I spotted the rucksack I had stolen along with the bike and well, everything else I was wearing, and dragged it over to me before unzipping it, hoping that German stoners also carried flare guns these days. Then, just as I was about to rummage inside, I heard a twig snap behind me.
“You again! I thought I told you to piss off!” I turned around and quickly got to my feet to see the same merc that had caught me earlier. So, I raised my hands the second I saw him start to raise his weapon and started shaking my head, mumbling all the fruit I knew in German, because for some reason in that moment it was the only shit that came to mind.
“What the fuck you saying!?” The guy snapped as he came closer, which was exactly what I needed. I mumbled again, so he fell for it, taking that last step needed. Then I acted,
“I said Strawberries are in season, dickhead!” Then I grabbed him by the tactical vest and yanked him to me at the same time headbutting him with my helmet. Something that ended up jarring my bruised face painfully but it was worth it, for the guy dropped to the floor unconscious half a second later.
Then I smirked down at him and said,
“Oh look, wouldn’t you know, I just made it so.” Then I reached for my bag, knowing my time here was up but then I as I caught sight of something in there an idea suddenly hit me.
And well, there was only one way to describe it…
It was…out of this world!
Lucius
Chapter 2
Underestimated
They had her.
They had my Chosen One.
I swear to the fucking Gods the wrath I would inflict on the world should anything happen to her was something no God would be able to prevent! The end of days had fucking nothing on me and neither did the wrath of a fucking Titan!
I was beyond murderous. I was reaching a limit named ‘close to tearing this fucking city apart and burning it to the fucking ground’ furious! That’s where my head was at, which was why my already crumbling club was a single wrong word away from becoming swallowed up by Hell. So naturally, it was of little wonder why my people continued to give me a wide berth as I stormed back inside the building only seconds after knocking the bitch Layla unconscious. Only sparing her life thanks to Liessa’s interference. Something that forced me to see sense enough to stop from ripping her head from her shoulders…for now.
I had no patience to wait for anything, needing now to get to the bottom of what happened to my girl, starting with the last place I knew she had been before being taken. By the Gods, but if I found evidence of her being hurt, then Hell was going to know about it, for even the lowest levels would quake in fear of my wrath!
So, I ignored the lift and opted instead for the way I had got down here so quickly, doing so now by releasing my wings and launching myself straight up in the centre of the staircase, at least being thankful that it had been built larger than it had needed to be. But then, the second I took my first step into the lobby, I felt something so powerful it rocked me back on my heels. I would have thought it something else the Rogues had planted, as the force felt far too powerful for it to be anything other than that of a witch.
But I had been wrong.
It had been the force of the Gods.
I found the wall behind me just so the strength of it wouldn’t land me on my ass, and then I was forced to close my eyes as a sense of dread washed over me. It felt as though I had just been plunged into an icy abyss, now drowning from my greatest fears.
It was my Amelia.
“My Šemšā’… my Šemšā… Še…mšā” I whispered this over and over again, shaking my head, trying to tell myself it couldn’t be true…it couldn’t be fucking true!
I roared out and this time it wasn’t only in anger, it was in pure undiluted agony! The feeling that something had just happened where I was quite literally seconds away from losing her to the Heaven the Gods believed her destined for! This was when blind panic set in and in my desperation, I didn’t know what else to do but pray to the only entity that had given me anything other than my second life. Because he only had the power to take life, not grant it back like I wished he did have right now.
As the Gods only knew how much he fucking owed me!
So, instead, I ran into my apartment with a speed even I didn’t know I possessed until then. Then, the second I was inside, I was at the doors of my vault in another heartbeat knowing time was critical. So, I simply twisted the metal door with so much power that my hands transformed into that of my demon. Meaning that soon the metal wasn’t simply a warped and distorted version of its former self, but now it was dripping molten steel, from where my hands had brought forth the eternal flames of Phlegethon, one of the five rivers in Hell.
It was one that branched off into Tartarus itself and right now, I could feel its pull trying to drag me further down into being consumed with its power. But my will was beyond all strength of others, and nothing could control me, not even the Devil himself as he soon discovered, when he demanded I take a life I would not grant him.
But that was the past, and since then my power over Hell had only grown in strength. Meaning it was a war which Lucifer dared not risk for fear of losing his crown…a crown I most certainly didn’t fucking want! That was unless the Gods took what was mine in these very seconds and I needed an army big enough to storm into the gates of Heaven in order to claim her soul back. One that belonged to me and only me.
But right now, I simply prayed it didn’t come to that, so instead I destroyed the vault doors in seconds, making sure to use my will to bend the metal outwards enough to let me enter before coming to the gift once bestowed to me from the Gods.
“Caliburnus,” I said kneeling down in front of it and then, once placing my hand upon the blade itself, I lowered my head. I bowed to its power before slicing my hand down it so as when I made this vow, I did so by honouring it with my blood.
“My Šemšā …. ‘Save my Šemšā, my Electus born. Save her and my blood is yours… that’s all I fucking ask!” I shouted hammering my fist down next to the sword, feeling the floor give way as it cracked around my hand.
“SAVE HER!” I roared down at the floor and after this the sword, the chooser of Kings, started to glow as if powered by the blood I’d just offered. A second later, the whole room erupted into a blinding flash of light, the force of which nearly blew me backwards. However, my sacrifice still needed to be made so I held on as my blood was drawn up through my flesh and into the blade. I ignored the pain, as to me it was simply a state of mind. Now the pain of losing Amelia, however, was one that had the power to tear me to pieces and completely destroy me!
So, I held on, despite the blood it took, drawing it out of me as though it was feeding from my very life that Lucifer had granted me. It ran along the gleaming blade in rivulets of crimson streams feeding down into an ocean of blood. It coated the hand that held it, one that mimicked the Lady of the Lake who had been the blade’s bearer, charged with gifting it to its next chosen King.
One it deemed worthy.
One worthy of owning her.
I only let go of the blade when the glowing steel started to simmer down, knowing that I had done all in my power to save her in that moment. But even then, it still didn’t feel like enough. So, all that was left for me to do was to hold onto hope that whatever it was that had suddenly befallen my girl, my vow had at least kept her alive long enough until I could save her. And speaking of saving her, I rose to my feet and grabbed the only thing left that had the power to do that…