The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) Read online

  I had told my mother that I had been sick so that I could hide in my room for days, fearing they would find me. Now I know they were feeding from the boy’s pain. But this was something different. It was like they were feeding from each other and getting the ultimate high from it!

  The room’s low ceiling was hidden in a fog of energy and mangled bodies covered the floor. It was my idea of Hell, pure and simple Hell!

  I pulled my hood up as instructed and tried to make myself invisible. Every time a body got too close I would sink away terrified it would touch me. Wings of all kinds could be seen well above the heads of Demons, black, feathered, curled and pointed into deadly shards. Different materials, glass, wood and even plastic looked to have made up the most unusual ones. Fangs, claws, weapons all shined in the dim club’s lighting. But the faces were what haunted me now. Contorted faces, eyes where there shouldn’t have been eyes, teeth where there shouldn’t have been teeth and other added bits of skin that was stretched or loose over misshapen bone.

  One girl had scales that flaked to the ground like snow when she danced. Others extracted liquid in other orifices that looked painful to watch. I gagged as one man’s spit was dripping into another man’s mouth and was being lapped up like liquid gold. The smell was another thing making me want to vomit. Acid bile and rotting flesh filled my nostrils making me try everything but breathe.

  However there weren’t only Demons to be seen on the floor. Angels could be seen in bright glows that added more light in between the mass of figures. They had lighter coloured wings that always seemed bigger than the Demons. They were beautiful creatures, skin milky white or copper gold that looked fuelled by the absent sun. They were also going wild for the music and showed off more skin with every twist or jump they performed to the beat. Some even started to rip their clothes off, so that naked bits could also show their excitement. I looked away not being able to take anymore until I heard Demonic laughter in my head.

  “What’s wrong my dear, the world you belong too is a little less pleasing now you’re far from your Master’s bedchamber?” He mocked and I wanted to cry. It was somewhat true, I was naive and now the world I found to be Draven’s was even more tainted. There was no going back from this and I had no doubt this is what Draven had wanted to protect me from, but then why risk bringing me here in the first place?

  “Stop!” The voice shouted making my eyes water and blur. I did as instructed and sank back to the wall behind. Then I waited for what I recognised to be a diversion. Huge Angels were pushing their way through the crowd with ease and considering the crossed axes strapped to their backs I could understand...these guys were seriously hardcore. I watched them get to a group that had started to fight only instead of the usual pushing and fist throwing, these guys were tearing chunks out of each other! One guy got half his face caved in and parts of his flesh were flung into the crowd. One girl even jumped up to catch a piece as if claiming a trophy from a concert. I gagged down sick at the sight of her rubbing the flesh across her skin like it was some kind of new beauty product, leaving bloody smears like markings on a tiger.

  The Angels had now disarmed the group fighting and unshielded their weapons. They were holding them out to the crowd as a warning, one aimed at the neck of the Demon that must have started the whole thing. He was an odd shape, with extremely long legs and a skinny waist but his upper half looked as solid as a tree trunk with arms that reached the floor and hands that curled up like iron spades.

  The crowd was parting again and when I saw a scarred bear head emerge, I couldn’t help but scream at the sight of my new friend. The scream didn’t go unnoticed and a voice screamed in my mind making me double over and hold my head in my hands.

  “MOVE NOW!!!!” My legs started running to a door I could barely see through my tear filled eyes and this wasn’t only down to the pain. The memory of Leivic’s true form was strictly frightening. He was indeed a bear but one that had been severely tortured. It was like a bear had been set alight and survived the ordeal.

  He had no fur but just fleshy skin that had scarred into congealed groups. Like a melted plastic bottle, only skin coloured. And then there was the scar that cut across his body from what looked like it nearly cut him in two. His eyes had turned into large black holes with a small white light that could be seen from deep within. Those white lights had found my face when I had called out and now I could hear the urgency in my captor’s voice.

  We had been discovered and I just prayed it wasn’t too late.

  Too late to be saved....

  Chapter 40

  Draven’s Wrath.

  I got flung through the door and it took me a minute to realise that it wasn’t down to mind control. Now there were hands that had pushed my back into the opening and when I squinted because of the sunshine I knew we were in a sort of alleyway at the side of the club. I looked up to see we were sandwiched between the two warehouses and now we weren’t alone.

  “That didn’t go to plan Agnomen, they now know we have the girl, we must hurry!” The Angel in front of me was talking to the one behind, who had hold of me. I looked to see that pure hate filled the eyes of the Angel as he glared deep into me. He was handsome, as all the rest were, but his evil mind did show its ugly head.

  His eyes were almost as white as the anger that flashed through and his hair was cut short, close to his skull. The blue fitted suit he wore didn’t look cut out for fighting but I could still see the muscles flexing under his jacket. The one major difference to this Angel was his wings or more like the lack of, as his were missing.

  “You said the drug would last, Kokabiel, but she alerted them, I could no longer control her!” Again the voice behind me spoke to a man standing in the shadows. He didn’t want to come forward, almost as if he was hiding from me. And that name...where had I heard it before?

  “She has been drinking it for days, I was not aware of her power to block us from her mind. I have still done what was asked of me!” A demonic voice spoke from the shadows, one I hadn’t heard before but seeing as I hadn’t heard many, other than Draven’s, then it could have been anyone. There was one thing now that I was almost certain of...There was a traitor at Afterlife!

  I wasn’t given long to think about it as I was now being pushed forward into the street where Draven’s car still sat. I wished, more than ever, that I was sat in there now, all safe and encased within its strong bodywork, but fingertips digging into my arms when I tried to resist, brought me quickly back, like whiplash.

  “Do not make me hurt you girl, my master would not be pleased!” He whispered down in my ear, making me flinch and a shiver crept up my back from the memory of having him in my head.

  “Galizur, bind her hands, that should stop her struggles.” He then pushed my arms forward and the suited Angel named Galizur walked towards me with a sadistic grin plastered to his features.

  “With my pleasure!” The words snaked out of his mouth like venom and I shuddered as he touched me. He then produced a pair of thick steel clamps like shackles, engraved in symbols I didn’t understand and fastened them on my wrists making me wince at the feel of heavy metal against bone. He touched one of the symbols and they started to flame red like heated metal. Then they began to move slowly at first. I watched on as they picked up speed, circling around the width of my wrist until I heard a hissing noise, signaling that they were locked securely.

  As soon as they had me bound, they started to pull me roughly towards a black van that had its side door open ready. I knew that as soon as they had me in that van, then that would be it for me, there would be no escape.

  I started to panic inside, because up until now I had still been waiting for Draven to come out and rescue me. But now my true predicament was hitting me like a cold hard slap across the face. They were going to take me...

  I started to pull my weight backwards and tried to move in a twisting motion towards the ground but no matter how much I dug my feet in, they just dragged my body. My panic w
as setting in and I could feel my breathing quickly accelerate to a point close to hyperventilating.

  “LET ME GO!” I screamed out, as it felt as though the drug was wearing off allowing me access to more of my own functions but in doing so my oxygen was nearly spent.

  “Well, look who found her voice! Galizur, gag the bitch if you please!” Galizur let go of my bound hands and pulled a bit of cloth from out of his pocket and started to twist it tightly but before he could get it around my mouth I screamed out in one last attempt at saving myself.

  “DRAVEN!!!!” I used every last shred of breath in my lungs to call out his name and I was soon panting into the cloth tied like rope in my open mouth. I gagged and coughed, soon soaking the material. They seemed to panic after my outburst because now instead of pulling and pushing me to the van I had been lifted up under a strong arm and was being hurried towards the open door.

  “Get her out of here, NOW! We don’t have much time.” After that I was thrown into the van and landed painfully on my side, knocking the wind out of me. I gripped with my hands and pushed with my feet to right myself but all I got was a foot pressed on my ribs to keep me down. I looked on through blurry eyes as I saw the daylight disappearing as the van door was sliding home.

  I moaned at the sight and the foot on my chest applied more weight. Then the sound of doors slamming on either side told me everyone was inside and when the engine started, I knew that was the end of my chances. I couldn’t stop the over flow of heavy tears as I had lost all my hope and was giving into the realization that I had been kidnapped for the third time in my life!

  “WE’RE TOO LATE, LOOK!” One of the Demons shouted just before a blood curdling roar was heard, that was so loud it made the van rattle and my ears pop. The foot released me and moved to the front window.

  “Agnomen, you have failed. I will inform our Master of your incompetence.” Galizur had been the one in the back with me and now his expensive, black dress shoes weren’t keeping me down, I could see everything that was happening. I sat up against the side of the van and saw Galizur in between the front seats blaming the one called Agnomen about what was happening now. What was happening, I didn’t know but whatever it was had everyone terrified.

  “You traitorous snake! I will have your head for this Galizur!” Agnomen spat out his words but I still couldn’t see what he looked like, as he never looked back.

  “I very much doubt that, but one thing I am certain...he will most definitely have YOURS!” He pointed forward and as all eyes followed they found Hell’s fury in the demonic form of their King ...Draven!

  After that, Galizur disappeared into a bright light leaving a void allowing me to see what the others were all watching.

  “DRIVE DAMN YOU!” Agnomen screamed out making the van wheels spin into life. Draven stood, arms crossed, in the path of the accelerating van and didn’t even flinch. The purple energy flamed around his body and back along his huge wingspan. They were out and double the width of the van that was heading his way. I wanted to shout “get out of the way” but no words reached my lips in time.

  Just as machine and body were to impact, Draven produced a large glowing blade from within his arm and moved gracefully to the side as the van went past. The purple flaming blade, the length of me, sliced through one side, making a long jagged opening from the sliding door to the back end. It cut through the metal as though it was a razor to paper. The van swerved to the side and turned back on its self after the wheels on one side lifted off the ground. Draven was once again in the centre of the windscreen and mingled voices of panic drowned out the sound of the engine. Meanwhile, I had been flung about in the back, like a ship on stormy seas, hitting my head on the wheel arch. Soon I could feel the thin trickle of blood running down my cheek.

  This time Draven took long strides toward us and Agnomen opened his door and rolled out just as the van accelerated again. Coward!

  Draven’s sword went back into his body, up his arm to its home. He then motioned with his hand towards the van causing the front of the vehicle to start flying through the air in pieces. The engine spluttered and then stopped just before it got to him. Another flick of his hand had the windscreen cracking and then in one large section it flew outwards and past Draven to smash on the ground behind him causing an eruption of glass.

  The driver panicked at seeing this and started to scramble to get in the back with me. He was also an Angel, but with the terrified look on his face, he looked more human than I did. There was no glow, no Angelic eyes of pearly white, just the look of a man who knew he was soon to die. In fact, the only reason I knew he was an Angel, was the pair of wings on his back that were pinned to his body so that he could crawl through the seats. There were still bits coming out of the van like splinters from a wood cutter, flying through the air past Draven as he walked closer towards us. His eyes were erratic as though searching for me. He saw the Angel scurrying in the back and he nodded to something I couldn’t see.

  Then the earthquake started, or what I thought was an earthquake. The van started to rock and vibrate with some kind of impact. The rip down the side of the door started to open further until two great Demonic claws could be seen. The razor tipped hands hooked around the opening and started to peel away at the door, making me feel like a sardine in a can.

  The door rolled back until a colossal Demonic bear stood in its opening. I didn’t even notice it had started raining until I saw the water glistening from its scarred tissue, making it all the more frightening. Leivic seemed to see me through his human eyes and for a moment I thought I saw regret in them. Maybe it was down to the utter fear he saw in mine, which brought on instant guilt on my part. Whatever the feeling behind them it passed quickly as the Angel took the moment to his advantage and grabbed the curved blade from his back. He began to come towards me, weapon in hand.

  The action granted him another mighty roar that shattered the rest of the windows. Leivic seemed to let the anger seethe through him and concluded his actions from it. He reached out and wrapped a claw around the Angel’s ankle just before he could reach me. I looked on in horror as the terrified eyes got further away from me as his body was dragged from the mangled van. I almost felt sorry for him, until I saw the deadly looking blade slip from his fingers and quickly dropped that thought.

  Leivic pulled the body out effortlessly and once clear, he threw him sideways toward the closest warehouse. He flew upwards like the wind that catches a paper bag and smashed into the building as though made of bricks. He then fell to the ground in a broken mess of feathers and bones. He started to crawl but to where I didn’t know. One wing was dragging along behind him all broken and twisted. Blood pumped from the part it connected to his back, which was now open and oozing.

  I soon realized why he was desperately trying to drag himself back this way...

  Draven was coming.

  That powerful frame, aflame with pure hate was walking this way and with me in his sights, he looked as though the power would rip him apart, bursting out and destroying everything with it. He got closer to the Angel that was still painfully pulling his slaughtered body inch at a time across the watered ground. The heavens were still pouring down, making the puddles around him turn into miniature rivers of blood.

  Now I actually did feel sorry for him.

  He turned his head up and was about to protest but Draven without even looking down speared him like a guillotine with one floor length sword that shot out of his arm so quickly it caused my eyes to blur. The Angel twitched around the blade as its body was trapped to the wet, cemented road. He tried with one last attempt to move but with a swift twist of his wrist the blade turned inside his body and the Angel stopped moving. I wasn’t sure if he had killed him, as I didn’t know if you could even kill Angels, but at a guess I would have said that he looked pretty dead to me. As soon as the movement was made and Draven withdrew his sword back into his arm, I turned my head and closed my eyes, trying in vain to get the image out of my mind.<
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  When I looked back Draven was by the torn doors of the van next to Leivic who was about to help me out. Draven put a strong hand on the bear’s arm and said in an aggravated stern voice,

  “Leave her to me! Go and find the other one and bring him back to me...alive!” The word alive was said through gritted teeth and very little controlled anger. His friend just nodded and withdrew his hand from Draven’s grasp. Draven turned his face away from mine and said,

  “Remember, I want him alive, Leivic...I need answers.” I knew what that meant and the word torture came to mind. Again, I closed my eyes to get the sight of Draven’s idea of justice out of my head. I couldn’t help but scream at the feel of someone touching my leg.

  “Keira.” Was all he said, but it was soft enough to get me to look at him. He was right in front of me, so close I could feel his breath as he spoke. It was smooth and calming but I still flinched as he touched me.

  He looked hurt, but didn’t stop as he put his arms around me and lifted me from the van. I had been huddled in the back with my knees up close to my chest as though trying to protect myself. I must have looked like a small frightened child...Hell, who was I kidding, I felt like one!

  He held me so close to his chest I could feel his heart pumping through my own body. Loud and strong, beating his anger around his Demon ignited blood so that the only thing on his mind was revenge. I wanted to touch his face, to soothe him some way but I was scared. I didn’t know of anything that would bring him down from this rage. His breathing was that of a man that was controlling something deep within him and the flex in his jaw every time he looked at me told me he was not happy about what he saw there. The bleeding from my head had stopped and now was nothing but a crusty red mark down my face. My eyes felt sore and puffy from many outbursts of sobbing and for some reason I couldn’t get my hands to stop shaking.