The Son of Light Book 1: Rebirth (3 page)

The Demon Lords

Nick

Thick black smoke covered the October sky over the burning city. Dozens of people panicked down the sidewalks and streets towards the southern gates and parking lot.

Nick opened his eyes and sat up.
What happened?
he thought.
Where am I? His back ached and felt blood running down his face.
To his horror, he realized he was resting on an altar. He looked up at and saw a giant hole in the ceiling.
Did I fall through there?
He saw fire all around him. Suddenly, his eyes fell on Alla. Her head was split wide opened, her robes soaked in blood.

Nick shrieked. Then he heard cracking above him. He looked up and saw the giant dove crucifix collapsing towards him. He desperately rolled away as the it smashed onto the altar, breaking it into many pieces.

Nick sprung to his feet and made his way towards the large doors of the church, passing more burning bodies of men, women and children all dressed in the same robes as Alla. The thick smoke nearly blinded him as the smell of burning flesh made him sick. The heat was unbelievable as the flames roared around him. Then he saw a familiar body lying in the aisle.

“Seth!” shouted Nick, racing towards him.

Seth was barely conscious and had cuts running down his arms and face. With large chunks of the ceiling falling around them and the fire growing in size, Nick desperately dragged Seth towards the doors. Just as they got close, parts of the ceiling fell on to them knocking them out cold. Nick came to and a few minutes later, and pulled Seth out from the rubble.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang from outside, and Seth came to his senses and stood up in shock. With the doors blocked Nick pulled Seth towards the altar.
There has to be another way out, he thought desperately.
As he ran parts of the floor under his feet collapsed, causing him to fall. To his surprise, Seth managed to catch him in time. Nick pulled himself up and felt the floor breaking under them again.

“Go!” he shouted, pushing Seth.

He spotted a huge painted window of Jesus holding a pink dove to his left. As the floor collapsed behind them, he and Seth ran towards it. Seth shattered the window with a wave of energy and the boys jumped out landing in a pond. They quickly scrambled onto the sidewalk and then froze.

The sight was even worse outside. The once colorful buildings were now pitch black and covered in flames. Dismembered bodies littered the broken streets and sidewalks, and purpling lightening in the dark clouds that loomed above them. It was as if hell itself had taken over the city. Nick frantically looked around until his eyes met another familiar figure near the large fountain of Pasag about fifty yards away. He sprinted towards it with Seth at his heels.

“Trent!” shouted Nick.

Trent was leaning on the fountain, holding his left leg and crying. When they got to him, Nick wrapped his arms around him.

“Are you okay?” asked Nick.

Trent shook his head, lifting up the left ends of his shorts. Nick’s face went pale when he saw a bone protruding from Trent’s kneecap.

“Where are Karl and Engel?” asked Nick.

Trent pointed towards the burning Coffee & Tea store to their left, back towards the burning church.

“Stay here,” he said, giving Trent to Seth.

Nick raced towards the store. It was getting harder to breathe as the smoke and ash entered his body. There were people all around him on fire and writhing in agony. He wanted to help them, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. As he approached the burning Coffee & Tea shop, the smell of burning flesh, smoke, and brunt coffee beans was almost too much for him to bear. He took a moment to remove his shirt and place it over his face. He continued into the shop and saw Engel through the smoke.

“Engel!” choked Nick.

Engel turned. His eyes were watery and the right side of his head was bleeding.

“His arm!” cried Engel.

Horror stretched over Nick’s face as he saw a giant piece of road that had crashed through the roof and pinned Karl’s entire left arm to the ground. The screams from Karl twisted his heart as he rushed over to help him, stepping over broken glass and burned tables.

“Stand back!” he said to Engel.

Engel did so with his eyes fixed on Karl. Nick looked at the huge piece of road, and tried to figure out how he could incinerate it without hurting Karl. He didn’t think his plan would work, but he knew he had no choice. Then he heard Karl cry out.

“No please don’t!”

It was as if Karl had read his mind. Nick tried to remain calm, but what could he do? His powers weren’t that strong, and his friends’ were no better. Suddenly, Engel rushed to an edge of the road and tried to lift it. For a second, Nick thought it might work as he found himself doing the same thing, but it was like trying to lift three elephants.

The entire shop was about to cave in as more flaming chunks of the ceiling crashed around them. Then Nick heard Karl shout again.

“Fuck it!” he bellowed.

Nick looked down and saw Karl twist his elbow violently. Nick immediately started blasting the piece of road. He knew he could potentially hurt Karl in the process, but it was better than letting him rip his arm off.

“Stop! Please! You’ll kill me!” cried out Karl, both angry and afraid.

Nick stopped, and Karl continued to twist his arm.

“Karl stop! Let Nick handle it!” begged Engel trying to hold Karl still.

No I can’t
, Nick thought.
Karl is right. I’d only make things worse
. He saw Karl hack away at his elbow with his other hand, which was now glowing.
Hack! Hack! Hack!
It still wasn’t off.
Hack! Hack! Hack!
Karl let out a scram of unimaginable pain each time. Nick turned away and moments later he heard Engel scream. He faced Karl and saw him clutching onto Engel’s shirt, moaning in pain.

Blood gushed everywhere. As the wall behind them collapsed, Engel and Nick picked up Karl and raced out of the crumbling coffee shop to the fountain. Once there, Nick moved away from Karl to Trent and looked at Seth.

“Help them. I’ve got him,” said Nick, trying to remain calm.

Nick knelt down and gestured Trent to climb on his back as Seth helped Engel support Karl. Once Nick felt Trent wrap his arms around him he stood up.

“Let’s go!” ordered Nick.

He dashed towards the flaming gates with the others close behind. But just as the gates came within reach, a figure stepped out through the flames. Nick stopped dead in his tracks.

The figure had dark skin and was dressed in a thin, blood-red long-sleeved cloak covered with black demonic drawings, as well as black pants, and a three headed skull necklace. The cloak was also black on the inside, which made his face difficult to see as his hood hid most of his face. From what little Nick could see, the face seemed emotionless and cold.
It’s him! It’s Hexen!

“Hexen!” screamed Nick.

Seth turned even paler as Karl's face twisted with fury. Nick backed away as Lord Hexen strode calmly towards them.
Impossible!
he thought to himself. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw Karl breaking away from Engel.

"Bastardo! Te voy a matar!"
Bastard! I’ll kill you!
Karl shouted at the top of his lungs.
Bastard! I’ll kill you!

"Karl!" shouted Nick as he put Trent down to run after him.

"Karl! No!" Engel shouted, trying to run after him only to have Seth pull him back by his shirt.

Like a mad bull, Karl charged at the demon lord. Once close enough, he leaped into the air and created a bright flaming ball of energy in his hand, aiming it down at Hexen's face. Despite his hood shrouding his eyes, Hexen effortlessly caught him by the throat in mid air.

"Te voy a matar, hijo de puta!"
I’ll kill you motherfucker!
Karl chocked out, still trying to hit Hexen.

Within seconds, flames covered Karl’s entire body. Engel let out a horrible scream as he saw Hexen holding nothing but a burnt skeleton. Hexen dropped it and continued walking towards them. Nick turned and saw the others frozen in shock. He picked up Trent.

"Run!" he shouted.

He started back up the street towards the church with Engel, who was hysterical. He looked back and saw Seth frozen to where he stood. His pants became wet as his face turned paler.

"Seth!" shouted Nick.

Seth didn’t move. Finally, Nick jerked him away and the boys started running, only to be stopped again as black and purple mist blocked their path. Another mysterious figure stepped out. He looked similar to Hexen, with a hood over his head too, but his cloak was black on the outside and red on the inside. He wore a single demon skull necklace, which looked similar to the red demonic faces on his cloak. It was Lord Damen.

He bared his spiky teeth with a malevolent grin, his blood red eyes glowing in their sockets. A mixture of confusion and fear covered Nick's face as Lord Damen aimed a hand towards him. Blinding purple lightning shot out from his fingertips.

Nick tried to protect himself, hoping it would miss him. To his surprise, it did, or so he thought. He heard a scream so horrifying it twisted his stomach. He opened his eyes and saw Engel on his knees, twisting and screaming. His organs spilled from his mouth, his flesh ripped, and his eyes exploded from their sockets.

When the blinding flashes vanished, Nick saw nothing but a burnt body surrounded by bubbling organs coved in blood. Damen let out a high-pitched, childlike, maniacal laugh.

The sick feeling in Nick’s stomach burned with rage. He clenched his fist so tightly that blood ran between his fingers. Suddenly, small particles gathered around his fist and blue fiery balls appeared in each hand. He leaned slightly over to his remaining friends.

"When I say the word, you two run as fast as you can," Nick said in a low voice, narrowing his eyes as Damen drew closer.

But Seth was completely out of it. He stared unblinkingly at the ground. Trent elbowed him lightly in the gut.

“Snap out of it!" Trent urged quietly.

Seth gazed at him in amazement then glanced at Nick. Nick looked behind him and saw Hexen coming closer. With great speed, Nick sprinted behind Damen, commanded the flames into blue balls of energy, and they became brighter as the smaller particles rotated faster around his hands. Then the glowing orbs left his hands and spun around his body.

"Go!" Nick yelled.

Trent tugged on Seth's shirt, and the two boys dove away. Nick created a vortex of flames around him, Hexen, and Damen. It overwhelmed the demonic duo. Nick looked over to the right and saw his friends heading towards the parking lot.

As Lord Hexen tried to regain his balance, Nick increased the power of the vortex, turning it into a typhoon of blue and orange flames. It stretched high into the sky. Once he saw that his friends were out of sight, he commanded the typhoon towards the burning church with the demon lords inside.

But as he did, he felt himself being lifted off the ground and into his own creation. He grabbed onto the Statue of Pasag and held on for dear life. The typhoon grew larger and larger, decimating the nearly half of the city in a matter of minutes.

Mother & Son

Kaldea & Nick

Miles away from the City of Pasag, the sunset gave the sky an orange, and purplish glow that matched the falling leaves around a large brown cabin. It was two stories high with a small cream-colored car parked in the driveway. To the left rested a small water garden surrounded by flowers. Two mysterious figures made their way past it, carrying two other people in their arms.

Inside an earth colored room stood a woman with olive skin, wearing blue jeans and a scarlet button down sweater over a white shirt. Her long black hair was tied up in a ponytail. She was Kaldea Suzuki. She stared straight at a wall through her black glasses.

Standing behind her with his back meeting hers stood a fair skinned six-year-old boy with dimples and shaggy light brown hair, wearing a blue and white striped shirt. His deep turquoise eyes stared straight at the wall in front of him. He was Josh.

"Turn!" shouted Josh.

She faced him, her brown eyes meeting his. For a few moments they both remained still.
Oh god! I can’t…loose…this…time
, she thought. After a few seconds, she made a sour face as her eyes narrowed.
Dear God! How is he doing this?

Josh remained emotionless and continued to stare at her. Her face screwed up even more.
I can’t hold any longer. Mother of God!

Finally, she burst out with laughter.

"Told ya I'd win," said Josh, smirking.

"No seriously this time! Let's do it again. I wasn't ready," said Kaldea trying to compose herself.

Josh rolled his eyes as she took a deep breath. They turned their backs once again. Thirty seconds later Josh shouted,

"Turn!"

Once she faced him again, Kaldea immediately started laughing throwing her hands back. She was so hysterical Josh started laughing too, revealing his missing front teeth. She backed into a dresser, knocking over picture frames and the plate of fried squid and green beans.

"Oh god! Okay. I give up," said Kaldea, her eyes watering.

"Okay, mom. It's not that funny! Geez," said Josh, laughing.

"I'm sorry! It's just your face!"

Josh gasped.

"No! No! Not like that!" she said pulling him into her arms. "Oh my God. That was awesome!" she finished, lying back onto the bed.

Then there was a loud bang that echoed through the house all the way upstairs to the room. Kaldea looked at Josh and signaled for him to hide. He slid under the bed as she walked out, locking the door behind her.

She made her way into the living room, which had the same earthy colors as Josh's room and small indoor rock waterfalls on the walls. The pounding on the door continued. She glanced at her security monitors and her stomached turned. Two familiar figures were standing at the door carrying Nick and Seth.

The one carrying Nick was a tall and chubby dark skinned fellow with big blue eyes and short black hair. He wore a long sleeved black leather jacket over an orchid purple shirt bearing a drawing of a big sun, and blue jeans. He was Tyshawn Jackson. The other figure, supporting Seth was a young Korean girl wearing a grey shirt with an image of a phoenix, and hada katana sword strapped to her back. She was Zelda Shi. She had the same type of glasses and hairstyle as Kaldea did. Kaldea opened the door and clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Tyshawn! Zelda! Oh my god! What happened?" she asked helping them inside to the living room after closing the door behind them.

“There was an explosion in Pasag,” said Tyshawn, placing Nick on the large couch.

"What?" said Kaldea.

She turned to Zelda, who had just placed Seth on the couch too, and asked her, very calmly, to grab the first aid kits under her desk by the window, in Korean. Zelda nodded and rushed over to Kaldea's desk by a large window that was under a Chinese painting of a cherry bloom tree. Kaldea turned to Tyshawn.

"Get a few pots of warm water please. There are some clean ones in the dish washer."

The big man moved quickly to the beef stew-colored kitchen and looked frantically for the dishwasher. He opened it, pulled out two pots, filled them with warm water from the silver sink, and carried them over to her one at a time. She began attending to her son while Zelda attended to Seth. Suddenly, Nick sat up in a panic.

"Easy son," Kaldea said, gently placing her hands on him.

Nick looked frantically around until she turned his face to hers.

"Mom? Wh-What happened? Where… are they?"

"Easy son. You're home."

She put on a strong face, but could barely keep herself from breaking down. She hugged him, but he wouldn’t stop shaking. Suddenly, Seth opened his eyes and sat up.

"W…Where am I. Wh-?" said Seth still groggy.

"Seth! Thank God you're okay,” said Nick reaching over to hug him. Where's Trent?"

Kaldea saw Seth pause before lowering his head.

"No," said Nick.

"Tell me what happened," Kaldea asked calmly.

Nick took another moment to collect his thoughts. His head was still ringing. He could see fire, Hexen, and the death of his comrades flashing in his head. He looked around noticed Tyshawn and Zelda.

"Tyshawn? Zelda?"

"Honey. Tell me what happened," Kaldea asked again.

“He’s back!”

Kaldea froze. The sense of dread was like electricity through her body. Her son’s eyes weren’t lying, but how? How could this have happened?

Nick took a deep breath and explained how he and his friends had been celebrating Seth’s birthday when Lord Hexen had suddenly shown up. How Karl must have attracted him to them. How he had escaped the burning church with Seth. And how Karl and Engel had been murdered.

After he was finished, everyone was silent. Kaldea felt sick and turned her head away.

“And there are two of them now,” said Nick, dreadfully.

She jerked back to him.

"Two?" said Kaldea, shocked.

Nick nodded.

“Hexen? He’s real?” asked Tyshawn.

“Yes,” said Kaldea, feeling ill.

“Why is he attacking us? Where did he come from?”

“Sit down, please,” said Kaldea, sighing.

Tyshawn eagerly did so, next to the couch. Kaldea braced herself.

“Years ago, Nick’s great grandfather trained a group of students in the art of energy.”

She smiled at Tyshawn.

“You wouldn’t know about the training because your powers came by accident. But in most cases, a student has to have their genes supercharged, after their mind, body, and soul are in balanced of course.”

She dipped a cloth into the warm water and began cleaning her son’s face.

“Anyways, his students managed to gained followers of their own. They wanted to change the world for their own personal gain. Then Hexen came and wiped them out, all sixty thousand of them.” Kaldea finished, sadly.

Tyshawn and Seth looked surprised and terrified. Zelda remained calm and silent.

“All sixty thousand!” said Tyshawn, amazed.

Kaldea nodded as she glanced at her son. He was trembling and her heart ached.

“After eighty-four years,” she continued, “he appeared again near our home in Hong Kong. Nick was ten when that happened. We escaped and move here to the U.S.”

“So he’s some old guy with horns and wings blowing up cities?” asked Tyshawn.

“No. Nick’s great grandfather had a book called the Holy Book of Rinascita y Morte, which means Rebirth and Death. It described Lord Hexen as a young man with dark skin, pale eyes and cloak stained with the blood of his victims.”

An image of Hexen flashed in her head and a chill ran down her spine.

“It goes into more detail, but it was enough for me. I’ll never forget that emotionless face as he poisoned those people with his black mist and burnt them alive with, according to the book, demon fire.”

She paused, looking off in to space. Then she heard Seth speak.

“Why is he doing this?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, looking frustrated.

Then she saw Tyshawn angrily jump to his feet.

“So wait! You made the guild to have us fight this guy, didn’t you? When were you going to tell us?” he bellowed, incredulously.

“Don’t yell at her!” shouted Nick.

“It’s alright honey,” she said to her son. “I created the guild to help people and to unlock mankind’s true potential. I would never put the lives of my children in danger.”

“But you have, governor! You have! You knew this Hexen guy would show up again and you want us to fight him. Don’t deny it!” said Tyshawn.

The room went silent. Kaldea looked worried, but then she saw him smile.

“Fuck it, I’m down! I’ll avenge our homies and kill this guy with my bare hands,” he said, his eyes burning.

Kaldea let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

“Thank you.”

She glanced at her son and Seth, and then looked at Tyshawn again.

“How did you find them?” she asked Tyshawn, glancing at her son and Seth.

"Me and Zelda saw all this smoke and fire coming from the city on our way to meet them. Then she was all like, 'Is that Nick?' You know in her bad English? He was rolling down the mountain, and I was like ‘what the fuck?’ I ran and got him," said Tyshawn.

Zelda spoke to Kaldea in Korean as Seth tried to understand what she was saying.

"What?" he asked.

"She said you were in a crashed truck when she found you, but she didn't see Trent," said Kaldea to Seth.

"Oh yeah! Hexen caught up to us again. Trent…h-he sacrificed himself to save me. Then everything went black."

“He could come here next!" said Nick.

"Good! Let his ass come here! I’ll kill him!" Tyshawn snapped.

"Calm down, baby," pleaded Kaldea.

She felt all eyes on her, but she remained calm as she took a few moments to focus on her son's cuts and burns now with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol. Nick twitched his face as the sting hit his cuts.

"He could be, but from what it sounds like, the attack was completely random. It doesn't seem like he was trying to find any of you until Karl got his attention. Why were Seth and Trent separated from you?"

"I distracted Hexen while they escaped, but then I lost control," answered Nick.

"And there was no sign of him after that, right?" she continued, glancing at the others.

Seth shook his head and then glanced at Tyshawn.

"Nah," answered Tyshawn.

Zelda spoke again to Kaldea, looking very serious.

"What?" asked Seth.

"She said no one was following us,” answered Nick.

"Then it's likely he doesn't know about the tunnels. This is good. I want the three of you to go to the guild. You can take a pod in my other house nearby. Nick and I will be there shortly,” Kaldea said, smiling.

"How will you get there then?" asked Seth.

"We'll be fine. Finish patching him up Zelda, and then you guys can go. We're going to get through this," she said with a fierce look in her eye.

Ten minutes later, after she finished tending to her son, Kaldea gave Tyshawn more instructions near the front door along with a few keys and a large bag of food and thermal cups with hot tea inside. On the couch, Nick rested his head on Seth's shoulder, still thinking about his dead friends. Zelda stood near the window, looking out cautiously for any signs of Hexen.

"When you go in my office in the guild, it will be in a chest under my desk. Be safe," says Kaldea.

Tyshawn nodded. "Fo' Sho'."

He turned to Zelda and Seth. "Let’s roll y’all."

Kaldea watched Nick and Seth carefully make their way towards her with Zelda's help. With a tight hug, Nick said good-bye to Seth and then gave one to Zelda. To his surprise, she gave him a peck on the lips. Kaldea smirked as she saw her son’s face turn cherry-red. She then gave them all a great big hug and kissed Seth on his forehead.

She noticed a pained expression cross his face as he quickly moved away, making sure he didn't make eye contact with her.
The poor dear,
she thought
.

Zelda and Tyshawn followed, waving good-bye. As Seth, Zelda, and Tyshawn left, Kaldea watched them run into the woods on her security monitor until they were out of sight. She turned to her son and held him with tears falling down her face, finally able to let out all her worry.

"Oh, my baby," she said softly.

"I'm sorry, Mom, I couldn't protect them," sobbed Nick.

"It will be alright," whispered Kaldea. “It will be alright.”

“No, it won’t! It’s all my fault! If it wasn’t for me…”

“None of that is on you.”

“I couldn’t help them. I couldn’t save them. I’m no better than father. Just let it end, mother. Just let Hexen kill us and be done with it.”

Kaldea took him by the shoulders. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.