A Creature of War, Book 6, CH08

Kal made sure Finn was comfortable before setting back on his way. He used the alleys to make his way around the temple. The doors were closed and guarded by far more guards than Kal expected were there under normal circumstance.

This confirmed whoever the Voice was, they would be in the temple. Fortunately for him, they couldn’t guard the entirety of the structure. Only the doors had stationary guards. The rest was patrolled by half a dozen of them.

He didn’t need to go inside. He could bring down the structure. It wouldn’t even be difficult. The exhausting part would be ensuring he controlled the way the stone fell, so none of the surrounding buildings were damaged.

He could do that from outside the building, outside the city even, but he wanted to confront the Voice. He wanted to make sure they were dead before he destroyed the temple. He wanted them to know who was killing them.

He waited for the patrolling guard to disappear from sight and ran to the wall. The work was exquisite, the gaps between each block so fine, the stone so smooth it should be impossible for anyone to climb it. His fingers sank into it, giving him purchase and he quickly went up, sparing only enough attention to smooth the finger and toe holes as he moved.

He made it four windows in height when he felt a guard approaching on his round. Not as high as he’d hoped, but he couldn’t risk being caught.

Inside, he was in a hall lit by the windows. He felt for people, but the level was vacant. Everyone was on the ground floor, but not huddled as he expected. They were spread around, going about their business? He sensed the open space in the center of the temple; the walls going up until they reached the slanted roof. It was split into two, the forward half would be the nave and worship area, the back? Every temple he’d destroyed, the back was the living quarters, taking only as little space as needed.

This was far too large. A second worshiping space? He could feel a balcony going around both spaces so he looked for a way to reach it.

He came onto it looking down at pews, the elevated platform, the pulpit. By the light falling in through the stained windows, he was in the front section. Counting the seating on the two balcony beneath the one he was on, there had to be enough room to for a thousand worshipers.

A handful of Keepers moved about, some sweeping the floors, others cleaning the lower windows. The outside doors opened to let another Keeper in and they crossed the room, ignoring and being ignored by the janitors.

He hurried to reach the other side to get a sense of what the other room was used for, and only caught sight of more elaborate pews before an elevated platform, when the voice echoing from the ground stopped him.

“I need to speak to him.”

Female, and eerily familiar, even after all these years. He stepped back and watched the Keeper address the one standing before the door in the wall dividing both spaces.

He smiled, strangely please that she was still alive. The last time he’d of her was a few years ago, a story of her taking down another demon.

She let out an exasperated sigh and turned. “Is there anyone here who speaks Sarlesh?”

“Keeper Antoinette,” a wolf in black robes said, approaching. “Why are you here?” his tone was stern. He looked younger than she would be, but he couldn’t be certain at this distance.

“Emthral,” her tone was a mix of relief and annoyance. “I need to speak with him.”

“Keeper Antoinette, I told you yesterday that—”

“This is different; They’re attacking. He needs to know.”

The wolf sighed. “He already does. He knows all the Celeste tells him.”

“Really? And has the Celeste told him it’s all a distraction?”

Kal leaned forward, as did the wolf. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I need to speak with him.”

“Keeper Antoinette, you know it doesn’t work that way. The Voice doesn’t hold conversations with us. He tells us what the Celeste wants of us. Tell me what you feel he must know and I will convey it to him.”

“Emthral, there’s a demon on his way here, to kill him, right now. Do you really want to waste time getting me to explain everything I know from my years of studying him? Just so you can repeat what I said, and then come ask me whatever questions he has for me? We are wasting time.”

The wolf considered her. “Wait here.” He motioned to the Keeper in front of the door and stepped through it. Kal hurried along the balcony to follow him.

The other side was more luxurious than the initial glance told him. He’d been so focused on Antoinette and the wolf, he hadn’t noticed the pool of water on the far side, the waterfall too small for the sound to reach him. The water flowed out on each side through flower beds. Kal felt the earth go a few feet down. Braziers burned at intervals, not adding any light, but creating a comfortable warmth.

If not for this being his enemy’s stronghold, he could see himself relaxing there. The one thing that bothered him was that instead of a pulpit, there stood a throne on the elevated platform.

The wolf-headed for a section hidden from view by the balcony and Kal ran along so he could see what was happening.

“My lord, Keeper Antoinette is here.”

A deep sigh answered him. The voice was just as deep. “Emthral, what have I told you?”

“To call you Mathew,” The wolf answered uncomfortably.

“Then why is it that after a year, you still refuse to do it?” The deep voice was reproachful, but not angry. Kal thought he heard affection there.

“You are the Celeste’s Voice, I could never call you as if you were simply a common man.”

“I think you very well know there is nothing common about me, don’t you Emthral?”

Kal saw them now, the wolf with his ears folded back in embarrassment. The massive lion standing before him, dirt-covered hand on the wolf’s cheek.

“E—even more reason for me to treat you with the respect you are due, My lord.”

The lion was not what Kal expected. He was muscular, regal. The way he spoke and touch the wolf indicated respect and affection. “If I am the Voice, shouldn’t you do what I say?”

“I do, my lord, I follow your instructions in all things. All of them.”

“Except this one.” The lion chuckled.

Kal had built the image of some old, cruel creature, too weak to do anything by themselves. Something dark and hateful.

“What does it say that my Hand will not follow my instructions? What would the other Keepers say?”

“Would you have me call you as a commoner before them, my lord?” Had there been a hint of derision there?

“Be careful, Emthral.” The lion’s voice gained an edge. “You are special to me, but do not forget your place. I would hate to have to replace you now that you are finally becoming adept in all your duties to me.”

The wolf looked down. “Of course not, my lord. I’d never presume.”

The lion shushed him. “It’s alright, Emthral. Just remember what I will and will not tolerate.”

“Of course, my lord.”

The lion took a cloth off his belt and wiped his hands with it. “Now, what brought you here?”

“Keeper Antoinette is here, seeking an audience with you.”

“Emthral, you know I speak to no one but you.”

“Yes, my lord, but she insists. She claims it’s urgent. That you are in danger and that her information is too complicated for me to relay properly.”

“And do you believe her?” He looked his hands over and put the cloth back to his belt.

Fear crossed the wolf’s face as he tried to form words.

“Close your muzzle, Emthral. It’s unbecoming of someone of your station. You are my Hand.”

“Yes, my lord,” the wolf answered, lowering his voice.

The lion took his muzzle in his fingers and raised it so the wolf looked at him again. “I picked you, among all of them, because you have the potential to be great. You demonstrated that to me, remember?”

The wolf gave a small smile and his eyes grew distant. Then looked to the side as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have. “I do.”

The lion smiled. “Then act with confidence. Meekness isn’t for you anymore. Not among them at least, and not here, even with me. You are better than that.”

The wolf nodded and straightened. “I believe she is afraid for your life, my lord.”

“And do you think her information is beyond your ability to convey to me?”

The fear crossed his eyes, but he closed them. When he opened them again, they were confident. “She has been hunting this particular demon for decades. I don’t have your wisdom, I wouldn’t know the questions to ask her that would be helpful to you.” The confidence broke, and he looked away. “I’m sorry.”

The lion caressed the wolf’s cheek. “That was good. You must know your own limitation so you can assess what you can and can’t do. It’s only been one year, I don’t expect you to know me so well yet. In time, that will come. But for now, have her enter.”

“Yes, my lord.” The wolf turned and headed to the door, the lion for the throne. The door closed as he reached it and he paused. His shoulders slumping. He took a breath, said something too soft for Kal to make out, and straightened before sitting, looking like a ruler again.

The door reopened, and the wolf escorted Antoinette until they reached the middle of the room. The lion studied them, and Antoinette dropped to a knee, eyes on the floor. The lion and wolf shared an amused look.

“Thank you Emthral,” the lion said, “you may leave us.”

“Thank you for seeing me, my lord,” Antoinette said after the door closed.

The lion composed his face into a serious expression. “Please stand. My Hand tells me you have vital information for me.”

She stood, but kept her eyes downcast. “Yes, my lord. Your life is in danger.”

He leaned on the armrest. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been threatened.” He smiled. “Although I must admit it’s the first time I’ve merited an entire army.”

“The army is a distraction, my lord.”

The lion’s ear straightened. “Is it now?”

“Yes. It was assembled by the demon I’ve been chasing.”

“That lynx that’s been destroying my temples.” There was a dismissiveness to the tone that irked Kal.

“Yes. He found other demons and united them. He also recruited others, people who don’t like you and used their hate to corrupt them further.”

“So it’s criminals and ruffians at the gates? My soldiers should deal with them quickly.”

“He’s already in the city.”

The lion leaned forward. “Really?” he sounded excited rather than worried.

Kal wondered how she knew.

“He’s cunning, possibly the most cunning of them. If he wants us to pay attention to one part of the city, then he is in a different one.”

“I see, and since the fighting is taking place at the gates, he must be inside the city. Cunning indeed.” Again, his tone was excited. “And why do you think it is him in the city? Maybe he’s still outside the wall, watching the chaos, waiting for his agents to attempt to kill me.”

“Because he told me he would destroy you. He hates you. I heard it in his voice.”

The lion narrowed his eyes. “Voice? You spoke with him?”

She winced. “It was in my reports, my lord. He sought me out, spoke to me under the guise of normality. I don’t know if he intended on revealing himself to me, but he put my name in the message he left after destroying that temple. It’s how I knew that demon was a lynx.”

“I see.”

“I believe that all this is a ploy, a distraction, so he can make his way here and destroy you and all you represent.”

“The temple is well guarded.”

Kal looked around, and Antoinette echoed his thought.

“Stone is his power, my Lord Voice. The walls will not keep him out. He can bring your temple down around us. He’s done it multiple times.”

“But you don’t believe he will, otherwise you’d be advising me to leave.”

“He destroys the temples after he’s killed his targets. The other times it was the Keepers and acolytes. Now it’s you.”

“Do you know why he is so set on killing me? All demons want the Celeste destroyed, but they know they don’t have the power to do it. What makes him so determined to be destroyed in the attempt?”

She looked up now. “You killed his son.”

“I?”

“A Keeper. Who was an extension of the Celeste.”

“He told you that?”

“No, he mentioned the death of his son, the attitude of the Keeper after the fact, but I believe he altered what happened when we spoke to avoid giving himself away. But it is the only reason one of them would become obsessed with destroying you.”

The lion leaned back in the throne. “So this is revenge.” He sounded disappointed.

“Yes, my lord.”

“You have my thanks for the warning, Keeper Antoinette. You may go.”

“My lord, you don’t understand. He’s dangerous, more so than any demons we’ve faced. You can’t underestimate him.”

The lion smiled. “Do you believe he’s more powerful than the Celeste?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then shouldn’t you trust Him to protect his Voice? He may have bested you, Keeper, but he isn’t the first demon to attempt to remove me, to believe that by my death will bring the end of the Celeste. If the Celeste decides my time is over, He will appoint someone else. You must trust in Him, if your faith in me isn’t strong enough.”

“No, of course. I didn’t—”

“You may go,” the lion repeated. He didn’t raise his voice, but there was finality in the tone. She bowed and left. When the door closed, the lion’s shoulder slumped again, and he looked tired, older. He stood and headed toward one of the flowerbeds.

Kal jumped to the closest column and silently climbed down, not bothering to smooth the stone. The lion had his back to him, studying the flowers, when he reached the ground. Kal cleared his throat.

The lion looked over his shoulder, the annoyance on his face clearing on seeing him. He turned, looked Kal over and didn’t seem impressed. “So, you’re the demon, the one whose son I killed?”

“Yes,” Kal pulled the sword out.

The lion looked at it and let out a sigh. He flicked a finger in Kal’s directly as he grumbled something and Kal flew back from the sudden force.

He made a cushion of air to soften his impact against the wall, more surprised by what he heard than the demonstration of power.

“Was that Dutch?” he asked as he stood, knowing he mangled the language. He’d never been great at speaking it, even back when every few years he was in a battle with them.

The lion’s tilted ear was the only show of surprise. “You know the blessed tongue?” he answered in broken English.

“I had to learn Dutch because they kept attaching us and our allies. I think we were allied with them once, but even back then I couldn’t keep track of who was and wasn’t our enemies. I just fought who they told me to.”

The lion smiled, a toothy and menacing thing. “You are from the accursed American Army.” He rubbed his hands together. “Good. I have been wanting to destroy one of you directly”

“Why?” Kal asked, curious in spite of himself.

The lion looked at him. “Because is it my mission.” His tone said Kal should have realized that already. “I was smuggled within this country to destroy it from within. Before I could start you destroyed the world.”

“I don’t think we were the one who did it. What’s this then?” he motioned around them.

“This is the temple to the Celeste, supreme being that will bring peace and protection to all those who follow him.”

“And kill your people?”

“My people?” the lion asked, perplexed.

“Anthros with power.”

The lion scoffed. “They are the enemy. They were made by the American Scientist. My people are back home.”

“You seriously believe there’s such a thing as the army anymore? Have you looked around? There isn’t even a country left. These people have nothing to do with the wars we fought.”

The lion shrugged. “I have my mission. Unlike you, I do not abandon my duty simply because the world changed. I remain a loyal soldier.”

“Crazy, you mean, if you’re going after innocent Anthros.”

“There are no innocent here! You tainted them all when you destroyed my cities, my people! I will avenge them. I will destroy all with powers and if others die in the process, they are American, so no one will mourn them.”

“You’re not going to be alive to do that.”

The lion grinned. “You think you are the first to try?”

“I’m planning on being the last.” He reached with his sense and took hold of the stones in the ceiling, each carefully balanced against the other. All it took was for one to fall out and the whole thing would collapse. Kal pulled on all of them.

Nothing fell.

He pulled harder.

The stones remained in place.

“Did you think I would let you bring my temple down?” the lion asked. “You Americans are so arrogant, thinking you are the only ones who mastered powers. This is nothing for me. I will hold each stone in place and still crush you.”

Kal felt the compression of air above him and threw himself to the side. He rolled to his feet, the sword clattering away. Where he’d been, everything was crushed, the stones, the pews. Kal pulled on the stones, but they didn’t respond.

If the lion could crush that and still hold the whole ceiling in place, he could be more powerful than CM.

“You are nothing,” the lion said with disdain. “We studied you. You are an accident, a mistake. I was made with purpose. I was not ‘off matrix,’ as your scientist called it. My matrix was crafted for power beyond anything you could ever be.” He snapped his finger.

This time, it came from the lion. It wasn’t the air itself, it simply compressed in response to what pushed it. He raised himself above it on a column of earth, and it shattered when the pressure collided with it. He jumped and landed before it.

Definitely telekinesis. Definitely powerful, but unless the lion was toying with him, he had limitations. CM could hold him in place. He’d watched her crush soldiers with a thought when she was feeling particularly vicious.

Kal wasn’t planning on toying with him. He reached for the fire within the lion and found nothing. He could see the lion standing there, smirking, but couldn’t sense his inner heat? Or his water, earth, air.

He almost missed the coming wave in trying to understand how that was possible. He launched himself over it with compressed air and landed once it passed.

Was he not there? A telekinetic projection? If he could do that, he was definitely more powerful than CM, more powerful than anyone Kal knew. He felt around them for someone hiding. As powerful as he was, there were rules governing telekinetics, and the basic one was that they needed to see what they affected, so he had to be close by, somewhere he could watch.

There was no one close by. No one who could see them. This entire section was closed off. The balcony was the only place to watch from, and there was no one there.

“Is something wrong?” the lion asked, smirking. “Are you finding there are limits to what you can do, unlike me?”

Could he block his ability with a telekinetic sheath? He’d never heard of that, but what powers could do didn’t seem to have limits.

“Will you not attack me if you have no power to you? Will you only attack at a distance, as your brethren always did? You are all cowards, fearing direct battle. You said I kill the innocent here, but what of those your bombs killed when you destroyed my cities? They had never done a thing to merit the destruction you brought down on them.”

“You mean like my son?” Kal snapped, running toward the lion. He knew he’d let himself be goaded into careless action, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to be compared to someone who’d created a system that allowed children to be murdered.

The lion snapped his finger and Kal acted as he felt the wave formed before him. Compressing the air as his foot came down and using it as a springboard. The wave stretched higher in response, and he hardened the columns of air under his feet to let him run over it.

The lion stared, slack-jawed, as Kal threw himself forward and down at him. He compressed the air around his fist and released it as he punched the lion’s face. The concussive explosion sent Kal flying back, and he created wind to slow and steady himself so he landed on his feet instead of crashing down.

The throne was shattered. The lion had flown through it and was sprawled almost at the far wall. Kal smiled. Now that was pow—

The lion groaned and got back to his feet.

It was Kal’s turn to stare. He should be dead. Even if he’d kept his head attached telekinetically, the concussive force should have scrambled his brain. Instead, all he had was a bloody lip and a vicious grin.

“That was unexpected.” The lion wiped his mouth with the back of a hand. “You are not a Stone Breaker, are you?”

Kal shrugged, hiding his surprise. At least he’d confirmed he could hurt him. If he could hurt him, he could kill him, and his death would destroy the religion.

Or did he have to do even that? The religion was based on powers being demonic. How would the Keepers react to their leader displaying them?

He pushed at the wall separating the two spaces and it didn’t move. He cursed silently. The lion knew the same thing and wasn’t going to let him take this fight public.

He wanted to ask how he did it, CM had never been able to keep him from taking hold of stone, it was always a question of which one of them could mount the most power.

“What are you?” the lion asked. “I have never heard of a Stone Breaker and Sky Mover. Are you an exception, or hiding that you are an Elementalist?”

“Are the names a Dutch thing, or have I been out of touch for so long I missed when they started handing out fancy names?”

The lion shrugged. “I have stayed in here for years. I do not care for what civilians call them.” He raised a hand, and a stone raised off the floor. “Let us see how skilled you are.” He made a fist and the stone shattered into shards.

Kal felt for the shards, but they weren’t there. Yeah, the telekinesis cut them off.

The lion made a flicking gesture, and they flew at him. He detonated the air, scattering them, but they adjusted their trajectory to fly at him again. He caught them in a wall of soft dirt and took it down, along with them, immediately.

“Not very creative,” the lion commented, then screamed as fire jumped from a brazier to his back. Kal kept the fire going as the lion tried the smother it, but it wasn’t the panicked actions he’d been hoping for. The lion walked into the pool of water, submerging himself to extinguish it.

He smirked as he stood, only to frown and start clawing at the water that accumulated on his face. Kal smiled. He had him now. But instead of panicking, the lion brought his hand down and the water fell into the pool.

“A full-blown Elementalist.” He smiled. “Good. It has been a long time since someone gave me a worthwhile fight.”

“I’m not here to fight you,” Kal answered, “Just kill you.” He brought the stone floor up around the lion, from head to toes and tightened it.

Kal ran for him as he felt his connection to the earth cocoon disappear. It didn’t explode, it crumbled off the lion, revealing a smirking face in time for Kal’s rock covered fist to impact with the smile, and then one in the stomach.

Before he could land a third punch, Kal flew back. He softened his landing, skidding away as he hardened the water in the lion’s clothing. He brought more from the pool as he lost contact with sections of it.

He got to his feet, adding more and more water. He walked toward the lion, compressing the air around his fist. This would have to be close-quarter combat, and that was fine with Kal. He wanted to look that lion in the eyes as he pounded the life out of him.

The lion watched him approach. There was a layer of water, against the his skin that Kal couldn’t feel, but there was much more holding him in place. There were indeed limits to what the lion could do. All he needed was his face free to pound.

Kal applied pressure to bring the lion to his knees, and the lion fought him. This was one fight the lion would—

The water exploded outward and Kal only had time to raise his arm to protect his face before feeling the cuts all over his body.

He lowered his arm.

The lion snarled at the ruin of his clothing. The blades of water had cut through them to reach Kal. The lion glared at him, and Kal threw himself to the ground as he felt the air shift to his left.

The stone flew where he’d been. He raised a wall of earth to catch the next ones. When he lost control of the wall, he exploded the air in front of the other volley.

“This isn’t going to end with powers,” Kal said, standing.

The lion grinned, exposing teeth. “You think I can not end you now?”

“I think that if you could, you’d have done it already. For some reason, your telekinesis can’t affect me directly. Otherwise you’d suffocate me, stop my heart, turn my brain to mush.” He smirked. “So much for being superior.”

The lion extended a hand toward the remains of the throne. “I do not see you drawing the air out of my lungs, pulling the water out of my body.” Stones flew at his hand, breaking and locking in place, forming a long and thick sword.

Kal shrugged. “I’m not the one making claims of superiority.” He looked around, but the sword was lost among the debris. He called water to him, having it snake on the ground, mixing in stone dust. It climbs his body and accumulated in his hand, where it extended into a gray watery blade.

The lion laughed. “Water against stone? Just stand still and let me kill you. It will be cleaner.”

Kal pulled the heat out of the stony water and with a series of crackling it turned opaque and solid. The lion stopped laughing, but maintained a smirk.

“Out of curiosity—” Kal moved the blade, adjusting its balance.— “what do you call hydro and pyro-kinetics?”

“Wave-rider, Heat-seekers,” the lion answered with disdain.

“Not much respect for other’s powers I see.” He ran at the lion, keeping his senses open for any unseen displacement in the air.

The lion parried with a bored expression, only to straightened when Kal’s sword didn’t shatter. They swung at each other, exchanges blows, the lion’s expression growing serious with each sword impact.

Kal’s lost ice with each strike, but he had ample water to pull for repairs. Drawing in more and more stone to reinforce his sword, and unlike the lion, he could adjust how flexible his blade was.

Kal slashed, parried, then hurried out of the way when the lion turned a strike into a charge. The ground cracked where Kal had been and the lion plowed into the rising stone column. The lion staggered and regained his balance, not looking the worse. He grinned as he faced Kal and made a figure eight with his blade.

“Where did you learn swordplay?” Kal asked, circling the lion. “Telekinetics don’t usually bother learning to use weapons.”

“The sword was invented by the Dutch,” the lion said with pride. “Every son and daughter is taught how to wield one.” For emphasis, he made a fancy move that had Kal take a step back. “How is it you know? You are powerful enough never to need one.”

Kal forced a shrug. “I’m just a soldier, soldier learn how to use weapons,” he said, instead of mentioning the long stretch where he was basically powerless. “Before, that meant firearms, now it’s blades and bows.”

The lion charged him again, and Kal iced the ground under his feet, but it had no effect. Kal wondered if the lion could fly. Every telekinetic he’d met powerful enough to lift their own weight did.

With each strike, the lion’s sword lost shards of stones and the fight seemed to take enough of his concentration, he couldn’t replace them with the ease Kal had. With one more strike, the stone sword shattered, and the lion stepped back, worry on his face.

The fear fell away as the lion smirked and flicked a finger at Kal.

Kal felt the cut in his side and threw himself down as more shards flew around him. It wasn’t the lion who had been too focused on the fight, he was him. He’d stopped paying attention to the stone around them and the lion had taken control of enough to create a swarm.

A part of Kal wanted to object, an old and naïve part that clamored the lion was breaking the rules of engagement, cheating. He silenced it as he put a hand to his side, forced the wound to stop bleeding. The rules of engagement had been a lie; he’d learned that early in his time as a soldier. He’d been warned against trusting any enemy from respecting them, the Dutch especially, but he’d seen his side breaking them, had been ordered to break them, often enough to know them for the sham they were.

Wars were won by cheating, not respecting the rules. And he was coming to understand that he didn’t have as many ways of breaking them as the lion did. Not only might he not survive this battle, he realized, but he might not win it.

He pushed that thought aside. No war had been won by admitting defeat beforehand. He caught the swarm in earth, hardened that before the lion took control of it and pulled it into the ground. There were plenty more stones for him to use, but Kal could counter them too. As he’d told the lion, powers wouldn’t win this.

Kal adjusted his grip on his sword as the lion remade his. He could see in the lion’s eyes he too understood. This would be swords and claws. Kal would fight until he won, or died. He wouldn’t surrender, he wouldn’t give up. Kal thought he saw a hint of respect in the lion’s eyes, and he raised his sword.

“My Lord?” a woman called in the silence.

Kal and the lion shifted position to take in this new potential threat. Antoinette stood by the door, taking in the rubble their fight caused.

“What is—” she saw Kal and pulled her sword. “How dare you desecrate this holy place?”

Defeat threatened to take Kal down. Two against one. She wasn’t much of a threat by herself, but she’d be a distraction the lion would take advantage of. He pushed the defeat away; he hadn’t lost yet.

He took steps back until he could see both the Keeper and the Voice and noticed the expression on the lion’s face. It wasn’t relief or satisfaction, it was concern.

She wouldn’t distract Kal; her presence impeded the lion. The Voice couldn’t have powers. It was one thing to be protected by the Celeste. It was another to show he was powered. He’d have to fight with his sword. No, not even that. How could he explain a sword made of stone?

Kal smiled. He no longer had to kill the lion to destroy him. All he had to do was force his hand. His smile died as the lion’s expression hardened. He’d reached the same conclusion.

“Antoinette!” Kal called as the lion sent stones flying at her with a flick of the hand. Kal made a wall to intercept them as he ran at her. “Run!” He fought for control of the wall.

She stepped around it, glaring at him, pointing her sword at him. “You are mine, demon,” she stated, unaware or ignoring the growing wall next to her. She looked surprised when he didn’t slow. She struck him as he tackled her out of the way of the plunging stones.

Kal rolled himself off her and stop for blood from leaking out of yet another wound. He missed Vee right now. “How about you store glaring at me,” he told her as she crouched and inched away from him, sword high. “And look around.” Kal did the same and scattered the incoming shards with an air explosion. “Have you seen what that voice of yours is doing?”

He pointed to the lion with the cloud of stones around him. He flicked a hand and more shards flew at them. Kal caught most in earth, the others altering their direction. And he needed a second earth wall to stop them.

“You think you can trick me?” she snarled, standing. “You think you can use your tricks to turn me against the Celeste?”

“I just saved your life!” he pointed to the walls of earth as he pushed them down.

“Another trick.” She stepped toward him and he cracked the ground between them. She jumped back and smiled triumphantly. “I knew it.”

“Hey, I have enough with fighting one maniac and trying to keep you alive. I don’t need your stabbing me in the back, too.”

“Then surrender, and I’ll ensure the sword doesn’t go into your back.” She stepped sideways.

Kal wrapped her foot in stone. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” He exploded air in the middle of the incoming shards and most shattered. Finally, he’d worked out how strong the detonation had to be to overcome the telekinetic sheath.

“Your kinds are nothing but liars. You corrupt with your words as much as by your actions.”

Kal ground his teeth and exploded the next swarm. More of them survived, and he made the next one more powerful. The lion could compensate, so this would stop being effective quickly. He had to find a way to convince her before that, or they were both dead.

The idea came quickly. It might not work, but that just meant the lion would die, so still a win for him. “Let me give you the proof you want.” He turned and extended his hand. The ground around the lion exploded with spikes growing toward him, growing tighter, leaving him no escape route but one.

The lion jumped up and kept moving up when the spikes chased him. Kal smiled, so he could fly.

“How am I doing that?” he asked Antoinette, not taking his eyes off the lion, “and why?”

“How?” her voice shook. “No, you are just trying to confuse me.”

“You really think confusing you is more important to me than killing him?”

The lion glared at him, at them, and the spikes exploded, sending stone shrapnel in their direction.

Kal threw himself over the crack and pushed her down, drawing a cover of earth over. He rolled off and raised it into a wall as he stood. And let it fall forward.

The lion was back on the ground. “You should have stayed outside my sanctum, Keeper. You know the rules. Only my hand is permitted to enter here without my explicit authorization.”

“Antoinette,” Kal spoke softly, “I think it’s best if you get out of here.” As much as he wanted her to witness the destruction of her faith, he found he preferred that she stayed alive. He cursed wherever that shred of decency had come from.

“No,” her voice shook, then grew confident. “No. This is a trick. This isn’t real. You are trying to undermine my faith.”

With a sigh, he ran at her and had her over his shoulder before she could fight off her surprise. He stopped when his destination, the still ajar door, was covered by a slab of stone.

“Great,” he grumbled. He felt the point of the sword in his back and put Antoinette down. There hadn’t been enough pressure to get through the armor, but giving her a chance to find proper leverage wasn’t to his advantage.

“Don’t touch me,” she snarled, backing away.

Kal sighed and exploded more shards. “You’re just as determined to die as he is to kill you.” He frowned as he exploded another volley of shards. “Why are you still alive?”

“My faith protects me,” she answered, standing tall.

“He’s a telekinetic. He should be able to tear you apart with a glance. I thought my powers protected me, like his protect him from me, but you’re human. You aren’t even a wizard, and he wants you dead, so why continue with the shards?” He exploded a swarm that hardly reacted to it. He crushed it between two slab of stone.

“Don’t think your words can trick me, demon.”

“Then use your eyes,” Kal snapped. “You saw him float in the air! You think I’m the one sending these rocks at myself?”

“He—” she hesitated.— “The Celeste is protecting him, giving him power to he—”

“No!” He rounded on her. “You don’t get to do that! Powers are either the realm of demons or of the Celeste, not both!” He pointed at the lion. “He created all of this, he made up the Celeste as a way of destroying this country!”

She backed away under his onslaught, then stopped. “I am protecting my country, all the realms from your kind.”

“Not this country,” Kal said in exasperation as he used multiple walls of earth to stop a volley of shards. “The one that was here before—never mind. Either I’m a demon, and so is he for having powers, which means a demon had been controlling your religion, twisting it into something that it shouldn’t be, or we’re both from the Celeste and my quest to kill him was ordained by Him.”

She watched him, and he used water to capture the latest attack and turned it to ice. “Or you have been corrupted and want to rule over us.”

“Lady,” Kal said, not daring to take his attention off the lion anymore. “I don’t want to rule one damned thing. All I want is for him to pay for my son’s murder. Past that, I couldn’t give a damn what happens.” At least the lion wasn’t overly cr— he shut down that thought. He wasn’t jinxing the situation; it was difficult enough already.

“Your son was—”

“No!” He faced her, and she brought her sword up to defend herself. “My son was a good man! He—” Pain in his side made him curse, and he turned to block more shards. “He was a good man,” he said. “He used his power to save people. He put out the fires and for that, he was put to the fire. Because that monster ordered it. Ordered anyone with powers killed. Why don’t we get a chance to demonstrate our intentions? Why did he set all this up so we’d be killed without any proof of our crimes?”

He glanced at her between volley. She was thinking. At least he had that going for him.

“Hey,” he called to the lion, “What’s your designation?”

The lion snarled. “Unlike you, I was given a proper name.”

“Fine, what is it? I doubt it’s whatever the wolf called you.”

The lion paused, his gaze flicked to Antoinette before coming back to him. “I was named Sjef.”

“Alright, Shef,” Kal grins at the angry reaction to his Anglicizing of the name. “Look, how about we do it this way. Fist and claws. You and me. No weapons, no powers. I’ll even take off the armor.”

“Do you think I am so easy to trick? That I will let you come close enough to stab me in the back?”

Kal smirked. “Oh, that’s funny, coming from the Anthro who lied to everyone about who and what he is. So? How about you leave Antoinette out of it long enough for us to finish this?” He shrugged. “Once I’m dead, it isn’t like I’ll be able to stop you from killing her. You kill me and your secret dies with her. The alternative is that we keep going, and eventually someone else is going to notice the ruckus. The more people know you’re a demon, the harder your mission will become. And didn’t you say you wanted to kill one of us personally? It doesn’t get more personal than hand to hand combat.”

The lion let his sword fall to pieces. “Very well, no weapons, no armor. Only claws, like our ancestors did it.”

“You have a warped notion of what our ‘ancestors’ were.” Kal removed the armor. “And you leave Antoinette alone. As you saw, I know when you take telekinetic control of something, so you try it and we go back to being noisy enough to draw a large crowd.” He put as much confidence in what he said and hoped the lion would attribute all the times he surprised him to Kal being distracted by the fighting.

“Agreed.”

A lot of stones reappeared to his senses, and Kal swallowed hard. Sjef had been holding enough to bury him and Antoinette. Some of the stones clattered to the ground, but most had been lying there, waiting for the perfect moment to spring an attack. Sjef crossed his arms over his massive chest and waited.

The lion had to mass twice what he did. Kal stepped forward. He’d been build for physical combat first, telekinesis second, if that had even been the intent. An inability to affect living people seemed too much of a flaw to be intentional, in spite of what Sjef claimed.

Kal stopped a few feet away, and the lion changed his stance, preparing himself. Kal took a calming breath and did the same. He wouldn’t survive. He’d accepted that before getting up this morning. He no longer wanted to be part of this world, he didn’t fit in it anymore. Had never fit in it, really. His only goal now was to ensure this lion wouldn’t survive to continue oppressing people. If he could do that, then his death would have been worthwhile. If he couldn’t, well, he’d be dead, so it wouldn’t be his concern anymore.

Kal charged.

He punched and dodged, hit him in the side and turned to keep facing the lion. Sjef was slower, due to his mass, but he shrugged the punches, while Kal felt even the glancing blows the lion got past his defenses.

The lion smirked and Kal couldn’t tell if it was because he was using his telekinetic sheath as protection, or because he didn’t need it. Unless he’d been lazy, Sjef had to know how to use his power. Even if it had changed with the world, it was still centuries to practice, rediscover the techniques, the flaws in it, just as Kal had.

Kal charged again, using his smaller size and higher speed to get in a flurry of strikes, which ended when Sjef connected one punch and sent Kal staggering back. The lion grinned as Kal grimaced in pain.

Kal wouldn’t win by playing fair. If he thought he could end this with one stone stroke through the lion’s heart, he’d do it, but if he could do that, the lion would already be dead. And Sjef had to expect Kal to cheat; he was Dutch after all.

Still, Kal could take advantage of one flaw in the lion’s form. He ran at him again, and as before Sjef only put the minimum effort in blocking and dodging, counting on his toughness to soak in the blows. Even when Kal’s fist passed through his defenses on its way to the lion’s face, Sjef barely reacted. Kal opened his hand at the last moment and extended his claws, turning the punch into a rake.

The punch sent Kal flying back and his chest hurt, but the dismayed expression on the lion’s face made the pain worth it.

“What kind of savagery is this?” Blood hid the lion’s right eye and Kal couldn’t tell if he’d gouged it out. Either way, the lion couldn’t see out of it at the moment.

“Fist and claws,” Kal said, standing. “Did you think I’d settle for just fist? I am planning on winning.” Stones vanished from his senses as the lion growled. “No powers, remember? Unless you want this to become a lot noisier than it’s been. How long can you maintain the charade of being unpowered when everyone will see you flinging rocks at me? Or flying?”

The lion took slow breaths, and the stones reappeared. Kal paid attention to them, making sure he could account for all of them.

“All of them,” he said.

The lion touched the bloody eye. Still there then. “If you will use underhanded tactics, I will too.”

Kal shrugged. “You’re Dutch. I take for granted you don’t know how to fight fair. Now, are you letting go of the rest, or are we going to start making a lot of noise?”

The rest of the stones appeared to his senses.

With a roar, the lion ran at him, claws out. Kal blocked as best as he could, but felt the cuts in his arm, in his side, the sheer force of the attack. Each connecting strike forced a step back from him, and the lion kept coming.

Kal slipped in a few strikes, leaving shallow red lines on the lion’s chest and arms, but they didn’t compare to his arms being shredded. If he allowed himself to bleed, he’d already be unconscious.

A hand impacted with his face hard and he flew off his feet. He landed back on them, tripped and his back hit the floor. He couldn’t find any energy to push himself up.

The lion stood over him, then dropped to his knees, straddling Kal’s chest. “Did you really think you could win?” He punched Kal in the face. “Did you think you could measure up to a Dutch warrior and do more than die?”

“Had to try,” Kal rasped, caught his breath. “Had to do what I could to avenge Leo. Wouldn’t be able to live with myself otherwise.”

The lion paused, fist in the air. “The death of another affects you so much you’re rather die?”

“My son,” Kal spat, “you had my son killed.”

The lion shrugged. “No wonder you Americans lost every fight against us.”

The disbelief stop Kal’s anger, then he chuckled, only for that to be stopped by the pain. “Not how I remember my fights against the Dutch ending.”

“Then you fought defective models. Dutch warriors never lose.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself so you can get up in the morning.” Kal coughed and forced the blood accumulating in his throat out. He turned his head and spit. “Look, just stop talking and end this already.”

“Are you in a hurry to die?”

Kal sighed. “If the alternative is listening to you go on and on, then yes, I want this over quickly.”

The lion smirked. “You Americans are all so pathe—” He stopped and Kal searched his face, trying to figure out what game he was playing, then he noticed the sword coming out Sjef’s chest.

The lion looked at it, glared at Kal as if he was responsible for it, and stood. He turned to face Antoinette, who took a step back. She was holding another sword, a shorter one. Where had she hidden that one? Kal wondered.

“What are you doing, Keeper?” the lion asked, his voice wheezy. The sword was through his lung.

“Killing an abomination,” she snarled back.

The lion laughed, then coughed. Kal saw bubbles in the blood pooling around the blade sticking out of his back. “You think you can kill me when he couldn’t?”

Stones vanished out of his senses. A lot of them, no, all the rubble on the ground. He could pummel the woman into nothingness and there was little Kal could do and what he could think of would only delay her death, not save her. He couldn’t even reach up to grab the sword’s hilt. But maybe trying to get up was the wrong thing. Maybe he should bring the lion down to his level.

He kicked the back of Sjef’s knee and the lion fell back with a yelp. At the same time the stones reappeared to his sense. The pommel hit Kal’s chest and shoved the breath out of him, but it also pushed the sword further in.

Kal didn’t have the strength to hold the lion in place, so he grabbed on to the hilt as the lion pulled himself off. Kal had a sword by the time the lion stood, and Sjef had a gaping wound with bubbling blood flowing freely from it.

“You believe this will save you?” the lion tried to snarl, but the wheezing render it pitiful.

“I never planned on surviving,” Kal answered, the words weak. He could barely form his reply. “I’m just trying to keep you distracted.”

The lion moved faster than Kal thought he should, considering the hole in his chest. Fast enough that Antoinette only left a thin red line on the lion’s side, but it confirmed that he was vulnerable, either he was too weak to form the sheath or some other reason Kal didn’t have the energy to think up.

“Hey Sjef,” Kal whispered. He through it had been too soft, but the lion glanced at him and the lynx smiled. “You want to know why the Dutch keep losing to us? You keep underestimating us.”

He gathered every iota of strength he had and sent a spike through the lion’s chest, then a second and a third, a fourth and one more, and more. When he stopped all that was recognizable of the lion was the head, lolling to the side on top of a pillar of stone spikes.

He smiled.

He’d done it. He’d avenged Leo. He could die now. He felt her standing over him. He was okay with whatever came now.

When the strike didn’t come he opened an eye. She looked at him, her lips a narrow line, her knuckles white on the hilt of what he realized was the sword he’d dropped so long ago when this fight began.

“I should kill you,” she stated through gritted teeth.

Kal tried to smile, but his face hurt. “I wouldn’t mind an end to the pain.”

She glanced at the lion’s head and her mask of anger cracked. “I killed the Voice.”

He didn’t point out she was wrong. He focussed on something that could help her. “You killed a charlatan.”

“The Celeste…” she trailed off.

“Was his creation,” he rasped, “his tool to kill me and others like me.”

“Demons,” she said, but there was doubt in her eyes when she looked at him.

“Enemy soldiers.” He caught his breath and debated convincing her to kill him. “How did you know he dropped his telekinetic sheath?”

She looked at him in confusion and he laughed. The pain made short work of that, and he curled in on himself. She hadn’t known. She’d gotten lucky. He should have kept his senses on the lion, but he hadn’t seen a point. There were too many other things to keep track of. He’d have known it had happened if he had. Could have avoided all this pain.

Vee, where are you when I need you?

“Are you going to kill me?” he asked, uncertain if the hope in his voice was for her to do it or not.

She looked at him, the uncertainty in her eyes answering more than her words. “I believed in what he taught.”

She wouldn’t do it. He’d have to make the decision himself. The pain and life, or death. He couldn’t even figure out which one was more attractive right now.

She hugged herself, the sword clattering to the ground. “What am I supposed to do now?” There was desperation in her voice.

He was so tired of people turning to him for those kinds of answer, but the way she looked at him. He could make himself the ruler of them if he wanted. He forced himself to his feet. He couldn’t answer her from the floor; it lacked a certain dignity.

He looked at her, saw how old she was, how much of her strength had been her faith. The Keeper was gone, and only a woman was left. Old and lost. He kept his voice steady, but put no more strength than needed to get the words out.

“Take the good from his teaching, drop the bad. Maybe take his place, rebuild this sham into something better? At least make amends. That is the least the people who suffered at his orders deserve.”

“Is that what you’re going to do?” she asked, her voice regaining some steel, her face losing some of the years. “Will you make amends for your part in all the innocents that died?”

He shook his head, and when he spoke he thought he meant the words. “I’m done. I don’t think there’s anything I can do to redeem myself, and this was always just about avenging Leo. I end here, with the destruction of this temple.”

She looked around them and understanding dawned. “You—” She closed her mouth, tried again. “You could do good. You could help me, help us.”

“I don’t know how to help anyone anymore.” And he knew that to be true. He’d lost himself in the revenge. Even if he intended on living, he couldn’t to that among people. He’d need time to find out who he was again without the violence.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked. She eyed her sword and when she noticed him watching her she shrugged. “If it’s what you want, I…” she shrugged again.

“Leave. As weak as I am now, when I bring this temple down, I doubt I’ll survive it.”

“Will you give me time to evacuate everyone else? Do you still hold us all responsible?”

He closed his eyes. He wished she’d just shut up and let him get on with this before he lost his nerve, consciousness, or any of the other things that might keep the end from coming.

“Make it quick,” He said. “I don’t know how long I can keep myself from bleeding out, but I will destroy this abomination before I do. If there are still people here then… well, what’s a few more innocent to my tally?”

She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll make sure the truth is known. I’ll make sure the Celeste—” her voice broke.— “never stands for killing after this. Your role—”

“Don’t. Don’t make me a hero. I’m as much a villain as he was. I wouldn’t have caused so much death if I’d been a hero. Just forget me, okay? And get going, the longer you wait, the more innocent might die here.”

She backed away, stopped at the door. Had he moved the slab? Or had it fallen aside when Sjef died? “I don’t know if I can thank you for this, but I hope you find peace in death.” She vanished on the other side.

Peace. Yes, that would be good, whatever that was. He was a soldier. He hadn’t been made to know peace. Even his attempt at it had ended in horror. His eyes stung, and he wiped the tears away. Death was what he deserved.

He looked at the lion. “This ends here. This war that should have ended when the world changed. I don’t know if the Dutch still exist, but I hope they don’t. I hope they changed into something better. I wish we had.”

He found fire, a tipped brazier that still had ambers, and stoke that to flames. Had them travel to the lion and consume the body. He didn’t want it to be found. He wished he had the courage to do the same to himself, but it would require constant will to keep himself burning, while being crushed under the stones only required letting it happen.

He’d given Antoinette as much time as has he could. Hopefully, she and everyone else were out. He looked up at the stained windows depicting a lie and nonetheless admired their beauty. It would be a shame for them to be destroyed, yet more victims to his revenge.

He took hold of the stones, finding the keystones, feeling them, admiring yet more marvels he was destroying. And with a scream Kal, LRK, the soldier, brought everything down on top of himself.

*

Yes, this is where this part of the story ends.

No, or course not. You already know he lives beyond this. Some of you have heard his last story. But that doesn’t mean he knew he would survive this.

How?

Is that really important? You know enough about who our Lord was by now. I think you can work it out on your own.

No, I don’t know if the next story will answer the question. I don’t know yet which story I’ll tell next. There are many, but not all hold relevance.

So, his war is over, he got his revenge. By the next time you come to listen to me, I’ll have worked out what the best story to tell is. So you go on. I’ll see you then.