Chp. 6
We followed Mr. Kline through a maze of lavish rooms and opulent hallways, past stairwells and immaculately dressed servants hurrying about their various tasks. I rubbed my jaw, which still stung from the backhanded blow I’d received from Brianna’s billionaire father. Toby walked at my side, his demeanor grim, his hands clenching and unclenching with barely controlled rage. I’d only seen him this angry a few times since we’d known each other. I could still hardly believe the power of Kline’s voice had been able to stop Toby from attacking him. Hell, even I wanted to fight him. It was a good thing that the martial art I had learned was purely defensive. If Aikido had kicks or punches, I might have tried them out on him.
Mr. Kline stopped before a door and took a key out of his pocket. Unlocking the door, he strode inside the room, placing the bronze key back inside his suit pocket. The five of us followed him inside of a room that was much the same as the room I’d met Sir James in last night, in fact, it could have been the room’s exact twin except there was a large, deep brown desk at its far end by the ornate fireplace, instead of chairs. The books lining the shelves were bound in slightly richer looking leather, than the tomes in the room I’d received my ‘birthright’ in last night. Memories of the old knight vanishing replayed in my head. I still didn’t get it or believe.
Mr. Kline strode over to the large, antic mahogany desk, sat down, and moved a thick stack of files out of the way. We all walked over and stood before the desk quietly, expectantly. Mr. Kline clasped his hands together and stared at the surface of his desk.
“You have no chance against it son,” said the ancient Vampire looking up at me. “No chance at all I’m afraid. We are all, even us immortals, in very mortal danger.”
“Why Daddy?” asked Brianna.
“The combined strength of the entire allied forces under Montgomery, select Fae, the mage council, and the ten immortals barely defeated the last Demon’s seed or minion, my daughter. Going after the Demon itself? Sheer folly.”
“Allied forces under Montgomery... you mean World War II?” asked Carla incredulously.
“Precisely,” he answered somberly. “Hitler was the last Demon’s seed.”
His matter of fact statement thudded into my chest like a two-hundred-and-thirty pound linebacker. Suddenly, the room shrunk about me. I closed my eyes trying to ignore what I just heard and concentrated on breathing. I could feel the panic closing in on me and willed it away.
“Holy crap!” said Toby.
Was he suggesting there had been other demon seeds besides Hitler? This was just insane.
“Last seed?” I asked, frustrated by the scope of events.
“Throughout humanity’s tenure as the dominant species on this world there have been at least five Demonic seeds, each minion nearly brought evil’s reign to this world. With each epic conflict the Demon has grown stronger, for it feeds on the suffering of the world, more people, more suffering. Wars, pain and death are its nefarious tools.”
“If it’s destroyed, how does it return?” asked Carla.
“The powers of good have always destroyed the Demon’s minions, but never the Demon behind it,” answered Ivy.
I looked at Ivy incredulously wondering what else she knew about this whole thing.
“Correct young Magi,” Mr. Kline agreed. “The link between them is nothing more than a powerful possession. Killing the being possessed only kills the being, not the demon.”
“Great!” I swore, still concentrating on my breathing, “So even if I somehow manage to beat this Demon’s seed, I’m only holding off evil until the next time?”
“Mother said it’s time to go after the Demon, Jake, not its seed.”
“Oh that’s even better! Who is this demon anyhow, Satan?”
“No,” Kline said. “It’s not Satan. Beelzebub can only act directly if a force of similar power acts on the side of good. Say either the Archangel Michael or Gabriel for example. No, it’s not the dark Master, but it IS one of the fallen.”
“Hell in a hand basket!” Toby swore. “We have to go up against one of the angels that fell when Lucifer was cast out of heaven?”
Kline inclined his head. “If you are going after the demon, then that is correct young man.”
“That’s why we need the Cardinal Ruby, Jake,” said Ivy, touching my shoulder.
“It’s an absurd, ancient prophecy you’re thinking of young magi, nothing more,” said Mr. Kline, taping his fingers on the desk as if it were a piano. “It won’t work.”
“Mother says the Cardinal Ruby binds evil and that it can bind the Demon. The stone will hold the Demon captive until it can be destroyed,” said Ivy. “If it isn’t done, she believes the Demon will eventually gain enough power to enter this world in a fully physical form, rather than through its seed.”
Mr. Kline shook his head.
“Demon’s can’t be destroyed, contained perhaps, but not killed. You’ll have to do more than give me the ‘because my mother says so’ speech, young lady, for me to give you the Cardinal Ruby regardless of who your mother is. It is all that has held the vampire council from forcing me to bow to their rule. I would do anything not to be subject to them again. Without the ruby, my family and I will be at their mercy… and they have none.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ivy.
Mr. Kline looked around and sighed, leaning back in his black leather chair as we stood watching, waiting. “The Cardinal Ruby has the power to force judgment,” he said after considering for too long in my opinion. “Those that spurned the covenant can be judged by the stone through the person wielding it. If they have fed on human blood or have taken a human life since the covenant was made, it takes theirs, interning them within its facets, until the day of final judgment. Fear of it keeps the vampire council from bothering me, or my family,” he said, looking at his daughter and smiling.
“Holy crap! That’s quite a trump card,” admitted Toby.
“It is indeed, young man. Not something easily lost to a fool’s venture.”
“What will happen to you and your family if the Demon’s seed wins, or if the demon itself is loosed into the world?” I asked, still finding all of this nonsense a bit hard to swallow. A part of me was fascinated, but the other part was busy fighting off an anxiety attack, wanting to get the hell out of the mansion and forget I’d ever seen or heard anything about any of this.
Ivy took a small step forward towards the vampire and his desk and answered my question before the vampire had a chance. “The same thing that will happen if Mr. Kline is forced to become a part of the council again, only his master would be a soul devouring Demon who would corrupt the covenant and use the vampires as a tool to wipe out humanity.”
“God wouldn’t let that happen!” Toby said.
Mr. Kline nodded in agreement.
“No, he wouldn’t, giant. He would loose the angels, which would open the world to more demons and force Armageddon,” Mr. Kline said. “That is the crux of the decision, isn’t it, young magi? Allow a weak, fledging immortal, with no idea what his powers are yet, to try and use the ruby to capture the fallen angel, thus averting global enslavement and Armageddon, or… hold on to the ruby and the sanctuary it provides me from the council, and hope that the ten immortals and whoever joins their cause, can defeat the seed without it, as they have since before even I was turned.”
“The other nine shall fail,” assured Ivy. “Besides, you’ve already decided.”
“As you say, young one, I have decided. But here is something else to consider… what if in trying to trap the demon within the cardinal ruby, the demon’s power overwhelms the stone, destroying it, and releases all the evil it has trapped for several Millennia? What if that is the true meaning of the cryptic prophesies your mother is relying on? That this boy is the one that will free evil into this world and start Armageddon?”
Ivy turned slightly red, “I don’t know about the stone shattering, Metaphiso, but what my mother said i
s the truth. You know she’s not just an interpreter of ancient prophecies; she’s a sage. What she sees always comes to pass.” She threw an embarrassed glance at me and turned quickly back to the vampire.
Kline shook his head again.
“Your mother may be the greatest sage on this realm or any other for that matter, and she may know my true name, young one, but no one is perfect. Other sages in different realms might disagree with her interpretations,” Kline said.
I could hardly stand still. It was all too much for me to comprehend; sages, realms, vampires, immortals, and stone’s that trapped evil, and Armageddon? My heart was racing faster and faster, and it was becoming tougher to breath. I fought the fear, and failed.
I’d had enough.
“This is all such bullshit!” I growled, and turned away from Mr. Kline’s desk, walking for the door. I needed to get out.
“Hold a moment immortal,” Mr. Kline commanded, his voice resonating through me.
I stopped reluctantly, fighting to breathe. When I turned around, he was standing in front of me, staring at me, his brow furrowed.
“You don’t have a choice in this, and it seems, neither do I.” He shrugged, “In honor of my good friend who sacrificed himself for you, I’ll make you a deal young immortal. First contingency; I will loan you the ruby, but it must be returned to me if you succeed in trapping the demon, and the stone stays intact. Second contingency: you travel to a teacher I have in mind, to learn of your powers. Do you agree?”
As crazy as it all was, I nodded.