So tomorrow is the big day my homies, Feast or Famine comes out. Have you preordered your copy? No, well that's cool - you're probably a savvy shopper who waits until they can actually read something before you buy it. Kudos to you. However, to all of you who did preorder (which was more than I was thinking), thank you so much. I'm glad you are enjoying my writing and wanted to hop on board the train.
Before the big day tomorrow, let me throw at you one last chapter to get the engines going. So here we go for the last time before you can read the whole book - Feast or Famine Chapter 3:
I walked by a sleeping Famine to
open the door. Whoever was knocking this
early was just asking for a good old fashioned whoopin’. Unfortunately, the person standing there would
not be receiving any sort of ass kicking from me. The Arch Angel Michael was one tough
dude. He was also a good friend and
dedicated ally.
I stepped outside and quietly
closed the door. “What do I owe this
morning visit over the Mexican sunrise?”
His friendly eyes shined in my
direction. “I am glad to see you in such
good spirits. I dropped by early because
we need to discuss the topic of Dante’s little meeting later today.”
I dropped on to a step and took a
seat and he followed suit. “You mean
this fool’s errand of going into Tartarus and trying to kill Abaddon? Yeah, this sounds like suicide to me.”
“It is without the right tool. The Almighty has deemed this mission
necessary, but what Dante fails to understand is the prerequisite.”
Turmoil brewing Upstairs
perhaps? “What sort of prerequisite are
we talking about?”
He reached into his leisure jacket
and pulled out an old piece of parchment with a drawing of a sword on it. I knew exactly what it was, even before he
continued. “This is the Morningstar
Blade, Lucifer’s personal weapon. The
Almighty blessed this personally and with such power is the ability to
permanently bring down Abaddon.”
I didn’t know that little secondary
fact. “Whoa… if that’s the case, why
doesn’t Old Lucifer himself slay the beast?”
He folded his arms. “For the same reason many of us choose to
stay out of Tartarus, the dangers and chances of success are nil at best. Just because a weapon can kill does not
provide the user with the skill to deliver such a blow.”
“No offense, but if Lucifer isn’t
skilled enough to take on Abaddon, who is?”
He looked up at the rising
sun. “With the help of the Horsemen, I
believe my apprentice Veronica would be able to wield the blade and bring down
the monster.”
“You think so? Why not you?”
“Do not ask questions you already
know the answer to. My handicap makes it
impossible for me to ne anything more than a guide.”
I didn’t exactly know what happened
to him, but there were always rumblings about Michael suffering a terrible
injury. I wasn’t going to push him for
info on that, with everything else going on.
“So Veronica it is huh?”
He smiled and nodded. “She is much more capable than she gives
herself credit for. However, this still
does not solve one problem.”
“Yeah, there ain’t no way in Hell,
literally, that Lucifer’s going to give us his blade to use.”
“This is where you come in
Death. We wish for you to enter his
realm and get the blade by any means possible.”
“Ha... haha… hahahaha!” Was Michael insane? I was about to find out. “You do realize after the stunts I pulled on
Beelzebub and Astaroth that I’m about as welcome there as ice cubes are?”
He flashed a toothy grin. “You are the one being above all others that
is feared by most Downstairs. With your
powers being close to what they were in the days of old, why can you not
undertake this task?”
I knew this wasn’t going to be an
optional mission. “If this is what’s
required from me, then of course I’ll do it.
But, I want a promise on your end.”
“I will do whatever I can.”
I pointed over to the window where
Astrid’s head was barely visible. She
was doing her best to stay out of sight during her eavesdropping mission, but
failed. “You’ll protect that one and my
unborn kid.”
He waved to Astrid who returned the
motion and disappeared. I figured she
was on her way outside. “Your bloodline
is going to be a very important figure in the future Death. We will do our best to keep the two of them
safe while you are away.”
My bloodline? Go figure it’d take an angel to make it sound
so over dramatic. We sat their quietly
for a few seconds until the Nyx joined us.
She popped down beside me and greeted Michael. “Welcome to our home.”
“I can see why the two of you
escaped here, it is most peaceful.”
The only noise was the rolling
waves from the ocean. “So you know I
gotta go Downstairs, huh?”
“Yeah I heard most of the
conversation. I guess that is safer than
Tartarus.”
Michael’s look turned into a
frown. “Once you acquire the sword, you
will have to join the others in Tartarus.
I am afraid that your journey Death will be the toughest of them all.”
“Well that just blows then.”
Astrid wasn’t as cordial as I
was. “Oh come on! This is fucking ridiculous!”
Knowing he was losing his crowd, “I
assure you that this is not how we wanted this to unfold, but with Dante
pressing forward, we are at a loss for options.
Death, you must understand, we come to you because of our faith in your
ability to get the job done.”
I started absentmindedly rubbing
Astrid’s very tan and smooth leg. “How
will the others know when I’ve acquired the Morningstar Blade? Will they wait outside of Tartarus until I
return?”
“Dante is stubborn and is going to
go forth with his plan. He does not wish
to leave your success up to chance.”
Annoyance broke through Astrid’s
voice. “Didn’t you say that the
Morningstar Blade was the only weapon that would kill Abaddon?”
“I did Astrid.” He beamed in her direction. “Dante is under the foolish delusions that
with enough celestial fire power the demon will succumb to injury.”
“You can’t stop him?”
As the sun began to shine even
more, Michael stood up. “My time here
has come to an end. You can try to talk
him out of this foolish quest and you might succeed where I have failed.” His wings spread out like an eagle’s. “I must make preparations for your journey
which you will embark upon at sunset.”
One, two swooshes and feathers and
the angel was high in the air, disappearing from view. “I’m starting to think he only has bad news
when he arrives.”
“I agree, though he did spare us
after our last little escapade and didn’t smite you for getting me pregnant.”
I gave her a hard smack on the
ass. “Good for you for seeing the good
in everyone!” Her face turned red at
both my words and the gesture. “Still, I
can’t help but get the feeling this is penance for my actions, sending me
Downstairs. Que sara though…”
With nothing left to do outside
except stand around like morons, we walked back into the house. Famine was still snoring on the couch, so I
left him there. He could get his panties
in a wad later about my new mission. I
was hungry.
We had a few eggs left and Astrid
cracked ‘em open along with her newest invention, fish bacon. The one bad thing about living with a Nyx is
their cat-like tendencies. This means an
unhealthy interest in all things fish.
We had fish burgers, cheese and fish pizza, and now fish bacon. It wasn’t that greatest thing ever, but
Almighty bless her for trying.
As I ate my eggs and fish bacon
(which surprisingly wasn’t as bad as I assumed it would be), Famine came
crashing in. “What is that terrible
odor?”
I held up a piece of the bacon
stuff. “Fish bacon. Want to give it a shot?”
His face turned green. “I will pass thank you very much. However, if you have any of that coffee
drink, I shall gladly take a cup.”
“How the hell do you know about
coffee?”
Astrid handed him a cup and he just
shrugged. “Conquest brings me back stuff
from his odd trip here and there.”
“Of course he does.” I watched with morbid amusement as he drank
the hot concoction. “So, not to put a
damper on your morning, but Michael just left not too long ago. I won’t be joining you into Tartarus right
away.”
He nearly spit out the coffee which
would’ve hit me in the face. “What do
you mean you will not be joining us?
What has the Arch Angel done?”
“Derrick has to go to Hell and
retrieve the Morningstar Blade from Lucifer.”
Thank you Astrid for your
bluntness. “She’s right. I have to try and get the one weapon that
will kill that creature.”
He sat the cup down on the old
wooden table. “This is the first I am
hearing that a weapon has been made that could kill the creature. Dante told us that it would take a combined
effort of all of us to bring him down.”
“Michael said the Almighty himself
blessed the blade and that Veronica, his protégé, would have the skill to wield
it against Abaddon, with help from us and our brothers.”
“If this is true, then why would we
be going to Tartarus before we had such a weapon?”
“Because,” the voice was behind us,
“Michael does not want me to waste resources and wants to leave it all to
chance. I disagree with their
assessment.” Dante was standing at the
entrance to our kitchen with Veronica behind him. “The plan goes ahead, minus one Horseman.”
-Jack
jack.crosby25@gmail.com
