Light And Shadow (Part 1 of 8)

by Erisian

Chapter 1 - Duty

The most annoying thing about hunting demons is the smell. The one in front of me naturally yielded no exception.

Green ichor of a most aromatic sort spurted generously from the stumps of the several tentacles I’d just managed to shorten, the foul mess splattering the walls of ice and rock around us as well as my best (and only) cloak. The vapors assaulting my sanity were, shall we say, worse than a raw sewage overflow from a center for the treatment of Crohn’s disease. FEMA would have posted signs declaring the bespoiled canyon a superfund site before themselves evacuating in a bureaucratic rush.

Yeah, it was that bad.

Truth in Tears

by Erisian

My dad was never one to go to church, nor one to talk about what he believed. As a teenager I asked him once if he believed in God and even now I remember his reply. He looked at me carefully from behind those antiquated black-rimmed glasses of his and said simply, “Doesn’t matter if I believe or not, son. God is either there or he isn’t. But this life, well, this life is mine to live as I choose.” At the time I was frustrated that he didn't answer the question; it wasn’t until much later that I realized he had in fact answered something perhaps far deeper.

He was like that, my dad.

Raquiel

by Erisian

Light flickers across the café table's turquoise checkerboard and the cigarette's smoke curls upward, mixing with the scent of coffee and the coming rain. Voices bubble all around to fill the evening air with bursts of laughter and camaraderie, but to them I do not listen.

Instead I stare.

My gaze is fixed upon the plain white envelope resting upon the fake marble tabletop where it sits next to an ignored saucer and cup. Yet my eyes see past it to a place so very far away, beyond the reaches of this world. To a place whose name could best be translated as the Edge.

The Edge of all things.

Call Of The Light (Part 6 of 6)

by Erisian

Chapter 23 - Sacrifices

The California sun had hours ago slipped below the evergreen-lined mountain peaks to the west. Leftovers from his lunchtime foray into the local town still sat mostly uneaten on the square patio table, sandwich and partially consumed plum resting on a plate. The porch-light remained off as stars twinkled into view between the wispy clouds hanging in the sky, leaving him as a motionless dark shadow resting on the wooden bench before the cabin.

Call Of The Light (Part 5 of 6)

by Erisian

Chapter 19 - Counsel

The person on the other end of the phone didn’t even give me the chance to say hello first.

“Aradia. We need to talk.”

“Uh, hello? Who is this?”

“Hang on.”

The cordless handset suddenly shrieked loudly in my ear. “Gah!”

“Sorry. All phone lines at the Academy are being monitored by the military. We’re now secure.”

“How did you—oh.” Girl voice, check. Tone weirdly older than pitch, check. Able to do hacker stuffs, checkmate. It had to be Erica. But she was obviously sticking to using codenames. “Hi Fields.”

Light's Promise (Part 6 of 6)

by Erisian

Chapter 21 - Aleppo

Fred hit a ramp that veered off to the right and the helicopter swung around to be seen clearly from the passenger window.

“Hey, the chopper is the other way!” I said more shrilly than intended.

Derek snorted. “Fourteen kilometers of proper highway versus eleven through the Old Quarter and possible crowds? Chill. Fred knows what he’s doing.”

Light's Promise (Part 5 of 6)

by Erisian

Chapter 17 - Song

It wasn’t working.

Trying to infuse the book with more energy just caused the pages to flake more quickly and fall away. The hills surrounding the lake rumbled and cracked, colorless fractal lines spreading outward.

Light's Promise (Part 4 of 6)

by Erisian

Chapter 13 - Beacon

Tsáyidiel knelt upon the stone with two sets of dark wings covering an otherwise bare and human back. The air was warm, and the bright sunless sky stretched above with fluffy clouds hinting at towers and walls. The grass tickling at bare toes was the first indication that my attire had changed.

One look and it was decided that if the subconscious had chosen this outfit, me and her were going to have a chat. At length.

Light's Promise (Part 3 of 6)

by Erisian

Chapter 8 - Memories

Once the stomach agreed to at least a temporary truce, I’d gone back to the hospital to sit with Danielle. Now that I knew her spirit wasn’t there all I could sense was the hollow absence. Her body lay in the bed, heart pumping and lungs moving, but it was empty like a still life painting where the fruit bowl’s contents had been cruelly ripped from the canvas. What was left was only a blank outline of where Danielle’s spirit should have been.

It was wrong. So very wrong.

Light's Promise (Part 2 of 6)

by Erisian

Chapter 4 - Price

“Jordan, perhaps you can elucidate to the class how the emergence of powered individuals has disturbed the foundation and premise of the law and structure of the United States?”

Rabbi Kirov was picking on me again. When I had received my schedule I’d discovered that he had wedged his own class onto the list: The Ethics of Super-powered Beings. Now we were at the end of the second week and he already had established to everyone that I was some sort of teacher’s pet. He kept selecting me non-stop to answer questions or to reiterate the passages in the assigned reading texts. It had gotten out of hand, and I was so going to yell at him at our private magic practice session come Monday.

Light's Promise (Part 1 of 6)

by Erisian

Chapter 1 - Brotherhood

A cool breeze hinted at Autumn’s approach being only weeks away, although the direct sun had yet to relinquish its warm grip on Summer. The campus had been busy with the rush of vans and cars signaling the arrival of students both new and returning in a frenetic dance of luggage, computers, personal accessories, and even some fancy stereo systems. Almost all attendees had moved into their respective cottages and gone through the required orientations for the upcoming school year. I say ‘almost’ because we were missing one very important student.

My niece, Danielle, had yet to arrive.

Into The Light (Part 6 of 6)

by Erisian

Chapter 20 - Power

Saturday and Sunday were a blur. True to her word, Jenna escorted me to each meal plus all the exams they kept throwing at me. In addition to the ones on Friday, they assigned World History, U.S. History (yeah, they made them separate tests), Chemistry (ugh), Biology (double ugh), Physics, Theology, and even Computer Science. Yes, they added a few to the original list Rabbi Kirov had previously rattled off.

By the time I finished the last one I was readily convinced I was an ignorant idiot. Whoever was organizing these damn things was expecting college graduate level knowledge as far as I could tell. And theology, really? Why bother giving me that one? Other than general knowledge from reading the Bible in high school and whatever myths I had enjoyed in my role-playing game years (alright, so at least I had some passing familiarities with a few pantheons), I was fairly lost when it came to the finer questions regarding various sects and their unique interpretations of whatever scriptures their groups had declared to be holy. My exam booklet was entirely blank across vast sections other than a comment I wedged in the middle of a question about Sodom and Gomorrah where I wrote, ‘Angels are real. I met one. She was nice’.

Let’s see them grade that, ha!