The Warrior's Beckoning (3 page)

“My army is waiting for them there,” I said. We approached a tall tower. “Where is the demon lord?”

“He has left to vanquish your army. I fear that without you, they will not hold for long. He will arrive before his army,” the man said.

“Then why have you brought me here?” I asked as I gazed at the tower.

“Assassins are coming to end your life. We cannot exit the city,” he said. “However, we can follow the same path as the demon lord. He uses this tower to travel vast distances. He can move to wherever his shadow is cast.”

We entered the tower and climbed its spiraling stairway, carved out of the black stone of the tower. There were no windows and no light, save for the torch my companion carried. “I have seen him use this method to travel before. You must place yourself in a fluid state, focusing on your spiritual form…not your flesh,” he said.

At the top of the tower, we reached an altar. “Stand there.” He pointed, and I complied. I began to meditate, feeling my physical frame shift…then break briefly into a purely spiritual form. In a flash, I flew across the landscape. The demonic army was marching. A great shadow loomed over the forest. My own army was hidden well; the enemy had not located them. Not yet.

I felt myself hurtling through nothingness, as if in a dream, and then suddenly I was standing before my army. Cheers followed their shocked glances.

The forest’s name was well deserved. It was made up of gnarled, black trees, devoid of all sense of home. Yet some light shone within its dark aura—the light we cast and reflected. Hope shone brightly, and we were its mirrors.

“Sire!” my general said to me as he approached. “The demon lord has entered the Forest of Anguish and dispatched our rear guard. What are your orders?”

“Form a defensive line facing north. That is where the demons march. I will face the demon lord personally, along with the aid of our most powerful angel,” I said, holding out my hand to Ahadiel. He picked up his sword and walked by my side. “Each of you will care
for the warrior next to him; we operate as a single unit for a singular purpose. May God’s will be performed today. Go with faith.”

The men roared and took up their formation. Ahadiel and I went in the opposite direction. The demon lord was said to be extremely powerful. Could a mortal and an angel overcome him? I would soon find out.

“Ahadiel, I will battle him first. If he should overcome me, you will be the faithful’s last hope,” I said to him as we entered a clearing. Nodding, Ahadiel stopped at the tree line; I kept walking.

Across from us stood the demon lord, a massive figure. Every part of him inspired terror. His flesh, hidden by heavy black plate armor serrated on the torso and gauntlets, emanated a black aura. He stood eight feet tall, over two feet taller than I, with a broad form and powerful presence. His eyes glowed sinisterly from behind a misty black veil; his breath as cold as I imagined his heart to be. He wielded a massive bastard sword, its black blade etched with symbols. His armor bristled with spikes at the knees, shoulders, and elbows.

I could have sworn I heard his armor whispering to me, but I had not come to be dismayed; I had come to challenge the demon. And challenge it I would! Raising my sword, I prepared to charge. The sword that I wielded seemed at first glance to hold no special attributes. It appeared plain and ordinary, seemingly just as any other. As I gripped it and held it high, however, it began to glow. My sword called out to his sword, challenging it.

“You will not prevail,
King
,” the demon lord shouted in a voice filled with such hate that it would make most men fall to their knees, its endless echo piercing their courage. But…I…would…not. I…
could
…not…

“I will stand against you to whatever end!” I cried, my voice filled with defiance. The demon lord laughed. I drew strength from his mocking laughter. My aura strengthened, and I charged him directly.
There could be no hesitation, no doubt. Action and reaction. The time for thought was over.

I swung my sword, thrusting toward his chest. He blocked my blow, but to his surprise, he was pushed back slightly.

“Humph. You are more powerful than you appear,” he said, almost with respect. Pushing his sword forward, he knocked me back. I recovered quickly, swinging for his side. Again he blocked and pushed me back. He brought his sword down on me, and I blocked him. He was incredibly powerful. My strength slowly gave in, until I could feel the cold of his blade as it neared me. “You are resilient, yes, but just a mortal nonetheless. I shall consume your people.”

Ahadiel looked on, just as I had ordered him. All around us, we heard the sounds of war—swords clashing, soldiers screaming, and demons roaring. What would happen if I lost this battle? Would Ahadiel be able to defeat the demon lord? Would my army prevail? Behind the demon, I saw the corpses of my men piling up, stripped of all honor, disgraced. Such would be the fate of my people if the demon gained entrance to my world through me.

I could not allow it. Mustering what strength I could, I pushed his blade back, much to his surprise.

“What’s this?” the demon asked in shock. Our eyes met.

“I will allow you to go no farther!” I said, pushing him back yet again. We held our swords high, our eyes still locked. In that moment, I realized that he gained strength from my fighting. Was I fighting for victory or from victory? I sheathed my sword and looked to Ahadiel, nodding at him. “There will be no glory for either of us today, demon,” I said to him, in peace. He lunged, driving his sword into my stomach. With a smile, I grabbed the hilt and drove it deeper into my own flesh. The demon lord was puzzled…until Ahadiel drove his sword into the demon. I had denied myself the glory of taking the victory, though the victory following the struggle would be told.

“Be at peace, my friend,” said Ahadiel. I fell to my knees. The demon released his grip on his sword and fell beside me. It all went black as I lay on the ground.

I did not need to win that battle; God had already done so. A light beckoned to me. I was home.

Log 3

This occurred during the Civil War era
.

The war is often waged through dark influences that chip away at one’s will. From these dark influences stems possession. A spiritual war rages as the depth of love is tested
.

RIFLE IN HAND
, I shadowed their movements. They had my son. I was afraid of what I might find; even before that night, rumors of dark rituals had circulated. I stayed low, moving under the bushes where possible. The captors had finally stopped and had joined a large camp on a flat area before me. As I watched, everything came back to me, memories from earlier in the night when they had taken my son.

He had been sleeping in his room. We had a large home, two stories and six rooms in total. Just recently, we had taken in a young drifter. Having no money, he performed basic farmhand chores in exchange for room and board. My wife and my daughter seemed to be at peace with him, and that was good enough for me.

One night he woke me. “I am so sorry, sir. I should not have stayed here. I have endangered you, not protected you as I had hoped,” he said frantically.

“What is it?” I asked, puzzled. The look in his eyes was terror and resignation.

“They are coming for me,” he replied.

“Who?” I asked. Lightning ripped across the sky, and the wind blew the doors open. A window shattered. In that moment, I felt something, some power beyond my understanding. I doubled over, the hair on my body standing straight out. I could not control my breathing, and I could not move. A black cloud loomed over me, laughing and menacing.

The drifter was nowhere to be seen. Had he been killed? Had he run away at the first sign of the cloud? I had no idea and no time to think about it. “Who…what are you? Stay away from my family!” I cried out. The laughter echoed from everywhere.

“I already have them,” said the sinister voice. Then I saw them—my wife and my daughter, hand in hand with the dark entity! Small, imp-like shadows stood behind them. My wife gave me a strange look, and I saw that she was no longer herself; there was evil inside her. My daughter was similarly possessed. But my son was in the arms of a cloaked figure, and he was still slumbering, seemingly still safe for the moment.

Though I feared what would happen if my son awakened, I could not stop myself from crying out, “Nooooooooooo!” The pain was too great.

The demon vanished. I began to weep, curled in pain on the floor. My family was gone. My wife and daughter were…possessed. My son had been taken by the villainous creature that had appeared and disappeared like smoke. I was alone. Even the drifter had abandoned me.

When I remembered the drifter, I felt hope stirring deep within. Perhaps he was out there, waiting to help me. My son was not yet possessed. But why? What did they have planned for him? Whatever it was, I could not allow it.

I slung my rifle over my shoulder, tied my ammo pouch around my waist, and slid a knife into my boot. Outside I found an unusual trail…ice. The demon’s path was covered in frost, and I ran to follow it before it could disappear. I moved quickly yet silently until I spotted them ahead, a group of ten shadowy figures, and beyond them the encampment that appeared to include hundreds of others. Were they all demons? I could not tell. From a distance, some of them looked human.

I lay flat on my belly, hidden under thick scrub. From my vantage point, I watched as they placed my son on an altar, black and lined with skulls. A living fog began to surround him, seemingly trying to absorb him or be absorbed by him. I left my cover and leaped up, rifle at the ready, and started to run toward the altar, several hundred yards away.

You cannot stop this
! I heard the voice distinctly in my mind.
Flee
!

Yet I knew that there was a way to stop it. I had to kill my own son to prevent the…whatever it was…from possessing him, too. I ran down a small slope toward the camp, making no effort to conceal myself—yet no one seemed to notice me.

As I neared the crowd, a clear path through the dark figures opened up between me and the altar, like a parting of the seas. I ran straight through. The air grew colder as I approached, slowing me. When I was just a few feet away, I halted, drew a bead on the figure looming over my son, and fired, striking the wispy figure in a broad area I assumed to be his chest, and the figure fell to the ground, motionless.

Drawing my bowie knife, I jumped for the altar and drove the blade through my son’s heart. “Daddy!” he said softly. “Thank you.”

I trembled.
Oh, God, what have I done? Did I have a choice?

The hooded figures closed in on me. My time had passed.

Reconnaissance

AFTER READING THE
third log entry, I sat the book on the table. The events were so intense and so familiar. “The book—I wasn’t just reading it. I was living the events, feeling them,” I said to the priest.

“It was intended that way. You see, feel, and experience the entries as if you were there,” Daniel said.

“How…?” I asked softly.

“The power of God,” Daniel replied. We all looked at each other. Eventually, our gazes settled on the soldier; he would be on the forefront of the physical battle, while Daniel would be on point for the spiritual war. Accepting his role, David raised his rifle and walked to the heavy door that separated the bunker from the tunnel system.

Daniel turned to face me. “Ghost hunter, you’re with David. Frank, with Jason, Rick, with Joel. I’ll take up the rear.”

The door opened like a hatch. David and I each turned the heavy wheel with one hand and pulled the door open. Cold, stale air rushed past, and distant whispers beckoned to us. Shadows darted in the distance, and we felt a presence. David nodded. With my pistol in my right hand and the EMF meter in my left, I followed right behind him as he entered the tunnel.

My head lamp was on, as was the flashlight on David’s rifle. Still, the darkness seemed thicker, almost impenetrably heavy. There were
faint EMF readings, but nothing definite. The voices continued, but I could not tell whether they were really faint whispers or just my imagination.

The other five men followed behind us. The tunnel was surprisingly well kept with fresh concrete. Someone had been there recently. But whom?

The tunnel split, branching left and right. As I stood wondering if we should split up, my EMF meter spiked. Something moved through the intersection, something quick. A shadow?

“We’ll split into two teams. We have no radio contact, so meet back here in ten. Move!” David ordered. Frank, Rick, Joel, and I turned right, peering into the dark tunnel ahead. Jason, David and Daniel took the left. The temperature became colder as we went. The meter still registered faint EMF readings. What was lurking in the shadows?

We passed along the winding corridor, ignoring other tunnels that branched off the main tunnel making it seem like a maze. Suddenly, the EMF meter spiked!

“Where is it?” Frank asked, playing his flashlight beam along the walls.

“Just ahead of us,” I said. I moved forward slowly. The readings grew stronger and stronger, and I spotted decayed remains just ahead of us. Something loomed over the remains, something unlike the demons I had seen while reading the book. I could smell sulfur.

“Whoa!” Rick cried. He turned and stumbled backward. Frank and I turned around quickly.

“What was that?” Frank asked.

“A cloaked figure, just a few inches from my face,” said Rick.

The hair on our bodies began to stand up straight. Something scraped against the floor, and we heard rattling, then footsteps. When we turned back to continue on, we saw the decayed body rise and stumble toward us, moaning.

“What’s going on?” I cried out as we stepped backward. The body reached a hand toward us, dripping rotted flesh, and we opened fire. The thing roared and leaped up. Clinging to the ceiling, it crawled toward us. I drew my BAR and opened fire. The creature jumped to the right, then the left, and soon the walls and ceiling were riddled with gunfire. Frank took careful aim and fired a burst into its skull. The creature fell to the ground, motionless.