rescuing her? And if it’s not, can you live with yourself knowing what she will return to?

“No! Wait!” Cain shouted.

She stopped but didn’t turn around. “I hear your voice.”

Imagination?

Panic started to fill his awareness, but it was different. He was no longer afraid for himself, but for her. “What is going to happen to you?”

Guilt?

The woman did not respond for a long time, but she at last spoke. Her voice was filled with an incredible sorrow that was more chilling than the horrors that threatened him. “I return to my well-deserved punishments for crimes I no longer remember.”

What?

“No!” Cain shouted and rushed over. He forced her to turn around; her eyes wept scarlet, and her lips quivered.

“Too late,” she whispered and faded into nothing.
 

“
No!
” Cain shouted, desperately reaching through the air where she had last stood. “
No! I refuse! Bring her back!
”

“Do you accept?”

Cain turned around. He was back in the ancient library, surrounded by the tri-man again. He couldn’t see the malevolent shadow, but he knew it was there. Every spot of shadow stared upon him like misshapen black eyes. 

“What will I specifically be accepting?” Cain said, still afraid but resolved all the same.
 

“On this day, you have enacted a ritual of spiritual Bonding. By the sacrifice of blood, flesh, and animal sacrifice, you have summoned and named a companion.”

“Could you tell me how I was able to start this ritual in the first place?”

The old man lifted a scroll from his desk and showed it to Cain. The scroll produced a replay of the day’s events on paper, but from the door’s perspective. He saw his money blow under the door, his hand bleeding, his sandwich getting lost, and his hand getting smashed.

Cain watched his face fill with painful anguish as he cradled his hand and tried to wrap it with another handkerchief. He saw his lips press lightly against the door like a tender kiss, then his face fill with rage as he yelled at Charlie. However, his words had a completely different feel than his original intention.

“Give? I already gave everything! My flesh, my blood, my food, my money! Hell, why not give my life to all bu—”

“Thus, you indeed sacrificed flesh, blood, money, and even offered your life…to Al’bah,” the old man said. “Al’bah, which loosely translates to ‘my all’ from the language of old, to your tongue.’”

Cain’s brow furrowed in confusion for a moment, and he thought about the last word and a half he said. He spoke them out loud several times, at last realizing that, yes, those two syllables
 did sound like a name. “Al’bah?” 

“Yes,” the old man said while nodding. “If you accept this spiritual companion, you will be responsible for her and her needs. For hers is a spiritual existence. She will be given flesh and blood by your flesh and blood.”

A hand touched Cain’s shoulder, and with it came the sense of benevolence he felt earlier from the beautiful woman. He turned but couldn’t see her, though he felt her presence. 

“
Know this! If it takes what is rightfully mine, I will come for it—make no mistake!”

“Remain steadfast, Taint. If you challenge this mortal, he will have a defender.”

“It is unworthy! Law, I demand! I command you to deny it!”

“Choice belongs to the mortal.” Law, now a singular entity dressed in a black robe, looked down upon Cain from behind a large podium. “Now, decide.”

“Okay, I accept!” Cain said, breathing deeply, almost panting as if he had run a mile. The three words echoed strangely, hanging in the air, almost as if he could see them.

“This is not over! I will bide my time,
thief!
”

Cain was suddenly smothered by someone who grabbed at him. It was Al’bah. She clung to him with both arms and wings, kissing his neck and face, speaking words that were unmistakably happy and full of adoration.

“Cren-Tak-Shu-Bai-Teem-Cain,” Al’bah said with a slight bow of her head to Law.

Law stared for a few moments and responded, “Sheen-Tai-Cain-Turek.” He then turned to Cain. “The Bond is accepted.” He produced a single piece of paper and set it upon a table that had not been there before. “Cain, place your right hand upon this contract. Your Bond is made by your blood. And by your blood, you are now responsible for the flesh and blood that was once yours, and is now your Al’bah’s.”

“This isn’t some sort of contract to make me sell my soul?”

“The foolishness you describe does not exist.”

Cain looked at his limp right hand which appeared innocent of the injury he suffered when he was awake. He tried to open his fingers, but his hand would not respond. As he reached out to place his hand on the paper, his skin reopened and the fresh wound wept scarlet upon the paper, twisting and flowing into strange angular symbols.

With one arm still holding onto Cain, Al’bah reached with her left hand and touched the paper. The symbols turned brown as the blood drained into her hand. Al’bah gasped in ecstasy and clutched Cain all the tighter.

“The Bond is made,” Law said as if passing sentence. “Cain, you are to care for your Al’bah by providing the needs of the flesh she has received from your flesh and blood. If you fail to do so, you will be guilty of defying this ritual and will be punished accordingly.”

At the word “punished,” Cain was reminded of the unfortunate demons that tormented Al’bah. “And what of Taint?”

“Taint no longer has a claim on your Al’bah. I will assign a spiritual protector concerning the matter of the threat of corruption.”

Law disappeared and reappeared behind his huge desk,
now a giant. He picked up an enormous gavel. “The Bond is complete,” Law decreed. He tapped the gavel on the desk. “For matters concerning the laws of Binding, you may reenter this domain by dreams, or by visiting the gateway you selected in your realm of existence.” 

With a loud crash, the doors leading out of the room fell to the ground, allowing a bright light to flood the room, disintegrating all detail.
What is that light?
he wondered. Cain was about to take a step toward it when Al’bah gently turned him to face her.

“Wake, Cain,” she purred. “Wake…wake…wake…”

Humanistic Balance

I will never understand why humans are so entranced by spiritual matters and yet so repulsed by the idea of being spiritual themselves.

—Law

“Yes, wake, Cain…wake. I can feel you. Wake.” Al’bah sighed, and her head rested against his chest as her hand caressed his face.

“You are being a fool. That one is not saved—he belongs more to Taint than he does to you or the Creator,” Law stated.

Al’bah turned to Law and stared for a moment. “Would I have been better off with my former master? Would the same fate be desired by my precious Bond?”

Law set aside the scroll he was writing on and picked up an empty book that floated to the desk from one of the innumerable bookshelves. “Perhaps not, but all your pain and suffering up until this moment will seem light in comparison to what you will face once Cain dies,” he stated, picking up a quill and started to write within the heavy leather-bound volume.

Al’bah sneezed from the dust clinging to the air and thought for a while before speaking. “Therein lays the folly of our kind. We can only imagine the eventuality. We can only see the press of existence, and not what the Creator lays before us.”

Al’bah turned to Cain and rested her head upon his shoulder and curled his hair in her fingers. “Do you not feel the
power
in this one, in
all
humanity? Do you not see how the likeness of the Creator within this creation twists our own sight of destiny?” Al’bah turned back to Law, allowing a little indignation to creep into her voice. “I have a dual nature now. This gives me hope and perhaps more, as the time becomes clear to me.”

“Perhaps, is the mortal aware?”

Al’bah turned back to Cain and caressed his uncomprehending face and kissed him softly. “No, his awareness is safe now.”

“Good. Now on to the important matters I must discuss with his protector.”

Al’bah hissed and wrapped her arms around Cain. “He is
mine
! I shall protect him!” she snarled as jealousy filled her heart.

“Do not presume. You cannot protect him from the press of corruption—even now Taint moves against the both of you.”

Al’bah trembled at the mention of her former master. “W-we shall not fail! I believe it!” she stammered.

Law shrugged and closed his eyes. “Purity?”

“I am here.”

Al’bah gasped as a bright light flared, forming a portal; a tall, haughty figure stepped through and walked up to Cain. His noble features creased in thought as he stared. A simple white garb with a single red symbol hung from his shoulders, as did a pair of magnificent wings appearing to be made of metal golden feathers that could probably double as deadly weapons.

“You have been watching what has transpired here?” Law stated, drawing Purity from his thoughts.

“Not in its fullness.” He shook his head and turned to Law. His profile was full of a gentle wonder and with a confidence that could only come from an existence as ageless as it was righteous.

“How peculiar. I had witnessed the rituals of Bonding concerning only the sons of God and the daughters of man.” Purity turned back around and looked at Cain. “But here stands an unsaved human.” He locked his gaze to Al’bah, even as she hid behind Cain. “And a Demono? It is most peculiar indeed.”

“There is nothing that is impossible, given Faith, Hope, and Love,” Law retorted, closing the leather-bound volume he was writing in. “Your role as an Angel in this matter is clear. You will fulfill it.”

Purity nodded. “Perhaps. However, there is little chance for a source of spiritual jeopardy for the two that are now Bonded. After all, Bonds such as these were during the time of Noah and his ilk.”

Al’bah gasped as Purity locked his gaze to her and began to move closer. She cowered away to one of the many bookcases and tore the volumes from their shelves and attempted to bury herself with them.

“Be not afraid. I am not here to pass judgment nor punishment.”

Regardless of Purity’s reassurance, Al’bah shrank down in the bookcase, trying to cover herself from his presence. She felt his fingertips brush against her lips. Her breathing became rapid and painful; her heart hammered in her chest frantically.

“Frightened,” Al’bah whimpered.

At last, Al’bah felt Purity move away, and she dared to open her eyes and returned to her place behind Cain, still trembling.

“The Succubus does not steal spiritual energy from the human?”

“Indeed, the mortal named this Succubus as his Al’bah.”

Purity turned around and glanced at Al’bah and then to Law. “Was this intentional?”

“Cain, like all humanity, is a dual creature. His intensions were contradictory, as is his words, nature, and, yes, even the naming of the Succubus he is Bonded to.” Law gestured toward Cain. “This one is a fitting example of self-interest—and pride.”

“And in the end, he agreed to the Bond,” Purity said with a smile. “Is there one who opposes this Bond?”

“Taint was the master of the one
 Bonded to this human.”

Purity cocked his head with this knowledge. “What an astounding coincidence.”

Law nodded. “Perhaps. I do hope your centuries in solitude have prepared you for what lies ahead. Though, it would be much easier for you to deal with Taint directly.”

“I have resorted to such presumption before. I shall not do so again. I will trust in my Creator, and not myself.”

“We shall see. Taint, are you present?”

“I am.”

The shadows of the various objects merged together into a shapeless window to a dimension that only knew darkness, which Taint stepped through. Al’bah gasped slightly and tried to shrink away, but was unable to move.