Chapter Nine

It was eerie, walking along the empty streets with nothing but a child as a guide. I suspected that she was something more. Yet when she skipped along and hummed her own merry tune it was difficult to fit the sinister reality with the adorable exterior.

My lips clamped together to hold back the sigh that I wanted to let loose.

“Come on pretty angel,” the young voice urged as she danced over glass and corpses as if they were simply skipping stones.

 A shudder coursed through my body and I looked away.

I was lost. My one visit to the city several years before was no help right now. I was sure that most of the features I might have recognised were gone. The shop fronts had been demolished destroyed or disfigured by the city’s residents. It was terrifying that if you give people a big enough dose of fear then all rationality flew out of the window.

“Where are we going?” I asked when the little girl gave no signs of slowing.

“There.”

She gestured to nowhere in particular instead choosing to dance over a flaming piece of wood with a jaunty skip. The sight had my heart leaping in my throat and my mouth opening to warn her – to urge her to take care. But it was pointless, she was not a human child and there was no sense in treating her like it.

I nodded my head in response before replying in kind to the cute smile she sent my way.

And yet unease filled my heart and flooded through my veins as if it was my lifeblood. Her non answer helped no one. It was clear that this being was testing me but I had no idea what for. The only comfort I had in that moment was my blade just waiting to be summoned and the fact that I could sense that Lucius was close, watching our progress but he made no effort to be seen.

My feet had slowed at some point and I hadn’t even noticed. But the little girl had. She had back tracked and suddenly I found my hand in her tiny grasp. Her hands were soft like you would expect a child’s to be, and yet they were strong – too strong. I darted a glance down at my skin and released my breath through my teeth and I grinned merrily at the little girl.

I had almost expected my own skin to become covered in pustules at contact. The fact that I didn’t made me question my own convictions. It was clear however that this child was not normal.

“Come on silly angel, we have to hurry!”

Putting one foot in front of the other, I allowed the small person to pull me onwards through the maze of Cardiff. The stench of death and decay got heavier and more cloying as we moved further away from the stadium. We had only been walking for a short while when she stopped. Her red locks swayed as she turned her head to the side and giggled. My eyes followed hers and I sucked in a breath.

It was a sight of pure beauty in the desecration around us. The building was covered in stone, standing tall and strong, untouched by the violence that had occurred around us. The red colouring around the high arched windows was attractive in the dreary greyness that existed all around.

“Come on, come on.” The little girl at my side whispered, her eyes wide and glee shining in her eyes. “We’re late, we’re late.”

I frowned at her. All I could do was follow the young girl inside.

And then the air left my lungs.

While the outside did not look as if it had been affected by the violence that had spread across the city, the inside was another story. All of the riches and beauty had been ripped from the interior so only the empty shell of the church remained. I felt something lodge in my heart at the desecration. It felt wrong to see it, felt wrong to stand in it.

“This place feels wrong.”

I clamped my lips together and clenched my fists as I took in the lonely and broken skeleton that remained. The little girl at my side just laughed in response. This time however, it was no innocent giggle. It was cold, so cold that it almost brought ice to my own heart.

“Do not worry yourself on such things child. The man in the skies has no real cares for these houses. It is a human thing to build monuments to their gods.” The little girl shrugged her shoulders as her light footsteps danced from flag stone to flag stone.

She jumped in the air and twirled delicately before landing on the balls of her feet.

“I did not cause the desecration if that is what you are worried about. Temples and churches have no consequence to me. I just wish to make my mark upon the world. It is my right.”

The only response I could give was to gulp and nod my head. The presence in the back of my mind was gone. I could no longer feel Lucius there. I rubbed my damp palm against my leg and tried not to let my dread show. The smile and glee on the little girl’s face as she eyes told me that I failed – miserably.

“So can I ask your name?”

The little girl with red hair giggled and twirled. “I don’t know, can you?”

“Alright, what is your name?”

“I have gone by many names but I what I inspire is war.” The horsemen of war smiled at me with her gapped teeth and then twirled once more. She took in a lungful of air before releasing a sigh of glee.  “Don’t you just love it? Discord and violence… it’s so beautiful.”

I glanced up at the empty shell, with its cracked and graffiti covered walls, and shook my head.

“No, I can’t say that I do. I prefer peace and harmony. Every time discord and violence comes knocking my life turns into a complete shambles.”

War turned its head and set its gaze upon me, an acknowledgement in its gaze of the honesty I had afforded the ancient being.

“Yes, but if there was only peace and only harmony, life would become stale and dull. You humans need the violence and terror – without it you would have nothing to strive for. “

I pondered on the words of War for a few seconds too long and thus the ancient decided to fill the silence.

“If my words were false, why did war continue in my absence? I had only a small amount of influence while in that pit, so the chaos was all of your own making. Does that make you feel better?”

The little red head glared up at me, daring me answer. I stared right back at her and offered a grim smile.

“No it doesn’t make me feel any better. But things happening outside are because of you. No doubt you brought about this plague to the city. Death and disease always breeds panic. History is truth enough of that.” I clucked my tongue and looked away. “Just because it might and probably would happen without you here, does not mean you have to be the cause of it. Can’t you just live a life like a normal person? Don’t you have people you care about? That you love?”

War growled at me. Her teeth were clenched together as her adorable features screwed up into an expression that was almost feral.

“Of course I have things that I care about. But a little separation is necessary after spending millennia trapped together in that heathen prison they call Tartarus. Do not question me on my motives. This is the punishment that humankind deserves for letting us suffer all of these years. Who are you to judge me?”

I felt my heart leap into my throat as the little girl in front of me stretched and aged before my very eyes. And no longer was I looking down at child but staring up into a very tall, very intimidating woman. She looked like some fierce warrior from ancient times, her hair spiralling down her back in fiery red waves. It was the eyes though that got me. I had seen some things over the years preceding that moment but they were a sight to behold. They promised pain, despair and hopelessness. How a pair of eyes could communicate so much in one stare was beyond me but there it was.

I shivered and pulled my gaze away.

“I can’t begin to understand what you’ve been through. I was in hell for only a few hours and it was enough to curse my dreams and turn them all into nightmares. I can no longer sleep in the dark. Such a silly thing but it’s always there in the dark – just waiting to take hold.” A shudder coursed through me once more and I let my haunted eyes meet those of war. “I may not understand completely but I know what it is like to want revenge. The one you seek to harm is already gone from this world – Mephistopheles. And the gods have long deserted this planet. The earth is – shall we say – under new management.”

War nodded her beautiful head and looked away.

“That may be so but you cannot stop it now. Neither can I. Not that I want to. Once unrest has begun, it will only dissipate once the fire has burnt out.” She sighed dreamily, her feet starting the hopping and skipping once more. “I love the taste of vengeance. It is bittersweet like lemon and honey mixed together.”

War fell into silence, lost in her own thoughts and memories.

As she twirled and whirled, my entire body remained ramrod straight, all of my muscles held painfully tight as I tried my best not to move and draw attention. And yet I could not stand it anymore, the question was there in my mind burning into my skull until I had no choice but to ask it.

I cleared my throat to draw the woman from her daze. Her eyes flashed at me with an unnatural light. But she stopped and folded her arms across her ample chest. Thankfully her clothes had grown to accommodate her larger size. It would have been the cherry on top of the cake if I was given a peep shop on top of everything else. I did not need to know that war had a better body than I did – insecurities could be a killer at times.

“Why did you let me live? Why are you letting me live now? Aren’t you afraid that I could stop you?”

War stared at me for several long seconds. Then the lips twitched, the body convulsed and then pure unfiltered mirth spilled from their lips. I am sure if they were capable of true human emotion then tears would have been spilling down her cheeks. But they weren’t.

“Oh dear child, this is all part of the game. What fun would it be if we did not have someone to try and stop us – even if it is futile on your part?”

Lifting her hand, War pretended to examine her sharp and deadly looking nails before looking up at me. “I kept you alive so you can tell the others you brought with you to leave. I do not wish to fight just yet – this is just a little fun - but if you ask it of me, I will wipe this city off the face of the earth so the only thing remaining is the scorch mark on maps telling you where the place used to be. I do not fool or joke on this matter, what I say to you is the truth.”

I nodded my head and kept my eyes trained on the windows directly ahead of me.  

War started to pace then walking around me in circles. I felt like I was being stalked and hunted but my attention remained resolute.

“I wish you to live through this angel. You put yourself between me and the human male. You have a pure heart.” The words echoed around the space as the footsteps stilled.

A second passed and then I could feel War’s breath blowing on the back of my neck as she moved too close for comfort. My body grew tenser if it was at all possible.

“I will look out for you on the field of battle my angel. It is going to be so much fun. I know my brothers will like playing with you too.”

“Savannah?!” The voice was loud but slightly muffled by the walls of the building. I knew who it was in an instant.

Involuntarily, I spun on my heel and found myself – alone.

Lucius continued to call to me outside the church as I did one last sweep of the place. But there was no sign of the red head anywhere. There was not even a footprint in the dust to show where she had been.

I kicked at a loose stone on the floor adn watched as it skipped across the empty space before uttering the first thing that came to mind.

“Ah crap.”