Chapter 6—Heaven's Night

Kellan, who was not quite a God but would never debase himself enough to call himself a demon, wore his fuchsia light like a form-fitting shirt on a strong pale body. His face was not quite human, with no lips bearing sharp teeth, but he knew he fit the image enough that the humans he saved were comfortable in his presence.

He had claimed an abandoned school as his domain. It was big enough to hold plenty of people, and there were plenty to save tonight. He met them like a champion too, striking out against the demons that tried to tear them apart, giving them something to cheer for as their coming death easily fell at his hands. But, as the day eventually turned to night, and the torrent never slowed, he began to see that this night was far worse than he had imagined.

This night.

It was supposed to be an important night to any Gods or would-be Gods in the city. It was always going to be a turbulent one, but it wasn't supposed to bear so many foes that he thought he faced an endless storm. He only had to survive for a few more hours now, but as they flooded the streets he wondered if he would make it to the "dawn."

Kellan was not afraid of these demons. He had been in New York almost since the start, growing stronger, moving faster, proving that he was someone meant to see where things might go. There was no demon this city could spawn that would take him down, but there were worse things now that might catch his scent.

From the principal's office window, he was observing worse now. Golden angels danced and dived, each one falling like a divine bolt of judgment. True bolts crashed down even further off, the explosion of them lighting the streets for miles on end. He could even sense others like himself, waiting it out like the people who prayed for salvation, hoping just the same as them that they might weather this storm. It almost felt like this night would go on forever, and it was so tiring that he thought about giving up on his plan.

"Just a few more hours…" His voice was a dry rasp. "In just a few more hours, I will prove my place." His jaw tightened, and he watched the night with trepidation.

In the street below, he could hear an angry motor. A cycle? A muscle car? No…as demons came apart, their pieces scattering along the street, it dawned that it was the distinctly familiar sound of a chainsaw. It came with a blue streak that tore through the horde. Zaps of yellow lightning ripped through the demons around him. At least, they seemed like lightning at first, until it became clear that they were ravenous spotted dogs, their teeth dripping with the liquid lights of the things they slew. Arrows came raining down, thinning the horde in the back. Something in the darkness claimed the ones that fled, and terror filled him as he wondered what might make a demon flee. Was this providence that emptied the streets and saved him from the fury of gods? Or was it a god itself, finally here, ultimately meant to be Kellan's final test?

"I have heard their prayers," A voice came behind him. He turned and found a demon entering his office. No… if it heard their prayers this was not a demon. If the survivors were still alive, and he knew they were, this was not a demon.

"What are you!" He demanded.

"A symptom." It replied as its crimson body brightened the room.

It certainly looked like a demon or some other form of nightmare. Black horns rose from its head and what wasn't flesh was a skeleton holding in the fire of it.

"I am a symptom of the coming world, unborn and yet sick with the rot of its forbearer. This world, a pretender at new birth, will dare to be born as the world before it has, vile and already septic. I am a symptom." This thing was growing closer. "I am Corrosion, the Crimson God of Salvation."

A bat bled out of Kellan's arm. Even if this thing truly was a demon, he would not fail now.

"No one needs salvation here."

"No? Even though your heart calls out for it?"

"I will save myself from you."

"Then who will save you from him?" Corrosion pointed out the window.

Kellan heard it a moment too late. The growl of the chainsaw preceded the shattering of glass and its teeth bit hard into his side. He swung, batting the wielder back, but felt how little it did against their metal body.

The metallic angel with a broad form came at him again, chainsword—not saw—ripping down, shredding into his bat like it was brittle wood. Kellan swung his other arm down and a sledgehammer dropped, smashing the angel's head into the floor. He hefted it back and slammed the bat down afterward. He hefted both above his head and the angel rocketed to his feet, driving the chainsword into Kellan's core.

He roared and almost dropped his weapons, and roared again as the sword bit into his neck. This angel could not tear him apart but the will to do so was real in the chain's jagged teeth, biting harder and harder as he swung again and again.

"I can't tear him apart." His voice was deep, stoic. For how little he could do, he seemed entirely unaffected. Even as Kellan struck back the boy did not submit.

"That's because it's a battle of light." A fog entered through the window, pouring a half-shadow in after it. "He's more light than you are. You draw on it while he contains it." The other half was green. The two together filled Kellan with fear.

"So how do I kill it?"

"Break the container."

Behind a gate-like mask, eyes scanned Kellan.

Another two figures entered through the window, one a woman, the other a man with a spotted dog mask.

Despair crept into the not-god. What was going on? Why was he at the end of his life when its start was only a few hours away?

The chainsword revved and the angel came at him again, swinging it down into the top of his head. It wasn't just tearing, it was grabbing at the chunks, ripping them away as the angel pushed it further. Kellan went for a body blow but it was already too late. His light spewed from his head, as the angel tore the chainsword back.

He dropped, and Peter looked at him.

"That wouldn't have worked on a real god, would it?"

"No." Corrosion replied. "To be a god is to know you are light. The way you tore into him would be easy to fix."

Rashawn nodded and removed his mask. "So we really weren't ready to be up there with you guys."

Corrosion knelt and started tearing into Kellan.

"And this part, with the whole light eating thing. Peter can't do that like Corrosion, right?"

"Not with a god or a demon stronger than him, but he can get there in enough time. Eating the light of another though is… not normal for whatever that means for us." Fiona put a hand on her brother's shoulder. "We'll go and check on the survivors in a moment. Corrosion, are we still sending them to that Enclave?"

Corrosion looked up from his feast. "Yes…they will be safest there."

"That makes four raids in total then. Why are we sending survivors there?" Peter turned to his sister. She looked back at Corrosion as he pulled himself up.

"Tonight will be the final night of ruin. Tomorrow, there shall be no salvation in a godless land."

Peter looked at Rashawn. He shrugged. They both looked at Slasher.

"When I moved like death through the many hells of the abyss, I saw how these places had become sanctuary against worse. Even when the people were only suffering, there was worse out there than the damned souls could fathom, and the demons always promised an ascent to the promised land. The higher I moved through the abyss, the more they spoke of the promised land, and how they'd see the road soon. Before I returned to this world, I heard a phrase: The road forward will appear after Heaven's Night."

"Cerulean knew about this," Fiona said. "That's part of why the cultist tried to shift the balance the night before. Heaven's night would reveal the path to a place above the world. There, the people would be in the glory of their God's heaven. But there's a difference between true heavens and false heavens. The damned and forsaken crowd at the gate of the false."

"It sounds like the Advent Ascension all over again. Trying to make sure you have a god to make a paradise for you." Slasher nodded.

Corrosion glanced out the window. "Except this time, the need to find god is more imminent." Glass crunched under its feet as it stared out at what Kellan feared before. The diving angels, the crashing lightning. In its eyes, it saw the biggest players.

Rashawn joined him, "So where do we factor in all this?"

"Lands where false gods rule must meet their end."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"So what, we're a test or something?"

"We are a reality."

Rashawn laughed. "Maybe you and Slasher, but me and Pete are kinda new to this, and sis over there isn't quite steppin to the big guy either."

"That's what tonight's about," Slasher replied. "You are already a God, you merely need to know your might. And Peter…" Slasher turned to Fiona.

"He's God's Azure Wrath. Though he's not like you, Peter is the best person left to inherit all that the Azure-Eyed Prince was. As for me, well, I'm already working on my ascension." She smiled and Rashawn shuddered at it.

Peter stood strongly at his sister's side and turned his eyes on Corrosion.

"Sounds like we're going to be raiding until we're ready, but not the Enclave? What makes it different from Cerulean? Why is it safe to send people to one instead of the other?"

Corrosion answered, "The Enclave is a land that will never belong to a god."

"Then how does it have a chance in this world?" Peter waved at Kellan's pale corpse. "That thing was barely ready for it and it lived in the city."

Rashawn smirked. "I think I might be able to answer that. King's friends…they're different from gods… like Slasher."

Peter joined Corrosion in looking out the window, chewing on Rashawn's words. He shuddered, and that caught him off guard. He touched his chest and felt his heart thundering. Was he afraid? He turned to his sister.

"Are there things Gods fear?"

Fiona looked at the floor and he knew she was remembering their old home. "More than darkness…? I suppose anything that might turn off their light."

"I don't like that." Rashawn shuddered.

Corrosion stared far into the distance. It could not see it, but it felt a light be captured and pulled apart like cheap fabric.

"Then grow stronger…the weak are prey for hardship."

"Does that mean our break is over?" Rashawn laughed.

"Yes. Let us take more life from tomorrow."

⁘⁛Godless Lands⁛⁘

As the chaos of the night raged onward, Ace dreamed.

Once more he was back with Phosphorus and Seiros, astride horses back as they completed a long trek. Behind him, there was his homeland, rolling fields, and the distant faces of scattered farmhouses. Ahead, there was trepidation, and alarm rising like something viscous in Phosphorus' chest. He stayed his horse before an unseen border, looking at Seiros who stood at its precipice.

"Are you scared, my friend?"

"It feels wrong, Seiros. This place before me feels like it is not meant to be known. Have you gone out there? Can you promise that it is not profane?"

"I have been out there many times, Phosphorus. Whenever Hera is vigilant, and it is safest for no bastard of Zeus to dare to live. Like you, she does not go further. Like us both, there is something about this place that feels wrong to know."

"And what is beyond this boundary?"

Seiros laughed, his chest rolling with humor. He looked at Phosphorus and then back to the land they both feared. To Ace's eyes, it was no different from the land behind them, but in his heart, he could feel their fear.

"A godless land, I suppose. A place where you and I are no different from the farmers who offered us these fruits." Seiros held up an apple. Phosphorus pondered. Ace pondered with him.

"This seems profane."

Seiros laughed. "And I suppose that is why it is easier for me than you, my friend. Am I not profane by nature of my birth. Another bastard of Zeus who would be dead were I to ever cross Hera's path."

At last, Phosphorus laughed and followed his friend. A great fear washed over him fast and hard as they crossed the unseen boundary, but even as he quivered, his horse went on. He seemed to find comfort in the beast, and rode more proudly, engaging Seiros in simple conversation, until they reached their destination at last.

It may have once been a tavern. Now it was mostly a story, its roof caved in, stone walls crumbled, rooms on its second floor exposed to the elements. Much of the grounds around it belonged to nature now, and Phosphorus might have assumed it was only a place to rest, could he not feel the whispers of life. Small life. Children? He looked at Seiros, who dismounted and smiled.

"It's all right little ones! It's your brother Seiros again!"

A few small faces peeked out. Some were dark in ways Phosphorus had never seen.

"Where are your protectors?" Seiros asked.

Nearby, a shadow moved in the boneless way of aquatic life, and a small horned form emerged. He seemed a child himself, on the cusp of his teen years, shirtless body bearing ashen skin and a thin form. His hair fell long to the small of his back. A pointed tail swished behind him. At first, Phosphorus thought he looked upon a satyr, but this boy or boy-like thing had human legs and not quite mortal eyes.

"Paimon! Not the protector I was hoping for."

"Seiros…" Paimon said the name with consideration, then looked at Phosphorus. "Do you flee Hera's wrath again? Is this another of Zeus' spawn?"

Phosphorus bristled at the accusation, the air around him becoming bright with his light. The children stepped back and Paimon joined them, but notably, no fear filled his eyes. Still, Phosphorus let his fury out.

"I am no spawn of wretched Zeus!"

The boy gave him a lopsided smile. "So much fury and loathing, but were he hear now would you burn this brightly?"

Ace could feel a blade falling together.

Seiros flared his light, and that seemed to remind Phosphorus where they were.

"Calm, my friend. You do not want to be an Olympian out here." His eyes guided Phosphorus, toward squirming shadows that seemed to grow larger, responding to his burning light.

Phosphorus breathed and his rage settled. Seiros settled as well, and Paimon perched atop a barrel.

"How fortunate that it is me here and not one of the others."

Seiros smirked, "Well, I was hoping for one of the others. Specifically, the very one I oft come to see."

Paimon frowned. "Yes, for what reason do you appear but for your fear of Hera or your lust for Lilith?"

Seiros gave him a grand smile. "Like all children of Olympus, am I not clear in my nature?"

Paimon looked to the shadows and whispered that name. It stirred, and a woman emerged, her skin a rich tan and her hair long like the boy's. She dressed in dark garb but bore her midriff and arms to the afternoon light. She took in Seiros and laughed to herself, then her eyes slid to Phosphorus.

"Lilith, this is Phosphorus. Phosphorus, this is Lilith."

"Is this an offering, Seiros? It will not win you my heart."

"You wound me so swiftly, Lilith. Had I known we were at war I would not have come."

She smiled.

"This is the woman you wanted me to meet then?" Phosphorus asked.

"In fact she is, for I know no other who speaks truthfully about this supposed crown of the world. Lilith comes from those lands, my friend."

"The crown of the world…as if we can so boldly crown a world so much bigger than the Gods who claim it." Lilith said with derision.

Phosphorus' eyes widened, and all the tension that once gripped him fell away. "You can tell me of this crown then?"

Lilith smiled. Paimon behind her smiled too. Seiros sighed and threw up his hands.

"I am sorry my friend, but they have taken a liking to you."

"Sit comfortably, Phosphorus. We have much to discuss."

Lilith may have started, but her words fell from Ace's ears. A distant soft beep was calling to him, and Phosphorus's world faded as he answered it…

[Chapter 6 ends…]