Heaven's Trumpet - 11. Whatever a Sacrifice Has Always Meant

[Chapter 11]

I was a prisoner of my own body. There was nothing I could do but watch as the person I knew best in the world stared at me with blank, uncaring eyes. Omega’s hand landed on my shoulder, offering his silent comfort, but it wasn’t enough. My heart was a dead weight in my chest.

Heaven’s Trumpet stepped forward then stopped short. I couldn’t bear to call him Kevin even in my mind. This wasn’t the same boy I had known all my life. I wondered if he even knew who I was. Sharp brown eyes, not Kevin’s warm stare, trailed over the glowing lines surrounding him. The three skinwalkers continued chanting, weaving their power into the containment field.

Heaven’s Trumpet slowly looked about, trailing his cold gaze from person to person. “You would summon me forth and hold me in an entrapment?”

I didn’t recognize the voice. It wasn’t Kevin’s. It was slower, deeper. There was a solemn and almost regal timbre woven within the tone. Where was my friend... my brother? The thought came more easily now. As it should. I remembered now. Everything.

Kevin and Gaius were one and the same, both were Heaven’s Trumpet. In Atlantis I hadn’t known my brother’s true destiny as the harbinger of Armageddon, no one had. Few had heard the myth of Heaven’s Trumpet. There had been no reason to suspect the weapon of the heavens was hidden within the soul of a sentient being. It was also the perfect hiding place. Who would suspect the people’s prince, the heir to Atlantis, to be a supreme being?

More than that, why hadn’t I suspected my best friend was more than what he appeared? I could see Gaius now in my mind with crystal clarity. Kevin’s face, older, handsome, replaced the blurred vision of Gaius that once dominated my memories of a lifetime ago.

The Black Pope smiled nastily at the imprisoned being. “The ancient texts were right. You are powerful. Even behind the barrier, I can feel Heaven’s song beating against my skin.”

“You stink of the foul dark. Are you intended to be my captor?” Heaven’s Trumpet asked in a soft voice, smooth like velvet. “Nothing less than Heaven’s might shall ever hold me.”

I clenched my teeth as the sadistic priest laughed. “Oh, we’ve planned this for centuries. I assure you that trap will hold you long enough. Once the ritual is complete our master will dispose of you.”

“Arrogance will not deny the truth.” Heaven’s Trumpet trailed his hand down his golden staff, staring stoically at the sorcerer. “You seek my power for goals which I will tear asunder once I’m free. Know this.”

The Black Pope shook his head, seemingly amused. “Imagine heaven’s greatest tool giving birth to one of its oldest enemies Fev’o’Rex-lell!”

A sudden clap of thunder boomed throughout the sky. I shivered at the whispering power carried on the wind. Heaven’s Trumpet snapped his head around, brown eyes locked on the Black Pope’s, narrowing with sudden intensity.

“You dare speak that foul name in my presence?” he demanded harshly. “If you carry through with your designs it will spell doom for all life.”

The Black Pope smirked. “My master will not kill his faithful.”

Heaven’s Trumpet raised his chin. “I will.”

“Enough!” snapped the Red Eyed Man. The threat had shaken his resolve. It should have. It had scared the shit out of me. “Our master’s time has come.”

“Don’t you understand!” Nathaniel shouted. “Heaven’s Trumpet can’t be contained and when he’s loose, he will start Armageddon if he senses the Elder Spawn!”

The Black Pope’s fingers moved to the front of his robe. He made no motion as to hearing Nathaniel. His fingers moved quickly and his robes opened in the front revealing a wide chest and pale skin, the color of the moon in the night sky. I frowned at the unnatural bulges protruding from his left pec, near the heart.

“I’ve taken the Elder Spawn’s sacraments and placed them within me,” the Black Pope intoned. “We’re bound.”

The guttural chanting rose in volume pounding inside our heads, harshly and too loud. It hurt to even listen to. I touched my ears as a warm wetness licked against my skin and winced seeing the blood smeared across my fingertips.

Solaris watched the chants affect on Heaven’s Trumpet. “What’s he doing?”

Kevin wasn’t good at hiding his emotions on his face. He couldn’t help it. He was a very expressive person. Now was a different story. Except for his hand tightening around his staff I couldn’t even tell the chanting was affecting him.

Realization made my heart clench painfully tight. “It’s what they’ve been trying to do all along. They’re resurrecting the Elder Spawn.”

Omega caught on. “Pieces of the Elder Spawn are inside his chest...”

“He’s going to use his body as a vessel,” the Executioner finished, his face going white.

Solaris couldn’t hide his shudder. “How very Aliens.”

Things were about to get a whole lot worse. The chanting increased in a sudden reverent frenzy. Burning pain erupted between my ears, centering behind my eyes. Light erupted from Heaven’s Trumpet. I couldn’t help the cry that fell from my throat seeing Kevin’s jaw tighten as he took a staggering step backward, misty white light flowing from his body. The light traveled through the air before sinking into the Black Pope’s chest.

“Yes!” the evil sorcerer screamed, throwing his head back in joyful ecstasy. His eyes shone with inhuman insanity.

Then the screaming started. I didn’t know which was worse, the chanting or the echoing chorus of pain that stemmed from the Black Pope. We watched in a sort of fascinated horror as his chest began to bubble like boiling water. It was sickening, yet I couldn’t take my eyes away from the bulging skin. Something inside him wanted out. Wanted free. The light continued streaming into him, and the unnatural sight sped up, as the Black Pope’s body was pushed to the limits.

The human body could only take so much, magic enhancements or not. The Black Pope let out a piercing scream as his body was ripped apart from the inside out. Dark red, almost black, blood splashed across the roof as the torn flesh fell with a dull thump. From the remains hovered a pulsating obsidian mass, dripping gore and innards. It sucked in the light of Heaven’s Trumpet like a vacuum, greedily drinking in the awesome power to feed its regeneration.

There was nothing we could do. We were helpless, trapped. I looked at Heaven’s Trumpet and flinched at the masked look of pain fixed on the face that I knew so well. It shouldn’t have turned out like this. Everything that I was screamed at me to stop the events playing out, but we were beaten and there was no help coming.

The orb ascended into the sky growing impossibly large as it gained altitude. The ghostly white light that stemmed from Heaven’s Trumpet was tethered to it like a grotesque parody of an umbilical cord. Clouds moved in front of the sun, slowly blanketing the Earth in dusky shadow. The wind rose spurred on by the defiled presence in the air.

The Unrelenting continued their mad chanting and the lines of power holding Heaven’s Trumpet glowed brightly in the absence of the sun. There was a pulse of malevolent power that erupted forth from high above. My hand flew to my chest as my heart nearly failed me.

The orb mutated into a huge globular mass as it hovered above in the clouds. Its dark skin pulsated like a living heart. Something inside me tightened with a long forgotten terror. It gave one great pulse and vast tentacles erupted from the mass, flailing about like great whips. Rips opened up in the writhing thing revealing countless jaws, containing sharp teeth. Its skin bubbled.

That was wrong. It didn’t bubble. Covering every surface numerous eyes opened. They were the color of darkest flame and with their opening an aura grew around its body. It lit up the sky like a second sun, red like a dying star in its last stages of life. The eyes rolled around and then all of them settled on the city below.

The Elder Spawn was reborn.

Lightning fell from the sky in long jade arcs. I screamed as the Earth shook. Buildings exploded or melted as eldritch lightning met stone and won. In the distance, the bridge leading over the city’s river was packed with cars. It was bumper to bumper traffic and their horns mingled together in a screeching siren, as every person in their right mind tried to get out of the city, and away from the horrible dread creature looming above. Lightning cut the air striking the support beams of the bridge. The structure went up in a ball of angry red fire.

My eyes filled with tears as similar scenes played out in my peripheral vision. Omega gripped my hand tight. I could see terror on his face that mirrored my own.

“That’s the Elder Spawn?” Solaris’ voice sounded small to my ears.

Nathaniel was shaking at the destruction being reaped upon the city. “It’s his first form. The form it uses to travel through space.”

The Executioner flinched as a mushroom cloud from an explosion rose on the horizon. “I suspect it still isn’t completely done regenerating.”

“We have to stop him somehow,” Omega said determinedly. “We can’t let him loose on the world.”

Something clawed forth from the deepest recesses of my being. It made my body shake and a single overwhelming feeling of anger pounded in my chest. Survival instinct, I realized distantly as I slammed my hands on the ground. The foundation beneath our feet started to shake and I ignored the others confused questioning.

Magic poured from my fingers and into the cement. While I couldn’t use magic to physically bring down the barrier, nothing prevented me from sending it elsewhere. It touched the molecular structure of the cement and ignited the atoms with pure power. The bonds holding together the molecules fell apart, destabilizing the very structure of the cement. Around us, the foundation painted with the devilish symbols lost cohesion and turned into melted slag.

The Saint’s Trap fell with a snap of displaced magic. I grinned victoriously. We stood tall, unhindered and free.

“Let’s send this motherfucker back to the dark ages,” Solaris growled, scowling at the ancient being above.

I barely heard him. I was already sprinting the distance across the roof. My body turned into a javelin as I flew through the air. My foot slammed into the back of the nearest skinwalker. His chant died as he careened straight off the roof.

The glowing triangle holding Heaven’s Trumpet broke and dissolved in a fizzle of pale light. The tether of power connecting the two superbeings faded away as well.

Heaven’s Trumpet sucked in a sharp breath. He didn’t look at me or acknowledge my presence, and it hurt. He instead stared at the skinwalkers who were rapidly trying to back away from him.

“I cannot be contained,” he said in that eerie hollow voice. “Heaven shall always find a way.” He held up his hand before the Unrelenting and they halted, grabbed by some invisible force. “I am vengeance. I am retribution. I see all that you are and what you will be. Every single atom from then to now, and I scatter them.”

Their bodies shimmered and transformed into tiny pale motes of blue light that floated away like fairy dust.

“Holy shit,” Solaris murmured, gaping.

I echoed that sentiment. He destroyed two people with just a wave of his hand. He more than killed them. He turned them into less than nothing and wiped them out of the timeline.

Heaven’s Trumpet raised his staff and looked at me. “It’s too late. The Abomination has returned.”

“No!” I shouted, glaring into his dispassionate brown eyes. I flinched as they stared at me blankly. I schooled my face to hide my hurt. “You’re only supposed to trigger Beta Armageddon when all hope is lost. Give us this chance. We deserve it.”

Brown hair fell forward as he tipped his head. “Very well.”

I had to tug my eyes away from his face. I kept expecting Kevin suddenly to smile and laugh, and tell me everything was going to be okay. It was a fool’s dream.

I turned and ordered sharply, “Chosen-”

The roaring wind drowned out the rest of my command. From the eastern cloudbanks appeared a squadron of F-16 fighter jets. Their path took them directly above our heads before they banked right and launched a swarm of missiles from their wings.

The sparrow missiles detonated against the pulsating globular form of the Elder Spawn. It appeared the gigantic entity didn’t notice the futile attack. There was a long awful moment where the fighter squadron swung back around for another run. The tentacles lashed out with blinding speed, swatting the fighting falcons from the sky like toys.

Some exploded in the air and others crashed into the city below, adding to the raging destruction that spread through the unrecognizable metropolis. The air was thick with black smoke from the uncontrolled fires of the chaos stricken streets. The reek of death mingled with the acrid smell of smoke. It was horrible.

“Dear God,” Omega said softly.

I shook my head at the fresh display of death. Now wasn’t the time. “Chosen, on me.”

They formed a circle and they didn’t need any more instruction. It was a given what we had to do. While I couldn’t access any of the spells of the Giga Annihilation Program without my pendant, I could still pack a punch. We were done, but we weren’t out. It was time to deal justice.

We closed our eyes and one by one I could feel them connect with me on a metaphysical level. Esoteric power touched mine like shining ropes, leading from me to each Chosen. Bits of debris began to float up into the air as power rolled from the circle. Our forms lit up golden like the dawn. I channeled the power into mine, meshing it with the core of magic hovering in my soul. I opened my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Soul of the body. Miracle of the mind. Light of life. Magic of the universe. Powers of Infinity unite!" I cried.

Golden light flowed from our combined might in streams of unimaginable power. The energy joined in my hands and I gasped as it sparked at my touch. With my hands cupped and golden power whirling around us I thrust my arms into the sky and spoke the final incantation.

"JUSTICE APOCALYPSE!"

A tremendous blast of energy shot directly upwards, straight at the Elder Spawn. From the center of the black, twisting mass sounded a note deeper and angrier than the foundations of the hanging moon. Terrible red energy flowed down from the fetid mouth that opened, huge and ugly, and met the combined might of the Chosen. Met... and repelled.

I had forgotten one thing. The Justice Apocalypse worked on the principles of karmic equilibrium. The Elder Spawn was older than the concepts of universal balance.

The eyes of each Chosen widened in dawning shock.

The red pulse of energy flowed downward onto us. There was a dreadful burst of light, a chilling howl of wind, and an awful feeling of doom. All I knew was pain that sunk itself into my nerves, in my bones. It clawed its way down my throat and then it found a home in my heart. I screamed. Oh, how I screamed.

I’ve never felt anything like it. It was torture in every sense of the word. Every part of me hurt. Hurt so bad that I wanted to retreat into a distant corner of my mind to escape it all.

“No!” shouted Nathaniel.

The man slapped his hand against the button on his chain sword. The weapon roared to life and the crystalline teeth along the blade’s edge raced furiously. He crouched for a split second and then he rocketed up. The armor enhanced physical abilities of the body to supernatural lengths. Up, up, and up the powered jump took him. His short hair flowed in the wind as he reached the peak of his leap.

The Elder Spawn thrashed a tentacle toward the armored man but it was too late. Nathaniel stabbed the chain sword in the hugest eye that covered the writhing being. There was a sickening slurping sound as the blade was planted deep in the massive eye. It whined loudly and there was an explosion of light and power as the blade detonated inside the eye of the Elder Spawn.

Thick putrid blood and gore showered him and the rooftop in an explosive spray. There was a dreadful moment that hung in the air like frightened time. I didn’t dare breathe. Something just felt wrong.

My gut instinct was right. Sound boomed from the gigantic spherical mass like the echo of a million deaths screaming throughout the aether. The clarion resonance pierced my thoughts, nearly sending me to my knees. The wounded eye shut, but the other eyes all focused. The eyes that covered the Elder Spawn’s body began glowing with troubling, evil red light. As one they turned and all those glowing orbs focused on Nathaniel.

Rapid blinding pulses of red energy shot out of the writhing creature and into Nathaniel, hurling the armored advisor into the roof like a fallen meteorite. He cratered heart wrenchingly at the center of the roof and the pulses of malevolent energy raced after him. I flung my power over Nathaniel to shield him. The energy shredded the shield like paper. The pulses slammed into the fallen man. His body flailed, jerking, as skin was burned from his body with merciless precision. Flesh cooked and burned off down to the bone under the malevolent power.

“Nathaniel!”

I didn’t know who screamed his name. My mind felt sluggish. I couldn’t process the torturous display of brutality. We sprinted forward as one.

There was no need to check his pulse. He was dead.

The red glow of the Elder Spawn blanketed everything in a false light. It made the blood seem that much darker. Nathaniel’s body was unrecognizable. His midsection on his entire left side lay exposed. The armor had melted away and it was fused to the cauterized flesh around the wounds. His bones lay bare, gleaming pearly gray even in the red light cast from the being floating above like an enormous red star.

His face was gone. The flesh had burned away leaving the tissue raw, red, and blackened. His hair was burned clean off his head, showing the upper parts of his skull. Green eyes stared open, wide and sightless.

“No, no, no, no, no, no,” I muttered in a thoughtless mantra.

A tear fell down Omega’s face. “Not like this...”

We stared in horrified shock at the bloodied and battered form of our advisor. It was never going to end. It was just going to get worse.

I looked up as the air moved. It wasn’t wind. The air simply moved as if space itself was parting before something Other. High above, the Elder Spawn began its descent. Tentacles lashed out, overtopping buildings and sending rubble showering into the sky at high speeds.

The globular mass expanded and then before our eyes began to mutate. The great bulk began to unfurl above the remnants of downtown Centennial. Before our eyes the Elder Spawn changed.

Its tentacles wrapped around it like a cloak, hiding its form. The red light sucked back in on itself and I shivered as the temperature in the air dropped. My breath came out in a visible puff and I swallowed a shaky gulp air. Our suits were meant to resist extreme temperature changes. I shouldn’t even have registered the cold, but I felt the chill against my skin like a frigid caress.

The Elder Spawn rose up like a great titan of myth and the earth quaked in despair. Even standing on the roof we still had to look up to witness all of his monstrous majesty. Its grotesque body appeared vaguely humanoid and it was anything but. The alien armor obscured most of the Thing’s features, yet it couldn’t hide its flailing tentacles against its sides, or the ones that dangled from its squid like head. It lifted one talon covered foot and brought it down, hard. The ground cratered and a chasm opened in the earth, swallowing up the remains of an entire city block.

A terrible bellow erupted from its inhuman mouth and hope itself trembled and died. With that resounding note everything went to hell. Literally.

The Elder Spawn filled the world with its Presence and order retreated from the overpowering otherness. All across the world, chaos broke loose and anarchy ruled supreme.

I couldn’t help but see the effect in my mind like a vision. My senses amplified and doubled responding to the ancient power sweeping across the globe.

Fire was the prominent element affected. Spurred on by the dread call, wildfires sparked to life and burned everything in its path. The White House burned and the Capitol building went up in a ball in a sentient nuclear fire. It called forth its brethren, breathing inspiration into other fires that sprouted to life around the world. Rome fell as the Vatican became a pillar of burning fire. Cities all across the world fell to malevolent flame.

That was just the beginning. I could see it. Feel it. The Elder Spawn’s very being birthed unimaginable destruction.

Its name rode the wings of the wind. It was a siren like call, whispering images of wanton abandonment, freedom, and secret dreams. The weaker minds heard the name in their mind, and turned their thoughts toward it, and vocalized the name aloud. A link formed to them, chaining their essence to the Elder Spawn. The power of the Abomination consumed their souls and burned it from their body, twisting their forms into repugnant perversions. They became little more than mindless zombies that hungered primal desires of the flesh, seeking any means necessary to satisfy their carnal lust.

Antarctica melted under the eldritch power and the ocean raged, disturbed by the unnatural destruction. The resulting tsunamis fell upon Australia, drowning the continent. Japan was obliterated in one stroke by the lines of power in the world that splintered open, spilling raw magical energy across the face of the earth. It blasted the whole of Great Britain to dust and those uninfected by the Elder Spawn’s seductive siren found their deaths swift.

Humanity was dying. The Earth was dying.

We lost.

“It’s over.”

I looked left and Heaven’s Trumpet raised his golden staff. I shivered at his expressionless face. Try as I might I couldn’t detect any trace of Kevin in him. He wore my friend’s face, but this supreme being was in control.

“You can’t do this,” I pleaded.

Heaven’s Trumpet leveled me a thoroughly measuring look. “Are you standing in Heaven’s way?”

He said it in that eerie toneless voice. But there was something in the words. A small inflection maybe, or there could have been the look in his eyes that turned flat. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t like his response if I answered positive. I didn’t want to test my instinct.

Solaris stepped forward. “We’re not done yet.”

The Executioner’s face was fixed into one of steely determination. “We’ve only got one shot at it.”

“You failed,” Heaven’s Trumpet replied curtly. “The Abomination has gained a foothold in the world. It’s over for this planet.”

Omega raised his chin defiantly. “We can’t let you destroy the universe, Kevin.”

There was no reaction to the use of his name. He merely tilted his head as he considered Adam’s words.

“Are you challenging me?”

Solaris closed his eyes and when he opened them they were just as hard as the others. “You’re my friend, Kevin. But I’ll kill you before I let you trigger Armageddon.”

I stared at my friends, shocked. Solaris hands radiated a blinding yellow and the Executioner wielded his ax. Last my eyes settled on Omega. Adam’s psionic blade of his sword was lit and glowing.

“I’m sorry, Kevin.” Omega closed his eyes, pained. “We can’t let you do this.”

Heaven’s Trumpet eyes narrowed the slightest bit. “You’re welcome to try and stop me.”

Anger pumped in me like the oxygen I breathed in. I was moving before I gave it thought until I was between the Chosen and Heaven’s Trumpet. The quaking ground was a distant rumble to my ears. I kept an eye on the Elder Spawn as it rampaged over the arena in the distance. It hadn’t fully noticed us yet. Good.

“Chad, get out of the way,” Solaris ordered, staring me down coldly.

Hot anger twisted my face into something almost hateful. “You watch who you’re talking to.”

The Executioner held up his hand and said slowly, “Please, Chad. He’s going to destroy us all. We have to kill him.”

“Fuck you,” I spat, glaring at Ryan. I couldn’t help it. Fierce protectiveness roared through in my veins, charging my body into emotional overdrive. “Nobody touches my brother.” I let my eyes turn neutral and then all emotion bleed from them. “You try to hurt him and I drop you, permanently.”

“Sweetheart, please,” Omega urged, pleading with his hazel eyes, shadowed with wariness and concern. “We have to do this. It’s our duty.”

“Find another way,” I said flatly, staring at him. I looked at the three of them. “Now stand down.” They hesitated but didn’t drop their stances. I clenched my fists, shaking with fury. “That wasn’t a request.”

The Executioner shook his head. “You’re letting your feelings confuse you. Think about the greater good. Are you willing to let countless lives be snuffed out because of your love for one person?”

I started at the question. Love or the universe? Could I do it? Could I kill my best friend to ensure the universe’s continuous livelihood? Kevin’s face, my brother’s face for goodness sake, flashed across my mind. My cheeks were wet but I didn’t bother to wipe the tears.

I didn’t care if I looked weak as I stared at him with the same fiery determination. My eyes filled with the sincerity of my promise.

“Like I said,” I repeated coldly. “No one touches my brother.”

Solaris and the Executioner traded a glance and then they moved as one. The Executioner jumped high in the air and Solaris sprinted forward in a flash of black. Solaris slapped me to the ground and I fell hard on my shoulder. The Executioner leaped past me as I jumped back to my feet. I clapped my hands and a visible wave of concussive sound blasted outward in a wide arc. It slammed into Solaris with tremendous force. He skidded back with a scream and flipped over twice, before landing in a heap near the roof’s edge.

The Executioner took advantage of the diversion. He raised his ax moving straight toward Heaven’s Trumpet, who watched him with an unreadable expression. I slung a fireball at the champion of soul’s back and he barely faltered in his trek. He hefted the ax high and brought it down in a great sweeping arc, blade first. My heart hammered loudly in my throat as there was a loud clink of blade meeting blade. Omega stood before Heaven’s Trumpet, the sword of miracles sword meeting the weapon of spirit.

Omega glared across their joined blades. "I believe your prince told you to stand down, Chosen.”

Adam narrowed his eyes and gave a vicious yell. A telekinetic bolt burst from his mind flinging the Executioner across the roof, slamming into Solaris who was shakily getting to his feet. They fell over in a tangle of limbs.

I glared at them from across the roof. I’m sure my eyes were full of anger, mixed with hurt and betrayal. They refused a direct order and openly defied me. More than that Heaven’s Trumpet or not, they just tried to assassinate the Crown Prince. That was high treason.

“I don’t approve,” I said sharply, staring at them with mounting sadness that it had come to this.

Omega took a second to me to give me an apologetic look. I accepted it with a small nod. He at least came to his senses.

Solaris took a moment to look me in the eyes. “I know,” he said plainly.

They did that silent communicative look and then the Executioner bowed his head. “We’re sorry.”

He started to say more, but at that moment our display had brought unneeded attention unto us. The Elder Spawn looked at us and I choked as his gaze became fixed on me alone, and it was greatly angered. Tentacles whipped through the air creating tornadoes in their wake. The ground withered beneath its feet.

...it remembered me.

I was the one who destroyed its body. I was the one that ripped apart a planet to see to the being’s end. The greatest entity of the lightless days from Pre-Dawn turned its full thoughts on me. An alien presence entered my mind and I knew madness.

I clenched my teeth, determined not to scream. I tried to resist but its mental attack was unrelenting. It wanted to devour me from the inside.

A deafening sound like the drums of Tartarus filled my ears, burrowing deep in my gut. It promised disaster and I opened my eyes to see a thick lance of terrible red energy streak toward me. I closed my eyes. This was the end after all.

“Enough.”

The word was said with such finality that the air itself stilled as the universe obeyed his will. Heaven’s Trumpet raised his staff and the impending energy met a barrier of holy shining light, twinkling like the stars netted in nights embrace.

The energy didn’t splash across the wall of light. It touched the awesome force and was unmade, ceasing to exist as if matter met antimatter.

Heaven’s Trumpet spoke and his voice carried to the being. “By order of Heaven, let the end of a beginning commence.”

The golden staff glinted beautifully in the light as he raised it high. I couldn’t stop him triggering Armageddon. I knew that now. But maybe... maybe...

Heaven’s Trumpet slammed the end of the staff against the ground. He stared at me with vague surprise as my bloodied hand gripped the staff, right above his own hand. He was interrupted from saying anything because light split the cloud and poured over us in a column of silver brightness.

I stared around realizing that the world had gone deathly quiet. It was a familiar quiet of frozen time. All around us life stood still except for us, encased in the pillar of silver light spilling from Heaven itself. Even the Elder Spawn was frozen, but I was sure that I detected a minute of movement from him. My eyes widened. That shouldn’t be possible.

Heaven’s Trumpet broke my staring. “You’re standing in the path of Armageddon.”

“I know,” I said simply. “Why are you doing this?”

His brow furrowed in visible confusion. “You know why. It must be done. The Abomination cannot be allowed to take root in this world. He will spread like a virus. After this world falls, more will succumb as well. It will never be satisfied until everything is touched and molded to its whim.”

I looked down at the ground and then up at him. “Where’s Kevin? Is he somewhere inside of you? Can he hear me?

“I don’t know who you speak of.”

That wasn’t good enough. “No. I know Kevin is there. You are him.” I looked into those passionless eyes, expecting a spark of recognition. I found none. “You’re Kevin. My best friend. My brother. Remember, please...”

He narrowed his eyes, unmoved. “You’re standing in Heaven’s way.”

“Then kill me!” I demanded angrily, hopeless frustration building up. “Let Armageddon steamroll right over me.” I smiled suddenly, wide and determined. “You can’t can you?”

He blinked. “Explain.”

I still held his staff. I gripped it tightly like a lifeline, afraid that if I let it go I would be swept away in the coming end.

“You can’t bear to see me hurt,” I said quietly, but earnestly. “You never could.”

Heaven’s Trumpet tilted his head curiously, staring at me with quiet contemplation. “You must know my host. Whatever your relationship may be, I am heaven’s last. Nothing will stand in my way of ensuring that salvation is renewed.”

I shook my head. “You don’t mean that. I know you don’t. You’re my brother. I know somewhere inside of you is the boy I’ve known my entire life, and the last one as well.”

“Enough of this,” he snapped with unexpected emotion.

My eyes widened as his cheeks heated. It was the first true burst of emotion I had seen from him. Was it working? Was I getting through to him? I had to be.

“Kevin,” I said my voice full of hope. “I know you’re in there. Fight it, you can do it. It’s me, Chad. Don’t let it end this way.”

He frowned. “I don’t understand. You’re a champion. We have the same goals. Why do you do this?”

“I’m trying to save lives,” I answered honestly. “In the process, I want to save yours.”

“Who says I needed saving?”

I smiled a small smile and touched my fingertips to his cheek. “I do.”

Something stirred in those brown eyes, then it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. I caught sight of my blood that stained his staff from where I once held it. I sucked in a breath suddenly dizzy. Words from my dreams rang in my head.

I stared down at my hand. The cut was bleeding profusely. “My blood...” I murmured thoughtfully.

I stiffened as the presence I recognized as Prince Emrys rose to the surface. I closed my eyes and exhaled softly as my body tingled under a wave of comforting energy. I felt calm, serene. I opened my eyes. I was wearing cream colored pants with a long sleeved white tunic with silver piping. The familiar weight of a circlet pressed against my brow.

“My blood,” I repeated softly. My voice now was accented and regal. “Your blood.”

I looked into his eyes that were wide and unblinking as he stared at me thoughtfully. I grabbed him by the shoulders and poured magic straight through his skin, sending it down into the depths of spiritual being. It found its target at once.

A ghostly apparition materialized behind him. It was Kevin, but not. This man was Prince Gaius. He was older than Kevin, mid twenties. His circlet of adamant gleamed and brought out his eyes. They were wise yet warm, tranquil and compassionate, and he smiled so beatifically at me that I almost wept. Gaius placed a hand on his reincarnation’s shoulder and he started.

I smiled at the spirit of the prince and whispered, “His blood.”

One bloodline. Two brothers. Four personalities all wrapped into two bodies, backed by the unbreakable bonds of family. Slowly almost hesitantly, Heaven’s Trumpet extended his hand toward mine. I didn’t let the opportunity pass. My hand clasped his tightly and we both gasped.

Our souls moved between each other. They touched, wrapping around the other. I cried thick tears of heartfelt joy as my soul reunited with its brother, separated by broken memories and time no longer. Brown eyes brightened as light appeared deep in their depths, burning with wonderful familiarity and recognition.

He blinked hard like he couldn’t believe it, and smiled tearfully. “Chad.”

“Hey,” I said thickly, overcome with relief. I smiled hesitantly. “Are you okay?”

Kevin nodded shakily. “I’m fine.” His smile dimmed until it was barely there. “I remember, Chad. Everything.”

My eyes widened. “Everything?”

“I know who and what I am.” He looked around at the frozen world. “We’re in heaven’s palm. We can’t stay here. The Elder Spawn will adapt and fight off the temporal lock.”

It was strange hearing him talk like this. Hell, it was odd that he was looking so serious. How much had this changed him?

“You don’t have to start Armageddon now,” I realized with happiness. “Can’t you just wave your hand and turn him to dust like you did the skinwalkers?”

Kevin shook his head, glaring at the Elder Spawn that moved a few tentacles now, as its body adapted to the effects and built up a resistance.

“It’s not that easy,” he sighed. “Remember how our two powers cancelled against each other earlier. That’s not supposed to happen. Using my power to fuel his rebirth tainted his essence. He’s basically the antitheses of everything that I am.”

My eyes widened. Fuck. I grabbed his hand tightly. “You don’t have to start Armageddon. We can find another way.”

Kevin wrapped his fingers in mine, twining them together. “Sshh...” he murmured, half smiling. “Big brother will take care of everything.”

The tone he used made me pause. It was patient, resigned, compassionate. More than that it was apologetic. I opened my mouth to question him on it when he pointed his staff at the sky.

Cracks appeared high in the air like those on a car windshield, crawling across the sky like spider webs. He banged the staff end against the ground and there was a great shattering noise. The sky fell open like a broken windowpane. The jagged edges throbbed with an angry purple light that seethed with a foreign power. Within the abyss of darkness existed dripping entropic eddies and faded pale lights of an abysmal continuum.

Kevin turned the staff horizontally and the red gem at its top shined radiantly as heaven’s power blasted outward. The might of Heaven’s Trumpet caught the Elder Spawn and its could not stand. The being glowed like a coal and the onslaught of holy power sent the terrible entity backward into the great rip in space and time.

Just like that the Elder Spawn was gone. I smiled widely with palpable relief. I turned to Kevin, but all his attention was focused on his staff. The silver light that held us within the normal time stream unexpectedly doubled and exploded outward. It traveled the face of the world at many times the speed of light.

The tremendous light touched every corner of the world. What was destroyed was remade. That which was once lost was found. Chaos was driven away as order was ushered in by the light. I looked around with wonder as buildings reformed, whole and new. Life was breathed into the dead, guided by heaven’s light. Humanity returned to the eyes of the twisted damned, as their connection to the Abomination severed.

A great gasping breath inhaled from behind us and I spun around. Nathaniel climbed to his feet holding a hand to his head. He looked around confused, but alive. A giddy laugh bubbled up from my throat, and the others watched as Kevin continued healing the world, turning back the clock of destruction. Time and Space, Reality, and Power itself were his to control. They bowed to his will and what he said was done. His word was stitched into the fabric of the universe and made law. The holy light burned away the corruption and the sun appeared from the clouds, shining like the morning light.

Within the light was the echo of a glorious music. It was the sound of the angelic choir. The heavenly host sang their hymn of faith and its glorious melody soothed the aches that lingered in the soul and mind. It chased away the dark memories of madness from mankinds spirit. Men and women could never hope to live with the knowledge of the dying of the light. The events of the day faded from the mind until it existed only as a fading nightmare.

The light of heaven dulled as Kevin lowered his staff. Centennial was reborn. The city was as good as new. I took a deep breath of the cleanest and freshest air I have ever smelled. I threw my arms around Kevin and he staggered back, laughing. His arms wrapped around me as best he could with the staff in his hands.

He leaned back and looked at me, brown eyes twinkling. “What I tell you, big brother took care of everything.”

I wiped my face, smiling. I couldn’t fight it. My relief and overall joy at even being alive couldn’t be smothered. I could do cartwheels if I wasn’t about to drop from exhaustion.

“You did it,” I muttered. “You really did it.” I pointed toward the rift that he hadn’t closed yet. “You forgot something.”

My heart stuttered in my chest when I saw his face. The bright glow of his smile faded and his face fell. There was a profound sadness filling his eyes that sent me into a panic. I grabbed the sleeve of his robe, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. I twisted the fabric tightly in my fingers.

“Kevin, talk to me. I can’t handle any more shocks,” I pleaded, alarmed.

Kevin wiped the tears that I didn’t even realize fell down my face. “Hey now, stop crying.” He smiled sadly at the wound in the sky. “I sent that thing into the void.”

I frowned. “That won’t hold him, Kevin. He’s corporal now and can escape with the right preparation on its part...” I trailed off as a horrible feeling formed in my stomach.

“That’s why I’m going in there after him.”

I shook my head, gripping his sleeves tight in my hands. “The hell you are! You said it yourself that you two are polar opposites. You can’t just kill him easily-”

“I know,” Kevin conceded. “It’s going to take a long time. A long, long time... I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again, Chad.”

My knees gave out and I fell against him, sobbing. He dropped his staff and wrapped me in his arms, crushing me to his chest. My heart was being ripped out. I was sure of it. I couldn’t feel it beating. There was nothing but a painful tight feeling residing in the place my heart went missing. He patted my back whispering a string of nonsensical words to my ears, simultaneously running his fingers through my hair.

“Why are you leaving me? Don’t go, please. Please. Please, don’t,” I sobbed into his shoulder.

He rubbed my back soothingly. “It’ll be alright. I promise. It’s something I have to do. I’m not scared.” He tilted my chin up and looked me deeply in the eyes, his own eyes just as watery as mine. “Take care of yourself. Promise me, Chad. Promise you’ll be okay.”

All I could do was nod as I fisted the front of his robes in a twisting grip of fabric. He softly pried my hands loose. Kevin placed a soft kiss on my brow right underneath my circlet. He gently maneuvered me until another pair of arms wrapped around me. I instinctively realized it was Adam and fell into his embrace.

Kevin scrubbed his face with his robe sleeve. He scooped up his staff and looked at Adam. “Look after my brother, Adam. Protect him.”

“With my life,” Adam promised.

Kevin tried to smile reassuringly at me. I wasn’t buying it. He was scared, but still was going to do it. He winked and I jerked free from Adam’s arms, fully intending to stop him or go with him. He did something I didn’t expect. He bent time around his body so he became a blur to normal sight. I barely registered the streak of white that leaped the distance off the roof and into the void. I prepared to jump after him, but Adam wrapped me in his arms holding me tight.

“NO!” I screamed as the void closed upon itself, sealing the rift.

I lost all feeling in my legs and I collapsed. My princely clothes vanished as I fell, turning back into my Chosen uniform. I landed painfully on my knees, threw back my head and screamed. Not from the pain to my knees, but from the one in my heart. Profound sadness unlike anything I’ve ever felt chased the breath from my lungs.

Adam fell to his knees with me and encircled me in his arms. I couldn’t stop crying. I wanted to but the tears wouldn’t stop coming. The ache settled deep in my bones and I couldn’t handle it. I wanted it to be gone. I needed Kevin back.

“Sshh,” Adam whispered into my ear, hugging me to his chest. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart.”

I closed my eyes.

“No, it’s not.”

It wasn’t going to be okay for a long time.