The Living Arc Angels part 5

(“NARRATED”)

The angels walked in silence through the streets paying little attention to the chaos that surrounded them. Everyone’s thoughts, most of all Tyler and Andrea’s, were on the innocent child that had been in their arms only a few hours ago. For a moment Andrea looked up and gazed in front of them. There in the road dressed in black jeans; black shirt; and a long black jacket, his face hidden by his hood, stood a man. His head facing toward the ground but it was obvious he was looking in their direction. “Guys, I think we may have trouble heading our way.” She couldn’t see his face, but she could feel his eyes on her. Looking just behind the dark figure she could see a teenage boy slowly approaching him from behind. Just then she saw the boy’s hand in the air holding a bat. She began to scream out a warning, but before she could the mysterious man had already turned toward the boy. Nothing could be seen but a burst of blood and the sudden blank expression upon the young boy’s face.

By now the others had caught sight of the action and all were wondering why someone would do such a thing to a young boy. This was not a good sight to see moments after having a child taken away from you… sympathy and thoughts of children running high in the mind. Quickly the four began to run toward the dark stranger. When they were only a few feet away and yet could still not see his face, he held up his hand. In a deep but low voice he spoke. “Stop there. Your fight is not with me. I know the sight of this boy’s destruction is not pleasant, but I assure you it was justified in its purpose.” Not waiting for a response the man simply turned and walked toward the darkness of the alley between two buildings. They tried to follow, but as they turned the corner he could no longer be seen. No words were spoken about it, however, not that it didn’t warrant a comment or two. There was simply nothing that could be said about something they understood nothing about. So instead they headed back in the direction they were traveling before. Once again something ahead of them caught the attention of the angels. This time it was a crowd of people. They were gathered in a circle in the middle of the street and cheering words that could not be made out well enough. “Well, do we go around them or do we go through them?” Eric look to the other three for the answer but got only deciding looks. Then suddenly a burst of black flames shot out from between two of the spectators. Tyler laughed a little and said, “Well, there’s our answer… I guess we go through them.”

Once they were closer, the angels pulled several people out of their way to get a good look at what the attention was on. There in the middle of the circle were three large men. With them in the make shift ring was a large centaur. The half man and half horse creature was laughing hysterically at his opponents as they would lay into his chest and sides with punches that would have taken out the largest of men. Each man stood at least six feet tall, however they looked very small facing a creature that stood well over 7 and a half feet and was at least 8 feet from tail to chest. Off to the side of this fight stood three demons with their eyes glowing black. They were obviously guards for the 6 men tied up at their feet. Eric grabbed the man standing beside him. “What’s the deal with the men tied up over there?” The man looked him up and down a moment and then scoffed, “Why should I tell you, little boy?” Eric grabbed the man’s hand and began to squeeze, bring him down onto his knees and getting a response of groans and cracking of small bones. “Because if you don’t tell me what I want to know, then I might get angry with you… and we don’t want that.” Rambling like a child the man began to sputter out the story. “This creature said that he could take all of us, no matter how many fought him at once. His deal was that if anyone could beat him that man or men would receive all the wealth he desired!” Tyler interrupted with, “And those who lost against him?” The man looked over and then back to Eric who was still squeezing his hand getting an occasional new bone to crackle. “Those who lost would be made to serve him under his boss’ orders.” Finally Eric released his hand and then pushed him to the ground onto his back. As he stood Christine said, “I guess those are the guys that have already lost.” The four angels broke through the remainder of the crowd and stepped into the circle. Andrea yelled out, “Hey, horse shit!!! I think we were next.” The crowd along with the centaur laughed. Then the centaur through his laughter wiggled his finger inviting them to come closer. “I am Brutoc!! Tell me little children, what would hell want with a bunch of tiny little runts such as you?” The four angels gave side glances to one another then with a grin, simultaneously burst into their evolved states. A look of intrigue scorched across Brutoc’s face as the men who were standing around the angels attempted to get up off the ground and find their balance again. “This will be interesting I think. I have not fought a living angel in a few hundred years. However, I will give you your chance. This fight will be the angels versus me! However, the same rules will apply, if you lose you will serve hell in all it’s glory… do you agree? Oh, and no throwing that white shit…you must fight hand to hand.” Not bothering to give it much thought, the four all agreed to this deal and then began to fan out around this new threat.

As Eric jumped toward the middle of the body, Andrea was thrown back by a sudden powerful kick from the monster’s hind quarters. Christine tried to kick a leg from underneath him, but his leg was raised in time to avoid the attempt. Tyler was busy trying to duck out of the way of Brutoc’s massive arms. Then raring up Brutoc manage to land a strike to Tyler’s chest with his front legs while turning his human half and catching Eric in mid air. With great force he threw Eric into Christine, taking them both to the ground, and in fact, placing a small crater where they landed. Tyler raised the flames around him as high as they would go and then took to the sky landing a front kick to the demon’s lower jaw on the way up. Brutoc’s head flew back but all too quickly he recovered as he began to laugh deeply. “You four amuse me.” His laughter changed to a growl as he snatched Tyler from the air and threw him into Eric and Christine just as they began to get to their feet…making the crater deeper. Andrea caught sight of this and rushed the giant screaming. She made a fast movement to punch to his back, but he turned with a speed unthought-of for something of his size and caught her by the throat. As she began to choke in his massive hand he looked at her and opened his mouth to speak. However, his words were cut off by another voice. The voice was deep, but soft and calm sounding. “Brutoc, let the girl go. Don’t you want to try a real fight?” Brutoc raised his eyebrow and looked in the direction of the voice. Standing behind the crowd of people stood a figure dressed in black. His face could not be seen through the hood he wore on top of the long black coat. Slowly Brutoc’s expression changed. “I know that voice.” The man in black laughed softly. “Yes, you know me… we met over 700 years ago. I’m not sure why I let you live then, but perhaps I won’t make the same mistake this time.” The four angels on the ground were surprised to realize that Brutoc was now shaking and his expression told of his sudden fear. As though he were searching for a way out, Brutoc quickly began to ramble. “This fight is an agreement between those four and me. You can not interfere!” The man again calmly spoke to this. “I have watched this fight and I believe you are taking advantage of their youth. You proclaimed this fight to be ‘the angels versus me’… I believe were your words. Well, this would allow me to fight on their side considering who I am… would it not?” Just then the men gathered in the crowed began yelling out, “Go for it” and “Tear him apart!” Giving into the screams Brutoc finally yelled out to the stranger, “Very well then! Come get it!” The man’s smile could almost be felt in the air as the angels began to feel the energy gather. It was obvious by the look on the giant’s face that he too felt the power begin to find its focal point.

The stranger’s coat began to move as though there were wind blowing around inside it… then suddenly it burst off of him and was replaced by a tornado of dark blue flames. They saw his short brown hair and light blue eyes, but only for a moment. Everything that followed stole every word along with any breathe that could have been used to form it. A tornado of blue flames engulfed his body. Strips of bone shot out of his wrist all the way around, and then slid onto his hands over his fist, making gloves. The bones were a grayish blue and shimmered reflectively. The same type of strips made of bone slid from his collar bone out of his skin and moved up his neck. They then formed a face plate like that of a ninja over his mouth and nose. His eyes, in whole, brightly began to glow a dark blue. Black flames streamed out from the center of his chest, burning away his shirt, and quickly covering him from his midsection up and over his shoulders and then down his back, creating a form fitting sheath of black, top skin. The same blue strips of bone also formed spiked, form fitting, covers over his shoulders. He stood there a moment with the bone armor shimmering against the contrast of the black top skin. Finally, Eric was able to speak. “That doesn’t look like any of our evolutions. How…who… what did he mean he is qualified to fight on our side?” He got no answer, but expected none. Then Eric noticed what the others were looking at, explaining why they had a slight grin on their faces. Now that Brutoc was looking upon this man, he was shaking even harder and in fact, had a look of defeat in his eyes. Slowly the stranger walked through the crowd, an easy task with everyone stepping well out of his way, toward the giant. Though he was obviously scared of this new stranger the centaur towered over him just as he did the others. This new stranger stood only just under 6 feet tall, but his smaller size was obviously not an example of the match up in power.

The dark stranger stood only a foot away from his adversary squared off with his arms folded. Along with the yell came a rearing of Brutoc’s front legs. Barely looking up, the stranger managed to catch both legs in his hands. He then shook his head slowly and mockingly just before tossing the centaur onto his side. The sound of this massive beast hitting the ground caused an echoing thunderous sound through out the streets. The giant got to his feet to once again tower over everyone. However, he did not stay erect for long. By the time he turned to face the man again, a straight forward punch was laid into the section where man met beast. The attack sent him flying back quickly and causing him to take out 6 men standing behind him. Just as the man turned around to face the angels, the pounding of rapid footsteps was heard. He turned to see the burst of fire and the sudden appearance of the battle ax in the giant’s right hand. Sitting behind him on the ground the angels could see the back of his shoulders where his spine would meet his skull begin to give way to the familiar blue bone strips. They entered his palm as he reached back. Then suddenly they quickly formed a sword. The sword was unlike anything they had seen before. The handle and demonic wings that hugged the handle seemed to be made of the same blue reflective bone; however a golden looking blade shot out of the center and measured 3 or 4 feet. Then as the beast’s ax came down the blade of the stranger’s sword came up. The two blades met in an explosive display of red and blue flames. With little hesitation the centaur once again charged the stranger. To which the stranger simply laughed. Then just as Brutoc raised his ax to strike again, the stranger jumped high into the air and took a two handed swipe with his sword. Seconds after the stranger had landed back to the ground, the centaur’s hand, still holding the ax fell behind him. As the demon screamed his arm closed up sealing off his wound.

It was then that Tyler looked at the hand and noticed the inside. It was not the black blood that caught his attention. It was the bone… the dark blue bone. It wasn’t shimmering or reflective like the stranger’s but it was with out a doubt the same color. In an obvious rage Brutoc bent down enough to throw a massive punch. Instead he was shocked at the sudden pain. Reaching down he felt the hole in his chest where his heart used to be. The stranger stood in front of him, the heart still beating in his hand. Finally, he said, “You will never trouble me again.” Just then a small tornado of dark blue flames surrounded the heart and reduced it to ashes. Just as quickly, Brutoc fell to the ground with a final thunderous thud. Only something much unexpected happened next. The stranger turned toward the dead centaur and held his hand out as he lowered his head. A black mist like ball of flames and smoke arose from the corpse and then began to flow in a rapid stream into the stranger’s hand. Odd as it was, it did not last long. After that the stranger’s eyes once again glowed brightly their dark blue. He took a deep breath and then turned toward the angels. “Be careful who you pick fights with… unless you are in a hurry to die again.” Not waiting for a response he simply turned and began to walk away. As he did so, his features began to move in reverse. The bone began to retract back to his body and his human looking skin could once again be seen. Christine yelled out to him, “Wait! We don’t even know your name!” Still walking and with out turning around he simply yelled back, “You don’t need to know me.” Tyler gave a confused look in the direction the man was heading and then turned to the other while saying, “Guess we should just call him the asshole then.” The others laughed as they all got to their feet… the men gathered around, quickly moving aside with out any words spoken among them.

Once they had gotten down the road a bit they spotted Thomas standing in the road with his hands crossed. They greeted him quickly but warily, not knowing if it was a good thing or bad to see him again. He must have read their expressions. “Don’t worry; I didn’t come with bad news. I am here to tell you that Angelique is doing great up there. She’s learning to harness her abilities much faster than we thought she would. Her body is now that of a 3 year old child.” The others could not believe or even comprehend the concept of the baby they held hours before now being a 3 year old. However, before they could comment Thomas added, “You’re not meant to understand.” So they left it alone. “Who was the guy back there? After saving us and killing Brutoc he simply left.” Thomas seemed to be lost a moment in himself, but then began to walk toward some rocks that sat on the side of the road. They followed and waited, eager to hear this. None would admit it but there was a secret fear that they would have to one day face him. Again Thomas must have read their expressions. He began his explanation. “That stranger, as you call him, is named, Drataeo. He is possibly the oldest living angel that remains on earth. “Andrea broke in with, “He’s a living angel?” Thomas gave a silencing look and then continued. “Yes, he is a living arc angel… or I should say he was at one time. His heart no longer beats and rarely does he set himself clearly on the side of good, however he is still a force of Heaven. He was given the ability to absorb the essence of the demons he defeated, which was the black fire mist you saw come from Brutoc’s body. Many centuries ago, hell almost won the war. All of heaven’s warriors, including Drataeo were called back to heaven. You see, well over a million of hell’s soldiers had made it just outside the gates of heaven by using the powers of angels and living angels. As a last resort and to ensure heaven’s safety, Drataeo tried to sacrifice himself. He opened his power and in fact all of himself while releasing the full potential of his attacking abilities. By doing this he killed and absorbed millions of demons, many of them hell’s generals, all at once. The result was what you saw earlier. His body went through some small changes. No one is meant to house that much evil and good all at once. Now he dwells between the demons he has absorbed and the angel he once was. He has become one as much as the other, there fore they can not be torn apart without killing him.”

Eric looked a moment and then blurted out, “Does that mean he’s on our side? Also, what do you mean small changes?” Thomas thought a moment, obviously searching for a way to explain it. “He does in fact still serve our side, but his demonic aspects cause him to do things his way. A trait that has in fact, along with his willingness to take human lives, caused his denial into heaven since the time he fell. He is too dangerous up there and no longer has the respect for man he once had, and so he is to remain on earth. The physical changes are minimal, such as the bones that encase him being overlaid with that of demons, however those small physical alterations are nothing compared to the changes that were made inside. He has an unstoppable appetite for killing. That appetite has been only for demons and those who serve them, but if you should cross paths with him again, and you probably will, I would be careful not to anger him. He will not kill you I’m sure… but, he is capable of causing a great deal of pain with out death being his intent.” The others nodded… there was no other reaction to give. Thomas looked at the others and it was clear that a part of him wasn’t sure if he should share more about this mysterious angel or not and then it was also just as clear that the decision had been made. After that, Thomas stood and cheerfully said, “I have to leave now, I’m Angelique’s teacher today.” Just before he left, Tyler and Andrea looked to him ready to speak. “Yes, you two, I know… I will tell her of your love. She knows and in fact watches you often.” They smiled sweetly; it was good to know their daughter could see them. With their smiles ever present, the four started off down the road again. They found themselves talking about the days before all this started…when they were still mortal. Often someone would pose the question, “How do you think our lives would be now if we would have lived longer and went about our regular lives?” It seemed that no one would ever have the answer. Shortly, they came upon a split in the road. After a great deal of discussion it was decided that they would split up and check out both directions. If either couple found something, they were to retrieve the others at once. They had come to realize that there really was strength in numbers.

Tyler and Andrea watched a moment as the other two began walking off on the right trail, before they headed off left down the other. “Tyler, do you think they’ll be alright?” He looked back again a moment in the direction they had left then looked back at Andrea. “Yeah, I think they’ll be fine.” Before they had taken too many steps, Andrea heard a sound come from no where. It was the soft sound of a running stream. It was obvious that it was flowing over rocks, though not very rapidly. She turned to her husband, who was now already staring at her with a smile. “I know what you’re thinking, Honey.” She gave him a sad little girl look and with her head lowered a little said, “Come on! We haven’t had a romantic moment together in a while.” Rather than verbally agree or even dare to object, he simply took her hand and started off toward the sound. After a few steps through some thick brush they came to an opening. Spread out before them was a patch of thick luscious green grass. Just on the other side of it was a crystal blue flowing stream… obviously from the waterfall heard echoing from the distance somewhere. Tyler looked slowly at everything. “Who would have thought something this beautiful would be right outside of the town.” Andrea laughed a little and yelled, “Who cares! Let’s just enjoy it!” He laughed a little himself and suddenly very thankful to see her cheerful. She sat down in the grass and then with one finger motioned for him to join her. As he walked over to her she extended her hand. He took a hold of her hand, the white light shining from their marriage symbols again. As he started to lie down, she pulled him quickly on top of her. “For the next hour at least, you are all mine, Husband.” He smiled a little then kissed her lips softly. “I was always all yours.” They locked in a passionate kiss, as his hand began to slowly make its way upward underneath her shirt. Then he could feel his belt and pants being undone. It was a glorious feeling… it felt normal. That is until he realized that he could also feel one of her hands on his back and the other on his side. “Love, how are you doing that?” She faintly asks, “Doing what?” He pointed down as he looked and they both watched as his belt and pants looked to be undoing themselves. She laughed and said, “I was just thinking of how I wanted to take those off.” He laughed again a little and in a matter-of-fact manner quickly said, “Tele kinesis, huh…. Good to know.” Then he returned the favor of getting her lower half free of clothes.

For the next hour and a half they made love tenderly as they rediscovered each other’s body. However, all too fast it was time to continue on their way. They dressed, still kissing every so often and holding to one another. Then hand in hand they walked back in the direction they had come. It took little time to get back through the brush. Andrea came out of the brush, followed by Tyler who was looking at the ground as he exited. “Honey? This is the way we came right?” He looked up as he said, “Yeah… this is it, why?” As he finished asking, he saw his answer. The street was gone…looking down the road…the town was gone. Instead they could see people in carriages and on horseback heading up the dirt path had replaced the road. Then out of no where… crack!! The sound came from behind them. They shot around to come face to face with 15 men all wearing red coats and military uniforms…only they were not the military the two angels remembered. These were revolutionary war uniforms. Five of the men had their muskets pointed toward them, and they seemed to be almost confused as the angels were… probably because of the angels’ clothes. “Tyler… I think we did that whole time travel thing again.” It was kind of a ‘no shit’ statement, but it was wroth mentioning. As a bright white light appeared behind the angels, the soldiers in front of them all fell and took steps back. With out looking they knew it was Thomas. “I have bad news… Tarvutis is not dead.” Tyler commented, “Yeah, we kind of suspected that already” as he pointed to the soldiers who now where shaking like leaves. Thomas smiled to himself as he looked upon the frightened men. He walked around to stand between the angels and the soldiers. As he raised one hand toward them a white light shown in a spot light pattern onto all of them. He then whispered, “This never happened….you will continue on your way.”

Quietly the men all left back through the brush. “Thomas, how do we stop Tarvutis?” Thomas lowered his head. “I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for that. If we knew how to stop him he would not be here to do this.” Having said what he had come to say, Thomas once again left with no other words. There was no time to think of the problem at hand, though, behind them they heard a man screaming in pain and another man screaming in anger. It was just down the path and off to the side. With angelic eyes they could see the black man on the ground throwing his arms up. Standing above him was a white man dressed in a top coat and looking very upper class. The so called gentleman was wielding a whip which he was using to teach some moronic lesson to the man on the ground. “It’s tragic to think that that’s how it was in this time.” Andrea said it through sadness. Tyler suddenly got angry, but fought off the usual changes that would occur. “Not today it’s not.” As they walked closer the man raised the whip ready for another strike. Deciding now was a good time to test her control of her new power; Andrea concentrated and sent the whip flying into the woods next to the man. Now it would seem it was the standing man’s turn to be scared. They approached the man in the coat as they took positions on each side of the obvious slave. The man scowled at them and exclaimed, “You two run along! This is my slave I will teach him how to address me! This is none of your concern!” Tyler took a step closer and as calmly as he could manage said, “My suggestion is that you get back on your horse and ride as fast and hard as you can, this man is now free.” Rather than do as he was told the man simply laughed a bellowing laugh. Then without warning the man drew back and balled up his fist. Tyler smiled and said, “This is going to hurt.” Still laughing the man threw all of his weight into his punch, which landed on Tyler’s jaw.

The very loud sound of bones cracking echoed for a short distance, and then the screams of the man echoed much louder behind it. Tyler looked sternly at the man. “I said it was going to hurt… I never said who it was going to hurt.” The black man slowly got to his feet as Tyler and Andrea turned to meet his eyes. “Thank you, Sir… how can I repay yo’ kindness?” Andrea looked at him a moment as Tyler took hold of the chains binding his wrist and snapped them. Her only answer was, “Learn to read and don’t take any shit from anyone.” The man was shocked and confused both at what Tyler had done and also Andrea’s words…though it almost seemed one had not shocked him any more than the other. After that the angels turned and walked away. They looked back in time to see the man with the broken hand climb on his horse and ride in the other direction. Then again with out getting very far, both angels felt a sudden increase in energy in the air. They could feel a source of power that was near by. They scanned everything around them until their eyes came to rest on a man knelt down some 2 feet in the woods. He was pulling part a metal trap that had caught a wolf in its snares. It didn’t take too long to recognize the man. It was Drataeo the way he had looked as he walked away. They inched a little closer as silently as they could, but his head turned a little to side. “Well, are you two going to linger about or are you going to speak to me?” Just as before he spoke with a deep but calm sounding voice. Though they still said nothing they walked over to stand a few feet behind him. He quickly stood with the trap still in his hands. With one powerful pull in either direction he shattered it apart, and then quickly tossed aside the few pieces that remained in his hands. As he turned fully to look at the two standing near him, he continued to speak. “I’m not sure why Tarvutis likes this time period so much. Men kept their evil hidden in these days. I suppose it was a freer time in history, but all things considered there wasn’t much to look forward to.” Finally Tyler got the courage to speak. “Ok, so you know Tarvutis… have you ever fought him?” Drataeo began to laugh as he said, “yes, a long time ago… he ran after the first 3 hours of combat and left me to deal with a bunch of low level demons trying to make a name for themselves.”

“Well, you’ve wasted enough of my time.” He started to walk deeper into the woods, but slowly turned around to face them again. “Don’t try to follow me either… you have other things to worry about.” He nodded in their direction and they turned around. Behind them stood two men, there eyes a bright yellow. Only the color portion was yellow, the remainders of their eyes were as they should be. When they glanced back to where Drataeo had been standing, he was gone. “Gee thanks for the help.” Not that he expected him to help. Andrea leaned closer to Tyler. “These don’t look like the other demons we’ve fought…what do you think they are?” He just shook his head. As they looked closer at the two men as the men opened their mouths a little wider. It was a surprise to see the fangs glaring from the little bit of light shining through the thick tree tops. Finally one man spoke. “Well, since your friend took our dinner, I guess we’ll have to make due with the two of you.” Tyler looked at Andrea. “Vampires….of course, why wouldn’t we run into vampires.” Andrea quickly pointed out, “Uh, the sun is up.” The other vampire in a smart tone said, “There’s no sunlight in here to help you, Darlin’ and don’t think you’ll make it past me and my brother here to get to it either.” “I’ve had enough of this, what about you, Honey?” Tyler nodded his head. Andrea’s eyes began to glow a low white and without warning the vampire in front of her was flung violently into the sunlight shining 5 feet behind him. As the other vampire’s attention shot back toward the angels after watching his brother begin to burn, he only saw a stream of white flames seconds before it made contact. Quickly Tyler and Andrea walked around him as he was reduced to an ash statue. Then as they approached the street with the sunlight shining down on it, Tyler pointed down to the ground. “Honey, you’re stepping in the vampire.” She looked down and said, “oh great! That’ll never come out!” Then they both looked at each other and laughed as they renewed their journey.

Eric and Christine hadn’t run into much since the time change…in fact they hadn’t seen anything but trees and rocks for the last 3 hours. They had been walking through woods for so long they started to wonder if there were towns in this time period or what? They had no real way of knowing what time period they were in, so they watched for everything… dinosaurs, Indians, whatever might come up. They also wondered if the two couples splitting up had been necessary. Christine, who was in front yelled back, “I guess we’re not going to find out where the road would have gone, since it disappeared a while ago.” Eric said little other than small complaints under his breath at the brush and woodland obstacles. Finally Christine yelled out, “That’s it! I’ve enough of all this!” She raised both her arms in front of her and let out a wide and massive blast of white flames… leveling most of the plant life and rocks ahead of them. Eric looked as far as he could see at all the burnt debris and ashes and through his laughter blurted out, “Damn Baby! I guess you came back with PMS too!” His laughter was brought to an instant halt as Christine’s fist met with his face. Her punch sent him flying back several feet until he crashed into a tree. “I love you, but if you say something that stupid again, the demons will be the least of your worries!” She stomped off talking to…no one. “Men! You would think they could have come back with less testosterone!” As she walked off, Eric rubbed his jaw and under voice said, “That’s okay… I think you came back with enough for the both of us.” After which he quickly looked up to make sure she didn’t hear him. As he got to his feet he shook his head and told himself, “That’s my girl.” Eric did a bit of jogging to catch up with his wife, who when angry can apparently walk much faster. “Christine, I’m sorry! I was only kidding, I swear!” She turned around and at first gave him a look as though she were about to hit him again. He braced for impact, but the strike never came. Instead she chuckled a little and then placed her hand on his jaw. “Sorry about that, but you should know better than to make a comment like that.” He laughed a little and then placing his hand on top of her jokingly said, “Or at least duck faster afterward.” She gave him another joking angry look. After that, she kissed him softly. Underneath her hand began to glow and then she whispered, “Better?” As she took her hand away from his now healed jaw.

Their moment was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Hold on to each other tightly… you never know what you have until you’ve lost it.” They turned quickly and saw the dark stranger standing in front of them on the side of the newly made path. Eric looked at him as the man looked up and down the burnt path. “You’re Drataeo, right?” The stranger turned and looked back at them. “Yes, that is my name. Tell me, who did this?” He was obviously talking about the newly made path. Christine laughed a little and then slowly raised her hand. Drataeo looked again at the damage. “I must say it’s pretty nice work.” Finally, Christine looked him over a moment and then commented, “You look different than you did when you fought against Brutoc.” Drataeo looked down at himself as though he were looking for something. “What you saw was my evolved state… this is my human form.” To look at him, he looked normal enough. He had short brown hair much like Tyler’s. He had a goatee and a mustache and a build like any other man would have… toned, but not any more so than a mortal man. Only his blue eyes gave away his age, they seemed to tell a story by themselves. Drataeo pointed down the path and calmly… which is how he seemed to always speak…he said, “If you two are going this way then I will travel with you. Also, I left your friends some time ago, but we will surely meet up with them soon.” With out waiting for an answer, he began walking. Whether it was because he knew they would not object or simply because he did not care if they would, they weren’t sure. As he walked ahead of them a few paces, Eric leaned in closer to Christine and whispered, “For someone who is supposed to be so dangerous and so much of a wild card, he seems very nice.” Both jumped when they heard Drataeo shout back to them. “You’ve seen me twice and spoken to me once…you would be wise not to make assumptions about me just yet.”

A mile down the new path the three felt a shift in the air. They had learned to recognize that shift by now… the time was once again changing. Suddenly in a matter of seconds they were standing on loose dirt surrounded by fewer trees and rather tall hills. “Damn! At this rate we’re never going to figure out where we are going!” Eric looked around as he said back, “I think that’s the idea.” After a brief moment they realized that Drataeo was still walking. “Where are you going?” Drataeo stopped and turned toward them. “I’ve walked this earth for a long time… it will take more than this to rid me of my sense of direction. I have walked this earth during all of these eras…it is still the same earth to me. Stay close and you won’t get lost. This is the only reason I agreed to travel with you for now.” The earth began to rumble as Drataeo moved his head quickly looking around. Then Eric and Christine marveled once again as they watched the blue reflective bone; black top skin; and tornado of blue flames over come Drataeo’s body. It was a sight to see, but it had not escaped them that he was doing it for a reason. Since he seemed to know more than they did, they first went into their evolved states before asking, “What is it? Is there a powerful demon coming?” Drataeo, his voice now even deeper in his evolved state said, “No, less dangerous… but much bigger.” Fear sent the two angels to the ground as a huge figure burst out from the trees and over the hill. They tried to adjust their eyes to make sure what they saw was real. In fact, their eyes had not deceived them… it was a tyrannosaurus rex, and he was hungry. That part was obvious by the burst in roars and the massive drooling he was doing at the sight of three travelers. Both Eric and Christine raised their hands up as the white flames gathered quickly in their palms. “No! Don’t you even think of destroying this beast!” Shock overtook them as they extinguished the flames and put their hands down. Drataeo began to run toward the massive creature as it snarled and roared. Once he had reached the point just under the head-which didn’t take long considering his speed- he jumped into the air and landed a massive kick to its lower jaw in back. The dinosaur gave another thunderous roar and shook his head. Then as his feet touch the ground, Drataeo punched the ground. The blue flames shot from his hand into the ground like a shot gun blast. Suddenly, a small wall of blue flames traveled at lighting speed toward the dinosaur and then around it, making a circle around it in blue flames. The T-rex thrashed around a while and then ran off at its top speed into the woods. “He was only looking for a meal… I know the nature of a beast; I only had to show him that we were not his best choice.” Again… he walked off.

4 HOURS LATER:

Tyler and Andrea walked over the small hill and saw Drataeo begin to appear. They weren’t sure what to expect, but were suddenly more confused to see Eric and Christine right behind him. As the group came together, Drataeo simply walked past and in between them. Eric and Christine greeted their friends and of course the girls hugged. Tyler turned to look at Drataeo as Eric came up along side of him. “He’s been like that for the last three and a half hours… he hasn’t said a word. He got rid of a dinosaur, told us why we weren’t to kill it...and then walked off. Tyler shrugged it off and then said, “We ran into a couple of dinosaurs too, but luckily they were all plant eaters. We did meet some vampires near the start though.” Eric looked and opened his mouth, but Tyler put his hand up. “Don’t ask.” To ensure that they didn’t fall too far behind the four started to walk quickly in an attempt to catch up with Drataeo. As they walked Andrea looked to the others. “We’ve been walking for a pretty long time…I’m just wondering… does anyone know where it is we are trying to get to?” Eric pointed ahead and non-approvingly said, “I bet he does.” After that, they took turns saying, “You ask.” “No, you ask him.” However, after 20 minutes of this, they decided that they didn’t need to know right now. While keeping an eye on him, the other four walked to themselves. A question had been burning in Eric’s mind for some time now, which he decided he simply had to have the answer to. “Drataeo, there’s something I don’t get. If there are dinosaurs here that would put us in a time period of BC… surely you couldn’t have come here before Jesus did, right?” Drataeo stopped dead in his tracks and spun around to face them. “You four are not going to live long if you don’t pay attention to what you are told. I am certain that this was already explained to you.” All he got was confused looks. “We are not in a time period that is BC. That dinosaur is from that time, but look over there.” They all followed his gaze and found the object he was referring to. There on top of a distant hill sat a man on horseback. He was wearing heavy armor and his long sword reflected the dying sun. “Time is mixing up. Don’t be surprised if we see a car up ahead.” The others suddenly remembered being told all this before by Thomas. Then as he turned and began walking again, Drataeo once again yelled back to them. “Just so you know… I was also there when they placed him on the cross.” Now it was the other four’s turn to stop dead in their tracks. Tyler thought a moment and then matter-of-factly said, “Damn… that’s old.” Andrea yelled up to him, “So you were with him when he died?” She heard him let out a breathe of frustration. “No, I said I was there when they placed him on the cross. When he died I was long gone, angry for being told not to do anything about it. Then I did not understand why, nor was I meant to.” Just then the others caught up with him so they could better hear his story. When they looked over to his expressions, they saw, for the first time, a great deal of emotion there in his eyes. It was pain mixed with a sense of loving loyalty. “He knew that day what was to become of him. I tried to fight back any tears as he told me to, but they would not surrender. As the first tears fell, he placed his hand on my head. I shall never forget his words to me… ‘Don’t cry for me, I will return’… and many months later I heard that he had in fact returned. I never doubted him of course, but it was still good to hear.” Then once again his expression changed to stone and hurt and anger. “But that was a long time ago…before I became what I am.” It was clear that this conversation was over and that no questions where needed, so none were ask.

Out of no where Eric yelled out, “Denny’s!” The others turned and sure enough, there was a Denny’s sitting a little ways off. Drataeo mockingly looked at them, or down on them would be a more accurate way of putting it. “Oh, I forgot you still have to eat to survive.” Andrea looked at him with pity asking, “You don’t eat anymore?” As they all headed for the building Drataeo reluctantly explained. “My demon side rid me of my hunger… now I feed…I don’t eat.” As they approached the door, Christine said, “There are no people left so I guess we’ll make our own meals.” The four angels stopped a second at the door, however Drataeo did not. He simply put his hands out in front of him and broke down the bulk of the door, leaving only the frame in tact. As he walked in and looked around a moment, Tyler whistled behind him. He turned and watched as Tyler took the door knob, turned it, and swung the door open. “Now, did we learn something here?” A low growl was his only response as the others laughed. Drataeo stood next to what was left of the door, staring out as the other four went to the kitchen and began eating whatever they could find. “Should we be doing this?” The others looked at Andrea a moment. “Well, every time we eat, we get attacked.” After some thought the others had to admit that was true. “Yeah, but we get attacked no matter what we do, so might as well eat, right?” Eric was obviously determined to eat, since he barely managed to get the words out before shoving more food in his mouth. As Tyler and Andrea sat at the counter to consume what they had collected from the kitchen, they over heard Drataeo mutter under his breathe. “Into the battle we warriors ride… and fools a plenty are the tattered souls with in… yet unto the glory, the battle must be fought… thus fools a plenty shall rise again.”

After each had their fill of what the abandoned restaurant had to offer and each had taken their turn cleaning up in the bathrooms, they all five headed out, Drataeo once again taking lead. As they headed down the road that had begun only a few moments before, they noticed a carriage headed toward them on the opposite side. Behind the carriage no more than a half mile away was a car, like the ones you see in the gangster movies. It suddenly occurred to them how strange it was, that seeing this wasn’t strange at all anymore. Then just as the car passed them by and they endured the curious looks from the couple in it, they came upon a bundle of chickens running around in the road. Only as they got near to them they seemed to go from chickens to chicks. Finally they made their way through the bundle, noticing that before they could get past them, they were now walking among a group of eggs. Andrea looked around as they walked past, trying not to step on the eggs… or the remainder of the eggs that Drataeo was stepping on. As she hopped over one egg she said lowly, “We’ve got to kill that damn demon… this is just getting ridiculous.” Drataeo, almost as though he wasn’t talking to anyone, said, “It will only get worse, the longer his power is unleashed the more it will affect everything around us. A day ago, it would not have regressed these pitiful creatures, but now you see what it has done.” No sooner than the words left his mouth, Drataeo stopped. He seemed to be looking for something out of the corner of his eye. “You four will continue the way we have been traveling. No matter what happens, keep straight.” He started to walk off down a path that headed right, which until now only he had noticed. “What about you? Where are you going?” He didn’t slow down or look at them as he spoke, which was his nature. “Do as I said, and don’t ask anymore questions.” Not wanting to test the limits of his temper they did as he instructed and continued straight as he followed the path. Once they were out of ear shot, he turned and watched them as they walked a second. “Good luck, Angels… I haven’t left you, but there is something I’ve got to find out.”

Drataeo walked quickly through the path with his senses open. He was sure he’d find trouble… or it would undoubtedly find him. Already he was right, as a big burst of black flames appeared in front of him a few feet. With a grin like that of a car salesman the demon stood in his path daring him with his eyes to challenge him… not the smartest move. Drataeo did not change expressions and did not slow down. He continued to walk, and as he approached the black eyed demon he quickly threw his hand forward and snatched it back again. He then walking past and knocking over the demon, threw the freshly pulled heart into the woods for the first wild beast that may come along to feast on. Laughing he yelled back, “You might want to retrieve that, before something else does.” Then he heard the bushes rustle loudly followed by the demon’s scream. Picking back up on his laughter he said to himself, “Too late… taste just like chicken.” Upon becoming what he is, he had lost his ability to teleport, but could still move with a quickness that was beyond human comprehension. To maximize this ability he quickly burst into his evolved form and became nothing more than an occasional burst of blue flames every 20 feet. If any other demons were to get in his path to slow him down, they would simply be reduced to a pile of ashes upon impact. Though he was moving faster than the human eye can see, to him everything seemed to pass as if he were simply jogging rapidly. He could see objects well before approaching them and could still hear the sounds of nature and all that was out of place around him, such as cars and even androids from a future he had not even seen. His speed had always been one of the few attributes from his transformation that he could appreciate. It was in fact his speed that gave his fighting skills a great deal of their power. Being able to break the sound barrier with a punch aided in delivering fatal blows more than once in the many times he had been forced to defend himself. As it were, he had recently heard that one of the four newest angels he had been traveling with, the one they had called, Tyler, had more than once broken the sound barrier upon taking flight. He thought it might be interesting to one day compare speed with him. But he would first give him more time to harness his power and skills… only then would he have such a competition. He was quickly beginning to notice he in some way approved of the four. Perhaps it was that fact that persuaded him to lead them before, preventing the wasted time they would have spent wondering around with no direction as they were. It was then that he shook his head hard, in hopes of shaking such thoughts from his mind. It was too dangerous to think that perhaps he could once again know friendship with another creature other than the wolves and animals he had come to care for. No, these things had always led to emotional pain, driving him deeper into himself and further away from his purpose.

Finally he slowed quickly until he came to a stop just outside of a Wild West looking town. Seconds after he had stopped, and as he stood there, a thunderous noise echoed out all around as the sound caught up with him. All these centuries and he still loved to hear that sound. Each time he would run faster trying to make that delay longer than the last. This time his thoughts had preventing him from reaching his top speed…it had taken him just over 20 minutes to run the 300 miles. Flying would have gotten him there instantly, but he still hated flying. After the rumbling subsided he slowly began to walk into the heart of the town. There were of course no people there; this was obviously a time after the people had long forgotten the sleepy little town. Barrels were overturned and housed only spiders and the smallest of bugs. Doors hung weakly on their hinges. No horses lined the street and the side walks had boards that were either rotted away or stuck up from years of erosion. However, there was a living person here… he could hear the heartbeat. He knew that heartbeat very well, for it was not of a normal pace. The beats came much further apart and there was no sign of need for respiration. “You can hide all you want, Lucas! We both know you are here, just as well as we know I will find you.” Lucas was an old friend, though strange as he was. Just as Drataeo neared the middle of the town, Lucas came walking out of the saloon. “You know…I finally come across a town like the ones we had in the good old days… and there’s not a drop of whiskey in the whole damn town.” Drataeo looked him over for a moment. “You’re still alive, huh?” Lucas gave him an unapproving look through his 28-year-old looking smile. “That’s what immortal means, you Old Fool!”

As he walked closer, Drataeo took notice what had changed in his old friend over the last 233 years…which was nothing. The only change he could see was that he now wore clothes that were in the right time period. Of course, the last time he and Lucas met it was 1779 and the world was much different. However, Lucas always had a soft spot for the Wild West days, so it came as no surprise that he would find his way to this town. Lucas had long since been a liaison of sorts between angels and humans. As they came together they greeted in the old style, with palms meeting on the other man’s forearm. “So, what does a liaison do when one side is void?” Lucas looked around and through a grin replied, “He finds towns that are empty and complains that he can’t get a drink.” No sooner than the words had come out of his mouth, they felt the familiar charge in the air… the time was once again changing. Lucas shook his head, “Tarvutis, that damn demon needs to get a hobby!” Drataeo’s expression lost the little hint of pleasantness it had as he said, “He’s going to get something, but it won’t be any damn hobby.” Then, the streets filled with people. In fact, there was a crowd gathered on the sides of the street and two men standing at each end. Drataeo pointed to the two men. “Isn’t that….and that one is…?” Lucas laughed a little and said, “Yep, Billy the kid and Wyatt Erp.” The two old friends walked toward the saloon again. As they passed the younger of the two men on the street, Lucas leaned over and whispered in his ear. “This is not going to be a good day for you, Son.” Then just as they passed, they heard the shot ring out and the body hit the ground. With little more than a glance back they continued in the saloon.

As the few remaining people in the saloon ran out to catch a glimpse of Billy lain out, Drataeo and Lucas sat at the bar. The only problem with this was that the bartender had been one of the men to run outside as they walked up. Lucas hopped off the stool saying, “Hell, I guess the whiskey is free today.” He walked around the bar and reached for the whiskey kept on the top shelf, he removed the cork and quickly turned up the bottle, then pointed to his friend. “You want some whiskey?” Drataeo looked at him hard a moment. “Lucas, I’m in the middle of fighting against hell’s demons in case you forgot.” Lucas looked to the floor a moment. “Yeah that’s right… beer it is.” He then threw him a bottle of beer. Drataeo twisted the cap off, though it was not a twist off bottle. As he quickly began to drink it, he asks, “So what are you going to do until the war has ended?” After downing more of the whiskey, Lucas simply said, “Drink.” The crowd began to gather again inside the saloon and with out seeing him come in, everyone knew that at the center of that crowd was Wyatt. Everyone around him was praising him for taking out one of the most notorious bank robbers. From behind him they heard, “As I live and breathe! Drataeo, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen your face in here!” Drataeo laughed to himself. “Wyatt, you have no idea.” As he approached from the side, Wyatt looked him over. “What in Sam hill are you wearing, Boy?” Drataeo hadn’t even thought of the way he was dressed being out of place here. It was more than obvious that Lucas hadn’t given it much thought either, because he was looking down at his own clothes realizing he too was out of place.

It was then that the bartender came through the door and spotted Lucas behind his bar counter. “Boy, I’m gonna give you till the count of 5 to get from behind there!” Lucas climbed over the bar saying, “Cool down, Old Man, you left and we needed a drink.” Then as he got closer the bartender yelled, “Lucas! Damn, Boy it’s good to see you again!” Drataeo looked up slightly toward Lucas. “Now I remember one of the reasons I hated this era… everyone calling me ‘boy’… I’m old enough to be their ancestor.” Lucas laughed and lightly slapped him on the back. “Man, you are their ancestor.” Quickly, unable to take any more, Drataeo stood. “Lucas, I’m out of here… those angels are going to need some help, especially if they get stupid and go after Tarvutis alone.” Lucas waved to him slightly as the bartender continued to chew his ear off and poor him shots. As he turned and began to walk past Wyatt he said lowly, “You killed an old friend, you’re a big hero… congratulations... I hope you can live with yourself now.”