Divine Seraph

by Austin Henshaw

 

Lich

 

Anne slammed her golden staff with the red glowing ruby down on the skeleton’s foot. The skeleton cried out and Anne wasn’t sure how since it didn’t have a voice box but it started to back up. Anne swung her staff just below the ribs and the staff broke the spine as she heard a satisfying crack and the skeleton fell in 2. Anne lifted her staff up and slammed it on the skeleton’s skull. She looked up and noticed Robert cutting the head off of a skeleton. Merlin had sent them to the cemetery. The dead was apparently going to do some ritual and they had to destroy all the dead that came up. So far they had all been skeletons, no zombies which Anne was glad for. A week ago a zombie did come out and they were the most grotesque things. Anne didn’t go to far away into thought because another skeleton jumped at her. She brought her staff over her head and the skeleton went down in one blow. She hit it right in the middle of the empty eye sockets. The skeleton’s skull cracked and it fell down dead again. The way they were killing the skeletons was by damaging the skull. She saw a skeleton running at her from 10 feet away. Anne with her quick reflexes raised her staff and a white light surrounded the skeleton and it’s skull cracked and it fell dead…. again. Anne smiled. She had been counting how many skeletons had fell dead again at her hands. She had killed 9. She looked over at Robert. He had a big pile of bones in front of him it appeared.

Robert started to walk in Anne’s direction. She seemed to be doing all right but he just wanted to see if she was scared or not. He saw a hand with flesh stick out of the ground. Oh great a zombie he thought. He walked over to the hand. One of the fingers you could see the bone and there was also a tattoo on the hand. Robert raised his sword but then he was blown back and hit the back of a stone. He heard Anne scream and he quickly got up but the sight he saw made him want to scream also.

Standing in midair was what looked like a mummy with freshly wrapped bandages. Where the eye sockets should have been were red glowing eyes. The eyes were glowing hellishly. He had some type of golden crown on his head with strands of beads going down. There were no bandages on the cheeks and you could see through the dry rotting skin the skeletal part of his head. You could see on his neck a chunk of skin missing and you could see ancient dried blood. It was wearing a golden cloak with many holes in it and it wasn’t shimmering gold, which Robert thought was one of the features of it, when it was new.

" Lich!" Anne exclaimed. " What?" Robert asked. "An evil sorcerer, who gives up their body essence to become more powerful," explained Anne with her staff ready.

" Thank you companions," the lich said holding out his arms. The voice seemed to be coming from inside their heads. All the remaining dead fell down dead again and the zombie, who had dug it’s self-halfway out fell dead again also. The lich started to float a couple feet and then looked directly at Robert. " Robert, get out of his sight!" Anne yelled urgently. Robert started to run to the left as far as he could and the Lich’es eyes glew black and where Robert was there was a black light and he heard a deap voice say "die". Anne raised her staff. Lich’s were some of the most powerful undead and this must have been one of the higher class Lich’s since that spell it did was one of the most powerful dark spells.

Robert and Anne ran to the sides of the Lich and Anne raised her staff and the Lich was surrounded by white light and it cried out in pain. Robert ran over and jumped up in the air and was able to cut into the Lich’s back partway. The Lich cried out again and looked at Robert. His eyes glew black again and Robert ran out of site and the same black light was there where he was at. They heard the same voice say "die" and Anne shivered. The Lich flew over Anne and pointed his staff downwards. Anne was surrounded by a different black light and felt energy being drained from her. Robert took the opportunity to run behind it and slam the sword on the Lich’s back again. The cloak was offering a little protection but the Lich still cried out and swung his staff as hard as he could at Robert’s stomach. Robert fell clutching his stomach. He felt weaker and his stomach was in pain. Anne regained her energy during this time and swung her staff at the Lich’s ugly face. The Lich spun around in the air twice and opened it’s mouth and Anne was surrounded by darkness and felt her energy diminishing quickly. Robert had got enough strength to get up and swung his sword at the Lich’s leg. The blade went through partway but the Lich cried in pain again and pointed his finger at Robert and it was Robert’s turn to cry out in pain since he was blown back and hit another stone. The Lich was surrounded by white light again and it cried in anguish. Anne then slammed her staff into the Lich’s stomach. She heard a crack and the Lich started to fly away but Robert had got up and jumped upward swinging his sword and the Lich’s chest was pierced. The Lich dropped down to the ground and Robert cut his head off. All the skeletons, the Lich, and the Zombie turned to dust at that moment then.

  

 

Normal Day in the Park..Mostly

 

Robert was walking in the park with his friends. Like Robert, his friends weren’t normal. Most people didn’t have a dog like Max for a friend for instance. Max was a Chow/Labrador mix who could talk and if he desired could sprout wings. Anne was on Robert’s side carrying her staff. Unlike most friends people had, Anne could use magic. It wasn’t street magic either. It was paranormal magic. Valurias who was walking next to Max also could use magic and was Max’s owner. Kevin was on Robert’s other side. He had brown hair and brown eyes and was slightly shorter then Robert. Kevin also wasn’t normal. He was the son of an evil vampire master called Seraph. He had inherited some of Seraph’s powers and he had the ability to turn into a small dragon.

At the moment anyway they were sure Seraph was gone for sure. Max and Lecrecia, the Seer, had sent him to the underground and then they had killed him. However when they killed him he took Anne to the underworld with him. A couple weeks later Robert, Kevin, and Max went to the underworld and fought Seraph’s demonic form with help from Anne. Once they defeated him they came back to the realm of the living.

A couple months later they were attacked by some sorcerers who put Robert into a magical sleep. They learned of the Seraph Prophecy. Valurias, Max’s past owner at the time was possessed by Seraph’s evil to resurrect him. She needed 2 sacrifices, which happened to be Robert and Anne, 2 of the Chosen Ones. While Valurias was doing the ritual, which would kill the both of them, Kevin, Max, and Merlin found out the ritual’s location and saved both of them. Anne and Merlin then did a spell that returned Valurias to normal. That night once they went to Lecrecia’s mansion Robert and Anne had admitted their love to each other and this was witnessed by Kevin, Max, and Valurias.

They all sat down at a picnic table. Anne had suggested they take a walk through the park and then they could sit down and discuss some problems. Robert was the first to speak. " So, what about this Lich thing?" he asked about last night. " Apparently the dead were going to do some ritual to bring him back, perhaps he was suppose to be brought back for some other purpose," Anne explained. " Maybe he was going to resurrect Seraph," said Max scratching his ears. " I think we have seen enough of him," said Kevin hopefully. It started to sprinkle then. Max looked up. " That’s odd it got dark this fast," Max said looking up at the darkening clouds. They got up and looked for an unoccupied shelter.

They sat down at a table inside the shelter and were about to start talking again when they heard a roaring sound and a man jumped on the table nearly stepping on Robert’s hand. His eyes were yellow and he looked menacingly at them. Robert rolled off the table and pulled out his sword. Anne pulled out her 2 new daggers Merlin gave her. They were magically enhanced. The handles were golden and the blade was enchanted. Valurias swung her staff at the man but he jumped over and he held out his hands. There was a flash of black light and Anne was gone.

 

 

Vampires

 

Anne awoke and she looked around her. She was on a platform in a Chamber. There was another platform in the middle of the room. There was a familiar looking cloak on it. It was black with gold lining and it looked like it had been burnt. Another platform held her 2 daggers and staff. The walls were lined with torches. She looked around again and lots of people emerged in a circle around the 3 platforms. They all had black cloaks and Anne realized what they were. They were vampires.

Anne started to try to get up but ropes binded her. Anne started to wonder if she would survive this experience. She had a feeling this wasn’t just a social gathering. It must have been a ritual and she was some sacrifice.

Then somebody emerged from the crowd. She was skinny and all dressed in black. Her hair was black also and her eyes were black too. "What is it with vampires and the color black?" Anne asked herself. Her cloak was black with gold lining like the one in the middle of the room. Another strange feature about her was she had wings like the ones Seraph had as his demonic self. Anne realized it then. Seraph had a cloak like the one in the middle of the room also. It was torn like this one was and it was burnt. Anne remembered before Seraph brought her to the underworld he was burning. They were going to resurrect Seraph. The vampress with the demon wings walked to Anne on the platform. " Chosen one, you look smart, I guess you already know what we are doing," the vampress said circling the platform. " Yes, but we have overcome him before though, we can do it again, even if the others don’t have me," said Anne forcefully. " Yes, you have defeated him before, but have you ever defeated a god?" she asked. Anne didn’t hear her through her ears. She heard her through her mind. " When he is brought back, he will be fully reinvigorated, he will be the first Seraph ever with full power," the vampress explained. Anne was wondering if the vampress was trying to scare her or if it was true.

The vampress walked away. Anne noticed she had a necklace with a gold chain and a ruby red amulet. She walked to the platform and put her hand over the cloak. She whispered something and walked to an altar. There was a red ancient book on it. It was binded with leather and gold color lacing. She picked the book up and slowly walked to the platform with the cloak. She opened the book up and looked for a page. The page she opened up had ancient writing.

She sat the book down on the platform on top of the cloak. Then she slipped her necklace with the red ruby amulet off. She held it over the book and started muttering something in a language Anne couldn’t understand. Anne noticed that the vampires had got on their knees and were bowing up and down.

Anne looked at the platform again where the vampress with demon wings was muttering. Anne started trying to struggle from the ropes again. She was able to get her right wrist free without anyone noticing. All the vampires were bowing up and down looking at the ground so they couldn’t notice. She undid the rope on her left wrist and then on her right ankle and left ankle. She was completely free now. She sat up and none of the vampires or the vampress muttering from the book took notice. Anne slowly walked to the platform with her staff and daggers. She slipped her staff onto her back and she slipped her daggers into their sheaths. She walked up to the vampress with demon wings and pulled out a dagger and stabbed her in the wing. The vampress shrieked in pain and turned around trying to slap Anne. Anne ducked and jumped backwards onto the platform which previously held her weapons. All the vampires noticed and they got up all looking at Anne. She pointed her dagger at one of them and a fireball formed at the tip and it flew at the vampire. The vampire cried in agony as it’s body started on fire and it got the fire caught onto 2 other vampires. The vampires turned to dust. The vampires were all shocked but 2 of them jumped onto the platform. One amazingly jumped right into Anne’s dagger in the heart. The vampire on the platform with her swung its fist but Anne swung her dagger at its arm and a big gash formed on it. The vampire growled and tried to trip Anne. Anne jumped up slashing the vampire on the chest. The vampire took a step back and she stabbed it in the heart and it turned to dust.

Before Anne could recover 2 other vampires jumped onto the platform and one tripped her. Anne slid off the platform and jumped away from a vampire that tried to grab her ankle. She didn’t jump away before slashing at the vampire’s hand. 3 vampires ran at her and she threw a fireball at the one in the middle. The middle one started on fire and grabbed onto the other 2 and they shrieked in pain. They turned to dust. Only 4 vampires and the vampress who was still looking at her cut wing remained. Anne held out her hand and the 4 vampires instantly ran out of the chamber up the stairs. Anne looked at the vampress. The vampress looked at her in hatred. Anne didn’t take any of this in since she held out her hand and a white light surrounded the vampress and it shrieked in pain. Anne quickly grabbed the book and then she was amazed that a white light surrounded her and she found herself on a couch in Lecrecia’s mansion. The others were standing around her.

 

 

Break In

 

They told her they had done a summoning spell and she related the events that happened to her. Robert was concerned for her. Merlin, Valurias, and Lecrecia were the one’s who did the summoning spell. Anne explained to them about the vampress with demon wings like Seraph’s and her attempt to resurrect Seraph. She also told them the fact that the vampress spoke in her mind for a couple seconds. She showed them the book then.

" Good idea you had to get the book, it seems you got it at the last moment also," Merlin commented. Lecrecia felt the book. " I’ll go put it in the safe, I’ll put an enchantment on it so only we can open it," Lecrecia said. Lecrecia took the book and left the room. She returned a couple minutes later. " You are welcome to stay here tonight, I have 3 separate bedrooms upstairs," said Lecrecia folding her arms. " Yeah, Lecrecia, Valurias, and I are going to leave, we are going to a club in Felerco," said Merlin and the 3 of them were surrounded by a blue light and disappeared. " Felerco?" Robert asked. " It’s in a different realm, Valurias said she and I would go there sometime to go shopping," said Anne obviously hoping they would go shopping soon. " I never knew, Valurias to be a shopper," said Max wondering what she would shop for. " Oh Felerco has a lot of magic trinkets like cloaks, rings, amulets, etc" explained Anne. She had been doing a lot of reading of stuff ever since Valurias was restored. " Maybe they have some books on dragons," said Kevin pondering something. " Oh yeah they also have a bookstore, in fact the Endless Library is connected to Felerco," said Anne. " How long have I been gone anyway?" Anne asked. " Well, it’s night time, we went searching for you, I was really worried so we went to Merlin and he went to Lecrecia and they did a summoning spell for you," said Robert looking out the window. It was completely black outside. They couldn’t see the moon or the stars. A half-hour later they all decided to go to bed. Max was going to sleep in Kevin’s temporary room.

 

Robert heard a crashing noise and he opened one of his eyes. It sounded like it came from downstairs. He got out of bed, shirtless and bare footed and walked downstairs without his sword, which he lay under his bed. He was wearing baggy blue jean shorts, which went just below his kneecaps.

He got to the bottom of the stairs and noticed that the glass in one of the windows was shattered. He looked over to his right and noticed a man with a black cloak running towards him. He couldn’t really make the man out good. Robert quickly moved over but the man changed direction and punched Robert in the face twice and kicked him in the stomach pushing him against the wall. Before Robert could recover the man stepped onto his foot really hard and threw him into a table and Robert cried out in pain.

Robert slid off the table and stood up but the man quickly punched him hard in the back. He bent back slightly in pain and then he was pounded in his bare stomach by the man who seemed to be giving him no mercy. Robert bent forward and the man punched him in the side of the face. He stepped back and dodged another blow the man threw. He was on the side of the man and he brought his knee up high and it hit the man in the stomach. The man jumped back a little then ran towards him. Robert was able to get onto the side of him and gripped onto his shoulders tightly and spun him around. Before he could finish the spin it was his turn to feel the pain of a strong person’s knee against bare stomach. Robert cried out and he was pounded across the face. Robert jumped back ducking and the man toppled over him. He spun around but was met by an uppercut to the chin. Robert’s body went up a couple inches but the side of his face was hit again and he landed on the ground face first. Robert was able to get onto his hands and knees but he cried out when he was kicked hardly in the stomach. He was kicked 11 more times and then when he tried to get up again he felt the pain of the man’s boots against his lower back. Robert realized his boots were metallic. Before the man could slam onto Robert’s back again Robert rolled away and quickly got up. The man ran at him and he got close but Robert did a backflip with perfect timing. The man was kicked in the chin and he fell down onto the ground. Robert kicked the man in the back of the head and the man fell into the bliss of unconsciousness.

Robert heard footsteps and he noticed Anne, Kevin, and Max running down the stairway. Anne ran up to Robert and pressed her head against Robert’s muscular hairless chest. She was wearing a blue nightgown. " Are you ok?" Anne asked massaging his abs. " Well I got quite a beating but I think I’ll live," said Robert kissing her on the forehead. Max was grumbling. Kevin crouched down to examine the body. Anne looked at his body also. " See that symbol on his forehead, that is the symbol for some underworld knight," Anne said pointing out a symbol on the man’s head. " I’ll be right back," Anne said running upstairs. " What happened?" Kevin asked Robert. " Well I heard a crashing noise and I came downstairs and he attacked me I fought back and eventually I got him knocked unconscious," Robert explained.

Anne then returned with a heavy leather book in her hands. She laid it down on the table and flipped through some pages. She pointed at a symbol on a page with text Robert or the others couldn’t recognize. " This is the symbol of a Darmoran Knight, knights summoned from the underworld to kill whoever has crossed the barrier," Anne explained. " We crossed the barrier when we came back from the underworld so the knights are after us," Robert said pondering. " Yes, bad news is I believe one of them killed our mayor," Anne said. The mayor had been murdered recently by some blade. A new mayor was elected but the mayor’s murderer was never found. " Another thing is they are all armed with different attire and weapons, some are unarmed, others have swords, staffs, maces, spears, etc," Anne explained reading some more. " Also they will not quit attacking until their job is done," Anne finished the hint of dread obvious in her voice. Her voice also faltered at the part where she said " job is done".

 

 

 

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© 2002 by Austin Henshaw. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.