Morpheus Road 03 - The Blood (14 page)

"Who is he talking about?" Marsh asked.

Ree didn't say because she feared what the answer might be.

Damon kicked his dark horse into action. With the poleax raised, he galloped around the perimeter of the arena as the crowd cheered him on.

Ree and Marsh ducked back into the shadows so as not to be seen as he passed.

Damon reveled in the adulation. His chin was held high and the poleax even higher as his followers poured out their hearts to him.

Finally, on the far side of the arena from where Ree and Marsh stood, Damon pulled up and trotted toward the brick wall that ringed the floor.

The crowd continued their frenzied cheer.

"What is he doing?" Marsh asked.

"I'm afraid to even think."

Damon looked up at the poleax, raised it high, then drove it into the brick wall of the arena. Instantly a flash of purple light erupted from the spot where he had pierced the facade.

"My god," Marsh said with a gasp. "This is it. He's open
ing another Rift into the Light."

Still on horseback, Damon trotted forward, tearing open a seam in the wall.

"This is why he picked the Colosseum," Ree said. "It's a staging area for an attack on the Light."

"We have to do something!" Marsh declared.

Damon continued to trot forward, lengthening the cut. Bright purple light glowed from the edges, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

"Do not move!" came a command from behind Marsh and Ree.

They spun around to see two Roman soldiers with black swords charging toward them.

"Run," Marsh commanded to his mother.

"No, we'll step into another vision," Ree replied.

"What about Damon?"

Before Ree could answer, a dark figure jumped down in front of them from the stands, landing between them and the charging soldiers. The Romans were caught off guard and didn't react quickly enough to defend themselves. The dark figure slashed at them, turning them both into shad
ows, snuffing both of their spirits before they could take another step.

Ree and Marsh stood stunned, not sure of what had just happened.

The dark figure turned to them and said, "This sword is just flat awesome."

"Coop!" Marsh declared.

Coop focused on Marsh, and froze. "Ralph? No. No, no, you can't be here!"

Marsh ignored him and turned to watch Damon.

The warrior had completed his cut. The gash between worlds stood nearly twenty yards long and slowly melted vertically to open up a portal large enough for a small army to march through.

"He did it," Coop gasped. "He's going to attack the Light." The crowd continued to roar its approval.

Coop grabbed Marsh by the front of his hoodie and went nose to nose with him. Both were surprised that his hands did not pass through.

"You see?" Coop snarled. "This is why I didn't want you to find the poleax."

"I—I know," Marsh stammered. "I didn't want this to happen."

"But it did," Coop spat back. "Look! He's about to attack the living and there's nothing we can do about it."

"But he isn't," Ree said.

"Of course he is," Coop spat. "Why else would he cut open a Rift into the Light?"

"I don't think that's what it is," Ree answered, numb.

Even through the cheers of the crowd, a sound could be heard spewing from the gaping hole. It was a horrifying howl that crossed between pain and anger. The wails of a billion tortured souls joined together in an outpouring of agony.

Coop and Ree had heard the sound before.

"No," Coop muttered. "This can't be happening."

He let Marsh go and took a few dazed steps farther into the arena. Marsh and Ree joined him and the three stood together, glaring at the newly created phenomenon.

"What?" Marsh asked, frantic. "What's happening?"

"He isn't ready to battle," Ree said hoarsely. "Not yet. That's what the speech was all about. He's still gathering his forces."

Damon trotted back to the center of the arena, and as the cheers rained down on him, he turned his mount to face the gaping hole between dimensions.

"This is exactly what the Watchers didn't want to hap
pen," Coop said.

"What?" Marsh cried in frustration. "What's happening?"

"He's not going into the Light," Ree answered. "At least not yet."

"So what's he doing?" Marsh cried.

Damon kicked at his horse and took off with a fast gal
lop, headed directly for the Rift. The crowd cheered him on as he charged forward and through the opening between dimensions.

The answer came from Coop.

"He's going to hunt for more recruits . . . in the Blood."

The crowd continued to roar, though Damon was long gone. "Uh-oh," Coop said, pointing.

Several Roman soldiers had surrounded them and were closing in fast . . . all with black swords.

Coop raised his own sword, ready to fight.

"C'mon," he taunted. "I'm ready."

Ree grabbed Coop by the back of his shirt. "No, you're not." She pulled him backward, along with Marsh.

The soldiers charged.

The swirling cloud of color appeared behind the three and Ree pulled them in. A moment later they stepped back
ward onto the subway platform of Ree's vision . . . along with one of the soldiers. The stunned soldier looked around in surprise, which gave Coop the opening he needed. With one quick jab he drove his sword into the befuddled spirit,
turning his image into the black cloud that quickly dissi
pated, which meant that he was no more.

Coop turned to Ree and declared, "Yes, I am."

Marsh was nearly as disoriented as the doomed soldier. He glanced around the empty subway platform with wide eyes, trying to grasp what had just happened.

"Where is this?" he asked, confused.

Coop threw the sword down, rushed at Marsh, grabbed him by the shirt, and pushed him until his back hit the side of Ree's subway car.

"I've been going nuts protecting you all this time and you just threw your life away? Are you serious?"

"I . . . I came here to save my mother," Marsh shot back, trying to gather his wits.

Coop pulled him away from the subway car by a few inches just so he could slam him back into it violently.

"I told you I'd find her and when I did, big surprise, you were there too!"

"I came to help," Marsh argued.

"Yeah, you're doing a great job," Coop said with disdain. "You gave Damon the poleax, you broke another crucible, there's another Rift into the Light along with a big honking Rift straight into hell, and all you've got to show for it is your own death. How is that helping?"

Ree put her hand on Coop's shoulder.

"Enough," she said firmly.

Coop was a raw nerve. He wanted to hit somebody and Marsh was the likely candidate.

"Cooper!" Ree barked.

"Damn," Coop blurted out as he pushed Marsh away and backed off.

"I did what I thought was right," Marsh cried.

"Seriously? I'd hate to know what you think is wrong. We're finished."

"Don't say that," Ree demanded.

"Give me a break," Coop shot back. "The Guardians got their asses kicked by Damon's soldiers once already. What do you think is going to happen when he recruits an even bigger army from the
freakin
' dark side? Whatever chance we had of stopping him is gone, thanks to Little Boy Boo-
Hoo
over there."

Marsh didn't defend himself.

Ree looked Coop square in the eye and firmly said, "Calm down."

Coop glared at Marsh, ready to start in on him again, but the tension left his body and he dropped his shoulders.

"You're right," he said, suddenly sounding tired. "It's over."

"Do not be so sure," came the calm voice of a woman that none of them recognized.

All three spun to see that another spirit had arrived. It was a beautiful, tall, dark-skinned woman who stood on the far end of the train platform with her arms at her sides. She wore a black robe that was tied at the waist, accentuating her athletic build.

She was a Watcher.

Once he got over the shock of seeing her, Coop took a few quick, aggressive steps toward the woman.

"Where have you all been?" he demanded. "Do you know what just happened?"

The woman stood firm with a slight smile on her lips. When she spoke, the words didn't come from her mouth. They simply existed.

"We had hoped it would not come to this," she said calmly.

"Well, it did," Coop shot back angrily. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"That is not what we do," the woman replied.

"And what happens when Damon marches out of that
Rift with an army from hell? You going to stand around watching and hope that doesn't go bad too?"

The Watcher didn't respond.

"Why are you here?" Ree asked. "Why now?"

"I came to inform you that there is someone who might help you," the woman replied. "Damon is not the first spirit who sought to create such chaos. He is not even the most powerful. Long ago another spirit entered the Blood in search of allies. Reluctantly we sent one of our own after him to pre
vent that."

"You sent a Watcher into the Blood?" Ree asked. "What happened?"

The Watcher raised both hands and gestured around her, saying, "The Morpheus Road was saved."

"What about the Watcher?" Marsh asked.

"He remained in the Blood. That was his sacrifice."

"So there's a Watcher in the Blood who stopped one bad apple and you're thinking he can stop Damon too?" Coop asked.

"He might be of assistance . . . if he knew of Damon."

"So tell him," Coop said quickly.

"Sending one of our own into the Blood was unprece
dented. It will not happen again."

"But you already did it," Ree argued.

"A unique situation," the Watcher said with patience. "That spirit had the power to cause the destruction of all that is."

"Really?" Coop shot back sarcastically. "What exactly do you think Damon is up to?"

"Damon is not as powerful as that spirit once was," the Watcher said.

Marsh asked, "So this Watcher might be able to stop Damon, but only if somebody tells him about what's going on. Is that it?"

The Watcher nodded and said, "Perhaps."

"So tell him!" Coop shouted. "You've got to be able to do that. I mean, you're not even moving your lips and we hear what you're saying. Send him some kind of cosmic message."

"We cannot," the Watcher explained. "The Blood is a spiritual wasteland. We have no power there."

Coop shrugged, "So then what's the point? Why are you telling us this?"

"I think I know," Marsh announced. He turned to the Watcher and asked, "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

The Watcher didn't respond.

Coop looked between the Watcher and Marsh, confused.

"You can't be serious," Ree said to the Watcher.

The Watcher remained silent.

Coop said, "Did I miss something here?"

"I'll go," Marsh said.

The light finally came on for Cooper. He spun to the Watcher and said, "Whoa, is that it? You want us to go into the Blood to find this guy?"

The Watcher didn't reply.

"No," Ree declared adamantly. "Nobody's going any
where."

Marsh argued, "But if we don't, Damon's going to come out with an army that the Guardians have no chance of stop
ping."

"Jeez," Coop said, reeling. "The Blood? Seriously? Haven't we done enough?"

"Only you can answer that," the Watcher said. "The fate of the Morpheus Road will always be in the hands of those who walk it."

"Then, I'll go," Marsh said.

"No, you won't," Coop said quickly. "If anybody's going, it's me."

"Forget it," Marsh shot back.

"Trust me, Ralph. I'd love to see you go but you wouldn't stand a chance in hell . . . literally."

"And you think you can do better?"

"I won't even answer that," Coop replied with a laugh.

"Then, we'll both go," Marsh offered.

"No!" Ree shouted. "This is insane!"

Coop picked up the black sword he had tossed onto the subway platform and looked to the Watcher. "How do I find this guy?"

"Spirits in the Blood exist in an organic whole," the Watcher replied. "Much more so than in the Black or the Light. You will find your way."

"I have no idea what that means," Coop said.

"You will understand once you are there," the Watcher replied.

Ree stepped in between Cooper and the Watcher and squared off against the woman.

"You can't ask us to do this," she argued.

"I am not asking," the Watcher replied. "I am simply offering information."

"Right, information that could send innocent souls to hell for eternity," Ree said, scoffing.

"That would be so," the Watcher replied. "If not for the Rift. The opening is why this opportunity exists. It offers the means for a spirit to enter the Blood."

"
And get back out?" Marsh asked.

"As long as it remains open."

"See?" Coop said with confidence. "I get in, find the good guy, point him at Damon, the Watcher takes out vampire-boy, and I come skipping out of Trouble Town. Armageddon averted."

"Not you," Ree declared. "If there's anybody who should go, it's me."

"No way!" Marsh shouted.

"He's right," Coop declared. "If I blow it, then the Guardians will end up being our last hope. You're their leader. You
need to help Zoe bring them back together. Recruit a few
more while you're at it."

Ree couldn't argue with the logic.

"You should be aware of one more thing," the Watcher
cautioned.

"There's more?" Coop asked, incredulous.

"The evil spirit who entered the Blood in search of souls
still exists. Damon may know that."

Coop said, "You mean the Watcher didn't destroy this
nasty guy?"

The Watcher shook her head. "We do not destroy any
spirit."

"So that means Damon could find an ally who is even
worse than him," Ree said soberly.

"It is quite possible," the Watcher admitted.

"Does this bad boy have a name?" Coop asked.

The Watcher said, "He goes by the name of . . . Brennus."