《Angel of Death》


 1.01 Theres No Other Way to Save Her, Is There?

    Cody looked down at Cherie with her hand in his.  He had just come into her drab hospital room.  He fiddled with his Rubik¡¯s cube with his other hand as she spoke, but he was paying much more attention to her.


    ¡°Of course they can¡¯t get me into school, Cody.  It was stupid of me to ask.¡± Cherie said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be,¡± Cherie said, ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll live long enough to put any of it to use.¡±


    Cody put the cube down and began stroking Cherie¡¯s hand.  ¡°Cherry¡­¡±  That was what he¡¯d called her ever since they began dating.  The name originated from when they first met, when Cody gave his original guess as to the pronunciation of her name.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®Cherry¡¯ me, Cody.¡±  Cody looked down.  He took his hands away from Cherie and picked his cube back up.  Neither of them spoke for a moment.  After about thirty seconds, Cody solved the cube.


    ¡°Got it,¡± he said.


    Cherry smiled.  ¡°How do you do that?¡±


    ¡°Know-how, and practice,¡± Cody said, also smiling.  He constantly carried the trinket around with him and fiddled with it.  He could solve it in about twenty seconds, and do several tricks with it.  Its stickers had long worn off, and the sides were now marked with silver, gold, green, blue, and red sharpie, with the last one being marked by it¡¯s not being pigmented at all.  ¡°I brought you a candy bar,¡± Cody said, reaching into his bag, and pulling one out.  He¡¯d not have spent that much money on a treat for himself, but he would for her.


    She took it.  ¡°Thanks,¡± she said.  She unwrapped it and began eating.  ¡°So, what classes are you taking?¡±


    ¡°I plan to take mythology and history,¡± Cody said, ¡°but my mom has been pestering me about taking a more useful elective.  I¡¯m beginning to see her point.  Knowing a lot about those topics probably won¡¯t help me in a few months when I¡¯ll need to get a job to help the family pay--¡±


    ¡°Ignore her,¡± Cherie said.  ¡°You have a brilliant mind. Your ramblings about it are one of the few joys left in my life.¡±


    Cody looked her in the eye, concerned.  He grabbed her hand, and began stroking it again.  ¡°Don¡¯t say that.  You have plenty to enjoy.¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t,¡± Cherie said.  ¡°I¡¯m stuck in a hospital bed with two months to live.  I don¡¯t think I have much to be happy about, just spending all day watching basic cable, not able to so much as move from this bed,¡± Cherie laid her head back and closed her eyes.  ¡°Sometimes I just wish it would end.¡±


    Cody began stroking her arm again.  ¡°Please don¡¯t say that,¡± he put his head down.  ¡°I hate seeing you miserable like this.¡±


    Cherie turned her head slightly away from Cody.  ¡°Then stop looking at me.¡±


    ¡°Cherry¡­¡± Cody knew she was right.  Cherie had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor about two years ago, at the ripe old age of sixteen.  She had been popular, beautiful, and had more potential than anyone else Cody had ever met.  She deserved to live more than almost anyone in the world, yet she was the one who would die at the age of eighteen, while many less deserving people would live rich and full lives.


    It had taken a long time for Cody to give up hope for her.  He had prayed harder than he had ever prayed before and fasted until his mother became concerned for his health.  He had begged the doctors to check again three or four times.  He finally forced himself to give up one night about a month ago when he realized he had just spent four hours reading through some books from the school library, hoping to find a cure for cancer himself.


    Cody would have gladly given his own life, or his own soul, to let her live on, but he couldn¡¯t.  All he could do was try to make peace with it.  He hadn¡¯t yet succeeded.


    The two of them conversed for about another two hours before the hospital staff made Cody leave.  He would have lived there if he could.  He said goodbye to Cherie as he walked out the door.  As soon as he had left, he allowed himself to cry for her.  He¡¯d seen her at her liveliest only months earlier.  She was happy then, all things considered.  Now look what she had been reduced to.  Her hair had fallen out.  She had lost thirty pounds, reducing her already small frame to little more than skin and bones.  She was confined and miserable.  It was hard for Cody to bear looking at her in such a miserable state.  Were it not for the small joy she felt from it, he wouldn¡¯t have done so at all.


    As he left the hospital, he walked down the street to the bus stop.  He walked by a charity bucket, and instinctively put a coin in it.  That was about as much money as they could afford to give.  His family¡¯s financial situation was not very good.  At best, it could be described as not secure but stable, in that if things continued as they were, Cody¡¯s family would probably eat tomorrow.  If anything ever happened to upset the balance, though, they could expect to sleep in cardboard boxes at best.  At worst, they could expect to run out of money to placate the Black Death, the street gang who ruled their area.  The last time that happened, they had someone kick in the womb of Cody¡¯s at the time pregnant mother, causing a miscarriage and rendering her infertile.


    Cody¡¯s parents were planning to make him get a part time job soon.  Cody was already running through the various fast food chains in the area in his mind.  He just hoped that he wouldn¡¯t be forced to drop out of high school.  This wasn¡¯t because he had any delusion that he would use such a diploma to escape poverty.  This was because it was something he honestly enjoyed.  He loved to learn.  In another world, a world where life was fair, people got what they deserved, and his family had money, Cody would grow up to be a scholar or professor of history or mythology.  He¡¯d also not be walking down this street right now, because Cherie would be at home, happy.  Here though, he¡¯d either be killed in a drive by shooting, grow up to work a crappy job for less pay than his labor deserved, or descend into a life of homelessness and drug use, and Cherie would die of brain cancer.


    As he rounded the block, Cody thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye in an alleyway.  He stepped back and looked into the alley.  He saw a book sitting in the middle of it.  It was large.  It seemed deep blue or sapphire for the most part, but had a silver skull in the middle.


    He moved to walk past.  His mother had told him not to take short cuts after a close call with one of the Black Death¡¯s competitors about six months back.  On the other hand, there was clearly no one around, and nowhere that someone could plausibly be hiding.  In addition, someone might have lost it, and it looked pretty unique and valuable.  Cody thought he should try to find its owner.  He went into the alley and picked it up.  As he held it, he noticed that it had real-looking silver for the skull, and realistic sapphires for the rest of the cover.  He didn¡¯t think it was real, but was impressed with the quality of the imitation.


    As he opened it so see if someone¡¯s name was inside the cover, he noticed that the paper inside looked old, like it could have been written two-thousand years ago.  There was no name on the inside cover, but the title page intrigued him.


    ¡°On the soulless ones¡±


    ¡°Soulless ones?¡± Cody thought, ¡°What could that mean?¡±  Driven by curiosity, he turned the page.  It was a table of contents.


    ¡°I A description of the soulless ones.


    II On the process of becoming a soulless one.


    III On the spells common to all soulless ones.


    IV On the spells unique to one or some soulless ones.


    V On the other properties unique to one or some soulless ones.


    VI A list of soulless ones.


    VII Questions and answers.


    VIII Glossary¡±


    ¡°Odd,¡± Cody thought, ¡°there are no page numbers next to the chapter names.¡±  He flipped to a random page in the book.  It was the table of contents again.  He flipped to another page.  Again, he saw the table of contents.  ¡°Come on.  Give me something,¡± he said aloud.  He turned to another page.  It was the table of contents again.  ¡°Come on. I want to go to the description section.¡±  He turned the page.


    ¡°I A description of the soulless ones.


    Soulless ones are those who have, through magic, cast their spirits into objects in order to gain the power to accomplish their dreams.  They walk among mortals in the forms they once knew, but must reveal their true forms, those of dead and deathly creatures, in order to cast their magic...¡±


    ¡°What in the world¡­¡±  Cody looked at the book.  He was interested, and since there was no name on the back cover either, inside or out, and no other way he knew of to locate its owner, he decided to keep it.


    *****


    Cody walked up to his room when he got home.  He dropped the book on his bed, and it opened to the table of contents.  Again?  He could accept that that was printed in the book a few times as a joke, but flipping to it this many times?


    Suddenly, something occurred to him.  He hadn¡¯t gotten to the description until he specifically willed to see it over any other particular part.  He tested something.  ¡°I want to go to chapter two,¡± he thought, and he turned to the beginning of the book, the same place where he¡¯d found chapter one.


    ¡°II On the process of becoming a soulless one.


    If one wishes to join the ranks of the soulless ones, one must first consider carefully if this is truly what they wish to do.  Many have cast out their souls, and the vast majority of them come to regret it later.  To give up life, and yet remain in this world indefinitely, is no small prospect¡­¡±


    ¡°What the heck¡­¡± Cody said aloud.  He flipped forward one page, this time willing to see chapter three.


    ¡°III On the spells common to soulless ones


    ¡°This chapter shall list all spells which all soulless ones can, upon meeting certain requirements, cast, in contrast with those which can only ever be cast by one or some of them. I: Transform. Requirements: The Lich must be in their disguised form. Method: Effect need merely be willed¡­¡±


    Cody was having a hard time believing what he was seeing.  Finally, he conceived of one last test.  He turned to the next page, and then turned back, but this time willing to see chapter one again.


    ¡°I A description of the soulless ones.


    Soulless ones are those who have, through magic, cast their spirits into objects in order to gain the power to accomplish their dreams.  They walk among mortals in the forms they once knew, but must reveal their true forms, those of dead and deathly creatures, in order to cast their magic¡­¡±


    He was speechless.  This book¡­ it was magical¡­ somehow.  It somehow bended to his will, with even the very same page changing its contents for him.  But if that was true, that seemed to lend some credibility to its claims.  It meant that these creatures it described may well be real.  He thought for a moment of his Catholic faith.  There was no reconciling it with this.  It still took him a few minutes to even begin the process of giving it up.  After he had pushed the matter from his mind, something occurred to him.


    ¡°Cherry¡­¡±


    The book contained instructions on how to become a soulless one, which seemed to basically be a lich.  From the descriptions, it seemed that they had magical power, the kind of power which could make astounding, wonderful things happen; the kind of power which could set right things which were once wrong; the kind of power which just might heal Cherie.  On the other hand, it didn¡¯t seem likely that he would have healing power if he were a creature of disease, but he didn¡¯t want to pass up this chance until he was sure.


    ¡°Perhaps there is something in the Q&A section about this,¡± he thought.


    He turned the page, willing to find a relevant question.  Instead, he was brought to the beginning of the Q&A section, and what he suspected was its only page.  Two blank boxes were drawn on one page, and there was a quill resting on the opposite one.


    Though this made him very anxious, he picked up the quill and wrote in one of the boxes.


    ¡°If I become a lich, can I heal Cherie?¡±


    In response, or so Cody was convinced, words appeared in the other box.


    ¡°You would have unique powers determined by your reasons for casting out your soul.  If your intent is to heal her, you will have the power to move illnesses from one mortal to another.  This would mean that you could heal her illness by inflicting it upon someone else.¡±


    Cody was startled, not only by the fact that the words had appeared at all, but also by their content.  He could heal her, but he¡¯d have to kill someone else.  Was it worth it?  He loved her dearly, but the thought of murdering someone else to heal her was almost more than he could bear.  He wasn¡¯t, and wouldn¡¯t dare to become, a murderer.


    ¡°But I can¡¯t do that!¡±


    The book said nothing further.  Cody thought about Cherie¡¯s form on that hospital bed.  He had the power to end her suffering.  He had the power to extend her life.  He had the power to make things right, and to let her fulfill her potential.  She didn¡¯t have to die anymore.  Still, Cody didn¡¯t want to kill anyone.


    ¡°Is there any other way to save her?¡±


    ¡°Not that you have access to.  If saving her is worth becoming a lich, then that is what you should do.¡±


    Cody thought about his dilemma.  He wanted very badly to save Cherie, and to see her smile again.  He always used to love how she looked when she smiled.  He wondered if there was anything else he could do.  Was there any way around this? Could the book even be trusted?  Perhaps it was lying about the need to kill another person, but then again, why would it do that?  Then, a dreadful thought occurred to him.  ¡°What if,¡± he thought, ¡°I could find a person who deserved to die?¡±


    No, no, not at all.  It was not his place to decide who did and did not deserve to die.  Still, as he imagined Cherie upright, happy, and smiling again, he asked¡­


    ¡°Can I move her illness to someone who deserves to die?¡±


    ¡°You can move it to anyone you want.  It is not my place to say if any person deserves to die.¡±


    Cody thought for a moment.  This opportunity wasn¡¯t something he could afford to waste.  He wouldn¡¯t be able to live with himself.  Perhaps he could give it to someone on death row?  He had always been an avid opponent of the death penalty in general, so such a thing might be somewhat hypocritical.  Then again, those people were going to die anyway.  Regardless of whether or not it was just, he wasn¡¯t changing their fate, but he was changing hers.


    He thought of Cherie, lying on that bed, miserable, and then thought of her lying in a coffin, dead.  Hope had driven what small iota of peace he could ever make with the concept away.  Now that he could save her, the idea of failing to do so was unbearable, and the idea having to live the rest of his life knowing he could have saved her was even worse.


    ¡°What have other liches done who were concerned about the morality of their actions?¡±


    ¡°A few liches have been known to haunt the streets looking for crimes in progress, and taken those they¡¯d have had to kill or maim anyway to stop them.¡±


    Cody could, he supposed, make time to search for a crime.


    Cody thought about it more.  Crime was heavy enough in the area that he was confident that he would be able to find a crime being committed.  It was a small price to pay for his Cherry to be able to spend the rest of her life happy, and to live longer than eighteen years.  Before he realized, he had already flipped back over to the second chapter.


    ¡°II On the process of becoming a soulless one.


    If one wishes to join the ranks of the soulless ones, one must first consider carefully if this is truly what they wish to do.  Many have cast out their souls, and the vast majority of them come to regret it later.  To give up life, and yet remain in this world indefinitely, is no small prospect¡­¡±


    Cody turned the page.


    ¡°¡­and you should remember that whatever it is you seek to preserve will nonetheless parish eventually, and you may still yet have to live without it.¡±


    Cody thought about the warning.  It was true that Cherie would eventually die, unless he convinced her to become a lich too.  On the other hand she would still be able to live a long life, and die happy.  That was all he wanted.


    ¡°If you are sure it is what you desire, the process of becoming a lich is not very difficult.  You need merely place the object into which you desire to place your soul, called a phylactery, on the blank page at the end of this section, and then say the incantation on the page next to it.  Once you do this, there will be no going back.¡±


    No going back.  There¡¯d also be no going back if he let Cherry die.  She would be gone, in the ground, buried, and he¡¯d never see her again.  He skipped the rest of the text and flipped to the final page.  The idea of doing that to someone may have almost been more than he could bear, but the idea of letting Cherry die, when he could have stopped it, was much, much more than he could bear.  He struggled greatly, but his emotions triumphed over his conscience.  ¡°Besides,¡± he thought, ¡°I could still change my mind after doing it, and just not kill anyone.¡±


    As he looked at the blank page next to the incantation, (which was in English, much to his surprise) he felt a sudden last-minute doubt come over him.  He was about to cast away his soul.  No matter.  He had to do this for Cherry.  He would be able to see her happy again.  She could go out on the ocean like she used to like to.  She could get the education she deserved, and the career she deserved.  She could be happy again.


    He thought for a moment about the object he would place his soul in.  What one thing did he want to keep with him for all eternity?  Eventually, he took out his Rubik¡¯s cube and placed it on the blank page.  It was the one thing he always carried around with him anyway.  He looked at the incantation.  He said it aloud.  ¡°I call upon the power of the underworld to cast my soul into this object, so that I may become a being of death, disease, and decay.¡±  As he spoke the words, his thoughts were on Cherie, and the idea of her being well, and happy, again.


    Immediately, he felt nauseous.  This feeling intensified until he couldn¡¯t bare it anymore.  When he finally vomited, it wasn¡¯t any food that came out, but his soul.  He could sense himself flying outside of his body, and see his surroundings as he did so.  He had no control over his path, and was hurdling toward the cube.  Cody tried to close his eyes, but couldn¡¯t.  He felt like he was trying to breathe heavily, but wasn¡¯t attached to a pair of lungs.  After a few seconds, he hit the cube and immediately found himself back on the floor of his room, opening his eyes.


    As he looked around, he noticed something odd.  His room looked the very same as it had before.  It was twelve by ten feet in size.  It looked just as old and worn out as it did before; the carpet was just as dirty, and the walls just as cracked and ill-kept.  But what was once unpleasant and disgusting was now¡­ aesthetically pleasing perhaps?


    He looked at his hands.  They looked normal.  As he stood up, he saw the book.  It occurred to him that he should probably read as much of it as he could.  He opened it up to chapter one.


    ¡°I A description of the soulless ones.


    Soulless ones are those who have, through magic, cast their spirits into objects in order to gain the power to accomplish their dreams.  They walk among mortals in the forms they once knew, but must reveal their true forms, those of dead and deathly creatures, in order to cast their magic...¡±


    Cody turned the page.


    ¡°¡­which they must do regularly, as they must sustain themselves on the souls of the living, which only magic can scythe.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Cody froze.  It seemed the murder he¡¯d need to commit to save Cherie had become a rather moot point.  He¡¯d be killing people regularly. No, not just killing them, he¡¯d be eating their souls.  Their very essence would be forfeit.  ¡°I¡­ I have to¡­ what have I done?¡±


    He looked down at his Rubik¡¯s cube.  He had put his own soul in that thing.  He kept reading.


    ¡°Such devoured souls are the method by which liches increase in power.  They are not destroyed, but rather, they linger with and serve the lich who ate them.  It is by commanding these that liches animate the dead.¡±


    Cody read the second sentence again.


    ¡°They are not destroyed, but rather, they linger with and serve the lich who ate them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­¡±  So Cody was not only a murderer, but a slaver as well.  ¡°What the heck have I done?¡±  He knew exactly what he¡¯d done.  He¡¯d turned himself into a monster, a murderous, slaving monster, cursed by his own hand to experience eternal un-death.  There was no blaming anyone but himself.  He had done this planning to commit a murder.  He may have placated himself at the time with the knowledge that he could go back on it, but that wasn¡¯t what he intended to do.


    As he read on, even the idea of nobly starving himself was rendered impossible.  Refusing to eat until he was in danger of starvation would merely cause him to go into a frenzy.  He¡¯d lose his reason, shed his human disguise no matter who he was in front of, and be driven by base instinct to devour whatever unfortunate souls happened to be nearby.


    He thought for a moment of suicide.  He grabbed the cube to throw it against the wall, hoping it would be smashed to pieces by the impact.  ¡°No,¡± he thought, ¡°not until I know there¡¯s no way around this.¡±  He set the cube back down.  He thought.  He recalled the idea of finding a crime in progress and killing the perpetrator.  If it¡¯d work with one murder, it¡¯d work for many.  He opened the book to the Q&A section.


    ¡°Will I be able to find enough crimes to placate my hunger perpetually?¡±


    ¡°Quite possibly.  One of the powers you would have as a lich would be the ability to detect the scent of mortal fear.  Sometimes that fear may be the result of a crime in progress.  You¡¯ll be able to search all night, as you will no longer sleep.¡±


    So there was something he could do to avoid killing indiscriminately.  He did not, for a second, think it his place to decide who deserved to live or die, but the only alternative to trying, was not trying, and simply killing whomever he happened to run across.  Besides, by stopping crimes in progress, he¡¯d save a life for every one he devoured.  Of course, having your life extended by however many decades was not an equal trade to being eternally enslaved to your own murderer, but this was the best Cody had to work with.


    Cody continued to read for a few hours, occasionally shedding a tear as he did.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    *****


    A few hours later, he put down his book.  He had read as much as he could take about what he had become.  He looked at the clock.  He recalled that he had made plans for a tabletop gaming session in half an hour.  He considered for a moment whether or not he wanted to go, given the events which had transpired.  He decided that going might help him get his mind off of what had just happened.  He quickly grabbed his cube, his dice bag, and the book, stuffed them in a paper bag, and ran out the door, saying goodbye to his mother along the way.  He ran down the street to his friend Lester¡¯s house.


    Cody greeted his friend as he entered, trying to get his mind off of what he¡¯d done.   ¡°Hey, Lester,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Hey Cody,¡± Lester said, ¡°Go ahead and roll up your character.  We¡¯re about to start.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Cody said.  He went aside and rolled up a paladin.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Lester said, speaking to the group, ¡°Our normal fare.  Setting¡¯ll be the default.  No Evil Alignments.¡±


    As he spent time in Lester¡¯s house, Cody noticed how his aesthetic tastes had been changed.  The beautiful plants spread about the house now looked unpleasantly ugly to him.  It wasn¡¯t that they looked different.  They were the same shade of green, arranged with the same symmetry, and just as beautiful as before.  But whereas they were once delightfully green, arranged with pleasing symmetry and held impressive beauty, they were now repulsively green, arranged with repugnant symmetry and held sickening beauty.


    After their four-hour session, nightfall came.  The others started going home, but Cody contemplated something.  He was obviously planning on keeping his becoming a lich a secret in general, but he wondered if it might be nice to have one other person who knew.  Not only to give him someone to talk to about the subject, but also to cover for him if he needed it.  If he was to have such a person, Lester was the ideal candidate.


    Lester was his best friend, and a fellow nerd who wouldn¡¯t be as freaked out by the idea as someone who had never heard of a lich before.  He was also a trustworthy person, very capable of keeping a secret.  Plus he was laid back enough to deal with some of the more unpleasant aspects of Cody¡¯s new nature.


    He thought about it for a few minutes.  The biggest obstacle was the shame he felt for what he¡¯d done.  He didn¡¯t like the idea of someone else learning about it.   Eventually, he decided that the risk and the shame were worth it if it meant not being alone in this whole ordeal.  He approached Lester.


    ¡°Hey there,¡± Cody said, ¡°can I show you something?¡± Cody rubbed his forehead as he spoke.


    ¡°Sure, man.  What¡¯s up?¡±


    Cody got out his book.  He handed it to Lester.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°Open it,¡± he said.


    Lester opened it to some random page.  ¡°Odd,¡± Lester said, ¡°why is the title page of contents in the middle of the book?¡±


    ¡°Turn the page.¡±  Cody looked down and shed a tear, wiping it before Lester could notice.


    ¡°Cody, why is the beginning of the book in the middle of the book?¡±


    ¡°Flip to the Q&A section.¡±


    Lester flipped back to the table of contents.  ¡°It doesn¡¯t say where the chapters actually are.¡±


    ¡°Guess,¡± Cody said, gritting his teeth.  Cody¡¯s tears were now impossible to hide.


    ¡°Alright.  Look, man, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Just go to the page!¡±


    Lester flipped straight to it.  ¡°Why is it only two boxes?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to write something in it with the quill,¡± Cody said, his breathing beginning to calm him down.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡±


    ¡°If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?¡±


    ¡°So is there any special reason that it included the quill?¡± Lester asked, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a pen have done just as well?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only ever tried it with the quill.  I don¡¯t know if it¡¯d work with a pen.¡±


    ¡°What d¡¯ya mean wor--¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Lester dropped the book and fell backwards.  ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?  Alright, breathe.  Breathe.  Now, ask Cody what the fuck just happened.¡±  He turned to Cody.  ¡°What the fuck just happened?¡±


    ¡°It¡­ answered,¡± Cody said, beginning to sob again.


    ¡°How?  And why are you so sad about it?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s magic,¡± Cody said.  He took a deep breath, and then leaned down to pick up the book.


    Lester was speechless.


    ¡°There¡¯s another thing,¡± Cody said, clenching his fists as his arms laid at his sides.


    Lester just looked at Cody.  He didn¡¯t say a thing.


    ¡°This is the reason I showed it to you, Cody said. ¡°Turn to chapter one.  Just go to a random page and you¡¯ll get whatever page you want.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡±  Lester took the book from Cody, still showing confusion on his face.  He turned to a random page towards the beginning of the book.  As he read, he seemed freaked out, until suddenly, sheer horror came across his face.  ¡°You¡¯re not thinking of¡­¡±


    ¡°For¡­¡±  Cody looked down and shed another tear, ¡°For Cherie.¡±


    ¡°Cherie¡­ you want to use magic to heal her?  Cody, bro, this isn¡¯t something you should dabble in.  You don¡¯t know what it is or how it works.  You¡¯d be throwing your soul away and becoming a monster.  You¡¯d¡­ You already did it, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Cody¡¯s crying became inconsolable.


    Lester stood up and patted Cody on the shoulder.  ¡°Look, it¡¯ll be okay man.  This isn¡¯t a role playing game.  This is real life, okay?  Being undea¡­  No matter what you are, you¡¯re not intrinsically evil.  You¡¯re still the same person you¡¯ve always been.¡±


    ¡°Look at a lich¡¯s diet,¡± Cody said, still crying.


    Lester looked in the book.  Willing to see the information on what a lich ate lead him to a detailed description on the mechanics of their feeding.  Lester looked at Cody.  Cody could tell Lester was trying to think of something which could calm him down.  Lester didn¡¯t say anything for a while.  ¡°Look, there¡¯s nothing to be done, and just getting upset is unproductive.  You need to force yourself to calm down and think about this rationally.¡±


    That was actually a pretty impressive attempt.  Cody at least knew Lester¡¯s statement was true.  He tried his best to think happy thoughts.  He thought of what he¡¯d done all of this for: Cherie.  She¡¯d live a long, happy, healthy life.  That wouldn¡¯t make up for what he¡¯d have to do.  He needed to think of ways to mitigate the ills he¡¯d bring.  He¡¯d already thought of making all of his prey criminals.  What else?  Well, their enslavement to him was a moot point if he didn¡¯t actually make them do anything.  No, not entirely.  They¡¯d still be forced to linger with him, as opposed, presumably, to being allowed to enter the afterlife.


    Still, the most he could do was let them roam the earth, or even the universe, free of his commands.  That was the most he could do in that respect.


    What else?  Well, he could maximize the efficiency of his killings by healing many people, and doing it each time he killed someone.  There was nothing in the book which said he couldn¡¯t transfer the diseases of many people into one person.


    ¡°Could you hand me the book?¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Lester said, ¡°here you are.¡±  Lester handed him the book.  He looked happy to see Cody thinking about things, even though he clearly wasn¡¯t finished absorbing this information himself.


    Cody turned to the Q&A section.


    ¡°Can I transfer the diseases of several people to one person?¡±


    ¡°So long as the diseases are compatible, yes.  Some diseases, like hypothermia and heat stroke, can¡¯t be experienced at the same time.  You could, however, transfer incompatible diseases to the same person consecutively, so long as the introduction of the one cures or otherwise overrides the other.¡±


    Alright then, that¡¯d maximize the amount of good he could do with each kill.  He tried to think of something else.  There was a list of liches in the table of contents.  It was plausible that his own entry would have a list of his own powers.  He figured he might be able to figure something out from that.  He turned the page, willing to see his own entry.


    The page he opened to had lines of entries, but this one was highlighted.


    ¡°Odelarch


    A Lich of Disease.  A new lich, he intends to use his power to allocate life to those he finds worthy.  He thinks himself a monster, and regrets casting out his soul.¡±


    Cody turned to the Q&A section.


    ¡°¡¯Odelarch?¡¯¡±


    ¡°Your lich name.  It is your true name now.¡±


    ¡°Why not just ¡®Cody?¡¯¡±


    ¡°The names of liches serve a function in the underworld.  All of your names must be changed to make them able to serve that function.¡±


    Cody prevented himself from thinking about that.  He closed the book, and looked up at Lester.


    ¡°I¡¯m off, then,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Lester said.


    *****


    Cody maintained his human form as he waked down the street towards the hospital.  He thought about how he was going to get in.  Invisibility spells, according to the book, were accessible to all liches, but only once they had reached a certain power level.  A lich¡¯s power level was determined by the number of souls the lich had consumed throughout their life.  The more souls you had eaten, the more powerful you were.


    All liches, though, regardless of level, did have two abilities which would be very useful for Cody tonight.  First, they had perfect night vision.  They did not require a single photon to see perfectly well in a dark room.  They could simply see, and in full color, regardless of the light level of the place they were in.


    Second, they had the ability to drain all of the light out of a space, leaving nothing but a black void, which no human could see into.  Using these in combination, Cody could hide his true form from the hospital¡¯s security cameras, and to anyone who saw him walking around the rooms.  He¡¯d likely freak a lot of people out due to the black void that he¡¯d be creating being visible to both humans and cameras, but this would not be in a way traceable back to him, or to the existence of liches specifically.


    He went into an alley as he neared the hospital.  He set down his bag. Cody closed his eyes, and willed himself to change forms.  As he did, he felt himself growing.  When he thought he was done changing forms, he opened his eyes, and looked at his hands.  One of them held a wooden scythe with an iron blade.  This was the instrument he would use to remove souls from bodies so he may devour and enslave them¡­  Cody retrained his focus on the task at hand.  His arms were a disgusting brown color.  The nails were long claws, and looked ugly and poorly kept.  The entire thing could have easily passed for the arm of a corpse if it did not look so inhuman.  He wore a tattered black cloak.  It was patchy, as though it was a composite of rags.  Cody could also smell himself, and he smelled exactly as one would expect him to, like a decaying body.  He didn¡¯t find the aroma unpleasant though.  In fact, it was rather intensely pleasing.  Indeed, the alteration in his aesthetic tastes had, as a whole intensified now that he had taken his true form.


    He tested his light removal ability.  It worked.  He could also see perfectly well in his own cloud of darkness.  Cody looked around to make sure that no one would see him if he entered the hospital by climbing the fire escape and breaking a window.  There was no one in sight.


    Cody approached the hospital and ascended the fire escape, straight to what he knew not to be the window to Cherie¡¯s room.  He could tell he had unusual strength and speed in this form.  He made the darkness spread as far as he could, and then punched the window open.  The shattering glass woke the patient up, but the darkness prevented her from seeing Cody, or anything else.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± she asked.  She looked old, like she was in her seventies.


    Cody did not speak, he couldn¡¯t bear to.  He merely placed his hand on her, and knocked her out.  Becoming a lich also granted him the power to inflict any disease or injury he wanted, including one which would do no more than render her unconscious, elderly woman or not.  Once this was done, he kept his hand on her.  He could sense a tumor in her lung.  He placed a tag on it.  Her lung cancer would not be cured until he passed it on to his victim, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to do so without tagging it like this first.  Once he was done, he left through her room¡¯s door.


    He went to a few of the other rooms, and gave their occupants the same tag.  In addition to maximizing the good he could do, healing many people, not just Cherie, would ensure that the event was not as easily traced back to him.  He¡¯d avoided healing Cherie first for the same reason, even though her healing was the one he most looked forward to.


    He tagged five other people in three rooms before making his way into Cherie¡¯s room.  As he entered, he saw her sleeping.  He crept up to her.  He got to her, placed his hand on her, and tagged the brain tumor for transfer.  As he did, thoughts of the times he would have with her in the future filled him with glee.


    As he left her room, Cody saw hospital security was running in the hallway.  When they saw his blob of darkness, they took on a look of surprise and horror.  They probably came down thinking that the sudden black spots on the cameras were a glitch, or the result of sabotage.  They weren¡¯t armed with anything more than batons, so they didn¡¯t approach the cloud.  Cody didn¡¯t approach them, preferring to merely enter one last patient¡¯s room, and tag them.  He could tell the guards were waiting outside, and he didn¡¯t want to touch them accidentally and thus possibly reveal that a roughly humanoid thing with the texture of a corpse was inside.  The less they knew about what was going on, the better for them, Cody, and the world.  It was better to get the other patients here later than to risk more knowledge of what was going on reaching the general public than was absolutely unavoidable.


    Cody tagged both of the patients in the room, and broke the window, leaving.  He took the fire escape down, still enshrouded in his darkness.  He returned to the alley where he had placed his bag.  Once he was there, he deemed it safe to decrease the extent of his veil.  Lowering it completely would reveal his true form if someone happened to see him, but keeping it too wide would make it more likely that someone would see it.


    That trip to the hospital would surely make front page news in the morning.  In fact, he might want to be significantly more careful in the future.  Regardless, he needed to heal Cherie, and this was still the best way he had thought of to go about it.  Now he needed to attend to the matter of his victim.  Fortunately he had his ability to smell fear.  The scent was detectable at rather large distances and he could trace its source rather precisely.  He fixed on one of the scent trails and headed in its direction, picking up the paper bag with his things in it as he walked.  He was silent and stealthy as he moved around at night.  He arrived at the source of the smell.  It was a couple watching a horror movie in an apartment.


    Cody shifted his focus to a different trail.  It was nearby.  He moved towards it, and soon arrived at an alleyway.  He could hear a conversation going on in the alley.


    ¡°Now, just give me the money you owe, and everything will be fine, okay?  The Black Death doesn¡¯t break its promises.¡±


    ¡°Look, I¡¯ll have it next week okay?¡±


    ¡°Sure you will, just like you did the last three times you said that.  But do you know what?  I think you¡¯ve had the money this whole time.  I think you¡¯re hiding it in that run-down--¡±


    Cody activated his darkness, set his bag down, and ran in.  He quickly tackled the man, knocking him away from the woman.  The woman screamed, and ran off.


    Cody could smell the sweet aroma of fear as the man began to panic.  The man was hyperventilating, sweating a bit, and his eyes were wide.  ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± he cried.  Though the smell of his fear was sweet, Cody still remembered what it represented.  This man was afraid for his life, and rightly so.  Cody was about to kill him¡­ about to kill a human being.


    Cody said nothing.  As he transferred all of the diseases he had tagged to the man, including the brain tumor which had made Cherie so miserable.  The man screamed in agony as he suddenly felt ten tumors develop in him all at once in various parts of his body.  Cody was saddened by the man¡¯s suffering.  He hated having to do this, even to this fellow murderer.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Cody said, ¡°it¡¯ll only hurt for another second.¡±  Cody readied his scythe.


    ¡°Please¡­ man¡­ have some mercy.¡±  Cody could hear the man crying.


    Cody wished he could grant mercy to the man and merely report him to the authorities, but he had to eat, and the man was a goner from the tumors anyway.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Cody said, ¡°but I can¡¯t.¡±


    Cody tore the man¡¯s soul out of his body using his scythe.  Upon seeing the loose spirit, he quickly grabbed it, put it in his mouth and swallowed it.  It tasted very good, a fact which bothered Cody quite a bit.  After looking at the man¡¯s body for a second, he fell to his knees.  He would have cried if he had been in his human form, but in his true form, all he could do was silently endure the torturous guilt he knew to be just punishment for his sins.  This man may have been horrible, but he also may have had a family he couldn¡¯t find any other way to feed, and been surviving the only way he knew he could.  Regardless of his motives, he was about to be damned for his sins.  Right now, if the book was to be believed, the man was fully conscious as he was being forced on an agonizing journey through Cody¡¯s digestive system.  When that was done, the man would emerge as a slave, bonded to Cody¡¯s will, and unable to disobey an order.  Cody continued to cry for a few minutes, before he was finally able to console himself by repeating in his mind that he had to eat, and that all he could do now was make the whole ordeal as easy for the man as possible once he came out.


    Cody took a few deep breaths.  He needed to go back home now.  He picked up his bag, and headed in that direction.  Once he was far enough away from the scene of the crime, he retook his human form.


    As he walked, he looked at his watch.  It was 12:37.  That was a problem.  He was supposed to be in by ten.  Well, he just had to suck it up then.  He started towards his home and arrived at the front door.  He got his house key and opened it up.  His parents might have already gone to bed--


    He say mother waiting for him.


    ¡°Hello, son,¡± she said.


    ¡°Uh¡­ Hi, mom.¡±  Cody couldn¡¯t help but stammer.


    ¡°Son, do you know what time it is?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±  Cody put his head down.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Son, you know it¡¯s dangerous to be out around there at night.  You worry me by not coming in when you¡¯re supposed to!¡±


    ¡°I know, mom.¡±


    ¡°Then why do you do this to me by not coming back by the time you were supposed to?¡±


    Cody looked back up at his mother.  ¡°I uh¡­ got caught up doing something with Lester.  Neither of us uh¡­ realized it was uh¡­ after midnight until it was uh¡­ too late.¡±


    ¡°Son, I can tell when you¡¯re lying to me.¡±


    ¡°I was doing something okay?  I thought it¡¯d take less time than it did.  This won¡¯t happen again.  I promise.¡±


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you call me?  I would have gotten a taxi to come pick you up rather than have you walk home!¡±


    ¡°I know¡­,¡± Cody drew a breath, ¡°I¡­ should have...  I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    His mother sighed.  The one major benefit to being poor was that he didn¡¯t really have much to take away.  Their house contained only five rooms and one small hallway.  There wasn¡¯t enough money for a video game console, and there was only one television, with no cable.  What extra money was ever spent on Cody was spent on those books which he could not or did not want to check out from the public library.  ¡°You are grounded,¡± Cody¡¯s mother finally said, ¡°for one week.  Your grounding will end when it is time to go to Lester¡¯s house for your gaming session, and the only reason I¡¯m letting you do that is because there are other people who need you to be there.  I will not be so generous if this happens again.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±  Cody should¡¯ve thought of going home on time and sneaking out after his parents had gone to bed.


    His mother sighed.  ¡°Now go get some sleep.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mam.¡±  Cody headed up to his room.  He didn¡¯t need to sleep of course.  He planned to read all night, some from his other books, and however much he could stand from his tome.  After reaching his room, he went to his bookshelf and pulled out a random book from the top shelf, where he kept his works of science fiction.  He lay back on his bed, opened it up and began reading.  As he did, he thought of Cherie, healed of her cancer and happy.  He thought of her able to go to school after all.  He thought of her getting to see decades more of life.  Thanks to what he had done, she would live the rich, full life she deserved.  Cody would have wondered why that didn¡¯t make him feel any better, but he already knew.


    *****


    Valthakar drove down the interstate, finally passing the city limits of Goldfalls, CA.  He had been in his old haunt for about ten years.  That was more than long enough for him to be in any one place.  This city looked promising.  It had more than enough souls to sustain him.  Beyond that, he sensed a strange aura coming from it, as though something important, and powerful, were inside.  Something he found interesting, and which he thought might be worth seeking out.

 1.02 All He Could Do Was Cry for Them

    Around 5:00 A.M. Sr. Detective Leon Williams and his partner, Donna Hendrix, walked into the Coroner¡¯s office.  A medical examiner and a police officer were waiting for them when they arrived.  Williams looked upon the victim of the strangest death he¡¯d ever been tasked to look into.


    ¡°The man has no less than ten tumors,¡± the medical examiner said, ¡°two in the brain, one in each lung, one in the stomach, one in the skin, one in the kidney, and one in the liver.  They all appeared malignant.  He also had two different types of blood cancer.¡±


    ¡°So he died of cancer then?¡±


    ¡°As best we can guess,¡± the medical examiner said.


    ¡°So¡­ what do you think caused this, and why did you bring me here?¡±


    ¡°Frankly, I¡¯m not sure what caused it.  My best guess is some sort of carcinogen, but I don¡¯t know of any around here that could cause this many tumors in this many different places of this many different types.¡±


    ¡°I see.  So do you think this is something drug related?  Is that why you had me come here; to figure out what on the streets could have caused this?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the officer said.  ¡°Come with me.¡±  Williams followed him next door to the station, into a room with a television.  The officer turned it on and played security footage from a hospital.  A few seconds into the segment Williams was shown, a dark spot appeared.  It seemed to emerge from one of the rooms and went into another.  ¡°The window to the room it just came out of was shattered,¡± the officer said.  From there, the cloud of darkness toured multiple rooms.  The movement was quick and the cloud seemed to enter, linger for about ten seconds, and then leave quickly.


    The next one though, was different.  The cloud entered the room as usual, but seemed to stay for quite a bit longer.


    ¡°Who was in that room?¡±  The detective asked.


    ¡°Only one patient, Cherie Lambert,¡± the officer said.


    ¡°I see.  Do you have any idea why it might have lingered in her room longer?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the officer said.


    Detective Williams kept watching the tape.  The cloud left that room, going out to the hallway.  It paused in the hallway.  As it was leaving, two security guards came into view.  They began holding their noses as though there was in intolerable smell in the hall.  The cloud then went into one final room.  It didn¡¯t emerge.


    ¡°The window in that room was also shattered,¡± the officer said.


    ¡°That was¡­ strange,¡± the detective said, ¡°If I may ask, why are you showing this to me?  What does this have to do with the corpse?¡±


    ¡°The patients in all of the rooms the dark cloud entered had previously been suffering from late stage cancer.  They all appear to have gone into total remission.  There seems to be no trace of cancer in any of them.¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡± Williams said.


    ¡°They¡¯re running a battery of tests to be sure, but there seems to be no hint of cancer in any of them.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ regardless, what does this have to do wi¡­ wait, you¡¯re not suggesting that--¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not suggesting anything,¡± the officer said, ¡°but the cancers in the man you saw in the Coroner¡¯s office are identical to the ones which used to be in those patients.¡±


    ¡°I see...  Tell me, is there any information you have from anyone in that hospital?  The guards, the patients, anyone?¡±


    ¡°The guards and the patients from the first and last rooms, who were awakened, by the shattering of her window, all report smelling a horrible smell, like that of a dead body,¡± the officer said, ¡°and the patient from the first room reported feeling a hand on her stomach before falling unconscious.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Williams said, ¡°Is that all you wanted to show me?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the man from the station said.


    ¡°So this cloud goes into the rooms of cancer patients, and then later, all of their cancers appear in this guy?¡± Williams asked.


    ¡°As it would seem,¡± the officer said.  ¡°Would you like to talk to the patients?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and particularly to this Cherie Lambert.  The cloud stays in her room longer.  I¡¯d like to know why.¡±  Williams paused for a moment.  ¡°I¡¯d also like to know if anyone else may have seen this black cloud, especially near our victim here.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± the officer said.


    ¡°Is there anything more to show me?¡± Williams asked.


    ¡°No,¡± the officer said.


    With that, Detective Williams and Donna Hendrix left the room.


    ¡°So, do you have any idea what might be going on?¡± Donna asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Williams said, ¡°I think I do.¡±  The detective grinned, ¡°And I think the way it lingered in the one girl¡¯s room is the key.  Ask yourself, why might it linger in there longer?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Donna said.


    ¡°Neither was I, but then I realized something.  What makes this so difficult is that the thing we¡¯re looking at here seems to be operating against the very laws of nature.  It could be an angel, a ghost, a space alien or an ethereal spirit.  There were various clues about its nature, the smell, the need to break windows, and the hand one of the patients felt, but none of them are helpful when one doesn¡¯t know where to begin.  There is, though, one thing the spirit did which made a definitive statement about its nature.  Some ethereal, supernatural force, or a spirit alien to this plane, wouldn¡¯t linger in one room longer than the others, but perhaps, if a human is causing this, they would.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Donna asked.


    ¡°Well, the only reasonable possibility I¡¯ve thought of so far is that whoever this is has some special connection with this ¡®Cherie Lambert.¡¯  If this is the case, it is possible that he¡¯d take some special satisfaction in healing her.  From there it¡¯s just a matter of figuring out whom of those connected with her might do this.¡±  Williams paused for a moment.  ¡°Of course, I could be entirely wrong.  There are reasons I can think of why a spirit might have attachments to a specific human, and why they¡¯d heal ten people, more than just Ms. Lambert, but far less than the number of patients there, but between the entity¡¯s need to break windows, the hand, the fact that it retreated from the security guards despite seeming to want to heal a great number of people, and the lingering in Ms. Lambert¡¯s room, the human explanation seems by far the most elegant.¡±


    *****


    Meanwhile, Cody read through his tome.  He had nothing else to do as he stayed up all night.  He had just turned to the descriptions of some of the liches which the book identified as being in Cody¡¯s area.


    ¡°Kaburlduth


    A Lich of Hatred.  A bigoted lich.  He seeks to complete the work of his fallen leader and bring destruction to those mortals he thinks inferior.  He is known to try to spread his prejudices.


    Ntullnarlth


    A Lich of Reconstruction.  A deluded lich.  He seeks to restore his fallen empire to the glory it once knew.  He hates all of the respects in which his world has left his empire¡¯s ways behind.


    Valthakar


    A Lich of Abandoned Dreams.  A cynical lich.  He once fought to preserve life, but has fallen into despair.  He now merely wanders about, making his way, not caring much for the struggles of others.¡±


    Suddenly, his alarm clock went off.  Back when he slept, that machine had been responsible for waking him up.  Now it merely served the purpose of telling him when he was expected to be awake.  He left his room and headed towards the bathroom.  He bathed, brushed his teeth, and dressed for the day.


    It was Sunday, and he had to go to Mass.  The previous day¡¯s events, particularly the part where he ripped a man¡¯s soul out of his body and ate it, had had a significant effect on his religious convictions.  On the other hand, there was no way he was telling his mother, and if he did, that wouldn¡¯t change her mind about making him go.


    After spending some time waiting for the rest of his family, Cody left with them and got into the bus to the nearest church.  While he was on the bus, a fear came over him that Christian iconography and sacramental objects might end up having negative effects on him as they did on many monsters of fiction.  If that was the case, he might freak out and reflexively spit out communion wine, or be reduced to screams at the sight of a cross, and this would happen in front of everyone.  As he thought about it further, he wished he hadn¡¯t left his book at home.  Then again, it wouldn¡¯t exactly be inconspicuous on this bus.


    Once they got off the bus they entered the Church.  They were dressed in their finest clothes.  Cody experienced no ill effects from the holy water when he touched it as he entered.  Some of the art made him want to look away, but that was only because it was beautiful, not because it was religious.  Confession was difficult.  The priest could sense that something was wrong, but didn¡¯t realize Cody was omitting some of his sins.


    As he left the confessional to go to his seat, his mother entered.  A few minutes later, the mass started.  The opening hymn was a little awkward, given that he now knew the words to be false.  In addition, beautiful music seemed to have the same effect on him as beautiful images.  What he once found pleasing, he now found revolting.  The readings went fine.  Biblical texts also had no negative effects on him.  The homily was nothing special.  After giving the money he had brought, he waited for communion.  The time to take it eventually came, and he did, to no ill effect.  After the closing hymn, he and his family left to the parking lot.  They headed down to the bus stop.


    After arriving home, Cody sat down with his family to watch the morning news.  He waited a few stories in to see the coverage of his actions at the hospital.


    ¡°In other news,¡± the newscast began playing the footage from the hospital security camera as the anchor spoke, ¡°a strange event occurred last night when what witnesses are describing as a ¡®shadowy blob¡¯ was seen, both by security cameras and witnesses, wandering around a Goldfalls hospital.  The blob can be seen in this footage, navigating the hallway and entering and exiting patient¡¯s rooms.  Stranger still, the patients occupying them seem to have experienced sudden remission of symptoms.  Medical experts refuse to comment.  The Goldfalls police department has issued a request for tips from any person who has seen this blob.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s not just on the camera?¡± the co-anchor said.


    ¡°No, apparently guards at the hospital saw it,¡± the anchor who had given the report replied.


    ¡°Spooky.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know, right.  Anyways, coming up after the break--¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother muted for the commercials.


    ¡°What do you think that is?¡± asked Cody¡¯s father.


    Cody said nothing as they conversed.  That the news report hadn¡¯t mentioned Cody¡¯s victim was a relief.  This might mean that they hadn¡¯t found the body.  Cody knew it had been a mistake to just leave it there where it would be found eventually.  He should have used his power to induce decay to make the corpse rot away so it couldn¡¯t be discovered.  Cody decided to make a point to check for it that night, and if it was still there, get rid of it.  If not, he knew it wouldn¡¯t be hard for the police to realize that the body and the event at the hospital were connected, and Cody would need to be on his guard.


    *****


    Detective Williams and Donna Hendrix had just been contacted about a witness who had come forward, claiming to have seen the cloud.  She had asked to be anonymous, but was nonetheless willing to provide testimony.  The two were escorted to the room where the witness was waiting.  Williams had asked to perform the interview himself.


    ¡°Hello there,¡± Williams said.


    ¡°Hello,¡± the witness said.  ¡°I¡¯m here about the black cloud.¡±


    ¡°You saw it?¡± Williams asked.


    ¡°Yes, in an alley,¡± she said, ¡°last night as I was walking home from my job as a waitress.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me the story?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  I was walking in an alley, on the way home, when a man approached me.  He pointed a gun at me and demanded the contents of my wallet.¡±


    Williams noticed a change in her mannerisms right as she mentioned the mugging.  Was she lying to him?  He suspected so, but couldn¡¯t quite tell.


    ¡°Just before he was able to shoot me, I saw the cloud, and then was enveloped in it.  I heard him being tackled away from me.¡±


    ¡°Tackled away from you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I think that¡¯s what it was.¡±


    ¡°And then what?¡±


    ¡°I ran away.  I didn¡¯t see what happened to the man.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything else you can tell me?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the woman said, ¡°there was a horrible smell.  It smelled like a rotting body.  It seemed like it was coming from within the cloud.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  The detective pulled a picture of the victim from earlier out of his pocket.  ¡°Tell me, is this the man who tried to mug you?¡±


    The woman looked at the picture for a moment.  She seemed to be studying it carefully.  If she had been giving a false tip, as people sometimes did, she¡¯d have said yes instantly.  ¡°Yes.  That¡¯s him,¡± she eventually said.


    ¡°I see.¡±  Detective Williams wasn¡¯t sure what to make of this.  According to this woman, the cloud had thwarted an attempt to mug her.  If this was true, it had very interesting implications.  Still, Williams had sensed dishonesty in some of her words.  He tried to think of what might have happened with her and the black cloud.  Had she been raped?  No, she didn¡¯t seem to have suffered the correct amount of psychological damage from the incident to qualify as a probable rape victim.  Why else wouldn¡¯t she want to tell him about a crime?


    Perhaps the criminal had been a member of a street gang, and she feared retribution for confessing the true nature of his crime?  There was a way to test that.


    ¡°If I may ask, do you believe the man had any connection to organized crime?¡±


    The resulting facial expression was more than enough to confirm this idea.


    ¡°No¡­¡± she said, ¡°not at all.¡±  She was lying, it was clear.  That fact gave Williams all of the information he needed, so he didn¡¯t press the issue.


    So the perpetrator had targeted a criminal; one perpetrating a crime in progress, no less.  This was quite interesting indeed.  If this targeting was deliberate, it had some very interesting implications.  It painted this killer as a vigilante.


    As he thought, a narrative formed in his mind.  What if, somehow, someone close to Cherie Lambert had found a way to cast this black cloud, and move illnesses from one person to another?  What might an average person do with such a power?  Perhaps they might heal a loved one and move their illness to a criminal?  If this was true, it was probable that the healing of the others was just a decoy, meant to prevent the significance of Cherie Lambert from being recognized.  Then again, their targeting a criminal, and being patient enough to actually wait for a crime in progress, showed that this person had at least some sort of moral foundation.  Perhaps they healed so many because they did not want to waste an opportunity to save more people?


    ¡°About when did this happen?¡± the detective asked, ¡°I know you said last night, but what time?¡±


    ¡°Around 12:30 I think,¡± the woman said, ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure.  It was about twelve-forty when I got home.¡±


    That¡¯s not what Williams had expected.  If that time was accurate, that did not give the culprit very long to search for a crime in progress.  Did this mean that the person had the power to sense crime?  No, it was more likely that they were stalking the streets for a victim, happened to come across a criminal, and choose them.  There was a large difference between patiently waiting for a criminal to transmit your loved ones¡¯ cancer to, and merely targeting one because you happened to run across a crime in progress.


    Either way though, there was something else strange about this.  Why was the perpetrator confident that they would not face harm in the process of tackling a criminal?  Either Williams was wrong and this wasn¡¯t a person, or their powers must extend beyond the ability to move diseases around and cast a shadow.  That or they had poor judgment.


    ¡°Thank you mam,¡± Williams said, ¡°That¡¯s all I needed to hear.¡±  The detective excused her before getting up to leave the room.


    *****


    Later that day, Cody walked to the hospital where Cherie had been receiving her treatment.  His grounding did not prohibit him from seeing Cherie, because his mother¡¯s religion reckoned his visits among the ¡°corporeal works of mercy¡± which she did not want to forbid him from.  Cody¡¯s mother didn¡¯t know that Cherie had been among the ones healed.


    As Cody entered the hospital and approached Cherie¡¯s room, he felt a mix of delight and shame.  Delight, because he would get to see Cherie well for the first time, and shame, for what he had done to bring it about.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.            Cody arrived at her room.  He set his bag down.  He thought of fiddling his cube, but decided against it.  Now that it housed his soul it was probably best not to use it, as such use would risk damage to it.


    ¡°Hello Cherry,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Have you heard?¡± she asked, smiling.


    If he was right about what she was talking about, he didn¡¯t need to hear.  He didn¡¯t need to hear because he himself had ripped a man¡¯s soul out and¡ª Cody made himself focus.  This is about the happy parts of what he¡¯d done, not the unpleasant ones.  Now, if he had not been responsible, he wouldn¡¯t have known, so he did his best to lie.  ¡°Heard about what?¡±


    ¡°I can see through you,¡± Cherie said, ¡°who told you?¡±


    Darn it!  Cody was a terrible liar.  ¡°Told me what?¡± he asked, trying his best not to have his lie detected.


    ¡°What¡¯s with you?¡± Cherie sighed, ¡°Well, did you see the news report of the thing that broke into this hospital?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Well, I was one of the people it cured.¡±


    Cody put on his best surprised face.  ¡°That¡¯s amazing!  So there¡¯s no sign of cancer?¡±


    Cherie sighed, unconvinced by Cody¡¯s poor attempts at acting, but not bothered very much by it.  Perhaps she thought he wanted to give her the pleasure of revealing it herself.  ¡°Yes.  The doctors are running some tests, but they say that they can¡¯t even tell that I ever had cancer in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Cherry that¡¯s wonderful!¡±  Cody did alright with that one, because he wasn¡¯t lying.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it?¡± Cherie said, ¡°The doctors are double checking the test results now, and they even say I¡¯ll get to go to school if all of the tests come back negative again.¡±


    This was wonderful!  Cherie was happy, truly happy, for the first time in months.  As he looked at her face, Cody was the happiest he¡¯d been in months too.  Cherie had been given a chance to live the life she deserved.  Cody had taken on a huge burden to give her that, but at least that one good thing had come out of all of this.


    *****


    That night, it was time for Cody to go hunting again.  ¡°Hunting,¡± he thought, ¡°hunting for a human soul to dev-- FOCUS!¡±  Cody knew he needed to keep his mind on the task at hand.  He had read about most of the spells common to all liches in the book, though he had not had the opportunity to test most of them.


    Tonight, he had to be smart.  He didn¡¯t want to waste an opportunity to heal another ten or so people of terminal illness, so he would definitely hit a hospital, but he needed to be smarter about it so he could avoid ending up on the news again.  For one thing, he had already waited until later at night.  It was about 2:00 A.M.  For another, he planned to hit a different hospital; and not the cancer wing this time.  He also planned to check the alley he had been in last night to see if the body he had left was still there.


    He snuck out of his window.  He walked across his roof, which was flat, and climbed off of it.  It was lucky for him that the dumpster was just the right size and height for him to easily jump down onto it, and then from it to the ground.  From there, he walked a distance away from his house before transforming.  He snuck carefully into his target hospital, and, as he had last time, went into and out of several rooms, tagging all of the illnesses he found along the way.  Whenever he put his hand on any of them, a list of their ailments, somewhat like a drop-down menu, appeared in his mind.  Most of the patients here seemed to have ALS.  He was able to tag the degeneration that had already happened to the patients along with the underlying disease.


    He ran off and, after a few false leads, was able to find a fear trail which was the result of an actual crime.  This time it was a mugging.  The two parties reacted as he, shrouded in his veil, approached.  Both the victim and the mugger were paralyzed with fear.  Cody quickly grabbed the mugger.  The mugger screamed.  Cody passed on the various instances of the disease to him in order of severity.  The degeneration he had passed on caused the victim to fall to the ground.  Cody scythed the man¡¯s soul out, and ate it.  He then placed his hand on the body and made it rapidly decompose.


    Cody next went to the alley.  He knew his way around the area well enough to find the alley again.  He looked, and the body was gone.  This probably meant the police had found it.  So Cody¡¯s actions were already being investigated for the murders that they were.  Cody thought of turning himself in, but that wouldn¡¯t work out well.  Any attempt to jail him would lead to him becoming hungrier and hungrier until he couldn¡¯t stop himself from going on a rampage through the prison, devouring the souls of prisoners and guards alike.  Any attempt to execute him would be futile unless he turned in the cube.  As that possibility occurred to him, Cody searched his mind for some reason it too was unacceptable.  Well, the whole execution would need to be carried out in secret.  Cody¡¯s very existence had disastrous implications, and it would be a bad idea to reveal it to the public.  Still, such a secret execution would be possible.


    Cody tried hard to think of a reason he couldn¡¯t kill himself, or an alternative to doing so.  He didn¡¯t want to die, especially not if an alternative existed.  He thought as he walked away, carrying his veil with him.  A few alleys down, he lowered it, took his normal form, crept back to his house, and snuck back into his room.  He lied on his bed and thought.  There were no excuses to be had for what he had done.  He was responsible for his condition.  If he couldn¡¯t find a reason to go on, he needed to make plans to do what he had to.  He got his book out, and turned to the Q&A section.


    ¡°Can you think of any reason why I can¡¯t or shouldn¡¯t turn my cube in to the police and have them smash it?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t.  Even if you could, are you not doing more good than harm?  So far as a lich, you¡¯ve saved far more people than you¡¯ve killed.¡±


    What?


    ¡°Wait, I can¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Liches were originally designed to serve the underworld much more directly than they do today.  Hence, they, including you, are programmed not to be able to destroy themselves.  You can risk your life, or even commit an act knowing your destruction will result, but you cannot take any action with your own death being your intention.  This would include any attempt to induce another to kill you.¡±


    Well that was it then.  He couldn¡¯t even kill himself.  Cody closed his eyes and cried for the souls he would be devouring for the rest of his life.  Criminals or not, he had no right to inflict that fate on them.  Their misery would last for epochs, and it would be entirely his fault.  All he could do was cry for them, and curse the monster he had become.


    *****


    The next morning, detective Williams arrived at the station.  He was approached by a police officer.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± the officer said.


    ¡°To you too,¡± Williams said.  ¡°Has there been another murder?¡±


    ¡°Another hospital was hit,¡± the officer said, ¡°but we haven¡¯t found another body.¡±


    ¡°And the patients inside are cured as before?¡± Williams asked.


    ¡°Totally.¡±


    So the killer had struck again.  It was possible that he¡¯d found a way around his need to move diseases between patients.  It was more likely that it had simply occurred to him to dispose of the victim¡¯s body.


    ¡°I see,¡± Williams said.


    The officer was suddenly called away.  He turned to see another officer gesturing to him to approach.  ¡°Hold on, I gotta go.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Williams said.  The officer ran to the other one.


    Donna turned to Williams.


    ¡°So what do you make of it?¡±


    Williams thought for a moment before speaking.  ¡°That he has struck again is of great interest,¡± he said. ¡°If he merely desired to heal Cherie Lambert, he would have done it once and stopped there, but he did not.  I think he knew Cherie, and I think that his first thought upon knowing he had this ability was to heal her, but I also think that this person is generally willing to kill some people for the sake of more.¡±  Williams paused for a moment.  ¡°If the victim here does turn to have been a criminal though, that casts this person as some sort of vigilante, wishing to move illnesses from those he thinks deserving of life to those he does not.¡±  Williams yawned.  He hadn¡¯t had enough coffee that morning.  ¡°By the way, if you don¡¯t mind, please assemble a list of persons close to Cherie Lambert.  Don¡¯t rule anyone out based on their age or level of physical fitness.  We have no idea how this¡­ whatever it is, works, and it¡¯s possible that the figure moving around is an avatar being controlled from a distance.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    *****


    Cody sat in his room reading from his book.  He knew it would be lunch time soon.  It was starting late today, because his mother was behind on cleaning, and was taking some extra time to get caught up.  As he sat, he suddenly saw something appear in front of him.  He flinched and backed away in surprise, dropping the book.


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­ going on here¡­?¡± he heard.  He had a feeling that the words were coming from the thing in front of him.


    ¡°Uh¡­ Hold on.  Let me ask,¡± Cody said in reply.


    ¡°What do you mean ask?  Where am I?  Why am I here?  Who are you?  What was that¡­ thing I just went through?¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Cody said.


    Cody picked up the book and opened it to the Q&A section.


    ¡°Who or what is that?¡±


    ¡°That is the first soul you ate.  The process of its digestion is complete, and that is what is left.  He can communicate with you telepathically.  Only a creature of the underworld can see him.¡±


    Right, that.  Cody put his head down and took a few deep breaths.  His head still down, he wrote another question in the book.


    ¡°I thought that I had no powers in human form.¡±


    ¡°You cannot cast spells.  A few of your passive abilities, mainly your ability to see and hear things normally hidden from humans, persist.¡±


    ¡°Will you please tell me what¡¯s going on?  I¡¯m kinda freaking out here.¡±


    Cody forced himself to forget his shame and looked up.  ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to put this,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Could you please just give it a try?  I¡¯m kinda freaking out about all of this.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ What¡¯s the last thing you remember that you consider ¡®normal?¡¯¡±


    ¡°Well I was in a conversation with a woman who¡­ owed me some money, when suddenly a cloud enveloped us and--¡±


    ¡°That was me.  I saw that you were about to shoot her, so I tackled you away.¡±


    ¡°So how did I end up¡­ wherever I did, and why am I here now?¡±


    Cody¡¯s hands clenched into fists, his face still turned down in shame.  He took a deep breath.  Without looking up at his victim, he said the words.  ¡°I ate your soul.¡±


    ¡°You did what?¡±


    ¡°I swallowed your soul.  I have to in order to stay alive.¡±  He spoke that last sentence more to console himself than to console the spirit he had consumed.


    ¡°You¡­ I¡­ wait¡­ would that make that thing I just went through¡­ what the hell man?  Where do you get off eating people¡¯s souls?¡±


    ¡°I have to,¡± Cody said, still not looking up.  ¡°Sending myself into a frenzy by starving--¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d go into a frenzy if you couldn¡¯t devour enough souls?  Wow, I may have done some unpleasant things, but you¡­ you¡¯re a real effing monster.¡±


    Cody sat there for a second.  ¡°I know,¡± he finally said.


    Suddenly, his mother called him downstairs for lunch.  ¡°I¡¯m coming,¡± Cody said.  Cody knew that the soul would not be able to refuse an order from its lich.  He didn¡¯t want to issue one though.  Up until now, he¡¯d nearly managed to pretend that it wasn¡¯t slavery if he didn¡¯t make them do anything.  Now though, he really, really wanted to make the man go away.  He struggled with himself until he couldn¡¯t take it anymore.  ¡°Now, please go wandering around wherever you please, just don¡¯t return here until I¡¯m done eating, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± the soul said, unable to resist his master¡¯s voice.  Cody put his head back down and shed a tear.  Eventually, he was able to regain his composure and go downstairs.


    *****


    That night, Kenneth Kurt Rogers sat in a lawn chair outside by his pool, reading by the light of an ornate lamp.  He lived in the wealthiest suburb of Goldfalls, California.  It was nighttime.  He read by the light of a large lamp outside.  As he read, he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye.  He dismissed the sensation and continued reading.  Suddenly, he smelled a horrible smell, like a rotten corpse.  He put his book down and looked around for the cause.  He couldn¡¯t see anything.  He tried to continue reading.  The smell only grew more intense, until finally he couldn¡¯t bare it, and tried to get up.


    When he turned towards the door into his house he saw the source of the smell.  It was a horrifying being of remarkable stature.  It looked to be about eight feet tall.  It seemed to wear extravagant robes, like those of a king, but they were dirty and tattered.  Underneath them was what looked like a walking corpse.  It had ill-kept claws for nails and was a deathly shade of brown.  The creature smiled, showing disgusting yellow teeth.  Kenneth was sure that that smile was directed at him.


    Kenneth dashed away in horror.  He moved rather quickly for a man of his weight, but in his hysteria, he forgot that the path directly away from his door led to his swimming pool.  He tripped at the edge of the pool, and fell into the deep end.  He tried to swim to the ladder on the other side.  Suddenly, he felt cold, and couldn¡¯t move his hand.  He looked down at it, and saw that the entirety of the pool¡¯s water had frozen into ice.


    He turned around.  He saw the entity walking toward him.  He struggled to escape the ice, screaming as he did, but the effort was futile.  Soon the entity had raised his scythe.  The instrument swept down, and passed through Kenneth¡¯s body, removing his soul.  The entity grinned from ear to ear as he swallowed it.


    *****


    A few days later, Detective Williams held a press conference.  By this point, the perpetrator had cured forty-seven people, and presumably killed five.  Two more truthful witnesses had come forward, claiming to have been saved from violence by the killer.  The existence of the first victim, and probable existence of the others, though initially kept secret, had been released to the public.


    ¡°Detective Williams,¡± one of the reporters said, ¡°Is it true that all of the victims thus far have been confirmed to be the perpetrators of crimes in progress at the time of their killing?¡±


    ¡°That the perpetrator intervened in their committing a violent crime has only been confirmed for three of the five victims,¡± Williams said, ¡°but it¡¯s enough that we can assume, unless evidence to the contrary is provided, that this is true of all of them.¡±


    ¡°Sir,¡± another reporter said, ¡°it¡¯s been said that the perpetrator is able to find crimes in progress consistently within an hour of his hitting a hospital.  Is this true, and if so, how is he doing so?¡±


    ¡°As far as we can tell, it is true.  We don¡¯t know how he is doing this.  It is possible that this person merely has a significant knowledge of the nature of crime in the inner city.  It is also possible, given that he can cast a cloud of blackness and move diseases between people, that he can sense crime somehow as well.¡±


    ¡°What comment do you have on the religious and philosophical implications of someone having these abilities?¡±


    ¡°None.¡±


    ¡°What course of action do you recommend should one encounter this perpetrator?¡±


    ¡°Do not try to interfere with his activities.  He is extremely dangerous, and the limits and nature of his power are unknown.  If you are in a hospital bed, simply let him heal you.  If you are saved from a criminal by him, run away while he does his work.  If you are in his line of fire, then try your best to get to a public place.  There has been a case where someone was able to escape him by fleeing into a crowded house.  Make your move to flee as soon as possible, so that you can be sure you escape before he can move the diseases to you.¡±


    ¡°Detective, what do you think of the name ¡®Angel of Death¡¯ being given by the press to the perpetrator?¡±


    ¡°I dislike it.  We must not romanticize or glorify this murderer by calling him an ¡®angel.¡¯  He is a serial killer, and that is all that he is or ever will be.  He has found a way to move illness between people, and has decided that he has the right to judge who is and is not worthy of life.¡±


    ¡°But sir, if this person is stopping crimes, healing people of illness, and taking criminals off the street, is he not a hero?¡±


    ¡°Most certainly not.  He is no more a hero than a man who hunts down people he finds unjust and locks them in his basement, or a man who kills abortionists because he thinks them immoral.  He is not a government official.  He has not been appointed by any official process.  He is just a random person on the street who has decided he knows better than the justice system which has served this city for over a century.  His abilities do not grant him immunity from the law, and she shall make no exception for him.¡±

 1.03 Im Just Trying to do the Right Thing

    Detective Williams and his partner Donna waited inside the police station.  Cherie Lambert was at last available for questioning.  She had spent a few days recovering and preparing to start school once again.  She was on her way to the station, and was expected to arrive any second.


    ¡°Repeat that list of suspects to me again,¡± detective Williams said to Donna.


    ¡°Cherie¡¯s father Charles Lambert Jr., her mother Deana Lambert, her boyfriend Cody Giles, her ex-boyfriend Jake Webb, her friend Dawn Pearson, her aunts Sally Lambert, Marsha Wilkerson and Lauran Ferrell, her uncle George Ferrell, her grandmother Dorothea Kirkland, and her grandfather Charles Lambert.¡±


    ¡°Add Cherie herself to that list.¡±


    ¡°What?  Why?  Do you think she might be doing this herself?¡±


    ¡°With as little knowledge as we have of the killer and their abilities, it¡¯s not something we can rule out.  If she can move diseases between people, she could be controlling an avatar remotely.¡±


    Donna obeyed, jotting down Cherie¡¯s name.  At that moment, Cherie arrived, walking into the police station.  Detective Williams watched her as she came into the station.  She was remarkably healthy.  One looking at her now would never guess that a mere ten days ago, she was in a hospital bed, dying of cancer.  She walked into the room where the interview would take place and sat down in front of the detective.


    ¡°May I ask how long this will take?¡± she said. ¡°Today is the first day of school, and I need to be there in an hour.¡±


    ¡°Not long at all Miss Lambert,¡± Williams said.  ¡°Now, I assume you are aware of why I¡¯m taking interest in you personally?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the news said that the cloud in the footage lingers longer in my room, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Now, I have a list of persons here.  All of them are suspects in this case.  Will you take a look?¡±  Williams handed her a piece of paper with the list.


    Cherie¡¯s mouth widened a little as she looked at the list.  ¡°You¡¯re not really suggesting that any of my friends and family would do this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not suggesting anything.  That is merely a list of possibilities.¡±


    Cherie looked it over for a second.  ¡°What¡¯s Jake doing on here?¡± she asked.  ¡°I haven¡¯t spoken to him in months.¡±


    ¡°In making the list, we considered persons who might seek to heal you in order to woo you.  If it were Jake, he¡¯d be likely to either have revealed himself to you by now, or else to reveal himself to you soon.¡±


    ¡°I can promise you, I¡¯ll tell you as soon as that happens.¡±  Cherie let out a smirk, ¡°I have nothing but contempt for him.¡±


    Nothing but contempt?  Why?  The answer could be mere high school drama.  It could also be information that might give him insight into the motivations of his suspects.  ¡°May I ask why?¡±


    ¡°Oh let me count the ways,¡± Cherie sighed.  ¡°He¡¯s a cocky idiot.  He¡¯s the most immature person you¡¯ll ever meet, and he¡¯s a bully.  He¡¯s insanely jealous of my boyfriend for ¡®stealing me¡¯ because I grew out of caring what the five most attractive people at school happen to think of me.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±  Williams asked.  He observed as Cherie¡¯s expression became somewhat more somber.


    Cherie sighed.  ¡°Being given an expiration date only a few years ahead of you makes you rethink your priorities.¡±  She took another deep breath.  ¡°Things like influence, social status, and even money start to mean a lot less to you after a while.  My illness gave me a reality check that caused me to realize how shallow he was and leave him for Cody.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± the Detective said.  He was taking careful notes.


    ¡°Tell me more about Cody.  How likely do you think it is that he¡¯s the killer?¡±


    ¡°Not very.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I really can¡¯t see him killing someone, not even to save a lot more people.  Not even if one of them is me.  He¡¯s not that kind of person.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°He feels bad killing insects, let alone humans.  He¡¯s all but incapable of lying and is overly polite.  He doesn¡¯t even curse.  I just can¡¯t imagine him ever killing someone.  Even if he wanted to do it, when the person is in front of him, begging for mercy, he wouldn¡¯t be able to bring himself to.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± the detective said, ¡°Is there anyone else on that list that strikes you as odd?¡±


    Cherie looked at it for another second.  ¡°Well, my grandma seems a little out of place.  How could an old woman like her pull off all of this?¡±


    ¡°Whoever is doing this has abilities I don¡¯t currently understand.  No one, so far as I know, can move diseases from one person to another, or cast a veil like the killer does.  It makes no less sense for an old woman to do it than for a younger man.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I guess that makes sense.  Is that all then?¡±


    ¡°Can you think of anything else that might be helpful?¡±


    ¡°Not at the moment, and I really need to get to school.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, you may go.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Williams smiled.  ¡°The pleasure is mine, Ms. Lambert.¡±


    As Cherie left, Williams thought about the information she had provided.  If Jake Webb had the character Cherie described, he probably wasn¡¯t the killer.  Cherie may have been the first person the killer had in mind to heal, but this had gone beyond just her.  This killer fancied himself a hero.  He was at least na?ve enough to consider the death of a criminal less tragic than that of anyone else.  That is why he had suspected Jake.  He had reason to heal Cherie Lambert, and, given his wealth, a probable lack of understanding of the desperation which leads people to engage in criminal activity.  If interviews with other classmates of Jake¡¯s reinforced this perception of his character though, it was safe to rule him out for now.


    This was by far the hardest case Williams had ever tackled.  Because the nature of the killer and his powers were totally unknown, he could not count on many of his usual tactics.  He couldn¡¯t be sure that the culprit wasn¡¯t operating some avatar remotely, so it made no difference if someone had an alibi.  No forensic evidence had thus far shown up either, and there was no reason to expect it to be there.  All he had to work with were the persons and their motivations.  And all he could do was continue his attempts to discern them.


    *****


    Cody got off of his school bus.  It was the first day of his sophomore year.  He saw Lester get off of a different bus.  He walked over to Lester.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Cody said, ¡°How are you?¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Lester said.  ¡°You?¡±


    ¡°Fine, all things considered,¡± Cody said.  All things considered was a rather large qualifier.  Eating the soul of one extortionist had been difficult enough, but killing every night, and seeing the damaged souls that resulted, had been extraordinarily hard for Cody to deal with.  He had eaten ten people now, and seen what remained of eight of them.


    ¡°I see,¡± Lester said.  The two began walking.  ¡°Tell me, do you think this detective Williams is likely to catch this ¡®angel of death¡¯ character?¡±


    That was a tough question.  Public interest in the Angel was high and as a result the investigation was well followed by the press.  Every detail Det. Williams released about what he suspected was happily awaited both by supporters of the Angel, and by critics.  Cody himself had done some research into Det. Williams.  He was apparently a supreme talent in his field.  He had a stellar record of success, and had solved many cases which seemed unsolvable.


    He had already admitted to the press that he believed that the killer was a person and was connected with Cherie.  That already put him far too close to deducing that it was Cody.  Even this soon after Cody¡¯s beginnings, it would already take only one major clue to get the detective on him like a hound.  Fortunately, Det. Williams had also gotten some things wrong.  He did not know that Cody was incapable of arranging a scenario where he did not kill.  As a result, his profile of the killer was that of someone who would, given the choice not to do what Cody did, do it.  He guessed that the Angel was at least wealthy enough to be aloof from the impoverished, and did not have empathy for the reasons the poor turned to crime.  In reality, Cody was quite poor, and certainly in a position to understand desperation.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s entirely on the right track,¡± Cody said, ¡°but I also think he¡¯s only one major clue away from figuring it out.  I¡¯m not sure how long it will be before the Angel makes some kind of mistake.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  Lester took a deep breath and put his head down.  ¡°What do you think would happen if he were caught?¡±


    Cody thought for a second.  ¡°Well I suppose he would soon escape,¡± Cody said.  Cody knew no prison had any hope of detaining him.  Though he hadn¡¯t yet had occasion to use them, he could unleash powerful blasts of magic which would quickly break through any walls.  Or he could just hold his hand on the walls and make them decay away at an accelerated rate, reducing them to rubble in seconds.  Cody looked down.  ¡°But in the process, he¡¯d have been publicly exposed as a monster.  His parents would reject him.  Cherie would reject him.  He¡¯d have to flee the area and go into hiding.  Even his supporters would turn on him once they learned what happened to the souls of his victims.  He¡¯d lose everyone he¡¯d ever loved.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Lester said, ¡°I don¡¯t imagine his accomplice would do very well either.¡±


    They continued to their first few classes.  They had lunch at the same time.  As they waited in line, they heard many debates between the critics and supporters of the Angel.


    ¡°He¡¯s a hero.  He¡¯s saved ninety-four people from illness.  Between that and the crimes he¡¯s stopped, he¡¯s probably saved over a hundred people,¡± a supporter would say.


    ¡°And he¡¯s killed ten people,¡± a detractor would counter, ¡°he had no right to do that even if it was to help other people.¡±


    ¡°They were criminals, and they were killed while committing crimes,¡± the supporter would say.


    ¡°He¡¯s could easily pin the criminals and call the police,¡± a critic would say.  Cody desperately wished that really were an option.


    *****


    Later, Cody got home from school.  He entered his house, greeted his family, and went upstairs.  He got his book, and turned to the Q&A section.


    ¡°Will I ever be in a position where I¡¯m forced to use the souls I¡¯ve eaten?¡±


    ¡°The only spell you need them for is the reanimation of the dead.  I cannot say if you will ever be in a position where you are forced to use it.¡±


    ¡°Is that all they are useable for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen them used for reconnaissance in the past.  You can also order them to disclose any information they may have, or give you advice.¡±


    That was a relief.  Cody¡¯s plan to let them wander freely might work out after all.  It wasn¡¯t as good as life, but hopefully it was tolerable.  Hopefully.  He turned back to the list of spells, but as he did, he heard his father and mother approaching.


    ¡°Look, we don¡¯t have the money,¡± his mother said.  She sounded like she was crying.


    ¡°I can get the money,¡± his father said, ¡°I--¡±


    ¡°No you cannot.  I wish you could, but there is no way you can come up with enough in three days.  Now, hold on one minute.¡±  Cody¡¯s mother entered his room.  She sat down next to him on his bed.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for bed sweetie,¡± she said, trying to force a smile.


    ¡°Alright mom,¡± Cody said.  ¡°What are you and dad talking about?  You sounded worried.¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother took a deep breath.  ¡°Son,¡± she said, putting her head down, ¡°we don¡¯t have enough money to pay the Black Death.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Cody¡¯s jaw dropped and his eyes widened.  One of the most widely known rules of his area of Goldfalls, CA was that if you did not pay the Black Death, you would yourself feel death¡¯s embrace.


    His mother began to tear up.  ¡°They want a thousand dollars within three days, Cody, and we don¡¯t have that.  They said¡­ They said if we don¡¯t get it, they will retaliate, and they¡¯re starting with me.¡±


    Cody began crying too.  This was like Cherie all over again, only worse, because it was his mother and she only had days to Cherie¡¯s months.  She couldn¡¯t go to the police.  That would simply cause the Black Death to kill other people.  They had always promised that they would, in all cases, kill twice as many people as evaded them, and they never broke their promises.


    ¡°I love you,¡± Cody said, crying.  He sat up and hugged his mother.


    ¡°I love you too,¡± Cody¡¯s mother said, embracing him, ¡°Goodnight.¡±  She got up, and left the room.  They¡¯d probably only have a few more nights to say that to each other.


    Cody laid back.  His mother was going to¡­ she was going to¡­


    Cody thought for a moment.  The Black Death was one of the many criminal organizations which haunted inner city Goldfalls.  Cody¡¯s house happened to be in its territory.  He already knew that his family paid protection to them, and assumed that everyone else in the area did too, though the Black Death did not permit its victims to disclose such things to others, and everyone around knew not to do the things the Black Death forbade.


    As Cody thought, something occurred to him.  Why should he obey them?  Before, it was because they were vastly more powerful, but that was no longer the case.  He could kill them with a single blast of magic and their bullets wouldn¡¯t even inconvenience him.


    Still more thoughts occurred to him.  Perhaps stopping crimes in progress wasn¡¯t the only possible manner in which he could choose his victims?  Perhaps, if he went after the leaders of organized crime rings it would be much the same, and perhaps do more good.  No, Cody had already decided it wasn¡¯t his place to decide who deserved to live or die.  But on the other hand, the need to save his mother was even stronger than the need to save Cherie.  Waiting for whoever had been hired to kill his mother to strike was too risky.  Asking Cherie¡¯s family for the money would only put them in danger by informing them of the Black Death¡¯s activities.  Besides, who said he had to kill the gang¡¯s leaders?  He routinely rendered people unconscious when he broke into hospitals.  He could find the leaders of the Black Death, paralyze them, and call the police to report their location.


    No, that wouldn¡¯t work.  How would he call the police?  Easy, hospitals had phones.  He could paralyze the gangsters, leave them somewhere, and then report that location when he broke into the hospital.  It might cost him some time which he could use to heal people, but it also might be worth it.  He could save his mother, end the Black Death¡¯s reign of terror, and send a message to other criminals that they might meet the same fate.  Crime had already been driven down in Cody¡¯s area by fear of him.  Taking out an entire gang, even a small one, would send a message that it wasn¡¯t just the grunts who should fear him.


    That, of course, did mean his family would be targeted if he were ever discovered, but the gangs were already displeased with him, and his mother was being targeted right now.  If he did nothing, his mother would die, and then his father when he couldn¡¯t pay either.  If he was to save them, Cody had to act.  And killing a single hit-man would only prompt the Black Death to send another.  Cody had to end the Black Death, and he had to do it within three days.


    Immediately after coming to this conclusion, he examined it carefully for moral flaws.  He could find none in the prospect of knocking out the Black Death¡¯s leadership and handing them to the police.  He decided it was okay to go ahead with the plan.


    Tonight, though, wasn¡¯t the time to execute this.  As much as he wanted to strike right now, he needed to plan exactly how he would go about this, and he would have Lester¡¯s help with that.  He read in the dark for another hour or so, and then went outside to feed.


    *****


    The next day, after school, Cody invited Lester into his house and up to his room.


    ¡°So what was it you were saying you want to talk to me about?¡± Lester asked.


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°The Black Death has just given my mother her last warning, and she probably won¡¯t be able to pay them.¡±


    ¡°You idiot!  Why did you tell me?  You just got me involved in this!¡±


    ¡°Because¡­¡± Cody clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, ¡°because I¡¯m not going to let them take her.  The Black Death has ruled us for far too long.  I now have the power to stop them, and I¡¯m going to use it.¡±


    ¡°Look, man, you¡¯ve clearly gone insane.  You¡¯re starting to become mad with powe--¡±


    ¡°No I¡¯m not.  Think about it.  None of them have any chance taking me in a fight.¡±  Cody pulled out the cube which contained his soul.  ¡°So long as I leave this at home, they¡¯ll need a rocket launcher, grenade, flamethrower, or Molotov cocktail to do any meaningful damage to me.¡±


    Lester thought for a moment.  ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±  Lester paused again.  ¡°But this is still a bad idea.  I mean¡­ what if you fail, and if you do what if you later get found out?  The Black Death is vengeful Cody.  By doing this, you take on the risk of¡ª¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t fail,¡± Cody¡¯s face took on a look of determination, ¡°Those people have terrorized us for too long.  They¡¯ve taken our money, forced us to work for them, stolen our property, and killed those we love.  How many people have you lost to them Lester?  How many people have you known who were shot dead?  I can think of two or three off the top of my head.  Do you remember Ashley?  How about Brandon?  Do you remember little Marci, Lester?  Do you remember that I was going to have a little sister?  Do you remember the visit to the hospital after they kicked my mother¡¯s stomach in?  Do you remember the next few days after they told her she could never have another child?  I remember the look on her face at the very moment she heard.¡±  Cody shed another tear as he clenched his fists.  ¡°Do you remember that Lester?  Because that was the last time we fell behind on our payments.¡±  Cody looked Lester straight in the eye, ¡°They¡¯ve done that kind of thing to all of us, Lester.  I don¡¯t know anyone who lives around here and hasn¡¯t lost something important.  It¡¯s about time someone taught them that they don¡¯t own this neighborhood, and that they don¡¯t own us.¡±


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Lester looked at Cody, concerned.  He put his hand on Cody¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°They do, Cody.¡±


    ¡°No they don¡¯t, and I¡¯m going to prove that.  I¡¯m going to save her.¡±  Cody looked down and shed a tear.  ¡°I have to.¡±


    Lester looked at Cody with his arms crossed and took a deep breath.  ¡°And you¡¯re really absolutely sure that you can pull this off?  I mean, how do you even plan to find the leaders of these gangs?  They¡¯re well hidden, and even the police can¡¯t find them.  Even Williams can¡¯t find them.¡±


    ¡°Simple,¡± Cody looked down on the floor ¡°two of the souls I have were members of the black death.  I can order them to give me any information I need.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re going to use them?  Cody, you said you never would.  Taking them is one thing, but using them to find and devour more people¡­ it¡¯s evil.  It¡¯s nothing short of evil.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath and looked up.  ¡°I don¡¯t need to eat the Black Death¡¯s leaders,¡± he said.  ¡°Paralyzing them and leaving them for the police will do just as well.¡±


    ¡°And if they escape prison, or can give an order from inside, or simply wake up early?  You do remember that they know of someone who¡¯s connected to the Angel, right?  Cherie?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡± Cody thought for a moment.  ¡°I suppose I could do it in a way that wouldn¡¯t make it obvious that it was the Angel.  That, though, would probably mean killing them.¡±  Cody sat on his bed and thought.  Not doing this wasn¡¯t an option.  His mother would die, and the Black Death¡¯s reign of terror would continue.  If he was going to save her, he needed to act.  If he did as he had planned, Cherie might be a target.


    So that was it then, Cody couldn¡¯t let it be obvious that it was him.  So, how would he avoid it?  In addition to illness, he could inflict any injury he wanted with his powers.  He could always give them bullet wounds.  No, that wouldn¡¯t work.  People would wonder what had become of the bullets.  They would expect them to be in the floor or wall, or in the victim¡¯s bodies.  Perhaps he could simply accelerate the decay of the bodies?  Yes, that sounded like a good idea.  The police would assume the bodies had been hidden.


    So that was it then.  He¡¯d go in, kill the Black Death¡¯s leaders, and destroy their bodies.  That of course meant he needed to seal them in the room so that he could pick them off one by one.  No, he could intimidate them into submission, an easy task.  Given that he could inflict any illness or injury he wanted, there was plenty of capacity for torture.


    Torture¡­ he was really considering using his powers for torture.  He almost left the plan behind at that point, but he remembered his mother.  The most he could do was save torture for a last resort.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Cody said, his head down. ¡°I will have to kill them.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re going to eat them too?¡± Lester looked concerned.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Cody took a deep breath, ¡°if the underworld has any justice to it at all, which, at least in mythology, it usually does, I¡¯m doing them a big favor by keeping them around long enough to repent of their actions.¡±


    ¡°That is true,¡± Lester said.  ¡°Alright then, you do your thing.  I won¡¯t tell anyone or anything.¡±  Lester grinned.  ¡°Now that I think about it, being rid of the Black Death would be nice.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Cody said.


    *****


    That night, it was time to execute his plan.  Cody got out his book and flipped to the Q&A section.


    ¡°How much do the souls mind being forced to carry out a given order?¡±


    ¡°As much as they would have when they were alive.¡±


    This isn¡¯t something Cody would normally do.  He¡¯d already done enough horrible things to these people.  The least he could give them was the ability to wander around the world in peace.  But now, he¡¯d be denying one of them even that, if only for a few hours.  Hopefully, this¡¯d be the only time he¡¯d have to use an unwilling soul.


    Cody snuck out in his usual manner and transformed.  He went on his usual round with a hospital and a criminal.  If he didn¡¯t, someone might infer something from the fact that the Angel had skipped a night.  Once he was done, Cody hesitated, and then summoned one of his souls.


    Without any choice in the matter, the soul was compelled to rush toward him.  ¡°What do you want?¡± the soul asked.  The soul looked angry.  Cody would too if he were dragged away from wandering the world in relative peace so that he could carry out the commands of his murderer.


    ¡°You were a member of Black Death, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Why does it matter?¡±


    ¡°Do you know where their leadership is?¡±


    ¡°This second?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Please give me all of the information I¡¯ll need to find them, and any more at your discretion.¡±  There really wasn¡¯t any worry of the soul tricking him, as souls could not deliberately defy their liches in any meaningful way, even if they found a loophole in their orders.  His precision was to ensure that the soul couldn¡¯t make a mistake.


    ¡°Right now, they¡¯d be gathered together for a meeting.  There¡¯ll be eight of them, and two guards.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.  Will you please lead the way.¡±


    ¡°Alright.  If I may ask, mast--¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to refer to me as that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, alright then.  If I may ask, er¡­ sir, why are you asking for this information?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s none of your concern.¡±  Even if that had managed to fool the soul, which was unlikely, he would find out once the leaders joined Cody¡¯s collection of slaves.  Cody looked at the soul, for a second and put his head down.  Knowing the answer would probably just make him feel worse, he asked one last question.  ¡°If I could annihilate your existence right now, would you want me to?¡±


    The soul seemed to be thinking for a moment.  ¡°If you never give me another order, then no.  If you plan to give me orders occasionally¡­ I¡¯m not sure.  If you plan to give them regularly, then yes.  Absolutely yes.¡±


    Cody knew he couldn¡¯t have expected any other answer.  ¡°Go on, then,¡± Cody said, ¡°lead me to them.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± the soul said.  The soul led the way.  He didn¡¯t speak as he floated in front of Cody.  The entire time, Cody was reminding himself of both his mother and his sister. Eventually, they arrived outside of the safe house.  Cody was very lucky that the leaders were meeting tonight.  They were all together in a convenient location, though it might be that this happened regularly.


    ¡°How long will it take for the Black Death to break up entirely with these guys gone?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea.  A lot of the members will probably leave or move and the guy we hired to off your mother will probably abandon the job once the people who¡¯d pay him are gone.¡±


    ¡°How do you know about that?¡±


    ¡°Our territory ain¡¯t big.  I recognized the outside of your house.  Anyways, there are only a few dozen members who¡¯ve been initiated into the Black Death.  Most of our work was handled by hired men.  Without these eight, most of them will start looking elsewhere for clients.  A lot of the people who joined hoping for the gang¡¯s protection would also leave.¡±


    ¡°How many would be left over?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.  Maybe two dozen or so, but they¡¯ll be split into a couple of factions.  The whole thing is loose enough, and certain subgroups are competitive enough, that without these guys to hold it together, it¡¯ll fall apart pretty quickly.  Either way, they won¡¯t be able to do the kinds of things they could when unified.¡±


    ¡°I see.  How bloody do you expect the competition from other gangs for this area to be?¡±


    ¡°I dunno.  This isn¡¯t really prime turf even if it wasn¡¯t known to be part of your hunting grounds.  That¡¯s why the Black Death was able to take it so easily when it started out; no one here has much money to take.  With you around, it¡¯s possible that no one will want it or that they¡¯ll wait until you seem to go away.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Cody allowed the soul to return to what it had been doing prior to Cody¡¯s summoning him and looked at the house with his darkness on.  He was hiding in a shadow, so it¡¯d be very unlikely that he¡¯d be spotted.  The guards were each near one of two windows facing the front of the house.  They were both armed.  There was a window to a lit basement.  It was possible that the leaders were in there.


    Cody needed to get inside.  He moved down the street a ways, crossed it, and took on his human form.  Taking his human form was a risk, but a necessary one.  He walked down the sidewalk outside the house.  As he walked by, he could see that the guards were tracking him with their pistols.  As he neared the front door, he turned towards it. Cody made sure no one was around.  He approached the door and knocked.


    ¡°What is it?¡± the guard asked.


    ¡°Package,¡± Cody said, rushing the lie out as quickly as possible.


    Cody could hear the guards¡¯ confusion as one of them approached and opened the door.    The guard opened the door and looked down at him.  Before the guard could react, Cody took his true form, pushed him to the ground, went inside, scythed the guard¡¯s soul, and ate it.  He turned to the other guard and closed the door.  He approached the guard.  Cody wasn¡¯t casting his darkness, so the guard could see him.  The guard reeked of the strongest fear Cody had thus far smelled.  He froze in place, too terrified to alert the leaders below.


    Eventually, Cody reached the guard.  ¡°Please¡­ spare me,¡± the guard said, crying.  Cody wished he could, but leaving a witness was more than he could afford to do.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said.  Cody scythed the guard¡¯s soul, and ate it.  He would have shed a tear had he been in his human form.  After that, he made both of their bodies decay away.


    Cody found the stairs to the basement and went down.  As he headed down, he came into view of the leaders.  They gasped.  He could see their eyes widen and smell their fear as he approached.  They were frozen in fear for several seconds.  Finally, one of them spoke.


    ¡°Wha¡­ what are you?¡±


    Cody didn¡¯t answer.  He continued approaching them.  Eventually, he got to one of them, scythed his soul and ate it.  The scent of fear in the others grew.  Given that the only thing they couldn¡¯t see about the incident was the soul itself, Cody wondered if they might have guessed what he had just done.  ¡°What do you want?¡± another one asked.


    ¡°I want for your little organization to end,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°You got it!¡± one of them said, ¡°I¡¯ll order the disbandment tomorrow.¡±  The other nodded in agreement.


    ¡°How can I trust you?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re terrified of you, as you can well see,¡± another of them said.  ¡°If we break our word, feel free to come back and kill each and every one of us.¡±  The others nodded.


    Cody wanted to believe them, and wanted to let them go.  But he had no reason to trust that they wouldn¡¯t attempt some sort of trick to arrange that he couldn¡¯t find them again.  In addition, it was entirely likely by this point that they¡¯d eventually work out that he was the Angel.  If that happened, they might start their operations from their new hiding place by targeting Cherie.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t trust you.¡±  Cody scythed and ate another soul.


    One of the leaders tried to run outside the room, but Cody grabbed him and took his soul too.  Another one made a run for it as he did so, seemingly hoping to be able to escape while Cody was distracted.  His fate was the same as the last.


    The four remaining leaders all cowered in their chairs.  Cody continued eating them until there were none left.


    *****


    A few days later, Cody was out hunting again.  As he left the vicinity of a false lead, he suddenly caught the scent of a fear which rivaled the one he¡¯d inflicted on the Black Death¡¯s leaders.


    He rushed to its source.  As he approached, he saw what was causing it.  There was a woman cornered in an alley and standing over her was another lich.  The lich looked different than Cody, but it wasn¡¯t hard to deduce that he was a lich too.  Unlike Cody, whose true form wore a black, tattered cloak which looked like it was made of stitched together rags, this lich seemed to wear equally tattered but regal attire, though not from any culture Cody could recognize.


    Cody wasn¡¯t sure what to do.  He hadn¡¯t faced another lich before.  At the same time, he couldn¡¯t just let this woman die.  Then again, he didn¡¯t know the context of this event.  Someone who walked into the house while he was partway through killing all of the gang leaders might have gotten the wrong idea, and it was possible that he was making such a mistake here.  It might be that she was a criminal, or that this lich had some other valid justification to act as he was seemingly planning to.  She had no weapon on her, though, and he couldn¡¯t give up the element of surprise by asking.  Liches grew more powerful with each soul they consumed, meaning Cody was a very weak lich, and if this one was older, he would be far more powerful.


    Ultimately, Cody decided that it was unlikely that the lich had a valid justification.  Cody tackled the lich.  He growled, and tossed him off.  The woman tried to run away, but the other lich was able to grab her and render her unconscious.  Cody stood as the lich turned to face him.


    ¡°I thought I¡¯d be able to get you here,¡± the lich said.


    ¡°You what?¡± Cody asked, tilting his head in confusion.


    ¡°You¡¯re following the fear trails created by criminals, aren¡¯t you?  I wanted to talk to you, so I manufactured one to attract you.¡±


    ¡°Why would you want to talk to me?¡±


    ¡°You are Odelarch, yes?  The new lich?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Cody said.  Cody stood up straighter as he said this.


    ¡°You seem to be making quite a fuss around here.  I¡¯d like to know why?  Most liches are as secretive as possible.¡±


    Cody thought about the question for a moment.  He looked down, then back up.  ¡°I¡¯m just trying to do the right thing.  If I have to kill, I¡¯m going to do it in the best way I possibly can, and save as many people as I can by doing it.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  The lich chuckled.  ¡°I used to think upon similar lines.¡±


    ¡°Used to?  Who are you anyway?¡±


    ¡°I am Valthakar.  I came to this town looking for something, and I couldn¡¯t help but notice the raucous you were causing.  In addition, it¡¯s considered common courtesy to make first contact as soon as you discover a new lich, so I thought I¡¯d drop by.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.  Thank you.  Now, I do need to resume hunting.¡±


    ¡°And I shall let you.  Just let me give you one warning.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I used to be a lot like you.  I can¡¯t heal mortals like you can, but I used to use my powers to defend my home from invaders and criminals, and to try to make the world a better place.¡±


    ¡°Why did you stop?¡±


    Valthakar took a deep breath and looked Cody straight in the eye.  ¡°I stopped because I learned the most important lesson in the universe.  I learned that nothing lasts forever.  All of the people you¡¯ve saved are going to die someday, and anything you create will rot and decay until it is no more.  Trust me, young one; you¡¯ll save yourself a lot of trouble by heeding my advice.  Do not try to use your power to preserve.  At best, you will delay the inevitable end of a thing, usually for an inconsequentially small amount of time.  At worst, you will accidentally shorten its life or that of something even more precious.¡±


    Cody stood there for a moment.  ¡°I know,¡± he finally said, ¡°the book I used to turn myself into a lich gave me the same advice, but thanks to me, most of the people I¡¯ve cured or saved from criminals will be able to live full and complete lives.¡±


    ¡°True, they will live a little while longer, and right now, that may seem to you to mean something.  But trust me, by the time you turn fifteen-hundred or so, you¡¯ll grow to appreciate how inconsequential those extra few decades really are.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you will,¡± said Valthakar, ¡°every lich I¡¯ve ever known of eventually has.¡±  With that, Valthakar ran off.  Cody put Valthakar¡¯s words out of his mind and resumed hunting.


    *****


    Valthakar headed away from the alley.  Odelarch was just like he had been all of those years ago.  He couldn¡¯t fault him for that.  That would be quite hypocritical of him.  Besides, many liches had gone through that phase to one degree or another.  Most of them eventually learned better, as Odelarch eventually would.


    Valthakar refocused his thoughts on his current destination.  He had sensed something in this town, something powerful.  It was in the vicinity of the town¡¯s waterfall, possibly behind it.  From his research, Goldfalls had been named after the beautiful, golden waterfall that lied within it.  The reason the water had its gold tint was unknown to scientists who had studied it.  The area behind the waterfall had been examined before, and nothing of interest had been found.


    If the explanation was magical, though, humans who knew nothing of the underworld might have missed the significance of something which Valthakar would be able to recognize as important.  Valthakar headed towards the waterfall.  He swam up to it, and stepped through it.  He, along with a few of his souls, looked around at the small dent in the cliff wall.  He noticed nothing of interest, above or below the water.  That was disappointing.  He¡¯d have to continue his search tomorrow.  Right now, he needed to go back to the city to hunt, so he could be finished by morning.

 1.04 Im a Monster. You Realize That, Right?

    A few weeks into the school year, Cody made his way over to the library.  Cody had always been an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction ever since he was capable of it.


    He had little other choice.  His household had only one television, which didn¡¯t have cable and was rarely available to him anyway.  The only times he watched it were when his parents made him watch the news and the occasional family movie night, a relatively recent innovation resulting from his family receiving a VCR last Christmas.  There were no computers or gaming consoles in Cody¡¯s house either.  Books, board games, and tabletop role playing games had long been his only available forms of recreation.


    As Cody entered, the Librarian saw him and called him over.  Cody noticed that it wasn¡¯t the one from last year.  Shame; he had made good friends with that one.  Cody approached the desk.  ¡°Hello,¡± Cody said, ¡°Why did you call me over?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Cody Giles, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Someone overheard you saying that you¡¯d be here today.  They asked me to give you these.¡±  The Librarian pointed at collection of a dozen or so books.


    Cody looked at the books.  They looked old, like they might have been printed in the 1920s.  They were all different colors.  One was sky blue, another was yellow, and another was grey, but all of their colors were dulled by age.  ¡°Odd.  I wasn¡¯t expecting anything like this,¡± Cody said.  ¡°Do you know who it was that asked you to give them to me?¡±


    ¡°No.  I didn¡¯t recognize him.¡±


    ¡°Could you describe him for me?  Maybe I¡¯ll know him.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see, he was a portly man.  He looked to be in his forties.  He had dark hair and brown eyes.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Cody said, ¡°that doesn¡¯t ring a bell.¡±  Why would a man he didn¡¯t know approach his school library and ask the Librarian to give him some books?  And who had overheard his conversations with Lester at lunch?  Wait a secon¡­  Oh crap!  If that man had overheard those conversations, he could have easily overheard Cody give away something Angel of Death related.  How had this happened?  Cody had checked carefully to make sure that no one was listening to him.  ¡°Alright, clam down,¡± Cody thought.  ¡°You just have to figure out who he is and stop him from saying anything.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  The Librarian said.  ¡°Well either way, he described you in detail, and I¡¯m sure he asked for Cody Giles.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Well¡­ I suppose I¡¯ll take them if I can fit them in my backpack.¡±  They were the only clues he had.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± the Librarian said.


    Cody struggled to fit as many of the books as he could inside the pack.  Eventually, he was able to fit enough of them in that he could carry the rest.  He walked out of the library and toward the school bus to go home.


    *****


    After arriving home, Cody went up to his room.  He set down the books he was carrying on the bed and got the others out of his old lime green back pack.  He looked at the books.  There were thirteen in total.  They were conveniently numbered from one to thirteen.  Cody looked at the first book, A Chronicle of Deathly Things, by Benjamin Ronald.  It seemed to be a collection of short stories.  Cody opened it to see inside.  The book wasn¡¯t very worn by use, but it was clear that it was old by the dark yellow tint of the pages.


    Cody opened to the first story, The Rising in Arkansas.  It was about an attack on a small, very remote town in Arkansas by a necromancer.  He moved in, raised the town¡¯s dead, and made them attack and conquer the populous.  The ending was very chilling, as the necromancer succeeded in capturing the population, and began farming them to feed on their souls.


    As Cody read the last few lines, the similarity of the necromancer¡¯s nature to his own struck him.  Come to think of it, this wasn¡¯t just similar to reality, it was eerily similar.  Did this mean that whoever had given him these books knew about liches?  Who might they be?  Another lich?  Some kind of monster hunter?  It could have been another lich¡¯s soul that overheard him, but he¡¯d been careful to check for anyone who might have been listening in.  He got out his mystic book.


    ¡°Can I see other liches¡¯ souls?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    So if it had been a lich¡¯s soul watching him, he should have seen them.  Cody moved on to the second story, hoping to find more clues.


    The second story, The Thing That Stalked Astor Row, was the story of a street in New York City being stalked by a strange monster.  The creature, which was said to smell of death, hunted by shrouding itself in a black cloud, and then breaking into the homes of its victims and consuming their souls.


    Alright, so this person knew what Cody was, and how he worked.  If it wasn¡¯t a lich, that monster hunter hypothesis was sounding more and more plausible.  ¡°Of course someone would slay me,¡± Cody thought.  ¡°I¡¯d slay me if I could.¡±  The title of the next story, The Bejeweled Tome indicated it might give more clues.


    It was about a man called Fredrick.  He was an archeologist, and he discovered a tome which was clearly another copy of Cody¡¯s tome.  It had all of the same properties.  Any page you flipped to was whatever page you willed it to be.  The table of contents was shown if you did not have any page in mind.  It also had the Q&A section.  As the story progressed, Fredrick¡¯s investigations into the nature and origin of the book were interspersed by his interactions with his family, including his mentally disabled son.  The story concluded with Fredrick coming to the conclusion that the book came from the underworld just as it professed.


    The fourth story, The Roman Horn was a sequel.  In it, Fredrick found a horn dating from the Roman Empire and in unnaturally pristine condition.  As he investigated, he found himself stalked by an entity similar to the one from The Thing That Stalked Astor Row, only it used invisibility instead of a black cloud to hide itself.  Near the end of the story, after the lich had broken into his home, he correctly identified the object as a phylactery and surrendered it back to the creature.  Still, the lich did not relent, and Fredrick and his family escaped only when he managed to set the creature on fire.  It was burnt to ash along with his house and everything he owned except the artifact, which had fallen out a window, and the book.  Apparently, copies of On Soulless Ones are impossible to destroy.  If that was accurate, that meant the person who had given Cody these books knew more about the supernatural that Cody did.  That thought made Cody shudder.


    In the final story, The Tale of Fredrick¡¯s Soul, Fredrick struggled to restore his family¡¯s lives after the fire destroyed everything they owned.  He was forced to take a menial job, and his wife was forced to work as a prostitute.  All the while, he was being stalked by the lich from before.  In the end, Fredrick, after much consideration, used the book to become a lich, hoping both to restore his family to their former lives, and to shake off his pursuer.  He soon got his chance to fight the Roman lich, and barely managed to defeat it.  The story ended with an epilogue set one week later, in which he was moving into a new house, bought with the money Fredrick had been able to acquire with his powers.  As his family was settling in, he went off to feed.


    Cody moved straight on to the novel, still hunting for clues.


    The Novel¡¯s plot was about some men living in Italy who happened upon the fact that the Old King of the Underworld was soon to rise.  Cody opened up his copy of On Soulless Ones to see if the information in the book was factual.  If it was, it would confirm that the author of this book really did know more than he did about the underworld, making them a serious threat.  Cody willed to see what information the tome had on the ¡°Old King of the Underworld.¡±


    ¡°That information is not present in this tome.  Please consult ¡®On the Underworld.¡¯¡±


    What?  There are¡­ there are other books?  Cody turned to the Q&A section.


    ¡°How do I acquire a copy of ¡®On the Underworld?¡¯¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re given one when the Underworld or its ruler deems you to be in need of one.  That is all I know about it.¡±


    So Cody didn¡¯t have access to On the Underworld.  Well, the fact that an inquiry about the Old King had generated a response at all seemed to make the existence of this entity likely.  Still, it was possible that his book didn¡¯t know enough about the Underworld itself to realize that the Old King didn¡¯t exist, and it gave that error message only because the question was about the Underworld and not about liches.  Cody tried to think of another way to test the information.  Well, an Old King of the Underworld entailed a New King of the Underworld.  Cody checked the book for that. The page he got was from the index of liches.


    ¡°Gborin¡¯gargoth


    A Lich of Rulership.  A powerful lich.  He rules the Underworld from his skeletal throne.  Despite the nature of his kingdom, he is not malevolent towards the mortal world, and has prevented certain cruelties from being visited on it.¡±


    As Cody continued to read from the novel, he picked up several discrete facts about the novel¡¯s version of the Underworld and the supernatural in general.  Some of them, like the oldest lich on earth having been the king of Atlantis, were obviously contrived for the novel, but others seemed like they might be real.  If whoever wrote these really did have such an extensive knowledge of the Underworld, they were more than an ordinary lich or single undead slayer.  They were either a very ancient and powerful lich, or a society of such hunters which had existed for a considerable time, and they knew everything they needed to know to kill or expose Cody.


    The nature of the On the Soulless Ones tome was explained.  Apparently, copies of it were not tomes in themselves, but merely means of accessing a giant tome located in the Underworld, whose pages were astronomical in number.  Most of it was a catalogue of liches and their powers.  The tome was sentient, as indicated by the Q&A section.


    The novel also explained something Cody had been wondering about, but had found too awkward to ask the tome about.  Souls, it seemed, got their taste from their moral character.  All souls were more delectable to liches than the best of mortal foods, but in varying ways.  Purer souls were sweet, with each virtue tinting the soul with a fruity flavor distinct to it.  Bravery, for example, had a vaguely similar flavor to that of a ripe pear, and honesty slightly resembled a juicy apple, only much sweeter.  Some virtues, such as humility, had a flavor that did not correspond closely enough to any fruit on earth for a useful analogy to be made.


    Sins, on the other hand, added meatier flavors.  Sins of neglect added a milky flavor, and wrath added a taste somewhat similar to that of a juicy steak.  As before, some sins, like theft, added a flavor not corresponding to any food on Earth to any significant degree.


    Information that detailed could only have been gathered from a lich, and a rather old one at that.  So whoever wrote this book either was such a lich, was friendly with one, or had the power to capture one.  Cody gulped at the prospect of that last one.


    The book also said much on the nature of the Underworld itself.  It was often said to lie ¡°beneath¡± the cosmos, and yet in its own dimension.  It came into being not long after the universe by totally unknown means.  Though it was not conscious, it had great power.  On nothing but programming, it acted to increase its own power as much as possible, harvesting as much energy as it can while expending as little.  The moment it detected the first soul coming into existence, it calculated that it could, when the being died, capture the soul and imprison it within itself.  It could then put the soul to sleep, and drain the power it would otherwise be using to operate.


    Eventually, it began spawning several agents.  It created a guardian, Cerberus, to ensure that nothing ever exited the underworld.  It created enforcers.  Among these were the dragons, the ogres, and the mermen who patrolled its rivers.  It created a ruler, Kandrinarkora, the Old King of the Underworld.  He was programmed to forever seek to increase the power of the Underworld.


    Last but not least, it set about creating agents who could walk among the inhabitants of the mortal world.  It did so by creating a tome containing an incantation which would allow a mortal to become such an agent.  As incentive, it would give them the magical power to attain what they wanted most.  The book later elaborated that when the Underworld was taken over by its new King, the service of liches was so massively cut it did not in practice exist.  But before, serving the Underworld¡¯s interests had dominated their lives.


    Cody stopped about half way through the novel as his mother came in, saying it was time for bed.  After a few minutes, he resumed reading.


    *****


    The next day after school, Cody and Lester spoke in Lester¡¯s room.  ¡°Alright, so this Benjamin Ronald guy, or more likely whoever wrote under that name, knows everything.  He¡¯s in a position to do me serious harm, or even kill me.¡±  Cody said.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re worrying too much about this,¡± Lester said, sitting down on his bed.  ¡°Do you even know this person wants to hurt you?  There¡¯s no reason to assume another lich would be hostile, and I don¡¯t see why a monster hunter would alert you to their existence.¡±


    ¡°Even if you¡¯re right, it¡¯s still prudent to be prepared,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°True,¡± Lester said.


    Cody sat down at Lester¡¯s computer and googled the name ¡°Benjamin Ronald.¡±  Nothing came up.


    ¡°Find anything of interest?¡± Lester asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°I see,¡± Lester said. ¡°Can you find any information that might help you find that On the Underworld book?¡±


    Cody turned around and looked at Lester.  ¡°Who would be stupid enough to post that information on the internet?¡±


    Lester lay back.  ¡°Dude, never underestimate the level of stupidity of people on the internet.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡±  Cody typed it into Google.  He didn¡¯t see anything.  ¡°Nothing,¡± he said.


    ¡°I see,¡± Lester said.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to continue looking for something,¡± Cody said. ¡°I¡¯ve still not checked the titles of the books, and one or two things about liches in general.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Lester said.


    *****


    The next Monday, Cody went back to the school library.  He wanted to ask the Librarian for more information which might help him find the man who had given him those books.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Cody said, taking off his backpack and setting it down.


    ¡°Hello,¡± the Librarian said, smiling, ¡°Have you begun reading those books?¡±


    ¡°Yes, in fact I¡¯m quite a way through the collection.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you must really enjoy them then.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do.¡±


    ¡°You know, I have copies of all of those books too, and as I have read a few of the stories again over the week, I¡¯ve realized something.  A lot of what happens in the story closely resembles some of the recent events regarding this Angel of Death figure.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened and he felt a fear rush through him.  Did the Librarian suspect him?  He had been the chosen delivery mechanism of whoever wrote those books?  Besides, Cody wasn¡¯t the best liar, so even talking about the subject was a hazard.


    ¡°Why are you nervous all of the sudden?¡± the Librarian asked.


    ¡°Because I just realized I forgot one of my books, textbooks I mean,¡± Cody said, picking up his backpack.  ¡°May I run and get it?¡±  Cody began walking away.  All Cody had to do was be gone for a few minutes, and then change the subject when he got back.


    ¡°One thing before you go,¡± the Librarian said.  ¡°I¡¯m Benjamin Ronald.¡±


    Cody stopped walking.  He turned around.  ¡°What?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I wrote those books.¡±


    Cody thought about how to respond.  He came up with something.  ¡°That would make you a lich then?¡± he said.  If the answer was no, Cody would be able to, at least convincingly enough to avoid trouble, dismiss the comment as a joke in reference to the books.  If he said yes, Cody would have the answer to his mystery.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the Librarian said.  ¡°I take it you¡¯re Odelarch, then?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Good then, we need to talk.  Come into the back room.¡±  The Librarian began walking towards the back room.  Cody followed.  They entered and the Librarian shut the door.  ¡°Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Bavandersloth.  I am a representative of the community of liches.¡±


    ¡°There is a community of liches?¡±  What would this mean?  Would there be rules?  Would they restrict Cody¡¯s ability to help people as he wanted?


    ¡°Yes.  We try to make contact with new liches almost as soon as they¡¯re created.¡±  Bavandersloth smirked.  ¡°So, to that end, allow me to welcome you to our community.  May your eternal undeath be pleasing to you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Cody said after a second.  ¡°If I may ask, I¡¯ve already interacted briefly with a lich called ¡®Valthakar.¡¯  Why didn¡¯t he give me this introduction?¡±


    ¡°He is not on proper terms with the community.  I will warn you, beware of him.  If he¡¯s taken an interest in you, he is probably planning something which is to your detriment.  But that¡¯s not what we¡¯re here to talk about.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath and was shaking a little.  ¡°Alright then, what do you need to say to me?¡±


    ¡°Well, first there¡¯s this,¡± Bavandersloth handed Cody a sheet of paper. ¡°That has contact information for a hundred liches.  Between them, all of the liches they are in contact with, and all of the liches those liches are in contact with etc., you should be able to contact any other lich.  The ones highlighted in yellow only want to be contacted in case of an emergency.  The ones in blue have cause to worry that communications to them might be intercepted, and need to be communicated with in a way that would not tip off a human that anything supernatural was going on.  The green ones have both of those traits.  It is strongly suggested that you write at least one of them regularly, lest you fall out of contact with the community.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Cody said.  He planned to look through the contact information and select a pen pal later.


    ¡°In addition, there is an aspect of your behavior that needs to be altered.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Liches observe a code called ¡®the Seven Conventions¡¯ on pain of reprimand from the community.  Generally, this consists of a representative, such as me, being sent over to get the offender to agree to come into line.  If they are unwilling to come into line, or if they are a repeat offender such that their claim that they will come into line carries no weight, I terminate them.¡±


    Cody listened carefully to the next part.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°Here are the seven conventions as currently codified for most purposes.¡±  Bavandersloth handed Cody another piece of paper.  ¡°The first convention is the Convention of Public Ignorance.  It is formulated: ¡®Liches shall not, intentionally or out of negligence, engage in behavior which is likely to bring about awareness by the general public of the existence of liches, magic, or any other specific supernatural phenomenon.  Nor shall they act in a way which gives mortals compelling evidence of the supernatural in general.  Liches shall be accountable to the broader community of liches for such actions.¡¯  The others are on that sheet, but it is that one we need to talk about.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t realize?  Odelarch, you¡¯re making international news.  The entire world is meditating on the manifestly supernatural events you are causing.  The entire community of liches is in frenzy trying to keep this from becoming the ultimate revelation of the existence of our kind to the modern world.  Our only saving grace is that the public still has little idea what to make of it, and we need to keep it that way.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to help as many people as I can when I feed,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°I know, but you need to be more subtle.  Either find an alternative to breaking into and out of hospitals, or find a way of doing so that will not be detectable.  Also, afflict the persons you save from crimes with a disease which targets short term memory.¡±


    ¡°What alternative could I have to breaking into hospitals?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.  You could adopt some methodology of getting in and out without being detected and only target diseases which have a tendency to go away suddenly, or people who are under treatments which you could arrange to have surprising, but medically plausible success.  Alternately, you could accept the fact that you¡¯re a monster and make peace with being a malignant force in the world.  Just try to come up with something, or, again, just don¡¯t heal anyone at all.  All that I care about is that this entire raucous dies down, and stays down such that no one will discern anything meaningful from this incident, and in a few centuries, after I and my contacts in media and government are done, no one will think much of this mystery.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath, looked down, and then back up.  ¡°I already know I¡¯m a monster,¡± Cody said. ¡°And if I could make peace with being a malignant force in the world, I would have done it as soon as I learned that I was.  I guess I¡¯ll try to think of something.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Bavandersloth said. ¡°I¡¯ll be reporting that statement back to the community.  If in a few days the actions you have taken are insufficient you will hear from me again.¡±


    Cody began shaking a bit.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    *****


    Once Cody got home, he went upstairs, laid down on his bed, and thought.  Making enemies with the broader community of liches was suicidal.  Bavandersloth had already given him a working idea for how to heal.  Now, how to break into and out of hospitals without leaving enough traces to prove that something supernatural had occurred?  The lack of any obvious healings would deter suspicion that it had been him, but he had to hide his true form from the cameras.  He knew he couldn¡¯t perform an invisibility spell.  He might be able to eventually, though.  A lich¡¯s power level was determined by the number of souls they had eaten.


    Cody had eaten his thirty-third soul the previous night.  He opened up his book.


    ¡°How many more souls do I need before I can remain invisible long enough to get into a hospital, tag all of the persons I want to heal, and get out?¡±


    ¡°About four-thousand.¡±


    Cody thought for a while.  He could take out the security cameras, but he didn¡¯t know how.  He would have to learn then.  Cody decided to do so as soon as he could find a way to do it without arousing suspicion.  With that in mind, he turned to his paper, and read the conventions, being careful to note their exact composition and wording.


    ¡°(1) The Convention of Public Ignorance: Liches shall not, intentionally or out of negligence, engage in behavior which is likely to bring about awareness by the general public of the existence of liches, magic, or any other specific supernatural phenomenon.  Nor shall they act in a way which gives mortals compelling evidence of the supernatural in general.  Liches shall be accountable to the broader community of liches for such actions.¡±


    ¡°(2) The Convention of Non-Revelation: Liches shall not alert mortals to the identities of liches other than themselves, except with the consent of any such liches.  Nor may they deliberately arrange circumstances in which the identity of a lich other than themselves will inevitably be revealed to a mortal, or in which the avoidance of such a revelation requires another lich to make some unreasonable concession, except with the consent of all such liches.¡±


    ¡°(3) The Convention of Regulated Contests: Liches shall initiate the settling of disputes only through contests organized and approved by a third party who is considered by the community of liches to be qualified to organize such a contest and who does not have any significant interest in the outcome of the contest.  Any lich may challenge any other, though the challenged party is only compelled to accept the challenge if the lich organizing the contest recognizes a sufficient grievance, and if the offending lich either will not agree to cease an offending behavior or has already knowingly done such grave damage that the offended lich has the right to pursue punishment.  If, after making such an agreement, the offending lich goes back on his word for any reason other than to prevent an offense against himself he will be terminated without recourse.  If he goes back on his word to prevent an offense against himself, a contest will be held with the other party being treated as the one challenged.  The challenged party will always propose the nature and rules of the contest, though the contest¡¯s final form must be approved by the organizer after he hears any complaints about the nature of the rules by the challenger.  Acceptable complaints include that the competition is for some reason unfair, that it is decided to an unacceptably high degree by chance, or that victory will inevitably come at an unacceptable loss to either party.¡±


    ¡°(4) The Convention of Protected Mortals: The mortal friends and family of other liches shall not be harmed, unless the avoidance of such a result would require an unreasonable concession.¡±


    ¡°(5) The Convention of Limited Destruction: Liches shall not, intentionally or out of negligence, cause mass destruction of life or property, whether by the engineering of plagues, or natural disasters, or the setting of fires or any other means.  Mass destruction is defined as destruction sufficient to incur notice by the living in general, or to do significant damage to mortal society or population levels.¡±


    ¡°(6) The Convention of Non-Abandonment: In all cases, the community shall appoint a lich to investigate the status of a lich who has fallen out of contact with the community for what is, for that lich, a highly unusual amount of time.¡±


    ¡°(7) The Convention of Community Enforcement: These conventions shall not be enforced except by agents appointed by the broader community of liches.  Such agents shall act as assigned by the community, and be accountable to it.  They must disclose the actions they take while performing this duty to the community in good faith.¡±


    Cody put away the sheet of paper, and looked at the clock.  He needed to start getting ready to go to Cherie¡¯s house.  He was having dinner with her that night.


    *****


    That night, Bavandersloth sat in the study of the home he had borrowed from one of the humans he had eaten.  He pulled out a copy of Twilight and held it in one hand.  He held a scrap of parchment in the other.  It was worn down and its contents illegible.  That could be changed.  With a thought, Bavandersloth moved the decay from the ancient document to the modern novel, which was soon worn as though it had sat in a desert for thousands of years.


    After doing this, Bavandersloth began reading the newly refreshed manuscript.  As he read, he heard a knock on the door.  He went to the door and opened it.  He saw Valthakar standing in front of him in human form.  Without saying a word, he slammed the door shut and walked away.


    There was more knocking.  Bavandersloth eventually returned to the door and opened it.  ¡°I¡¯m not interested in anything you have to say.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t have anything much to say.  I¡¯m just here to ask how things went.¡±


    ¡°They went fine, now go away.¡±


    ¡°Oh come now, can¡¯t I have a tad more detail than that?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±  Bavandersloth again slammed the door in Valthakar¡¯s face and walked away, ignoring Valthakar¡¯s knocks.


    *****


    Two days later, Cody walked from the bus stop to Lester¡¯s house.  Lester had just gotten a new racing game.  Well, new to him; it was about seven years old.  He wanted to try it out with Cody.  As they entered Lester¡¯s room, they spoke about the events which had transpired.


    ¡°So there¡¯s a community of liches?¡± Lester asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°So there are hundreds of liches?¡±


    ¡°According to the book, there are an astronomical number of liches, but about two-thousand are on Earth.¡±


    ¡°An astronomical number?¡±  Lester hung his head down for a second before forcing himself to look back up.


    ¡°Yes.  Is something wrong?¡± Cody asked as Lester sat down on his bed.


    ¡°Not really,¡± Lester said.


    Cody sat down next to Lester.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°Let me guess.  You¡¯re imagining that many people being eaten and enslaved, right?¡±


    Lester took a deep breath and let his head sink down.  ¡°Yes.¡±


    Cody put his hand on Lester¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°Don¡¯t worry.  It doesn¡¯t bother me that you think that way about me.  That¡¯s what I thought too when I first heard, and I don¡¯t even have to deal with the possibility that it could happen to me.¡±


    Lester looked up at Cody and put his hand on his friend¡¯s shoulder.   ¡°Look, you¡¯re different, okay?¡±


    ¡°Different?  How?¡±


    ¡°You try to find a way to be a good person, and you try to feed selectively, and to give the ones you eat the best lives you can give them.¡±


    ¡°And why does that make me different?  I¡¯ve eaten thirty-five people, Lester, and I don¡¯t think any of them are consoled by the fact that they were criminals or that I don¡¯t ask them to do any work for me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what they think.  You¡¯re trying, Cody.  You¡¯re trying despite how hard you¡¯re finding it.  Just now, you were asking for my help in how to keep doing good despite a new obstacle that you¡¯ve encountered.¡±


    ¡°Why is that enough?  I turned myself into an eight foot tall walking corpse who gains his sustenance through devouring the souls of the living.  This form, the one you¡¯re seeing, is a lie.  I¡¯m an undead abomination in a tattered black hood.¡±


    ¡°No you¡¯re not.¡±


    ¡°Ask the book about tha--¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about the book.¡±  Lester stood up, and looked at Cody.  ¡°Go look into the mirror like you are now, and then take your other form, and look in the mirror then.  Now tell me, which one of those is more like you?  Which one looks more like a kind-hearted, mild-mannered boy who is trying everything he can think of to do the right thing in a difficult situation?  That is who you are, Cody.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  He looked down and then back up.  ¡°That¡¯s just what you see.  The people I¡¯ve eaten see me differently.  To them, I¡¯m the terrifying creature who devoured their souls so I could use them to sustain my unworthy undeath.¡±


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t do it to sustain your life, you did it because you didn¡¯t want to starve yourself until you gave into your instincts and went on a frenzy killing hundreds of people.¡±


    Cody thought for a moment.  He sighed.  ¡°I guess that¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.  You can¡¯t ask any more of yourself than your best, even when the problem involves eating souls.¡±


    ¡°True.¡±  Cody sat with Lester for a few minutes.  Neither of them said anything.  ¡°So, are your parents using the downstairs TV or can we play on it?¡± Cody finally asked.


    ¡°As far as I know, it¡¯s free,¡± Lester said.


    *****


    The following Monday, Bavandersloth called Cody aside when he got out of his last class for the day.  He led Cody to the library, and escorted him into the back room.


    ¡°What do you need?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m just pulling you aside to review your progress.  You¡¯re hiding your tracks a lot better now that you¡¯ve started shutting down the cameras, but you still leave behind a broken window, and it¡¯s immediately obvious when the security cameras shut down.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t think of a way to avoid that for now.¡±


    ¡°Give them some reason to think it¡¯s something else besides you.  You¡¯re the only one who has been breaking into hospitals through the windows recently.  No one is fooled by your shutting down the cameras.¡±


    ¡°What would count as a reason to think it was someone else?¡±


    ¡°One way would be to steal something.¡±


    Cody gasped.  ¡°What?  I can¡¯t steal from a sick person.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked at Cody for a second.  ¡°You kill people and eat their souls.  What is theft to you?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Yes, but I only do those things because I have to.  I don¡¯t want to commit any gratuitous evil.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m telling you that you have to.  If you don¡¯t I¡¯ll be forced to enforce the rules.  In addition, I¡¯m going to ask you to wait about five months before going into a hospital at all.¡±


    ¡°Five months?  But that¡¯s countless people I¡¯d save.¡±


    ¡°And if I have to enforce the rules and kill you, that¡¯d mean your entire undeath-time¡¯s worth of people you can¡¯t save.  If you start doing this now, people will see through it.  If that time passes, and there¡¯s positive evidence that it wasn¡¯t you, they might not.  Especially if you vary up your ways of breaking into hospitals, or rob other places some nights.  Then, when you start up again, it will be attributed to an unrelated hospital burglar.¡±


    Cody stood there for a moment with his mouth open.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°Alright,¡± Cody said, ¡°I guess I have no choice.¡±  In his mind, Cody was trying to think of other options.


    Bavandersloth chuckled, ¡°That¡¯s the spirit.  Now, you may go.¡±  Bavandersloth turned around and began grabbing some books.


    ¡°Wait; there was one question I had for you.¡±


    Bavandersloth turned back around.  ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Why did you give me those books?  Why didn¡¯t you just confront me?  You must have already known I was a lich.¡±


    Bavandersloth chuckled.  ¡°I find it interesting that you ask.  Well, the books exist as a discrete way of transmitting information.  Through them, I could give you all manner of knowledge of the Underworld in the form of objects that no one would give a second look.  As for why I gave them to you before introducing myself, I wanted to see how you¡¯d react.¡±


    ¡°Wanted to see how I¡¯d react?¡±


    ¡°Yes, observing how someone responds to a perceived threat can be very illuminating, and I often find that knowledge useful later on.¡±


    *****


    Four days later, Detective Williams sat in his office perplexed.  The Angel of Death had not entered a hospital in five days, and had not healed in a week.  During those two days¡¯ difference, he had been shutting down the hospital¡¯s security cameras.  It was probable that he was still killing, given that persons had gone missing from his usual haunt, but the other aspect of his usual activity had ceased.  Then again, his usual haunt was the inner city.  A lot of people went missing around there in general.


    ¡°Donna,¡± Williams said, picking up a cup of coffee, ¡°bring me records.  I want information on anyone who has filed a police report or checked into a hospital in the past few days.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°The killer uses disease as his tool of choice.  If he is doing something to cover his tracks, there might be something there I¡¯d be able to spot.¡±  It was Williams¡¯ best hope of seeing through this and figuring out what had happened.  Had the Angel stopped?  If so, why?  Williams tried to think of a solution.  If the Angel were concerned with being conspicuous, he wouldn¡¯t have gone on past his first day.  Besides, his type usually liked being in the spot light.


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Donna said.


    ¡°And Donna¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir?¡±


    ¡°The press it to be informed that the Angel of Death has ceased operating.¡±


    ¡°Sir?¡±


    Williams took another sip of the coffee.  ¡°If it is true that he¡¯s still operating, but trying to hide himself, I¡¯d rather he think it¡¯s working.  He¡¯s more likely to make a mistake that way.¡±


    ¡°I see.  I¡¯ll get right on that then.¡±


    *****


    That night, Bavandersloth left his house to go hunting.  He had chosen a quite remote place for his home, though one which suited his tastes very nicely.  The old resident of the house didn¡¯t mind much.  He seemed as happy as any other soul Bavandersloth had ever taken.  Indeed, Bavandersloth had heard he was adjusting especially well to his work overseas, piloting a body as it labored for one of Bavandersloth¡¯s contacts.


    Bavandersloth took on his true form, cast an invisibility spell, and walked outside.  He ran a few miles away from his home before stopping.  From there, he looked at the various houses that happened to be near.  He selected one that suited him.  He rotted the door¡¯s lock away, still invisible, and went inside.


    As he looked around, he eventually found the master bedroom.  He smiled as he inflicted a heart attack on the male, and took his soul before he could die.  He could smell thievery on him, and he was in the mood for such a taste.  He grabbed the soul and devoured it, savoring as he swallowed.

 1.05 The Scythe Sets You Free

    Jason had a smile across his face as he beat his helpless victim.  The person¡­ nay, filthy creature, was meeting its end.  The filthy animal had no right to be in his country, and if he wouldn¡¯t leave by returning across the border, he¡¯d leave by being buried in the ground.  As Jason continued, his grin got wider and wider.  He¡¯d always hated this type for what they did, but only since falling in with his new group of friends had he had the courage to do what needed to be done.  ¡°I can thank our leader, Mr. Luckmann for that,¡± he thought as he bashed away.


    Suddenly, he smelled a horrible smell.  He looked to his left where he thought it was coming from, and saw a dark cloud dashing towards him.  He felt a fear rush through him.  He recognized the cloud.  It was none other than that worn by the Angel of Death.


    The police said the Angel hadn¡¯t been active in a week.  Had that been a lie?  A conspiracy to make him let his guard down?  Either way, he dropped the stick he had been using to beat his victim and began trembling.


    After only a second, the Angel of Death pushed him over.  Jason felt a shot of pain as his body impacted the concrete in the alley and his cheek and forearm scraped the same cement.  Jason stood up spitting blood and saw the Angel¡¯s cloud over the man he had been beating.  Jason hurried away from the area as fast as he could.  As he looked over his shoulder, Jason saw the Angel had begun chasing him and was gaining on him.


    Jason was panting and could feel his heart beating faster than it should ever have been made to.  Before long, the Angel caught up to him and forced him to the ground, his dark cloud totally blocking Jason¡¯s vision.  Jason¡¯s eyes widened.  The Angel placed his hand on Jason, and Jason began feeling unbearable pain.  After a moment, he realized that he was feeling the same injuries he had been dealing to his victim a moment ago; the broken leg, the black eye, all of them.  He began to cry.


    ¡°Please, Angel of Death, have mercy,¡± he said.


    The Angel was silent for a second.  ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± it said.


    The next thing he knew, Jason could see the alley again.  In fact, he could see it as well as he could if it had been daytime, but it seemed much larger.  In addition, he could see himself being held by a hideous hand attached to a creature in a tattered black robe.  Before Jason could get any sense of what was going on, though, it was dark again and he felt unbelievable pain, almost as if he was being chewed on by a giant dog.  Crunch after munch after bite.  It eventually stopped, and he began moving, as though through a giant tube.  He had a feeling the worst of his pain was yet to come.


    *****


    Bavandersloth sat in a red velvet chair as he perused his latest restoration.  It was a quite beautiful scroll now that it had been restored to its former glory.  Just as Bavandersloth was beginning to get comfortable, he heard a knock on the door.  He got up, putting the once-decrepit manuscript aside, and approached the door.  He braced himself to once again endure Valthakar, but when he opened the door he saw someone else entirely.


    ¡°Kaburlduth?¡±  Bavandersloth asked.


    ¡°Yes.  I¡¯m happy to see you recognize me,¡± Kaburlduth said.


    ¡°Please, do come inside,¡± Bavandersloth said, motioning for Kaburlduth to enter.


    Kaburlduth entered, and they began walking together to the great room.  ¡°Nice place you got here,¡± Kaburlduth said, looking around, ¡°how did you manage to find it?¡±


    ¡°It belonged to a very rich man,¡± Bavandersloth said, ¡°It was easy to find a house this good, though.  I just had to Google about for mansions in this area.¡±


    ¡°Oh, of course.  Finding wealthy victims can be harder for me given the restrictions I impose on my own feeding.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, that.  How do you put it?  Something like, ¡®I shall not rid the Earth of pure Aryan blood?¡¯¡±


    ¡°You say it like it¡¯s something silly.¡±


    They arrived in the great room and Kaburlduth lay back on a couch positioning his feet over one of the armrests.


    ¡°It is to me,¡± Bavandersloth said, ¡°but I¡¯m not here to judge your views on the nature and indications of human pigmentation.  Now, what is it you want?¡±


    ¡°I seek to challenge the lich Odelarch to a contest.¡±


    Bavandersloth tilted his head to the side for a second.  ¡°Contest?  What grievance do you have with him?¡±


    ¡°He has been killing and eating my followers, and preventing them from carrying out the duties I¡¯ve requested of them.¡±


    ¡°I see.  I suppose that¡¯s sufficient, though I¡¯ll have to give him a chance to agree to stop first.¡±


    ¡°Of course, but we both know he won¡¯t.¡±  Kaburlduth grabbed a pillow and placed it under his head as he turned to lie on his side.  ¡°He seems like a do-gooder type who would be inclined to stick to his ideals, however foolish they may be.¡±


    ¡°Do-gooder type?  You hardly seem to be the one to make such an accusation.  You¡¯re the one who refuses to devour mortals of your preferred coloring, after all.¡±


    Kaburlduth sneered.  ¡°My intentions might be benevolent, but I am by no means a do-gooder.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.  Regardless, Odelarch is not a vigilante, despite what the police have come to think.  Unless he runs out of other crimes to fight, he¡¯ll probably not be too concerned with being unable to prevent yours specifically.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?  I do hope you¡¯re right about that.  Believe me, I don¡¯t want to go through the trouble, but he¡¯s starting to do meaningful damage to my presence here.  I can¡¯t exactly cleanse the area if, seven times out of ten, my followers are not only prevented from making any progress, but killed, such that I can no longer use them in the future.¡±  Kaburlduth sat up, and put his head down.  ¡°In addition, I¡¯m the one who sent them out there, and the one they look to for guidance.  I¡¯m responsible for their safety, especially from another lich.  If they¡¯re devoured when I could have stopped it, their deaths weigh on my conscience.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked at Kaburlduth, and grinned.  ¡°How quaint.  Well, I¡¯ll tell Odelarch then.¡±


    Kaburlduth glared at Bavandersloth before getting up and leaving.


    *****


    Cody was pushed down onto the cold tile floor of his high school by another student.  He felt a shot of pain as he hit the floor.


    ¡°Look, Darren, can we just skip this today?  I¡¯m running la--¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Cody braced himself for his usual daily beating.  Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching and the bully ran off.  He turned around to see Bavandersloth approaching him.


    ¡°I seem to have arrived just in time,¡± Bavandersloth said, putting his hand down to lift Cody up.


    ¡°You did,¡± Cody said, taking Bavandersloth¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Come,¡± Bavandersloth said, ¡°I need to talk to you about something in the backroom.¡±  Bavandersloth began walking towards the library.  Cody followed him.


    When they got to the back room, Cody closed the door behind him.  ¡°What is it,¡± he asked.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been challenged,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    Cody looked up at Bavandersloth.  His eyes widened a little.  ¡°Challenged?¡± Cody asked.  ¡°Like¡­ to a lich contest?


    Bavandersltoth nodded.


    There was a pause.  ¡°By whom?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°A lich named Kaburlduth,¡± Bavandersloth said, ¡°he leads the band of neo-Nazi¡¯s you have been targeting recently.  He¡¯s challenging you to a contest on the basis that your actions interfere with his ends.¡±


    ¡°Volkhad Luckmann is a lich?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    As Cody thought, he remembered seeing Kaburlduth¡¯s description in the book.


    ¡°Kaburlduth


    A Lich of Hatred.  A bigoted lich.  He seeks to complete the work of his fallen leader and bring destruction to those mortals he thinks inferior.  He is known to try to spread his prejudices.¡±


    ¡°And since he has a grievance, I have to accept his challenge?¡±


    ¡°Unless you are willing to agree to cease the offending behavior, yes.¡±


    Cody felt a bead of sweat trickle down his face as he thought.  He had not been deliberately targeting the racists.  They were merely the first criminals he was running into when he went out to feed.  At the same time, agreeing to not harm the neo-Nazis might mean having to pass by a person being killed.


    ¡°What exactly would my losing this contest entail?¡±


    ¡°The two of you could agree to any alteration to this, but traditionally, you would have to not only agree to cease the behavior he is challenging, but accept whatever punishment he demanded for defying him.  If you won, however, he would have to accept whatever punishment you chose to inflict upon him, allowing you to make an example of him to others who might challenge you.¡±


    ¡°But I had no idea I was defying him.¡±


    ¡°Which is why you are getting a chance to agree to cease the behavior now.  If you refuse this offer, you¡¯ll be stating your intention to continue the behavior upon your winning the challenge.¡±


    Cody felt another bead of sweat.  ¡°Do you know what punishment he is likely to demand?¡±


    ¡°In all likelihood, he¡¯ll demand your termination, both because you defied him and because he doesn¡¯t care for the difference in ethnicity between your mother and father.¡±


    So saying yes meant a chance of Death, and a high chance, given that his opponent evidently hailed from Nazi Germany, meaning he had been around for at least sixty-eight years and therefore probably devoured around twenty-five thousand souls.  On the other hand, saying no meant he might have to stand back and let another person die.  Of course, as the challenged party, he could propose the nature of the contest, and he could deliberately tailor it to his own skills, but that might result in his rules being challenged.


    ¡°Remind me, what are the rules regarding what I can propose for the nature of the contest?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°He could validly protest either on the grounds that the competition was unfair, determined to too high a degree by chance, or that victory would inevitably come at an unreasonable cost to him.¡±


    ¡°Would deliberately choosing something I knew I¡¯d be better at than him be unfair?¡±


    ¡°Probably.  It would depend on exactly how much better you were and why.  You couldn¡¯t, for example, demand a Spanish spelling bee, as you know the language and he doesn¡¯t.¡±


    Cody continued to sweat as he continued to think.  He¡¯d never set out to be a vigilante, or a valiant defender of the innocent.  The reason he only killed persons committing crimes was so that he¡¯d do the most good he could in the process of feeding.  Letting one group of criminals continue their actions, so long as Cody didn¡¯t run out of other feeding options, wouldn¡¯t detract from that.


    Cody thought long and hard.  He thought about the prospect of having to walk past an innocent, screaming man as he was beaten to death; still smelling the victim¡¯s terror as he walked away.  He also thought about all of the people he¡¯d not be able to save if he died, and his family who might need his protection.  If he did lose to Kaburlduth, there was a chance, and it wasn¡¯t too low to be worth considering, that his parents might be targeted for being an inter-racial couple.  Kaburlduth¡¯s gang did that from time to time, and their normal killing ground was small enough that his parents¡¯ being targeted was a real possibility.


    Cody looked down and then back up.  He asked one last question.  ¡°Does the Convention of Protected Mortals last after my death?¡±


    ¡°No, but he can¡¯t kill your family to send a message to other liches, as this would be an implicit threat to their loved ones.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯d have plausible deniability if he claimed to have simply targeted them for being an inter-racial couple?¡±


    ¡°I suppose if he was smart about it, yes.  Knowing him, it is the kind of thing he might do.¡±


    Cody shed a tear.  He didn¡¯t want to have to let people die, but by dying himself he¡¯d deny his protection to people he loved who needed it.


    Cody put his head down and shed another tear.  ¡°I¡¯ll concede to Kaburlduth,¡± he said.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°I never set out to be a vigilante, and it makes no difference to me who I save.  So long as I can identify them, I will agree to avoid Kaburlduth¡¯s agents whenever an alternative exists.¡±


    ¡°And you realize that for me to accept that as a concession, innocent people must count as alternatives?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°I don¡¯t expect to run out of criminals any time soon.  I might have to start traveling farther, but that¡¯d be it.¡±


    ¡°But nonetheless, you accept that innocent people count as alternatives?¡±


    Cody paused for a moment and thought.  ¡°Okay,¡± Cody said, reassuring himself that that wasn¡¯t a plausible scenario, at least not any time soon.


    ¡°And as for how to identify Kaburlduth¡¯s agents, they should be wearing a swastika on their arms, all of Kaburlduth¡¯s agents do.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±  Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°I won¡¯t bother them.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked Cody in the eye.  ¡°And I warn you, if you break your word, all of the paths to avoid termination will be difficult indeed.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Cody said.


    *****


    That night, Cody went out hunting.  He could smell an intense fear trail as soon as he left his window.  He headed straight for it.  As he approached its source, he could tell that it was one man beating another with a rod.  He remembered his promise, and what would happen if he broke it, but he decided to at least see who it was in case it wasn¡¯t related to Kaburlduth.  As he got closer, he could hear the victim screaming and begging for mercy.  He could also see the red band around the perpetrator¡¯s arm.  As he got even closer, he could tell there was a swastika on it.  He could hear every impact, as well as the victim¡¯s crying.  ¡°You¡¯re not a vigilante,¡± Cody told himself. ¡°This isn¡¯t your responsibility and if you try to interfere, you will die and your parents will follow.¡±  Cody started walking away.


    ¡°Help!¡± he heard the victim cry.  He continued walking away.


    ¡°Someone help me!¡± he heard.  Cody began to walk faster.  He had his head down, and would have been crying if he had been in his human form.


    ¡°Please!¡±


    ¡°Someone!¡±  Yes, hopefully someone.  Hopefully someone else would come.


    ¡°Anyone!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s going to kill me!¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°I am not a vigilante,¡± he said to himself. ¡°I don¡¯t have to deal with this if there are morally equivalent crimes elsewhere.¡±  A few seconds later, he turned around and rushed back towards the scene.  He tackled the Nazi.  With only a thought, he made the man¡¯s left foot shatter.  He went back to the victim, tagged his injuries, and moved them over to the perpetrator.  Finally, he scythed and ate the perpetrator¡¯s soul.  Judging by the taste, the man had killed several times before.


    Cody moved back over to the man he¡¯d just saved.  He grabbed him before he could get up and run away.  He gave the man an ailment which would render him unconscious and erase his memory of the last few hours, and walked off.


    He just got himself killed.  Kaburlduth was going to demand his death, and he¡¯d have no recourse.  No, he didn¡¯t know that.  Bavandersloth had said there was no easy way out of this, not that there wasn¡¯t one at all.  He had to think of something for the sake of his parents.  If he died now, they¡¯d soon follow.  Cody returned to his room, lied down on his bed and began reading from the paper Bavandersloth had given him on the conventions.


    *****


    The next day, after school, Cody was pulled aside exactly as he had expected to be.  Bavandersloth approached him and Cody followed him without saying a word.  Bavandersloth dragged Cody into the back room where they normally met.


    ¡°You broke your promise,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Could you really not last a single day?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Cody said.  He looked down.  ¡°I couldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°And you know that the punishment for this is termination?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Cody closed his eyes.


    ¡°Where is you Phylactery?¡±


    ¡°At home.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Will there be anybody else there?¡±


    ¡°My mother.¡±


    ¡°I see.  I¡¯ll think of an excuse to get inside on my way over there.  Before we do this, though, there is one thing you should know.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°There is one way you might be able to avoid death.¡±


    Cody looked up.  ¡°There is?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  If the action you took to break the promise was to prevent him from committing an action which would have been considered a grievance had it been completed, you can counter-challenge him.¡±


    ¡°I know, but that wasn¡¯t the case, was it?¡±


    ¡°The incident happened in your standard hunting grounds, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And you acted to prevent the death of a human in your area?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Well, you could claim that he infringed upon your property by sending one of his agents to terminate a human who was rightfully yours.¡±


    Cody stood in place for a moment.  ¡°Property?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  In the eyes of the community, you, because you have consistently hunted in that location for the past little while, and no other lich has hunted there recently enough, have claim to that area and all of the mortals in it.  Other liches do not have the right to damage their usefulness.¡±


    Cody said nothing for a few seconds.  ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not sure what to say to all that,¡± he said, his mouth wide open.


    ¡°¡®I make that claim¡¯ would be advisable if you are looking for suggestions.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, I make that claim.  It¡¯s just¡­ property.¡±


    ¡°Yes.  The community of liches has long recognized the residents as not only a feature, but the most important feature of a hunting ground.  As the hunting ground is yours, so are its mortal residents.¡±


    ¡°I see.  That makes sense.  It¡¯s just¡­ to think of my parents and Lester like that is al--¡±


    ¡°Shall I inform him of your challenge?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, of course.¡±


    ¡°Alright, hold on.  I¡¯ll call him.¡±


    *****


    Kaburlduth sat in his middle class home as he wrote his next speech.  He hadn¡¯t bothered looking through the rich areas in town for someone he was willing to kill.  It wasn¡¯t as if he¡¯d find anything, or so he thought.  As he wrote, he tried to imitate the man who had so inspired him when he was human.  He had to replace references to Germany with America of course, but that wasn¡¯t a problem.  It wasn¡¯t about that one nation specifically.  Not really, especially now that that nation had gone on to criminalize the glory it had spawned.  It was about the preservation of a superior people, who deserved to dominate the world, free of the ruination brought by filth.


    As he wrote, Kaburlduth heard his phone ring.  Presumably it was Bavandersloth, to announce the death of the child who had interfered with him.


    Kaburlduth picked the phone up.  ¡°Hello,¡± he said.


    ¡°This is Bavandersloth--¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, my good friend.  Please do tell me, is the deed done?¡±


    ¡°No, actually, that¡¯s what I¡¯m calling you for.  Odelarch has counter-challenged you.¡±


    Kaburlduth¡¯s eyes widened and his jaw dropped.  He sat forward in his chair.  ¡°He¡¯s done what?¡± Kaburlduth spat.


    ¡°He¡¯s claiming that he has a right to the territory where the incident took place, and that he was acting to prevent you from infringing upon it.¡±


    ¡°That slimy little¡­¡±  Kaburlduth took a deep breath to control himself.  Letting the pathetic pile of trash anger him wouldn¡¯t accomplish anything.  ¡°I suppose we shall negotiate the terms of a contest over the phone, then?¡± he asked.


    ¡°If you want,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°You could also agree to meet at my mansion.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, of course.  That¡¯s what I meant.  I¡¯ll be right over.¡±  Kaburlduth nearly broke his phone as he hung up.  He thought he¡¯d been rid of that pest, but now the little worm had squirmed out of both his word and the consequences for breaking it.  No matter, now that he was the one being challenged, Kaburlduth would be the one to propose the rules of the contest.  He had the advantage and when he won, the puny little insect would die with all the agony befitting such a pest.


    *****


    ¡°He¡¯s going to meet us at my mansion.¡±


    ¡°Right now?  My parents will expect me at home.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a cell phone?¡±


    ¡°No, we can¡¯t afford one.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, what¡¯s your home number?¡±


    ¡°555-0182.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, hold on.¡±  Bavandersloth got out his phone and dialed the number.  ¡°Hello?  Yes, this is Cody¡¯s School¡¯s Librarian.  He was wondering if it¡¯s okay if he goes home with his friend Lester today.  He says he¡¯ll be there by his normal curfew.  Yes¡­  Yes¡­  Because he¡¯s running back to his classroom to grab a book he forgot.  Yes¡­  Alright then, he says thank you.¡±  Bavandersloth hung up his phone.  ¡°Well that¡¯s taken care of.  Now, shall you ride in my car?¡±


    Cody looked down and sighed.  ¡°Sure, I guess.¡±


    *****


    Cody got out of Bavandersloth¡¯s car as it pulled up to the mansion.  The mansion looked to be about three stories high, not counting the roof which might have included an attic.  It had a large courtyard.  Unauthorized entrance into the mansion was prevented by a black iron gate.  The courtyard was dominated by hedges and gardens, and had two large fountains near its center.


    Cody and Bavandersloth entered the house.  They went directly from the entry way into the Great Room.  Cody took a seat on one of the couches as Bavandersloth went into the other room to get himself some wine.  He came back with a full glass.  A few minutes later, Kaburlduth pulled up to the gate.  Bavandersloth let him into the courtyard and then into the house.  He glared at Cody as he came into the room.


    ¡°May I propose my challenge?¡± Kaburlduth asked as he sat down.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Bavandersloth said, sipping his wine.


    ¡°I propose that we choose a space, ideally this mansion.  We then let a mortal of my selection loose in the area, and both hunt it.  Whoever devours it first wins.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  Kaburlduth was going to try to make him kill an innocent person.


    ¡°That sounds acceptable as a basic outline,¡± Bavandersloth said, ¡°Cody, do you have any objections?  You can object on the grounds that the challenge is unfair, that it is to too great of a degree decided by chance, or that winning it would inevitably bring about an unacceptable consequence to you.¡±


    ¡°Killing an innocent, or killing for a reason other than sustenance or to save a human life, violates my code of ethics.  Can that count as an unacceptable consequence?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Oh come now Bavandersloth.  If it were torture, that¡¯d be one thing, but surely such a petty ethic as refusing to perform the action by which the vast majority of liches sustain themselves doesn¡¯t count.¡±


    ¡°If Cody can propose a reasonable adjustment to the contest that brings it into line with his ethics, it does,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Those are the rules, and I didn¡¯t make them,¡± Bavandersloth took a large drink, ¡°and it¡¯s the same rule you¡¯d be appealing to if Cody had demanded that you kill someone whose coloration you care for.¡±


    ¡°Can I ask for a new contest altogether?¡± Cody asked.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.            ¡°No,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    ¡°Fine then,¡± Cody said.  He closed his eyes and thought for a moment.  If he had to follow Kaburlduth¡¯s outline, there¡¯d be no way to get the human totally out of the equation.  A soul would be no good, as it would evade them both too easily.  ¡°How about this, we do the contest as Kaburlduth described, but while his objective is to eat the human, mine is to protect them for a given time.¡±


    ¡°Kaburlduth, do you object to that adjustment?¡±


    Kaburlduth thought for a moment.  ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t think I do.¡±  Kaburlduth chuckled.  ¡°I actually like the idea of prying an inferior mortal out of his arms and displaying to him the futility of his attempts to protect such a being.  I¡¯ll happily accept that adjustment, if only to see your emotional pain bring even greater justice for the innocent lives you took.¡±


    Cody looked at Kaburlduth.  ¡°You cared about them?¡± Cody asked.


    Kaburlduth glared at Cody for a second.


    ¡°I¡¯m Sorr--¡±


    ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t be.¡±  Kaburlduth looked over at Bavandersloth.  ¡°You see, this is what I mean when I say he¡¯s a do-gooder and I¡¯m not.  Only a do-gooder would assume I don¡¯t care about my underlings.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± Bavandersloth said, taking another large sip, ¡°but then again, only a do-gooder would care about his underlings.  Anyways, about the contest.  I¡¯m not as eager to accept those terms.  Odelarch¡¯s task seems vastly harder unless the time limit be extremely small.  It seems to me he ought to be given some additional way of achieving victory.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± Kaburlduth asked.


    ¡°You will hide your phylactery in this house, wherever you wish.  If Odelarch can find, identify, and destroy it, he will win.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s outrageous!¡± Kaburlduth said.


    ¡°No it isn¡¯t.  If you hide your Phylactery well, especially considering that he does not know what it is, finding it will not be too easy.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything else I could take on as a handicap?¡±


    ¡°Sure, we could add many other instant victory conditions.¡±  Bavandersloth took another sip.  ¡°But that¡¯s the most difficult I could think of that is still reasonable.  Besides, if you lose, you¡¯ll die anyway.¡±


    ¡°Fine then,¡± Kaburlduth said. ¡°It¡¯s still worth it to get to crush him.  But if Odelarch destroys an object other than my phylactery, he must experience a penalty.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°I¡¯ll be forbidding the use of souls by both of you because of Odelarch¡¯s ethics and because it would make it too easy for you to track each other.  I¡¯ll have my souls patrolling the halls as they usually would.  If they see that Odelarch has made a wrong guess, they will alert you and you will be able to use a soul to track him.  Each wrong guess he makes will allow an additional soul to be brought into the game.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still not enough,¡± Kaburlduth said, ¡°He still has an unfair advantage.¡±


    ¡°I disagree,¡± Bavandersloth said. ¡°Now, Odelarch, do you have any objection to the rules as they stand?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Cody said.  ¡°Kaburlduth should be prevented from using invisibility.  It is a power unique to him between the two of us, and that would make my task of protection all but impossible.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± Bavandersloth said. ¡°In addition, neither of you will be allowed to use magical blasts or beams while inside the house as being able to use a ranged attack just anywhere would make Kaburlduth¡¯s task too easy.  And because you might do a large amount of damage to my house.¡±


    ¡°Alright then,¡± Kaburlduth said.  ¡°I have one more amendment to the rules I¡¯d like to propose.  I say that if the mortal is able to escape the mansion before the time runs out, I shall be the victor.  Odelarch is its babysitter, so it only makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Cody, do you object?¡±


    ¡°Of course.  You¡¯re saying I have to keep a no-doubt hysterical human from escaping?¡±


    ¡°Hysteria shouldn¡¯t make a difference,¡± Kaburlduth said. ¡°Your strength, speed, and magic should no doubt be able to overcome any pathetic attempt to escape.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°I accept that amendment.  Is that everything?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Kaburlduth said.


    ¡°Won¡¯t it be too easy for him to track the human by the scent of their fear?¡±


    ¡°There is a lich who makes candles which mimic the scent of fear for exactly this purpose,¡± Bavandersloth said, taking another sip from his wine glass. ¡°They will be spread throughout the house.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Cody said after thinking for a second.  ¡°That¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Okay, hold on.¡±  Bavandersloth spent about three minutes writing something down.  As he did, Kaburlduth was glaring at Cody.  ¡°Alright then, here is a draft of the rules to this contest.  ¡®By eleven tonight, Odelarch, Kaburlduth, and a single human, selected by Kaburlduth and approved by me, will be placed in this house.  Odelarch and the human will be together, but Kaburlduth will be in a separate location.  They will all be blindfolded and the human will have been kidnapped and made unconscious.  Odelarch and the human will not know where Kaburlduth is, and Kaburlduth will not know where Odelarch and the human are.  In addition, Kaburlduth¡¯s Phylactery will be somewhere in the house in a location selected by Kaburlduth and approved by me.  Odelarch and the human will not know where it is.  Neither party is allowed to use souls, nor are any souls permitted to assist either party, unless Odelarch destroys an object or objects other than Kaburlduth¡¯s phylactery, mistaking them for be Kaburlduth¡¯s phylactery, in which case Kaburlduth will be permitted the use of one soul per object destroyed.  Kaburlduth is not allowed to use an invisibility spell.  Candles which mimic the scent of fear will be placed throughout the house, and are not to be put out.  Neither Odelarch nor Kaburlduth shall use magical blasts or beams except in the courtyard, and may not fire them in the direction of the house.  Kaburlduth will be the victor if he is able to eat or otherwise kill the human by 4:00 a.m. or if the human leaves the premises of the mansion before then.  Odelarch will be the victor if he is able to prevent Kaburlduth from killing the human by 4:00 a.m. and prevent the human from escaping by 4:00 a.m., or if Kaburlduth¡¯s phylactery is destroyed.¡¯  Does anyone object to anything in those rules?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Kaburlduth said.


    ¡°Five hours seems like a very long time,¡± Cody said. ¡°It seems like it will be unreasonably difficult to protect a human for that long.¡±


    ¡°I disagree,¡± Bavandersloth said. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    Cody thought for a moment.  ¡°No,¡± he said.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Bavandersloth said, ¡°Cody, I¡¯ll drive you to Lester¡¯s house.  You should have several hours there before your mother expects you home.¡±


    Cody got up and left with Bavandersloth.  He¡¯d done all he could to keep the rules in his favor.  As he left, he felt a bead of sweat trickle down his face.


    *****


    That night, around 10:00 p.m., only minutes after his mother left the room after wishing him goodnight, Cody snuck out through the window.  It was foggy.  He was met by one of Bavandersloth¡¯s souls, who guided him to Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion.  The fog made streetlights take on an eerie quality.  After about an hour, Cody arrived at the mansion.  The fog around it was just as dense, and crickets could be heard all around.  Cody was greeted outside the gate by Bavandersloth who ordered him to put on a blindfold.


    ¡°Kaburlduth has already arrived,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°He¡¯s in his starting place.  Now you must take your place and not move from it until you hear the clock strike eleven.  The first chime should wake up the human and will be your signal that you are allowed to move.  The contest will continue until the clock strikes four, or until one of the victory conditions is met.  Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Good, now put the blindfold on.¡±


    Cody complied, and was led into the mansion.  He could tell he had been sent up four flights of stairs, but didn¡¯t know how many floors that corresponded to.  He was led in a straight line for a while, then to the left.  He was told to lie down on a cold hard-wood floor, and heard a door close.  From there, he waited for the clock to strike eleven.


    *****


    Bong!  Bong!  Bong!  Cody removed his blindfold and looked around.  He was in a bedroom, on the floor.  There was a window in front of him, overlooking the foggy courtyard.  The walls were adorned with various decorations, mostly of a historical theme, along with pink floral wallpaper.  It looked old, as though it¡¯d been there for a few decades and no one had ever bothered to change it.  To Cody¡¯s right was a bed, on which lay the human.  She was dark-skinned and seemed to be about eighteen.  She was overweight.  As Bavandersloth had said, she had been awoken by the clock.  As Cody stood up, in his human form, he saw that her eyes and mouth were wide.


    She sat up and looked around and finally at Cody.  ¡°Where am I?¡± she asked, seeming dazed.  She then looked out the window, ¡°and what time is it?  Oh no, has my Baby been home alone for hours?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s eleven,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Eleven?  Oh no, oh no.  I need to get back to him right away.   Do you know what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Cody thought about how to respond.  He needed her to immediately trust him.  ¡°You¡¯re in danger,¡± he said, stepping away.  ¡°I¡¯m here to protect you.¡±


    She looked at him for a second.  ¡°This ain¡¯t the time to be kidding me boy.  You don¡¯t look like you¡¯ll be protecting me from anything.¡±


    ¡°I might not look like much, but I¡¯m all you have.  I need you to cooperate with me, and believe whatever I say, no matter how ridiculous it sounds.¡±


    She looked at him for a second.  ¡°Look, boy, if this is some kind of game, I want no part of it.  I just want to get back home to my son, okay?  He needs me, so I need you to tell me what¡¯s really going on.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll only be able to get back to him if you trust me, okay?¡±


    ¡°And why shouldn¡¯t I just run out?  I¡¯m getting the feeling I¡¯m not free to just leave.  Who exactly is guarding this place?¡±


    ¡°Someone you can¡¯t get past,¡± Cody said. ¡°Someone no human could get past.¡±


    ¡°Could you be more specific if you don¡¯t mind?¡±


    ¡°Well, he calls himself Bavandersloth.¡±


    The human laughed.  ¡°Bavandersloth?  What, did he get that out of a comic book?¡±


    ¡°No.  Now I need you to be quiet.  Someone in here is looking for you.¡±


    ¡°Looking for me?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  His name is Kaburlduth--¡±


    ¡°Look, I might not be the sharpest tack in the box, but I¡¯m not stupid, okay?¡±  She leaned forward to look Cody in the eye.  ¡°Now I¡¯m going to give you one last chance to tell me what¡¯s really going on, and don¡¯t you bullshit me, okay?¡±


    Kaburlduth was prowling the halls at that very moment.  Cody had to convince her.  He could show her his true form.  That¡¯d probably cause her to believe anything he said, but it¡¯d also cause her to scream and run away; or at least, it might.  Cody had to take a risk, so he dashed to the door and stood in front of it so she couldn¡¯t run out.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to show you something,¡± Cody said, ¡°I need you to try not to be too afraid, okay?¡±


    ¡°Boy, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a thing in the world you could do that would scare me.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡±  Cody took a deep breath and shifted into his true form.  The human¡¯s eyes and mouth widened and she began to shake.  She fell back onto the ground and slowly crawled away backwards, gasping for air.  Cody shifted back into his human form.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that,¡± he said.  He looked down at the floor for a second, and then at her.  ¡°Now, are you willing to believe me?¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± she said.  She was sweating and breathing heavily.  ¡°Say anything.  I¡¯ll believe you.  Just don¡¯t hurt me.¡±


    ¡°I would never hurt you,¡± Cody said.  He took a deep breath, and extended his hand to help her up.  She looked at it and got up without taking it.  ¡°In this house, there is another creature like me.  His name is Kaburlduth.  He is trying to kill you, and the only way you¡¯ll survive is if I can protect you for the next five hours, or if we can find and destroy his Phylactery; that¡¯s the object his soul is in.  Destroying it is the only way to kill him.  He¡¯s quite powerful.  He¡¯s very fast, and very strong, and can cover himself in a black cloud to hide in total darkness.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ black cloud, like that serial killer, the Angel of Death?  Is this Kaburlduth him?¡±


    ¡°No.  That¡¯d be me actually.¡±  Cody didn¡¯t feel like forcing himself through a lie right now.  Even if she was one of his critics, she should still be willing to accept his help at this point.


    The human¡¯s mouth widened.  ¡°You?¡±


    ¡°Yes, me.  Now, as I was saying, I need you to promise to listen to me, and do and believe everything I tell you to until you¡¯re safe.  Then, after five hours, you can go.¡±


    The human paused for a second.  ¡°Okay¡­¡± she said, still breathing heavily.  ¡°I promise.¡±


    ¡°Now, we need to find a better hiding spot than this, one where Kaburlduth is unlikely to look.  We need to move quietly as we search, though.¡±


    The woman¡¯s breathing was growing softer.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    The two of them went outside the room into the hallway.  They went from room to room, looking for a suitable hiding spot.  As Cody looked around, he saw Bavandersloth¡¯s souls patrolling.  They did not alter their course on his account, but Cody could tell they were keeping a close eye on him as they passed.  All of the rooms in the corridor were lined with historical artifacts.  Not all of them were particularly valuable, such as the medieval French coin in the bedroom they¡¯d woken up in, the scroll they found in a rec room, or the cloth hat with the silver skull in the billiard¡¯s room.


    Cody was immediately available to identify the skull as a Totenkopf, and the hat as that of an SS officer.  This made the object a prime candidate for Kaburlduth¡¯s Phylactery.  Cody thought of destroying the hat right then and there.  He decided against it for now.  This house had clearly belonged to a man who collected such things, so it was likely to have many artifacts from that period in it.  Cody folded the hat and put it in his pocket.  He¡¯d destroy it only if he found himself in a tight spot where it was worth the risk.


    As he continued walking, he saw more and more that his choice had been justified.  There were several artifacts from World War II in this house, including several bits and pieces of Nazi uniforms.  He kept all of the ones he could, but he didn¡¯t destroy any of them.


    *****


    After they exhausted their current floor and the attic as possible sources of hiding places, Cody decided to risk going downstairs.  They found the lower floor to be similar to the one above it, a straight hallway with several rooms.  They snuck along, searching from room to room.  Most of the rooms were pretty small and open, and none of them contained any possible hiding places which would not likely be inspected by Kaburlduth.


    After they had checked the fifth room in the hall, Cody peeked out to see if Kaburlduth was out there.  He didn¡¯t see him, and the two exited the room.  Right as they began walking down the hall, one of the doors swung open, and Kaburlduth, in human form, stepped out.


    ¡°That¡¯s him,¡± Cody said to the woman.  She immediately nodded and began running away.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Kaburlduth said, suppressing the thick German accent he normally wore with pride, ¡°I¡¯m not here to hurt you.¡±  He had a concerned look.  Cody could see that he was carefully monitoring his body language to seem as welcoming as possible.


    ¡°Go downstairs,¡± Cody said, ¡°I¡¯ll be right behind you.¡±  Hopefully, Cody could inflict some kind of meaningful injury on Kaburlduth before he could get to her, which could buy them some time.


    ¡°What vile lies has he told you?¡± Kaburlduth asked the woman.  ¡°Whatever they are, don¡¯t believe them.  Despite his welcoming disguise, he is a monster, and he has every intention of devouring you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him,¡± Cody said, ¡°he¡¯s only trying to--¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s little time,¡± Kaburlduth said.  ¡°Come here, quickly.  His particular sort of vicious abomination delights in playing the most despicable mind games with their poor and unfortunate prey before they devour them body and soul, leaving nothing of them.  They have been known to keep their disgusting form of recreation up for hours on end with the same innocent victim.  He won¡¯t attack you now, as he¡¯s unwilling to keep a share of you from his pack, but if you go downstairs with him, he will take you to his pack, and they will make a meal of you, and then your child.¡±


    The woman¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°My child?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Latoya Stevenson, yes?  Your child is missing from your home, just as you are, and is probably already with the rest of this creature¡¯s pack.  Please, come over to me.  He¡¯s probably told you that I¡¯ll kill you.  He knew that I was about when he took you.  But you mustn¡¯t believe him, understand?  He will only lead you to your total destruction, soul and all, and then proceed to inflict the same fate on your innocent baby.  If you hurry over to me though, we should still be able to save your child.¡±


    Latoya began to approach him.


    ¡°Come, quickly,¡± Kaburlduth said, ¡°his pack will soon wonder what is taking him so long.¡±


    Latoya began to walk towards him.  Kaburlduth no doubt planned to devour her as soon as she was too close to get away in time after seeing him shift forms.  Cody had to act quickly.  If she was eaten not only she, but also Cody, would die.


    Having no other choice, Cody took his true form, tackled her, and began to carry her downstairs as she struggled.  As he ran, he heard Kaburlduth running after him.  Cody told the woman to look behind as they ran through the stairwell, knowing that Kaburlduth must have taken his true form to have any hope of keeping up.  He could tell by her gasp that she saw him.  She stopped struggling, and let him carry her through the great room, past the warm fireplace.  Cody spotted some books from World War II as he ran past the room¡¯s massive shelves, including a copy of Mein Kampf.  It was indistinguishable from an original German copy straight from the first printing, though it was too new to be Kaburlduth¡¯s phylactery.  It must have been a replica.


    The two ran out into the courtyard.  Now that he was outside, Cody looped around one of the fountains so that he¡¯d be permitted to fire magical blasts at Kaburlduth without firing it towards the house.  The fifth blast managed to hit near Kaburlduth, knocking him back.  As Cody looked around, he was able to see an open hatch which appeared to lead to a basement.  He entered it and looked around.  He saw one door which seemed to lead to the rest of the house, and another door, leading into a closet.  He put the woman into the closet, ran up to and opened the other door, and ran back into the closet.  He was able to shut the closet door, doing so as quietly as he could manage, before Kaburlduth entered the basement.  Cody had shifted back into his human form, and was covering the woman¡¯s mouth and nose with his hands to keep her from breathing too loudly.  She was cooperating by trying to control her breathing to make as little noise as possible.


    *****


    After about five minutes it was clear that Kaburlduth had fallen for Cody¡¯s trick and gone to look for them inside the house.  Cody took his hand off of Latoya¡¯s mouth and she took a few deep breaths.  Cody knew that Kaburlduth would eventually come back down and look for them, and he needed a plan.  He could go upstairs and throw the objects he had acquired into the fireplace in the Great Room, but there was no guarantee that any of them were Kaburlduth¡¯s phylactery.  And if they weren¡¯t, his chances of winning would suddenly become very slim.


    As Cody tried to think of a solution, Latoya whispered to him.


    ¡°How much of what he said about you is true?  I mean, you¡¯re obviously not here to eat me but¡­¡±


    Cody looked at her, and then down at the floor.  ¡°I have no pack, nor do we live or hunt in packs.  I have absolutely no plans to devour you, and I have no idea where your baby is.¡±


    ¡°Do you devour anyone at all?¡± she asked.


    Cody closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  ¡°Not in the way he said.¡±


    ¡°In any way whatsoever?¡± she asked.


    Cody took a deep breath, and held in a tear.  ¡°I do what I do because I must.  If I were to starve myself, I¡¯d go into a sort of frenzy, and go on a rampage which would cause much more death and destruction than I do with my current mode of behavior.  Any attempt I made to destroy myself would fail.  Be assured, though, that I do not destroy the souls of those I devour, nor could I if I wanted to.¡±


    She looked down, and put her head in her hands.  She took a deep breath, and exhaled.  ¡°Why have I been taken here anyway?¡± she asked.  ¡°Why is he trying to kill me, and why are you trying to protect me?¡±


    Cody knew she wouldn¡¯t like the truth.  He also knew that he was so bad at lying as to be nearly incapable of it.  Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°In his human form, he is the leader of a band of criminals.  He was ordering his men to kill humans in my area.  Because the area he was targeting was my territory, I was able to challenge his behavior.  Our kind settles disputes via contests, and because I had challenged him, I had to accept the basic framework of the competition he proposed.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ I¡¯m just a game piece to you?¡±


    ¡°No.  I value your life.  I very much want to see you safe and back home with your baby.  On that note, can you think of any way out of this?  I¡¯m drawing a blank.¡±


    Latoya seemed to collect herself and then think for a second.  ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Latoya said.  ¡°Is there anything about these phylactiwhatevers which is different from everything else?¡±


    ¡°No, they basically look¡­ wait¡­¡± Cody remembered something he had read in one of Bavandersloth¡¯s books.  In the short story, The Roman Horn, the main character found a horn dating from ancient Rome.  One of the features about the horn which had made it remarkable was how well preserved it was.  How could he be so stupid?  Phylacteries don¡¯t decay.  The freshness of the copy of Mein Kampf he had seen in the Great room wasn¡¯t proof that it wasn¡¯t Kaburlduth¡¯s phylactery, it was evidence that it was.


    ¡°I think I have a guess as to what his phylactery might be,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°What¡¯s your guess?¡± the woman asked.


    ¡°One of the books on the shelf in the room I carried you through.  I recognized it as a copy of Mein Kampf, and identical to the original printing.  I assumed it was a replica because it was too fresh.  I just now remembered that Phylacteries don¡¯t decay through time.  We need to get up to the great room.  The safest way would be to go through the courtyard and reenter the house through the front door.¡±


    Latoya took a deep breath.  She seemed to be collecting herself.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    *****


    The two were able to leave the basement and return to the front door without incident.  Cody opened the door and entered the house.  After the woman came in behind him, he closed it again.  The two crept into the great room.  As they edged closer, they saw Kaburlduth hurrying down the stairs in human form.  He was breathing heavily.


    ¡°Latoya,¡± he said, ¡°a member of that abomination¡¯s pack blind sighted me!  He was apparently joining in their game.  You must come with me quickly if we are to have any hope of saving you and your baby!¡±


    Latoya looked over at Cody, then back at Kaburlduth.  ¡°Do you really think I¡¯m that stupid?¡± Latoya asked.


    After a second, the wide mouth, heavy breathing, and concerned eyes Kaburlduth had been displaying evaporated.  He took his lich form.  Latoya stumbled backward.  ¡°Oh, on the contrary, I think you are far dumber than most of the apes that this society has allowed to run about.  If you had any intelligence in you at all, you¡¯d have come with me, knowing that if I were truthful, I¡¯d be your only hope, and if I were lying, that little insect couldn¡¯t possibly protect you.  Now, it¡¯s time for you and the pest to die.¡±


    Kaburlduth ran straight at Latoya.  Cody grabbed her and headed straight for the book.  He was able to snatch it from the shelf.  As he did, Kaburlduth¡¯s eyes widened, and he rushed straight toward Cody.  Cody dashed to the fireplace and threw the book in.  Kaburlduth¡¯s eyes widened as soon as the book hit the fire. Cody positioned himself in front of the fireplace to guard it.  Kaburlduth stopped in his tracks.  ¡°You¡­¡±  Kaburlduth fell to his knees, and then to his stomach.  By the time he had collected his thoughts speaking was a strain.  He looked up at Cody and spoke his last few breaths.  ¡°You¡­ you may have won this round¡­ but the plague¡­ the plague to the world you represent will not triumph.  One day¡­ one day goodness will triumph over your poison¡­ and you¡­ you or your decedents will fall¡­ fall to the same ideas¡­ and as consequence¡­ to the same man who inspired me.¡±  He seemed like he wanted to continue, but at that moment, he closed his eyes and his head fell to the floor.  His corpse shifted back into human form.


    Given his age, Kaburlduth had probably eaten about twenty-five-thousand souls, and all of them had just been freed from their enslavement and allowed to pass to the underworld.  As he retook his human form, Cody began thinking about how when he grew to be that age, he likewise would have enslaved and murdered at least that many people.  Those years were a short time to claim that many victims, all of whom would know the truth of Cody¡¯s monstrous nature; and that whatever lies he may have told, Kaburlduth was right to call him an abomination.


    *****


    Latoya was startled by Bavandersloth as he entered the house in human form.


    ¡°Congratulations Odelarch,¡± he said.  He turned to Latoya.  ¡°Now, Latoya, I am going to approach you and take my true form.  I have no intention of hurting you, understand?¡±


    Latoya turned to Cody.  ¡°Can I trust him?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Cody said.  ¡°Do as he says.  He won¡¯t eat you.  He probably plans to erase your memory of this encounter.¡±


    Latoya¡¯s mouth widened as she looked back at Bavandersloth.  ¡°What?¡±


    Bavandersloth looked at Cody.  ¡°You don¡¯t go and tell her that,¡± he said.  He turned to Latoya.  ¡°You¡¯ve come to know too much over the course of the last few hours.  Your memory must be taken away.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ But I don¡¯t want my memory taken away.¡± she said.


    ¡°Neither would I,¡± Bavandersloth said. ¡°But alas it must go away, unless Odelarch is willing to take full responsibility in the event that you let these events slip. He just saved your life.  Do you really want to do that to him?¡±


    Latoya looked back at Cody.  ¡°That¡¯s your name?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Cody said.  ¡°How about this, I¡¯ll tag her amnesia, and if I ever deem it safe to restore her memory, I¡¯ll do so?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s your prerogative,¡± Bavandersloth said, ¡°but I¡¯d advise you against it.  There¡¯s no sense in tempting yourself.¡±


    ¡°The day that it is safe will probably never come,¡± Cody said.  ¡°But the day might come when I need an additional human ally, and it is worth the risk.  Latoya, you understand that if you ever recall this, you must never tell anyone?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Latoya said.  With that, Bavandersloth approached her, took his true form and inflicted her with amnesia and unconsciousness.  Cody tagged the amnesia, and then let Bavandersloth run off with her.


    Cody thought about the prospect of all of the souls Kaburlduth had taken being freed, and of Latoya seeing her baby again, and smiled.  ¡°Perhaps I can be something of a hero,¡± he thought to himself.

 1.06 Abandoned Dreams

    Cody rushed towards the source of an intense fear trail.  The only thing he had ever known to produce a scent of fear this strong was another lich.  The last time he had smelled it out on the streets like this, it¡¯d been Valthakar trying to attract his attention.  He suspected this would prove to be true again.


    As he entered the ally the trail was coming from, he saw Valthakar standing over a boy who looked to be about fourteen.  Cody prepared to pounce on Valthakar to force him away from the boy.


    ¡°No need for that, Odelarch¡± Valthakar said, looking at Cody, ¡°I¡¯m not planning to hurt him.¡±  The boy was backed up against the ally¡¯s wall, cowering and shaking.  ¡°In fact, you¡¯d be advised to erase his memories of the last few hours and knock him out.  I don¡¯t think Bavandersloth would like to see him telling anyone about this.¡±


    Cody knew Valthakar was right.  He approached the boy.  The boy¡¯s eyes widened and the scent of fear coming from him intensified.  ¡°Calm down,¡± Cody said, ¡°I¡¯m not going to hurt you.¡±  The boy¡¯s eyes only grew wider.  When he was within arm¡¯s length of the boy, he kneeled down to his level.  He then reached out, causing the boy to curl up into a ball.  Cody placed his hand on the boy and inflicted a form of amnesia which would only remove his memory of the last few hours, and another infliction to render him unconscious.


    Cody stood up and turned back to Valthakar.  ¡°Why did you call me?¡±


    ¡°To discuss recent events.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve made quite a name for yourself.  There¡¯s tell far and wide of your defeating Kaburlduth.  He was well known for a lich his age, and no one expected to see him dead, at the hands of a do-gooder with less than a hundred souls no less.¡±


    Cody clinched his fist.  ¡°What about that was the reason you called me?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think that you¡¯ll be able to get out of situations like that forever,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°If you keep trying to preserve that which will inevitably be destroyed, you¡¯ll eventually meet your match.¡±


    A gust of wind shot through the alley.  ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s true or not,¡± Cody said.  ¡°I do know that I¡¯m not going to give up on being a good person.  Even if it¡¯s impossible, I can still try to come as close as I can.¡±


    ¡°Good person?  You¡¯re a monster Cody.  You¡¯re a lich.  You¡¯re not a person at all.  You¡¯re not even a living thing.  Do you know what undeath is?  You have no life energy, no magic of your own, and thus have to steal it from others.  That¡¯s the reason you devour souls in the first place, so you can rip the very life from them to steal it for yourself.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about the mechanics of what I am.¡±  Cody looked down.  ¡°All I care about is the consequences of my actions.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you mean the miserable souls watching their families grieve their own deaths while unable to tell their loved ones that they¡¯re right there?  How about the children who will grow up without fathers?  Are those the consequences you refer to?  Trust me, Odelarch.  I know this from having been on this earth for thousands of years.  Do not fight the inevitable.  All things pass away, and if you do not head that lesson, then sooner or later, for your own good, someone will have to teach it to you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± Cody said.  ¡°What¡¯s it to you if I waste my time?¡±


    ¡°Nothing, ultimately, but I must occupy myself with some sort of project.  After all, I can no more destroy myself than you can.¡±


    ¡°Fine.  Your advice is noted then.  Now can I get on my way?¡±


    ¡°I hope for your sake you are telling the truth about that.  And yes, you may.¡±


    Cody ran off as soon as Valthakar spoke those words.  He headed straight home.


    *****


    Det. Williams smiled as he sat down for an interview.  This man claimed to have seen a killing by the Angel of Death.  Several had come forth with similar claims, but they all had credibility problems.  This one, though, stood up to Williams¡¯ preliminary scrutiny.  He would arrive soon.


    After a few minutes, he came inside.  Williams escorted him to the room where they¡¯d be doing the interview.  The two of them sat down.


    ¡°So, you say you saw the Angel of Death?¡± Williams asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the man said.


    Williams grinned.  ¡°Please, tell me the story exactly as you remember it.¡±


    ¡°Well, I own a small diner ¡®round 10th street.  The other night, a little after 2:00 a.m., I was in the back washin¡¯ dishes when I saw a mugging in the alley outside through a small window.  I don¡¯t think the mugger or the gal he was robbing knew I could see ¡¯em.  I was about to run to the phone to call the cops, but all of the sudden, I saw that black cloud approach, the same one everyone else tells about.  The mugger was scared as I¡¯ve ever seen anyone be.  The cloud covered the victim, and when it moved away, she was on the ground.  After that, the cloud went over to the mugger, and was over him for about thirty seconds.  By the time it moved away from where he¡¯d been, there wasn¡¯t nothin¡¯ left of him.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s when you made the call the department received last night?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Can you think of any other details which might be useful?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Actually, yeah.  When the cloud ran off, it was real fast, like, as fast as a car.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°Not that I can think off.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, please go to the reception desk.  I¡¯ll call you again if I have any more questions.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±  The man walked off.  The victim he had described had been found outside his diner, consistent with his account.  She had no memory of the past few hours.


    So it was true then.  The Angel was still killing, or so it seemed.  He probably thought no one would notice the people he was leaving unconscious in alleys.  Williams considered whether he should announce this development to the press.  This would force the Angel of Death to try to adapt to increased scrutiny and avoid leaving the unconscious victims behind, or stop killing altogether.  No, that wouldn¡¯t work.  The Angel might have a method of hiding the victims, or locating their houses.  It was better for Williams to keep the advantage he had.  Right now, the Angel had no idea he was being investigated at all.


    It was also interesting that the body was gone when the cloud moved away.  It could have been that the Angel was carrying the body away.  In fact, that was the most likely option.  The fact that he had the power to carry the body at such a high speed as described indicated that he had enhanced physical abilities, along with his unusual powers.  This further removed the possibility, proposed by some supporters, that he had to kill the perpetrators of the crimes he stopped in order to prevent them from going after the victims.  If he could carry the man¡¯s corpse away at such a speed, it was unlikely that he couldn¡¯t hold the man down long enough to call the police.


    *****


    After school, Cody went to the Library to speak with Bavandersloth.  Bavandersloth took him to the back room.


    ¡°What is it you wanted to talk about?¡± Bavandersloth asked.  He turned around and sorted some books.


    ¡°Valthakar and I,¡± Cody looked down and to the side, ¡°we had another conversation.¡±


    Bavandersloth stopped what he was doing and turned around.  ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s his deal anyway?¡±


    Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°He is a very old lich, the oldest one I know about, and he¡¯s very powerful.  In fact, he¡¯s so powerful, that he¡¯s essentially immune from the conventions.  He just runs about doing pretty much whatever he wants, and no one can stop him.¡±


    ¡°What does he want with me?  He keeps approaching me in alleys and going on about ¡®not using my power to preserve.¡¯¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s said similar things to others.  He seems to make a hobby out of delivering this message to those liches with a code of ethics like yours.¡±


    ¡°Is he dangerous?¡±


    ¡°Yes, very much so.  In fact,¡± Bavandersloth looked at Cody, ¡°your friends and family are not safe if he¡¯s been targeting you.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened and he stepped backwards.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°He has been known to kill the friends and family of his targets to teach his lesson, and he might do something like that to you.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything which will prevent him from--¡±


    ¡°The only thing I¡¯ve seen work without fail is the abandonment of the offending behavior, in your case, the killing of criminals instead of innocents.  If you¡¯re not willing to do that, I can¡¯t say what, if anything, will work.¡±


    How did this keep happening?  Ever since Cody became a lich, his loved ones seemed to be endangered more.  Maybe Valthakar was right.  If it really is possible for a single powerful lich to take away everything you love, perhaps there was no point in trying to protect it... No.  Thinking like that wouldn¡¯t help Cody save his family.


    ¡°Exactly how likely is he to strike?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°Very.  If you want my advice, I¡¯d suggest you devour your loved ones yourself.  That¡¯s the only sure way to keep Valthakar from doing it.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  I can¡¯t do that.  How could you even suggest such a thing?¡±


    ¡°Because anything less will be insufficient in the long run, unless, as I said, you are willing to change up your diet.¡±


    Cody thought.  The only loved one he had who Valthakar knew about was Cherie.  He thought of sending some of his souls to keep watch over her, but that would serve little purpose.  They would be impotent to act when Valthakar struck.  The most they could do was alert him to an attack, and they¡¯d probably do so too late for him to do anything.


    Cody tried to think of anything else which might help.  He couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Is there any place to put Cherie where he can¡¯t access her?¡±


    ¡°No.  Now, I need to get to work.  I have nothing left to tell you, so please go home.  I suggest you find a way to make peace with taking innocent lives.  You¡¯re a lich.  You¡¯ll have to do it sooner or later.¡±


    *****


    Cody arrived home intending to turn right back around and go to Lester¡¯s house to plan.  He took all of his school materials out of his backpack so he could fit most of Bavandersloth¡¯s books in, along with his copy of On Soulless Ones.  He selected a few other resources which he thought would be useful.  It hadn¡¯t occurred to him until he was on the bus that he should have looked through the school library for some books which might help.  There¡¯d be nothing on liches of course, but generic works on battle strategy or the like would be useful.


    As Cody packed his bags, he heard a knock on his bedroom door.  ¡°Cody, there¡¯s mail for you,¡± he heard his mother say.  Cody set down his things on his bed and opened the door.


    ¡°Thanks, mom,¡± he said.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome Cody,¡± his mother replied, patting him on the head.  She handed the letter to him and went downstairs.  Cody looked at it.  He opened it up.


    ¡°My Dear Friend Cody, I request your presence at the abandoned warehouse on Claudina Street tonight at 2:30 AM.  There is something I wish to discuss.  If you do not come, tell anyone about this letter, or try anything funny, I will destroy everything you hold dear.  Be assured that several of my souls are monitoring you, including the one I¡¯ve instructed to float directly behind you at all times, so you will not be able to get away with any tricks.¡±


    Cody looked behind himself.  He saw nothing, but the soul could have moved out of his line of sight.  Souls could move at any speed they wished, and one that had been behind him less than a second ago could be in a distant galaxy by now.


    ¡°The lives of Cherie, Lester, and your parents will be forfeit if my souls see you as anything but a paragon of good faith.  I hope you understand.


    Sincerely, your friend and fellow agent of decay, Valthakar.


    P.S. Yes, I do know where all of them live.


    P.P.S. Don¡¯t eat before coming.  I¡¯ll bring dinner.¡±


    He¡­  Knew.  He knew who Cody was.  He knew everything.  Cody began breathing heavily.  He forced himself to calm down.  Going to Lester¡¯s would almost certainly be counted as ¡°trying something funny.¡±  Even reading from his own book was dubious.  All he could afford to do was pick up a novel from his shelf, and pretend to read it while he tried to plan.  In the end, that¡¯s exactly what he did.


    *****


    That night, Cody arrived at the warehouse.  He looked around and saw that there was no one there.  Before he could suspect that Valthakar had tricked him, he heard the door open behind him.  He turned around.  It was Valthakar.  He was carrying a boy about Cody¡¯s age.


    ¡°Hello, Odelarch,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°First, let me apologize for the tone of my letter.  It¡¯s very difficult to make threats like that kindly, so I long ago abandoned such attempts.  Be assured that even if it might not make sense to you I am doing all of this for your benefit.¡±


    ¡°And why do you care about me learning your lesson so much?  Why not just let me learn the hard way?¡±


    ¡°Because I must allow myself to care about something in order to pass my time, and I¡¯ve chosen, among other things, the enlightenment of liches like you.¡±


    ¡°Why?  Why not pick something what won¡¯t make you so many enemies?¡±


    ¡°I have over four-million souls at my command, and all of the power that comes with them.  I don¡¯t have to worry about enemies.¡±


    ¡°Four-million?¡±  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°How often do you feed?¡±


    Valthakar smiled, ¡°About one a night, plus any who oppose me, or who I must kill to advance my ends.¡±


    Cody thought.  ¡°That¡­ that would make you older than any civilization of any kind.¡±


    ¡°That is known in your age, yes.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Valthakar stood for a moment, and smiled.  ¡°Do you know how a lich¡¯s clothing is selected?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°A lich¡¯s true form is given its garb based on, among other things, who they were before they became a lich; particularly, who they were in relationship to other mortals.  For example, your poverty caused your true form to wear a simple robe made of rags, and Bavandersloth¡¯s form still has the chains of his enslavement centuries ago.  Now, look at my clothing.  What am I dressed like?¡±


    Cody looked.  ¡°A king, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Yes, exactly, and that¡¯s just what I was.  Twelve-thousand years ago, I ruled over an island kingdom of unbelievable majesty.  You call it Atlantis.¡±


    Cody¡¯s jaw dropped.  He stumbled backwards.  ¡°At¡­ Atlantis?  Did I hear that right?  You¡­ you come from Atlantis?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Though we had only the tribes around us to be measured against at the time, our art, our culture, our ethics, and our philosophy have all yet to be paralleled by any civilization to come after us.  Even our science has only in the past century been surpassed.  I was a part of the long line of royals who ruled my kingdom in peace.  We did not know war, for we had no rivals.  We did not know want, for there was plenty of everything for everyone, and we barely knew hate, for there was no incentive for most to bother with it.  Our people were happy, and their prosperity was my greatest joy as king.  It was the greatest kingdom ever to exist on this planet.  That was, until one day, it came under threat,¡± Valthakar smiled, ¡°from the underworld itself.


    ¡°Liches started to appear from the populous, and to devour the people of my kingdom.  This was during a time when liches were more direct servants of the underworld than they are now.  The underworld had decided to use our kingdom as an outpost.  The liches were meant to devour and overthrow me.  They would then force my populous to use our technology to dominate the tribes around us, and force them into farms where they would be bred as heavily as possible.  You see, the underworld is programmed to gather as much magical energy as it can.  Since a new soul, one that it can capture, is created each time a new living being is brought forth, it generally used its liches as tyrants who would force their subjects to breed as heavily as possible.


    ¡°At the time, I was as benevolent as you, and thus was not going to allow that to happen to my people or to the tribes around us.  I sent the military of Atlantis after them.  But alas, we had been spoiled by peace, and did not have a strong enough force to defeat them.  In order to protect my kingdom, and my people, I did something radical.  I stole the book from one of the few liches my forces managed to kill, and asked the tome how the underworld enforced its orders on its servants.  It answered that the underworld would inflict them with horrid bouts of pain and disease if they did not comply with every order it gave them.


    ¡°After careful consideration and thorough interrogation of the book as to the exact severity of these bouts, I made a decision.  I chose to cast out my soul for my people.  With her consent, I chose my mother¡¯s pearl necklace as my Phylactery.  She had always taught me to rule my people rightly, in justice, goodness, and truth, and I thought the necklace would serve as a reminder of the ideals I intended to uphold.  Because I had become a lich with the intent of defeating other liches, my powers made me especially good at combatting them.  I cast down the plague of them which had infested my kingdom until there wasn¡¯t a single one left to terrorize those who I, as king, served as leader, and I endured the trials with which the underworld tempted me along the way.  Even when I found the great beauty of my kingdom revolting, and even after I was forced to sentence the few criminals we had to be my own sustenance, I still continued to uphold the interests of my people as best I could.


    ¡°I persevered with great fortitude through all of the punishments which the underworld sent to me, and fought off its monsters and liches until it gave up on this planet, at which point it finally stopped trying to punish me for defying it.  I went on to rule my kingdom in peace for a few centuries.  I thought that the kingdom I believed in, and the people I cared for, would survive.  I thought that I had conquered the underworld itself, and I had.  I had defeated everything it had sent, made due to every trial, and adapted to every consequence of the battle.  I had become a lich to preserve this kingdom, its art, its values, its thought, and its people, for whom I cared so much that I cast out my soul, fought monsters, and endured the trials of the underworld for them.  But then, one day, out of nowhere, and for no reason I could deduce, well, you know how the story of Atlantis goes.¡±


    ¡°It¡­ sank?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°Yes.  It sank!  For no obvious reason, some lights, whose identity I¡¯m still yet to discern to this day, flashed in the sky and it sank.  Every man woman and child I had sacrificed so much to protect perished.  The luckiest drowned.  The least fortunate were devoured by sharks.¡±  Valthakar seemed to try to shed a tear.  ¡°It wasn¡¯t fair.  I had defeated the underworld itself.  I had earned the preservation of my kingdom.¡±


    Valthakar looked down.  After a moment, he laughed and looked back up at Cody.  ¡°And yet the universe laughed at the folly with which I pretended I could preserve something in being.  All of that sacrifice, all of that hardship, and all of those hard-fought victories against dragons and ogres and other such things, all of them were for nothing.  A mere few hundred years later than it would have fallen to the liches had I done nothing at all, a span of time which by the time you are my age, you understand is barely anything at all, it sank.  All of its glory and all of its people, were lost, never to be replicated again.¡±  Valthakar chuckled.  ¡°Never to be possible to replicate again.  From there, the history which was meant to befall this planet, the story of our Kingdom¡¯s rising from nothing, and eventually uniting the entire world in peace and harmony, was replaced by the history you know.  The history made up of slavery, bloodshed, violence and suffering, began, and continues to this day as the legacy of Atlantis¡¯ fall.  And thus I learned what you must learn too, Odelarch.  Decay is the only constant in the universe, and the only thing all things have in common is that they will end.¡±


    Cody stood there.  He was frozen for several seconds.


    ¡°Now, I have brought a boy about your age.  He is entirely innocent by your standards.  Please, show me that you will heed my words.  I promise you that I will not eat him if you do not.  Now, devour him, or I shall have to teach you my lesson the hard way.¡±


    Cody looked at the boy.  He was unconscious, though he would ¡®wake¡¯ as soon as Cody scythed his soul, and he would suffer through the entire process of being digested.  Cody clenched his fist.  He couldn¡¯t take an innocent life.  It was out of the question.  His compassion forbade him from even considering such a thing.


    ¡°The answer is no, Valthakar,¡± Cody said, returning his eye contact.  ¡°I give you my condolences for the loss of your kingdom, but I will not abandon my ideals.  If your lesson is true, I will learn it in due time without your help.¡±


    ¡°Indeed you would, but for your sake, I shall teach you before then.  Do not try to guard against it.¡±  Valthakar called a multitude of souls together with him, and they formed a vortex around him, through which he was still visible.  ¡°In my twelve-thousand years, I have amassed the power to thwart any attempt you might make.¡±  The vortex grew thicker and thicker with the souls he summoned, until he was totally hidden within it.  It swirled about for a while.  Cody heard what he thought was the boy screaming.  A few seconds later, the cloud dissipated totally.  Valthakar and the boy were nowhere to be seen.


    Cody clenched his fist, looked down, and shed a tear.


    *****


    Lester and Cody went up to Lester¡¯s room after school the next day.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s up man?¡± Lester asked.


    Cody stood there for a second and looked down.  After a moment, he looked back up.  ¡°You¡­¡± he gulped, ¡°you¡¯re not safe,¡± he said.


    Lester¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  Why?¡±


    ¡°Valthakar, the lich I told you about, he¡¯s made a threat.  It¡¯s vague, but it¡¯s likely that he will try to kill you.¡±


    Lester sat down on his bed.  He looked down.


    ¡°I want to discuss a few measures to keep you safe.¡±


    Lester looked up.  ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°Well, first, we need to develop a way of you contacting me in the event of danger.¡±


    ¡°Alright, got any ideas?¡±


    Cody looked down.  ¡°None that are good.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°If you want,¡± Cody looked down and closed his eyes, ¡°I can send some of my souls to monitor you.¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    Lester¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°What?¡±


    Cody began tearing up.  ¡°If you¡¯re willing to accept them, I¡¯ll have three of my souls monitoring you at any given time.  If anything happens, one of them will come and tell me.¡±


    Lester looked Cody in the eye.  ¡°Cody, no.  Don¡¯t do that.  I know you want to protect me, but using their labor is just wrong.¡±


    ¡°More wrong than letting you enter the same state as them, and under a less kind master?  I have fifty-six souls available for this kind of work.  If I have three of them monitoring you, Cherie, and both of my parents at all times, I¡¯ll be able to arrange that they work in shifts of less than six hours a day, and as I devour more, those shifts will get smaller.¡±


    Lester sat for a second.  ¡°And you really think this can hurt my chances of being killed?¡±


    Cody fell to his knees, continuing to sob.  ¡°Yes.  I¡¯ve ran through every scenario in my mind a hundred times and it¡¯s the only thing that¡¯d give you any hope if he comes after you.¡±


    Lester sat there for a second.  ¡°No,¡± he said.  ¡°I can manage.¡±


    ¡°No you can¡¯t.  Liches are too powerful.  You won¡¯t stand any chance at all.  No human could ever hope to stop a lich from eating them, especially not with as few resources as you have.¡±


    Lester looked down.  ¡°Well I won¡¯t be alive on the back of slaves.  You¡¯re going to have to find some other way.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°Well, if it happens when you¡¯re home, I¡¯ll call you.¡±


    Cody shook his head.  ¡°You won¡¯t be able to get to a phone in time.  Besides, he¡¯s not an idiot.  He¡¯ll be sure to strike when it¡¯s as hard as possible for you to get to me.¡±


    ¡°Fine then.¡±  Lester clenched his fist.  ¡°I¡¯ll risk it.¡±


    ¡°Risk being a slave?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  I¡¯d rather be a slave than avoid being one by using slave labor.¡±


    Cody looked down and took a deep breath.  ¡°Okay,¡± he said.  ¡°Let¡¯s put aside the question of monitoring for now.  If you do manage to get to a phone we need to discuss what I¡¯ll do when I arrive.¡±


    ¡°Cody, I can tell when you¡¯re lying.  Are you planning to send souls anyway?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Cody.¡±


    Cody cried a little more, and then looked up at Lester.  ¡°What other choice do I have?¡±


    ¡°Maybe you could honor my desire to take the risk.  This is a threat to my life, Cody.  It¡¯s my decision to make.  You¡¯re not the only one who has values.¡±


    Cody looked down for a few seconds, and then stood up.  ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°You mean that?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡± Cody took a deep breath, ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°Okay then.  So, when you do get to me--¡±


    ¡°If.¡±


    ¡°When you do get to me¡­¡±


    Cody took another deep breath.  ¡°When I get to you, the odds are slim that I¡¯ll be able to beat Valthakar in a fight.  Much more likely than me destroying him is me being able to get to you first.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I just want to know, if it comes down to it, should I take you to prevent him from doing so?¡±


    Lester looked at Cody for a moment.  ¡°Do you really think that¡¯s likely?¡±


    Cody shed a tear.  ¡°It¡¯s plausible.¡±


    Lester thought for a moment.  ¡°If you have the chance to scythe me, you¡¯d have the chance to kill me, right?  To inflict some lethal injury on me?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily.  My scythe is about seven feet long, and I might be able to use it on you before I could get close enough to touch you.  In a fight with Valthakar, every last bit of time will count, and the difference between when I can scythe your soul and when I can kill you with my touch of death might be enough time for Valthakar to get you, or block my access to you.  I¡¯ll want to err on the side of caution in the fight, so if¡­ if I¡¯m not sure,¡± Cody shed a tear, ¡°I want to go for it.¡±


    Lester put his head down and thought for a little while longer.  He looked up.  ¡°Well, if you¡¯re sure it¡¯s the only way, do what you have to do.  If at all possible, though, kill me before letting me be eaten by anyone.  No offense Cody, but I don¡¯t love hanging out with you that much.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°What about your parents, or Cherie?  What if you end up in the same situation with them?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°I¡¯ll do what I have to do.¡±


    ¡°And you think they¡¯ll be okay with that?¡±


    Cod put his head down.  ¡°I think that I know things they don¡¯t.¡±


    *****


    ¡°The recording has started,¡± Valthakar¡¯s soul said.


    Valthakar grinned.  Things were as they needed to be for him to strike.  Retaining his invisibility, he crept inside the house where his victim sat.  The soul who had been monitoring his victim led him to the correct room.  Valthakar observed his victim.  She was in a video chat with a friend.


    ¡°I know, can you believe it?¡± the woman in the house said.


    ¡°No.  No I cannot, I must admit,¡± the other one said.


    A baby began to cry.  ¡°Hold on, I need to check on the baby.¡±


    ¡°Alright.  Latoya, when you get back, can I show it to you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.  It must be horrible if you just had to record my reaction.¡±


    ¡°Oh trust me, it is.  It¡¯s called ch--¡±


    Valthakar activated his veil of darkness, a tool he hadn¡¯t used in a long time, and entered the room.  He tackled the woman as she screamed.


    ¡°Latoya?  Latoya!¡± cried the woman on the other end of the chat.


    The raucous caused the baby to wail at the top of its lungs.  Valthakar held the woman.  He inflicted a scratch across her stomach.  He moved it down from her breast to her belly button, carving the most painful path he could manage.  ¡°Help,¡± Latoya screamed.  Next, he brought another scratch to her forehead, then another one.  ¡°Call someone,¡± Latoya shouted at her fried on the other end of the computer.  The next scratch went across the eyes.  The next one went across the nose.  He continued down her face, and then across, until he scratched out a grid of wounds.  He pushed her head outside of the cloud, to make sure the camera got a good look at Latoya¡¯s face as it dripped with blood and tears and as she screamed in desperate agony.  He did similar things to her arms and legs, hands and feet.  He made sure blood hit the camera¡¯s lens on at least two occasions.  He infested her body with holes, resembling the paths caused by wriggling worms as they crawled through her, devouring her flesh.  Horrible burns began to appear on her skin, while frostbite began to consume her fingers and toes.  At one point, she was made to vomit blood onto the surrounding area.  His torture of her went on for several minutes.  Finally, when Valthakar was confident he¡¯d gotten all the footage anyone would need, he scythed Latoya¡¯s soul and ate it.  He then made her body decay away into nothingness.


    Valthakar moved away from where Latoya had been, and walked over to the crib.  He deliberately went behind it so the camera would get a better shot of him picking up the baby.  It cried and struggled, but its efforts were futile.  Valthakar began making similar scratches across the baby¡¯s face and body.  Once he¡¯d carved out a similar grid, he held the baby outside of his cloud for the camera to see.  From there, he gave the infant the same treatment he¡¯d given Latoya.  When he was done, he once again held the baby out for the camera.  He was covered in burns.  His limbs were frozen.  He was full of holes, and his flesh was torn as with a whip.  His eyes were bleeding.  His broken bones pierced through his soft flesh, and his mouth was dripping with blood.  After the baby was finished crying for the camera, Valthakar scythed and ate the baby¡¯s soul.  He came out from behind the crib and sat in front of the computer, looking right into the camera.  He could see the face of the woman on the other side of the camera.  She was frozen, seemingly in shock.  He smiled.  ¡°More are coming,¡± he said into the camera, ¡°and not just from around here.¡±


    Valthakar got up and walked out of the room.  He exited the house, and ran back to his mansion.


    *****


    Bavandersloth was waiting for Cody when he got off the school bus the next day.  Cody saw him and walked over to him


    ¡°You¡¯re coming with me,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    ¡°Now?  I have a class to get to.  Can¡¯t it wait?  I mean, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve done anything wrong--¡±


    ¡°I can handle that later.  You need to see what¡¯s on television right now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Bavandersloth pulled Cody back to the library and into the back room.  There was a small television in the corner.  It was currently playing a commercial.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Bavandersloth fiddled with the volume on the television.  ¡°Valthakar has struck.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  Who?¡±


    ¡°Hold on, it¡¯s starting.¡±  Bavandersloth crossed his arms.


    The commercial break ended.  A news program came on.


    ¡°We¡¯re here live to hear a press conference from the Goldfalls chief of police due to new developments in the ¡®Angel of Death¡¯ case.¡±


    Cody gasped.  ¡°What?¡±


    Bavandersloth shushed him.


    ¡°¡­the serial killer dubbed the ¡®Angel of Death,¡¯ up until now defended by many as a well-meaning or even noble vigilante, has now been caught on camera mutilating eighteen year old Latoya Stevenson and her infant son.¡±  The footage began playing.  ¡°These images were recorded by Latoya¡¯s webcam during an online chat with her friend Adriana Merritt.  Here, the Angel of Death¡¯s signature cloud can be seen enveloping Latoya, and then her baby.  In footage too graphic for us to show Latoya and the infant are¡± the reporter swallowed, ¡°Latoya and the infant are mutilated.  The tape ends with a terrifying promise that more killings are to come.  The people of Goldfalls are demanding answers.  We cut now to a press conference with Chief of Police Sabrina Finch.¡±


    Cody cried.  Latoya¡­  He¡¯d worked so hard to save her.  Now all of that had been for nothing.  Valthakar ate her and her son too.  How did he even know about her?  He must have been monitoring Cody much more than Cody knew, and with some souls very skilled at evading detection.  As Cody thought, a chill ran down his spine, as though someone was watching him.


    The reporters were thick and noisy outside the police station where the chief of police was giving the conference.


    ¡°Chief Finch, how much progress is being made on catching the Angel?¡±


    ¡°We have our best detective on the case.  We are assured that he is making progress.  He has had a list of suspects for a while, and it is only a matter of time before he finishes narrowing them down.  In addition, the FBI is intent on sending agents to assist in the investigation.¡±


    ¡°What can the people of Goldfalls do to protect themselves from this creature?¡±


    ¡°If he should arrive, call 911.  We¡¯re working on building a task force specifically to respond to such calls.¡±


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, why would a killer who used to fear going into large crowds deliberately send a message like this?¡±


    ¡°The original assessment of him as a vigilante has been shown to have been incomplete.  The department now suspects that his urge to kill is more deep seated than was previously thought.¡±


    ¡°What of the rumors that the department knew the Angel was active and didn¡¯t inform the public?¡±


    ¡°They are baseless nonsense.  We would never deceive the public about an active serial killer.¡±


    ¡°Do you have anything to say to the killer, and to the people of Goldfalls?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  To the killer, I want you to know that whoever you are, we will find you.  Your powers cannot and will not save you forever, and with the resources we are giving to your case, it is only a matter of time before we manage to expose you for who and what you are.  To the people of Goldfalls I say this:  Know that the people sworn to protect and serve you are hard at work, and they will yield results.  We will not let our city down.  We will find this monster and bring him to justice, and he will stand before you, the people, to be punished for what he has done.¡±


    Bavandersloth turned off the TV.  ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled by their pretend tears for Latoya,¡± he said.  ¡°The American public has never cared half that much for a poor, obese, black woman or the child she had out of wedlock, gruesome footage or none.  Consciously or not, at least two thirds of what seems to be outrage is in fact mere selfish fear that they will meet the same fate.  Valthakar has made them feel unsafe, and there is little they will not do to make that feeling go away.¡±


    Cody stood in place for a second.  ¡°What does this mean for me?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll never enter another hospital.  Not for a few centuries at least.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It was silly of me to ever concoct a scheme which might allow you to do so, and I apologize for the false hope I gave you.  At this point, I doubt I will ever be able to recover public ignorance totally.  The best I can hope to do is keep this whole ¡®Angel of Death¡¯ incident totally shrouded in mystery, and work toward a new and acceptable status quo.¡±


    ¡°But I have to save--¡±


    ¡°I have to save people too, Cody.  I have a responsibility as a leader in the community of liches to protect our kind from extermination.  You understand that that¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen to us unless I act in precisely the correct way, right?  And that way doesn¡¯t involve taking any risks.¡±


    Cody looked down and took a deep breath.  ¡°Fine.  Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Be aware that if you slip up, you will be culpable for the exposure of the public to the existence of our kind, and it will mean your termination.¡±


    Cody gulped.  He took another deep breath.  ¡°Alright.  As that all?¡±


    Bavandersloth took a deep breath as well.  ¡°Yes, that is all.¡±  He turned away from Cody.  ¡°At this point, there is a part of me which finds it more likely that I¡¯ll be able to find some agreement with humanity than continue this masquerade, but I know this is not the case.  The very reason for the first convention is just the sort of fear that you are seeing right now.  Humans would never be so rational as to speak with us about such an arrangement, even if there were two-thousand souls a day they were willing to consign to slavery.  Though, in truth, there probably are.¡±


    *****


    Williams and Donna sat in the courthouse parking lot.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± Williams said, grumbling.


    ¡°Maybe the chief is right.  What if he¡¯s been the same kind of person who normally kills like this, but has only now worked up the courage to kill an innocent or be caught on camera?¡±


    ¡°No.  No one with that kind of urge to kill would have any reservations about killing innocents, not unless they were a vampire or somethi¡­¡±  Could that be it?  Could it be that the Angel killed out of some sort of necessity?  No, that wasn¡¯t likely.  Nothing was missing from the body of the first victim that wouldn¡¯t have been expected as a result of the diseases the victim had, so unless it was to be believed that he devoured his victim¡¯s souls, it was unlikely that he drew sustenance from them.  In addition, a person had been found unconscious in an alley the previous night surrounded by droplets of blood from cuts he didn¡¯t have.  The Angel had fulfilled his normal M. O.


    ¡°Maybe he had some grudge with Latoya Stevenson?¡± Donna asked.


    ¡°Maybe, but as far as we know, none of our suspects ever had anything to do with her.¡±  Williams paused for a moment.  He could only think of one way to make sense of this.  ¡°Perhaps though, more than one person has the Angel¡¯s powers.¡±


    ¡°More than one?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  What if there is another figure with the same abilities, and he perpetrated this murder, perhaps knowing the Angel would be blamed?¡±


    Donna looked up.  ¡°That¡¯s possible, but why would they?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say.  It could be that someone unrelated to the original Angel had reason to kill her, and they simply took advantage of the fact that the first Angel would be blamed.  It could also be that creatures like this have some need or urge to kill which is utterly different than anything that exists in normal humans.¡±


    Donna sat back.  She took a deep breath.  ¡°I miss the days when things make sense.¡±


    ¡°Everything makes sense Donna.  If it seems not to, that just means you don¡¯t understand it.¡±


    Donna sighed.  ¡°Whatever.  Do you want me to look for individuals who might have reason to kill her?¡±


    ¡°Yes, please do.  There¡¯s just one other thing that troubles me.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The baby.  If it were just about her, why kill the baby too?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps the killer was after revenge?¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but then why not kill the baby first and force Latoya to watch?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it was against someone related, like the child¡¯s father, or Latoya¡¯s mother?¡±


    ¡°Could be.  Please look into people who might have motive to do that as well.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    *****


    That night, Cody arrived at Cherie¡¯s house.  He was greeted by her at the door.  She smiled at him.


    ¡°Hi Cody,¡± she said.


    ¡°Hi Cherry,¡± he said.


    ¡°Come inside.¡±


    Cody followed her to her living room.  They talked.  Cody droned on about his interests as he usually did.  Cherie listened.  She always found his words fascinating.  Eventually, though, the conversation turned to the events of the day.


    ¡°By the way, did you hear?¡± Cherie asked with a frown on her face.


    ¡°Hear what?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°The¡­ thing that saved me, it killed a baby.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°I heard.¡±


    Cherie put her head down.  ¡°Why?  Why would he do that?  Why would anyone do that?¡±  She looked back at Cody.  ¡°Why would he save me, and then kill a baby?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Cody said.


    Cherie cried.  ¡°I don¡¯t either.¡±  She looked up.  ¡°Right now I just hope he¡¯s brought to justice.  As much as I¡¯m glad that I¡¯m alive, I hate that I had to be healed by a monster like that.¡±


    Cody remained silent.


    ¡°The worst part is,¡± Cherie¡¯s sobbing intensified, ¡°I know it was someone I love.  Someone I know and trust used some¡­ some freaky¡­ whatever it was to torture and kill a baby.  It might have been my father, my mother, my grandma, or even you.¡±  She put her head in her hands and continued to sob.


    Cody put his hand on her shoulder.  ¡°You know I¡¯d never kill a baby.¡±


    Cherie looked up at Cody.  ¡°I know that about everyone I love, but one of them did.¡±  She buried her face back in her hands.  ¡°I have no idea who it was.  The only thing I know is that I hate them.  They think they can just give and take life, like I¡¯d want them to heal me by killing someone else.¡±  Her sobbing intensified.  Cody hugged her as it continued.


    *****


    Valthakar sat in his home, or rather that of Kenneth Kurt Rogers.  He meditated on the energy he sensed from the golden falls.  He was sure it was the very same energy he had sensed on that fateful day.  He had seen two lights in the sky.  One was bright green, the other dark violet, and from the violet light, he had felt the very same feeling he felt now.  One of pure apathetic, blank nothingness.  Perhaps something was returning, or perhaps he had only recently grown powerful enough to sense it again.  Either way, he was determined to find out what was wrong with those falls.  He had to let himself care about something.

 1.07 A Smile That Never Fails

    Jack and Percy sat waiting for their associate to arrive.  Their organization was looking to establish a foothold in this territory, and wanted to do so quickly.  Up until recently, it had been occupied by a much lesser competitor, the Black Death, and it wasn¡¯t valuable enough for gaining control of it to be worth the effort it took to expel another organization.  Now, though, it was free.  That is, if their organization could establish a foothold quickly, before anyone else did.


    Percy checked his watch.  ¡°Dude, it¡¯s after 1:00.  He was supposed to be here half an hour ago!¡±


    ¡°Be patient man.  He¡¯ll be here soon.¡±


    The doorbell rang.  ¡°See,¡± Jack said, ¡°told you.¡±


    Jack got up and opened the door.  A strange woman stood before him.  She looked to be around twenty, but was dressed in a ¡°Hello Kitty¡± shirt which looked far too small for her.  It had been cut apart, and patches of black fabric had been added to make it fit better.  It was still quite tight.  The woman had blond hair, which was done up in two pony tails with large pink bows.  Her jeans were also too small, ending about half way down her calves.  Her entire outfit was sprinkled randomly with plastic jewels embedded in the fabric.


    ¡°Hi there,¡± she said.  Her voice was high-pitched.


    ¡°Um¡­ are you the associate?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she said.  ¡°He was mean, so I had to make his head go boom.¡±


    Jack¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡± he asked.


    Percy pulled out his pistol.  ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    ¡°Aw.  Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re a meanie too?  I hoped I¡¯d have enough bullets left that I could spend some of my ammo money on a Princess Twilight doll.¡±


    ¡°You son of a bit--¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a potty mouth.  That¡¯s not nice to do in front of a lady.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Percy asked.


    ¡°My name is Pretty Pink Ponytails,¡± the woman said.  She stepped out of the way of the door.  Percy fired a shot, but too late to hit her.  Jack pointed his gun at the door.  She reappeared with her own gun drawn.  It was spray-painted bright blue.


    Percy and Jack kept their guns pointed at her head, and she kept her gun pointed at his.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you do anything,¡± Percy said.


    ¡°Do anything?  Why would I want to do anything?¡± she said.  ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re trespassing into the Black Death¡¯s turf or anything.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, we¡¯re not.  The Black Death is gone.¡±


    The woman shook her head.  ¡°No, no, no, they just had a few things to replace is all; well, people.  You know, the ones that are all squirmy, but you can have fun making them scream?  Anyways, the Black Death has become a subsidiary of our organization, and they¡¯re better than ever!¡±


    ¡°What organization?¡±


    ¡°Oh, wouldn¡¯t you love me to tell you.  Sadly, it¡¯s time for you to go bye-bye.¡±  She squatted down.  Immediately upon seeing her move, both Jack and Percy shot at the space where her head had been.  They both missed.  She shot Percy in the head before he could react, and then aimed her gun at Jack.  She giggled and stepped into the house.  The two moved around the room in a circle until Jack¡¯s back was to the door.  ¡°You know, if you leave, I might consider letting you live.  We could use someone to go back to your nest and tell the others about how anyone who comes in here is gonna have to play with me.¡±


    ¡°Not a chance.¡±


    ¡°Shame.  Oh well, I guess there¡¯s nothing left to say but ¡®Now.¡¯¡±  Jack felt excruciating pain in his neck.


    *****


    ¡°Nice job!¡± Pretty Pink Ponytails said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ mention it,¡± Zachary said.  He was breathing in gulps.


    ¡°No, I mean it big bro.¡±


    Zach smiled.  ¡°Thanks,¡± he said.


    The two put their guns away and headed home.  While Zach walked, his sister skipped along.  She whispered a nursery rhyme of her own concoction.  ¡°Pretty Pink Pony Tails leaves a lot of bloody trails.  Bones crack, at my attack.  It brings a smile that never fails.¡±  She repeated it for a while as they got in their car and drove home.


    *****


    Cody held the Birthday present Cherie had given him.  He ripped the paper off the box, and saw a cell phone.  His face lit up as he looked up at Cherie.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± he said, smiling at her.


    ¡°Woah, sweet, man,¡± Lester said.


    Cherie smiled back.  ¡°It¡¯s brand new.  It can get internet, and there should be a pair of head phones in the smaller box next to it.¡±


    ¡°But what about the bill?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about that,¡± Cherie¡¯s father said, ¡°we¡¯ll take care of it.¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother looked at Cherie¡¯s father.  ¡°You¡¯re not serious?¡±


    ¡°Anything for someone who loves my little girl so much.¡±


    Cody and his parents lit up.  ¡°Thank you so much,¡± Cody¡¯s mother said.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s the last of the presents,¡± Cherie¡¯s mother said, ¡°shall we move on to the cake?¡±


    ¡°Can we do that in a minute?¡± Cody asked.  ¡°I¡¯d like to try out this phone first.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Cherie¡¯s mother said.


    Cody grunted as he tried to force the box open.


    ¡°Need some help with that?¡± Cherie asked.


    ¡°No.  Hold o--¡± Cody dropped the box


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get some scissors.¡±


    ¡°No.  Don¡¯t bother.  I can handle i--¡±


    Cherie had already gone off to get them.  Cody struggled with the box for a minute or so before she got back.


    Cherie sat down next to him and held up the scissors.  After a few more seconds, Cody gave it to Cherie, who opened it and handed it back to Cody.


    Cody looked over it for a second.  He pressed the only button he could find.  He then held it down for a second.


    ¡°The button to turn it on is there,¡± Cherie said, pointing to a thin button on the side of the phone.


    ¡°Oh, thank you.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    Cherie walked him through the next several steps in getting the phone to access a YouTube video, and explained how to make a call.  Once Cody was satisfied that he had a basic command of the phone, they sat down to have chocolate cake.  Cherie¡¯s father had to leave for work, but Cody, Cherie, Lester, Lester¡¯s sister, and the other parents had a good time.


    *****


    Agent Lambert reported to his office at D.I.A.P.P., the Division for the Investigation and Appropriation of Paranormal Phenomena.  He sat down.  He smiled as he looked at a picture of his family that sat on his desk.  Another agent entered his office.


    ¡°Agent Lambert,¡± she said, ¡°did you deliver it?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± he said.  ¡°The boy has the phone.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± she said, ¡°and who¡¯s going to be in charge of sorting through all of the conversations he has about porn, or girls, or science fiction to find the bits which might tell us if he¡¯s a Paranormal?


    ¡°Put Nichols on that.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir.¡±  The agent nodded and left.


    *****


    Zachary entered his sister¡¯s workroom.  She had an agent from a rival cartel tied up and hanging from the ceiling by his wrists.


    ¡°Now we¡¯re going to play a game, alright mister?  I love games.  Do you love games?  I love games.  This game¡¯s called ¡®Tell Me When and Where the Shipment is Coming or I Use This Sander to Grind Off Various Parts of Your Body Before Bashing Your Head In.¡¯ Now I love to know when and where the shipment is coming, and I¡¯d also love to press this sander against various parts of your body before bashing your head in, so it really makes no difference to me.  It¡¯s all up to you really.¡±  She smiled as she turned on the sander.  It buzzed.


    ¡°Fuck you¡­¡±


    She wagged her finger.  ¡°Sorry, wrong answer.  Don¡¯t worry though, everything but your hand gets to guess again.¡±  Pretty Pink Ponytails grabbed the struggling man¡¯s hand and held up to the sander.


    ¡°Sis,¡± Zachariah said.


    Pretty Pink Ponytails turned around.  ¡°Oh, hi bro.¡±


    ¡°I need to talk to you about something.¡±


    ¡°Great!  I¡¯ll be there is a minute.¡±  She pressed the man¡¯s hand against the sander.  He screamed.


    ¡°I really think we should talk right away.  I¡¯ll get Dice on this guy.¡±


    ¡°Aww¡­ C¡¯mon, can¡¯t it wait until I¡¯m done playing?¡±


    ¡°No.  Come right now.¡±


    Pretty Pink Pony Tails frowned, crossed her arms, and followed.  As he walked out, Zach motioned for one of the other gangsters to interrogate the man.  They walked into Zach¡¯s bedroom.  They both sat on Zach¡¯s bed.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s been killing our agents.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯d be me.  I caught the guy who runs the meth lab trying to scrape some product off the top.  He was scrumptious.¡±


    ¡°No, not you, the Angel of Death.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know.  You knew he would too.  Didn¡¯t you say it was one of the hazards of taking this territory?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but that doesn¡¯t mean we shouldn¡¯t do anything about it.¡±


    Pretty Pink Ponytails sat and thought for a moment.  ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± she said.  ¡°Oh, how about this.  We kill him!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easier said than done.  He can do¡­ things that normal people can¡¯t and--¡±


    ¡°So?  We¡¯ll just find out how he works.  Throw some of our men at him, give them different weapons, and see which ones come back.¡±


    ¡°And if none of them come back?¡±


    ¡°Then we send more men with even more weapons!  Then one of them comes back and tells us exactly what¡¯s going on--¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how well they¡¯ll be able to guess anything while fighting for their lives.  Besides, what if one of them figures out something useful but is still killed?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ That¡¯s true.  I know!  How about you go along and watch them.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you!  You¡¯re smart and strong enough that you¡¯ll be able to keep track of what¡¯s going on, and get away.¡±


    Zach took a deep breath.  ¡°I¡¯m flattered.¡±


    ¡°Great then, go create a crime in his area tonight, and keep trying until something attracts him.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t we find a plan which better handles our human resources?¡±


    ¡°Probably if we thought about it long enough, but it¡¯s not really worth it, is it?  We have plenty of new recruits to throw at him.  Ooh, get some of the ones we took in from the Black Death.  They¡¯ll probably be more motivated.  A lot of their people have been killed by him!¡±


    Zach put his head down and took a deep breath.  ¡°Alright,¡± he said.


    *****


    Cody went out of his room to go hunting.  He had grown used to the procedure of climbing out of his window and hunting for a soul to feast on.  As he set out, obeying his grumbling stomach, he smelled a strong fear coming from the East.  He had learned over time to tell which fears were genuine and which ones were from horror movies or practical jokes.  Generally, the stronger the fear, the more likely it was to be authentic.


    As he got close to the fear he had sensed, he saw four men cornering a woman in an alley.  They all had guns.  As he came close, he could smell another fear coming from across the street, where a man with binoculars was perched in a shadow, probably thinking that somehow concealed him from Cody.


    That was strange.  Was this a trap?  Probably, but Cody was confident he could handle anything of human origin.  Besides, there was a woman in danger.  If she were part of a setup, she¡¯d not be this afraid


    Cody leapt into the alley in his shadowy cloud.  The four men turned around.  When they saw him, they took on an intense scent of fear.  Nonetheless, they all pulled out weapons.  One a pistol, another a grenade, another an AK-47 and the last a Molotov cocktail.


    Cody went straight after the man with the grenade.  The men with the guns were shooting at him.  Cody felt the gunshots slice through him, but it caused no pain.  No number of holes in his lich form would ever be a problem.  The man with the grenade was unwilling to arm it until he could safely throw it a good distance away.  Cody grabbed him and ate his soul before he got that chance.  The woman was still cowering in the corner.


    Cody pounced on and devoured the man with the Molotov cocktail.  The two men fired at him with their guns, but he was able to walk towards them uninterrupted, and eat both of their souls.  Next, he approached the woman, inflicted his usual amnesia and unconsciousness on her, and destroyed all of the men¡¯s bodies.


    He turned around.  The man was still there.  Cody approached the man.  As Cody came closer, the man stood up and ran away.


    *****


    ¡°Drat!¡± Zachary shouted.  The Angel of Death was on to him.  The cloud that raced towards him smelled like a noxious corpse.  After only five seconds or so of running, he was tackled against the pavement.  He could see nothing while inside the black cloud, but could feel a humanoid shape holding him.  He tried to wiggle loose of its grasp, but it was too strong.  Its smell was overpowering.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± it asked.


    Zachary could feel himself sweating beads.  ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m Zackar¡­ I mean¡­ fuck.  I¡¯m Zachariah.  Zachariah Fischer!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me.¡±


    Zachary took a deep breath through his mouth, so as to avoid the Angel¡¯s smell.  ¡°I¡¯m Zachary Shepherd,¡± he said.  ¡°Please, don¡¯t kill me.  I promise I won¡¯t tell anyone about what I saw.¡±


    ¡°Why were you watching?¡±


    Zachary thought for a moment, still sweating.  ¡°I was peeping,¡± he said. ¡°I get off on watching those kinds of rapes okay?¡±


    The Angel hissed.  ¡°How dumb do you think I am?¡±


    ¡°None!  I mean, uh, not at all.  Sir.¡±


    ¡°Then tell me the truth.¡±


    Zachary thought.  After a moment, he thought of something.  He cried.  ¡°Look, I can¡¯t tell you anything.  If I do, they¡¯ll kill me, okay?¡±


    Zachary heard nothing for a moment.  ¡°If someone¡¯s threatening you, you can go to the police.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be able to help,¡± Zach said.  He couldn¡¯t believe it.  It was working.  It was really working.


    ¡°That¡¯s rarely true.  Now, tell me what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡±  Zach heard the sound of a police siren.  He had never been this happy to hear that sound in his life.  He heard the police cars stop within earshot.  ¡°Help!  Help!¡± he shouted.


    After a few seconds, the Angel ran off.  Zach sat up, taking deep breaths.


    The police came over.  Zach told them a modified version of what had happened.  They told him to go down to the police station and file a report, which he agreed to do with glee.  When he asked, they told him they¡¯d been called because someone had heard gunshots in the area.  After they looked around, one of them finding the woman his guys had been abusing, he went down to the station with them and filed a report, being sure to alter events to rid himself of any guilt, and paint the Angel of Death in the worst light he could.


    *****


    The next day, after school, Cody was at Cherie¡¯s house.  The two were sitting on her couch watching television.  Cody¡¯s phone rang.  He reached over to grab it.  He picked it up.  It was Lester.


    ¡°Hey, man!¡±


    ¡°Oh, hi Lester.¡±  Cody turned to Cherie.  ¡°May I take this?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said, pausing their show, ¡°please don¡¯t be too long though?¡±  Cody nodded as he left the room.


    ¡°You said there was something you wanted to talk about?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Cody said.  ¡°After I got home from Cherie¡¯s,¡± he grumbled.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Nevermind.¡±


    ¡°Okay then.  What was it?¡±


    ¡°Last night, I was out hunting like usual, and I ran across a group of four people cornering a woman.  When I went up to rescue her, they turned around.  They didn¡¯t seem surprised by my being there, and they all had different weapons.  One had a machine gun, one had a pistol, and the others had a grenade and a Molotov cocktail.¡±


    ¡°A grenade?¡±


    ¡°Yes, a grenade.  This was the first time I was ever afraid of a human, even though I wound up managing to eat all four of them.¡±


    ¡°Where¡­ where do you think he got it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing.  The only way he¡¯d have it is if he was connected to a big crime group, one with the resources to get something like that.¡±


    ¡°Woah.  So, what do you plan to do?¡±


    ¡°Well, I was going to talk to you about ideas.  Right now I¡¯m already planning to ask Bavandersloth about some kind of combat training.¡±  Cody took a deep breath, and gulped.  ¡°I¡¯m also planning to interrogate one of the souls I got from that encounter.¡±


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°This is serious.  If they have grenades and Molotov Cocktails, and know I¡¯m vulnerable to them--¡±


    ¡°Wait, how would they know?¡±


    ¡°There was a guy across the street watching the whole thing with binoculars.  I wasn¡¯t able to get anything out of him except his name, which turned up nothing, and the police showed up before I could eat him.  I had to run away.  If he was paying attention, he would have noticed how I ignored the bullets and went straight for the men with the grenade and cocktail.  It¡¯s possible that they won¡¯t figure it out, but I want to be sure I¡¯m prepared if they do.¡±


    Cherie called from the other room.  ¡°Cody, you coming back?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Cherry.¡± Cody said.  ¡°Look, can you call me back later?  Cherie¡¯s waiting on me and--¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry bro, I got ya.¡±  Lester hung up.  Cody went back over to Cherie on the couch.  She continued the show.


    *****


    Zachariah called his sister into his bedroom to talk about what he¡¯d seen.


    ¡°What¡¯s up big bro,¡± she said as she entered.  There were blood spatters on her clothes and face.  They looked fresh.


    ¡°He came last night.¡±


    ¡°He did?  What happened?  Did any of the weapons work?¡±


    ¡°The Angel killed all of them,¡± Zachariah said.  He tried to hide the tear he shed.


    ¡°Aww, don¡¯t cry big bro,¡± she said.  ¡°We have plenty more.¡±


    Zachariah took a deep breath.  ¡°The cloud was hit many times with the bullets from both guns.  Neither one did anything.  The Angel went straight for the ones with the grenade and Molotov Cocktail.¡±


    ¡°Aww¡­ It didn¡¯t get thrown at him?  I wanted to see what would happen.¡±


    Zack took a deep breath.  ¡°Do you plan to go after him at this point?¡±


    Pretty Pink Ponytails nodded her head.  ¡°Yep.  I¡¯ll get away if it doesn¡¯t work, so there¡¯s no reason not to.  If he went straight for them that might be because he recognized that they were the biggest threats.  It might be that you can kill him with fire or an explosion.  I love explosions.¡±


    ¡°Indeed you do.  So, how many do you plan to bring?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I think four grenades and seven or eight cocktails should do nicely.  I¡¯ll get started on making them right now.  Could you take care of the interrogation for me?  I¡¯ve sanded off three fingers already and he¡¯s still not agreed to talk.  I don¡¯t know how much more of this he can live through.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get there right away.¡±


    ¡°Awesome.¡±  She skipped off, singing her usual rhyme.


    *****


    The next day, Cody went to see Bavandersloth.  Bavandersloth turned and looked at Cody when he entered the library.  ¡°Hello,¡± he said.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Cody said, setting down some books he¡¯d checked out.  ¡°There¡¯s something I¡¯d like to talk to you about.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Would you like to go into the back room?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡±


    The two went into the back room.  ¡°What is it you want?¡±


    ¡°Is there some kind of lich combat training or something like that?¡±


    Bavandersloth raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°I find myself coming under threat over and over again,¡± Cody said, ¡°I¡¯d like to have some kind of training, something to make me a better fighter.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Well, there are many, including myself, who are qualified to provide you with magical training.  All we¡¯d have to do is come up with some afterschool activity to use as cover.¡±


    ¡°Alright.  What do you usually use for cover?¡±


    ¡°In your case, some school-based club.  Something your parents won¡¯t wonder why they aren¡¯t paying for.  Then you can come to it with me after school as often as is convenient, and we¡¯ll give you your training there.¡±


    ¡°Alright.  That sounds good.¡±


    ¡°Of course, just because your parents won¡¯t be paying for it doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s actually free.¡±


    ¡°Oh.  Well I don¡¯t have much money--¡±


    ¡°No, not money.  I have plenty of that.  Usually, when liches wish to pay each other for services, they lease their souls out.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°That¡¯s not acceptable.¡±


    ¡°I thought not.  I¡¯m open to another arrangement, but I can¡¯t think of anything else I¡¯m interested in; nothing you¡¯d have anyway, or be able to get.  I don¡¯t really need access to your territory, and there¡¯s not much you could do for me other than let me use your sou--¡± Bavandersloth stopped.  ¡°Actually, I just thought of something.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You could agree to heal for me.  I don¡¯t currently have anyone for that.  It won¡¯t do me much good at first, but once you¡¯re an adult and can move around the world freely, it could be useful.  A lot of liches have similar powers to yours, but they¡¯re usually do-gooder types who don¡¯t last very long - no offense.  I honestly thought you were going to meet the same fate back with Kaburlduth, but the fact that you didn¡¯t shows that with training, you just might be able to last long enough to be useful to me.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ okay.  Thanks, I think.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the highest compliment I can give.  Anyways, do we have a deal?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Yes,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Alright then.  When do you want to start?¡±


    ¡°As soon as possible.  Ideally within the next few days.¡±


    ¡°Alright.  I should be able to have a cover up and running by then.¡±


    *****


    Cody sat alone in his bedroom.  It was daytime, but the blinds were drawn, blanketing his room in twilight.  He had already done this once before, but he still hesitated.  How important was it that he knew exactly what was going on here?  How likely would it be that it¡¯d make the difference between undeath and death?  How exactly would knowing who was behind that attack help?  Either way, he¡¯d still be facing an ambush soon.  It didn¡¯t take a world class detective to figure out that that encounter had been an attempt to probe him for weaknesses, and since Zachary had gotten away, he had probably been able to report his findings to whoever he was working for.  What difference did knowing who that was make?


    Well, it might allow him to make a preemptive strike.  Indeed, such a strategy might be advisable if he wished to preserve himself in operation.  Letting himself go out of commission for a month, his fate if his form was destroyed, would leave his friends and family vulnerable to both this new threat and Valthakar.


    Cody hung his head down, and cried for a few minutes before summoning one of the souls he had taken that night.


    The soul entered.  Cody never liked the look of digested souls.  When he took them from his victims, souls looked like glowing white orbs, and he was sure that they¡¯d be pleasing to the eye even if it weren¡¯t for how appetizing he found them.  Just thinking about them made him salivate.  After he was done with them, though, they were translucent globs about four times their previous size.  They were very lumpy in structure, and their lumps moved around and pulsated.


    ¡°What is it, Master?¡± the soul asked.


    ¡°Please do not address me as that.¡±


    The soul bowed its head for a moment.  ¡°My apologies, sir.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath and looked up at the soul.  ¡°I need you to tell me who you were working for on the night I ate you.  Be specific and detailed.¡±  A few seconds after finishing, Cody looked away.


    ¡°We were working for a gang called the Selechii Syndicate, a large group, with territories from along the coast.  It¡¯s currently trying to establish itself in this territory--¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s trying to establish itself in this territory.  This might not be prime turf, but you can sell things here just fine, and no one¡¯s really guarding it.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He had been under the impression that no one would go for this territory.  The last thing he wanted were bloody gang wars over his neighborhood.  The soul continued.  ¡°Anyways, we were assigned by the leader of what¡¯s basically the enforcement division to go after you and try to find your weak spots.  We were chosen because we were recruited from the Black Death after you forced one of my brothers to rat on its leaders.  Given that you had killed a few of my friends, I wanted to help kill you.  We were supposed to commit a crime of our choice every night.  We did so, and a few nights in, you showed up.  You saw everything after that.¡±


    ¡°Why were you probing me for weaknesses?  Is someone else going to ambush me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.  Her name is ¡®Pretty Pink Ponytails.¡¯¡±


    Cody squinted and tilted his head.  ¡°Pretty Pink what?¡±


    ¡°I know she doesn¡¯t sound like much, but trust me.  She¡¯s a psycho.  She¡¯s like, twenty, but she dresses like a six year old.  She talks like one too.  That might make her sound weak, but I¡¯ve never seen anyone kill like she can.  If she knows about your weak spots, you¡¯re going to die.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Do you have any advice on how to beat her?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me where she lives?¡±


    ¡°No.  They don¡¯t give me that kind of information.¡±


    ¡°Very well.  Will she have any backup?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.  She usually goes out with her brother, the leader I mentioned earlier, so I hear, and I¡¯ve heard he sometimes helps her fight.  But other than that, she should be alone.¡±


    Cody sighed in relief, wiping a tear from his eye.  ¡°Very well then, you may go.¡±


    ¡°Actually, there¡¯s one other thing I want to say, if I may speak freely?¡±


    Cody looked up at the soul.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you,¡± the soul said.  ¡°You¡¯ve killed me and five of my friends, and you forced one of them to betray his brothers and sell out his leaders, people he looked up to, so you could kill them too.  I hope that Pretty Pink Ponytails kills the fuck out of you, and I hope it hurts.¡±  The soul seemed to look down, as though it were trying to cry.  ¡°If I¡¯d seen then what I¡¯m seeing my mother go through now, watching her cry about me, I¡¯d never have joined the Black Death.¡±  He seemed to look back up.  ¡°But to you, I¡¯m just some criminal for you to eat.  Please, do us all a favor and set yourself on fire.¡±  The soul left.


    Cody sat there for a second before lying back.  He cried. Of course the world would be better if he could kill himself.  But he couldn¡¯t, and he had to eat.  One day, he hoped, he would get to a place where his loved ones didn¡¯t need him to protect them, and someone truly on the side of good would smash his cube.  That would be a wonderful day for everyone.


    *****


    A few days later, Cody was out hunting.  He sniffed a strong fear trail.  He headed for it.  As he neared its source, he heard a voice coming from the alley.  It sounded like a little girl giggling.  Cody crept as close as he could, hoping for a closer look.  He saw a woman wearing a pink T-shirt.  It¡¯d been cut up, and black fabric had been sewn into it.  Cody wondered if this was the woman who planned to ambush him.  She had cornered another woman in an alley, and was torturing her with a knife.  She had evidently taken some measure to prevent her from screaming.


    Cody would have fired a magical blast, but that¡¯d also have killed her victim.  He had to approach.  He spread his cloud of darkness as widely as could while still ensuring he wasn¡¯t in the center.  He rushed in, trying to tackle her to the ground.  The woman with the knife was able to see him coming and step out of the way.  He fell on his face.


    ¡°Oh hi there,¡± she said, ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you finally show up.  Finding a random chick off the street to make cuts in was fun at first, but it¡¯s starting to get boring to have to work without my special room of toys.¡±


    Cody ignored her and got back up.  He fired a magical blast at her, but she was able to move out of its way too.  It left a crater in the cement where it landed.  She reached into her belt and got out a Molotov cocktail.  Cody started running away as she lit it.  She threw the cocktail, but the distance allowed him to dodge it.


    ¡°Aww, you made me waste it,¡± she said, smiling and giggling.  ¡°Don¡¯t be sad though, I have plenty more.¡±


    Cody tried to hit her again while she prepared the next one, but he missed.  As she lit the cocktail she moved in front of the woman she¡¯d been torturing.  ¡°Try throwing one of those sparkly things at me now.¡±


    Cody looked around.  He had to figure something out.  There were some boxes piled up in the corner.  There was a puddle of water near the center of the alley.  There was a cell phone, presumably belonging to the woman Pretty Pink Ponytails had cornered, a few feet away from him.  That gave him an idea.  As Pretty Pink Ponytails hurled her next cocktail at him, he lunged for the phone.  He was able to pick it up.  He examined it, and it was still in good working order.  She hadn¡¯t bothered to break it.  He ran around the corner.  He was able to figure out how to call 911.


    ¡°Hello, this is 911, what is your emergency.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m near an alley on 344 Barnel Street in Goldfalls California.  There¡¯s a gravely injured woman here and someone is trying to kill me.  She has Molotov cocktails and is good with them.  I¡¯ve been having trouble trying to avoid her.¡±


    Pretty Pink Ponytails emerged from the alley and hurled another Molotov cocktail at him.  He dove into the street to get out of the way.


    ¡°Did you say Molotov cocktails?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Police and an ambulance are on their way.  Please try to give me any useful details you can.¡±


    ¡°She might have some grenades as well.¡±


    ¡°Grenades?¡±


    ¡°Yes, grenades.  How many police officers did you send?¡±


    ¡°Let me check.¡±  There was a pause.  ¡°We sent five squad cars.¡±


    ¡°That might not be enough.¡±


    Cody realized he was getting quite far from the alley.  ¡°I¡¯m running from her right now,¡± he said, ¡°and we¡¯re moving further and further from the original site.¡±


    ¡°Please try to keep me updated as to your location.  The police are nearly there.  Where are you?¡±


    ¡°Further down Barnel, exactly how long should it take them to get here?¡±


    ¡°A few more minutes.¡±


    Cody ran and spoke for a few more minutes.  He moved with enough speed to force Pretty Pink Ponytails to focus on keeping up with him so she couldn¡¯t throw any cocktails.  Eventually, he heard blaring police sirens.  Pretty Pink Ponytails did too.  She looked over at the police cars as they stopped.  The officers emerged.  There were ten in total.  Two of them pointed their guns at her, and eight at Cody.


    ¡°Put your hands up, both of you¡± one of the officer¡¯s said, ¡°and you, remove that veil and let us see your pretty face.¡±


    ¡°Bullets won¡¯t do anything,¡± Cody said.


    One of the officers shot at him.  ¡°Focus on her,¡± Cody said.  ¡°She might slip away.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the one who called 911?¡± the officer asked.


    ¡°That was me.  As you can see, she has several Molotov cocktails around her waist, and if you go up the street, you¡¯ll find a woman she tortured to attract me.  Now, arrest her.¡±


    The officer looked at her waist.  ¡°Mam, possessing those items is illegal.  I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to need you to come with me.¡±  Pretty Pink Ponytails¡¯ eyes widened and she gasped.  As the officers approached, she turned around and saw that she was backed against a wall.  She complied as the police handcuffed her.


    ¡°Ow.  These are too tight.¡±  Her complaints were ignored.  The cocktails were confiscated.  While she was being arrested, Cody ran off.  The Officers with their guns pointed at him shot at him, but it had no effect.  Cody smiled.  The woman in the alley would confirm his story, and Pretty Pink Ponytails would be held for a long time for torturing her.  She¡¯d not be a problem anymore, and hopefully this event would discourage any other gangs from trying to enter his area.  Cody smiled for a while, but stopped when he realized that one of his greatest weaknesses was now known to the public, and Williams.  He also remembered that he still needed to feed that night.  The second of those things was worse, though he was more used to it.


    *****


    Agent Lambert and one of his underlings looked over a recording of one of Cody¡¯s phone conversations.


    ¡°Last night, I was out hunting like usual, and I ran across a group of four people cornering a woman.  When I went up to rescue her, they turned around.  They didn¡¯t seem surprised by my being there, and they all had different weapons.  One had a machine gun, one had a pistol, and the others had a grenade and a Molotov cocktail,¡± he heard Cody say.


    ¡°A grenade?¡± Lester replied.


    ¡°Yes, a grenade.  This was the first time I was ever afraid of a human, even though I wound up managing to eat all four of them,¡± Cody said.


    Agent Lambert put his head down, and took a deep breath.  So it was confirmed.  Cody Giles was a Class 1 Paranormal Entity, also known as a devourer.  But he wasn¡¯t just a devourer; he was the worst kind of devourer.  The stupid kid who tried to save someone he loved, and wants badly to do the right thing, but who D.I.A.P.P. still has to kill.  Even worse was what it would do to Cherie when she found out Cody had been the Angel.  She¡¯d be more crushed than she already was from knowing that it was someone she loved.  Still, it had to be done.  No one, not even criminals, should ever be allowed to suffer the fate that befell a devourer¡¯s victims.


    The Conversation continued.  ¡°That¡¯s the thing,¡± Cody said.  ¡°The only way he¡¯d have it is if he was connected to a big crime gang, one with the resources to get something like that, and based on the way they attacked me, I¡¯m pretty sure I was their target.¡±


    That was bad.  The last thing D.I.A.P.P needed was for the criminal underworld to learn any more about the real one.


    ¡°Weird.  So, what do you plan to do?¡± Lester asked.


    ¡°Well, I was going to talk to you about ideas.  Right now I¡¯m already planning to ask Bavandersloth about some kind of combat training.¡±


    Bavandersloth?  So he was involved in this?  Of course he would be.  His name seemed to come up with fully a third of new devourers, and almost all of the ones who broke the rules.  They had already suspected that he might be in the area.


    He turned to the agent with him.  ¡°Agent Brooks, I need you to check for any signs you can find of Bavandersloth.  Look for the usual effect he has on his neighbors.¡±


    One thing that was known about Bavandersloth was that he had the power to destroy, or to give and take, information and knowledge.  This included the ability to infuse anyone with a false belief, often the belief that he had always lived in what was, in fact, the house of the first victim upon his arrival in a new location.  This wasn¡¯t too hard to detect, it would always leave a missing person with a house registered to them, and any visitor to the house would come away believing that a tall white man in his thirties with brown hair and eyes lived there.


    ¡°I¡¯m also planning to interrogate one of the souls I got from that encounter,¡± Cody could be heard saying.  His sadness was evident in his voice.  Agent Lambert hoped that Cody would be one of the ones who wanted to die.  In the past, he had gotten a thank you or two as he took out a guilt-ridden lich, who regretted his decision and wished to cease tormenting souls.

 1.08 Farewell, Sweet Angel

    Det. Williams took a seat in the interrogation room.  He sipped his coffee as he gazed at the eyes of the woman sitting across from him.  She blinked as she looked back.


    Williams turned his head to the side to face one of the officers in the room.  ¡°She¡¯s been read her rights?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying anything to you, Meanie.¡± the woman said.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re free not to.¡±  Williams chuckled.  ¡°But I imagine you¡¯ll want to answer the questions I have for you.¡±


    The woman raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Oh?  What makes you think that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to ask you about the Angel of Death.  I understand you had an encounter with him.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here to ask about him?  Why didn¡¯t you say so?  I¡¯d love to tell you anything that¡¯d help you get him.¡±


    Williams smiled.  ¡°I thought you would.  Now, what led you to fight him?¡±


    The woman frowned.  ¡°Ooh, except that.  I¡¯m not going to tell you that.¡±


    ¡°Why not?  It¡¯s not like you¡¯re going to be hurt by it.  We¡¯ve already identified you as Anita Shepherd--¡±


    ¡°I am not either her!  Nita is the mean woman inside me who wants to kill my big brother!¡±


    Williams paused for a moment.  ¡°Inside you?¡±


    The woman nodded.  ¡°Uh huh.  Big bro says that if I ever let her out, she¡¯ll kill him.¡±


    Williams looked back at the officer.  ¡°Has she ever been examined by a psychologist?¡±


    ¡°No.  She¡¯s scheduled to be tomorrow.  She¡¯s been off the grid since she was six.¡±


    ¡°My big brother takes good care of me!¡±


    Williams looked back at the woman.  He raised his eyebrow.  ¡°Fill me in when that examination is done,¡± Williams said to the officer.


    ¡°Will do,¡± the officer said.


    ¡°Alright, then.¡±  Williams took a deep breath and moved in his seat a little.  ¡°Is there anything you¡¯re willing to tell me about the Angel of Death?¡±


    ¡°Oh, sure.  We think he¡¯s immune to bullets, but vulnerable to fire and explosions.¡±


    Williams thought.  If the Angel was vulnerable to fire and explosions, but not to bullets, it might mean that killing him required one to destroy his body entirely, as though he had some sort of regenerative power.  ¡°I see.  Anything else?¡± Williams asked.  ¡°How did he fight you?¡±


    ¡°Well, he kept trying to throw sparkly things at me.¡±


    ¡°Sparkly things?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.  Glowing green globs would come out of his cloud and explode when they hit anything.  He couldn¡¯t hit me though.  I¡¯m fast!¡±


    Williams squinted at her.  ¡°Are you sure about that?¡±


    ¡°Yep.  I didn¡¯t get hit once.¡±


    ¡°No, I mean are you sure he was able to fire explosive bursts?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m sure.  Why?  Do you not believe me?¡±


    Williams knew of no substance that matched that description.  Did this mean the Angel could conjure up a new type of matter as well?  ¡°Yes, I believe you.¡±


    ¡°Alrighty, then.  Do you have any other questions?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  What is it that made you think that the Angel is vulnerable to fire and explosions?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I really can¡¯t tell you.¡±


    ¡°Why not?  Don¡¯t you want me to trust that information?¡±


    ¡°I do, but I also want other things more.  Oh, I did just think of something else though.  When we were fighting, he was able to move really fast and jump really high.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Well, thank you.  Is that all?¡±


    She thought for a moment.  ¡°Yep.  I think it is.¡±


    Williams wracked his brain trying to think of a creature from any mythology which had these properties.  They¡¯re humanoid, can darken the area around them, can move diseases between people, can move with phenomenal speed, can jump phenomenally high, can dispose of human bodies without a trace, speak with the deep voice he had heard on the recorded 911 call, and can fire green glowing bursts of something that explodes on impact with a solid surface, with something about all of these activities causing a corpse-like smell.  He¡¯d already considered all of the major mythological monsters.  A vampire would have taken blood from the first victim.  None of these powers was traditionally attributed to a werewolf, and witches and wizards did not have the shape-shifting properties.  He¡¯d already scheduled a discussion with a university professor on the topic, but in the meantime, he was perplexed.


    *****


    Cody arrived at Cherie¡¯s house with a suitcase.  She¡¯d just gotten a collection of an entire television show on ¡®Blu Ray¡¯ and was intent on marathoning it with him.  As Cody approached the door, he wondered why they couldn¡¯t just spell ¡®blue¡¯ normally.


    Cherie greeted him as he entered.  ¡°Hi Cody.¡±


    ¡°Hi Cherry.¡±  She led him inside and down to the basement.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got snacks and stuff down here already.  So, are you ready to start?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Cody said.


    Cherie turned on the TV.  It was on a news channel.  ¡°We¡¯re here live from the scene of the sixteenth in the recent line of murders by the Angel of Death.  This time the Angel targeted a family of three.  Eric and Tammie Powers, along with their twelve year old daughter were killed on camera--¡±  Cherie switched the TV to Video 2 and turned on the Blu Ray player.


    Cody stood for a moment, staring at the TV.  Cherie turned to him.  ¡°Are you going to take a seat?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Oh, of course.¡±  Cody sat down.  Cherie put the disc in the player and started the show.


    *****


    That night, as Cody lie awake, pretending to sleep, he smelled an especially strong fear trail from not too far away.  Given the rarity of crime in Cherie¡¯s part of town, it was probably Valthakar trying to summon him, and tormenting a human to do so.  Cody got out of the fold-out bed and snuck upstairs.  He looked around for a window.  He found one, exited through it, and headed straight for the source of the scent.


    He crept to the trail¡¯s source.  There, a man was being cornered, but not by Valthakar.  It was a zombie.  The corpse was putrid, the flesh so decayed as to not resemble that of a live man.  Cody couldn¡¯t help but find its appearance and smell beautiful.  He couldn¡¯t resist taking a large whiff.  As the man cowered, Cody tackled the corpse and made it decay away.  As soon as it was gone, Cody turned to the man.  He was running away.  Cody chased him down, tackled him, knocked him out, and erased his memory.  He picked up the unconscious man and ran.  He needed to take a soul from his usual hunting grounds, or else Williams would notice that he hadn¡¯t.  After running for a little while, Cody stopped, set the man down in a field.  He put his hand on him, and increased his blood alcohol content to 0.25.  Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t be connected to the Angel of Death.  Cody stood up, looked out towards his territory, and set out to hunt.


    *****


    Cherie woke up, feeling someone shaking her.  ¡°Cody, what is it?¡± she said.  She opened her eyes and looked around.  She didn¡¯t see anyone.  As she closed her eyes again to go asleep, she realized she felt thirsty.  She got up, left her room and went into the main room in the basement where the mini-fridge was.  She opened it and got out a soda.  As she turned around to go back to her room, she caught a glimpse of the fold-out couch where Cody was supposed to be.  She didn¡¯t see him.  Cherie figured he¡¯d just gone to the bathroom, and sat down to drink her soda before returning to bed.  After about twenty minutes, Cody was still nowhere to be found.


    Odd, going to the bathroom wouldn¡¯t have taken that long, and there¡¯s not much else he could have been doing.  Except for one thing¡­  Cherie¡¯s eyes widened.  There was no way Cody was the Angel of Death.  Still, Cherie stood up and decided to look around the house to see if she could find him.  She looked around the basement.  He wasn¡¯t in the bathroom or anywhere else.  Cherie went upstairs.  He was probably raiding the upstairs fridge for something, or else just taking a while in one of the other bathrooms.


    As Cherie reached the top of the stairs, she looked to the side.  She saw a window wide open.  Her eyes and mouth widened as she dropped the can of soda.  She ran around her house, but wasn¡¯t able to find him anywhere.  As she went back to the window, she heard her heart pounding.  Cherie looked at the open window for about a minute and cried.  If he had left the house, it had most likely been to kill someone.  Cherie sat on the floor and sobbed.  Eventually, she forced herself to go downstairs and climb back into bed.  She cried herself to sleep.


    *****


    As Cody lay in bed pretending to sleep, he heard Cherie emerge from her room and sit on the couch next to him.  She turned on the television.


    ¡°In other news, the Angel of Death has struck again.  This morning, John and Marie Shoemaker disappeared from their hom--¡± Cherie gasped.


    Cody stirred, pretending to be groggy.  ¡°What is it,¡± he asked.


    ¡°The Angel of Death killed two of my neighbors.¡±


    Cody¡¯s jaw dropped.  Cherie put her head in her hands and cried.  Cody went over and sat next to her.  He turned off the TV.  ¡°It¡¯ll be alright Cherry,¡± he said.


    Cherie cried for a little while longer.  ¡°Cody,¡± she said.


    ¡°Yeah, Cherry?¡±


    ¡°We need to talk.¡±


    Cody smiled, and put his hand on her thigh, still lying down.  ¡°Sure, about what?¡±


    Cherie¡¯s tears intensified.  ¡°Cody, I was up last night.  I saw your bed empty, and I saw the upstairs window open.  I looked all around the house for you, and I couldn¡¯t find you.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°Cody, please, tell me you didn¡¯t get up in the middle of the night, sneak out, and kill them.¡±


    Cody sat there for a second.  ¡°I didn¡¯t kill them.¡±


    Cherie sobbed more deeply.  ¡°How can I know that¡¯s true?  What were you doing last night Cody?  I looked all around the house.¡±


    Cody looked down and shed a tear.  He tried to lie.  ¡°I was upstairs reading.¡±


    ¡°Cody I can tell when you¡¯re lying.¡±


    ¡°Then you know I¡¯m telling the truth when I say I didn¡¯t kill them.¡±


    ¡°Where were you then?  Was it just a coincidence that you were gone the same night someone right next to this place was killed by the Angel?  You weren¡¯t reading.  I would have seen you.  You get this one last chance to explain yourself.¡±  Cherie looked down.  ¡°I want the truth.¡±


    Cody shed a tear.  What was better at this point?  Lying, knowing she wouldn¡¯t believe it, or telling the truth, when she might tell the police?  If he did lie, she would no doubt tell them what she had seen, and it was more than enough to condemn him.  On the other hand, if he told the truth, he¡¯d have a chance to persuade her.  It wouldn¡¯t even make a difference to Bavandersloth if he could get her to keep quiet on the details.  Besides, without his family and her, Cody had nothing to live for.  Cody sat on the fold out bed, and looked Cherie in the eye.  ¡°If this is a chance to explain myself, you have to hear me out totally, okay?  You have to let me explain everything, and promise not to freak out, or do anything, or come to any conclusions until I¡¯m done.¡±


    Cherie looked at him and let out another sob.  ¡°Please, I¡¯m all ears.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill your neighbors, or the baby, or any of the other innocent people who have been dying recently.¡± Cody put his head down and shed a tear, ¡°but I am the Angel of Death.¡±


    Cherie looked up at him, glaring with eyes full of tears.  ¡°Who have you killed then?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°The day you were healed, I found a book.  In it, there were instructions to turn myself into something; something powerful.  Something that could,¡± Cody sobbed and put his hand on Cherie¡¯s knee.  She moved it off, ¡°something that could help you.¡±  Cody looked down.  ¡°I was stupid, though.  I didn¡¯t read the book very thoroughly before I did it.  I was so excited to be able to save you.¡±  Cody shed a tear.  ¡°I found out right afterwards that what I turned myself into...¡± Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°It had a hunger, and in order to satisfy it, I had to kill a person every night.  If I didn¡¯t¡­ if I let myself starve for about a month, I¡¯d go on a rampage, and kill hundreds of people.¡±  Cody looked up.  ¡°I¡¯ve been doing what I¡¯ve had to, Cherry.  I¡¯ve only killed the criminals; one every night, plus four who tried to attack me, and ten who were threatening my family.¡±


    Cherie cried for a minute.  Cody reached out to pat her on the shoulder, but she swatted his hand away.  ¡°So there was no way around killing them?¡±


    ¡°No.  Like I said, starving myself would have just--¡±


    ¡°Starving?  You mentioned hunger earlier, too.  Cody, do you eat something from them?¡±


    Cody looked at her and took a deep breath.  ¡°Cherry--¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that,¡± Cherie snapped.


    Cody shed a tear.  ¡°Fine, Cherie, there are some things you might not want to know about.¡±


    ¡°Tell me.¡±  Cherie raised her voice.  ¡°Tell me now or I¡¯ll call the police and tell them everything you just said.¡±  Cherie was still sobbing.


    Cody looked down.  ¡°Cherie, sometimes it¡¯s better not to know all of the most horrible¡­¡±  Cherie reached over to the table for her cell phone.  Cody¡¯s head sunk.  ¡°I eat their souls.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s eyes widened.  As Cody looked back up at her, she was frozen.  She turned over to him.  ¡°You do what?¡±


    ¡°Cherie, if I knew I¡¯d have to I¡¯d never have made this transformation.  I¡¯m trapped okay?  I can show you the book if you don¡¯t believe me.  It¡¯ll confirm everything I¡¯m saying.  I had no idea I¡¯d be killing this many people.¡±


    Cherie took a deep breath.  ¡°So you didn¡¯t know you¡¯d kill anyone?¡±


    ¡°Cherie I--¡±


    Cherie¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Answer my question.¡±


    ¡°I knew I¡¯d have to move your cancer.  Look what was I supposed to do?  Just let you die?¡±  Cody¡¯s sobbing intensified.  ¡°Was I supposed to just sit back and let you rot away?  I love you.  You had everything going for you Cherie.  You deserved better than cancer.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t your choice to make, Cody.  Maybe you could have asked me?  If you had, I would have told you that I didn¡¯t want to be saved by a murder, or at least that you should have read the damn book.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.  That¡¯s exactly what I should have done.  I shouldn¡¯t have let my emotions get the better of me, but I did, okay?  There¡¯s no going back and changing that now.  Please, just forgive me, okay?  I did a horrible, horrible thing and I¡¯ve been trying in vain to atone for it ever since.  Please, grant me forgiveness.¡±


    Cherie sat and thought.  ¡°Did you plan from the beginning to find a crime in progress?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Cherie sat and thought a little more.  ¡°Then I might be able to forgive you, later.¡±


    Cody looked up at Cherie and smiled.  He hugged her.  ¡°Thank you so much Cherie.¡±


    After embracing his hug for a few seconds, Cherie asked one more question.  ¡°What happens to the souls you take?¡±


    Cody sat back, and took a deep breath.  ¡°They¡¯re digested, and when that¡¯s done, they¡¯re my servants.  In theory, I¡¯d use them to animate the dead, or spy.  Though I¡¯ve only twice wound up having them do anything, and in both cases, it was a matter of life and death.¡±


    Cherie looked nauseated.  ¡°You still have them?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Believe me Cherie.  I¡¯d free them if I could.¡±


    Cherie sat there.  After a second, she got up and ran to the bathroom.  Cody could hear her vomiting.  After she came out, she sat back down.


    ¡°There is one other thing you should know, Cherie.¡±


    ¡°Can there not be?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t tell anyone about any of this, okay?  I don¡¯t just mean not telling the police that I¡¯m the Angel.  I mean the details, like the book and the souls.  I need you to keep those secret, okay?  There are people who would be very upset if that information got out.¡±


    ¡°Like who?¡±


    ¡°Like other creatures like me.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s face turned green again.  ¡°There are others?¡±


    Cody sat for a second.  ¡°Yes.¡±  Cherie ran back into the bathroom.


    *****


    Williams sat alone in his office.  The Angel of Death, or if he was right, the Angel¡¯s imitator, had struck again.  This time, he had targeted a family on Cherie Lambert¡¯s street.  A quick phone call had revealed that Cody Giles had been staying the night with her.  Williams almost eliminated Cody as a suspect right then and there.  That this was someone¡¯s pathetic attempt to frame him was obvious.  Williams wondered if his hypothesis about a second Angel had been wrong, and these last few days had been the real Angel¡¯s attempt to frame Cody.  No, if that were true, the Angel¡¯s normal killings would have stopped.  This was definitely an attempt by an imitator to implicate Cody.


    The only question was why?  Why would someone other than the Angel want to frame him?  Perhaps they had a vendetta against him?  It would be quite the coincidence for another person with these powers to happen to have a vendetta against one of his suspects.


    Williams¡¯ eyes widened.  Perhaps Cody was the Angel, and this had been the fruit of a rivalry between two such creatures.  No, not just perhaps, it was the only plausible explanation.  The only other reason to do this would be to deflect blame off of Cody by making it look like someone had been trying to frame him.  But only the Angel would be likely do that, and this killing wasn¡¯t done by the Angel.  Williams had previously dismissed Cody as a suspect on the basis that his profile didn¡¯t match that of the killer, but that was before he¡¯d considered the possibility of a creature who had to kill in order to survive.


    It all made sense.  If someone with Cody¡¯s profile was bitten by one of these creatures, or cursed or some such, and they had to kill to survive, they might try to take advantage of their power by healing their girlfriend and others, and killing the perpetrators of crimes in progress.  But why did he stop healing?  Perhaps he was concerned about his kind being discovered?  If there was more than one of these things, it would have to be that there was some pact explicit or otherwise, between them to keep their existence a secret.  Otherwise, they¡¯d surely have been discovered a long time ago.


    So that was it, then.  Cody was the Angel.  It was possible that the person who had perpetrated this killing knew how obvious this tip was, but it didn¡¯t matter.  The Angel didn¡¯t commit those murders or sanction them.  It¡¯d be out of his character.  Therefore it wasn¡¯t the real Angel¡¯s attempt to deflect blame.  It must have been another such creature trying to bring blame to Cody.  The only person who would have motive to bring blame to him would be an enemy, and if Cody had an enemy who was one of these creatures, it was likely that Cody was one of these creatures himself.  Moreover, if Cody were a mere human, one of these creatures would have many better ways to take revenge.


    Williams decided to have a warrant for his arrest put out immediately.  No, that wouldn¡¯t work.  Sound as this deduction was, it wouldn¡¯t be enough in court, not even enough to get a warrant.  In particular, a judge would be skeptical of the idea that there were two creatures like the Angel.  Williams needed to find a way to prove that this was Cody.  He¡¯d start by bringing him in for questioning.


    *****


    Cherie emerged from the bathroom having brushed her teeth, showered, and dressed.  As Cody entered the bathroom, she lay down on the fold out bed and thought.  What should she do?  The obvious thing was to tell the police what she¡¯d been told, but did she want to?  Back when she used to think of the Angel as a mysterious force, he had been easy to hate.  But now that he was Cody, she wasn¡¯t sure.


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    A few minutes later, Cody came out.  ¡°Do you still want to finish the show?¡± Cody asked.


    Cherie took a deep breath and sat up.  ¡°Sure, I just have a few more questions.¡±


    Cody sat down on the couch across from her.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°What would happen if Williams arrested you?¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Well, it¡¯d depend on how much he knew.  Either way, I¡¯d have to escape.  Unless they fed me, I¡¯d eventually go berserk from hunger and kill everyone in the prison.¡±  Cody shed a tear.  ¡°If I wanted to keep feeding, I¡¯d have to go on the run.  I¡¯d lose everything; Lester, my parents, and of course, you.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    Cody shed another tear.  ¡°If he knew enough information, though, and released it,¡± Cody looked back up, ¡°I¡¯d be hunted down and killed.¡±


    ¡°Killed?  By whom?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath and hung his head down.  ¡°If they knew too much, and now that I think about it even them arresting me could reveal too much, I¡¯d be killed.  Our kind observes certain conventions.  Among them is that our existence is never to be revealed to the public.  If the world knew about us, all of humanity would want to hunt us down and kill us to protect their own souls.¡±


    Cherie stared for a moment.  She looked down.  ¡°So you getting caught wouldn¡¯t actually stop your killings?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Cody said.  ¡°The only thing that could stop my killings and free my souls would be my own death.¡±


    Cherie put her own head down.  ¡°Alright,¡± Cherie looked back up.


    ¡°There¡¯s one other thing you should know,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°What?¡± Cherie asked.


    ¡°I have enemies.  There are people, including other liches, that¡¯s what we call ourselves, who would seek to harm my interests.¡±


    ¡°Like the one who killed the baby?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  His name is Valthakar.¡±


    ¡°Why is he after you?¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°It¡¯s over a philosophical disagreement.  Either way, he¡¯s immensely powerful.  One of the main reasons I¡¯ve been working so hard to keep myself alive recently is because of the threat he poses to you.  He¡¯s liable to try to eat you at any time.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s eyes widened as she thought for a second.  ¡°Wait, when I woke up last night, I thought I felt myself being shaken awake.  Could that have been him?¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He nodded.  He looked down, letting out a breath.  ¡°It probably was.  He could have made you feel thirsty too so you¡¯d come out and see me gone, and maybe report me.¡±


    Cherie put her head down.  ¡°I see.¡±


    Cody put his hand on her shoulder.  ¡°Don¡¯t worry.  It won¡¯t work, because you won¡¯t report me.  In fact, now that you know, my life will be easier.  I won¡¯t have to keep this a secret from you.¡±


    Cherie sat silent for a second.  ¡°You said that this other creature like you was one of the reasons you¡¯ve been trying to keep yourself alive recently.  Cody, do you have some sort of death wish?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Yes.  If I died, all of my souls would be free, and I wouldn¡¯t have to eat any more.¡±


    Cherie thought for another moment.  ¡°And what would do that?¡±


    Cody wiped a tear from his eye.  ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You say you want to die.  What would kill you?¡±


    Cody put his head down.  ¡°In order to turn into what I¡¯ve turned into, I had to put my soul into an object.  I chose my cube.  To kill me permanently, you¡¯d have to destroy it.  I tried to do it myself, but well,  Ican¡¯t¡±


    ¡°Where is your cube?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s at¡­  Cherie, why are you asking?¡±


    Cherie put her head down.  ¡°Forget it.¡±


    ¡°Cherie, were you planning to--¡±


    ¡°I said forget it.  Let¡¯s just continue the show.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Fine.¡±


    *****


    Later, as Cody lay back on a couch next to the one where Cherie sat, he felt one of his souls emerge.  The soul rose to the middle of the room and looked around.


    He looked down at Cody.  ¡°Hey,¡± he asked.  He seemed wide-eyed, and to be breathing heavily.  ¡°Do you know what¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Cody looked over at Cherie.  ¡°Could you pause the show for a minute?¡±


    ¡°Can it wait?  I¡¯ll be changing discs in ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°Hey, can you hear me?¡± the soul asked.  ¡°Why is everything so big?  Why am I floating in the air?  Am I¡­¡±  The soul¡¯s mouth widened.  ¡°Shit!  I¡¯m not dead am I?¡±


    Cody looked at the soul.  ¡°Just hold on.¡±


    ¡°You can hear me?  Good.  Can you please explain what¡¯s going on here?  I was try--¡±


    ¡°Who are you talking to?¡± Cherie said?


    ¡°Just pause the show,¡± Cody said.


    Cherie pressed the pause button.  Cody got up and went into the bathroom.  He motioned for the soul to follow him as Cherie looked back.  It did.  Cody entered the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± the soul asked.


    Cody looked down and took a deep breath.  ¡°I¡¯m the Angel of Death.¡±  Cody shed a tear.  ¡°I ate your soul.¡±


    The soul¡¯s eyes and mouth widened further.  ¡°You¡­ you did wha--¡±


    ¡°I ate your soul.  That¡¯s what you are now.  The disembodied remains of a soul whose energy I¡¯ve taken.  I have to do that every night to survive.¡±  Cody looked up at the soul.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry it had to be you.¡±  Cody closed his eyes and looked back down.


    The soul looked at Cody for several seconds.  ¡°So¡­  How¡­ What now for me?¡±


    ¡°You get to wander the universe.  You can travel as fast as you want, reach anywhere in an instant.  Only other creatures like me, and the souls they¡¯ve taken, will be able to see you, but you¡¯ll be able to see everything.¡±


    The soul shed a tear, and then another.  It was soon sobbing.  Cody listened to it for a few minutes.  ¡°Do you know where one of your other souls is?¡± the soul asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Cody said.  ¡°I can give you an address, though.  There¡¯s another creature like me there, and you can talk to one of his while it works.¡±


    ¡°Works?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re designed to use the souls we take as slaves,¡± Cody said.  ¡°Most of us do.¡±


    The soul¡¯s sobbing continued.


    Cody gave the soul Bavandersloth¡¯s address.


    The soul nodded, and went on his way.  Cody left the bathroom and lay back down on the couch.


    *****


    Philip headed off to the address he¡¯d been given.  As he neared, he could see that he was approaching a mansion.  When he came to the door, he tried to knock, but realized he didn¡¯t have any hands.  He tried to cry.  If people knew that this is what happened to the Angel of Death¡¯s victims, they¡¯d have sent in the military by now.


    As Philip went to phase through the door, he heard a voice behind him.


    ¡°Hey!  You there!  Who are you, and who¡¯s your master?¡±


    Philip turned around.  ¡°My master?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, your lich.¡±


    Philip thought for a moment.  He looked down.  ¡°I was eaten by the Angel of Death if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯d he look like?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?  He looked like a black cloud--¡±


    ¡°No, after you came out of him.  How old did he look?¡±


    Philip thought.  ¡°Well¡­ he seemed to be about sixteen or seventeen.¡±


    The other soul sighed in relief.  ¡°Oh, good.  That¡¯s the real Angel.¡±


    ¡°Real Angel?  Is there a fake one?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.  I take it you¡¯re new to this whole thing.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°You can fly with me on my patrol patterns if you like.  I don¡¯t think my master would mind.¡±


    Philip approached the other soul.  ¡°You keep referring to them as our masters.¡±


    The other soul seemed to sigh.  ¡°You¡¯ve got a lot to learn.  Come fly next to me.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡±  Philip moved alongside the other soul.


    ¡°Those things, the ones that ate us, they¡¯re our masters.  They have the power to issue commands to us, and we do them against our will.¡±


    ¡°They can do what?  He said I was his slave but¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, unfair isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Philip was silent for a second.  He looked down as he flew.  ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky, at least as far as we go.  Your master is one of the nice ones.  Mine has had me working essentially non-stop since he ate me six-hundred years ago.  Whether I¡¯ve been patrolling for him or animating a body to work for some friend of his, I¡¯ve always been busy.¡±


    Philip¡¯s mouth widened.  ¡°That¡¯s horrible.¡±


    ¡°Tell me something I don¡¯t know.¡±  The soul sighed.  ¡°Look, kid, go on out and enjoy yourself.  Don¡¯t waste your time talking to me.  You have a rare privilege.  Don¡¯t waste it.¡±


    Philip thought for a moment.  ¡°I¡¯ll have all the time in the world to do that.  I feel more like talking right now.¡±


    The other soul sighed.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    *****


    That night, after Cody had gone back home, he heard a knock at the door.  His parents were out, so he went downstairs to check who it was.  Through a window, he was able to see Cherie¡¯s car outside.  He opened the door.  Cherie was standing there.


    ¡°Hi,¡± she said.  ¡°You forgot your phone.¡±  She held up Cody¡¯s cell phone.


    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡±  Cody took it.  The two stood, looking at each other for a second.  ¡°Is there anything else you want to talk about?¡± Cody asked.


    Cherie took a deep breath.  ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    ¡°You can come inside, if you want,¡± Cody said.


    Cherie looked down and then entered the house.  Cody closed and locked the door.  Cody sat down on an old couch.  Cherie sat next to him.  They were silent for a minute or so.


    ¡°Look, if you don¡¯t have anything to say, it might best for you to go,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Cody I¡­¡±


    ¡°Look, what I do isn¡¯t anything you need to worry about.  You know that there¡¯s no benefit to be had from reporting me, or anything else you¡¯d do.  Given that, until you¡¯re in danger, there¡¯s no need for you to think about what I am or how I work.¡±


    Cherie shed a tear.  ¡°Cody, it¡¯s impossible not to think about.  Now that I know about monsters that go around, doing what you do¡­¡±


    Cody put his hand on Cherie¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.  I have everything under control.¡±


    ¡°Cody I can still tell when you¡¯re lying.¡±


    Cody frowned, took his hand off of her shoulder, and looked down at the ground.


    ¡°Alright, so I have some problems,¡± Cody looked back up at Cherie, ¡°but it¡¯s my job to solve them.  For your own good, Cherry, please, stay out of them.  Involving yourself will only make things worse.¡±


    Cherie took a deep breath.  ¡°Cody, you can¡¯t just say ¡®Hey, there¡¯s a bunch of monsters going around eating people, I¡¯m one of them, and several of them might try to kill you,¡¯ then ask me to ignore those facts until further notice.  It doesn¡¯t work that way.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying.  I¡¯m just saying that there¡¯s nothing you need to do about any of this.  If you¡¯re ever in danger, call me.  Otherwise, just trust me to be able to handle my own life.¡±


    Cherie took a deep breath.  She sat next to Cody for a few minutes.  ¡°Alright¡± she said.


    Cody put his hand on her shoulder.  ¡°It¡¯s for the best, Cherie.  Besides--¡±


    Cherie screamed in pain as a wound appeared across her stomach.  Cody took a second to realize what was going on.  He changed into his true form and felt the area in front of Cherie.  Nothing.  He went behind the couch.  Sure enough, he could feel Valthakar in the area behind her.  Valthakar pushed him away.  Cody was able to get his footing before hitting a wall.  After a few more seconds, Cherie went unconscious from blood loss.  Valthakar deactivated his invisibility and turned to Cody.


    ¡°Hello there, Odelarch,¡± he said.


    Cody charged at Valthakar.  Valthakar raised a magical shield.  Cody slammed into it and fell back.  After he got up, he ignored Valthakar and grabbed his cell phone to call an ambulance.  Valthakar just stood there.  ¡°You¡¯ve nothing to gain from this,¡± he said.  ¡°They can¡¯t save her.  She¡¯s already too close to death.  Besides, even if they do save her, I¡¯ll lose nothing, and just kill her again.  It¡¯s ironic though, isn¡¯t it?  You gave up your soul to save her, and now, because of the enemies you made by becoming the monster you became, she¡¯ll die only a few months later than she would have had you done nothing.  And you will have to spend eternity without her after she dies, slowly and painfully.¡±  Valthakar smiled.  ¡°There¡¯s beauty to it, isn¡¯t there?¡±


    Cody cried as he spoke to the 911 operator.  ¡°911, where is your emergency?¡±


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m at 321 8th Street in Goldfalls, CA.  I need an ambulance.¡±


    ¡°Tell me what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°My girlfriend has been stabbed.  She¡¯s lost a lot of blood.  She¡¯s unconscious.¡±


    ¡°Alright.  There¡¯s an ambulance on its way.¡±


    ¡°Please hurry.¡±


    Cody stayed with Cherie for a few minutes while the ambulance rushed over.  He was sobbing the whole time.  ¡°Cherry,¡± he whispered over her unconscious form.  Valthakar left Cody¡¯s house with a smile on his face.  Once the ambulance arrived, they took Cherie onboard.


    *****


    Cody called Cherie¡¯s parents to alert them to what had happened.  They rushed right over.  Cody called his mother, who gave him permission to take the bus over to the hospital.  He ran over in his true form.  When he arrived, he found Cherie¡¯s parents in the waiting room.  The three sat together.  No one said a thing.  After a few minutes, the doctor came out to speak with them.  ¡°She¡¯s stable,¡± the doctor said.


    Cody smiled.  ¡°So you can save her?¡±


    ¡°That remains to be seen,¡± the doctor said.  Cody frowned.  ¡°We¡¯ve managed to stabilize her, but her injuries are severe.  She¡¯s lost a lot of blood.  There¡¯s no guarantee she¡¯ll live.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s mother put her face in her hands and cried.  Cherie¡¯s father leaned over to comfort her.


    ¡°What kind of odds are we talking about?¡± Cody asked.


    The doctor took a deep breath.  ¡°I¡¯d say she has about a ten percent chance of pulling through.¡±


    Cody fell to his knees.  He wept.  He could hear her mother weeping behind him.  He couldn¡¯t heal her.  Even if she lived until the hospital emptied out, Bavandersloth would kill him for healing after he told him not to, and his family would be defenseless against Valthakar.  Even if modern medicine managed to save Cherie, Valthakar would just kill her some other way.


    As he sat there crying, he heard someone come into the room.


    ¡°Cody Giles?¡± they said.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Cody said.  He looked up to see two police officers.


    ¡°You¡¯re under arrest for the murder of Aaron Smith.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Get back down and place your hands behind your back.¡±


    ¡°But this is outrageo--¡±


    ¡°Sir, you need to cooperate.¡±


    Shedding one last tear, Cody leaned down and allowed the police to cuff him and take him away.  He could hear Cherie¡¯s mother sobbing for Cherie as he was dragged off.


    *****


    Williams smiled as he heard the call.  Cody had been arrested for one of the Angel¡¯s murders.  Williams had selected one of the least important ones.  There wasn¡¯t enough evidence for the prosecutor to charge him for it as of now, but that wasn¡¯t the plan.  Williams had the power to keep Cody held for forty-eight hours without anyone charging him with anything.  That was more than enough time for the Angel, and his pretender, to miss a killing.  That would be more than enough to get him charged with this murder, and many others.


    Williams put his feet up on his desk as he chuckled and took a sip of coffee.  ¡°Farewell, sweet Angel,¡± he whispered to himself.

 1.09 The Law Shall Make No Exception For Him

    Det. Williams entered the room where Cody was being held.  Cody sat next to a state appointed representative.  Cody was crying.  Williams sat on the hard metal chair across from Cody and looked at him.  This was the Angel of Death.  Williams was certain of that.  The boy that sat across from him had killed more than sixty people.  Williams pressed his lips together as he looked over at one of the officers in the room.  ¡°Has he been read his rights?¡± Williams asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the officer said.


    ¡°Excellent.¡±  Williams looked over at the boy.  He didn¡¯t look like much of a murderer.  He was short, chubby, and had a certain innocence about him, but Williams had learned long ago that you could never judge a man by his appearance.


    ¡°Hello Cody,¡± Williams said, ¡°how are you?¡±


    ¡°My client will not be answering any questions,¡± the lawyer said.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s his decision to make,¡± Williams said.  He smiled.  ¡°Tell me Cody, how are you?  I¡¯m sure this whole ordeal has been hard on you.¡±


    Cody looked down, but didn¡¯t speak.  Williams leaned over the table, closer to Cody.  ¡°Tell me Cody, am I right to think that you need to kill in order to live?¡±  Cody looked up at Williams.  His eyes widened.  That was all the confirmation Williams needed.


    ¡°That¡¯s an absolutely outrageous accusation,¡± the lawyer said.


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Williams said.  ¡°I¡¯m speaking with your client, not you.¡±  Williams fixed his gaze back on Cody.  ¡°Tell me,¡± Williams said, ¡°can I expect to see a killing from you tonight?  You¡¯ll be locked up in here, so there¡¯ll be no way for you to escape to kill anyone.  I don¡¯t think a jury will need any more proof than that to convict you, especially after we keep you here all the way to trial, and not a single murder occurs.  It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll be able to afford bail.¡±  Cody¡¯s crying intensified.  This boy was worse than average at hiding his emotions.


    ¡°Think about it Cody.  You can either force us to try you for murder, a trial which you¡¯ll have no serious prospects of winning, or you can confess to everything you¡¯ve done right here and right now, and again when your arraignment comes.¡±  Cody put his hand over his face.  Williams leaned further over the desk, bringing his head closer to Cody¡¯s.  ¡°I know you want to do good, Cody.  I know you¡¯re trying to do what¡¯s right.  That¡¯s obvious from your actions.  You¡¯ve been cursed somehow with the need and power to kill.  Am I right about that?  Well, think of everything to be gained, by you and by the human race, if you were to submit yourself for analysis.  I have no doubt there¡¯s at least one other creature like you, the one that killed Latoya Stevenson, as well as Cherie¡¯s neighbors, and several others.  I¡¯d imagine there are several more creatures like you, too.  You could help safeguard humanity against all of them.  A lot of people won¡¯t be killed by creatures like you if you tell us everything you¡¯ve done.  I¡¯m sure everyone who knows you will understand if you confess.¡±


    Cody¡¯s crying intensified again, but he was trying to hide it.  Williams softened his voice.  ¡°Look, I feel sorry for you.  I doubt you chose this, and I know you¡¯ve tried to do everything you could right after what happened to you.  But sometimes, situations come up where we have to do something hard even when we don¡¯t want to.  You seem like a nice young man from everything I¡¯ve heard.  What if it¡¯s possible for you to find a way for you not to kill?  Wouldn¡¯t you like to learn about it if there were?¡±


    Cody looked down and away from Williams and wiped away another tear.


    ¡°Look,¡± Williams said, ¡°even if it¡¯s not possible, wouldn¡¯t you like to go down helping people?¡±


    ¡°Detective,¡± the lawyer said, ¡°are you seriously accusing my client of being some kind of monster with magical powers?  Do you even realize the absolute outrageousness of the accusations you¡¯re making?¡±


    Williams looked up at the lawyer.  ¡°Considering that we know someone with eight or so abnormal powers is running about, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s any less likely to be him than anyone else,¡± Williams turned back toward Cody.  ¡°In fact, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s him,¡± Williams pressed his lips together, ¡°and after you miss a killing tonight or tomorrow, the world will be just as sure as I am.¡±  Williams sat back.  ¡°There¡¯s no way out of this Cody, so why not spare your community the expense of a trial?  Anything that¡¯ll happen as a result of a confession will happen eventually once you¡¯re convicted of more than sixty counts of first degree murder, so why not speed up the process?  After all, if it is possible to arrange that you don¡¯t need to kill, you¡¯ll want to get started on trying to find a way as soon as possible, given that you¡¯ll certainly never manage to kill again.  Wouldn¡¯t you like that?¡±


    Cody was no longer trying to hide his tears.


    ¡°Look,¡± Williams said, ¡°like I said I¡¯m genuinely sorry for what¡¯s happened to you, and I want to help, but in order for me, or the community to help you, you need to admit what you¡¯ve done and promise us your cooperation.  At worst, your sacrifice might help save countless lives.¡±  Cody looked down.  Williams leaned in closer.  ¡°At best, your condition might be curable.  Even if it seems to you like there¡¯s no hope, ask yourself, do you really know that for sure?¡±


    Cody¡¯s crying intensified.  Williams looked down for a second before snapping back up.  He looked at Cody for a few minutes.  Based on his reaction, the boy clearly believed his condition to be incurable.  Perhaps it was.  Cody was in more of a position to know than Williams was, and it was entirely possible that he¡¯d gotten some reliable assurance that there was nothing to be done.


    Indeed, the prospect of letting himself die seemed to elicit a reaction, as though that might be impossible as well.


    Williams looked at Cody.  ¡°Tell me Cody, is there some reason you can¡¯t let yourself suffer the consequences of not killing; more than just it being unpleasant or even fatal to you?¡±


    Cody looked down and to the left.  This was an expression of shame and sadness, clearly, but what caused it?  Was he ashamed that he had to do what he did and sad that he couldn¡¯t avoid it, or ashamed that he did it despite not strictly having to, and sad that he was too weak to avoid it?


    Williams tried to think of a question which would elicit a different reaction in each of those scenarios.  He thought of one.  ¡°Cody, if there¡¯s nothing you can do about it, it¡¯s alright.  No one will blame you for what you¡¯ve done, especially since you and I both know that you only killed the criminals.¡±


    Cody shed another tear.  If there truly was nothing he could do about it, those words ought to have lifted him out of his sadness somewhat.  Williams sat back up in his chair.  ¡°Look, even if you didn¡¯t strictly have to kill, people will understand if your urge was too powerful to resist.¡±


    Cody covered his forehead with his hand as tears streamed down his.  More shame and sadness.  So it was an urge, not a need.


    *****


    Bavandersloth lay back in his mansion reading a book.  Not his usual fair of historical documents, but a book on government.  As he read, enjoying the warmth of his fireplace, one of his souls approached him.


    When he noticed the soul, Bavandersloth closed his book, marking his place with his finger.  He looked up at the soul.  ¡°What is it?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Odelarch has been arrested,¡± the soul said.


    Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  He sat up, closing his book and setting it down.  ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Williams seems to have figured out his identity.  He¡¯s interrogating him right now.  Odelarch hasn¡¯t spoken yet, but Williams seems to be figuring quite a bit out from just how he¡¯s reacting to things.  He plans to hold him for a few days.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked forward and thought.  He looked up at the soul.  ¡°Go back and resume monitoring him.  If anything new happens, come tell me.  If it becomes necessary, reveal yourself to Odelarch.  I¡¯d rather him know I¡¯m keeping tabs on him than have him give something up thinking that there¡¯s no escape on the way.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master.¡±


    Bavandersloth sat back and thought.  He couldn¡¯t just post bail.  It would look too suspicious for Cody¡¯s inexplicably wealthy school librarian to bail him out, and it would be a temporary solution anyway.  He had to think of something that would free Cody without implicating him.  He wracked his brain, trying to think of a plan.


    *****


    Williams leaned back over the table.  ¡°Cody, I empathize with you.  What¡¯s happened to you is tragic, and if your urge to kill is as strong as it seems to be, I don¡¯t blame you even one bit for what you¡¯ve done.¡±  Williams fought a tear of his own.  ¡°I mean that.  You¡¯ve been given a terrible curse--¡± Cody looked away.  Williams¡¯ eyebrow rose.  Had he been cursed?  That¡¯s what Williams had assumed, but that reaction indicated he blamed himself somehow.


    Of course, just because he blamed himself didn¡¯t mean it was really his fault.  ¡°Cody, what made you into what you are?¡±  Cody lowered his head, still crying.  ¡°Did someone else do this to you?¡±  Cody turned his head away.  Shame, indicating that he¡¯d done this himself.


    ¡°Did you know you¡¯d end up with the urge to kill?¡± Williams asked.  Cody shed another tear, indicating the answer was yes.  ¡°Did you think you¡¯d be able to control it?¡±  Cody¡¯s head sank deeper.  Williams wasn¡¯t sure what that meant.  ¡°Cody, if it¡¯s just an urge, it¡¯s possible that you¡¯ll learn to control it.  Wouldn¡¯t you like to be able to do that?¡±  Cody covered his face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so quick to assume that that¡¯s not possible,¡± Williams said.  ¡°Perhaps it gets easier for creatures like you over time?  If that¡¯s even possible, don¡¯t you want to try to make it happen?¡±  Cody¡¯s crying intensified.  Perhaps he did have a good reason to think it wasn¡¯t possible.  Indeed, it seemed that he did.  Either way, he was still guilty, and the state probably wouldn¡¯t care how truly morally responsible he was, given how dangerous his abilities made him.


    Well that was it then.  The lack of killings for two nights in a row would be enough for the prosecutor to charge him, and his failure to commit any murders while he was behind bars, or else the obvious signs of his means of escape if his urge overpowered him, would be enough to see him convicted.  And perhaps, if it was possible, helped.


    Williams sat back in his chair and crossed his legs.  ¡°We¡¯re going to take you to your cell now, Cody,¡± he said.  ¡°Any time you want to confess, or tell us anything, simply ask for a guard.¡±


    Cody nodded as he looked down and cried.


    *****


    The police officers led Cody to his cell.  Cody stepped in.  Cody heard a metallic bang as the door slammed behind him.  He turned around.  He saw the officers walking away.  He sat down on the bed and cried for several minutes.  Williams was right.  There was no way out of this without exposing himself.


    Cody lay back on the bed.  He thought.  He had to feed.  There was no way around that.  He also had to get to Cherie in time to heal her.  Since he¡¯d be exposed either way, he had to escape.


    Cody put his head down.  Of course, if he did just take on his true form and blast his way out, Bavandersloth would kill him for violating the first convention.  Cody looked back up.  His mouth widened.  Bavandersloth was his way out of this.  If Bavandersloth killed criminals while he was locked up, there wouldn¡¯t be sufficient basis to charge Cody, and Williams would have to let him go.  He¡¯d miss two meals, but that wouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    Now all Cody needed to do was think of a way to get his message to Bavandersloth.  Cody put his head down.  He¡¯d have to use a soul.  Cody clinched his fist.  His family was still in danger as long as Valthakar was about.  If it was the only way to protect them, it was what Cody had to do.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  Either way, he realized, he¡¯d probably not get out in time to heal Cherie.  She would still die.  Cody lay back, and sobbed.  Valthakar was right.  Everything he¡¯d done, all of it, had been pointless.  Cherie would die nearly as soon as she would have otherwise.


    After a few minutes, Cody forced himself to sit up and look around.  He had to focus.  There were more people than her who he had to protect.  He couldn¡¯t see any cameras around.  It was safe to summon a soul.  Cody took a deep breath and summoned a soul he¡¯d not used before.  The soul appeared in front of him.  He looked at Cody.  ¡°What is it, Master?¡± he asked.


    Cody fought through his tears.  ¡°Go contact Bavandersloth.  Tell him I¡¯m trapped in here, and that I need him to feed as I do so it won¡¯t look like I¡¯m guilty.  I also need him to keep Valthakar from killing my family.¡±  Cody gave the soul Bavandersloth¡¯s address.


    ¡°Yes, Master,¡± the soul said.  He flew off.  Cody lay back down.  He was all cried out.


    *****


    Bavandersloth retained his invisibility as he ran up to the police station.  He had a plan.  He smiled.  He looked around for a door.  Eventually, he found one.  He sent a soul inside the building to make sure there was no one around.  When the coast was clear, Bavandersloth rotted the lock off of the door and went inside.  After searching for a while, he was able to find a basement.  He went down.  There was only one human down there.  Bavandersloth approached him, still invisible.  He scythed and ate the man¡¯s soul, then summoned another soul to reanimate the human¡¯s body.


    Bavandersloth walked over to a metal box which contained the building¡¯s breakers.  He called one soul for each wire, and commanded each of them to follow theirs.  When they were done, the souls reported back to Bavandersloth, who severed the wires connected to the smoke detectors.


    Bavandersloth went back upstairs.  After a while, he found the break room.  He looked inside.  There were two people in the room, a man and a woman.  Bavandersloth ordered a few of his souls to keep watch nearby.


    Bavandersloth entered the room.  He put his hands on both of the officers and killed them with a thought.  He summoned two more of his souls to animate their bodies.  Next, he went into a bathroom and found a rag.  He covered it in hand sanitizer from the counter.  He took the coffee pot off of the coffee maker, and set the rag in its place.  He left the maker on.


    Bavandersloth left the room, and then the station.  He sent one of his souls to alert Cody to escape.


    *****


    Cody was still lying in his cell.  Despite his best efforts, his thoughts wandered, over and over, back to Cherie, unconscious on a hospital bed as doctors tried and failed to heal her.


    As he lay, Cody heard someone calling to him.  ¡°Odelarch,¡± they said.  Cody turned his head.  ¡°Odelarch,¡± Bavandersloth sent me.  The building is on fire.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±  He rose to his feet.


    ¡°One of my friends is animating one of the guards.  He should be here in a moment to unlock your cell.  When he arrives, take your true form, cast your cloud, and run straight through the door I lead you to.¡±


    Cody nodded.


    It was only a few seconds before the guard showed up.  She unlocked the cell.  Cody changed forms and darted out, following the soul outside.  As he ran, he passed other prisoners.  They shouted at him.  He closed his eyes and looked down.


    ¡°Is the fire department coming?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°Probably,¡± the soul said, ¡°but they¡¯ll most likely be too late to save the building, or anyone too deep in it.  My master has made sure exit is as difficult as possible.  The only ways out that aren¡¯t blocked are the front door, which couldn¡¯t be blocked discretely, and the one I¡¯m leading you too.¡±


    ¡°So all of these people are going to burn to death?¡±


    ¡°Most likely.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  He shed a tear.  He couldn¡¯t let any of them out.  Any method of doing so would make it too obvious that the Angel had been here.  As he ran down the hall, he took any opportunity he could to stop and use his powers on someone, especially someone in another jail cell.  He inflicted lethal burns, often right in front of other screaming, and doomed, prisoners.  Those burns would have been agonizing had they been delivered by fire, but Cody inflicted the whole process of burning to death in an instant, too quickly for it to cause any pain.  Occasionally, Cody would shed a tear when he had to leave someone alive for the coming flames.  Soon, the fire spread close enough that Cody could hear pained screams.


    Eventually, the soul led Cody to the door.  Cody retook his human form, and burst out through it.  He found himself in an alley.


    ¡°What do I do now?¡± he asked the soul.


    ¡°Stand out in front of the police station.  Stay far enough away that you¡¯re in no danger, but no farther.¡±


    Cody nodded.


    *****


    Pretty Pink Ponytails sat in her cell, singing.  ¡°Pretty Pink Ponytails leaves a lot of bloody trails.  Bones crack at my attack.  It brings a smile that never fails.  Pretty Pink Ponytails--¡±


    ¡°Hey, can you knock that off?¡± the woman in the next cell yelled.


    As Pretty Pink Ponytails reached through the bars to make her to bye-bye, she smelled smoke.  She smiled.  Fire would be more painful than anything she could do without her toys, which were back at her playroom.


    She turned around and looked up.  She saw a window near the ceiling.  It was too thin and too high up for most people, but not for her.  She stepped up onto a bench in her cell and jumped up to the window, punching it out.  It took her three tries to get enough glass cleared.  After that, she jumped up one final time, and grabbed the ledge.  She pulled herself up.  As she crawled through the window, she found it a tight fit, and felt shards of broken glass dig into her.  She was able to get out, though.


    She jumped down to the ground on the other side, bleeding from her stomach with some shards of glass embedded.  She ran off, looking to find her brother.  As she ran, she felt light headed.  She recognized the feeling.  She knew it wasn¡¯t from blood loss.  Her eyes widened.  She rushed home as soon as she could.  Nita might be coming out, and she needed her big brother to lock her up.


    *****


    Detective Williams sat in his office with Donna.  As he shuffled some papers around, he heard someone shout.  ¡°Fire!¡±


    He stood up.  He and Donna ran for the door.  He couldn¡¯t smell any smoke, so he was sure the knob would be cool enough to touch.  He tried to open it.  He couldn¡¯t.  Something was blocking it.  He and Donna pushed as hard as they could, but they couldn¡¯t make the door budge.  Williams got down.  He looked underneath the door.  He could see the bottom of something large blocking the doorway.  He couldn¡¯t tell what it was, but could tell it was a piece of furniture, not anything that fell down from above.  This had been deliberate.


    Williams thought.  There was no way out of here.  Who would do this?  He had plenty of enemies, but there were far better ways to kill him than by trapping him in a burning police station.


    It was absurd to think that someone would move that piece of furniture in front of his door in the middle of a fire, so it must have been moved before, which meant whoever had done this had set the fire.  It couldn¡¯t have been the Angel of Death.  He knew from Pretty Pink Ponytails¡¯ testimony that he was afraid of fire.  At the same time, it had to be him.  He must have still more powers that Williams didn¡¯t know about.


    No, even if he could do this, he wouldn¡¯t, nor would the other creature like him likely have any reason to do this.  You don¡¯t go to all of the trouble of framing someone just to let them out.  Wait, there was one possibility.  Now that Cody was in prison, setting the place on fire would force him to reveal himself, or be killed.  But why trap him?  Williams¡¯ eyes widened.  He was the only one who knew that there were multiple Angels.


    Williams turned around.  He saw Donna crouching down next to him.  They both lay down on their stomachs.  They looked at each other.


    ¡°So this is it then,¡± Donna said.


    ¡°Most likely.  No one will notice that we¡¯re not coming out until it¡¯s too late, and if the two of us together couldn¡¯t move that thing away it¡¯s probably heavy enough for moving it to take at least two, more likely three people; more than will stop to move it in the middle of a fire.¡±


    Donna took a deep breath.  She looked over at her desk, at a picture of her parents.  She shed a tear.  She looked back at Williams.  She put out her hand.  She smiled.  ¡°It¡¯s been a pleasure working with you,¡± she said.


    Williams took her hand.  He nodded.  ¡°Same.¡±


    As Williams predicted, no one came to rescue them as they lay.  Eventually, they smelled smoke.  They backed away from the door.  They felt the heat of the fire as they saw it come into their room.  Soon, the entire room was ablaze.  The walls, the ceiling, the floor, Williams¡¯ desk, containing everything he knew about the Angel of Death case, and recordings of all of the deductions no one else would likely make, all of it was bright and hot.  Soon, Williams and Donna were bright and hot too.  They screamed as the flames consumed their cloths, and then caught on their flesh.  Williams reached out for Donna¡¯s burning form.  Neither of them could help screaming as their flesh melted and burned.  They both closed their eyes.  After a few minutes, Williams no longer heard Donna¡¯s screaming.  ¡°Donna¡­¡± he mouthed, falling to the ground.


    *****


    Cody stood outside of the police station, waiting.  He assumed Bavandersloth had more planned.  As he stood, Cody watched ambulances arrive.


    A few minutes after Cody ran out, a police officer saw him.  She did a double take, and ran over.  Cody put his hands up when he saw her approaching.  The officer got out her baton.  ¡°How¡¯d you get out?¡± she asked.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.            Cody looked up at her.  ¡°One of the guards was going around opening cells.¡±


    The officer looked at him and raised an eyebrow.  She put away her baton.  ¡°I see.¡±


    The officer got out her radio.  ¡°Johnson, one of the prisoners got out.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Cody heard.


    ¡°Yeah.  In fact I think this was Williams¡¯ Angel suspect.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°Really?  Well, won¡¯t he be relieved.  For now, I guess you should take him to your cruiser.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    Cody allowed her to cuff him and bring him to her car.  He sat in the back.  After a minute, he spoke to her.  ¡°Um¡­ Excuse me, officer, what did the guy you were talking to mean about me being relieved?¡±


    The officer put her feet up.  ¡°The prosecutor¡¯s not gonna charge you with anything.  The real Angel healed your girlfriend about half an hour before the fire started, while you were in your cell.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  Bavandersloth didn¡¯t have healing powers, and he¡¯d told Cody that he didn¡¯t have any friends that did either.  Had he lied?  Wait a second.  Cody smiled.  Cherry was okay.  She¡¯d live.  She was out of danger, at least for now.  He needed to talk to Bavandersloth about taking care of Valthakar permanently, but if Bavandersloth was able to pull this off, there might just be a chance.


    Cody turned to his side as he heard a siren.  He saw a burned body being rushed out of the station by paramedics.  He looked down.  ¡°How many people survived the fire?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°Not too many.  The smoke detectors didn¡¯t go off, so a lot of people probably got trapped inside before knowing to run out.¡±


    ¡°Including Det. Williams?¡±


    The officer took a deep breath.  ¡°Possibly.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  Maybe Bavandersloth was able to get the help of another healing lich at the last minute.


    After a few hours, Cody was released.  The prosecutor decided not to charge him for breaking out of jail, and allowed him to go home.


    *****


    That night, Cody snuck out of his house to feed earlier than he usually would.  Once he had had his meal, he went out to Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion.  He knocked on the door.  Bavandersloth opened it.  ¡°Oh, greetings Odelarch,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m wondering how you healed Cherie.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I was going to come see you in the morning about this.  Please, come inside.¡±


    Cody did.  He sat in Bavandersloth¡¯s great room.  As he sat, he heard a voice upstairs.  It sounded like it belonged to someone around ten years old.  He couldn¡¯t make out what it said.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Bavandersloth said.  He went upstairs.  Cody raised an eyebrow.  After about a minute, Bavandersloth came back down.


    ¡°Who was that?¡± Cody asked.


    Bavandersloth put his feet up.  ¡°That was the lich who healed Cherie.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Please, Odelarch, don¡¯t be so upset.¡±


    Cody looked at Bavandersloth.  ¡°You brought a kid into this.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a kid.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but like, a young kid.  He sounded, what, ten?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s eleven.¡±


    ¡°And you made him into a soul eating monster?¡±


    ¡°He said the chant of his own free will.  I just gave him the book and told him what powers he needed to make sure he¡¯d get.¡±


    Cody stood up.  ¡°But he¡¯s just a little kid.¡±  Cody noticed something out of the corner of his eye.  He looked up.  He saw the child standing at the top of the stairs.  Bavandersloth turned around.


    ¡°Come down, Justin¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Introduce yourself to the Angel of Death.¡±


    Cody was silent.  The child walked down the stairs of the mansion.  He sat down in front of Cody.  ¡°Hi,¡± he said, holding out his hand, ¡°I¡¯m Justin, Justin Cooper.¡±


    Cody grabbed Justin¡¯s hand and shook it.  ¡°I¡¯m Cody Giles.¡±


    ¡°I understand if you don¡¯t think I¡¯m ready.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um--¡±


    ¡°Bavandersloth told me what I¡¯d have to do once I got these powers, but I¡¯m not worried.  I just have to keep killing bad guys and helping people every night, right, like you do?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah, but--¡±


    ¡°But what?  I¡¯m going to be saving people.  Plus, I won¡¯t just fight criminals.  I¡¯ll also fight evil liches, like you did with that Nazi.¡±


    Cody started to speak, but Bavandersloth interrupted him.  ¡°Speaking of which, tomorrow, we¡¯re going to take out Valthakar.¡±


    ¡°What?  I thought you said he couldn¡¯t be--¡±


    ¡°Not without me,¡± Justin said, grinning.


    ¡°When I gave him the book, I told him to intend two things when he became a lich, healing Cherie, and getting Valthakar¡¯s Phylactery.  Hence, he¡¯s gotten a special power.  If he¡¯s close enough to a lich, any lich, he can make their Phylactery appear in his hand.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Cody said, taking a deep breath, ¡°but why would he go along with this?¡±


    Justin put his head down, and as a tear formed in the corner of his eye.  Cody looked at him.  ¡°What is it?¡± he asked.


    Justin cried.  ¡°Earlier tonight,¡± he said, ¡°Valthakar¡­¡±  He was silent for a moment.


    ¡°Valthakar killed his parents,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Bavandersloth was barely able to get me out of the house in time,¡± he added through light sobs.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He looked at Bavandersloth, and then back at Justin.  He put his hand on Justin¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Justin wants to keep as many people from being hurt by liches as possible,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°He¡¯s a lot like you in a way.¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯ll be hard,¡± Justin said, ¡°but I¡¯m ready to do what I have to do to help people.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Alright,¡± he said.


    Bavandersloth looked up at the clock.  ¡°You know, something occurs to me.¡±


    Cody looked at him.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not even midnight yet.  If we wanted to, we could go take care of Valthakar now.¡±


    Justin looked up.  ¡°Yes.  Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    Cody looked at him, then up at Bavandersloth.  ¡°Are we sure he¡¯s ready?  Has he even had his first meal yet?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s best to take care of Valthakar as soon as possible, and I¡¯m sure he¡¯s ready.¡±


    Cody looked down.  He sighed.  ¡°Alright.¡±  He looked back up.


    Justin looked at Cody.  ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°If you say so.¡±


    ¡°So how do we find Valthakar anyway?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°I have one of my souls tracking him,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°We¡¯ll take your car then, I guess?¡±


    Bavandersloth nodded.  ¡°Yes.¡±


    The three walked out.  They got into Bavandersloth¡¯s car.


    *****


    Bavandersloth¡¯s car raced toward Valthakar¡¯s neighborhood.  According to Bavandersloth¡¯s soul, he was in a house he¡¯d taken.


    Bavandersloth took a drink of soda as he drove.


    ¡°How far are we?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°Not far,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Only a few minutes.¡±


    Justin took a deep breath.  He put his hand in his pocket.  Bavandersloth reached the gate that guarded Valthakar¡¯s neighborhood.  He stopped in front of a guard at a booth.  ¡°Hello sir, what business do you have here?¡± the guard asked.


    Bavandersloth took off his seat belt, and took his true form.  It was nearly naked, with only a loin cloth to cover itself.  From its wrists and ankles dangled rusty chains.  Bavandersloth looked at the guard.  ¡°You should let us in,¡± he said.  ¡°Also, you did not see, are not seeing, and will not see anything out of the ordinary tonight to do with us.¡±


    The guard was dazed.  He nodded, not saying a word.  He pressed a button and opened the gate.  Bavandersloth drove the car inside.


    ¡°Valthakar probably knows we¡¯re coming,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°I know,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°He¡¯s waiting for us.  He also probably knows about Justin, and his powers.  It shouldn¡¯t matter.  I¡¯ve stacked the deck in my favor.  All that Justin must do is will himself to acquire Valthakar¡¯s phylactery, and then hand it to me.¡±


    Cody raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Wait, why hand it to you?  Why not just smash it?¡±


    ¡°There is a spell I want to cast on it, one that might allow me to prevent things like this, like Valthakar I mean, from happening in the future.  Valthakar isn¡¯t the only lich old enough that policing him is a difficult task.¡±


    Cody looked at Bavandersloth.  He tilted his head.


    There was a light fog in the air as they pulled up to Valthakar¡¯s house.  The three got out of their car and looked around.  No one was outside.  ¡°Time to take our true forms.¡±


    Cody nodded and transformed.


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Right.¡±  Justin took a deep breath and transformed.  His true form was as tall as Cody¡¯s and Bavandersloth¡¯s.  It was clothed in silky white garb.  The outfit seemed to be one piece, but there was elastic evident around the waste.  The outfit was pure white, save for two bright red stains; one on the front, which was round and about one foot in diameter and, as Cody saw when Justin walked in front of him, one in back, which was an oval about a yard high and two feet wide, eclipsing a good deal of the garment.


    The three approached Valthakar¡¯s house.  Bavandersloth called his soul and ordered it to give him a report.  Valthakar was waiting right inside for the three to open the door.  He was ready to fire a shot at them.  Bavandersloth sent the soul back in.  He turned to the others.  ¡°Stand clear of the door,¡± he said.  The children nodded, and each stood to the side.  Bavandersloth ripped the door off, stepping to the side with it.  A fireball came out from inside.  The three heard Valthakar¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Hello,¡± he said.  ¡°You¡¯re free to come on in if you want; especially little Tkoralkiarch.¡±


    Justin grabbed a rock and threw it in front of the door.  A fireball was shot at it.


    ¡°I see you¡¯re not in the visiting mood,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°That¡¯s too bad.  I was hoping I could have another talk with Odelarch.  If you¡¯re unwilling though, I suppose there¡¯s no way to force you.  Of course, there¡¯s really no way for Tkoralkiarch to use his powers without coming in here.  The tome is a snitch that way.  It told me just how far away I needed to be, so I made sure he¡¯d have to be well inside here to get my phylactery.  Really, you might as well leave.¡±


    Justin gritted his teeth.  He turned to the others.  ¡°Any ideas?¡±


    Cody thought for a moment.  He turned to Bavandersloth.  ¡°Will our magical shields be able to stop his shots?¡±


    ¡°No.  None of us are powerful enough.¡±  Bavandersloth thought for a moment.  His eyes widened.  ¡°But I can think of one thing.  Each time one of his shots breaks one of our shields, its power will go down.  It will have to use a bit of its energy.  If we can surround Tkoralkiarch in all three of our shields, their combined force might be able to render the resulting shot survivable.¡±


    Valthakar laughed inside the house.  ¡°Ha.  That will never work.  Need I remind you that I am ten-thousand years old?  Or that I have the power of thirty-million souls on my side?  Even all three of your shields couldn¡¯t stand up to a blast from me.¡±


    ¡°Bavandersloth, is that true?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.  It¡¯s the only thing I can think of to try though.  We¡¯ll layer our shields.  Justin, yours is the weakest, so it¡¯ll be the farthest away from you.  Odelarch, yours will come next.  Mine will be last, and it will hopefully bear the brunt of the blast.¡±


    Justin looked down, then took a deep breath and clinched his fists.  He nodded his head ¡°Alright.¡±


    Cody nodded too.  He stood back, preparing to cast a shield.


    ¡°On my mark,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    ¡°Three.¡±


    ¡°Two.¡±


    ¡°One.¡±


    ¡°Go.¡±


    All three of the liches cast their shields, and advanced so that they would surround Justin.  Justin ran in, going a few feet into the room.  Valthakar fired a magical blast at him.  Cody closed his eyes, and concentrated on keeping the shield up.  He heard Justin¡¯s shield break, and then felt his fail.  Almost immediately afterward, he heard Bavandersloth¡¯s shield fail.  The blast of magical energy knocked Justin out of the house.  He was unconscious, and shifted back to his human form.  A large part of his torso was missing, the entire middle third, save for a thin strip of flesh.  Cody fought the urge to stare at the pleasing image of the leaking entrails.  He forced himself to look over at Justin¡¯s hand.  In it, there was a necklace.


    Bavandersloth ran over to the necklace.  He grabbed it and jumped back.  Valthakar ran out, but Bavandersloth closed his eyes and cast a spell.  As Valthakar emerged from his house, he stumbled, falling to the ground.  He looked up at Bavandersloth.


    ¡°Really?¡±  Valthakar was stammering.  He chuckled.  ¡°A will binding spell?  I didn¡¯t think even you would sink that low.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked at Valthakar.  ¡°Then you underestimated me.¡±


    Valthakar fell unconscious.  Bavandersloth shifted back to his true form, and advised Cody to do the same.  He did.


    ¡°What did you just do?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°I cast a curse on him.  His soul is now affected by the same magic as a devoured one.  He cannot help but obey my every command, and cannot bring himself to defy my will.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He stepped back.  ¡°Oh, um, why didn¡¯t you just kill him?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be a waste of his power.  If I had killed him, he would be gone.  This way, the most powerful lich on the earth is as my command, mine to use as I please.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, okay then.¡±  Bavandersloth picked Valthakar up, and Cody picked up Justin. The small strip of flesh nearly broke as Cody lifted it off the ground.  He had to catch the boy¡¯s legs.


    ¡°By the way,¡± Cody said, ¡°there¡¯s one thing I¡¯ve been wondering.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just thinking, wasn¡¯t it quite the coincidence that you just happened to be around when Valthakar was killing Justin¡¯s parents?¡±


    ¡°I was tracking Valthakar.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah, but you managed to get to that house just in time to save Justin when--¡±


    Bavandersloth turned around.  ¡°Cody, do you care about him?¡±


    Cody stumbled back.  His eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Do you care about Justin?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  He felt a bead of sweat fall down his forehead.  ¡°Oh.  I guess.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯d like to recommend against encouraging him to pursue any lines of thought that might cause him to uncover truths about my actions that might require me to do unpleasant things to him.¡±


    Cody¡¯s jaw dropped and his eyes widened further.


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°I¡¯m glad you understand.¡±


    Cody put his head down as he carried Justin to the car and set the boy down.  He got in on the other side and sat down.  He buckled his seatbelt.


    ¡°How long will he be out?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°They¡¯ll both wake in a few hours,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°He¡¯ll be healed in about ten days.¡±


    ¡°Oh.  Okay.¡±  Bavandersloth pulled away.

 1.10 Everything I Ever Did Was For You

    Bavandersloth sat in front of his computer, conversing with several other liches.


    ¡°Gentlemen,¡± he said.  ¡°Thank you for coming.  I am here to discuss recent events.¡±


    ¡°You mean you¡¯re here to rationalize your failure to safeguard the first convention,¡± said Kgobauru, one of the liches he was speaking to.


    ¡°It was a lost cause when I came here,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°I should have seen that from the beginning.  However, I believe it is possible to make the best of this turn of events.¡±  Several liches raised their eyebrows.  ¡°In fact, I think it might be possible, with great effort I admit, to turn these events to our favor.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense,¡± Kgobauru said.


    ¡°On the contrary,¡± Bavandersloth said, wagging his finger.  ¡°It is in fact quite achievable if we work together, and it will be the greatest gain in the history of our kind.¡±


    ¡°Those are quite the boastings,¡± Ntullnarlth, another lich present, said.  ¡°Have you any means of supporting what you say?¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°In fact, I believe you will understand the very moment that I explain my plan.¡±


    *****


    ¡°You¡¯re what?¡± Cody and Justin asked in unison.  Cody¡¯s eyes were wide, but Justin was beaming.


    ¡°I¡¯ve convinced the broader community of liches to soften aspects of the First Convention.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°Simple,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°By reminding them that everything these changes will allow them to do has already been done by you.  Public ignorance of the supernatural is gone.  It was gone as soon as you set foot in that hospital a few months ago, and it is impossible to get it back.  All these revisions are doing is accepting that and allowing us to use it to our advantage.¡±


    ¡°So I can tell everyone that I¡¯m a superhero?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°No more than you could have before,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°There are still rules, including the rest of the seven conventions, one of which requires you not to put my identity in jeopardy, along with some new ones.¡±


    Cody sat down.  ¡°What?¡±  Justin sat down too, then Bavandersloth.


    ¡°First, we¡¯re not to be seen in our true forms.  That is to say, our clouds are to be extended at all times, or else we are to be invisible.  Second, we are to keep all information regarding the source of our powers secret.  If one were to propose that we gained them from pixie dust, there must be nothing known to the public rendering that less probable than the truth.  Third, we must never allow anyone to know of our feeding habits.  Fourth, it must be believed that the mainstream among liches is to never harm innocent people, which entails, fifth, that we should not make a habit out of harming innocent people.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He smiled.  ¡°Does this mean I can start going into hospitals again?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Absolutely.  In fact, both of you two are to spend a great deal of time in them.¡±


    ¡°This is amazing,¡± Justin said, standing up, his mouth wide.


    ¡°Oh, one other thing,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Cody, I intend on giving a news interview posing as you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I want to establish good publicity, Cody, and I don¡¯t trust you to do it well enough, no offense.  I expect to have that interview airing shortly, perhaps even today.  I imagine any network would be eager to accept my offer.¡±  Bavandersloth left the room.


    Justin scooted closer to Cody.  ¡°Isn¡¯t this amazing?¡± he asked.  ¡°We¡¯re going to make things so much better.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±


    Justin patted him on the back.  ¡°C¡¯mon.  What¡¯s to guess?  We¡¯re superheroes.  We¡¯re going to go around fighting crime and healing people.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°True.¡±


    Justin sat back.  ¡°Just think.  With every lich in the world out helping people, how long will it take for everything in the world to be mostly awesome?  Diseases will become less of a problem for everyone.  People will hurt each other less.  With us out there, I wonder how many people will even be willing to do bad things.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He looked at the wall, away from Justin.  ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Justin,¡± Cody turned to face him, ¡°we¡¯re eating people¡¯s souls.  You can¡¯t take that lightly.  The people we stop from committing crimes, they may be trapped with us for thousands of years.  What we¡¯re doing to them is worse than what they ever intended to do to anyone else.¡±


    Justin looked at Cody for a moment.  He sat back.  ¡°Huh, I never thought of it like that.  I mean, I¡¯m making them allies of good, right?  Giving them the chance to redeem themselves?  I think any criminal would want that,¡± Justin looked down, ¡°even if they don¡¯t realize it.¡±


    *****


    Bavandersloth walked, invisible, to an alley.  He activated his cloud.  He hadn¡¯t done that in a long time.  Within the cloud, he became visible so his scent would escape.  He needed to match Odelarch¡¯s appearance in its every detail.  He stepped out into broad daylight, feeling the sun hit his skin.  He looked to either side of himself.  People gasped as they walked down the street.  Their eyes widened.  One mother held her child closer as he walked by.  Several people pinched their noses.  Bavandersloth could smell fear on them.


    Bavandersloth crossed the street.  A few people had their cell phones out, possibly calling 911.  Bavandersloth walked up to the news station.  The door was unlocked, so he entered.  The inside was sleek, painted white save for a blue stripe high on each wall.  There was a receptionist behind a desk.  She stood up, eyes and mouth wide.  She stumbled backwards.  Bavandersloth walked up to her.  ¡°Hello,¡± he said.


    ¡°Um, Hello, Mr¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to talk about giving an interview.  I imagine you¡¯re interested?¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, I¡¯ll have to call about--¡±


    ¡°I understand.  Oh, and stop pushing that alarm button.  I have no intention of hurting anyone.¡±


    ¡°I uh, see.  I¡¯ll make that call then Mr¡­¡±


    ¡°Angel of Death is fine for now.¡±


    ¡°I see.  I¡¯ll have that ready as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Splendid.¡±  Bavandersloth turned around and left.


    *****


    Pretty Pink Ponytails was in her playroom, holding a tub of liquid.  The walls were painted with bright pinks, yellows and blues.  Hand-drawn rainbows and unicorns decorated them.  In front of her, on the table, was a naked man.


    She looked down on the man.  ¡°I wanna play a guessing game,¡± she said.  ¡°Here¡¯s how it works, you have to tell me who ratted about our shipment, and if I guess that you¡¯re lying or not answering the question, I¡¯ll pour a bit of this sulfuric acid on you.¡±


    The man on the table yanked on the ropes that held him in place.  ¡°Piss off!¡±


    ¡°I see.  Hmm.¡±  She shook her head.  ¡°No, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re answering the question.¡±  Pretty Pink Ponytails tipped the tub over, letting a bit of the acid drip on the man¡¯s chest.  He screamed.  She closed her eyes, and smiled.  She opened them.


    ¡°That was fun,¡± she said.  ¡°Let¡¯s play again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll never tell you anything.¡±


    She shook her head again.  ¡°Nope, I don¡¯t think that was an answer either.¡±  She moved the tub to the man¡¯s leg, and poured a line from his thigh to his ankle.  He screamed.


    ¡°Fuck you bitch!¡± he shouted.


    ¡°Oops.  Being a potty mouth means you get extra points.¡±  She opened his mouth, and poured the sulfuric acid down his throat.  His screams were muffled as he gargled it.  He tried to spit some out at Pretty Pink Pony Tails, but couldn¡¯t work up the strength.  He choked.  ¡°Darn!¡± Pretty Pink Pony Tails said.  ¡°I forgot that people can¡¯t talk when their throats are dissolved.  Oh well, I guess I don¡¯t have any use for you now.¡±


    She flipped him over, and lowered his face into the vat.  She giggled as bubbles formed from him trying to breathe and shout.  She skipped out of the room into her brother¡¯s bedroom.  She put her head down.  ¡°Hey, bro, I¡¯m sorry.  I accidentally killed another prisoner.¡±


    Zachary¡¯s eyes were glued to the TV.  Pretty Pink Ponytails looked at him, then at the TV, then back at him.  ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked.


    Zachary pointed at the Television.  Pretty Pink Ponytails looked at him, and then sat down next to him on the bed.  She looked at the TV.


    ¡°¡­an exclusive interview with the Angel of Death.  That¡¯s right.  Earlier today, he approached our network, offering to give an interview.  During the scheduling, he told our network that he was not responsible for his most brutal killings, but that instead, they were committed by another person with his powers.  Speculation as to the implica¡­¡±


    Pretty Pink Ponytails looked at her brother.  ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± she asked.


    ¡°He knows my name!¡± Zachary said.


    Pretty Pink Ponytails¡¯ eyes widened.  ¡°He what?¡±


    ¡°It was in the heat of the moment.  He was able to get it out of me while I was spying on him, okay?  He had me pinned.  It¡¯s not my fault.¡±  He put his head down.  ¡°What if he says something?  All he¡¯d have to do was say that he got my name when I was doing work for Selechii and I¡¯ll be screwed.¡±


    ¡°How would he know it¡¯s us, though, and why would people believe him?¡±


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t have to know it¡¯s us, they¡¯d just have to know it was someone.  It wouldn¡¯t be too hard to figure this stuff out.¡±  He put his head down.  ¡°They don¡¯t even have to believe him really.  They just have to take it seriously enough to look back at that stuff.  If they do, they could find out that I¡¯m here and¡­ it¡¯s too dangerous to let happen, okay?  We gotta kill him.¡±


    Pretty Pink Ponytails thought for a moment.  ¡°Well, we already tried luring him into a fight.  No reason not to try that again, but we should probably make sure it works this time.¡±  Pink looked up, and snapped her fingers.  ¡°I know.  We¡¯ll get him somewhere that I can trap him.  We¡¯ll prepare that place ahead of time, and bring lots of back-up, and vats of acid, or burning tar.  I think the tar would work better.¡±  She looked down at her brother.  ¡°If we plan this right, I¡¯m sure we can get him.¡±


    Zachary looked down at Pink.  He smiled.  ¡°Yeah, maybe.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no maybe to it.  I¡¯m sure we can get him.¡±


    Zachary nodded.  ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±


    Pink tilted her head.  ¡°What else is wrong?¡±


    Zachary took a deep breath.  ¡°I¡¯m just thinking, he said that there are more creatures like him.  If that¡¯s true¡­ I don¡¯t know.  But I think it means something; like, something big.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Pink said, ¡°but it doesn¡¯t really matter for us, does it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±


    Pink smiled, and skipped towards the door.  ¡°Pink,¡± Zach said.


    Pink turned around.  ¡°Yeah, bro?¡±


    ¡°If there are things out there with magical powers, do you think maybe there¡¯s a hell?¡±


    Pink thought for a moment.  ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, maybe, but I don¡¯t see why there¡¯d have to be.¡±


    Zach closed his eyes.  ¡°Yeah, probably not.¡±


    Pink turned back around.


    ¡°Oh, and about the guy¡­¡± Zach said.


    Pink turned back to him.  ¡°Yeah, bro?¡±


    Zach sighed.  ¡°Get someone else on the other one, and try to be more careful next time.¡±


    Pink put her head down.  ¡°Okay.¡±  Pink walked out of the room, but then turned back around.  She looked at her brother.  He¡¯d turned back to the TV.  After a second, he grumbled, and changed the channel to his favorite station.  It was running a documentary.  ¡°¡­Goldfalls, CA, mere miles from the thriving city, lay an abandoned urban wasteland.  Once as busy as any other part of the city, the Northwest District has been abandoned since the Nineteen-eighties¡­.¡±


    Zachary lay back and smiled.


    *****


    That night, Cody crept up to a hospital.  He stood outside, looking into it.  He smiled.  He stepped into an alley and changed forms, activating his cloud of darkness.  He dashed to its fire escape, and ascended it.  He smashed the window, and looked at the person inside the room.  He put his hand on her, marking her diabetes for transfer.  He moved on to the next room, then the next.  After he¡¯d been in fifteen rooms, he heard security outside.  He rushed out of the building through another window.


    He sped off, smiling.  He¡¯d gotten twenty-seven people while he was in there.  He stopped in an alley, and sniffed around for a crime.  He wasn¡¯t able to smell anything in the area.  He wandered around town until he picked up a trail.  He followed it to its source.  As he neared, he heard a man threatening a woman with a knife.  She was screaming.  Cody rushed into the alley, tackling the man.  He heard the woman run off.  He knocked the man out and chased after her, grabbing her and inflicting her with his usual unconsciousness and amnesia.  He dragged her back to the alley and sat her down.  He turned to the man.  As he kneeled over him, transferring the diseases, he noticed something taped on the back of the man¡¯s jacket.  It was an envelope.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  On it was a picture of three pink Ps, their loops interlocking.


    His jaw dropped.  He thought Pretty Pink Ponytails had died in that fire.  He grabbed the note, his hands shaking.  He put it beside him and ate his victim¡¯s soul before picking it back up.  He stood up, looking at it.  He took a deep breath and put his hand to his side as he ran home with the note.  He snuck into his window and lay down on his bed, on his side.  He took his human form and opened the note.  The text was red.  It looked like dried blood.


    ¡°Dear Angel of Death,


    ¡°I, Pretty Pink Ponytails, cordially invite you to 4963 Manice St. in the Northwest District at 1:00 AM on Saturday, October the Twenty-fifth for a tea party I am holding with several local children.  I have knives, and drills, and sanders, and acid, and a special blowtorch.  It¡¯s pink!  I hope very much that you¡¯d have the courtesy to attend, sincerely, your friend Pretty Pink Ponytails.


    ¡°XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened for a moment.  He lay back.  This was the most obvious trap possible, and there was no doubt that Pretty Pink Ponytails knew that.  She must have had something there that she thought could beat him.  Still, she probably did have real children, so he had to go.  Besides, he had the upper hand.  He could get Bavandersloth as backup, and that¡¯d mean having Valthakar too.


    *****


    The next morning, Agent Lambert scrambled into his office with a cup of coffee to listen to a conversation Cody had had.  The office had been frantic after the announcement that the Angel was going to give an interview.


    Agent Lambert took a deep breath.  He sat down and smiled.  This conversation was just another talk with his daughter, so it was probably nothing.  Finally, something he could relax to.


    ¡°Yes, hello?¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Cody,¡± Cherie said.


    ¡°Oh, hi Cherry.¡±


    ¡°What the heck is this I¡¯m hearing about you giving an interview?  You said that your thing had to be kept a secret.¡±


    Agent Lambert¡¯s eyes widened.  He dropped his cup of coffee.  His jaw hit the floor.  ¡°Cher¡­¡± She knew?  She knew what Cody was?  How?  Lambert took a few deep breaths.  Maybe she didn¡¯t know everything?  Maybe she didn¡¯t know what liches ate?  Still, she had to know that Cody was a murderer.


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Apparently the guys in charge are changing the rules up.¡±


    As Lambert suspected.


    ¡°What?  Why?¡±


    ¡°From what I gather, my healings seem to have blown everything out of the water.  I think they¡¯re changing tactics.  Instead of pretending not to exist, they¡¯re going to pretend to be good guys.  By the way, that reminds me, you still need to keep the thing where we eat souls a secret.¡±


    Lambert gulped as he put his head down.  He shed a tear.  She did know?  How could she?  Why would she tolerate that?  What had he done wrong?  How could she side with a monster?


    ¡°What?  Cody, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know much myself, okay?  All I know is that the guy behind this knows how to make this kind of thing go well.¡±


    Bavandersloth was behind this then?  Probably.  That wasn¡¯t really surprising.


    ¡°Oh, that reminds me.  We got Valthakar.¡±


    Lambert¡¯s eyes widened.  They what?


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°The one who attacked you.  He¡¯s neutralized.  You¡¯re safe now, Cherry.¡±


    Lambert¡¯s jaw dropped again.  Valthakar was the most threatening devourer out there.   Bavandersloth had really killed him?  And what was this about him attacking her?  Had he been the one performing the false Angel killings?


    ¡°Oh.¡±  Cherie laughed.  ¡°Thanks, I guess.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±  Cody hung up.


    Lambert looked down.  D.I.A.P.P.¡¯s standard policy for devourer¡¯s accomplices; at least if they were adults, and knew about a devourer¡¯s diet, was covert termination.  They had to be punished, just like someone assisting a human murderer.  Lambert clinched his fist.  No.  That wouldn¡¯t do.  He wouldn¡¯t kill Cherie.  There was another way.  He just had to get her on D.I.A.P.P.¡¯s side in time.  He looked up.  He grabbed a pen and paper, and filled out a form.  It wouldn¡¯t be the first time D.I.A.P.P. had approached a devourer¡¯s loved one to use them as a spy.


    *****


    As soon as he arrived at school, Cody went to the library to see Bavandersloth.  ¡°Oh, hello,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Is this something we need to talk about in the back room?¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Well, follow me then.¡±  Cody followed Bavandersloth into the back room.  ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten a message from Pretty Pink Ponytails.¡±  Cody handed Bavandersloth the note.  He took it and read it.


    ¡°I see.  So what is it you want?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going.  I know it¡¯s a trap, but she¡¯s probably got real kids.  Since she knows how to fight me, I think it might be best if you and Valthakar came as backup?¡±


    Bavandersloth put his finger to his chin and thought for a moment.  ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really have anything planned for tonight.¡±  He looked down at Cody.  He smiled.  ¡°Sure, may as well.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°That¡¯s great.  Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s no problem.  I¡¯m going on the criminal diet anyway.  I¡¯ve nothing to lose by coming along, really.  Now, get to class.¡±


    Cody nodded.  He headed off.


    *****


    That night, Cody snuck out and went to Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion.  Bavandersloth let him in.  ¡°Welcome, Odelarch,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Come inside.¡±  Cody nodded.  He entered, and sat down in the great room.  Justin and Valthakar were already there.


    ¡°I¡¯ve scouted out the location,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°It¡¯s an abandoned warehouse in the Northwest district.  According to my souls, the room is completely dark.  There are about a hundred humans waiting there, including Pretty Pink Ponytails and her brother.  Each of them has at least five Molotov cocktails ready.  The children, about twenty of them, are in the back of the building.  The main room, the one in front, has two levels: the ground level, and a network of hanging walkways.  Large sections of the walkways lie over pits of burning tar, and they¡¯re rigged to give way if triggered by a remote Pretty Pink Ponytails carries.  As consequence, it is crucial that we never go onto them.¡±  Bavandersloth got out a map of the area.  ¡°They¡¯re expecting you to enter at 1:00 AM,¡± Bavandersloth pointed to a spot on the map, ¡°here, through the front door, above which sits a bucket of napalm, intended to douse you.  As such, we will not be entering through this door or any other.  Instead, we will make the walls here,¡± Bavandersloth pointed to another spot, ¡°decay, and then we shall burst in.  Valthakar and I will remain invisible at all times, while you two remain inside your clouds, off-center, so as to be harder to hit.  Once we¡¯re inside, you are all free to devour the human¡¯s souls at your discretion.  Corpses of fallen humans should be immediately reanimated and ordered to attack the humans in the room.  Any questions?¡±


    Cody looked down.  ¡°Do I have to use my souls?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  You need to get used to doing it anyways.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  He clinched his fist.  He thought about the children.  ¡°Fine.¡±


    ¡°Good.  We¡¯re going now, two hours before they expect us.¡±


    Justin turned to Cody as the four walked towards the door.  He smiled.  ¡°Isn¡¯t this awesome?  It¡¯s my first big mission as a superhero.¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Cody looked down at Bavandersloth.  ¡°Wait, Justin¡¯s coming?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m coming,¡± Justin said.  ¡°You got a problem with that?¡±


    ¡°Are we sure he¡¯s old enough for something like this?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s fine,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°If any of us were to not go, it¡¯d be you.  After all, you¡¯re the one who can least afford to disappear for a month.¡±


    Cody looked down.  ¡°I guess I see your point.¡±


    *****


    Pretty Pink Ponytails stood at her post.  It was likely that the Angel would decide to arrive early and she needed to be ready.  As she stood, she felt herself fading.  She clinched her fist.  It stopped.  She put her hand on her forehead.  She¡¯d been having episodes like that all day.  Nita was getting harder and harder to hold back.


    Pink smiled and put it out of her mind.  It would probably fade after a while.  It usually did.


    *****


    The liches approached the building.  It was an old, rusty, abandoned warehouse from world war two, when Goldfalls was an important manufacturer of planes and tanks.  Countless warehouses were built for this purpose, mostly in the Northwest district.  Cody saw the chipping green paint on the warehouse as he neared it.  The four liches crept up to the warehouse.  They positioned themselves on the walls on either side of the largest room.  Cody placed his hand on the wall.  He closed his eyes and rusted the steel.  A ten foot tall area of the wall browned.  Once the wall was weak enough, Cody activated his energy shield.  He burst in.


    One of Pink¡¯s henchmen looked straight at him and lobbed a cocktail.  It hit Cody¡¯s shield.  Cody rolled out of the way as several Cocktails rained down on him.  He looked up.  He selected a human at random.  He lowered his shield and fired a magical burst from his hand.  He raised his shield again.  The catwalk the human was on broke.  The human fell into the burning tar.  He screamed.  He trudged toward the edge of the pool, screaming.  Cody ran to the spot on the edge where he was trying to get out.  Cody put his head down.  He took a deep breath.  He remembered how he¡¯d handled the Black Death¡¯s leaders, and what he¡¯d said about the justice of the underworld.  He also remembered that the others were around, and would eat this man if he were left alive.  Cody scythed and ate the man¡¯s soul.  Cody looked up.  He fired another burst at a human whose catwalk was right above him.  The human fell into Cody¡¯s arms.  Cody ate him.


    Cody heard an explosion behind him.  He turned around.  A grenade had gone off, and one of the tubs of tar was leaking.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened and he ran away from it.  The human who¡¯d thrown the grenade smiled.  He threw several more, rupturing the vats of tar, causing the liquid to spread.  Cody ran to a flight of stairs and scrambled up it, onto the catwalks.  He looked around, and saw the other liches doing the same.  Cody ducked under a cocktail coming from his right.  He turned.  He saw four humans on his side of the gap in the catwalk he¡¯d created when he shot the first human.  He stood up, blocking their way forward, and put up his shield.  He endured the cocktails they threw at him.


    The eyes of the human in front grew wider with each unsuccessful shot.  He was sweating.  Cody knew there was nothing for him to do but exhaust his supply.  He did, as did the humans behind him.  When they were out, Cody dashed to the one nearest to him.  The human tried to jump off of the catwalk, but Cody grabbed him, holding the man¡¯s body with his feet about a foot off the ground.  Cody scythed the man¡¯s soul, and ate it.  He put the man¡¯s body behind him.  He grabbed and ate the next two men in the same manner.  As he approached the third one, the man backed up, falling off of the catwalk.  Cody reached out to catch him, but he fell into the burning tar below.  He screamed.  Cody stood up.


    Cody turned and looked for Pretty Pink Ponytails.  She was near the center.  She had a large store of Molotov Cocktails around her waist, and in two boxes next to her.  She threw one at Justin, but he was able to dodge it.  In the distance, people were collapsing, presumably at Bavandersloth and Valthakar¡¯s hands.  Several corpses were reanimated.  Cody turned around.  He didn¡¯t reanimate his own.  Cody looked ahead.  He saw a human.  He dashed across the catwalk to him, but stopped when he remembered Bavandersloth¡¯s  warning.  The catwalks were trapped.  He looked down.  He could make out a crease where the trapping began and another where it ended.  It was too far to jump.  Cody couldn¡¯t reach other areas of the catwalks.  He held out his hand, and fired at the human.  He hit his target.


    *****


    Valthakar ran up to a human and kicked him onto the ground, leaning down to devour his soul.  He stood up, turned around, and smiled.  There was a human stranded between two fallen sections of catwalk.  Valthakar jumped over a trapped area, a feat trivial for one powered by thirty million souls, and ate a human who was throwing cocktails at Justin.  Valthakar loved the human¡¯s taste.  There was a hint of murder in it, but first and foremost, it tasted of pride and lies.  Valthakar turned back to the stranded human.  He was crying in fear.  Valthakar leapt over to him and devoured him.  He tried to throw the man¡¯s body onto another catwalk, but he missed and the human¡¯s body fell into the burning tar below.  Valthakar jumped over.  As he fired beams of magic about, he smiled at the scent of burning flesh in his nostrils.  Valthakar took deep breaths as he let the sound of screams and the smell of flesh entertain him.


    *****


    Justin looked around.  He saw a human.  ¡°Alright, just gotta¡­¡±  He ran over to the human.  He grabbed his soul and ate it.  He loved the way souls tasted.  He animated the body with one of the few human souls he¡¯d gotten before.


    Justin felt heat on his foot.  He looked down.  His eyes widened.  He¡¯d been hit.  Putting his shield up, he grabbed his foot, and placed his hand over the flames, attempting to smother them.  After a few seconds, he was able to make the fire go out.  Justin looked over at the human who¡¯d hit him.  He was throwing more cocktails, but now they were only hitting Justin¡¯s shield.  Justin walked over.  He could see sweat on the man¡¯s face.  The man¡¯s eyes widened as he threw more and more of his cocktails at Justin.  They had no effect.  As Justin neared, the man tried to leap over the side of the catwalk, but Justin grabbed him.


    ¡°I can¡¯t let you burn to death,¡± Justin said.  The man¡¯s eyes widened as Justin threw the man¡¯s cocktails over the side of the catwalk before grabbing and eating the man¡¯s soul.  Justin heard a human panting behind him.  He turned around and looked up to a window to another room.  He saw a muscular, white man pressing a button.  Justin heard a noise behind him.  He turned around.  Two of the wires holding up the catwalk had caught fire.  Justin saw the human was pressing more buttons.  Justin took a deep breath.  He bent his knees, and leapt up to where the human was, smashing through a window and into a rusty metal room.  The human¡¯s eyes widened and he ran out of the room.  Justin gave chase, but before he could catch up, he heard a Cocktail slam into his shield.  He turned around, salivating.  He tackled the human who¡¯d thrown the cocktail and ate his soul.  He turned around to pursue the other human.  He followed him into the back room, where children were gathered on bleachers to avoid the burning tar.  The human stood in their midst, holding a gun to one child¡¯s head.  Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  He looked down.  The human whispered something into a walkie talkie.


    *****


    Cody held his victim as he scythed his soul.  He held the soul in his hand.  He stared at it.  He salivated.  He placed it in his mouth and chewed.  Souls were chewy.  They had to be.  Really, their consistency was more like gum than anything else.  It was impossible to rip them, or break them in two.  One merely softened them with saliva until they were fit to swallow.


    As Cody animated the body of the man he¡¯d just eaten, he looked over at Pretty Pink Ponytails.  She was listening to a walkie talkie.  She nodded, and then turned around.  She held up a button.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He leapt to a catwalk corner, tackling and devouring two humans.  All of the catwalk traps went off, braking off most of the catwalk.  About a dozen humans fell into the burning tar.  They screamed.  Cody closed his eyes and tried to cry, despite how musical he found their screams.  Cody turned as he felt Valthakar leap over to him.  Valthakar de-cloaked.


    Cody looked up at Valthakar.  ¡°Get on my back,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°I can carry you toward her.¡±  Cody looked around for a moment, and nodded.  He stood up, and got on Valthakar¡¯s back.  With ease, Valthakar leapt between the sections of catwalk that remained.  He headed to the back room.  He jumped up and through a broken window, then headed downstairs into another room.


    Cody got off of Valthakar¡¯s back as he stood, looking across the room.  Pretty Pink Ponytails and Zachary were each standing on bleachers in a group of children, holding weapons to one of them.  Bavandersloth came up behind them.


    Zachary¡¯s eyes were wide, and he was panting.  ¡°Don¡¯t you come any closer,¡± he said.  ¡°For every step you take, a kid gets it.¡±


    Pretty Pink Ponytails nodded.  ¡°As much as I¡¯d love to play with a friend, I¡¯m gonna have to ask you not to come any closer.¡±


    The children screamed and cried.


    *****


    Pretty Pink Ponytails held her knife up to a child¡¯s neck.  Secretly, she hoped one of the Angels would try to come over.  It wasn¡¯t often she had this much burning tar around when she was playing with someone.


    Light-headedness came over her.  She looked down.  He brother turned to her.  ¡°Are you alright, sis?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yeah.  I¡¯m fine.  I think I--¡±


    *****


    Zachary¡¯s eyes widened as Pink collapsed.  ¡°No,¡± he muttered.  ¡°Not now.¡±  He couldn¡¯t move his gun from the Children.  There was no telling what the Angels of Death would do.  He scooted toward his sister, taking a child with him.  His sister woke up.  She stood, looking around.  She looked at Zachary.  ¡°Sis?¡± he said.


    *****


    Cody¡¯s eyes were wide.  Pretty Pink Ponytails spoke back, but in a different voice.  She normally seemed to be disguising hers, heightening it, but now, she sounded just like a normal woman.  ¡°Guess again, Zachy,¡± she said.


    Zachary¡¯s mouth widened.  ¡°Nita!¡± he shouted.


    Pretty Pink Ponytails smiled.  She laughed.  ¡°That¡¯s right, big brother,¡± she said.  She walked over to her brother, brandishing her knife.  Sweating, Zachary took the gun off of the child¡¯s head and pointed it at his sister.  She tackled him, tossing the gun aside.


    Zachary turned to Cody and his friends.  ¡°Help,¡± he shouted.  Cody wasn¡¯t sure what to do.  Before he could decide, Justin tapped on Valthakar¡¯s shoulder, and ordered Valthakar to jump him across.  Valthakar did.  Justin ran up behind the woman, grabbing her.


    ¡°Let me go!¡± the woman shouted.  Justin pinned her against the bleachers.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°Kill her!¡± Zach shouted.  ¡°She¡¯s dangerous like this, more dangerous than usual.  Kill her, quickly, before she runs out of here and goes on a rampage.  She¡¯s liable to kill dozens, no, hundreds of people.¡±


    Pretty Pink Ponytails looked up at Justin.  ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him!  He¡¯s a liar.  He just wants to save himself.  I¡¯m not the little demon you¡¯ve been battling.¡±


    Cody looked on.  His eyes wide.  Something occurred to him.  Cody tapped on Valthakar¡¯s shoulder and got a leap over.  He stepped off of Valthakar and walked over to Pink.  He looked down at her.  ¡°Are you an alter?¡± he asked.


    Nita looked over at him.  ¡°Right,¡± she said, nodding.


    Zachary moved to grab one of the Children.  Justin ran over and seized him, manhandling him two feet above the bleachers.


    Cody sat down next to Anita.  ¡°Why were you trying to kill him?¡±


    ¡°Because of what he did to me,¡± Nita shouted.  She looked over at him.  ¡°That piece of shit sold my body for years.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a liar,¡± Zachary shouted.  ¡°Kill her, hurry!¡±


    Cody looked over.  ¡°Bring him here, Justin,¡± Cody said.  Justin obeyed.  Zachary was breathing heavily as Justin set him down, still holding on to him.  He was sweating.


    ¡°What¡¯s she talking about?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s a lying--¡±


    Cody grabbed Zachary¡¯s shirt.  Justin let Zachary go. Cody pulled him forward.  ¡°Do you remember our last talk about you lying to me?¡±


    Zachary took a few deep breaths.  He was sweating.  ¡°Fine,¡± he said.  ¡°My parents died when I was fourteen.  She was six.  By then, I¡¯d already done my first stuff for the Synd--, the gang I work for.  My parents had raised me in it.¡±  He looked down.  ¡°But that meant I was going on missions with them, for training.  I still wasn¡¯t good enough to do anything by myself.  I couldn¡¯t work for them.  They have higher standards than that.  I couldn¡¯t go into the foster system though.  I¡¯d done enough to be locked up.  I had to go out on the streets.  Without any skills, I had to do what I had to do to make money.¡±


    ¡°You rented me out to fucking pedophiles!¡± Anita shouted.  ¡°I was six.¡±


    ¡°I fed you,¡± Zach shouted.  ¡°If I hadn¡¯t done what I did, we¡¯d have starved to death out there.  Don¡¯t you think it was hard?  Don¡¯t you think I tried to think of another way?¡±  Zachary looked down and shed a tear.  ¡°But there wasn¡¯t another way.  You think they¡¯d try me as a child just because I was one?  That¡¯s not how it works.  I could well have been locked up for the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°You wrecked me!  You created a fucking demon inside me.  Do you not think I know how you nurture it?  How you manipulate it?  How you make it use my body to do what you want?  Then again, that¡¯s all you do!  You could have given me away.¡±


    Zachary¡¯s face went red.  ¡°Quiet down you bitch!  I should have let you fucking starve, is what I should have done!¡±  Zachary was seething.  Cody looked over at him, and then over at Anita.


    Anita shed a tear.  ¡°I still remember the first time.  I was screaming for you.  I thought you loved me.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have done it if I didn¡¯t love you!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!  You love yourself.  That¡¯s your problem.  That¡¯s all you love, yourself.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s everyone talking about?¡± Justin asked.  ¡°How do you sell someone¡¯s body?¡±


    ¡°Get Bavandersloth to tell you later,¡± said Cody.


    Anita leapt over Cody.  She held a knife to Zachary¡¯s throat.  ¡°Now, you di--¡± She collapsed.  Zachary took some deep breaths.  Cody looked down and saw that the burning tar was draining out of the room.  Justin guided the children outside.  Cody looked back over.  Anita woke up.  He heard a voice come out of her mouth as she turned around.


    ¡°What¡­ what just happened?¡± Anita asked.


    She sniffed, and turned around.  Cody rolled out of the way as she reached for a Molotov cocktail.  Pretty Pink Ponytails stood up.  Cody dashed away as she threw another cocktail.  Pink looked around as Cody looked at her, putting up his shield.  He salivated, but then thought about the woman trapped inside her.  Anita.  He put his head down.  Pink smiled.  ¡°You¡¯re siding with that Nita girl, aren¡¯t you?¡±  Pink put a gun to her head.  ¡°Go on, shoo, unless you want me to do it.  She¡¯d die too,¡± she said.  Cody dashed away.  Pretty Pink Ponytails gave chase, but Cody was able to outrun her.


    *****


    The next day, Bavandersloth approached the Channel Five News Station for his interview as the Angle of Death.  With his cloud of darkness covering him, he entered.  ¡°Hello,¡± he said.  ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±


    The receptionist took a deep breath and gulped.  She nodded.  ¡°Yes, sir.  Come this way.¡±


    Bavandersloth followed her down the hallway into a large room.  He was instructed to sit in a chair across from the anchor woman.  She was tall, and had long, blond hair, which was brown at the roots.  She wore large hoop earrings and bright pink lipstick, blue eye shadow and a bright pink suit.  She held her nose as Bavandersloth sat down.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do about my scent.¡±


    The woman looked at him, then looked away and pressed some lipstick against her lips, as though she was under the impression that she didn¡¯t have any on already.


    ¡°We¡¯re on in five!¡± Bavandersloth heard.  The woman finally seemed to realize that she was already wearing lipstick and handed the tube to a young man.  They sat across from each other for a few minutes before the interview began.


    A cameraman motioned at the woman across from Bavandersloth.  ¡°We¡¯re live in five, four, three, two, one; go!¡±


    ¡°Welcome, everyone,¡± the woman said.  ¡°I¡¯m Violet Fox, and this is Channel Four News at 5:00.  I¡¯m here in our studio for an exclusive, live interview with the Angel of Death, renowned vigilante.  Angel of Death, first, tell us, what exactly are you?  There¡¯s been a lot of speculation about how you do what you do.¡±


    Bavandersloth chuckled.  ¡°Well, Violet, I hope it¡¯s alright if I call you that, I¡¯ve read much of that speculation.  While I don¡¯t want to say too much, for personal reasons, I will assure you of this: I am not an alien, not in the usual sense at least, and what I do is not based on any technology.  My powers are pure unadulterated magic.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Violet said, suppressing a widening in her eyes, ¡°and where did you get your magical abilities?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something I think I¡¯d best keep to myself for now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a shame, sir.¡±


    ¡°I know it must seem it, but it¡¯s as things have to be for now.¡±


    Violet sighed.  ¡°I see.  So tell us, why have you come forward when you used to fear the spotlight?¡±


    ¡°Well, trying to stay secret hasn¡¯t really worked for me.  So I figured that if I was going to be known and discussed anyway, I should probably have an influence on the conversations surrounding me.  The public seems to be taking me as some sort of serial killer.¡±


    ¡°Are you not?¡±


    ¡°No.  I¡¯m afraid a great deal of confusion has been going on recently.  There are several creatures like me in the world, not just myself, and it is another who has done most of the brutal killings to which my name is given.¡±


    Violet raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Yes, you said that.  So you¡¯re saying you were framed?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a way of putting it I suppose.  The perpetrator of those crimes has been subdued according to our community¡¯s policy of taking care of its own business.  That¡¯s why they¡¯ve not been happening in the last few days.¡±


    ¡°Your community?  How many of you are there?¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Oh, about two-thousand or so, distributed across the world.  Most of them are expected to go public soon, as I have.¡±


    Violet¡¯s eyes widened.  She gulped.


    ¡°So, to clarify, sir, which killings were yours and which ones weren¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°The criminals are mine, though I didn¡¯t kill them out of malice.  Each of them was perpetrating a crime, and I took their lives only because I had to in the process of stopping them.  There were others that I spared.¡±


    ¡°What about the healings then?  Don¡¯t you count on killing someone each day to move diseases between people?¡±


    ¡°I patrol for quite a bit of time each night, and I can usually count on that situation coming about at least once in the process of the several crimes I stop.  I simply perform the healings to maximize the benefit I bring to the world.¡±


    ¡°And what about Cherie Lambert?  The police were making quite a big deal of her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I will not answer questions that have bearing on my identity.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.  So you say others of your kind are expected to go public?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Now that our secret is out, almost all of the others are following my lead.  There are three others in this town alone, and, as I said, a few thousand more throughout the world.  Most of us plan to take up crime fighting all night long, from now on.¡±


    Violet¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    Bavandersloth chuckled.  ¡°I said that most of us plan to start fighting crime each night, like I do.  Most of us were held back before by the need to preserve secrecy, but now that I¡¯ve gotten rid of that, we¡¯re all going to go out and do the right thing with our powers.  Only a few have indicated their plans to do otherwise, and I fear that some of them might take malevolent action, but as with the one who killed in my name, we will take care of them.  It is nothing for you to worry about.¡±


    Violet¡¯s jaw was wide open.  ¡°So you¡¯re planning to engage in vigilantism world-wide?  As a community?¡±


    ¡°Indeed we are.  Do not worry.  We will work to keep the law enforcement agencies of the world on good terms with us.  To what extent it is possible, we will not break the law at all.¡±  Bavandersloth turned to the camera.  ¡°Which reminds me, can hospitals please start letting me in at night?  I¡¯d be able to do my work without having to break your windows, and I might try to get everyone in your care, rather than the few I¡¯m getting as of now.¡±


    The interview went on for several minutes before the network had to cut back to other stories.  At the end of it, Bavandersloth agreed to come back again.  ¡°I might even try to get my own show on,¡± he said.


    *****


    Zachary sat in a red chair, watching television with Pretty Pink Ponytails asleep in his lap.  He looked down at her, and smiled.  ¡°Wake up sis,¡± he said, shaking her.


    ¡°Wha?¡± Pink asked.


    ¡°You need to move to your bed.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±  They stood up.  Zachary walked Pink to her bedroom, and set her down in her pink bed.  He rubbed her forehead as she lay down.


    ¡°Good night,¡± he said.


    She smiled.  ¡°Good night, bro.¡±  As Zach turned to leave the room, she called him.  ¡°Wait.¡±


    Zach turned around.  ¡°Yeah, sis?¡±


    She hung her head down.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry about the Nita attack earlier.¡±


    Zachary smiled.  ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he said.  ¡°It¡¯s not your fault.¡±


    Pink took a deep breath.  ¡°You know, I usually don¡¯t understand anything she says, even when I know I¡¯m inside her, but I know it¡¯s all a lie.¡±  She sat up, and smiled.  ¡°You¡¯d never hurt me.¡±


    Zachary went up to her and rubbed her hair.  He nodded.  ¡°That¡¯s right little unicorn.¡±


    ¡°I love you,¡± Pink said, pressing her head into his hand.


    ¡°I love you too,¡± Zachary said, smiling and stroking her hair.


    Pink yawned and fell asleep.  Zachary set her head down on the pillow as he looked up at the pink animal mobile above her bed.  He put his head down, and then looked back up.  ¡°Everything I ever did was for you,¡± whispered.  He turned, moving back to the television.  There was a special about ¡°Killer Children¡± on.  He watched.  When the show came back from a commercial break, he heard the narrator speak of a fourteen year old boy in his city, acting in 2000.  His eyes widened as he saw a picture of himself, at fourteen, come on.  The narrator detailed his going on a killing spree for the Syndicate.  The end of the segment mentioned that he was wanted with a reward of fifty-thousand dollars for information leading to his arrest.  He turned the TV off.  He clinched his fist.  ¡°It was for her,¡± he whispered, before getting up and going to bed.  ¡°I did it for her.¡±

 1.11 Felisha

    Agent Lambert sat with his colleagues around a large metal table.  They gave their attention to a plus-sized man in a grey suit.  ¡°Welcome everyone,¡± he said.  ¡°Thank you for gathering here today.  We¡¯ve two things to discuss in light of the new developments regarding the Angel of Death: what is being planned, and how we must respond.  Agent Lambert, as the head of the East Coast subdivision, I¡¯d like to hear your opinion on this issue.¡±


    Agent Lambert nodded.  ¡°Thank you, sir.  First, let me state that I am very confident that Bavandersloth is behind this plan.¡±


    ¡°What makes you say that?¡±


    ¡°I recently gave Cody Giles, the real Angel of Death, a bugged cell phone.  Bavandersloth has been mentioned by name several times during the boy¡¯s conversations.  We have found his trademarks in the area.  There is a secluded mansion perfectly meeting the criteria for a standard residence of his not far outside of Goldfalls¡¯ city limits.  Cody¡¯s conversations make it clear that he was the one who was initially sent by the community to respond to the Angel of Death incident.¡±


    ¡°I see.  What do you believe his endgame is?  Or do you believe his public statements about the community of liches¡¯ intent to take on the Angel¡¯s feeding habits should be taken at face value?¡±


    ¡°I cannot be sure, sir, but I suspect that there is an endgame this.  It is a big risk for the community of liches to reveal themselves to the public, and the longer they stay revealed, the greater the risk to them that their secrets get out.  It¡¯s not like Bavandersloth to stay in such a risky situation for so long.  I believe he must have some long-term plan to remove the threat of public knowledge altogether,¡± Agent Lambert took a deep breath, ¡°which would likely entail disaster for mankind.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any ideas as to what he is planning?¡±


    ¡°Countless, though none in particular stand out compared to others.  Given that he now has three other liches, including Valthakar, under his control, it¡¯s difficult to discern what his long term plan could be.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Is that all you have to say?¡±


    Agent Lambert nodded.  ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Good then.  Sit down.¡±  Agent Lambert nodded and sat.  ¡°Now, do we have any ideas as to what we ought to do about these events?¡±


    ¡°We could send in an Exterminator,¡± one of the agents said.


    The grey man nodded.  ¡°Yes, this does seem like just the time for one.  I move that an Exterminator be sent to Goldfalls, CA to exterminate the Angel of Death, Bavandersloth, and Valthakar.¡±  The grey man turned to Agent Lambert.  ¡°You mentioned a fourth devourer?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.  He¡¯s been mentioned in several conversations.  His name is Justin Cooper.  He was an eleven year old boy whose parents were killed one week ago, seemingly by Bavandersloth, judging by Cody¡¯s statements, though Cooper believes that Valthakar is responsible.  He¡¯s currently living with Bavandersloth.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Well then, I move that an Exterminator be sent to exterminate all four of the devourers currently residing in Goldfalls, CA.  Does anyone object?¡±


    An agent raised her hand.  ¡°Sir, isn¡¯t it risky to put an Exterminator up against four devourers, including Valthakar no less?  If she is devoured, D.I.A.P.P. could be exposed to the community of devourers.¡±


    The grey man scratched his chin for several seconds.  ¡°You are right to call it a risk,¡± he said.  ¡°It is still, however, our best chance.  Exterminators have won harder battles, and if Agent Lambert is right, then Bavandersloth¡¯s plan must be of a scope that justifies risks much greater than this.  Are there any other objections?¡±


    No one spoke.


    ¡°Very well then.  The motion is approved.¡±


    *****


    Justin dashed around the city, cloaked in darkness.  He smiled as he jumped around, sniffing for fear.  It was a while before he caught a scent.  He followed it.  He found a man holding a gun to another man, demanding his wallet.  Justin smiled and stood outside the alley.  He crouched down and pounced, tackling the man who held the gun.  The victim ran away, screaming.


    The man Justin was pinning looked up at him, eyes wide.  ¡°Plea--¡± he began.  Justin plunged his scythe into the man and took out his soul.  He ate it.  He savored its taste for a second, and then swallowed it.


    He picked up on another fear trail.  He sniffed a few times.  Something was off about it.  He wasn¡¯t sure what it meant.  He stood up and rushed over to its source.  As he neared, he saw that it was leading him to the Northwest District.


    He chased the trail, detouring from it to stop another crime along the way, before entering the Northwest District.  As he entered the district, the brilliance of its decrepit nature struck him.  He felt the cold wind on him, and smelled salt in the air.  He focused on the trail.  He walked.  The decay in the area around him made him smile.  It was marvelous.  The trail of fear led him to an old house in the district.  He approached it.  He heard noise coming from inside.  It made him cringe.  Was that classical music?  Justin fought the urge to cover his ears as he reached out, turning the knob and opening the door.  He looked inside.  His eyes widened.  He saw a single figure.  It was covered head to toe in strange tiles that flashed in bright colors.  Justin gagged at their beauty.  The figure turned toward him.  In its hand, it grasped a hose of some sort.  It was connected to a large tank behind the figure¡¯s back.  Justin¡¯s eyes widened.


    He leapt backwards as a burst of flame came out above him.  He scrambled to his feet and ran away.  After a few seconds, he heard a motor starting.  He turned around to see the figure riding after him on a bike with the same flashing lights as the suit.  Justin rolled aside as another burst of flame came from the figure¡¯s hose.  The bike overshot Justin, who shot a magical burst at the figure.  It missed.  The figure turned the bike around and looked back at Justin.  He scrambled away from another burst of flame as the bike zoomed toward him.  He fired several magical bursts backward, but was unable to hit the figure.  He could never bear to look back on the figure¡¯s flashing lights for too long.  The classical music made it hard for Justin to focus.  He heard the flamethrower burst right behind him.  He raised his shield.  The flames passed around it.  He raised an eyebrow.  He stopped in his tracks, keeping his shield up.  The bike swerved around the shield.  As it passed next to him, Justin pounced on the bike.  Its rider fell off and rolled aside.


    Justin picked up the bike as the figure pointed their flamethrower at him again and fired.  Justin rolled under the flame, going downhill toward the beach.  He hugged the bike and made it decay away before the figure reached the hilltop above him.  Justin ran forward and to the right, evading the flamethrower.  Justin ran down the beach and into the water.  He swam out.  His true form was buoyant, and he had a hard time forcing himself below the water.  He swam to the end of a large dock, and dove down, hugging the beam that supported it.  He waited.  He looked up as he heard the figure approaching.  He saw it looking down at him.


    The figure pointed the other hose down.  Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  He scrambled down the supporting beam.  The water above him froze.  Justin shimmied downward to evade the freezing water.  He saw a fish above him freeze in place


    Justin heard a splash behind him.  He turned around.  He saw the figure in the water.  It held out a hose in its left arm, and the water in front of it froze.  Justin rushed away, swimming for the shore.  He stepped out, dripping onto the sandy beach.  He ran forward.  He heard the figure chasing, but it was unable to catch Justin without the motorcycle.


    *****


    The next day, after school, Bavandersloth approached Cody as he walked toward the bus.  ¡°Cody, I need to speak with you,¡± he said.  Cody turned around.


    ¡°About what?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Come with me.  I¡¯ll explain.¡±


    Cody stood for a moment then followed Bavandersloth to the back room of the library.  Cody closed the door behind him as he entered.  ¡°What is it?¡± Cody asked.


    Bavandersloth took a deep breath.  ¡°Last night, Justin was lured to the Northwest District and attacked.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  By whom?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not sure, hence the urgency.  We don¡¯t think it was Pretty Pink Ponytails, though even that is uncertain.  I¡¯ll call your mother and make up an excuse.  You must come to my mansion immediately for a meeting.¡±


    *****


    The four liches sat around the coffee table in Bavandersloth¡¯s great room.  Valthakar took a sip of wine.  ¡°Thank you for gathering here, everyone,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°As you are all aware why I have brought you here, I shall cut to the chase, so to speak.  Tkoralkiarch, please tell your story to all.¡±


    ¡°Well, I was out hunting last night, and I smelled a fear.  It was kinda funny though.  Now that I look back on it, I think it was a bit off; like it didn¡¯t smell just right.  Anyways, I followed it, and it led me to this one human.  He was all covered in sparkling pieces of glass, like tiny screens.  It was really hard to look at.  He was playing ugly music too.  As soon as I went into the house where he was, this was all up in the Northwest district by the way, he shot a flamethrower at me.  I ran away, but he followed me on a motorcycle.  I was eventually able to get a hold of it and make it decay.  After that, I ran into the ocean.  I tried to hide underwater, but he saw me and jumped down.  He shot something else.  It wasn¡¯t the flamethrower.  It made the water in front of it freeze, like really fast.  I barely got out, but without his motorcycle, he wasn¡¯t able to chase me, so I ran away.¡±


    Bavandersloth took a deep breath.  ¡°Gentlemen, if this account is true, I fear something formidable is against us.  The Selechii syndicate would not have the resources to be behind such an incident as this.  In particular, they¡¯d be unlikely to have access to large supplies of liquid nitrogen, or an equivalent, which this human must have to make the water freeze as Tkoralkiarch describes.  What we are facing is much grander.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any idea what it might be?¡± Valthakar asked.


    ¡°My first guess is the United States government,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°We¡¯ve always thought we¡¯d managed to hide ourselves from the governments of the world, but it seems we might have been wrong.¡±


    ¡°That probably is it,¡± Valthakar said, laying back.  He laughed.  ¡°What do you propose we do?  I could send my souls out to search for things.¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°No.¡± he said.


    Valthakar leaned forward.  He smiled.  ¡°Not all of them, little one.¡±


    ¡°I worry that that will accomplish little,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°By the time they¡¯d find anything, we¡¯d have already acquired and eaten this pursuer.¡±  Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Speaking of which, that is my plan.  I hope to gather together to attack the figure.  I believe that between the four of us, it might be possible to devour them.  Once we have, we need only wait until they have been digested and interrogate them as to their origins.¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°That sounds good.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± Valthakar said.


    Bavandersloth turned to Cody.  ¡°Odelarch, what say you?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Is there any way not to eat them?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    Cody took a deep breath and looked down.  ¡°Do I have to help?¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you want to?¡± Justin asked.


    Cody closed his eyes.  He took another deep breath.  ¡°If you¡¯re right, this person is basically innocent.¡±  He looked up.  ¡°I mean, look at us.  We eat people.  I¡¯m not surprised if someone wants to kill us.¡±  He looked down.  ¡°If I wasn¡¯t a lich, I¡¯d want to kill them.¡±


    Justin put his hand on Cody¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°Hey, c¡¯mon man.  We¡¯re helping people.  I remember what you said about not taking eating people lightly, and I don¡¯t, but I also have to be willing to do it for the greater good.¡±  Justin took his hand away.  ¡°If we leave this unchecked, someone might stop us from helping people.¡±


    Cody looked down.  He heard Bavandersloth grunt.  He looked up.  Bavandersloth held a baseball in his hand.  He gestured toward the fireplace with it.  Valthakar chuckled.  Justin turned around.  Bavandersloth stopped moving his hand.  ¡°Oh, hey, don¡¯t you think we should leave that here?¡± Justin said.


    ¡°Oh, I was going to,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°It is your phylactery after all.¡±  Bavandersloth looked at Cody.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He looked down.  ¡°Also,¡± Bavandersloth said, ¡°I think you told me you had an engagement with Ms. Lambert you needed to get to.¡±


    Cody clinched his fist.  He took a deep breath.  He looked at Bavandersloth.  ¡°Fine.¡±


    ¡°Good.  So, tonight, let¡¯s all hunt as a unit, and do so every night until Justin recognizes the unique scent he detected.  Then, we shall chase down this figure and devour it.¡±  Bavandersloth looked at Cody.  ¡°Oh, and Odelarch, may I speak with you privately for a moment?¡±


    Cody gritted his teeth inside his mouth.  He pressed his lips together.  ¡°Alright,¡± he said.


    Bavandersloth pulled him aside.  ¡°Here¡¯s a fun piece of information for you,¡± he said.  ¡°Whenever a potential existential threat to the community of liches comes into being, the conventions are suspended.¡±  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  Bavandersloth grabbed Cody¡¯s shirt.  He seethed.  ¡°If you stand in the way of all our lives, I have every right to take Cherie, your mother, and everyone else you care about, and kill them.¡±  He let go of Cody.  ¡°But if this one human, who tried to murder a child, means more to you, go ahead.¡±  Cody shook his head.  Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡±


    *****


    That night, Cody snuck out of his window and met up with the others near Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion.


    ¡°Here is how it shall go,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Valthakar and I shall remain invisible.  Odelarch and Tkoralkiarch shall remain cloaked.  All of our noses shall contribute to our hunt, though I shall make final decisions on who we target.  Each night, we shall rotate who eats first.  Tonight, Tkoralkiarch shall have the first meal, then I, then Odelarch, then Valthakar.  Tomorrow, I shall go, then Odelarch, then Valthakar, then Tkoralkiarch, etc.  We shall continue this each night until we come across the figure Tkoralkiarch described.  As soon as we do, Odelarch shall approach them and lure them out.  When they emerge, they shall have the other three of us to contend with.  Are there any objections?¡±


    ¡°Why do I have to be the bait?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°Because you¡¯re the one who isn¡¯t invisible, but whose shield will likely still be able to stand up to just about anything they¡¯ll likely have.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Fine.¡±


    *****


    The four hunted in that matter for four days without incident.  On the fourth such night, it was Valthakar¡¯s turn to eat first.  The four ventured out.


    Cody caught a specific fear trail and the four followed it north.  They came across one man beating another.  Valthakar became invisible and ran up behind the assailant.  ¡°Now, have you--¡± the assailant began, speaking to his victim, his fists covered in blood.  Valthakar ripped his soul out and devoured it.  The victim¡¯s eyes widened as his perpetrator fell to the ground.  Valthakar allowed the victim to run off as he left the perpetrator¡¯s body behind.


    As Valthakar returned to the group, Justin sniffed the air.  ¡°I think that¡¯s it,¡± he said.


    Bavandersloth raised an eyebrow.  ¡°You mean the scent you caught--¡±


    ¡°Yeah.  I think this is it.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Let¡¯s follow it then,¡± he said.  He turned to Valthakar.  ¡°Can you smell it?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°I think I know what the boy is talking about.  It¡¯s coming from the Northwest district, and it does smell just off of the normal scent of fear.¡±


    ¡°Can you lead us there?¡± Bavandersloth asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Valthakar said.  He ran.  The others followed him into the Northwest District.  Valthakar stopped them when they neared St. Joseph¡¯s Memorial Hospital.  ¡°It¡¯s coming from inside the hospital,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°Relatively high up, in fact.  I¡¯m not sure how we¡¯ll all advance without the figure noticing.  I think it best if Justin hangs back.¡±


    ¡°No.  It is not wise to split up,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Not for him, at least.  Perhaps you, Valthakar, could go without us.  Simply remain invisible.¡±


    ¡°Let me first send a soul to scout the location out,¡± Valthakar said.


    ¡°Alright then.  Send one,¡± Bavandersloth said.  Valthakar summoned a soul.


    ¡°What is it, master?¡± the soul asked.


    ¡°Go up to the seventh floor of the hospital two blocks from here.  There should be an armored figure.  Inspect them.  Learn everything you can about them in a few minutes and come back.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master,¡± the soul said.  It flew off.  The four stood for a minute, waiting, before the soul came back.


    ¡°What did you see?¡± Valthakar asked.


    ¡°The figure was alone up there, in a hallway.  She¡¯s wearing strange armor, and carrying a flamethrower in her right hand, and another hose, connected to a tank of a cold liquid in her left.  There¡¯s lovely music coming from her suit.¡±


    ¡°Was there anything that could indicate a trap?¡± Valthakar asked.


    ¡°Other than her, no.¡±


    ¡°Very good.  You are dismissed.¡±


    The soul nodded.  ¡°Thank you, master.¡±  The soul flew off.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go up,¡± Valthakar said.


    ¡°Come back the instant something goes wrong,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    Valthakar nodded.  He headed off.


    *****


    Valthakar was silent as he walked toward the hospital.  The parking lot was overgrown, as was the path leading up to the entrance.  Valthakar went inside.  He took the stairs up to the seventh floor.  He was careful that the rusty stairs didn¡¯t collapse under him.  When he arrived on the seventh floor, Valthakar looked around.  He saw most of the windows broken.  There was a bird¡¯s nest on a windowsill, where a young bird and its mate slept.  Valthakar crept by them.  He approached the figure.  It was scanning the area around it.  Valthakar smiled.  He approached the figure, his scythe at the ready.


    The figure faced him.  Valthakar didn¡¯t slow.  The figure stopped rotating.  Valthakar advanced for another few seconds until his eyes widened.  A shower of fire erupted from the figure¡¯s hose.  Valthakar dove aside.  The flame spewed behind him.  He heard the birds fly away.  He looked up as the figure launched liquid nitrogen onto him.  He tried to jump out of the way, but the nitrogen froze his legs.  His eyes widened.  He struggled.  He looked over as the figure prepared the flamethrower.  Valthakar put up his shield.  He waited inside, summoning a soul.


    ¡°Go alert the others to get away,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°Tell them that this person can see us when we¡¯re cloaked.¡±  The soul nodded.  Valthakar stood underneath the shield.  He turned to the figure.  He smiled.  ¡°You¡¯re never getting past this,¡± he said.  ¡°It¡¯d take centuries for my shield to break if it were submerged in lava, let alone due to your flame.¡±  He looked down.  ¡°Then again, that also means you can¡¯t hear me,¡± he said.


    *****


    Cody stepped back as one of Valthakar¡¯s souls neared.  He looked up.  ¡°Valthakar is cornered,¡± the soul said.  ¡°He said that the person attacking him can see liches when they are invisible.¡±


    Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±  Bavandersloth turned as another soul approached from the south.  It was one of Bavandersloth¡¯s.


    ¡°Master,¡± it said, ¡°Your mansion is on fire.¡±


    Bavandersloth gasped.  His jaw dropped.  He turned to Justin.  ¡°Justin, summon your phylactery, now.¡±  Justin nodded.  The baseball teleported into his hand.  ¡°Odelarch, yours is at your house, right?¡±


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.            Cody nodded.


    ¡°Justin, you have to go up there,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    ¡°What?  But if that thing can beat Valthakar--¡±


    ¡°If it can beat Valthakar, then all the other liches in the world combined won¡¯t be able to stop it unless you save him, and that means getting close enough to get his phylactery back from the house.  Odelarch and I will come with you.  We should be able to just stay behind our shields and be fine.¡±


    Justin gulped.


    The three hurried to the hospital.  They rushed up the stairs to the seventh floor.  They donned their shields as they entered the stairwell.  As soon as they opened the door, a shower of Liquid nitrogen came down upon them.  Cody heard the music from the figure¡¯s suit.  He cringed.  Justin ran forward.  The figure looked at the other two liches before turning around and launching Liquid Nitrogen at Justin, making his shield flicker.


    Cody ran at the figure, and was able to crash into them with his shield.  The figure flew backward.  After a moment, the figure stood up and ran.  Cody and Bavandersloth pursued, Cody knocking the figure back again.  The figure stood and reached behind its back for something it had strapped to its shoulder.  It pulled the object, a long metal cylinder, out and fired at the ground beneath Cody and Bavandersloth.  A grenade came out of it and exploded on impact with the ground, making the floor crumble.


    Cody and Bavandersloth fell through the floor to the level below them, and crashed through it to the level below that.  Cody¡¯s shield popped.  He stood up and dashed away, expecting grenades to rain down on him.  Instead, he heard more explosions above him.  The figure had probably blown up more of the floor.


    ¡°That explosion would be powerful enough to destroy Justin,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    Cody looked up.  ¡°Crap,¡± he said.  ¡°Justin has his phylactery on him, doesn¡¯t he?¡±


    Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Yes.¡±  He punched a wall.  ¡°Damn it.  I forgot it was there.  How could I let him carry it into battle?¡±


    *****


    Justin ran from the figure as it shot grenades at him.  Each one made his shield flicker.  He clutched his baseball.  He ran forward.  Before long, he saw Valthakar in front of him.  He was inside a shield, frozen to the ground.  Justin ran up beside him and willed his Phylactery into his hand.  He got it.  He held the necklace.  He felt another explosion.  His shield went out for a second when it hit.  He raised his shield back up.  He ran around a corner.  He looked around.  He saw an elevator shaft.  He smiled.  He approached it and ripped its doors open.  He jumped inside, hearing a grenade follow him in.  He looked up.  He saw the elevator higher in the shaft.  A grenade was shot downward, toward him.  It broke his shield as he left the shaft.  He ran outside the hospital, passing a rusty wheelchair.


    As soon as he got outside, he turned around to see the figure grappling downward with a hook affixed to the roof of the hospital.  Justin sped up.  He saw that the figure was heading toward a new motorcycle.  It was too dangerous to go back for it.  Justin sped away, eyes wide.


    *****


    Valthakar lowered his shield as the figure went away.  He looked back on the lower half of his body.  He looked forward.  He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.  He planted his hands on the floor below him and pushed with all his might.  He felt the skin around his waist stretching.  He closed his eyes.  He took a few deep breaths.  He pushed again and, with all of his strength, ripped the upper half of his body from his frozen legs.


    He took a moment to gain stability on his hands.  He felt an intestine trialing behind him, but no pain.  He walked on his hands, his torso swinging back and forth.  He went to a window and climbed up to its sill.  He saw the rope the figure was grappling down on.  He smiled, and grabbed it in his hand, making it decay away.


    *****


    Justin heard a crash behind him.  He turned around to see the figure¡¯s grappling rope cut.  He saw the figure stand up off the ground.  It walked.  It looked down at its feet.  It had a limp.  The figure looked over at their motorcycle and limped to it.  They mounted it and sped off.


    Bavandersloth and the Angel of Death ran outside of the hospital.  They approached Justin.  ¡°Summon Odelarch¡¯s phylactery,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°The figure might go after it.¡±


    Justin nodded and called the Angel of Death¡¯s cube to appear in his hand.  He handed it to the Angel.  ¡°Are we sure he won¡¯t come back?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°It ran away because it was injured,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Unless that was an act, it¡¯s not coming back.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Cody said.  He took a deep breath.  He looked up.  ¡°So how do we get Valthakar down?¡±


    Bavandersloth walked over to the hospital.  ¡°Come down,¡± he said.  ¡°It¡¯s safe.¡±  Bavandersloth took several steps backwards as Valthakar activated his shield and dropped down inside it.


    Bavandersloth walked over to Valthakar, picked him up and carried him to the others.  They looked at Valthakar.


    ¡°It¡¯ll grow back,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°You can bring me food until then.  For now though, you have a more important question to think about.  How are you going to kill that thing?¡±


    ¡°I have an idea,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°You always do.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I always come out on top, even against you.¡±  Bavandersloth turned to the others.  ¡°It will require a few days to put together, but I¡¯m very confident that this will work.¡±


    *****


    Bavandersloth entered the news studio and approached the receptionist.  ¡°Hello,¡± he said.


    The receptionist¡¯s eyes widened.  She rolled her chair backward to the wall.  ¡°Mr. Angel of Death,¡± she said.


    ¡°An associate of his, actually,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    ¡°Oh.  Well, what is it you want?  Do you want to schedule an interview, too?¡±


    ¡°Eventually I will, but that is not why I¡¯m here now.¡±


    ¡°Oh.  Why are you here now then?¡±


    ¡°To give you this,¡± Bavandersloth said.  Bavandersloth handed the receptionist two envelopes.  ¡°I am going to take newsworthy actions later.  The exact nature of those actions is revealed in the message in the blue envelope, which you are to open and read on air at 11:00 PM.  The second envelope must not be opened until later, when I instruct you to do so.  When I do, please open it and read both of the pages inside.  One of them is written on notebook paper.  The other is not.  The one that is not written on notebook paper is to be read first, and the other is to be read second.  Your network is free to hype this up as much as it wants, but you must not open either letter so much as a second earlier than requested.¡±  Bavandersloth handed the receptionist another sheet of paper.  ¡°Here are the instructions written down just so you¡¯re sure to remember them.  Do you understand everything I just said?¡±


    The receptionist sat speechless for a moment, mouth open.  She shook herself out of a daze.  ¡°Uh, sure.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Thank you.¡±  He walked out.


    *****


    Cody ran to the others.  ¡°Ah, at last you have arrived,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°All things are ready.  We shall now get into our positions.  Justin, I hope you¡¯re ready to play your part?¡±


    Justin took a deep breath.  ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Good, be off then.  It¡¯s time.¡±


    Justin ran off.


    *****


    Justin did his best to stay out of sight as he approached a Laundromat.  He looked around.  He saw a woman.  She was looking at her watch.


    Another customer turned to her.  ¡°Is there a problem?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Oh, I just ma-- Justin burst into the Laundromat through the door, but was careful not to break it.  He grabbed the woman.  She screamed as he carried her outside and ran off with her.


    *****


    Justin ran with the woman back to where the others were.  ¡°Got her,¡± he said.


    ¡°Good,¡± Bavandersloth said.  He looked at a pocket watch.  ¡°It¡¯s about time,¡± he said.  ¡°Let¡¯s head over to the hospital.¡±


    *****


    It was 11:00.  ¡°And with that,¡± Violet Fox said, ¡°it¡¯s time for us to read the Angel¡¯s first note.¡±  The media had taken to calling all liches ¡®Angels.¡¯  Violet opened the letter.


    ¡°Hello, Channel 4.  By the time you are reading this, Some friends and I have kidnapped a woman by the name of Sarah Rogers.  One of my friends is holding her on the basement floor of St. Joseph¡¯s Memorial Hospital in the Northwest District.  Should the police, or any vigilante, or anyone save a very special, very flashy person who knows who they are, come in an attempt to rescue her, her knowledge will be stolen and she will be killed.  If our special someone isn¡¯t here by 3, she will be interrogated and killed.  It is recommended that Channel 4 news spread this message as widely as possible, to ensure that it reaches the special someone I have in mind.  Yours truly, Light-rook.¡±


    Violet¡¯s eyes widened as she looked up at the camera.  ¡°Ladies and gentlemen,¡± she said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what to make of this.  Remember that there is still the second envelope.  It may well shed light on the issue.  Until then, I suppose one of our interns is busy calling the police.¡±


    *****


    The Exterminator¡¯s eyes widened as she saw the broadcast.  Her jaw dropped.  Hadn¡¯t the devourers been trying to set up a better image for themselves?


    She turned off the television and went to her room to suit up.  Either way, there was a person in danger, and she had to save them.  This was obviously a trap, but she might be able to handle it.  She said a brief prayer as she strapped on her armor.


    *****


    The news and police were gathered outside.  Cody stood in front of the door, holding them back from entering the building, and ignoring questions.  Why did these people feel the need to run up to a serial killer guarding a hostage and ask him a question?


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened as he saw the figure appear behind the crowd.  He looked at it.  The news-people murmured and turned around to see the figure.  It put aside its motorcycle and walked through the crowd.  As it did, several reporters shoved microphones in its face.  ¡°Who are you?¡± asked one.


    ¡°Why do they want you here?¡± asked another.


    The figure stopped and stood, taking a deep breath.  Cody raised his eyebrow.  The figure turned to the reporters.  She shed a tear.  ¡°I am a protector; of people, of humanity, of all of you.  They want me because they¡¯re what humanity needs to be protected from.¡±  She turned her head and looked into a camera.  She clinched her fist.  ¡°Never, ever believe anything they say to you.  They are your enemies.  No matter what good they do for you, they will always be your enemies.  Never trust them.  Never obey them.  They don¡¯t murder to help, they murder because¡­¡± she looked down.  She turned toward the door.  The reporters stormed her with follow-up questions, but she ignored them, heading straight into the building.


    *****


    Felisha entered, clad in her armor.  She raised her flamethrower, preparing herself for a fight.  She walked downstairs.  She came out of the stairwell and entered the basement.  She looked out.  She could see a devourer holding the woman who¡¯d been taken inside a shield.


    Felisha turned on her radar goggles to check for invisible liches.  Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.  She hyperventilated.  She turned for the door, but a devourer stepped in front of it and eclipsed it with his shield.  Felisha stumbled back.  She turned around.  There were hundreds of devourers down here.


    Felisha pulled a gun out of a holster and pointed it at her head.  A devourer grabbed her arm.  ¡°No, no,¡± it said.  ¡°We can¡¯t have that.¡±  Felisha felt the gun being ripped out of her hand.


    ¡°Bring her over to Rngwellokt,¡± one of the devourers said.  Felisha looked up at him as she was dragged through the pitch black room to another devourer.  She jerked, but it availed her nothing.  She was presented to another devourer.


    ¡°Hello, my dear lady,¡± it said.  Felisha¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Silent type I see.  Oh well, may as well do my work.¡±  The devourer made a shield form around Felisha¡¯s tanks.  They phased through her hoses.  The devourer left a small hole to the side, which led to a long tube of magical energy.  Felisha felt light headed.  She gazed, sweating, as one of the devourers positioned its hand over the tube.  It fired in, and the hole was pinched before the magical blast could hit Felisha¡¯s tanks.  They exploded, but their force was contained inside the shield.  Another devourer came up behind her to and took the tanks.


    Felisha was led over to the devourer who¡¯d spoken before.


    ¡°Well, well, aren¡¯t you interesting?¡± he said.


    She spat at him.


    ¡°Oh, how rude.  Oh well, I suppose you¡¯ve figured out there¡¯s nothing about your fate that can be changed.¡±  The devourer prepared its scythe.  Felisha tried to wriggle away.  She failed.  The devourer sunk its scythe into her and scooped out her soul.  It clutched her in its hand.  It held her up to its face.  ¡°I¡¯m going to savor you,¡± the devourer said.  It tossed her in its mouth and chewed.  Felisha tried to scream in pain as the devourer¡¯s teeth crushed her.  It did savor her, chewing for what felt like a few minutes before swallowing.


    Justin and the woman stepped outside of the shield.  They took the stairs back up and outside.  Bavandersloth followed behind.  He turned to the cameras.  ¡°Open the second envelope,¡± he shouted.


    *****


    Violet Fox grabbed the second envelope form her lap.  She sorted the papers inside.  ¡°It¡¯s some kind of legal document,¡± she said.  She gasped.


    ¡°I, Andrea Jones, consent to be lifted and carried to the abandoned and legally enterable St. Joseph¡¯s Memorial Hospital at 11:00 PM on the evening of November the Thirteenth, Two-thousand-thirteen, and remain in its basement for up to several hours.  I understand and accept that numerous false threats will be made against my person.  I state that I am fully aware of the baselessness of these threats, and understand that they are made because it is necessary that a certain appearance be presented to the public; and in particular to a specific individual.¡±


    Violet looked up at the camera, her mouth wide.  She gathered her composure and moved on to the other page.  It was a note.


    ¡°To the members of my family and to the public, I have recently agreed to accept $10,000 in order to assist a group of Angels in attracting a major crime lord.  I allowed myself to be ¡®kidnapped¡¯ while notes accompanying the incident and presented to the press identified me as a high-ranking criminal whose identity the Angels had uncovered in the course of their investigations.  The theory, which you will know the accuracy of by the time you read this note, is that the crime lord will believe that my capture was a threat to the security of sensitive information and attempt to rescue me, doing so herself because of her belief that she was uniquely qualified to combat Angels with equipment thought to be stolen from the United States government.  To ensure I wasn¡¯t identified by the press, I left my home after curling my hair and dyeing it blonde.  I apologize to any persons whom I have upset, but between the money and the knowledge that I might save countless lives form this criminal, I couldn¡¯t say no to the arrangement.  I beg the forgiveness of all those to whom I have caused distress.


    ¡°Sincerely, Andrea Jones.¡±


    *****


    Reporters ran up to Bavandersloth and fired off questions.  ¡°All inquiries can be answered at a later time,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°In the meantime, I must attend to business.  We believe that the crime lord we just apprehended recently committed an act of arson, and intend on restoring the house which was burnt.  Fortunately, it was unoccupied at the time.¡±  Bavandersloth walked away from the hospital.


    ¡°Sir, what do you have to say to the comments the individual made before entering the building?¡±


    Bavandersloth turned around.  ¡°Probably an attempt at revenge against me for foiling its plan.  Either way, I assure you, there¡¯s no truth to what she said.  I am your friend, as are most of my kind.¡±


    Cody looked down.


    The reporters attempted to follow Bavandersloth but he, Cody, Justin, and Valthakar, ran off, traveling off-road to prevent news vans from following them.


    *****


    ¡°I can¡¯t thank you enough, Vathurlaken,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    ¡°It¡¯s no trouble,¡± Vathurlaken said.  ¡°In fact, I enjoy it.  That old hospital deserved the damage much more than this beautiful mansion.  It was a worthy trade to move this building¡¯s decay to it.¡±


    ¡°Well I think you, nonetheless.¡±


    Valthurlaken nodded and ran off.


    Bavandersloth smiled as he stepped into his newly restored mansion and into its basement.  He turned out the lights, and summoned the most recent soul to emerge from him.


    ¡°Greetings,¡± he said.


    ¡°Hello, master,¡± Felisha said.


    ¡°Tell me, who are you working for?  Who sent you?¡±


    The soul tried to cry.  ¡°The Division for the Investigation and Appropriation of Paranormal Phenomena.¡±


    Bavandersloth raised an eyebrow.  ¡°The what?¡±


    ¡°It is a branch of the United States government responsible for dealing with paranormal entities.  Primarily, we combat supernatural threats to human life and liberty.  In theory, our mission is just as much about finding practical use for inert paranormal forces, but so far as I am aware, no such thing is yet to reveal itself.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  He lay back, chuckling.  ¡°That¡¯s very interesting.  What can you tell me about it?¡±


    ¡°It has existed since the nineteen-fifties.  It is, at all times, led by a figure called ¡®the Grey Man.¡¯  ¡®The Grey Man¡¯ is a title, not a single person.  I was an ¡®Exterminator.¡¯  I¡¯ve killed several devourers, that¡¯s what we call you, in the past.  I was not told much about the organization, because it was known that this exact scenario could happen, and I would be pressed for information.¡±


    Bavandersloth chuckled.  This was very interesting.  Any organization that had evaded the community¡¯s notice for this long must be formidable.


    Bavandersloth sat up.  He reminded himself that he had quite the fight ahead of him.  If his plans were to succeed, it would be best if he were to totally destroy this organization.  Barring that, he needed to take some action to end its threat.  He looked up at the soul.  She tried to shed a tear as he thought about his next question.  Bavandersloth smiled.

 1.12 The People Need Fear No Longer

    Mia stumbled out of The Jackal, leaning on the man she¡¯d been speaking with all night.


    ¡°C¡¯mon,¡± the man said.  ¡°I¡¯ll drive you home.¡±


    Mia chuckled.  She looked up at him.  She took a step.  She fell forward.  She looked around.  She¡¯d tripped off of the curb and hit her head on the man¡¯s car.  She felt something warm on her forehead.  She put two fingers on her head then moved them into her line of sight.  Her head was bleeding.  The man helped her up.  ¡°Go on in,¡± he said.  She turned around.


    ¡°I dunno,¡± she said.  ¡°Mayb¡­ may¡­ maybe I should call a--¡±


    ¡°Come on,¡± the man said, hoisting her up.  She stepped into his truck.  She looked at the dashboard and saw some pictures.


    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± she asked.


    The man paused for a moment.  ¡°Wife and kids,¡± he finally said.


    Mia squinted at the pictures, and then back at him.  ¡°Those kids look a little old to be yours.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m older than I look,¡± the man said.  He drove forward.  Mia took a deep breath and sat back in her seat, holding a tissue to her bleeding scalp.


    *****


    Mia came to in a basement.  She looked around.  Her eyes widened.  She was under the light of a dim, swinging lamp.  She looked around.  The stairs in front of her were rusty.  She could see broken glass in one corner.  She looked up.  There was a small window near the ceiling.  She tried to stand.  Her arms and legs were bound to the bed.  She felt a bead of sweat rolling down her face.  She heard a laugh.  She jerked.   Her gaze snapped to the source of the sound.  The man she¡¯d walked out with stood at the top of the stairs.


    He stepped down the stairs as she struggled.  She yanked on the ropes.  ¡°You can keep on that M¡¯Lady,¡± the man said.  ¡°It won¡¯t do you any good.¡±  He smiled as he approached her.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t hurt me,¡± Mia shouted.  She shed a tear.


    The man slapped her.  ¡°Shut up.¡±  He reached to his side.  Mia¡¯s eyes widened.  She screamed.  The man held the needle of a tattoo machine in his hand.


    ¡°Hold still,¡± he said.  He moved her head to the side, and placed the needle against her neck.  He drew the outline of a butterfly, and then filled it in with dark blue ink.  He put the machine aside.  He smiled as he reached for a table.  Mia jerked on the ropes.  The man picked up a serrated knife and pressed it against the tip of her toe.  He rubbed the knife back and forth, cutting into her.  The woman screamed, tears streaming down her face.


    *****


    The Blue Butterfly¡¯s knife slid across the last of his victim¡¯s flesh.  He finished his final cut.  He smiled.  She was all diced up.  The Blue Butterfly grabbed the pieces and threw them into a pile.  He turned and picked up his special piece, a bit of her skin, off of the table.  He placed the strip of skin he¡¯d tattooed on top of his pile.  He chuckled.  It was all ready for the media to find.  He turned to get his machine and dragged it upstairs.


    *****


    ¡°Our top story tonight:  three more victims were found throughout the residential area of the Northwest District.  Police now estimate that up to fifty murders have been committed this month by the Blue Butterfly Killer.¡±


    A police man came onscreen.  ¡°We¡¯re doing everything we can to find this guy.  We have units out in the Northwest district.  It¡¯s just a matter of time before someone stumbles across him.¡±


    The reporter spoke again.  ¡°Despite these assurances from the police department, citizens of Goldfalls are less sure.¡±


    A woman holding a child came onscreen.  ¡°To me, it doesn¡¯t really seem like they¡¯re going to catch him any time soon.¡±  The camera cut to a shot of the Northwest District while the woman¡¯s voice played.  ¡°I think unfortunately if it was as easy as they¡¯re saying, then why haven¡¯t they got him by now?¡±


    ¡°Goldfalls police have refused to comment on how the killer has evaded surveillance.  In the meantime, many of the people of Goldfalls will simply choose to stay inside.¡±


    The report went on for several more minutes before the news went to commercial.  Cody¡¯s mother muted the Television.


    ¡°It seems like just a few weeks ago we were all scared of the Angel of Death,¡± Cody¡¯s father said.  ¡°Now we¡¯ve got another one.¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean,¡± Cody¡¯s mother said.  She bowed her head.  She took a deep breath.  ¡°Lord, protect us.¡±


    Cody sat down.


    ¡°Are you still sure of going shopping tonight?¡± Cody¡¯s father asked.


    Cody¡¯s mother nodded.  ¡°There¡¯s no other time to get it done.  I¡¯ll be working or sleeping the rest of the week.¡±


    *****


    Cody lay back on his bed, reading.  He reached the end of a chapter.  He marked his place and picked up his phone.  He called Lester.  He waited a few moments for Lester to pick up.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Lester said.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Why are you calling?¡±


    ¡°I want to do something about this Blue Butterfly guy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering when you¡¯d say that.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯ve not been sure what I could do that the police couldn¡¯t that didn¡¯t involve using¡­ you know what.¡±


    ¡°Have you thought of something?¡±


    ¡°No.  That¡¯s why I¡¯m calling you.  I need to think of something, and I need to think of something soon.  I haven¡¯t seen this town so afraid since Valthakar was killing.¡±  Cody looked down and took a deep breath.  ¡°I feel like a cat that can¡¯t protect ants from mice.¡±  Cody clinched his fist.  ¡°I¡¯m the one who can do something; in theory anyway.  I need an idea before I can do anything in practice, and you¡¯ve had some to spare in the past.¡±


    Lester sighed.  ¡°I don¡¯t know.  I mean maybe you could try to figure out where he¡¯s getting his people from?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t keep track of that efficiently without using souls.  Do you have any idea how many bars, grocery stores, malls, restaurants, and other places he could be picking people up from that are in this city?.¡±


    ¡°Well, is there any way you could narrow it down?¡±


    ¡°Not that I¡¯ve thought of.¡±


    ¡°What about distance?  Every body¡¯s been found in the Northwest district.  If he¡¯s killing a few people a day, he has to be taking them from close by, right?  I mean, he¡¯d have to abduct them, drive them over, tattoo them, and chop them up into little bits, times three, every night.¡±


    Cody sat up.  His eyes widened.  ¡°That¡¯s true.  He can¡¯t be more than a few miles away from the Northwest district.  Still, that leaves a lot of options.  How can we be sure where he¡¯s taking them from?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ How often are you guys around that area?¡±


    ¡°About as much as anywhere else.  Why?¡±


    ¡°Oh.  I was just wondering if you could smell the fear of the people as he took them away.¡±


    Cody stood up.  ¡°Wait.  No, maybe not as he¡¯s taking them.  But as he¡¯s killing them,yes.  That¡¯s it!  I could go down to the Northwest District tonight.  It¡¯d only take me a little while to smell something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, probably.  But wait; didn¡¯t you smell that exterminator girl from across town?  Why haven¡¯t you smelled one of those fears already?¡±


    ¡°That smell was amplified to attract us.  Anyways, thanks man.  I owe you one.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    Cody hung up.


    *****


    Cody and Justin hunted near the Northwest district.  They smelled several fear trails leading to a convenience store.  They neared it.  Cody looked inside.  He saw two masked men robbing the store.  The cashier was handing them money.  Cody and Justin burst inside.


    The robbers looked at them.  Their eyes widened.  Cody pounced on one of them, paralyzing him.  Justin dashed over to the other, doing the same.  Cody stood up and turned around.  People were running out of the store.  Cody approached the clerk.  ¡°They¡¯ll be able to move again in a few hours,¡± he said.  ¡°Do you mind getting the police to come pick them up?¡±  The clerk stared at Cody.  ¡°Ma¡¯am?¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Justin said.  He approached her, put his hand on her.  ¡°Her shock doesn¡¯t look too bad,¡± he said.  ¡°It should go away in a few minutes.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Get the phone.¡±


    Justin nodded and went outside.  Cody looked at the woman.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said.  She clinched her fist.


    Justin walked in with a pre-paid cell phone.  He handed it to Cody.  Cody took it.  He dialed 911.  ¡°Hello, 911, what is your emergency.¡±


    ¡°Hi.  This is the Angel of Death.  I¡¯ve got two people paralyzed in the 711 on Almond.  They¡¯ll wake up in about seven hours if you don¡¯t get down here.¡±  Cody hung up.  He and Justin left the store, sniffing.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He picked something up.  ¡°I think I smell something,¡± Justin said.


    ¡°Me too,¡± Cody said.  It was coming from the northwest district.  They ran after it.


    Cody smiled as he entered the Northwest district.  It was his favorite part of town, at least aesthetically.  He clinched his fist and followed the smell.  It let him to a small house on one of the abandoned streets.  Cody trudged through the long grass.  He went inside the house.  He sniffed.  He looked around for a staircase.  He heard humming.  His eyes widened.  ¡°Hide,¡± he whispered.  Cody scrambled under a table.  He took his human form.


    Cody saw a man¡¯s feet come into view.  The man stopped on his way to the basement.  He sniffed.


    Cody tilted his head.  The man stepped closer.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  The man bent down.  He looked at Cody.  ¡°Hi there,¡± he said, smiling.  ¡°Who are you?¡±  Cody moved backward.  The man bent under the table.  ¡°I have a friend downstairs,¡± the man said.  ¡°Would you like to join her?¡±


    Cody crawled out from the other side of the table.  He stood up.  He saw Justin pounce on top of the killer behind him.  Justin plunged his scythe into the man¡¯s torso, and pulled it out.  Nothing came out.  Justin gasped.  ¡°What?¡±


    The killer turned around.  He stood.  Cody took his true form.  The killer followed suit.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°You¡¯re a lich?¡±


    Justin ran after the killer.  Cody jumped over the table, planning to pursue.  The scent of fear from the basement intensified.  Cody looked down.  He took a deep breath.  He went downstairs.  He saw a woman, tied up and unconscious.  She turned to him.  ¡°Help,¡± she said.


    Cody rushed to her and made the ropes around her limbs decay away.  He helped her up.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked.


    The woman panted.  ¡°I think so.¡±


    *****


    Justin rushed after the lich as it ran to a car, got in, and sped away.  Justin stretched out his hand and fired a blast of magic at the car.  He hit a tire.  The car flipped.  Justin ran toward the car.  The other lich burst out of it and hurried off.  Justin jumped over the car and gave chase.  The two ran for a while with neither one gaining on the other.  Justin stopped.  He shifted into his human form, reached into his pocket, and got out his phone.  He called Bavandersloth as he retook his true form and ran after the lich.


    ¡°Bavandersloth,¡± Justin said, firing a magical blast at the killer.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Cody and I are out getting the Blue Butterfly Killer.  Long story, well, it¡¯s not really that long of a story¡­ point is, he¡¯s a lich.¡±


    Bavandersloth gasped.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s one of us.  I¡¯m trying to chase him, but I¡¯m not catching up very fast.  I¡¯m shooting at him, but it might be a while before I can land a shot.¡±


    ¡°Hold on.¡±  Bavandersloth didn¡¯t speak for a moment.  Justin fired another magical blast at the killer, to no avail.  Bavandersloth spoke again.  ¡°Alright, I got his entry in the book.


    ¡°Werorgorlok,


    ¡°A Lich of Murder.  A creative lich.  He haunts his home, searching for mortals to dismember.  He thinks of his acts as a form of artistic expression.


    Bavandersloth mumbled as he read on.  ¡°It says he has the power to hide himself and objects around him.¡±


    ¡°That must be how he¡¯s escaped the cops.¡±


    ¡°Probably.  Are you close enough to retrieve his phylactery?¡±


    Justin tried.  ¡°Not quite.¡±  Justin fired another shot.  He missed.  He put the cell phone in his pocket.  He rushed forward and fired another shot.  He missed.  He looked ahead.  The lich was about to run by a car.  Justin stopped and looked at the car.  He stretched out his arm.  He aimed, and hit it.


    The gas tank exploded, knocking Werorgorlok away.  Justin rushed to him.  Werorgorlok was on fire.  The lich rolled, trying to put it out.  Justin willed Werorgorlok¡¯s phylactery to appear in his hand, and it did.  He pulled out the phone as he ran way.  Werorgorlok chased him, but Justin had his shield up.  Justin called Bavandersloth back.  ¡°I got it,¡± he said.


    ¡°Good,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Does he know you have it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°Find a way to alert him to that fact.¡±


    Justin nodded.  He stopped.  He put up a shield.  He held up the phylactery, a blue marble.  He dropped it to the ground and, inside his shield, pointed his hand down at it.


    Werorgorlok¡¯s eyes widened.  He stopped.  He put his hands up.  Justin grabbed the phylactery and held it.  He let down his shield.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m a lich, like you,¡± Werorgorlok said.


    Justin clinched his fist.  ¡°I knew that.  Why were you killing those humans?¡±


    Werorgorlok smiled.  ¡°For fun and art.  Why else?  What do you care?  You do it too.¡±


    ¡°I save people.¡±


    ¡°And you kill as many.  Have you ever asked a soul what it¡¯s like to be eaten?  I have.  I love listening to their stories, over and over again.  Before I found the book, I used to think I¡¯d tape my kills when I finally worked up the courage to start them, but now, there¡¯s no need.¡±


    Justin gritted his teeth.  ¡°Liches are supposed to be crime fighters.  We save people.  We¡¯re the protectors of humanity, of good people.  We¡¯re not killers.¡±  Justin held out his arm, pointing at the Phylactery.


    Werorgorlok stepped backward.  He smiled.  ¡°There¡¯s gotta be a whole bunch of you, right?  There must be rules?  There¡¯s no way you¡¯re allowed to just--¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m allowed to take this thing to someone who is.¡±


    Werorgorlok looked down.  He grumbled.  He looked up.  ¡°Fine, then.  I¡¯ll come with you.¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll come with you.  I¡¯ll follow you back to him.  We can work things out.¡±


    Justin stared at Werorgorlok.  He called Bavandersloth again.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Bavandersloth said.


    ¡°He wants to come and see you.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Should I lead him to you?¡±


    ¡°No.  I¡¯ll come over there.¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Okay.¡±  He looked up at Werorgorlok, keeping his hand pointed to the phylactery.  ¡°He¡¯s coming here,¡± Justin said.  Werorgorlok smiled.


    *****


    Bavandersloth opened his car door as he arrived.  He stepped out.  He approached Werorgorlok.  ¡°Greetings,¡± he said.  ¡°My name is Bavandersloth.¡±


    Werorgorlok took a deep breath.  ¡°Hey,¡± he said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get straight to business.  According to my friend over there,¡± Bavandersloth gestured toward Justin, ¡°you¡¯ve been violating the conventions of our community.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know about any--¡±


    ¡°I know.  That¡¯s why you¡¯re not dead.  Nonetheless, allow me to elaborate upon the eighth convention.  It¡¯s the newest, and the one you have been violating.¡±  Bavandersloth got out a sheet of paper.  He cleared his throat.  ¡°Liches shall not engage in unnecessary malevolent behavior towards mortals except with the permission of a member of the community trusted to give such permission, or in circumstances where there is no reasonable way that these malevolent actions will ever be known of by the general public.  Feeding, both for sustenance and power, the transference of affliction, and other things which require the ending of human life, shall be done with criminals, dictators, or other persons perceived by the general public as negative and whose lives will not be mourned by the general public.¡±  Bavandersloth looked up.  ¡°The fact that it is not immediately obvious by your killings that you are one of us does not matter.  You are killing mortals whose deaths are not welcomed by humanity, and in doing so, are harming our ends.  You may do whatever you want with mortals you have captured, so long as they are among those who will go unmissed, and you dispose of the evidence of their suffering.  But you may not risk hurting our reputation if the mortals of the world discover that you are one of us.¡±


    The killer stood.  He looked Bavandersloth in the eye.  He smiled.  ¡°You¡¯re serious?¡±


    ¡°Completely.¡±


    The killer laughed.  ¡°I never expected the guys who eat souls to be such goodie goodies.¡±  He took a step toward Bavandersloth.  He crossed his arms.  ¡°Look, I¡¯m an artist, okay?  I can¡¯t just make these pieces and hide them, or even destroy them, and I can¡¯t use people who no one cares about.¡±  He stepped back, and spread his arms out.  ¡°It¡¯d have no impact, man.  No spice.  Good stuff¡¯s gotta have a certain punch to it.¡±  He chuckled.  ¡°It¡¯s like a saying I¡¯ve got.  Anything can be art, so long as it¡¯s got that special punch.  Nothing can be art if it¡¯s not got it.  I¡¯m not messing with anything you¡¯re doing.  You can still hunt for people you don¡¯t like, and no one¡¯s going to figure out that I¡¯m a lich like you.¡±  He looked down.  ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what.  I¡¯ll start leaving some phony evidence behind to make it look like there¡¯s some way I¡¯m getting in here that makes sense.  How about that?  No one¡¯ll have any reason to suspect that I¡¯m a lich.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not here to ask you for your opinion on the conventions.  I¡¯m here to enforce them.  Will you play ball or not?¡±


    The killer looked at Bavandersloth.  He laughed.  He took another few steps back.  ¡°Look, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got a good reason for your conventions, okay?  But I think we can work something out.¡±  He stepped forward.  ¡°I do this because it¡¯s who I am, okay?  I can¡¯t just not work.  Could Batch just stop making songs?--¡±


    ¡°Bach.¡±


    The killer laughed.  ¡°Whatever, man.  The point is that this is who I am.  You¡¯re asking me to stop it just because of some old traditions?¡±


    Bavandersloth walked up to Werorgorlok.  He grabbed his tattered blue T-shirt and pulled him closer.  ¡°Stop that.¡±


    The killer laughed.  ¡°What do you me--¡±


    ¡°I know your type,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°I¡¯ve dealt with it before.  You¡¯ve wanted to kill for years.  You fantasized about it.  You dreamt of it.  But you were always too much of a coward to do it.  All of the sudden, a book comes along and you realize you can be the perfect killer, or so you think.¡±  Bavandersloth tilted his head.  ¡°Am I on the mark?  I bet I am.  I¡¯ve lost count of the number of people just like you who become liches.  The difference is that most of them are smart enough to listen to reason when I approach them.  So let me make this clear.  There are two options here.  You either play by our rules or you die.  That¡¯s it.  There¡¯s no compromise.  There¡¯s no talking your way out of it.  There¡¯s only death and submission.¡±  He blasted Werorgorlok with a small burst of magic.  Werorgorlok flinched.  ¡°And your charm won¡¯t work on me.  I¡¯m not a human, and I¡¯m not like a human.¡±  He fired another burst.  Werorgorlok gritted his teeth.  ¡°I¡¯m something else.  I¡¯m something better.  Better at thinking, and better at accomplishing his ends.¡±  Bavandersloth threw Werorgorlok to the ground.  ¡°So I¡¯ll ask you again.  Yes or no?  Are you going to play ball?  If not, you can have a free trip to the underworld; see the source of your powers.¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Werorgorlok stood up.  He looked at Bavandersloth, eyebrows bent.  He took a deep breath.  He looked down.  ¡°Can I think on it?¡± he asked.


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°If you want to, sure, you may think about whether or not you want to die.  However, if it were me, I must say, I don¡¯t think there¡¯d be much to think about.¡±  Werorgorlok grumbled.  Bavandersloth got out a piece of paper.  ¡°And by the way, while you¡¯re thinking, you may as well look over the other conventions as well, just to make sure we don¡¯t have any other problems.¡±  Bavandersloth handed the paper to Werorgorlok.  Werorgorlok took it.  ¡°Those rules are binding.  Follow them, or you will be killed.  It¡¯s as simple as that.  If you¡¯ve anything to say to me, call the number on the bottom of the page.¡±


    Werorgorlok seethed.  ¡°Fine,¡± he said.  ¡°Give me back my phylactery and I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    ¡°Actually we¡¯ll be keeping that for ourselves for now, just to keep you in line.¡±


    Werorgorlok clinched his fist.  He sneered.  ¡°Fine.¡±  He disappeared as he walked away.


    Bavandersloth walked over to Justin.  ¡°Where is Odelarch?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.  Last I saw him, he was with the woman the Blue Butterfly was gonna kill.¡±


    *****


    Clark ran past the cops in his car.  He smiled.  He was completely undetectable.  He took a right and circled around them for a few minutes.  He laughed.  They were oblivious to him.


    Eventually, Clark ran back into the Northwest District.  He looked around for a parking lot.  He found one on the coast, outside of a place called Fishy Joe¡¯s Marina.  He smiled as he looked at the place.  It was a small building made of rotting wood and smelling of dead fish.  The windows were all broken, and the door ajar.  Clark couldn¡¯t resist entering.  He went inside, carrying his copy of On Soulless Ones.  The scent of dead fish and worms intoxicated him.  The ugliness of rotten wood brought him joy.  He sat down on the counter.  He opened his book to Bavandersloth¡¯s entry, and willed to see other information below it.


    ¡°Bavandersloth,


    ¡°A Lich of Manipulation.  A clever lich.  He uses clever strategies to bring about his own interests.  He gains satisfaction from the pursuit of knowledge.  He has trained himself to be rid of emotion on a whim.


    ¡°Soul count: 175,443.


    ¡°Unique Powers: The moving of decay on written material, the moving of the false beliefs of mortals, the theft of knowledge from both the living and the dead, and the implantation of false beliefs in mortals.


    ¡°Phylactery: A feather quill.¡±


    He turned the page, now willing to see the information on the other three liches in Goldfalls.


    ¡°Odelarch,


    ¡°A Lich of Guardianship.  A protective lich.  He fights on behalf of the mortals of his world, defending them from each other and other liches.  He can give and take life, often moving it in the way he finds most efficient.


    ¡°Soul Count: 130


    ¡°Unique Powers: The migration of Illness and the migration of injury.


    ¡°Phylactery: A cube-shaped puzzle toy.  Called a ¡®Rubick¡¯s Cube¡¯ on his world.


    ¡°Tkoralkiarch


    ¡°A Lich of Ideals.  A Na?ve lich.  He goes about the world fighting for his ideals.  He is young, and does not comprehend moral complexity.


    ¡°Soul Count: 79


    ¡°Unique Powers: The migration of Illness, the migration of injury and the summoning of phylacteries when standing sufficiently close to a lich¡¯s form.


    ¡°Phylactery: A sphere consisting of a wooden core and surrounded with a layered fabric casing.  It is intended for sport, and the name of a well-known athlete is written on it.¡±


    ¡°Valthakar


    ¡°A Lich of Abandoned Dreams.  A pessimistic lich.  He once fought to preserve life, but has fallen into despair.  His will has been bound to Bavandersloth¡¯s command, and he serves him.  Though he serves his master; he does not personally care much for the struggles of others.


    Soul Count: 4,390,562


    ¡°Unique Powers: The throwing of balls of flame, the freezing of liquids, the liquefying of gasses, the production of electricity from the hand, the firing of a powerful blast of air.


    ¡°Phylactery: A piece of decorative clothing consisting of a string and several pearls.¡±


    Clark¡¯s eyes widened when he saw the last one¡¯s soul count.  His jaw dropped.  He turned to the book¡¯s Q&A page.


    ¡°How old is Valthakar?¡±


    ¡°Slightly more than 12,000 years.¡±


    Clark sat for a moment, mouth open.  He took a deep breath.  He sat for several minutes before going outside.  He looked around to make sure there were no police officers.  He found none.  He approached the car he¡¯d stolen.  He reached inside for the paper Bavandersloth had given him.  He carried it inside the marina.  He looked at it.  It was a list of conventions; rules that this Bavandersloth wanted him to follow.


    ¡°1: The Convention of Partial Public Ignorance: Liches shall not, intentionally or out of negligence, engage in behavior which is likely to bring about awareness by the general public of the appearance, dietary habits, or malignant history of liches.  Nor shall they do the same for important facts regarding the source of our magical powers.


    ¡°2: The Convention of Non-Revelation: Liches shall not alert mortals to the identities of liches other than themselves, except with the consent of any such liches.  Nor may they deliberately arrange circumstances in which the identity of a lich other than themselves will inevitably be revealed to a mortal, or in which the avoidance of such a revelation requires the other lich to make an unreasonable concession, except with the consent of all such liches.  Nor shall they reveal to the general public the identities of any liches whatsoever, including themselves.


    ¡°3: The Convention of Regulated Contests: Liches shall initiate the settling of disputes only through contests organized and approved by a third party who is considered by the community of liches to be qualified to organize such a contest, and who does not have any significant interest in the outcome of the contest.  Any lich may challenge any other, though the challenged party is only compelled to accept if the lich organizing the contest recognizes a sufficient grievance, and if the offending lich either will not agree to cease such behavior, or has already knowingly done such grave damage that the offended lich has the right to pursue punishment.  If, after making such an agreement, the offending lich goes back on his word for any reason other than to prevent an offense against himself he will be terminated without recourse.  If he goes back on his word to prevent an offense against himself, a contest will be held with the other party being treated as the one challenged.  The challenged party will always propose the nature and rules of the contest, though the contest¡¯s final form must be approved by the organizer after he hears any complaints about the nature of the rules by the challenger.  Acceptable complaints include that the competition is for some reason unfair, that it is decided to an unacceptably high degree by chance, or that victory will inevitably come at an unacceptable loss to either party.


    ¡°4: The Convention of Protected Mortals: The living friends and family of other liches shall not be harmed, unless the avoidance of such a result would require an unreasonable concession.


    ¡°5: The Convention of Limited Destruction: Liches shall not, intentionally or out of negligence, cause mass destruction of life or property, whether by the engineering of plagues, or natural disasters, or the setting of fires or any other means.  Mass destruction is defined as destruction sufficient to incur notice by the living in general, or to do significant damage to mortal society or population levels.


    ¡°6: The Convention of Non-Abandonment: In all cases, the community shall appoint a lich to investigate the status of a lich who has fallen out of contact with the community for what is, for that lich, a highly unusual amount of time.


    ¡°7: The Convention of Community Enforcement: These conventions shall not be enforced except by agents appointed by the broader community of liches.  Such agents shall act as assigned by the community, and be accountable to it.  They must disclose the actions they take while performing this duty in good faith.


    ¡°8: The Convention of Superficial Benevolence: Liches shall not engage in unnecessary malevolent behavior towards mortals except with the permission of a member of the community trusted to give such permission, or in circumstances where there is no reasonable way that these malevolent actions will ever be known of by the general public.  Feeding, both for sustenance and power, the transference of affliction, and other things which require the ending of human life, shall be done with criminals, dictators, or other persons perceived by the general public as negative and whose lives will not be mourned by the general public.¡±


    Clark looked at the sheet.  He held it to his side.  He thought.  He would not abandon his art.  He opened his book.


    ¡°Would it be possible to cloak myself, grab my phylactery before¡­¡±


    He left the page to look up the youngest lich¡¯s name.


    ¡°Would it be possible to cloak myself, grab my phylactery and get away before Tkoralkiarch was able to summon it back?¡±


    ¡°Theoretically, but not in practice.  You¡¯d have to be much faster than you are to be likely to manage it.¡±


    Clark thought.


    ¡°Could I paralyze him somehow?¡±


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t.  One with more powerful magic could, but you couldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Would that include Valthakar?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°What if I could somehow trick Valthakar into firing on him?¡±


    ¡°That could paralyze him.¡±


    Clark thought.  Wait a second, there was no need for Tkoralkiarch to be there at all.  He could just arrange a meeting between himself and Bavandersloth, arrange that Bavandersloth brought his phylactery, and use his cloak to steal it from him.  He¡¯d run off before Bavandersloth could get him, and he¡¯d go into hiding.  He could start hopping from town to town.  Clark smiled.  He picked up his book and pages and ran back home.


    When he arrived, he saw a news report about one of his killings.  He smiled as he heard an interview from a terrified woman.


    *****


    The next day, Bavandersloth sat in his mansion, reading a book.  He heard a call from one of his cell phones.  He picked it up.  ¡°Hello, this is Bavandersloth.¡±


    ¡°Hello, this is Werorgorlok.  I¡¯d like to meet you by Fishy Joe¡¯s Marina in the Northwest District if you don¡¯t mind.  Oh, and can you bring my Phylactery?  I¡¯d like to have it back.¡±


    ¡°I take it you¡¯ve decided to follow the rules, then?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes.  Very much so.¡±


    ¡°Good, then.¡±


    *****


    Bavandersloth drove to Fishy Joe¡¯s Marina.  He held a large marble in his hand.  He waited for Werorgorlok to arrive.  He stood outside, in the parking lot, a good deal away from his car.


    About five minutes after he arrived, Werorgorlok approached Bavandersloth.  ¡°Hello,¡± Werorgorlok said.


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Hello.  Sorry I took so long to arrive.  I had business to take care of on the way here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.  So, is there an oath I need to swear or what?¡±


    ¡°Oh, just say you agree to follow the rules and I give you the marble.¡±


    Werorgorlok chuckled.  ¡°Fine then.  I agree to follow the rules.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡±  Bavandersloth handed Werorgorlok the marble.  ¡°That¡¯s an interesting choice of Phylactery.¡±


    The killer laughed.  ¡°Yeah.  It¡¯s supposed to be strategic.  I got it at a toy store.  There are thousands like it, and no one can tell it apart from the others.¡±  He looked at Bavandersloth ¡°Anyways, that¡¯s really it?  We¡¯re cool now?¡±


    ¡°What more does there need to be?¡±


    Werorgorlok smiled.  ¡°Nothing, I guess.¡±  He paused.  ¡°See you around I guess.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°You too.¡±


    *****


    Werorgorlok entered his car.  He smiled.  He shouted.  ¡°Yes.  Holy crap I can¡¯t believe he fell for that.  He just gave it to me.¡±  He chuckled.  ¡°So much for being the lich of manipulation, eh, Bavvy?¡±  He drove off, intent on dumping his car and running as far as he could to the Southeast for his next killing.  He could be in Texas in time if he ran fast enough.  Wait, he still had to go back home for his tattoo gun.  Still, that shouldn¡¯t take him too long.


    *****


    Werorgorlok smiled as he entered his apartment for the last time.  He grabbed his tattoo gun.  He¡¯d put the thing on wheels.  It had to be plugged in to work, and he¡¯d lost his generator when he first met the other liches, but that didn¡¯t matter.  It might also slow him down, but he¡¯d still be able to move a ways before he needed to kill again.  He laughed.


    *****


    About twelve hours later, Werorgorlok was running.  He heard his cell phone ring.  He stopped.  He looked at the Caller ID.  It was Bavandersloth.  His eyes widened.  He took a few deep breaths.  He clinched his fist.  There was no reason to panic.  After all, he had his phylactery.  What was there to worry about?


    He answered.  ¡°Hello?¡± he said.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Where are you?¡±


    Werorgorlok¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Oh.  I¡¯m in my apartment.¡±


    ¡°Really?  That¡¯s interesting.  The souls I have spying on the place don¡¯t see you.  Where are you?  You have no reason to cloak yourself there that I can think of.¡±


    Werorgorlok¡¯s jaw dropped.  ¡°You what?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a funny story really.  You see, that marble I gave you wasn¡¯t your real phylactery.¡±


    Werorgorlok¡¯s breathing became heavier.  His eyes were wide.  ¡°It¡­¡±


    ¡°See, I know the typical advice you¡¯ll hear from people is to make your phylactery something common, like a pebble, indistinguishable from millions of others just like it.  Truth is, that¡¯s not always the best strategy.  The problem is that while it¡¯s true that other people can¡¯t pick your phylactery out from millions of identical objects, neither can you.¡±  Werorgorlok¡¯s jaw dropped.  He turned back towards Goldfalls and rushed in that direction.  ¡°See,¡± Bavandersloth continued, ¡°this was a test.  I knew that there was a good chance you¡¯d try some method of taking your phylactery and just killing again anyway, so on the way out to meet you, I stopped by a store and bought another marble, presumably from the same bin you got yours from.  I placed a few souls, some of Valthakar¡¯s, ones able to avoid Odelarch¡¯s detection even after he knew about them, in your apartment.  It was easy to figure out where that was.  You drove your own car out to the Northwest District, and of course, had to decloak yourself in order to drive out into traffic.  It was easy to follow you home.  Once there, it was just a matter of checking each apartment in your complex for a tattoo gun.  There were only a few hundred.  Not hard when you have millions of souls to search with.  When you came back and your tattoo gun disappeared, the way anything does when you use your powers on it, I knew that you were taking it somewhere else.  From there, I just waited.  I gave you twelve hours to sell it, return to your apartment, or do anything else to indicate that you weren¡¯t skipping town to go on a killing spree.  But, no surprise, you were.¡±  Bavandersloth laughed.  Werorgorlok clinched his fist and tried to cry.  ¡°Now then, for remaining obstinate in violation of the eighth convention, you are to be executed.  And I just happen to have a tiny rock crusher right here.¡±


    Werorgorlok¡¯s eyes and mouth widened.  ¡°No,¡± he shouted.


    ¡°I just gotta turn this little crank.¡±  Clark heard squeaking.  He felt a horrible pain in his abdomen.  He screamed.  He fell down.  He clinched his fists and gritted his teeth.  He heard Bavandersloth laughing over the phone.  He couldn¡¯t stand to get up.  He let out a final scream.


    *****


    Bavandersloth sat across from Violet Fox at an interview table.  ¡°Hello, Goldfalls, we¡¯re here in the studio, once again speaking to Light-rook.¡±  Violet turned to Bavandersloth.  ¡°Mr. Light-rook, we put out a poll asking twitter users what they¡¯d like me to ask you, and a surprising number of them wondered about your name.¡±


    ¡°My name?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Light-rook.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°I like to play chess.  That¡¯s it really.  That¡¯s where it comes from.  That, and the association with light as goodness.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Violet said.


    Bavandersloth chuckled.  ¡°By the way, I do have one major announcement to make.¡±


    ¡°Oh?  What?¡±


    ¡°We got the Blue Butterfly.¡±


    Violet¡¯s eyes widened.  She gasped.  ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°We got him.  He¡¯ll never kill again.  My friends and I tracked him down.  We wound up in a struggle with him, and he unfortunately didn¡¯t survive to face justice.  But nonetheless, the cessation of the killings should testify to what I¡¯m saying.¡±  Bavandersloth turned toward the camera.  ¡°The people of Goldfalls need no longer fear him, thanks to us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s amazing.  Who was he?¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t recognize him, and his body wound up in the ocean.  We battled in the Northwest District, near the coast.  We didn¡¯t think to bother going in after it.  That¡¯s our bad.  Like I said, though, that we¡¯re telling the truth should be evident from the fact that the killings stop.¡±


    *****


    Cody sat at home, watching the news.  He heard the phone ring.  He picked it up.  It was Cherie.  ¡°Is it true?¡± Cherie asked.


    Cody laughed.  ¡°Yep.  It¡¯s true.  We did get him.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s mouth was wide.  ¡°Holy crap, that¡¯s awesome.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Yeah.  It is, I guess.¡±  He put his feet up and conversed with Cherie.


    *****


    That night, Cody left his room to go hunting.  As soon as he changed forms, he was overwhelmed by several strong scents of fear.  His eyes widened.  He rushed toward them.


    He ran up to a bank.  He sensed fear trails coming from both the inside and the outside.  He saw police gathered outside.  He turned around to leave.  He heard a scream inside the building.  He turned back around.  He ran toward the bank.  He ran in front of the police.  He stopped.  He turned around and looked back.  They weren¡¯t firing on him.  He looked at them, tilting his head.  One of the officers gestured for him to go inside.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°How many are in there?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Just one perp,¡± another officer said.


    Cody looked at the officer.  He smiled.  He turned around.  He traced the building, looking for a good spot on the wall to enter through.  He found one.  The police still didn¡¯t fire on him as he made the wall decay away.

 1.13 Deerward

    Cherie¡¯s Father knocked on Cherie¡¯s bathroom door.  ¡°Cherie, honey, we need to talk.¡±


    Cherie stepped out with a toothbrush in her mouth.  ¡°Hmm?¡±


    Cherie¡¯s Father looked down and took a deep breath then looked back up.  ¡°Cherie, honey,¡± he said, ¡°you can take the day off of school.  I need you to come to work with me today.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s eyes widened.


    *****


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, dad?¡± Cherie asked.


    ¡°We need your help.¡±


    Cherie squinted.  ¡°What?  How?  You told me your job was top secret.  I¡¯m not even supposed to know what it is.  I don¡¯t know what it is.¡±


    ¡°Cherie, I will explain everything to you when we get there.¡±


    Cherie pressed back against her seat.  She took a deep breath.  ¡°This isn¡¯t you doing something illegal, right?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±  He took a deep breath.  ¡°I waited a month for permission to do this.¡±


    *****


    Cherie looked around her father¡¯s office.  It buzzed with activity.  The people walking around all wore the same black suits Cherie¡¯s father went to work in every morning.  Cherie followed her father down the hall.  They stepped into a dark room.  It had a white tiled floor and two chairs sat near the center.  ¡°Sit down,¡± Cherie¡¯s father said.  Cherie walked to the seat and sat down.  Her father closed the door and sat down across from her.  He looked down.  He took a deep breath.  He looked her in the eye.  He looked down again.


    Cherie¡¯s put her hand on her father¡¯s knee.  ¡°What is it, dad?¡±


    Cherie¡¯s father swept her hand off and shed a tear.  He took another deep breath.  ¡°Cherie¡­¡±  He looked down and then back up.  ¡°First, you need to know what I do.¡±  He looked to the side, then back at Cherie.  ¡°This place, where I work; it¡¯s called the Division for the Investigation and Appropriation of Paranormal Phenomena.¡±  Cherie¡¯s father looked down.  ¡°We know what Cody is.¡±  Cherie¡¯s eyes widened.  Her father looked up.  ¡°We fight it.  We fight those things.  We protect people from them.¡±  Cherie¡¯s father pressed his lips together.  ¡°We kill those things, ideally.  We¡¯re a branch of the United States government dedicated to combatting the threat that they pose.¡±


    ¡°Dad I--¡±


    ¡°Cherie, if you weren¡¯t my daughter you¡¯d be dead right now.¡±


    Cherie gasped.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I love you.¡±  Cherie¡¯s father put his hand on Cherie¡¯s shoulder.  Tears streamed down his face.  ¡°I love you more than I love anything.  That¡¯s why you have to listen to me, okay?  I¡¯m going to give you an offer and I need you¡­ I need you to say yes.¡±


    Cherie looked at her father.  She looked down and took a deep breath.  She looked back up.  ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°Cherie, I need you to inform on Cody.  We already have a way of spying on him, but you, as a person, can press him for information.  You can ask him important questions.  You can get him to say things we¡¯d never learn just by bugging his pho¡­¡± Cherie¡¯s father pressed his lips together.


    ¡°That thing¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Cherie if you don¡¯t do this, you¡¯ll die.¡±  Cherie¡¯s father looked up, his face red and soaked with tears.  ¡°You¡¯ll be killed.  We have your confession on tape.  The closest thing you¡¯d get to a trial has already happened, and you were found guilty.  If you don¡¯t do this; if you don¡¯t inform on him for us; you¡¯ll be executed.¡±  Cherie¡¯s father looked down.  A stream of tears dripped from his face onto the floor.  ¡°There¡¯ll be nothing I can do to stop it Cherie.¡±  He put his hand on his daughter¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°I love you so much.  You¡¯re the most important thing in the world to me.  Please say--¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s father¡¯s eyes widened.  He sat back in his seat.  He smiled.  He hugged Cherie.  ¡°Thank you so much,¡± he said.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°I thought I¡­¡± he sat back.  ¡°Never mind.  We¡¯ll spend the day giving you some training, and you¡¯ll report here every day after school for more.  This is dangerous, but Cody¡¯s one of the few devourers who won¡¯t kill you if he finds out.¡±  He took his daughter¡¯s hand.  ¡°Thank you so much, Cherie.¡±


    Cherie took a deep breath.  She hugged her father back.  ¡°No problem, dad.¡±


    *****


    Cherie took a deep breath.  She clinched her fist.  Cody was supposed to come over today, after school.  She heard the doorbell ring.  Her eyes widened.  She took a deep breath, got up, went to the door, and opened it.  It was her friend Julie.  She flinched, then smiled.  ¡°Oh, hi Julie.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Cher, I got your homework today.¡±  She held up several pieces of paper.


    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡±  Cherie took the papers.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.  I¡¯m sorry you got sick, but you look better.  Do you think you¡¯ll be able to come back to school tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±  Cherie nodded.  ¡°Yeah, I think I might.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great.¡±


    Cherie nodded.  ¡°Yeah.¡±


    They stood for a moment.  ¡°Cool.  Well, see you around,¡± Julie said.  Cherie closed the door.  She walked toward the couch.  After a few steps, she heard the bell ring again.  She clinched her fist.  She turned around and opened it.  It was Julie again.  ¡°Hey.  I¡¯d put your math book in my backpack and I¡¯d forgotten to give it to you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±  Cherie took it.  She closed the door and turned around.  She heard another ring.  She turned back around and opened the door.  It was Cody.  Cherie¡¯s eyes widened.  She clinched her fist.


    ¡°Hey, Cherie,¡± Cody said.


    Cherie sighed.  ¡°Hey, Cody.¡±  She let Cody in.


    Cody looked up at Cherie.  He squinted.  ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Cherie looked down.  ¡°School trouble,¡± she said.


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°Oh.  That bites,¡± he said.  He put his hand on her side.  ¡°It¡¯ll probably turn out alright though.¡±


    Cherie walked down her stairs.  ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±  Cody followed.  ¡°It¡¯s one of those things where all of the outcomes are bad, you know?¡±


    Cody looked down.  ¡°Yeah.¡±  He took a deep breath.  ¡°I know the feeling.¡±  They arrived in the basement, and Cherie sat on a couch.  Cody sat next to her.


    Cherie looked at Cody.  ¡°But never mind that.¡±  She clinched her fist.  ¡°What¡¯s going on in your life?¡±


    Cody looked down.  ¡°The others and I are planning an attack on a gang¡¯s headquarters.  Some of Justin¡¯s souls tipped him off about it.¡±  Cody looked up.  ¡°I should be happier right now.  I¡¯m still only eating one person a night, even though I¡¯m stopping more crimes than that.  I¡¯m probably saving a dozen lives for each one I take.¡±


    ¡°Where are these headquarters?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in the northwest district, like half the criminal activity around here.  One of the old houses.  Why do you ask?¡±


    Cherie pressed her lips together.  She needed to figure out where exactly.  What could she ask without looking suspicious?  She clinched her fist.  She couldn¡¯t think of anything.  ¡°Oh, just curious.¡±  Cody squinted at Cherie.  ¡°So, do you want to watch some TV or something?¡± Cherie asked.


    Cody sat back and smiled.  ¡°Sure.¡±


    *****


    Cherie looked down.  ¡°He told me that they were planning to bust into a gang¡¯s headquarters somewhere in the Northwest District.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s father put his hand on her knee.  ¡°Okay.  Where exactly?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all I got.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s father¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Cherie, why didn¡¯t you press him?¡±


    ¡°Was I supposed to ask him for the address?  I don¡¯t want to look suspicious.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s father looked down.  ¡°I know.¡±  He took a deep breath.  ¡°You did well, it¡¯s just...  What you said might be enough for us to find it in time.  He said it was tonight?¡±


    Cherie nodded.  ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s father leaned back.  ¡°Okay.  I¡¯ll get my guys on it.  Do you know how he got the information?¡±


    ¡°It was supposed to be from one of the souls one of them ate.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s father nodded.  ¡°Okay then.¡±


    Cherie looked down.


    Cherie¡¯s father put his hand on her shoulder.  ¡°Hey, listen; you¡¯re doing a good thing.¡±  He sat back and took a deep breath.  ¡°Have I ever told you the story of why my parents gave me my name?¡±


    Cherie looked up.  ¡°Yes; several times.  They called you Deerward because they were animal rights activists and wanted you to help them protest hunting.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Deerward said.  ¡°It means ¡®protector of the deer.¡¯  I used to be ashamed of it.  I thought it was weird.  When I was your age, I¡¯d get people to call me Wade instead.¡±  Deerward smiled.  ¡°Now, though, I wear it as a badge of pride.  That¡¯s what I do here, sort of.¡±  Deerward put his hand on Cherie¡¯s knee.  ¡°I protect people from things that want to hurt them.  That¡¯s what we¡¯re doing here, and that¡¯s what you¡¯re doing now.¡±  Deerward leaned forward.  ¡°No matter how nice Cody is, and he is a good kid, what he¡¯s doing means he needs to be stopped eventually.¡±


    Cherie looked down.  She shed a tear.   ¡°I know.  When I first found out what he was, he told me he wanted that.¡±


    Deerward put his hand on his daughter¡¯s knee.  ¡°He does.  It¡¯s not uncommon for them to want to.¡±  He sat back.  ¡°There have been a few times when I¡¯ve taken down a devourer that I¡¯ve been thanked.¡±


    Cherie sobbed.  ¡°Dad, how will Cody die?  I mean, how will you kill him when--¡±


    ¡°Right now, we¡¯re keeping him alive on purpose.¡±


    Cherie looked up.  ¡°What?¡±


    Deerward took a deep breath.  He looked down.  ¡°The devourer he works under, Bavandersloth, he¡¯s got some kind of big plan going on right now.¡±  He looked back up.  ¡°We don¡¯t know a lot about what he¡¯s planning, but we know it¡¯s bad.  He¡¯s the one the public knows as Light-rook.  His plan has something to do with the public appearances he¡¯s making.  Beyond that, we don¡¯t know much.  Cody might be the key to getting enough information to stop him.¡±  Deerward leaned farther in.  ¡°In the past, and on other planets, these things have been known to enslave whole species.¡±


    Cherie nodded, then sat up straight.  She squinted.  ¡°On other planets?¡±


    Deerward looked down.  He pressed his lips together.  ¡°Has Cody told you about the devourer¡¯s spellbooks?¡±


    Cherie nodded.


    ¡°We have a few.  They contain lists of every single devourer.  A lot of them are on other planets.¡±  Deerward sat up straighter.  ¡°Look, the point is, whatever Bavandersloth is planning could mean disaster for us; all of us.  What you¡¯re doing could well save the entire human race.¡±


    Cherie took a deep breath.  She looked down.  ¡°No pressure then.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s father patted her on the shoulder.  ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do fine.¡±


    *****


    Cody, Justin, Bavandersloth and Valthakar arrived in the Northwest District.  They approached the address they¡¯d been given and saw red and blue lights.  Cody squinted then tilted his head.  ¡°Police?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Justin said.


    Cody looked.  He saw several police cars surrounding the house and a few officers coming out with people in handcuffs.  There were S.W.A.T. officers around.  ¡°Looks like the police got here first,¡± he said.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense,¡± Bavandersloth said.  He looked at Justin.  ¡°Tkoralkiarch, didn¡¯t you say that the soul told you that no one knew about this place?¡±


    ¡°It was supposed to be really secret, yeah.¡±


    Bavandersloth approached one of the police officers.  ¡°Excuse me, officer,¡± he said.


    The officer sniffed and looked at Bavandersloth.  ¡°What are you doing here?¡± the officer asked.


    ¡°We were planning to take this place down, but apparently you beat us to it.¡±


    The officer raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°How did you find out about this place?  We were under the impression it was top secret, for that gang I mean.¡±


    ¡°We got an anonymous tip this morning,¡± the officer said.  She looked back at the house.  ¡°The chief ordered us to get out here tonight.  She said that if this were the real deal it could--¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Bavandersloth said.  He walked back to the others.


    ¡°What happened,¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got trouble,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Come.  Let¡¯s get out of earshot.¡±


    The four ran a few miles to another neighborhood.  ¡°Tkoralkiarch, summon the soul who helped you find that place.¡±


    Justin nodded.  He summoned the soul.


    ¡°What is it?¡± the soul asked.


    ¡°You told your master that the house you directed him to was rather secret.  Exactly how many people knew about it?¡±


    ¡°The leaders and their closest associates; I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯ve been tracking all of them.¡±


    Bavandersloth nodded.  ¡°I have.  Had any of those people informed on your organization, I should have learned about it.¡±  Bavandersloth scratched his chin.  He looked up at the soul.  ¡°Thank you.¡±  He turned to Justin.  ¡°Dismiss him.¡±  Justin dismissed the soul.  It flew away.  Bavandersloth looked at the others.  ¡°I¡¯ll interrogate my souls tomorrow to see if one of them failed to inform me due to a lapse of judgment.¡±  He pressed his lips together.  ¡°Still, this doesn¡¯t feel like the result of an informant.  They wouldn¡¯t just up and use information they knew could only come from one of about twenty people, not this blatantly anyways, and under such comparatively non-urgent circumstances.¡±


    ¡°So what do you think it was?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s possible that we¡¯re being spied on somehow.¡±


    The others¡¯ eyes widened.  ¡°What makes you say that?¡±


    ¡°No one intelligent would use information they knew could only have come from a high-ranking member of a gang.  You¡¯re not supposed to let your enemies know that you know their secrets.  If someone were spying on us on the other hand, they might have heard that we learned of this house from someone we ate.  Most of the criminals we eat are relatively low-ranking, so they might assume that if one of them knew it, most of the people in the gang might know it.  We¡¯ll check the mansion for bugs.  We¡¯ll do the same with Odelarch¡¯s house.¡±  He turned to Valthakar.  ¡°Get your souls on that.¡±


    Valthakar nodded.


    *****


    Bavandersloth and Justin stood outside of the mansion playing catch.  Justin smiled.  Bavandersloth turned as Valthakar came out of the mansion.  ¡°What is it?¡± Bavandersloth asked.


    ¡°The souls have reported back,¡± Valthakar said as the ball hit Bavandersloth¡¯s mitt.  ¡°There was nothing out of the ordinary in the mansion, but Odelarch¡¯s home was a different story.¡±


    Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°It was?¡±


    ¡°His cell phone has a piece of equipment that shouldn¡¯t have been there.  I did some research and there¡¯s no accounting for it.  That phone is probably bugged.  It¡¯s possible that it¡¯s been recording every word we¡¯ve said while it¡¯s been on and near us.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked down.  ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Hey,¡± Justin said, ¡°you gonna throw the ball?¡±


    Bavandersloth nodded.  ¡°Yes.¡±  He pulled his hand back and threw the ball.  Justin caught it.  He threw it back.  Bavandersloth caught it.  ¡°Send a soul to alert him to this.  Make sure he¡¯s instructed not to react.¡±


    Valthakar nodded.


    *****


    Cody and Lester sat in Lester¡¯s house playing video games.  ¡°Odelarch,¡± Cody heard behind him.  ¡°Go to the bathroom.  Leave your phone on the counter.  We need to speak.¡±


    Cody nodded.  He paused the game.  Lester tilted his head.  ¡°What¡¯s up, man?¡±


    ¡°I need to use the bathroom,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Oh, okay.  Did you uh, eat late last night or--¡±


    Cody nodded.  He walked away, leaving his phone on the counter.  He entered the bathroom and locked the door.


    ¡°What?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re phone is bugged.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Your cell phone.  It has a bug.  It¡¯s been recording everything you¡¯ve been saying around it while it¡¯s on.  We¡¯ve not been able to tell who the information is going to, but you need to be careful not to bring up any sensitive information around it, okay?¡±


    ¡°Um, okay.¡±


    ¡°Good.  That is all.  Speak with Bavandersloth after school tomorrow.¡±


    The soul went away.  Cody stood up.  He went back into Lester¡¯s living room.  He sat down.


    ¡°You okay, man?¡± Lester asked.


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Yeah.  I¡¯m fine.¡±


    *****


    The next day, after school, one of Bavandersloth¡¯s souls called Cody to the library.  Cody walked to the library and went in.  ¡°You asked for me?¡± he said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Come with me to the back room.¡±  Cody obeyed.  Bavandersloth closed the door.


    ¡°Is your phone on?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Good.  What opportunities might someone have had to bug it?¡±


    Cody thought.  ¡°Let¡¯s see, basically any time I¡¯ve been charging it I guess.  That¡¯s when I¡¯ve been away from it.¡±


    Bavandersloth nodded.  ¡°Where do you normally charge it?¡±


    ¡°Either at my house, Cherie¡¯s house, or Lester¡¯s house.¡±


    Bavandersloth scratched his chin.  ¡°Hmm.  Has there ever been an incident where you¡¯ve noticed something odd about it?¡±


    ¡°Not that I can think of.  By the way, I¡¯m usually at least in the building with it.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked up.  ¡°I see.  When have you not been?¡±


    Cody thought.  ¡°I left it at home when I went to school one time, and I left it at Cherie¡¯s house¡­¡±  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°I left it at Cherie¡¯s house the day she found out what I was.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    ¡°But she couldn¡¯t have bugged it.  She wouldn¡¯t know how.¡±


    ¡°Probably not; still, the possibilities are narrowing.  Well, that is all, I think.  You may go.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t seriously think that Cher--¡±


    ¡°I said you may go.¡±


    Cody clinched his fist.  He nodded and walked away.


    *****


    Bavandersloth stood as Cody walked out of the room.  It made sense for DIAPP to use Cherie as an informant.  From the beginning, she was known to have a connection to the Angel of Death.  If this organization wanted to fight him, she¡¯s who they¡¯d go to.


    Bavandersloth summoned a soul.  ¡°Yes?¡± it asked.


    ¡°I need you to follow Cherie Lambert for me.  She lives at 6708 Carobwood Ave.¡±


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Yes, master.¡±  The soul flew off.


    *****


    That afternoon, Bavandersloth was playing a board game with Justin when his soul came back to him.  ¡°Master,¡± it said.


    Bavandersloth turned to it.  ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Ms. Lambert is definitely working for DIAPP.  I saw her go into their office.  She¡¯s receiving training.  She seems to be working as an informant for them.¡±


    Bavandersloth nodded.  ¡°I see.  Go back to her.  I¡¯ll send some souls with you to keep an eye on that office.¡±


    ¡°With all due respect master, there¡¯s more.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked up.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The agent she¡¯s working with is her father.¡±


    Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened and his jaw dropped.  ¡°What?  You¡¯re sure?¡±


    ¡°Certain, master.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked down.  He turned back to the soul.  ¡°Is that all?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then go back.  I¡¯ll send several more souls after you.¡±


    The soul flew away.  Bavandersloth turned back to the board and drew a card.  He realized he now knew where DIAPP was stationed, at least locally.  He smiled.  As grave as the news of Ms. Lambert working for them was, it was nothing compared to the advantage he had to gain from this knowledge.


    Bavandersloth turned his mind back to the situation at hand and schemed.  After a few minutes, he had the rough outlines of a plan in mind, and after a few hours, he had it hammered out.


    *****


    That night, Cody left his cell phone on the charger as he went out to feed.  He sniffed for a fear.  Before he could pinpoint one, one of Bavandersloth¡¯s souls approached him.


    Cody looked up.  ¡°What now?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Come,¡± the soul said.  ¡°Master Bavandersloth needs to see you.¡±


    Cody looked down and took a deep breath.  He followed the soul to Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion and knocked on the door.  Bavandersloth greeted him.  ¡°Come in,¡± he said.  Bavandersloth led Cody to the great room.  They sat down.  ¡°Gentlemen,¡± he said, ¡°and in particular, Cody, I have grave news.¡±  Bavandersloth looked at Cody.  ¡°I have already told you about DIAPP I believe?  That¡¯s where the exterminator came from?¡±


    Cody nodded.


    ¡°Good then.¡±  Bavandersloth took a deep breath.  ¡°Cody, I¡¯m sorry to have to tell you this, but I had a soul spying on Cherie today, and both she and her father are working for DIAPP.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°They¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Cody.¡±


    Cody looked down.  He shed a tear.  He clinched his fist.  He took a deep breath.  He looked up, eyes wet.  ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Her father seems to have worked for them for some time.  As for Cherie, it is impossible to know.¡±


    Cody looked down.  ¡°I see.¡±  He closed his eyes, shedding another tear.  ¡°She¡¯s probably doing the right thing.¡±


    ¡°Listen,¡± Bavandersloth said.  Cody looked up.  ¡°You need to keep your emotions in check.  This could be a major blessing for us.  We now have a means by which to feed them false information.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a question, Cody.  I already have an idea in mind.  We can only do this once before it will become clear that we¡¯ve discovered the leak.¡±  Bavandersloth looked down.  ¡°Normally, that¡¯d make me want to save the opportunity.¡±  He looked back up.  ¡°But not in this case.  I¡¯ve thought it through, and I know exactly what I want to feed them.¡±


    *****


    The next night, Thanksgiving, Cody rushed to Cherie¡¯s house well after 11:00 p.m.  He knocked on the door.  Cherie¡¯s mother answered it.  ¡°What is it?¡± she asked.


    Cody panted.  ¡°I need to come in.  I need to see Cherie.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s mother called her.  Cherie ran to the door, her eyes wide.


    Cody looked down.  He clinched his fist.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°We need to talk in the basement,¡± he said.


    Cherie and Cody rushed downstairs.  They sat on the couch.  ¡°What is it?¡± Cherie asked.


    Cody looked down.  He took a deep breath.  He looked back up.  ¡°Bavandersloth is planning to attack the Midnight opening of the mall tonight, the one that¡¯s in less than 10 minutes.  He told me just now.  He said he planned to eat everyone there.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Liches get more power with each soul they eat.  He said he¡¯s nearing a threshold.  He only needs a few hundred more souls before he can cast a mind control spell powerful enough to affect people basically by thinking about them.¡±  Cody looked down.  He shed a tear.


    Cherie sat, mouth open.  Her eyes narrowed.  ¡°Why are you telling me?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  He put his hand on Cherie¡¯s knee.  He gulped.  ¡°Bavandersloth spied on you,¡± he said.  ¡°I know what you¡¯ve been doing, with DIAPP, with your father.¡±


    Cherie gasped.  She looked down.  ¡°Cody, I--¡±


    Cody shed a tear.  ¡°It was the right thing Cherie.¡±


    Cherie looked up at Cody.  ¡°What?¡±


    Cody hugged Cherie.  ¡°I can¡¯t help you win, Cherie, but I want you to.  You should be siding against us, and against me.  It¡¯s the right side to take.  I wish I could take it myself.¡±  Cody sat back.  He looked up, his face wet with tears.  ¡°You¡¯re doing the right thing, Cherie, and I want to help you however I can.  I want to help you stop me from hurting anyone else.¡±  He looked down.  ¡°But I can¡¯t do that. ¡±  He looked up.  ¡°Whatever I can do, though, I want to.¡±


    Cherie nodded.  She hugged Cody back.  They kissed.  She stood up.  ¡°I¡¯ll go call my father.¡±


    Cody nodded.  He cried as she ran out of the room.


    *****


    Cherie rushed to her telephone.  She dug into her pocket.  Her father had given her an emergency number to call in situations just like this.  She dialed the number.


    Her dad picked it up.  ¡°Hello, Cherie?¡±


    ¡°Dad, that Bervandersloth guy is planning an attack on the Black Friday midnight opening.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s dad gasped.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Cody told me he just found out.  He said something about Bavandersloth being about to get better mind control powers.¡±


    There was a pause.  ¡°Thank you, Cherie.  You¡¯ve done well.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Did he say what kind of force they¡¯re coming with?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s father sighed.  ¡°Alright.  Is that all?¡±


    Cherie looked down.  She shed a tear.  ¡°He knows everything.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°About what we¡¯ve been doing.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s father didn¡¯t speak for a minute.  ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate,¡± he finally said.  ¡°We can deal with that later though.  I love you.  I need to work.¡±


    *****


    Agent Lambert ran from the phone and into the office.  ¡°We¡¯ve got a possible attack on the mall in five!¡±


    An agent¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Five?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Five minutes.  Is there an exterminator on standby here?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± another agent said.  ¡°There are two actually.¡±


    ¡°I want missiles aimed at the parking lot of that mall.  If a lich shows up and you can get a clear shot, fire immediately.  Get those exterminators over there as fast as possible.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Agent Lambert sat down.  He took a deep breath.


    *****


    Bavandersloth approached the mall, invisible.  He walked to the edge of the crowd and waited.  He looked around.  After a few minutes, he saw two exterminators on motorcycles pull up.  He smiled.  One of the exterminators took out a megaphone and spoke.  ¡°Attention,¡± she said, ¡°by order of the United States government, clear away from the mall.¡±  The humans in the crowd turned around.  One of the exterminators fired a machine gun into the air.  The people screamed and dispersed.


    Bavandersloth smiled.  He activated his cloud of darkness.  ¡°Are you two here about me?  I think there¡¯s some kind of misunderstanding.¡±


    ¡°Lower the cloud and put your hands in the air.¡±


    ¡°Woah, take it easy.  I can¡¯t lower the cloud.  There are security cameras around, and seeing my true form could harm someone.¡±


    ¡°Comply with the order or you will be shot.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.  Bullets won¡¯t do anything to me.  But as I said, there¡¯s no need anyway.  I¡¯m not here to hurt anyone.  One of my healing friends and I are here because a few people are normally trampled to death at each of these things.  I was cloaked because I didn¡¯t want to show off my smell.¡±


    ¡°I said comply.  This is your last chance.¡±


    Bavandersloth laughed.  ¡°And who are you to order me to do anything?  I recognize your suits.  You¡¯re from the same organization that crime lord stole her equipment from I suppose?  I¡¯ve been curious about you.  Your suits seem perfectly designed to target the weaknesses of our kind.¡±  Bavandersloth looked around.  He saw someone recording the event with their cell phone.  ¡°But I wonder if it¡¯s really us you¡¯re after, or if it¡¯s something else that you¡¯re mistaking us for, something similar, with perhaps similar weaknesses.  Indeed, I worry that it might be that the only--¡± Bavandersloth heard a sound above him.  He saw a small missile.  He gasped.  He rolled out of the way, activating his shield as the missile hit, breaking his shield and blowing a hole in his chest.  Bavandersloth cloaked himself.  The Exterminators rode their bikes after him.  Bavandersloth smiled and dashed away.  He cast his cloud and turned visible.  He looked behind him.  One of the bikes was gaining on him.  He stopped and smiled.  ¡°Look, surely we can make an arrangement.  Don¡¯t the dozens of lives I¡¯ve saved testify to my benevolence?  I think you think I¡¯m a dev--¡±


    The Exterminator blasted his flamethrower at Bavandersloth.  Bavandersloth smiled.  He turned around.  The woman with the camera was still holding it.  He turned toward her.  He fell forward.  He rolled, but the exterminator blasted him again.  Bavandersloth smiled as the flames consumed his form.


    *****


    Violet Fox stood in front of the mall.  ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, I¡¯m standing in front of the West Coast Plaza where just moment ago, a woman recorded this footage in which the Angel, Light-rook, who¡¯s given multiple interviews for Channel 4, is apparently struck with multiple blasts from flamethrowers by figures resembling the one he lured to St. Joseph¡¯s Memorial Hospital.  The connection of this incident with that one is so far unknown.  However, one of Light-rook¡¯s companions, an Angel identifying himself as Orichalcum, has agreed to comment on the subject tomorrow morning.  Please remember to tune in for that when it happens.¡±


    *****


    Valthakar carried Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery, a feather quill, downstairs to the basement.


    ¡°How exactly is this all going to work?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°As soon as I set it down, that is, when it¡¯s stable, Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery will begin the process of constructing him a new form.  That process will take about thirty days.  While he¡¯s down here, his souls will instinctively reanimate any nearby corpses and use them to protect him.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Wait, thirty days?  And he won¡¯t be--¡±


    ¡°Precisely.  When Bavandersloth awakens, he¡¯ll be starved.  He¡¯ll wake in his frenzy state.  The only way to bring him down from it is to feed him thirty souls, at which point, a sort of countdown will begin, and he will frenzy for about six more hours before he calms down.  We can make the first part easy by having thirty humans waiting for him, but the second part will be harder.¡±  Valthakar clinched his fist.  ¡°Even I will have to be inventive to keep him in here.  He¡¯ll have no rational thought.  He won¡¯t even be able to speak and he¡¯ll happily decay away this entire mansion to escape.¡±


    Justin looked up at Valthakar, eyes wide.  ¡°Are you sure you can do it, like, contain him?¡±


    Valthakar looked down at Justin.  ¡°If anyone can, it¡¯s me.¡±


    *****


    ¡°Hello,¡± Violet Fox said.  ¡°And welcome once again to Channel 4 news at Noon.  We¡¯re here today for an exclusive interview with an Angel requesting that we call him Orichalcum.¡±  She turned to Valthakar.  ¡°First, where does that name come from?¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°It¡¯s a metal.  It was supposed to be produced by Atlantis.  I was brainstorming for a name and it was the best I could come up with.¡±


    Violet nodded.  ¡°I see.  So, we¡¯re all very concerned about the loss of--¡±


    ¡°Let me stop you right there.  Light-rook isn¡¯t dead.  He¡¯ll heal in a month.¡±


    Violet¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll heal in a month.  It¡¯s just a matter of waiting for his¡­ for his body to be restored.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Violet said.  ¡°Well, a lot of the questions I was going to ask pertained to--¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be leading the pack around here until he¡¯s back, if a crisis comes up.  We might try to avoid any big operations until then.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  Violet looked down.  ¡°Do you have any comment on the men who killed him?¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°We believe them to be part of a government task force of some sort, a kind of men in black, if you will.  The truth is that we¡¯ve suspected such a thing existed since before we went public.  You see, there are other supernatural creatures besides us.¡±  Valthakar looked down.  ¡°And many of them are malevolent to humanity.¡±  Valthakar looked up.  ¡°In fact, one of them is a sort of evil counterpart to our kind.¡±


    Violet¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re called devourers.  I¡¯ll spare you the reason why.  They act and smell a lot like us, but there are a few key differences.¡±  Valthakar took a deep breath.  ¡°One feels sorry for them, actually.  They¡¯re more or less forced to be the way they are.  Still, what they are is harmful.¡±  Valthakar looked up.  ¡°We, the creatures you call Angels, are their rivals.¡±


    Violet¡¯s mouth was wide.  ¡°I see.  Is there anything--¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not say any more until Light-rook returns.  I¡¯m not sure what all he¡¯d want me to tell you.  The wrong information, about both good and evil, can harm a human mind.  That is part of the reason we cover our forms.  They¡¯d damage a human psyche.¡±


    Violet nodded.  ¡°I see.¡±


    The interview went on for another several minutes.


    *****


    The next day, Cody showed up at Cherie¡¯s door.  She opened it.  ¡°Hi, Cherry,¡± he said, smiling.  Cherie slammed the door in his face.  Cody knocked.  ¡°Cherie.  Cherie.  C¡¯mon, Cherie, at least give me a chance to explain.¡±


    Cherie opened the door.  ¡°You have five seconds.¡±


    ¡°Bavandersloth made me by threatening to kill you and my parents.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s eyes widened.  She stopped, looked down and took a deep breath.  ¡°Come in,¡± she said.  Cody entered.  He followed her down to the basement.  He sat down on the couch.  Cherie sat next to him.


    She looked down.


    ¡°All of those things I said to you Cherie, about wanting to help people, about wanting to stop Bavandersloth¡¯s plan, about wanting to help your side, that was all true.¡±  Cody hugged her.  ¡°You mean everything to me, Cherie.¡±  Cody looked down.  ¡°I¡¯m the bad guy here, I know that.¡±  He looked up.  ¡°And I know it¡¯s my fault.¡±  Cody shed a tear.  ¡°You have no idea what that feels like.¡±  Cody clinched his fist.  ¡°But I¡¯m not making any excuses for myself.  I say I want to stop Bavandersloth,¡± Cody looked down, ¡°stop what I¡¯m being forced to help him with,¡± Cody looked back up, crying, ¡°and I mean it.¡±  Cody put his hand on Cherie¡¯s knee.  ¡°I¡¯ll do whatever I can to make up for the help I give him.¡±  Cody looked down, and then back up.  ¡°And hopefully, I can die when this is all over.  I won¡¯t be able to make that happen, but I¡¯m sure DIAPP can beat me in a fight.¡±


    Cherie shed a tear and hugged Cody.  ¡°I understand,¡± Cherie said, ¡°and I believe you.¡±  She took a deep breath.  ¡°I want to help you.¡±


    Cody hugged her tighter.  ¡°Thank you.¡±


    *****


    Cherie sat in her dad¡¯s office.  Her father looked down.  He looked back up.  ¡°I¡¯ll definitely want to accept any help he can give¡­¡±  Cherie¡¯s father looked down.  ¡°I don¡¯t think we can trust him though.¡±  He turned around.  ¡°After all, we just did, and now the public knows about us, more or less.¡±  He turned around.  ¡°I mean, they don¡¯t know what we¡¯re called, but they know¡­¡± he looked down.  ¡°They know too much.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Cherie said.  ¡°Of course we can¡¯t trust him.¡±  She looked down.  ¡°But maybe we can find some other use for him?¡±  Cherie shed a tear.


    ¡°Like what?¡± Cherie¡¯s father asked, sitting down.


    Cherie took a deep breath.  ¡°I¡¯m not sure.  Maybe as a double agent.  He could perform a surprise attack on them.¡±


    Agent Lambert looked up.  ¡°Yes, he could.¡±


    Cherie looked down.  ¡°Dad,¡± she said.


    ¡°Yes, Cherie?¡±


    ¡°Do you really think we can win this thing?  Against this Bavandersloth guy I mean?¡±


    Agent Lambert took a deep breath.  He looked down, and then back up.  ¡°I think we can,¡± he said.  ¡°If I didn¡¯t, I wouldn¡¯t be trying.  If we will or not, that¡¯s another question.¡±  He sat back.  ¡°And it¡¯s one I don¡¯t know the answer to.¡±  He put his hand on his daughter¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°But I do know this: We will do everything we can.  We are the protectors of humanity.¡±  He looked down.  ¡°The protectors of the vulnerable; of the weak.¡±  He looked back up.  ¡°Of prey.¡±


    *****


    In a frosty chamber in the underworld, a beast slumbered.  With each snore, it chilled its surroundings.  All but the most magical of life was unable to enter his chamber and share the company of those unfortunate souls doomed to it for purgation or damnation.


    The ground shook.  A soul fled a falling icicle.  The creature sniffed and snored.  A stalactite fell on him from above.  He stirred.  He sensed an aura.  He looked up.


    ¡°Master?¡± he asked


    ¡°Yes, my pet,¡± he heard.


    The creature stood.  He kneeled.  ¡°Oh, how pleasant it is to hear your voice.  I thought that usurper would forever--¡±


    ¡°Silence!¡±


    The creature bowed.  ¡°Yes, my lord.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve a task for you.  I need you to rise, travel to the realm or mortals, and visit a small planet, and I need you to cool it.  Cool it until it is dead.  Cool it until there is not a single living thing there.¡±


    ¡°It will be done, my lord.¡±  The beast bowed lower.


    The ground shook.  The beast retreated away from a stalactite.  ¡°This is the most important thing you will ever do, understand?  That world¡¯s destruction is the key to ending my imprisonment.¡±  The shaking stopped.  The beast stood.  ¡°My servants need act there if I am to be freed.  The things living there now,¡± the ground shook again for a moment, ¡°the soulless ones in particular, they may stand in my way.  In order for me to succeed, it would be best if I were to simply destroy the life there, and with it, that which preys on life.¡±


    The beast bowed.  ¡°It will be done, my lord.¡±  A door from the chamber opened.  The beast spread its wings and flew into the vast cavern of the underworld, looking for a portal.


    *****


    In the middle of the night, Cody stood up from his bed to hunt.  He went outside.  ¡°Odd,¡± he thought, ¡°it feels colder than usual out here.¡±  He ran, sniffing for a fear.  He found one.  He ran to its source, another back alley mugging.  He stopped it, and paralyzed the perpetrator.  He headed for a hospital.  As he exited the alley, he looked up.  Something was falling from the sky.  He squinted.  ¡°Is that¡­ snow?¡±

 1.14 Cold Snap

    Cody grunted as he lifted a pile of snow over his shoulder.  ¡°This is¡­ supposed¡­ to be¡­ California,¡± he wheezed through exhausted panting.  He was almost ready to collapse by the time he was finished.  He looked at the driveway.  It seemed clear enough.  He went up to its owner¡¯s door and knocked on it.  A young woman opened it.  ¡°I¡¯m¡­ done¡­¡± he said.


    The woman peeked outside, holding a cup of hot chocolate.  She went back inside.  She came back to the door and handed Cody thirty dollars.  Cody panted as he accepted the money.  ¡°Thank¡­ you¡­¡±


    ¡°You too,¡± the woman said.  She nodded and went back inside.  Cody turned around.  He looked down the road.  He¡¯d been hired to clear four more of those things.


    Cody panted and looked down.  He fell forward into the snow.  He gritted his teeth.  He reached for his phone and called Lester.  ¡°Hey, man,¡± he said.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Lester said.  ¡°Something wrong?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°No.  I¡¯m just lying out here; in the snow; on the path to someone else¡¯s driveway; while you¡¯re inside; with hot chocolate.¡±


    Lester laughed.  ¡°I feel ya, man.¡±


    ¡°No.  No you don¡¯t.¡±  Cody stood up.  ¡°I mean, good gosh, I shouldn¡¯t even feel cold.  I should be able to just make this snow melt in a few seconds by touching it.  But no, I have to stand out here in the cold with a light jacket on because that¡¯s the closest thing to a winter coat the thrift store wasn¡¯t out of.  I mean, so yeah, I can¡¯t actually freeze to death, but these people don¡¯t know that.  What kind of sadistic--¡±


    ¡°Cody, did you just call to complain?¡±


    Cody looked down.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°Yeah.  Sorry.  I shouldn¡¯t have bothered you.¡±


    Lester sighed.  ¡°No, its cool man.  You have every right to complain.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Yeah, I do.  Well, I should probably get to the next house.¡±


    ¡°Alright, see ya later.¡±


    ¡°See ya.¡±  Cody hung up.  He put the phone in his pocket.  He walked forward, headed toward the next house.  About half a minute later, he felt something on his hand.  He looked at his hand then up at the sky.  It was snowing again.  ¡°Oh you¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡±


    *****


    Cody stumbled into Cherie¡¯s house, wet from snow and groaning.  His family had been staying there ever since their pipes froze.  He heard Violet Fox on the television.  ¡°¡­massive¡­¡± she paused, ¡°massive worldwide cold snap still leaving scientists baffled.  Early in the morning one week ago today, global temperatures took a sharp dive, and have only decreased since.  By now, places from California, to Florida, to Egypt, to South America are reporting up to two feet of snow falling every hour.  Wildlife is being devastated.  Experts warn that if this trend continues for much longer, permanent damage could be done to the environment, and that could prove disastrous¡­¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother greeted him at the door.  ¡°Cody, you¡¯re back.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Yeah, with all one-hundred-fifty of those dollars you needed.¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother put her hand on his shoulder.  ¡°Thank you very much for doing this for us.¡±


    Cody blushed and handed her the money.  ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s hot chocolate in the kitchen.¡±


    Cody nodded.  He went into the kitchen.  He saw Cherie¡¯s father getting a cup.  The last of the boiling water dripped into his mug.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  Cherie¡¯s father turned to look at him.  ¡°Oh, hello.  Sorry¡± he said.  ¡°You can boil some more water if you want.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Thanks.¡±  He took the kettle from the stove, filled it, and set back on the stove.  He looked at Cherie¡¯s father.  ¡°Hey, if it¡¯s alright for me to ask, how is D.I.A.P.P. looking to handle this--¡±


    ¡°You can ask all you want.  I¡¯d be executed for treason if I answered, but you may ask all day.¡±


    Cody looked down.  ¡°Oh.¡±  He looked up.  ¡°Because I was thinking that maybe my friends and I could help you out.  I mean, it¡¯s obviously something from the¡­ place, and--¡±


    ¡°Not interested.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±  Cody sighed.  ¡°Okay then.¡±


    Cherie¡¯s father looked down.  He took a deep breath.  He approached Cody.  ¡°Look, if it becomes apocalyptic before we can get a handle on it, all bets are off, but until then, we don¡¯t work with your kind.¡±


    Cody put his head down.  ¡°I understand.¡±  Cherie¡¯s father walked out of the room.


    *****


    That night, Cody snuck out of his fold-out bed.  He crept up Cherie¡¯s staircase and looked around.  He didn¡¯t see anyone.  He opened the window, rushed out, and closed it behind him before too much snow could get inside.  He ran off but slipped, falling on his face.  He stood up, brushing himself off.  He walked, at the steadiest pace he could manage, toward a hospital.


    On his way, he caught a whiff of fear.  He moved from his course to find its source.  He found an alley and looked inside.  He saw a homeless man sitting in the cold, shivering.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He rushed over.  The homeless man looked up at him as he approached.  His eyes widened.  Cody knelt down to the man¡¯s level.  He saw the body of another homeless man next to him.  That man¡¯s skin was blue.  ¡°Hey, it¡¯s okay,¡± Cody said.  The living man looked up at him.  Cody put his hand on the man¡¯s shoulder.  He sensed severe hypothermia.  He tagged it.  ¡°We need to get you to some place warm,¡± Cody said.  The homeless man looked up.


    Cody had learned where the shelters were from previous incidents like this.  Cody put his hand out.  The man took it.  Cody lifted the man and walked off, carrying him.  He moved as fast as he could toward the nearest shelter.  He felt the man getting colder and colder.  Cody ran a little faster.  He had to be careful not to slip again.  He felt the man cooling.  As he sensed the man¡¯s hypothermia worsening, he looked around.  He was still pretty far from the shelter.  He looked down at the man.  He tried to shed a tear.  He dashed forward.  A few minutes later, he felt the man¡¯s life fade away.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He cried for a minute.  He took a deep breath and looked ahead.  He saw another alley.  He walked to it.  He set the man¡¯s body down in the alley on a bulge in the snow.  He put his hand on the man¡¯s forehead and bowed his head.  He looked up.  He sniffed for another fear.  He sensed one and rushed toward it.  He took a deep breath when he reached it.  It was another homeless man.  Cody sighed.  This one was covered in a thin blanket.  He looked up at Cody.  He put his hand out.  ¡°Help,¡± he said.


    Cody nodded.  He took the man¡¯s hand and stood him up.  Cody sensed that the man¡¯s leg was broken.  He tagged the injury.  They walked toward the shelter.


    ¡°I¡­ I thought I was going to freeze.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.  I won¡¯t let that happen.  Just follow me.¡±  Cody led the man to the shelter.  He was able to make it this time.  The shelter accepted the man, and Cody dashed off.


    Soon after, Cody was able to reach a hospital.  He entered through the front door.  No one stopped him.  He spent about an hour walking through the hospital, tagging countless cases of frostbite and the victims of numerous car crashes.  On his way out, Cody also tagged a nurse¡¯s chronic migraines.


    It was another hour before Cody found a crime, a home burglary.  He rushed inside the house and tackled a man who held a gun pointed at a woman, pinning him to the ground.  The woman stepped back.  The man looked up, his eyes wide.  He squirmed, but Cody kept him pinned.  Cody closed his eyes.  He moved the chronic illnesses over first; a few cases of cancer, a few of diabetes, and three cases of chronic migraines.  Cody tried to shed a tear.  He moved the frostbite to the man.  The man shouted and whaled, begging for mercy.  The woman ran upstairs.  Cody fought a smile as he heard the man¡¯s screams.  Cody moved each case of frostbite over in increasing order of severity.  The man shivered.  His lips turned blue.  His fingers froze more and more.  ¡°Please, stop,¡± the man shouted.  Cody ignored him.  He grinned.  He clinched his fist and forced his face to stay straight until he was finished.  He took a deep breath.  The car crashes came next.  The man cried out as his legs and arms were broken, then all but one of his ribs.  He screamed.  ¡°Please, please, just kill me.¡±  Cody tried to shed another tear, despite the grin the man¡¯s screams brought him, as he inflicted the final injury, which entailed Cody¡¯s victim losing both legs and an arm.  The victim shouted.  Cody stood up and dipped his scythe into the man.  He took out the man¡¯s soul and ate it.


    Cody turned his head toward the stairs.  ¡°I¡¯m leaving now.  Come lock your door,¡± he shouted.  He looked up at a clock on the wall.  His eyes widened.  It was 4:13 AM.  He left the house.  As he stepped away, he heard the door lock behind him.  He rushed back to Cherie¡¯s, scrambled into the window and ran downstairs.


    *****


    Cody lay under the covers reading for the next few hours.  At six, his mother came downstairs to wake him up.  Cody closed his book, rested his head on the pillow and closed his eyes.  He feigned grogginess as his mother approached and shook him.  He opened his eyes.  ¡°Wha¡­ hi, mom.¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother put her hand on him.  ¡°Good morning, Cody,¡± she said.


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Good morning, mom.¡±  He sat up.  ¡°Are we going to church today?¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother shook her head.  ¡°No.  There¡¯s too much snow on the roads to drive anywhere.¡±


    Cody yawned.  ¡°Oh well.¡±


    ¡°Can you be upstairs in an hour, though?  Cherie¡¯s father is serving breakfast.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Wouldn¡¯t miss it.¡±  Cody¡¯s mother patted him on the head.  Cherie wasn¡¯t awake yet, so Cody got up, showered, and brushed his teeth.  He went upstairs and got his cell phone.  He went back downstairs and dialed Bavandersloth¡¯s number.  He waited.  Valthakar answered.


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Hey, Valthakar.¡±


    ¡°Cody, are you mad?  You know that the phone is--¡±


    ¡°Relax.  We¡¯ll just not say anything that we don¡¯t want anyone to hear, okay?  Besides, this is just to arrange a meeting.¡±


    Valthakar sighed.  ¡°Let me guess, the weather?¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Something like that.¡±


    ¡°Well, to tell you the truth, I was thinking the same thing.  Go ahead and be over here tonight.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    Valthakar hung up.


    *****


    Valthakar hung up the phone.  He stood.  He looked at the shelves in the Great Room, scanning for a specific book.  He didn¡¯t find it.  He sighed and went downstairs to the basement.  He opened the door.


    He saw a swarm of souls waiting around Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery.  On the ground lay the better part of a lich¡¯s torso.  Valthakar smiled at the sight of it.  One of the souls approached Valthakar.  It squinted.  ¡°Hey.  What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Relax,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°I¡¯m not here to harm his phylactery.  I just need to know where he kept his copy of On the Underworld.¡±


    The soul flew closer to Valthakar¡¯s face.  ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because I need to look something up in it.  Look, this could make the difference between success and failure for our master¡¯s plan.  I have no Ill-will.  I can¡¯t defy him any more than you can.¡±


    The soul sighed.  ¡°True.  It¡¯s in the attic, in a safe.  The combinations are 28, 49, 46 for the leftmost lock, 25, 41, 19 for the center lock, 36, 46, 28, for the rightmost lock, 15, 2, 30, for the top lock, and 28, 35, 5, for the lower one.¡±


    Valthakar raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Mind following me up and walking me through that?¡±


    The soul turned around.  He looked at Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery.  He sighed.  ¡°Fine.¡±


    Valthakar went upstairs and unlocked the safe, one of several.  He opened it and took the book out.  The outer cover was made of amethyst stones which interlocked in the same manner as the sapphires on On Soulless Ones.  There was a golden skull in the cover¡¯s center.  Valthakar turned around.  ¡°That¡¯s all I needed.  Thanks.¡± he told the soul.  It nodded and went downstairs.  Valthakar smiled and carried the book to the great room.  He lay back on one of its couches, resting his head on a pillow.  He opened the book and saw its title page.


    ¡°On the Underworld¡±


    Valthakar turned the page.  He saw the table of contents.


    ¡°I A Description of the Underworld


    ¡°II On the History of the Underworld


    ¡°III On the Sections of the Underworld


    ¡°VI On the Souls of the Underworld


    ¡°V On the Creatures of the Underworld


    ¡°VI Questions and Answers


    ¡°VII Glossary¡±


    Valthakar turned to the questions and answers page.  He saw a quill, just as one would in On Soulless Ones.  He picked it up and wrote.


    ¡°Is a creature of the Underworld causing the lowered temperatures on the planet Earth?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Valthakar raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°What sort of creature?¡±


    ¡°A cold dragon.¡±


    ¡°What can you tell me about cold dragons?¡±


    ¡°Turn the page willing to see the answers you seek.¡±


    Valthakar turned the page.


    ¡°Cold Dragons


    ¡°Beasts of Small Vibrations.  Lethargic Beasts.  Servants of the underworld, their magical breath chills anything it touches to absolute zero.  Their very presence cools any world they visit.


    ¡°Powers: Ambient cooling, freezing breath, the carving of mountain caves.


    ¡°They prefer colder homes.  They can survive in absolute zero.  They can fly.  They can speak.


    Methods of killing them: Decapitation, atomization, burning, bleeding, suffocation, destruction of brain, destruction of hearts¡­¡±


    Valthakar flipped away.  He went back to the Q&A section.


    ¡°Where is the dragon?¡±


    ¡°In the alcove, now a cave, you call Green Boots¡¯ Cave on Mt. Everest.  He has deepened it to suit his needs.¡±


    Valthakar got up and went to Bavandersloth¡¯s computer.  He googled ¡°Green Boots¡¯ Cave.¡±  He noted its location and stepped away from the computer.  He opened the book back up and quizzed it for another few hours before putting it back in its safe.


    *****


    That night, Cody set out again.  He performed his usual routine and rushed to Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion.  He knocked on the door.  He entered and he, Valthakar and Justin sat down in the Great Room.  ¡°Alright then,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°I¡¯ve done some research, and I¡¯ve found out what¡¯s behind this.¡±  Cody raised an eyebrow, and then smiled.  ¡°According to On the Underworld,¡± Valthakar continued, ¡°these recent events are the result of a Cold Dragon settling on this planet.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  His jaw dropped.  Justin¡¯s eyes also widened.  He smiled.  ¡°A dragon?¡± they said in unison.


    Valthakar nodded.  ¡°I don¡¯t believe you¡¯re aware of this, Justin, but dragons are real creatures; actual servants of the Underworld.  I fought them when I was the King of Atlantis.¡±


    Justin beamed.  ¡°So you¡¯re telling me I get to fight a dragon?¡±


    ¡°My plan was long those lines.  This situation is urgent.  I should have looked into it sooner, but a cold snap in December, even in California, odd as it was wasn¡¯t enough by itself to tip me off to the supernatural activity.¡±


    Cody raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Where is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s near the top of Mt. Everest.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  I won¡¯t be able to come, then.  I can¡¯t possibly get away from my parents long enough to climb Everest.  It takes six weeks to get to the top of that thing and back.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Valthakar said, ¡°for a human.  We can walk much faster, and won¡¯t have to stop during the night, or take any rests, so long as we keep our true forms, which there¡¯s no reason not to do.  The lack of oxygen at high altitudes won¡¯t bother us, and our strength will make it easier to use equipment.¡±  Valthakar smiled.  ¡°Also, I have someone in mind that can help us.  There¡¯s a lich named Kgobauru, whose unique power, well, one of them, is to grant fantastic speed not only to himself, but to other liches as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh.  Alright then.  But what about--¡±


    ¡°As for getting you away from your parents, I have an idea that I think might work.¡±


    Cody raised an eyebrow.  ¡°What?¡±


    *****


    ¡°Cody¡¯s what?¡± Yolanda asked, her eyes wide.  Cherie¡¯s mother gasped.


    ¡°He¡¯s under arrest.  Now that it¡¯s known that more than one of the Angels can heal, his original exoneration is no longer valid.¡±


    ¡°But this is--¡±


    ¡°Relax,¡± the man at the door said.  ¡°If he¡¯s innocent, he¡¯ll be out soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Then can it possibly wait until this weather clears up?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Cody came upstairs.  ¡°What¡¯s going on?  I heard my name.¡±


    Yolanda turned around.  ¡°Cody, this officer says you¡¯re being arrested again.  The police still think you¡¯re the Angel of Death.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  But--¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re last exoneration was based on the premise that only one Angel existed.  We now know there are many more, and at least two, who live in this town, can heal.  Cody Giles, you are under arrest for one-hundred counts of first degree murder.  Put your hands behind your back.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He put his hands behind his back.  He was cuffed.  He looked up at Yolanda.  ¡°It¡¯ll be okay, mom.  I didn¡¯t do anything.¡±


    Yolanda cried.  ¡°Cody¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not dying or anything.  You¡¯ll be able to come visit me as soon as the weather clears up.¡±


    Yolanda walked over to Cody.  She put her hand on his shoulder.  She hugged him.  ¡°I love you, Cody.¡±


    ¡°I love you too, mom.¡±  Cody shed a tear.  He and the police officer walked out.  Cherie¡¯s mother ran down to get her daughter out of the shower.


    *****


    Cody walked out to a police car with Valthakar.  His head was down, and a few tears dripped from his face.  ¡°How did you get the cop stuff anyway?¡±


    ¡°Connections.¡±


    Cody looked up.  ¡°With whom?¡±


    ¡°The police, obviously.  Bavandersloth always keeps a few of them under his influence, at least to some extent.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Right.  So, how are we getting to Mt. Everest?¡±


    ¡°Private jet.  I didn¡¯t want to bring too large of a party on this climb, but I was able to get the help I mentioned last night.  The lich I mentioned, Kgobauru, owns the jet in question.  A friend of his, Rngwelokt, will also be assisting us.¡±


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure just five liches can fight a dragon?¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°Well, one of those five liches is me, so yes.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Alright.¡±  Cody clinched his fist.  He turned around and looked at the house.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he thought.


    *****


    The two drove the police car as far as they could before leaving it behind.  They ran to Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion to get Justin and from there to the airport to get onto Kgobauru¡¯s plane.


    The three approached the jet.  Valthakar sent a soul inside to alert Kgobauru that they were there.  Stairs descended from the jet¡¯s side and the group came aboard.  Rngwelokt waited for them at the top of the stairs.  ¡°Hello,¡± he said.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Valthakar said.


    ¡°Come on in.  Kgobauru is in the cockpit.  The plane will take off in about ten minutes, so hurry up and find a seat.¡±


    Cody looked around.  The interior of the plane was sickly green, orange and brown.  The disgusting colors made Cody smile.  All of the seats were large.  Cody walked to a nearby one and sat down.  He strapped on a seat belt.  Justin, Valthakar and Rngwelokt sat nearby.  The plane took off.


    *****


    The plane touched down in Nepal on the airstrip of a closed, empty airport.  The five liches left it behind and rushed toward the mountain.  When they reached its base, they looked up.


    ¡°Woah,¡± Justin said his mouth wide.


    ¡°Does everyone have their equipment?¡± Valthakar asked.  Everyone nodded.  ¡°Good.  Now, we¡¯re going to ascend as quickly as possible, with a few caveats.  First, we mustn¡¯t be separated.  Second, we mustn¡¯t do too much damage to the mountain.  Understood?¡±


    ¡°I hardly think you¡¯re in any position to demand understanding from me,¡± Kgobauru said.


    ¡°Of course not, I merely did all of the research for this little mission of ours, am the only one who knows the way to the right cave.  I am by far the most important part of our combat force, and represent Bavandersloth in his absence.¡±


    ¡°Must I remind you that were it not for my power to enhance our speed, it¡¯d take us a month to get up that mountain?  Unless, that is, you have your own way to travel at three-hundred miles per hour with all of the caution it takes to ascend Everest.¡±


    ¡°Guys,¡± Justin said.  The others looked at him.  ¡°This isn¡¯t helping anything.  The sooner we get up there, the sooner the world gets back to normal, and the less chance that the damage done by the time we finish will mean there¡¯s no chance to save the world.¡±


    Kgobauru took a deep breath.  ¡°Fine.¡±  He and Valthakar grumbled and the group began their ascent.


    *****


    The five liches were a day into their ascension of the mountain.


    ¡°Man, I can¡¯t wait to get home,¡± Justin said.  ¡°I¡¯m so hungry.¡±  He closed his eyes.  ¡°Oh, I can just picture it now.  A nice, warm soul.  A mugger.  No, a serial killer.  That nice, strong taste of murder.  I can just picture it: that crunchy, glowing outer shell breaking away, the thick yet runny inside bits splashing all over my tongue--¡±


    ¡°Quiet, boy,¡± Valthakar said.  Justin looked up.  He clinched his fist and continued on.  They reached an icy ledge.  Valthakar put his hand on it and made much of the ice decay away, forming a staircase.  They climbed up, mindful of its slipperiness.


    The others heard Justin¡¯s voice behind them.  He sounded like he was speedtalking.  ¡°Oh, man, this sucks.  Why did I have to come here?  I just had to go and slay the dragon--¡±


    ¡°I said, quiet,¡± Valthakar said.


    ¡°Hey, that wasn¡¯t me.¡±


    ¡°Well then who do you propose it was?¡±


    ¡°I thought it was Rngwelokt.  He¡¯s the only one behind me right?¡±  Justin¡¯s voice sped up.  ¡°Besides, his entry in the book called him a coward or something.¡±


    Valthakar turned around.  ¡°Listen bo¡­¡±  Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.  The other liches turned around too.  They saw a grey, hairy, creature.  It looked like a large monkey.  ¡°Who¡¯s saying that?¡± it said, speed-talking in Justin¡¯s voice.  ¡°Crap, I hope Rngwelokt isn¡¯t mad.  Why¡¯s everyone turning around?  Holy crap, what the heck is that thing?  Why¡¯s it talking like that?  Is it reading my thoughts?¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He ran up to it, standing closer to it than Justin.  ¡°I¡¯m sure I know what that is,¡± it said, now in Cody¡¯s voice.  ¡°I¡¯ve seen it somewhere, in some class?  It¡¯s from Chinese, no, Japanese mythology?  Maybe?¡±  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He backed away.  ¡°Huh?  What was Cody so afraid of just now?  Does he have some kind of secret?¡±  Cody backed up further.


    Rngwelokt turned to Valthakar.  ¡°Do you have your copy of On the Underworld with you?¡±


    ¡°No.  I left it at the mansion?¡±


    ¡°What?  Why?¡±


    ¡°Because there are only three known copies of it on Earth.  I wasn¡¯t going to bring it up here and risk losing it.¡±  Valthakar looked forward.  ¡°I didn¡¯t expect us to encounter anything from the underworld up here besides the dragon.  Apparently I was wrong.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He turned around to the others.  ¡°Holy, crap guys, I just realized what that thing is.  It--¡±


    The creature pounced on Justin.  Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  He fell to the ground.  Justin kicked at the creature, but its grip on him was too strong.  It shredded at him with its claws.  ¡°Holy crap!¡± it said.  ¡°What is this thing?  Get it off of me.¡±  Cody rushed over to it.  The creature turned toward him.  Cody ducked out of the way of a swipe of the creature¡¯s claws.  He grabbed the creature¡¯s arm.  It squirmed.  Cody yanked the creature off of Justin¡¯s body and wrapped his arms around it, placing his forearm under the creature¡¯s chin.  ¡°Gah, this thing is squirmy.  It¡¯s almost over my arms already.  Crap, it¡¯s getting away,¡± the creature said as it leapt away.  It ran off.


    Justin stood up.  ¡°What was that thing?¡±


    ¡°A satori,¡± Cody said.  ¡°It¡¯s a creature from Japanese mythology.  They¡¯re supposed to run up behind travelers, read their thoughts aloud to confuse them, and then try to eat them.¡±  Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Fortunately, they¡¯re also really frightened by a counter-attack.  That thing shouldn¡¯t be back any time soon.¡±


    Justin took a deep breath.  ¡°That¡¯s good, at least.¡±  He brushed himself off and stood up.  ¡°Hey, Cody?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°When it started reading your mind, you backed away.  Why was that?¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He smirked.  ¡°Oh, just keeping those secrets grown-ups have to keep from kids.¡±


    Justin raised an eyebrow as the group started walking again.  ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll find out when you¡¯re older.¡±


    Cody clinched his fist.  He moved forward.  He looked down.  That was close.  Cody clinched his fist again.  Had he thought for just one second about what really happened to Justin¡¯s parents, it would have been a disaster.


    *****


    The five continued until they were about two thirds of the way up the mountain.  They were walking along a plateau.  Valthakar stopped.  Cody looked up at him.  ¡°What is it?¡± Kgobauru asked.  Cody looked at the path ahead.  His eyes widened.  He saw a pale woman in white walking toward them.


    Valthakar took a deep breath.  ¡°It¡¯s obviously a creature from the underworld.  Rngwelokt, can you make a shield big enough for all of us?¡±


    Rngwelokt nodded.


    ¡°Alright then.  Everyone get close to him.¡±  They all did.  Rngwelokt cast his shield, and they all got inside.  The woman walked forward.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Holy crap, I think she¡¯s got a little kid with her.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a trick.  Think.  How¡¯d a little kid survive up here?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  He nodded.


    Eventually, she reached them.  She stopped in front of them.  Her lips were blue, and her skin pale.  She held the hand of a small girl, who looked similar to herself.  Cody looked down.  There was no trail of footprints behind the woman.  Cody took a deep breath.  The child cried.  The liches moved forward.  The woman followed them.  They kept going for another several miles, and the woman stayed right behind them.  Kgobauru turned to Valthakar.  ¡°We¡¯re going to need her off of our trail before we can fight the dragon,¡± he said.


    Valthakar nodded.  ¡°True.  Does anyone have any idea what that thing might be?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Justin said.


    ¡°What about you, Cody?  You identified the last creature.¡±


    Cody thought for a minute.  His eyes widened.  ¡°Actually, yeah.  I do think I know what that is.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kgobauru asked.


    ¡°It might be a Yuki-onna.  They¡¯re these ghosts, also from Japanese folklore.  There¡¯s a bunch of different versions of their legend, but in every case, they have some way of making you freeze to death, and the way to kill them is to expose them to heat.¡±


    Rngwelokt turned to Valthakar.  ¡°Valthakar,¡± he asked, ¡°if I made a hole in my shield, could you launch a fireball at it?¡±


    ¡°In theory.  Cody, will it attack us?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll probably take its first opportunity to attack.  They¡¯re supposed to be aggressive.  In some legends, they have a cooling breath.¡±


    Valthakar sighed.  ¡°Alright, Rngwelokt, here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do.  We¡¯ll keep walking normally.  When I say to, you need to create a hole in the shield behind us.  I¡¯ll shoot a fireball out as fast as I can.  Hopefully, it won¡¯t have the reflexes to harm us first.¡±


    ¡°That might work,¡± Cody said.


    Valthakar nodded.  ¡°Alright.¡±  They kept walking for a few minutes.  The woman followed them.  ¡°Now,¡± Valthakar said.  He shot a fireball at the back of the shield.  Rngwelokt opened a hole.  It hit the woman.  She evaporated with a scream.  The shield closed.


    ¡°Nice shot,¡± Rngwelokt said.


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°Thanks.¡±


    *****


    Many hours later, Valthakar stopped the five liches.  He pointed upwards.  ¡°You see that?¡± he asked


    The others looked up.  Justin squinted.  ¡°No,¡± he said.


    ¡°Look closer,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°That is Green boots.  He¡¯s the corpse of a man who died trying to climb this mountain.  The cave he¡¯s in front of, that¡¯s where the dragon is.¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  He salivated.  ¡°You mean we¡¯re almost done?¡±


    ¡°Sort of.  We¡¯ll also have to climb down, but that might not take quite as long as getting up here did.  Either way, we¡¯re about to fight the dragon.¡±


    Justin smiled.  ¡°Awesome.  So what¡¯s our plan?¡±


    Valthakar huddled in closer to the others.


    *****


    Rngwelokt walked into the dragon¡¯s den, invisible.  He felt his stomach grumble.  He looked down.  He clinched his fist and looked back up.  He walked toward the back of the cave, looking around, seeing ice covering every surface.  After a few minutes, he heard a rumbling noise that wasn¡¯t his stomach.  He looked ahead.  He saw the tip of the dragon¡¯s tail sticking out of a chamber.  He stepped over the tail and went inside.  The dragon was lying down, but it wasn¡¯t asleep.  Rngwelokt moved forward.  He took a deep breath as he walked.  He tripped on the dragon¡¯s back leg.  He fell down, and his eyes widened.  He put his shield up.  He looked at the dragon.  He saw it stir.  It stood up, shaking, and stretched its wings.  It looked down at Rngwelokt.  Rngwelokt looked up.  The creature looked only vaguely reptilian.  Its scales looked more like stone than flesh.  Its claws and teeth were grey.  It inhaled.  Rngwelokt flinched.  The creature let out a blast of frigid air, breaking Rngwelokt¡¯s shield.


    Rngwelokt scrambled up and ran toward the chamber¡¯s exit.  The dragon rushed to it and blocked it.  ¡°Who are you?¡± it asked.


    Rngwelokt clinched his fist.  He stood, turning visible.  ¡°I am Rngwelokt.¡±


    The dragon arched its head downward.  ¡°What are you doing in my cave, soulless one?¡±


    Rngwelokt stepped back.  He took a deep breath.  He thought.  He looked up.  ¡°Sir, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re aware of this, but your being here is destroyin--¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m aware of it.  Do you take me for an idiot?  That¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡±


    Rngwelokt¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  Why?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m under orders.  Kandrinarkora told me to come here and wreck the place.¡±


    Rngwelokt raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Wait, Kandrinarkora?  He was supposed to be sealed away.  Things like you aren¡¯t supposed to--¡± a magical blast hit the dragon from behind.  The dragon turned around.  Rngwelokt put his shield up.


    *****


    Valthakar looked up at the dragon.  It looked around.  ¡°Where are you?¡± the dragon asked.  Valthakar fired another shot at its neck.  The dragon dodged.  He scoffed.  He fired a blast of freezing breath down on Valthakar.  Valthakar put his shield up, turned and ran toward the cave¡¯s entrance.  The dragon¡¯s eyes followed him.  The creature walked outside with him as he went, smiling.  ¡°You do realize that it¡¯s advantageous for me to battle outside, right?  I¡¯m the one who can fly.¡±  Rngwelokt came up behind the dragon and fired on him.  The dragon ignored him.  Valthakar ran out.


    *****


    The dragon¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°You¡¯re quite the fast soulless one, aren¡¯t you?¡±  He smiled.  He ran outside.  Rngwelokt followed him.  When he reached the end of the cave, he spread his wings and jumped out.


    *****


    Cody looked up at the Dragon.  He put out his hand and fired.  He missed.  The dragon turned around.  Cody and Justin raised their shields.  The dragon let out a burst of breath.


    Cody flinched as the breath impacted his shield.  He closed his eyes and fought to keep it up.  After a few seconds, Kgobauru ran out.  Cody felt a surge of magical energy flow through him as Kgobauru neared.  He focused, and dashed to the side.  It seemed to take the dragon ages to move its head.  When the dragon¡¯s breath finally came back into contact with Cody¡¯s shield, he dashed to the side and out of the way.


    *****


    Rngwelokt ran out, his shield up.  The five liches were in a line, each moving back and forth, keeping out of the way of the dragon¡¯s breath.  The dragon took a deep breath and flew up.  As soon as the dragon turned away, Valthakar lowered his shield and tossed a fireball at the dragon.  The dragon felt the heat behind him.  He smiled.  He dove down, under the ball.  Valthakar raised his shield back up.  The dragon flew around the mountain, out of sight.


    A few minutes later, Cody felt a powerful burst of air hit his shield.  He turned around and saw the dragon.  His eyes widened.  The wind blew him off of the ledge of the mountain.  He tumbled downward.  Cody looked around and saw Kgobauru and Justin tumbling away.  Rngwelokt tumbled toward him.  Valthakar was still on the ledge.  Cody tried to steer his shield like a hamster ball.  He and Rngwelokt managed to stay relatively close together.


    Cody turned around and looked up.  The dragon was following him, and gaining on him.  Cody¡¯s breathing was heavy.  He steered his shield closer to Rngwelokt.  He looked at the other lich, who looked back and nodded.  Cody steered until his shield was but inches away from Rngwelokt¡¯s and Rngwelokt expanded his own shield around Cody¡¯s.  Cody lowered his shield.


    ¡°That was clever,¡± Rngwelokt said.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Cody said.  The two used their combined weight to roll down the mountain more quickly.  Cody looked over his shoulder.  The dragon faded into the distance.


    *****


    Justin rocketed down the mountain with the help of Kgobauru¡¯s speed-enhancing aura.  He ignored his grumbling stomach as he moved downward.


    *****


    Valthakar cloaked himself.  He waited for the dragon to come back.  After a while, it did, flying back up toward its cave from below.  Valthakar held his hand out and struck the dragon with a bolt of lightning as it approached.  It fell.  Valthakar looked down and tossed a fireball at the creature.  He hit its wing.  It yelped.  It showed its teeth and ran up the mountain.  Valthakar activated his shield as the dragon rose up and covered the plateau with his breath.  Valthakar stood in place.  The dragon crawled up to Valthakar.  It leaned down in front of his shield. Valthakar lowered his shield. The dragon growled and seethed.  ¡°Puny one.  It is not wise to make a dragon angry.  Now, prepare to--¡±  Valthakar nailed the dragon in the head with a fireball.  The dragon reeled back.  Valthakar hit the dragon in the neck, melting its head off.


    *****


    The sun came and went twice before Justin reached the mountain¡¯s bottom.  He slowed his shield down, then stopped it.  He let it down and took deep breaths.  Kgobauru did the same.  Justin looked around and turned to him.  ¡°Hey, did you figure out what happened to the others?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I saw Odelarch and Rngwelokt get blown to the South of us.  Valthakar was still on the ledge.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Justin said.  He looked up.  ¡°One of them has probably won the fight by now, him or the dragon I mean.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±  Kgobauru turned to Justin.  ¡°Come with me.  I have a plan to get them down.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll use my power to slow down time around my jet.  It¡¯ll be pretty easy for me to fly by them and let them jump into it.¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Wait, you could have just flown us up?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯d have been nowhere to land, and Valthakar wanted me to be able to fight with you.  Let¡¯s just hope he managed it by himself.¡±


    The two ran to Kgobauru¡¯s jet.


    *****


    Cody arrived at Cherie¡¯s house.  He knocked on the door.  His mother opened it.  She gasped.  Her eyes widened and she smiled.  ¡°Cody,¡± she said.


    ¡°Mom,¡± Cody said, hugging her.  She cried.  ¡°Everything¡¯s okay now,¡± Cody said.  ¡°They cleared it up.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s wonderful,¡± Cody¡¯s mother said.  After they hugged for a few more minutes, Cody¡¯s mother went around the house and informed the others.


    *****


    Violet Fox sat across from Valthakar in the interview room.  ¡°Good evening everyone.  Welcome to Channel 4 News at 6.  We¡¯re here once again with Orichalcum, who wished to comment on the recent changes to the Earth¡¯s environment.¡±  Violet turned to Valthakar.  ¡°You have the floor sir.¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°Well, ma¡¯am, you may recall that just over a month ago, my colleague, Light-rook, announced that he had defeated the Blue Butterfly killer.  Well, I have a similar announcement to make now.  My friends and I tracked the source of the planet¡¯s cooling and stopped it.¡±


    Violet gasped.  Her eyes widened.  She didn¡¯t speak for a while.  ¡°What was it?¡± she finally asked.


    Valthakar took a deep breath.  ¡°It was a creature from the realm from which we hail.  It was hiding on this earth, and its magic allowed it to cool it, which it did.  We tracked it down and slew it.¡±  Valthakar chuckled.  ¡°I myself fired the killing shot.¡±


    *****


    The ground in the underworld shook.  Kandrinarkora¡¯s growl reached its every corner.  Souls from throughout its span gazed upward.  Kandrinarkora ceased his growl.  The inhabitants of earth were more persistent than he thought.  He smiled.  Very well, then.  He¡¯d just have to try harder next time.


    *****


    Valthakar sat in the great room with his copy of On the Underworld open to the Q&A section.  He took a deep breath as he lifted the quill and pressed it to the page.


    ¡°On the day Atlantis sunk, I saw two lights in the sky.  One was bright green, like a magical beam or shield, and the other was  dark purple.  What were those lights, and what, if anything, did they have to do with the reasons for the sinking of Atlantis?¡±

 1.15 Roma Invicta

    ¡°In other news,¡± Violet Fox said, ¡°the last few weeks have seen the rise of a new quazi-religious movement centered mostly in Goldfalls, CA.  While many of the people in Goldfalls have taken a positive view of our handful of Angels, few have taken it as far as this group.  Dubbed ¡®Angel worshipers,¡¯ this mysterious cult seems to follow a religion based around them.  Beyond that, very little is known about the group, including whether or not they do literally worship angels.  Members of the cult rarely talk about their beliefs, insisting that in order to discover the truth, one must join their organization.  Given their association with what is widely regarded as real supernatural activity, plenty of people are doing just that.¡±


    Violet turned to her left.  ¡°Joining me today to discuss this issue I have an actual Angel, Orichalcum.  Welcome back to the show.¡±


    Valthakar grinned.  ¡°Thank you for having me back.¡±


    ¡°Orichalcum, first, a lot of people who have joined the cult have said that they¡¯ve chosen to do so because the cult seems to revolve around genuine supernatural activity.  Do you have anything to say about that?¡±


    ¡°Well, knowing as little about the cult as I do, I can only say so much to that.  I will say that I¡¯m not aware of any god associated with us, nor do we generally identify as gods.  I¡¯d also like to caution anyone who assumes that just because an organization has a genuine connection to the supernatural it must be something you want to be involved with.  Just because they¡¯re not making everything up doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re good guys.¡±


    ¡°What sort of practices would you recommend for anyone wanting to get into touch with the supernatural?¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not sure that that¡¯s a very good question.  There¡¯s really no specific interaction with the supernatural a given person will definitely want to have.  There are ways of interacting with us, but there¡¯s nothing like a ¡®true religion¡¯ associated with us in the sense you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°I see.  What do you think of the people who are seeing this group in a more sinister light?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t blame them.  For the record, the organization is under investigation by the community of Angels.  If there is anything sinister going on, we¡¯ll discover it.¡±


    *****


    Valthakar¡¯s soul entered the house as ordered.  He looked around for its occupant.  He found him in the bedroom.  The man was white and seemed to be in his late twenties.  He was a reasonably well-known member of the cult of lich worshipers.  The soul flew downward to look at the man.  He hovered.


    About half an hour later, there was a ring at the door.  The man stood up and walked to the door.  The soul followed him.  When the homeowner opened the door, the soul saw another man standing outside.  He seemed about ten years younger.


    The homeowner looked down at the other man.  ¡°Hey,¡± he said.


    There was a pause.  The younger man took a deep breath.  ¡°So, according to the website, this is--¡±


    The homeowner nodded.  ¡°Yep.  So you¡¯re here to join?¡±


    The boy nodded.  ¡°Yeah.  The site said you¡¯d...¡±


    ¡°Yep.  I¡¯ll take you there.  I¡¯ll have to blindfold you and take you in my car.  I hope that¡¯s alright.  This is our most sacred site and¡ª¡±


    The boy nodded.  ¡°Yeah, I understand.¡±


    The older man slapped the younger man¡¯s back.  ¡°Don¡¯t worry, man, it¡¯ll be worth it.¡±


    The younger man nodded.  He followed the older man through the house and out to his car.  The cultist put the blindfold on the new recruit and drove away.  The soul followed the car  out of the older man¡¯s neighborhood, across town and into the Northwest District.


    When it entered the district, the car drove to an abandoned factory.  The soul raised an eyebrow.  Humans didn¡¯t normally go into the Northwest District for very long.  It was supposed to be dangerous.  The car parked outside the factory and the cultist led the new recruit in, still blindfolded.  The two went together through the rusty building and down a flight of stairs.  They entered a pitch black room.  ¡°Sir, I bring a new charge,¡± the cultist said.


    Despite the darkness, the soul could see perfectly.  He looked down.  He saw a man at a throne at the far end of the room.  The man on the throne looked right at the older man as he entered.  The soul¡¯s eyes widened.  He flew behind the man on the throne.  If that man could see in the dark, he might be a lich.  The soul looked around.  The room¡¯s walls were covered in various artifacts.  There were bronze shields, spears, and a few swords.  The cultist brought the new recruit to the throne.  ¡°Leader,¡± he said, ¡°I bring a new student who wishes to learn the right way.¡±


    ¡°I can see that,¡± the man on the throne said.  ¡°Young man, is this true?¡±


    The recruit took a deep breath.  A bead of sweat fell down his face.  ¡°Yes sir.  I mean, you guys have the real magic so I figure if you have a religion, you probably have the true religion.¡±


    The man on the throne nodded.  ¡°Indeed we do.  However, before I initiate you, I must warn you.  The truth is not always pleasant, and once you learn it, you will no longer be able to back out.  There is a chance that your life will be greatly enhanced by the knowledge I have, but there is also a chance, a much greater chance, it will be made a great deal worse.¡±


    The new recruit bowed his head.  ¡°I don¡¯t care how my life turns out.  I want the truth.  Please, teach me.¡±


    There was a pause.  The man on the throne nodded.  ¡°Very well.¡±  The man changed into his true form.  He was a lich.  The soul could see a bronze helmet on the top of his head, with the red hairy Mohawk thing ancient roman soldiers had.


    The recruit reeled back at the smell.


    ¡°Stand before me,¡± the lich said.  The recruit clinched his fist.  He held his breath as he walked up to the lich.  The lich put his hand on the recruit¡¯s soldier.  ¡°Now, may you learn the ways of the wise men of the past, and may you see the virtue of living by them.¡±  The two stayed in that position for a few minutes, the cultist from before watching from a ways back.  A few minutes later, the lich took his hand off of the recruit¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°It is done,¡± he said.  He smiled as the boy stepped back.  ¡°How do you feel?¡±


    The boy stood eyes and mouth wide.  ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m speechless.  All this time, we, everyone, had it so wrong, but so long ago they had it right.  What seemed¡­ What seemed like progress was just¡­ just everyone fooling themselves and someone else had really had the way all along.¡±


    The lich chuckled.  ¡°I am glad you like it.  So you see the value of places?¡±


    The recruit nodded.


    ¡°Good then.  Now it is time for us to learn yours.  Come back over.  I will assess your ancestry.¡±


    The recruit nodded.  He stepped forward.  The lich put his hand on the recruit¡¯s shoulder again.  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  After a few seconds, he frowned, and then opened them.  He took his hand away.


    ¡°What is my place?¡± the recruit asked.


    The lich took a deep breath.  ¡°You, I fear, must play the necessary role of a servus.¡±


    The recruit¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely.¡±


    The recruit¡¯s jaw opened.  ¡°No.  No.  No, that can¡¯t be.  I¡­¡±  The recruit looked down, clinched his fists, and took a deep breath.  He looked back up.  ¡°No.  You¡¯re right.  If that¡¯s my role, I ought to be grateful that I can fulfill it.¡±


    The lich put his hand on the recruit¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°That¡¯s the spirit.  Remember that it is the natural way of things.  What you are doing is neither an unjust hardship nor a noble sacrifice; merely a necessary place, a cog in the wheel of society.¡±


    The recruit nodded.  The lich waved them away.  ¡°Auction him off at today¡¯s meeting,¡± the lich said.  ¡°Or is there time to get it set up by then?¡±  The older man nodded.  ¡°Ah, good.¡±  The cultist walked away with the recruit, whose head was down.


    *****


    Valthakar sat in the mansion¡¯s Great Room reading On the Underworld as Justin watched TV.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be right back to KoolKidz TV¡¯s Christmaspectacular Christmas Special Marathon right after these messages.¡±


    Justin turned and looked up at Valthakar as he grabbed the remote.  ¡°Hey, so, Christmas is coming up.¡±


    Valthakar looked away from his book and down at Justin.  ¡°So it is.¡±


    Justin sat.  ¡°Well, are you going to give me a present?¡±


    ¡°Bavandersloth already did.¡±


    Justin tilted his head.  ¡°Really?  That early?¡±


    Valthakar closed his book.  ¡°Bavandersloth went into what he did planning for his form to be destroyed, Justin.  The idea was to make DIAPP look trigger happy and irrational by having them destroy a beloved figure.¡±


    Justin looked at Valthakar.  He squinted.  ¡°But wait, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    Valthakar opened his book back up.  ¡°Yes, but the public didn¡¯t know that.¡±


    A soul flew in to speak to Valthakar.  ¡°Master,¡± it said, ¡°I return with information.¡±


    Valthakar put his book down.  He looked up at the soul.  ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I followed the cultist as you instructed and watched him initiate a new member.  He took him to a factory in the Northwest District and brought him before a lich.¡±


    ¡°Which lich?  What did he look like?¡±


    ¡°All I saw of his true form was the back of his head.  He had on an Ancient Roman helmet.  The wall was lined with stuff which I think was from Ancient Rome too.¡±


    ¡°Ntullnarlth, then.  Alright, you were saying?¡±


    ¡°He got the human to agree to receive ¡®the truth¡¯ and put his hand on his shoulder.  When he was done, well, whatever the human was told, he bought it.  Then the lich put his hand on the human¡¯s shoulder again and ¡®assessed his ancestry¡¯ to see what his ¡®place¡¯ would be.  Long story short, he got slave, and he was like, okay with it.  I mean, he looked a little disappointed, but that¡¯s all, and he went along with it.¡±


    Valthakar lay back.  ¡°I see.  Anything else of note to report?¡±


    ¡°Well, no.  That basically just happened.  I came right back.  I figured that was your answer as to whether they were violating the conventions.¡±


    Valthakar took a deep breath and stood up.  ¡°I see.  Well, it certainly warrants a talk with Ntullnarlth.  I¡¯ll go do that now.  Lead the way.¡±


    The soul nodded.  Valthakar put his book down and turned toward Justin.  ¡°I¡¯m going to leave you alone here now, then.  Be good.¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Okay.¡±  He turned back to the TV.  Valthakar took his true form, cloaked himself, turned to the door and ran off, following the soul.


    *****


    Valthakar retained his invisibility as the soul led him to the Northwest District, then to a factory.  Valthakar looked around.  He saw several cars parked outside.  The soul led him to the factory door.  Valthakar looked around and sent the soul inside.  The soul peeked into the room then came back outside.  ¡°There are people right inside,¡± the soul said.  ¡°There¡¯s no way to open the door without them noticing.¡±  Valthakar thought for a moment.  He smiled.  He walked over to one of the cars outside.  He pulled his arm back and slammed his fist into it.  Its alarm sounded.


    Valthakar stood by the door and waited.  A cultist came walking out, opening the door.  Valthakar slipped inside as the cultist turned around to close the door behind him.


    Upon entering, Valthakar heard shouting.  He looked around.  He saw a crowd in front of him, seemingly composed of a few dozen people.  They were all looking up at a young man, or perhaps boy, standing on a chair naked with his hands bound.  The young man looked down at the ground.


    ¡°Two-hundred dollars,¡± someone in the crowd shouted.


    ¡°I heard two-hundred.  Do I hear two-twenty-five?¡±


    ¡°Two-twenty-five,¡± someone else in the crowd shouted.


    ¡°That¡¯s two-twenty-five going once, going twice,¡±


    ¡°Two-thirty.¡±


    ¡°Two-thirty, that¡¯s two-thirty going once, going twice, sold for two-thirty.¡±


    The winner walked up to and claimed the young man.  The boy put his head down as he stepped off the chair.  The winner put his arm around the boy¡¯s shoulders.  ¡°Hey,¡± he said, ¡°don¡¯t feel so bad.¡±  The boy looked up at his new owner.  ¡°Most people end up with the same rank as you when they get their ancestry checked.  It¡¯s nothing to feel bad about.¡±  The man took a deep breath then smiled.  ¡°Now c¡¯mon.  Let¡¯s go get you dressed so I can take you home.¡±  The young man looked down, but followed his new master.


    Valthakar crept through the room, staying close to the wall, as the crowd disbanded.  His soul flew down to him, and motioned for him to go downstairs.  Valthakar did.  He stepped down.  When he reached the bottom step, he looked around.  Ancient Roman artifacts lined the walls, and Ntullnarlth sat on a throne at the end of the room.  Valthakar walked forward until he was standing right in front of Ntullnarlth, then uncloaked himself.


    Ntullnarlth flinched.  ¡°What the¡­ oh.  Valthakar?¡±  He squinted.  ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Investigating your organization.  And from what I¡¯ve seen upstairs, you seem to be violating the eighth convention.¡±


    Ntullnarlth smiled.  ¡°Oh, I assure you I am in no such thing.  The humans who have been sold as slaves to my cultists consented with the utmost freeness to the interaction.¡±


    ¡°Yes, after you brainwashed them.  Believe me, I wish I could do that too, but we can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I did not brainwash them.  I enlightened them.  I showed them the truth.¡±


    ¡°The fact that you believe it doesn¡¯t make it not brainwashing.¡±


    ¡°How about the fact that they asked for it?  The humans that come in here ask to be enlightened, and I give them what they ask for.  The fact that they may superficially seem to be harmed by the role that leads them to accept of their own free will does not matter.  I show them the truth and they choose to act on it.¡±


    ¡°And what truth is that?¡±


    Ntullnarlth stood up.  He took his true form, which wore the uniform of a high-ranking Roman Soldier.  He walked a few steps away from his throne.  ¡°Let me explain a simple fact to you,¡± he said.  ¡°Every society, every last one, no matter its pretentions to the contrary, functions on the backs of rabble of some sort.¡±  He turned around.  ¡°In my time, we built society on the backs of slaves.  In the middle ages, that changed to serfs.  After the enlightenment, or so it was called, it became slaves again.  In today¡¯s age, the entire globe is one society, and the slaves are those in Africa or China who work tirelessly to make civilization function.¡±  Ntullnarlth took a step toward Valthakar.  ¡°Closer to home, we have immigrants, then the poor.  No matter what name they go by, every society has them.  My goal, with my faith, is to create, or rather recreate, something beautiful.¡±  He looked at Valthakar.  ¡°Do you know when Rome fell?¡±


    ¡°Not off the top of my head.¡±


    Ntullnarlth smiled.  ¡°The Roman Empire, in all its wondrous and glorious majesty, fell no later than February the Seventeenth, 380 CE.¡±  Ntullnarlth looked down.  He seethed.  ¡°That was the cursed day the Edict of Thessalonica was issued, declaring Christianity the state religion of Rome.¡±  Ntullnarlth stood up.  ¡°The problem wasn¡¯t so much Christianity itself.  As a faith, its theology is unremarkable and its iconography, save for the cross, is rather boring.  Its stories are an assorted collection of tales, varying more or less randomly in quality and insight.¡±  Ntullnarlth clinched his fist.  ¡°Its values, though, are another matter.¡±  Ntullnarlth took a deep breath.  ¡°These ideas were not born from Christianity, but it was under its rule that they were first encouraged by a state.  Regardless of the imperfection of this in its early years, that cursed superstition contained the seed of an idea that has poisoned most of modern society.¡±


    ¡°Let me guess, love?  Charity maybe?  Equality?  Something else that it¡¯d be stupid for you to say?¡±


    Ntullnarlth grimaced.  ¡°Joke all you want.  What I speak of is the rejection of hierarchy.  Christianity spread by appealing to the lowly, and to the rabble.  It grabbed at their hearts, assuring them not only of some grand heaven to look forward to after they die, but the idea that they are, in some invisible and,¡± Ntullnarlth held his hands up and wiggled his fingers, ¡°mystical way, really the same as those they serve.¡±  Ntulnarlth seethed, and punched the wall, denting it.  ¡°That idea is poisonous.  What is the very premise of all of society if not that the low serve the high, or at least that a low serve something?  What else have all societies had in common?  Not all civilizations have had technology.  Not all of them have had trade.  Not all of them have had money.  The one single thing every single society throughout history has had is slaves.¡±  Ntullnatlth looked up.  ¡°No matter the society¡¯s name, form, or belief, they have all had slaves.  The enlightenment made it worse, for it reckoned that this one fundamental basis of society should be abandoned altogether.  In its foolishness, it sought to deny the rabble their rabbleness, and then it thought us immoral?¡±


    ¡°Is this speech going to end any time soon?  I¡¯d like to just take your phylactery and kill you for breaking the rules.  You¡¯re very annoying.¡±


    Ntullnarlth turned to and glared at Valthakar.  ¡°Ah, but I have broken no rules my dear.  I have received consent from these mortals to enlighten them, and then again their consent to live by the truth.  You are free to watch a recruit being initiated if you doubt that.¡±


    ¡°The eighth convention isn¡¯t about right and wrong.  You¡¯re missing the point.  Do you think the public would approve of this if they were to discover it?¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t discover it.  I have played my cards in a way that ensures that.¡±


    ¡°The Blue Butterfly said the same thing.  He¡¯s dead now.¡±


    ¡°Oh, but he was wrong.¡±  Ntullnarlth smiled.  ¡°What do you have to say about it anyway?  I am a councilor, in case you don¡¯t recall, the same thing Bavandersloth was.  I know all about Bavandersloth¡¯s plan.  I voted for it.  I--¡±


    Valthakar grabbed Ntullnarlth¡¯s neck.  ¡°Look here.  You and I both know that you are in violation of the rules.¡±


    Ntullnarlth chuckled.  ¡°And we both know that you have no right to do anything.  You do remember that there¡¯s a seventh condition right before the eight one that you adore so much?  That¡¯s the one that says that you need the approval of the community at large to take action against me.¡±


    Valthakar gritted his teeth.  He threw Ntullnarlth down.  ¡°I can get approval.¡±


    Ntullnarlth stood up, laughing.  ¡°Oh, I doubt you can.¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡±  He walked off.


    *****


    ¡°What do you mean I can¡¯t do anything?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re sorry, Valthakar, we really are, but¡­¡± Kgobauru began.


    ¡°If, as even you concede,¡± Larngulal, another councilor said, ¡°he has retrieved consent for every step of this process, we do not see anything objectionable about his behavior.¡±


    Valthakar slammed his fists against a desk.  ¡°This is outrageous.  You wouldn¡¯t tolerate this behavior from a younger lich.¡±


    ¡°Are you accusing us of favoritism?¡± Kgobauru asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I stuttered, did I?¡±


    Kgobauru leaned toward his camera, making his face appear large on Valthakar¡¯s computer screen.  ¡°Now see here.  Slave to Bavandersloth or not, you are, in the eyes of the community, nothing more than a common criminal.  To hear you¡­¡± Valthakar sighed and left the chat.  He sat back in his chair.  He had to shut this down.  His master would want that.  He just needed to figure out a way.  Valthakar thought.


    *****


    Cody answered his phone.  ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°We have a problem,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°Come to the mansion tonight.¡±


    *****


    Cody knocked on the mansion¡¯s door.  A few minutes later, Valthakar opened it.  ¡°Ah, hello,¡± he said.  ¡°Please come in.¡±  Valthakar walked to the great room.  Cody followed.  Valthakar gestured for him to sit down and he did so.  There was a glass of water on Valthakar¡¯s side of the table.  ¡°Thank you for coming, Cody.  I imagine you have a guess as to why I¡¯ve called you here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about that cult, right?¡±


    Valthakar nodded.  ¡°I investigated it, and I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s worse than I thought.  It¡¯s run by one Ntullnarlth, a prominent member of the community, much like Bavandersloth and Kgobauru.  The cult is composed of people he¡¯s brainwashed.¡±  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°He recruits them, takes them to a spot in the Northwest District, uses a mind control spell to force them to adopt the cult¡¯s ideology, then assigns them to one of several castes, including a slave caste.¡±


    ¡°Alright then,¡± Cody said.  ¡°So he¡¯s broken the rules.  Punish him.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple.  I¡¯d need the community¡¯s permission and I don¡¯t have it.¡±  Valthakar gritted his teeth.  ¡°They¡¯re playing favorites with him, basically.  Either that or they don¡¯t like me.  Either way, they¡¯re no help.¡±  Valthakar smiled.  ¡°Fortunately, I have one recourse.¡±


    Cody raised an eyebrow.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Some of the humans he took were from your hunting grounds.  Three of them, in fact, and two are in the slave caste.  That means tha--¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°That¡¯s my boy.¡±


    *****


    Ntullnarlth sat on his throne.  ¡°Master,¡± he heard one of his cultists say, ¡°there are two angels here who demand to see you.¡±


    Ntullnarlth sighed.  ¡°Send them down.¡±  He rubbed his fingers against the armrests of his throne.  He looked up.  He saw two clouds of darkness.  Ntullnarlth stood up and took his true form.  ¡°Please, my dears do go ahead and take down those clouds.  There¡¯s no need for privacy here.¡±


    The liches obeyed.  Ntullnarlth looked at Valthakar¡¯s companion.  ¡°Ah, you must be this Odelarch I¡¯ve heard so much about?¡±  Odelarch nodded.  Ntullnarlth turned to Valthakar.  ¡°By what means do you intend to annoy me today?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve violated my territory by making use of my mortals as servitors and by subjecting them to illicit abuse,¡± Odelarch said.  ¡°I challenge you to a contest.¡±


    Ntullnarlth looked at Odelarch.  He laughed.  ¡°Pft.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.  That¡¯s a good one.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m seriou--¡±


    ¡°I know, and that¡¯s what makes it so hilarious.¡±  Ntullnarlth walked backward and set his hand on the armrest of his throne.  He laughed for a few more seconds before looking up at Odelarch.  ¡°But do you know what?  I think I accept your little challenge.  It¡¯ll be good for a laugh.  After all,¡± Ntullnarlth took a few steps toward Cody, ¡°I am two-thousand years old.  But hey, I can see myself benefiting from this.  In fact, from what I¡¯ve heard, I think Bavandersloth benefits from it, too.¡±  Ntullnarlth turned to Valthakar.  ¡°So perhaps you have served your master well after all.¡±  Ntullnarlth turned back to Cody.  ¡°But anyways, sure, I¡¯ll be happy to take part in this contest.  As you¡¯re opponent, I won¡¯t be qualified to moderate it, but I¡¯ll be happy to get Kgobauru down here for that.¡±


    Odelarch smiled.  ¡°Alright then, it¡¯s agreed.¡±  Ntullnarlth saw Valthakar glaring at him.  He smiled.  The two liches turned around and walked away.


    *****


    Ntullnarlth sat in an airport, waiting for Kgobauru to arrive.  He looked up as he saw Kgobauru¡¯s plane touch down outside.  He sat back and read.


    ¡°There you are,¡± Kgobauru said a few minutes later.


    Ntullnarlth looked up.  He smiled and stood.  ¡°Indeed I am,¡± he said.  ¡°Thank you for coming.¡±


    The two turned and walked toward the airport¡¯s exit.  ¡°I¡¯m happy to help with this,¡± Kgobauru said.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°Odelarch is a nice kid, but sadly, his nature is such that he probably ought to go.¡±


    ¡°Who said anything about him going?¡±


    Kgobauru turned to Ntullnarlth.  He raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Oh?  What do you plan to do with him?¡±


    ¡°Same treatment Bavandersloth gave Valthakar.  It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve done that with one of my conquests.  It didn¡¯t work out so well last time, but I¡¯ve become more experienced since then.  I think I can handle a slave of my own.¡±  Ntullnarlth smiled.  ¡°Of the lich variety I mean.¡±  He looked up.  ¡°In fact, I think I¡¯ll enjoy it immensely.¡±


    Kgobauru chuckled.  ¡°I see.¡±  He turned to Ntullnarlth.  ¡°I will warn you, though, don¡¯t let your guard down.  Remember, he was able to defeat Kaburlduth.  The threat he poses is not negligible, and I won¡¯t be any more on your side then on his.¡±


    Ntullnarlth turned to Kgobauru.  ¡°You won¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not willing to rig a contest for you.¡±  Ntullnarlth looked down.  Kgobauru raised a finger and smirked.  ¡°That said, though, there is one totally fair provision I¡¯d like to suggest including in your initial proposal.¡±


    Ntullnarlth raised an eyebrow.


    *****


    Cody arrived at Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion to negotiate the contest.  He knocked on the door.  Justin opened it.  He looked up at Cody.  He looked down.  ¡°Hey,¡± he said.


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Justin took a deep breath.  He looked back up.  ¡°You¡¯re about to get into a contest with a two-thousand year old lich.  Are you sure you can beat him?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Cody said.  He looked down at Justin as he closed the door behind him.  ¡°I have to try, though.¡±  Cody looked up.  ¡°I¡¯ve done too many things to the human race not to protect them when I can.¡±


    Cody walked into the Great Room.  He saw Ntullnarlth sitting in the center of a couch and Kgobauru sitting on a chair.  Valthakar sat in a chair opposite Kgobauru, and Cody took a seat on the couch opposite Ntullnarlth.


    Ntullnarlth looked at Kgobauru.  ¡°Go ahead,¡± Kgobauru said.


    Ntullnarlth looked at Cody.  ¡°I propose that we select a large space, it will probably have to be in the Northwest District, and that we assign, as far apart as possible, bases.  In each of these bases, on a pedestal, is to be placed a ball light enough to be lifted by a zombie, but relatively difficult to destroy.  Each of us shall be granted the use of sixteen souls, all of whom must possess complete, adult corpses.¡±  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°With the help of these zombies, we shall each seek to acquire our opponent¡¯s ball and transport it back to our base.  The winner shall be whoever accomplishes this first.  Should either of us destroy our own ball, we shall be disqualified.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t use souls,¡± Cody said.  ¡°Last time I was in one of these, Bavandersloth said--¡±


    ¡°Bavandersloth isn¡¯t here,¡± Kgobauru said.  ¡°You¡¯re free to drop the challenge if you don¡¯t like it.¡±


    Cody looked at Ntullnarlth.  He clinched his fist.  ¡°But--¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your breath.¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.            Cody looked back at Kgobauru.  He gulped and took a deep breath.  He looked down and shed a tear.  ¡°Fine.¡±


    Ntullnarlth smiled.  ¡°Good.  So with that settled, do you have any other objections, Odelarch?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°I don¡¯t suppose I could say it¡¯s unfair that I¡¯d have to engage in a contest partially about open combat with a lich two-thousand years--¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Kgobauru said.


    Cody sighed.  He looked up.  ¡°Alright then.  No objections.¡±


    ¡°Okay then,¡± Kgobauru said.  ¡°As for the location,¡± he turned to Ntullnarlth, ¡°after you told me about this proposal at the airport, I took the liberty of doing a bit of research.  I believe that Vergangen Asylum would be the best location.  It¡¯s symmetrical, at least to a large extent, and I know just where the two bases would be.  Do either of you object?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Ntullnarlth said.


    ¡°No,¡± Cody said.


    Kgobauru smiled.  ¡°Very well, then.¡±  Kgobauru looked at Ntullnarlth.  ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    Ntullnarlth looked at Kgobauru for a moment.  He smiled.  ¡°Actually, yes, one more thing I¡¯d like to do.  I propose that along with our sixteen souls, we each summon one creature from the Underworld.  We will each be allowed time to scour Bavandersloth¡¯s copy of On the Underworld for a suitable creature.  Kgobauru will summon it, and then give control of it to us.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not,¡± Valthakar said.


    ¡°Oh come now,¡± Kgobauru said.  ¡°It¡¯s not like Bavandersloth never loaned it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, very rarely, and when he was here to supervise things.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a good idea,¡± Cody said.


    Ntullnarlth looked back at Valthakar.  ¡°See, even he thinks it¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ¡°I also think part of the prize should be the winner being allowed to keep theirs,¡± Cody said.


    Kgobauru smiled.  ¡°I like the way you think.¡±


    Valthakar glared at Cody.  ¡°What the hell are you thinking?  You know this is just their ploy to get access to the book.¡±


    Cody looked at Valthakar.  ¡°Of course I know that, but they¡¯re not the only ones who have something to gain from accessing that book.  For one thing, I¡¯d like to look around in it. And for another, I might have use for a creature of the underworld if I could actually tame it long-term.  Think of it this way, no matter who wins, the creature will go into service of your master¡¯s big plan.¡±


    Valthakar raised an eyebrow.  ¡°True,¡± he said.  He turned back.  ¡°Alright then, but the book shall not leave this mansion at any point.¡±


    Kgobauru smiled.  ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡±  He picked up a piece of paper from the table next to him.  ¡°So, I¡¯ll just write down the formal terms.¡±  Kgobauru wrote for a few minutes.  ¡°On December 24th 2013, both Ntullnarlth and Odelarch shall arrive at The Vergangen Asylum for the Mentally Ill by 10:45 PM.  They will then be escorted to bases, which will have been set up prior to their arrival, and which shall consist of a platform, a pedestal, and a colored ball atop the pedestal.  Odelarch¡¯s shall be blue, and Ntullnarlth¡¯s shall be red.  They will each be permitted to use souls to animate sixteen provided corpses.  No other souls may be used.  They shall also each be permitted one creature from the Underworld that shall be made loyal to them through the use of a binding spell.  This creature shall be selected by them and approved by me.  Neither Odelarch nor Ntullnarlth may use any external method to attempt to discern what creature the other has selected.  Invisibility shall not be used.  Odelarch will be the victor if he, his zombies, or his selected creature are able to bring the red ball into physical contact with the pedestal in his base, or if Ntullnarlth deliberately destroys either ball.  Ntullnarlth shall be the victor if he is able to bring the blue ball into physical contact with the pedestal in his base or if Odelarch deliberately destroys either ball.¡¯  Are there any objections?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Ntullnarlth said.


    Cody took a deep breath.  He shook his head.


    ¡°Good then.¡±  Kgobauru looked at Valthakar.  ¡°Please retrieve the copy of On the Underworld.¡±


    *****


    The next day, after Ntullnarlth had selected his creature, Cody was allowed to spend time looking through Bavandersloth¡¯s copy of On the Underworld.  He took it as Valthakar handed it to him.


    ¡°Be careful,¡± Valthakar said.


    ¡°It¡¯s indestructible.¡±


    Valthakar sighed.  He looked down.  ¡°Right.¡±  Valthakar took a deep breath and walked off.


    Cody looked at the book in his lap.  He opened it to the Q&A section and picked up the quill.  He took a deep breath.


    ¡°Could you give me a list of the most powerful creatures in the underworld that the binding spell I plan to use could be used on?¡±


    ¡°Bahamut


    ¡°A Fish of Enormity.  A galactic fish, his size is so great that he cannot safely enter the realm of mortals.  He can easily swallow entire galaxies, and should a mortal see him, they would go insane.


    ¡°Falak


    ¡°A serpent of enormity.  A galactic serpent, his length is so great that if one were to stand in front of his head, the light from his tail would not pass them for many epochs.  He cannot fit between the stars in galaxies.


    ¡°Antimatter Dragons


    ¡°Beasts of atypical charges.  Destructive Beasts, they take advantage of the most fundamental laws of the universe to create explosions rivaling none.  With one breath, they can destroy an entire planet.¡±


    ¡°What are some of the most powerful creatures of the underworld that the binding spell I plan to use can be used on and whose size, composition, powers and personality lend themselves well to use first to help me with my contest with Ntullnarlth, then to assist me in future battles?¡±


    ¡°Gryphons


    ¡°Beasts of Predation.  Hunting beasts, they soar in the sky and haunt the ground looking to devour the enemies of the underworld.  They are bored easily, and will destroy easy prey quickly so they may move on to challenges they consider worthy of their talent.


    ¡°Hellhounds


    ¡°Beasts of Pursuit.  Persistent Beasts, legions of them shall track any soul who ever escapes the underworld.  They are very hot, and leave a trail of blazing footprints anywhere they go.¡±


    ¡°Nuckelavee


    ¡°Demons of Disaster.  Malevolent demons, they have the power to cause untold destruction in any way they wish.  Their shocking appearance brings terror to all who see them.


    ¡°Nurikabe


    ¡°Walls of shadow.  Morphing walls, they block paths and roads to serve various ends of the underworld.  One cannot go around them, as they will extend themselves until they circumnavigate the planet.¡±


    Cody thought as he read several more entries.  He needed to make his choice based on raw power.  That was the primary strength Ntullnarlth had over him.  Cody scratched his chin.


    He spent about an hour with the book before he made his choice.  He called Kgobauru, who approved the decision and cast his binding spell.  Soon, Cody¡¯s creature jumped through a portal and appeared in the realm of mortals.


    *****


    The next night, Cody got home from a Christmas Eve party at 9:00.  His parents went to bed at 9:30.  Cody waited until 10:00 to sneak out through his window.  It took Cody about half an hour to reach the quiet streets of the northwest district.  He ran down them, following instructions he¡¯d been given to reach Vergangen Asylum.  When he arrived, he was led by Valthakar to his base.


    Cody sighed.  Sixteen corpses lay on the ground.  He shed a tear as he called sixteen of his souls to animate them.  The zombies stumbled to their feet.


    ¡°An alarm will sound off in a few minutes indicating the challenge has begun,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°Stay here until then.¡±  Cody nodded.  Valthakar walked away.


    Cody thought.  There were two basic strategies available to him.  He could stay at his base, on defense, and send his zombies out to get Ntullnarlth¡¯s ball, or he could go out to get the ball himself, and leave defense to his zombies and the creature he summoned.


    What would Ntullnarlth be most likely to do?  He¡¯d probably come after Cody¡¯s ball.  He was powerful enough that Cody couldn¡¯t do anything to stop him from just taking it.


    Cody smiled.  His creature might have something to say about that.  In fact, his new friend would be the equalizer here.  Its magical power would be the best way to combat Ntullnarlth.  Cody¡¯s force wouldn¡¯t make much of a difference.  Given that, it¡¯d probably be best to go after Ntullnarlth¡¯s ball and leave his creature to defend his.


    Cody heard an alarm roar through the building.  His eyes widened.  He took a deep breath.  Cody turned to his zombies.  ¡°Listen,¡± he said.  They turned to him.  ¡°I need,¡± Cody pointed at two of them, ¡°you two to come with me.  Everyone else, you see the ball on that pedestal?¡±  Cody pointed to the pedestal.  ¡°Take it off, go to the corner, and pile yourselves on top of it.  Try to stay in a posture where you¡¯ll be able to get up easily.  If another lich or any other lich¡¯s zombie comes, do not let them take it.


    The zombies nodded and did as instructed.  Next, Cody whistled.  He heard growling behind him.  He turned around and saw his creature.  He smiled and knelt down.  The creature sat.  Cody petted it.  ¡°Hey, Sparky, I need you to stay here, okay?  If another lich or another lich¡¯s zombie comes around here, and specifically if they try to get the ball behind that pile of zombies,¡± Cody pointed to the pile, ¡°I need you to stop them, okay?  Do this if you got all of that.¡±  Cody nodded.


    Sparky nodded too.


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Great.¡±  He stood up and looked down the hallway.  He motioned for his two zombies to come with him.  They did, moaning.  Cody shushed them.  They quieted.  Cody looked back down the hall and walked forward.


    *****


    As Cody proceeded down the hall, he passed by several rooms.  Many of their doors were open, and several had graffiti inside.  All of them were dusty and covered in cobwebs.  Cody heard nothing but his own footsteps, those of his zombies, and faint laughter.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  Laughter?  He looked around.  He didn¡¯t see anything.  Could it have been Ntullnarlth?  Ntullnarlth¡¯s creature perhaps?  The laugh was coming from the path in front of Cody.  Cody looked ahead.  He saw nothing out of the ordinary.  He walked.  Left foot.  Right foot.  Left foot.  Right foot.  Left foot.  Right foot.  Left foot.  Right foo--  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  As he set his foot down, the environment around him changed.  He was outside now.  He looked around.  It was daytime.  He was in the middle of a field of some sort.  No, not just of some sort, of wheat.  He tried to take a step forward.  He heard a buzzer.


    ¡°Warning, patient PRG-R35 is attempting to escape his bounds.¡±


    Cody looked around.  He didn¡¯t see anyone nearby.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Cody heard from another voice.  ¡°He can¡¯t move until it¡¯s time.  He needs to see something savage.¡± the voice chuckled.


    ¡°What the heck is going on?¡± Cody shouted.  Cody pulled his feet upward for a few more seconds.  He grumbled, unable to lift them.  He looked around.  He saw someone.  He tried to run to them, but his feet wouldn¡¯t move.  He shouted.  ¡°Hey, you, over there.  Could you come here?¡±


    The person, a man, wore simple cloth garb.  He looked over at Cody.  He was holding a plough.  ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how I got here.  Could you come over?  I can¡¯t move?¡±


    The man raised an eyebrow.  He walked over.


    ¡°Hey, dude, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.  Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Who am I?  We met at the auction dude.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Auction¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Do you not remember?  Do you need to call one of the--¡±


    ¡°I¡­  I don¡¯t know.¡±


    This had to be the work of Ntullnarlth¡¯s creature, right?


    Cody heard a loud crack as he saw a whip hit the man in he¡¯d been speaking to.  The man fell to the ground.  Cody looked over his shoulder.  He saw a man on horseback holding a whip.


    ¡°Back to work,¡± the man with the whip shouted.


    The man Cody¡¯d been talking too stood up.  ¡°Yes, sir,¡± he said.  He ran back over to the plough and kept walking.  Cody tried to move again.


    Cody heard the second disembodied voice again.  ¡°Oh, look, he wants to move forward.  Should we let him?¡±


    ¡°Well, he needs to see the rest.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha.  True.  Okay then, go ahead and walk.¡±


    Cody looked up.  He lifted his foot.  The area blurred.  He moved.  The environment transitioned until his feet locked in place again.  Cody fell forward, landing on his face.


    He heard a voice above him.  ¡°Hey there, need help?¡±  Cody looked up.  He saw the slave from the last scene, but dressed differently.  His face was dirty, covered in some kind of black, powdery substance.  The man held out his hand.  Cody took it.  The man lifted him up.  ¡°Thanks,¡± Cody said.


    The man nodded.  ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡±


    Cody looked around.  There was a conveyer belt in front of him.  The walls and floor of the large room were metal.  There was a lever to Cody¡¯s left.  He looked at it.  He heard the man¡¯s voice behind him.  ¡°Better work,¡± he said.


    Cody turned around.  ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Hurry up with that lever.  You don¡¯t want the boss to get mad, do ya?¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  He turned around.  He put his hand on the lever.  After a pause, he pulled it.  He looked down.  On the other side of the lever was a pile of red slush.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He looked at the conveyer belt.  The lever was attached to a large smashing instrument.  On the side that went into it were tiny cages full of little animals.  In the next coming cage, there was a cow.  In the next one, there was a chicken.  In the next one, there was a pig.  They were all the size of a mouse.


    Cody heard the disembodied voice again.  ¡°Just a few more smashes.¡±  Cody looked up.  ¡°C¡¯mon.  They¡¯re not even real.¡±


    Cody looked down.  He looked at the tiny cow.  He closed his eyes.  He yanked the lever and heard a squeal.  He did it a few more times.


    ¡°Alright then.  You can move on,¡± the voice said.  Cody looked up.  He took a deep breath.  He turned to his side and stepped forward.  His surroundings blurred again.  When they¡¯d refocused, he was sitting behind the counter of a grocery store.  Cody looked in front of him.  He saw the man from before.


    ¡°Hello,¡± the man said.


    Cody looked at him.  ¡°Sorry,¡± Cody said.  Cody looked down.  There were a few items below him.  He sighed and passed them over a scanner.  He looked back up at the man.  He was wearing the same uniform Cody was.  Was he on break?  Cody finished his job with the man.  He looked up.  ¡°Okay, I get it.  There have been slaves in every generation.  Every society blah blah forced labor blah blah lower class blah blah.  I understand what you¡¯re trying to say.  Can this please end?¡±


    The environment around Cody blurred again.  When it came back together, Cody was laying back on a couch.


    ¡°Do you really?¡± a man said.  Cody turned.  He saw a man with a white beard next to him.  The man wore a suit and tie.  ¡°Do you really understand?  You say that, but what I still see here is a man who wants to change things, at least in one case.  Why believe that something that has always existed can simply go away?¡±


    Cody looked around.  He was in an office.  There was a plant in the corner, and a painting on the wall.  It had a curly golden frame around it.  It depicted a table.  Several people sat around the table.  One wore a clean, white toga.  Another wore a black business suit.  Another wore purple robes and a crown.  Delicacies lay across the table.  In the foreground, away from the table, two men, one dressed as an ancient roman soldier and another dressed as a U.S. Marine stood with whips.  The roman soldier whipped a young white boy with a harp, while the marine whipped an even younger Asian boy who held a shoe.


    The man with the white beard continued.  ¡°All of the things you¡¯ve just seen were forced out of being by law or else may soon be, yet each time, the next one, which was functionally identical, came into being to replace it.  What makes you think that if the current order is ever abolished, a new order won¡¯t simply replace it?  Slavery gave way to the factory.  The factory gave way to the low minimum wage.  Yet you propose that the low minimum wage will give way to the utopia those other things were meant to be the last step away from?¡±


    Cody sat up.  He looked outside.  The area looked modern and urban.  There were children playing in a playground outside, all being watched by a man on a bench.  Cody squinted.  Was that the man he¡¯d seen in each of his hallucinations?


    ¡°It¡¯s delusional,¡± the man with the white beard said.  Cody looked back at him.  ¡°It is quite simply delusional.¡±


    Cody looked at the man.  ¡°How do I get out of this?¡± he asked.  ¡°How do I return to the real world?¡±


    The bearded man smiled.  ¡°This is the real world.  It¡¯s realer, at least, than the one you were in before.  But nonetheless, all you need do to escape it is wait.  Soon, Ntullnarlth will have your ball, the contest will end and you will be awoken to servitude.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°Oh, relax,¡± the man said.  ¡°Look at your skin.  Think of your class.  Is it any different than when you were born?¡±


    Cody ignored the man and stood up.  He tried to leave the room, but the door was locked.  He tried to jump out the window, but smacked into the open window as though it were painted on.


    ¡°What do you hope to accomplish?¡± the man asked.  ¡°There¡¯s nothing out there.  This is all in your mind.  You¡¯re really just running around in a hospital, and you have been this whole time.¡±


    Cody looked down.  His eyes widened.  He looked back up.  He turned to the doctor.  ¡°So when I walk around here, I actually walk through the hospital?¡±


    The man nodded.  ¡°Yes, but that fact is of no use to you.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°I beg to differ.¡±


    Cody turned to the window.  He was sure he came from that way.  Wait, no.  When he¡¯d been woken into this room, he¡¯d been laying on the couch.  That meant, if he was moving in real life, that he was on his side now, prone.  No, it wouldn¡¯t work that way.  It would make more sense for it to be about the muscles moved than the changes in spacial position.


    Cody grinned.  He turned to the window and walked into the wall.  The therapist laughed.  ¡°Did you not hear a word of what I just said?¡±  Cody didn¡¯t respond.  He ran, touching the wall.  He felt his feet slamming into it, but he ignored it.  He¡¯d not made any turns this entire time, so running this way for long enough should bring him back to his base.  On his way back, he called out to his beast.


    ¡°Sparky,¡± he cried.  ¡°Here Sparky.  I need help.¡±


    Cody kept this up for about five minutes before he heard barking.  He smiled.  ¡°Yes,¡± he said.  He felt heat above him.  He smiled.  The scene around him blurred again, and when it snapped into focus, he found himself in a hallway with a hellhound standing over him.  The creature was pitch black with large glowing orange speckles which moved and morphed like the wax in a lava lamp.  It had pointed ears, glowing red eyes and a large snout.  It barked and wagged its tail.  Cody sat up.  Hellhounds had the ability to force spirits to return to the Underworld.  It must have been that some sort of spirit caused those hallucinations.  Cody hugged the creature.  ¡°Who¡¯s a good boy?¡± he said.  Sparky wagged his tail.  Cody stood up.  He looked around.  There was about thirty feet of hall ahead of him.  He ran its length and looked at his base.  His eyes widened.  The pile of corpses was gone from the corner, and the ball was nowhere in sight.


    Cody looked around.  He clinched his fist and rushed back down the hall, calling for his hellhound to follow him.


    *****


    Cody arrived back at Ntullnarlth¡¯s base ahead of him.  Ntullnarlth must not have been running.  He looked around.  He heard a moan.  His gaze snapped to the sound¡¯s source.  There were several zombies around.  Cody looked down at Sparky.  ¡°Sick ¡®em, boy,¡± he said.  Sparky barked and launched streams of fire from his mouth at the zombies.  Cody held out his hand and shot magical blasts at some of them.  It only took a minute for them to finish all of them off.


    Cody looked.  He saw the red ball.  Should he grab it and run back?  No.  That¡¯d probably just mean Cody wouldn¡¯t be around when Ntullnarlth arrived.  Cody ducked back into the hall.


    He waited several minutes before Ntullnarlth walked into the area, humming.  He neared the pedestal.  Cody looked down at Sparky.  He clinched his fist.  ¡°Attack,¡± he whispered.


    Sparky dashed out.  Ntullnarlth turned his head.  He squinted, and then rushed forward toward his podium.  Sparky reached him, tackling him and pinning him to the ground, barking.  Sparky opened his mouth and released a jet of flame, drenching Ntullnarlth in fire.


    ¡°Get the ball, Sparky,¡± Cody shouted.  Sparky looked at him, then down at the blue ball.  He took it in his mouth and carried it to Cody.  Cody pointed at the podium.  ¡°Other one too, boy.¡±  Ntullnarlth stumbled to his feet.  He fired a magical blast at Sparky, but sparky dodged it and jumped into Ntullnarlth¡¯s base, knocking over the podium and grabbing the red ball in his mouth.


    Ntullnarlth stood and pointed his palm at the hellhound, but Cody fired on him.  A chunk of Ntullnarlth¡¯s side came out as sparky ran back.  Cody pointed Sparky toward the base and rushed in that direction alongside him.  Ntullnarlth ran behind them in the hall.


    Cody turned around and fired a magical blast back at Ntullnarlth, but Ntullnarlth raised his shield.  He ran.  Ntullnarlth¡¯s age made him faster.  He gained on Cody and Sparky.  Cody looked down at Sparky.  ¡°Can you go any faster?  I don¡¯t care if you leave me behind.  Make the red ball touch my podium; the one we¡¯re running toward.¡±


    Sparky tilted his head and sped up.  Cody stopped in his tracks, turning around and putting his shield up.  Ntullnarlth crashed into him, breaking Cody¡¯s shield.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  Cody dashed to the side as Ntullnarlth lowered his shield and fired at him.  Cody dodged and fired his own blast at Ntullnarlth, removing a chunk from his other side.  Ntullnarlth flinched, and then panted.  Cody ran, firing at Ntullnarlth, but Ntullnarlth raised his shield back up and Cody stopped firing.  Ntullnarlth fell to his knees, panting inside his shield.  Cody took a few steps back.  Ntullnarlth looked up and held out his hand.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He turned around and rushed away.  Ntullnarlth fired a magical blast that knocked Cody over and put a large hole in his stomach.  Ntullnarlth walked toward Cody, smiling.  He fired a thin magical beam, keeping Cody to the ground.  When he reached Cody, he leaned down and took the blue ball out of his hand.  He looked down at Cody.


    ¡°Oh, cheer up.  You put up a good fight.  That¡¯s more than any of my souls can say.  Now, I¡¯ll be taking this and using it to earn your phylactery so I can cast a, well, the term Valthakar spell has become popular, on you.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He tried to get up as Ntullnarlth walked away, but Ntullnarlth kept the magical beam on him.


    *****


    Sparky rushed forward.  His master had ordered him to take this ball to the stick he¡¯d been in front of.  Sparky dashed forward, taking a few minutes to reach the podium.  He rubbed the ball against it.


    *****


    Cody heard the voice of one of a soul around him.  ¡°The Challenge has ended,¡± it said.  ¡°It is called in favor of the lich Odelarch.¡±


    Ntullnarlth gasped.  He turned around.  Cody rolled over.  ¡°What?¡± Ntullnarlth asked.  ¡°No, that can¡¯t be.  How could¡­¡±  Ntullnarlth looked down at Cody.  ¡°How could you win this?  You¡¯re just a boy.  You¡¯re just some random boy.¡±


    Cody grunted as he got up.  ¡°Ya know, I used to think so too, but between this and Kaburlduth, I¡¯m starting to reconsider.¡±


    Ntullnarlth grumbled.  He looked down.  He took a deep breath.  He looked up.  He sighed.  He looked at Odelarch.  He bowed his head.  ¡°Very well.  If I may say--¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you,¡± Cody said.


    Ntullnarlth¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You were about to plead your case?  Don¡¯t bother.  I¡¯m more than happy to move you to the Underworld if it means freeing your souls.  I did the math, and you have well over six-hundred-thousand of them.¡±  Ntullnarlth¡¯s mouth was wide.  Cody turned around and walked.  ¡°I¡¯m going to get Justin,¡± he said.


    *****


    Ntullnarlth stood there.  He watched the hellhound come back to Cody.  His mouth was wide.  He¡­ that thing was going to kill him.  Ntullnarlth looked down at the floor.  He lay on the ground.


    *****


    Cody took the Phylactery, a spearhead, out of Justin¡¯s hands.  ¡°Thanks,¡± he said.  He handed it to Sparky, who melted it.


    Cody shed a tear as he looked down.  Kgobauru came up behind him.  Cody turned around.  Kgobauru trembled a bit.  Cody looked up.  ¡°Sorry about your friend,¡± Cody said.


    Kgobauru took a deep breath.  ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he said.  He stretched out his hand.  Cody took it and shook it.


    ¡°So I get to keep Sparky?¡± Cody said.  He heard Sparky bark behind him.


    ¡°Well, whether or not Bavandersloth will let you have him is a matter yet to be known, but as far as I¡¯m concerned, yes.  I couldn¡¯t deactivate the binding spell if I wanted to, though you¡¯ll lose control of him when I die.¡±


    Cody smiled.  He turned around and put his hand on the hellhound.  He looked up.  ¡°Will Ntullnarlth¡¯s spell over those people break?¡±


    Kgobauru nodded.  ¡°I plan to make Valthakar find a way to deal with that.  We can¡¯t let the things Ntullnarlth did get out to the public.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Right.¡±  He stood up, his hand still on Sparky.


    Kgobauru took a deep breath.


    Cody stood up.  Justin, who¡¯d stood off for a moment, approached him again.  ¡°That was awesome,¡± Justin said.  The two walked away from Kgobauru.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Cody said.  ¡°By the way, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to keep Sparky at my house.  It might be best if he stays in the mansion.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be awesome too,¡± Justin said.  ¡°So, anyways, what are you doing for Christmas?  It¡¯s tomorrow, you know.¡±


    *****


    Kgobauru frowned as the two walked away.  He looked down at the pile of melted metal that remained of Ntullnarlth¡¯s phylactery.  He sighed.  ¡°Farewell, friend,¡± he said.

 1.16 Bavandersloths Rampage

    Cody sat on a bed reading.  He heard barking behind him.  He turned around.  He saw Sparky sitting and wagging his tail.  Cody smiled.  He put his book down, stood up and took his true form.  He bent over and patted his knees.  ¡°Here, Sparky.¡±


    Sparky ran up to and pounced on Cody, leaving a trail of black, smoking paw prints behind him.  Cody fell back as Sparky licked him.  Cody laughed.


    Cody looked at the door when he heard it open.  Valthakar stood there.  ¡°It¡¯s almost time,¡± he said.  ¡°We need to get down there.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Right,¡± he said, nodding.  He looked up at Sparky.  ¡°Off.¡± he said.  Sparky stepped away.  Cody stood up and followed Valthakar downstairs.  He called Sparky to come with him.


    *****


    Cody stood in front of the door to the basement, next to Valthakar.  Justin was on Valthakar¡¯s other side.  They waited a few minutes.


    They heard stirring downstairs as Bavandersloth awoke and ate the thirty humans they¡¯d brought to him over the past few nights.  They braced themselves.


    One of Valthakar¡¯s souls phased through the basement wall.  ¡°He¡¯s got all of them,¡± the soul said.  Valthakar nodded.  The three waited for Bavandersloth to burst through the door.  Valthakar sent the soul back in.  Bavandersloth didn¡¯t come out.  Cody breathed deeply, clenching his fist.  Bavandersloth would no doubt turn invisible, but he would have to use the door to escape, or else make a hole in the wall.  As soon as anything opened, Valthakar would blast Bavandersloth, destroying his lower body and keeping him from moving until his frenzy was over.


    *****


    A few minutes later, a hole appeared next to the door.  Valthakar fired a magical beam at it.  He moved the beam up and down so Bavandersloth could not crawl under it or jump over it.  A section of the basement below was worn away, but Bavandersloth was not hit.  He must have jumped back from the hole.


    Valthakar¡¯s soul came back out.  ¡°Small holes, like, finger sized, are appearing in the walls.  I think he¡¯s trying to climb them.¡±


    ¡°Where are they exactly?¡±


    ¡°To your left.¡±


    Valthakar nodded.  He kept his one hand on the door while holding out his other hand, prepared to fire on any holes that appeared in the wall.  Soon enough, one did.  Valthakar let out another magical beam.  Like the last, he moved it up and down to keep Bavandersloth from sneaking past it.  ¡°Odelarch,¡± Valthakar said, ¡°stand in front of the wall to the left of me.  Prepare to fire.¡±  Odelarch nodded and obeyed.  Bavandersloth¡¯s shield would be able to block Odelarch¡¯s blasts, but by using his shield, Bavandersloth would reveal his location.  Sure enough, a hole did appear.  Odelarch fired several blasts, making craters in the basement floor.


    The soul came back out.  ¡°He¡¯s climbing over the first hole,¡± it said.  Valthakar nodded.  The soul went back inside.


    ¡°Tkoralkiarch, prepare to fire on him from my other side.¡±  Tkoralkiarch nodded and took a few steps to Valthakar¡¯s right.  A hole appeared there and Tkoralkiarch fired a series of magical bursts, one after the other.  Another hole appeared nearby and Tkoralkiarch fired with his other hand.


    Another hole appeared.  Tkoralkiarch took a deep breath and alternated between the two closest holes on his left.  Another one appeared next to that.  Valthakar alternated between what were now the two closest holes on his right.  When another hole appeared next to that, Valthakar repositioned himself, firing at two holes with his left hand and two with his right.  Holes continued to appear until each lich was occupied with four holes, two for each hand.


    A few minutes passed.  Valthakar¡¯s soul emerged at one point and said he didn¡¯t see any new climbing holes forming in the basement.  Valthakar nodded and the soul went back in.  As Valthakar focused on the holes in the wall the door swung open and a shot emerged from it.  Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.  He activated his shield while Bavandersloth, presumably, ran out.  Blasts from the other two liches flooded the area, but to no avail.


    Valthakar thought.  Bavandersloth wouldn¡¯t go out through the front door.  That¡¯d be too predictable.  He¡¯d expect someone to be ready to fire at him as soon as it opened.  Instead, Bavandersloth would go for a window.  Valthakar turned to the others.  ¡°I¡¯m going to cloak myself.  You two split up.  Odelarch, you stay on the third floor, Tkoralkiarch, take the second.  I¡¯ll summon some souls to monitor every inch of the house.  When one of them comes to you, do whatever it says.  There¡¯s no telling what kind of destruction could be wrought if Bavandersloth makes it into town.¡±


    The two nodded and ran upstairs.  Valthakar cloaked himself.  He summoned an army of souls and ordered them to monitor the house.  He stood in the great room, looking around.  A few minutes passed.


    A soul approached Valthakar telling him that a window on the third floor had broken.  Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.  He ran outside, firing his magical beam around in a circle, but nothing came of it.  Eventually, Valthakar stopped.


    He ordered his souls to get the other liches.  They did, and the others ran downstairs.  Valthakar decloaked as they came out the front door.


    ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Tkoralkiarch asked, his eyes wide.


    Valthakar sighed.  ¡°We¡¯ll split up.  You go out and search for him,¡± he said.  ¡°Try to predict his behavior.  Above all, what he wants right now is food.  He¡¯s going to look for large groups of humans.¡±


    Tkoralkiarch looked at Valthakar.  ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to warn the public about this.¡±


    Tkoralkiarch squinted.  ¡°Wait, wha--¡±


    ¡°Bavandersloth gave me a script a month ago.  I know exactly what to say.¡±  Valthakar looked out into town.  ¡°He also made some plans for how he¡¯ll act right now.  He may want souls above all else, but his other desires are still extant, and if it doesn¡¯t lower the amount of food he gets, he will still obey them.  He still doesn¡¯t want to ruin his own plan.¡±  Valthakar looked back at the others.  ¡°Get going.¡±  The others nodded and activated their clouds.  They went off, Sparky following them.


    Valthakar ran back inside the house and grabbed a pre-paid cell phone.  He called 911.


    ¡°911.  Where is your emergency?¡±


    ¡°This is Orichalcum, the Angel.  Something went wrong with Light-rook¡¯s restoration.  The portal we summoned to let him come back here¡­ something else got in.  It¡¯s running away from our headquarters.  I should be somewhere in Northwest Goldfalls, not too far South of the Northwest District.  I have no idea where it¡¯s heading, but it¡¯ll want to run to a population center and kill anyone it sees.¡±


    The 911 operator took a while to respond.  ¡°Alright then.  I¡¯ll alert the police.  Please stay on the line.¡±


    ¡°I will, but would it be okay if I called someone else on another phone?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be fine.¡±


    Valthakar put the phone down, putting it on speaker, and picked up another one.  He called Channel 4.


    ¡°Hello, you¡¯ve reached channel 4 news.  How can I help you?¡±


    ¡°This is Orichalcum.  I have urgent news.  Hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of lives are at stake.  Put me on air now.¡±


    The man on the other line was silent for a moment.  ¡°Okay, sir.  I can give you the mana--¡±


    ¡°Please do.¡±


    There were a few beeps.  Another man came on the line.


    ¡°Yes, hello?¡±


    ¡°This is Orichalcum.  Something¡¯s happened and a disaster is imminent.  If you have a way of broadcasting me--¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Our means of bringing back Light-rook has brought something else back instead.  It¡¯s one of the creatures I mentioned in my first interview; a devourer.  I don¡¯t know exactly where it is, but it¡¯s heading into town, and it¡¯s liable to kill hundreds, maybe even thousands of people.¡±


    There was a pause.  ¡°Yes, alright sir.  I¡¯m trying to get you on the air right now.  Violet¡¯s in the studio.¡±


    A few minutes later, the man came back on.  ¡°Alright, we¡¯ve got you on with Violet in one.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Violet Fox came on air.  ¡°We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you a message from the Angel Orichalcum.  He¡¯s joining us over the phone.  Orichalcum, please speak.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Violet.  A few minutes ago, we were working on bring Light-rook back.  The actual process of restoring his body is done by now, in theory.  However, the body was built somewhere else and had to be moved here.  We opened a doorway to let him step through, but he was blocked, and a devourer came through.¡±


    ¡°A devourer?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  As I said, they¡¯re like our evil twins.  They have a lot of our powers, and one is created in their dimension every time one of us is born.  They have an irresistible urge to kill, but there¡¯s nothing they can kill where they live, so whenever they come here, they¡¯re itching to cause destruction.  There is one rushing towards town right now and I have no way of tracking it.¡±


    ¡°Should people evacuate their homes?¡±


    ¡°No.  I¡¯m not sure if there is a good way to protect yourselves.  If everyone tried to evacuate, that¡¯d just cause traffic jams, which would be like giant buffet lines.¡±


    ¡°Wait, buffet?  Do they consume par--¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it.  If you want my advice, just stay in your homes.  Avoid large groups of people.  This thing¡¯ll go wherever there are the most people for it to kill.  Don¡¯t bother barricading your doors.  That won¡¯t do any good.¡±


    Violet stood, mouth wide.  The interview went on for quite a while longer.  Before too long, Valthakar picked up the cell phones and went outside to search for Bavandersloth himself.


    *****


    Bavandersloth ran along the road, rushing toward a destination he already had in mind.  He saw a car approaching.  He stopped.  He licked his lips and stood, crouching on the side of the road.  He thrust himself into the car as it passed by, landing inside with his waist on top of a child.


    The car contained a man, a woman, and two young children.  The woman gasped.  The child Bavandersloth now lay across pushed on him and screamed.  Bavandersloth put his hand on the car¡¯s vinyl and willed the whole car to decay away.  The man, who¡¯d turned around, widened his eyes.  He slammed on the car¡¯s breaks, but the car was gone before it could reach a full stop and the humans tumbled onto the road.  Bavandersloth rolled too, landing next to the older child.  He extended his scythe, and then scooped up and ate the child¡¯s soul.  He stood up, listening to the adults scream.  He ate the other child and destroyed his body.  The adults ran away, but Bavandersloth chased, caught and devoured them.  When he was done he turned around and resumed running for his original destination.


    *****


    Cody and Justin stood in Goldfalls¡¯ Central Square, watching Valthakar on Channel 4.  Central Square was always crowded, even now, so it was not too unlikely that Bavandersloth would come here and attack the many humans waiting nervously for taxis and fighting over busses.  If he didn¡¯t, the many screens all around, all broadcasting news, could alert them to where else he struck.


    As Cody watched, trying not to enjoy the thick smell of fear around him, he saw Violet Fox¡¯s eyes widen.  His did too.  Violet interrupted Valthakar.  ¡°Sir, sir.  We¡¯ve got some breaking news.  Several police have been called to The Jackal.  That¡¯s a bar in the Northwest of town.  The creature is apparently attacking there.¡±


    Cody and Justin stood up and ran in that direction.


    *****


    Andrea and Felix rode up to The Jackal on their colorful motorcycles.  DIAPP¡¯s helicopters roared above them.  They heard screaming inside.  The two rushed in.  Andrea grabbed an ink bomb from her side and activated it, covering her helmet¡¯s visor with her arm.  The bomb threw out a smoky mist of purple ink which clung to every surface, including the devourer in the corner.


    The devourer turned around.  There was a group of civilians behind it.  Andrea and Felix lifted their left arms and pointed their liquid nitrogen hoses at the devourer.  They fired.  The devourer ducked away, the liquid nitrogen hitting one of the civilians behind it.  Andrea¡¯s eyes widened.  She clenched her fist and looked at the devourer.  It activated its shield and ran at Andrea.  She dashed to the side.  The creature swerved, changing direction and rushing toward Felix.  The creature lowered his shield, got close to Felix, and then reactivated it.


    Felix fell backwards onto the wall of the magical bubble.  The devourer leaned down and ate Felix¡¯s soul.


    Andrea¡¯s eyes widened.  She shed a tear.  She gritted her teeth and lifted up both arms, aiming both her liquid nitrogen hose and her flamethrower at the devourer.  She waited for the devourer to try something.  It didn¡¯t.  It just circled around Andrea.  The creature still had Felix¡¯s body.  It lifted it up.  The devourer ripped off parts of Felix¡¯s body and used them to defile others.  Andrea clenched her fists and seethed.  The devourer kept going, moving toward the door, mocking her with Felix¡¯s corpse.  Andrea clinched her teeth.  The devourer moved, staying inside its shield, until it was just outside the door.  It lowered its shield and quickly raised it.


    Reflexively, Andrea shot her flamethrower at the creature as its shield lowered.  The building lit up.  Part of the door collapsed, probably due to the devourer, trapping Andrea inside.  Her eyes widened.  She looked around.  She saw the devourer approach a window from the outside and made the wall around it collapse.  She ran toward the next window, but the devourer beat her to it, and to the next, and to the next.


    She turned around, looking at the pile of civilians in the corner.  She couldn¡¯t tell if any of them were alive.


    She stood at one end of the bar and shot the other with a grenade launcher.  The wall collapsed, making no hole.  She seethed.


    *****


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened as he approached The Jackal.  It was ablaze, and was surrounded by firefighters.  Bavandersloth was long gone.  Sparky looked at the fire.  He wagged his tail.


    Cody thought.  If Bavandersloth did have a specific destination in mind, and he probably did, he¡¯d run straight toward it.  The mansion was to the Northwest of this bar, so Bavandersloth was heading Southeast.


    Cody, Sparky and Justin ran off along the road.


    *****


    Through a camera on one of DIAPP¡¯s helicopters, Agent Lambert watched the devourer run as he sat in his organization¡¯s headquarters.  He searched the area.  There were no humans around.  He smiled.  ¡°Fire,¡± he said.


    The helicopter launched a rocket downward, toward Bavendersloth.  Bavandersloth put his shield up and slowed down, forcing the rocket to overshoot him.


    Agent Lambert ordered another shot to be fired.  Bavandersloth sped back up, dodging it again.


    Bavandersloth stopped running.  The helicopters zoomed past him before he they were able to turn around.


    Agent Lambert aimed the camera behind the helicopters.  He gritted his teeth.


    Bavandersloth pointed his arm up at one of the helicopters and fired a magical beam.  He hit its main propeller.  The helicopter fell to the ground.  Bavandersloth licked his lips and rushed over to where it seemed like it was going to land.  He jumped up and through the helicopter, scything and chomping a few of the souls inside.  Rockets hit the helicopter as he exited it, making it explode and propelling him forward.


    Bavandersloth fell on his face.  He stood up and ran.  Agent Lambert ordered his helicopters to fly up higher and rain bombs downward.  The helicopters rose.  Bavandersloth looked up.  He lifted his arm and aimed up at one of the helicopters, but his magical beam missed at first.  Bavandersloth smirked and waved his magical beam from side to side.  Hitting them, but not for long enough for a magical beam to do enough damage.


    Bavandersloth took a deep breath.  He held out his arm and jumped upward, firing a magical blast at one of the helicopters.  He missed.  Agent Lambert smiled.  The bombs were almost armed.  Lambert turned to his side to take a sip from his glass of water.


    Bavandersloth closed his eyes ran to the side.  He jumped up as the helicopters¡¯ bomb hatches opened.  He fired a magical beam into one, and then the other.  The bombs exploded.  Agent Lambert¡¯s view screens went blank.  His eyes widened.  He crushed his glass, cutting his hands.  He seethed and shed a tear.


    *****


    Bavandersloth smiled as he watched the helicopters explode into millions of pieces.  After a second, though, he frowned.  He could have eaten those people.  Oh well, there were still plenty more souls out there, and he was almost to his first big destination.


    *****


    Cody ran, wishing he¡¯d brought a phone so he could stay in contact with Valthakar.  He and Justin kept going.  A while later, they passed by a series of televisions in a display window.


    ¡°¡­now attacking the Isle Hotel¡­¡±  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.


    *****


    Cody rushed up to the hotel, Sparky and Justin on either side of him.  People were running outside.  Justin sent a soul inside.  A few minutes later, as the pair entered the lobby, it came back.  According to the soul, the lowest several floors were evacuated, but Bavandersloth had trapped people on the upper floors by destroying the stairs and creating spike pits below them by making negative spaces of the right shapes decay away.  There was a SWAT team inside.


    Cody jumped to the second floor and then dashed upstairs, looking for Bavandersloth.  He¡¯d only decayed away the bottommost flights it seemed.  Just after he and Justin split up, he heard a scream.  He ran toward it.  He saw Bavandersloth cornering a family.  He held out his hand.  He thought.  Was there any way he could hit Bavandersloth without killing the family?


    Cody looked to his side.  ¡°Sparky, do you think you can get Bavandersloth without harming those people?¡±


    Sparky nodded.


    ¡°Alright then.  Sick ¡®im, boy.¡±


    Sparky ran at Bavandersloth, barking.  Bavandersloth turned around.  Sparky tackled him and blew a bit of fire from his mouth on him.  Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  He punched the hellhound, who flew off of him with a yelp.  Bavandersloth rolled to try to put the flame out.  Cody called Sparky back and stretched out his hand.  He shot at Bavandersloth¡¯s legs.  Bavandersloth raised his shield.  The blast put a crack in the hotel floor.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He kneeled and whispered a plan to Sparky.  Sparky nodded and ran downstairs.


    Cody blasted the ground below Bavandersloth, making him fall through the floor.  Cody ran to the hole he¡¯d created.  He looked down.  Bavandersloth¡¯s shield had broken, and he lay two floors below Cody.  Cody shot downward, but Bavandersloth rolled out of the way.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He ran downstairs, got sparky, and ran down more stairs.  By the time he reached the next floor down, Bavandersloth was nowhere in sight.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    *****


    Justin walked through the hotel gathering people and helping them down the broken staircase.  Bavandersloth had not only made the stairs decay away, but also much of the floor.  Liches could make things decay according to any pattern they liked.  Bavandersloth had taken advantage of this, and created a pit of two-foot long spikes below every staircase.  It was long enough to prevent emergency responders from using ladders to help people down from it.


    Justin reached the edge of the staircase with a family in tow.  He turned around.  He put out his arms.  The family stared at him.  ¡°My arms are out.  Hand the baby to me.¡±


    The mother nodded and set her infant down on Justin¡¯s arms inside the black cloud.  Justin held the baby close.  She was asleep.  Justin activated his shield and jumped down.  The impact with the spikes made his shield fainter for a split second, but the shield withstood it.  Justin rolled his shield across the spikes where a fireman waited.  Justin handed the baby to him.  He turned back around and stepped into the spike pit.  The spikes impaled his feet, but he felt no pain.  He walked to the other side and jumped up.  He wasn¡¯t able to make it up, and he fell back down.  The spikes impaled him.  He stood back up.  He tried the jump again.  He made it.  He lifted up the toddler and helped him down in the same way he¡¯d helped the baby.


    *****


    Valthakar, invisible, walked into the hotel.  He found a staircase; he had to admit the spike pits were a clever touch, and jumped up.  He sent a flood of souls out to find Bavandersloth, and it wasn¡¯t long before one did.  Valthakar rushed up a dozen floors to Bavandersloth¡¯s location.  He saw Bavandersloth.  Bavandersloth¡¯s shield was up.  Valthakar smiled and stretched out his hand.  He aimed at Bavandersloth¡¯s legs.


    As he ran, Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.  He collided with A SWAT officer, who fell over.  Bavandersloth turned around.  His eyes widened.  He dashed away.


    Bavandersloth ran toward the back of the hotel.  As he ran, he summoned all of his souls.


    The whole area was clouded by a dense fog of souls, obscuring Valthakar¡¯s vision.  Bavandersloth ordered them to shout, and they did.  Valthakar covered his ears.  He ran forward, but had no means of following Bavandersloth.


    *****


    Cody heard a huge crowd of people shouting on the floor below him.  His eyes widened.  He and Sparky ran to and down a staircase.  Cody waded into the fog of screaming souls.  He couldn¡¯t see a thing.  He looked down at Sparky.  His eyes widened.  ¡°Sparky, can you send these souls back to the underworld?¡±


    Sparky shook his head.  Cody frowned.  He sighed.  ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you can see through this fog either?¡±


    Sparky looked down and shook his head again.  He whimpered.  Cody petted Sparky.  ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± he said.  Cody sighed.


    *****


    Bavandersloth kept running.  He couldn¡¯t see through his fog of souls either, but they guided him.  He ran to a staircase and went down.  He called his souls downstairs with him.  The stairwell he¡¯d chosen ended just two floors below, so he searched for another one.


    *****


    Cody saw the cloud of souls disperse.  His eyes widened.  He ran down the stairwell nearby and found another cloud of souls.


    Something occurred to Cody.  His eyes widened.  He smiled.  Bavandersloth seemed to be going downstairs.  Cody stepped away from the staircase and put his hand on the rail.  He made the flights of stairs below him decay away.  Bits of rusted metal fell into the spiky pits below.  Cody smiled.  He went back upstairs.  He ran around, searching for another stairwell.


    If he made all of them decay, he would trap Bavandersloth with him in the hotel where he could wait for his hunger to end.  They were on the forty-second floor, high enough that Bavandersloth might not be able to safely jump down into the spikes.  If he destroyed the stairs above Bavandersloth as well, Bavandersloth wouldn¡¯t be able to reach any humans save the ones on the floor he wound up on.  It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it was better than nothing.


    *****


    Bavandersloth found another stairwell.  He almost ran out.  His eyes widened.  It was decayed.


    Bavandersloth stepped away from it.  He closed his eyes and thought.  He put his hand to the ground and made the floor below him decay away.  He did the same thing with the floor below that and the floor below that.  He did this for a few minutes, stopping to eat a few people he ran across, until he was on the second floor.


    There, he found a window that led to the pool behind the hotel.  It had been evacuated, and there were emergency workers outside.  Bavandersloth smashed through the window and out into the pool area.  People around looked, and then ran.  Bavandersloth ran into the crowd of workers and ate them.  When there were no more in sight, he ran into the water.  The ink on him started to fade.


    DIAPP¡¯s ink was made of chemicals that didn¡¯t decay, at least not in the way liches could induce.  Bavandersloth smiled.  It seemed that they hadn¡¯t been able to find a waterproof ink with that property.


    After Bavandersloth had been in the pool for a while, the ink was gone.  Bavandersloth stepped out of the pool and dried himself off.  He smiled.  He was invisible again.  He ran away from the hotel, setting off for his second major destination.


    *****


    Agent Lambert slammed his fist against the desk.  ¡°We lost him?¡±


    The woman nodded.  ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Agent Lambert seethed.  He took a few deep breaths then sat down.  He closed his eyes.  If Bavandersloth was headed back into the hotel, he¡¯d know in a few minutes, but why would Bavandersloth waste this opportunity?  DIAPP once again had no way of tracking him.  Agent Lambert looked down.  ¡°Just do as you were before you got the ink on him the first time,¡± Agent Lambert said.  The woman nodded and left.  He needed to encourage their chemists to work on a better ink.  The one they had now could be removed by chlorinated water.  As far as the realm of the magical was concerned, that didn¡¯t count as being able to decay, as solid masses of chlorinated water didn¡¯t appear in the air under normal circumstances, but it still made mishaps like this one happen.


    Agent Lambert sat back and put his feet up on his desk.  He took a sip from his coffee.  He called an agent.  The agent ran in.  ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°How long has it been since Bavandersloth¡¯s rampage started?¡±


    The Agent looked at his watch.  ¡°Four hours, sir.¡±  Agent Lambert sighed.  So there were two hours left.


    *****


    Valthakar sent out his own army of souls to find the others and arrange that they meet on the second floor.  Valthakar stood as they approached him.  Justin looked up at him.  ¡°What happened,¡± he said.  ¡°The soul said Bavandersloth--¡±


    Valthakar took a deep breath.  ¡°Yes.  He¡¯s gone, and DIAPP¡¯s ink is off of him too.  All we can do is leave and wait for him to strike.¡±  Cody and Justin looked down.  Valthakar made the wall next to him decay away and the three left.


    *****


    For the next two hours, Bavandersloth moved unpredictably enough that neither Agent Lambert nor the other devourers pursuing him could catch him.  Though his frenzy meant he couldn¡¯t help but stop and feed whenever prey came in sight, he was able to move from place to place quickly enough that DIAPP wasn¡¯t able to ink him again.


    His movements were random enough that his next destination could never be predicted with certainty.  Over time, Agent Lambert noticed he seemed to be heading, in general, toward the downtown area.


    At different times during the next two hours, both Cody Giles and Justin Cooper returned to their own homes under the excuse that they had to deal with some urgent business at the portal Bavandersloth was supposed to have come through in their version of events.


    Agent Lambert sighed as the clock passed 6:30 AM.  Bavandersloth had begun his rampage more than six hours ago, so it was over.  He sighed and sat back.  No doubt he¡¯d march back to Valthakar and stage one final battle in which he would be defeated.  Perhaps it was possible to get Bavandersloth then?  Agent Lambert sat up and thought.


    *****


    Valthakar looked up at the sky as he walked.  He saw a soul approaching.  He looked up.  ¡°What is it?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Master Bavandersloth is no longer in his frenzy state.¡±


    Valthakar nodded.  ¡°I see.  What are his instructions for me?¡±


    ¡°Follow me and await further instruction.  Bavandersloth isn¡¯t done with his rampage just yet.¡±


    Valthakar tilted his head and squinted.  ¡°What?¡±


    *****


    Agent Lambert stood up from his desk and went to the break room to make more coffee.  As he poured coffee into his mug, he heard an alarm.  His eyes widened.  That alarm meant that a supernatural force was attacking the building.  Agent Lambert ran out to the hall, intending to evacuate.


    *****


    Bavandersloth ripped the soul out of another DIAPP agent.  He¡¯d been planning this since he let himself be destroyed last month.  Why pass up an opportunity to raid DIAPP¡¯s base while he had a plausible excuse?


    Bavandersloth stepped onto a staircase, kneelt down, and made the ground below him decay into spikes.  He ran up the stairs and made them decay away.  He turned the corner.  He was in a cubicle room.  He summoned several souls and ordered them to look around.  They managed to find nine hiding agents.  Bavandersloth smiled.  Still invisible, he followed his soul to one of the agents.  Before the man even knew he was there, Bavandersloth stuck his scythe into him, taking out his soul.  Bavandersloth followed the soul to the next person, and then to the next.  Eventually, he reached a group of two men cowering under their desks.  Bavandersloth stood back and thought.  He had to eat one of them first, but didn¡¯t want to alert the other, lest they reveal that he was in the area.  Bavandersloth kneeled down.  He thought of a plan.  He touched one of them and severed his vocal cord.  He snatched the other one¡¯s soul before they realized what was going on.


    The one whose cord he¡¯d severed banged on the desk above him.  Shit.  Everyone around panicked and ran off.  Bavandersloth ate the agent and ran out of the room.


    *****


    Agent Lambert gritted his teeth.  The sprinklers, which in this building were filled with DIAPP¡¯s special ink, should have gone off by now.  Bavandersloth must have disabled them.  Agent Lambert ran downstairs.  Unlike the hotel, this building had recourse against Bavandersloth¡¯s spike pit trick.  Then again, if Bavandersloth had guessed it was there, he would have destroyed it.  Agent Lambert closed his eyes.  Please, let it still work.


    *****


    Bavandersloth ran up to the next floor, leaving a spike pit behind him.  He ran around devouring souls.  He moved on to the next floor and did the same.  He kept this up until he was about half way up the building.


    *****


    Agent Lambert heard a beeper buzz as he moved downward.  He pressed a button.  ¡°Attention, Agent Lambert.  Judging by the set of stairs Bavandersloth has spiked and the set of stairs he hasn¡¯t, you¡¯re on the same floor with as him.¡±


    Lambert¡¯s eyes widened.  He took a deep breath and clenched his fist.  That meant the next set of stairs would be spiked.  Please, let it work.  Agent Lambert pressed on.  There was no use going back.  He just had to hope not to run into Bavandersloth.  He neared the staircase.  He activated the contingency for spiked staircases, an extendable cover near the bottom of the staircase and an extendable ramp near the top.  Nothing happened.  Lambert¡¯s eyes widened.


    Lambert felt an arm reach around his neck, choking him.  Bavandersloth uncloaked himself, but raised his cloud.  He dragged Lambert backward as Lambert squirmed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother trying to escape,¡± Bavandersloth said.  Bavandersloth forced Agent Lambert down, and then reduced his cloud to a humanoid shape, one that only just covered his form, even allowing the rusty chains that dangled from him to be exposed.  He looked down at Agent Lambert, and then up at the security camera and then back down at Agent Lambert.  He whispered.  ¡°Guess what, I¡¯m done with my little frenzy.  I¡¯m in my right mind again.¡±


    Agent Lambert spat on Bavandersloth.  ¡°I know.¡±


    Bavandersloth created a bulge in his cloud in the shape of a smile.  He spoke up.  ¡°You know a lot about us then.  You can¡¯t possibly comprehend how wonderful it is to be allowed to roam free in another dimension when you¡¯ve been imprisoned for so long.¡±


    Agent Lambert¡¯s eyes widened.  He opened his mouth.  Bavandersloth leaned down.  He used his magic to cut agent Lambert¡¯s vocal cord.  ¡°Ah ah ah,¡± he said.  ¡°No interrupting.  It¡¯s time for your agonizing death.¡±


    Lambert struggled.  Was this it?  Did Bavandersloth have him?


    Suddenly, Agent Lambert heard a voice.  ¡°I might have something to say about that.¡±


    Agent Lambert looked up.  He saw another black cloud, presumably Valthakar.  Bavandersloth turned around.  Valthakar reached down and jerked Bavandersloth upward, throwing him across the hall.  He ran to Bavandersloth, who struggled to get up.  Valthakar fired a blast of magic at Bavandersloth, putting a hole in his stomach.  Bavandersloth screamed.  Valthakar fired another blast, then another, making a few more holes.  With each one Bavandersloth screeched, until the last one, where Bavandersloth went limp.


    Valthakar grabbed Bavandersloth¡¯s body.  There was still a veil around it.  Valthakar jumped downstairs.


    *****


    Valthakar and Bavandersloth turned invisible not too long afterward.  They ran back to the mansion, where they turned visible and took their human forms.


    ¡°How long should we wait to tell the press of your return?¡± Valthakar asked.


    ¡°Do it later this afternoon,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Tell them that you managed to get me back after you subdued the devourer, and that I can be interviewed by Violet Fox the next day.¡±


    Valthakar nodded.


    *****


    ¡°Hello everyone, and welcome to Channel 4 News at 6.  The world is reeling from yesterday¡¯s devourer attack which is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of seven-hundred people and caused nearly six-hundred-million dollars in damage.  I¡¯m here, for the first time since November, with Light-rook to comment.  Thank you for coming.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for having me.¡±


    Violet wiped away a tear.  ¡°Indeed.  Now, yesterday¡¯s attacks have been a great tragedy.  Please, could you please tell us what exactly happened yesterday?¡±


    ¡°First, let me express my utmost condolences to the families of the victims.  As for your question, it ultimately traces back to a month ago, when that agency imprudently destroyed my body.¡±  Bavandersloth looked down.  ¡°My command of magic allowed me to restore it, or create a new one, really, in my own dimension.  I did that, but in order for me to get here, it was necessary for Orichalcum and the others to open a portal to that dimension.  Unfortunately, there¡¯s no way, or at least no reliable way, to filter what comes through.  We took every precaution we could, but something got through.  There was no way of predicting it.¡±


    ¡°Sir, you call this other realm your own dimension, but it seems clear from previous statements you¡¯ve made that you¡¯re a human.¡±


    Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°True.  I do come from here, I suppose.¡±  Bavandersloth looked down.  ¡°I¡¯m trying to decide how much to tell you.  As Orichalcum said, too much information about magic can be a bad thing.  It¡¯s like¡­ it¡¯s like I, we, feel a kinship with that world.  I¡¯ve been like this for more of my life than I haven¡¯t been, so it¡¯s hard not to think of it as my home.  It¡¯s strange, I know.¡±


    Violet looked down.  ¡°Alright.  Now, about the creature that attacked the town, Orichalcum said they were your rivals?¡±


    Bavandersloth sat up and sighed.  ¡°Yes.  In fact, each time one of us is born, one of them is created there.  That usually doesn¡¯t matter because there¡¯s nothing for them to do there.  The problem comes up whenever they come here.  It doesn¡¯t happen often, which is why it isn¡¯t recorded at any point in history.  Actually, to tell the truth, it was hypothetical until today, as far as I knew, which is why we were willing to open the portal at all without gathering a large force of our people in case this happened.  The thing was attracted to the reformation of its partner¡¯s body, so it was able to find the portal.¡±


    ¡°Some might say that¡¯s awfully convenient.¡±


    Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°I suppose they might.  I don¡¯t really have a counter to that.  All I can do is try to be honest with you.¡±


    ¡°I see.  When the creature attacked the man the Angel of Death later healed, Deerward Lambert, he showed a bit of his form and there were chains dangling from it.  Why?¡±


    Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°Those are a part of him, basically.  I have them too.  As a pair, our appearances match, and his is decided by what I was like as a¡­ well, before I was what I am now.¡±


    ¡°And why chains?¡±


    Bavandersloth pressed his lips together.  ¡°Alright, now this is going to be one of those big ones.¡±


    Violet¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I was a slave.¡±


    Violet¡¯s mouth widened.  ¡°Oh.  So like, in Mexico or--¡±


    ¡°The Middle East.¡±  Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°Think about it.  I was completely destroyed and I came back.  What do you think happens when we have heart attacks?  Well, we don¡¯t, but the point is, what do you think happens any time we quote-unquote die?¡±


    Violet gasped.  ¡°Wait, so you¡¯re¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m eight-hundred.¡±


    Violet¡¯s mouth grew still wider.


    ¡°I¡¯m not particularly old, a least compared to the mean.  Orichalcum chose his name because he¡¯s old enough to be from Atlantis if it was real.  There are a few of us who lived on Earth as Plato wrote.  Most of us are younger because there has been a rush of us since the industrial revolution and human population growth.  Still, measured from the mean of our ages, I¡¯m not all that old.¡±


    Violet sat.  Her eyes and mouth were wide.  Bavandersloth smiled.  He went on.

 1.17 Soulless Ones

    Valthakar sat in the attic by the safe.  He opened Bavandersloth¡¯s copy of On the Underworld and turned to the table of contents.


    ¡°I A Description of the Underworld


    ¡°II On the History of the Underworld


    ¡°III On the Sections of the Underworld


    ¡°IV On the Souls of the Underworld


    ¡°V On the Creatures of the Underworld


    ¡°VI Questions and Answers


    ¡°VII Glossary¡±


    Valthakar thought.  He turned to On the Sections of the Underworld.


    ¡°Since Gborin¡¯gargoth came into power, the infinite expanse of the Underworld has been split into three principle sections, two of finite size and one of infinite size.  The largest of the finite planes is the ever-growing paradise Gesolouri, the final destination of all those in whose hearts lie either goodness (as understood by Gborin¡¯gargoth) or the potential for goodness.¡±


    Valthakar raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°If a person is without need for moral correction, as is often true of those who die young and is true of all beasts, their souls are sent straight to Gesolouri.  If, however, there is either some evil in their heart or some sin for which they need atone, and if these flaws can be extinguished and this evil atoned for in any finite amount of time by any means, they shall be moved to the vast Expanse of Quulianis.  Because Quulianis is composed of the entirety of an infinite plane save for two small sections that have been cleaved from it, it contains every environment which the Underworld can contain, and does so infinitely many times.  Those in need of redemption are brought into the environment judged necessary for them.¡±


    Valthakar chuckled.  That didn¡¯t sound so bad, actually.  Then again, he really couldn¡¯t imagine what would ever make him into a do-gooder.  He read on.


    He eventually came to the description of the third realm.


    ¡°The final and smallest by far of the Underworld¡¯s realms is the dominated and corrupted Caves of Nklonglerokt.  In this prison lay all those whose nature is so corrupt that it would require an infinite amount of time to bring about in them even the will to redeem themselves.  Because no such expanse of time is available and souls cannot be destroyed, such persons, a group which, it must be stressed is absolutely miniscule in number, are sealed in the Caves of Nklonglerokt and allowed to suffer eternally.¡±


    Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened and he dropped the book.  He stood up.  Valthakar clenched his fist and took a deep breath.  He picked up the book and opened it.  He turned to the Q&A section.


    His hands trembled as he picked up the feather quill and wrote.


    ¡°Am I among the ones Gborin¡¯gargoth considers irredeemable?¡±


    ¡°I am not permitted to answer that question.¡±


    Valthakar gasped.  He furled his eyebrows.


    ¡°What do you mean you¡¯re not permitted to answer that question?  I need an answer.¡±


    ¡°Gborin¡¯gargoth has not permitted me to answer that question.¡±


    Valthakar clenched his fists.  He felt his heart racing.  He seethed.  He brought his fist back and punched the book.  It had no effect.


    Seething, Valthakar sat down.  He opened the book back up.


    ¡°If I am, do I have any recourse?¡±


    ¡°By definition, no.  If you are among those people, it would take an infinite amount of time for you to change your ways.  No such stretch of time can ever pass, by definition.¡±


    Valthakar slammed the book shut.  He closed his eyes and cried.  After a few minutes, he looked up then ran downstairs.


    *****


    Bavandersloth lay on his couch, working through a month¡¯s worth of newspapers.  Sparky lay on the floor next to him.


    He heard someone rushing down the stairs.  He looked up.  It was Valthakar.  He was in tears.  Bavandersloth raised an eyebrow.  ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Have you ever read the section of On the Underworld about its different parts?¡±


    Bavandersloth nodded, sipping from a wine glass next to him.


    Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°So you¡­ Did it tell you that you were redeemable?¡±


    ¡°It refused to say.¡±


    ¡°Why are you so calm?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I made a deal.¡±


    Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°A deal?¡±


    Bavandersloth sat up and looked at Valthakar.  ¡°Yes, my friend,¡± he nodded.  ¡°A deal.  That¡¯s where we find a human and get them to agree to become walking suits of armor that are bound to serve us eternally in exchange for one wish.¡±


    Valthakar seethed.  ¡°I know what a deal is.¡±


    Bavandersloth lay back and rolled his eyes.  ¡°And you apparently don¡¯t know what sarcasm is.¡±


    Valthakar ran over to Bavandersloth.  ¡°Look, this is serious.  I could be locked in caves and made to suffer for all eternity.¡±


    Bavandersloth sighed and rolled his eyes.  He sat up, taking another sip from his wine glass.  ¡°Well, do you know if you¡¯re actually irredeemable?¡±


    Valthakar looked down.  He clenched his fist and looked up at Bavandersloth.  ¡°Of course I am.  I don¡¯t regret anything I¡¯ve ever done.  This is just some random guy who happens to be the King of the Underworld deciding morality for everyone.  It¡¯s not even genuinely wrong, just like I¡¯ve always thought.¡±


    Bavandersloth lay back.  ¡°Well, make a deal like I did, then.  I tricked a human into requesting a spell that brought infinite happiness to the world.  Hence, I cast a protection spell on myself which ensured that I would experience infinite happiness instead of infinite suffering.  I think I did the same thing for his brother or something, which is how I got him to agree to it.¡±


    Valthakar took a few deep breaths.  He stood up.  ¡°Alright then,¡± he said.  ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯ll do.¡±


    *****


    Lester gathered his books into his backpack and stepped out of class.  ¡°You¡¯ll be getting your tests back in a week,¡± the teacher said as the students scrambled out of the classroom.  Lester walked over to Cody as the crowd dispersed in the hall.  It was pizza day, so the students were speed-walking toward the cafeteria.


    ¡°So, how well do you think you¡¯re gonna do on your mid-terms,¡± Lester asked as they walked down the hall.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Cody said.  ¡°I don¡¯t know.  I¡¯m not worried, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking.  I think I did fine, but I¡¯ve not put much thought into it.¡±  Cody sighed.  ¡°I¡¯ve mostly been focusing on other things as of late.¡±


    Lester put his hand on Cody¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°Yeah, I guess--¡±


    ¡°Oh, crud,¡± Cody said.  ¡°That reminds me, Bavandersloth told me to go straight to him after class.  I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t come to lunch.  Catch you later.¡±  Cody turned around.


    ¡°Do you want me to bring you some pizza?¡± Lester asked.


    ¡°No thanks,¡± Cody said, shaking his head.  ¡°I don¡¯t really need any.¡±  Cody ran off.  Lester sighed.  He turned around.


    *****


    Lester carried his tray to his table.  He was the last member of his usual group to arrive.  ¡°Oh, hey Lester,¡± Allen said as he approached.  Lester sat down.


    ¡°Sup,¡± Lester said.


    ¡°Not much,¡± Reidel said.  ¡°We were just talking about the last Angel interview.¡±


    ¡°Reidel thinks they¡¯re hiding something,¡± Steven said.


    Lester almost flinched but was able to resist.  He clinched his fist a bit under the table.  ¡°Oh,¡± he said.  ¡°What makes you think that?¡±


    Reidel sighed.  ¡°It¡¯s just all so convenient; like, their story.  I mean think about it, they just happen to have perfect duplicates of themselves runnin¡¯ around being evil, and one of ¡®em just happens to attack their biggest enemies right when the good guy just happens to be trapped behind some portal we¡¯ve never seen.¡±


    Lester felt a bead of sweat run down his neck.  He clenched his teeth inside his mouth.  ¡°They say it¡¯s cuz of some Lovecraft shit,¡± Lester said, ¡°like, that¡¯s why we can¡¯t see them, or at least that¡¯s how it seemed to me.¡±


    Reidel sighed.  ¡°Yeah, maybe, but isn¡¯t that pretty convenient too?  And that doesn¡¯t address the other stuff.  What if it¡¯s more like V, where they don¡¯t want to show off their appearances because it¡¯ll make them look bad?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard some people say they¡¯re liches,¡± Allen added.


    Lester nodded.  ¡°I¡¯ve heard that too.  The problem, I think, is that lore about liches isn¡¯t old enough.  I mean, if there were one of them who was ten-thousand years old like they say, there ought to be more stories about them, right?¡±


    ¡°Liches go back a little longer than D&D,¡± Allen said.  ¡°There¡¯s this Russian character, Koshy-something.  He was an old, evil dude whose soul was inside a needle way away from his body.¡±


    Lester sighed.  He looked down.  ¡°Yeah true.¡±  He looked up.  ¡°So you guys are thinking the all liches are evil angles or¡­¡±


    ¡°I dunno,¡± Reidel said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not forget that they kill people,¡± Allen said.


    ¡°To help other people,¡± Lester said.


    ¡°So they claim,¡± Allen said, taking a sip of his milk.  ¡°But think about it.  They can paralyze people like that.¡±  Allen snapped his fingers.  ¡°Why should they need to kill anyone?  Then there was that girl in the armor, supposed to be a crime boss.  Did you hear what she said?¡±


    ¡°Unless they¡¯re really the same things as those devourers.¡±  Reidel looked down and shuddered.  ¡°Then it all makes sense.¡±


    ¡°That was a crime boss,¡± Lester said.  ¡°Didn¡¯t the cops confirm it?¡±


    ¡°Why are you so defensive?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not defensive, I just think it¡¯s important not to¡­¡± Lester looked down.  ¡°Never mind.¡±


    Reidel raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Yo, you okay man?¡±


    Lester looked up.  ¡°Oh, yeah.  I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Reidel squinted.


    Drat!  How much should Lester tell them?  Siding with his best friend was a no-brainer, right?  No, it shouldn¡¯t be.  Siding with humanity should be the obvious choice.  Wasn¡¯t


    Bavandersloth supposed to be planning something big?  What if Lester could help stop that?  What if he got himself killed?  Was one of Bavandersloth¡¯s souls watching him right now?


    Lester tried to keep out of the conversation, saying as little, and staying as vague, as possible; just letting Reidel and Steven talk.  That¡¯d work for now.  It was all he could do until he was alone to think more.


    *****


    Valthakar walked through the inner city of Goldfalls in his lich form.  There had to be someone around here who¡¯d be willing to make a deal, right?  It would entail their death, of sorts, and he couldn¡¯t lie to them about that or the deal wouldn¡¯t work.  Still, there had to be someone.  All he had to do was come up with a way to formulate their wish that involved keeping him out of hell.  He could do anything that technically satisfied their request and did not resort to haggling over synonyms or homophones.  There also couldn¡¯t be a blatant ride-on; the deal was for one wish, not two.


    Valthakar sniffed.  He smelt a fear coming from somewhere nearby.  He smiled.  There was a small chance this was his lead.  If not, it might be his meal for the night.  He followed the smell to a sidewalk across an alley.  His eyes widened.  He saw a little girl clutching a teddy bear walking down the sidewalk.  The streetlight above her flickered.  She was brown-skinned and had short, curly hair tied up into two balls.  She was looking down at the ground.


    Valthakar turned around, intent on walking away.  But as he walked, he heard the girl crying behind him.  Maybe he could make the deal with her?  Yes, he could.  A little girl was the perfect person to trick into making his deal.  He grinned, took his human form and walked over to her.  ¡°Hello, little girl,¡± he said, walking up to her.  ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    The girl looked up at him.  She stepped away.  She looked back down.  ¡°I¡¯m lost,¡± she said.


    ¡°I see,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°Is there anything I can do to help?¡±


    The girl wiped a tear and sniffled.  ¡°Could you take me home?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Certainly,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°Where do you live?¡±


    ¡°Near Claudina St.,¡± the girl said.


    ¡°I see,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°Come with me, then.  I¡¯ll lead you there.¡±


    The girl looked up and smiled.  ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Valthakar nodded.  He began walking and headed away from Claudina St, but the girl probably wouldn¡¯t realize that.  The girl followed.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Valthakar asked.


    The little girl looked down and squeezed her teddy bear.  ¡°I¡¯m Keisha,¡± she said.


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°That¡¯s a lovely name.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± the little girl said.


    The two walked under another streetlight.  It was out.  ¡°Why are you lost?¡± Valthakar asked.


    Keisha looked down.  ¡°I¡­¡± she shed a tear, ¡°I ran away.¡±


    Valthakar tilted his head.  ¡°Why?¡±


    Keisha gulped.  It took her a moment to speak.  ¡°I¡­ I did something bad.  I ran away because I was afraid I¡¯d get in trouble.¡±


    Valthakar feigned a frown.  ¡°Are you still afraid of that now?¡±


    ¡°A little.  Right now I just want to get home.  I¡¯m more scared out here.¡±


    ¡°What exactly did you do?¡±


    Keisha shed a tear.  ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡±  She squeezed her bear tighter.  ¡°My momma kept a special picture on the table.  It was of my sister Latoya.  She died because an Angel killed her, back when they were bad.¡±  Valthakar raised an eyebrow.  This was an interesting coincidence.  ¡°I got mad at my mommy because she wouldn¡¯t let me go to a Christmas party, so I threw the picture into the fireplace.¡±


    ¡°A Christmas party?  So this was at least a week ago.¡±


    Keisha nodded.  ¡°Momma was so mad.  She was yelling and screaming at me.  She made me sit in the living room while she went to the kitchen and made lunch.  She said she¡¯d have a punishment ready when she got back.  I was really scared, so while she was gone, I ran out of the house and down the street.¡±


    Valthakar grinned.  Here was his chance.  ¡°That sounds really bad,¡± he said.  ¡°You¡¯re probably going to be in a lot of trouble when you get home.  I don¡¯t know that your momma will ever forgive you.¡±


    Keisha looked up.  She cried, squeezing on her bear.  ¡°What?  Why?¡±


    ¡°You might get time out for years, or lose all of your toys forever.¡±  Valthakar looked down and shook his head.  ¡°Running away made it even worse.¡±


    ¡°You really think she¡¯ll never forgive me?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure,¡± Valthakar said.  He looked down, trying to keep from chuckling.  ¡°But I doubt it.¡±  Keisha looked down.  Tears bubbled up from her eyes.  Valthakar grinned.  This was his chance.  ¡°Though I can think of one way out of it, if you want to hear.¡±


    Keisha looked up.  ¡°What?  What can I do?¡±


    Valthakar moved and stood in front of Keisha.  She flinched.  Valthakar kneeled down in front of her and looked her in the eye.  ¡°First, let me tell you a secret.  I¡¯m an Angel.¡±


    Keisha¡¯s eyes widened.  She took a step backward.  ¡°You¡¯re...¡± she fumbled, ¡°an Angel?¡±


    Valthakar nodded.  ¡°Yes.  And if you want, I can use my magic to make sure your momma will still forgive you, even after you destroyed the picture.¡±


    Keisha stumbled back.  ¡°I¡­  how?¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°One of our traits, us Angels, is that we can do almost anything by making deals with humans.  I could make an agreement with you to reduce the amount of punishment, that¡¯s people getting in trouble, in the world by a big number called aleph-null, and when I do it, I can make sure that part of that aleph null is you getting in trouble with your momma.¡±


    ¡°And what do I have to do?¡±


    Valthakar took a deep breath.  ¡°Unfortunately,¡± he said, ¡°I can only demand one thing from you.  I¡¯ll cast a spell on you that will give you a lot of magical power.  After you have that, you¡¯ll have to come work for me.¡±


    Keisha¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  For how long?¡±


    Valthakar looked down.  ¡°For a long time.  However, it will be worth it, compared to the forever that your mommy will be mad at you that you broke the picture.¡±


    Keisha took another step back.  ¡°I¡­¡±  Valthakar looked at Keisha, suppressing his grin.  Valthakar thought about an incident during his childhood when he and his mother had had a similar exchange.  He hadn¡¯t run away, but he had broken something in the palace.  He recalled his mother¡¯s disapproving gaze.  He thought about it.  He clenched his fist and banished it from his mind.  He looked at the girl.


    ¡°I need an answer,¡± he said.


    The little girl looked down.  She looked back up.  She shook her head.  ¡°No,¡± she said.


    Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  What do you mean no?¡±


    Keisha looked down, and then back up.  ¡°I mean no.  I want to get back home right now.¡±


    ¡°But your mommy will be mad at you forever.  Is that what you want?¡±  Keisha looked down.  She took a step backward.  Valthakar grinned.  ¡°I wish I could give you a better deal, but you¡¯ll only work for me for a little while compared to how long--¡±


    ¡°Please just take me home,¡± Keisha said.  ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re right about my momma.¡±


    Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Fine,¡± he said.  He took his true form and activated his cloud.  The girl¡¯s eyes widened.  She ran from him.  Valthakar thought.  He sighed.  As delicious as she would be, her rescue would also be good for the Angels¡¯ reputation.  He chased after her, caught her, put her to sleep and wiped a large chunk of her recent memory.  He ran toward the police station.


    *****


    The next day, Cody and Lester sat together during lunch.  The others hadn¡¯t arrived yet.  Lester looked up at Cody.  He sighed.  ¡°So I¡¯ve been hearing the word Lich associated with you.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Yeah, so have I.  I think Bavandersloth might be working on something to take care of that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m hearing it from the others,¡± Lester said.  ¡°I was talking here with Allen and Reidel yesterday.  They think the Angels are hiding something.  A lot of people think so too.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    Lester looked down.  ¡°It was really hard not to tell them that they¡¯re right.¡±


    Cody stopped eating.  He looked down.


    Lester looked at him.  ¡°Oh, no, no, no.  I don¡¯t mean I¡¯d ever bust you.¡±  Lester sighed.  ¡°I just wish I could maybe help them reach some of the right conclusions.  Maybe it could even help stop Bavandersloth¡¯s plan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d imagine.  I wish I could too,¡± Cody said.


    Lester looked down.  ¡°That¡¯s easy for you to say,¡± he whispered.


    Cody looked at Lester.  His eyebrows furled.  ¡°What was that supposed to mean?¡±


    Lester looked back up at Cody.  His eyes widened.  ¡°Oh.  Sorry.¡±  He looked down.


    Cody slammed his fists on the table.  ¡°No, I really want to know what you meant by that.¡±


    Lester looked back up.  Cody¡¯s eyes were locked onto him.  Lester scooted back.  ¡°Woah, dude, calm down.¡±  Cody kept staring.  Lester sighed.  ¡°I just¡­ never mind, okay?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you, man.¡±


    Lester flinched.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You think I just don¡¯t care about the people around me?¡±


    ¡°No, no.  Not at all.  That¡¯s not what I meant.¡±  Lester looked down.  ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry, okay?  You¡¯re right.  It would suck for you if Bavandersloth won.  Still, I think I¡¯m safe in saying I¡¯d be worse off.¡±


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.            Cody looked at Lester.  He sighed.  He looked down, and then back up.  ¡°Yeah, I guess,¡± he said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not hard to work out what Bavandersloth¡¯s planning,¡± Lester said.  ¡°He wants to subdue humanity; to enslave us somehow.  Nothing else would work for him long-term.  All of this discussion going on shows it.  He can only keep looking like a good guy for so long.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  He looked down.  ¡°Yeah.¡±  He looked up.  ¡°According to On Soulless Ones, back when liches were slaves to the underworld, they used to take over worlds and farm mortals.  The goal then was always to get the population as high as possible.  The more souls that were created, the more souls that could be harvested.¡±  Cody looked down.  ¡°I guess the parts about farming wouldn¡¯t really apply now, but a lot of the rest¡­¡±


    Lester¡¯s fingers fidgeted a bit.  He clenched his fist.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do about it, though,¡± Cody said.  ¡°Well, nothing that I¡¯m not trying to do.  Still, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll succeed.¡±


    Lester felt a bead of sweat roll down him.  He put his head on the table.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°You¡¯re protected, though.  Bavandersloth would need the better part of the community to agree before he could get rid of that convention, and plenty of liches, including councilors, have loved ones who they care about.¡±


    Lester sat back.  ¡°Yeah,¡± he said.  He picked up a grape from his tray.  ¡°So what do you think you¡¯d do with me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.  The best thing I could, I guess.  I don¡¯t know what my options will be.¡±


    Lester looked down.  He took a deep breath and took a bite out of his apple.


    *****


    That night, Valthakar went back to the Inner City.  This was Odelarch¡¯s territory, technically, but it didn¡¯t matter.  Deals had to be freely chosen on a mortal¡¯s part, so they did not count as utilization of the mortal by a lich.  He ran around, invisible, sniffing for human fear.  The strongest trail led him to an apartment complex.  He could hear shouting from an upstairs window.


    Valthakar ran into the building and up a stairwell inside.  He sniffed and followed the scent to the right apartment.  He broke in.  He saw a bruised woman cowering on the couch.  A man stood over her, holding a rod.  Both of them were looking at the door, probably having been startled by Valthakar breaking it open.


    Valthakar ran toward the man.  After a few moments, the man¡¯s eyes widened.  He seemed to realize what was going on.  Valthakar tackled and paralyzed him from the neck down.  The woman looked at the man as Valthakar turned around.  She seemed to have figured it out, too.  Valthakar stood up and placed his hand on the woman, willing her unconscious.


    He heard the man shouting at him.  He activated his cloud and turned visible.  He kneeled down in front of the man.  ¡°Greetings,¡± he said.


    The man looked up.  His eyes widened.


    ¡°I have something I need to talk about with you.¡±


    The man squinted.  ¡°Huh?  What could you possibly need from me?¡±


    Valthakar sighed.  ¡°You¡¯re probably going to get in trouble here.  You just beat the shit out of what I presume to be your girlfriend.¡±


    ¡°Hey, fuck you.  What does--¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m offering to get you out of trouble.¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes widened.  He squinted.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°In fact, you strike me as someone with a pretty long rap sheet.  I can feel your every illness just by touching you.  You¡¯re addicted to things that didn¡¯t even exist when I was your age.  Some of them are making you rot away.¡±


    ¡°Hey, shut up.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you want me to do that.  Someone¡¯s probably called the police.  You were pretty loud, and have way too much melanin for any of this to be ignored.  However, I happen to have means to get you out of trouble.  In fact, I might be able to keep you and whoever else you want from ever being in trouble with the police again.¡±


    The man squinted.  ¡°No,¡± he said after a moment, shaking his head.  ¡°This is a trick.  You¡¯d never--¡±


    ¡°Why not?  I¡¯ve only been killing criminals because our kind follows rules that say we have to.  I have no problem with making sure you get away.¡±  A bead of sweat fell down the man¡¯s face.  ¡°I¡¯m right about the record, aren¡¯t I?  How long would you get?¡±  The man gulped.


    ¡°I see,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°Here¡¯s my offer then:  Unbeknownst to you, my race has the ability to do almost anything we want if we can get a human to make a deal with us.¡±


    The man squinted.  ¡°A deal?¡±


    ¡°Yes, a deal.  Here¡¯s how it works: You make one wish, and I grant it.  In exchange, I set a date, usually right away, but I¡¯m flexible.  You will live invincibly until that date.  It can be years into the future.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡±


    Valthakar sighed.  ¡°Well, then you¡¯ll be buried alive in a magical coffin, decay alive for a year, and then become my armored servant after the coffin reforms itself into a suit of armor around you.  Still, that¡¯s years away, and it really won¡¯t be as bad as it sounds.¡±


    ¡°Fuck no, man.  I¡¯m not gonna be anyone¡¯s slave.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about--¡±


    The man spit in Valthakar¡¯s face.  Valthakar sighed.  ¡°Suit yourself.¡±  He scythed and ate the man¡¯s soul.


    *****


    Lester flinched as something shook him awake.  He opened his eyes.  He sniffed, and his eyes widened.  He looked at the computer chair in his room.  Bavandersloth sat there, chains dangling from his wrists.  Lester gasped.  He sat up in his bed and scrambled against the wall, gagging at the lich¡¯s scent.


    ¡°Hello,¡± the lich said.


    Lester¡¯s breathing was erratic as he tried to balance his instinct to gasp for air with his need to shut out the lich¡¯s horrid smell.  ¡°He¡­ he¡­  Hel¡­¡±


    ¡°Do not be so afraid,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°I¡¯m not here to hurt you.¡±  Bavandersloth stood up.  Lester jerked backward.  Bavandersloth sighed and sat down.  ¡°I¡¯m merely here to talk.  The souls I have monitoring you have said some very interesting things about your recent conversations with certain friends of yours.¡±


    ¡°It was noth--¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be here if it was nothing.¡±  Bavandersloth stood up.  Lester¡¯s eyes widened further, and his breathing became heavy even as he pinched his nose.  He scooted away, toward the foot of his bed.  ¡°Oh, clam down,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°If I were here to eat you, I would have done it while you were asleep.  I¡¯m no sadist, and even if I were, you wouldn¡¯t be worth it.¡±


    Lester¡¯s breathing and scooting slowed down.


    ¡°Besides, you¡¯re an important piece of leverage against Cody.  Killing you would be a waste of your strategic potential.¡±


    Lester sat on the edge of his bed, cross-legged.


    Bavandersloth smiled as he sat down on Lester¡¯s bed.  ¡°Besides, I¡¯m not that mean of a guy.¡±


    Lester¡¯s breath was still heavy.  Sweat rolled down his face.


    ¡°So then, regarding what I wanted to talk about: You seem to be considering the prospect of disseminating some of the knowledge you¡¯ve gained from Cody to the public in order to harm the public¡¯s opinion of the community of liches.  What do you think I think about that?¡±


    Lester sat, breathing, saying nothing, fighting the urge to scream.


    ¡°C¡¯mon; answer.  What do you think I think about that?¡±


    Lester looked down.  He gulped.  ¡°You¡¯ll want to kill me,¡± he whispered.


    ¡°Pardon?  I didn¡¯t quite hear you.¡±


    Lester looked up.  A bead of sweat ran past his eye.  ¡°You¡¯ll kill me.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll kill you.  Maybe I¡¯ll kill someone you love.  You do have two parents, four close friends and a sister.  Maybe I¡¯ll not kill any of them and instead rob you of something you care about.¡±  Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Of course, all of that is if and only if you counter my ends, and you haven¡¯t yet.¡±  He leaned forward toward Lester.  Lester leaned back away.  ¡°However, I don¡¯t take enemies lightly, Mr. Green.  Don¡¯t expect to be able to cross me and get away with it.¡±  Bavandersloth sat back.  ¡°Just remember that your actions have consequences.¡±


    Lester stayed back.  Bavandersloth was still.  ¡°Will you remember?¡± Bavandersloth asked.


    Lester didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°Tell me you¡¯ll remember.¡±


    Lester¡¯s eyes darted around the room.  His breaths were still heavy.


    Bavandersloth raised his scythe.  ¡°Will you remember?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll remember,¡± Lester shouted.  His eyes widened.  Shit.  That might have been loud enough to wake up the whole house.


    Bavandersloth nodded.  ¡°Good.¡±  He stood up, turned around, and walked to Lester¡¯s bedroom window.  He lifted it open and stepped out.


    *****


    Lester lay awake in his bed an hour later.  What should he do?  Saving humanity was obviously worth risking his life, but what about the chance that the risk wouldn¡¯t pay off?  If Lester just told people everything he knew, there was a chance no one would believe him.  He had to come forward with proof that Bavandersloth couldn¡¯t possibly spin.


    The book!  If Lester gave On Soulless Ones to the press, Bavandersloth would be screwed.  How could he possibly get around that?  But how would Lester go about stealing it?  Could he get Cody to give it to him?  Maybe.  There was a good chance.  But how could he ask for it without provoking Bavandersloth?  Maybe if he waited a while, he¡¯d be able to come up with an excuse.  Then he just had to get it to the news station.


    Where was the news station?  Lester didn¡¯t know.  It¡¯d be too dangerous to look it up.  The souls watching him would see it.


    Lester shuddered and pulled his covers over him a bit more.  There were souls watching him right now.  Lester sighed.  He had to find some plausible excuse to look it up.  After that, he had to figure out an excuse to go there, with the book, without raising any suspicion.  No, that was probably impossible.  As soon as he headed that way with the book, Bavandersloth would head him off.


    Lester took a deep breath.  Was there any way he could tell anyone about this?  He could tell Cody, but Cody wouldn¡¯t help him.  Lester¡¯s eyes flashed open.  DIAPP!  Contacting DIAPP was as easy as calling Cody on his cell phone, and it¡¯d probably be plausible enough for him to want to contact Cody right away.


    Lester reached over to his nightstand and got his cell phone.  He checked its clock.  It was 2:00 AM.  Crap.  Cody¡¯s phone wouldn¡¯t be on right now.  He was out on patrol.  Lester could call him in the morning though.


    Lester groaned and settled back into bed.  That¡¯s what he¡¯d do.


    *****


    The next morning, Lester woke up.  He stretched, and then got out of bed.  As he moved to get in the shower, he remembered that he needed to call Cody.  He clenched his fist.  He needed to make it clear to DIAPP that he needed help.  Maybe there was a chance they¡¯d give it to him.  He grabbed his cell phone off of his nightstand and called Cody.


    Cody picked the phone up.  ¡°Hello.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Cody,¡± Lester said.


    ¡°Oh, hey.  What¡¯s up?¡±


    Lester sighed.  ¡°Bavandersloth came to my room last night.¡±


    Cody gasped.  ¡°He what?¡±


    ¡°So you didn¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°No I didn¡¯t¡­¡±  Cody sighed.  ¡°Do you think it¡¯s the best idea to discuss this on this phone?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine how it¡¯d matter if DIAPP knows this.¡±  Lester sat down.  How much could he say?  Could he hint somehow that he wanted help?  No, any way to do that would probably be too dangerous.  If he didn¡¯t, though, would DIAPP know to help him?  ¡°Besides, I wanted to talk to you as soon as possible.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Well, what exactly did he say?¡±


    ¡°That if I ever did anything to stop him, he¡¯d kill me, my loved ones, or both.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Okay.  Well, I¡¯m not sure of anything I can do.¡±  Cody sighed.  ¡°Just do what he says.  Don¡¯t be a hero.  There¡¯s nothing you can do to hurt him and it¡¯s not worth the risk to try.¡±


    Lester looked down.  ¡°Okay.¡±  He should act disappointed.  That would be more believable.


    ¡°I know that¡¯s easy for me to say,¡± Cody said.  ¡°But it¡¯s true.¡±


    Lester lay back.  ¡°I know.¡±  He rubbed his forehead with the back of his head.  ¡°Okay then.  I guess I¡¯ll see you at the game tonight?¡±


    ¡°Yep.  Can¡¯t wait.¡±  Cody hung up.


    *****


    Bavandersloth sat in his great room on the phone.


    ¡°Look, there was nothing we could do, okay,¡± the voice on the other end said.  ¡°Sometimes the police show up and interrupt your plans in this business, y¡¯know?  We need you to--¡±


    Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°Fine.  I¡¯ll try to arrange for a shipment to get to you some other way.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Bav.  You¡¯re the best.¡±


    Bavandersloth sighed and hung up.  Before Cody had destroyed public ignorance, Bavandersloth had worked closely with various criminal organizations in the third world.  He¡¯d reanimate bodies for them, and in exchange, he¡¯d be paid for their labor.  He¡¯d been able to make agreements with certain liches to protect the groups he worked with.


    Bavandersloth stood up, intending to get a book of contacts out of one of his safes upstairs.  One of the organizations he worked with had just had their cocaine manufacturers taken down by a police raid, and they¡¯d called him to bail them out.  As he walked, a soul came to him.


    Bavandersloth looked up.  ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Lester Green, master.  He placed a call to Odelarch, knowingly using the bugged phone.  There is a possibility he¡¯s trying to alert DIAPP.¡±


    Bavandersloth scratched his chin.  Was Lester smart enough to think of that?  Why would he do it?  If he did do it, it would have been because he was feeling helpless, but still wanted to resist.  This wasn¡¯t what Bavandersloth had predicted.  He had to be careful.  Lester might be the kind of human for whom threats would only make him feel forced to act.  Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  He got an idea.  He looked up at the soul.


    ¡°Go back and continue observing the boy.  I¡¯ll take care of this.¡±


    The soul nodded and flew away.


    *****


    Valthakar smiled.  Finally, he¡¯d found a mortal who would make a deal with him.  Valthakar stood across from the mortal who¡¯d agreed.


    ¡°So this¡¯ll get my family off the¡­¡±


    Valthakar nodded.  ¡°Your family will never be forced to endure a single bit of punishment again.¡±


    This boy¡¯s grandparents were refugees who fled to the United States during the Korean War.  His Grandparents¡¯ siblings hadn¡¯t been so lucky.  Their decedents were still facing retribution for their ancestor¡¯s crimes, as was the region¡¯s custom.


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°Let me just say, though, if you want to, you could be a bit more ambitious.  I could take down the entire regime.¡±


    The boy¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°That¡¯d be even better.  Much better.¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°Good, then.  Now, make your wish.  You will be summoned to fulfill your end of the deal at a later moment.¡±


    The boy gulped.  ¡°And when will that be again?¡±


    ¡°I intend to do it tonight.  I told you you¡¯d be giving up your life for this.¡±


    The boy nodded.  A bead of sweat fell down his face.  ¡°Yeah, you did.¡±  He looked down.  ¡°And I said it was worth it.¡±


    ¡°Then do it.  Believe me, if I could do this without having to take the price I must take, I would.¡±


    The boy gulped again.  He shed a tear.  He clenched his fist.  He chuckled.  ¡°To think this is the way something like that is going to end.¡±


    ¡°You can only stall so long.¡±


    The boy gulped again.  ¡°Right.¡±  He took a deep breath.  He looked down and shed a tear.  ¡°I¡­ I wish that the amount of punishment in existence will be reduced by aleph-null, and that at least a portion of that be done through the permanent destruction of the tyrannical state in North Korea, which must occur overnight tonight, bring about no severe or fatal injury to any human and must not be followed by another tyrannical government at any time in the future.¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  Finally.  He felt power swelling up inside him, and then condensing within him.  Pure magic built up within the bounds of his material body, begging for release.  He closed his eyes, and willed for the boy¡¯s wish to take place, with the remaining infinity in the reduction of punishment being filled by his own punishment in hell.


    A beam of bright green energy came from him and rose upward in a column, splitting into two forks high above him.  One went back downward and plunged itself into the underworld, while the other would move to North Korea.


    When the beam had passed, Valthakar took his human form.  ¡°Thank you,¡± he said.  He smiled.  ¡°Your brave sacrifice has improved the lives of millions.¡±


    The boy smiled.  ¡°I know.¡±


    *****


    Lester finished getting everything set in place for his RPG session that night.  A few hours later, Reidel arrived, then Cody, then Allen, then Steven.  When Cody arrived, he pulled Lester aside for a moment.


    ¡°Any new developments?¡± Lester asked.


    ¡°Bavandersloth chewed me out for not hanging up on you.  Other than that, no.  I was actually going to ask you the same thing.  Has he contacted you again?¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s happened today,¡± Lester said.


    Cody pressed his lips together.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°Alright.¡±  The two rejoined the group.


    Lester began to narrate the paragraph he¡¯d written down earlier; words spoken by a village leader to the party of adventurers.  Lester heard the front door open as he spoke, but assumed it was one of his parents and paid it no mind.


    As Lester neared the end of his speech, he felt the ground around him shake, and then shake more.  Lester¡¯s eyes widened.  The pieces on the table in front of Lester jiggled.  Lester, Cody, Reidel and Steven scrambled under the table.


    Lester looked around.  His eyes widened.  He saw Allen¡¯s legs.  Allen still stood up.  ¡°What the hell are you doing, Allen?  It¡¯s an earthquake.¡± Lester said.  ¡°Take cover.¡±


    Suddenly, Lester noticed a rift appearing right bellow Allen.  He gasped and jerked back, hitting his head on the bottom of the table.  Allen levitated over the rift as it tore open, forming a hole in the ground.  Allen screamed.  Lester gasped.  Steven and Reidel frantically shouted at each other.  The ground below the hole didn¡¯t go very far, only an inch or so of rock.  Lester heard Cody gasp behind him.  Below the inch of rock, there was a vast expanse.


    As Allen levitated over the expanse, a golden object, a cylinder, came up from the hole and enveloped Allen, blocking him from sight, though his screams could still be heard.  Lester heard a loud bang.  The cylinder changed shape.  Lester shed a tear.  Reidel and Steven screamed.  Cody crouched with his mouth wide.  The cylinder sank into the rift.  As it passed, Lester saw that it was now a sarcophagus bearing Allen¡¯s face.  Allen screamed and banged on the sides of the coffin.  ¡°Help,¡± he shouted.  ¡°Get me out of here.  Guys, help me.  Someone, please get me out of here.  It hurts.  Help.¡±  Allen kept screaming and protesting as the coffin sank into the hole.  The ground shook again.  Steven and Reidel covered their heads.  The hole in the ground closed.


    Lester lay on his stomach, his mouth wide open.  He felt a weight fall on his legs.  He turned around.  His eyes widened.  He saw Bavandersloth pulling Reidel out from under the table.  Steven, Cody and Lester scrambled out from underneath the table and stood up.  Bavandersloth leapt over the table and touched Steven, rendering him unconscious.  Lester stood.  He shed a tear.     He saw his parents and sister nearby, also unconscious.


    ¡°What the hell did you just do?¡± he screamed, crying.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do a thing,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°You did.  I warned you about what would happen if you defied me, and you attempted to contact DIAPP.¡±


    Lester clenched his teeth and furled his brows.  Tears streamed down his face.


    ¡°I hope you¡¯ll listen to me next time.¡±


    ¡°Go fuck yourself.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  He turned to Cody.  ¡°I¡¯m not going to be at the school library anymore.  I¡¯m planning to let the cover I use there take the fall for this.¡±


    Cody stumbled backward.  He nodded.


    Bavandersloth smiled.  He turned to Steven and Reidel.  Lester stood in front of them, but Bavandersloth forced him aside.  ¡°I¡¯m going to take them upstairs,¡± he said.  ¡°I¡¯ll wake them up and use my powers to convince them that they saw the librarian break in the house and murder Allen.  If either of you don¡¯t want to experience further consequences, you¡¯ll go along with it.¡±  Bavandersloth turned around to face Lester.  Lester¡¯s face was red with tears.  ¡°Understand?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you.¡±


    Bavandersloth nodded.  ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes.  Next time it will be someone even closer to you.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked over at Cody.  Cody nodded and shed a tear.  Bavandersloth looked back over at Lester.  ¡°Remember,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m watching you.¡±


    Bavandersloth carried the two teenagers upstairs.  Lester¡¯s knees wobbled.  Cody ran over to him as he collapsed to the ground, crying.

 1.18 You Should Think Nothing of Them

    Adeyemi hummed as he sat in his office.  The phone rang.  He picked it up.  ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°This is Bavandersloth,¡± he heard.  ¡°The shipment you asked for should be there any minute now.  I had to get some friends of mine to drive the trucks.  You¡¯ll need to be downstairs in order to receive it.  They won¡¯t trust a group of zombies.¡±


    Adeyemi smiled.  ¡°Ah, I see.  Thank you very much for bailing us out like this.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±  Bavandersloth hung up.


    Adeyemi stood up, put some nose plugs in, and went downstairs.  A few minutes later, a group of trucks arrived, driven by Adeyemi¡¯s own men.  Adeyemi raised an eyebrow.  Bavandersloth had just said he¡¯d sent his own people to drive the shipment in.  It wasn¡¯t like him to misremember something like that.  Was this not the shipment?  One of the men coughed as he exited the truck.


    ¡°Damn, boss.  Why do you have to keep all of these¡­ things around?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re our workers.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re from hell is what they are.¡±  The man coughed a few more times.  He looked down and sighed.  ¡°Whatever.  I have the shipment here.¡±


    ¡°I see that you do.  If I may ask, though, did something come up at the last minute?  I was on the phone with Bavandersloth just now and he told me that some of his own men were bringing it in.¡±


    The man tilted his head.  ¡°I don¡¯t know how that happened.  Some of his men gave me this thing maybe half an hour ago.¡±


    Adeyemi squinted.  ¡°Strange.  You don¡¯t happen to know if--¡±


    *****


    Johnathan¡¯s eyes widened as a bright light flashed in front of him and he was forced out of the body he¡¯d been controlling.  He looked around.  He was inside a fireball.  Though it caused him no pain, he still felt the urge to fly above it, along with all of the other souls around.  When he did, he looked down.  His eyes widened.  Several buildings were gone.  A few others were on fire.  John flew back to his master.


    *****


    Bavandersloth looked up as several of his souls entered his mansion.  He smiled.  It was done, then.


    ¡°Master,¡± one of the souls said, ¡°there was a--¡±


    ¡°An explosion, I know.  Be assured that nothing I am not okay with has happened.  In groups of two, go to some of the souls monitoring DIAPP agents and follow their assignments around until they bring you to agents who aren¡¯t being monitored yet.  At that point, one of you should start following them, and another one of you come tell me about it.  I¡¯ll send a third soul your way.¡±


    The souls nodded and flew off.  Bavandersloth put aside his book and picked a phone.  He called a leader of a different organization.


    ¡°Hello?¡± the man on the other line said.


    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Their facilities in the area should be beyond use.  You¡¯re free to set up shop if you want.¡±


    ¡°Excellent.  Will you be supplying us with workers?¡±


    ¡°Possibly at a later date.  I¡¯m using every spare familiar on something else right now, but if that threat is ever resolved, I¡¯ll contact you.¡±


    ¡°Oh.  Disappointing.  I suppose we can make due, though.¡±


    ¡°I trust that you can.¡±


    Bavandersloth hung up.  He dialed another number.


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Yes, hello, this is Bavandersloth.  I¡¯ve just learned that the shipment I sent you has been hijacked by the Okoro family and filled with explosives.  They¡¯re going to blow up your facilities when the shipment arrives.  You¡¯ll want to stop the shipment as soon as possible.  It might already be too late.  I wish I could have told you any sooner, but I only just now learned.¡±


    There was a pause on the other end.  ¡°Understood.¡±  The phone was hung up.  Bavandersloth smiled.


    *****


    Bavandersloth sat across from Violet Fox in the studio.  His interviews here had become so regular that they may as well have been a nightly segment on the ten o¡¯clock news.  There was even talk of Bavandersloth getting his own show.


    In the other room, an anchorman spoke.  ¡°Our top story tonight, Last Night, a rebel faction has forcefully removed the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un from power.  The United Brotherhood, a group previously unknown to intelligence officials and experts, has violently, but without any human fatalities, get this, single-handedly taken down the regime overnight, and it appears that the strangest detail in the case may give us a hint as to how that¡¯s possible.¡±


    The broadcast, displayed for Bavandersloth by a screen on the wall in front of him, cut to footage of the green light from Valthakar¡¯s wish-granting.  The light had arced across the Pacific Ocean, widening as it went from the size of a pinhead to the size and shape of the affected area: North Korea.  In addition to the area it enveloped, the light had been seen from Alaska, Russia, China, South Korea, and Japan.


    ¡°This light,¡± the newscaster continued, ¡°whose color, I¡¯m sure you notice, resembles that of force fields used by Angels on camera in the past, was seen throughout the area.  The Light enveloped the whole of North Korea, seeming to have traveled from an arc originating right here in Goldfalls.  Sitting in the studio with my co-anchor Violet Fox to comment on the issue is the Angel Light-rook.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Dave.  Light-rook, do you know what happened here?¡±


    ¡°Why yes.  First, I want to state outright that this was indeed our doing.  It was Orichalcum, actually.  He took advantage of a special opportunity to cast a very powerful spell.  There¡¯s no safe way to induce it to happen on command, but in this case we were able to see it coming and capitalize on it.¡±


    ¡°Can you elaborate on the nature of this spell?¡±


    Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°Well, I¡¯ll try I suppose.  It¡¯s to do with a buildup of magic in our home dimension, but not just anywhere there, in a specific area, a place where magic can more easily leak from that realm to this one.  Magic moves through that realm randomly.  Build-ups like this can happen at any time.  I¡¯ve seen days when five of them occur and I¡¯ve seen stretches of fifty years where none do, and sometimes they go away before you get a chance to use them.¡±  Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say is don¡¯t get your hopes up too high for it to happen again soon.  Still, this time, things worked out well, and North Korea was the first thing that occurred to us.¡±


    ¡°Is your influence the reason for the lack of casualties?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And how did you make sure of that?¡±


    ¡°We were able to specify it in the spell.¡±


    ¡°And why did rebels end up overthrowing the government because of your spell?  Why didn¡¯t the regime just vanish?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure.  We think that with events like this, whatever we specify happens by the most likely scenario available.  In this case, a new rebellion was formed and they overthrew the government, damaging only property.¡±


    ¡°I see.  So what about¡­¡±


    The interview continued nearly until the end of the newscast.  Bavandersloth felt sorry for the political analyst they¡¯d gotten on to speak on the implications of the spell.  He only got to speak for a few minutes.


    *****


    Agent Lambert turned off the TV.  He turned to one of his fellow agents.  ¡°This has gone too far,¡± he said.


    ¡°The North Korea or the¡­¡±


    ¡°All of this.¡±  Agent Lambert put his head down and took a deep breath.  He looked back at his fellow agent.  ¡°I think¡­¡± Agent Lambert sighed, ¡°I think it might be time for us to tell the public everything.¡±


    The other Agent¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡±


    Agent Lambert nodded.  ¡°I am.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s against the highest of our protocols.  If everyone knew how those things worked, some people, the wrong people, would want to be like them, and that book always appears for anyone who knows everything and still wants to be one of them.  Besides, how would the public react if they knew about liches?  Bad as real liches are, the rumors and suspicions about innocent people would give McCarthy nightmares.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±  Agent Lambert sighed.  ¡°But that¡¯s better than letting Bavandersloth take over the world.  If we don¡¯t tell the world everything soon, Bavandersloth will win.  It¡¯s the only strategy left.¡±


    ¡°And what if we spur the community of liches into an all-out attack?¡±


    ¡°What could they possibly do that¡¯s worse than what Bavandersloth has in mind?¡±  Agent Lambert clinched his fist.  ¡°No.  If we can unite humanity together against them, we¡¯d be able to stamp them out.¡±  He looked down.  ¡°This has become a different type threat than we usually deal with.  We can¡¯t beat Bavandersloth in our usual way.¡±  Lambert gritted his teeth.  ¡°We can¡¯t afford to care about the consequences.  There¡¯s nothing we could ever do that¡¯s not preferable to the least horrific of Bavandersloth¡¯s possible endgames.¡±


    The other agent sighed.  ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we¡¯d better speak to the Grey Man right away.  Bavandersloth¡¯s souls are probably already on their way back to him.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re already there,¡± Agent Lambert said, standing up.


    *****


    Bavandersloth put down his book and looked up at the soul who¡¯d approached him.  He raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Agent Lambert is speaking about revealing the truth about your diet to the press.¡±


    Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  Didn¡¯t that go against their--¡±


    ¡°They say they¡¯re desperate enough.  Agent Lambert plans to speak with the Grey Man soon.¡±


    Bavandersloth stood up.  ¡°Alright then,¡± he said.  ¡°Keep a close eye on Agent Lambert.¡±


    The soul nodded.  ¡°Yes, master.¡±  It flew away.


    *****


    That night, Agent Lambert entered a video conference with the Grey Man.  ¡°Thank you for agreeing to speak to me this soon, sir.¡±


    ¡°I had little other choice.  The fact that an agent of your competence thinks what I hear you¡¯re planning necessary is all the proof I need that the matter is more urgent than anything I had planned.¡±


    Agent Lambert nodded.  ¡°Let us begin, then.  I¡¯ve put some thought into it, and I think I know how to convince the public of the nature of Bavandersloth¡¯s plan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll show them one of our copies of On Soulless Ones.¡±


    ¡°And how will we do that?  If we try to get to any news station, any publisher, any radio station, or any person whatsoever with the book, they¡¯ll cut us off, and Bavandersloth will be able to come up with an excuse as to why that happened.  The public is in love with him right now.  They¡¯ll believe anything he tells them.¡±


    ¡°Surely a group of exterminators could get it there?¡±


    The Grey Man sat back.  He thought.  ¡°Perhaps enough of them might be able to do it.¡±  The Grey Man looked up at the camera.  ¡°How many do you want?¡±


    ¡°How many can you send?¡±


    ¡°As many as you need.  For this, I¡¯d send them all.¡±


    Agent Lambert took a deep breath.  ¡°I think any more than fifteen would be overkill.¡±


    ¡°Then I ought to send twenty-one.  This is a big deal.  If you succeed,¡± The Gray man sighed, ¡°a lot of things will happen then.¡±


    Agent Lambert smiled.  ¡°Twenty-five then.¡±


    ¡°Got it.  Thirty-two agents will be sent to Goldfalls.¡±


    ¡°No.  Not here.  That¡¯s too obvious.  Send them to New York.¡±


    The Grey Man raised an eyebrow.  ¡°New York?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not sending this to Channel 4.¡±


    The Grey Man sat back.  ¡°Alright then.  New York it is.  I¡¯ll also send five your way, as I understand you don¡¯t have any stationed there right now.¡±


    Lambert nodded.  ¡°Thank you, sir.¡±


    ¡°Very good.  Is there anything else to discuss?¡±


    ¡°Not with you.¡±


    The Grey Man raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°With all due respect, sir, I don¡¯t want to announce the details of my plan in front of the souls watching us.¡±


    The Grey Man sighed.  ¡°Very well.  Go on then.  You have my permission to break the Highest Protocol.¡±  The Grey man looked down.  ¡°I trust you.¡±


    Agent Lambert nodded.  ¡°Thank you sir.¡±


    Agent Lambert turned off the communication.  He sat down and sighed.  That part had gone well.  Now for the next part of his plan.  He reached into his pocket, got out a cell phone, and called the biggest news Agency that came to mind.


    He got an automated message.  ¡°Hello, you have reached the Galactic, America¡¯s #1 News source.  Thank you for calling.  If you¡¯re calling to report an error in a recent publication by the Galactic, press 1.  If you¡¯re calling to report a lead--¡±


    Lambert pressed 2.


    ¡°Thank you.  Please hold.¡±  Music played.


    Lambert grumbled.  He needed this not to take long.


    *****


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Bavandersloth told the soul who¡¯d come to him.  ¡°Go back and observe.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master,¡± the soul said.  It flew away.  Bavandersloth thought.  There was only one reason Agent Lambert would contact the Galactic in advance, to tell them the book was coming.  If he got his side of the story out fast enough, he¡¯d be able to prevent any attempt to keep the book away from that station.  Bavandersloth had to stop this call.


    After a moment, Bavandersloth smiled.  He picked up his own phone.  He called Larngulal.


    She answered.  ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Hello.  This is Bavandersloth.  Our plan is about to fail.  Goldfalls¡¯ chapter of DIAPP is contacting the Galactic to promise to send them a copy of the book.  If that phone call goes through, we may have no realistic way of recovering.  I need you to do whatever it takes to prevent them from receiving that phone call.  You have until Agent Lambert comes off of hold.¡±


    ¡°Could have possibly told me this any earlier?¡±


    ¡°No.  Please, hurry.¡±


    Larngulal sighed.  ¡°Alright.  I¡¯ll send a friend after it.  He¡¯s near there, I think.¡±


    ¡°Good.  Thank you.¡±


    She sighed again.  ¡°No problem.¡±


    Bavandersloth sat back.  Assuming she succeeded, that would only put off the inevitable.  The Galactic would be able to take calls again within a few days no matter what, and there were more locations than that one to call.  Bavandersloth slammed his fist on the table.  How had this happened?  He couldn¡¯t stop DIAPP for long.  They¡¯d call another paper.  They¡­ wait.  No.  He was going about this all wrong.  He picked up the phone and called Larngulal again.


    ¡°What now?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Change of plans.  I have a better strategy.¡±


    *****


    Hold ended.  Agent Lambert reached the receptionist.  ¡°Hello, thank you for calling the Galactic.  You have a tip for us?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  It¡¯s about the Angels.  I¡¯m from the Agency that¡¯s been opposing them recently.  I need you to publish the fact that in a few days, perhaps tomorrow, we are going to bring a book to your offices.¡±


    ¡°A book?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  It¡¯s a magical book.  It contains information on the Angels that is vital to the public interest.  I¡¯m calling you because it¡¯s inevitable that the Angels will try to stop you from receiving this book.¡±


    ¡°Yes.  I see.  And how will this book come to us?¡±


    ¡°The soldiers in the special armor you¡¯ve seen. We¡¯re getting thirty-two of them to escort the book to you.  The Angels will try to attack them on their way, especially if you don¡¯t publish this.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Well, your tip has been noted.  Thank you for calling.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to publish it right?¡±


    ¡°Sir, we receive hundreds of these sorts of tips.  We cannot write stories on them all.  If your claims are true, we will be sure to inform the public of your call.¡±


    ¡°Wait.  Listen to me.  I need you to--¡±


    The phone buzzed.  She¡¯d hung up.  Lambert clinched his fist.  He sighed.  Please, let thirty-two be enough.


    *****


    ¡°Okay, what¡¯s your plan?¡± Larngulal asked.


    ¡°I need you to stop any planes from landing nearby tonight.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s much easier said than done.¡±


    ¡°I know, but I have an idea for how you¡¯re going to do it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Do what I did with Tkoralkiarch.  Find a human willing to become one of us, and make sure they come out with the power to manipulate the weather, more specifically to cause fog.¡±


    There was a pause.  ¡°Ok.  Oh.  Yes, that just might work.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can do it?¡±


    ¡°Of course I can do it.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Good, then.  Get going.¡±


    Larngulal hung up.  Bavandersloth sat back.  He was on top of this.


    *****


    A Few Hours Later, Larngulal snuck, invisible, into a federal Prison.  Souls around her kept watch for guards as she walked through the facility, looking for a specific criminal.


    She stopped outside of his cell.  She smiled.  That was him.  Fifteen years ago, that man had terrorized this city by killing over forty people.


    Larngulal placed her hands on the bars of the cell and made small parts of them rust away.  She took the rest of the bars away from the cell and set them down.  This way, it might look like they¡¯d been destroyed gradually over time, perhaps with something as simple as dental floss and sand.  She entered the cell.  Her target, Jonah Harrison, was on the top bunk.  She climbed the latter.  She shook him awake.


    He opened his eyes.  Larngulal pulled her hands away.  Jonah sat up in bed.  ¡°Huh?¡± he said.


    ¡°Hello,¡± she said.


    Jonah looked around.  ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on the ladder,¡± Larngulal said.


    Jonah looked.  ¡°I don¡¯t see any¡­ wai--¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t scream.  I¡¯m not here to kill you.¡±


    Jonah stared for a second.  Eventually, he smiled.  ¡°Alright then.  What are you here for?¡±


    ¡°I need help,¡± Larngulal said.  ¡°And you¡¯re perfect for the job I need done.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything after I take you out of here.¡±


    Jonah¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°You¡¯ll get me out of here?¡±


    ¡°I believe that¡¯s what I just said, now come on.¡±


    ¡°Well you don¡¯t have to ask me twice.¡±


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Larngulal smiled.  She helped Jonah out of bed and then walked with him out of the prison.  Whenever one of her souls warned her of a guard, she¡¯d leave Jonah behind, go to them, and give them injuries similar to the one¡¯s they¡¯d get from being punched out, removing a bit of their memory in the process.  It wasn¡¯t too long before they¡¯d left the prison.  Larngulal put Jonah in the back of her truck and drove off.


    *****


    Bavandersloth grabbed the criminal as his next meal stood over the man it¡¯d been assaulting.  The mortal struggled.  Bavandersloth grunted as it tried to wriggle away before he finally managed to pin the human to the ground.  He scythed the man¡¯s soul and ate it.  The victim tried to stand up.  Bavandersloth turned to him.  ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± he said.


    The victim looked up at him.  ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too injured to safely move.  I¡¯m sorry to say I¡¯m not one of the healers.  Do you have a cell phone?¡±


    The man pointed nearby.  Bavandersloth walked over to the device.  It was on the floor, cracked, and damaged to the point of uselessness.  He sighed.  ¡°Hold on a moment.¡±  Bavandersloth stepped away, took his human form, reached into his pocket, grabbed a phone, and changed back into his true form.  He went back into the room.  ¡°Here,¡± he said.  ¡°Call an ambulance.  Your injuries need to be treated.¡±


    The man on the ground nodded and dialed the phone as Bavandersloth ran off.  He smiled.  That last soul had put him over a threshold he¡¯d been looking forward to crossing for a century.  The DIAPP issue ought to be sorted out by tomorrow and he¡¯d be ready to deploy phase two of his plan.


    *****


    Larngulal led Jonah to her headquarters, a large house in a wealthy New York suburb.   She pulled into the garage before helping Jonah out of the trunk.


    Jonah coughed.  ¡°Damn it¡¯s hot in there.¡±  He took deep breaths.


    Larngulal ignored him and pointed to a plastic bag hanging off of the garage door.  ¡°There are street clothes in that,¡± she said.  ¡°I¡¯ll go on inside.  Come in when you¡¯re dressed, and bring your prison uniform so I can destroy it.¡±


    Jonah nodded.  Larngulal went inside and walked into one of her house¡¯s other rooms.  She grabbed her copy of On Soulless Ones and walked back to the kitchen.  A few minutes later, Jonah stepped in.  ¡°Come on in,¡± Larngulal said.  ¡°Sit down.¡±


    Jonah smiled and obeyed.  ¡°Wowzers,¡± he said.  ¡°Who knew an Angel would look so¡­ Angelic.¡±


    Larngulal took the book from her side and placed it on the table.  Jonah¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Woah.  Are those gems¡­ real?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Larngulal said.  ¡°But they are of no value at all compared to what is inside this book.¡±


    ¡°Meh, books have never been my thing.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I imagine this one will be.¡±  Larngulal smiled.  ¡°You see, we Angels need another one of us.¡±  She opened the book to Chapter Two.  ¡°The community of Angels is currently suffering through a less-than-small problem, and the only way to solve it would be to have one of us use weather controlling powers to bring a thick blanket of fog upon a large area surrounding New York City.¡±  Larngulal frowned.  ¡°Sadly, there doesn¡¯t happen to be an Angel capable of doing that.¡±  She looked Jonah in the eye.  ¡°But you can become one.¡±


    Jonah beamed.  ¡°Sign me up.¡±


    ¡°I was hoping you would say that.¡±  Jonah reached for the book.  Larngulal closed it.  Jonah looked up.  ¡°First, though, there are a few rules that need to be established.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°First, you need to know a secret.  We Angels, we eat human souls.¡±


    Jonah raised his head.  He paused.  ¡°Interesting,¡± he said after a moment.  ¡°So¡­ that¡¯s why you kill criminals?¡±


    Larngulal nodded.  ¡°One every night.  And if you become one of us, you¡¯re free to do that too.  You¡¯ll have to find criminals to do it with, but if you want, you can paralyze them, bring them back here, and do whatever you want to them before you eat them, so l--¡±


    ¡°Just skip to how I do it already.¡±


    Larngulal opened the book back up again, this time to the end of Chapter Two.  ¡°You need to select an object, pick something hard to destroy, and put it on here, then read the incantation here.¡±  Larngulal pointed to the text on the opposite page.  ¡°That will transfer your soul into the object you choose.¡±  Jonah got up.  Larngulal looked over at him.  ¡°Don¡¯t forget, will yourself to get weather controlling powers, strong ones, strong enough to allow you to bring down that blanket of fog right away.¡±  Demanding something that powerful and specific would make him weaker in other areas, but Larngulal wasn¡¯t going to mention that.


    It wasn¡¯t long before Jonah came back with a small metal statue of a chicken.  He placed it on the book, looked down, and squinted.  ¡°I call upon the power of the underworld to cast my soul into this object, so that I may become a being of death, disease, and decay.¡±


    Larngulal sat, her hands folded.  Jonah became dizzy, and stumbled a few steps forward.  He couged.  He had a few dry hicks, and then vomited out his soul.  It flew toward and made contact with the statue.  A few seconds later, Jonah opened his eyes and stood up.  He took a few breaths.


    Larngulal smiled.  ¡°Good job.¡±  Jonah looked at the statue.  He walked to it and picked it up.  ¡°Now,¡± Larngulal continued, ¡°cast the fog.¡±


    Jonah smiled.  He looked over at her and nodded.  He closed his eyes and whispered for a thick fog to come down.  Larngulal looked out the window.  She could already see it.  It wasn¡¯t quite thick enough yet, but it was getting thicker by the second.  She got up.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Jonah asked.


    ¡°To call a friend of mine.  There are some papers on the table.  Grab one from each stack.  They¡¯ll explain the rules you¡¯ll be expected to abide by.¡±


    Jonah frowned and then sighed.  He stepped over to the table as Larngulal went into the other room, picked up the phone, and dialed Bavandersloth¡¯s number.


    *****


    ¡°In other news,¡± a reporter in New York said, ¡°a sudden, thick fog has caused flight delays all across New York.  Our meteorologist Ned Jackson here to comment.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Jennifer, the fog came suddenly just a few hours ago and blanketed a large portion of the New York metropolitan area.  All incoming flights to New York have been delayed¡­¡±


    *****


    Agent Lambert slammed the phone into the receiver.  ¡°Damn it!¡± he screamed.  He seethed.  Another agent looked at him.  Lambert looked up.  He looked down and took a deep breath, putting his face in his hands.  He looked up.  ¡°I think I might have another idea.¡±


    The agent raised an eyebrow.  ¡°What, sir?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be better if I not tell you.  I don¡¯t want to give Bavandersloth any time to react.¡±


    *****


    Cody stepped onto Cherie¡¯s porch, carrying a bag with his copy of On Soulless Ones inside.  He knocked on the door.  After a few seconds, Cherie opened it.  ¡°Hey,¡± she said.


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Hey,¡± he said.  ¡°You said we needed to talk, and to bring the book?¡±


    Cherie nodded.  ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°Is this a¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah.  I¡¯m getting information from this.  Didn¡¯t you suspect that coming here?¡±


    ¡°No.  That¡¯s not it.  You¡­¡±  Cody looked around.  She was lying.  This was a trap, but what kind?  DIAPP didn¡¯t need his book, or any information they¡¯d learn out of it, or any information he could tell them about it.  They had several copies of their own.  What else could it be?  He¡¯d left the cube at home.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He¡¯d left the cube at home.  Cody put down the book and ran away.


    ¡°Cody, wait,¡± Cherie shouted.


    Cody ran off, ignoring her.


    *****


    Thomas stayed hidden behind the bushes until the devourer was a ways away and Cherie was inside.  Eventually, he ran out, grabbed the book, and rushed onto his motorcycle.  Four other exterminators followed him.


    *****


    Bavandersloth poured his wine from his glass, keeping an eye on Justin, who was outside on a swing.  A few of Valthakar¡¯s souls came up to him.


    ¡°Bavandersloth,¡± one said.


    Bavandersloth looked up.  ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°A group of exterminators have taken Odelarch¡¯s book.  They¡¯re on their way to the news station right now.¡±


    Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±  He turned around and dashed into the other room.  Valthakar sat, reading from On the Underworld.  ¡°Stand up and hurry, Valthakar.¡±  Valthakar looked up.  ¡°Exterminators are rushing toward the news station with Odelarch¡¯s copy of On Soulless Ones.  Run over there right now and stop them.¡±


    Valthakar nodded.  He got up and ran toward the door.  ¡°Wait,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    Valthakar turned around.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Go downstairs and get some of the weapons.¡±


    ¡°I think magic ought to be sufficient.¡±


    ¡°And it will also make it clear that we did this.  Run over there in your true form, but make yourself look like a human criminal and use conventional weapons to defeat them.  Go for heavier ones.  Those should get through the exterminator¡¯s light bullet-proof vests.  Don¡¯t pay any mind to collateral damage.¡±  Bavandersloth thought.  ¡°On second thought, do.  Given how I¡¯ll spin this later, I¡¯d prefer there to be as much as possible.¡±


    Valthakar nodded and ran downstairs to grab some guns.  Bavandersloth clenched his fist.


    *****


    Valthakar rushed through town on a course that should allow him to intercept the exterminators if they were on their way to the news station.


    After about twenty minutes, Valthakar saw the exterminators.  He smiled.  Bystanders were looking on, so Valthakar found a hiding place, took his human form, and stepped out bearing a machine gun.  He aimed and fired at one of the exterminators, hitting him and making him slouch over.  People around screamed and ran away.


    ¡°Tom?¡± a woman¡¯s voice screamed from another bike.  Valthakar fired a few more shots at him, making his blood spatter onto the road and causing his bike to fall over.  Valthakar aimed upward at the others.  He hit two more before they rode out of sight.


    Valthakar looked down and saw that none of the ones he¡¯d hit was carrying the book.  He sighed.  He got on one of the motorcycles and rode after the other two.


    He saw them again within a few minutes.  He raised his gun and opened fire, managing to hit one.


    The other one turned around when she saw her partner hit.  She gasped.  Valthakar looked.  She was carrying the book.  The exterminator turned and drove into an alley.  Valthakar pulled back harder on his motorcycle¡¯s handle and followed.


    When he emerged on the other side of the alley, Valthakar looked both ways, and saw the exterminator riding off to the left.  His eyes widened.  The News Station was close.  Valthakar sped that way, firing, but the exterminator swerved.  She was probably keeping an eye on him through her motor-cycles rear-view mirror.  Valthakar retook his aim, but with the same result.


    The exterminator accelerated ahead.  Valthakar tried to do the same, but was already going as fast as he could.  He gritted his teeth, reloaded, and took aim again.  He saw a turn coming up ahead.  Valthakar smiled.  He waited for the exterminator to slow down for the turn and fired.  He hit.  The woman fell off of her motorcycle and rolled away.  A car slammed on its breaks to avoid hitting her.  Valthakar abandoned his own bike and ran toward the woman.  She tried to stand up, but Valthakar shot her, forcing her back down.  She shouted for help, but Valthakar fired again, killing her.


    Everyone around was screaming and running away.  Valthakar turned around and fired on them.  When no one was left in the vicinity, Valthakar walked to the exterminator.  He reached down and grabbed the book.  He picked it up, ducked into an alley, took his true form and became invisible.  He ran back to Bavandersloth¡¯s Mansion.


    *****


    Agent Lambert picked up his phone.  ¡°Yes, hello.  Did they¡­¡±  The agent on the other end sighed.  Agent Lambert¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir.  The devourers got the book back and all of our exterminators are dead.¡±


    Agent Lambert gasped.  He shed a tear.  He clinched his teeth.  He threw the phone against the wall.  ¡°God damn it.¡±  Several of the agents around backed away.  Lambert punched the couch he was on repeatedly, tears streaming down his face.  ¡°Why?  Why?  Why?  Why?  Why?¡±


    *****


    Cody knocked back on Cherie¡¯s door.  Cherie opened it.  ¡°What?¡± she asked.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    Cherie sighed.  ¡°It was a DIAPP thing.¡±


    ¡°Well I worked that out.¡±


    Cherie sighed.  ¡°Come in.¡±


    Cody followed Cherie downstairs.  They sat on the couch.  ¡°Alright,¡± Cody said.  ¡°What was that?  You acted like you were going to kill me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you were supposed to think.¡±  Cherie looked down.  ¡°That¡¯s what dad said.  He didn¡¯t say anything more.¡±


    Cody looked down and sighed.  ¡°When he does, mind informing me?¡±


    Cherie nodded.


    *****


    That night, Bavandersloth sat in his usual spot for his nightly interview with Violet Fox.  The subject of the tragedy that had just occurred downtown was being discussed.


    ¡°¡­The motorcyclists there were in the standard armor of the government agency that you¡¯ve interacted with.  Do you know anything at all about that incident?¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know the exact story of how the conflict between them and the perpetrator came about to start with, I¡¯m sorry to say.  I do, however, know what they were fighting over.¡±


    Violet¡¯s eyes widened a bit.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It was a book.¡±  Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°A terrible, terrible book.  That tome is nothing short of pure evil.  It comes from our home dimension, and its magical nature reveals itself upon casual examination.¡±


    Violet leaned forward.  ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Well, for one thing, the tome is totally indestructible.  I¡¯ve experimented with copies myself and I¡¯ve never managed, nor known of anyone to manage, to inflict the slightest damage on it.  Water falls right off of its pages, fire abhors it, and no weight ever supplied has managed to crush it.¡±  Violet started to speak, but Bavandersloth interrupted.  ¡°That, though, is far from its strangest property.  If you open the book to any page while having nothing in particular in mind as to which of its passages you want to see, you will see a table of contents.  If you open it to any page having something in mind, it will display whatever you willed to see.¡±


    Violet¡¯s mouth was wide.  ¡°And you said it was evil?¡±


    Bavandersloth paused.  ¡°In the worst possible way,¡± he finally said.  ¡°The sort of magic it contains is not the normal kind that I use, but what is considered Dark Magic.¡±  Bavandersloth audibly gulped.  ¡°When that book makes a statement of fact about anything but a spell, it cannot be trusted.  Its pages contain an elaborate history and cosmology, the whole of which is utterly fabricated.  The one respect in which it is truthful is in its spells.  It contains the instructions by which one could use magic to do truly heinous things.¡±


    ¡°Can you give an example?¡±


    ¡°Not with a clear conscience.  Believe me; you do not want to know.¡±


    ¡°So where is the book now?¡±


    ¡°There are numerous copies.  Many of them are buried.  A few are safeguarded by some of us; as I said, the book can be trusted to tell the truth about its own spells, and sometimes it yields information useful to combat wicked men who have discovered it.  I believe the government agency has at least one copy as well, probably several.  The one over which the battle today was fought, though, is now in much more dangerous hands.¡±


    Violet¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Who has it?¡±


    ¡°The man who collected it, and who is responsible for every death in that incident, was a member of a criminal organization.  In those hands, it could be used to cause untold destruction.¡±


    ¡°Wait; do you know which organization has it?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±  Violet looked down.  Bavandersloth continued.  ¡°We have some idea.  We know a few it can¡¯t be, and a few dozen it¡¯s most likely to be, but that¡¯s it.  I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t say much more.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to contact the police about this?¡±


    Bavandersloth nodded.  ¡°We already did, but we¡¯ve not heard back.¡±  Bavandersloth stood up.  ¡°In fact, that¡¯s part of the reason I came here tonight.  I¡¯ve already contacted law enforcement asking for their cooperation, though not long enough ago that I¡¯d expect to have received a response by now.  Just to be sure, though, I wanted to say this publically:  I intend to visit the police personally tomorrow.  For a while now, the police have been doing little to combat us, and I appreciate that, but in light of these events, I feel I must ask for more.  I think it¡¯s time that the community of Angels and police around the world begin officially cooperating.  I believe that we can do much more together than apart.  Our community has done much to combat crime both in America and around the world, and with official support, I believe we could do much more.¡±


    There were a few gasps in the studio, though not as many as Bavandersloth had expected.  Some of the people around might have suspected this would happen soon.  Bavandersloth sat down.


    Violet Fox took a moment to respond.  ¡°I see,¡± she said.  Bavandersloth smiled.


    *****


    Agent Lambert seethed when he saw Bavandersloth¡¯s speech on the television.  He tried to force himself to calm down.  Bavandersloth was winning.  Lambert took a few deep breaths.  He called another agent: an expert in criminal justice.  He waited a minute before she picked up the phone.


    ¡°Hello, sir,¡± she said.


    ¡°Are you watching this?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Lambert sighed.  ¡°In your opinion, Agent Reynolds, how likely is it that the police will go along with them?¡±


    Agent Reynolds paused.  ¡°It¡¯s hard to say.  I¡¯m not sure how likely it is that the police will be willing to go along with a group known to kill people.  Then again, after North Korea¡­¡±


    Agent Lambert looked down.  He shed a tear and slammed the phone against the receiver.


    *****


    The interview continued.  ¡°So who made this book anyway?  Where did it come from?¡±


    ¡°Our dimension.  The exact details are lost, but we believe it was created by a devourer intent on sewing mistrust against us.  I¡¯ve read the book myself.  Its chief purpose, other than giving humans access to powerful magic, is to make us seem synonymous with them.  This might be why this government agency thought that was the case at first, and might still think so now.  As I said earlier, they no doubt have several copies of the thing.¡±


    Violet looked down.  She looked back up.  ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t blame them.  It¡¯s natural to trust something that seems to come from a magical source, especially when it¡¯s the first side of the story one hears.  I¡¯d happily extend my offer for cooperation to that organization as well, if they¡¯re interested.  Indeed, it might take all three of us to combat these criminals.¡±


    Violet nodded.  ¡°I see.¡±  She sat back.


    Bavandersloth raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    Violet pressed her lips together.  She looked down, and then back up.  ¡°How do we know the book is dishonest?  How do we know you¡¯re not lying right now?  A lot of people out there distrust you, and a lot of them make seemingly good points.¡±


    Bavandersloth paused for a moment, and then chuckled softly.  He sighed.  ¡°That¡¯s a good question,¡± he said.  ¡°Truth be told, I can¡¯t think of a way to prove it.  You have, I suppose, never seen any Angel and their devourer in the same place at the same time.  It is odd that a benevolent race like us would hide ourselves for so long and that just shortly after our unveiling that these other forces would suddenly emerge.  Truth be told, I can¡¯t think of any proof I have that our community is trustworthy.  However, there is one thing I can say.¡±


    Violet¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°I gained a new power last night.  The power of any one of us is constantly growing by drips and drops.  One of my powers requires me to be with someone face to face, or at least it did, until last night.¡±


    *****


    Lambert¡¯s eyes widened.  He grabbed his remote and turned off his TV.  He picked up a microphone and turned on the intercom.  ¡°Everyone, TV¡¯s off now.  Cover your ears.  Close your eyes.  Look away.¡±  Lambert paused.  ¡°Cut power to the facility just to be safe.¡±


    *****


    ¡°What are you saying?¡± Violet asked.


    Bavandersloth closed his eyes.  ¡°Oh, simply that the various fears based on the facts that I just mentioned are false.¡±  Bavandersloth used his power to induce false belief on all who were watching.  ¡°You should think nothing of them.¡±

 1.19 The Cowards Cage

    Cody stayed behind and helped Lester clean up the game pieces after his usual group, minus Allen, finished playing their game.  ¡°So you¡¯ve still managed to avoid it?¡± Cody asked as he folded up a game board.


    Lester sighed.  ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Well that¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°My parents have both seen it though.  Same with my sister.¡±


    Cody looked down.  ¡°Oh.¡±


    Lester shed a tear as he put an orc statuette into a bin.  ¡°Do you remember when I asked you about what you¡¯d do with me if Bavandersloth won?¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°You never said.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Bavandersloth what options he has available.¡±


    Lester shed another tear.  Cody went over to him.  ¡°Hey, hey, it¡¯s alright.¡±


    Lester looked up at Cody.  ¡°Shut up,¡± he said.  He looked back down.  ¡°It¡¯s not and you know that.¡±


    Cody looked down.  He sighed and went back over to the table and put away a few tokens.  ¡°I¡¯ll do whatever I can to keep you and your family safe ¨C Steven and Reidel too.¡±


    ¡°And how much will that be?¡±


    Cody paused.  ¡°Look, Lester¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Lester I haven¡¯t actively helped him since--¡±


    ¡°Since his rampage.  That was, what, a month ago?¡±  Cody was silent.  Lester took a deep breath.  He walked over and put his hand on Cody¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°Look, I get it.  I really do.  Bavandersloth isn¡¯t giving you a choice,¡± Lester took a step away.


    ¡°If there were any way of stopping him--¡±


    Lester¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Don¡¯t use the S word.  Not after Allen.¡±


    Cody looked at Lester.  Lester looked down.  Cody walked over as Lester began to cry intensely.  Cody sat down next to him and also cried for a few minutes before Cody heard a bump.  His eyes widened.  He stood up.  ¡°What was that?¡±


    Lester looked up.  ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±  He gasped.  ¡°You don¡¯t think Bavandersloth¡¯s coming again, do you?¡±


    Cody shook his head.  ¡°We didn¡¯t talk about stopping him.¡±  Cody looked down and signed.  ¡°Close your eyes.¡±


    Lester hesitated, and then did.  Cody took his true form and smelled for fear.  He took his human form again.  ¡°I can¡¯t smell anyone outside.¡±


    Lester stood up.  ¡°It¡¯s probably nothing.¡±  He walked over to the board.  ¡°C¡¯mon, we still need to finish up before your--¡±


    The window was shattered.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened and he turned his head to look at it.  He stepped back.  He saw a green creature with moist fur.  It looked like it was made of decaying flesh, like him, but it clearly wasn¡¯t a lich.  It was tall, like a cylinder with a bulge at the top which was decorated in eyestalks.  It had four long, spidery legs at its base and four longer arms emerging from about a third of the way down from its head.  Cody stepped back as it walked toward him.  He squinted.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably a servant of the--¡± the creature lunged at Cody.  Lester screamed.  Cody rolled out of the way as the creature slid over the table.  Cody stood up and took his true form, but the creature grabbed him with one of its hands.  Cody felt a blast coming from its hand and he lost consciousness.


    *****


    Bavandersloth read over some papers while Justin and Valthakar played a game together in the next room.  Just a week ago, he¡¯d sent letters to various networks seeking to get a show of his own.  Being restricted to a short interview on the news each night wasn¡¯t doing him any favors, and he needed to reach more people.  He¡¯d gotten a response from every network he¡¯d contacted, as he¡¯d expected.  Most of them had already sent him a contract to sign.


    As he read, he thought he heard something outside.  His eyes widened.  He looked around.  He summoned a soul.  ¡°What do you want?¡± the soul asked.


    ¡°Look outside.  I thought I heard something.¡±


    The soul nodded and went.  A few seconds later, the soul came back in.  Its eyes were wide and it was gasping for air.  ¡°There¡¯s something out there,¡± the soul shouted.  ¡°It was horrible.  It has these long tube arms, four of them, and its legs, and its eyes.  Oh, God its eyes.¡±


    Bavandersloth heard something crash into the mansion.  He turned his head.  He saw a large creature standing in front of him.  He stood up and took his true form.  He squinted.  ¡°What are you?¡±


    The creature stretched out its hand.  Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  He jumped as a blast of magic flew out of it.  He heard gasping in the other room.  The creature pointed its hand at the door.  Bavandersloth fired his own blast at the creature, but the creature jumped over it, bending down as he jumped to keep from hitting the ceiling.  Valthakar and Justin ran in, and the creature hit them both with magical beams, knocking them out.  Bavandersloth turned invisible as he stood up.  He heard the creature screech.  He turned to face it, and saw its hand pointed at him.  It fired.


    *****


    Pretty Pink Ponytails woke up in her bed.  She thought she¡¯d heard something.  She sat up, looked around, and then hugged her stuffed unicorn.  She heard another noise.  She looked at her unicorn.  ¡°I think I hear a monster outside, Tiffany,¡± she said.  She hugged the unicorn closer before putting it down.  She reached for the pink and blue guns on her bedside table.  ¡°I¡¯ll be right back after I take care of it.¡±


    Pink skipped out of the room.  She opened her door and went outside.  Her eyes widened.  The creature turned toward her.  It held her brother in its arms.  She held up her guns.  ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked.  The creature walked toward her.  She smiled and paced backward.  ¡°Not a chatterbox I see?¡±  She held up her guns.  ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to play then.  What¡¯s your favorite gun-game?¡±  Pink shot one of the creature¡¯s legs.  It reeled back but recovered a second later.  ¡°You have a lot of legs.¡±  She shot an arm this time.  The creature sped up.  Pink turned and ran.  She tried to think.  She should lure it to a place where she could shoot something more powerful than it could take.  She needed to go outside.  Pink ran for the exit.  As she went, the creature gained on her.  Before she could get to the door, the creature tackled her.  Pink¡¯s eyes widened, and then she fell unconscious.


    *****


    Cody rubbed his head as he woke up.  He felt a hard slab of wood underneath him, and then felt a bit of water splash him.  He raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Huh?¡±  He looked around.  His eyes widened.  He saw a cage around him and four people standing outside it.  ¡°Hello?¡±  The people didn¡¯t move.  He stood up.  He looked down and realized he was on a wooden raft in a body of water.  On closer inspection, he realized he was in a flowing river.  On still closer inspection, he realized that the bank was only a few feet away from the river¡¯s edge¡­ and was made of concrete.


    Cody looked out into the foggy night and saw broken benches and overgrown walkways.  Near the river was a building with a long-dead neon sign on it.  It read ¡°Restrooms.¡±  Cody was in an amusement park, on a ride.


    Cody took another look around.  Something dead in him loved the look of the decaying buildings obscured by the fog just dense enough to reveal their frames.  Each one seemed to hide beautiful secrets waiting to be discovered.  It took Cody a moment to force himself to focus.


    He looked back at the humans outside.  ¡°Hello?¡± he said.  ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    The guards seemed to spring into life.  The one Cody was looking at started to breath.  Cody stood back as the creature in black metal armor turned around.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened as he looked at the woman in the suit.  ¡°Cherry?¡±


    The other guards turned to face Cody.  He looked around.  ¡°Mom?  Dad?  Lester?  What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Quiet, prisoner,¡± Cody¡¯s mother said.


    Cody stepped back.  ¡°Prisoner?¡±  These weren¡¯t his real loved ones, or if they were, something was controlling them.  ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    ¡°You are being escorted to your execution,¡± Cherie said.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°My what?¡±


    ¡°You are a coward,¡± Lester said.  Cody turned around.  He felt the raft shake beneath him.  He looked ahead.  The water was getting rougher.


    Cody looked around.  He felt a splash.  ¡°You have let your fears control you,¡± Cody¡¯s father said, ¡°and acted contrary to your duty.  For this crime, you have been sentenced to death.¡±


    Cody gasped.  He felt the raft dip.  He fell over just in time to get covered in water by the splash.  He tried to stand back up, but slipped.  The raft came upon a turn in the ride.  The Cherie guard spoke.  ¡°And to think, you came so close to doing right.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Cody asked.  He felt a bump.  His eyes widened.  The raft scraped against the edge of the ride.  Cody stood up again.  Why was this happening?


    ¡°You know what your duties are,¡± Lester said.  ¡°If you are not a coward, prove it and leave here.¡±  Cody heard squeaking.  He looked ahead, and saw the cage door open.  Cody looked out the door.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Cherie said, ¡°if we fail to deliver you to your execution, it is us who will be made to die.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He turned to them.  ¡°No!¡± he shouted.  He hit another bump in the river.  He fell down and felt the edge of the raft scrape against the ride¡¯s edge.  He was rolled over to the side of the cage, and felt his arm pressed against its bars.  He looked ahead.  His eyes widened.  He saw a machine in front of him.  It was a metal hill with a large piece of black rubber going around it, like a conveyer belt.


    Lester looked down at Cody.  ¡°Then again, if whatever¡¯s on the other side of that hill is capable of killing you, who knows what it will do to us?¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He closed them.  This wasn¡¯t real.  This couldn¡¯t be real.  Something forced his eyes open again.  He felt another splash and saw the metal hill nearing.


    ¡°It¡¯s your choice to make whether or not you will leave this cage,¡± Cody¡¯s father said.  ¡°But you must make it before time runs out.¡±


    ¡°You are not the only one who has been sentenced to death,¡± his mother said.  Cody stood up, but was knocked back down by the river.


    ¡°You might have the chance to save them all,¡± Cherie said.


    ¡°Guys, get off the raft.  Try to stop it.  Is there anything you can do?¡±  The raft met the metal hill and was lifted by the black rubber.


    ¡°You have to stop it,¡± Cherie said.  Cody heard screaming.  He turned around.  The river behind him was backed up with rafts, each with a caged person on it.  Cody turned back around.


    ¡°But you won¡¯t stop it,¡± Lester said.  ¡°You¡¯re a coward.¡±


    ¡°Guys, no.¡±  Cody rose higher and higher.  His raft lifted up over the head of the hill.  Cody looked down.  He saw the water plunging into a black, endless abyss.


    ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll fall down there too,¡± Cherie said.


    Cody stood up.  He clinched his fist and ran for the cage exit.  It slammed shut.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You just had your chance,¡± Lester said.  ¡°You were warned.  After a while it will be too late.  That time has come.¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother smiled and leaned down.  ¡°Once you get to the top of the hill, there¡¯s no going back.¡±


    ¡°No!¡±  Cody looked down.  He felt a bead of sweat trickle down his neck.  The raft lifted itself over the edge of the hill.  Cody ran toward the back of the cage, but fell back to the front as it plummeted into the dark abyss.


    ¡°This is what happens to cowards,¡± he heard his mother say.  Cody shed a tear.


    Cody felt water splash over him as he reached the bottom of the hill.  When the water had flown away, he looked around again.  He was no longer in a cage, and the guards were gone.  He was in a small wooden building, strapped onto a raft.  He looked down.  He was able to undo the strap with the push of a button.


    Cody stood up.  He saw a door with an exit sign over it and left through it.  He left watery footprints behind him as he walked.


    *****


    Justin awoke in a dark room surrounded by mirrors.  He squinted and looked around.  He saw a door behind him.  He went straight to it and tried to open it but it but could not .  He took his true form and willed the door to decay away.  It didn¡¯t work.


    Justin squinted.  ¡°Huh?¡±  He tried again.  The door was still there.  ¡°C¡¯mon door, decay.  I said decay.¡±  The door remained intact.  Justin grumbled.  He turned around.  The building was dark.  In front of him was a long hallway.  Justin sighed and walked forward.  After a few steps, it occurred to him that he could summon a few of his souls and have them look around to see where he was.  He summoned two souls.


    ¡°What is it?¡± one asked.


    ¡°I woke up in this building.  I¡¯m not sure where it is.¡±  Justin pointed to one of the souls.  ¡°I need you to go outside and look around.  Come back in a few minutes and see if you can give me a basic idea of where I am.¡±  That soul nodded and flew off.  Justin pointed at the other one.  ¡°And you, go down that hall and tell me what¡¯s up ahead.  I get the feeling that I¡¯m going to have to go that way if I want to get out of here.¡±


    ¡°But there¡¯s an open door behind you.¡±


    Justin raised an eyebrow.  He turned around.  The only door he saw was the one that he¡¯d tried to destroy a second ago.  ¡°Where?¡± he asked.


    The soul flew in front of the closed door.  ¡°Right here, master.¡±


    ¡°That door¡¯s closed.¡±


    The soul turned around.  It tilted its head.  It turned back around.  ¡°It looks pretty open to me, master.  In fact, come to think of it, I don¡¯t see a door at all.¡±


    Justin thought.  The soul couldn¡¯t lie to him unless it thought he¡¯d want that, and Justin couldn¡¯t think of a reason it¡¯d think that now.  Had he succeeded in making the door decay earlier?  It still looked closed.


    ¡°Master.¡±  Justin turned around.  He saw the other soul.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°We appear to be at Joy¡¯s Coast in the Northwest District.  It¡¯s an old amusement park.  This building is the hall of mirrors.¡±


    Justin thought.  He¡¯d been vaguely aware of this place.  He sighed.  ¡°Thank you,¡± he said.  ¡°You may go on your way.¡±  The soul nodded and flew off.  Justin turned to the other soul.  He sighed.  ¡°You¡¯re sure that door isn¡¯t closed?¡±


    ¡°It looks that way.¡±


    Justin sighed.  He walked up to the door.  He pressed his hand up against it, and then tried to place his hand through it.  He saw his hand pressed against the doorway.  He could feel it squeezing on his palm.  ¡°Is my hand passing through the doorway?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Justin pulled his hand back.  He sighed.  ¡°Well, even if it¡¯s open, I¡¯ll have to go through the hall if I don¡¯t want it to look and feel like I¡¯m walking around in this room for the rest of my life.¡±


    The soul nodded.  It went ahead.  After a few minutes, it came back.  ¡°I just see an ordinary hall of mirrors, master.  I don¡¯t see anything dangerous.¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Alright,¡± he said.  ¡°You can go.¡±


    The soul flew off.  Justin stepped forward.  He looked to his left as he entered the hall.  He saw a mirror.  It projected back a funny picture of him with a giant head.  He chuckled and moved on.  He looked to his right and saw another mirror.  It showed another image of him, but really tall and skinny.  He laughed.  He looked back over to his right.  He saw a picture of Cody¡¯s true form.


    Justin jumped back, and then tilted his head.  He looked around.  Cody was nowhere in sight.  Justin looked at his own arms.  The same white cloth was draped over them as always, and yet, when he looked back in that one mirror, he saw Cody¡¯s patchy rags.


    Justin thought.  What could be doing this?  Was it the same things that had attacked Cody during his contest with Ntullnarlth?  It seemed a lot like them.  If so, that probably meant a lich had summoned them.


    Justin kept walking.  He saw Cody¡¯s reflection in the next few mirrors.


    He took another step and looked at another mirror.  He flinched.  He saw himself again.  He also saw the reflection of his back in another mirror behind him.  He realized he¡¯d never seen the back of his own outfit before, or the massive bloodstain on it.


    Justin went forward.  In the next mirror he saw a small, black figure.  No, it wasn¡¯t small, it was far away.  The mirror in front of Justin and the mirror behind him reflected off of each other, making a hallway that looked like it went on forever.  Justin turned around.  He didn¡¯t see anything in the other mirror.  Justin walked forward.  In the next mirror, the figure was there again, but closer.  It was shaped like a human, with white, glowing eyes.  It just stood there, maybe forty feet away.  The hall Justin was in was only about ten feet wide.


    Justin took a few deep breaths.  He walked forward.  He closed his eyes as he walked by the next mirror.  He didn¡¯t want to see it.  As he walked, he heard a bump to his right.  Startled, he opened his eyes.  He saw the creature again.  It was only about twenty feet away.  Justin looked at it closer this time.  He could see it subtly swaying back and forth, and at one point, he thought he saw it blink.


    Justin took a deep breath.  He kept going.  In the next mirror the figure was only about ten feet away.  Justin gulped.  He looked at it.  He kept watching the mirror as he moved forward.  The figure¡¯s head tracked him.


    In the next mirror, he saw the creature five feet away.  This time, he could see it watching him as he walked by.  ¡°Who are you?¡± Justin asked.  No response.  He sighed.  He thought about turning back, but there was nowhere for him to go.  The door was still shut for all intents and purposes.  Still, Justin called one of his souls.


    The soul flew in.  ¡°What is it, master?¡±


    ¡°I think there might be something dangerous around.¡±


    The soul looked at him.  ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure.  I¡¯ve only seen it in the mirrors.¡±


    The soul looked around.  ¡°I don¡¯t see anything in any of the mirrors, master.¡±


    Justin looked down.  ¡°I suppose you wouldn¡¯t.¡±


    Justin moved forward and motioned for the soul to follow him.  Justin braced himself for the next mirror.  He looked at it as he passed.  It was him.  He sighed.  Apparently that was over.  Then he looked his own reflection in the eye and saw the same glowing white dots he¡¯d seen on the figure.


    Justin took a few deep breaths.  He turned.  He saw the end of the hall of mirrors coming up, and the exit door was open.  He looked back at his reflection.  It didn¡¯t move with him; it just stood as he walked away, tracking him.  He passed by the next mirror.  He saw himself again, with the same eyes, but with a rope around his arm.  Someone was pulling on the rope to move the arm up and down.  The next mirror was the same, but with a rope around his other arm too.


    ¡°What do you see?¡± Justin asked his soul.


    ¡°In the mirror?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Your reflection.¡±


    ¡°Nothing odd about it?¡±


    ¡°No?  Do you see something wrong with it?  It looks the same to me as you¡¯ve always looked.¡±


    Justin sighed.  In the next mirror, there were ropes around his legs too.  Justin stood back.  His reflection, eyes glowing, danced.  Justin heard a bump above him.  He looked up.  He saw Bavandersloth in a mirror above him, holding onto the ropes.  He squinted.  ¡°Huh?¡±


    Justin turned and faced forward.  He sighed.  There were no more mirrors.  He ran outside of the building.


    *****


    Pretty Pink Ponytails opened her eyes.  She sat up and rubbed her head.  Where was she?  What had that thing been?  She stood up and looked around.  She raised an eyebrow.  She was on a carrousel.  She tilted her head.  What was she doing here?  The area looked decrepit.  She saw graffiti on nearby buildings, trash and leaves were everywhere, and the gates around the carousel were rusty.


    Pink looked back at the carrousel itself.  It wasn¡¯t rusty at all, and its paint was as bright as it¡¯d ever been.  Pink walked around it.  When she got about half-way around her eyes widened.  She saw her brother.  She dashed over to him and started shaking him.  ¡°Bro?¡±


    After a few seconds, he stirred.  ¡°Huh?¡±


    Pink smiled.  ¡°Bro.  Are you okay?¡±


    Zach sat up.  ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡±  He looked around.  His eyes widened.  ¡°Where are we?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡±  Pink stood up straight.  ¡°Before we got here, I saw a monster carrying you.  I--¡±


    ¡°I saw it.¡±  Zach stood up.  ¡°So this is Light-rook and his group then?¡±


    Pink nodded.  ¡°Probably.  Do you think maybe that was what they look like under those clouds?¡±


    ¡°Could be.¡±  Zach sighed.  ¡°That¡¯d explain why they don¡¯t want anyone to see them.¡±


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that you got in your hand?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±  Zachary looked at his hand.  He was holding a wrench.  It was covered in blood.  He stared at it.  ¡°I don¡¯t know where this came from.¡±


    ¡°Either way,¡± Pink said, ¡°if the Angels are the ones who brought us here, they¡¯re probably around here somewhere.¡±


    Zach nodded.  ¡°Yeah.  We¡¯d better get out of here as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Agreed, but that¡¯s probably what they expect us to do.  There¡¯s probably a trap around.¡±


    Zach groaned as he stood up.  ¡°Maybe, but¡­¡±


    Pink looked at Zach.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any sense.  If they wanted to kill us, why didn¡¯t they kill us while we were out instead of moving us here?¡±


    Pink¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°And if they wanted information, why not tie us up and be right there to ask when we wake up?  And why not separate us?  If I were them, I¡¯d have moved the two of us across town from each other.¡±


    Zach nodded.  ¡°Yeah.  Something about this doesn¡¯t--¡±


    The carrousel¡¯s lights flashed on.  Pink and Zach¡¯s eyes widened.  Pink flinched as the carrousel started moving.  Zach walked toward the edge to get off, but when he reached the edge, something forced him back.  He hit his head on the carrousel¡¯s center bit.  Pink went over to Zach.  ¡°You okay, bro?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Zach said, rubbing the back of his head.  It took him a second, but he stood up and grabbed a pole on the ride.


    Pink turned her head and looked out from the ride.  Her eyes widened.  ¡°Bro, look.¡±


    Zach looked.  ¡°What?¡±  Zach¡¯s eyes widened.  In front of both of them, outside the carrousel, was an image of them outside their childhood home.


    Zach nearly dropped the wrench.  ¡°Wha¡­¡±


    ¡°Whoa,¡± Pink said.  She looked at herself as a six year old, clutching Tiffany.  She realized that one of the horses on the carrousel looked a lot like Tiffany.


    ¡°Why are we leaving?¡± the younger version of Pink asked.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s not safe here anymore,¡± the younger Zach said.  ¡°The people who killed our parents will come after us.¡±  The younger pink squeezed her unicorn.  ¡°There¡¯s a bounty on our heads.  We need to go find another place to live now.  Somewhere none of them will find us.  I¡¯m going to try to get into contact with some of mom and dad¡¯s friends from work and see if they can help us, but they might not be able to.¡±


    The younger pink shed a tear.  The younger Zach walked to her and hugged her.  ¡°Nita¡­¡±


    The older Pink took a step toward the unicorn on the carrousel that reminded her of Tiffany.


    The scene went away.  Zach clinched his fist.  Pink turned to him.  ¡°Are you okay, bro?¡±


    Before Zachary could respond, the outside changed again.  Zach and Pink looked out.


    The younger Zachary stood in front of an adult.  ¡°The boss says alright,¡± the adult said.


    Zach¡¯s face lit up.  ¡°Really?  Thank you so much Mr. Harriso--¡±


    ¡°Provided, of course, you carry your weight around here.¡±


    Zach stopped.  He squinted.  ¡°Well, obviously.  Did you think I thought I¡¯d not have to?¡±


    ¡°No.  The boss is curious as to how you plan to, though.¡±


    ¡°Oh.  Easy.  My parents brought me along on a few jobs to train me.  I can smuggle product, off people--¡±


    ¡°All by yourself?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.  Of course.¡±


    Harrison sighed.  ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that.¡±


    Zach¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  But I¡­ I mean¡­ in other organizations--¡±


    ¡°We have higher standards.  It takes an adult to do an adult¡¯s job.  The amount of training you¡¯d have gotten if your parents hadn¡¯t died would have been enough,¡± Harrison looked down, ¡°but as it is, you¡¯re going to have to think of something else to get you by while you learn to do real work.¡±


    Zachary stepped back.  He looked down and sighed.  ¡°Okay.¡±  He looked back up.  ¡°I¡¯ll think of something.¡±


    Harrison nodded.  ¡°I hope so.¡±  He sighed.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry.  I¡¯ll help you any way I can, but I can¡¯t take care of you and your sister.¡±


    Zachary nodded.  He went outside, downcast.  Anita was waiting on the steps.  She smiled as he emerged.  ¡°Big bro.¡±


    Zach smiled and sat on the steps next to her.  ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°So how¡¯d it go?  Are we going to live with mommy and daddy¡¯s work?¡±


    Zach looked down.  ¡°Yeah.  Probably.¡±


    Anita raised an eyebrow.  ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±  Zachary was silent.  ¡°You know, we could talk to Mrs¡­¡±


    Zachary¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°No!¡±  Anita leaned away.  Zach sighed.  ¡°Sorry, sis.  I just¡­ if you say the wrong thing, I could get caught, and if I get caught¡­¡± Zachary put his head down.


    ¡°I know.  I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Zachary sighed.  He looked up.


    In reality, on the carrousel, the real Zach scooted back.  He clenched his fist.  After a second, he closed his eyes and looked away.  Pink raised an eyebrow and looked back at the scene.  The younger version of her brother looked across the street at a lady who wasn¡¯t wearing very much.  He watched a man come up to her and walk away with her.  His eyes widened, like he¡¯d gotten an idea.  He turned to Anita.  He sighed and looked down.  ¡°Hey, Anita, would you do anything to help us survive?¡±


    ¡°Why are you even asking?  Of course I would.¡±


    ¡°Even if it was hard?¡±


    ¡°Bro, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Zachary looked down and sighed.  He put his hand on Anita¡¯s shoulder.  He shed a tear.  ¡°C¡¯mon.  We need to go back inside.¡±


    Anita leaned back.  ¡°We?¡±


    Zachary nodded.  He went inside.  The scene went away.


    Zachary looked up at Pretty Pink Ponytails.  He heard something.  Pink looked at the horn on the unicorn that looked like Tiffany.  It shook.  She stood back.  Its shaking intensified.  Pink moved back further.  It looked like it was going to fall off for a moment, but it settled down.


    Pink went over to Zachary.  ¡°You alright bro?¡±


    Zach sighed.  He smiled.  ¡°Yeah.  I¡¯m fine.¡±


    *****


    Valthakar opened his eyes.  He looked around.  He was in an empty room with black walls and a single window.  He heard thunder clap outside.  He tried to stand up.


    He was able to sit, but as soon as he did, some sort of straps wrapped around him and pulled him back onto the table.  They held him against it.  More wrapped around him.  He tried to rip through the straps.  He couldn¡¯t.  He tried again.  He gritted his teeth.  He cursed.  The straps held him back.


    Valthakar thought.  Why couldn¡¯t he get through these?  What material could they possibly be made of that he couldn¡¯t break?  No such material existed, so far as he knew.


    Valthakar grumbled.  He thought.  He summoned a soul.  He waited a second.  None arrived.  His eyes widened.  He summoned another one.  None arrived.  He seethed.  Why wasn¡¯t anyone showing up?


    Valthakar jerked.  He couldn¡¯t get free.  He turned to his left.  His eyes widened.  He saw another lich there, one he didn¡¯t recognize.  The lich sat on a table much like his.  Valthakar could see the straps on the other table, though that lich wasn¡¯t bound by them.


    ¡°Hey, you,¡± Valthakar said to the lich.  Suddenly the lich¡¯s eyes widened.  One of the straps rose and wrapped itself around the lich.


    ¡°What the¡­?¡± the lich said.  The lich jerked against the straps.  He wasn¡¯t able to break himself free.  Valthakar laughed.


    The other lich turned to him.  ¡°Hey, what¡¯s so funny?  I¡¯m trapped here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what¡¯s funny.  Misery loves company, I suppose.  Regardless, do you think there¡¯s a way to break these?¡±


    The lich pulled against his.  ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Valthakar lay back.  ¡°I doubt it.  If I couldn¡¯t do it, there¡¯s little chance any lich could.¡±  Thunder clapped outside again.  Both liches looked at the window, and then looked away.


    ¡°There¡¯s a storm outside,¡± the other lich said.


    ¡°Is there?¡±  There was a pause.  ¡°Who are you, by the way?  Do you have any idea why we¡¯re here?¡±


    The lich struggled.  ¡°I¡¯m Imornath.¡±


    Valthakar tilted his head.  Imornath.  That name sounded familiar.  Where had he heard it before?  ¡°Do I know you?¡± Valthakar asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.  Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Valthakar.¡±


    The other one¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°You.¡±


    ¡°You seem like you do know me, then?¡±


    ¡°Know you?  You ruined my life.¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°Well, that could apply to a lot of people.¡±


    The other lich jerked against his bonds, trying to move toward Valthakar.  He made no progress.  Valthakar laughed.  ¡°There¡¯s no point in resisting those straps.  If I couldn¡¯t get out of them, there¡¯s no way you can.¡±


    The other lich gritted his teeth and seethed.  Valthakar laughed.  He didn¡¯t so much care about his straps anymore.  He lay back, listening to the other lich struggle and shout.


    *****


    Bavandersloth awoke on a Ferris wheel.  He sat up and rubbed his face.  He looked around.  It didn¡¯t take him long to figure out he was at Joy¡¯s Coast.  He recalled visiting it once, in fact, back when it was open.  He summoned a few souls and had them look around.  He lay back.  He thought about the creature he¡¯d seen.  Based on its abilities, it seemed to have been a lich, but its appearance seemed to indicate it had been a monster.


    Bavandersloth sat up.  No, there was another possibility.  It was probably¡ª


    Bavandersloth¡¯s thoughts were cut off by the sound of a woman singing.  Bavandersloth moved to look at the road near the wheel, making his seat in the Ferris wheel rock a bit.  He looked down at the ground.


    He could see her.  He shouted.


    ¡°Georgia?¡± he said.  The woman was too far down for him to be able to tell if she¡¯d responded.  He looked around.  He lay back.  So there was a specter about.  That had to be what this was.  The same creatures Ntullnarlth had used against Odelarch.


    Bavandersloth laughed.  He still couldn¡¯t believe Odelarch had managed to kill Ntullnarlth.  That boy had something in common with him.


    Bavandersloth shook his head.  He rubbed his forehead.  He didn¡¯t feel well, like he¡¯d had too much wine, back when that worked.


    Bavandersloth sighed.  He looked up.  ¡°I know she¡¯s not real, you know.  You can¡¯t torment me by trapping me up here and keeping her down there.  Besides, I haven¡¯t cared about her in years.  I did kill her after all.¡±


    The Ferris wheel moved.  Bavandersloth flinched.  He grumbled.  He put his hand on the wheel.  He thought of making it decay away, but realized he was too high up.  His body might splat when it hit the ground, which would seriously disable him for a while.  Bavandersloth sat back and sighed.  He¡¯d just have to wait until the wheel reached the bottom.


    *****


    Cody walked down the park¡¯s wide, road-like paved pathways, looking for the exit.  As he walked, he saw a large map on the wall of a building.  He walked over to it.  The glass the map was behind had a spider-web crack, but Cody could still see the map inside.


    There was a large, red X with ¡°You are here¡± written next to it in the lower right corner, near The Riveting River, the ride he¡¯d been on.  Cody traced the path with his finger.  To get to the exit, he needed to go straight until he passed The House of Horrors, and then take a left, then a right after he passed The Tunnel of Love, and then continue straight until he reached the square from which he¡¯d be able to see the exit.


    Cody turned back to the path.  As he walked, he thought.  The creature he¡¯d seen had taken him all the way here just to see what he¡¯d seen on that ride.  Why?  He ran back over the scene in his mind.  He was in a cage.  His friends and family were guarding him.  He didn¡¯t escape because he was a coward.  Escaping would kill them.  Not escaping would kill him and them.  After not escaping for a while, he lost his chance.


    The thing that had brought him here was a creature of the underworld.  So were the spirits that most likely showed Cody those visions.  That meant either that Gborin¡¯gargoth or Kandrinarkora found some interest in him, which was unlikely, or that a lich had summoned them.  Most liches couldn¡¯t summon creatures from the underworld.  According to the book, that power usually required that the lich using it to have more than seventy-five-million souls, making them likely more than two-hundred-thousand years old.  There was one lich he knew of, however, who could still access that power: Kgobauru.  Kgobauru accessed powers earlier than other liches.  He had to somehow be involved in this.


    Still, that seemed to clash with what he¡¯d seen.  If he was interpreting the allegory correctly-- crash.


    Cody¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by a collision.  He fell back.  ¡°Hey, watch it,¡± he said.  He looked up.  His eyes widened.  It was Justin.


    ¡°Cody?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Cody said, standing up.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.  I was brought here by this big creature.  It was green, had glossy fur, four arms¡­ but I¡¯m guessing you¡¯d tell the same story?¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Pretty much.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°So what did it show you?¡±


    Justin raised an eyebrow.  ¡°It showed you weird stuff too?¡±


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Cody nodded.  The two started walking forward.


    ¡°I woke up in the hall of mirrors, and the only way out was to go through.  I saw all kinds of weird things in the mirrors.  There was this dark figure, and you, and me with ropes around my hands and feet.¡±


    ¡°Ropes?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.  In the last image, I was being puppeteered by Bavandersloth.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±  Cody looked down.  That one was easy enough to interpret.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a bad guy,¡± Justin said.  ¡°Trying to trick me.  He wants me to think I¡¯m wrong to do good by working for Bavandersloth.¡±  Justin looked down.  ¡°At least that¡¯s what I think.  I¡¯m not sure.  It doesn¡¯t really explain most of the other things I saw.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t.¡±  There was a pause.  ¡°Kgobauru has to be involved with this somehow.¡±


    Justin raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Kgobauru?  Why him?¡±


    ¡°The only ones who could have summoned a creature from the underworld would be Gborin¡¯gargoth, who¡¯d have no reason, Kandrinarkora, who¡¯d have no reason, and Kgobauru.¡±


    ¡°Wow,¡± Justin said.  ¡°I never thought of that.  But wait, it could be Kandrinarkora.  He¡¯s brought things to Earth before.  What if he¡¯s trying to destroy the world again?  We stopped him last time.  What if he¡¯s trying to get us out of the way?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Cody said.  ¡°But why not just kill us, or at least destroy our forms?  We were unconscious.  He had the opportunity.¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±  Justin looked up at Cody.  ¡°Man, you sound like that detective that used to chase after you.¡±


    ¡°Williams?¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Yeah.¡±  Justin looked up.  ¡°I remember watching him on TV.  He always seemed so smart.  It was confusing.¡±  Justin looked back at Cody.  ¡°I wondered why a guy like him would chase after a guy like you.  You were my hero¡­ up until what Valthakar did of course.  When he pretended to be you.¡±  Justin clenched his fist.  ¡°I felt so betrayed.¡±  Justin relaxed.  ¡°But then Bavandersloth showed up, and things got better for me.  I learned that I¡¯d been right to think you were a good guy all along, and I got to be like you.¡±


    Cody bit his tongue.


    The two walked through the park, past several stores, shops, and restaurants, each one abandoned in haste.  Cody could smell rotten meat coming from one of them as he passed behind it.  Another store had rats inside.  Cody could tell by the smell of their fear that several of them were being chased by a cat, or perhaps an owl.  No, not an owl.  The building wasn¡¯t tall enough.  The next building was virtually intact, glowed, and was surrounded by spirits.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°What the¡­¡± Cody stared at the shop for a second.


    ¡°What are those things?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Cody said.  ¡°I think they want us to go inside that building, though.¡±


    ¡°Ya think?¡±


    Cody sighed.  He walked toward the building.  As Cody neared, the spirits cleared away from the door.  Cody opened it and went inside.  Justin followed.


    As Justin entered, Cody heard a snapping sound.  Cody turned around.  Justin had stepped on a feather quill and snapped it in half.  Justin jerked his foot away, and then put it back.  He stepped further into the store.  Cody turned around.  He thought.  Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery was a feather quill.  Maybe Justin was right to an extent, and these spirits were trying to get Justin to kill Bavandersloth.


    Cody looked around the store.  It was just one room.  The shelves were stocked with various items.  Cody saw a few whips on the wall across from him.  There was a lich costume on a rack in the corner.  Two bins in the center were full of glowing white balls.  They looked just like human souls, but smaller.


    Cody heard a slam behind him.  His eyes darted to the door.  It was shut.  Justin gasped.  He held out his hand.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Cody said.


    Justin turned around.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t work.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Blasting the wall won¡¯t help us escape.  The door¡¯s probably still open anyway.  It¡¯s just our senses that are trapped in here.¡±


    Justin looked at Cody.  He put his hand down.  He sighed.  ¡°Right.  So what do we do then?¡±


    ¡°Those things lured us in here to show us something, and they¡¯d only do that if they wanted us to act on it.  Unless we¡¯re meant to act on it in here, they probably plan to let us out.  We should look around until we see what they want us to see.¡±


    Justin looked down.  He looked back up and nodded.  ¡°Alright.¡±  He went over to the shelves to examine them.  Cody went over to a table by a window.  He saw bars outside of that window that reminded him of the bars on the cage he¡¯d been in earlier.  He looked down on the table.  There were a few boxes on it labeled ¡°Baby Lich¡¯s Soul Farming Play Set.¡±  Next to the boxes was an assembled product.  It was a tall tower.  It could be opened down the middle to see inside.  Cody did so.  Inside, there were a bunch of cells, each containing one human.  Most of them were female.


    Cody turned around and looked over at the shelves.  He saw rolled up posters.  He took one and looked at it.  He saw Bavandersloth¡¯s face.  He closed it.  He grabbed another.  It depicted his.  He closed it too.


    He turned to Justin.  Justin held something in his hand.  He raised an eyebrow.  ¡°What have you got there?¡±


    ¡°Powdered candy, I¡¯m pretty sure,¡± Justin said.  Cody looked at the object.  It was decorated to look like a feather quill.  ¡°Only one way to find out if I¡¯m right,¡± Justin said.  He snapped the thing open.


    ¡°Justin, that¡¯s been there for over thirty year--¡±  The area around Cody and Justin went dark.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He looked around.  He was in an old, decaying toy store.  There was a plastic play set on the table and a rack of stuffed animals in the corner.  The door was open.


    Justin looked at his hands.  ¡°Where¡¯d my candy go?¡±  He sighed.  He looked over at Cody.  ¡°I guess we¡¯re done here then?¡±


    Cody hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    Cody shook his head.  ¡°No.¡±


    He left the store with Justin, thinking about what he¡¯d just seen.


    *****


    Pink sat down next to her brother as another scene began in front of them.  The younger Zachary, Anita, and Harrison sat on a couch.  Zachary was looking down.  Harrison turned to Zach.  ¡°Hey, kid, you don¡¯t have to do this if you don¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°Yes I do.¡±  Zachary took a deep breath and looked up at the man.  ¡°Unless there¡¯s some other way to make enough to survive.¡±


    Harrison took a deep breath.  ¡°Not with us there isn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Then this is the only way.  I have to be with you.  Anyone else will kill me on sight.¡±


    Anita turned to Zach.  ¡°Really, bro, you can tell me what I¡¯ll have to do.¡±


    Zachary turned to his sister and sighed.  ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything.  Just lay back.  He¡¯ll do everything.¡±


    There was a knock at the door.  All three of the people in the room looked over.  Harrison stood up.  ¡°That¡¯s probably him.¡±  He looked down at Zach.  ¡°Last chance.¡±


    ¡°Just do it.¡±


    Harrison nodded.  He went to the door.  Zachary turned to his little sister.  ¡°Anita, I need you to go into the other room and lie down on the bed.¡±


    Anita raised an eyebrow.  ¡°What?  Why?  You can tell me bro.  I told you, I¡¯d do anything.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll find out in a second.¡±


    Anita looked at her brother for a moment and obeyed.  A few moments later, the client came by.  Zachary looked away as he entered the room where Anita was.  When he heard the door shut, he opened his eyes.  He looked up at Harrison and took a wad of cash from his hand.  He lay back on the couch.  Harrison locked the door from the outside and sat down next to Zach.


    Zach lay back.  ¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡±  Anita said in the other room.  Zach lay back.  He listened as Anita yelled a few more times, and then called his name.  After a few minutes, she stopped saying anything and started crying.  Before too long, Zachary got up and went outside the building.


    Pink turned around as the scene went away.  Her brother had his eyes closed and was covering his ears.  Pink shook him.  After a second, he opened his eyes.  He put his arms down.


    Pink was about to ask if everything was alright, but she turned around when she heard the next scene starting.


    Zachary looked a few years older.  He opened the door to the same room as before and walked in, carrying a fast food bag.  ¡°Hey, sis,¡± he said.


    Anita walked out of the bedroom with her hand behind her back.  She looked a little bit older too.  Zach smiled.  ¡°Hey, sis, what do you got there?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    Zachary laughed.  ¡°If you say so.¡±  He held up the bag and walked toward her.  ¡°Look, I know work today was kind of hard, but it earned enough money for me to get us a treat.¡±  Zach took cups out of the bag.  ¡°Look, I even got ice cream with it.¡±


    Anita took a step toward her brother.  He hat down.  She walked up beside him, still holding her hand behind her back.  ¡°Brother, can I please quit working?¡±


    ¡°Now, Nita, you know you can¡¯t.  We need the money.¡±  A tear dripped down Anita¡¯s face.  Zachary looked at it.  He looked over at the bag of food and got out his fries.  ¡°Look,¡± he said, getting out the box of chicken nuggets and putting ketchup in the top of the container, ¡°I¡¯m going to turn eighteen in just a few months.  I¡¯ll be able to do more complicated jobs then.  I¡¯m already running errands for them, and when I¡¯m eighteen, I¡¯ll be allowed to do some of the more serious work, and maybe get enough money to live on.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t want to stop in a few months.  I want to stop now.  They hurt me, Zach.  I¡¯ve been doing this for years and it hurts every time.¡±


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry sis, I--¡±  Zachary gasped.  His eyes widened.  He turned.  Anita had plunged a knife into her brother¡¯s shoulder.  She took out the blade and put it back in somewhere else.  Zachary fell over.  Anita stepped over to his head and knelt down.  She started stabbing her brother over and over again.  She stabbed him near the base of each arm a few times to keep him from moving, and then started to stab around where she thought his heart should be, though Pink knew she was off by quite a bit.


    Zachary looked up at his sister.  ¡°Sis¡­¡± he said softly.


    Another tear fell down Anita¡¯s face.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry, brother.¡±  Another tear fell down.  ¡°It¡¯s the only way.¡±


    Zachary started to cry at that point.  As he faded into unconsciousness, Anita¡¯s eyes widened.  She dropped the knife.  Zachary, only half aware, squinted.  Anita fell unconscious.  Zachary shed another tear.


    Pink saw the one unicorn¡¯s horn shake again.  She moved next to her brother and sat down.  The thing shook for a few minutes, but still didn¡¯t break off.


    *****


    As soon as the Ferris wheel came close enough to the ground that Bavandersloth wouldn¡¯t be damaged by the fall, he jumped out and onto the ground.  He approached the apparition of Georgia.  When he got within about twenty feet of her, she walked away.  Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°Are we really doing this?¡±  Georgia kept walking.  Bavandersloth rolled his eyes.  ¡°I guess so.¡±  He followed her.  Something about the sound of her voice made him smile.


    *****


    Cody and Justin kept walking toward the park¡¯s exit.  As they traveled, they couldn¡¯t help but enjoy the decrepit nature of the area around them.  Soon, the two reached the square.  As they entered the large, open section, they could see the exit. They both smiled and walked to it.


    The exit was a rusty iron gate, on the other side of which was a row of turnstiles.  The liches could see the parking lot from where they stood.  Cody put his hand on the gate to make it decay.  It didn¡¯t work.


    The smile drained from Justin¡¯s face.  ¡°Drat,¡± Justin said.


    ¡°There must still be something we¡¯re supposed to do here,¡± Cody said.  Justin grumbled.  ¡°C¡¯mon,¡± Cody said, motioning for Justin to follow him.  ¡°Maybe it¡¯s nearby.¡±


    ¡°And maybe it¡¯s not.  What if there are ten things left for us to look for?  What if we spend hours in here?  Or days?¡±


    ¡°Complaining about it won¡¯t make it any faster.¡±


    Justin groaned.


    The two didn¡¯t finish looking around the square before they found another attraction glowing in the same way the toy store had.  It was the petting zoo.  The two went toward it.


    As they entered the area, a gate closed behind them, trapping them inside.  The two looked around.  There were two enclosures in immediate view.  Both were hexagons about thirty feet across.  The feeding troths inside them were full of dirty water.


    As Cody and Justin walked toward the enclosures, they suddenly saw round areas open up, with caves on the other side.  Cody gasped.  Those were portals to the underworld.  There was one in each enclosure.  Creatures that looked like monkeys entered through the portals, and they closed.  Cody recognized the creatures as Satoris.  He turned around.  The gate was still closed.


    The Satortis each jumped over the gate and out of the enclosure.  Each one spoke.


    ¡°What?  Those?  Why them?¡± the one closer to Justin said, just as fast as Justin thought those same words.  ¡°Are they going to attack us like the one on Mt. Everest did?  Are they even real?  They could be hallucinations.¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯re hallucinations,¡± the one closer to Cody said, ¡°why did they come through portals.  Either they¡¯re real, or whoever did this wants us to think they¡¯re real.  If they are real, Kgobauru must be nearby.  But why would these be here either way?  Wait.  I know.  It all makes sense.  The image of them calling me a coward¡­  Crap!  I can¡¯t let Justin hear any of this.¡±  Cody ran backward until both of the Satori were closer to Justin than to him.


    ¡°What?  Why?¡± the Satori said in unison.  ¡°Cody did the same thing last time we encountered one of those things.¡±  Cody took aim at the Satori nearest to him.  He fired a blast of magic at it.  It hit.  The creature screeched and vanished.


    ¡°What?¡± the remaining one continued.  ¡°Why did he do that?  What¡¯s he hiding from me?  Does he not trust me with something?  Is he doing something wrong?  No.  Cody wouldn¡¯t do anything wrong enough that he needed to keep it a secret.  I¡¯ll turn around and ask him.¡±  Justin turned around.


    ¡°Are you hiding something from me?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Cody said.  Cody jumped to the side and fired a blast at the Satori.  Justin activated his shield and jumped in front of the blast.  His shield nearly broke.


    Justin lowered his shield.  ¡°Then prove it,¡± he said.  ¡°Come over here.  Let the Satori tell me what you¡¯re thinking.¡±


    Cody thought.  On the water ride, he was in a cage being guarded by his friends and family because Bavandersloth had been threatening them to keep him in line.  They called him a coward because he should have been willing to let them die to stop Bavandersloth¡¯s plans.  In the store, Cody saw a glimpse of what the world would be like if Bavandersloth succeeded.  The person behind this wanted Cody to get Justin to kill Bavandersloth, which Cody might be able to do if he could get Justin to realize that Bavandersloth, and not Valthakar, killed his parents.  After what happened at Mt. Everest, Justin would be likely to believe whatever the Satori said.  If, however, Cody told Justin everything and Bavandersloth was able to get out of it, Cody, Cherie, Lester, Cody¡¯s Parents, the rest of his family, and Justin himself were all doomed.  Reidel and Steven were too, probably.  Bavandersloth was more than clever enough to get out of it if Cody told Justin everything.


    Cody thought.  ¡°Fine, I¡¯m hiding something,¡± he said.  ¡°It¡¯s something that it¡¯s better if you don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±  Justin asked.  ¡°Are you doing something wrong?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Then why can¡¯t you tell me?  If it¡¯s an adult thin--¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing like that.¡±  Cody looked down.


    *****


    Pink rubbed her finger across her gun for comfort.  She watched the scene in front of her as Zachary woke up on a hospital bed.  He was groggy.  Harrison stood at the edge of the bed.  ¡°Hey,¡± he said.


    Zachary looked around.  ¡°Wha¡­ What happened?¡±  He lay down.  ¡°I remember I was getting food ready and Nita¡­¡±  Zachary¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Nita.  Crap.  She stabbed me.¡±  Zachary looked down.  He saw Nita standing by the man¡¯s legs.  ¡°Holy crap--¡±


    Harrison shushed him.  He looked behind him at the door.  ¡°I know,¡± he said.


    ¡°Why is she in here?  She tried to kill me.¡±


    Harrison looked down.  ¡°Cailyn, introduce yourself to your brother.¡±


    Zachary squinted and raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Cailyn?¡±


    ¡°Hi, big brother.¡± Cailyn said.  ¡°My name is Cailyn.¡±


    Zachary looked down at her, and then back up at Harrison.  ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s been like this on and off since she found you,¡± Harrison said.  He came closer to the bed and whispered.  ¡°I did some research.  It turns out you can get Multiple Personalities from¡­¡± Harrison sighed, ¡°from that thing we rent her out for.  When she calls herself Anita, she can hardly think about anything but trying to get away and kill you, but when she calls herself Cailyn, she doesn¡¯t seem to remember anything that happened.  Everything about her is just like what she was before you hurt her.¡±


    Zachary looked down at his sister.  He smiled.  ¡°So¡­ So she won¡¯t try to kill me?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t.¡±  Harrison smiled.  ¡°This is a chance for you to start over when it comes to her.¡±


    Zachary smiled.  He put out his hand.  His little sister held it.  ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he said.  ¡°And I won¡¯t make the same mistakes.¡±  He looked up at Harrison.  ¡°How long have I been out?¡±


    ¡°Four days.¡±


    Zachary sighed.  ¡°Is there any way we can get me some work?¡±


    Harrison nodded.  ¡°Yeah.  I might be able to arrange that.¡±


    Zachary smiled.


    Pink did too.  She realized what the next scene was as it came up.  It was some time later, in one of her favorite places: Her training gym.


    Zachary walked into the gym.


    Cailyn turned around.  ¡°Hey, bro.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Cai.¡±


    Cailyn smiled.  She ran forward.  Zachary put a frog down in front of Cailyn.  ¡°You remember what I said we¡¯d be doing today?¡±


    Cailyn¡¯s smiled faded.  She looked down and shed a tear.  ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Well, go on.¡±


    Zachary pointed to the frog.  Cailyn shed another tear.  She entered a full cry.


    ¡°Tears won¡¯t do it, sister,¡± Zachary said.  Cailyn looked down.  She clenched her fist.  She¡¯d done this a few times before.  Pink remembered this training session in particular.  She wondered if Zachary did too.  Zach had been giving her a frog once a month for over a year by then.  This time, the training finally started to work.


    Cailyn pulled a knife from her pocket.  She held it.  Anita flashed into her mind, trying to get out, telling her to let her out, but she didn¡¯t listen.  She loved Zachary.  Cailyn pressed the knife against the living frog¡¯s belly.


    ¡°Uh uh.  Limbs first.¡±


    ¡°Brother, please.¡±


    ¡°Cai, the more you do it, the sooner you can get used to it.¡±


    ¡°I know but--¡±


    ¡°And the sooner you get used to it, the sooner you can go help Selechii.  You want to help Selechii, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do.  I¡­¡±  Cailyn put her head down.  She held up the knife and chopped off one of the frog¡¯s toes.  It screeched.


    On the carousel, Pink smiled.  In the vision, Cailyn finished killing the frog after a while, though not as long as it¡¯d actually taken.  It was night by the time Cai was done.


    Zachary patted her on the head.  ¡°Good job, Cai.¡±


    Cai looked up.  She smiled.  ¡°Thanks,¡± she said.  Pink loved training with her brother during the later times, after it had started to stick.  She¡¯d had a lot of fun with the frogs later.


    The carousel stopped.  Pink flinched.  She turned around and looked at her brother.  He still had his eyes closed.  She went over to him and shook him.


    Zachary looked up.  ¡°Wha?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Pink said.  ¡°The memories are gone now.¡±


    Zachary gulped.  He took a deep breath and stood up.  ¡°Yeah.  Gone.¡±


    Pink tilted her head.  ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Zach said.  ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡±


    Pink turned her head as the unicorn shook again.  She and Zachary backed away.  The horn thrashed from side to side in a single rapid motion.  Pink perceived a crack starting to form at its base, but in the end it settled down and was still secure.


    Pink turned around.  ¡°Alright then,¡± she said.  ¡°Now we can go.¡±


    The two stepped off of the carousel.  As they walked, Pink looked at her brother¡¯s hand.  ¡°Bro, you still have the wrench.¡±


    Zach raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Huh?¡±  He looked at his hand.  He turned around and tossed the wrench back toward the carousel.  The two walked away.


    *****


    ¡°Then tell me what it is.  What could you possibly need to hide from me?¡± Justin said.


    Cody clenched his fist.  He looked up at the sky.  He thought.  He couldn¡¯t tell Justin as long as Bavandersloth wasn¡¯t around.  His souls would run off and tell him, and he would dart off to kill Cody¡¯s friends and family.  Cody widened his eyes.  ¡°Something is trying to trick us,¡± he said.  ¡°Tell me again, did the thing that kidnapped us bring Bavandersloth here?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the Satori blurted out.  Alright then, so the thing probably meant for Bavandersloth to arrive near them soon.


    *****


    Bavandersloth followed the apparition of Georgia to the square.  She took a left.  Bavandersloth sighed.  He wondered what she was leading him to.  He walked forward, until he heard shouting up ahead.  He soon realized it was Odelarch and Tkoralkiarch.  They were shouting.  He listened to what they were saying.  They were having an argument.  It was over Odelarch keeping a secret.  There was a Satori around.


    Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  He ran toward them.  It sounded like Odelarch hadn¡¯t said anything yet.  Good.  All he had to do was get there and kill the Satori.


    *****


    Cody turned around as he heard the gates swing open and Bavandersloth run in.  His eyes widened.  This was his chance.  He thought.  If he blurted the truth out right now, what were the odds that Bavandersloth would get away?  Cody wasn¡¯t sure.  He only had seconds.  All Bavandersloth would have to do is run away fast enough.


    It might go faster if Cody shouted at Justin to get Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He thought of an idea.  ¡°Justin, get all three of our Phylacteries,¡± he said.  Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  So did Justin¡¯s.  He closed his eyes and summoned them.  He ran away from the Satori.  Bavandersloth blasted the creature and it died.


    Cody looked at Bavandersloth.  He looked at Justin.  He thought.  Without the Satori, what was the chance Justin would believe him?  Was it high enough to risk him losing his friends and family?  If Bavandersloth talked Justin into handing his phylactery back over, there would be no real hope for them.


    Bavandersloth turned to Cody.  ¡°Why did you have him summon our phylacteries?¡±


    ¡°In case whatever took us was at the mansion planning to destroy them,¡± Cody said.  ¡°That possibility occurred to me just now.¡±


    Bavandersloth took a deep breath.  ¡°Very well.  Let¡¯s go then.¡±


    Cody sighed.  He nodded.


    *****


    Valthakar lay back and smiled as he continued to listen to the lich struggle.  There was something deeply amusing about the futility of his jerks and tugs.  As the lich jerked and pulled, he turned to him.


    ¡°You¡¯re just laughing it up, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°On the inside.  You¡¯d hear it if I were still laughing on the outside.¡±


    ¡°Why?  You¡¯re in the same situation.¡±


    ¡°No I¡¯m not.  I¡¯m not struggling hopelessly against these bonds.  You are.¡±


    ¡°You made one attempt to break them, and that was hours ago.  How do you know they¡¯re even hard to break?¡±


    ¡°Because I tried them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.  Once.  A couple of hours ago.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been trying them.¡±


    ¡°Well, maybe that button you¡¯ve been pressing has been holding me back.¡±


    ¡°What button?¡±


    Valthakar looked down at his hand.  Sure enough, it had been resting on a big, red button.  His eyes widened.  What the heck?  How hadn¡¯t he noticed that?  He lifted his hand off of the button.  The other lich struggled more.  He didn¡¯t succeed at first.  Valthakar sat back and laughed more.  After about another thirty minutes, though, one of the other lich¡¯s straps broke.


    Valthakar¡¯s eyes darted over as he heard it snap.  His eyes widened.  ¡°That¡¯s only one,¡± he said, and yet he began to struggle a bit.  It was only a few minutes before he broke the first strap.  He was stronger.  In half an hour, the other lich had broken two of his five straps, and Valthakar had broken all of his.  He stood up and left.


    ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you going to help me?¡± the lich said as Valthakar left.


    Valthakar turned around.  ¡°You look like you¡¯re doing fine,¡± he said.


    ¡°Hey,¡± the lich said as he struggled.  ¡°Come back here!¡±


    Valthakar left the building.


    When he was out, he turned around.  He¡¯d been in the haunted house at Joy¡¯s Coast.  He raised an eyebrow.  Why?  One of his souls rushed to him.  He looked up.  It began to explain about how the others had been brought here.


    *****


    As Pretty Pink Ponytails skipped out of the amusement park, she saw a large, dark circular shape appear in front of her.  She gasped and stopped in her tracks.  As she looked at the circle more closely, she saw that it was a picture of some sort.  No, it was a movie.  She liked movies!  This movie was of a cave.  There was a long ramp, and a ball was rolling down it toward the screen.


    ¡°What the heck is that?¡± Zackary asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Pink said.


    The two looked on.  When the ball reached the screen, Pink realized that it wasn¡¯t a movie.  The ball fell out.


    Pink leaned down and grabbed it as it rolled out onto the pavement.  She smiled.  ¡°Got it,¡± she said.  She turned around.  Her brother approached.  The object was pitch black, save for a faint and inexplicable purple glow.


    ¡°Do you have any idea what that is?¡± Zach asked.


    Pink scratched her chin.  ¡°Hmm¡­¡± she said.  ¡°I think that what we just saw was a portal to the world that Light-rook likes to talk about.  They must have taken us here hoping we¡¯d see it open or something.  They might have wanted us to have this.¡±


    ¡°Then we should get rid of it,¡± Zack said.


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± Pink said.


    ¡°What do you mean maybe?  If our enemies want us to have it, it¡¯s probably a bomb or something.¡±


    ¡°But maybe we could study it.¡±


    ¡°Study it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah!  And we could learn how it works.  Think about it.  This is a real magical artifact.  It might be possible to use it to do all sorts of things for Selechii.¡±  Pink smiled.  ¡°From his interviews, Light-rook didn¡¯t seem to have much control over his realm.  Maybe he didn¡¯t even intend for us to get this, but if he did, it¡¯s probably dangerous, but it might also be useful enough that it¡¯s worth keeping it.  If he did set this up, he might not have had much control over what came through.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still not a good idea to keep it,¡± Zach said.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sis.  It¡¯s just too dangerous.¡±


    Pink looked down and sighed.  She looked at her brother.  ¡°Fine, how about this,¡± she said.  ¡°Let¡¯s go home, get a shovel, come back and burry it somewhere around here.  If it¡¯s a bomb, we might know in a few days if it explodes.  If we ever learn what it is or are sure that it¡¯s not dangerous, we can dig it up.¡±


    Zachary looked at the orb.  ¡°Alright,¡± he said.


    Pink smiled.  ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s go.¡±  She skipped away.  Zach followed.


    *****


    As Cody, Justin, and Bavandersloth left the park, Bavandersloth turned to Justin.  ¡°Tkoralkiarch, do you mind going on ahead and hunting?  I want to stay back and speak with Odelarch.¡±


    ¡°Is this about the--¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°So you know it too?¡±


    Bavandersloth nodded.  ¡°Yes, and believe me, you¡¯ll learn it as soon as I think it¡¯s necessary for you to know.¡±  Bavandersloth put his arm on Justin¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°But right now, I need you to trust me and Odelarch that it¡¯s best for you not to know.  We have good reasons.¡±


    Justin looked down.  He sighed.  ¡°Okay.¡±  He looked up.  ¡°I trust you.¡±  He smiled and ran off.


    Bavandersloth walked back over to Cody.  ¡°Good job,¡± he said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell him a single thing.  I swear.¡±


    ¡°I worked that out.¡±  Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°You know, Cody, I realized what you were doing as soon as you told Justin to get our phylacteries.¡±


    ¡°You did?¡±


    Bavandersloth nodded.  ¡°I did.¡±  Cody looked down.  ¡°But you didn¡¯t do anything in the end, so I¡¯ll let it slide.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  Bavandersloth turned around and walked away from him.  Cody went in the other direction.  He headed straight toward a truck.  He turned around to make sure Bavandersloth wasn¡¯t watching.  He pulled his fist back and punched the truck with all the strength he could muster.  A large dent appeared in the thing, and it slid a few feet.  Cody clenched his fist.  He looked up at the sky, gritting his teeth.  ¡°Damn it,¡± he shouted.  He took his human form.  He took a few deep breaths.  He looked down and shed a tear.  ¡°They were right,¡± he whispered.  ¡°I am a coward.¡±


    ¡°Yes you are.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He turned around.  He saw the creature that had kidnapped him.  He stepped back.  He took his true form and stretched out his hand.  The creature put a shield up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± it said.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Cody asked.  ¡°What are you?¡±


    The creature stared at Cody through its shield.  He laughed.  As he did, Cody realized that nothing on him seemed to be moving to cause the noise.  ¡°I apologize,¡± the being said.  ¡°Not for calling you a coward.  You undoubtedly are one.  Yellow as your star and rabbit-like as a hare.  Still, I am perhaps at fault for not remembering how you would react to me.¡±


    Cody took another step back.  ¡°What are you talking--¡±


    ¡°Please, allow me to finish answering your original questions before you ask more.  The point I was building up to was this: It¡¯s hard to remember how delicately you have to treat members of uncontacted races.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Wha--¡±


    ¡°Please let me finish.  The point is that I¡¯m from another planet.¡±


    Cody gasped.  An alien?


    The creature sighed.  ¡°And that¡¯s not all, either.¡±  He paused.  ¡°Look, there¡¯s more to the human struggle with Bavandersloth than the fate of your race.  Much, much more.  If Bavandersloth is allowed to seize control of this planet, far more will be lost than the freedom of all humans.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  How so?¡±


    The creature paused.  He grumbled.  ¡°Do you know what?  It might be better if I don¡¯t explain it to you.  No.  You¡¯ll find out soon.  Then again, it still might be best to delay it as long as possible.¡±


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me who you--¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the only alien lich you know of who can summon creatures from the underworld, human.  I am Gborin¡¯gargoth, the King of the Underworld.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  You--¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡±  Cody quieted down.  He took a few steps back.  Gborin¡¯gargoth took a few deep breaths.  ¡°I summoned those creatures to try to coax you into stopping Bavandersloth.  You wouldn¡¯t know this, but his success won¡¯t just mean disaster for this planet, but disaster for the whole of the universe and every living thing within it.¡±  Gborin¡¯gargoth paused.  Cody didn¡¯t dare say a word.  Gborin¡¯gargoth continued.  ¡°While you were in there, I tried to show you glimpses of what this Earth will be like if you allow Bavandersloth to take over, but perhaps, before I tell you of the cosmic significance, I need to show you much more than a glimpse of what he will bring upon your race.¡±


    ¡°Wha?  But--¡±


    ¡°Worry not.  Everything will be explained to you in due time.¡±


    ¡°What?  Why wait?  I¡¯d much rather you explain everything to me now.¡±


    The alien ignored Cody.  He simply closed his eyes and extended his arm.  Cody was thrown back.  He flew several yards before he landed on a small patch of rough gravel.  He could see the parking lot he¡¯d been in through a round, window-like hole ahead of him.  His eyes widened.  A portal.  He ran for it, but it closed.


    Cody gritted his teeth.  He shouted and seethed.  After a few moments.  He calmed himself down.  He looked around.


    Other than the road on which he sat, the only features around were a cement road and a large billboard.  His eyes widened as he looked up at it.  He read it off.


    ¡°You are now entering the realm of Bavandersloth: Master of the Council and Lich King of the Earth.¡±

 1.20 The Fate of the World

    ¡°You are now entering the realm of Bavandersloth: Master of the Council and Lich King of the Earth.¡±


    Cody stared at the sign for a while.  Was this real?  Was it another hallucination?  It had to be one.  Gborin¡¯gargoth had just said he was going to show Cody what the world would be like when Bavandersloth won.  It had to be a hallucination then.  If that was the case, that meant there was a way back home.  Gborin¡¯gargoth would only have bothered with a hallucination if he wanted Cody to act differently than he otherwise would because of what he saw.


    So how would Cody find the way out?  Gborin¡¯gargoth said he needed to see what the world would be like under Bavandersloth¡¯s rule, so doing that would probably get him back.  The best way to learn that would be to explore.


    Cody took his human form and started walking.  He followed the road he was on, heading toward the sign, into Bavandersloth¡¯s territory.


    It wasn¡¯t long before he gave up on using his human form and moved to covering more ground in his true form.  He¡¯d initially been concerned about what would happen if someone saw him, but that gave way to his concern that he might never get anywhere at the speed his human form restricted him to.


    As he walked, he encountered large fields of various crops.  He saw orchards first: thick forests full of apple and peach trees.  Several miles later, he came across wheat and corn fields.  Past that, he found fields of carrots and potatoes.


    He re-took his human form when he saw a group of buildings just on the horizon.  He was finally getting close to a town.  It was about half an hour before he arrived near the limits of the town.  As he approached, he saw a tall, steel wall.  In the center of the side he was facing, there was a large gate.  Cody saw guards on top of the wall.


    Cody thought.  He probably wanted to get inside.  That should be easy enough.  If this was a world run by liches, he ought to be able to ask for entrance and be granted it.


    Cody took his true form and, uncloaked, approached the gate.  ¡°Guards,¡± he shouted.  The guards¡¯ eyes widened.  They looked down at him.  They kneeled, closed their eyes and bowed their heads.


    ¡°Lord, why do you honor us with your presence.¡±


    Cody smiled.  This was going well.  ¡°Unpleasant reports have come in about this area.  The gravity of these reports demands that a lich come in person to investigate.  Bavandersloth asked me to go into your city and do so.¡±


    The guards gasped.  ¡°What accusations have been made, Lord?¡± one said.


    ¡°It might be better if I do not say.  Simply arrange that I am allowed to enter the facility and navigate it freely without human interference.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Lord.¡±  The guards pressed a button and opened the gate.  Cody went inside.


    Cody looked around.  There were various sheds lining the inside face of the wall.  They were clustered in groups.  Cody entered one of the sheds.  He found bales of wheat inside.  He left that shed and looked at the next one.  He found the same thing.  Cody checked more.  All of the sheds were used for storage.  Many of them stored food.  Others stored parts for various machines.


    As Cody neared the center of the city, he saw a series of tall towers.  He raised an eyebrow.  Those were by far the largest buildings he¡¯d seen here so far.  He walked closer.  There were guards on the inside of the door.  He negotiated his way past them, and was given a key-card he could use to access locked rooms.


    The lobby of the building was empty, for the most part.  Its most prominent feature was an elevator.  Cody ignored it for now.  He looked around the bottom floor.  He was able to find an office.


    He went inside.  There was no one there just now.  He saw something on the desk.  His best guess was that it was a computer.  He was able to find the button that turned it on.


    The computer operated on a touch screen interface.  After poking around for several minutes, Cody was able to find a database of humans in the facility.  He touched the first name on the list.


    ¡°Human 00000E00800000X1


    ¡°Given Name: ¡®Hana¡¯


    ¡°Sex: Female


    ¡°Occupation: Breeding Stock, Mechanic


    ¡°Chronic Illnesses: None


    ¡°Needed Treatments: None¡±


    It went on to describe her height, weight, and various other statistics about her.  At the bottom, there was a description of her personality.


    ¡°Human is somber, yet obedient.  Her weary and somber demeanor usually renders her complacent and cooperative around guards and liches.  She is visibly uncomfortable around assigned mates.


    ¡°Notable Incidents: Incident 050021E6: Human was charged repairing a hydraulic pump.  When given assignment, human protested that an injury she¡¯d received rendered her unable to perform task without significant pain.  Despite being assured that this was irrelevant, she continued to request reassignment to a less laborious task.  After several minutes of continued defiance, she was taken to floor 2E for procedure 041018.  Afterwards, she complied.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  He looked down and closed his eyes.  Visions of his family and friends flashed into his mind.  He looked back up at the screen and scrolled down.  He read several more profiles.  There were significantly more women than men in this facility.  The men were assigned various jobs, but all of the women¡¯s occupations were listed as breeding stock, followed by something else.  Cody didn¡¯t see any female guards or farmers.  All of the serial numbers began with ¡°00000E008,¡± but varied thereafter.


    Cody left behind the files and looked up ¡°protocol.¡±  He noticed he could have them sorted by category.  He did.  He looked up the category for human behavior.


    ¡°Universal Regulations:


    ¡°060010001: All humans are to listen to a recording of Bavandersloth¡¯s Commands three (3) times daily.


    ¡°060010002: Humans are not permitted to exit their site of residence except while complying with authorized evacuation procedures.*


    ¡°060010003: Humans are not permitted to physically assault each other.*


    ¡°060010004: Humans are not permitted to tamper with equipment of any kind.*¡±


    Cody peeked down at the footnote.


    ¡°*Regulation is not applicable to humans with some occupations.  To find exceptions, consult the regulations for those occupations.¡±


    Cody read through the last of the regulations.  Near the end, punishments were prescribed.


    ¡°6001010E: Humans in violation of the rules given to them are to be taken to Floor 2E for appropriate discipline.  See set 06081 for guidelines.¡±


    Next, Cody looked at the regulations for ¡°Agricultural Laborer.¡±  He took note of one of the rules.


    ¡°60E0095: Agricultural Laborers are permitted to leave site grounds in exception to general regulations only to enter assigned fields to perform assigned duties.¡±


    Cody spent a few more hours looking through the database.


    When Cody was done with the lowest floor, he moved to the elevator.  Inside, he saw the elevator buttons were notated strangely.  There were evidently thirty-six floors.  They were labeled ¡°00, 01, 02, 03, 04 etc¡­ 09, 0X, 0E, 10, 11etc¡­ 1X, 1E, 20 etc¡­¡±  It was base twelve, Cody realized.  The serial numbers on the computer had been the same way.


    Cody pressed the button to go to the top floor, ¡®2E.¡¯  The computer had said this was where discipline took place.  After the elevator brought him there, he exited.  He was on the roof.  His eyes widened as he looked around.


    The most obvious feature on the roof was the row of five tables lined up in its center.  Each table was covered in straps.  Next to each one was a rack containing a whip, what looked like a large pizza cutter, several metal spikes, a meat cleaver, and a device Cody didn¡¯t recognize.  All of the devices looked clean.


    Cody wanted to turn around, but forced himself to look further.  There was another obvious feature of the roof.  It was surrounded on all sides by a small fence.  The stretch of fence on the side opposite him had a latch on one side and two hinges on the other.  Cody shuddered, but was able to make himself approach the latch.  After he made a padlock decay away, was able to swing the gate right open.


    Cody looked down.  His eyes widened.  He saw a metal pad below.  No, it wasn¡¯t a pad.  Cody saw a track next to it.  It was a cover for something underneath it.


    Cody looked around.  He found a button.  He gulped and approached it.  He pressed it.


    He looked down at the pad as it opened to reveal a pit.  When he saw inside, he stepped back from the roof and covered his mouth.  The pit was full of corpses.


    Cody looked down.  He tried to cry.


    A moment later, Cody heard a voice behind him.  ¡°I trust they are decomposing in a manner compliant with protocol?¡±  Cody turned around.  His eyes widened.  It was Bavandersloth.


    ¡°I got an interesting call from one of my guards at this facility, something about an inspection I never requested.  Naturally, I was curious about how this mistake came about, so I called you.  I¡¯m sure you remember.  You told me that you had no idea what I was talking about, and that you were in your palace having dinner.  Just to be sure, though, I came myself, and look what I found.¡±


    Bavandersloth approached Cody.  Cody backed away.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t back up too far.  A form isn¡¯t of much use once it has fallen from a rooftop.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?  This is hardly the first time you¡¯ve seen a facility for execution by impact.¡±


    Cody backed up another few paces.  He found himself on the edge of the roof.  He couldn¡¯t go any farther back.


    Bavandersloth raised an eyebrow.  ¡°That wasn¡¯t you I called earlier, was it?¡± he asked.  ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Cody.¡±


    ¡°Cody?  You¡¯ve not answered to Cody in a while.¡±  Bavandersloth paused.  He took a few steps closer to Cody.  ¡°Take your human form,¡± he said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Take your human form.¡±


    Cody took a few breaths.  Bavandersloth held out his arm.  ¡°Do it now, or I¡¯ll blast you off the edge.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He took his human form.  Bavandersloth gasped and took a step backward.  ¡°Well, well,¡± he said.  ¡°That¡¯s¡­ interesting.¡±  Bavandersloth put his hand down.  ¡°Do you mind coming with me?  I¡¯m sure we can get this sorted out.¡±


    Cody stepped to the side, toward the hinge which connected the section of fence on the right side of the roof to the section he¡¯d unlatched.


    ¡°Come now, Odelarch.  It¡¯s Bavandersloth.  Even at that age, I seem to recall us being on the same side.¡±


    Cody tried to shed another tear as he stepped closer to the gate until he was on the corner of the roof near the hinge.  Bavandersloth approached him.  Cody put his hand on the gate.  He felt it swing in the wind as he touched it.  He heard its hinge squeak.  Bavandersloth took another step.  Cody held tightly onto the gate as he jumped off the roof.  He let go with one hand and climbed onto the gate¡¯s opposite side.  He looked over at the next lower floor.  He saw a window.  He swung over, jumping from the gate to the window.  He punched the glass and climbed inside.


    He found another office.  He ran out into the corridor.  At its end, he found the door to a room labeled ¡°Nursery.¡±  He opened the door.  There were rows of babies inside, each in a medical pod of some sort.  There were tags near each of their tables.  About two thirds of them read ¡°2E¡± in large letters.  Cody gulped.  He thought about his family again.  He ran out the room¡¯s other door and to the elevator.  When he reached it, it opened.  Bavandersloth was inside.  He stepped out.  Cody turned around and ran.  Bavandersloth reached out and fired a magical beam at Cody, causing Cody to fall over.  Bavandersloth ran up to him and grabbed him.


    Bavandersloth forced Cody¡¯s hands together with one arm and put the other around his neck as he stood Cody up.  Cody fired backward, but Bavandersloth kept Cody¡¯s palms pointed away from him.  Cody struggled, but Bavandersloth was able to keep his grip.  ¡°Calm down, Cody,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°We can¡­¡± Cody continued struggling.  ¡°Do you know what?  Fine.  Be like that.¡±  Cody felt a pressure against his back.  He blacked out.


    *****


    Cody awoke in a concrete cell.  He stumbled to his feet and looked around.  The floor and three walls were made of cement.  In front of him was a row of rusty bars.  Bavandersloth sat on the other side.  He looked at Cody and smiled.  ¡°Ah, good to see you awake.¡±


    Cody glared at Bavandersloth.  ¡°Where am I?¡±


    ¡°My palace.  There¡¯s a special dungeon designed specifically to contain liches.  It¡¯s a maze, actually.  You¡¯re at the back of it, and I have a specter making sure it¡¯s impossible for you to see your way around.  If you try to leave, I¡¯ll know long before you have any chance of navigating it blind.¡±


    ¡°So these bars aren¡¯t real?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Cody looked down and took a deep breath.  He sat down on a cot in the corner of the room.  Bavandersloth scooted forward.  ¡°Look,¡± he said, ¡°I want to help you.  I know you must be a great deal more confused than I am.  I¡¯ll be happy to answer any questions you have.¡±


    Cody looked up at Bavandersloth.  He clenched his fist.  ¡°Okay.  The last thing I remember is leaving Joy¡¯s Coast after the incident with the specters.  Tell me everything that¡¯s happened since then.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Alright then.¡±  He scooted forward, closer to Cody.  ¡°I believe by then I¡¯d already started to use my powers over television?¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Yeah, for about three weeks.¡±


    ¡°Well, I did it more.  At first I only used it to keep suspicion off of me and keep my public image as positive as possible.  After a while, though, I started to use it a little more actively.  First thing, I got my own show.  I was able to get a prime time slot on a major network.  That was the point of going public.  I was trying to keep the world¡¯s interest high.  On that show¡­ well, I did a lot of things, but the most important one was that I used the power to make them keep coming back.  I grew my audience.  I told them all that they had to get their friends to come watch, and when their friends watched, I told them the same thing.  I arranged for the show to be played in waiting rooms and in hospitals.  As time went on, I became more accepted, and could be bolder.  I created sound files that had the same effect.  I spread them everywhere.  I put them in ads at first.  Eventually I started having my souls drive trucks down streets, playing those sounds out of loudspeakers.  It took a while, but I was eventually able to grow my audience to the point where I could make my boldest move.¡±


    Cody raised an eyebrow.  ¡°What?¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°I told them that I was their master.  I told them that it was their obligation to do everything I say.¡±  Bavandersloth sat back.  ¡°Of course, that¡¯s not quite the same thing as controlling their minds and forcing them to do it, but it¡¯s still near enough that it worked.  The people who hadn¡¯t seen the show didn¡¯t realize what was going on in time to react, and after a short war and a long period of clean-up, every human was under my thrall.


    ¡°From there, I set out to build a society for our kind.  I gave the book to eight-thousand humans to increase our numbers and the council divided the world into ten-thousand slices and gave one to each lich.  Most of the territories, called realms, operate in basically the same way, including mine.  There are a few outliers, but the city you saw was typical.¡±


    ¡°Why the infanticide?¡±


    ¡°A few reasons.  Firstly, I received help in conquering the world from Kandrinarkora, and one of his conditions was that I ensure the creation of as many souls as possible.  Many of the humans created are useless except for that purpose.  All they need is to exist, and only for a moment.¡±


    ¡°Does Kandrinarkora rule the underworld now?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  The other part of the deal was that I help him take it back over.¡±


    So that was why Gborin¡¯gargoth cared so much about keeping Bavandersloth from taking over.  It was a threat to his rule of the underworld.


    ¡°How did you help?¡±


    Bavandersloth chuckled.  ¡°That¡¯s a long story.  I wasn¡¯t done with your last question.  There are two other reasons for the infanticide.  First, desirability.  We select for the traits we desire, both in general, like obedience, and for specific occupations.  Guards should be aggressive.  Farmers should be strong, etc.  Those not well-suited to any task are tagged for re-evaluation and if no error was made they are killed.  Second, the gender ratio.  I presume you saw in the computer that most of the humans are women.  That is, essentially, because a woman may be impregnated about once every two-hundred-eighty days, while a man may impregnate a woman once every two days.  Hence, it is most efficient to have one male for every one-hundred-forty females as breeding stock.  That is why we use almost every female for that purpose, and use only men for anything mutually exclusive with pregnancy.  Still, we don¡¯t need anywhere near one-hundred-thirty-nine males to do that work, so some of them are killed.  If you¡¯d stayed in the nursery longer, you would have noticed that almost all of the ones labeled for infanticide were male.¡±


    ¡°So you just throw them off a building?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the mode of death that uses the fewest resources.  You should be happy.  We torture the ones we execute for disobedience before removing them, but for the babies and the old, death comes before there¡¯s any opportunity for pain.  The roof is too high up for there to be any risk of them surviving, even for a moment.¡±


    ¡°What happened to Lester, Cherie and my parents?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re brainwashed like the others.  Legally speaking, they¡¯re your live-in servants, though you treat them well.  Their fate is certainly better than it would have been if you had resisted me.¡±  Cody¡¯s head hung down.  Bavandersloth stood up and entered Cody¡¯s cell, passing right through the bars.  He put his hand on Cody¡¯s shoulder.  Cody swatted it away.  Bavandersloth frowned and stepped back.  ¡°Look, I know what you¡¯re going through--¡±


    ¡°No you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Yes I do.  I¡¯ve seen you go through it before.  I watched you, and helped you, as you adapted to this new world.  It took a long time for you to cope with this state of affairs, but you managed it, and you can manage it again.¡±


    Cody gulped.  He took a deep breath and stood up.  ¡°Can I speak to my future self?¡±


    ¡°Not yet.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  Why not?¡±


    ¡°He specifically requested not to see you.  He doesn¡¯t want to be reminded of his past.  He finds the memories too painful.¡±


    Cody looked down.  He tried to cry.  He allowed himself to fall onto the floor so that he sat with his knees bent.  He wrapped his arms around his legs.  He looked up at Bavandersloth.  ¡°Are there any other liches I am allowed to see?¡±


    ¡°Oh, sure.  Anyone but Tkoralkiarch is fine, really.  You can talk to Rngwelokt, Kgobauru, Nglavingithu--¡±


    ¡°Nglavingithu?¡±


    ¡°A student of mine.  I¡¯m sorry; it slipped my mind that you¡¯d not met him yet.  He helped you a lot the first time you adjusted.  I was too busy managing things to be as big of a help to you as I wish I could have been.  Building all of those facilities, managing the whole human population, all of that was a lot of work.¡±


    Cody leaned back on the cot.  He sighed.  ¡°I¡¯ll think on it.¡±


    Bavandersloth nodded.  ¡°You do that.  If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯ll go ahead and leave you alone now.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Okay.¡±


    Bavandersloth walked away.  Cody sat, clenching his fists.  He tried again to shed a tear.  He still couldn¡¯t in his true form.  He waited until he was pretty sure Bavandersloth was farther away.  He gritted his teeth and seethed.  He shouted and punched the wall behind him, leaving a hole in it.  He took his human form and fell to his knees, sobbing, his head down.


    ¡°You were right,¡± he whispered.  ¡°You were right, Gborin¡¯gargoth.  I am a coward.¡±  Cody¡¯s head sank lower.  ¡°No, I was.  You can go ahead and take me back now.  I¡¯ll help you.  My parents, my friends, they¡¯re not worth this.¡±


    Cody heard Gborin¡¯s voice.  ¡°Not yet.  There¡¯s still more for you to see.¡±


    ¡°What more could there be?¡±


    ¡°Try to find your own way back to the past.  You will discover it in the course of that path.¡±


    Cody wiped a tear from his face.  ¡°In case you didn¡¯t notice, I¡¯m not exactly free to leave this dungeon.¡±


    The voice took a second to respond.  ¡°True.  I can help you with that.¡±  There was a pause.  ¡°I¡¯ve cast the specters away from you.  That should make it possible for you to escape.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯ll still see me.  He probably has souls watching me right now.¡±


    ¡°True.  Let me take care of those.¡±  There was another pause.  ¡°Alright then.  They¡¯re not a problem anymore.  You can sneak out.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  He stood up and turned around.  Sure enough, there were no bars.  Cody took his true form and ran.


    He came to a fork in the road.  He could either go right or left.  He went right.  That led to another fork, where he could go straight or right.  He went straight.  That led him to a dead end.  He turned back and went right at the fork.  A few paths branched from there, but they were all dead ends.  Cody turned back to the first fork and went from there.


    Cody followed the next fork.  He didn¡¯t do much better at first, but he was eventually able to find a door.  It required a code to open it.  Cody tried to make the wall next to it decay away.  He got a few inches in before encountering a strange gelatin-like substance.  It was beige and semi-transparent.  Cody willed it to decay away.  It didn¡¯t.  He raised an eyebrow.  DIAPP had substances that liches couldn¡¯t make decay.  Maybe Bavandersloth had worked on developing that technology further.  Cody punched the blob.  His fist was buried into it, but nothing was accomplished.  He thought.  He made more of the wall decay away.  He stood back and blasted the gelatin.  He was able to make a hole in the blob.  It took a few more blasts before he could get to the other side and make the opposite wall decay away.  He did the same for the next wall.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    By this method, he was able to find the exit in a few hours.


    He peaked around the corner and up the stairs.  There were guards there.  Cody thought.  He got an even better idea.  He went a little ways back into the maze and tunneled downward.  He was able to make the ground under him disappear and make sand appear around him, imitating the natural decay of rock by wind and rain.  Before too long, though, he ran into more of the gelatin.  He tunneled to the side.  Cody tunneled for a while, but when he reached the edge of the maze, he encountered another sheet of the strange jelly.


    ¡°Like it?¡± Cody heard behind him.  His eyes widened.  He turned around.  Bavandersloth stood behind him.  ¡°Our chemists created it.  It¡¯s a substance that doesn¡¯t decay.¡±


    Cody glared at Bavandersloth.  He looked down and took a deep breath.


    ¡°Why bother escaping?  What is there for you on the outside?¡±


    Cody thought.  Gborin¡¯gargoth said to try to get back.  Cody¡¯s future self would be the one most likely to help him.  Bavandersloth had probably lied about his future self not wanting to see him.  If all of this happened, Cody would do anything for a second chance.  Cody looked up at Bavandersloth.  He looked down.  He closed his eyes.  ¡°I need he--¡±


    Suddenly, Cody was outside the palace.  He looked around.  He was in a farm.  He didn¡¯t see anyone around.  He looked up.  ¡°Where am I?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for you to figure out.  I only help you when there is no other way for you to escape.¡±


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you poof me out at the start?¡±


    ¡°Because you could have gotten out with the help I gave you.  You just weren¡¯t smart enough.¡±


    ¡°What?  How?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you figure it out for yourself.  Here¡¯s a hint: The guards didn¡¯t know what you looked like.¡±


    Cody stood.  He looked down and sighed.  He needed to figure out where he was.  He saw trees in the distance to his one side.  The last farm had been ringed with apple trees.  He was standing in a field of wheat.  He remembered what the last city had looked like.  According to the computer, the orchards were always the farthest fields from the city¡¯s center so fleeing humans would be out in the open for as long as possible before being able to hide in the trees.  That meant that if he went away from the trees, he¡¯d approach the city¡¯s center.


    Cody did just that, and it worked.  He walked through a few more fields and eventually neared the wall.


    The sun was rising by the time Cody was close enough to the wall to see the guards standing on top of it.  Their backs were to him.  Cody heard music playing in the distance.


    Cody moved along the wall, hoping to find a place where he might be able to enter the city.  As he neared one corner, he heard the music get a little louder.  A second later, he heard Bavandersloth¡¯s voice speak over the music.


    ¡°All humans, great and small, rich and poor,¡± he began, ¡°for seven months, as of this very day, I and my community of Angels,¡± there was a pause, ¡°of liches, I may as well frankly admit, have served your interests.  Through our heroism, we have reduced crime to a fraction of what it once was.  We have stopped disasters.  We have healed the sick and dying.  We have brought villains to justice.


    ¡°However, at the very same time, you have seen the villains of the world fight back.  Despite our vigilance, and the reduction of petty crime, countless lives have been lost in several recent tragedies at the hands of various criminal organizations.  Governments that ought not to have fallen have fallen in recent months.  Others have been tainted by scandal to a point where you, the people, rightly, do not trust them any longer.


    ¡°Because of these facts, I am forced to commit drastic action.  This action saddens me for its desperation and difficulty, but also fills me with hope for the opportunity it represents.  I am both afraid and delighted to announce that I believe it necessary for this planet to give over its governance to the community of liches.


    ¡°World leaders, you must submit your land and powers to our community.  You must not resist my appropriation of your territories.  Common folk, you must bend and not resist my coming reign.  To all, you must bend to my will.  You must accept me as humanity¡¯s master.  You must obey my every command as I will it, and you must do the same for any I should appoint to represent me in any capacity.  You must never act in any way against my will, and you must never disbelieve anything I say.  You must obey me as a perfect slave obeys its master.


    ¡°I will not lie to you; it is likely that this will be difficult at first.  However, if there is one thing I know about humanity and my community, it¡¯s that there is no challenge that our power and your resolve, when combined together, cannot face and conquer.¡±  Cody heard a pause.  ¡°With this scythe in hand, I shall devour the souls of the unrighteous, as shall all my kind, and when they have left, we shall establish an ideal order: a society in excess of any other: One where our kind and yours shall live in glorious harmony for all eternity, and one where prosperity shall be present for all, and where peace shall reign as I do, forever.¡±


    The humans inside the wall cheered.  Cody thought.  Seven months to the day.  He needed to remember that.  He repeated it a few times in his mind to commit it to memory.  He heard a human speak.  ¡°And now, in the name of our Lord Odelarch and our God and King Bavandersloth, let the day begin.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He was in his realm.


    Cody thought.  He needed to learn where his palace was.  His first instinct was to just show himself and get inside, but if Bavandersloth had put out a message of some sort, he might be apprehended.  No, that was stupid.  These were human guards.  Let them try to apprehend him.


    Then again, they might give away his location.  Still, he¡¯d be well clear by the time Bavandersloth found him, and Gborin¡¯gargoth would bail him out if worst came to worst.


    Cody approached the gate as two guards stood at it.


    ¡°Guards,¡± he said.


    The guards turned around and looked down at him.  They kneeled.  ¡°Lord Odelarch,¡± one said, ¡°why have you honored us with your presence?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve no need to explain it to you.  Simply allow me inside.¡±


    ¡°We would be happy to, master, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But what?  Did you not hear what Bavandersloth said?  You must obey me.¡±


    ¡°Master,¡± one of them said, trembling, ¡°we are honored by your visit, however, only half an hour ago, we learned that there is an imposter on the loose.  By your own orders, we request that you show us your human form before we let you pass.¡±


    Cody clenched his teeth.  Drat.  He thought.  If he was caught, Gborin¡¯gargoth would probably let him out again.  Still, he would be back to square one.  Perhaps there was an easier way to learn the location of his palace.  These humans still respected him.


    ¡°Pop quiz,¡± Cody blurted, ¡°which way¡¯s my palace?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to the northeas¡­ wait, why did you--¡±


    Cody was off.


    *****


    Cody ran northeast for about three hours before he saw the boarder of his realm¡¯s capital.  The farms outside it were much smaller than the ones outside of both of the other cities he¡¯d seen.


    As Cody neared the wall, he thought.  He needed to get inside the city, ideally without being noticed.  Could he climb over the wall?  Perhaps.  Cody walked part of the way around the wall.  It was made of steel.  Cody got an idea and smiled.


    He made sure there were no guards nearby, and then made a section of the wall decay away.  Not too much of it; just a small hole.  He used the hole to climb up the wall.  He created several more holes, and used them to support himself.


    At one point, Cody heard some guards coming.  His eyes widened.  He couldn¡¯t get away in time not to raise any alarm.  Cody rushed up the wall and climbed up the ledge onto the top, stepping right in front of the guards, intending to immobilize them before they could alert anyone to his position.


    Before he could knock them out, both of the guards pressed buttons on their suits.  An alarm sounded.  Cody heard people screaming.


    Cody jumped off the wall and landed in the city.  He dashed toward the palace.  He could see it in the center of the city, only a few minutes away.


    Grass was flattened by Cody¡¯s feet as he ran.  He saw a guard coming from the left.  He swerved to the right, forcing the guard to end up behind him.  Cody was able to outrun the guard with ease.  Another guard came at him from the right.  Cody used the same maneuver.  It took him a few minutes to get to the steps of the palace.


    The whole place was built to accord with a lich¡¯s idea of beauty.  Fountains of blood, possibly fake blood, mixed with slimy dark brown goop flowed outside.  The handrails on the palace¡¯s sickly green steps were coated with rust.  The columns which held up the disgusting brown roof were coated with something squishy and pink.  Carrion flowers sat in gardens rimming the palace.


    Cody dashed up the steps, feeling them smack against his feet.  He approached the palace¡¯s large doors and yanked them open.


    Once inside, he looked around.  There were indoor fountains similar to the outdoor ones Cody had seen.  Hideous paintings covered the walls.  More carrion flowers were potted and scattered around the hallway.


    It took Cody about ten minutes to stumble on the throne room.  He barged in.


    Cody¡¯s future self stood up when he saw Cody enter the room.  His eyes were wide.  Cody stopped.


    The two stared at each other for a moment.  The older lich¡¯s guards pointed machine guns at Cody.  The older lich waved his hand.  ¡°At ease,¡± he said.  Cody smiled, but then his older self held out his own hand.  He stepped forward from his throne.  ¡°Bavandersloth is concerned that you¡¯re a threat to our order.  Are you?¡±


    Cody stepped back.  It seemed like his older self¡¯s voice had deepened a bit.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°Are there souls in here to worry about?¡±


    ¡°There are,¡± the older Cody said.  ¡°However, we can go into my private chamber if you want.  Bavandersloth¡¯s souls are forbidden to follow us into there.¡±


    Cody thought.  He nodded.  ¡°That sounds good.¡±


    Odelarch turned to his guards.  ¡°Stay here.¡±  They nodded.  Cody and Odelarch walked down the hall.  ¡°I feel I should clarify,¡± Odelarch said to Cody, ¡°that when I asked if you were a threat, I meant more along the lines of attacking our structures in this world.  There¡¯s no one who doesn¡¯t know that you¡¯d like to go back in time and change things.¡±


    ¡°Is that possible?¡±


    ¡°Bavandersloth has forbidden it for you.  He wants you to be kept here where you cannot be a threat.  Either he or Nglavingithu--or I, if I have a say in it--shall mentor you, and you will be given control of the next realm to lose its ruler.¡±


    ¡°What year is it?¡±


    ¡°2042 on your calendar.¡±


    The two arrived at Odelarch¡¯s private chamber.  A middle-aged blond woman sat on the bed.  Odelarch smiled at her.  ¡°Cherry,¡± he said.  The woman looked at Odelarch, then at Cody.  She moved back, her eyes wide.  ¡°I need you to leave the room for a moment, Cherry,¡± Odelarch said.


    Cherie stood up.  She nodded.  She didn¡¯t say a word as she left, but walked slowly past Cody.  Once she was gone, Odelarch closed the door.  The two sat down on the bed Cherie had been on.


    ¡°So how can I go back?¡± Cody asked.


    ¡°It does not matter.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  What do you mean it does--¡±


    ¡°Cody,¡± Odelarch said, ¡°I remember the trip to the future you¡¯re going through right now.  I know exactly when you¡¯ll go back.¡±


    ¡°When?¡±


    ¡°Before this conversation is over.¡±  Odelarch looked up.  ¡°At the time, I wasn¡¯t sure it was real time travel, but I suppose the fact that I¡¯m experiencing this now proves it.¡±  Odelarch looked back down at Cody.  ¡°That proves nothing to you, of course.¡±


    ¡°So how do I go back?¡±


    ¡°Gborin¡¯gargoth brought you here because he wanted you to learn about this future.  He hoped it would inspire you to action.  He failed, in my timeline, and since this trip has gone as I remember it, I suspect he fails in yours too.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°No!  That can¡¯t be true.  There still has to be a way to change things.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but probably not.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t accept that.  I have to try.  Do you remember what happened before you were sent back?  Can we recreate that?¡±


    Odelarch nodded and took a deep breath.  ¡°We can do just that.¡±  He put his hand on Cody¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°Cody,¡± he said, ¡°you must understand that I am wiser than you.  In many ways, I am precisely a wiser version of you.  With my wisdom has come understanding.¡±  Odelarch looked down at Cody.  ¡°And with that understanding has come evolution.  The truth Gborin¡¯gargoth thinks you will find so horrible is how my thinking has evolved.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Wait¡­ You¡¯re not saying¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to change the past or the present,¡± Odelarch said.  ¡°I like things just the way they are.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He trembled a bit.  He stood up and backed away.  Odelarch¡¯s gaze followed him.  ¡°I remember how it felt,¡± Odelarch said.  ¡°Go ahead.  Say it.  I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a monster.¡±


    ¡°Valthakar was right.¡±


    ¡°How could you say that?  How could you cave?¡±  Cody tried to shed a tear.  ¡°After all of the fighting I did, after all of the people I saved, how could you cave?¡±


    ¡°When a person casts their soul into an object they are not simply casting out a lump of spirit.  They are dooming their soul, Cody.  Notions of goodness, of even the vaguest sort, decay like all other things, most especially in us.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±  Cody took another few steps back.  He took his human form so he could sob.  ¡°Damn it Cody, you know better than that.¡±


    ¡°On the contrary, you know better than what you¡¯re saying.  Have you ever questioned what your ideals are grounded in, Cody?  They¡¯re a fiction.  They¡¯re a fiction created by evolution as an aid to the survival of a race to which you and I no longer belong.  Throughout your entire life, they have only ever caused you pain and suffering.  All your life, you¡¯ve sacrificed your happiness to uphold them, and all your life you¡¯ve plunged yourself into sadness when you could not.  You can never live up to them in any form, and you know it.  You¡¯re a lich, Cody.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter?¡±  Odelarch stood up.  ¡°Good God, Cody, listen to yourself.  You devour human souls for sustenance.  You spend your days helping a man take over the world.


    Do you think anything¡¯s going to change after this?  You love your friends and family far too much to let them die.  That is your weakness.  It¡¯s my weakness too, and it¡¯s a weakness I will have until their bodies grow too old and I have to devour them to keep them on this earth.¡±  Cody took another step back.  ¡°You haven¡¯t the power of will to suffer loss.  Not even close.  You¡¯ve always been a slave to your emotions.  They are the reason you have been good and they are the reason you shall be evil.¡±


    Cody cried.  ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡±


    ¡°Then why am I standing here?¡±


    Cody sobbed.


    Odelarch took a step toward Cody.  Cody moved backward.  He stood up, took his true form, and turned around.  He ran.


    Before he got too far down the hall, he saw a portal up ahead.  He sprinted for it.  He could see the parking lot he¡¯d been in before on the other side.  Cody jumped through, landing on his stomach.  Gborin was standing there outside, waiting for him.  Cody thought he heard the portal close behind him.


    Gborin looked down on Cody for a moment.  ¡°Are you willing?¡± he finally said.


    Cody stood up.  He looked up at Gborin.  ¡°My future self said he remembered you sending me there.  Does that mean there¡¯s nothing that can be done?¡±


    Gborin¡¯s head sank a bit.  ¡°That means it hasn¡¯t been done yet.¡±


    ¡°Then what do I do?¡±


    ¡°You kill Bavandersloth.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Okay.¡±  Cody waited a moment.  ¡°Was all of that real time travel, or just a hallucination?¡±


    ¡°Neither.¡±  Gborin took a step toward Cody.  ¡°It was a shadow.¡±


    ¡°A shadow?¡±


    ¡°The wills of mortals make exact prediction of the future difficult, but I¡¯ve long known of a creature that, casts a shadow of what it calculates to be the most likely future.¡±


    ¡°So none of that suffering has happened yet?¡±


    ¡°No.  The people you met were philosophical zombies.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡±  Cody looked down.  ¡°So, will Bavandersloth kill my family?¡±


    ¡°Very possibly.  I¡¯ve blinded his and Valthakar¡¯s souls, so no one can see us right now, but I can¡¯t to anything to ensure he won¡¯t figure out that you¡¯re trying to stop him.¡±


    ¡°Why not kill him yourself?  You had that opportunity when you took him, right?¡±


    Gborin shook his head.  ¡°No.  I didn¡¯t have his phylactery.¡±


    ¡°Still, couldn¡¯t you get it?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily.  Justin¡¯s ability is not as easy to use as it appears, and I¡¯m currently using a large portion of my power for something else.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m keeping Kandrinarkora from coming back.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The less I tell you, the better, but Kandrinarkora is trying to come back, and this planet is essential to his efforts.  With me doing what I¡¯m doing right now, he can¡¯t release himself.  Someone from the other side, though, could release him, and there are plenty of beings who¡¯d volunteer.  It¡¯d be a long and complicated process, though, and the people of this world would want to try and stop him.  That is, of course, unless Bavandersloth pacifies this planet.  If that happens, he shall return.¡±


    ¡°Is that why he sent that dragon then?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  His goal then was to end life on this planet.  That way, his agents can run around here as they will and release him.¡±


    ¡°So, like, is he here or--¡±


    Gborin shushed Cody.  ¡°The less I tell you, the better.  All you need to know is this:  If you lose, not only shall the whole of the human race face slavery at Bavandersloth¡¯s hands, but his reign in the Underworld would resume.  That would mean that this world would be far from the only one to look like the Spirit Farms of old.  Worse still, he¡¯d abolish the afterlife.  Souls are at their most efficient when they¡¯re deactivated.¡±


    ¡°Deactivated?¡±


    ¡°When a soul is forced into a dormant state, consciousness ceases.  Because it doesn¡¯t have to do anything, even think, all of its magic is up for grabs.¡±


    ¡°And the underworld just wants magical energy?¡±


    ¡°Right.  It was originally programmed to supply energy to the gods, but a glitch in their instructions caused it to stop them from taking its power.  Now it simply collects magic to no end at all.¡±


    ¡°Okay then,¡± Cody said.  He clenched his fist.  ¡°I think I can do this.¡±


    ¡°Good.  I¡¯ll be available for you to talk to any time you want.  What little power I can spare, I¡¯ll be happy to use, but the bulk of the responsibility here lies on you.¡±


    ¡°I already have a plan.  We need to find a way to ensure Justin will believe me when I tell him the truth about Bavandersloth.  If I just tell him now, it¡¯ll be Bavandersloth¡¯s word against mine, and Bavandersloth will probably be able to weasel out of that.¡±


    ¡°You need proof, then?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°Think on that, then.  I¡¯ll think about it too.  We¡¯ll speak again soon.  If you need me, just whisper my name.  Bavandersloth¡¯s souls won¡¯t be able to hear you if you¡¯re quiet enough.  They¡¯re not usually that close to you.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Oh, and that thing you do where you eat extra souls to try to keep them out of hell.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Stop that.  I won¡¯t say anymore, but it¡¯s based on a misconception of how things work.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He looked down.  ¡°Oh, okay.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad.  You didn¡¯t know any better.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    Cody turned back to the abandoned streets of the Northwest District.  The sun was creeping up on the horizon.  Odd, it¡¯d felt like he¡¯d spend longer in the future.  Perhaps Gborin had compressed time for him.  Was that possible?  If he had, he hadn¡¯t done it enough.  Cody¡¯d have to go without food tonight if he was going to get back home in time to be there when his parents woke up.  Cody sprinted home.

 1.21 Confessions of a Soulless One

    As Bavandersloth sat in his home, a massive swarm of souls appeared in front of him.  He looked up and gasped.  ¡°What is it?¡± he asked.  They all started talking at the same time.  Bavandersloth couldn¡¯t understand any of them.  ¡°Stop talking,¡± he said.  They did.  He pointed at one.  ¡°You, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°My two partners and I were tracking Cherie Lambert as you ordered, sir, and, out of nowhere, everything went dark.  We couldn¡¯t see or hear anything but each other.  The other two stayed behind and I came straight here.¡±


    ¡°Can you see anything now?¡±


    ¡°I can see you, master.¡±


    ¡°Is that all?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Around you, it¡¯s just black.¡±


    ¡°Not even the chair I¡¯m sitting in?  Nothing?¡±


    ¡°Nothing, master.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked down.  He took a deep breath and thought.  He¡¯d never heard of something like this happening before.  He didn¡¯t know it was possible.  He looked up at his souls.  ¡°Any of you who this didn¡¯t happen to, or who know of one of my souls who this didn¡¯t happen to, come forward.¡±  None of them did.  Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°Alright then, disperse.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master,¡± they all said.


    Bavandersloth turned to his phone.  He picked it up and dialed Nglavingithu¡¯s number.  After a few rings, Nglavingithu answered.  ¡°This is Nglavingithu,¡± he said.  ¡°Why have you contacted me?¡±


    ¡°Hello, this is Bavandersloth.  Something has happened to my souls.¡±


    ¡°I know.  One of the souls I use to watch you just came here and told me so.¡±


    ¡°So the same thing hasn¡¯t happened to you then?¡±


    ¡°No.  Of the liches I keep watch over, only you and Valthakar have been affected.¡±


    Bavandersloth took a deep breath.


    ¡°Alright.  I¡¯m going to try to figure out why this is happening.¡±


    ¡°Acknowledged.  Do you have anything else to say?¡±


    ¡°No.  Thanks for your help.¡±


    ¡°Acknowledged.¡±  Nglavingithu hung up.


    Bavandersloth put the phone down, stood up and grabbed his copy of On Soulless Ones from his bookshelf.  He picked up the quill that rested on one page and wrote on the other.


    ¡°Do you know of any means by which all of a Lich¡¯s souls may be blinded and deafened to everything but each other and their master?¡±


    ¡°There is a spell which does that.¡±


    Bavandersloth tuned the page, wishing to see the spell¡¯s entry.  There it was.


    ¡°Soul Blinding, Level 3


    ¡°Requirements: The Lich casting this spell must be in their true form and possess 51,810,065 souls.¡±


    Bavandersloth did a quick calculation in his head.  A lich with that many souls would be around one-hundred-fifty-thousand years old.  Bavandersloth kept reading.


    ¡°At least one soul owned by the lich targeted must be sufficiently close, the range being determined by the caster¡¯s soul count.


    ¡°Method: For soul counts greater than 85,951,428, the effect need merely be willed.  For soul counts lower than 85,951,428 but higher than 51,810,065, the lich desiring to cast the spell must sit upon a small surface such as a cloth or a sheet in some solid structure in an enchanted space and perform the following ritual:¡±


    The ritual the text went on to describe was quite long and elaborate and called for the sacrifice of a child.  The ritual was far too elaborate to perform with one of Bavandersloth¡¯s souls in range without them noticing.  Perhaps one of his souls had been bound in place?  He could do a tally of them to try to see if that was the case.  Either way, he knew of no lich on earth old enough to cast the blinding spell with or without a ritual.  There was, however, Kgobauru.  Perhaps Bavandersloth had been wrong to think he had nothing to do with the incident in the amusement park.  Perhaps Kgobauru was making some sort of move against him.


    *****


    Cody felt his stomach growl as he climbed into his window and rushed into his bed.  As he waited for his mother to come and try to wake him up, he thought.  What would prove that Valthakar didn¡¯t kill Justin¡¯s parents, and that Bavandersloth did?  Cody had initially figured it out because he¡¯d found it too convenient that Bavandersloth had just happened to be in the right place to save Justin, but that fact would only be enough to make Justin suspicious, which could cause Justin to ask Bavandersloth about it, thus telling Bavandersloth that Cody was trying to stop him.  What¡¯s more, Bavandersloth could claim that he¡¯d had some of his souls following Valthakar.


    Cody could try to prove that Valthakar was somewhere else at the time.  As far as Cody knew, Valthakar had gone to his old mansion when he left Cody¡¯s house and been there until Bavandersloth bound him later that night.  Was there any way to prove that Valthakar was there at the moment Justin¡¯s parents were killed?  What traces do people leave when they¡¯re at home?  Cody could try to figure out if there was a call made on that house¡¯s landline around that time.  Before he could do that, though, he needed to know when that was.


    He didn¡¯t remember off the top of his head on what date he¡¯d been arrested, but he could look up the date of the police station fire and learn if from there.  As for the time, hospital records would also show when Cherie was admitted, and he was arrested right after that.  He¡¯d contacted Bavandersloth with his soul a few hours later.  Justin¡¯s parents had been killed sometime between then and when Cody went to Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion afterward.  Off the top of his head, it seemed like that¡¯d been between 11:00 PM and 2:00 AM or so.


    That also might have been a good time to figure out when Bavandersloth gave the speech Cody had heard.  It was seven months to the day after the first interview.  It would be best if Cody could stop Bavandersloth before that date.


    As Cody thought, his mother opened the door to wake him up.  Cody feigned drowsiness as he sat up and got out of bed to get ready for Mass.


    *****


    After Mass, Cody walked over to Lester¡¯s house.  When he knocked on the door, Lester opened it.  He smiled and invited Cody upstairs.  As Cody walked in, he heard Lester¡¯s mother working in the kitchen.


    The two got up to Lester¡¯s room and Lester sat down on the bed.  ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± he asked.  ¡°Justin called me earlier to tell me you were alright.  What happened?¡±


    ¡°A lot,¡± Cody said.  His eyes widened.  ¡°Hey, what happened to the window that got broken by¡± Cody paused.  He¡¯d nearly said ¡®Gborin¡¯gargoth.¡¯ ¡°the creature who kidnapped me last night.¡±


    Lester tilted his head.  ¡°I was going to bring that up later.  After the thing was a ways away, I debated whether or not to chase after it.  I ended up deciding to use your phone to try to tell Cherie¡¯s dad about it.  I turned around to pick up the phone and when I looked back at the window it was fixed.¡±


    Cody stood.  He wasn¡¯t as surprised as he thought he should have been.


    ¡°So what happened?¡± Lester asked.  ¡°Justin told me you ended up in the Northwest District.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Yeah, at a place called Joy¡¯s Coast.¡±  Cody told Lester the entire story of what happened in the park, from waking up on the raft to leaving.  Lester listened.  His eyes widened when Cody mentioned his interpretation of the specter¡¯s allegory.  Cody finished the story.


    ¡°So you just came home?¡±


    Cody shook his head.  ¡°I was only about half way done.¡±


    ¡°So what happened next?¡±


    Cody smiled.  He put his head down and whispered for Gborin¡¯gargoth to get rid of any souls after him.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Lester asked.


    ¡°I found a way to keep Bavandersloth from spying on us.  It might be possible for us to stop him.¡±


    Lester gasped.  ¡°What?¡±  He stood up.  ¡°How?¡±


    Cody told Lester about the rest of the story.


    Lester was back sitting on the bed when it was over.  His eyes were wide.  ¡°So¡­ what the lich alien or whatever told you¡­ this really is all about you being willing to let me die?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how you made it sou--¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to die.  I¡¯m going to kill Bavandersloth and save the world.¡±


    Lester gulped.  He sighed.  He looked down.  ¡°If you say so.¡±  He looked back up.  ¡°If you are going to try this, there is one thing I would like.¡±


    Cody raised an eyebrow.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°A gun, if the alien can get me one.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°A gun isn¡¯t going to do anything if Bavandersloth comes after you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not for him.¡±


    Cody tilted his head for a second, and then understood.  His eyes widened.  ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Just as a last resort.  If Bavandersloth comes after me I can keep him from getting my soul.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°I¡¯ll see if that¡¯s possible.¡±


    Lester smiled.  ¡°Okay.  We might want to do the same thing for Steven and Reidel.¡±


    Cody looked down.  He thought.  ¡°Probably,¡± he said.  ¡°We¡¯d have to tell them everything, though.  Well, almost everything.¡±


    ¡°I know.  It¡¯s long past time we did.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Okay then.  Let¡¯s do it after school tomorrow.  They might make a scene if we do it at lunch.¡±


    Lester nodded.  ¡°Okay.¡±  There was a pause.  ¡°So you said you wanted to look up some dates?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.  I could do that on your computer real quick.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Lester said.  ¡°So long as you clear it from my history afterwards.  If you don¡¯t, Bavandersloth might figure out what happened.¡±


    Cody nodded.  He turned around.  History.  His eyes widened.  He turned back around.  ¡°The house where Valthakar was living would have had a computer.  Once I have the date and time, I can look in its web history to see if Valthakar loaded a web-page around the time he¡¯d have to have been away from that house if he killed Justin¡¯s parents.¡±


    ¡°Good Idea,¡± Lester said.  There was a pause.  Cody sat back down.  He opened his browser.  He googled ¡®Goldfalls Police Station Fire 2013.¡¯  An online encyclopedia page came up.


    ¡°The Goldfalls Police Station Fire refers to the burning of the primary police station in Goldfalls Ca. on October, 20 2013.  The fire resulted in the deaths of over one-hundred prisoners and police officers, including Leon Williams.  Though the initial police investigation concluded that the fire was the result of arson, subsequent investigations have shown that there is little reason to think anything of this.¡±


    October Twentieth.  Cody repeated that a few times in his mind.


    Next, he looked up the date of Bavandersloth¡¯s first interview.  He found another page which included a timeline of all of the interviews Bavandersloth and Valthakar had given.  The first one was on October Twenty-sixth.  Seven months after that would be May Twenty-sixth.  Cody looked down at the corner of Lester¡¯s screen.  It was January Twenty-sixth.  He had four months.


    Cody turned around.  ¡°Alright,¡± he said.  ¡°I have the dates.¡±


    ¡°How long do we have?¡±


    ¡°Four months to the day.¡±


    Lester looked down.  ¡°Are we sure we can do that?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re sure we don¡¯t have any proof that it¡¯s impossible.  I might not even need that much time.  It might be possible to do it tonight.¡±


    Lester took a deep breath.  ¡°Okay.¡±  He lay back on his bed.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to help if you don¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Lester said.  ¡°I do.¡±  Lester sighed.  ¡°By the way, do you plan to get help from DIAPP?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve not decided yet.  I¡¯m not sure they¡¯d be willing to work with me.  I offered to help them with the dragon last month and Cherie¡¯s father refused.  It¡¯s possible that this whole thing¡¯s big enough that they¡¯ll take my help, they also might do something to ruin my chance.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°Anything that¡¯d let Bavandersloth know what I¡¯m doing.  As soon as he realized there was a danger of someone helping Justin find out the truth, he¡¯d probably kill Justin, and that¡¯d be the end of it.  With Valthakar protecting him, no one poses any threat to Bavandersloth in straight combat.¡±


    ¡°If it comes to that, could you try to separate them?¡±


    Cody thought.  ¡°Maybe.  I don¡¯t know.  I¡¯ll definitely look into whether there is a way to break the binding spell on Valthakar, though without Bavandersloth to control him, he¡¯ll go back to being as dangerous as he was before.¡±  Cody looked up.  ¡°I¡¯ll think more about getting DIAPP¡¯s help.  Maybe, just maybe, they have something that could let them beat Valthakar.¡±


    ¡°Alright.  Maybe the four of us could vote on it?  Us, Steven and Reidel I mean.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Cody said.  The two continued to talk as Cody turned back to the computer to find Valthakar¡¯s old address.


    *****


    Bavandersloth thought as he walked the streets, hunting.  His souls hadn¡¯t started working again at any point.  Should he postpone his plans?  No.  That¡¯s what Kgobauru, or whoever was behind this, probably wanted.  He should keep on with his plans as he¡¯d originally intended.  No part of it centrally depended on him being able to use his souls.


    Bavandersloth looked down at his prey.  Without his souls, it¡¯d been more difficult, but not impossible, to find this man.  He was a member of the Selechii Syndicate.  Bavandersloth jumped down and landed right behind the man.  He put his hand on him and knocked him out.


    *****


    Cody walked to Valthakar¡¯s old house.  He¡¯d remembered the name of the gated community it was in, so he only had to check to see if anyone in the area had disappeared.  He was able to find the information.  A man named Kenneth Kurt Rogers had gone missing here around the time Valthakar would have moved in.


    Cody felt a chill rush down his spine as soon as he saw the house.  He approached it.  There was still blood on the porch from when Justin had been blown open by Valthakar¡¯s blast.  Cody went inside.  He saw a cup of coffee on the table.  The cream in it smelled rancid.  Cody couldn¡¯t resist a quick sniff.  He went into another room.  From there, he could see a pool outside.  The pool was full of leaves and insects.  Cody saw a computer in the corner.  He walked up to it and tried to turn it on.  He couldn¡¯t.  He tried a few more times before it occurred to him: the power bill here hadn¡¯t been paid.  Cody thought.  Was there any way to access the information?  Eventually, Cody thought of something.  He took his human form, reached into his pocket, and got out his cell phone.  He¡¯d brought it with him in case something went wrong.  He turned it on and pulled up the web browser.  He looked up how to remove a computer¡¯s hard drive.


    He was able to find a guide, but he couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it.  Cody placed his hand on the computer.  He closed his eyes, and willed it to begin decaying.  As soon as he began to use his power, he was able to sense everything inside the computer and make everything but the hard drive rust away.  Cody smiled.  If he inserted this into another computer of the same type, he¡¯d be able to look at the web history, or anything else that had been stored on it.


    Cody put the device in his pocket, turned his phone off, took his true form, and left.


    *****


    The man Bavandersloth had taken awoke in a haze, his arms tied behind him around a tree.  Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Hello,¡± he said.  The man¡¯s gaze snapped over to him.  His eyes widened and he screamed and yanked against the ropes around his ankles and wrists.  Bavandersloth shushed him.  The man struggled and thrashed.  ¡°Be quiet,¡± Bavandersloth shouted.  The man sweated.  He flexed and pulled as hard as he could.  Bavandersloth slapped the man.  The man flinched.  He gritted his teeth.  He stopped screaming and took a few deep breaths.


    Bavandersloth pulled an envelope out of a bag he had with him.  He held it up.  It looked like it had a severed finger in it, but perhaps also a note.  ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to be frightened,¡± he said.  ¡°I¡¯m not planning to kill you.  In fact, I need you to do me a favor.¡±


    The man looked up at Bavandersloth.  He shed a tear and pulled harder against his restraints.


    ¡°I need you to deliver this letter to Zachary Shepherd,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°That¡¯s all I want.  Can you do that for me?  I¡¯ll let you go as soon as you agree to it.¡±


    The man looked at the envelope.


    ¡°You can speak now, by the way.  That thing about being quiet was just while you were shrieking before.¡±


    The man gulped.  He struggled against his restraints.  ¡°Fine,¡± he said.  ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°Don¡¯t open it beforehand.  Give it directly to them.¡±


    The man hyperventilated.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Good.¡±  He undid the ropes and gave the man the letter.  The man took it and, after a few minutes, walked off with it, still reeking of fear.  Bavandersloth turned around and when back into town to hunt.


    *****


    Zach turned his head as he heard his door open.  One of his underlings came in.  ¡°Sir,¡± the man said.


    Zach raised an eyebrow.  ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°One of our dealers is outside.  He says an Angel abducted him and made him promise to deliver something to you.  Should I send him in?¡±


    Zachary¡¯s eyes widened.  He nodded.  ¡°Of course.¡±  Zach¡¯s guard left the room and the dealer came in.  He was a kid, around the age Zach was when he started dealing.  He was sweaty and trembling.  He held the note.


    ¡°Hello, sir,¡± he said.  ¡°I was¡­ I was out on the job and I--¡±  He took a deep breath.  ¡°So I was out in an alley, doing my job, when I just fell unconscious.  The next thing I knew, I woke up tied to a tree in the Northwest District, just on a random street.  An Angel was standing over me.  He gave me this,¡± the dealer held the note up, ¡°and told me he needed me to give it to you and your sister.¡±


    ¡°Can you hand it here?¡± Zach asked.


    ¡°Okay,¡± the dealer said.  He took a step forward and handed the note to Zach.  Zach opened the envelope.  He gaged and held it away from him.  It smelled awful.  He held the envelope at arm¡¯s length and pulled out the piece of paper inside.  As he pulled out the note, a desiccated finger fell out.  Zachary staggered backward.  He held the note as far away from him as he could and read it.


    ¡°Hello, Zachary Shepherd.  ¡®Tis I, Lightrook.  I wish to meet with you on the night of Monday, Jan. 27th 2014 in the lobby of the old Goldfalls Museum of Natural History to discuss a proposition I have for you.  I believe you will find it most interesting and to your benefit.  I can assure you that I will be alone, and so long as only you come, I will make no effort to harm you at any point.  Anyone else who comes with you will be killed, of course.  I believe the two of us can do great work together.  Sincerely, Lightrook.¡±


    Zachary stared at the note.  This was obviously a trap.  He looked up at the dealer.  ¡°Thank you,¡± he said.  ¡°You can go now.¡±


    ¡°If I may, there¡¯s actually one other thing.¡±


    Zachary raised an eyebrow.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°He¡­ he stole all of the products I had on me.¡±


    Zachary¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°How much?¡±


    ¡°Wel¡­ more than¡­¡± the man gulped.  ¡°More than $4,000 worth.¡±


    Zachary¡¯s eyes grew wider.  He clenched his fist.  The dealer backed out of the room.  Zachary sat down.  He groaned.


    *****


    Cody returned home the next morning.  As he crawled through his window, he bowed his head and whispered for Gborin¡¯gargoth.  Gborin¡¯gargoth answered.  ¡°Hello, Cody.¡±


    ¡°Hey.¡±  Cody lay down on his bed.  ¡°So I--¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to tell me what you¡¯ve been doing.  I¡¯ve been watching you.¡±


    Cody lay back and rolled his eyes.  ¡°Right, of course.¡±


    ¡°I have to if you¡¯re going to be able to talk to me on demand.  Regardless, there is one thing I want to tell you.  It occurred to me after our conversation that it would be better if I just left all of Bavandersloth¡¯s souls disabled permanently.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Oh?  You can do that?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  From the start of our second conversation, they¡¯ve been unable to see or hear anything but Bavandersloth and each other.  The ones near you also shouldn¡¯t remember the first time their senses were disabled.  As far as Bavandersloth should be able to tell, all of his souls stopped working at the same time.  He¡¯s already noticed, and he believes Kgobauru is responsible.  It¡¯s possible that once Kandrinarkora shows himself to him, he¡¯ll figure out that I did this, but, if anything, that will make him suspect you less.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and there¡¯s one other thing you should know.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about Pretty Pink Ponytails.  Bavandersloth sent her a note.¡±  The two conversed until Cody¡¯s mother came in to wake him up.


    *****


    After school, Cody, Lester, Steven and Reidel walked into Lester¡¯s house.  Cody had wanted to tell them that they were just going to hang out, but Lester insisted that they tell them that they had something to tell them.  When they got in, Lester invited them up to his room.  They followed Lester upstairs and into his bedroom.  Lester lay down across his bed and Steven sat in the computer chair.  Cody stood up in the center of the room.


    ¡°So what did you need to say?¡± Reidel asked.


    Cody looked down at the floor, a bead of sweat running down his face.


    ¡°Go on,¡± Lester said.


    Cody looked up at his three friends.  ¡°Have you seen a Light-rook interview in the last three weeks or so?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Reidel said.


    ¡°I¡¯m at work at 6:00 when they come on,¡± Steven said.  ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to catch them.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Okay.  Good.¡±


    Reidel raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Hey, man, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Cody took a few deep breaths.  He looked down at the floor.  ¡°I¡¯m the Ang¡­¡± Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°The¡­ you know enough from that.¡±


    Reidel¡¯s eyes widened.  He stumbled backward.  ¡°You¡­¡±  He stared at Cody, his mouth agape.  He looked at Lester, who nodded.  He looked back at Cody.  ¡°Why?  Why have you--¡±


    ¡°I have t--¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that!¡± Reidel shouted, his eyebrows slanted, his whole face contorted in anger.  ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything!  What the fuck could justify you killing, what, is it a-hundred-fifty people now?  How many times have I sat across from you, played games with you, not knowing that you were a fucking murderer?¡±


    ¡°Calm down,¡± Lester said.  ¡°Let him finish explaining.¡±


    Reidel turned to face Lester.  ¡°Clam down?  Don¡¯t you tell me to calm down!  You!  You knew about this too!  Where do you get off--¡±


    ¡°Please, listen,¡± Cody said.  Reidel turned his head back to Cody, fuming.  A tear ran down Cody¡¯s face.  He took a deep breath.


    ¡°Fine,¡± he said.  ¡°This had better be good.¡±


    Cody looked at them.  Steven just sat in the chair, mouth agape, saying nothing.  ¡°Back in August,¡± Cody said, ¡°as I walked home after visiting Cherie at the hospital, I came across a book¡­.¡± Cody spent the next twenty minutes telling them everything.  He told them about the magical book, and about becoming a lich.  He told them about a lich¡¯s diet, and about how he defeated the Black Death.  He told them about Bavandersloth, how they met, and what he was doing now.  Finally, he told them about the Underworld, Gborin¡¯gargoth, and what he and Lester were doing now.  He didn¡¯t tell them the truth about what had happened to Allen, because he knew that Bavandersloth¡¯s spell meant nothing could convince them of anything other than what they¡¯d been forced to believe.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!            At the end of it all, Steven hadn¡¯t said a word.  Reidel glared at Cody.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°So the big thing to stopping Bervandersloth--¡±


    ¡°Bavand--¡±


    ¡°Shut up.  The point is to prove to the kid that Berwhatever killed his parents?¡±


    ¡°More or less.¡±


    ¡°So you need to check that hard drive¡¯s web history?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Reidel pressed his lips together.  ¡°We need to find someone better with computers than us for that.  If we mess it up, we might accidentally wipe the thing and lose our only chance.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Cody said.  ¡°That might be a reason to get DIAPP involved.¡±


    ¡°No need,¡± Lester said.  ¡°We could go to any Good Buy and have someone there get the data off of it.¡±


    ¡°But that would cost money,¡± Reidel said.


    ¡°True,¡± Lester said.  ¡°What¡¯s the most we could pool together?¡±


    ¡°I could ask Bavandersloth for the money,¡± Cody said.  ¡°He¡¯ll probably be willing to lend me some, if nothing else.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty big risk,¡± Reidel said.  ¡°What if he finds you out?¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t.  There are plenty of reasons I might want money.  I¡¯ll have no problem convincing him that this is nothing to do with me trying to stop him.  He doesn¡¯t even know I have the hard drive.¡±


    Reidel sighed.  ¡°Alright,¡± he said.  Cody smiled.  He stood up.  Over the next few hours, the four worked out a few more details about exactly what their plan would be, and Cody answered a few questions about him from Steven and Reidel.


    *****


    Bavandersloth and Valthakar walked, invisible, up to the house where they knew Zachary and Pink to be hiding.  A line of Bavandersloth¡¯s souls had followed Bavandersloth¡¯s severed finger, which they were still able to see.  One of them had stopped in place every few moments.  By following the trail this left, Bavandersloth had been able to work out where the note had been brought to.


    The liches climbed up the walls by taking advantage of various fire escapes, pipes, and dumpsters nearby.  They made sure not to leave any climbing holes behind so there¡¯d be no evidence that a lich had been there.


    Bavandersloth reached the window to the room Zachary was staying in.  He took a brick he¡¯d carried with him and shattered the glass.  Zachary awoke.  Bavandersloth leapt into the room and pounced on top of him, immobilizing him.


    Zachary screamed for Pretty Pink Ponytails to come help him.  She ran into the room, holding a Molotov cocktail.  Before she could throw it, Valthakar tackled her and forced her hands behind her back, dragging her with him as he took a seat in front of the door.


    ¡°Hey!¡± she shouted.  ¡°What are you doing, you big smelly meanie?¡±


    Valthakar uncloaked.  Pink gagged as his scent suddenly rushed into her lungs.


    Bavandersloth uncloaked too.  Zachary¡¯s eyes widened further.  He struggled to force Bavandersloth off.  Bavandersloth waited for him to stop struggling, and then rolled toward the window and forced him off the bed.  He sat in front of the window.  ¡°Why hello, Mr. Shepherd,¡± he said.  ¡°Did you get my letter?¡±


    Zachary panted as he stood up.  ¡°Yeah,¡± he said.  He looked up.  ¡°I take it there was a tracking chip in the finger.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve no need to reveal my methods,¡± Bavandersloth said, smirking.


    ¡°I see,¡± Zachary said.  Pink still struggled in the corner, but was unable to escape Valthakar¡¯s grip.  ¡°So you¡¯re here to kill me because your trap failed?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m here to discuss the proposition I wanted to discuss with you.  I really did wait for you at the museum.  It would have been lovely if you had come.  Nonetheless, the discussion needed to be had, and your paranoia could not be allowed to impede it.¡±


    ¡°Hurry up then,¡± Zachary said.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that might not be possible,¡± Bavandersloth said.  ¡°For there¡¯s something of a story behind the proposition, and I believe it¡¯d be best if you knew it.  You see, I am not the do-gooder you believe me to be.  I do not wish to elaborate too much, but rest assured, I am much more like you than I am like a police officer.¡±


    Zachary raised an eyebrow.  Bavandersloth smiled.  He continued.  ¡°You may have noticed I have the media in my pocket right now, and I want to make my programming demand more attention.  Unfortunately, I am doing too well in my crime-fighting endeavors.  Since my kind went public, crime has dropped by an alarmingly high amount.  People aren¡¯t afraid anymore.  Granted, I tried to engineer that myself in the early stages, but now I need something better.  I need a boogeyman, and that is what I want you to be.  My kind has already eliminated maybe half of the criminal organizations in the world, mostly small things individual ones of us could take out in a short time.  Now I need the rest of the criminal world to strike back, and I¡¯m prepared to give you the resources to do so.¡±


    Zachary sat down in a chair in the corner of the room.  He leaned forward.  ¡°What kind of resources?¡±


    ¡°Money, labor, and information.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re asking to work for us--¡±


    ¡°Oh quite the reverse of that I assure you.  You see, I intend to contrive that a devourer will appear, quite suddenly, in this world, and cause trouble.  He won¡¯t really exist as such, but the public won¡¯t know that.  In order for people to believe in him, though, I need him to do dastardly deeds which I may then feign combating.  I will give you the aid of the odd one of us to help in your enforcement, reanimate corpses to perform petty labor for you, and use my powers to acquire information which will help you find those who defy you, especially the police, and destroy them.¡±


    ¡°You can re¡­ you can bring back the dead?¡±


    Bavandersloth chuckled.  ¡°Not properly.  They¡¯re just drones.  Their consciousness is nothing to do with the soul that once inhabited the body and they have none of the person¡¯s personality and memories.¡±


    Zachary looked down.  He was thinking.  Bavandersloth smiled.  Zachary looked forward.  ¡°I can¡¯t make this agreement on my own,¡± he said.  ¡°I¡¯ll need to contact the boss, and he may want to talk to you.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Of course, but you¡¯re interested?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡±  Zachary smiled.  ¡°And I imagine he¡¯ll be.¡±


    ¡°Splendid.¡±  Bavandersloth grinned.


    *****


    Cody knocked on the door to Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion.  Justin opened it for him.  Justin smiled.  ¡°Hey,¡± he said.


    ¡°Oh, hey,¡± Cody said.  ¡°Is Bavandersloth here?  I need to talk to him.¡±


    Justin shook his head.  ¡°No, he¡¯s out hunting.  What do you need?¡±


    ¡°Money,¡± Cody said.  He sighed.  ¡°I¡¯m planning to collect reward money for catching a criminal, Pretty Pink Ponytails¡¯ brother.  I need Bavandersloth to make a fake I. D. so I can claim the reward under a false name.¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Alright,¡± Justin said.  ¡°I¡¯ll tell him when you get back.¡±


    Cody turned around and started to leave.  ¡°What do you need the money for?¡±


    Cody thought.  Should he say?  Should he lie?  He¡¯d look suspicious to Justin if he didn¡¯t answer, but he might look suspicious to Bavandersloth if he was truthful.


    No, that was ridiculous.  Surely he could be vague enough.  Cody turned around.  ¡°I need to switch hard drives on a computer.  I¡¯m planning to hire the guys at Good Buy to do it so I don¡¯t risk breaking something.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Justin said.  Cody started to turn around, but right as he did, he noticed Justin¡¯s face looking downcast.  He turned around.  ¡°Hey, is something wrong?¡±


    Justin sighed.  ¡°I¡­¡± he looked up.  ¡°My brother might be able to help.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°Oh.  Does he know a lot about comput--¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Yeah, you could say that.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Justin looked down and sighed.  ¡°He used to work for Macroware as a hardware developer.  He should know how to do it, and he¡¯d probably do it for me for free.  He¡¯d not be able to do it in person, but he could walk you through it on the phone.¡±


    Cody thought.  Having someone walk him through it might cause a miscommunication.  Cody didn¡¯t want to take any risks he could avoid.  ¡°Is there any way for him to do it in person?  If he¡¯s out of town, I could find a way to go there.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t happen.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?  Where is he exactly?¡±


    Justin looked down.  ¡°In jail.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Oh.¡±  He took a step back.  ¡°I¡¯m sorr--¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±  Justin took a deep breath.  ¡°But yeah, there¡¯s no way for him to do it in person.  I might be able to get his help over the phone, though.  Bavandersloth could get them to allow it.  I could use my cell phone and put him on speaker phone for you.¡±


    ¡°Where is he?  Do you know what jail?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Justin said.  ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s called.  It¡¯s around here and I¡¯ve been there before.  His name is Ryan Cooper though.  You could look it up.  I think he¡¯s on the Online Encyclopedia.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  He sighed.  ¡°Go ahead and ask him,¡± he said.  He smiled.  ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Justin sighed.  ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±


    Cody turned around and started walking away.  He thought.  Out of curiosity, he pulled out his phone.  Cody did a search and pulled the Online Encyclopedia page up.


    According to it, Ryan Cooper had used his access to Macroware company servers to interrupt the flow of money from the company and transfer it to several accounts run by his accomplices.


    Cody questioned if he wanted to work with him, but concluded that there would be no opportunity for Ryan to do anything wrong here.  He decided to go through with it.


    *****


    It was a few days before they were able to work everything out.  Bavandersloth helped Justin arrange the visit, under the impression that this was a favor for Cherie.  It turned out that her computer was compatible with the Hard Drive Cody had gotten.


    *****


    Cody took a deep breath.  With Ryan¡¯s help, Cody had finally finished getting the accursed clump of incomprehensible metal into Cherie¡¯s computer.  He thanked Justin¡¯s brother over the phone.  ¡°No problem,¡± Ryan said.


    Justin turned off the speaker phone and held the phone up to his ear.  ¡°Okay then,¡± he said.


    Justin turned off speaker too.  Cody smiled.  ¡°Hey, can I talk to you for a second?¡± he asked.


    Justin raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to go hunting with me tonight?  We¡¯ve not worked as a team in a while and there¡¯s a spree killer I¡¯d like your help to take down.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, go ahead and meet me here at Cherie¡¯s tonight, say around eleven?¡±


    ¡°Alright.  That sounds good.¡±


    ¡°Okay then, see you.¡±


    ¡°See you.¡±


    Cody hung up.  He got out from under Cherie¡¯s desk and smiled.  ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±


    Cherie smiled back.  ¡°Nice job.¡±


    Reidel nodded.  ¡°So where are you going from here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell my parents I¡¯m staying the night here.  When Justin shows up, I¡¯ll bring him down, explain where the hard drive comes from and tell him everything.  Justin was pretty motivated to get revenge against Valthakar right after his parents died.  I¡¯m hoping that that hatred hasn¡¯t worn off so it can transfer to Bavandersloth, which would make Justin kill him, getting rid of the community¡¯s only mind controller.¡±


    Cherie looked at Cody.  ¡°You¡¯ve said Justin was made by Bavandersloth just to heal me.  Will other liches be able to do the same thing with this?  Will they be able to create another lich with the same powers?¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°They probably will.  The good news is that lich will be really weak.  Mass mind control through the media is a really strong power, so that lich will be weaker in other areas.  Also, after we¡¯ve gotten rid of Bavandersloth, we¡¯re going to leak the truth out about what,¡± Cody sighed, ¡°what liches eat.  Without Bavandersloth to come up with something clever, the community probably won¡¯t be able to get around that.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Reidel said, ¡°if they can get powers like that, why not just have a lich that snaps his fingers and gives them everything they want?¡±


    ¡°Because that¡¯d take more power than a new lich can have.  There¡¯s an upper limit.¡±


    ¡°You said they¡¯ll be weak,¡± Cherie said, ¡°but the other liches would protect a new world-conquering lich, right?  When they make a new one, what will you do?¡±


    ¡°Still kill them if I can,¡± Cody said, ¡°possibly through Justin.¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯re sure that¡¯ll be enough?¡± Reidel asked.


    ¡°Not entirely, but it might be.¡±  Cody looked at Cherie.  ¡°Have you told your father what we¡¯re doing?¡±


    Cherie nodded.  ¡°He approved it.¡±


    ¡°Good.  Also tell him everything I¡¯ve just said.  I won¡¯t be able to do much to keep the community from broadcasting like they plan to, and I won¡¯t be able to exterminate lichkind on this planet, which is what I¡¯ll have to do in the long term.  DIAPP will have to do a lot of the work here.¡±


    Cherie nodded.  ¡°Okay.¡±


    *****


    A few hours later, Justin arrived at Cherie¡¯s house.  Cody closed his eyes as he heard the knock.  ¡°There¡¯s no way for Bavandersloth to learn about this?¡± he whispered.


    ¡°There are no souls watching you,¡± Gborin¡¯gargoth said.  ¡°I¡¯ve spread the soul disability throughout the community.  Right now it¡¯s affecting the entire counsel and most of the liches closely affiliated with them.  Soon, it will affect all of you.¡±


    ¡°Could you make the fog around them wear out when they leave earth?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d take a lot more energy.  Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like mine to be able to keep exploring space¡­ and stuff.¡±  Cody looked down.


    There was a pause.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Cody,¡± Gborin said.  ¡°I¡¯d have to use enough magic to risk Kandrinarkora getting out.  I can¡¯t do that.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Okay then.¡±  He took a deep breath.


    ¡°Who are you talking to?¡± Cherie asked.  ¡°Also, is someone going to answer the door?¡±


    Cody sighed.  He started walking upstairs.  After a few paces, he turned around and looked down the stairs.  ¡°Gborin¡¯gargoth,¡± he said.  ¡°Look it up in the book.¡±


    Cody walked upstairs.  He opened the door for Justin.  Justin looked up at him.  ¡°Hey,¡± he said.  ¡°So do you want to just turn around and leave?¡±


    Cody looked down and Justin.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°No.  There¡¯s something I want to show you first.¡±


    Justin tilted his head.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Come downstairs,¡± Cody said.  ¡°I need to tell you the secret Bavandersloth and I have been keeping.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡±


    Cody started to walk downstairs.  Justin raised an eyebrow and followed.  ¡°Do you remember about what time your parents died?¡± Cody asked.


    Justin took a moment to speak.  ¡°It was the middle of the night,¡± Justin said.  ¡°I think early on.  Maybe around midnight?  Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°So Valthakar would have needed to be away from his house, all the way across town in yours, to do it?¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°I got Valthakar¡¯s hard drive from his house,¡± Cody said.  ¡°It still has the web history from that night stored on it.¡±


    Justin gasped.  ¡°Wait¡­ you think he didn--¡±


    ¡°Come.¡±


    Justin followed Cody over to the computer.  He sat down in the chair and looked at the web history.


    At 11:17 p.m., Valthakar had logged onto a television streaming site.  This might have been right after he got home after injuring Cherie.


    At 12:02 p.m., he¡¯d google imaged ¡°gore.¡±


    Justin¡¯s jaw was on the floor.  ¡°It¡­ No¡­ It can¡¯t be¡­¡±


    ¡°It is.  The timeline makes sense.  11:17 is the right time to be right after he got home from hurting Cherie.  If he watched one episode of something, it¡¯d take him about forty minutes, not much less than how long he spent on that video site.  I think a lich would be more likely than anyone else to want to look at random gory pictures.¡±


    ¡°But he can¡¯t¡­ so¡­¡± Justin turned around.  ¡°So you think Bavandersloth made a mistake?  Why didn¡¯t Valthakar tell him?  The binding--¡±


    ¡°Bavandersloth needed someone to heal Cherie to clear my name and get me out of prison, and who could defeat Valthakar,¡± Cody said.  Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°He wanted someone who¡¯d agree to kill whoever he asked, and who would be loyal to him afterward, so they¡¯d not use their power to retrieve phylacteries against him.  He chose you.¡±  Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  He started to cry.  His head fell downcast.  ¡°He killed your parents.  I figured it out pretty quickly.  I wondered why he¡¯d just happen to be around you.  He threatened to kill my friends and family if I told you.¡±


    Tears streamed down Justin¡¯s face, sobs escaping him every now and then.  ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Why would I lie to you about this?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t¡­ why are you telling me now, then?  If he¡¯s going to kill every--¡±


    ¡°His souls are disabled,¡± Cody said.  ¡°By Gborin¡¯gargoth.  I¡¯ve been working with him.  He caused the whole thing at Joy¡¯s Coast.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Justin sat, crying.  He pulled his knees up and wrapped his hands around them.  Cody moved to put his hand on Justin¡¯s shoulder, but Justin swatted him away.


    ¡°Bavandersloth has been planning something big,¡± Cody said.  ¡°You know that he¡¯s been mind controlling people in his interviews.¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡±  Justin cried.  ¡°Just stop.¡±


    ¡°You need to kill hi--¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s planning to take over the world.¡±


    ¡°I said stop!  I don¡¯t believe you.¡±


    ¡°Turn aro--¡±


    Justin¡¯s face was red.  He screamed at Cody.  ¡°For the last fucking time I said to stop!¡±


    Cody quieted down.  Justin sobbed.  ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know what to think, alright?  Give me time.¡±


    Cody sighed.  He nodded.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    There was a pause.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell Bavandersloth I said any of this,¡± Cody said.  ¡°The threat also included you.¡±


    Justin looked down.  He cried.  Cody walked into Cherie¡¯s bedroom, where Cherie and Reidel were waiting.


    *****


    Pretty Pink Ponytails smiled as she skipped toward the train tracks.  She looked at the train bridge.  She beamed.  She could have so much fun with it.  She couldn¡¯t wait!  She ran up to it and stuck the funny glowing spheres Light-rook had given her onto it.  They were so easy to stick.  They didn¡¯t adhere to her hand at all, but once they were on the tracks, they were immovable.  She had to stick them to just the right places, though.  Light-rook had said so.


    When Pink was done, she skipped away, heading back to her brother¡¯s car.  Her brother drove away.


    *****


    Georgina drove her train forward down the tracks.  She came to a bridge.  She looked forward and squinted.  She thought she saw a weird glow coming from the tracks up ahead.  That color¡­  That was the same shade of green Angel magic used.  She wondered--


    *****


    Bavandersloth laughed as he turned on his camera.  He shrouded himself in a layer of darkness with the shape of an elaborate caped costume.  He made sure it covered his chains.


    He turned on the camera.  He smiled.  ¡°Hello, people of the Earth,¡± he said, distorting his voice to make it sound as menacing as he could.  ¡°In the last few months, you have become aware of the existence of a group of beings you know as Angels.  You have learned that they have been living among you for thousands of years.  Their community, two-thousand strong, has fought on your behalf, or so it has seemed to you.  They have fought against the wisest among you, those you deem most malignant.  That cannot be allowed to go on.


    ¡°Several of the organizations your heroes have been opposing have contracted me to,¡± Bavandersloth cackled, ¡°compel you to cease tolerating the Angels.  I¡¯ll admit, when I was first approached, I wasn¡¯t sure what I could do to propel you along.  They have already killed you by the thousands and you have not cared.  However, after several hours of thought, something occurred to me.  You have not cared because they have been wise themselves.  They have targeted only the humans whose lives you do not value.


    ¡°I suppose then, to convince you to act differently, I must destroy those humans whose lives you do value.¡±


    Bavandersloth turned around.  Right on cue, he saw the train come into view.  As it did, he closed his eyes and willed the mystical spheres Pink had set to explode.  They did.  The bridge exploded into a million pieces right in front of the train.  The train surged forward, unable to stop.  It plunged right off of the tracks and crashed into the valley below.  Bavandersloth turned back around, as slowly as he could, for dramatic effect.  He waited until the last car fell off the tracks to continue speaking.  ¡°Now now, don¡¯t feel too sad.  We arranged to have the cars separated.  Several train cars toward the back are perfectly safe on the tracks a ways back.  Let me explain.  There are two-thousand-one-hundred-sixty-one angels in this world right now, a few more than the number of humans that were on this train.  We cut the train such that precisely Two-thousand-one-hundred-thirty humans would die in the crash.  We went into the remaining cars and shot thirty-one more.  In other words, the same number of humans have been killed as Angels remain on this world.¡±


    Bavandersloth took a step toward the camera.  ¡°Now, here is the rule.  As of this moment, it is the morning of Saturday, February the first, 2014.  One week from now, on the eighth, another tragedy shall strike, and once again, a number of humans shall die equal to the number of remaining angels on this planet.  Your task, humanity, is to do anything you can to reduce that number.  Kill as many Angels as you can.¡±  Bavandersloth raised his fist for the camera.  ¡°Arrange for their executions.  Hunt them down.  The more of them you eliminate, the more humans you shall save.


    Bavandersloth grinned.  ¡°You have one week, humanity.  One short week to begin exterminating them.  Who knows?  Maybe you¡¯ll manage to get rid of them entirely and subvert the tragedy all together.¡±  Bavandersloth chuckled.  ¡°But probably not.  You might as well try though.  After all, what do you have to lose?¡±


    Bavandersloth laughed for a few minutes and then turned off the camera.  He¡¯d trim the footage a bit and then upload it online.


    Bavandersloth cloaked himself and started down the road.  He looked up in the sky.  Just as he had planned, the smoke from the explosion had risen.  With Kgobauru¡¯s enchantments, it should remain there for the foreseeable future.


    The smoke, having risen, split and clumped together, shaping itself into a string of characters.


    ¡°2161¡±

 1.22 Boom

    Bavandersloth sat in front of a green screen conducting an interview, live via satellite, with a reporter for a large News Agency.  ¡°Thank you very much for agreeing to appear on our program,¡± the reporter said, his mouth curved into a smile, but his face otherwise forlorn.


    ¡°Thank you for having me,¡± Bavandersloth said.


    ¡°You¡¯re very welcome.¡±  The reporter looked down at some notes.  ¡°After the train bombing that occurred this morning, a video appeared online of a figure claiming responsibility for the attack and threatening to attack again.  Do you know who the figure in the video was?¡±


    ¡°He was a devourer.  That¡¯s the most I can say for certain.  I¡¯d have to have seen his true form, the parts of it hidden under the veil of darkness he cast, to know whose double he is.¡±


    The reporter shifted in his seat.  ¡°The figure in the video threatened to attack again in a week¡¯s time.  Do you think you¡¯ll be able to stop him?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°What makes you so confident?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s only one devourer.  He might have a few more helping him, but I would have noticed a dimensional rift large enough to bring very many of them here.  The very nature of devourers means that there¡¯s at least one Angel exactly as powerful as him, and there are a few thousand more angels on top of that to help fight him.  He knows that, and he¡¯ll try to accomplish his attacks while remaining undetectable, but he¡¯s unlikely to manage that.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not reveal that information.  He could use it against us.¡±


    ¡°Alright.  In the video, he mentioned something that¡¯s been controversial in--¡±


    Bavandersloth activated his power.  ¡°Let me stop you right there.  His outrage is not genuine.  He knows perfectly well that, sometimes, it¡¯s necessary to slay the guilty to save the innocent.  Situations come up sometimes where there¡¯s no way to keep from killing a perpetrator.  It¡¯s as simple as that.¡±


    The interviewer nodded.  ¡°Of course, sir.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  The interview continued.


    *****


    Bavandersloth pulled up to his mansion and walked inside.  He lay back on his great room¡¯s couch and pulled out one of his phones.  He called Odelarch.  After a few rings, the lich answered.  ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Hello, Odelarch.  You¡¯ve noticed the recent events in the news involving the bridge?¡±


    There was a pause.  ¡°Steven saw it on the news this morning.  I assume it was you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Now, I was just calling to tell you not to kill or thwart any criminals with green bands around their arms.¡±


    ¡°What?  Why?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to work with the Selechii syndicate to ge--¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re doing what?¡±


    ¡°I am working with the Selechii syndicate.  They¡¯ve agreed to mark their arms with green bands.  Just don¡¯t attack any criminals with green bands.  Standard threat applies: everyone you love.  Now, I remember that you couldn¡¯t handle that demand back when you dealt with Kaburlduth.  Do you think you can handle it now?¡±


    Odelarch sighed.  ¡°Yes,¡± he eventually said.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Excellent.  Thank you for understanding.  Don¡¯t tell Justin, obviously.  I¡¯ll not put him under the same restriction.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Odelarch, how would that look?  I can¡¯t have him suspecting anything.¡±


    Cody grumbled.  ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡°Splendid.¡±  Bavandersloth hung up the phone and called Zachary¡¯s number.  Zachary answered.


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Greetings.  So then, it¡¯s done.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve told all of the Angels to stop targeting us?¡±


    ¡°With one exception, yes.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?  What do you mean with one exception?¡±


    Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°I apologize, but my plans make it impossible for me to tell one of my--¡±


    ¡°Um, yeah, that¡¯s not going to work.¡±


    Bavandersloth used his power.  ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.  You¡¯ll only lose a man every few nights, maybe once a week.¡±


    Zach sighed.  ¡°Yeah, sure,¡± he said, ¡°but how will it make us look?¡±


    ¡°To whom?¡±


    ¡°To the people we might want to recruit.  To the people we might want to retain.¡±


    Bavandersloth kept his power switched on.  ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to tell them.¡±


    ¡°Maybe not, but what will the boss think?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be fine with it.¡±  Bavandersloth thought for a moment.  He got an idea.  ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what: Can you arrange a meeting with him?¡±


    There was a pause.  ¡°Maybe.  I¡¯ll have to see.¡±


    ¡°Can you get back to me about it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.  I¡¯ll check with him and call you later?¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡±


    Bavandersloth hung up.


    *****


    Lester awoke to the ringing of his phone.  He grabbed it from his bedside table and put it to his ear.  ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Hello, Lester, this is Mr. Lambert, Cherie¡¯s father.¡±


    Lester¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.  Nothing bad has happened.  I need you and your friends to come to the facility here in town with me today.  I¡¯ll let you take the day off of school.  You¡¯ll see a black car when you get off the bus today.  Get in.¡±


    Lester raised an eyebrow.


    *****


    Lester sat in a room at DIAPP¡¯s Goldfalls Headquarters with Steven and Reidel on either side of him.


    Mr. Lambert walked into the room.  ¡°Thank you for coming,¡± Mr. Lambert said.


    ¡°What are we here for?¡± Reidel asked.


    ¡°To get protection.¡±


    Steven tilted his head.  ¡°Protection?  From what?¡±


    ¡°All three of you, especially Lester, are officially considered accomplices to a lich.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck?¡± Reidel asked.  ¡°I--¡±


    ¡°You agreed to work with him,¡± Mr. Lambert said.  He sat down.  ¡°I don¡¯t know how a panel would rule your and Steven¡¯s involvement, Reidel, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a risk we want to take.¡±  Mr. Lambert looked at Lester.  ¡°And you, if you get in front of a panel, you¡¯re doomed.¡±


    Lester looked down.


    ¡°All three of you at least stand a chance of being convicted as accomplices, and that would lead to punishment by covert execution.¡±  Reidel started to interrupt, but Mr. Lambert raised his finger and quieted him down.  ¡°The only way to keep that from happening is to get you to agree to work for us.  You¡¯d spy on Cody for us, follow orders when they are given, it doesn¡¯t have to be much.  We just need it to be clear by the end that you were on our side.¡±


    ¡°What kind of orders will we get?¡± Reidel asked.


    ¡°You¡¯ll probably be put on standing orders to smash Cody¡¯s cube, if you get a chance to,¡± Lambert said.  ¡°We might have you go somewhere to spy with him.  You won¡¯t be asked to do anything that you wouldn¡¯t be able to.  Now, just say the word and we¡¯ll give you a few days of training.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Lester said.


    Lambert looked at Steven.  Steven took a deep breath.  ¡°Okay.¡±


    Lambert looked at Reidel.  Reidel looked down, and then back up.  He sighed.  ¡°Fine.¡±


    *****


    As Alberto flew through the water, everything went dark.  He stopped.  ¡°Huh?¡± he thought.  He looked around.  He couldn¡¯t see or hear anything.  None of the weird squids he¡¯d been watching, none of the weird corals he¡¯d been around.


    Alberto rose.  He couldn¡¯t see anything at all.  He couldn¡¯t hear anything either, or smell anything.


    He could still sense the locations of his lich and his lich¡¯s other souls.  They were all moving around, gathering together.  Maybe the same thing was happening to them.  Alberto moved to where the nearest gathering was.


    When he arrived, he saw the other souls around him.  He heard them speaking to each other.  One of them turned to look at him.  Alberto looked back.  ¡°So the same thing happened to--¡± he began.


    The other soul nodded.  ¡°To everyone here.¡±


    Alberto floated backward a bit.  He sensed his Master¡¯s location, even from as many light-years away as he was.  He decided to go to him.


    Alberto arrived to find his master lying back, though he could not see what on.  He was already in conversation with the other souls.


    ¡°So you¡¯re just letting this happen to us?¡± one of them said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the boy said.  ¡°Until I stop Bavandersloth this is going to be necessary.  Targeting the soul of every lich here is easier for Gborin than targeting--¡±


    ¡°Easier?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the only thing that¡¯s easy enough.  Look, I asked him specifically not to do it this way, okay?  I--¡±


    ¡°How long will this last?¡± another soul asked.


    ¡°Not very long.  No more than a few months.¡±


    ¡°Months?¡± another soul protested.


    ¡°Just where do--¡± still another soul began.


    ¡°Look, there¡¯s no way I can turn this off, okay?  I¡¯d like to.  Coming here and annoying me about it isn¡¯t going to change anything.  Now, the sooner I get back to reading from my book and planning, the sooner I might be able to beat Bavandersloth and the sooner this can stop.¡±


    The crowd of souls moved back a bit.  Alberto tried to shed a tear.  Just one.  He couldn¡¯t.  He gritted his teeth.  His master looked down.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but can I please ask you all to go away?¡±


    Instantly, Alberto found himself flying backwards, away from his master.  Alberto¡¯s brow curled.  There was another soul next to him.  He turned and looked at him.  The soul looked back.


    ¡°Months?¡± the other soul said.  ¡°What the hell are we going to do for months?¡±


    Alberto looked down.  ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    The two sensed a larger gathering of souls forming, and they moved toward it.


    *****


    Justin looked down at his feet as he watched TV.  He turned the television off.  He shed a tear.  Why would Bavandersloth do everything Cody said?  Maybe for the same reasons Ryan had done bad things.  Maybe he was right before he threw out his soul.  Maybe some people were just bad.  Why was he such a magnet for them?  He stood up and walked over to the phone.  He called Cody.


    After a few rings, Cody answered.  ¡°Hey,¡± Justin said.


    ¡°Hey there,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about what you said last time we went hunting together,¡± Justin said.  ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking I¡¯d like to talk to you about it more.  Do you want to go hunting together tonight?¡±


    Cody¡¯s voice was warm.  ¡°I¡¯d love to.¡±


    Justin smiled.  He hung up.  He went back over to the couch.  He opened up Bavandersloth¡¯s book to the Q&A section.  He picked up the quill.  He gulped.  It¡¯d occurred to him a few days ago to ask the book if it was all true, but he¡¯d put it off.  He was too afraid to know the answer.  A bead of sweat dripped off of Justin and onto the book as he put pen to paper.


    ¡°Who killed my parents?¡±


    ¡°Bavandersloth.¡±


    Justin¡¯s head sunk.  He dropped the quill, and it appeared back in its usual place in the book.  Justin sobbed.


    *****


    Cody met Justin in the alley they¡¯d agreed upon.  He stopped.  He looked at his phone.  He was seven minutes early.  He stood.  It was about ten minutes before Cody saw Justin walk into the alley, Sparky standing next to him.  Cody smiled and approached Justin.  ¡°Hey,¡± he said.


    Justin¡¯s head was down.  ¡°Hi,¡± he said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t smell anything around here.  Do you want to walk and talk?¡±


    Justin nodded.  Cody motioned for Sparky to follow him as the two walked down the sidewalk.


    ¡°I¡­¡± he took a deep breath.  ¡°I asked the book if it was true.¡±


    Cody put his hand on Justin¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°I¡­ I just¡­ Every time.  It always ends up like this.¡±  Justin looked over at Cody.  ¡°I used to look up to my older brother so much.  He was so awesome.  He was real nice.  He was good at everything.  Then he did what he did and I learned that he was a bad guy.  So much of what he¡¯d done had just been a cover for the money he¡¯d been stealing.  I looked up to you in the same way.  I already told you in the amusement park.  Then everything with Valthakar happened.  By the time I knew you were better, it was Bavandersloth and--¡± Justin sobbed.  ¡°I¡­ I remember when I first started this, when I was hunting, I thought I was helping them get better, the souls I mean, you know?  I thought I was helping them turn good again.  I thought fighting, even being forced to fight on the right side for a while¡­ I thought maybe they¡¯d start to really turn good, you know?¡±


    Cody hugged him.  Justin cried on his shoulder.  Sparky nuzzled Justin¡¯s thigh.  ¡°I¡­ I still don¡¯t want to kill Bavandersloth.  Do you think he can change?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Cody said.  ¡°But it¡¯s not worth the risk.  You have to kill him.¡±


    Justin hugged Cody tighter.  After a few seconds the hug broke up.  He looked down.  ¡°When?¡±


    ¡°As soon as possible.  If you wait any longer than May the twenty-sixth, it¡¯ll be too late, and he¡¯ll keep hurting people from now until then.¡±


    Justin sobbed.  ¡°O¡­ Okay.¡±


    Cody put his hand on Justin¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°It¡¯s okay.  You¡¯ll always have me.  By the way, you¡¯ll need to get Valthakar along with him.¡±


    Justin didn¡¯t say anything.


    Cody thought.  As sad as Justin was, his plans were going well.


    It was another few minutes before Cody and Justin caught the scent of fear.  The two traced it back to its source.


    As they approached the house from which the scent came, they heard screaming inside.  Leaving Sparky outside, they barged in and ran into another room.


    There were two men inside, one holding a gun to the other.  They both turned their heads.  The scent of fear Cody had smelled before softened, but it was replaced by a more intense one from the armed man.  Cody tackled him to the ground and pinned him.  As he held him down, the man started to beg.  ¡°No, please, the boss said you¡¯d¡­¡±  Cody only now noticed a green band around the man¡¯s arm.  This man was with the Selechii Syndicate.


    Cody turned around and looked up at Justin.  ¡°Does Bav know you¡¯re with me tonight?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Cody turned back around.  The man was in tears.  He closed his eyes and put his hand on the man.  He had more than a hundred illnesses to transfer.  He couldn¡¯t possibly give them all to this one person and have him live long enough to even take his soul.  Cody thought.  He had five cases of diabetes.  He transferred those in order of severity.  He had a girl with chronic nosebleeds too, and a few allergies.  He moved those over.


    ¡°Please, get off of--¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± Cody said.  He added a few infections.


    The man cried.  ¡°But I--¡±


    Cody took a deep, silent breath.  He moved the broken bones next.  The man screamed as his ribs and legs shattered.  ¡°Please, please,¡± the man cried.  Cody clinched his fist and moved over the cancers as fast as he could, then a few organ failures, and finally a heart attack.


    As quickly as he could, Cody scooped out the man¡¯s soul.  He was able to get it before the man¡¯s body died from the heart attack.  When he put it in his mouth, the soul wasn¡¯t as meaty as he¡¯d expected it to be.  Cody sighed and made the body rot away.  He stood up.  Justin was waiting by him.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Cody said.  The two moved on.


    *****


    As Bavandersloth sat with his feet up, sipping a glass of wine, he heard his phone ring.  He picked it up.  ¡°Hello?¡± he said.


    ¡°One of your Angels killed one of our men last night,¡± Zachary shouted.


    ¡°And this concerns me how?  I made no agreement that that wouldn¡¯t happen, only that most of my agents would refrain from--.¡±


    ¡°The boss is furious, Light-rook.  He¡¯s demanding--¡±


    ¡°Let me talk to him.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Let me speak to him.¡±  Bavandersloth activated his power.  ¡°You should give me a number by which to contact him.  If he¡¯s so angry at me he can talk to me himself.¡±


    Zachary sighed.  ¡°555-0133,¡± he said.


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Alright then.  You should go back to what you were doing.  I¡¯ll call him.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Zachary said and hung up.


    Bavandersloth put the phone back on the receiver and then dialed the new number.


    He waited for the other man to pick up.  After a few rings, he did.  ¡°What is it?¡± the man asked.


    ¡°Hello, this is Light-rook.¡±


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The man gasped.  ¡°How¡­ How did you get this--¡±


    Bavandersloth turned his power on.  ¡°You should continue to participate in my deal regardless of any casualties my men inflict on yours.¡±


    The man sighed.  ¡°Fine,¡± he said.


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Splendid.¡±  He hung up.


    *****


    Justin approached the mansion, having finished hunting with Cody.  He ordered Sparky to go into the backyard.  He took a deep breath and buried his hands in his face.  He held it there for a few minutes and cried.  He forced himself to look up and enter the mansion.  He took his human form, fished around his pockets for the key, and put it into the lock.  He entered.


    He walked past Bavandersloth, who was reading by the fire in his human form.  ¡°Hello, Tkoralkiarch,¡± Bavandersloth said, warmly, but without looking up.  Justin didn¡¯t say anything.  He walked past, toward the stairs.  When he reached them, he took a deep breath.


    Justin turned around and faced Bavandersloth.  ¡°I can kill you when I¡¯m ready to,¡± he thought.  ¡°There¡¯s no reason I have to watch.  I¡¯ll take your phylactery upstairs.  No, that wouldn¡¯t be a good idea.  I need to get rid of Valthakar first.¡±  Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  Could he bind them both, like Bavandersloth had done to Valthakar?  Maybe he should.  He put his head down.  Could he change them if he did?  That would be the point of doing it.  He looked back up.  He couldn¡¯t do anything without Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery.


    Justin willed the phylactery to appear in his hand.  It didn¡¯t.  Justin gasped.  Bavandersloth turned around and looked at him.  ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  He shook his head.  ¡°No.  No.  Not at all.¡±


    ¡°You look sad.¡±


    ¡°No, I just¡­¡± Justin sighed.  ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±  Justin looked down.  He tried to use his power again.  It didn¡¯t work.  Bavandersloth tilted his head.  ¡°You really do look like something¡¯s wrong.  You can tell me anything, Justin.  I only ask because I love you.¡±


    Justin clinched his fist.  He tried again.  He couldn¡¯t summon the phylactery.  Bavandersloth sighed.  ¡°Suit yourself.¡±


    Justin tried a few more times.  No feather appeared in his hand.  Why?  Justin¡¯s eyes widened a little.  What was going on?  Justin stood up.  ¡°Bavanderslo¡­¡±  Bavandersloth turned around.  Justin took a deep breath.  He held back tears.  ¡°Can I barrow the book?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s on the coffee table.¡±


    Justin nodded.  Bavandersloth turned back around.  Justin gulped.  He forced himself to walk to the table and pick up the book.  As he did, Bavandersloth spoke.  ¡°You really can talk to me about anything, Justin.¡±


    Justin met eyes with Bavandersloth.  He took the book under his arm and walked upstairs.


    When he got to his room, he lay on his bed.  He opened the book to the Q&A section.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I retrieve Bavandersloth¡¯s Phylactery?¡±


    ¡°You are being blocked.¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°Who is powerful enough to block me?¡±


    ¡°Gborin¡¯gargoth, Kandrinarkora, Kgobauru, and several liches out in space.¡±


    Justin thought.  It had to be Kandrinarkora then.  Gborin¡¯gargoth wouldn¡¯t block him and Kgobauru wouldn¡¯t know to block him.


    ¡°Is there anything I can do to make him stop?¡±


    ¡°There is nothing you could do to override the block.  Other, more powerful beings might be able to counter it, however.¡±


    Well that was just great.  Justin grumbled and lay back on his bed.  Cody had said that Kandrinarkora wanted Bavandersloth¡¯s help to escape.  Justin thought.  He sighed and sat up.  He picked up the quill.


    ¡°Is there any way to transfer Bavandersloth¡¯s binding spell to make Valthakar obey me instead?¡±


    ¡°You would have to release him from his original binding, freeing him totally, and then use a new binding spell on him.¡±


    ¡°Do I have enough souls for that?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Does Cody?¡±


    ¡°You have more souls than Odelarch.¡±


    Justin clenched his teeth.


    ¡°Well, how many souls away am I?¡±


    ¡°You have 468 souls.  If you are able to obtain Valthakar¡¯s phylactery and perform the longest form of the ritual, about 103 minutes, you will need 797.  You need 329 more.¡±


    Justin flopped back on the bed and sighed.  That wasn¡¯t worth it.  Justin sighed, lay on his side, curled up into a ball and closed his eyes.  He needed to rest for a minute.


    He sat back up and opened the book again.


    ¡°Do I need the same number to perform the binding spell on Bavandersloth?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d need 122,362 more souls to perform one on any lich with too few souls to actively resist, (which is true of every lich on your planet).¡±


    Justin groaned and lay back down.


    *****


    Cody went out hunting again with Justin that night.  As Cody sat, he felt several of the injuries he¡¯d tagged disappear, indicating that the people with them had died.  He looked down as soon as he noticed, and shed a few tears before taking a deep breath.


    This had been a problem lately.  Unlimited access to hospitals had meant Cody had to start making choices about which illnesses to cure.  If he killed a person while transferring diseases over to them, they¡¯d die and their soul would go to the underworld before Cody could eat it.  That would mean he¡¯d have to kill a second time that night.  Then again, maybe he should start moving diseases in multiple batches.  He¡¯d only need to eat one, and if he could save more people than he killed, it might be worth it.


    Cody¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by Justin¡¯s arrival, along with Sparky.  Sparky bounded toward Cody, who embraced him in a hug, petting him.  ¡°Off, Sparky,¡± he said after a few seconds of cuddling.  Justin smiled.  Cody stood up.  ¡°I don¡¯t smell anything, so same as last time, walk and talk?¡±  Justin nodded.  They started walking.  Justin was silent for the first minute or so before Cody turned to him.  ¡°So, you wanted to talk?¡±


    Justin took a deep breath.  ¡°I tried.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°Tried?  Could you not bring yourself to do it¡­¡±


    ¡°Not like that!¡± shouted Justin.  Cody looked at him for a moment.  He sighed.  ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to get his phylactery.  My powers didn¡¯t work.  The book said they were being blocked.¡±


    Cody looked at Justin.  He put his hand on Justin¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°Hey, listen, I know this is hard for you, but you really need to do it, okay?  Is there anything I could do to make it easier?¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyebrows furled.  ¡°I¡¯m not lying.  I really couldn¡¯t.  The book said that only Kandrinarkora, Gborin¡¯gargoth and Kgobauru would be able to block me.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He put his head down.  ¡°Is it true?¡± he asked Gborin¡¯gargoth.


    ¡°I can check for you.  Hold on.¡±  There was a pause.  ¡°Yes.  It is.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He grumbled.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°Well, is there anything we can do?¡±


    ¡°I could work toward finding a way around it,¡± Gborin said, ¡°but I¡¯ll not be able to do much while holding Kandrinarkora back.¡±


    Cody looked down.  ¡°Fuck.¡±  He thought.  He looked at Justin.  ¡°Do you know where Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery is right now?  Maybe you can get it without your power.¡±


    ¡°No.  He put it back in one of his hiding places a few weeks ago.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in a safe in some cave in the rocky mountains,¡± Gborin said, ¡°but I don¡¯t remember where exactly.  It¡¯d take power to check, and I¡¯ve none to spare right now.¡±


    Cody rolled his eyes.  ¡°Well that¡¯s just great.¡±


    *****


    It fell on Valthakar¡¯s shoulders to lead the second attack.  As Bavandersloth had predicted, the humans had done nothing to destroy their kind.


    This attack was to occur in a public place, in front of as many cameras as possible.


    Valthakar sighed as he neared the destination assigned by his master: a port in a very rich segment of the city.  Valthakar, keeping invisible, headed for the docks, boarded one of the ships, and then waited for Bavandersloth¡¯s signal.


    It was a few hours before the signal came.  In that time, while Valthakar sat on top of a high structure, numerous people came on the ship.  A little while later, the ship left the port.  A little while later than that, the signal came.  Valthakar smiled.  He had to admit this would be fun.


    Valthakar looked down at the deck of the ship.  He found an empty spot and then jumped to it.  Then he activated his fog of darkness in the shape Bavandersloth had instructed him to use.


    The people around him were startled at first.  Their eyes widened, or they gasped, or they took a step back.  After a few seconds, they started to realize what was going on, and they ran away screaming.  Valthakar laughed.  ¡°We¡¯re on a ship!¡± he shouted as he hit a few of the humans with magical blasts.  ¡°Where do you intend to go?¡±  Reason didn¡¯t forestall the panicking mortals, of course.  It never did.


    Valthakar ignored the humans after they ran away.  Someone needed to get the media out here.  Valthakar turned his attention to another ship visible in the distance.  He held out his hand and fired a magical beam, damaging it as much as he could.  It was beyond repair before a minute had passed.  Hopefully, everyone on board would die.


    Valthakar did the same to a few more boats before the news helicopter arrived.  That was when Valthakar began his real work.  He crouched down, in full view of the helicopter.  He looked up at it.  ¡°Get a good shot of this,¡± he shouted.  He placed his palm flat against the ship, and made it start to decay away.


    The yacht was the size of a cruise ship.  In truth, Valthakar could have reduced it to nothing inside a minute, but he slowed himself down.  He allowed the metal rails behind him to rust away, for rot to creep across the wood in front of him.  The News helicopter flew a few laps around before Bavandersloth activated his full sphere of darkness, jumped down from the roof Valthakar had been on, and tackled him.


    Valthakar grunted as he let Bavandersloth pounce on him.  As he allowed Bavandersloth to execute the maneuver, all of the ways he could have prevented this in a real fight flashed through his mind.  He could have blown Bavandersloth in half with a magical blast as he jumped.  He could have rolled out of the way, making Bavandersloth fall on his face.  He could have put his arms up to grab Bavandersloth¡¯s outstretched arms and throw him off of the ship, though that might have failed if Bavandersloth realized what was happening quickly enough and retracted his arms.


    Instead, Valthakar pretended to be taken aback, and let Bavandersloth pin him to the deck of the boat.  He kept the boat decaying.  He figured that¡¯s what the devourer he was impersonating would do.  Bavandersloth spoke in his special hero voice that made it hard for Valthakar not to burst out laughing.


    ¡°Too bad the humans didn¡¯t kill me, eh, dev?¡±


    Valthakar fought more laughter, before realizing it would actually work just fine here and letting it out.  ¡°Oh, not at all,¡± he chuckled, ¡°them leaving you alive just means another soul for me to take.  I¡¯ll be honest, I secretly hope everyone I attempt to persuade resists.  Their fate is always so much more fun that way.  Have you ever tasted anything quite so wonderfully crunchy as one soul simmered in hellfire and seasoned with the fried and ground up remains of another?  I¡¯d imagine not.  You really should though.  It¡¯s the most wondrous thing.¡±


    Bavandersloth pulled his hand back at that point, and punched downward, breaking Valthakar¡¯s arm, which was, of course, of no consequence.  Valthakar feigned pain though, screaming like a small child, before pushing Bavandersloth off of him with his intact arm.


    Bavandersloth let Valthakar do that much, and Valthakar threw another punch.  Bavandersloth blocked that one, and met it with another, which Valthakar blocked.  The two feigned trying to push each other over for a while, though Valthakar could have easily thrown Bavandersloth off the ship by now, until Valthakar pretended to be overcome and drop his block.  Bavandersloth seized the opportunity and hit Valthakar in the gut with a magical blast, forcing Valthakar against the rail of the ship.  Valthakar stumbled upward, as slowly as he could manage while appearing to be genuinely trying, ensuring that Bavandersloth would be standing over him before he could do anything.


    Bavandersloth punched Valthakar several times.  Valthakar pretended to be hurt.  Eventually, he lifted Valthakar up and dangled him over the edge of the ship.  ¡°Now, I think this world has had its share of you.¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  ¡°Oh, on the contrary.  Your world has had only a taste of me, and me only a taste of its people.¡±  Valthakar swung his foot around, keeping it under the rail on the ship¡¯s edge, and kicked Bavandersloth in the leg, allowing Bavandersloth to fall down to his feet on the deck, and allowing himself to fall off of the boat into the water.  He made a splash as he entered the ocean, removing his veil of darkness underwater while no one could see him through the brine.


    Valthakar came to the surface of the water, invisible.  He looked out toward the land.  The docks were nearly on the edge of the horizon.  He sighed.  He had a long swim ahead of him.


    As he swam, memories of his days as king flashed back to him.  He¡¯d been in his palace when the sinking had struck it.  The whole place had filled up with water, from the bottom to the top.  When he realized some of his people had been trapped in air pockets in the palace, he had to consider whether to let them die of thirst.  Eventually, he decided to make the palace, and a great deal of Atlantis, decay away, drowning many of his people.  At the time, he¡¯d cried, though today, he only regretted not eating them.


    When he¡¯d asked On the Underworld about the sinking of his city, the book had told him that Kandrinarkora had sank Atlantis, after being imprisoned on Earth.  It annoyed Valthakar that he might never be able to get any revenge.  Kandrinarkora had no doubt been the source of the aura that had lured him to Goldfalls.  In retrospect, he wished he¡¯d gone somewhere else.  Perhaps he¡¯d be rampaging for real now, spoiling Bavandersloth¡¯s image.  It would have been so amusing to watch the world crumble.  Perhaps, if he was ever freed, he could use that line about a soul seasoned with another soul.  Sadly, though, that would probably never happen.


    *****


    Bavandersloth stood in front of the reporter, inside his ball of darkness.  ¡°¡­here to report on today¡¯s tragedy, which claimed the lives of three-hundred in Goldfalls, California,¡± the reporter said.   ¡°The attack, which a devourer had threatened would kill over two-thousand, was cut short by the intervention of Light-rook.  He has agreed to an interview with us.  Light-rook, first, on behalf of everyone here, let me thank you for the lives you saved today, in a city so wrought with tragedy.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Nothing to thank me for, sir.  I¡¯m just doing what anyone would.¡±


    The reporter smiled.  ¡°Alright then.  Now, despite your efforts, it is my understanding that you expect another attack?¡±


    ¡°The victory I won today was a partial one.  I don¡¯t deny that.  A perfect victory would have come in time to stop the first attack one week ago.  A better one would have ended without the devourer getting away.  It is my hope, however, that I will be able to stop the next attack, and then perhaps bring this devourer to his end.¡±


    ¡°Do you believe he¡¯ll attack during the week to make up for his failure, or will he wait until next Saturday?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s difficult to say.¡±  Truth be told, Bavandersloth had not yet decided.  The character of the devourer no doubt would attack again, but more deaths might make this victory seem hallow.  ¡°I hope to be ready for him again if he does.¡±


    ¡°Do you expect that all future attacks will be on this city?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure.  He is attacking this city because of my presence here, I¡¯d imagine, but there are Angels everywhere.¡±


    ¡°Do you recommend for people who are able to do so to move out of the city as soon as possible?¡±


    ¡°It is possible that a mass exodus from this city will provoke an attack on some popular destination.  The devourer might want to send the message that no one can escape him.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t really answer my question.¡±


    Bavandersloth turned his power on.  ¡°It¡¯s sufficient.  It¡¯s all I have to say on the matter.¡±


    ¡°Alright.  Do you have anything additional to say?¡±


    ¡°Only that I offer the families of the victims my deepest condolences.  Though I know that it is the good, and only the good, I have done that has led to this, I can¡¯t help but feel some responsibility for the retaliation it has brought.  I am truly sorry to the many who have lost loved ones, and I hope that I can prevent your number from growing any further.¡±


    ¡°Okay then.  We¡¯ll be back after the break with more from Light-rook¡­.¡±


    *****


    Bavandersloth sat in his mansion.  He¡¯d narrowed down all of the networks who¡¯d offered him a show, and he now had only two candidates left to choose from.  He thought.  The Network for North American Television would get him a broader audience in the US and Canada, but the Pacific Broadcasting Company would be his better bet internationally.  The PBC might be more likely to drop him, but his getting cancelled was so unlikely in either case it wasn¡¯t worth even thinking about.


    Bavandersloth thought.  Unless he himself added subtitles to his show, anyone hearing his enchanted messages who didn¡¯t speak English wouldn¡¯t be affected.  One had to understand the proposition to be forced to believe it.  The PBC would allow him to do separate shows in a few other languages.  At the very least, his final broadcast would need to be released in essentially every language in the world.  He could have more liches made with his broadcasting power, but that might risk making him redundant.  If Kgobauru was truly trying to usurp him, it was be best to keep himself essential.


    As Bavandersloth thought, he heard a voice.  ¡°Bavandersloth¡­¡± it said.


    Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  He sat up and looked around.  ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I am Kandrinarkora.¡±


    Bavandersloth raised an eyebrow.  That was extremely unlikely.  ¡°Be truthful,¡± he said.  ¡°I¡¯m not to be played with.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not playing with you, whelp.  I¡¯m contacting you because we each need the other¡¯s help.  Gborin¡¯gargoth is attempting to circumvent your efforts.¡±  Bavandersloth stood up and walked toward the stairs.  Kandrinarkora continued.  ¡°Tkoralkiarch tried to kill you earlier today.¡±  Bavandersloth stopped walking.  ¡°He used his power to claim your phylactery.  Had I not blocked him, he would have acquired your phylactery and snapped it in half.¡±


    Bavandersloth thought.  That did explain how Justin had been acting.  ¡°Did Gborin¡¯gargoth tell Tkoralkiarch what--¡±


    ¡°No.  Odelarch did.¡±


    Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  He started back down the stairs.  That do-gooding idiot!  Of course he would ruin it eventually.


    ¡°Now, I need your assistance,¡± Kandrinarkora said, ¡°and as I have just proven, you need mine.  I only ask one thing of you.  When you have control of the world, see to it that I am freed.¡±


    ¡°And how am I supposed to do that?¡± Bavandersloth asked, reaching into his pocket to call Valthakar.


    ¡°I am imprisoned in the Golden Falls in your own city.  Its color is the refracted image of my tomb, though a spell ensures that all who walk behind it see a false back.  Only a very powerful spell may release me, and only then if Gborin¡¯gargoth ceases his meddling.  It is a spell which demands ingredients from far and wide, and which must be cast by a lich of untold age, though your Kgobauru is also capable of it.¡±


    Bavandersloth finished dialing Valthakar¡¯s number.  He put the phone to his ear.


    *****


    Gborin¡¯gargoth¡¯s eyestalks raised.  He let out a screech.  He needed to act quickly.  He clenched his fists.  Reluctantly, he moved the power away from guarding Kandrinarkora¡¯s release, and into addressing this.


    *****


    Sparky lay down outside, in the mansion¡¯s yard.  He smelled something funny.  He stood up and followed the scent into the small forest behind Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion.  As he walked away, he heard a loud noise behind him.  His ears perked.  He turned around and looked at the mansion.  He tilted his head.  All he saw was a fireball.  It was a large, pretty fireball, but still only a fireball.  Where was the mansion?  After a moment, Sparky ran off to find his master.  He might want to know about this.

 1.23 Fallout

    Cody was heading out to hunt when he heard Gborin¡¯gargoth¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Cody!¡± it said.


    ¡°What?¡± Cody whispered as he jumped down from his roof onto the alley between his house and the next.


    ¡°Kandrinarkora just contacted Bavadersloth.¡±  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°He told him everything.  I had to destroy the entire mansion, and Bavandersloth¡¯s form, in order to keep him from alerting Valthakar.¡±


    Cody stood for a moment.  ¡°Are the books still there?¡±  Copies of On Soulless Ones and On the Underworld were indestructible.  Being near the center of an explosion shouldn¡¯t have harmed them at all.


    ¡°They should be somewhere nearby,¡± Gborin said.


    Cody retook his human form and got out his cell phone, the bugged one.  He called one of Justin¡¯s disposable phones.


    It was a minute before Justin picked up.  ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°A situation has come up.  You should meet me back at Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m right outside the hospital right now.  What is it that we can¡¯t talk about over the phone?¡±


    Cody thought for a moment.  ¡°Actually, I guess we can.  Gbroin¡¯gargoth just contacted me.  He said¡­.¡±


    *****


    Justin trembled when Cody told him what had happened.  He didn¡¯t talk for a moment.


    ¡°Justin?¡± Cody said.


    Justin swallowed and took a deep breath.  ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°Okay.  Well, I¡¯m headed over there right now to grab Bavandersloth¡¯s books, both On Soulless Ones and On the Underworld.  After that, I suppose our priority is to explain the lack of Bavandersloth to the community of liches in a way that does not lead them to realize what we¡¯re doing.¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Right.  Any ideas there?¡±


    ¡°Not yet.  Our best bet would be to steer suspicion toward Valthakar.  Between the blinded souls and this, it will be easy for the community to figure out that a lich is working against them, and he¡¯s the only one around here that¡¯s not either of us.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s under that spell.  He can¡¯t--¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d have to convince them that someone broke it.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Just from thinking right now, I¡¯m going with Ntullnarlth.¡±


    ¡°What?  Why him?¡±


    ¡°First, he was here.  Second, it would have been possible for him to turn invisible and obtain Valthakar¡¯s phylactery.  He had enough souls to break the binding spell and cast a new one to make Valthakar obey him.  Third, he¡¯s gone, so he won¡¯t be able to deny it and, because the spell would have died with him.  That would have freed Valthakar to pretend to be obedient while working against Bavandersloth.  Fourth, Valthakar¡¯s deal with Allen assured him eternal paradise upon his death, but Kandrinarkora would abolish the afterlife if he retook control of the underworld, so Valthakar would have incentive to work with Gborin¡¯gargoth, who might have thought you and I too weak to be worth recruiting.¡±


    ¡°And how long has it been since you heard about this explosion?¡±


    Justin could have sworn he heard Cody smirk over the phone.  ¡°Less than five minutes.  I learned from Bavandersloth himself.  Now, there¡¯s a DIAPP agent listening to everything both of us are saying right now, and I expect them to be willing to help us out with this.  It¡¯d be to our advantage for the community to send someone to investigate.  We could find a way to trick them into believing the version of events we need them to.  From there, it¡¯d be a matter of finding Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and destroying it in time.¡±


    ¡°Okay.  So, what¡¯s our plan when it comes to tricking someone?¡±


    ¡°Not that far yet.  In the meantime, it should take long enough before Valthakar gets back to the mansion for me to swipe both of the books.  He usually hunts until the early morning.  I¡¯ll give the On Soulless Ones book to you.¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Okay.¡±


    *****


    Deerward picked up the phone and called Cody.  He had to wait a moment to get an answer.  ¡°Hello,¡± Cody said when he finally picked up.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Deerward said.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°We were listening.  I¡¯ve spoken with the Grey Man, that¡¯s the leader of DIAPP, and he agreed that it¡¯s in our best interest to help you.¡±


    ¡°As I expected.  Now, I¡¯m not much closer to figuring out how to make anyone think Valthakar did what we need them to think he did than I was when I spoke to Justin.  I¡¯ve come up with ¡®plant some evidence,¡¯ but I¡¯ve not thought of what would prove that Valthakar caused that explosion.  Do you have any ideas?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Let¡¯s think for a moment.  If Ntullnarlth had taken control of Valthakar, what would he have him do?  It¡¯d have to be something subtle that it would make sense for no one to have noticed until now.¡±


    Deerward thought.  ¡°Ntullnarlth wanted to expand his cult.  What good could Valthakar have done for him there?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.  Valthakar doesn¡¯t have any mind control powers.  As a slave, he¡¯s most useful for his raw fighting power, but Ntullnarlth¡¯s cult didn¡¯t have any enemies besides Valthakar and me.¡±


    ¡°And us.¡±


    Cody raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Did you ever actually do anything against it?¡±


    ¡°A few things, mostly small.  I could, however, arrange for our records to show instead that we had attempted something and it had been foiled by Valthakar.  An investigating lich could then be arranged to find such records.¡±


    ¡°And why wouldn¡¯t you have told me, and me told Bavandersloth, and Bavandersloth told the other councilors?¡±


    ¡°You were Bavandersloth¡¯s henchman at the time.  Why would we tell you everything we did?¡±


    After a pause, Cody said ¡°You¡¯re right.  That makes it work.  How soon can you arrange for everything to be prepared for that?¡±


    ¡°Only as long as it¡¯d take me to forge the documents; though something else just occurred to me.  Would there have been souls watching Valthakar?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.  Hold on.  I¡¯ll check.¡±  Cody took a minute to get out the book.  ¡°During the Ntullnarlth affair, Ntullnarlth, Kgobauru, Bavandersloth, and ¡­ and Nglavingithu all had souls after Valthakar at some point.¡±


    Deerward tilted his head.  ¡°That¡¯s all?¡±


    ¡°Too many souls would have obstructed his vision, which Bavandersloth would have objected to, and he might have used that as a pretext to keep too many liches from spying on him even before it became a legitimate problem.¡±


    ¡°Ah.  So Ntullnarlth is dead and Bavandersloth is gone.  We need to kill Kgobauru and Nglavingithu and make it look like Valthakar did, and then we need to kill him too.¡±


    ¡°Right.  So, how do we do that?¡±


    ¡°The first step would be gathering all three of them at the same place, then Tkoralkiarch could kill them.¡±


    ¡°The last time Kgobauru was here, it was for my contest with Ntullnarlth.  If I could get Nglavingithu here, and get into a contest with him, Kgobauru would probably come down to mediate it and Valthakar would spectate on Bavandersloth¡¯s behalf.¡±


    ¡°How would you arrange for Nglavingithu to get here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d call him, tell him about the explosion, and ask for his help figuring it out.¡±


    ¡°And how would you get into a contest with him?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d make it look like he ate one of my humans.  Everyone in roughly the downtown area belongs to me.  If someone else preys on them, I can object.¡±


    ¡°And how would you make it look like Nglavingithu did that?  You¡¯d have to be able to prove it wasn¡¯t you.¡±


    There was a pause, and then the line went dead.


    ¡°Cody?¡± Deerward said.  He thought.  His eyes widened a bit.  Every one of Cody¡¯s kills had several terminal illnesses, but Nglavingithu¡¯s wouldn¡¯t.  If Cody killed a person in his own territory, but didn¡¯t use them to heal anyone, no one would believe that he¡¯d done it.


    Deerward turned the phone around to dial the number to call Cody back, but then he stopped.  He thought for a moment, clenched his teeth, looked down at his feet and put the phone down.


    *****


    When he had finished his nightly rounds, eating one soul and stopping a few dozen criminals, Valthakar approached the mansion.  His eyes widened when he didn¡¯t see it on the horizon.  He ran toward it.  It was nothing but a pile of ash.  He saw no sign of his master, Cody¡¯s dog, or his master¡¯s boy.  The boy had gone out hunting before he had, but was usually back before he was.


    Valthakar took his human form and took his cell phone out of his pocket.  He dialed Bavandersloth¡¯s number first.  The call went straight to voice mail.  A few more of Bavandersloth¡¯s phones did the same thing, until Valthakar had exhausted all of the ones he could remember.


    Valthakar groaned.  Had Bavandersloth been destroyed in this explosion?  It had been one thing to substitute for Bavandersloth when he had planned for it the first time, it would be much harder to do it now, all while trying to figure out how this had happened.


    He thought.  On the very rare occasion he actually used the most powerful magical blast he was capable of, he would have been able to replicate this feat, but just barely, meaning that whoever was responsible for this was at least as powerful as him.  The scorched earth and ashes where the mansion had been were sufficient to show that it had not been made to decay away.


    There were two beings on earth who could have done this: Kandrinarkora and Kgobauru.  Kandrinarkora seemed absurdly unlikely, so Kgobauru must have been responsible.


    Valthakar dialed another number on his phone, calling Tkoralkiarch.  It took two tries before he got an answer.


    ¡°I was in the middle of a kill.  What do you need?¡± Tkoralkiarch asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s been an incident.  I got back to the mansion and it was destroyed.  I wasn¡¯t able to get a hold of Bavandersloth.  I think Kgobauru is behind it.  He¡¯s the only other lich on earth who would be able to do this.¡±


    Tkoralkiarch didn¡¯t say anything for several seconds.  ¡°Tkoralkiarch?¡± Valthakar asked.


    The boy finally answered.  ¡°I uh¡­ ¡± Valthakar thought he heard a sob, ¡°alright.  I¡­ I¡¯m catching another scent.  I guess you should keep working on it.  I¡­ I¡¯d rather just stay out hunting?¡±


    It took Valthakar a moment to respond too.  He sensed something off.  ¡°Okay¡± Valthakar said.  He hung up.  He put the younger boy out of his mind and focused on the older boy.  He dialed his number.


    Odelarch didn¡¯t answer.  Of course not.  He would have been at mass with his parents at this time on a Sunday morning.


    Valthakar looked around.  If Kgobauru had done this, he must have been in town to do it, which meant that he¡¯d have taken his plane, which meant that there might be a record of its landing at the airport.  Valthakar turned invisible and ran off to check for that.


    *****


    Cody walked upstairs from his room as soon as he got home from mass.  He got out his cell phone and held it up to his face, not dialing a number.


    ¡°Hello?  Hello?  Mr. Lambert?  There¡¯s something I need to--¡±


    The phone rang and Cody answered it.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Lambert asked.


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°I want to talk about getting my parents and friends into hiding, in case my plan with Nglavingithu doesn¡¯t work out, or in case something happens later to expose me.¡±


    ¡°There are procedures for that,¡± Lambert said after a moment.  ¡°You¡¯re right.  We should have done it sooner.  Of course, it will involve telling your parents about what you¡¯ve done.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°I know.  Once you¡¯ve gotten them to safety--¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to tell them yourself.  We¡¯re not going to waste our effort abducting them when you could tell them to come with us.¡±


    Cody looked down.  ¡°But--¡±


    ¡°Cody, what do you expect them to do if they hear it from us?  They might not believe it.  In any case, the first thing they¡¯ll want is to contact you.  It would be much easier for them to hear it from you first.¡±


    Cody¡¯s head sank farther.  ¡°Alright,¡± he said.  ¡°Can we arrange for it to be done this evening?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  You¡¯d better tell them as soon as possible.  Give them more time to deal with it before being taken away.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Alright.  Be here at 7:00.  I¡¯ll tell them in a few hours.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±  Agent Lambert hung up.


    Cody took a deep breath and waited a few minutes before opening up his book.


    ¡°What is Nglavingithu¡¯s phone number, including area code?¡±


    ¡°312-555-0119¡±


    Cody picked up his cell phone and then put it down.  DIAPP would no doubt prefer that he let them listen in to this conversation, but Nglavingithu no doubt knew that the phone was bugged.  Using it would look suspicious.


    Cody opened up one of his disposable cell phones and dialed the number.  In the future world Gborin¡¯gargoth had shown him, this was the lich who had been responsible for his losing the battle he now fought.  As the phone buzzed, Cody felt his lip curl into a slight sneer before he took a deep breath.


    The phone was answered after two rings.  ¡°Hello?¡± Nglavingithu said.  His voice was dry, dull, almost bored.


    ¡°Hello, Nglavingithu?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Who am I speaking to?¡±


    ¡°This is Cod¡ªOdelarch.¡±


    ¡°Why have you called?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Bavandersloth¡¯s form and mansion have been destroyed.  We have no idea how.  I went there to get something from him and found it reduced to scorched earth and ash, and he didn¡¯t respond to my calls.¡±


    ¡°Did you recover his books?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see them.  They¡¯re probably somewhere around there.¡±


    ¡°It is possible that the perpetrator of this already stole them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I suppose that could be.  Now, I¡¯d like you to come down here if you could and help me investigate.  The only lich who I know of that is down here and could have destroyed the mansion like that would be Valthakar, and he¡¯s been bound to Bavandersloth for months.  Kgobauru is also powerful enough, but as far as I know, he isn¡¯t here.  You know the community better than I do, and are probably better at doing investigations like this.¡±


    There was a pause.  ¡°I shall come,¡± Nglavingithu said, after a moment.  ¡°I shall arrange for a flight as soon as possible.  I will start by asking Kgobauru to fly me there.  If he approaches from the South, where he is supposed to be, it will be clear that he is not responsible.  If he approaches from the West, where you are, his responsibility will be all but confirmed.¡±


    Cody smiled and nodded.  ¡°Yes.  That sounds perfect.  We should meet soon after you get here.  Where?¡±


    ¡°My first stop will be the mansion.  Meet me there at eleven, your time.  I wish to see its ruins for myself.  Do not alert Valthakar to my arrival.  As impossible as it seems, if Kgobauru is would be best for him not to be warned of our arrival.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Alright.¡±  He hung up.  This was perfect.  This was absolutely perfect.  He wouldn¡¯t even need to arrange a contest.  He¡¯d be able to just meet the two of them on the tarmac and kill them as they arrived, then run straight to Valthakar and kill him too.  He could then tell the last councilor, Lorn-something, that he¡¯d come across Agent Lambert¡¯s false records of Valthakar working for Ntullnarlth, and that he¡¯d seen Valthakar kill the others.


    Wait, no, there was one problem with that.  He¡¯d need to explain how Valthakar had gotten both of their phylacteries.  He picked up the quill pen and wrote to the book.


    ¡°Do Nglavingithu and Kgobauru carry their Phylacteries with them?¡±


    ¡°Kgobauru usually keeps his wherever his current base of operations is at any given time.  Nglavingithu¡¯s is hidden in Antarctica.¡±


    That worked out well for his original plan then.  He¡¯d say Valthakar got Kgobauru¡¯s phylactery from him and that Justin had gotten Nglavingithu¡¯s from its hiding place for the contest.


    Cody thought.  Was there any way to get around the contest entirely?  He could find a way to make it look like Valthakar had tricked Justin into retrieving it, but that could have negative consequences for Justin.  He may even be executed for it.  Cody needed Justin.  He¡¯d be at a considerable disadvantage against the community of liches without Justin¡¯s powers.  He put his head down.  He had to frame Nglavingithu for the murder of one of his mortals.  There was no way around it.


    *****


    Nglavingithu waited at the airport for Kgobauru.  It would have been better if he had his own private jet.  He needed to look into that.  He shouldn¡¯t be relying on Kgobauru for transportation.  Then again, it did help him in this case.


    Nglavingithu looked up at the sky.  He saw Kgobauru¡¯s jet.  It was turning to align itself with the runway.  He only would have had to do that if he¡¯d come from the South.  If he came from the south, that indicated that he was in St. Louis, where he purported to be.  More importantly, he had flown here in a little over an hour.  He couldn¡¯t have gotten here from Goldfalls that quickly, unless he was already on his way back, but Nglavingithu had called him on his cell phone, which he wouldn¡¯t have been willing to use while he was on his plane.


    That was one of two suspects all but ruled out, then.  The problem was that the other suspect had already been all but ruled out.  How likely was it that the binding spell on Valthakar had been broken?


    But perhaps it hadn¡¯t been.  Maybe this was part of a plan by Bavandersloth, who had ordered Valthakar to destroy the mansion.  Why would he blow himself up?  Perhaps he wanted to frame Kgobauru to get him out of the way.  With Ntullnarlth gone, Kgobauru was his greatest opponent on the Council.  No, that didn¡¯t make any sense.  Surely if he intended to frame Kgobauru, he would have done a better job at it.


    Then again, flight records aside, Nglavingithu would be the only one who knew for sure that Kgobauru hadn¡¯t been in Goldfalls at the time, other than his friends, and the book, but the book was fickle.  God knew if it would answer a question like that.


    It was unlikely, put perhaps Bavandersloth had some kind of hidden design.  In either case, the plane was landing, and Nglavingithu needed to get on it.


    *****


    Nglavingithu landed at the airport after a four hour flight.  As he¡¯d imagined, his copy of On Soulless Ones had been uncooperative.  You could ask it any question, but it didn¡¯t always feel like answering.  It had never refused an inquisitor one of its little poems, or a lich¡¯s soul count, but when asked about finer details, the thing gave or denied answers according to its own whims.


    Nglavingithu looked back down at the book in front of him.  Its poem was the most he¡¯d been able to gleam about Odelarch.


    ¡°Odelarch,


    ¡°A Lich of Benevolence.  A utilitarian lich.  Cunning, he stalks the night and day seeking to bring about his kind and horrific designs.  For the right purpose, there is nothing he would not do.¡±


    It was as uselessly cryptic as every one of those poems.


    Kgobauru¡¯s voice rang out over the intercom, telling him to exit the plane.  He did, walking down the stairs and onto the tarmac.  As he walked, he smelled something, like gasoline.  It stank.  He turned his head as Kgobauru followed him out.  The plane was leaking something.


    Kgobauru¡¯s eyes widened for a moment, but then he just grumbled.  Nglavingithu looked up at him.  ¡°How bad is that?¡± he asked.


    Kgobauru¡¯s teeth were gritted.  ¡°Bad enough that I¡¯ll not be flying home for a few days.¡±  Nglavingithu kept looking at him for a moment, but then turned away and walked on, into the airport.  He went into the bathroom, found a stall, took his true form and turned invisible, then exited.  He knew where Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion was, so he ran straight toward it.


    *****


    Cody approached the mansion¡¯s ruins once again at 11:00, finding Nglavingithu already there.  Sparky was by his side.  Nglavingithu turned to notice Cody as he walked up to him.  The older lich looked around in the trees near Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion.  Cody took a deep breath.  This lich¡­


    ¡°Hey,¡± Cody said.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Nglavingithu said, climbing down from the tree.


    ¡°Have you found anything?¡± Cody asked.


    Nglavingithu shook his head.  ¡°No.  Bavandersloth¡¯s copy of On the Underworld is nowhere to be seen.¡±


    Cody stood there for a moment.  He clenched his toes as he looked up at the lich.  ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking on how Valthakar could have been released from his bounds.  I think I¡¯ve come up with a possible sequence of events.¡±


    Nglavingithu tilted his head.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Alright, so the only liches who¡¯ve been in town with the ability to release Valthakar from the spell and rebind him would be Ntullnarlth and Kgobauru.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you raise a very important point.  I¡¯ve been thinking of this in terms of whether Kgobauru or Valthakar did this, but it could be that both of them did.¡±


    Cody stood for a moment.  That was actually better than what he¡¯d come up with.  He thought.  Were there any holes in that scenario?  No.  He couldn¡¯t think of any.  He could easily invent a time Kgobauru and Valthakar had been alone, and that Nglavingithu was considering it seemed to indicate that his monitoring hadn¡¯t been sufficient to rule that out.


    The problem with that might be that DIAPP probably hadn¡¯t been surveying Kgobauru like it had been Ntullnarlth, so Cody might not be able to use his falsified records plan.  Still, he might not need it.


    Cody looked up.  ¡°So you think Valthakar might be bound to Kgobauru?¡±


    Nglavingithu nodded.  ¡°Yes.  You mentioned your own sequence of events, though?  Was that not a part of it?¡±


    Crap.  It might not be best for him to give out his original scenario.  If he presented it, and then he found proof for it, would Nglavingithu suspect something?  He thought.  He might say as little as possible, or feign at simply having been wrong.  ¡°I thought it might be more likely that Ntullnarlth had released and rebound Valthakar, and that Valthakar was freed when Ntullnarlth died.¡±


    ¡°Possible, but unlikely,¡± Nglavingithu said.  ¡°Given Valthakar¡¯s nature, he¡¯d run off as soon as he was freed.¡±


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be very smart of him,¡± Cody said.  ¡°Bavandersloth could just track him down and use Justin to get him back.¡±


    ¡°True.  Has he had any good opportunities to kill Justin since Ntullnarlth died?¡±


    Cody thought.  ¡°I can¡¯t think of a specific one, but I¡¯d imagine he would.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  Nglavingithu looked up at the sky, seeming to think.  ¡°My souls were keeping track of Valthakar during all of his interactions with Ntullnarlth.  Besides, unless Valthakar is planning something big, he¡¯s not patient enough to feign service to Bavandersloth for that long.  Kgobauru¡­ I know he was in St. Louis before he flew here, but it¡¯s possible he had Valthakar wait until now.  Why, though?¡±


    Cody thought.  ¡°Perhaps he was waiting until he could create a new lich, and now he has?  One with Bavandersloth¡¯s powers?¡±


    ¡°Might be¡­ I¡¯ll check the book.  In any case, Kgobauru being responsible is by far the most likely scenario.  That deduction should be sufficient grounds on which to hold a contest with him¡­ except that he¡¯d beat me at anything he¡¯d agree to.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He could have a contest with Kgobauru instead¡­ but then how would he explain why Justin had gotten Nglavingithu¡¯s phylactery?  He needed him killed, too.  ¡°Is there a way we could team up?  Bavandersloth was my mentor and my friend, so I¡¯d have a grievance.  I¡¯ve taken down powerful opponents before.  The two of us together could get rid of Kgobauru.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s powerful enough that he might agree to a two against one contest.  However, your victories against Kaburlduth and Ntullnarlth were only possible because they underestimated you, and in both cases, you came within a hair¡¯s width of losing.  You must understand, Kgobauru is one of the most powerful liches on earth.  The others are nothing compared to him.  The only reason he¡¯s a suspect in this is because of his immense power.  He obtains every ability in a miniscule fraction of the time it takes anyone else to get it.  Things neither of us will live to be able do with rituals lasting years, he can do with a thought.  He has so many powers, he needs another power just to index them in his mind and keep them all straight in his mind.  He will not be easy to defeat, especially given that he won¡¯t allow you to use your dog.¡±


    Sparky¡¯s ears perked when he was mentioned.  Cody took his true form and started petting him with his right hand, his dead flesh cooking from the dog¡¯s heat.  ¡°So, you¡¯re saying we can¡¯t beat him?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not likely¡­ but then again, Kgobauru has other enemies, and Bavandersloth other allies.  What about Tkoralkiarch?  Larngulal?  Actually, that¡¯s most likely our answer.  Yes.  Larngulal.  She¡¯s the only other councilor alive, and she¡¯s historically sided with Bavandersloth in most disputes.  She has every reason to want Kgobauru gone.  She could force him to agree to a competition he can¡¯t win, so long as it maintains the trappings of fairness.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°That would work.  We¡¯d kill Kgobauru.¡±  And then Justin would kill Nglavingithu and Valthakar in one blow.  All of their problems would be solved.  Nglavingithu¡¯s death would also be the first absolute proof that he had changed the future he¡¯d seen, as the other lich had been alive in his hallucination.  Cody clenched his fist a bit.  ¡°Is Kgobauru still in town?¡±


    Nglavingithu nodded.  ¡°Yes.  We shall challenge him now, and plan the contest for tomorrow.¡±


    *****


    Nglavingithu got out his phone and called Kgobauru.  ¡°Greetings.¡± he said, ¡°this is Nglavingithu.¡±


    ¡°Hello.  What is it you need?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve done some investigation of the events around here, and spoken with Odelarch, who¡¯s here with me right now.  I¡¯ve come to the conclusion that you are responsible for the explosion.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I said that--¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, I know what you said.  That¡¯s absurd.  How did I cause the explosion from so far away?  Powerful as I am, I can¡¯t just do whatever I like.¡±


    ¡°Valthakar cast the spell to cause that explosion, but you ordered him to.¡±


    ¡°And how would I do that?  He cannot defy his master, who, I¡¯ll remind you, is Bavandersloth, not me.¡±


    ¡°At one point, but perhaps no longer.  What if you are his master?  You¡¯d have an easy enough time breaking the spell on him, and casting your own.¡±


    Kgobauru was silent.  Nglavingithu continued.  ¡°You held his phylactery in your own hand while you were here during the Ntullnarlth incident.  You could easily have broken the spell and recast your own while you did, without anyone knowing.  Hence, Odelarch and I are challenging you to a contest.  My reasoning is more than concrete enough to compel you to acc--¡±


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean you and Odelarch?¡±


    ¡°You have wronged both of us, hence you will face both of us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense!¡±


    ¡°Is it?  There¡¯s only one other councilor to make that ruling, and I get the feeling she¡¯ll side against you.¡±


    ¡°She won¡¯t.  Why would she set that precedent?  Another group of liches could use it against her later on.¡±


    ¡°Unless she keeps from violating the conventions or the rights of another lich.  Honestly, you are coming off like a coward.  I¡¯d think the two of us in tandem are necessary to make this contest fair, given your magical power.¡±


    Kgobauru seethed.  ¡°Fine!  You¡¯ve challenged me.  I¡¯ll get to work on a two on one contest.  I promise you, when this is over, you¡¯ll be begging me to cast a binding spell on you, and I¡¯ll decide then if I think I should.¡±


    Nglavingithu hung up.  He turned to Odelarch.  ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±


    Odelarch nodded.  ¡°Good.¡±  The boy¡¯s smile was wide.


    *****


    Kgobauru put the phone in his pocket as he lay back on the couch in his hotel room, gritting his teeth.  He took a deep breath.  This wasn¡¯t going to kill him.  This was more of an annoyance than anything else.  Both of Bavandersloth¡¯s pets were clever, the boy especially, but they were also both weak.


    Still, it was failing to take the boy seriously that killed Ntullnarlth.  It would be a mistake to do anything but put his full effort into this contest.  That began with its construction.  Odelarch¡¯s strength was in his mind, Nglavingithu¡¯s too.  Kgobauru was a match for either of them on that front, but it would be safer to force their challenge to take place in a domain in which Kgobauru was superior.  He had better, stronger spells than anyone else.  He couldn¡¯t challenge them to a straight magic competition, as Larngulal would likely rule that arrangement unfair.  However, he would not need to do that.  His best course of action was a straightforward fight to the death.  There was a sports arena in the Goldfalls Northwest district, Kgobauru was pretty sure.  He couldn¡¯t recall what sport it had been for, but he didn¡¯t imagine that it would matter.  He¡¯d look it up later.


    Kgobauru smiled.  Plus, he could and should demand an ally.  Two on one wasn¡¯t fair.  He could use this as a pretense to get Rngwelokt to help him.  His shields would be beneficial in this contest.  Then again, perhaps a monster from the underworld would be more advantageous.  Yes, that would do.  He¡¯d summon something large and powerful which would demand the other two¡¯s full attention, and while they were focusing on it, he would activate his speed boost and use it to enhance himself, and take them out before they could do anything about it.


    But what creature ought he use?  Kgobauru thought.  He should demand Valthakar¡¯s copy of On the Underworld.  He¡¯d look through that.


    *****


    That night, Cody got a call from Agent Lambert.  He was outside.  It was time for Cody to get his parents to leave.  The two were downstairs.  He hadn¡¯t talked to them.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you tell them?  If you think they need to hear it from me to believe you, I could tell them it¡¯s true over the phone.¡±


    ¡°That might work, but if you tell them in person, you¡¯ll have the option of showing them your real body.  They¡¯ll be guaranteed to believe you then, at least as much as they could be.¡±


    Cody shed a tear.  ¡°I suppose.  They¡¯ll be out in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±  Agent Lambert hung up.


    Cody sat in his bed for just a moment, curled up with his hands clasped around his knees.  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, than another, than another.  He unclasped his hands and put them to his side.  He lay back in bed for a moment, then stood up.  He forced himself downstairs, where his parents were chatting.


    As soon as Cody¡¯s mother saw him, she tilted her head a bit, and got a look in her eye, a worried, innocent look that stabbed Cody in the heart.  ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Cody?¡± his mother asked, concerned and confused.


    Cody clenched his fist.  He took another deep breath, which made his mother shift to an even worse expression than she had worn before.  ¡°Mom,¡± he forced out, ¡°and dad¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± his dad asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s a car outside.¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother stared for a moment.  ¡°What?¡± his father asked.  ¡°What do you mean?  Whose car is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Mr. Lambert¡¯s, but it¡¯s from his work.  It¡¯s not his green van.¡±


    ¡°Cody, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Cody¡¯s mother asked.


    Cody sobbed.  ¡°Mom, dad, you need to get in the car.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± his mother looked at him.  Her eyes scorched his soul with hellfire and made him fall to his knees, crying.  His mother stood up and walked over to him, his father following behind.  Before they could get too close, Cody took his true form, right there on the stairs.  He didn¡¯t put up a cloud.  He didn¡¯t deserve one.


    Both of Cody¡¯s parents stopped, and took a half step backward.  Cody took his human form again.  He looked up at them, eyes drenched with tears.  ¡°I think you know,¡± he put his head down, closed his eyes, and cried.  ¡°Please don¡¯t make me tell you,¡± he said as the first of many tears hit the floor.


    Cody¡¯s mother looked down.  She took a few steps toward him.  She put her hand on his shoulder.  She stroked it, and then hugged him.  His crying waned a bit and he opened his eyes, and looked up at his father, who was looking down at him.  Cody closed his eyes again, and cried on his mother¡¯s shoulder.


    After a few minutes of this, Cody pulled his hands back to his side, ending his mother¡¯s hug.  She leaned away and looked him in the eye.  He looked away.  ¡°You need to go,¡± he said.  ¡°Angels¡­ we¡¯re not what we seem.  Not most of us, anyway.  Light-rook, the one on television¡­ he¡¯s¡­¡± it just then occurred to Cody that he wasn¡¯t sure how much the two of them had seen of Light-rook¡¯s interviews.  If they¡¯d seen the wrong ones, there would be limits about what he could tell them.  ¡°You¡¯re in danger.  Cherie¡¯s father¡­ he¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s¡­ it might sound weird, but he can protect you.  Once you get in that car, you¡¯ll understand why.¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother put her hand on Cody¡¯s cheek.  She tried to look him in the eyes, but he wouldn¡¯t return her gaze.  ¡°Alright, Cody,¡± she said after a moment.  ¡°Go upstairs for your things.  We¡¯ll go.¡±


    Cody shook his head.  His mother¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°I have things I have to do here.  I can¡¯t go with you.¡±


    ¡°If Cherie¡¯s father has anything to do with this, I¡¯m sure he can take care of anything--¡±


    ¡°No.  He can¡¯t.¡±  Cody¡¯s head sunk.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother hugged him again.  ¡°A few months ago¡­  The black death--¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Was me.  Yes.¡±


    Cody¡¯s mother squeezed him tighter.  ¡°You saved me, Cody.¡±


    Cody closed his eyes, as tears welled in them.  He nodded.  ¡°And now I¡¯m going to save you again.  You need to go.  I¡¯ll see you again as soon as I can.  I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you too.¡±  Cody¡¯s mother gave him one final squeeze, than leaned back, and stood up.  Cody¡¯s father still stared.


    ¡°I love you, too, dad,¡± Cody said.


    Cody¡¯s father shed a tear.  ¡°I love you, too.¡±  His father kneeled down and hugged him for about half a minute.  After that, his father stood up.  Cody watched as the two left.


    He sat on the stairs, sobbing as he waited to hear, and then heard, the car drive away.  He sobbed and sobbed, before punching the railing on the stairs and making a chunk of it rot away.  He cried, and then threw a few more punches, wailing.  He kicked and ripped at the posts which held the rail up.  He tore one out, and broke it over his knee, sobbing.  He shouted as he ripped the rail itself off of the remaining posts.  He made it rot away as he fell to his knees and cried.


    After a few more minutes, Cody stood up and walked upstairs to his room.  He looked around.  He got his lime green backpack and stuffed it full of books from his shelf.  He was only able to fit maybe a third of them in there.  He thought for a moment, before getting an old backpack, the one he¡¯d used until he got his current one five years ago, and put several more books in it.  He was able to put the rest of the books, his cube, and most of his clothes in his pillow case, which he then tied shut.


    When he was done with that, Cody turned off all the lights in his house, unplugged everything, checked both sinks, locked the upstairs window he¡¯d used to sneak out, grabbed a house key from the kitchen, and left, locking the door behind him.  He got a strange look from a woman who lived across the street from him.  His eyes met hers, welling with tears.  He turned away and walked down the street until he could find an alleyway where no one was.  There, he took his true form, hid himself and his things with a cloud of darkness, and ran to Bavandersloth¡¯s mansion.


    *****


    ¡°I apologize that I couldn¡¯t come to you in person,¡± Larngulal said.  ¡°I have urgent business here in New York.  I can¡¯t possibly fly down there until it¡¯s dealt with.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s acceptable,¡± Nglavingithu said, nodding next to Cody.  Kgobauru, nodded as well, from his hotel room.


    ¡°Now,¡± Larngulal said, ¡°let¡¯s get down to business.  Nglavingithu¡¯s case that you, Kgobauru, acted against him and Odelarch with a single act validates their joint challenge against you.  As the challenged party, you may dictate the nature of the contest you have with them.¡±


    ¡°I want a straight fight,¡± Kgobauru said.  ¡°There¡¯s an old football stadium in the Northwest District.  It belonged to the Goldfalls Flying Squirrels, before the district was evacuated.  Myself and a monster of my choosing, within reason of course, will do battle with Nglavingithu and Odelarch, who will be unassisted.  I assert that that me having a monster to aid me is more than reasonable in the face of a two on one fight.¡±  Larngulal nodded a bit as he spoke.  ¡°I will win if either Odelarch or Nglavingithu¡¯s form is destroyed while mine is intact, or if all three of our forms are destroyed.  They will win if my form is destroyed while both of theirs remain intact.¡±


    ¡°I object,¡± Nglavingithu said.  ¡°His win condition is too broad.  He should have to destroy both of us, not merely either of us.¡±


    Larngulal nodded.  ¡°I agree.¡±


    ¡°In that case, they must destroy my creature¡¯s form as well as my own in order to win.¡±


    ¡°I think all three of us would prefer that the creature be part of the contest prize,¡± Cody said.  ¡°Destroying it would make that impossible.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get to keep the creature no matter what if I win, so I don¡¯t care about that.  Besides, if you win, Nglavingithu could bind me and make me summon whatever creature he liked.¡±


    Larngulal nodded.  ¡°Kgobauru is right.  If it¡¯s a two-on-two fight, both combatants from either team should have to be destroyed for the other team to win.¡±


    Cody gritted his teeth, but then sighed.  ¡°Fine¡±


    Larngulal nodded.  ¡°Alright then.  As I said, it will be impossible for me to be physically present for the contest, so I see no reason for you not to hold it right away.  Odelarch, Nglavingithu, take Tkoralkiarch and Bavandersloth¡¯s copy of On the Underworld to the stadium.  Kgobauru, meet them there.¡±


    Kgobauru nodded.  ¡°My pleasure.¡±


    ¡°The monster you select shall be no more than one-thousand feet in length, width or height, whichever is greatest.  It shall weigh no more than two-hundred-twenty-five tons.  Its presence on the world shall not be a danger to it, nor to any parties not involved in the contest, humans included.  It shall not be a specter.¡±


    ¡°Acceptable,¡± Nglavingithu said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Kgobauru said.


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Very well.  It is my understanding that Valthakar asked to spectate on the contest.  He may.  Now, go.¡±


    Nglavingithu nodded and ended the call.


    *****


    Kgobauru turned off his computer.  He sat back on his couch for a moment before standing up.  The hardest thing he was going to do today was decide whether to kill the two pests, or bind them to himself.  He tended toward the latter.


    *****


    When Cody, Valthakar, Justin, Sparky and Nglavingithu entered the football stadium, Kgobauru was sitting in the stands.  He turned to face them.  ¡°Ah, there you are,¡± he said.  ¡°You have the book?¡±


    Valthakar nodded.  He handed it over.  Valthakar had avoided this whole ordeal.  Despite his knowing that Kgobauru was innocent, he knew his master would benefit from his being killed.  Besides, any attempt to clear Kgobauru¡¯s name could be explained away as a lie.


    ¡°Good, good.¡±  Kgobauru opened up the book and sat back down with it.


    Cody turned to Justin.  ¡°Get everyone¡¯s phylacteries,¡± he said.  Justin nodded.  He took his true form and used his power to obtain them.  First, he retrieved Kgobauru¡¯s, and set it on the stair beside him.  He then got Nglavingithu¡¯s and set it in the same place.  Next, he went for Valthakar¡¯s, and placed it on the step.


    Valthakar turned around and raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Wait, what do you need mine for?¡±


    Cody smirked.  He won.  He was about to free millions of souls and make it most of the way to saving the world in one stroke.  In another world, Nglavingithu turned him evil, but in this one, Nglavingithu died.  Cody pointed at the phylacteries.  ¡°Sparky, destroy.¡±


    Kgobauru¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Wait, wha--¡±


    Sparky breathed out an avalanche of searing flame, scorching the phylacteries.  Cody turned his head and locked eyes with Nglavingithu, who fell to his knees as his phylactery was burnt.  He didn¡¯t say a word.  He just stared.  Kgobauru turned to face Cody.  ¡°So¡­ that¡¯s what this was abo¡­¡± he tried to stand up, but fell and sagged over the next lower row of seats.  Cody smiled.


    Then he heard a magical blast coming toward him.  His eyes widened and he dove backwards.  When he sat up to look at its source, he saw Valthakar running out of the stadium.  His eyes widened and he gasped.  He looked over at the pile of phylacteries.


    The other two were gone, but Valthakar¡¯s was unharmed.


    Cody looked up at Justin, who was watching Valthakar leave, paralyzed with shock.  Cody stood up and dashed down to Kgobauru¡¯s corpse.  He grabbed On the Underworld.  He opened it up to its Q&A page.


    ¡°What, that¡¯s on Earth, wouldn¡¯t a hellhound like Sparky be able to burn?¡±


    ¡°A hellhound cannot burn some magical materials.  The only one that has ever been common on earth, humans call Orichalcum.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He dropped the book.  He turned around to look at the bright red jewels in the Necklace Valthakar had placed his soul into.  Cody walked up to the Phylactery and grabbed it.  He took his true form and tried to rip it, or break its chain, but he couldn¡¯t.  He stood back, and hit it with his best magical blast.  It was intact.


    Cody looked up at Justin.  ¡°If Valthakar gets back to the mansion and calls Larngulal, it¡¯ll be over for us.¡±


    Justin nodded.


    ¡°C¡¯mon,¡± Cody said.  ¡°We have to stop him.¡±


    Justin nodded.  The two ran out of the stadium.

 1.24 I Told You So

    Cody and Justin rushed out of the stadium, chasing Valthakar.  As soon as Cody left, he turned his head to the right and looked down the street where Valthakar was running.  He was already a distance away.  Cody dashed after him, hand outstretched and firing a magical beam.  Sparky ran ahead of him, shooting flames at Valthakar, but he was too far away.  Cody had never seen Valthakar at his top speed before.  Perhaps even this wasn¡¯t his top speed, but in any case, Valthakar¡¯s sprinting was swift enough that he soon vanished over the horizon.


    A few minutes later, Cody stopped running, and told Justin to do the same.  ¡°It¡¯s no use,¡± Cody said.  ¡°We can¡¯t outrun him.  We¡¯re going to have to do something else.¡±


    ¡°What else?¡± Justin asked, his voice shaking a bit.


    Cody took his human form.  ¡°This¡¯ll be a start,¡± he said as he got out his bugged phone and spoke into it.  ¡°Hello, Mr. Lambert?  This is urgent.  Things have gone south and--¡±


    Agent Lambert called him.  Cody answered.  ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Lambert said.  ¡°I just handed your parents off to another agent.  What is it?¡±


    ¡°We were able to take out Kgobauru and Nglavingithu, but Valthakar¡¯s phylactery was too strong for Sparky to get rid of.  He¡¯s running out of the Northwest District right now.  If he gets to a payphone, or kills someone and takes their cell, it¡¯s over.  Can you do anything?¡±


    ¡°Let me think.  I could cut off cell phone coverage around here, and engineer a black out to shut down pay phones and land lines.  That¡¯d force him to go out of town if he wanted to make any calls, or find a phone powered by a backup generator.  Did he manage to get his phylactery back?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯ll have until he gets out of town to figure out how to destroy it.  I¡¯ll give the order to shut down power and phone coverage right now.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Understood.¡±  He hung up.


    Cody turned to Justin.


    ¡°What did he say?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s going to shut down all of the phones around here, and the power too.  That¡¯ll give us until Valthakar finds a way out of town to figure out what to do.  Let¡¯s go back to the stadium for the books.  We¡¯ll ask them about things there.¡±


    Justin nodded.  The two ran back to the stadium.  Cody went straight for On the Underworld.


    ¡°What, if anything, that I could access in the next few hours, can destroy Orichalcum?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.  Orichalcum emits an aura which protects all substances near it.  The only thing on your planet which might destroy it is magma, and even that would not do so quickly.¡±


    Cody closed his eyes.  He thought.


    ¡°Anything?¡± Justin asked.


    ¡°We can¡¯t destroy the phylactery.¡±


    Justin shed a tear.  ¡°So, that¡¯s it then?  We lose?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Cody said.  Then something occurred to him.  ¡°Hand me On Soulless Ones,¡± Cody said.  ¡°If we can¡¯t destroy his phylactery, maybe we can use it to release Valthakar from his binding spell.  We¡¯ve said before that he¡¯d have good reason to side with us if it weren¡¯t for Bavandersloth¡¯s spell.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t,¡± Justin said.  ¡°I¡¯m a few hundred souls away, and you¡¯re even farther, and the version we¡¯d cast would take too long either way.¡±


    Cody clenched his fist.  ¡°Hand it here anyway,¡± he said.


    Justin sighed.  ¡°Alright.¡±  He handed it over.


    Cody opened the book and wrote.


    ¡°How many more souls would Justin need to be able to free Valthakar quickly enough for us to complete the ritual before Valthakar reached a phone, and with materials we can reasonably acquire?¡±


    ¡°For the version of the ritual lasting about seven minutes, perhaps five if he hurries, Tkoral¡¯kiarch will need 529 more souls.  Turn the page for a description of the ritual.¡±


    Cody did.


    ¡°To free a bound lich in the second way, a lich with 1002 souls must place the phylactery of the lich meant to be freed in seawater with the remains of a lifeform killed by the caster.  They must then recite the following chant while shaking the container: ¡®Soulless One, bound to service, may your bondage end this day.  Cast off all chains.  I free you!  I free you!  I free you!¡¯  Once the chant has been recited 34 times, the container will slip out of the caster¡¯s hands regardless of any effort they make to hold onto it.  If it shatters when it hits the ground, the ritual will succeed and the lich will be freed from bondage.  If it comes to a rest and is still intact, the ritual will fail.  The one who attempted to cast it will have 37 seconds to declare a lich¡¯s name, and they will be bound to that lich.  If they declare no name, they will join the lich they tried to free in service to its master.¡±


    Cody looked up at Justin.  ¡°You¡¯re five-hundred-twenty-nine souls away from being able to cast the spell in seven minutes.¡±


    ¡°Right.  That¡¯s like a year.¡±


    Cody looked at Justin.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°Justin, there¡¯s a prison across town from here.  It has more than enough peop--¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°You can¡¯t mean--¡±


    ¡°Justin, the fate of the world is at stake here.  If Valthakar contacts Larngulal, both of us are going to die.  The only way left after that to save the world would be for DIAPP to find Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery by chance, with us knowing nothing of where it is but that it is somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, or for them to flatten the area with bombs powerful enough to kill way more than five-hundred-twenty-nine people.  Are you willing to risk every last person, including all of those prisoners, being ruled by Bavandersloth?  Are you willing to risk Kandrinarkora coming back?¡±


    Justin looked at Cody.  He hung his head down, and shed a tear.  ¡°I guess not.¡±  He said.


    Cody put his hand on Justin¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡±  Justin wasn¡¯t consoled.  Cody kneeled down and looked him in the eye.  ¡°Hey, listen.  If you don¡¯t, they¡¯ll probably still be eaten, but not by you.  This way, at least there¡¯ll be something for them after you die.¡±


    Justin took a deep breath.  His tears didn¡¯t stop flowing.  Still, he looked up, and Cody stood.  ¡°Al¡­right,¡± Justin said.  He took his true form.  Cody did the same.


    ¡°It¡¯s for the--¡± Cody began.


    ¡°Stop,¡± Justin said.  ¡°I said I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    Cody nodded.  The two ran out of the stadium.


    *****


    Valthakar dashed out of the Northwest District, frowning.  He wondered how long the boys had been working against his master.  It couldn¡¯t be that they were responsible for the souls going blind.  They weren¡¯t powerful enough.  Not unless¡­ unless they had outside help.  Was that it, then?  Who would it be?  It¡¯d have to be Gborin¡¯gargoth, it seemed.  Valthakar could think of no other possibilities which stood up to scrutiny.


    Yes.  Kandrinarkora was imprisoned on earth, and would be trying to get free.  Gborin¡¯gargoth would want to stop him.


    It was clever, Valthakar had to admit.  Not on the boys¡¯ part, but on Gborin¡¯gargoth¡¯s.  His readings of On the Underworld had already made it clear to Val that Gborin¡¯gargoth was working to suppress Kandrinarkora.  If he did just a few things, large scale feats, he¡¯d be able to confound the community of liches with minimal effort.  The rest, he could have his weakling avatars do, and no one would suspect them because the largest acts had been beyond their ability.


    It was so clever that the pleasure of destroying it really did work toward making what Valthakar was going to do worth it.  It still wasn¡¯t, of course.  That he would aid Bavandersloth to victory pained him.  That he would do so again and again for as long as Bavandersloth reined pained him more so.  Still, there was one fact that comforted him.  No matter what happened, Bavandersloth¡¯s rule would end eventually, as would the earth, as would he.  For others, that fact brought sadness, but for him, it dulled it.  No pain of his would ever be eternal.  However long the next order lasted, it would not be forever, nor would the next, nor the next, and one day, before he knew it, the order without him would arrive, and he would never suffer again.  Curse as he did that blasted necklace¡¯s magic, it could only imprison him for a finite time.


    *****


    Agent Lambert was on the phone with one of his agents.  ¡°I¡¯m almost there,¡± the agent said.  ¡°Just one more push of a button--¡±  The call was dropped, which in this case was a good thing.  A few seconds later, the lights went out.  Agent Lambert took a deep breath and turned off his phone.  He wasn¡¯t going to get any calls, so he may as well save battery.


    He sat back down in his chair and took a deep breath.  He didn¡¯t know what the boys were planning.  Cody was clever, but this situation did seem hopeless.


    Soon, the building¡¯s backup generators took over, and Lambert pressed a button to speak to another agent.  ¡°Get fifteen helicopters out there scanning the city.  Destroy Valthakar¡¯s body upon detection.¡±  Lambert took a deep breath.  ¡°Disregard all collateral damage.  Killing him is to be your first priority.¡±


    ¡°Understood, sir,¡± an agent said in response.  Lambert sat back.  This base would still be able to communicate with his own men through short range radio transceivers, and receive updates on what they saw.


    *****


    Lester stood in line at the theater, his parents in front of him.  A trip to the movies was a rare thing for Lester, but the new Starstreamer Chronicals movie was more than worth going to.  His sister had also been delighted; not to see the movie, but to have the house to herself for almost three hours.


    Lester looked to either side to see the posters around him.  Of the four films being advertised, two concerned Angels.  One was a documentary which credited ¡°Light-rook¡± as a producer.  The other was an action movie starring an Angel who apparently called himself ¡°Shieldcraft.¡±  That poster was on the far side of the room, so he couldn¡¯t see who was meant to make it, though he imagined Bavandersloth had a role in it as well.


    As Lester stood in line, the lights went out.  His eyes widened.  He looked up and around.  The building had gone dark.  Had the power gone out?  He hoped not.


    After the lights remained out for a few minutes, and given that the desk clerk didn¡¯t seem to know what was going on, Lester had to conclude that is what had indeed happened.  Crap.


    It wasn¡¯t too long before a woman came through the door to confirm what he already knew and send everyone away.  Lester grumbled, but left the theater.  When his parents tried to call a cab, he discovered that they had no reception.  With nothing else to do, the three walked to the sidewalk near the highway and held out their arms to signal for one.


    *****


    Valthakar finally encountered a payphone and took his human form so he could retrieve his wallet from his pocket.  A few of the humans around were startled by his seeming to appear out of nowhere, his invisibility deactivating as soon as he took on his human disguise, but time was of the essence here.  Bavandersloth had said on several broadcasts that no human should interfere with an apparent Angel¡¯s business, so he was not bothered by the humans.  He reached into his wallet and took out two quarters.  He deposited the first into the phone, and then the second, and then the area around him became much darker.


    Valthakar looked around.  He could see no lights.  Soon, he realized that there had been a blackout.  He smiled.  It was possible that this was a coincidence, though given the existence of DIAPP it seemed more likely that it was not.  He looked around.  He found a young man fussing with his cell phone and approached him.


    ¡°Hello, excuse me; I left my cellphone at home.  Do you mind if I use yours to call my daughter?¡±


    The boy looked up at him.  ¡°Oh uh¡­ sure.¡±  The boy handed the phone over.  Valthakar entered Larngulal¡¯s number, but then saw that there was no reception.  He tried to make the call anyway, but he couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be working for me.  Could you help me?¡±  Valthakar handed the phone back to the boy.


    After a moment, the boy looked up.  ¡°Crap,¡± the boy said.  ¡°Apparently, I don¡¯t have any reception.  Sorry dude.¡±


    Valthakar sighed.  ¡°Oh, it¡¯s quite alright.  I¡¯ll see if someone else can help.¡±  He walked away.  When the next such attempt played out similarly, Valthakar realized DIAPP was almost certainly involved.  If that was the case, they¡¯d have extended the blackout as far as they felt they could.  Valthakar thought.  Running out that far would be tiresome.  It would be much easier to find some place with a generator.


    Valthakar grinned.  He knew of only one facility in the area, with a phone anyway, which he was certain had such a device.  He turned around and ran to it.


    *****


    Justin headed toward the prison, covered in a cloud, his feet smacking concrete with each step.  As he did, the power went off around him.  He reflexively slowed down for a moment, but sped right back up, his surprise short lived.


    He tried to think of anything other than what he was going to do, but his thoughts wouldn¡¯t budge from that subject.  He turned to look at Cody and whispered as he ran.  ¡°Which prison is it we¡¯re heading toward?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the name.  It¡¯s not the one your brother is in, if you were worried about that.¡±


    Justin looked down.  He tried to shed a tear.  ¡°Okay.¡±  Justin¡¯s thoughts continued to torment him.  Regardless of whether he would encounter his brother, he¡¯d encounter other people¡¯s brothers.  They¡¯d be no less sad when they died than he¡¯d be about his own brother.  If he was willing to do that to them, shouldn¡¯t he be willing to do that to himself?  Why was his brother so special?


    Justin looked up at Cody again, but then looked back down.  He tried to think about something else.


    ¡°Look out!¡±  Cody said.  Justin looked up, ahead of him.  His eyes widened as he just barely managed to stop before smacking into a wall at top speed and dropping the glass of shredded grass and seawater he planned to use for the ritual.


    Justin looked over at Cody.  ¡°Thanks,¡± he said.


    Cody smiled.  ¡°No problem.¡±


    *****


    Deerward took a deep breath as he sat back.  He pressed the intercom button.  ¡°Agent Thomson, any progress?¡±


    ¡°Odelarch and Tkoralkiarch are nearing Central Square.  We have a helicopter on their tail.  We¡¯ve seen no indication of where¡­¡± Agent Thomson stopped speaking.  ¡°Sir, something is making the locks on the main entrance to this facility decay.¡±


    ¡°Disable the generator,¡± Deerward said, ¡°and our phone lines as well.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±  The intercom clicked as it deactivated.


    A few seconds later, the lights went out.  It had occurred to Deerward that Valthakar might try to use this facility¡¯s power to make his phone call, and he had had a contingency plan prepared in case of such an attempt.  Deerward took a deep breath.  Now it was simply a matter of the generators not being re-enabled.


    Deerward reached into his drawer for a brightly colored pill.  It was striped yellow, lime green and sky blue.  He placed it on his desk, just in case he needed it.  He didn¡¯t expect to, though.  The generator was in the basement.  It would be quite the detour for Valthakar to come all the way up to his office.


    *****


    As Lester¡¯s cab inched down the street, he saw a light out of the corner of his eye.  Was the city¡¯s power back on?  No, he realized.  It was Central Square¡¯s Big Digital Projector.  The thing was connected to a backup generator, he reasoned.  It must have been, as the streetlights in the square were still out.  It being the only structure around with power explained the crowd in the square, as Violet Fox was on the screen, talking about the blackout.


    Lester turned to his parents.  ¡°Hey, is it okay if I roll down the window?  I¡¯d like to hear what¡¯s going on from the BDP while we¡¯re near it.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± Lester¡¯s father said before resuming his conversation with his wife.


    As Lester turned down the window, he noticed a noxious smell.  Immediately, he turned the window back up.  He looked around, before noticing two dark spheres running to his left, toward the square.  Cody and Justin?  Why?  As his father gasped upon noticing the same thing, Lester tracked the clouds of darkness with his eyes.  Was this blackout something to do with them?  Were they out hunting early, now that Cody¡¯s parents were gone?  Were they hoping to prevent crime during the blackout?


    Soon after he saw the liches, Lester heard the helicopter following them.  That had to be DIAPP, he supposed.  He watched them, thinking that he¡¯d ask them about this later.


    *****


    As soon as John finished putting on his suit, he dashed into the stairwell.  An alarm blazed, and sprinklers full of purple ink fell from the ceilings.  He kept his head down to keep any of the ink from getting on his visor and interfering with his vision.


    He emerged from the stairwell in the basement.  He ran down the hall and barged into the generator room, his right arm extended to shoot a blast of flame at anything inside.  The generator was scorched and blackened, but not deformed.  A devourer-shaped figure of ink in the room was on fire.  It turned to face him.  John fired some liquid nitrogen from his left arm at Valthakar¡¯s feet, but not before he was able to move out of the way.  Valthakar dashed straight toward John and extended his ink-covered scythe.


    *****


    With the exterminator swallowed, Valthakar turned back to the generator.  He pressed a button on it and turned it on.  Light flooded the basement.  A few seconds later, another exterminator entered the room.  Valthakar turned toward her and fired a magical blast, which, despite her managing to drench him with the flamethrower once again, did succeed in killing her.  Valthakar put up a shield and then dropped and rolled to get the fire out.  He couldn¡¯t run straight to the phone.  Last his souls had known, there were perhaps twenty exterminators in this building.  He needed all of them to run at him before he could leave the generator alone, as otherwise, they would simply turn it back off, or perhaps even destroy it with their grenade launchers.


    As he thought that, Valthakar got an idea.  He walked over to one of the hallways leading into the generator room, the one on the right, and made the floors decay away into spikes, as Bavandersloth had once.  He did the same with the hallway across from it.  He left through the third and final hallway.  An exterminator immediately saw him and launched a spray of liquid nitrogen, but Valthakar dove out of the way.  He dashed at full speed at the exterminator, and crossed the distance to her before she could react.  He ate her soul.  Next, he spiked the floor of the hall leading up to the generator room.  After firing magical beams down both halls, eliciting the scream of another exterminator, Valthakar spiked both of the halls on one side of him, ran to the stairwell, and then spiked the other side.  He ran up the stairs, eating another exterminator on the way up, and, once he was on the ground floor, he made the stairs decay away.  This was only one of several stairwells in the building, he didn¡¯t doubt, but its absence would at least hinder them.  Valthakar ran out into the ground floor lobby, looking around for cubicles in which he might find a phone.


    *****


    Deerward stood up as the lights came back on in the facility, his eyes wide.  He activated the intercom.  ¡°Where¡¯s Valthakar?¡±


    ¡°On the second floor.¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.            ¡°Can you turn the generator back off?¡±


    ¡°We tried, sir.  Valthakar must have done something down there to stop it from working remotely, and the exterminators report the area to be inaccessible.  We were able to shut off most of the phones, but about an eighth of them are still intact.¡±


    Deerward thought.  Was there anything to do?  If he were lucky, he had fifteen minutes before Valthakar called Larngulal and got all of them killed.  With the entire community of liches acting against them unconcerned about keeping their actions covert, their defeat was all but certain.  ¡°Have the helicopter after Odelarch send him a message.  I don¡¯t care if a civilian hears it.  Tell them that they have about fifteen minutes to do whatever it is they need to do to stop this.  At the same time, keep throwing exterminators at Valthakar however you can.  Slow him down.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Lambert¡¯s eyes found themselves looking toward that pill.  If Bavandersloth won¡­


    *****


    ¡°He¡¯s in the base,¡± Cody heard.  ¡°You¡¯ll be out of time within fifteen minutes.¡±  Cody stopped in his tracks.  The people around him backed away from his odor, but most of them were so unthreatened by his presence that they didn¡¯t leave the Square.


    Justin turned to him.  ¡°Is¡­ is fifteen minutes enough--¡±


    ¡°Nowhere close.  There¡¯s no way we¡¯re getting to the prison in time.¡±


    Justin¡¯s head hung down.  ¡°Is¡­ is that it then?¡±


    Cody thought.  If Valthakar¡¯s call made it through, Larngulal would send whoever and whatever was necessary to kill Justin and him for defying the community.  The world¡¯s principle hope would be gone.  DIAPP might still stop the community, but was that worth the risk?  They hadn¡¯t been able to stop them in future Cody saw.  Cody bowed his head.  ¡°Look into the future the same way you showed it to me.  If I let Valthakar make that call, does Bavandersloth win?¡±


    Gborin took a moment to respond.  ¡°Yes,¡± he said.  ¡°The community deduces that I have assisted you.  They descend on Goldfalls in the guise of devourers to destroy you.  Because you cannot allow yourself to be destroyed peacefully for the same reason you cannot smash your phylactery, their efforts involve a large-scale assault on the city.  With the help of a weather controlling lich under Larngulal¡¯s command, all attempts to hold them back fail.  The resulting fear and panic from their destruction of this city, by devourers as far as anyone can tell, gives them the worldwide audience they need to make the broadcast as soon as Bavandersloth returns.¡±


    Cody clenched his fist.  Bavandersloth had told him a while back that they¡¯d not been willing to attempt such a large-scale attack to get the attention they needed because it risked backfiring if even a few people suspected it was the community.  It seemed that such a risk would have paid off after all.  Cody looked around.  The helicopter message hadn¡¯t driven anyone away.  He closed his eyes.


    ¡°Cody?¡± Justin said.  ¡°Have you thought of a way to get to the prison in time?¡±


    Cody turned around.  ¡°I¡¯ve not.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ that¡­ that¡¯s really it then?¡±


    Cody shook his head.  ¡°The prison isn¡¯t the only place with souls, Justin.¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyes widened.  He took a step backward.  ¡°You can¡¯t¡­ you can¡¯t mean¡­¡±


    Cody gulped.  He felt like a vice grip was keeping him still.  He had to fight just so he could nod.


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°You have to.¡±


    Justin¡¯s eyes were wide.  ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± he shouted.


    ¡°Shhhhhh.  Don¡¯t let the people around here hear you.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±  Justin looked down.  ¡°There¡¯s no other way?  Is that what Gborin just--¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±  Against his will, Cody¡¯s eyes focused on the people behind Justin.  He closed them.  ¡°I¡¯ll start paralyzing the people around here.  You¡­ you know what I need you to do.¡±


    Justin sobbed, though his form prevented any tear from escaping him.  He fell to his knees, drawing a few looks due to the sudden motion of his cloud.  ¡°I¡­¡±


    ¡°Stand up, Justin.¡±


    Justin sobbed a few more times.  He stood up and raised his scythe.  Both liches mutated their shadows into a humanoid form so the community could pass this off as a devourer attack.  He was still pretending to work for them.  Cody rushed to the edge of the hole his scent had made in the crowd, lay his hand a person in the crowd, and knocked them out.  He did the same thing with his other hand.  He moved his first hand to a new person and did the same thing to them.


    *****


    Justin¡¯s scythe scooped out the soul of an old woman first.  She tasted sweet and fruity.  The old man next to her was similar.  As people started to collapse, the other people near them noticed and screamed.  As Justin chewed another soul, the crowd dispersed and people started running away.  Justin pounced a young woman, and took her soul, still letting out his dry sobs.  He dashed over to a man about his brother¡¯s age and ate him.  As the crowd ran away from him, he saw someone push someone else down to get them out of his way.  The pusher¡¯s eyes were wide as he looked back.  Justin ran toward him, causing him to speed up.  Still, the human had no hope of outrunning Justin, who could taste that final push on the man¡¯s soul as he gulped it down.  Justin ran back over to the girl who¡¯d been pushed.  She was around Cody¡¯s age.  She stared upward as Justin approached her.  She screamed, and franticly tried to get up, but one of the others in the crowd must have trampled over her ankle or something, because she couldn¡¯t.  Justin dipped his scythe down when he reached her and ate her soul.


    As he looked up from her body, he set his sights on another passing man.  He held out his hand and knocked him down with a magical beam to the ankle.  The man fell to the ground, scraping his knee.  As Justin ran toward him, another man carelessly stomped on him, making an audible crack and eliciting a scream.  Justin turned his head toward that person and ran after them at full speed.  He scooped out their soul and ate it, noticing it tasting vaguely of chocolate milk.  Justin tackled and ate a few more humans, including a couple who reminded him of his parents, before making his way back to the man he¡¯d disabled.  There was a bloody spot on his upper leg from another person stomping on him, and a woman had tripped over him and fallen.  He tried to take her soul first, but she had apparently already been trampled to death.  Justin sobbed and then turned to finally take the first man¡¯s soul.


    *****


    Cody looked up from his work as he heard a helicopter arrive.  It bore a camera on its front and a Channel 4 News logo.  He looked back down.  He had to knock these people out strategically.  If they were trampled, they¡¯d be wasted.  He turned toward another woman.  Her face looked kind of like Cherie¡¯s, though her hair was bright red.  He knocked her out and then threw her onto his low pile of mortals.  Over the screaming, he could sort of hear Violet Fox reporting on what he was doing over the news.


    The crowd thinned faster than Cody had imagined it would.  There had been something like a thousand people in the square.  All but a few hundred had already been caught or had escaped.  Cody tackled a woman to the ground.  This one looked like his mother.  He knocked her out, and then leapt straight to another person, an older man who reminded him of his grandfather, and did the same to him.  He heard a yell.  He looked up and saw someone running toward him, preparing to punch him.  Cody just stood there and magically knocked the man out as he touched him, making the man fall to the ground with his fist still in a ball.


    *****


    As Lambert sat in his office, he got a radio message.  He pressed a button.  ¡°What is it?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Our helicopter watching the boys says something¡¯s happened with them.  They¡¯ve started slaughtering the crowd.  One of them is eating them while the other is incapacitating and gathering them into a pile.  They can¡¯t tell if the civilians in the pile are dead or unconscious.  They¡¯re asking for permission to fire on the devourers.¡±


    Lambert¡¯s eyes were wide.  He thought.  Why would¡­ wait¡­


    ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡°Hold on a moment.¡±


    Lambert opened up his desk and got a copy of On Soulless Ones out of a drawer.  He opened it and asked it a question.


    ¡°Are the boys gathering souls they need to cast a spell that will stop Valthakar?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Lambert thought.  That must be how they¡¯d reacted to his alert.  Could he allow this?  Knowing Cody, if he was working with Gborin¡¯gargoth, he¡¯d not do this unless he thought there was no other option, and the fact that they did this meant they were planning something specific.  Whatever they were doing, it was probably the only way to save the world¡­


    Lambert pressed the button.  ¡°Tell them to hold their fire.  Sit back and observe.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You heard me.  They are not to fire on Odelarch or Tkoralkiarch.¡±


    ¡°Sir, letting them attack a crowd of civilians would be a violation of--¡±


    ¡°I am ordering them not to fire.  I am your superior officer.  Is that understood?¡±


    The agent took a moment to speak.  ¡°Understood, sir.¡±


    Lambert sat back.  He turned the intercom off and buried his face in his palms.  He was putting a lot of faith in Cody, but Valthakar was minutes away from success.  This was humanity¡¯s last chance.


    *****


    Justin stood up from another kill to see someone running for the space between two cars.  He dashed over to them and ate them.  He heard an unusual scream and turned his head.  Cody ran through his peripheral vision, but Justin ignored him.  He saw a boy about his age looking around for his parents.  He sobbed.  He didn¡¯t even think about killing that boy.  Instead, he turned to look at the people running away from the cars.  He saw a man in a taxi driver¡¯s uniform.  He ran after him and ate him.  A woman near him turned around.  When she saw that he was so close, she screamed and sped up, that seemed to be everyone¡¯s reaction to Justin at the moment, but Justin ate her, and then the man she was running with.


    There was another boy, about Cody¡¯s age, who looked familiar to Justin.  Still, he couldn¡¯t place his face, and, despite his sob, he supposed it didn¡¯t matter.  He tackled the boy to the ground.  After this one, he thought, he¡¯d go back to eat the ones Cody had knocked out.  He was pretty sure there¡¯d been enough.


    The teenager squirmed.  ¡°Yo, man, please¡­¡±  Justin raised his scythe.  As he scooped out the teen¡¯s soul and popped it into his mouth, he heard the boy¡¯s last words.  ¡°Cody, don--¡±


    *****


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened as he heard Lester¡¯s cry.  It couldn¡¯t possibly be¡­ he, abandoned the human he¡¯d been chasing and ran straight toward the voice.  Justin looked up at him, still leaning over the dead body.  Cody could see his friend¡¯s form from where he was.  He stared at Lester¡¯s corpse, whose open eyes were still pointed up at Justin, frozen in terror.  Cody fell to his knees and cried.  It was a dry cry, but every bit as much of a cry as it would have been in his other form, Cody realized.  He crawled over to Lester¡¯s body.  He put his hand on it.  He looked at Justin.  ¡°Go eat from the pile until you¡¯ve had enough,¡± he said.  ¡°Perform the ritual.¡±


    Justin nodded and stood up.  Cody looked down at his best friend.  Memories flashed through his mind.  Several were of times Lester had given Cody advice.  A few were some of his favorite games he¡¯d played with him.  One was the lunch they¡¯d had together after a grueling test.  The last was about a year ago, when he and Lester had talked about what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Cody had wanted to be a historian.  Lester¡­ Cody couldn¡¯t remember what Lester had wanted to be.  It didn¡¯t matter now, he supposed.


    Cody sobbed, his head against the stomach of Lester¡¯s corpse.  After a few minutes, he heard the crowd dissipate as everyone got away.  Not too long after that, he heard Justin shouting the chant the book had told him about.


    ¡°Soulless One, bound to service, may your bondage end this day,¡± Justin said, his voice shaking.  ¡°Cast off all chains.  I free you!  I free you!  I free you!¡±


    Cody was painfully aware of the news helicopter above him, but he¡¯d come up with some explanation later as to why the devourer he was playing would take an interest in Lester¡¯s corpse.


    He looked back down at Lester¡¯s body.  He would see his friend again, he supposed.  He would see his friend again.  It would be as one of Justin¡¯s souls, but still.  As Cody thought, he remembered the time he¡¯d talked to Lester about Valthakar.  He told Cody that if he had the choice, it would be better to kill him than let him be eaten, by Cody or Valthakar.  That was months ago, but Cody didn¡¯t think Lester had changed his mind.  ¡°You were stubborn about that sort of thing,¡± Cody whispered to Lester¡¯s body.  His arms, which had been holding Cody up from the ground, finally gave out, and he collapsed on Lester and uttered a mindless sob, whispering his friend¡¯s name repeatedly.


    *****


    Valthakar frowned as he finally found a phone.  He rushed over to it, picked it up and dialed Larngulal¡¯s number.  He stood, waiting for her to answer.


    As he stood, he felt something strange.  It was mild at first, but escalated.  It rushed over him like a cool breeze, making him feel lighter.  A weight lifted off of him, making him beam.  Had those two¡­ had they really?  They had.  They¡¯d freed him.  He could tell.


    ¡°Hello?  What is it?¡± Larngulal said.  Valthakar smiled and hung up.  He laughed.  He laughed hysterically.  He fell on the floor and started rocking back and forth.  ¡°Ha Ha ha ha HA ha ha Ha ha Ha Ha HA HA HA HA.¡±  Free at last!  He couldn¡¯t remember the last time he was this happy.  He was going to have so much fun exploding Bavandersloth¡¯s carefully laid plans.  This just might be the best time he¡¯d ever had in all his twelve-thousand years.


    *****


    Agent Lambert received another message.  He pressed a button and listened.


    ¡°Sir, Valthakar has been seen leaving the facility.  Whatever Odelarch and Tkoralkiarch did, it seems to have worked.  He used one of the office phones to make one call, but he hung up immediately afterward.  He didn¡¯t give the recipient any information.¡±


    Agent Lambert let out a massive sigh of relief.  ¡°Acknowledged,¡± he said.  He smiled and put his pill back in the cabinet.  He needed to get Cody¡¯s friends out of town, he realized, so he couldn¡¯t rest just yet.  However, he allowed himself a few minutes with his eyes closed, his head back, and his mind relaxingly empty.


    *****


    Cody looked up from Lester¡¯s corpse when he heard Valthakar approaching.  He started to speak, but then Valthakar ran at him and punched him.  ¡°Away, cur!¡± he shouted, and punched Cody in the stomach, sending him flying into a nearby car.


    ¡°What the heck?¡± Cody asked, but then he realized what the answer probably was.  He was still disguised as a devourer.  Valthakar, made to look like an Angel, couldn¡¯t be seen to contact him except hostilely, or to allow him to slaughter civilians unmolested.  Cody stood up, but Valthakar went at him again, this time taking him out of the view of the news helicopter.  Cody immediately took his human form.  Valthakar did the same.  They moved into a different alley before Valthakar sat down.  Cody looked at him.  ¡°Do I have to worry about my friends now that you¡¯re free?¡± he asked.


    Valthakar smirked.  ¡°Cody, you never had to worry about them.  Is that not what I told you?  A lot of grief, including what you feel right now if that body was who I thought it was, would be saved if you didn¡¯t worry about them.¡±


    Cody shed a tear.  ¡°Shut up.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, so it was who I thought it was.¡±  Valthakar leaned back.  ¡°Typical do-gooder.  You killed all of those people, who had best friends, wives, children, parents, and cry as you might, you followed through.  As soon as it¡¯s someone you know however--¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyebrows curled and his face reddened.  ¡°I told you to shut up!¡±


    Valthakar looked at Cody.  ¡°You did, didn¡¯t you?¡±  He reached under a dumpster and pulled out a rat.  The thing squirmed and bit him as he gripped it in his arms too tightly for it to escape and stroked it gently, as one might a lap dog.  ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯s unfortunate for you that I don¡¯t take orders from you, or anyone.  I thought you¡¯d be happy about that.  You just murdered one of the friends you used to go to such lengths to try to protect from me to arrange that circumstance.¡±


    Cody seethed.  ¡°When this is over, I¡¯m going to kill you.¡±


    Valthakar grinned.  ¡°Ah, there¡¯s the Odelarch I like to see.  I do hope I¡¯ve not hurt your feelings too badly, I really do want to work with you.  It¡¯s just so hard not to say I told you so when, well, I did tell you so, over and over again, for weeks.¡±


    Cody seethed.  ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you painfully.¡±


    Valthakar chuckled.  ¡°Or else the reverse.  Or else you¡¯ll see my way of things.¡±  He stroked the rat¡¯s furry head as it struggled.  ¡°Regardless, in the meantime, I have every intention of cooperating with you, and I see no need to alienate you, so your friends are safe.  Well, safe from me.  Nothing is ever actually safe.¡±  Valthakar set the rat down and stomped on its tail, causing to run away from his foot, and into traffic.


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Alright then.¡±  He tried to push Lester out of his mind and do some planning with his new ally, but before he could, Valthakar resumed talking.


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose I¡¯m in any position to mock you for being a do-gooder.  The paradise I bought my way into has a purgatory preceding it, so I don¡¯t expect to think any differently from you during my time there.¡±  He lay back, resting his head on his hands.  ¡°Still, even that won¡¯t last forever.  Perhaps if Gborin¡¯gargoth is usurped, it will be by someone who will let me see the truth of things again as I do now.¡±


    Cody clenched his fist.  ¡°Well, before that can happen, we need to stop the community.  As I reason it now, that involves two crucial things.  First, we have to kill Bavandersloth.  Second, we have to make it impossible for a new lich similar to Bavandersloth to be created.¡±  Cody put his head down.  ¡°Is there a way to stop any new liches from being created on Earth?¡±


    ¡°Actually, there might be,¡± Gborin said.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened a bit.  ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  You could cast a spell on the Earth to make it hostile to lich creation for a time.  If Valthakar were to do it, he could make it last perhaps a year, with an hour-long ritual.  It¡¯d require some normally impossibly rare magical substances, but I could send them to you.¡±


    Cody smiled.


    ¡°What did he say?¡± Valthakar asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re powerful enough to cast a spell that could temporarily prevent lich creation.¡±


    Valthakar lay back.  ¡°I see.  Speaking of seeing, I don¡¯t see the little one.  Where is he?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    Valthakar sighed and then stood up.  ¡°Well, we¡¯d best find him and regroup.  With the mansion gone, it might be best to base ourselves out of the Northwest District.  There are some lovely houses there.  As soon as we have one picked out, I¡¯ll run to the Rocky Mountains.  I was the one who put Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery there.  I don¡¯t remember exactly where, but I think I¡¯ll have the easiest time finding it.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡±


    Valthakar stood up and took his true form.  Cody did the same, looking down, and letting Lester enter his mind again.  He punched the dumpster as he walked by it, making a dent.  Valthakar turned around and said something sarcastic, but Cody didn¡¯t listen this time.

 1.25 Ill of the Dead

    Cody held the phone up to his ear as he waited for Larngulal to pick up.  The phone rang, and rang, and he got voicemail.  He sighed.  ¡°Hello,¡± he said.  ¡°This is Odelarch.  I--¡±


    Someone answered the phone.  ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Larngulal?¡±


    ¡°What do you need?  I can only talk for a few minutes.  Like I said earlier, I¡¯m dealing with an urgent matter here in--¡±


    ¡°Listen, we have a problem.  I was right, apparently, Nglavingithu and I, about Valthakar being free.  After Tkoralkiarch got Kgobauru and Nglavingithu¡¯s phylacteries, Valthakar attacked them.  They¡¯re both dead, and Valthakar is running around free.¡±


    It took a moment for Larngulal to respond.  ¡°I¡­ I see.  Why didn¡¯t he kill you too?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure.  If I had to guess, it was because of his¡­ ideological thing.  He doesn¡¯t want to kill me until he can ¡®convert¡¯ me to his beliefs.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Do you want me to send someone to help you manage things?  That¡¯s all I can do for you right now.¡±


    Cody thought.  He didn¡¯t, of course, but Larngulal would become suspicious if she knew that.  ¡°I don¡¯t need help here,¡± he said.  ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure, but I think it¡¯s most likely that Valthakar is on his way to the Rocky Mountains right now.  That¡¯s where Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery is, and Valthakar would know its location more precisely than that, because he hid it there.¡±


    Larngulal gasped.  ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°I was planning to go there to try to intercept him.  Perhaps you could send me someone to help with that?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.  I¡¯ll tell you what.  I¡¯ll send someone to follow him.  It¡¯ll be no use for you to do so.  You¡¯ll be too slow.  Stay where you are.  Bavandersloth¡¯s contacts in Selechii are still there in Goldfalls.  I¡¯ll need you to interface with them while he¡¯s gone.  Meet up with them as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Very well.  I must go now, but I wish you luck.¡±  Larngulal hung up.


    ¡°How did it go?¡± Justin asked Cody as Cody put away the phone and turned around.  The dank feel of their new house still appealed to Cody.  The peeling wallpaper, the patchy carpets, the ruined furniture, it was beautiful.


    ¡°Well,¡± Cody said.  ¡°She¡¯s sending someone to counteract Valthakar.  I¡¯m not very worried, though.  He can handle himself.¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°Right.  How long did Valthakar say it would take him to find it?¡±


    ¡°A few days.  He doesn¡¯t remember exactly where he put it, but he thinks he can find it pretty quickly.¡±


    Justin lay back on the dusty, torn up old couch he¡¯d been laying on.  ¡°Of course.¡±


    Cody walked over to Justin.  He put his hand on the boy¡¯s shoulder.  ¡°Hey, it¡¯s--¡±


    Justin looked up at him.  ¡°When has you trying to comfort me ever worked out?¡±


    Cody looked down.  He took his hand away, a tear falling from his face.  He stood up.  ¡°Alright then.  I¡¯m going to go see if anyone is looting or anything, trying to take advantage of the black out.¡±


    Justin nodded.  ¡°You do that.¡±


    Cody sighed.  He walked over to the door and left the house.


    *****


    Valthakar ran to the Northeast at full speed, kicking up dust as he went.  He wracked his brain, trying to remember exactly where he¡¯d put Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery.  The cave he¡¯d put it in had been about two thirds of the way up a mountain, or a little more.  The mountain in question had been taller than those immediately around it, though Valthakar had been able to see an apparently taller mountain from outside the cave where he¡¯d put the quill.


    The quill had been placed relatively deep within a cave to protect it from the elements.  Within the cave, it was trapped within a locked box, though said box would serve as no barrier to Valthakar, as he could simply make it decay away.


    Valthakar felt his stomach growl.  It was past 4:00 AM, he realized, and he still hadn¡¯t eaten.  He¡¯d do that once he got to the little town he¡¯d started his climb from originally.  He groaned.  That was still four hours away.


    *****


    The next day, Cody knocked on Cherie¡¯s door.  ¡°Just a second,¡± Cherie¡¯s mother said from inside.  After about thirty, she opened the door, a weak smile on her face.  ¡°Cherie¡¯s downstairs,¡± she said.


    ¡°Alright, thanks,¡± Cody said.  He walked through the entry way which led straight to the stairs, and walked down.


    Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Cody turned to see Cherie sitting on a couch watching TV.  Cody smiled.  ¡°Hey, Cherry, what¡¯s up?¡±


    Cherie turned around and looked at Cody.  Her fake smile was even worse than her mother¡¯s.  ¡°Hey,¡± she said.  Her eyes followed Cody as he sat down on the couch next to her.  Cherie seemed to drop the fake smile as he sat down.  She sighed and turned off the TV.  ¡°I saw¡­ what you did on the news this morning,¡± she said.


    Cody looked down.  He took a deep breath.  ¡°Cherry, it was urgent.¡±  He shed a small tear.  ¡°I had no other choice.¡±


    Cherie nodded.  ¡°That¡¯s what my dad said.  You needed more souls¡­ or something.¡±


    Cody looked up at Cherie.  ¡°I had assurance from someone who could basically see into the future.  There was no other way.¡±


    Cherie looked down at her feet.  She took a deep breath.


    There was a long pause.  Cody tried to think of a way to break it, but he came up with nothing.  ¡°My dad is planning to send me into hiding soon,¡± Cherie eventually said.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened a bit, but soon relaxed.  ¡°I should have figured.¡±  He leaned against her, resting his head against her breast.


    Cherie wrapped her arm around him.  ¡°I do think we¡¯ll have Valentine¡¯s Day together though.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°That¡¯s great.  What do you want to do?¡±


    Cherie leaned toward Cody, her head resting on his, her blonde hair draping over him.  ¡°I don¡¯t know.  Something big, if it¡¯ll be the last time we see each other for a while.  We could go to Barron Shores,¡± that was a Country Club, ¡°and eat at their restaurant.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Alright.  That sounds wonderful.¡±


    Cherie patted him on the back.  ¡°But as for right now, what do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°Well, we could go watch the new Starstreamer movie.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon, you said you liked the books.  You even reread them.¡±


    Cherie sighed.  ¡°Yeah, about that, I actually lied about reading them the first time.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  He looked at Cherie.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I said that I¡¯d read them and liked them to make you happy.  When I ¡®reread¡¯ them, that was my cover story after I realized I¡¯d not be able to fool you much longer given how often you talked about them.¡±


    Cody looked at Cherie.  Cherie sighed, and then smiled.  ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what, I¡¯ll go to the movie with you on one condition.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°What?¡±


    Cherie smiled.  She rubbed Cody¡¯s thigh.  ¡°There¡¯s something else I want to do after dinner on Valentine¡¯s Day.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±  Cherie rubbed Cody¡¯s thigh harder.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Oh¡­ are you serious?¡±


    Cherie nodded.


    Cody looked at her.  ¡°Oh¡­ okay.¡±


    Cherie smiled.  She kissed Cody on the head.  ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Cody looked up at her, and then smiled after a moment.  He stood up.  ¡°Alright then.  Let¡¯s go to the movie.¡±


    Cherie stood up.  She sighed.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    *****


    Valthakar left another cave empty handed.  He clenched his fist.  He could have sworn this was the right cave.


    Valthakar felt something cold touch his shoulder.  He looked up at the sky.  Snow?  He turned around and looked up the mountain.  He wasn¡¯t past the snow line, though that didn¡¯t mean it couldn¡¯t snow where he was, especially in February.  As he walked, he brushed more snow off of his shoulders.  He jumped up from the ledge he was on to another one, which was in sight.  He landed on it, his feet leaving a mark in the snow.


    *****


    Cody knocked on the door to Reidel¡¯s house.  Nothing happened for a minute or so.  He knocked again.  He heard a raised voice in the distance, and then the sound of footsteps approaching.  Steven opened the door.  He gave Cody another fake smile.  ¡°Hey,¡± he said.


    Cody smiled back at him.  ¡°Hey, I just wanted to visit one last time.  I, uh, I heard from Cherie that you were leaving today and--¡±


    Steven frowned.  ¡°Hey, listen, maybe you could just call me later?  Reidel¡­ doesn¡¯t want to see you right now.¡±


    Cody took a step back from the door.  ¡°Oh¡­ okay then¡­¡±  As Cody turned around to leave, he heard someone running toward him.  He turned back around to see a fist hurdling toward him.  It slammed him in the nose, making him fall backward and hit the concrete.


    ¡°I change my mind,¡± Reidel said.  ¡°He can come in now.¡±


    Cody grunted as he stood back up.  He saw a bit of blood drip out from his nose as he stood.  He looked up at Reidel, whose eyebrow was up as he seethed.  ¡°How the hell does a dead guy bleed?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Reid...¡± Steven began.


    Reidel looked at him, and then down at the floor.  He took a deep breath and stepped away from the doorway.  Cody stood up and walked in.  Steven closed the door and Reidel raised his foot, slamming Cody between his legs.  Cody grabbed his groin as he fell backward.


    ¡°Reid!¡±  Steven said, his eyes darting between Reidel and Cody.


    Reidel looked over at Steven, his arms crossed.  ¡°He killed Lester, Steve,¡± Reidel shouted.  Reidel walked back over to Cody and stomped on his shin.  ¡°I¡¯m just giving him, what, maybe a billionth of what he deserves?¡±  Reidel stomped the other shin, prompting Cody to take his true form.  The pain vanished in an instant.


    Reidel choked on his breath and pinched his nose.  He stepped away, his eyebrows curling.  ¡°Well then, maggot-face reveals his true self.  Couldn¡¯t leave me be.  Had to come here and stink up the place.¡±


    Cody let out a subtle sob, though Reidel somehow managed to notice it.  He stood up.  Steven was steadily walking backward to get away from Cody¡¯s stench, but Reidel¡¯s feet were planted in place.  Reidel glared up at him.  Cody looked back, frowning, eyes downcast.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Reidel asked.  ¡°Is killing your best friend finally too much?¡±


    Cody sobbed again.  ¡°If only you fucking knew,¡± he whispered.


    Reidel smiled.  ¡°Aww, are you sad?¡±


    ¡°Reid, back off,¡± Steven said.


    Reidel turned his head around.  ¡°Why?¡±  He looked back at Cody.  ¡°He¡¯s a piece of shit.  The police would kill him if they knew what he¡¯d done.  He¡¯d eat any of us in a second.¡±


    Cody looked down, soon falling to his knees.  He wept on the floor.  The image of Lester¡¯s dead body flashed in his mind.


    ¡°You¡¯re pathetic, you know that?¡± Reidel said.  ¡°You¡¯ve killed, what, well over a hundred, maybe even two-hundred people at this point.  You don¡¯t give a fuck about them.¡±  That made Cody¡¯s sobbing intensify as he collapsed further, onto his hands and knees.  ¡°But now that it¡¯s someone you care about, you¡¯re a crying heap on the ground.  It makes me wonder if you really care about anyone but yourself.  Did you ever really give a shit about Lester, or were you just attached to him like a psycho?¡±


    Cody let out another sob, but then clenched his fist.  ¡°Stop,¡± he seethed, looking up at Reidel.  The boy was off put at first by his true form¡¯s voice, but he regained his composure in only a second or two.  ¡°I¡­ I am a hypocrite,¡± Cody said.  He let out another sob.  ¡°You¡¯re right about that.  I¡­ Reidel, do you think I wouldn¡¯t stop this if I could?  Do you think I wouldn¡¯t smash my Phylactery if I could?¡±  Cody¡¯s sobbing took him over at that moment.  If tears could have hit the ground, they would have soaked through to the center of the Earth.


    Reidel looked down at Cody.  He sighed.  ¡°All but one of my friends has died in the last six months.¡±


    Cody nodded.


    Reidel turned around.  ¡°I¡¯m going back into my room to finish packing.  Be gone before I come back out.¡±


    Cody nodded, taking his human form and unleashing an avalanche of tears.  Steven ran over to him and knelt down to where he was.  He started to hug Cody, who sat up and returned the gesture.  Cody cried on Steven¡¯s shoulder for the next few minutes before Reidel emerged.  Cody left the house and walked down the sidewalk in the direction he knew led away from where the DIAPP agent was meant to pick them up.  Each step sent a pang of pain up through his ankle, but Cody gritted his teeth and bore it.  It¡¯d go away on its own soon enough.  Cody walked until he found an alley where he could take his true form out of sight and run back to the Northwest District under a cloud of darkness.


    *****


    Later, Cody sat inside Fishy Joe¡¯s Marina with his copy of On Soulless Ones.  He opened up the book to see the spell he needed to cast to prevent lich creation on Earth.


    ¡°To make a celestial body hostile to the casting out of souls, a soulless one with at least 3,439,664 souls must spread a coat of moly leaves on rocky ground and sprinkle the dust of a crushed Samaratian Sea Snail¡¯s shell, powdered smaragdus, and the golden sugar of the Underworld.  Sprinkle this mix with water from Bahamut¡¯s gills and cast the remnants of a broken phylactery on top of it.¡±


    Cody thought.  Killing a lich now would attract attention.  It would be best to wait until they had Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery and use that for the spell.


    *****


    Steven felt the black car stop as he reached his destination.  He stepped out of it.  His mother stepped out with him.  After another moment, Reidel and his father got out on the other side.  A DIAPP agent got out of the driver¡¯s seat as Steven and his mother walked around the back of the car to meet her.


    ¡°Your new apartment is in this building,¡± she said.  ¡°It¡¯s 321.  You¡¯ve already been briefed on your new identities?¡±


    Reidel¡¯s father nodded.  ¡°Yeah.¡±


    The agent smiled.  ¡°Good.  Never break character.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Steven¡¯s mother said.


    ¡°If something comes up, there¡¯s a number in your luggage.  Don¡¯t be too shy about calling us.¡±


    Reidel¡¯s father nodded.  ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Good.  Now, go on in.¡±


    The four turned around and looked up at the apartment complex.  For Las Vegas, it was nothing fancy, Steven thought.  There wasn¡¯t even any neon.


    The four walked into the building, Steven¡¯s mother and Reidel¡¯s father holding hands.  Steven himself walked next to Reidel.  Reidel turned to him as they walked.  ¡°Hey, look, about earlier--¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Steven said.


    Reidel looked down.  ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t.  I shouldn¡¯t have wailed on him like that.¡±


    ¡°You were angry,¡± Steven said.  ¡°It¡¯s totally understandable.  I wanted to do the same thing when I first saw what had happened on TV.¡±


    Reidel looked down.  ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±


    The two sighed.  They held hands as well as they walked through the building¡¯s front door.


    *****


    As soon as Lester and the other souls from Central Square emerged from Justin, still later that day, Cody was called from where he¡¯d been -- investigating the Golden Falls -- to the house where they had taken residence.  Cody entered, opening the door and shutting it behind him.  Justin turned to him as he did.  Lester¡¯s soul was above him.  Justin had apparently sent the others away.


    Justin looked up at Lester.  ¡°He¡¯s here,¡± Justin said.  Lester¡¯s eyes widened.  Cody shed a tear as he looked at Lester¡¯s face.  This was the first time he¡¯d ever seen the soul of someone who he¡¯d known in life.  What was left of Lester¡¯s soul took the form of a human head, but one with very generic features.  It was white and luminescent.  Its shape was very spherical, more so than most human heads Cody had seen.  There were hair-like wisps coming from the top of the head.  The unique structure of Lester¡¯s face was not retained.  His cheekbones were nothing like their previous form.  His nose was small.  His eyes were distinctly human, but not particularly reminiscent of Lester.


    ¡°Can he hear me?¡±  Lester asked.


    ¡°He can,¡± Justin said.  ¡°It¡¯s only you that can¡¯t see him.  He can see you.¡±


    Lester looked down.  ¡°Right.¡±  Lester turned to face in Cody¡¯s general direction.


    Cody smiled up at his best friend.  ¡°Hey,¡± he said.


    ¡°He says hi,¡± Justin said.


    Lester looked back down.  His eyebrows were curled a bit.  Cody waited for Lester to speak.  ¡°Cody,¡± Lester said.  The soul sighed.  ¡°Cody¡­ I was just¡­¡± the soul sunk several feet lower, sobbing, though no tears escaped his eyes.


    Cody looked down.  ¡°Tell him he doesn¡¯t have to do this if he doesn¡¯t want to.¡±


    Justin looked up at Lester.  ¡°Cody says you don¡¯t have to do this if you don¡¯t want to.¡±


    Lester cried.  ¡°No¡­ It¡¯s not¡­ I¡­ Cody¡­ I understand why you had to do it¡­¡±  Cody walked toward Lester, sitting down near him.  ¡°I just¡­ it¡­ it hurt.¡±  Lester took a deep breath and let out another sob.  ¡°It hurt a lot¡­ inside him¡­ the teeth¡­ the acid¡­¡±


    A tear fell down Cody¡¯s cheek.  ¡°I know,¡± he said.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°He knows,¡± Justin said, ¡°and he¡¯s sorry.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Lester said.  He sank down further.  Cody clenched his fist.  ¡°I¡­ do you know when Gborin¡¯gargoth will let us see again?¡±


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°When we¡¯ve defeated the community of liches,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°When we¡¯ve beaten the community of liches,¡± Justin repeated.


    ¡°Right,¡± Lester said.  He looked down.  ¡°I¡­ I look forward to then.¡±  His eyes closed, and he took a deep breath.  ¡°I¡­ Can I actually go talk to my parents now?¡±


    ¡°Go if you want to,¡± Justin said.


    Lester was off.  Cody looked down, tears dripping from his eyes.


    Justin walked over to him, but Cody¡¯s eyes were firmly shut.  He gripped the muddy carpets in his fists as he dripped a solid stream of tears onto the ground.


    *****


    Valthakar walked out of yet another cave, cursing into the snowstorm which raged in front of him.  He¡¯d been here for a few days now.  How the hell had he not found Bavandersloth¡¯s Phylactery?  He sighed and brushed more snow off of his shoulder.  He looked up.  This blizzard sure wasn¡¯t helping.


    Then, Valthakar heard something behind him.  He turned around and saw a dark cloud, like what the boys made, rushing toward him.  He squinted.  Inside it was a lich wearing a tattered prison jumpsuit with a skull mask on.  Valthakar saw a sudden glow come from the lich¡¯s hand, the wrong color to be a magical blast.  He put up his shield, only to see a ball of lightning strike it.


    Valthakar tilted his head as the lich finally reached him and started hurling magical blasts his way.  He didn¡¯t have much to worry about while his shield was up.  Valthakar took a moment to remember who this could be, but then it occurred to him.  A while back, Bavandersloth had had Larngulal create a weather controlling lich.  She must have sent him down here to sabotage his efforts.  Valthakar sighed.  Threat to his person or not, he¡¯d best get rid of this pest if he wanted to finally find Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery.  This blizzard, which this lich had probably caused, had certainly slowed him down quite a bit.


    Valthakar jumped up into the air and to the side, letting down his shield and firing a magical beam at the lich.  The lich rolled out of the way and put up a shield.  He mumbled something to himself, and then Valthakar heard a lightning strike.  He turned around to see a bolt of lightning strike very close to him.  Another soon did the same.  Valthakar put up his shield.  Another bolt of lightning fell, and then another, and then another, in very short succession.  Valthakar¡¯s field of vision filled with lightning in every direction, the blizzard around him still raging.


    The lich below Valthakar ran down the face of the mountain, seemingly headed for a valley.  Valthakar gritted his teeth and jumped down after him.


    With Valthakar¡¯s speed, he was able to follow the lich, gaining on him as he jumped down from plateau to plateau, reaching the tree line in a few seconds.  Several of the trees around him were on fire from the lightning.  As the lich stood, in the darkness of the clouds, snow at his feet, fiery trees to his left and right, he whispered another few words, and Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.


    A swirl of flame erupted from the tree in question.  Valthakar jumped up and away from it, again causing the other lich to anticipate a strike and jump and roll to the side.  Valthakar pointed his hand at the lich and fired a magical beam, this time managing to strike the lich and knock him out.


    Valthakar smiled as the lich fell to the ground, unconscious.  He jumped down off of his ledge and created a fireball in his hand, with which he lit the lich on fire.


    Valthakar dashed away from the lich as he burned, smiling and resuming his search.  The blizzard quieted.


    *****


    Cody smiled as he sat across from Cherie at their two-person table at Barron Shores¡¯ restaurant.  The place was beautiful to Cherie.  There was a small fountain in the corner, carved to look like a cherub, spitting out a stream of water.  There was a well-lit view of the ocean to Cody¡¯s left.  The walls and ceilings were dark brown.  The cushion on which Cody sat was soft, and the table in front of him was covered with a white cloth.


    Cody had deferred to Cherie at every step of the ordering process, himself having no hope of navigating the various dishes.  He¡¯d recognized a few Spanish words.  There was apparently a fancy restaurant version of the taco of which he had previously been unaware.  God, how long had it been since he¡¯d actually legit used Spanish?


    At the moment, Cody was swallowing a bite of rich brownie Cherie had gotten them for desert.  When his mouth was no longer full, Cody spoke.  ¡°So, if you don¡¯t mind me asking, what are you planning to do while you¡¯re away?¡±


    Cherie smiled.  ¡°Actually, I¡¯m probably going to train to work with them full time.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°Why?  Does your father want you to?¡±


    Cherie shook her head.  ¡°Oh, no.  He very much wants me not to.  It¡¯s far too dangerous.  I want to do it because¡­ well, for one, I don¡¯t really want to do much of anything else, but, mostly, I feel like it¡¯s where I can make the most¡­ difference, ya know?  Do the most good?¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.¡±


    ¡°If I train with them, it¡¯ll take several years before I can be a ¡®real¡¯ agent.  You basically need a PhD in monster hunting.¡±  Cherie put her fork down.  ¡°Exactly what all it takes depends on what you plan to do for them, of course.  I¡¯ve not decided what exactly I¡¯m planning to do.  There are a couple of things I¡¯m kind of leaning towards.¡±


    Cody took another bite.  ¡°What?¡±  The hot fudge topping the brownie was just cool enough not to scald his tongue.  He savored it as he chewed.


    Cherie sipped her iced tea.  ¡°Well, it¡¯s really two major ones.  The more practical one would be to be a researcher.  Have you ever seen Paranormal Four, that show where the four college students fight ghosts?¡±


    Cody shook his head.  ¡°Not the show itself.  I think I read a tie-in novel from the school library one time after Steven swore it was amazing.¡±


    ¡°Well, do you remember that guy in the wheelchair who they tell about the monster they¡¯re hunting and who researches to figure out what kind of monster it is so they can learn how to beat it?¡±


    ¡°Vaguely.¡±


    ¡°Well, the first option is to basically be that guy.  The Agents and Exterminators they send into the field can¡¯t always recognize what it is they¡¯re fighting.  There are so many different monsters to keep track of that they give each team a member who¡¯s just in charge of doing that and nothing else.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°I thought Exterminators were mostly for killing liches.¡±


    ¡°No, not always.  Sometimes it¡¯s that, yeah, and then the man in the wheelchair¡¯s job is to check the book to who it was and what their phylactery is.  Then there¡¯s some work to actually find it, the book will never tell you where it is, and then that¡¯s that.¡±  Cherie took a bite of brownie.


    ¡°I see,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°However,¡± Cherie said, swallowing her bite, ¡°there¡¯s also things other than liches.  DIAPP only has one copy of On the Underworld, so you have to do much harder work to figure out about, say, a cursed object, a monster, a magic material, things like that.¡±


    Cody wiped his face with the napkin in his lap and then took another bite of dessert.


    ¡°But that¡¯s just one job.  The other one, the one that¡¯s actually more appealing, is to be one of their ethicists.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°Ethicists?¡±


    Cherie nodded.  ¡°Yeah.¡±  She smiled.  ¡°It¡¯s much harder, though.  It¡¯d take an extra few years of real school, you have to have an actual PhD in ethical philosophy, and more importantly, there¡¯s very a limited number of positions like that.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Now that I think about it, that does seem like the kind of thing you¡¯d like.¡±  Cody took another bite of fudge.


    Cherie took a sip of her tea.  ¡°DIAPP has a few dozen ethicists in its employ at any given time.  Their job is to set policies regarding monsters and such.  What kinds of monsters are more urgent threats?  What tactics are acceptable under what circumstances?  What kinds of magical tools are acceptable to use?  That¡¯s the biggest one.  DIAPP wasn¡¯t originally set up mostly to fight the paranormal.  Its original purpose was actually to militarize it, but that became secondary when they found out that the primary paranormal entities are, well, liches.  With a few exceptions during the Cold War, no one in DIAPP was ever willing to have someone eate--¡±


    ¡°I get your meaning,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°Oh, right.  Sorry.  Anyways, recruitment of liches has been zero since the sixties, and it was never much higher than that.  However, there are a few magical objects which are considered ethical to use, and whenever another one is discovered, there¡¯s a panel of ethicists to decide whether it can be used, and how.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Cody said.  There were about two bites of brownie left.  Cody took one and let Cherie take the other.  When they were done, they both leaned back in their chairs.  Cherie called the waiter over to give them their check.


    *****


    Yolanda stood in the kitchen of the home DIAPP had provided for them, cleaning up after dinner while Samuel watched television.  Her thoughts couldn¡¯t escape her son; her sweet little baby boy.  She thought of him as she loaded the dishes from the meal into the dishwashing machine on the wall, something her old home hadn¡¯t had.


    She looked down.  She hoped this whole business would pass over soon.  She wanted to see him again.  She wanted to talk to him.


    She heard her husband¡¯s snoring, so she went into the main room to turn off the TV.  As she entered, however, a news report came on about another devourer attack, this time in Central Square.  She looked at the screen.  You could tell devourers from Angels by how they looked.  Devourers were humanoid shadows when they were visible.  Angels were spheres.  However, in the footage she saw, two devourers had disguised themselves as Angels by taking on spherical appearances, before revealing themselves and attacking.


    Yolanda knew from Light-rook¡¯s interviews that Angels and Devourers were like twins of each other.  They were identical and yet opposite.  Yolanda sat on the couch, saddened, as an interview with an Angel she didn¡¯t recognize called Shieldcraft came on.  She wondered what the devourer opposite Cody would be like.  The thought soon passed over her, however, and she resumed thinking about normal Cody.  She turned off the TV.  ¡°I¡¯ll see him again,¡± she thought to herself.  ¡°I only have to wait and I will see him again.¡±


    She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.


    *****


    Cody and Cherie went straight downstairs when they got back from their restaurant and Cherie went straight into her bedroom.  Cody took a deep breath as he stood outside.  He clenched his fist.  He had killed four liches.  He had outrun a dragon.  He had eliminated entire street gangs in a single night.  He could do this.


    Cody went into the room and saw that Cherie had already finished undressing.  His eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he saw her.  ¡°Cherr¡­¡± he muttered.


    She looked at him and smiled.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡±  Cody took a deep breath, and then smiled.  He turned around and locked Cherie¡¯s bedroom door.  She laughed, and then so did he.  The joy, not pleasure yet, but joy, overcame him like a glowing hot sun.  He grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head.


    *****


    Justin sat on the couch in the abandoned house he and Cody had settled into.  Lacking anything else to do, he read from On the Underworld.


    ¡°The Conquest of Gborin¡¯gargoth


    ¡°It was about twelve-thousand years ago that the old king of the underworld fell.  On a small planet in a galaxy larger than the average one, there was a world.  It was unconnected from its galactic community at that time, so the Underworld sought to take it into its dominion.  The world was divided into nations, and among those nations was a despotic and corrupt oligarchy.  This nation was small in size, but powerful and built for war.  The Underworld would have had it that this nation be the one from which to conquer the others, but for one fact: its leadership was wrong for such a task.  Its dictator was not only corrupt, but cowardly and self-absorbed.  And so, it was from among the common people of this nation that a lich was created.  This lich was meant to take over the local government and then use its war machine to subdue the world.


    ¡°This he did, and in a short time.  He was given the power to absorb the souls of all those he or his underlings killed, scythed or not.  It was a useful power for a conqueror.¡±


    Justin sighed as he read through the story.


    *****


    When it was time for Cherie to leave Goldfalls, Cody followed her out to say goodbye.  He stood on her driveway while DIAPP¡¯s escort vehicle waited by the curb.  The two¡¯s arms were wrapped around each other, both crying.


    ¡°I¡¯ll miss you,¡± Cherie said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll miss you too,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°I love you,¡± Cherie said, after a pause.


    ¡°I love you too,¡± Cody said.  Their hug lasted for a little while longer before they each took half a step back.


    ¡°We will see each other again, though,¡± Cherie said, Cody¡¯s hands clasping hers.


    Cody looked down and shed a tear.  ¡°Yeah,¡± he said.


    Cherie hugged him again.  ¡°So cheer up,¡± she said.  ¡°This isn¡¯t goodbye.¡±  This hug was shorter as Cherie stepped away.  She rubbed her hand down Cody¡¯s side.  ¡°And when we see each other again, we¡¯ll have a night as good as tonight, alright?¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Alright.¡±


    Cherie looked down at him.  ¡°Hey, listen, I¡¯m going to make you a promise, and I want you to make me the same promise back, okay?¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s promise each other that next Valentine¡¯s Day, we¡¯ll be sure to have as good of a time as we did tonight.¡±  Cherie wiped a tear from her eye and looked down.  ¡°You¡¯ll save the world by then, okay?¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°I promise.¡±


    Cherie hugged him.  ¡°I promise too, then.¡±


    The two cried into each other¡¯s shoulders for the next few minutes before Cherie waved Cody goodbye.  He waved back, his tears dripping against the pavement below him.  Cherie got into the car, her mother stepping in next to her.  ¡°They¡¯ll keep each other company,¡± Cody whispered to himself.  He almost fell to his knees again, but stood up this time.  ¡°Next Valentine¡¯s Day,¡± he whispered to himself.  ¡°Next Valentine¡¯s Day.  She promised.  I promised.¡±


    *****


    The next day, Cody called the number which was supposed to be Zachary Shepherd¡¯s.  He put the phone to his ear.


    ¡°Hello?¡± he heard after a moment.


    ¡°Yes, this is the Angel of Death.  I was supposed to catch up with you.¡±


    ¡°What?  You?  Why not Light-rook?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s unavailable.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°No need to concern yourself with that.¡±


    Zachary didn¡¯t speak for a moment, but then sighed.  ¡°Whatever.  Well, there¡¯s not much to report, really.  I¡¯ve done everything he¡¯s told me to.  There¡¯s only one other thing I¡¯d like to talk about.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I think I might have some kind of magical artifact.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.  Me and Pink were in the Northwest District a few weeks ago.¡±  Zach took a deep breath.  ¡°While we were there, this¡­ thing fell through what we think was a portal.  It was a black orb,¡± Cody sat up to grab On the Underworld as he listened, ¡°it had a faint purple glow around it.  It felt like glass or marble when we touched it.  We have no idea what it was.¡±


    Cody pointed at the book as Justin was reading it.  ¡°I need this real quick,¡± he mouthed.


    ¡°What for?¡± Justin mouthed back.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain in a moment,¡± Cody replied.  He picked the thing up and walked back over to the couch.  He sat down and opened the book.


    ¡°At the time,¡± Zachary said, ¡°we thought it was a trick.  This was before Light-rook spoke to us.  We buried it in the Northwest District.  It wasn¡¯t until earlier today that I thought to ask you about it.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Cody said.  He opened the book willing to see the artifact of which they spoke.


    ¡°That information is not present in this tome.  Please consult ¡®On Magic¡¯¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°I¡¯ve not heard of an artifact like that.¡±  Cody thought of something.  ¡°You said you found it in the Northwest District, was that in Joy¡¯s Coast?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  How did you know?¡±


    Cody thought.  Telling the truth would be inconvenient.  ¡°I know a portal opened there around that time,¡± he said, standing up to give the book back to Justin.  ¡°I think I know where to look to find out what it is you found.  In fact, I¡¯ll be able to do it in a second here.  It¡¯s just in the other room.¡±


    ¡°Is the thing dangerous or useful?  That¡¯s mostly what I care about.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±  Cody put the phone down and bowed his head.  ¡°What did you give them?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a cursed orb,¡± Gborin¡¯gargoth said.  ¡°Say the activation phrase, in this case it¡¯s ¡®Mollin Rath Olimachgor,¡¯ and something bad will happen to whoever is closest to it.¡±


    ¡°Something bad?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s different each time.  The orb twists fate, casts spells, does whatever it has to do to screw with someone.  Different colored orbs require different activation phrases and have differently severe effects.  For a human eye, the purple auraed ones, which is what I gave them, are about two thirds of the way along the spectrum, toward the bad.  Whatever it makes happen will put its victim in mortal danger, though it might not be fatal.¡±


    ¡°Why not give them a guaranteed kill?¡±


    ¡°Because by the time the misfortune it visits is bad enough to make death a certainty, the death in question would be¡­ inhumane to say the least.  Worse than even I¡¯d be willing to subject a man to.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°I see.¡±  He picked the phone back up.  ¡°It¡¯s actually a really, really powerful good luck charm,¡± he said.  ¡°Keep it on your person.¡±


    Zachary gasped.  ¡°Really?  Wow, that¡¯s better than I expected.  Why do you think we got that through a portal?  Who sent it to us?¡±


    ¡°A friend of mine from the dimension the portal led to.  You wouldn¡¯t know him.  Light-rook probably had his contact with you planned a while before it happened.  He might have had this friend send it to you.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  Zachary¡¯s voice made Cody imagine him with the most brainless smile on his face.  ¡°Well, tell your friend I say thanks, I guess.  I¡¯ll go to where we buried it and get it.¡±  Zach hung up the phone.


    Cody smiled.  He bowed his head.  ¡°Zachary says thanks.¡±


    ¡°Duly noted,¡± Gborin¡¯gargoth said.

 1.26 Creation of a Soulless One

    Samo closed his eyes and tried to pretend none of them were there.  He was back at home with his mother, inside the small hut on their farm.  The men shouting bids for him were just bleating goats and neighing horses.  The hot sun on his bare body was the warmth of a fire, lit from wood gathered by his brothers and arranged by his father.


    His exercise in pretend was successful until he¡¯d been sold.  At that point, his eyes opened and his head bent to the side to see the man who had bought him.  His buyer¡¯s skin was dark, like the inside of a felled log, which was still much lighter than the coal-black skin of most of the slaves in the crowd.  The man wore a loose green cloth over his body, and white cloth was balled up over his head.  He had a medium-length dark beard and light brown eyes.


    He spoke to the man who¡¯d been managing Samo up until that point in a tongue Samo did not comprehend.  He would want to learn it fast, Samo supposed.  His master¡¯s voice was hoarse, quiet, and made it seem as though he spoke only with great pain.


    Samo¡¯s former handler guided Samo off of the auction block and into his new master¡¯s carriage.  There, he sat next to one of the other slaves who had been sold there, a woman he¡¯d first seen on the raiders¡¯ ship the day he¡¯d been taken.  Farther up, he saw a dark-skinned woman.


    He turned to the woman next to him, and tried to think of something to say, if only for the sake of hearing words he could understand from someone other than that handler.  He couldn¡¯t think of anything, though.  He looked down and closed his eyes again, trying to imagine that the tears hitting his feet were a gentle rain.


    *****


    Samo¡¯s muscles ached as he pulled the dull scythe toward him, his skin seared by the baking sun.  He heaved for air and then fell forward into the wheat he was harvesting.  He closed his eyes.  He¡¯d been doing this for seven years.  He should be used to it by now.


    Samo took a deep breath, grunted and stood back up, scything a satchel-full of grain.  Sweat leaked from his brow to the ground as he carried the grain he had taken to growing pile of wheat near the barn


    As he walked, Samo heard a horse neigh.  He turned to see has master¡¯s carriage leaving.  That was the way to the market, Samo thought as he heaved.  Samo kept walking toward the growing pile of grain and added his many strands of wheat on top of it.  He turned around.


    The grain field was sprawling, stretching far into the distance, halfway to the horizon.  The whole field was dotted with workers, mostly dark-skinned men and women from East Africa, with the odd fairer-skinned slave mixed in, and still more rarely, pale men like Samo himself.


    Samo walked toward the field of grain, heaving for air.  His eyes widened, and it felt like his lungs were closing.  He looked up at the sky.  It was well past noon, though the sun¡¯s heat was no more merciful for it.  His work¡­ his work would be done in a few more hours¡­ yes¡­


    Samo felt his face smack against the ground.


    *****


    Samo awoke on a cot in a room he didn¡¯t recognize at first.  Was this his room?  Things weren¡¯t usually so blurry in his room.  Samo blinked as he looked around.  He was finally able to make out the vague shape of a woman standing above him.


    ¡°I¡­ Where¡­¡±


    The blurry image of the woman looked down at him.  ¡°Shh,¡± she said.  ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡±


    The world around him slid into focus as Samo held up his hand to rub his head, but the woman grabbed his arm.  ¡°Don¡¯t touch the towels,¡± she said.


    Samo tilted his head.  ¡°Wha¡­ what¡¯s going¡­ what¡­¡±


    He felt the woman pat him on the stomach.  ¡°Shh.  You fell over while you were working.  The heat had gotten to you.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Samo still couldn¡¯t see the woman very well, but her voice was soft and assuring.  It made him relax.  He put his hand back down, and lay his head back on the wet pillow below him.  ¡°How¡­ long¡­¡±


    ¡°Master has forgiven you for your failure to work,¡± the woman said.  It was an attempt to dodge his question, but Samo knew that if Master had come back before he¡¯d woken up, it must have been several hours.  ¡°I even heard him say a prayer for you.¡±


    Samo sighed.  ¡°I see.¡±  His vision was clearing.  He could now make out more about the woman above him.  She had fair skin like his.  Fairer, actually.  Years of farming had tanned Samo¡¯s skin.  However, unlike Samo, this woman had dark hair and bright green eyes.  She was dressed in garb that covered her more completely than anything Samo had worn since before.  ¡°Say, who are you?¡± Samo asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m Georgia,¡± she said.  ¡°I¡¯ve been looking after you, changing your towels.¡±  Georgia stood up.  ¡°That reminds me.  I should go get the healer to tell him you¡¯ve woken up.¡±  She looked down at him.  ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    Samo nodded.  He closed his eyes and thought.  Georgia must have been a house servant.  Perhaps that¡¯s why he¡¯d not remembered her.  He felt water drip from his head.


    Samo¡¯s eyes snapped open as he felt his breath constrict.  He heaved and huffed, but felt like he wasn¡¯t breathing at all.  He tried to gulp the air down, but couldn¡¯t.  He gripped the sheets on either side of him, trying to force air in.  After a minute or so, he was finally able to.  He took several deep breaths.


    About a minute later, Samo heard Georgia and the healer, a tall dark man with a scraggly grey beard, enter the room.  The healer walked to his bedside, where Georgia had been standing before.  He looked down at him, placing his hand the wet rag on his forehead.  ¡°How are you feeling?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Samo began.  ¡°I¡¯m¡­ well I er¡­ I¡¯m still hot.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re all hot,¡± the healer said.


    ¡°No¡­ not like that amount of¡­ hot.¡±


    The healer moved his hand from Samo¡¯s forehead to his chest.  ¡°I see.  The man who brought you to me said you sometimes have trouble breathing.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that?  It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s nothing¡­¡±


    The healer shook his head.  ¡°I heard you just a moment ago.  That was not nothing.¡±  The healer looked down and closed his eyes.  ¡°You never should have been put to work in the fields at all.  How was it that the healer before me allowed it?  I would have recommended you be kept in the house as soon as I first saw you spasm.¡±  The healer sighed, changing the towel on Samo¡¯s stomach.  ¡°Regardless of why it was ever permitted, I¡¯ll council Master to take you out of the fields.¡±


    Samo¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Re¡­ really?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  How long have you been having these problems?¡±


    ¡°Since¡­ since I was¡­ since three years ago sir.  No wait, four.  The physician here then¡­ he was a free man.  He¡­ he didn¡¯t like me.  That¡¯s why he allowed it I think.¡±


    The healer took a deep breath.  ¡°I see.¡±  He closed his eyes and shook his head.  ¡°In any case, it¡¯s only a matter of time before you die if you¡¯re made to labor like that.  I¡¯ll advise master as such.  You should either be serving inside here, or be sold to another owner where you could do such work.¡±  Samo looked away from the healer and at Georgia, than back.  ¡°Hopefully, he¡¯ll heed my council.  If not, may God have mercy on you.¡±


    Georgia nodded.  ¡°May God have mercy on you.¡±


    Samo leaned back.  He closed his eyes and smiled.  It would be much easier if he didn¡¯t have to work the fields; that much he admitted.  He looked back up at Georgia.  ¡°Inside¡­¡± he said.  ¡°That¡¯s where you work?¡±


    Georgia nodded.  ¡°Yes.¡±


    Samo smiled.  The healer looked down at him and smiled as well.  He turned to Georgia.  ¡°Continue as you were.  Change his towels.  Never let them grow hot.¡±


    Georgia nodded.  ¡°Yes, sir.¡±  She looked back down at Samo as the healer left.


    *****


    That night, Samo dreamed of Georgia.  His dreams did not center on her subtle face, nor her full breasts, nor her curvy thighs.  Instead, he dreamed that the two of them were at the church where Samo had gone as a child, reading from the books there.


    When he woke up he didn¡¯t realize the dream was over at first,  She was there, sitting patiently, reading.  Samo looked at her.  ¡°You can read?¡± he asked.


    Georgia turned around and looked at him.  A hint of a smile appeared on her face, making more than a hint of one appear on Samo¡¯s.  ¡°Not well,¡± Georgia said.  ¡°My father was the physician here before the last one, so he had to be able to, and Master let him teach me on the condition I read from the Quran at least as much as I read from other books.¡±


    Samo tilted his head.  ¡°Do you?¡±  Samo¡¯s master was a devout man.  It¡¯d been to master¡¯s frustration that Samo had not yet converted, but since the day of the raid which had taken him, Samo had not had any faith.


    Georgia sighed and sat down.  ¡°Just now, I was reading over some instructions pertaining to making a certain cure.¡±


    ¡°I see.  I¡¯ve always wanted to know how to read.¡±


    Georgia tilted her head.  ¡°Have you, now?¡±


    Samo nodded.  ¡°Yeah.  I¡­ when I was younger, and even now when I can, I¡¯ve always liked to learn things.¡±  When he was a child, Samo had fantasized about being some kind of scholar, not that that was likely.  When he first came down here, he heard about certain Arabic universities.  Until he was about fourteen, he used to dream about someday escaping and going to one.


    ¡°I might see if Master will stop me from showing you a bit.¡±


    Samo beamed.  ¡°Really?¡±


    Georgia nodded.  ¡°Really.  Oh, that reminds me; Master heeded the healer¡¯s council.  He will let you be servant to one of his sons.¡±


    Samo tilted his head.  ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Ayman,¡± Georgia said.  ¡°His thirdborn.  He¡¯s to turn thirteen during the moon after next.  He was go be given a slave then, but master decided to give you to him now instead.  He¡¯s been waited on his whole life, of course, but you¡¯ll be the first slave to be especially his.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  Samo¡¯s eyes looked down a bit, and he took a deep breath.  He lay back.  ¡°When will I begin working?¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow.  The healer believes you¡¯ll be well enough to work by then.  Can you sit up?¡±


    Samo moved his arms and legs a bit, to see how mobile he was.  ¡°I think I might be able to,¡± he said.  He placed his hands flat against the bed and flexed the muscles in his stomach.  He grunted, but he rose.  He took a few deep breaths.  His eyes widened.  He thought it might be an attack.  He felt his breath constricting, but then it stopped.  He turned to Georgia and saw her looking at him, bug eyed.  ¡°False alarm,¡± Samo said.


    She didn¡¯t seem relaxed as she placed her hand on him.  He smiled.  He took his arm away from the hand and took it into his.  She looked down at the hand, and then up at him.  ¡°You say you¡¯ve always wanted to read.  How much do you know of how?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen words,¡± Samo said.  ¡°I don¡¯t know how the shapes move into sounds.¡±


    Georgia looked at him, and then down at the document she¡¯d been reading.  She got up and sat next to him on the bed, holding the scroll in front of him.  ¡°You see this shape here?¡± she said, pointing to one of the squiggles on the page.


    Samo looked down at it.  ¡°The one that looks kind of like a scythe?¡± Samo asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Georgia said.  She moved her finger to a different place on the page.  ¡°Now, do you see this here?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Samo said.  ¡°It¡¯s the same shape.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Georgia said.  ¡°That shape is called a laam.  It represents the ¡®Lla¡¯ sound.¡±  She looked at him.  ¡°And that¡¯s how all of the sounds work.¡±  She looked back at the scroll and pointed to a different shape.  ¡°This shape represents the ¡®Rra¡¯ sound, and this one is the ¡®Sha¡¯ sound.  Every sound has a shape, and the words are made by taking the sequence of sounds for the word you want to write and putting the shapes for those sounds next to each other in order.¡±  Samo looked at the scroll, looking for more shapes he could see in more than one place.  ¡°There are basically twenty-eight shapes,¡± she said.  ¡°It¡¯s a little more complicated than that of course, but that¡¯s the basics of it.  To learn to read, all you have to do is memorize which sounds go with which letters.¡±


    Samo looked down at the page.  ¡°I¡­ I think I can do that.¡±


    ¡°Most can,¡± Georgia said, smiling.


    Samo stared at the page.  It was still an enigma of squiggles to him, but for the first time, he was beginning to truly believe it might be more someday.


    Georgia stood up, taking the scroll away from Samo.  ¡°For now,¡± she said, ¡°I need to sort this, and then I should change your rags.¡±


    Samo looked at her.  ¡°Right,¡± he said.


    *****


    Samo sought out Georgia as soon as Ayman¡¯s daily schoolings began.  The boy did not need to be attended during such lessons, and so Samo was free to speak with her.


    When Samo reached the medicine room where Georgia worked, he took a deep breath outside the door.  When he entered, however, he was greeted by a smile.  Samo smiled back.  ¡°Hello,¡± Georgia said as Samo closed the door behind him.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Samo said.  ¡°Are you free?¡±


    ¡°I can talk,¡± Georgia said.  ¡°I need to crush these leaves.¡±  She put some leaves in a weird bowl and started crushing them with a stick thing.  Samo sat down.  ¡°How is the boy?¡± Georgia asked.


    ¡°As you would expect,¡± Samo said.  ¡°And I mean that in the negative sense.¡±


    ¡°Ooh,¡± Georgia said.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Samo said.  ¡°I mean, he¡¯s not ¡­ that bad.  He¡¯s just young, and spoiled as any child of his wealth would be.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Georgia said.


    Samo looked down.  He thought.  He looked back up.  ¡°Hey, Georgia?¡± he said.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Yesterday, you said that Master had allowed you to learn to read so long as you read the Quran at least as much as you read other books.¡±


    She nodded.  ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I asked you if you did.  I¡­ I don¡¯t remember what you said.¡±


    Georgia looked at Samo.  She sighed.  ¡°I¡¯d say I read it about half as much.¡±


    ¡°Oh.  I see.¡±  Samo smiled.  He was happy to learn that she wasn¡¯t devout.  ¡°Are you--¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  That made Samo smile even wider.  He sat back in his chair.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry to ask such difficult questions.¡±


    Georgia looked up at him.  ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine.¡±  She smiled.  ¡°When does Ayman retire for sleep?¡±


    ¡°One hour earlier than Master.  Why?¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t require you then, correct?¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡±  Georgia looked down at her bowl of now thoroughly crushed leaves.  She dumped the powder into a jar.  ¡°I spoke to master about teaching you reading, and he did not object.  I¡¯m given no other duties at that time in case I¡¯m needed to assist in some medical emergency.  Unless such a thing occurs, I will be free.  Come down here and I may teach you.¡±


    Samo beamed.  ¡°I will,¡± he said.  ¡°I most definitely will.¡±


    Georgia smiled.  ¡°I am glad to hear it.¡±  She put another bunch of leaves into the bowl and crushed them.  ¡°I am still practicing the craft myself, but I look forward to teaching you.¡±


    *****


    Samo looked down at the scroll in his hand as he sat waiting for Georgia to arrive, if she would.  Ayman¡¯s fifteenth birthday had been a difficult affair.  Beyond the fact that the boy was as immature as he had been when Samo had first been given to him, (perhaps it was from shouting at him to behave that his master¡¯s voice had grown hoarse), another slave, a dark skinned woman, had collapsed in shakings while cutting bread.  Georgia had announced that the wound on the woman¡¯s arm was not likely to be fatal as soon as she saw it, but it still required attention.  She had later told him to wait and practice where they typically did while she helped the old healer to clean the woman¡¯s wound.


    Samo squinted a bit, muttering the words to himself as he read.


    ¡°Every soul will taste of death.  And you will be paid your reward fully on the Resurrection Day.  Then whoever is removed far from the Fire and is made to enter the Garden, he indeed attains the object.  And the life of this world is nothing but a provision of vanities.¡±


    Samo looked up at the door as he heard Georgia enter the room.  He put the scroll down and looked up at her, smiling.


    She looked back down at him, smiling too.  ¡°The healer dismissed me,¡± she said.  ¡°He retired himself as well.  The woman¡¯s wound will be monitored, but he does not expect it to become infected.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Samo said.


    ¡°He has commented on the degree of time we spend together,¡± she said.  ¡°The healer, I mean.  He says there are rumors that we¡¯re fornicating.¡±


    Samo looked at Georgia.  He stood up and drew close to her, touching her waist.  She smiled and held him in the same place.  ¡°We are not,¡± Samo said.  He had wanted to, but he had known such a thing would be imprudent.  It was only for a free man to violate a slave outside of marriage.  Samo would be punished fiercely for it, and Georgia¡¯s fate would be still worse.


    ¡°Yes, but if master comes to believe otherwise, it would be dire.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  Samo looked down at his feet.  He gripped Georgia¡¯s sides with either hand.


    ¡°There is a solution, however.¡±


    Samo looked up at Georgia, eyes wide.  ¡°What?¡±


    Georgia smiled.  ¡°It is permissible for a slave to marry, with their master¡¯s permission.¡±


    Samo looked up at Georgia.  He smiled, feeling a warm joy overwhelm him.  ¡°Georgia that¡­¡± Samo had wanted such a thing for over a year now.  ¡°¡­I would love to.¡±  Samo looked at Georgia.  He hugged her.  She hugged him back.


    ¡°Would Ayman consent to it?¡± Georgia asked.


    ¡°Most likely,¡± Samo said.  ¡°I think if we asked them, he and master both would be thinking about little slaves we would make for them, who would be a part of their wealth.¡±


    Georgia looked down even as she hugged Samo.  ¡°Little slaves¡­¡± she pulled away and looked him in the eye.  ¡°Is that something you want to give them?¡±


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Samo looked down, smiling, crying with joy.  ¡°With you, I do.¡±  He hugged her, squeezing her tight, his face on her soft, firm, full breasts.  ¡°I love you, Georgia.  I have loved you for two years.  Free or slave, our love should bear children.  I would not mind that shackles swing from my wrists forever if you were there with me.¡±


    Georgia let out a noise that was half a joyful sob and half a giggle.  ¡°Your argument is persuasive.  I will speak to master of it.  Perhaps you could speak to Ayman as well.  If they allow it, we will plan to wed shortly.¡±


    Samo looked up at Georgia.  ¡°Yes,¡± he nodded.  He sat back down, next to her.  ¡°Yes, I would love that.  I shall speak to him.¡±  Samo¡¯s heart beat with joy as he held her close.


    *****


    Ayman had said yes.  Samo beamed.  Ayman had said yes.  It had been as Samo expected, but his joy nonetheless flew to the distant stars when it was confirmed to him.


    He entered the room where he and Georgia met every day.  He saw her sitting, mixing some powders for an herbal remedy.  She turned to look up at him when she heard him enter, and he saw her eyes.  Instantly he knew, and what had once been his joy fell back to the earth.  Still, he asked.  ¡°Did master¡­¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Samo looked down.  He closed the door.  Perhaps it had been too much to expect.  He looked up at her.  ¡°I see.¡±  He sat next to her.  ¡°Did he say why?¡±  It wasn¡¯t all that common, truth be told, for a house servant to marry.


    Georgia shed a tear.  She nodded.  ¡°Yes, he said why.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    Georgia looked away.  Samo looked up at her.  He placed his hand on her thigh.  ¡°Georgia--¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m to be sold.¡±


    Samo sat back.  His eyes went wide as he looked up at her, her head still turned away from him.


    ¡°Master said I had become experienced enough in the healing arts to be sold to another house for a high price.¡±  She looked down.  Samo heard her sobbing.  ¡°I asked if you could be sold too, but he said Ayman would never consent to that.¡±  That was the truth, Samo knew.  Samo turned away from her and looked down at his feet.  Tears fell from his eyes and splashed onto the wooden floor below.  He clenched his fist, balling a bunch of his clothing in it.  He seethed, but he knew there was nothing he could do.


    He turned to Georgia and hugged her from behind, wrapping his arms around her stomach.  She folded her hands on his.  Samo closed his eyes and looked down.


    *****


    Samo lay in his quarters, on his side, his eyes wide open.  He looked at the blank wall across from him, mere feet away.  His pillow was wet with tears.  He looked at the wall, and then down at the wooden floor below it.


    Samo tilted his head.  His eyes widened.  How on earth did that get there?


    On the floor, there was an object.  It was a book, Samo realized.  It was the biggest book Samo had ever seen.  It was dark blue, but with a silver skull on its cover.


    Samo stood up from his bed.  He looked down at the object.  What was it?  He hadn¡¯t seen it around the house before but¡­ oh crap!  It looked really valuable.  It probably was something from somewhere around the manor, or else maybe something a guest left behind.  If someone came in here and saw it, they¡¯d think Samo had stolen it!


    Samo leaned down and picked up the book.  He needed to put it back where it belonged, wherever that was, before anyone saw him with it.  Samo felt himself breathing heavily.  He took the book under his arm.  If he was to learn where it went so he could put it back, he had best read it.  He left his quarters and took it downstairs to the first room he could think of where he knew there was a candle and where no one would be: the medical room, where he used to meet with Georgia.


    Samo carried the book to that room.  It was the middle of the night, so he was able to move about undisturbed.  When he reached the room, he sat down and, with a little effort, lit the candle next to him.  He opened the book to its first page, hoping to find a title, or perhaps an owner¡¯s name.


    There was nothing on the inside cover, but the first page had some text written on it.


    ¡°On Soulless Ones¡±


    On Soulless Ones?  That was a strange¡­ it didn¡¯t matter.  Samo thought.  This clearly wasn¡¯t a medical text.  Perhaps it was a religious text?  Samo turned the page.  Maybe there was more information.


    ¡°I A description of the soulless ones.


    ¡°II On the process of becoming a soulless one.


    ¡°III On the spells common to all soulless ones.


    ¡°IV On the spells unique to one or some soulless ones.


    ¡°V On the other properties unique to one or some soulless ones.


    ¡°VI A list of soulless ones.


    ¡°VII Questions and answers.


    ¡°VIII Glossary.¡±


    Samo looked down at the page.  He¡¯d seen tables of contents in a few books before, but they always had page numbers next to them.  Wasn¡¯t that the whole point?


    It didn¡¯t matter.  Samo turned the page.  He wanted to see what this book was so he could figure out where he needed to put it.


    ¡°This tome is a collection of facts about the soulless ones, undead beings of supreme magical power.  The object you hold in your hand is not the tome itself, but a gateway to it.  By turning the page with any intent, you summon to you the page you wish to see among the countless pages making up the actual tome.  In addition, you may turn to the Q&A section and write in a question directly.  If the answer to your question pertains to this book¡¯s domain, it will be provided to you.¡±


    Samo tilted his head.  What in the world could this be?  He was confident that magic did not exist.  Still, who would orchestrate a joke like this?  This book was covered in giant blue gems.  It was absurd to imagine someone spending that much money on a joke¡­ or indeed, on any book.  Despite himself, Samo turned the page, specifically intending to see that Q&A section.


    He saw it.  He gasped.  Two boxes, with a feather quill next to them.  He picked the quill up.  His hand shook.  He¡¯d never actually written before, he realized.  Still, he tried to hold the quill firmly and form the letters.


    ¡°How did this book end up in my room?¡±


    ¡°This tome is sent from the Underworld to those who it is believed will be most likely to make use of it, and in ways which will accomplish the ends of whichever actor in the underworld sent it.  In your case, as in most, that actor was the Underworld itself.¡±


    Samo¡¯s eyes were wide.  The book had responded¡­ and it was for him.  Keeping out of trouble was still on his mind, but his curiosity had now been peaked.  Samo picked up the quill again.


    ¡°What does one use this book for?¡±


    ¡°Primarily, to become a soulless one.  After that, to learn about other soulless ones.¡±


    ¡°What is a soulless one?¡±


    ¡°Please turn the page for the beginning of this tome¡¯s explanation.¡±


    Samo took a deep breath and did.


    ¡°I A description of the soulless ones.


    ¡°Soulless ones are those who have, through magic, cast their spirits into objects in order to gain the power to accomplish their dreams.  They walk among mortals in the forms they once knew, but must reveal their true forms, those of dead and deathly creatures, in order to cast their magic...¡±


    Samo thought.  Accomplishing one¡¯s dreams.  That was what the book had been sent here to do for him.  He wanted to marry Georgia.  He wanted to have children with her.  He wanted to spend the rest of time with her.  Plus, if he could have whatever he wanted¡­ he still wanted to run away to those universities he knew about.  He would leave this place.  He would learn with her, forever.  Perhaps she would become a soulless one too.  Yes, that was what he wanted.  Samo turned the page.


    ¡°¡­which they must do regularly, as they must sustain themselves on the souls of the living, which only magic can scythe.  Such devoured souls are the method by which soulless ones increase in power.  They are not destroyed, but rather, they linger with and serve the lich who ate them.  It is by commanding these that soulless ones animate the dead.¡±


    Samo¡¯s eyes widened.  He read that paragraph a few times.  He looked down.  That¡­ was awful.


    Samo closed the book, but then opened it again.  He thought, and then he clenched his fist.  The people who wanted to sell Georgia like a piece of cattle were awful.  The man who¡¯d nearly worked him to death in the fields was awful.  The men who were working the slaves serving right now were awful.  He¡¯d seen the states many of the slaves had been reduced to.  Georgia had told him stories of the worst things she¡¯d seen.  There were plenty of estates just like his throughout the world.  There were plenty of wicked men and women who deserved no better than what that book had just described.  Indeed, it was a rich irony.


    Samo needed little more convincing.  He turned the page, willing to see how to become a soulless one.


    ¡°II On the process of becoming a soulless one.


    ¡°If one wishes to join the ranks of the soulless ones, one must first consider carefully if this is truly what they wish to do.¡±


    It was.


    ¡°Many have cast out their souls, and the vast majority of them come to regret it later.  To give up life, and yet remain in this world indefinitely, is no small prospect, and you should remember that whatever it is you seek to preserve will nonetheless parish eventually, and you may still yet have to live without it.¡±


    Not if he could convince Georgia to become a soulless one like him.  He knew she loved him like he loved her, so that should be no trouble.


    ¡°If you are sure it is what you desire, the process of becoming a lich is not very difficult.  You need merely place the object into which you desire to place your soul, called a phylactery, on the blank page at the end of this section, and then say the incantation on the page next to it.  Once you do this, there will be no going back.¡±


    Samo turned the page.  He saw the incantation, and the blank page next to it.  He looked up from the page for an object he could put his soul into.  He saw a feather quill on the table.  He smiled.  It was symbolic of his intentions, he supposed.  He picked it up and put it on the page, before reading the incantation.  ¡°I call upon the power of the Underworld to cast my soul into this object, so I may become a being of death, disease and decay.¡±  Samo immediately felt nauseous.  He bent down and opened his mouth.  Nothing came out.  He heaved again, and again, hard, as his body fought to reject something deeply lodged in him.


    When his soul finally flew out of his mouth, he saw through its eyes as he flew into the quill.  His body was hunched over limp when he re-entered it.


    Samo took a few deep, shocked breaths as he sat up straighter.  He smiled.  He looked down at the book and laughed, trying to keep from doing so too loudly.  He opened the book back up to see precisely what powers he had.  He saw a page of information about himself.


    ¡°Bavandersloth


    ¡°A lich of knowledge.  An angry lich.  He thirsts for understanding, of the universe around him.  He has been oppressed for most of his life, and intends to take revenge on those responsible.¡±


    ¡°Soul Count: 0


    ¡°Unique Powers: The moving of decay on written material, the moving of the false beliefs of mortals, the theft of knowledge from both the living and the dead, and the implantation of false beliefs in mortals.¡±


    Samo smiled.  Those really were the skills he¡¯d want if he was to learn with Georgia forever.


    Samo stood up, carrying the book with him, straight to his master¡¯s chamber.


    The door was unguarded.  Samo did feel the slightest guilt over what he was about to do, but it vanished as soon as he opened the door and saw a young dark-skinned slave girl in master¡¯s bed.  Samo shut the door behind him.


    He had shut it too loudly, he realized, because both Samo¡¯s master and the woman woke up.


    They both looked at him with confusion for a moment, the slave girl more so, as she did not recognize Samo, whereas Samo¡¯s master clearly did.  The old man¡¯s eyes were wide as he looked up and down Samo.  He could see Samo¡¯s intent on his face.  ¡°Help!¡± he cried, in his hoarse voice.  Samo grinned and shifted into his true form.  His cry was far too quiet for anyone to hear.


    Samo¡¯s master screamed as soon as he saw Samo¡¯s true form.  Samo looked his master in the eye, as the slave on the bed next to him shuddered and shivered.  A sweet, floral smell came from both of them, one which made Samo salivate.


    Samo held out his hand.  He¡¯d start out by using his power.  ¡°There¡¯s no one who would come for you,¡± he said.


    His master¡¯s eyes widened.  He stood up from the bed.  He ran toward Samo.  Samo grinned.  ¡°That¡¯s a bad idea,¡± he said.  His master stopped moving.  Samo smiled.  Countless whippings he¡¯d received came back to his mind.  Orders he¡¯d received, either from this man, or from those this man had ordered.


    Samo turned to the slave still shuddering in the bed.  As sweet as her fear smelled, he felt sorry for her.  ¡°You have nothing to be afraid of,¡± he said.  She calmed down a bit, but not completely.  Merely believing that you had nothing to be afraid of did not by itself eliminate fear.  ¡°You should come here and take my hand,¡± Samo said.


    The woman stood up.  Samo¡¯s master was crying and pleading for mercy in the corner.  He would soon be given the mercy he deserved, the same he had given Samo.  The woman reached Samo and put her hand in his.  He inflicted her with a head injury to knock her unconscious.  It would last only for a few hours, and cause no permanent damage.  There was no need for her to see what was about to happen.


    Samo turned to his master.  The scent of the man¡¯s fear grew.  Samo took a deep breath, inhaling the intoxicating aroma.


    ¡°S¡­ Sss¡­ Samo,¡± his master said.  ¡°I¡­ please, you must understand, I did not wish to sell her to spite you, and I have changed my mind!  Georgia¡­ you and Georgia, I free you both, right now!  Simply do not harm me or my family--¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°It¡¯s too late for that.¡±


    His master¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Wh¡­ what?¡±


    Bavandersloth stepped across the room, slowly, savoring the moment as he approached his master.  ¡°I loved her.  I think you knew that.  I wanted to start a family with her.  A small family, just the two of us and some children, and I was content with the prospect of this family serving yours for as long as it lived.¡±  Bavandersloth reached his master and stood over his slouching form.  Bavandersloth smirked.  ¡°But you didn¡¯t care about that.  You cared not for my love for her, nor her love for me.¡±  Bavandersloth grabbed the man by the neck of his garment and pulled him up, lifting him off the ground and looking him in the eye.  ¡°You took that family away from me,¡± Bavandersloth activated his power, ¡°so I took yours away from you.¡±


    Bavandersloth¡¯s master cried.  ¡°N¡­ Noo¡­ Nooo¡­¡±  He looked down.  A shower of tears fell from his eyes.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he said.  ¡°I went door to door, cursing them.  As you can see, I¡¯ve acquired some demonic powers, and I damned them all.  All of your wives, your children, even your littlest baby, they rot in hell now.¡±


    Bavandersloth¡¯s master struggled and wept.  Bavandersloth put his finger to the man¡¯s neck and made a gash run down his back, like a dull claw-mark, making the man scream in pain.  Bavandersloth slashed the man¡¯s vocal cords as well.  Hoarse voice or no, it was still possible his screaming would eventually wake someone up.


    ¡°Everyone and everything you love will suffer forever now, in a manner graver than God himself could devise for you.  And now, you will join them.  I¡¯ll put you too far away to contact them, too far away to comfort them, too far away to love them, but just close enough to hear them scream.¡±  Bavandersloth ripped open three more gashes on the man.


    The Soulless One inhaled the scent of the man¡¯s fear.  Implausible as they were, this man truly, in his heart, believed every word he was saying.  Good.  Bavandersloth had only a few minutes, so for justice to be achieved, all of the suffering, all of the pain, all of the ripped apart families, all of the dead and exhausted workers, the punishment for all of that needed to be contained in just these few minutes.


    With his thoughts, he broke the bonds holding the man¡¯s skin to his body, flaying him slowly.  He started with the man¡¯s finders, pulling the skin off each one like the edge of a glove, and then moved up each arm.  He couldn¡¯t work as slowly as he would have liked, as he didn¡¯t want the man to die.  Still, the man¡¯s face seemed as though he was in incomprehensible pain.


    As Bavandersloth pulled the man¡¯s skin from his arms, and then torso, and worked his way both up to his head and down to his legs, he heard a low, impotent moan, the vain attempt of a man without a throat to scream in agony.  Tears overflowed in the man¡¯s eyes, until Bavandersloth flayed the nearby skin away from them and blood poured onto his pupils.


    Finally, when Bavandersloth sensed the life draining from the man, he willed the scythe to appear in his hand, and it did.  He plunged it into the wailing creature¡¯s torso, just as he did when he harvested grain for him.  He ripped the soul out and put it in his mouth.


    As he chewed, he moaned with pleasure at the soul¡¯s meaty taste.  He closed his eyes, savoring its flavor, before finally gulping the thing down.


    Bavandersloth took a deep breath.  He thought.  If he left the body there, it would horrify all who heard of it.  He and Georgia would be searched for no matter what, but perhaps their pursuers would be more dedicated if they saw what was left of the slaver.  As delicious as their fear would be, it would not be the best thing for Bavandersloth pragmatically.


    However, there was a flip side to that.  Fear might keep make it so no man was willing to chase after them.  Indeed, that might be the best thing.  Bavandersloth turned around and left the corpse as it was, walking away.


    When he reached the slave girl, he picked her up and set her down outside of the room.  Hopefully, she wouldn¡¯t see his handiwork.  There was no need for her to be so scarred.


    Bavandersloth took his disguised form and headed to Georgia¡¯s room, stopping at a basin to clean himself a little.  With the book from before still under his arm, he entered her sleeping chamber to awaken her.


    He shook her.  ¡°Georgia,¡± he said.  ¡°Georgia.  Georgia, wake up.¡±


    She did, groggily looking up at him.  ¡°Wha¡­ what is it?¡±


    ¡°We need to go.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I said we need to go, now.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ Samo, no.  An escape attempt is¡­ what is that you have under your arm¡­ wait, why do you have blood on your face.¡±  Georgia gasped and looked up at Bavandersloth, bug-eyed.  ¡°Samo, what did you do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain later.  Right now, we need to go.¡±  He took his true form, causing her to reel back.  ¡°I promise you we¡¯ll escape.  I love you, Georgia.  Please, I need you to trust me.¡±


    Georgia looked at him, and then down at the floor, before standing up and taking his hand.  He lifted her up in his arms and ran away with her.

 1.27 The Healing Angel

    Chris snarled as he held the phone to his ear.  ¡°What did you just say?¡± he shouted through gritted teeth.


    ¡°They stole our entire stock, sir,¡± the man on the other end of the phone repeated.


    Chris put the phone down and seethed.  Light-rook had assured him the odds of anything going wrong were minimal.  Chris had been sure they¡¯d honor a deal orchestrated by an Angel.  How hard was it to allow one shipment through your territory?


    Chris sighed while Zachary looked at him, concerned.  He picked the phone back up.  ¡°And how much did we waste on what we were giving them to let us through?¡±


    ¡°About twenty-thousand, sir, on top of the cost of the shipment itself.¡±


    Chris gritted his teeth.  ¡°Alright.  Is that the only news you have for me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Very well then.  Goodbye.¡±  Chris hung up the phone.  He looked at Zachary.  ¡°Oregon betrayed our trust¡± he said.  ¡°We made a deal with them.  In exchange for letting us deliver a shipment through their turf to Canada, we gave them the tools they needed for one of Light-rook¡¯s orders.  They took our tools, twenty-thousand dollars of them, and they took our shipment, fourty-four million more.  Go there and see to it that no one ever considers betraying us like that again.  I want your sister to make them wish they were in hell.  I want her to make the devil himself shake his head in disapproval.  Am I understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Good.  Go off and see to it.¡±


    Zachary nodded and left the room.  Chris sat back and put his feet up on the desk.  He¡¯d never normally have risked this much, but Light-rook had assured him that it was a good idea.  It still had been, now that he thought about it.  Some of his advisors had said Oregon would never pass up that much meth no matter the risk, but what did they know about Oregon?  It had been a good and advisable plan.  It was by freak accident that it had gone awry.  It was a one in a billion chance for it to go wrong.  This had merely been that rare billionth time.  Yes.  That must have been the case.  Chris just knew Light-rook had told him the truth.


    *****


    Valthakar punched a cavern wall as he left yet another cave in failure.  He seethed.  Nothing?  Still?  He¡¯d been out here for a week!  How many caves were in the Rocky Mountains?


    Valthakar looked down.  There was clearly some kind of trickery going on here.  There was no way he could remember the location of the phylactery this badly.  It must have been moved.  By whom, though?  Could it have been Kgobauru?  No, it couldn¡¯t have been any lich.  Without their souls, they¡¯d not be able to find it except by random chance, an extremely unlikely event.  Could Kandrinarkora have messed with it somehow?  It seemed he must have.


    Valthakar sighed and sat down.  If that had happened, what should he do?  Well, he supposed the only thing he could do was open a portal to the underworld and find the thing there.  That¡¯s where Kandrinarkora would have hidden it.


    Valthakar sighed.  How had the boy contacted Gborin¡¯gargoth?  He¡¯d bowed his head, like he was praying to him.  Hardly atypical of the boy, Valthakar supposed.  However, while Valthakar¡¯s pride protested such an act, he¡¯d have to swallow it.  He bowed his head just as he¡¯d seen the boy do, willing himself to speak to Gborin¡¯gargoth.


    ¡°Hello?  Can you hear me?¡± he whispered.


    ¡°Yes.  What do you need?¡±


    Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.  The voice was real and audible, though it didn¡¯t seem to come from any one direction.  He stood up.  ¡°I think Kandrinarkora has hidden Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ yes¡± the voice said.  ¡°The Phylactery is in the Underworld.  I can sense it.  One of Kandrinarkora¡¯s monsters must have taken it there.  I can sense where you are.  There¡¯s a cave behind you.  I¡¯ll open up a portal inside it, one that¡¯ll lead right to where the phylactery is hidden.  I can keep Cerberus under control long enough for you to enter and leave.¡±


    Valthakar stood, taking a deep breath.  ¡°Thank you,¡± he said.


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    Valthakar turned around and entered the cave.


    *****


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened a bit.  ¡°Where are you, then?¡±


    ¡°On an assignment.  We were betrayed by another organization.  We have to take retribution.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Can you not come back and then leave again to finish that?¡±  He wanted to kill Zachary before Bavandersloth died, and that could be any day now.  As soon as his phylactery was snapped, all of his mind control spells would be reversed.


    ¡°Sorry.  Orders.¡±


    Cody gripped the cushion of the torn up old couch he was on.  ¡°From who?¡±


    ¡°The boss.  The one in charge of the Selechii Syndicate.¡±


    Cody closed his eyes.  His face tensed up before he took a deep breath.  He thought.  His eyes flashed open.  He came up with an idea.  ¡°Could I meet with him, then?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I could contact him, I suppose.  Where would this be, and when?¡±


    ¡°Anywhere private, as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°I see.  I¡¯ll tell you what, I¡¯ll call him and see.¡±


    Cody took a deep breath.  ¡°Thank you.  I appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡±  Zachary hung up to make the other call.  The Selechii Syndicate¡¯s leader would be the worst criminal he¡¯d gotten rid of, and as much as he didn¡¯t want to admit it, the most valuable soul he¡¯d have gotten.  Cody closed his eyes, took a deep breath and lay back.  He looked up at the moldy ceiling above him, trying to admire it.


    *****


    As Valthakar walked through the cave, he scanned for the portal he had been promised.  Finally, he bowed his head again.  ¡°Where exactly in the cave is it?¡±


    ¡°In the back.  You¡¯re almost there.¡±


    Valthakar looked around.  He could see into the chamber at the end of the hall.  There was nothing beyond it.  ¡°I can see the back of the cave.  It¡¯s straight down the hall.  I don¡¯t see a portal.¡±


    ¡°Just go into the back chamber.  You can¡¯t see from outside, but there¡¯s a portal to the left.¡±


    Valthakar looked up.  He sighed.  He walked into the back room.  There was no portal.  He looked around.  Too late, he heard a snicker.


    He turned around and saw a cat-like creature standing erect.  His eyes widened.  He lunged toward the creature, but a rock slid and fell on him as he hurdled through the air, its weight knocking him to the floor and crushing him against his stomach.  The cat walked up to him and grinned.  ¡°Whoops, did I do that?¡± it asked.  Valthakar snarled.  ¡°Oh well, I¡¯d better split,¡± the cat said.  ¡°Oh, by the way, you picked the right cave on your third try.  Well, it used to be the right cave.  I¡¯d never tell you which one is right now!  Ha Ha Ha Ha HA HA.¡±  Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.  The cat ran away, emitting an unpleasant, nasally laugh.  ¡°Ha Ha Ha Ha HA HA.  Ha Ha Ha Ha HA HA.¡±


    Valthakar seethed.  He closed his eyes and made the rocks pinning him decay away.  He bent upward and looked at his back.  Crushed, nearly half way up.  The flat part of his back may as well have been a layer of paint on the cave floor it was so flat.  Valthakar sighed.  He couldn¡¯t feel anything from his legs, meaning the crushing must have been so severe that, for magical purposes, that section was severed from him.


    Valthakar groaned, raised his palm and finished severing that bit of him off with a magical beam.  With that done, he stood up on his hands.  He¡¯d done that before, of course, though his speed would be reduced by quite a bit while he did it here.


    Valthakar growled and rushed after the cat on his hands.


    *****


    Zachary called Cody back.  ¡°I was able to arrange a meeting for you.¡±


    ¡°Really?  Where?¡±


    ¡°At the Waterside Resort, room 226, this Thursday at 9:15.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  That was a few days away.  ¡°Can he not meet me any sooner than that?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a busy man.  He¡¯ll be there when he said he¡¯ll be there, and stay for fifteen minutes if you don¡¯t show up, or an hour if you do.¡±


    Cody sighed.  ¡°Fine.¡±


    Cody lay back as he hung up the phone.  He turned to lay on his side and closed his eyes.  He made himself think about his night with Cherie, calling images of her to dance in his mind.  Her soft breath, the feel of her warm skin against his cold, dead flesh, not that he had taken his true form with her.


    Cody sat up.  He looked over at Justin, who he¡¯d finally talked into reading one of the Starstreamer books.  He closed his eyes again and thought about Cherie.  ¡°Next Valentine¡¯s Day,¡± he whispered to himself.


    *****


    Cherie thought about Cody¡¯s smooth, soft skin as she gazed out the window.  ¡°Next Valentine¡¯s Day,¡± she thought.  She heard the door open and turned her head, snapping out of her daydream to see her instructor walk in.  She took a deep breath and looked at him.


    ¡°Good morning, class,¡± her instructor said, shutting the door behind him.


    Cherie smiled at him.  ¡°Good morning,¡± she said, along with a few other DIAPP trainees.  She was by far the youngest person there.  She was studying for the ¡°monster identifier¡± job for now.  Being an ethicist would require a certain amount of experience working some other duty anyway.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± the instructor said.  ¡°Now, we¡¯re here to learn about the identification of magical creatures and artifacts.¡±  The instructor held up a book.  It was forest green, with two yellow circles, one inside the other, on its front cover.  There was yellow text inside the smaller of the two circles.  ¡°Now, first, before we do anything else, I¡¯m going to introduce you to this.  I can see all of you brought your own as you were instructed to.  Go ahead and look at it.  If you¡¯re going to identify monsters, you¡¯ll rely on this book.  It¡¯s called the Compendium of Paranormal Entities and Objects.  All of you should have edition 7.0.¡±


    Cherie looked down at her copy.  The book was tall, wide and thick.  Opening it up, she found it to be printed on very thin paper, with the print being tiny.  She saw that the pages were numbered at the top, so she flipped to the back of the book.  Landing on not quite the last page, she saw it was numbered 3,137.  She looked back up at her instructor.


    ¡°The CPEO7 is a comprehensive compendium of every known magical artifact and monster.  The creatures are listed first in the book, alphabetically by name.  The items are listed second, in the same manner.  An object¡¯s description will usually be about two pages long, but some of them run longer.  For example, flip to page 149.¡±


    Cherie did.  She saw the entry for ¡®Light Dragon,¡¯ alphabetized as ¡®Dragon, Light.¡¯  ¡°You¡¯ll probably not encounter this particular creature in the field.  However, notice the way the entry is structured.¡±


    Cherie studied the page.  The monster¡¯s name was in the top-left corner, followed by an artist¡¯s depiction of it, with a human for scale.  Below it were a series of listed bulled points under headers.


    ¡°Abilities


    ¡°* Oral emission of light, including high energy lasers capable of causing lethal injury and both large and small scale destruction of environment and property.


    ¡°* Winged flight at speeds up to 300 Mph and averaging 225 Mph.


    ¡°* High intelligence, including complex and deceptive tactical maneuvering.¡±


    Other abilities included speech, high lifting strength, and a powerful bite.  Below its abilities were listed its typical behavior, weaknesses, recommended tactics for fighting it, and a header for miscellaneous information.


    When the instructor finished his explanation of the format for a magical creature page, he moved to the magical item section.  This page was formatted in a very similar way, but with different headers.


    ¡°Now,¡± the instructor said, ¡°let¡¯s consider the most important section of this book.  In the back, taking up a third of the CPEO7, is a large index.  In it, countless traits, signatures, behaviors and abilities are listed in alphabetical order.  There¡¯s an entry for fire.  There¡¯s an entry for necklaces.  There¡¯s an entry for creatures which can fly.  There¡¯s an entry for creatures with distinct tails.  There¡¯s an entry for creatures which glow.  Etc, etc.¡±


    Cherie flipped toward the back of the book to see what he was talking about.


    ¡°Below each of these traits is a list of creatures and objects associated with it, including their page numbers.  Mark the page in question with one of the strings attached to the book¡¯s spine, and then either go through the entries it lists, or, if there are several entries under some trait or you know quite a bit about the creature or item in question, look for more than one trait and cross-check them.  A great effort has been made to ensure these listings are complete.  Now, I will note at this point that once you are assigned a team to work with, you will primarily use the electronic version of this book.  It is much more easily searchable, and has more complete information and more categories through which you can search.  However, it may not always be an option.  If you¡¯re on the go, or if there¡¯s a power failure, or if your base of operations is compromised and the database destroyed, and you¡¯d be surprised how often that happens, you¡¯ll have to rely on this book.  Because the two systems work the same way, we¡¯ll usually be using the harder one in this class.  If you can use this more difficult system, you should be able to use the easier electronic one.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s practice.  Say you¡¯re working in the field, and your team of agents tells you that a rural village is being terrorized by an orange monster with wings and one eye.  It has pointed ears and visits people in the night.  It has yet to cause a death, but rather assaulted its victims, and in some gravely unsavory ways, if you catch my meaning.  Look through your book for the monster I¡¯m talking about and mark its page once you¡¯ve found it, but do not tell anyone what it is.  I¡¯ll give you all several minutes to find it.¡±


    The instructor sat down at his desk and turned to his computer to do something.  Cherie looked down in the book.  She thought about his description.  She figured the most important traits for identifying a monster would be the rarest, so she began with the creature¡¯s manner of assault.


    Under ¡°Sexual,¡± she found only three page numbers: 341, 633, and 701.  She marked the page with one of the strings and then moved to page 341.  It pertained to fertility spirits, which didn¡¯t match the rest of the instructor¡¯s description.  Page 633 pertained to mermaids.  That also didn¡¯t match the rest of the description.


    Page 701, however, had a perfect match.  The Popobawa was the monster described on this page.  It was a one-eyed pointy-eared thing with bat wings and the tendency to torture and not kill.  Cherie marked the page and closed her book.


    Several minutes later, the instructor turned to the class.  ¡°Has everyone found it?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± several students said.


    ¡°Alright, so,¡± the instructor turned on the projector, which showed the same picture of the Popobawa from the book, ¡°the monster I had in mind was this one, the Popobawa¡­¡± Cherie smiled a bit.


    *****


    Cody went to the hospital at 5:30 PM.  This was the earliest he had ever gone, so the hospital¡¯s inhabitants were surprised to see him.  When Cody entered, the hospital receptionist¡¯s eyes widened.  She stood up from the desk and stared at him.  Cody smelled her anxiety.  The massacre at Central Square was fresh in her mind.  Cody¡¯s greetings at hospitals had been colder ever since these people had realized that he could be a devourer in disguise.


    None the less, there were dozens of humans gathered in the room into which the doors led, and several of them walked to him and crowded around him as soon as he entered.  These were pilgrims.  They had come from all around with countless different illnesses hoping to experience Cody¡¯s healing powers.


    The first one to reach Cody was a young woman, whose diabetes Cody could sense as soon as she touched him.  He tagged it.  She didn¡¯t immediately know that of course, so he had to speak to her, even as the crowd gathered around him.  ¡°I¡¯ve done it already.  You may walk away now,¡± he said, looking at her.  He looked up from her face and around the room.  ¡°There is no need to rush around each other.  Form a line.  I will get to you all.¡±


    They did.  Many of them had probably seen news reports of Cody doing this before, so they knew he was being truthful about the lack of a need to rush.  Cody had the various members of the crowd pass before him.  A little girl.  A man with his infant son.  A woman with her infant daughter.  They all passed in sequence, about forty of them.  Each one walked into the cloud when their turn came.  Cody laid his hands on them and tagged any illnesses he sensed, and then told them to move along.  Many wretched at his smell, but it ultimately did not hinder them.


    When he was done with the pilgrims in the waiting room, Cody walked up to the receptionist.  ¡°Do you know who can guide me around the facility?¡± he asked.


    The receptionist stood frozen for a moment, and then nodded, getting an official, who guided him through the hospital, allowing him to work with the ill he came across in each room.  The emergency room was the first area he was directed to.  He caught a glare from a woman who was there as he passed through.  Though the influx of pilgrims had kept hospitals from going out of business (each one of them had been paying for their seat in that room) Cody¡¯s work had still had a massive effect on the hospital industry, at least in Goldfalls.  The glaring woman¡¯s grievance with him was probably the cost of this emergency room visit.  As Cody and Justin reduced the number of those with the need to stay in the hospital for any long period of time and cured chronic conditions which kept many of them returning perpetually, the hospitals had been forced to raise the prices of ambulance rides and hospital stays to make up for their losses.  In the hospitals in poorer areas of town, such glares were more common.  Once, a girl had spat at him for bankrupting her family.


    Still, no hospital had refused to admit Cody, as there were many people willing to pay the higher price for the chance of one of his miracles.  In addition, each criminal Cody ate could only be given so many illnesses, which kept him from healing everyone quickly, so the hospital stay was far from totally abolished.


    After making his way through the emergency room, Cody was guided through the other wings of the hospital over the course of the next four hours or so.


    At one point, his guide turned to him.  ¡°If I may say,¡± the man began, ¡°this is¡­ earlier in the day than you usually come.¡±


    ¡°I have my reasons,¡± Cody said.  ¡°My schedule has become freer.¡±


    Shortly before 9:00, Cody finished tagging the whole of the hospital and left.  He had taken a bit longer than he¡¯d expected to, and so he needed to get to the hotel soon.


    *****


    The hotel¡¯s beauty annoyed Cody as soon as he entered its lobby.  The walls were a soft beige, decorated by dark gold triangular bars which ran along them.  In the center of the hotel was a marble statue of the Roman god Vulcan.  Cody kept his head down and tried to see as little of the scenery as possible as he made his way to the elevator, which he rode up to the second floor.


    When the elevator opened and revealed the hallway to Cody, he took a deep breath and stepped out.  The hallway was much less ornately decorated, though it still made Cody a little nauseous.  Cody hurried through the halls, trying to find room 226.  It took him about five minutes before he was able to find it.


    When he finally did, he took a deep breath, looking down as he cleared a lump from his throat.  He knocked on the green hotel door.  A tall, white, balding man opened it.  He looked down at Cody.  ¡°Yes?  How can I help you?¡±


    ¡°I was told to come here,¡± Cody said.


    The man raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Were you now?  Come in.¡±


    Cody entered.  The man closed the door.  ¡°I will say, though, that it is my understanding that you were to come in about ten minutes ago.¡±


    ¡°I am very sorry for my tardiness, sir.¡±


    The man smiled.  ¡°I hope you are.¡±  He sat down at the table.  As Cody ventured into the room, he saw a large man in the room with them.  ¡°However, you did arrive within the margin of error I accept.  Before we begin, though, I hope you wouldn¡¯t mind proving your identity?¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Sure,¡± he said.  He took his true form, covering it with a black cloud as quickly as he could after revealing it, and then took his human form again.


    The man looked up at him with shocked eyes and an open mouth, but soon cleared his throat and regained his composure.  ¡°Please, sit.  What was it you wanted to discuss?¡±


    Cody sat down.  ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed that Light-rook has been indisposed of late?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, similarly to how he was once before, I suppose?¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Yes, and he¡¯ll be gone for as long.  I¡¯m meant to manage things around here while he¡¯s gone.¡±


    The old man tilted his head and grinned.  ¡°Really?  You?  What of that other angel?¡±


    ¡°He is running a long errand.  In any case, to avoid redundant conversation, how far into the future did you already have plans with Light-rook?¡±


    ¡°He and I had operations planned for most of the next several weeks.  According to whatever hoax he is spinning, I will admit I have not followed his newscasts, our organization is meant to be supplying most of his weapons.  We are the premier source of such things in this area.¡±


    Cody nodded.  ¡°Is there anything he had promised to do for you that I¡¯ll need to do instead now that he¡¯s gone?  I wasn¡¯t in the know about the details of his arrangements with you.¡±


    ¡°There was a thing or two he¡¯d agreed to do for us in the next few weeks.  The man, or whatever he is, seems to have paranormal powers of persuasion along with everything else.  Some of the things he¡¯s convinced organizations to do are unthinkable.  He¡¯s brokered deals I¡¯d have said impossible.¡±


    ¡°I see.  Could I get some kind of proper list of things he promised to do?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a pad and paper over there,¡± the Syndicate leader said, pointing to a bedside table in the room.  ¡°I¡¯ll list them to you; you can write them down.¡±


    Cody nodded.  He stood up and walked over to the table on which the pen and paper sat.  He picked them up and walked back.


    ¡°Alright then.  So there are three deals in question here.  His biggest favor, Light-rook was to convince the Russian Mafia to accept a deal to ship us one-thousand tons of meth in exchange for a single shipload of weapons, half of which were to be used to carry out one of Light-rook¡¯s schemes.  He also promised to talk down a casino which we had been taking protection money from, the Sky Palace, and he was to secure us some territory in Las Vegas relevant to that.¡±


    Cody scribbled the information down as the leader repeated it to him.  ¡°What weapons did they need for the attack on Russia?¡±  Cody wasn¡¯t sure exactly how much half a shipload was, but it sounded like a lot.


    ¡°Explosives,¡± the leader said.  ¡°I don¡¯t know where or how they¡¯re meant to be used.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  Cody sighed.  ¡°One other question.  You¡¯ve probably guessed that we need¡­ people for something, with the kills we take.¡±


    The man nodded.


    ¡°Do you know how we might go about buying some, to store them for rough times, perhaps?¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The man¡¯s lips curled up and he emitted an airy laugh.  ¡°What do you need to buy that for?  Can¡¯t you knock just anyone out?¡±


    ¡°We can, but there are reasons to buy.  The person is already missing from the perspective of the law, for one thing, so it¡¯s less noticeable.¡±


    The man laughed again.  ¡°I think I like you more than I thought I would, boy.  That¡¯s one market the syndicate doesn¡¯t deal in.  The Armillo Family is where you¡¯re going to want to go for that.  I can give you a number.¡±


    Cody nodded and handed the man the pad of paper.  ¡°Please do.¡±


    The man wrote the number down and handed the pad back to Cody.  ¡°They¡¯ll pretend to be a laundromat until you say the passcode I wrote down there.¡±


    Cody looked down at the pad of paper and smiled.  ¡°Right.  I think that¡¯s everything I need from you.¡±  Cody took his true form and pressed his foot to the man¡¯s ankle, looking for the bottom of his pants.  As he did, he held his hand out and shot a magical beam at the guard¡¯s heart, killing him.


    The crime boss¡¯ eyes widened and he stood up and bolted for the door, but Cody jumped up and dashed after him, catching him and pinning him to the ground.  He placed his hand on the man¡¯s bare scalp and knocked him out before transferring to him a wide selection of the illnesses he had tagged at the hospital.  He had to make a few decisions about who to save, that was always hard, but he was done quickly enough.


    Cody prepared his scythe and then, with what was almost one motion, moved several mortal injuries over to the crime boss and scooped his soul before they could kill him.  He ate it, its rich, smoky flavor indicating the depth of this man¡¯s sins over the course of his career.


    Cody destroyed the man¡¯s body, and then that of his guard.  He took his human form and walked out of the hotel.  He balled his fist around the scrunched up piece of paper in his pocket.  The Armillo Family sounded like an interesting future project.


    *****


    Cody called Zachary¡¯s number as soon as he got back home from that night¡¯s hunt.  Perhaps he should be hunting during the day too, he thought.  With Angels primarily hunting at night, more and more crime was moving to the daytime.  Now that his schedule was freer, he should go out more often.


    Cody put the phone to his ear as he waited for Zach to pick up.  After several rings, he finally did.


    ¡°Hello?¡± Zach said.


    ¡°Your boss didn¡¯t show for the meeting,¡± Cody said.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible.  The boss honors his arrangements.  Are you sure you went to the right room and right hotel at the right time?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely positive.  And by the way, I¡¯m not accusing him of lacking punctuality.  If he¡¯s as trustworthy as you say--¡±


    ¡°He is.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, it might be that something happened to him.¡±


    There was a pause on the other side of the phone.  ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Zachary said.  ¡°That could be the case.  I¡¯ll look into it.¡±


    ¡°Good.  In any case, I was never able to have the meeting with him I needed to have.  I still could stand to talk to you, though.  When will you be back here?¡±


    Zachary sighed.  ¡°Not for a while, still: maybe around the beginning of March.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±  Cody clenched his fist.  That was still about a week away.


    ¡°Is there no one else in Selechii you could meet with?¡±


    Cody thought.  ¡°No.  I suppose someone else could do if it was absolutely necessary, but I¡¯d rather wait for you if it¡¯s only going to be a week or so, unless of course you are able to get back into contact with your boss.¡±


    ¡°I see.  In that case, I¡¯ll call you when I get back to Goldfalls.  I¡¯d invite you to meet up here, but I¡¯m too busy to meet you right now, regardless of where.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°I will ask though, why me?¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Rank, mostly.¡±


    ¡°Right.  Well, I¡¯ll call you about a meeting when I¡¯m done up here.¡±


    ¡°Alright.  Thank you.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡±  Zachary hung up the phone.


    Cody took a deep breath and lay back.


    *****


    Valthakar saw a blur in the distance, and his eyes widened.  He turned in its direction and scrambled straight toward it, as fast as his arms could carry him, his torso scraping against the ground.  The cat looked at him as he approached, a wide grin on its face.


    Valthakar sprung up with his hands to pounce on the bastard.  The cat leapt aside, escaping his grasp.  Valthakar fell flat on his stomach.  The cat looked at him while his face was flat against the rocky mountainside.  ¡°Hey there,¡± it said.  Valthakar tried his best to ignore the cat as he stood up.  ¡°Hey, hey there.  Wanna know a secret?  You wanna know it?  You wanna?¡±  Valthakar stood up on his palms and turned toward the cat.  As quickly as he could, he lifted his palm and fired another magical beam at it, but it rolled out of the way, landing right next to him.  ¡°Alright,¡± the cat said.  ¡°The secret is that you suck.  Ha Ha Ha Ha HA HA.  Ha Ha Ha Ha HA HA.¡±  The cat ran away, Valthakar looking at it and seething.


    *****


    Zachary put down the phone and sat on his hotel bed, looking over at his sister.  His sister, who sat at a table in the corner dipping a chicken nugget into ketchup, looked back at him.  ¡°What did he say?¡± she asked.  ¡°You said something was impossible.  What was impossible?¡±


    ¡°He said the boss didn¡¯t show up.¡±


    Pink¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°What?  That really is impossible.  What do you think happened?¡±


    Zachary looked down.  ¡°I don¡¯t know.  I¡­¡± he looked up, ¡°he could have gotten hung up on something.  We should assume that instead of something worse, at least for now, but I need to call him to see.¡±


    Zachary sighed and looked back at his phone.  He picked it up and dialed his boss¡¯ number.  He put the phone to his ear and listened to the rings.  It rang once, and then twice, and then thrice, and again, and again, before going to voicemail.  He put the phone down, sighing.  He looked up at his sister.  ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± he said.


    She tilted her head, her eyes wide.  ¡°Don¡¯t worry?  How could I not worry?  He¡­ missing a meeting is so unlike him.¡±


    Zach stood up and walked over to his sister.  He put his hand on her shoulder, causing her eyes to relax and her to smile.  ¡°I¡¯ll call someone still back in Goldfalls and have them look into it.  There¡¯s no reason for us to be distracted from our mission.¡±


    Pink looked down at her plate of chicken nuggets.  ¡°I guess,¡± she said.  Zach stood up and walked over to the bed.  He dialed another number.


    *****


    A few days later, Valthakar lay on the side of a mountain, his legs half-regrown, though still not fit to use as transportation.  He¡¯d been laying there most of the time for the past several days.  He¡¯d go down to the town once a night to feed, but then he¡¯d come right back to his spot on the mountain to sit.


    As Valthakar sat, he heard a chuckle.  He sighed and lay back, resisting the urge to look around.  He heard another chuckle, this time sounding closer.  He just slumped back and closed his eyes.  ¡°Hey, hey stinkface,¡± he heard, in the high-pitched voice he knew belonged to the cat.  ¡°Hey, hey, hey stupid, hey, hey, hey.  Hey, I¡¯m talking to you maggot-face.  Hey.  Hey.  Hey, hey.¡±  Valthakar ignored the creature, even as he could hear it getting closer.  ¡°Hey, hey,¡± the creature said.  ¡°Hey, your mother was a stupid-head!  You¡¯re a stupid-head too!  Hey!  Rot-breath, can you hear me!  Cat got your tongue?  It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll give it back to you.  Hey!  Hey!¡±  Valthakar felt the cat step onto his stomach and walk up to his face.  ¡°Hey!  Hey!  You smell like a dead skunk wearing gymsocks.  You look like a monster ate your face and the other monsters had to use ugly juice to repair it!¡±  The cat leaned down from his face and shouted in Valthakar¡¯s ear.  ¡°Hey!  Come on!  I stole the phylactery you need!  Hey!  Pay attention to me!  Hey!¡±


    Valthakar sat back.  The cat stopped shouting in his ear and looked directly at his face.  ¡°Hey!  Hey!  Hey!¡±  Valthakar raised a shield.  The cat looked behind him.  Its eyes widened as Valthakar¡¯s opened.  The cat turned around and looked at Valthakar.  ¡°Hey, what are you doing?  You can¡¯t do that!  That¡¯s cheating!  I--¡±


    Valthakar leaned down and picked the cat up.  ¡°Let go of me!¡± it shouted.  It started clawing at Valthakar¡¯s chest, ripping his clothes, though they grew right back after each slash.  ¡°Hey!  C¡¯mon, put me down!  C¡¯mon!¡±


    ¡°You do realize I can¡¯t feel that, right?¡±


    The cat seethed.  It looked up at Valthakar.  ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°For you to tell me where you hid Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery.¡±


    The cat smirked.  ¡°Yeah, like that¡¯s ever going to happen!  I¡¯m under orders, maggot-breath.  I can¡¯t just go and help you!¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Valthakar said.  He sat down.


    The cat looked at him.  ¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sitting here, with you.¡±


    ¡°I can see that, puke-for-brains, but why?¡±


    ¡°Because there¡¯s no point in me getting up if you won¡¯t tell me where you hid it.  If I was ever going to find it on my own, I¡¯d have done so before I ever encountered you, and if I ever really came close to finding it, you¡¯d just move it again.  I¡¯d be stuck looking until the end of time.¡±


    ¡°Hey¡­ c¡¯mon, man¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course, you could tell me where it was, but I have no reason to trust you, so I¡¯d have to keep you in here until I got to wherever you said it was, and if it wasn¡¯t there, I¡¯d have to sit back down again and, not let you out, and wait for another, hopefully true this time, answer.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±  The cat¡¯s eyes were wide and his mouth tilted down.  ¡°You can¡¯t do that!  C¡¯mon, that¡¯s not fair!¡±


    ¡°Well, what¡¯s fair and isn¡¯t fair isn¡¯t important now.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?  I¡­ You¡­ You¡¯ll have to let this shield down if you ever want to eat, you know!¡±


    Valthakar lay down on the rocky plateau, and rested on his side.  ¡°I suppose I would, but I¡¯ve gone without souls for a few days before.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± the cat looked down.  ¡°I¡­ I hid it in a valley.  I found some place near a river and buried it in a hole, inside its big box.¡±


    Valthakar smiled.  He looked at the cat.  ¡°I see.  Thank you.¡±  He stood up.  ¡°Can you lead me there?¡±


    The cat nodded.  ¡°I can.¡±  Valthakar started walking down the mountain, the cat kept near him by his shield.  ¡°You¡¯ll want to take a right as soon as you get to the bottom of this mountain,¡± the cat said.


    Valthakar nodded.  ¡°Thank you.  I will.¡±


    *****


    As soon as the first of March came, Cody called Zachary.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zach asked.


    ¡°This is the Angel of Death.  Have you discovered anything about your boss?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Zachary said.  ¡°Nothing.  However, we are just now coming into Goldfalls.  Would you be willing to meet me at the Seal Bay correctional center, in, say, three hours?¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°Why three hours?  That seems like a while.¡±


    ¡°I have to report back to some colleagues of mine about my work, and find space to store a few things I got.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ of course.¡±  Cody was smiling a bit.  This was going as he¡¯d planned.


    ¡°Thank you for understanding.  Meet me in Cell Block B, that¡¯s the visibly smaller one, at 9:00 tonight.  I¡¯ll be near the entrance.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± Cody said.  He hung up.


    *****


    Cherie sat in her apartment, looking through the CPEO7, with homework in her lap.  She hadn¡¯t expected her training her to feel so¡­ schooly, but it did make sense when she thought about it.  Cherie wasn¡¯t training to be a soldier, but a sort of field expert.  Physical training wasn¡¯t a priority, though she had noticed some of it on her schedule.  It still wasn¡¯t a tenth of what those exterminators must have.


    It was also much to Cherie¡¯s relief that the test, and there would only be one test, would be open book.  Learning to use the book was, after all, the point.


    Cherie looked at the assignment.


    ¡°Question 1: You are in the field when your squad meets with you to give you information.  They tell you that the rural Ethiopian village in question has faced three disappearances.  Each one has been a woman, who went out to collect water and did not return.  The ground near the bank of the river is muddy, but there have been no unusual footprints found.  List two questions you would want to ask to gleam more information, and two plausible suspects for the creature or object responsible.  Present your reasoning for both your questions and your guesses.¡±


    Cherie thought.  The obvious first step was to consult the index to find a list of aquatic monsters.  When she did that, she found an entry lasting several pages.  There must have been a hundred entries there.  She couldn¡¯t reasonably go through them all.  She had to think of something else.


    No one going to a river for some water would wade into it, so whatever was dragging them away was most definitely coming out of the water, and therefore leaving footprints.  It must be, then, that its footprints were not unusual.  Cherie thought.  Her instructor had stressed the importance in class of knowing the area you served.  Knowing what typically dwelt in a place would help you learn what was and wasn¡¯t unusual.  She wrote down as her first question.


    ¡°What ¡®usual¡¯ footprints have been found?  Reasoning: As described, it does not seem likely that the creature did not leave footprints.  It must be, then, that its footprints were seen and mistaken for those of a local animal or person.¡±


    What else?  She looked through the scenario again.  It specifically specified a river.  She opened the Index to ¡°river-dwelling.¡±  This included a much smaller number of entries, but still too many to search through.  She thought.  She marked the ¡®river-dwelling¡¯ page and moved to ¡®disappearances.¡¯  This was another large entry, but it wouldn¡¯t contain monsters which would be likely to leave bodies behind, or who did not directly kill their victims at all.  As she cross-compared the two, the first intersection she noticed was the Kappa.  It was a Japanese monster, not African, but she knew that didn¡¯t matter.  While some monsters were better suited to kinds of terrain which were common in one area or another, any monster could in principle appear anywhere.


    Still, it couldn¡¯t be the Kappa.  Its webbed feet went against the statement that no unusual footprints had been found.  Webbed footprints large enough to belong to a Kappa would have been considered unusual anywhere.  There was no animal with feet like that.


    The next intersection she noticed was the Aztec monster Auhizotl.  It was more promising.  It had a dog-like body, and therefore dog-like feet.  She decided to make it her first guess.


    ¡°Auhizotl: It is a river dweller who drags people into the water and drowns them.  Its footprints would have resembled those of a wolf or dog, and thus would have gone unnoticed.¡±


    Cherie looked through the book.  She threw out more intersections, before happening on another possibility.  Mermaids could have lured the victims into the water, thus not coming out on land to leave footprints.  That the victims were women didn¡¯t matter.  Even if it was certain that they were all straight, Mermaids were shape shifters.  Their top halves could easily have been those of attractive men rather than women.


    ¡°Mermaid: They could have lured the victims into the water without coming onto the bank to leave footprints.¡±


    Alright, so she just needed one more question.  If anyone had seen the monster, the question would have mentioned it, so there was no point asking for a physical description.  What about the victims?  The underworld always dispatched its monsters on some kind of mission.  Usually, if a monster was killing people, they had some kind of significance to it.  However, that train of thought wouldn¡¯t give her the kind of question she needed.  She needed to identify the monster, not figure out why it¡¯d been sent.


    She thought.  Perhaps she was thinking too inside-the-box.  A flying creature also wouldn¡¯t have left any footprints.  That gave her another idea.


    ¡°Are there any large mountains, caves, or forests in the area relatively nearby?  Reasoning: If it is a flying creature, and one large enough to lift a human, such a thing must be around for it to hide in, or it¡¯d have been seen by now.¡±


    Cherie smiled and leaned over to the table to take a sip of her soda, then looked back at the book for the next question.


    *****


    Cody walked into the prison about three hours later, like he¡¯d said he would.  He¡¯d been to the hospital and tagged a large number of new illnesses.  Tonight, he¡¯d use some of them on Zachary.


    Under his dark cloud, Cody walked through the doorway into the rusty room into which the main door in the prison led.  There was some graffiti in the corner, though it was old and faded.


    Cody looked around.  He saw nothing he thought was of note.  Where were Pink and Zach?  ¡°Hello?¡± Cody shouted.


    ¡°Over here,¡± Zachary said.  The sound had come from one of the halls.  Cody looked down the hall in question, and saw Zachary motioning for him to come closer.  Pink was on the ground.  ¡°She ran off down this hall,¡± Zach explained.  ¡°She fell, and, I think, sprained her ankle.¡±


    Cody tilted his head.  ¡°And you didn¡¯t take her home?¡±


    ¡°It happened just a second ago,¡± he said.


    Cody looked down the hall.  That struck him as unlikely, which made it likely that his plan had worked.  ¡°I see.  Well, it was you I wanted to speak with.  Why don¡¯t you come over here?¡±


    Zachary looked down at her, and then back up.  ¡°Actually, I¡¯ll tell you what.  Why don¡¯t you help me carry her out to my car?  We could put her in the back, and then you and I could talk up front.¡±


    Cody looked at the cells on either side of Zachary.  After a moment, he smiled.  It had clearly gone as he intended.  Zachary had figured out that he¡¯d killed the syndicate¡¯s leader, as anyone would, and laid a trap for him.  Having a trap prepared for your enemy was smart, but made things all the worse for you when something went horribly wrong.  ¡°Mollin Rath Olimachgor,¡± Cody said.


    Zachary tilted his head.  ¡°What?¡±


    Pink started shaking on the ground.  Zachary looked down at her.  His eyes widened.  ¡°Oh shit!  Oh shit!¡±  He looked up at Cody.  ¡°How did you make that happen?¡±  Cody didn¡¯t answer.  Zachary stood up and started running.  He looked at the cells to his left and right.  ¡°Subdue her!¡± he shouted before running away.


    About a dozen Selechii goons spilled out of the prison cells, descending upon Anita.  As she woke up, rubbing her head, she looked around.  Her eyes widened.  Cody thought.  The most prudent thing to do might have been to leave, or to chase after Zachary.  However, he saw the fear in Anita¡¯s eyes as she stood up, and smelled it wafting off of her.  He gritted his teeth.  He ran outside, hearing Anita shout.  ¡°Wait,¡± she cried, ¡°help me!¡±  Cody ran outside of the building and looked around for Zachary¡¯s car.  He saw it, dashed over to it, and spent about fifteen seconds making it decay, leaving it a useless rust-covered ruin.


    Cody rushed back inside, seeing, as he expected, that Anita had been knocked unconscious.  He clenched his left fist, but extended his right palm to fire a magical blast into the nearest Selechii goon.


    The explosion ripped the woman he¡¯d fired on apart, throwing her innards around.  The cluster of goons in front of her also fell over, the nearest ones dead, the farther away injured.


    The sound of the blast made the rest of the goons turn around, and then gasp, but then, several of them pointed large weapons at him.  Cody¡¯s eyes widened and he raised his shield as a grenade flew toward him.  He dashed to the side, away from the entrance.  When the grenade went off, the doorway to the hall he¡¯d been in collapsed.  Cody heard the crowd of Selechii goons rush away.


    Cody stood up, keeping his shield raised.  He¡¯d intended for Zachary to figure out what he¡¯d done and set some cowardly trap for revenge, but he¡¯d not expected quite as many men as this to be available to fight him.


    Cody left the building through the door that he¡¯d entered.  Looking around, he saw Zachary walk out of a door, and then walk back inside and close it as soon as he noticed Cody.  The scent of his fear was sweet.  Cody rushed toward the door and swung it open.  To his left, he saw two of the goons from before carrying Anita, and a third one behind them with a grenade launcher of some sort.


    Cody was able to raise his shield before the woman¡¯s shot hit him.  He ran after her.  She fired another shot, which hit his shield, making it flicker.  Her mouth widened as he got closer, and she abandoned all attempts to fire at Cody and ran ahead of the two goons carrying Anita, who both shouted at her as she did.  Cody just ran forward.  The goons ran faster as they dashed away, but Cody was able to catch up to and tackle them.  He transferred several injuries and a case of blindness to one, with instantly fatal effect.  The other he kept pinned down.


    As Zachary scurried away, Cody looked at Anita.  He should have done this months ago, he thought, as he touched her, tagged her Disassociative Identity Disorder, as well as the head injury that was currently keeping her unconscious, and moved them over to the goon he had pinned, along with a batch of other illnesses, one of which killed him.


    Anita awoke from her state of being slumped on the ground.  She stood up.  She looked down at the dead goons, and then up at Cody.  ¡°Did you see which way Zachary went?  I probably only have a few minutes before that demoness takes me over again.¡±


    ¡°He ran down the hall behind you, but you are on no time limit.  Pink should be gone now.  I cured you of her.¡±


    Anita¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°I¡­  You¡­.  I¡­¡±  She looked at her hands, and then down at the floor.  She looked back up at him.  ¡°I¡­ Thank you.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.  I¡¯m going to go look for him too, though I¡¯ll go a different way than you.  If you encounter him, he¡¯s likely to have a magic sphere on his person.  It¡¯s a sort of bad luck charm.  Shout ¡®Mollin Rath Olimachgor,¡¯ when you see him, and you¡¯ll activate it, causing something bad to happen to him.  Just what, I can¡¯t say.  When I did it a minute ago, it made you emerge, forcing him to abandon his trap for me.¡±


    Anita nodded.  ¡°Mollin Rath Olimachgor,¡± she repeated.  ¡°I¡¯ll make sure I remember it.¡±


    ¡°Good.  His car is in no condition to be used, so he¡¯s running around on foot somewhere.¡±


    ¡°Got it.  Thank you again.¡±  Anita walked away, down the hall, Cody ran in the other direction.  He could smell pungent fears all around him, but only a few were far enough from the prison to be likely to be someone running away, and it happened that the strongest was also the farthest.  Cody dashed after it.

 1.28 Death Throes

    Zachary rushed away from the prison, pulling the sphere out of his pocket.  The Angel of Death had said some magic words right before Pink fell and started changing.  Could that have been a coincidence?  He¡¯d never seen an Angel need to use nonsense words before. Everything they did, they just did.


    The Angel of Death had said this sphere was a good luck charm.  Maybe the opposite was the case.  Zachary tossed the sphere away from him, causing it to land on the grass a distance away from him.  He kept running.


    *****


    Cody followed the fear trail Zachary left behind him.  His frightened scent grew more powerful as Cody drew near to its source, and before long, Zachary was in sight.  The human found a sudden burst of speed somewhere inside him as Cody approached, but it did him little good.


    Cody reached Zachary and tackled him to the ground.  The human¡¯s fear was pungent in the air as Cody pinned him, but the scent faded away when Cody knocked Zachary unconscious.  Cody closed his eyes and scanned through his mental catalogue of the diseases he had to tag.  He started with the most serious ones which were not immediately life-threatening.  He tried to strategize his transfers to move as many illnesses as he could.  He went through the pettier illnesses, and then the most dangerous ones.


    Finally, Cody moved over a group of life-threatening injuries in a single burst before snatching up and eating Zachary¡¯s soul before the human could die.  When he¡¯d done that, he lay back for a moment, and then stood up to go back to the prison.  Explaining this to Larngulal would be easier if fewer Selechii goons survived this affair, and in a few days, Cody would be in a position to scrub the organization from the face of the earth.  With both their leader and Zach working for him, he¡¯d be able to find all of their hide-outs, track down every one of them and either kill them or send them to the police.  He just needed to wait for Valthakar to find Bavandersloth and he¡¯d be golden.  He smiled.  He really was going to win.  Perhaps Cherie wouldn¡¯t have to wait until next Valentine¡¯s Day for another night as special as their last.


    *****


    Cherie sat down in the training academy the next day with her work on her desk.  Some of the other trainees talked amongst themselves as they waited for the instructor.  Cherie looked over her work.  It still seemed satisfactory to her.


    A few moments before class was set to start, the instructor walked in.  ¡°Good morning,¡± he said.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± half of the class repeated.


    ¡°Alright, everyone, you should all have completed the sheets I gave you last Friday over the weekend.  Today, we¡¯re going to go through them.  For each of the scenarios, you were asked to write down questions you would want to ask to help you identify the kind of monster which had attacked the place in the text.  Today, I¡¯m going to answer them.  Now, let¡¯s read back over the first scenario.¡±


    The instructor got out a sheet of paper and read aloud from it.  ¡°You are in the field when your squad meets with you to give you information.  They tell you that the rural Ethiopian village in question has faced three disappearances.  Each one has been a woman who went out to collect water and did not return.  The ground near the bank of the river is muddy, but there have been no unusual footprints found.¡±  The instructor looked up at the trainees.  ¡°You were asked to list two questions you would ask to help you figure the answer out.  Would any of you like to ask one of your questions to me now?¡±  One of the other trainees raised their hand.  ¡°Church,¡± the instructor called.


    ¡°The question said no unusual footprints were found, but was anything else unusual found in the area?  Not just on the bank, but anywhere on the path these women would take to get there?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good question, but not in this case, no.¡±  The instructor looked away from him and back to the class as a whole.  ¡°He was doing something right when he thought of that, though.  Outside the box thinking is critical in this job.  One shouldn¡¯t let themselves be led to assume that the bank is where these women are being snatched from.  That¡¯s possible, but it also might not be the case.¡±  The instructor turned to another student whose hand was up.  ¡°Yes, Ackerman?¡±


    ¡°About it being possible for them to have disappeared from the bank, I think I spotted something that might rule that out.  If these women went there to collect a day¡¯s supply of water in the morning, wouldn¡¯t they have been seen by other women?¡±


    The instructor smiled.  ¡°Now that is a very good point.  Your colleagues press the women¡¯s families further on that point, and discover that all of them had gone out at night.  There¡¯d been a disease epidemic in the area, its symptoms are all naturalistic, and these women had each gone out to get extra water for family members dehydrated by the illness.¡±  The trainee who had given that answer grinned.  Cherie decided now was the time to put up her hand.  However, the man behind her was called on first.  ¡°Williams?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I was wondering if any of the women¡¯s buckets were found, especially near the river bank.¡±


    ¡°Interesting question.  Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°According to the book, auhizotl will call out to their victims in a way that imitates the voices of their loved ones.  I reason that if one of these women heard such a call and went after it, they¡¯d have left their bucket behind.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± the instructor said.  ¡°Upon searching the area, your group finds an empty water vase.  With further questioning, you discover it to have belonged to one of your victims.  Also, out of curiosity, how many of you narrowed in on an auhizotl as one of your guesses?¡±


    Looking around, Cherie saw several students with their hands up, other than her and Williams.  ¡°Hmm, I see,¡± the instructor said.  ¡°Lambert, what¡¯s your question?¡±


    Cherie looked at the instructor.  ¡°The scenario said that there were no unusual footprints found on the river banks.  What kinds of footprints were found?  I ask because it might be that the monster responsible left footprints, just ones we didn¡¯t recognize as unusual.¡±


    The instructor smiled at Cherie.  ¡°Ah, another good question.  There were snake tracks in the area, along with those of a mud turtle, and those of a wolf.¡±


    ¡°Would wolf prints be consistent with an auhizotl?¡±


    ¡°They would.  It¡¯d take close inspection to tell the difference.  The absence of any blood or evidence of a struggle near the bank had caused both you and the villagers to rule out a wolf attack, or indeed, any wild animal attack.¡±


    ¡°Are there any prints around for us to do that inspection on?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  You do the inspection, and you discover that the prints are indeed those of an auhizotl.¡±


    Cherie smiled.  Yes, she thought.


    ¡°Now then, onto question two.¡±


    *****


    Bavandersloth felt a voracious hunger as his consciousness returned.  He¡¯d felt this same hunger before.  Quickly, he recalled what had happened at his mansion.  Kandrinarkora had told him Odelarch and Tkoralkiarch were working with Gborin¡¯gargoth to betray him.


    Bavandersloth stood up.  He was in a dirty cave.  He could see no light nearby which might indicate an entrance.  However, sniffing the air, he smelled a pungent fear.  It was distant, but intense.  Bavandersloth salivated as he rushed through the cave, following the scent to what he presumed would be a fresh soul for him to devour.


    As he ran, he thought.  His phylactery had been hidden in the Rocky Mountains, so it could be presumed that that was where he was.  It¡¯d been thirty days since Bavandersloth¡¯s last memories, or else an entirely new form would not have been built for him.  He didn¡¯t remember how his form had been destroyed.  He hadn¡¯t felt, seen or heard anything unusual, except of course Kandrinarkora¡¯s voice.  That was probably the trigger, indirectly.  Gborin¡¯gargoth had destroyed his form to prevent him from alerting the community to what Odelarch and Tkoralkiarch had done.


    Bavandersloth reached the mouth of the cave, and stepped out into a dawn-lit snowy valley, surrounded by trees and with looming mountains to his left and right.  Bavandersloth followed the scent across a creek and up one of the mountains.


    If his form had been destroyed by Gborin¡¯gargoth, his absence would have to be explained.  Not knowing how Gborin¡¯gargoth had done it, it was difficult for Bavandersloth to guess whether Odelarch would have been able to explain the whole affair away.  If Gborin¡¯gargoth had been clever, he¡¯d have made sure to destroy his form in a way which would seem impossible for his collaborators to achieve.  Depending on what that was, any number of persons may be blamed for what happened.


    Bavandersloth run up the mountain a ways, and then turned to walk around its face.  The smell was coming from a nearby hill.  Bavandersloth could tell that much.  He made the mountain subtly smooth itself as he walked on it, to keep the terrain from slowing him down.


    It was unfortunate that Bavandersloth would have to punish Odelarch and Tkoralkiarch, the latter especially.  Bavandersloth had grown to like the boy.  Perhaps Bavandersloth could use a binding spell as Tkoralkiarch¡¯s punishment.  Yes, that was exactly what he would do.  His phylactery collecting ability was too useful to waste.


    Bavandersloth would be less merciful to Odelarch.  He¡¯d been a troublesome boy from the beginning.  Bavandersloth has seen promise in him, but any possibility of him being an ally in the future was offset by the fact that he had made himself Bavandersloth¡¯s enemy now.  He should be dealt with cruelly and without hesitation.


    Bavandersloth felt a blade of grass crunch beneath his foot as he smelled the fear, closer, but only on account of Bavandersloth¡¯s motion.  The fearful human didn¡¯t seem to be moving at all.  Perhaps they were stuck where they were, maybe pinned by a rock.


    It was a difficult problem, Bavandersloth realized, working out how to exact his retribution on the boys.  As much as he¡¯d love to gain Tkoralkiarch as a bound servant, getting his phylactery would be obscenely difficult.  He could call it back to himself at any time, and if he did, getting it back would require entering the range from which he could retrieve Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery.


    Wait, no.  Kandrinarkora had blocked Tkoralkiarch¡¯s retrieval ability once.  There was no doubt he could do it again.  Yes, that would work.  As for Odelarch, Bavandersloth would acquire his phylactery once he had Tkoralkiarch serving him.  He¡¯d bind him, make him lead Bavandersloth to his friends and family, (if Gborin¡¯gargoth was communicating with the boy, there was no doubt he¡¯d hidden them away), kill them in front of him, and then kill the boy himself.


    Of course, it was possible that Larngulal or Kgobauru had already seen to their punishments.  Bavandersloth hoped she¡¯d not secured them by doing something rash.  At one of their earlier council meetings, she had advocated a large-scale attack on a major city to draw attention.  It was one of the rare times Bavandersloth had been united with Ntullnarlth against her.  Such an attack would inspire too much fear and panic.  The right amount of those things would bring in the audience Bavandersloth needed for his final broadcast.  Too much of them, and fuck knew what would happen.  Suspicion would brew.  Riots would rage.  Just about anything would be liable to occur in such an atmosphere.


    Bavandersloth finally reached the source of the scent; a little girl, sitting on the mountain, crying.  Bavandersloth was invisible, so she couldn¡¯t see him.  He rushed toward her and buried his scythe in her stomach, killing her.  Immediately after that, he raised his shield.


    Sure enough, his shield was immediately struck by a giant glowing blast of magic, shattering in an instant.  Bavandersloth¡¯s eyes widened.  There was only one lich who could have created a blast that large.


    Bavandersloth jumped back into the valley, dodging another incoming blast.  He looked to see where it¡¯d come from.  He reasoned out a direction, but was unable to figure out his attacker¡¯s location from that.


    Bavandersloth hurried back into the wilderness.  That blast had come from Valthakar.  He¡¯d scared that little girl, and then used her to lure him to that specific spot.  He¡¯d know Bavandersloth was there when he saw her die, and that¡¯s when he fired.  That meant Valthakar was no longer under Bavandersloth¡¯s control.


    That was bad.  That was very, very bad.  But who could have freed him?  It must have been one of the traitors, but neither one was powerful enough to reverse a binding spell.  Could they have powered themselves up?  No, that was absurd.  They¡¯d have had to kill hundreds, something neither of them would ever consider.


    Or¡­ perhaps, would they?  Cody had become rather ruthless as of late, it was true.  By all accounts, his killing of Ntullnarlth had been quite cold.  Still¡­ it seemed unlikely.  The far more likely option was that they¡¯d gotten some third person to assist them.  If that was the case, the culprit was likely a fellow do-gooder.  How many others were there?


    Off the top of his head, Bavandersloth could name three.  Vargrilog, who, when Bavandersloth last knew, was in Abuja, Nigeria, promoting civil rights as he fought crime.  He had become a lich around three-hundred years ago, originally to fight the North Atlantic Slave Trade, of which he had been a victim.  It was a shared background over which he and Bavandersloth had bonded, and his judgement was normally good enough for him to be more than worthy of governing that area, but Bavandersloth knew his loyalty to the community would be more than tested by this plan.


    There was also Ngulakoro, in Warsaw, Poland.  Now that Kaburlduth was gone, she was the last remnant of the storm of lich creation that was World War II.  Her original intent had been to leave Poland with her family during the invasion.  Later, she returned to actively fight the Nazis.


    Finally, there was Kagzuwehl, the Oldest Living Do-gooder.  Just a smidge too young to bind Valthakar himself after freeing him.  He was a product of the crusades, one of the smaller ones.  He¡¯d turned to magic to repel the crusaders who invaded his lands.  He was in Jerusalem at the moment, if Bavandersloth recalled correctly.


    Bavandersloth thought.  Any of these three would have been able to release Valthakar from him.  Which one had, however?  The book could easily have informed Odelarch about any or all of them, though contacting them might have been difficult.


    Bavandersloth wracked his brain as he sniffed for more fear.  He could smell a few faint whiffs in the distance.  He licked his lips.  Perhaps they were from a settlement.


    *****


    Valthakar cursed.  His blasts had hit nothing but the snow.  Bavandersloth had sensed his trap.


    Valthakar jumped to the far side of the mountain from the one he¡¯d hit, the location where Bavandersloth was less likely to be, all things considered.  He waited a few moments, and then took his human form.  He grabbed his cell phone and then took his true form again as soon as he could.  He dialed Cody¡¯s number.


    ¡°Hello,¡± the boy said before the first ring ended.  Valthakar stood up and ran toward the nearest town as he spoke.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get him,¡± Valthakar said.


    ¡°I see,¡± he said.


    ¡°He¡¯s probably going to the closest town, Palisade.  You should call your friends at DIAPP, their special ink would be very helpful to us, and when you¡¯re done with that, you should take the first flight here, perhaps on one of their helicopters.  Bring Justin, and the dog if you can.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Sparky would do well on a helicopter ride,¡± Cody said, ¡°but Justin and I will head over as soon as we can.¡±


    ¡°Get here as soon as possible.  Try to do it while Bavandersloth is still frenzying if you can.  His compulsion to feed will be advantageous to us.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.  I¡¯m out.¡±  Valthakar hung up.  He took a deep breath and zoomed off at his top speed, kicking up a white, snowy mist.


    *****


    Cody put the phone down.  He lay back and waited a moment for Agent Lambert to call.


    The phone rang.  Cody answered it.  ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°The DIAPP office in Grand Junction, the closest one to Palisade, has already been alerted, and the whole area is being evacuated on the pretense of an incoming tornado.  As for you being transported there by helicopter, it¡¯d take too long.  We do have a plane that could get you there in less than an hour and a half.  I¡¯ll have it prepared at the Goldfalls Municipal Airport.¡±


    Cody smiled.  ¡°Thank you.  Justin and I will be there in about twenty minutes.¡±


    ¡°Alright.  We¡¯ll prepare the jet as quickly as we can.  Oh, and there¡¯s one other thing.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°We can loan you some of the sonar goggles our exterminators use.  They¡¯ll allow you to see Bavandersloth while he¡¯s invisible.¡±


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened.  ¡°Wow.  Really?  That¡¯d be great.  Thanks.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±  Mr. Lambert hung up.


    Cody put the phone in his pocket.  He turned to Justin, whose eyes were on a brightly glowing cell phone.  ¡°Hey, Justin.¡±


    Justin turned around and looked at Cody.  ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to Colorado to help Valthakar fight Bavandersloth.¡±  Justin¡¯s eyes widened, but Cody continued.  ¡°Mr. Lambert is preparing a plane for us now.¡±


    Justin sat up, and then looked down at the floor.  He took a deep breath, and took his true form.  ¡°Alright,¡± he said.


    *****


    Valthakar slid down one last cliff and ran into Palisade before Bavandersloth had a chance to.  Tornado sirens blared in his ears as soon as he approached the small community.  An evacuation order was being issued over loudspeaker.  Odds were this was a ploy by DIAPP to empty the city.  Looking around as he walked through the small farming neighborhood around him, it seemed to have worked.


    Valthakar thought.  DIAPP helicopters were already in the sky; their pitch black metal skins blending into the midnight above.  Valthakar should seek some kind of shelter, he realized.  Bavandersloth was much slower than him and wouldn¡¯t be here for a while, so there was no point in him being out in the open.  Hopefully, DIAPP¡¯s sonar would detect and ink Bavandersloth as soon as he entered the little town.


    Valthakar looked up.  One of the helicopters was approaching him.  His eyes widened and dashed around.  He ran into the nearest empty house.  He waited.  The helicopter hovered over him for a few minutes before touching down; perhaps realizing a rampaging Bavandersloth wouldn¡¯t sit and wait like he was.  He decided to de-cloak, though he put his shield up at the same time as an exterminator jumped out of the helicopter and approached him.  The woman stayed a good distance away and with her flamethrowers pointed at him.  Valthakar stayed where he was as the woman eyed him, her fear detectable to him, though foolishly mild.  Valthakar didn¡¯t pay her much mind as she had a rather confused conversation through her earpiece, presumably about him.  He just sat, waiting for Bavandersloth.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    *****


    Jeremy sat in the helicopter, his guns primed at where Bavandersloth was expected to arrive.  Of all of the military operations he had been involved in, this was by far the most sophisticated and important ever to involve paintballs.  Not ordinary paintballs, true enough, but paintballs nonetheless.  They were certainly the purplest thing which had ever been fired from a chain gun.


    Jeremy pressed his lips together.  A small part of him was impatient for the lich to arrive, but the much larger part that remained knew better than that.  He listened for the woman at the radar to shout out that they had detected something.  She didn¡¯t of cour¡ª


    ¡°Hold on!  I just caught a blip on the sonar.  It¡¯s the right size and speed, but it¡¯s headed for Grand Junction!¡±


    Jeremy¡¯s eyes widened.  His full attention snapped toward his gun, sparing the little bit he used to listen to the conversation happening behind him.


    ¡°Straight for Grand Junction?  He must have figured we¡¯d be here.  All helicopters pursue.  Goggles on.  Fire on sight.  Disregard all collateral damage.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Jeremy shouted, along with those in the helicopter with him, including the other gunner behind him who held the actual weapons.  Jeremy took a deep breath as the helicopter moved.


    *****


    Valthakar raised an eyebrow as he saw the exterminator near him react to a radio message and the helicopter above him land.  The exterminator turned toward him and said something, but Valthakar couldn¡¯t hear it through his shield.  He sighed and lowered the thing.


    ¡°Bavandersloth has been spotted heading straight for the next town over,¡± she said.  Valthakar¡¯s eyes widened.


    *****


    Justin looked down at his feet as he sat on the plane, thinking.  He¡¯d have to kill Bavandersloth soon.  He remembered how eager, how excited he¡¯d been to avenge his parents when he¡¯d thought it¡¯d been Valthakar who killed them, but for some reason, he felt different about it this time.


    He tried to settle back in his seat.  His seat was hard and lumpy, unlike Bavandersloth¡¯s jet.  All the same, Justin never wanted this plane ride to end.  He wished he could just sit here forever.


    *****


    Justin sat on the velvet couch, tears in his eyes, staring downward at the brown hardwood mansion floor underneath him.  He closed his eyes as drops of water fell onto that floor.  He recalled his mother¡¯s warm embrace, how she used to cheer him up.  How she¡¯d held his hand during his first flu shot.  He¡¯d not believed her when she said it wouldn¡¯t be that bad, but with her there, it really hadn¡¯t been.


    Justin felt a hand on his shoulder as he cried.  He turned around and opened his eyes.  Bavandersloth was there, smiling down at him.  His smile was warm, soft, comforting, kind.  Justin looked up at him as he walked around the velvet couch and sat next to him, not saying a word.  Looking up at him, Justin thought.  This man had saved his life.  The Angel of Dea¡ªno, the thing impersonating him, it would have taken him too if this man hadn¡¯t been there to save him.


    Justin felt the seat below him depress as the man sat beside him.  Justin looked down, before embracing the man in a hug, head leaned over his shoulder.  Bavandersloth squeezed him just tightly enough as Justin cried over the man¡¯s shoulder.


    *****


    Justin squeezed the armrest as he heard the plane¡¯s engines whirr around him.  The whole time, it¡¯d been Bavandersloth.  He¡¯d stolen his parents¡¯ souls.


    They would be freed after Bavandersloth was dead, Justin remembered, a thought which quieted his tears a bit.  He looked up at Cody, whose attention was focused on the copy of On Soulless Ones which was spread across his lap.


    Tears still trickling down his face, Justin turned over his hand and placed it in front of Cody, who looked at him, at first quizzically, but then with a faint smile as he took the hand and squeezed it.  Justin leaned over and rested his head on Cody¡¯s shoulder as he read, closing his eyes, squeezing the last few tears out.


    *****


    Bavandersloth rushed across the sand toward the second nearest settlement.  Valthakar no doubt lurked at the nearest.  He¡¯d get more food at the larger cluster of humans to its west.  He could smell more fear from there than he might have expected.  Why would that be?  The odor wasn¡¯t enough for it to be Valthakar in devourer¡¯s garb, or in any form.  Perhaps DIAPP was faking a disaster to have the town evacuated?  Yes, that would explain it.  It would also imply that Valthakar had told DIAPP what he was doing and they had listened.  The alliance that would imply had been made was more than unfortunate.


    Then again, it could also be a real natural disaster.  That would be quite the coincidence, however.


    In any case, any likely cause of a fear of that strength made it doubly pointless to go for the nearest town.  No doubt it would soon be evacuated.


    Bavandersloth continued toward his destination as he heard helicopters fly up behind him.  His eyes widened.  He turned around.  There were several of them in the distance, and they were zooming toward him.


    Bavandersloth looked ahead as he dashed for the city, but kept watch on the helicopters over his shoulder.  It was only a minute or so before they caught up with him, and then slowed down to keep pace.  He aimed his hand up at the helicopter nearest to him, but in the time he did that, five helicopters had him in their sights.  They pelted him with paintballs.  Bavandersloth seethed as he saw his once-invisible form become covered in neon purple ink.


    The lich ran ahead nonetheless.  If DIAPP was after him, Valthakar was as well.  Bavandersloth raised his shield.  It was soon covered in ink, ink that would fall on him as soon as he lowered his shield.  The shield was still faint from Valthakar¡¯s destruction of it a while ago.  Bavandersloth seethed. It was vital that he avoid another encounter with Valthakar, but he wasn¡¯t sure how he would avoid it.


    Bavandersloth ran to the side as the helicopters repositioned themselves in front of him, but to no avail, as they pelted the front of his shield with ink just as they had the back and sides until he was finally blind.


    Being blinded did not stop Bavandersloth from sprinting forward with all the strength he could muster.  However, as he did, he felt his shield pop at the hands of a magical beam.


    He turned around, even as the ink spilled on him, covering himself in a devourer¡¯s cloud.  He saw another shot, a magical blast, come toward him.  He jumped to avoid it, but felt the shock of it hit him like a million tons as it hit the road, a shockwave tearing off his legs and throwing him a large distance.


    Bavandersloth felt himself, his back flat against the ground.  He lifted his head up to look in front of him, when he saw the magical beams which sliced off his arms.  He grumbled as Valthakar walked toward him.  ¡°Wait!¡± he shouted.


    Valthakar uncloaked in front of him and grinned.  ¡°I won¡¯t be doing that.¡±


    ¡°I ate out some of the ski lodges!  I got my fill already.  If you blow me up, you¡¯ll just have to search for my phylactery again, and the monsters will be just as dedicated to keeping you from finding it.¡±


    Valthakar stopped.  He turned around, shouting up at the helicopters behind him.  ¡°Do any of you have any contact with someone with a copy of the book?¡±


    One of the agents nodded.  ¡°The head of every base has one.¡±


    ¡°Find out if what he just said is true.¡±


    Bavandersloth lay back.


    The agent spoke again about a minute later.  ¡°It is,¡± the human said.  Bavandersloth grinned.


    Valthakar turned around.  He walked the rest of the way and kneeled down next to the prone Bavandersloth.  He matched Bavandersloth¡¯s smirk.  ¡°Well, congratulations, you get to live an extra few hours.¡±  Valthakar stood up.  ¡°Tkoralkiarch will be here inside the hour, however, so I wouldn¡¯t get too comfortable.¡±


    Bavandersloth took a deep breath.


    ¡°I wish you could understand how wonderful it is to see you just as upset about your own death as any common mortal,¡± Valthakar said.  ¡°You think you¡¯re some lord of amorality, but you¡¯re as obsessed with preservation as Odelarch is.  The only difference is what you want to preserve.  Thinking you can live forever--¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can live forever.¡±  Bavandersloth looked up at Valthakar.  ¡°I knew when I became a lich that my phylactery would eventually be destroyed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about that kind of knowledge, Bav.  No one is so consciously delusional that they believe they¡¯ll live forever.  But at the same time, you feel like you can live forever, don¡¯t you?  How often do you really think of your life in terms of a finite span of time?  At any point in your eight-hundred years, did you ever really realize that you would die someday?¡±


    Bavandersloth sneered, but as he tried to think of a response, he struggled.  ¡°Perhaps not often, I¡¯ll admit, but yes.  I have.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±  Valthakar sat down, clearly intending this to be a long conversation.  Perhaps inflicting himself on Bavandersloth was the only way he could pass the time until Tkoralkiarch arrived.  ¡°If I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d admire your honesty.  I¡¯m still greater than you in this respect, however.  I always think of it that way.¡±


    Bavandersloth turned his head and looked Valthakar in the eye.  ¡°Really?  Always?  I imagine that¡¯s exhausting.¡±


    Valthakar nodded.  ¡°It is.¡±


    Bavandersloth tilted his head.  He looked back up at the sky.  A starry night swirled around above him.  He recognized every constellation by heart from the days when you had to sail on a boat to really get anywhere.


    ¡°The alternative, however, is delusional.¡±


    Bavandersloth looked back at Valthakar.  He chuckled.  ¡°Delusional?¡±


    ¡°Look at you.  You have all of your big plans.  Tell me, were you thinking about how long you would rule the world?  I mean really, truly thinking about it?  No.  You acted as I would expect someone to if some part of them thought they were going to be in charge forever, because some part of you did.¡±


    Bavandersloth scoffed.  ¡°At least I¡¯m after something.  You scream and cry about how finite your time is, but you insist on doing nothing of value with it.¡±


    ¡°There is nothing of real value to do.¡±


    Bavandersloth smiled.  ¡°Really?  You¡¯re that much of a fool?  ¡®Oh, dear, I won¡¯t be able to do things forever, therefore there¡¯s no point in doing anything at all!¡¯  Grow up.¡±


    ¡°Says the eight-hundred year old man to the twelve-thousand.¡±


    Bavandersloth chuckled.  ¡°Yes, says me to you.  Even Odelarch¡¯s worldview is more adult.  At least when he doesn¡¯t get his way, he doesn¡¯t wail like an infant about it for over ten millennia.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve not wailed about Atlantis since about a month after it sank.  I don¡¯t care about it anymore.¡±


    ¡°And yet you spend so much time looking for it.¡±


    ¡°Curiosity,¡± Valthakar said, ¡°if it could even be called that.  I have to pass the time somehow.  Looking for Atlantis is as good a way as--¡±


    Bavandersloth¡¯s laughter grew louder.  ¡°Are you lying or are you honestly that deluded.¡±


    Valthakar glared.  ¡°Your youth denies you perspective,¡± he said.  ¡°Perhaps when you¡¯re my age, you¡¯ll understand.  Oh, wait, I forgot,¡± he grinned, ¡°you¡¯re going to die in a moment, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    That managed to silence Bavandersloth.  A subtle grimace flashed on his face, but was gone before Valthakar would have been likely to notice.  Bavandersloth lay back, closing his eyes.


    *****


    ¡°You may exit,¡± Justin heard soon after the plane landed.  He stood up.  He¡¯d been seated at the front of the plane, so Cody was the only one ahead of him as he walked out.


    Several exterminators got on motorcycles behind him, but Justin and Cody ran straight for the desert where Bavandersloth was stranded.  Regardless of any other respect in which he may be conflicted, Justin was quite uncomplicatedly relieved that he would not have to fight a battle.


    Justin sprinted forward inside his cloud of darkness, looking down.  He just had to grab the phylactery and snap it.  It would be that simple.  Cody had said Gborin¡¯gargoth would stop Kandrinarkora from blocking him this time.  Justin didn¡¯t even have to hear a word Bavandersloth said if he stayed inside his shield.  He¡¯d just do it and his parents would be free.  All of the deceptive spells Bavandersloth had cast would be reversed.  Valthakar would then cast that anti-lich spell, and all of this would be over.


    Justin took a deep breath.  Over.  He¡¯d felt like this would never be over, but it would be, at least where Bavandersloth was concerned.  The community of liches would be defeated.  No new liches would be created, so it would just be a matter of hunting down the ones that were left.  Justin would probably be a huge part of that, he realized.  He was the one who could get any phylactery he wanted.  There were so many different strategies liches had come up with to protect their phylacteries.  Some liches hid their phylacteries in secluded locations, from mountain ranges, to Antarctica, to lakes and rivers, even outer space.  There was one lich who¡¯d found a way to get his phylactery onto the international space station.  There was another who¡¯d somehow gotten it onto a space probe.


    None of that mattered where Justin was concerned, though.  He got it, Sparky burned it, that¡¯s all there was to it.


    Justin looked up as he heard the DIAPP helicopter twirl above him.  He looked back at the road in front of him, and he saw Bavandersloth.  He clinched his fist and activated his shield.  He stepped forward.  Cody followed not far behind him, no expression of any kind on his face.  Justin took another step.  A tear fell down his cheek.  A moment later, Cody said something, and then tapped Justin¡¯s shield, but Justin didn¡¯t respond.  He did move again though, after a moment.


    Justin was alone with his thoughts inside the shield.  Why had the plane landed? he thought.  Why couldn¡¯t the ride have lasted longer?  He moved perhaps five steps in the first minute of his approach, but soon discovered that by picturing his mother¡¯s face, he was able to speed himself up.  Soon, he was close enough to Bavandersloth for the lich to look back at him.  His lips moved, but Justin did not lower his shield.  After a moment, he summoned courage to bring Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery to him.


    *****


    Bavandersloth looked at the boy inside the shield.  It was true what they said, he discovered.  When you¡¯re about to die, your entire life flashes before your eyes, though perhaps it only happened to some people.  His childhood flashed before him, the quiet farm on which he¡¯d been born.  He still remembered his mother¡¯s face, after all these years.


    As vivid were the memories of the chains he¡¯d worn off of the farm, and the heat of the sun and ache of his muscles once he¡¯d been moved to his new one.


    More clearly than any of that, though, he remembered her.  She was the reason he had become what he became.  He¡¯d become a lich so he could save her, and he¡¯d traded his soul so he could kill her.  She¡¯d been a weakness by the end, a liability.  She knew too much of him, and her word and welfare held too much sway over his mind.  Now, he only wished he¡¯d done it sooner.  He would have spared himself several unpleasant incidents.  Still, perhaps it would be the one good thing about the Underworld.  He might see her again.


    After Georgia¡¯s face faded from his mind, he remembered the past few months, the most eventful in his life.  His plan had been so intricate, so well laid out, so wonderful.  It would have succeeded, but for the intervention of Gborin¡¯gargoth.  Bavandersloth could see the smile on Odelarch¡¯s face, as though the boy had just won their little game.  He¡¯d not.  He was not a player.  He was a piece.  He was just a pawn in Gborin¡¯gargoth¡¯s game against Kandrinarkora.


    Bavandersloth lay back, closing his eyes as he felt a sudden pain in his gut.


    *****


    Justin lowered his shield as he dropped Bavandersloth¡¯s phylactery to the ground in two pieces.  Valthakar walked right over and picked it up, changing into his human form, pocketing it, and then taking his true form again.  ¡°Good job,¡± he said.


    Justin nodded, his eyes downcast.  ¡°Right,¡± he said.


    *****


    Georgia sat at the table of plenty in the Underworld when a stone she was meant to keep with her vibrated.  She picked it up, activating its display.


    ¡°Bavandersloth has died,¡± the alert said.  ¡°Would you like to see him before he begins standard processing?¡±


    It¡¯d been awhile since she¡¯d gotten such an alert.  Without a second thought, she touched the ¡°no¡± option and resumed her meal.

 1.29 All Our Knowledge

    Reidel dropped his fork into the bowl in front of him. He stared across the table at Steven, wide-eyed. He saw Steven¡¯s eyes sink downward. Reidel could remember now. They had gathered around the table when the ground shook, and a fissure opened up in Lester¡¯s floor, right under Allen. A golden cylinder rose out of it and surrounded him, molded itself into a sarcophagus with Allen¡¯s face and sank down. All of this, while Allen screamed.


    He¡¯d remembered it the whole time, Reidel realized¡­ he¡¯d just also believed, like he knew it for a fact, that the school librarian had broken into the house and killed Allen. Reidel¡¯s eyebrow furled. What the fuck was wrong with him? The thought of Bavandersloth¡¯s smug face forced itself on his mind, and made him seethe.


    ¡°So you remember too?¡± Steven said, his voice scared.


    Reidel took a deep breath. ¡°Yes,¡± he said. He reached out for Steven¡¯s hand, which rested on the table limply. He held it.


    *****


    Violet Fox sat at her news desk, reading from her teleprompter. ¡°Breaking News,¡± she said. The next line flashed across the screen. How the hell do you say that on the air? she thought. ¡°As you yourself may well have noticed, what scientists,¡± she held back laughter, ¡°are calling a complex global memory phenomenon has afflicted the globe. Persons around the world are noticing what appears to be the sudden abandonment of beliefs which, on reflection, are found to have been held with unfounded dogmatism. It has been noted that all of the beliefs in question pertain to the Angel phenomenon. We bring you now to Neurobiologist Carlos Palmer.¡±


    Violet took a deep breath and leaned back as the broadcast cut to another newsperson interviewing the scientist. Damn the twenty-four hour news cycle. She was still trying to process what had happened for herself. From her memory, it seemed to her like every¡­ ¡°fact¡± she could recall believing was something she¡¯d heard from Light-rook while she interviewed him. She had tried to think of an exception, but she couldn¡¯t. He¡¯d said that the motorcyclists had been fighting Orichalcum over an evil book. He¡¯d reassured her that the book was evil. He¡¯d said everything about that other dimension. He¡¯d explained what had happened in North Korea to her. She couldn¡¯t think of anything else in any other area of her life that seemed to be part of--


    Her thoughts were interrupted by the teleprompter flashing back on. ¡°Thank you Carlos,¡± she said. ¡°Investigations into the source of this effect, including possible relationships to the angel phenomenon, are ongoing. In the meantime, government officials emphasize the need to remain calm and proceed as normal.¡±


    Violet ripped off her headset as soon as the camera cut away from her.


    *****


    Cody lay back in the worn out velvet seats of Bavandersloth¡¯s plane. All was well, after a fashion. Cody glanced several rows up at Justin, who had finished crying, but was still not in the mood to talk. He refocused his mind. With Bavandersloth gone, he had another problem. Everyone will have had their minds unaltered.


    The public would know that they had been lied to. They would realize that their minds had been tampered with. This would probably turn them pretty strongly against Angels. To a large extent, that was good. It might, however, lead to just a speck of public unrest and the occasional riot. How much exactly would they realize? Cody thought. They would notice that all of the lies had had to do with Angels. They would notice all of those lies had painted Angels positively. They would remember the book. Cody placed his hand on his copy, which sat in the seat next to him. They would probably assume that what they were told about it was false.


    Someone¡¯ll want a copy, Cody realized. But should they have it? Would they be better off knowing about the devoured souls? Would that just cause more unrest? Cody thought hard. On one hand, the real truth was upsetting. But would not knowing be worse? Would they fear the worst? Which way would they be less likely to lash out at an innocent party?


    If I were them, Cody thought, which would make me feel worse? When he thought about it that way, it was obvious. They shouldn¡¯t know. He remembered how he¡¯d reacted when he first learned. Surely adding all of the information they still lacked, that the world had just nearly been taken over by soul eating monsters, would only make things worse. It may leave them less prepared for the next time, but Cody already had plans to exterminate the community, and Valthakar¡¯s ritual would prevent any new liches from being created. There wouldn¡¯t be a next time.


    *****


    ¡°There has already been a death tentatively connected with the incident, sir,¡± one of the DIAPP agents said. The Grey man took a deep breath. ¡°Alright men, the question we need to answer is this: how do we prevent more public unrest?¡±


    ¡°Should we try to spin this?¡± an agent suggested. ¡°Perhaps, just maybe, we could spin the devourers everyone saw as the result of some kind of genetic experimentat--¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s stupid,¡± the Gray man said.


    ¡°But most of the public won¡¯t know that,¡± the agent said.


    ¡°Well we don¡¯t need to calm down most of the public. Any cover story we came up with would have to fool experts who have a deep understanding of whatever we blamed, and given what all the public has seen, that¡¯s likely impossible.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps there¡¯s nothing we can do,¡± another agent said. ¡°We could try to leave the whole incident shrouded in mystery.¡±


    The grey man took a sip of coffee. He seemed to think for a moment. ¡°That¡¯s a bad idea,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ve got to come up with some kind of story, something less upsetting than the truth, but believable in light of everything the public has seen. We need to tell them something that will make them think they should keep living in the same world they were before. So, pursuant to that - ideas?¡±


    No one spoke for a moment. The Gray man looked around the room. ¡°C¡¯mon, people. What is the least disturbing thing they could be?¡±


    ¡°Aliens?¡± another agent suggested.


    The Gray man thought for a second. ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°Most of the devourers are specific people, people with friends, even families for some of them. Body snatchers are scarier than what we really have.¡±


    ¡°What if we say that they¡¯re those people,¡± another agent said, ¡°but we say that they made some kind of deal with an evil spirit, or alien or something.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not too far from the truth,¡± an agent pointed out.


    ¡°That¡¯s a point in its favor,¡± the Gray man said.


    The first agent nodded. ¡°Perhaps we could stage some kind of battle with whatever it was, make it seem gone, and give everyone on earth a sense of victory.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a little silly?¡± someone else asked.


    ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t think so,¡± the Gray man said. ¡°The public will doubtless feel betrayed and defeated after being lied to for so long, and it¡¯s that feeling which will most likely lead them to anger. That¡¯s what we need to prevent.¡± He took another sip. ¡°We¡¯ll set it up. We¡¯ll acquire some monstrosity and then film ourselves killing it. Then we¡¯ll tell everyone that we¡¯ve been after it the whole time.¡± The man shifted in his chair. ¡°That leaves us with a lot of details to work out, but that can be done.¡±


    The DIAPP agents went on to discuss those details.


    *****


    Violet lay across a couch in the break room, drinking coffee, wishing it was more than coffee. Her mind was on the Angel story. She was sure that everything, all of the beliefs that had been altered, had been things she¡¯d heard while interviewing Light-rook. Not even Orichalcum. Just Light-rook.


    And everything that the public was forced to believe, they heard from my interviews.


    Violet stood up to get another cup of coffee. You¡¯ve already had three, a voice in her head told her. Fuck you, she said back. I can have as much coffee as I damn well please.


    She picked her mug up from the table and walked across the room. She grabbed the pot and poured into her mug. ¡°You¡¯re a real Journalist!!¡± the mug said. She¡¯d gotten it when she got her first job. It was here, she realized, though she¡¯d worked elsewhere for part of her career.


    The pot emptied, and the mug was still half-empty. She started to summon one of the interns to make more, but she didn¡¯t. Instead, she filled the empty space with creamer and sat back down.


    As she sipped the cold, sweet, milky beverage she had created, she was finally able to get her mind off of the angels for a moment. Instead, she remembered buying this mug. She¡¯d gotten it online. It would have been¡­ 2000, maybe?


    She¡¯d had it specially made from a website that allowed one to create a customized t-shirt or mug. You could design any image you wanted to put on it. She¡¯d written this message in paint or something, and sent it to them.


    She looked at the mug. She laughed. It looked silly, now that she examined it. It looked like, well, like it was made in paint. The letters were blocky and zig-zagged, and bright green on a pink background. It looked childish.


    She took another sip. Perhaps it was childish, how she¡¯d felt. She was so overjoyed when she got that job. It felt so¡­ so validating, to finally have a real job in the industry, if only as a staff researcher. No matter what anyone said, she was unquestionably a real journalist. She was doing really, real journalism. It was what she¡¯d wanted to do since she was a child. She liked researching, discovering, and piecing together, and she loved the presentation of it all even more. That hadn¡¯t changed about her since she was, what, ten?


    She took one more sip of the coffee, and set it down on the table in front of her. She looked at the design again. ¡°You¡¯re a real Journalist!!¡± She picked the cup back up. She had been around the angel story more than anyone she knew. She was going to get to the bottom of it.


    *****


    ¡°Help!¡± the girl shouted. Cody rushed toward her. Her fear was pungent in the air around her, its pleasant odor tainted by the smoke of the burning car.


    The fear¡¯s odor grew stronger for a split second when she first saw Cody, but then it relaxed. Cody smiled. He dashed right over to the back of the car, and placed his hand on it. He willed the car to crumble into dust, and it did, rust forming and consuming the car with an eerie swiftness. The car, and with it the fire, disappeared before they had the chance to kill the girl.


    The girl now sat on the ground, shaking. Cody looked down at her as she sat in a fetal position. Her injuries were not as bad as they could have been, though that would not have remained the case for much longer had he not intervened. Still, he reached into a pocket he¡¯d stitched to his true form¡¯s raggy robe and pulled out a cell phone. He dialed 911.


    I¡¯ll need to figure out what happened to her parents once I finish this call, he thought, and once he¡¯d told the dispatcher of the nature and location of the emergency, he crouched down and looked the girl in her eyes. She held her nose, but didn¡¯t crawl away. ¡°Where is your mommy or daddy?¡± he asked, as he placed his hand on her and tagged her burns.


    The girl looked back up at him, her voice nasally. ¡°My daddy¡­ He¡­ ran off to get help,¡± she said, her voice seeming to shake more from pain than fear.


    Out of the blue, the scent of another fear, no, many fears, hit Cody like a flowery truck. His eyes widened. For a fear that strong, something horrible must be happening. ¡°Don¡¯t move away from here unless it¡¯s for the ambulance I called or your parents,¡± he said, faster than he¡¯d been speaking before, ¡°I need to go help other people.¡± He stood up and ran off before she responded.


    Cody heard shouting as he approached the source of the fear. It was a booming mess of screams, pleas, and angered snarls. When Cody realized he was near the news station, he formed a guess as to what was going on. When he reached the station, he saw that he was right.


    It was surrounded by a crowd of rabid, shouting, people, numbering in the dozens, perhaps as many as a hundred. The front door of the station was locked, but the people were gathered around the door, working to bash it in. SLAM, Cody heard. He dashed over, and as soon as the crowd saw him, they turned. ¡°Fuck, that¡¯s one of them right there,¡± someone said, and most of the crowd descended upon him.


    Cody activated his shield straight away as the people ran at him from all sides. The people were armed with baseball bats, crowbars and axes. They were no threat to Cody¡¯s shield. The pungent scent of fear had not vanished, and Cody looked above the people surrounding him to the door. There were still several people trying to break through it. Cody didn¡¯t want to lower his shield While the baseball bats wouldn¡¯t affect him, a lucky strike with an ax could deprive him of a limb. Still, time seemed limited enough that there was no other choice but to risk it. Blasting them from this close a range would be more hazardous, and would likely kill them, as would a magical beam.


    Cody lowered his shield. Immediately, the humans who has been bashing against his shield ran into his cloud. Cody grabbed one¡¯s arm and inflicted a knock-out injury on him. As the man fell, another tripped over him in the dark. Cody ignored him for a split second, paralyzing three more, before returning to the one who had tripped. Once a pile of humans had formed, Cody leapt on top of it, and, with the extra height, was able to jump over the crowd.


    The door broke open.


    Cody¡¯s eyes widened. A human from the crowd got into his cloud and punched him. Luckily, that was enough contact for a paralysis, and Cody promptly administered one.


    From there, a number of humans, about half of the crowd, ran toward the door. Cody thought. They¡¯re probably going in there to hurt someone¡­ or kill them. They¡¯d been screaming enough about this place broadcasting lies for Cody to be sure of their malicious intent. Keeping mobile to dodge the portion of the crowd chasing him, Cody fired a thin magical beam at the ankles of the humans running into the building.


    Cody heard screams as the humans¡¯ feet and ankles were burnt. Cody had held back his beam to avoid severing them. As the humans fell on top of each other, Cody heard a crack from somewhere in the crowd.


    A few members of the crowd who could still walk limped away. Another few hobbled toward him, a few of them moaning as they came his way. Cody paralyzed a few convenient targets in his cloud and then ran back toward the entrance. He planned his path poorly, and he heard another snap as one of the humans following him stepped on one of the people he¡¯d incapacitated. Cody arrived in the entrance, standing to block it. Only one human had made it inside, and a quick beam had him on the floor wailing like the others. Cody turned to the crowd and shot a weak magical blast just in front of him, where it would harm no one, but where it would seem like it was going to.


    A portion of the crowd stopped. ¡°You¡¯re not getting in here,¡± Cody declared; his voice deep and booming. A few more stopped, but some of them kept coming. Cody clenched his fist. Fine. If they make me. He crouched down and fired another magical beam, making it sweep across the crowd¡¯s feet and legs. Many of them fell, but not quite all.


    Cody gritted his teeth, and fixed that with a few more sweeps. The crowd now lay in a screaming, immobile pile on the pavement. Cody looked around. He¡¯d accidentally gotten one of the ones he¡¯d scared away in one of his beams. Fuck. He ran up to the crowd he¡¯d just knocked down. He started knocking out the humans therein to spare them having to feel the painful burns.


    By the time police arrived in riot gear, they had little to do but call ambulances. Cody tagged the humans¡¯ injuries as he knocked them out. He found the broken femur that¡¯d been the source of the crack he¡¯d heard. It¡¯d take him a while to work through all of these with humans he ate.


    As efficient as Cody had gotten with disease transfer, the sheer number of injuries and illnesses he had tagged at any given time was now enough to ensure that there was a waiting list.


    Cody was able to get all of the rioters tagged before any ambulances arrived. He ran off.


    *****


    Jonah awoke to a pain in his stomach like he¡¯d never felt before. It was hunger, he realized, but more intense than he¡¯d previously imagined hunger could be. He stood up, already in his true form. He was in a dull grey room with concrete walls. Lit dimly by a flickering lightbulb were rows of unconscious humans.


    Jonah salivated. He pounced on the first bed, manifesting his scythe to consume its inhabitant. He didn¡¯t take any time. He gorged himself, obeying a need deep within himself to satisfy his aching belly.


    It took him only a few minutes to devour the souls. None of them woke up. They¡¯d been knocked out by someone else, he realized, and it was only then that he remembered having his form destroyed.


    Jonah felt less hungry now, but the urge to feed had not subsided. He looked around. The walls were featureless. There was a door at the top of one wall. There were no stairs leading up to the door, but it was opening.Stolen novel; please report.


    Jonah stepped back to get a better look as it opened, revealing Larngulal. ¡°He--¡± Jonah began, but was cut off when he felt two magical beams pass over his arms and legs, severing the ends off of all four limbs. He fell backward.


    ¡°Hey, what the hell was that for?¡± he shouted.


    ¡°To prevent you from rampaging,¡± Larngulal said. ¡°That¡¯s the last thing I need to deal with right now. We¡¯ll talk in a few hours when you¡¯re well.¡± She walked away.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Jonah shouted. He wiggled his arms, flopping on the floor. He spent the next several hours struggling to get up, with no success.


    *****


    Violet had poured through her interviews. There were fewer than one would think. That this had all happened in a mere seven months was so incomprehensible to Violet that it made her uncomfortable to contemplate it. It did, however, allow her to search through all of them relatively quickly. October 23<sup>th</sup>, 2013, the Angel of Death, not Light-rook, comes into the news station and asks to give an interview. October 26<sup>th</sup>, 2013, the Angel of Death gives the interview. It was interesting. The Angel of Death and Light-rook had the same voice. She¡¯d not noticed that at the time, but having compared the recordings over and over again, the two of them sounded exactly the same, but different from Orichalcum, and the other angels who¡¯d given interviews around the world, and recorded 911 calls supposedly by the Angel of Death.


    December 28<sup>th</sup> 2013. The first devourer attack. Even at the time, the possibility that the devourer had been Light-rook had occurred to Violet. Even now, though, it didn¡¯t make sense. Why? Why go through so much to craft a positive public image; then jeopardize it? Perhaps they wanted to be seen to have a villain to stop? Why not make it seem more different from them? Perhaps they couldn¡¯t? Why not use the canine creature that had been seen aiding the Angel of Death?


    Alternately, what if Light-rook rampaged around the city for another reason, and invented an imaginary species to blame it on? There was no mention of devourers from anyone until just after Light-rook¡¯s body was destroyed for the first time. Orichalcum introduced the term during his first interview. If it was a lie, it must have been something they came up with in anticipation of the rampage. That meant that they knew that the rampage was going to happen. Indeed, even in the cell phone footage of Light-rook being killed, he started to ask the agents if they thought he was something. When Violet listened closely, it sounded like he had started to say ¡°devourer.¡±


    Violet sighed and fell back on her bed, her legs still hanging off the edge. On some level, it felt like it made sense to just assume that the angels were the devourers. They were obviously evil if they¡¯d mind-controlled every human on the planet for months at a time. But that wasn¡¯t good enough. Violet wanted to be sure. She wanted to be able to prove she¡¯d found the truth.


    On January 6<sup>th</sup>, 2014, the whole business with the book had happened. Motorcyclists in glowing rainbow armor, matching that of the government agents seen elsewhere, were riding, their path consistent with them being headed toward the station. A man shot them, as well as several standers by, and took the book from them.


    Light-rook had said that the book was full of lies and slander regarding them. That was what an evil being would say¡­ when those words passed through her internal monologue, Violet had to stop and process the fact that they had. She sat up in her bed. Every surface in her room was scattered with documents. That was as it should be. She closed her eyes and pictured the mug at her office. This world was going insane. She was mostly sure she wasn¡¯t in a padded cell somewhere. If someone was that far gone, Violet supposed they¡¯d not know that they were. They may well think that they were in their bed, documents scattered about, a laptop glowing with thirty tabs open, when they were in fact in a strait jacket, banging their head against the pads that lined the walls of their cell.


    If I¡¯m that far gone, there¡¯s no harm in continuing. An evil being would lie and claim that a book exposing their plans was full of lies. Somehow, that felt like an obvious conclusion to jump to. Knowing that the angels had used some sort of mind controlling magic¡­


    ¡­mind controlling magic on everyone, made them seem evil. Light-rook had said the book¡¯s principle lie was that angels and devourers were the same creatures. If that was what it said, it seemed, by the obvious line of reasoning, that they were.


    It was right after he¡¯d said that that the strangest thing had happened. Violet had brought up the angels¡¯ critics. Light-rook¡¯s response had been peculiar. ¡°I gained a new power last night. The power of any one of us is constantly growing by drips and drops. One of my powers requires me to be with someone face to face, or at least it did, until last night.¡± Violet had asked what he meant. ¡°Oh, simply that the various fears based on the facts that I just mentioned are false. You should think nothing of them.¡±


    A power¡­ a mind control power that he¡¯d gained.


    On February 8<sup>th</sup>, Light-rook made his last public appearance. Violet was pretty sure none of her beliefs came from after that date.


    On February 10<sup>th</sup>, a pair of apparent devourers had perpetrated the Central Square Massacre. This was the one that gave the game away. Most of the way through the massacre, one of the devourers stood over the body of one of the victims for quite a long time.


    Violet had wondered why that might be. Hoping to figure it out, she did some research into who the victim was. He was a teenager named Lester Green. His parents had died with him in the massacre, but he had a sister who was alive.


    Violet intended to speak to her. Violet had taken inspiration from Det. Leon Williams, the police officer who had first investigated the Angel of Death murders. He had first determined that a human was responsible for them by observing the extra time the black cloud had seemed to spend in Cherie Lambert¡¯s hospital room. He had died in a fire which had initially been ruled arson, but regarding which the police had dropped all investigation.


    He had arrested a suspect, a teenager named Cody Giles, Lambert¡¯s boyfriend, in the case. On a hunch, Violet had checked, and Giles and Green went to the same school.


    If Violet was right, the devourer had been Giles, and he had reacted unusually to the realization that he had killed someone he knew. Perhaps he hadn¡¯t done so up until that point. He¡¯d originally been cleared of suspicion by the fact that another angel had healed a woman while he was in jail, but there were at least two angels capable of that.


    Violet had met Williams when he was alive. He was brilliant, and throughout all the time she¡¯d covered news around Goldfalls, he¡¯d never proven to be wrong. If he had suspected Giles was the Angel of Death, it was probably true.


    If the Angel of Death were Cody Giles, and the devourer who had stood over Green¡¯s corpse was Cody Giles, that meant that this devourer was the Angel of Death, meaning Angels and devourers were the same creatures, seemingly engaged in a conspiracy to take over the world.


    *****


    As Justin waited for the DIAPP agent to arrive, a drop of water fell onto him from one of the leaky pipes above. He and Cody were in their true forms, with no darkness around them. Even though no one was around, this was the most public place Justin had ever been without the cloud, which made Justin feel naked. The boy stepped aside, out from under the leak.


    The walls and floor of the room were covered in impressive looking occult symbols, the crown jewel of which was the giant pentagram in which the liches stood.


    Justin heard the door open, and saw the DIAPP agent enter. The man smelled just the tiniest bit scared. He was in an exterminator¡¯s usual suit. The thing was turned off right now, though soon it would begin to play its horrible music and flash in a million ugly colors. In his hand, the agent held a large, ornate dagger, with a blade which looked like a single sharpened ruby. The handle was golden, and studded with a mix of blue and purple jewels. At the back of the handle was a small golden skull.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Cody said, as the man entered the room. His fear-scent grew a tad stronger.


    ¡°Hello,¡± the man said. He stared at the two for a moment. ¡°Any reason not to start?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t think of one,¡± Cody said. ¡°Justin, are you ready?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Justin said after a moment.


    The agent activated his suit. Justin came close to covering his ears as the music played. The agent turned to the left, and shot a clear liquid at the wall next to them. The stuff bubbled as soon as it hit the wall, releasing a thin smoke. At the same time, Cody charged at a washing machine in the basement, smashing it. Justin fired a beam of green energy at the wall, tracing a sweeping path from one wall to the other. All of this was for the purpose of making it appear that a fight had started here.


    They continued like this for about thirty seconds, until the basement was sufficiently destroyed, and the DIAPP agent ran upstairs. Cody fired a magical beam up through the open door as he left. Justin ran up the stairs after him, Cody following shortly behind. The man ran out the open door, into broad daylight outside, eliciting stares from bystanders.


    Gasps followed as the liches chased him outside. Many of the people around ran away. The DIAPP agent jumped at Justin, who grabbed his arm. He could have made the suit decay away at this point. Given the noxious sound it was producing, he was tempted to. However, he held back, and did nothing more than flip the agent over, so that he landed on the ground face-first. That was too fast, he realized. Cody said I needed to fight badly enough that people would believe he beat me later.


    The agent tripped Justin from the ground. The boy hit the sidewalk hard. He heard a magical blast land behind him. He stood up, spitting out a grey-brown tooth. As he did, he saw what DIAPP had hoped would occur. Some stupid, suicidal human was filming them. Even after central square¡­ Justin turned around to see the DIAPP agent running down the street. He followed, firing a magical blast on the road beside the agent.


    The three ran, the human slowly enough that Justin had no problem catching up, until they were out of the neighborhood they¡¯d been in, and near a bunch of businesses, and a larger crowd. It was then that Cody closed in for melee. Summoning his scythe, he swung it at the DIAPP agent, allowing him to parry it with the bejeweled dagger. Justin ran into the fray and did the same. They fought, with their scythes and the dagger, like Justin had done many times before with his friends, using toy light-sabers.


    We¡¯re two monsters from another realm, was the lie which DIAPP would release to give context to this show. The only two, a pair, one in a black hood, the other white robes. DIAPP hoped the color thing would help people believe that they were the only two, but that having two there rather than one would provide an out if more were to surface somehow.


    Justin heard a whoosh, and felt something pierce his heart. He looked down. The agent had gotten him. Justin stumbled backward as the agent pulled the dagger out of him, grunting. Cody stared, feigning shock. Justin fell onto his back, moving his head to look out onto the stupid humans, whom he supposed were willing to have their souls devoured if it meant getting to post footage of the fight on the internet.


    Justin was facing the wrong way to see the fight behind him, and he couldn¡¯t turn to look now. If I move, they¡¯ll know I¡¯m not dead. So he listened to the clack of magical scythe on pretend magical dagger, until he heard a squish, and the smack of Cody falling against the pavement. The DIAPP agent hit the ground right afterward, heaving, out of breath. The crowd still looked on. After a moment, a cheer began. The man stood up behind Justin, and stepped toward the crowd.


    Then the crowd looked up at the sky, some pointing dumbly, screaming. Justin heard the loudest thunder he¡¯d ever heard before as a bright light engulfed his vision.


    *****


    Tracie Green wore green. Her demeanor was not as bright as her clothing, though perhaps it had been at some point in the past. It felt cruel, speaking to this girl, no older than twelve, about her dead brother. Had the story been any less important, Violet wouldn¡¯t have done it.


    The two sat in the grass, next to a cute little garden the girl had planted. Though spring wouldn¡¯t begin until later that week, some of the flowers had already bloomed.


    ¡°Did your brother know a boy named Cody?¡± Violet asked the girl.


    ¡°Oh, him? Yeah. They were best friends. He was over all the time.¡±


    ¡°This was Cody Giles? The boy who was arrested in October on suspicion of being the Angel of Death.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tracie gave Violet a look. ¡°Is that what this is about?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Violet said. She didn¡¯t explain why.


    ¡°Oh,¡± the girl said.


    ¡°They were quite close, though?¡± Violet pressed.


    ¡°Well, yeah, I guess,¡± Tracie said.


    The interview continued for a while, but that had been what Violet needed to know. Violet¡¯s suspicions had been confirmed. She would present her research to her managers, and then say it on air, and post it online, no matter what they said about it.


    *****


    The giant bird flew into Justin¡¯s field of view. It was black and white, with a feathery crested head and a long, thin beak. Blue arcs of lightning crackled all across its body. The creature dove straight for the crowd, and the idiots finally scattered. Perhaps this would teach them common sense, Justin thought, as he stood up and shot a magical beam at the bird, his aim true.


    The creature let out a thunderous squawk, its head turning to gaze at Justin. The boy stepped back. That probably should have done more damage, he thought, gazing at the bird as he heard another crash of thunder, and light overtook his vision once again. He could see past the light. He could no more be denied his sight by the overabundance of light than he could by the lack of it. He saw a thick, blue bolt erupt from the bird¡¯s beak and strike him, knocking him backward. Beside him, he could now see the crisp-black legs the DIAPP agent. It seemed his upper half was elsewhere.


    Cody had already stood, and was firing at the bird. He raised his shield immediately after he fired on the creature. Seeing the logic in this, Justin raised his shield as he stood up. The creature opened its beak, and shot a lightning bolt at Cody. The sound was again deafening. Despite his shield, Cody was thrown backward by the blast. Justin turned to see him fly back and slide against the pavement. After just one blast, his shield was faint. Crap, Justin thought.


    Justin turned his attention back to the creature. He jumped to the side, lowered his shield, fired a blast, and raised his shield again. He turned around and ran away from the creature in zig-zags. He saw Cody stand up and run back toward the creature, firing a beam. After a moment, Justin turned around and fired again at the creature. Just as he lifted his shield back up, another bolt hit him, throwing him back and to the ground. As he stood, he realized his shield was already at half strength. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cody waving his arms inside his shield as he jumped about to avoid the bird¡¯s fire. Once he saw he had Justin¡¯s attention, Cody made a gesture, sticking out his thumb and pinky to make a telephone shape and putting it to his head like he was speaking into it. They had agreed a while back that that signal meant for Justin to lower his shield so they could talk.


    Justin rolled to the side, by luck, actually dodging away from a bolt, and lowered his shield for a moment. Cody lowered his as well. ¡°I know what that is,¡± Cody shouted. ¡°It has to be set on fire. Nothing else will hurt it.¡± Justin nodded and raised his shield back up. He turned to look for the flamethrower on the exterminator¡¯s back. He found it, along with the exterminator¡¯s head and shoulders. What remained of the metal tank was well and truly exploded. Being struck by lightning must have ignited its fuel.


    Justin looked around. He saw Cody running toward a gas station. Justin moved in the same direction, keeping his eyes on the monster, jumping around like Cody had been doing. He was apparently doing it worse, however, because the creature managed to strike him mid-air, throwing him toward the gas station and popping his shield. Crap.


    Justin stood back up. He saw that Cody was inside the gas station¡¯s building, waving his hand, motioning for Justin to move to Cody¡¯s right. Justin moved that way. He stopped, but Cody¡¯s waving only got more frantic. Justin ran. As he did, another bolt of lightning knocked him forward and onto his face.


    Justin heard his left arm skitter away as he hit the ground. Using his other arm, he forced himself up, only to see the bird directly under the gas station¡¯s hood. Across the street, a human was cowering in the bushes with a cell phone camera pointed at the creature. It stepped slowly toward Justin on its giant, thin, stick legs.


    As it did, Cody ran out of the gas station and, without missing a beat, grabbed one of the gas pumps and sprayed the gasoline at the creature. The sparks moving throughout its feathers seemed to be all that was needed to ignite it.


    Cody dropped the pump after only a second and dashed away from it. Justin followed him. He heard frantic, pained squawks behind him. After a few dozen feet, he turned around to see the bird flailing around, flapping its wings in an attempt to put the fire out, but it seemed to have no success. After a couple hundred feet, the two stopped. They turned around, and watched the bird, now fully engulfed; flail around for another minute or so before collapsing to the ground.


    ¡°Well, that ruined everything,¡± Justin commented after a moment.


    ¡°It did,¡± Cody said. He turned around and walked off. Justin looked over his shoulder. The human was still in the bushes. Justin nearly aimed an energy beam just above the moron¡¯s head, just to scare him, but he held back. He turned and went off with Cody.


    *****


    The Grey Man sat, whispering the phrase ¡°Damn it to hell¡± periodically. His computer was open to a cell phone video of the devourers who had agreed they¡¯d pretend to be dead. They were pretending to be heroes instead.


    The Grey Man heard a click, and then a voice. ¡°Sir, something requires your attention.¡±


    The man pressed a button. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°According to our source at the Channel 4 news station in Goldfalls, one of the anchors there, Violet Fox, intends to report on an investigation she carried out into the Angel of Death case.¡± The voice paused. ¡°She¡¯s come to a lot of correct conclusions, sir.¡±


    The Grey Man sighed. He leaned back in his chair. There¡¯s no lying to the world after this, he thought. Someone is going to figure things out sooner or later.


    ¡°Let her do what she wants.¡±


    ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that. I said to let her do what she wants and I meant it.¡±


    There was a short pause. ¡°Very well, sir.¡±


    The Grey Man turned off his computer. He stood up and left. (He was off work in ten minutes anyway.) He¡¯d be stopping to buy a drink on the way home.


    *****


    ¡°We¡¯re on in sixty!¡± Violet heard. Nervously, she fiddled with the papers she held. Her palms felt disgustingly sweaty.


    ¡°On in five, four, three, two.¡±


    ¡°Good evening, I¡¯m Violet Fox. This is channel 4 news at 6:00,¡± she said. ¡°Our top story tonight continues to be the angel saga, as well as new information, gathered by this reporter personally, which may shed new light on the events.¡±


    That sounded okay so far, Violet thought. From there, she went on to lay out her theory. Cody Giles was the Angel of Death. Devourers are angels in disguise, or perhaps the other way around. They just tried to take over the world.


    It left a lot of unanswered questions, not the least of which being why whatever mental control Light-rook had been using had stopped working. No one had heard anything out of him for over a month, since the same day a mansion in the Northern part of town had exploded. Perhaps he had died in that explosion?


    This would be Violet¡¯s last broadcast here. She¡¯d be going into hiding for a while. Between the riot on Wednesday and her announcing that a bunch of monsters had been planning to take over the world, monsters that might come after her for revenge, she didn¡¯t feel safe in Goldfalls. She¡¯d said goodbyes to her family and friends. She¡¯d be leaving as soon as this broadcast was over.


    She might end up regretting this; if she found a devourer standing over her, having tracked her down to avenge their plans. No, that wasn¡¯t right; most of them could turn invisible. She wouldn¡¯t be able to regret anything before they¡¯d already killed her.


    Still, even if she somehow would regret this, she knew that she shouldn¡¯t. That was what mattered. She¡¯d done the right thing. The camera stopped, and she took a long, deep drink from her mug before getting up to leave for the airport.


    *****


    The world reacted poorly to Violet Fox¡¯s broadcast at first. It seemed, for a month or two, as though she had made a terrible mistake.


    But the human species was more invested in its own status quo than some might have predicted. In the end, when the worst of the riots were over, the humans had to eat. To do this, the bulk of them had to perform labor for the higher classes. As a result of this labor¡¯s necessity, it continued. As the labor continued, so did the human¡¯s schedules. With these, the normal state of human societies went on.


    The angel incident had far reaching implications, of course. Human existence would never be precisely the same as it had been before magical beings had tried to take over the world. Scientists and philosophers were immensely concerned with the issue, and amateur organizations popped up alleging to assist in the fight against the remaining devourers, whom DIAPP would have to track down, even as the monsters became ever more desperate.


    Still, Valthakar¡¯s spell went perfectly with the materials I sent, and it seems, in the end, their world shall continue as it always did.